Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speech recognition - based control system for Drone

This project presents a speech-based control system for DRONE using Support Vector Machines (SVM). The set of controlling speeches consists of BACKWARD, FORWARD, HOLD ON, LANDING, MOVE UP, MOVE DOWN, TAKE OFF, TURN LEFT and TURN RIGHT are trained the SVM. The feature extraction of speech used in this study comprises of “fundamental frequency”, “Energy”, and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient”. For performance evaluation, a set of features are used to test the SVM-based system developed by MATLAB. The results show that the average percentage of accuracy of the controlling speeches are 22.22, 46.67, 97.78 and 95.56 for fundamental frequency, energy, Mel frequency cepstral coefficient and all features, respectively. In addition, the interface of SVM-based system and DRONE is developed in practical use.
Dephosphorylation of γ-H2AX by WIP1: An important homeostatic regulatory event in DNA repair and cell cycle control

DNA double strand breaks are a particularly toxic form of DNA damage and the mammalian cell has evolved an intricate set of responses to repair this type of DNA lesion. A key early event in the DNA damage response (DDR) is ATM phosphorylation of the histone variant H2AX at serine 139 at the site of the DNA break. Phosphorylated S139 H2AX, or γ-H2AX, forms a docking site for binding of MDC1, leading to sustained recruitment of other DNA repair factors that mediate the repair of the DNA double strand break. Moreover, recruitment of MDC1 to the break site activates cell cycle checkpoints, protecting the cell from replication of damaged DNA templates. While the molecular events leading to DNA double strand break repair have been well described, the deactivating or homeostatic mechanisms following completion of repair remain largely unexplored. Recent publications by our laboratories and the Medema laboratory shed new light on this issue. Both publications showed that the Wild-type p53-Induced Phosphatase 1 (WIP1) directly dephosphorylates γ-H2AX. WIP1 migrates to the sites of irradiation-induced foci (IRIF), though at a delayed rate relative to MDC1 and mediates γ-H2AX dephosphorylation, presumably after DNA repair is complete. This prevents recruitment of other repair factors such as MDC1 and 53BP1 to the DNA damage sites and promotes the dissolution of IRIF. In addition, overexpression of WIP1 has a suppressive effect on DNA double strand break repair. Taken together, these reports further implicate WIP1 as a critical homeostatic regulator of the DDR.
Literature Analysis of Transfer and Learning Tacit Knowledge

In discussing knowledge management as process for organizing and distributing collective knowledge in organizations with goal of reaching the right information to the right people at the right time [37, 380], important part of it is tacit knowledge. Through an extensive literature review this paper addresses issues of tacit knowledge transfer by personality and attitudes of employees towards the organization. Attention is placed on organization's commitment and confidence in associates and willingness to cooperate with other employees. Also, attention is paid to the transfer of skills and learning tacit knowledge through mentoring and coaching with emphasis on the support of modern information and communication technologies.
Location-dependent information extraction for positioning

This paper presents an overview of current research investigations within the WHERE-2 Project with respect to location-dependent information extraction and how this information can be used towards the benefit of positioning. It is split into two main sections; the first one relies on non-radio means such as inertial sensors and prior knowledge about the environment geometry, which can be used in the form of map constraints to improve user positioning precision in indoor environments. The second section presents how location-specific radio information can be exploited in a more sophisticated way into advanced positioning algorithms. The intended solutions include exploitation of the slow fading dynamics in addition to the fast-fading parameters, adaptation of the system to its environment on both network and terminal sides and also how specific environmental properties such as the dielectric wall parameters can be extracted and thereafter used for more accurate fingerprinting database generation using Ray Tracing modelling methods. Most of the techniques presented herein rely on real-life measurements or experiments.
Baltic Listed Companies’ Disclosure Quality – Far Ahead or Lagging Behind?

The objective of this paper is to determine the level of average quality of disclosures made in English by biggest companies listed on Baltic stock exchanges and to analyse it in the context of biggest companies listed on other Central and Eastern European (CEE) and three developed European (EU) stock exchanges. Content analysis reveals that the disclosure quality level of Baltic listed companies outperforms that of other CEE peers by at least 30% and in the context of stock exchange web page disclosures 50 to 80%. Compared to companies listed on developed EU stock exchanges, the disclosure quality of Baltic listed companies is slightly lower in the company home page category, however, it outperforms in the context of stock exchange web page disclosures. This result raises concerns about possibly too restrictive stock exchange web page disclosure regulations which may have a negative impact on the future outlook of Baltic stock exchanges.
The Enduring Effect of Time-Series Momentum on Stock Returns Over Nearly 100-Years

This study documents the significant profitability of “time-series momentum” strategies in individual stocks in the US markets from 1927 to 2014 and in international markets since 1975. Unlike cross-sectional momentum, time-series stock momentum performs well following both up- and down-market states, and it does not suffer from January losses and market crashes. An easily formed dual-momentum strategy, combining time-series and cross-sectional momentum, generates striking returns of 1.88% per month. We test both risk based and behavioral models for the existence and durability of time-series momentum and suggest the latter offers unique insights into its continuing factor dominance.
Determination of polarimetric calibration parameters of L band SAR using uniform forest data

Proposes a new method to calibrate L band polarimetric SAR using the forest data. Model based covariance matrix containing the distortion matrices and the scattering components from the forest were solved using the Pi-SAR data over the Japan uniform forest of Tomakomai, Hokkaido. The result showed that the distortion matrices depend on the function of the incidence angle and the operation timings.
Big Bath Accounting and CEO Overconfidence

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between managerial overconfidence and write-offs following CEO turnover. Subsequent to managerial turnover, it is often observed that large one-time charges are used to decrease current earnings for the benefit of higher future earnings. This earnings management technique, commonly referred to as big bath accounting, facilitates the meeting of given future earnings targets. Overconfident managers overestimate their abilities and consequently have upwardly biased expectations concerning future firm performance. Based on this premise, we hypothesize that overconfident CEOs see less need to engage in an earnings bath following managerial change in order to boost future earnings. Our empirical results confirm this hypothesis showing that earnings baths at CEO turnover are significantly more frequent only among non-overconfident CEOs.
Delayed grafting for banked skin graft in lymph node flap transfer

Over the last decade, lymph node flap (LNF) transfer has turned out to be an effective method in the management of lymphoedema of extremities. Most of the time, the pockets created for LNF cannot be closed primarily and need to be resurfaced with split thickness skin grafts. Partial graft loss was frequently noted in these cases. The need to prevent graft loss on these iatrogenic wounds made us explore the possibility of attempting delayed skin grafting. We have herein reported our experience with delayed grafting with autologous banked split skin grafts in cases of LNF transfer for lymphoedema of the extremities. Ten patients with International Society of Lymphology stage II–III lymphoedema of upper or lower extremity were included in this study over an 8‐month period. All patients were thoroughly evaluated and subjected to lymph node flap transfer. The split skin graft was harvested and banked at the donor site, avoiding immediate resurfacing over the flap. The same was carried out in an aseptic manner as a bedside procedure after confirming flap viability and allowing flap swelling to subside. Patients were followed up to evaluate long‐term outcomes. Flap survival was 100%. Successful delayed skin grafting was done between the 4th and 6th post‐operative day as a bedside procedure under local anaesthesia. The split thickness skin grafts (STSG) takes more than 97%. One patient needed additional medications during the bedside procedure. All patients had minimal post‐operative pain and skin graft requirement. The patients were also reported to be satisfied with the final aesthetic results. There were no complications related to either the skin grafts or donor sites during the entire period of follow‐up. Delayed split skin grafting is a reliable method of resurfacing lymph node flaps and has been shown to reduce the possibility of flap complications as well as the operative time and costs.
The beauty and the beast sign in dermoscopy.

Classic fairy tales, along with a rich collection of associated thoughts and emotions, are imprinted during early childhood and remain with us well into adulthood. Allusions to fairy tales draw upon these imprinted associations and therefore provide a powerful and efficient means of conveying a complex set of ideas. For anyone who read The Ugly Duckling as a child, the ‘‘ugly duckling’’ sign for a dermatologist is immediately understood as a nevus that appears different relative to its neighbors. In a recent article by Gachon and colleagues, it was found that the dermatologist’s ability to discriminate between nevi and melanoma relies on the assessment of the overall pattern, the ugly duckling sign, and the knowledge of a recent change by the patient. It is clear that the ugly duckling sign now plays an important role in the clinical diagnosis of melanoma.
Implementation of vocal tract length normalization for phoneme recognition on timit speech corpus

Inter-speaker variability, one of the problems faced in speech recognition system, has caused the performance degradation in recognizing varied speech spoken by different speakers. Vocal Tract Length Normalization (VTLN) method is known to improve the recognition performances by compensating the speech signal using specific warping factor. Experiments are conducted using TIMIT speech corpus and Hidden Markov Model Toolkit (HTK) together with the implementation of VTLN method in order to show improvement in speaker independent phoneme recognition. The results show better recognition performance using Bigram Language Model compared to Unigram Language Model, with Phoneme Error Rate (PER) 28.8% as the best recognition performance for Bigram and PER 38.09% for Unigram. The best warp factor used for normalization in this experiment is 1.40.
Means of Payment in Takeovers: Results for the U.K. And U.S

This paper examines means of payment in over 2,500 acquisitions in the UK and US over the period 1955 to 1985. Data on financing proportions, bid premia and postmerger performance are used to test the validity of tax and information hypotheses. It is difficult to explain many of the results in terms of tax effects. Capital gains tax does not appear to be a primary determinant of financing patterns in the UK in a period in which there were substantial variations in the tax rate. As well the tax motivated "trapped equity" model is inconsistent with several observations on financing patterns. In both countries much larger acquiree bid premia are associated with cash than equity bids, consistent with information models suggesting that high valuing bidders make cash offers and low valuing bidders make securities offers. Even after controlling for the form of takeover (tender versus merger) and whether the bid is contested, cash offers provide substantially higher wealth gains to target shareholders. In the US bidders using all equity suffer significant abnormal losses at the time of the bid announcement consistent with the findings on the wealth effects of seasoned new equity offerings in the US. In the UK, however, no such losses are evident, perhaps reflecting the fact that in the UK equity bids are typically underwritten. Finally, we find that acquirors making cash offers have better postmerger shareprice performance than do those using equity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that bidders are motivated to use overvalued equity to acquire other firms.
Is visceral adiposity a significant correlate of subcutaneous adipose cell lipolysis in men?

The aim of the present study was to examine whether site differences in s.c. adipose tissue (AT) lipolysis may be considered a contributing factor to the altered metabolic risk profile of visceral compared to peripheral obese men once the concomitant variation in adipose cell size is taken into account. For this purpose, sc abdominal and femoral fat cell lipolytic responses were investigated in two groups of men (body mass index, 28 +/- 2 kg/m2), aged 36 +/- 3 yr, who were matched for both s.c. abdominal AT area (256 +/- 64 cm2) and s.c. abdominal adipose cell weight (0.55 +/- 0.08 microg lipid/cell) but were characterized by either a high (162 +/- 29 cm2; n = 18) or a low (101 +/- 21 cm2; n = 18) visceral AT deposition. The maximal lipolytic response to epinephrine or to isoproterenol (beta-adrenergic agonist) as well as the maximal antilipolytic effect of either epinephrine or clonidine (alpha2-adrenergic agonist) assessed in s.c. adipocytes were similar among men with low vs. high levels of visceral AT. However, the beta-adrenoceptor sensitivity was increased in s.c. abdominal adipose cells of individuals with a high visceral AT accumulation compared to those with a low intraabdominal fat deposition. Positive relationships were also found between the lipolytic sensitivity of s.c. abdominal adipocytes and plasma insulin concentrations measured in the fasting state and after an oral glucose load. These results suggest that variation in the degree of visceral adiposity in men does not seem to be associated with differences in regional adipose cell maximal lipolytic capacity once fat cell size is taken into account. However, the greater beta-adrenoceptor lipolytic sensitivity of s.c. abdominal adipocytes could be considered a significant correlate of the increased insulinemia observed among men characterized by high levels of visceral AT.
The Role of Non-Financial Performance Measures in Compensation Contracts in the Curtailment of Earnings Management

Most executive compensation contracts (specifically bonuses) are based on accounting-related measures such as earnings per share (EPS), growth in revenue, return on stockholders' equity. However, the recent trend of account manipulation and earnings management documented in the literature may lead to inequitable bonus payments to the managers or executives. Alternative performance measures that may be used to motivate managers are stock prices or market returns and non-financial measures. In this paper, I examine firms in the S&P 500 index and examine the type of performance measures they use in their short-term compensation. I expect that firms that use non-financial performance measures will have a lower prevalence of earnings management, since these measures are harder to manipulate. The findings are opposite to expectations. The firms that use both financial and non-financial performance measures actually have higher discretionary accruals, specifically accounts receivable accruals, than the firms that only use financial performance measures. The interpretation of these results is that these firms suffer from low earning s quality which makes the accounting numbers less meaningful.
Postoperative endophthalmitis associated with sutured versus unsutured clear corneal cataract incisions

Aim: To compare the incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis in clear corneal cataract surgeries performed with and without suture closure, antibiotics and povidone iodine. Setting: Ambulatory surgery facility. Methods: In a retrospective, consecutive case-series study, we reviewed the incidence of endophthalmitis in 815 consecutive eyes that underwent cataract surgery by a single surgeon over a 5-year period (379 unsutured and 436 sutured, 294 without and 521 with antibiotic drops in the immediate postoperative period, and 247 without and 568 with povidone iodine before patching). Results: There were five cases of culture-positive postoperative endophthalmitis in the unsutured group and none in the sutured group (p = 0.022). Although patients in these two groups received routine preoperative antibiotic and povidone-iodine drops, those in whom antibiotic eye drops were not initiated until the day after surgery (p = 0.006) and those who did not receive 5% povidone-iodine drops immediately after wound closure (p = 0.031), had a higher incidence of endophthalmitis. Conclusion: Results suggest that by suturing the corneal incisions, by initiating antibiotic eye drops within the first 24 h of surgery and by instilling povidone-iodine drops after closure, the incidence of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery could possibly be reduced.
Metalloproteinase-9Macrophages: Induction of Matrix Lipopolysaccharide Response in C3H/HeJ Paradoxical Preservation of a

C3H/HeJ mice carry a mutant allele ( Lps d ) of a recently identiﬁed gene whose normal allele ( Lps n ) confers responsiveness to bacterial LPS in C3H/HeN and most other mouse strains. Recently we reported a differential display analysis of matched mac-rophage-derived cell lines from C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeN mice under LPS-free conditions. Of the ; 12,000 transcripts evaluated, 4 were differentially expressed. One transcript represented secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor. In this study, we report another differentially expressed transcript, mouse matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9). Like secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, MMP-9 was expressed constitutively in the Lps d macrophage cell line and not in the Lps n cell line. Similarly, two additional macrophage cell lines that respond readily to LPS by producing nitric oxide and TNF expressed no MMP-9 under LPS-free conditions. However, in all four cell lines, LPS induced MMP-9 or augmented its expression. In primary macrophages, concentrations of LPS in the ng/ml range augmented the expression of MMP-9 mRNA. Paradoxically, macrophages from Lps d mice expressed more MMP-9 transcripts than macrophages from Lps n mice. In contrast, the induction of TNF in response to LPS was much more pronounced in Lps n macrophages. The present ﬁndings with MMP-9 suggest that homozygosity at Lps d does not so much prevent a response to LPS as dysregulate it, resulting in the suppression of some LPS signaling pathways and the preservation of others. The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 162: 3596–3600.
Epidemiological profile and risk factors of HIV and HBV/HCV co‐infection in Fujian Province, southeastern China

This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological features of HIV‐infected subjects co‐infected with HBV/HCV in Fujian Province, southeastern China, and identify the risk factors. Blood samples were collected from 2,028 HIV antibody‐positive subjects in Fujian Province. Serum HBsAg and anti‐HCV antibody were detected, and CD4+ T cell count was measured. Of the 2,028 subjects, the prevalence of HIV‐HBV, HIV‐HCV, and HIV‐HBV‐HCV co‐infections was 16.22%, 3.7%, and 0.79%, respectively. Man (OR = 1.912, 95% CI: 1.371–2.667), key population (OR = 0.756, 95% CI: 0.57–0.976) and detainee (OR = 0.486, 95% CI: 0.259–0.909) were risk factors of HIV‐HBV co‐infection, and man (OR = 2.227, 95% CI: 1.096–4.525), minority (OR = 5.04, 95% CI: 1.696–14.98), junior high school or lower education (OR = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.071–5.025), intravenous drug use (OR = 38.46, 95% CI: 11.46–129.11) and detainee (OR = 5.687, 95% CI: 2.44–13.25) were risk factors of HIV‐HCV co‐infection. In addition, a lower mean CD4+ T cell count was measured in HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV co‐infected subjects than in HIV‐infected subjects among the untreated individuals, while in the treated populations, a higher mean CD4+ T cell count was detected in HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV co‐infected subjects than in HIV‐infected subjects. HIV co‐infection with HBV or HCV, notably HIV‐HBV co‐infection, is widespread in southeastern China. Hepatitis virus screening should be included in monitoring of HIV infection, and HIV and hepatitis virus co‐infection should be considered during the development of HIV antiretroviral therapy scheme. J. Med. Virol. 89:443–449, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A randomised controlled trial of assertive outreach vs. treatment as usual for black people with severe mental illness

Aim. We aimed at testing whether an assertive outreach team (AOT) run by a Black voluntary organisation is more acceptable to Black people with severe mental illness. Methods. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) of 83 Black (African, African Caribbean or Black British) patients with severe mental illness with treatment as usual (TAU) or Assertive Outreach (AO) by a non-statutory sector Black AOT. Frequency of admissions, duration of admissions, symptom severity and client satisfaction with clinical interventions were assessed. Results. The mean length of admission at follow-up was not significantly different between the two groups (74.64 v. 64.51; mean difference = 10.13, 95% CI −2.86, 23.11, p = 0.125), neither was the mean number of admissions (1.32 v. 1.20; mean difference = 0.13, 95% CI −0.18, 0.43, p = 0.401). Mean Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) ratings at 1-year follow-up were significantly lower in the AOT group than in the TAU group (56.34 v. 63.62; mean difference = 7.27, 95% CI 0.66, 13.88, p = 0.032), and people were significantly more satisfied with AOT 24/29 (83%) than the generic services: 4/26 (15%), p < 0.001. Conclusions. While the AO service was highly culturally acceptable to Black people, there was no evidence that the provision of AOT reduces frequency or duration of hospital admission.
Risk Propensity and Safe Medication Administration

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between risk propensity and safe medication administration, while also providing additional evidence of validity and reliability on the Safe Administration of Medication (SAM) Scale. MethodsA convenience sample of nursing students from a private Midwest university in the United States was invited to participate in the study. Fourth-year nursing students completed 2 instruments: revised Domain-Specific Risk-Taking and Risk Perception (DOSPERT) Scale, which measures risk propensity, and the SAM Scale, which measures knowledge and performance of safe medication administration. Second-year nursing students completed the SAM Scale; their scores were used to provide evidence of construct validity. ResultsThis study demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between personal risk taking in the area of health/safety and safe medication administration in nursing students. No statistically significant relationship was found between risk perception and safe medication administration. In addition, the study provided evidence of the validity and reliability of the SAM Scale. ConclusionsThis study is among the first to demonstrate a relationship between risk propensity and safe medication administration. Further research into personal risk taking, risk perception and its impact on patient safety, specifically safe medication administration, is needed.