Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gadaa Journal/Barruulee Gadaa

For Africa, consensual democracy is a custom than an alien concept. Consensus is an art and performances rooted in the African culture that awaits cultivation. This paper aims to uncover the fundamental limitations of the Western liberal democracy; and the vitality of African consensual democracy. It makes use of the primary data collected through in-depth interviews with Gadaa (an egalitarian political system in Ethiopia) leaders and councilors. The researcher has conducted field work among the Guji-Oromo of south Ethiopia and collected primary data through non-participant observation of the Gadaa General Assembly. This assembly takes place regularly once every eight years, for the period of seven consecutive days. The final day of the assembly is often marked with power transfer – between the incoming and the outgoing Gadaa leaders. Analyzing the limitations of the Western liberal democracy, the paper proposes a ‘communitarian democracy’ – a move from an aggregate to consensual democracy. In particular, drawing lessons from the Gadaa system, the paper recommends seven procedural imperatives for the efficacy of consensual democracy in Africa and elsewhere: scaling, timing, social capital, adverse-inquisitive approach, structuring, duty first-rights second, and gender sensitivity. Finally, a concluding remark is also forwarded.
The Impact of Chinese Stock Market Turbulence

This paper studies the impact of Chinese stock market turbulence on the global markets over the period June 2015 to January 2016. We include the markets of seventeen districts and countries, which are the largest trading partnerships of China. Applying multivariate fractional integrated range-based volatility models, we find that the interdependence between the international markets increase during Chinese stock market crash period. In addition, we employ the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) index model to assess the directional volatility spillover between the eighteen markets. The results show that volatility transmission from one market to the others increases globally during the crash period. China is mainly a volatility receiver. It transmits volatility to the other markets via Hong Kong and Taiwan. US is the largest volatility transmitter, but its impact reduces at the beginning of the crash period. JEL Classification: C58, F36, G15
Does Mitigated Verbalization of Hedge Funds Affect Abnormal Stock Returns?

When acquiring significant ownership in a company, hedge funds with activism intentions are required to state their activism goals in the beneficial ownership report Schedule 13D. Prior research shows that the stock market reaction depends on the communicated activism objectives. Our research goes beyond and analyzes how hedge funds verbalize. In detail, we analyze how mitigated verbalization of hedge funds affects abnormal stock returns. Mitigated or vague verbalization might indicate a form of legal protection and the attempt to cover up intentions. However, it could also signal weakness or uncertainty. By conducting a textual analysis, we analyze the textual content provided in Schedule 13D and, if available, in activism-related letters to the CEO and board. Our research shows that mitigated and vague verbalization of hedge funds does not affect abnormal stock returns. Our results are relevant for investors who are required to disclose their intentions, associated consulting firms, as well as individuals who assess investments in hedge funds. JEL Classification: G14, G18, G23
Report of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition on a requestfor initial assessment for marketing of the marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 on novel foods and novel food ingredients

The company Fitoplancton Marino S.L. requested authorization to market the microalgae Tetraselmis chuii in the European Union as a seafood flavouring agent. This foodstuff has no history of use in any significant quantities in the European Union prior to 1997 and therefore comes within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 258/1997 on novel foods and novel food ingredients. The Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food safety and Nutrition (AESAN) takes the view that, according to the information provided, there is no indication that consumption of the species of marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii as a condiment, under the conditions proposed by the applicant, can produce adverse effects on health. The Committee concludes that the novel foodstuff presented for assessment meets the criteria for acceptance laid down by Regulation (EC) No 258/1997 on novel foods and novel food ingredients.
The Apprenticeship of Caring

How do nurses learn to be caring? This paper provides an insight into the apprenticeship of caring as perceived by clinical nurses. The results from a study that used ethnography as a research method have shown that both natural and professional exposures contribute to the nurses’ learned nature of caring. Indeed, the informants explained that their learning to care originated from their sociocultural background, values, and personal knowledge, as well as from education, role modeling, clinical experience, and the work environment. Ultimately, these findings could have significant implications for promoting caring within the educational, clinical, administrative, and research arenas in nursing.
Blister Formation in Film Insert Moulding

The formation of blister in the injection moulded parts, especially in the film insert moulded parts, is one of most significant causes of part rejection due to cosmetic requirements or functionality issues. The mechanism and physics of blister formation for molded parts are not well-understood by the state-of-the-art literature. The current paper increases the fundamental understanding of the causes for blister formation. In the experiment, a membrane strip of 5 mm in width was overmoulded with Polypropylene (PP), which formed a disc-shaped part with a diameter of 17.25 mm and a thickness of 500 µm. To investigate the influence of the processing parameters, a full factorial design of experiments (DoE) setup was conducted, including mould temperature (Tm), barrel temperature (Tb), injection speed (Vi) and packing pressure (Pp) as variables. The degree of blistering at the surface was characterized by the areal surface roughness parameters Spk and Smr1, measured with a confocal laser microscope. The measurements were taken on the 10 mm long section of the membrane surface in the centre of the moulded part across the entire width of the film. In addition, the film insert moulding (FIM)-process was simulated and the average shrinkage of the substrate material under the membrane was investigated. Eventually, a method and processing window could be defined that could produce blister-free parts.
Do Learning Communities Increase First Year College Retention?

Voluntary selection into experimental samples is ubiquitous and may lead researchers to question the external validity of experimental findings. We introduce tests for sample selection on unobserved variables to discern the generalizability of randomized control trials. We estimate the impact of a learning community on first-year college retention using an RCT, and employ our tests in this setting. Intent-to-treat and local-average-treatment-effect estimates reveal no discernable programmatic effects. Our tests reveal that the experimental sample is positively selected on unobserved characteristics suggesting limited external validity. Finally, we compare observational and experimental estimates, considering the internal and external validity of both approaches to reflect on within-study comparisons themselves.
Identiﬁcation of Promoter-Enhancer Interactions from Hi-C Data using Uniﬁed Probabilistic Models and Hierarchical Topological Domains

Recent technological advances allow us to explore the three-dimensional structure of the DNA in vivo, using proximity-ligation methods as 3C and Hi-C. These allow us to map in high-throughput physical DNA-DNA interactions between two loci. Analysis of Hi-C data, in human and mouse cells, identiﬁed the organization of chromosomal DNA in concentrated 200Kb to 4Mb-long structures, often referred to as topologically associating domains (TADs). While these topological domains were shown to play important role in almost all processes related to DNA, including replication, chromatin packaging, and transcription, they are particularly important in gene regulation, where topological domains conﬁne the scope of regulatory DNA regions (enhancers) to nearby genes. Here, we present PSYCHIC, a computational approach for analyzing Hi-C data and identifying Promoter-Enhancer interactions. We developed a uniﬁed probabilistic model to estimate the likelihood of interactions within and across topological domains, and use dynamic programming algorithms to optimally segment the genome into topological domains. Our algorithm then uses a physical power-law model to estimate the density of each domain, and repeatedly “merges” neighboring TADs to form an optimal hierarchical architecture of the chromosome from topological domains. As we show, this hierarchical structure together with a bilinear power law model allows us to analyze Hi-C data and reconstruct a local background model, which is used to identify over-represented promoter-enhancer interactions. We applied our approach to published Hi-C experiments in multiple conditions, and compiled a genome-wide catalogue of 320,737 putative enhancers targeting 27,497 genes.
Robust estimation of revenues of Polish small companies by NACE section and province

Sample surveys conducted by the Central Statistical Office are currently the main source of information about revenues earned by small companies. Given the sample size, sampling scheme and the estimation method used in the survey, reliable estimates can only be produced for domains at the level of country, province or section of business classification. The market economy, however, creates a demand for local level information about businesses and economic conditions, which is provided on a regular basis at short intervals. The article describes an empirical study designed to test a small area estimation method. The goal of the study is to apply a robust version of the Fay-Herriot model, which, unlike the classical Fay-Herriot model, makes it possible to meet the assumption of normality of random effects under the presence of outliers. These alternative models will be supplied with auxiliary variables in order to estimate revenues of small businesses (with between 10 and 49 employees). Other sources of data used in the analysis include the DG1 report, Poland’s largest enterprise survey, and administrative registers. The study is expected to provide information about patterns and characteristics of the small business sector in Poland for territorial units on low level of aggregation.
Risk Analysis of a Supercritical Fluid Extraction Plant using a Safety Software

Risk Analysis of a Supercritical Fluid Extraction Plant using a Safety Software Angela Iovine, Gian P. Leone, Vincenzo Larocca, Giuseppe Di Sanzo, Patrizia Casella, Tiziana Marino, Dino Musmarra, Antonio Molino Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Roma, 29 81031 Aversa, Italy ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Territorial and Production System Sustainability Department, CR Portici Piazzale Enrico Fermi, 1 80055 Portici (NA), Italy ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Casaccia, Via Anguillarese 301, Rome (RM), 00123, Italy ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR ENEA Trisaia, SS Jonica 106, km 419+500, 75026 Rotondella (MT), Italy antonio.molino@enea.it
SOCIAL MALICE BY HOUSING TYPE

This study reports research on the relationship between crime and residential environments of different housing types/systems and argues that varied building systems have an independent effect on crime relative to spatial attributes of their layouts. Security against social malice has always raised serious concerns to gauge sense of community in our own neighborhoods where we live and at times work and play. Studies have shown that crime is related to socioeconomic characteristics (familial status, income and youth) and that these socioeconomic characteristics were found to be strong predictors of crime (Sampson and Groves, 1989) in socially disorganized residential communities. In addition, research has also been pursued to develop a causal links with physical attributes of design (Newman, 1972, 1992; Brown, 1993 and others). More recent studies have argued that connectivity and integration of layouts produce strong correlations with certain types of crimes (Hillier, 1988, and 1996). A spatial and crime study of fourteen housing developments (cooperatives, private rental apartments and public housing) of low and moderate-income families, governing three different housing systems is conducted in Southeast and Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. All case study sites are located proximate to each other. Five years (1990-94) of reported crime data was used to measure variations in crimes against property and persons. The space syntax technique (Hillier and Hanson, 1984) was used to generate spatial data on spatial characteristics of layouts for each development. The analysis reveals that different housing types/systems have an independent effect on crime relative to organization of their spatial layouts when controlled for their socioeconomic characteristics (youth, marital status and income). The results show that cooperative housing communities had significantly fewer crimes than in rental and public housing communities, where the distribution of crime against property and persons significantly varied in the integrated or the segregated areas in each of the housing system. This study provides impetus to further explore and replicate the findings of similar studies, to develop housing policies in conjunction with designing of spatial layouts that must foster opportunities for informal social control among residents to better protect their residential environments against crime.
USAGE NOTES FOR PACKAGE CHEBPOL

Interpolating a function f means to find a reasonably behaved function, an interpolant g which agrees with f on some points. I.e. given N ∈ N we have {xi}i=1 in the domain of f , and the interpolant g satisifies g(xi) = f(xi) for 1 ≤ i ≤ N . The points xi are often referred to as knots. We limit ourselves to functions R 7→ R, or even compactly supported functions [−1, 1] 7→ R. Which method to use depends first and foremost on one thing. Can we choose the points xi freely? If n > 1, can we choose the points as a grid, i.e. a Cartesian product of single-dimension points? Say we have a function f(x, y) defined in a square, i.e. for {(x, y) | − 1 ≤ x ≤ 1 and − 1 ≤ y ≤ 1}. Can we pick our knots exactly as we wish, e.g. as a Cartesian grid X × Y = {(x, y) |x ∈ X and y ∈ Y } for some X and Y ? If we want our interpolant g to be a polynomial, there is a canonical way to do this. The knots should preferably be the Cartesian product of Chebyshev knots. The Chebyshev knots are not uniform, but a special set of knots which cluster near the end points. If we are not free to choose the knots as we wish, but say we must stick to uniformly spaced knots, say X = {−1,−0.9,−0.8, . , 0.8, 0.9, 1.0}, it is not particularly wise to interpolate with a polynomial. The reason is that polynomial interpolants can get gradually worse as the number of knots increases. Some functions can, for some reason or the other, only be evaluated in irregular grids, or should have a denser grid near certain areas. Some functions can’t be evaluated at all, they only come as values in some scattered points. Here are typical examples in two dimensions.
Participatory design with proxies: developing a desktop-PDA system to support people with aphasia

In this paper, we describe the design and preliminary evaluation of a hybrid desktop-handheld system developed to support individuals with aphasia, a disorder which impairs the ability to speak, read, write, or understand language. The system allows its users to develop speech communication through images and sound on a desktop computer and download this speech to a mobile device that can then support communication outside the home. Using a desktop computer for input addresses some of this population's difficulties interacting with handheld devices, while the mobile device addresses stigma and portability issues. A modified participatory design approach was used in which proxies, that is, speech-language pathologists who work with aphasic individuals, assumed the role normally filled by users. This was done because of the difficulties in communicating with the target population and the high variability in aphasic disorders. In addition, the paper presents a case study of the proxy-use participatory design process that illustrates how different interview techniques resulted in different user feedback.
A Machine Learning based Anomaly Detection Method for NFV Management

Since the concept of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has been proposed, telcos and service providers have leveraged these concepts to provide their services more efficiently. However, as the virtual network in the data centers becomes more complex, a variety of new network management problems has risen, such as resource allocation, fault management, etc. To deal with these management problems, it is necessary to monitor and analyze resource usage and traffic load of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) operating on the virtual network. And there have been many attempts to develop technologies that enable network management without human intervention. Many of these attempts based on machine learning techniques are limited to applying arbitrarily chosen machine learning algorithms to detect general resource usage-related anomalies such as high CPU consumption and memory leak. In this thesis, we propose a more targeted approach to detect VNFs’ abnormal states
Dysarthric Speech Recognition with Lattice-Free MMI

Recognising dysarthric speech is a challenging problem as it differs in many aspects from typical speech, such as speaking rate and pronunciation. In the literature the focus so far has largely been on handling these variabilities in the framework of HMM/GMM and cross-entropy based HMM/DNN systems. This paper focuses on the use of state-of-the-art sequence-discriminative training, in particular lattice-free maximum mutual information (LF-MMI), for improving dysarthric speech recognition. Through a systematic investigation on the Torgo corpus we demonstrate that LF-MMI performs well on such atypical data and compensates much better for the low speaking rates of dysarthric speakers than conventionally trained systems. This can be attributed to inherent aspects of current speech recognition training regimes, like frame subsampling and speed perturbation, which obviate the need for some techniques previously adopted specifically for dysarthric speech.
Health Insurance Eligibility, Utilization of Medical Care, and Child Health

The poor health status of children in the U.S. relative to other industrialized nations has motivated recent efforts to extend insurance coverage to underprivileged children. There is little past evidence that extending eligibility for public insurance to previously ineligible groups will increase health status or even utilization of medical resources. Using data from the Current Population Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, and state-level data on child mortality, we examine the utilization and health effects of eligibility for public insurance. Our models are identified by the recent expansions of the Medicaid program to low income children. We find that these expansions roughly doubled the fraction of children eligible for Medicaid between 1984 and 1992; by 1992, almost 1/3 of all children were eligible. But takeup of these expansions was much less than full even among otherwise uninsured children. Despite this takeup problem, we find that eligibility for Medicaid significantly increased the utilization of medical care along a number of dimensions. Medicaid eligibility was associated with large increases in care delivered in physician's offices, although there was some increase in care in hospital settings as well. While there was no effect of eligibility on parentally-assessed subjective health measures, we do find notable reductions in child mortality. Finally, we find that rising Medicaid eligibility is associated with reductions in racial disparities in the number of visits and in child disparities in the site at which care is delivered.
SmokPro: Towards Tobacco Product Identification in Social Media Text

In this work, we explore the ﬁne-grained classiﬁcation of tweets involving tobacco focused on identifying tobacco products. We release the SmokPro dataset, along with an extensible method of labeling the tweets through a comprehensive annotation schema. We then perform benchmarking experiments using state-of-the-art text classiﬁ-cation models, exploiting contextual word embeddings and achieve F1 scores as high as 0 . 971, hence showing the eﬃcacy of the dataset and the suitability of the models for the task.
Lasting the distance: The survival of alien birds shipped to New Zealand in the 19th century

Abstract Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity and human activities, providing a strong incentive to understand the processes by which alien invasion occurs. While it is important to understand the determinants of success at each of several invasion stages—transport, introduction, establishment, and spread—few studies have explored the first of these stages. Here, we quantify and analyze variation in the success of individual animals in surviving the transport stage, based on shipping records of European passerines destined for New Zealand. We mined the original documents of Acclimatisation Societies, established in New Zealand for the purpose of introducing supposedly beneficial alien species, in combination with recently digitized newspaper archives, to produce a unique dataset of 122 ships that carried passerines from Europe to New Zealand between 1850 and 1885. For 37 of these shipments, data on the survival of individual species were available. Using generalized linear mixed models, we explored how survival was related to characteristics of the shipments and the species. We show that species differed greatly in their survival, but none of the tested traits accounted for these differences. Yet, survival increased over time, which mirrors the switch from early haphazard shipments to larger organized shipments. Our results imply that it was the quality of care received by the birds that most affected success at this stage of the invasion process.