Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Security and Privacy Preservation in Vehicular Social Networks

Improving road safety and traffic efficiency has been a long-term endeavor for the government, automobile industry and academia. Recently, the U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has allocated a 75 MHz spectrum at 5.9 GHz for vehicular communications, opening a new door to combat the road fatalities by letting vehicles communicate to each other on the roads. Those communicating vehicles form a huge Ad Hoc Network, namely Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET). In VANETs, a variety of applications ranging from the safety related (e.g. emergence report, collision warning) to the non-safety related (e.g., delay tolerant network, infortainment sharing) are enabled by vehicle-to-vehicle (V-2V) and vehicle-to-roadside (V-2-I) communications. However, the flourish of VANETs still hinges on fully understanding and managing the challenging issues over which the public show concern, particularly, security and privacy preservation issues. If the traffic related messages are not authenticated and integrity-protected in VANETs, a single bogus and/or malicious message can potentially incur a terrible traffic accident. In addition, considering VANET is usually implemented in civilian scenarios where locations of vehicles are closely related to drivers, VANET cannot be widely accepted by the public if VANET discloses the privacy information of the drivers, i.e., identity privacy and location privacy. Therefore, security and privacy preservation must be well addressed prior to its wide acceptance. Over the past years, much research has been done on considering VANET’s unique characteristics and addressed some security and privacy issues in VANETs; however, little of it has taken the social characteristics of VANET into consideration. In VANETs, vehicles are usually driven in a city environment, and thus we can envision that the mobility of vehicles directly reflects drivers’ social preferences and daily tasks, for example, the places where they usually go for shopping or work. Due to these human factors in VANETs, not only the safety related applications but also the non-safety related applications will have some social characteristics. In this thesis, we emphasize VANET’s social characteristics and introduce the concept of vehicular social network (VSN), where both the safety and non-safety related applications in VANETs are influenced by human factors including human mobility, human self-interest status, and human preferences. In particular, we carry on research on vehicular delay tolerant networks and infortainment sharing — two important non-safety related applications of VSN, and address the challenging security and privacy issues related to them. The main contributions are, i) taking the human mobility into consideration, we first propose a novel social based privacy-preserving packet forwarding protocol, called SPRING, for vehicular delay tolerant network, which is characterized by deploying roadside units (RSUs) at high social intersections to assist in packet forwarding. With the help
EEF-CAS: An Effort Estimation Framework with Customizable Attribute Selection

Existing estimation frameworks generally provide one-size-fits-all solutions that fail to produce accurate estimates in most environments. Research has shown that the accomplishment of accurate effort estimates is a long-term process that, above all, requires the extensive collection of effort estimation data by each organization. Collected data is generally characterized by a set of attributes that are believed to affect the development effort. The attributes that most affect development effort vary widely depending on the type of product being developed and the environment in which it is being developed. Thus, any new estimation framework must offer the flexibility of customizable attribute selection. Moreover, such attributes could provide the ability to incorporate empirical evidence and expert judgment into the effort estimation framework. Finally, because software is virtual and therefore intangible, the most important software metrics are notorious for being subjective according to the experience of the estimator. Consequently, a measurement and inference system that is robust to subjectivity and uncertainty must be in place. The Effort Estimation Framework with Customizable Attribute Selection (EEF-CAS) presented in this paper has been designed with the above requirements in mind. It is accompanied with four preparation process steps that allow for any organization implementing it to establish an estimation process. This estimation process facilitates data collection, framework customization to the organization’s needs, its calibration with the organization’s data, and the capability of continual improvement. The proposed framework described in this paper was validated in a real software development organization.
CBT in a Caribbean Context: A Controlled Trial of Anger Management in Trinidadian Prisons

Background: Anger causes significant problems in offenders and to date few interventions have been described in the Caribbean region. Aim: To evaluate a package of CBT-based Anger Management Training provided to offenders in prison in Trinidad. Method: A controlled clinical trial with 85 participants who participated in a 12-week prison-based group anger management programme, of whom 57 (67%: 16 control, 41 intervention) provided pretrial and posttrial outcome data at Times 1 and 2. Results: Intervention and control groups were not directly comparable so outcome was analysed using t-tests. Reductions were noted for state and trait anger and anger expression, with an increase in coping skills for the intervention group. No changes were noted in the control group. The improvements seen on intervention were maintained at 4 month follow-up for a sub-group of participants for whom data were available. Several predictors of outcomes were identified.
What roles are there for sustainability assessment in the policy process

This paper reviews some of the attempts that have been made in the EU to include sustainability concerns in ex ante policy assessment processes and explores why these are generally deemed to be ineffective. It argues that the dominant policy frames are not oriented towards sustainable development. Traditional policy assessment procedures, which are designed and used to screen policy proposals, are unable to install sustainability considerations into proposals retroactively. A 'gap' in the toolbox of assessment methods, therefore, exists for a form of sustainability assessment able to give a strategic sustainability orientation to policy-making. Within the MATISSE project, this form of assessment is termed 'Integrated Sustainability Assessment' (ISA). This paper describes ISA and discusses where and when in the policy process it could be used most effectively.
An electromagnetic analysis method for modeling periodic organic solar structures

This paper proposes an effective electromagnetic analysis method for simulating periodic organic solar structures. The Finite Element Method (FEM) is derived to analyze the Organic Solar Cell (OSC), and the Periodic Boundary Condition (PBC) is enforced on the boundary of the OSC to model the infinite organic solar structure. So that the infinite organic solar structure can be solved by analyzing only an unit.
Public and Subsidized Housing as a Platform for Becoming a United States Citizen

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people immigrate to the United States seeking a better way of life, and still hundreds of thousands more become citizens. Some spend time living in public and subsidized housing, sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and, each year, thousands of these individuals attain citizenship. This paper presents an econometric analysis of the propensity of non-citizens living in HUD‐sponsored housing to naturalize. Providing housing and other forms of public assistance to non-citizens is controversial but the fact of the matter is that, under current rules, many qualify for aid so, facing that fact, an important contribution of this research is to identify the type of program that works best in the context of broader national objectives. The key finding is that the market‐based approach of the housing choice voucher program — and the spatial mobility it facilitates — significantly and substantively contribute to naturalization.
Export growth, foreign direct investment and technological capability building under the maquila model: Winding roads, few intersections

In the 1980s and 1990s, Central American countries and Mexico moved towards a new growth model based upon the primacy of exports and foreign direct investment (FDI). The existing literature acknowledges that the expansion of international trade and FDI may be an important factor for developing local technological capabilities. However, in Central America and Mexico a fragile relationship between international trade and FDI growth and the development of technological capabilities has been observed, due to the low local content of exports, weak integration of multinational enterprises and local industry, the specialization of exports in the less knowledge-intensive activities of the value chain and weak absorption capacities. Science, technology and innovation policies have been rather passive and followed a linear approach, undermining the potential benefits arising from FDI and international trade. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.
The effect of test day models on the estimation of genetic parameters and breeding values for dairy yield traits.

The present study estimated genetic parameters for yields of milk, fat, and protein applying REML procedures under test day animal models. The data consisted of 155,494 test day records from 15,756 Friesian cows in first lactation from one region in northern Germany. The models applied included a traditional herd-year-season model for the analysis of single test days and 305-d records and two test day models differing by the definition of contemporary groups, either as herd-year-season of calving or as herd-test day. For single test days, heritabilities were highest for midlactation yields. For test day models, estimates of heritability varied with the number of test day records included for each cow. Estimates of . 32, . 19, and . 20 for yields of milk, fat, and protein, respectively, were highest when only test d 3 to 7 were included; the corresponding estimates for 305-d records were . 39, . 32, and . 30. Estimates of residual variances were reduced when test day records were converted to records of average yield in standardized intervals of 30 d. Breeding values were estimated for 305-d and test day models. A comparison of both sets of breeding values indicates only minor changes in sire rank, but more drastic reranking for individual cows.
DO COLLEGE‐PREPARATORY PROGRAMS IMPROVE LONG‐TERM OUTCOMES?

This paper presents an analysis of the longer‐run effects of a college‐preparatory program implemented in inner‐city schools that provided teacher training in addition to payments to 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students and their teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Affected students passed more AP exams, were more likely to remain in college beyond their first and second years, and earned higher wages. Effects are particularly pronounced for Hispanic students who experienced a 2.5‐percentage‐point increase in college degree attainment and an 11% increase in earnings. While the study is based on nonexperimental variation, the results are robust across a variety of specifications, and most plausible sources of bias are ruled out. The results provide credible evidence that implementing high‐quality college‐preparatory programs in existing urban schools can improve the long‐run educational and labor‐market outcomes of disadvantaged youth.
The Emergence of Emerging Technologies

What is discontinuous about the moment of radical technological change? Discontinuity typically does not lie in a radical advancement in technology itself; rather, it stems from a shift of an existing technical lineage to a new domain of application. Seeming revolutions such as wireless communication and the Internet did not stem from an isolated technical breakthrough; rather, their spectacular commercial impact was achieved when an existing technology was re-applied in a new application domain. The biological notion of speciation events, which form the basis for the theory of punctuated equilibrium, can reconcile the process of incremental technical change with the radical change associated with the shift of an existing technology to a new application domain. This concept can assist managers to cope with, and potentially exploit, such change processes.
Bridging Research and Policy: The RAPID approach

Clay and Schaffer’s book ‘Room for Manoeuvre’ in 1984 described agricultural policy processes in developing countries as “. a chaos of purposes and accidents . not at all a matter of the rational implementation of decisions through selected strategies. " That may be putting it extremely, but there is growing recognition that policy processes are complex, multidimensional and unpredictable and there is an urgent need to find mechanisms to promote the use of research-based and other forms of evidence in development policy. Theoretical and case-study research and practical work carried out by ODI's RAPID (Research and Policy in Development) programme and the GDN Bridging Research and Policy project over the past three years has led to the development of a practical approach designed to help with this. The approach includes an analytical framework to help unpack the complex range of factors which can influence research uptake including the 'political context', the credibility of the 'evidence' and the 'links' between policy and research communities.
The Effects on Employment and Wages When Working Mothers Lose Medicaid

This study examines the importance of health insurance in promoting employment and wage growth for prime-age mothers. Many mothers on welfare and other low-income mothers are eligible for Medicaid, but as they move up the job ladder, they lose eligibility. Losing work supports limits mothers' ability to stay employed: mothers who make this transition into employer-provided health insurance are nine times more likely to stay employed than mothers who leave Medicaid without this benefit. However, few mothers make the transition from Medicaid to employer-provided health insurance— not because they lack employment but because they do not find jobs that offer health insurance. Between the beginning of 2002 and the end of 2003, 37.2 percent of those on Medicaid left the program, but fewer than a quarter (23.4 percent) of those had employer-provided health insurance.
How Large is the Wealth Effect on Hong Kong¡¦s Consumption? Evidence from a Habit Formation Model of Consumption

This paper first investigates whether there is a cointegration relationship between Hong Kongi¦s consumption and wealth using the latest cointegration tests that allow for structural breaks. Our tests show there is only limited empirical support for the existence of a cointegration relationship between consumption and wealth (including both housing and financial wealth). These test results thus cast doubt on the validity of the estimates based on the cointegration result. We then estimate a structural equation linking consumption and wealth derived from a habit formation consumption model. Our estimates show that the short run and the long run marginal propensities to consume out of a one Hong Kong dollar increase in total wealth are about 0.14 and 0.6 cents, respectively. These values are much smaller than those previously estimated using the cointegration approach. The housing wealth effect in Hong Kong is also relatively small compared to estimates for the United States obtained using a similar habit formation specification.
Phase noise characterization by carrier suppression techniques in RF photonic systems

We propose and demonstrate a novel approach to measure the phase noise in radio-frequency photonic systems by employing a suppressed carrier technique. With this technique, the flicker phase noise floor is reduced by 36 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the phase noise of a photodetector is measured, and found to be -126 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz from the carrier at 8.4 GHz.
A survey of coagulation laboratory practice in Thailand: the first step to establish a National External Quality Assessment Scheme (NEQAS) for blood coagulation.

BACKGROUND External quality assessment (EQA) is an essential component of laboratory quality assurance. In Thailand, there is no EQA program for coagulation tests at the national level. OBJECTIVE To collect the necessary data in the first step to set up a National External Quality Assessment Scheme (NEQAS) and to assess the status of coagulation laboratory practice in Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD Questionnaires were sent to hospitals to obtain information about the hospitals, their coagulation laboratory practice and EQA. RESULTS From a dispatch of 220 questionnaires, 124 (56.4%) were returned. Of the 112 hospitals that had coagulation tests, all of them performed prothrombin time (PT), and 110 laboratories performed activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) as well. Thirty eight percent of laboratories still used 3.8% sodium citrate as the anticoagulant for coagulation tests. The majority of laboratories (65%) reported normal control value with the patient results. Only 42% of coagulation laboratories established their own reference range. The denominators of PT ratio and APTT ratio calculations were derived from several sources apart from the mean of normal subjects. Seven of 112 (6%) laboratories participated in an EQA program. CONCLUSION The present survey represents an overview of the current laboratory practice for coagulation tests in Thailand Improvement is necessary, and the survey results emphasize the need for establishing an EQA program in Thailand
A Gourmet's delight: CAViaR and the Australian stock market

Value at Risk (VaR) is the metric adopted by the Basel Accords for banking industry internal control and regulatory reporting. This has focused attention on the measuring, estimating and forecasting of lower tail risk. Engle and Manganelli (2004) developed the conditional autoregressive value at risk (CAViaR) model using quantile regression to calculate VaR. In this article we apply their model to Australian stock market indices and a sample of stocks, and test the efficacy of four different specifications of the model in a set of in-sample and out-of-sample tests. We also contrast the results with those obtained from a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (GARCH(1,1)) model, the RiskMetrics™ model (Morgan, 1996) and an Asymmetric Power Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (APARCH) model.
TECHNOLOGY, PREFERENCE STRUCTURE, AND THE GROWTH EFFECT OF MONEY SUPPLY

This paper studies the growth effect of money supply in the presence of increasing returns and endogenous labor supply. By using a simple model of endogenous growth with a cash-in-advance constraint, it is shown that the growth effect of money supply depends on the specifications of preference structures as well as of the production technology. Either if the production technology exhibits strong nonconvexity or if the utility function has a high elasticity of intertemporal substitution, then there may exist dual balanced-growth equilibria and the impact of a change in money growth depends on which steady state is realized in the long run. It is also shown that there is no systematic relationship between the growth effect of money supply and local determinacy of the balanced growth path.
Evaluation of Fisher Information Matrix-Based Methods for Fast Assessment of Image Quality in Pinhole SPECT

The accurate determination of the local impulse response and the covariance in voxels from penalized maximum likelihood reconstructed images requires performing reconstructions from many noise realizations of the projection data. As this is usually a very time-consuming process, efficient analytical approximations based on the Fisher information matrix (FIM) have been extensively used in PET and SPECT to estimate these quantities. For 3D imaging, however, additional approximations need to be made to the FIM in order to speed up the calculations. The most common approach is to use the local shift-invariant (LSI) approximation of the FIM, but this assumes specific conditions which are not always necessarily valid. In this paper we take a single-pinhole SPECT system and compare the accuracy of the LSI approximation against two other methods that have been more recently put forward: the non-uniform object-space pixelation (NUOP) and the subsampled FIM. These methods do not assume such restrictive conditions while still increasing the speed of the calculations considerably. Our results indicate that in pinhole SPECT the NUOP and subsampled FIM approaches could be more reliable than the LSI approximation, especially when a high accuracy is required.
International Dynamic Asset Allocation and Return Predictability

The presence of time varying investment opportunity sets has been documented in the context of international asset allocation, and the economic value associated with these is a topic of lively debate in the academic literature. This paper constructs simple, real-time dynamic international asset allocation strategies based on daily data that exploit the return predictability arising from time varying market integration. Our timing strategies outperform the major (US, UK, Japanese and German) country indices and related portfolios, particularly in down markets. The strategies appear to capture much of the economic value of the return predictability implied by market integration and have many of the characteristics of successful timing strategies.
Financial Economists Roundtable Statement on Reforming the Role of the Rating 'Agencies' in the Securitization Process

Assets securitized by private companies reached a peak of nearly $12 trillion in 2008, an amount nearly equal to the entire stock of credit intermediated in traditional ways by the world's banking systems. Failures of care and diligence in the origination, rating, and securitization of subprime mortgages led to a collapse in the prices of securitized assets and the public's confidence in the reliability and integrity of the process by which securities are rated. This decline in confidence has in turn undermined prices and credit flows in every market where investors and regulators rely on the credit ratings provided by Statistical Ratings Organizations (SROs) to certify the quality of debt. Copyright Copyright (c) 2009 Morgan Stanley.