Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Collaboration Enigma : Does Technology Entice People to Share Their Knowledge , Experience and Capabil i t ies with Others ?

The 21 century offers innovative technological tools to communicate and collaborate. Many of these tools are based on the concept of user participation. The input might be an informative narrative (e.g., Wiki), entertaining content (e.g., YouTube), personal experiences (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter), or opinions and reviews regarding various issues. Nevertheless, the rational for personal contribution to the public sphere is not obvious. This study presents a paradigm that explains the multilayer motive structure that might encourages people to collaborate under the umbrella of a technological social network. The model tiers include personal and social aspects, tangible and intangible rewards, and more . The model was tested using a set of questionnaires, designed to evaluate the impact of various incentives on the nature of the contributions. We evaluated people’s motives by using continuous and repetitive integrated questionnaires. We then assembled a database which was mined thoroughly using text and content analyses. We believe that social network collaboration manifests the coming organizational major change. Understanding the motives for this collaboration might be essential for managers to succeed in the task of inspiring their teams to improve the overall performance.
COMPARISON OF CULTURE WITH THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION FOR DETECTION OF GENNITAL MYCOPLASMA

Aim: Genital mycoplasmas are known as sexually transmitted agents, causing mainly urethritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, spontaneous abortion, pyelonephritis, infertility, still birth, low birth weight, neonatal meningititis, and neonatal pneumonia. Mycoplasma infections not only jeopardize fertility but also pose a risk for infertility treatment and resulting pregnancies. Diagnosis of genital mycoplasma infections by bacterial conventional methods is very difficult. The aim of this study was to comparison of culture with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for to determine the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in the endocervical specimens from infertile women. Methods: 312 endocervical swab samples were taken from infertile women, and transported with a mycoplasma transport media. The culture was done with liquid-solid method. DNA was extracted by Cadieux method, and analyzed by PCR protocol with species-specific primers. Results: Genital mycoplasmas were detected in 35.5%( 111/312) specimens by both culture and PCR methods.16%(50/312) samples were PCR positive as well as culture positive, 23%(72/312) were positive only by PCR, and 2.8%(9/312) were positive only by culture. The sensitivity of 91.8% and 53% were found for PCR and culture respectively. Of the 111 positive specimens, 59 (53%) were positive only for U. urealyticum, 29(26%) were positive only for M. hominis and 23(20.7%) presented both organisms. Conclusion: Because of the potential adverse effects of mycoplasmas on the success rate of highly specialized infertility treatment, and their causal roles in several maternal complications of pregnancy and in neonatal morbidity and mortality, the rapid detection of mycoplasmas by PCR in infertile women could be important and necessary. The increased sensitivity and shorter time requirement of PCR support its further development for the diagnosis of mycoplasmas infections.
X-ray high-pressure study of Ti 2 AlN and Ti 2 AlC

The lattice parameters of Ti2AlN and Ti2AlC powders were measured as a function of pressure up to E50GPa, using a synchrotron radiation source and a diamond anvil cell. No phase transformations were observed. As for most related layered carbides and nitrides, such as Ti4AlN3 and Ti3SiC2, the compressibilities of Ti2AlN and Ti2AlC along the c-axes are larger than those along the a-axes. The bulk modulus of Ti2AlC at 18672GPa, is E10% higher than that of Ti2AlN at 16973GPa. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
DROP THE ROP Fine-grained Control-flow Integrity for the Linux Kernel

The introduction of W^X memory policies and the subsequent mitigation of return-to-user attacks, has rendered return-oriented programming (ROP) the most prominent exploitation method of kernel-level vulnerabilities. Control-flow integrity (CFI) is an effective defense against ROP, but despite its many refinements during the past decade and its recent deployment for the protection of user-space applications, it has received significantly less attention for the kernel setting. The few existing kernel-level CFI proposals either apply an overly permissible coarse-grained policy or do not support dynamically loadable kernel modules, making their deployment impractical for Linux. In this paper we present the design and implementation of kCFI, a fine-grained CFI implementation for commodity operating systems (OS) that fully supports the Linux kernel. By combining static analysis at both the source code and binary level, kCFI generates and a more restrictive CFI policy compared to previous proposals that is enforced through the addition of control flow checks during compilation. The side-effects of kCFI are minimal, as it does not harm any OS functionality or feature, and achieves a lower overhead compared to previous solutions, in the order of 8% and 2% for micro and macro benchmarks, respectively.
Analysis of contagion from the constant conditional correlation model with Markov regime switching

Over the last decades, the analysis of the transmissions of international nancial events has become the subject of many academic studies focused on multivariate volatility models volatility. The goal of this study is to evaluate the nancial contagion between stock market returns. The econometric approach employed was originally presented by Pelletier (2006), named Regime Switching Dynamic Correlation (RSDC). This methodology involves the combination of Constant Conditional Correlation Model (CCC) proposed by Bollerslev (1990) with Markov Regime Switching Model suggested by Hamilton and Susmel (1994). A modi cation was made in the original RSDC model, the introduction of the GJR-GARCH model formulated in Glosten, Jagannathan e Runkle (1993), on the equation of the conditional univariate variances to allow asymmetric e ects in volatility be captured. The database was built with the series of daily closing stock market indices in the United States (SP500), United Kingdom (FTSE100), Brazil (IBOVESPA) and South Korea (KOSPI) for the period from 02/01/2003 to 09/20/2012. Throughout the work the methodology was compared with others most widespread in the literature, and the model RSDC with two regimes was de ned as the most appropriate for the selected sample. The set of results provide evidence for the existence of nancial contagion between markets of the four countries considering the de nition of nancial contagion from the World Bank called very restrictive. Such a conclusion should be evaluated carefully considering the wide diversity of de nitions of contagion in the literature.
Surveys of environmental DNA (eDNA): a new approach to estimate occurrence in Vulnerable manatee populations

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is a technique used to non-invasively detect cryptic, low density, or logistically difficult-to-study species, such as imperiled manatees. For eDNA measurement, genetic material shed into the environment is concentrated from water samples and analyzed for the presence of target species. Cytochrome b quantitative PCR and droplet digital PCR eDNA assays were developed for the 3 Vulnerable manatee species: African, Amazonian, and both subspecies of the West Indian (Florida and Antillean) manatee. Environmental DNA assays can help to delineate manatee habitat ranges, high use areas, and seasonal population changes. To validate the assay, water was analyzed from Florida's east coast containing a high-density manatee population and produced 31 564 DNA molecules l(-1) on average and high occurrence (psi) and detection (p) estimates (psi = 0.84 [0.40-0.99]; p = 0.99 [0.95-1.00]; limit of detection 3 copies mu l(-1)). Similar occupancy estimates were produced in the Florida Panhandle (psi = 0.79 [0.54-0.97]) and Cuba (psi = 0.89 [0.54-1.00]), while occupancy estimates in Cameroon were lower (psi = 0.49 [0.09-0.95]). The eDNA-derived detection estimates were higher than those generated using aerial survey data on the west coast of Florida and may be effective for population monitoring. Subsequent eDNA studies could be particularly useful in locations where manatees are (1) difficult to identify visually (e.g. the Amazon River and Africa), (2) are present in patchy distributions or are on the verge of extinction (e.g. Jamaica, Haiti), and (3) where repatriation efforts are proposed (e.g. Brazil, Guadeloupe). Extension of these eDNA techniques could be applied to other imperiled marine mammal populations such as African and Asian dugongs.
Regional Economic Activity and Stock Returns

This paper studies the diffusion of regional macroeconomic information into stock prices. I identify all U.S. states that are economically relevant for a company through textual analysis of annual reports and find that economic activity forecasts of company-relevant regions positively predict cross-sectional stock returns. Information arising from all relevant states is more important than that relating to the headquarter state alone. These forecasts also predict firms’ performance and earnings surprises, suggesting that the return predictability stems from future cash flows that are gradually reflected in prices. Finally, regional information takes longer to be incorporated into prices among difficult-to-arbitrage stocks.
Spiral learning: An introductory course on reading LOTE online

In teaching reading, authentic texts with abundant lexical items and complex grammatical structures are typically used (Roche, 1992). Unfortunately, this has been a challenge for students enrolled in reading courses developed for English as a Second Language (ESL) as well as Languages Other Than English (LOTE) students. Students often translate word by word rather than applying learned strategies. To address this, an introductory online course on reading LOTE was developed. Texts and interactive activities in the new course selected words based on frequency lists and applied task-cycling (Levy & Kennedy, 2004) to reading strategies and grammatical structures. The desired outcome was “spiral learning”: while some words, strategies and structures were recycled between chapters, new words and structures were also introduced. The course was taught at the University of Victoria in Canada in 2009. Class observations showed that students responded well and used dictionaries less frequently than in previous courses.
BEYOND MULTI-TARGET TRACKING: STATISTICAL PATTERN ANALYSIS OF PEOPLE AND GROUPS

Every day millions and millions of surveillance cameras monitor the world, recording and collecting huge amount of data. The collected data can be extremely useful: from the behavior analysis to prevent unpleasant events, to the analysis of the traffic. However, these valuable data is seldom used, because of the amount of information that the human operator has to manually attend and examine. It would be like looking for a needle in the haystack. The automatic analysis of data is becoming mandatory for extracting summarized high-level information (e.g., John, Sam and Anne are walking together in group at the playground near the station) from the available redundant low-level data (e.g., an image sequence). The main goal of this thesis is to propose solutions and automatic algorithms that perform high-level analysis of a camera-monitored environment. In this way, the data are summarized in a high-level representation for a better understanding. In particular, this work is focused on the analysis of moving people and their collective behaviors. The title of the thesis, beyond multi-target tracking, mirrors the purpose of the work: we will propose methods that have the target tracking as common denominator, and go beyond the standard techniques in order to provide a high-level description of the data. First, we investigate the target tracking problem as it is the basis of all the next work. Target tracking estimates the position of each target in the image and its trajectory over time. We analyze the problem from two complementary perspectives: 1) the engineering point of view, where we deal with problem in order to obtain the best results in terms of accuracy and performance. 2) The neuroscience point of view, where we propose an attentional model for tracking and recognition of objects and people, motivated by theories of the human perceptual system. Second, target tracking is extended to the camera network case, where the goal is to keep a unique identifier for each person in the whole network, i.e., to perform person re-identification. The goal is to recognize individuals in diverse locations over different non-overlapping camera views or also the same camera, considering a large set of candidates. In this context, we propose a pipeline and appearancebased descriptors that enable us to define in a proper way the problem and to reach the-state-of-the-art results.
Barista: An Event-centric NOS Composition Framework for Software-Defined Networks

As the network operating system (NOS) is the strategic control center of a software-defined network (SDN), its design is critical to the welfare of the network. Contemporary research has largely focused on specialized NOSs that seek to optimize controller design across one or a few dimensions (e.g., scalability, performance, or security) due to fundamental differences in architectural trade-offs needed to support competing demands. We thus designed Barista, as a new framework that enables flexible and customizable instantiations of network operating systems (NOSs) supporting diverse design choices. The Barista framework incorporates two mechanisms to harmonize architectural differences across design choices: component synthesis and dynamic event control. First, the modular design of the Barista framework enables flexible composition of functionalities prevalent in contemporary SDN controllers. Second, its event-handling mechanism enables dynamic adjustment of control flows in a NOS. These capabilities allow operators to easily enable functionalities and dynamically handle associated events, thereby satisfying network operating requirements. Our results demonstrate that Barista can synthesize NOSs with many functionalities found in commodity NOSs with competitive performance profiles.
Prevalence and recurrence of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in eastern North American rivers

Knowledge of the prevalence of escaped farmed fishes in the wild is an essential first step to assessing the risk resulting from interactions between farmed and wild fishes. This is especially important in eastern North America, where Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture occurs near wild Atlantic salmon rivers and where many wild salmon popula- tions are severely depressed. Here, we review the literature on the incidence of escaped farmed salmon in eastern North American rivers, for which there has been no comprehensive compilation to date. Escaped farmed salmon have been found in 54 of 62 (87%) rivers investigated within a 300 km radius of the aquaculture industry since 1984, including 11 rivers that contain endangered salmon populations. Averaged among all investigations, the proportional representation of farmed salmon among adults entering the rivers from the sea was 9.2% (range 0% to 100%). Where data were sufficient to exam- ine temporal trends, farmed salmon proportions varied considerably over time, suggesting that escape events are episodic in nature. We conclude that escaped farmed salmon are sufficiently prevalent in eastern North American rivers to pose a potentially serious risk to the persistence of wild salmon populations, especially in those rivers that are adjacent to existing aquaculture sites.
Controlled Activation of Substrate Templating in Molecular Self-Assembly by Deprotonation

Templated assembly of organic molecules constitutes a promising approach for fabricating functional nanostructures at surfaces with molecular-scale control. Using the substrate template for steering the adsorbate growth enables creating a rich variety of molecular structures by tuning the subtle balance of intermolecular and molecule–surface interactions. On insulating surfaces, however, surface templating is largely absent due to the comparatively weak molecule–surface interactions compared to metallic substrates. Here, we demonstrate the activation of substrate templating in molecular self-assembly on a bulk insulator by controlled deprotonation of the adsorbed molecules upon annealing. Upon deposition of 4-iodobenzoic acid onto the natural cleavage plane of calcite held at room temperature, high molecular mobility is observed, indicating a small diffusion barrier. Molecular islands only nucleate at step edges. These islands show no commensurability with the underlying substrate, clearly indicating the .
Orofacial Cysticercosis: A Review

Cysticercosis is a common healthcare problem, especially in developing countries. Orofacial presentation of the disease is rare. It usually manifest as an asymptomatic nodular swelling that is difficult to differentiate clinically, from other orofacial swellings. Diagnosis of cysticercosis is usually not possible clinically owing to its rarity and asymptomatic presentation in orofacial region. Ultrasonography (USG) is the initial and most reliable diagnostic modality for cysticercosis. This review discusses the various oral manifestations, differentials and investigations for oral cysticercosis.
Use and evaluation of “virtual” patients for assessment of clinical pharmacy undergraduates

As an assessment task, third and fourth year undergraduate pharmacy students choose their own individual “virtual” patient using a purpose-designed computer program and respond to a clinical scenario that is randomly allocated to their individual patient according to defined limits. This then forms authentic teacher and peer-assessed, case-based assignments designed to evaluate clinical skills in undergraduate pharmacy students. Large numbers of students can be managed efficiently using the virtual patient program. The assignment has been completed by up to 360 students per year. The development of an authentic assessment tool has proven useful for the assessment of large numbers of undergraduate pharmacy students and is educationally sound. Students also interacted well with the program and felt it contributed to their learning. An evaluation questionnaire was completed by 212 students who reported that the assignment was relevant to the subject and the assessment improved their learning.
Saying goodbye and saying it well: Consequences of a (not) well-rounded ending.

Every period in life eventually comes to an often foreseeable end, yet research on how people cope with foreseeable endings is sparse. In 7 studies, we investigated whether people benefit from ending in a well-rounded way, that is, with the feeling that all that could have been done was done and with a sense of closure. Across all studies, we observed that well-rounded endings were associated with positive affect, little regret, and an easy transition into the next life phase. In Studies 1 through 3, the more well-rounded participants recalled a specific ending of a life phase the more they reported positive affect, less regret, and easier transitions into the next life phase. In Studies 4 through 6, we conceptually replicated these results, adjusting for possible memory biases in Studies 1 through 3. In Study 7, participants confronted with a well-rounded ending (vs. a not well-rounded ending) reported more positive affect and experienced an easier transition, as indicated by better performance on a Stroop task. The findings point to the importance of ending in a well-rounded way so as to experience more positive affect, fewer regrets, and easier life transitions.
In the driver's seat of BooleDozer

The paper describes some of the synthesis controls in the BooleDozer synthesis system which are unique in concept and implementation. Rather than attempting to achieve the maximum amount of optimization in the minimum amount of run time, the designer specifies the restructuring level which allows him to specify to what extent the original structure should be preserved. We also describe controls which affect the mapping process. Finally we describe the incremental synthesis feature. The run time can be accurately controlled by a run-time budgeting mechanism. <<ETX>>
Impact of Swiftlet ’ s Moult Season on the Value of Edible Bird Nests

 Abstract. Edible bird nest has been noted as one of the high value agriculture products in Malaysia. The value of raw bird nests harvested from swiftlet farms are determined by the cleanliness, shapes and colour appearance of the nests. During the dry season, raw bird nest harvested are found to be more dirty with impurities such as feathers and other elements as compared to those harvested in wet season. This study aims to identify the economic impact of swiftlet moult seasons on the value of edible bird nest. By analyzing the collected data, the relationship between cleaning wastage and the value of raw bird nests was established. The impact identified was the increase of 4% in wastage and 20% higher in cleaning cost. As the market price of clean edible bird nests constantly fluctuates, losses due to wastage and cleaning cost are absorbed by the raw bird nest sellers. Based on the survey, the economic impact on the raw bird nest pricing was between 20 27% lower than the normal trading prices.
Routing in Well-Separated Pair Decomposition Spanners

In this paper, we present a local routing scheme for the well-separated pair decomposition (WSPD) span-ners. Given a point set P in the plane, a WSPD span-ner is a geometric graph whose vertex set is P , and for each pair ( A; B ) in the well-separated pair decomposition of P , an edge is added to the graph from an arbitrary point a 2 A to an arbitrary point b 2 B . It is well-known that such a graph is a (1 + " )-spanner of P , where " > 0 is an input parameter used for constructing the well-separated pair decomposition. Our routing scheme assigns to each point p 2 P a routing table of size O ( 1 " 2 log (cid:11) ), where (cid:11) is the ratio of the furthest distance to the closest distance in P . It can then locally route a message from any arbitrary point p to any point q in P along a path whose length is at most 1 + " times the Euclidean distance between the pair of points. The WSPD construction considered in this paper is based on compressed quadtrees. To the best of our knowledge, this is the (cid:12)rst time that a local routing scheme with an optimal competitive routing ratio is considered for this famous class of WSPD spanners.