Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Assisted Identification Reveals Hidden Red Algae Diversity from the Burica Peninsula, Pacific Panama

The marine flora of Panama harbors a rich diversity of green, red and brown algae, and despite chronic understudy, it is reported as the second most diverse marine flora along the Pacific Central American coast, with 174 macroalgal species. Extensive new collections and molecular assisted identification (MAI) by an international team of researchers has revealed an even greater diversity for this country. Here, the intertidal and shallow subtidal marine flora of the remote Burica Peninsula is introduced. This area is characterized by an uplifted extensive intertidal flat composed of firm, sedimentary benthos known as mudrock, on which abundant algal communities thrive, even during extended periods of exposure. A collection of nearly 200 brown, green and red macroalgae specimens representing the first marine floristic inventory of this region was made in January 2011, and results of analyses of 45 foliose red algae specimens are presented. DNA sequence data for several loci (rbcL-3P; COI-5P; UPA) have been generated for molecular assisted identification and to guide morphological assessments. Twenty-six species were identified among the specimens including 21 new Pacific Panama records, as well as previously unrealized transisthmian distributions, and two new species, Neorubra parvolacertoides sp. nov. and Grateloupia irregularis sp. nov.
Electoral turnout in Johannesburg: socio-economic and political determinants

Numerous factors have been advanced to explain electoral turnout. This paper puts the emphasis on two main categories of determinants: socio-economic and political. Numerous studies have shown that turnout increases with the socio-economic status of the voters. In the Johannesburg case, this study shows that, contrary to the usual finding, turnout is higher in the most deprived wards. Among the political factors, this paper studies the influence of the closeness of the electoral race on turnout. And there again the result is different from the usual one. In Johannesburg, turnout decreases with the degree of electoral closeness. Different specificities of the South African political situation may help to understand these unexpected results.
Adaptive Weighting of Structural Dependency and Textual Similarity in Software Architecture Recovery

Software architecture recovery techniques are often adopted to derive a module view of software from its source code in case software architecture documents are unavailable or outdated. The module view is one of the most important perspectives of software architecture. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to derive a module view by adaptively integrating structural dependency and textual similarity. Our approach utilizes Newman modularity and Shannon information entropy to determine the appropriate weights of the dependencies during the integration. We apply our approach to various open-source projects and show the experimental results validating the effectiveness of the approach. key words: software architecture recovery, module view, dependency, Newman modularity, information entropy
Cell‐penetrating peptides: from molecular mechanisms to therapeutics

The recent discovery of new potent therapeutic molecules which do not reach the clinic due to poor delivery and low bioavailability have made the delivery of molecules a keystone in therapeutic development. Several technologies have been designed to improve cellular uptake of therapeutic molecules, including CPPs (cell‐penetrating peptides), which represent a new and innovative concept to bypass the problem of bioavailability of drugs. CPPs constitute very promising tools and have been successfully applied for in vivo. Two CPP strategies have been described to date; the first one requires chemical linkage between the drug and the carrier for cellular drug internalization, and the second is based on the formation of stable complexes with drugs, depending on their chemical nature. The Pep and MPG families are short amphipathic peptides, which form stable nanoparticles with proteins and nucleic acids respectively. MPG‐ and Pep‐based nanoparticles enter cells independently of the endosomal pathway and efficiently deliver cargoes, in a fully biologically active form, into a large variety of cell lines, as well as in animal models. This review focuses on the structure—function relationship of non‐covalent MPG and Pep‐1 strategies, and their requirement for cellular uptake of biomolecules and applications in cultured cells and animal models.
Hierarchical parallel markov models for interactive social agents

In this report I present hierarchical parallel Markov models for the creation of interactive social agents for video games and entertainment. The approach extends existing, popular character technologies for social, communicative interaction. First, adding the knowledge of temporal interaction structure enables natural language interaction on a time scale much longer than current chatterbot technologies. Second, adding support for hierarchical interaction decomposition, where an interaction is represented as a collection of smaller, simpler elements, simplifies the authoring of complex engagement. Third, adding support for the concurrent engagement of these elements enables engagement in interleaved, naturalistic communication. The resulting decomposition supports redundancy of representation, graceful performance degradation through the simultaneous engagement of behaviors on different levels of abstraction, and the stochastic approximation mechanism increases robustness in the face of noise and ambiguity. In this report, I present the details of hierarchical parallel Markov models, I examine two entertainment agents that use this technique, and explain the implementational details of how such an approach can be used in the development of future systems.
Modelling speaker and channel variability using deep neural networks for robust speaker verification

We propose to improve the performance of i-vector based speaker verification by processing the i-vectors with a deep neural network before they are fed to a cosine distance or probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) classifier. To this end we build on an existing model that we refer to as Non-linear Within Class Normalization (NWCN) and introduce a novel Speaker Classifier Network (SCN). Both models deliver impressive speaker verification performance, showing a 56% and 68% relative improvement over standard i-vectors when combined with a cosine distance backend. The NWCN model also reduces the equal error rate for PLDA from 1.78% to 1.63%. We also test these models under the constraints of domain mismatch, i.e. when no in-domain training data is available. Under these conditions, SCN features in combination with cosine distance performs better than the PLDA baseline, achieving an equal error rate of 2.92% as compared to 3.37%.
Diversification Strategy and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms

While many scholars have examined the business group affiliation–performance relationship, very few have examined the role that industry and diversification (related versus unrelated) strategy plays in this focal relationship (Carney et al., 2011). I provide empirical evidence that the effect of diversified business groups on the performance of affiliated firms is dependent on (a) the industry to which the firm belongs and (b) the type of diversification strategy followed by the group. I have found that in the chemical and allied products industry, the return on total assets (ROA) of firms has a negative relationship with unrelated diversification, while it has a positive relationship in the transportation equipment industry. However, with related diversification, ROA of firms in the chemical and allied products industry has a positive relationship, while it has a negative relationship with firms in the transportation equipment industry.
On Sample Size Determination in Multi-Armed Confirmatory Adaptive Designs

An important application of confirmatory adaptive designs is the data-driven selection of treatment arms in multi-armed trials. A general methodology for adaptive designs is based on the combination testing principle. Using this principle, selection of treatment arms in multi-armed designs, recalculation of sample size, and more general data-driven changes to the design are possible without undermining type I error control. In this paper we consider aspects related to the sample size determination for multi-armed designs. We assess sample size calculations that are based on ad hoc formulas such as the Bonferroni correction. An important aspect will be the choice of the control group sample size. We further consider the weighting scheme in the combination testing approach. Our assessment is restricted to two-stage designs. In general, simulation tools will be necessary to assess the statistical properties of these designs.
Assisted Housing and Neighborhood Poverty Dynamics, 1977 to 2008

Changes in housing policy have led to the geographic deconcentration of assisted housing, with assisted units now located in more and lower-poverty neighborhoods. Little research examines how the changing location of assisted housing shapes neighborhood poverty rates. I use propensity score matching to estimate how neighborhood poverty rates changed as assisted housing was gained or lost from 1977 to 2008 using a national panel data set. Neighborhood poverty rates increased when neighborhoods gained assisted housing units, with larger impacts when neighborhoods gained many assisted units. Neighborhoods that lost assisted units also became poorer. However, losing assisted units had a negative effect on poverty rates: Poverty rates increased less compared with neighborhoods that did not lose units. Therefore, removing assisted housing from high-poverty neighborhoods slowed, but did not reverse, poverty rate increases. These findings emphasize the durability of neighborhood poverty and inequality even in the face of drastic policy changes.
The Effects of Corporate Governance on the Relationship between Innovative Efforts and Performance1

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of managerial share ownership, CEO duality and board independence on the relationship between innovative efforts and performance. The study is motivated by the observation that despite the widely held belief that innovative efforts are crucial to firms' survival, previous studies were unable to provide any evidence in support of this belief. It addresses this incongruity by focusing on the effects of corporate governance on the relationship between innovative efforts and performance. Specifically, this study predicts and finds that managerial share ownership has a positive effect on this relationship while CEO duality has a negative effect. Contrary to the hypothesis, this study finds that board independence also has a negative effect on the relationship between innovative efforts and performance. This contradictory result is, however, consistent with the managerial-incentive theory, which proposes that inside directors are in a better position than outside directors to motivate managers to undertake profitable projects because they have superior access to firms' specific information.
Quality of Life and Disease Severity Are Correlated in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Quantification of quality of life (QOL) related to disease severity is important in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), because the assessment provides additional information to the traditional objective clinical scoring systems. To document the impact of AD on QOL for both children and adults as well as to quantify the relationship with disease severity, QOL assessments were performed over a 6-month period on 415 patients with AD. A questionnaire derived from the Infants' Dermatitis Quality of Life Index (IDQOL), the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was used to determine the QOL for 71 infants, 197 children and 147 adults, respectively. To measure AD severity, both the Rajka & Langeland scoring system and the Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index were used. The mean scores were as follows: 7.7 ± 5.5 for IDQOL, 6.6 ± 6.3 for CDLQI, and 10.7 ± 7.9 for DLQI. In conclusion, these QOL scores are correlated with AD severity scores as estimated by the Rajka & Langeland severity score and the SCORAD. The outcome of the QOL instruments in this study demonstrates that atopic dermatitis of both children and adults affects their QOL.
Corruption and Corporate Finance Patterns: An International Perspective

This study demonstrates the importance of government corruption in shaping corporate finance patterns across countries. Corruption contributes to a more prevalent and higher degree of corporate equity ownership concentration and more reliance on bank financing in raising external finance. It argues that corporate governance under corrupt governments is particularly poor. Firm management, taking advantage of political capital acquired through bribery, is especially powerful in expropriating from outside investors. Ownership concentration and reliance on bank financing are means of mitigating the corporate governance problem under a corrupt government. Copyright 2008 The Author. Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Experiential Learning in a Common Core Curriculum: Student Expectations, Evaluations, and the Way Forward

Universities are becoming increasingly conscious of how learning activities align with the attributes they desire in their graduates. Experiential learning is viewed by many institutions as an essential activity for students to gain attributes such as problem solving skills, observation skills, advocacy, and critical thinking. An experiential learning activity, in the form of an environmental fieldtrip, was examined in the context of a university’s new common core curriculum. Student expectations were compared to evaluation of the fieldtrip itself, and guidelines for future trip outings are made in consideration of both published works and our own experiences. The ability of departments and faculties to engage students in beneficial and enjoyable learning will be of utmost importance in attracting student enrollment. This is particularly pressing in universities that are transitioning into less differentiated first year intakes.
Enhanced docking with the mining minima optimizer: Acceleration and side‐chain flexibility

The ligand–protein docking algorithm based on the Mining Minima method has been substantially enhanced. First, the basic algorithm is accelerated by: (1) adaptively determining the extent of each energy well to help avoid previously discovered energy minima; (2) biasing the search away from ligand positions at the surface of the receptor to prevent the ligand from staying at the surface when large sampling regions are used; (3) quickly testing multiple different ligand positions and orientations for each ligand conformation; and (4) tuning the source code to increase computational efficiency. These changes markedly shorten the time needed to discover an accurate result, especially when large sampling regions are used. The algorithm now also allows user‐selected receptor sidechains to be treated as mobile during the docking procedure. The energies associated with the mobile side chains are computed as if they belonged to the ligand, except that atoms at the boundary between side chains and the rigid backbone are treated specially. This new capability is tested for several well‐known ligand/protein systems, and preliminary application to an enzyme whose substrate is unknown—the recently solved hypothetical protein YecO (HI0319) from Haemophilus influenzae—indicates that side‐chains relaxations allow candidate substrates of various sizes to be accommodated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 23: 1656–1670, 2002
Labor Supply Differences between Married Heterosexual Women and Partnered Lesbians: A Semi‐Parametric Decomposition Approach

Using 2000 U.S. Census data we illustrate the importance of accounting for household specialization in lesbian couples when examining labor supply differences between heterosexual married and partnered lesbian women. Specifically, we find the labor supply gap is substantially larger between married women and partnered lesbian women who specialize in market production (primary earners) than between married women and partnered lesbian women who specialize in household production (secondary earners). Applying a semi‐parametric decomposition approach we show that controlling for children significantly reduces the gap between married women and secondary lesbian earners both in terms of the decision to remain attached to the labor market (the extensive margin) and annual hours of work conditional on working (the intensive margin). Further, the effect of controlling for children primarily reduces the percentage of secondary lesbian earners working extremely high annual hours.
The Interactive Effect of Market Competition and Use of MAS Information on Performance: Evidence From the Upscale Hotels

This study examined the combined effect of market competition and managers'use of the information (provided by management accounting system, or MAS) on departmental performance in four- and five-star hotels and resorts in Australia. A self-administered postal survey was used to collect the data from Room Department and Food and Beverage Department managers working in large hotels and resorts. Usable questionnaires from 112 department managers working in 56 large hotels and resorts were received. Although the results reveal a significant combined (interaction) effect of market competition and managers' use of the information (provided by MAS) on nonfinancial performance, no such effect was found for the financial performance. In addition, the results indicated that controlling for different demographic variables did not alter the results for nonfinancial and financial performance.
Don't stay local - extrapolation analytics for Dupire's local volatility

A robust implementation of a Dupire type local volatility model is an important issue for every option trading floor. Typically, this (inverse) problem is solved in a two step procedure : (i) a smooth parametrization of the implied volatility surface; (ii) computation of the local volatility based on the resulting call price surface. Point (i), and in particular how to extrapolate the implied volatility in extreme strike regimes not seen in the market, has been the subject of numerous articles, starting with Lee (Math. Finance, 2004). In the present paper we give direct analytic insights into the asymptotic behavior of local volatility at extreme strikes.
Hedging Effectiveness of Constant and Time-Varying Hedge Ratio in Indian Commodity Futures Markets: Evidence from the Multi-Commodity Exchange

The present study examines the performance of various hedge ratios estimated under different econometric models, viz., the conventional OLS model, the VECM, and the Multivariate-GARCH (M-GARCH) with error correction model, and compares them in terms of variance minimization criterion over the in-sample and out-of-sample periods for the selected commodity market indices of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), viz., MCXCOMDEX, MCXAGRI, MCXENERGY, and MCXMETAL. The data span of the study is from June 8, 2005 to September 31, 2010. Out of the total observations of the respective commodity market indices, the last 60 observations were used to facilitate out-of-sample hedge ratio performance comparison. By and large, the comparison of both in-sample and out-of-sample hedging performances in the present study indicates that the hedging strategy obtained from time-varying hedge ratio, which minimizes the conditional variance, performs better than the alternative models for all commodity market indices, except MCXAGRI. This implies that in selecting the most appropriate hedge ratio, the investor’s degree of risk aversion might play a relatively important role. This suggests that risk aversion being the major goal of an investor, the dynamic M-GARCH model hedging strategy performs best in reducing the conditional variance of the hedged portfolio.
Islamic finance and ethical investment

Reports that there are lessons which can be learned from the Western ethical “green” finance industry for Islamic investors. States that these are that the criteria for investment selection are different, and the modes of permissible financing may also differ, but there are screening and reporting techniques which are of potential importance to both groups of investors. First addresses ethical fund management issues, which should shed some light on the dilemmas facing Islamic investors. Goes on to consider criteria for haram and halal investment, as well as the implications of company capital gearing or leverage for riba. Covers investment specific issues, including the treatment of capital gains in Islam and the evaluation of the conduct of market participants. Finally, surveys emerging markets in the Islamic world, as these are of obvious interest to Muslim investors wishing to broaden their portfolios.
Solution to the Dilemma of the Migrant Labor Shortage and the Rural Labor Surplus in China

Since 2003, China's labor market has been facing two coexisting crises: a rural labor surplus and a severe shortage of migrant labor. Using data from the 2000 China Health and Nutrition Survey questionnaire, which covers 288 villages in 36 counties, this paper attempts to find a solution to this dilemma. Specifically, a multinomial logit model, a Mincer-type model and a probit model are applied to examine the effect of educational level on the employment choices for rural laborers, and on the wages and the employment status of migrants. Based on the results of our analysis, we propose the implementation of policy aimed at increasing the educational level of rural dwellers, in conjunction with other policies to eliminate all artificial barriers, to facilitate the migration of rural laborers.
A Contextual Analysis of Nervous Force in Medico-Scientific and Literary Writings in English of the Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Centuries

This study concerns the context of use of the term “nervous force,” as it appears in scientific and literary publications in English over the course of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century. The context of use, loss, or waste of nervous force and the context of nervous force as an expression of an attribute are analyzed in 189 scientific and 105 literary writings. Both contexts appeared in literary writings, where nervous force expresses the attributes of strength, forcefulness, vigor, or energy and use, loss or waste of nervous force explains such nonmorbid conditions as why someone is tired or needs rest. Only the context of use-loss-waste appeared in the medico-scientific literature, but here it explained both nonmorbid conditions (for example, effects of old age) and morbid conditions (like epilepsy). Changes in the number of these references give insights into the medico-scientific and the literary disciplines. Discussions include why nervous force is associated with explanation of disease, the persistence of its use in this capacity, and its influence on a similar use in literary writings.