Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mandarin Rhythm: An Acoustic Study

Is Mandarin Chinese a syllable-timed language? Based on auditory impression, traditional analyses say it is. However, this question has rarely been investigated from the perspective of acoustic phonetics. Following Ramus et al. (1999) and Grabe and Low (2002), we measured the four rhythmic correlates: vowel percentage, consonant standard deviation, rPVI and nPVI in passage readings and conversations of native Mandarin speakers. Except those for nPVI, the results confirmed the impression that Mandarin is a syllable-timed language.
Perceived usefulness elevating responsiveness of SME Employees in Digital Business Ecosystem environment

This paper is part of a comprehensive study going on implementation of Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) for Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises. The objective of the study is to signify the role of Perceived Usefulness and analyze the relationship between Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Responsiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises' (SME) employees. Antecedently, the hypothesis established states that Responsiveness of employees of Small and Medium Enterprises increase with increase in Perceived Usefulness. A proved hypothesis will pave the way for a deployment framework of Digital Business Ecosystem for Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises. Furthermore, objectives of this research also include contribution to the definition of the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) research priorities with respect to the Digital Business Ecosystem which exists in the form of a pilot project in Europe Union. The concept of Digital Business Ecosystem is being inherited to Malaysia and is thought to be beneficial for Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises in specific and to the 3rd world countries in general. Recent studies tend to jacket business strategies, social sciences and natural sciences with ICT invigorated by computer science and software engineering. The objective of the advanced research study outlined is to develop an integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development and ICT adoption strategy. It will help finding its natural expression in the different regions of Malaysia by taking the networked organizations into account in pursuit of workable Digital Business Ecosystem framework.
Color Image Indexing Using Mathematical Morphology

Abstract A mathematical morphology based approach for color image indexing is explored in this paper. Morphological signatures are powerful descriptions of the image content in the framework of mathematical morphology. A morphological signature (either a pattern spectrum or a differential morphological profile) is defined as a series of morphological operations (namely openings and closings) considering a predefined pattern called structuring element. For image indexing it is considered a morphological feature extraction algorithm which includes more complex morphological operators: i.e. color gradient, homotopic skeleton, Hit-or-Miss transform. In the end, illustrative application examples of the presented approach on real acquired images are also provided.
HG-Rank: A Hypergraph-based Keyphrase Extraction for Short Documents in Dynamic Genre

Conventional keyphrase extraction algorithms are applied to a fixed corpus of lengthy documents where keyphrases distinguish documents from each other. However, with the emergence of social networks and microblogs, the nature of such documents has changed. Documents are now of short length and evolve topics which require specific algorithms to capture all features. In this paper, we propose a hypergraphbased ranking algorithm that models all the features in a random walk approach. Our random walk approach uses weights of both hyperedges and vertices to model short documents’ temporal and social features, as well as discriminative weights for word features respectively, while measuring the centrality of words in the hypergraph. We empirically test the eectiveness of our approach in two dierent data sets of short documents and show that our approach has an improvement of 14% to 25% in precision over the closest baseline in a Twitter data set and 10% to 27% in the Opinosis data set.
Time-dependent degree-degree correlations in epileptic brain networks: from assortative to dissortative mixing

We investigate the long-term evolution of degree-degree correlations (assortativity) in functional brain networks from epilepsy patients. Functional networks are derived from continuous multi-day, multi-channel electroencephalographic data, which capture a wide range of physiological and pathophysiological activities. In contrast to previous studies which all reported functional brain networks to be assortative on average, even in case of various neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, we observe large fluctuations in time-resolved degree-degree correlations ranging from assortative to dissortative mixing. Moreover, in some patients these fluctuations exhibit some periodic temporal structure which can be attributed, to a large extent, to daily rhythms. Relevant aspects of the epileptic process, particularly possible pre-seizure alterations, contribute marginally to the observed long-term fluctuations. Our findings suggest that physiological and pathophysiological activity may modify functional brain networks in a different and process-specific way. We evaluate factors that possibly influence the long-term evolution of degree-degree correlations.
Feeling Political Interest While Being Entertained? Explaining the Emotional Experience of Interest in Politics in the Context of Political Entertainment Programs

The purpose of this study is to explain the interest of individuals in political issues during the exposure to political entertainment programs from an emotion psychological perspective. It is based on the emotion-attribution theory of interest (Silvia, 2006), which addresses both the development of short-term and long-term interests of individuals and on two-process models of entertainment experiences during media consumption (Vorderer & Reinecke, 2012). The results of a between-subjects online experiment (N = 201) partially support the theory’s basic assumptions. Further, they reveal supporting preconditions prompted by the programs and their audience, with the most important one being eudaimonic entertainment experiences of the audience. Taken as a whole, the findings suggest political entertainment programs to be powerful resources for eliciting interest in politics among citizens.
The effects of J-gate potential and interfaces on donor exchange coupling in the Kane quantum computer architecture

We calculate the electron exchange coupling for a phosphorus donor pair in silicon perturbed by a J-gate potential and the boundary effects of the silicon host geometry. In addition to the electron-electron exchange interaction we also calculate the contact hyperfine interaction between the donor nucleus and electron as a function of the varying experimental conditions. Donor separation, depth of the P nuclei below the silicon oxide layer and J-gate voltage become decisive factors in determining the strength of both the exchange coupling and hyperfine interaction-both crucial components for qubit operations in the Kane quantum computer. These calculations were performed using an anisotropic effective-mass Hamiltonian approach. The behaviour of the donor exchange coupling as a function of the parameters varied in this work provides relevant information for the experimental design of these devices.
Avoiding adjacent channel interference in static RWA

We design and implement an algorithm for solving the static RWA problem based on an LP relaxation formulation. This formulation is capable of providing integer optimal solutions despite the absence of integrality constraints for a large subset of RWA input instances. In static RWA there is no a-priori knowledge of the channels usage and the interference among them cannot be avoided once the solution has been found. To take into consideration adjacent channel interference, we extend our formulation and model the interference by a set of analytical formulas as additional constraints on RWA.
A deeply embedded processor for smart devices

Smart embedded devices most often operate on batteries and in some cases these batteries cannot be replaced so frequently. As a result, both the available power and energy budgets are severely limited which forces designers to use low performance processors that use the least amount of power possible. The conundrum is that an increasing number of smart devices implement advanced functions that require more performance than what these processors can deliver. In this paper we propose a dual-issue 32-bit RISC processor that delivers up to 60% improvement in IPC (instruction-per-cycle) performance with less than 20% increase in power consumption compared to a scalar single-issue processor. The proposed processor is implemented in an FPGA and its performance is compared to similar publicly available embedded processors.
Clinical relevance and functional implications for human leucocyte antigen-g expression in non-small-cell lung cancer

HLA‐G has been documented both in establishment of anti‐tumour immune responses and in tumour evasion. To investigate the clinical relevance of HLA‐G in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC), expression status and potential significance of HLA‐G in NSCLC were analysed. In this study, HLA‐G expression in 101 NSCLC primary lesions and plasma soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) from 91 patients were analysed with immunohistochemistry and ELISA, respectively. Correlations between HLA‐G status and various clinical parameters including survival time were evaluated. Meanwhile, functional analysis of transfected cell surface HLA‐G expression and plasma sHLA‐G form NSCLC patients on natural killer (NK) cell cytolysis were performed. Data revealed that HLA‐G was expressed in 41.6% (42/101) NSCLC primary lesions, while undetectable in adjacent normal lung tissues. HLA‐G expression in NSCLC lesions was strongly correlated to disease stages (P= 0.002). Plasma sHLA‐G from NSCLC patients was markedly higher than that in normal controls (P= 0.004), which was significantly associated with the disease stages (I versus IV, P= 0.025; II versus IV, P= 0.029). Patient plasma sHLA‐G level (≥median, 32.0 U/ml) had a significantly shorter survival time (P= 0.044); however, no similar significance was observed for the lesion HLA‐G expression. In vitro data showed that both cell surface HLA‐G and patient plasma sHLA‐G could dramatically decrease the NK cell cytolysis. Our findings indicated that both lesion HLA‐G expression and plasma sHLA‐G in NSCLC is related to the disease stage and can exert immunosuppression to the NK cell cytolysis, indicating that HLA‐G could be a potential therapeutic target. Moreover, plasma sHLA‐G in NSCLC patients could be used as a prognosis factor for NSCLC.
AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)

Governments are making significant investments in information technology to transform the way in which they serve their stakeholders e.g., businesses and citizens. Going beyond early efforts of automating existing services, government agencies are seeking for opportunities to use IT to enhance citizen involvement and participation. With the advent of Web 2.0, Gov 2.0 has gained popularity with promises of co-creation of value with citizens and businesses and harnessing the power of mass collaboration. As a step towards a “Gov-for-you” orientation, government agencies have attempted to promote user participation in Gov2.0 activities. However, there is still a lack of understanding of how government agencies can facilitate businesses and citizens to co-create value. In addition, it is unclear if citizens and businesses will adopt these Gov2.0 services. With the limited understanding and research in this area, this paper proposes two models in response to the gaps. First, it applies the theoretical perspectives of resource-based view and value co-creation to obtain a deeper understanding of how government agencies can facilitate users (businesses and citizens) to participate. Second, we apply the perspective of service acceptance to explain the antecedents of adoption of Gov2.0 services. Together, these two models expect to inform research and practice on Gov2.0, an increasing trend in e-government.
IN SEARCH OF THE LINK BETWEEN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND LEGITIMACY

i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ii PREFACE . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility . 3 2.1. Defining Corporate Social Responsibility. 4 2.2. External CSR Drivers. 7 2.3. Internal CSR Drivers. 9 2.4. Literature on Corporate Social Responsibility . 10 2.4.1. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. 11 2.4.2. The Triple Bottom Line . 12 2.4. 3. Stakeholder Theory and Stakeholder Classification . 13 2.4. 4. The Corporate Social Performance Model . 16 2.5. Conclusion. 19 Chapter 3: Legitimacy . 20 3.1 Organizational Legitimacy Defined . 21 3.1. 1. The Institutional Approach. 21 3.1. 2. The Strategic Approach. 23 3.2. Types of Organizational Legitimacy . 23 3.2.1. Pragmatic Legitimacy . 23 3.2.2. Moral Legitimacy . 24 3.2.3. Cognitive Legitimacy. 24 3.3. Managing Legitimacy. 26 3.4. Conclusion. 28 Chapter 4: CSR, Legitimacy & SMEs; our propositions . 29 4.1. CSR, Legitimacy & SMEs. 29 4.2. Propositions . 31 4.2.1. CSR. 31 4.2.2. Legitimacy . 33 4.2.3. CSR and Legitimacy . 35 Chapter 5: The Research Method. 37 5.1. Conceptual Model . 37 5.2. Type of Research . 38 5.3. The Companies . 39 5.4. Sample . 42 5.5. Implementation / Operationalization . 43 5.5.1. CSR. 43 5.5.2. Legitimacy . 43 5.5.3. CSR and Legitimacy . 44 In Search of the Link between CSR and Legitimacy Table of
Case-Based Reasoning with feature clustering

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of the similar past problems. Selecting important features to perform case retrieving can improve the efficiency of the large-scale CBR. In this paper, we select features based on attribute clustering. The representative attributes found in the clusters are thus used for indexing and representing cases such that retrieving similar cases based on representative attributes can reduce the execution time. In addition, the clustered attributes also make the CBR framework more flexible than other feature selection methods.
La singularidad según la educación personalizada en la era digital

Singularity, opening and autonomy are essential elements considered fundamental in «Personalized Education». The article delves into the consequences of the singularity of every day practice of teaching and learning in the current context characterized, among other features, by increasing digitization. In the light of the outcome, it follows that the unique and unreapetable being of the person must be considered in relation to the teaching and educational reality from planning, execution and assessment.Every training process has to adapt to each specific situation and the features andinterests of the student encouraging his/her research capacity and creativity. Theteacher adopts, among others, a role of trainee and assessment becomes a source of learning, improving in this way the quality of academic training.
Utilisation of telemedicine to assess energy expenditure and stability in older people with chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and falls are common in older people. Whilst aggressive blood pressure (BP) control is the main treatment, its effects are unknown. We have been evaluating a new technology capable of energy and stability monitoring in a patientpsilas home environment. 5 participants wore a portable monitor during modification of BP therapy. This small device, worn on the waist, contains two accelerometers allowing measurement of the force and direction of movement. No significant problems were reported. Data were collected on 89% of days. Energy expenditure appears lower during BP therapy reintroduction, than after withdrawal. 710 stability events were recorded. This well-tolerated system can provide high resolution data on both energy and stability. Although not significant, the reduction in energy expenditure may relate to changes in overall well being. Further work will evaluate the relevance of the large number of events seen.
Video stabilization using epipolar geometry

We present a new video stabilization technique that uses projective scene reconstruction to treat jittered video sequences. Unlike methods that recover the full three-dimensional geometry of the scene, this model accounts for simple geometric relations between points and epipolar lines. Using this level of scene understanding, we obtain the physical correctness of 3D stabilization methods yet avoid their lack of robustness and computational costs. Our method consists of tracking feature points in the scene and using them to compute fundamental matrices that model stabilized camera motion. We then project the tracked points onto the novel stabilized frames using epipolar point transfer and synthesize new frames using image-based frame warping. Since this model is only valid for static scenes, we develop a time-view reprojection that accounts for nonstationary points in a principled way. This reprojection is based on modeling the dynamics of smooth inertial object motion in three-dimensional space and allows us to avoid the need to interpolate stabilization for moving objects from their static surrounding. Thus, we achieve an adequate stabilization when both the camera and the objects are moving. We demonstrate the abilities of our approach to stabilize hand-held video shots in various scenarios: scenes with no parallax that challenge 3D approaches, scenes containing nontrivial parallax effects, videos with camera zooming and in-camera stabilization, as well as movies with large moving objects.
Cytoplasmic deadenylase Ccr4 is required for translational repression of LRG1 mRNA in the stationary phase

Ccr4 is a major cytoplasmic deadenylase involved in mRNA poly(A) tail shortening in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have previously shown that Ccr4 negatively regulates expression of LRG1 mRNA encoding a GTPase-activating protein for the small GTPase Rho1, a component of cell wall integrity pathway, and deletion of LRG1 suppresses the temperature-sensitive growth defect of the ccr4Δ mutant. We have also shown that the slow growth of the ccr4Δ mutant is suppressed by deletion of another gene, PBP1, encoding a poly(A)-binding protein (Pab1)-binding protein 1; however, the underlying mechanism still remains unknown. In this study, we investigated how ccr4Δ and pbp1Δ mutations influence on the length of poly(A) tail and LRG1 mRNA and protein levels during long-term cultivation. In the log-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, LRG1 poly(A) tail was longer and LRG1 mRNA level was higher than those in the log-phase wild-type (WT) cells. Unexpectedly, Lrg1 protein level in the ccr4Δ mutant cells was comparable with that in WT. In the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, LRG1 poly(A) tail length was still longer and LRG1 mRNA level was still higher than those in WT cells. In contrast to the log phase, Lrg1 protein level in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells was maintained much higher than that in the stationary-phase WT cells. Consistently, active translating ribosomes still remained abundant in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, whereas they were strongly decreased in the stationary-phase WT cells. Loss of PBP1 reduced the LRG1 poly(A) tail length as well as LRG1 mRNA and protein levels in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells. Our results suggest that Ccr4 regulates not only LRG1 mRNA level through poly(A) shortening but also the translation of LRG1 mRNA, and that Pbp1 is involved in the Ccr4-mediated regulation of mRNA stability and translation.
Finite Element modelling of Pneumatic Artificial Muscle

The intention of this article is to introduce and overview Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs) as whole and to discuss on its numerical modelling, namely using the Finite Element (FE) Method, to understand more on its behaviour in generating force for actuation. The construction of PAMS mainly consist of flexible, inflatable membranes, having orthotropic material behaviour. The main properties shaping the PAMs will be explained in terms of their load-carrying capacity and low weight in assembly. Discussion on their designs and capacity to function as locomotion device in robotics applications will be laid out, followed by FE modelling to represent PAMs overall structural behaviour under any potential operational conditions.
Integrating Content-Based Visual Access Methods into a Medical Case Database

In the computer vision domain, content-based access methods to all forms of multimedia data are a hot research topic. A large number of tools have been developed to find documents in multimedia repositories and to manage the (visual) information that has been created, for example by the Internet. Although no general breakthrough has been achieved with respect to searching diverse databases with automatically extracted features, the techniques have gained acceptance in a few well-defined domains such as image agencies (Corbis) and trademark research. In the medical domain, the number of digital images produced and used for teaching, diagnostics and therapy is rising in a similar way as in other domains. Still, there are only a few image retrieval systems that use automatically extracted visual features for content-based access to medical image databases. This article describes the use of an open source image retrieval system (GIFT) that has been adapted for the use with medical images using the image case database CasImage that has been developed and maintained by the University Hospital of Geneva and that is in routine use. The first results show the potential of this technique to retrieve similar cases from a case database. This is an important task for teaching and might also become important for diagnostics using case-based reasoning, for example. For the use as a diagnostic tool, it is foreseen to specialize the visual features for the domain of lung image retrieval, using high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images.
RhoA activation participates in rearrangement of processing bodies and release of nucleated AU-rich mRNAs

Cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granules, known as processing bodies (P-bodies), contain a common set of conserved RNA-processing enzymes, and mRNAs with AU-rich elements (AREs) are delivered to P-bodies for translational silencing. Although the dynamics of P-bodies is physically linked to cytoskeletal network, it is unclear how small GTPases are involved in the P-body regulation and the ARE-mRNA metabolism. We found here that glucose depletion activates RhoA GTPase and alters the P-body dynamics in HeLa cells. These glucose-depleted effects are reproduced by the overexpression of the RhoA-subfamily GTPases and conversely abolished by the inhibition of RhoA activation. Interestingly, both RhoA activation and glucose depletion inhibit the mRNA accumulation and degradation. These findings indicate that RhoA participates in the stress-induced rearrangement of P-bodies and the release of nucleated ARE-mRNAs for their stabilization.