Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards explaining activity-based costing failure: accounting and control in a decentralized organization

Many of the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) systems introduced in recent years are said to fail (e.g., Cooper, at al., 1992; Argyris & Kaplan, 1994; Shields, 1995; Roberts & Silvester, 1996). The use of ABC for surveillance by the group management, with no consequent actions, leads us to propose that claims on ABC failure result in part from assessing the use and value of ABCs from the decision-making perspective. The decision-making perspective may be insufficient for capturing the multitude of uses to which ABCs are put in practice. As this study shows, in the context of strategic decision-making the success of ABC cannot depend on whether its results require any actions or decisions to be taken, but on its ability to make a correct diagnosis of the situation. Consequently, some of the so- called ABC failures may not be failures. They may merely reflect a limited appreciation of the uses of accounting and control systems in practice. Nevertheless, failures and resistance are real in a number of organisations. This study explored the origins of resistance to ABC in a case setting, looking at diverse interests of organisational stakeholders, and the role of existing control and information systems in ABC implementation. We show that the resistance may have several sources; some related to the cost and benefits of ABC, some associated with organisational power and politics, and some pertinent to organisation culture. The practical implication of this study hinged on the notion that although the resistance to ABC may come from various sources, these sources appear fundamentally structural and are unlikely to be dealt with by employing implementation-based strategies.
DYSLEXIA – AN OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT METHODS

This article will give an overview of the different methods of assessment and treatment currently used in the field of dyslexia with a special focus on genetic research. Based on the modification and extension of the multilevel model of Valtin (1989, modified by Witruk, 1993b), assessment and treatment methods will be discussed due to their primary objectives. These methods will be described regarding primary causes (biological risk factors), secondary causes (partial performance deficits), primary symptoms (reading and writing problems) and secondary symptoms (emotional and behavioural disorders). Keywords: Multilevel model of dyslexia, genetics, magnocellular deficit, partial performance
A Literature Survey on High-Dimensional Sparse Principal Component Analysis

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a classical method for dimensionality reduction, data pre-processing, compression and visualization of multivariate data for different applications in biology, social science and engineering. The limitation of PCA is lacking of interpretation due to the non-zero loadings and the inconsistence for highdimensional data. Sparse principal component analysis (sparse PCA) is proposed mainly for the challenges of PCA above. For the past decades, many works of the development methods and theoretical analysis for sparse PCA have been presented. The goal of this paper is to give a comprehensive literatures review to recent progress in highdimensional sparse PCA from algorithm and statistical theory. Firstly we give the overview for PCA and sparse PCA. Secondly the algorithms of sparse PCA are categorized into different classes and provide detailed descriptions for typical formulations and methods in each category, and the typical packages of sparse PCA are also given. Considering that statistical analysis in high dimension becomes more involved in sparse PCA, and then the survey of theoretical analysis of sparse PCA is also presented. Finally the future trends as well as challenges are given.
TRIPLET-STATE PHOTOEXCITATIONS OF OLIGOTHIOPHENE FILMS AND SOLUTIONS

We present studies of steady‐state photoinduced absorption (PIA) spectroscopy on photoexcitations in a series of well‐defined α‐oligothiophene (Tn, n=6, 7, 9, and 11) films and solutions. The PIA spectra and the excited state lifetimes are consistent with the signatures of a photoexcited triplet state. The PIA spectra consist of a strong vibronically resolved subgap absorption, which is readily observed in solid‐state films and in solutions at ambient and cryogenic temperatures. The transition energy is linearly dependent on the reciprocal chain length and shifts to lower energy for longer oligomers. Variation of the modulation frequency and the pump intensity under matrix‐isolated conditions reveals that the photoexcitation is created via an intrachain mechanism and decays nonradiatively with monomolecular kinetics. In solid films we find a significant contribution of a bimolecular decay process to the relaxation rate.
Intelligent Water Dispensing System Model Utilizing AAA Framework

Clean Water is one of the most precious resources which mankind cannot do without. However through lack of water conservation techniques our future might have scarce clean water. This paper proposes a demand side approach to water conservation. This involves an intelligent water dispensing system model which utilizes the AAA framework. This provides for authentication, authorization and accounting. Two Solenoid valves are used to mimick two flow rates. All the intelligence is build in a PIC18F4520 micro controller. This interfaces with a 4x4 keypad and 2x16 LCD display. The system uses users with different privilege levels. The system was tested and required levels of access and restrictions to the water usage were demonstrated successfully. With the current shortages of water in many parts of the world such a system proves to be of great value and also versatile, where it can find use in a variety of applications were access to resources needs to be restricted to a selected number of people and were the resources available needs to be used sparingly.
Mental Imagery Follows Similar Cortical Reorganization as Perception : Intra-Modal and Cross-Modal Plasticity in Congenitally Blind

Cortical plasticity in congenitally blind individuals leads to cross-modal activation of the visual cortex and may lead to superior perceptual processing in the intact sensory domains. Although mental imagery is often defined as a quasiperceptual experience, it is unknown whether it follows similar cortical reorganization as perception in blind individuals. In this study, we show that auditory versus tactile perception evokes similar intra-modal discriminative patterns in congenitally blind compared with sighted participants. These results indicate that cortical plasticity following visual deprivation does not influence broad intra-modal organization of auditory and tactile perception as measured by our task. Furthermore, not only the blind, but also the sighted participants showed cross-modal discriminative patterns for perception modality in the visual cortex. During mental imagery, both groups showed similar decoding accuracies for imagery modality in the intra-modal primary sensory cortices. However, no cross-modal discriminative information for imagery modality was found in early visual cortex of blind participants, in contrast to the sighted participants. We did find evidence of cross-modal activation of higher visual areas in blind participants, including the representation of specificimagined auditory features in visual area V4.
The phylogenetic underpinnings for spatial patterns of morphological disparity: analyses using strombid gastropods

Attempting has become a central concern of both paleobiology and ecology. Ordinating species in morphospace provides a visual representation of trends in form. In morphospace analysis, each axis of a graph represents a quantitative measure of a morphological trait or combination of traits found in a group of closely related organisms. How species fill open morphospace provide some insight into the history of adaptive radiations. Furthermore, if we map species' positions in morphospace onto an independently derived phylogenetic hypothesis, we should be able to detect trends in morphological divergence along different lineages. The Strombidae, a family of shelled marine snails, shows a wide variety of forms among its 70 or so extant species, making it an ideal group for such analysis. A previous study has developed a well-defined morphospace for Strombus and Lambis , the two most species-rich and morphologically diverse genera in the Strombidae. Here I use portions of one nuclear (histone H3) and one mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) genes to reconstruct the phylogeny of these two genera. I included 32 of the 50 extant species of Strombus, representing 10 of 11 extant subgenera and three of the nine species of Lambis representing two of three extant subgenera, in my phylogenetic analysis. Maximum likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian majority consensus phylogenetic analyses were performed on each gene individually and on both combined. The resultant phylogenetic tree suggests Lambis as a monophyletic radiation nested within the genus Strombus . This Lambis radiation seems to be driving exploration and colonization of morphospace along the first principal component axis. addition,
Preferred Answer Selection in Stack Overflow: Better Text Representations ... and Metadata, Metadata, Metadata

Community question answering (cQA) forums provide a rich source of data for facilitating non-factoid question answering over many technical domains. Given this, there is considerable interest in answer retrieval from these kinds of forums. However this is a difficult task as the structure of these forums is very rich, and both metadata and text features are important for successful retrieval. While there has recently been a lot of work on solving this problem using deep learning models applied to question/answer text, this work has not looked at how to make use of the rich metadata available in cQA forums. We propose an attention-based model which achieves state-of-the-art results for text-based answer selection alone, and by making use of complementary meta-data, achieves a substantially higher result over two reference datasets novel to this work.
From Satellite Imagery to Peatland Vegetation Diversity: How Reliable Are Habitat Maps?

Although satellite imagery is becoming a basic component of the work of ecologists and conservationists, its potential and reliability are still relatively unknown for a large number of ecosystems. Using Landsat 7/ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) data, we tested the accuracy of two types of supervised classifications for mapping 13 peatland habitats in southern Quebec, Canada. Before classifying peatland habitats, we applied a mask procedure that revealed 629 peatlands covering a total of 18,103 ha; 26% of them were larger than 20 ha. We applied both a simple maximum likelihood (ML) function and a weighted maximum likelihood (WML) function that took into account the proportion of each habitat class within each peatland when classifying the habitats on the image. By validating 626 Global Positioning System locations within 92 peatlands, we showed that both classification procedures provided an accurate representation of the 13 peatland habitat classes. For all habitat classes except lawn with pools, the predominant classified habitat within 45 m of the center of the validation location was of the same type as the one observed in the field. There were differences in the performance of the two classification procedures: ML was a better tool for mapping rare habitats, whereas WML favored the most common habitats. Based on ordinations, peatland habitat classes were as effective as environmental variables such as humidity indicators and water chemistry components at explaining the distribution of plant species and performed 1.6 times better when it came to accounting for vegetation structure patterns. Peatland habitats with pools had the most distinct plant assemblages, and the habitats dominated by herbs were moderately distinct from those characterized by ericaceous shrubs. Habitats dominated by herbs were the most variable in terms of plant species assemblages. Because peatlands are economically valuable wetlands, the maps resulting from the new classification procedure presented here will provide useful information for land managers and conservationists.
Assessment of endothelial dysfunction by flow mediated dilatation in patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be a key event in the development of atherosclerosis. It is a systemic process that simultaneously affects different vascular territories including coronary arteries. It is recommended that noninvasive approaches assessing endothelial function in peripheral vessels like flow mediated dilatation are indirectly representative of coronary vascular function.Objectives: This study is aimed to assess endothelial dysfunction by using flow mediated dilatation in patients with coronary artery diseasePatients and methods: 82 patients of either sex with an age range of 40-65years are involved in this study. Each patient was subjected to two tests; first test was the flow mediated dilatation percentage (FMD%) measurement to assess endothelial functional integrity and second one was coronary computerized tomography angiography for measuring the percentage of coronary artery stenosis.Results: the results of this study revealed that FMD% is inversely correlated with the percentage of coronary artery stenosis (p value <0.01). FMD% in patients having a single coronary vessel atheromatous stenosis (9.9±3.5) % was significantly lower than that of control subjects (15.3±7) %, p<0.0001. Conclusion: this study concludes that FMD% of brachial artery could be used as a marker for systemic endothelial functional integrity including that of coronary arteries.
Modelling Exchange Rate Volatility Using Asymmetric GARCH Models (Evidence from Sierra Leone)

This article examines the accuracy and forecasting performance of volatility models for the Leones/USA dollars exchange rate return, including the ARMA, Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH), and Asymmetric GARCH models with normal and non-normal (student’s t and skewed Student t) distributions. In fitting these models to the monthly exchange rate returns data over the period January 2004 to December 2013, we found that, the Asymmetric (GARCH) and GARCH model better fits under the non-normal distribution than the normal distribution and improve the overall estimation for measuring conditional variance. The GJR-GARCH model using the skewed Student tdistribution is most successful and better forecast the Sierra Leone exchange rate volatility. Finally, the study suggests that the given models are suitable for modeling the exchange rate volatility of Sierra Leone and the Asymmetric GARCH models shows asymmetric in exchange rate returns, resulting to the presence of leverage effect. Given the implication of exchange rate volatility, the study would be of great value to policy makers, investors and researchers at home and abroad in promoting development of the capital market and foreign exchange market stability in emerging economies.
The Unemployment Volatility Puzzle: The Role of Matching Costs Revisited

Recently, Pissarides (2008) has argued that the standard search model with sunk fixed matching costs increases unemployment volatility without introducing an unrealistic wage response in new matches. We revise the role of matching costs and show that when these costs are not sunk and, therefore, can be partially passed on to new hired workers in the form of lower wages, the amplication mechanism of fixed matching costs is considerably reduced and wages in new hired positions become more sensitive to productivity shocks.
Analysis of TCP Outcast Problem in Data Center Network and Mitigating it using DCTCP Rajashree

As the technology is improving day by day and most of the services used by the mankind are dependable on the internet, we need a datacenter which stores huge amount of data of multiple users and provides high performance, reliability, scalability, fault tolerant, flexibility and availability. Since the Data Center mainly shares the resources among multiple users there exist the problem of throughput degradation in small flows thus provides unfairness between the large flows and small flows which is termed as TCP Outcast Problem. TCP Outcast Problem is reduced by using different queuing mechanisms. In this paper Analysis of TCP Outcast Problem for Data Center is done for DropTail, RED and DCTCP using NS2 simulator, and the TCP Outcast Problem is mitigated providing the best results with DCTCP for all types of flows.
Nestling sex ratios do not support long-term parity in two species with different life-history strategies

ABSTRACT To maximize fitness, breeding adults may respond to environmental processes by adjusting their progeny's sex ratios. R. A. Fisher in 1930 hypothesized that frequency-dependent selection would result in equal investment in sons and daughters over the long term, yielding a balanced sex ratio if the costs of raising a son and daughter are equal. Diverse hypotheses have tried to explain population and brood-by-brood deviations from this mean as well as annual variation by focusing on adult sex ratios, resources, abiotic conditions, and female and male quality. We collected data in 2002–2010 to explore population-level variation in nestling sex ratios in 2 migratory grassland songbird species: the Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). These species differ in migratory strategy (long-distance vs. short-distance), and morphological dimorphism. Fisher's hypothesis was rejected for Savannah Sparrows (n = 684 nestlings; 39% male) but not rejected for Bobolinks (n = 390 nestlings; 53.8% male). No relationship was found between nestling and adult sex ratios measured in the same year. In descriptive analyses at the brood level, male and female body size and age, and ecological conditions (temperature and precipitation) failed to predict nestling sex ratios. Although male nestlings were heavier than female nestlings and resource availability changed through the season, these factors did not influence sex ratios relative to female body size or seasonality. For Savannah Sparrows, larger broods tended to be male-biased. While we were otherwise not able to explain deviation in offspring sex ratio for Savannah Sparrows, our results suggest that the ecological and evolutionary pressures that affect sex ratios may be both species- and population-specific.
Smartwatch-based Pointing Interaction

In this work, we present the design and evaluation of a smartwatch-based mid-air pointing and clicking interaction technique called Twist, Point, and Tap, or short TPT. Incorporating only commodity devices, we aim to provide a fast and error-prone pointing approach that can easily be deployed to existing environments with a shared display, e.g., meeting rooms or public info points. Detected by internal sensors, TPT maps horizontal forearm movements as well as wrist rotation to relative cursor movements on a nearby large display. Left and right-click interactions are supported through tapping on the smartwatch’s touchscreen. By running a Fitts’s law study, we compared our TPT concept against an existing smartwatch-based pointing technique called Watchpoint (Katsuragawa et al., 2016). The study revealed that the TPT concept has a smaller error rate while maintaining a comparable performance.
Time budgets and at-sea behaviour of lactating female Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at Bouvetøya

We present the first data on attendance patterns, at-sea movements and diving behaviour of Antarctic fur seals breeding at Bouvetoya (Bouvet Island), Southern Ocean. While other colonies have been extensively studied, this remote and second largest global population remains relatively unknown. Time depth recorders and satellite relay data loggers were deployed on breeding females during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 summers. Attendance and foraging patterns were similar to those observed at colonies in the Scotia Sea region where Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is the pre- dominant prey. Early to mid-lactation trips ranged within ~100 km of the island, usually towards the west; the dominant direction shifted later in the season and the range also increased markedly to a peak between early February and early March. Solar elevation influenced arrivals and departures from the island, with most departures occurring around sunset. Diurnal variations in diving behaviour were consistent with the vertical migration of krill. Diving frequency was higher at night and diving effort peaked around morning twilight. Afternoon deep diving was common, suggesting that females might target dense daytime krill aggregations between the photic zone and the thermocline. Trip durations increased throughout early to mid-lactation, peaking in late January to early March, before again decreasing towards the end of lactation. Our results illustrate the substantial variability, both between individuals and within individuals over time, that is likely to reflect variations in prey distrib- ution and in the growth requirements of pups. Such variations need to be taken into account when estimating habitat use and resource utilisation in marine top predators.
On a diffusion based model of Parkinsonian tremors Draft copy

We present a “macroscopic” model, based on the model of Dovzhenok and Rubchinsky, to study Parkinsonian oscillations in the mid-brain. Our model is a three dimensional markov chain taken to it’s continuum limit – a diffusion. In the “noiseless” setting i.e., when the volatility goes to zero, and in the presence of rebound excitation, the model has a limit cycle exhibiting synchronized ocillations. It also suggests an explanation for why techniques like deep brain stimulation may help break such oscillatory behaviour – the limit cycles disappear when delays are increased across various elements in the “circuit”. In the noisy setting, the model leads to an easy deduction that synchronous and non-random behaviour increases as rebound excitation increases.
A HUBBLE DIAGRAM FROM TYPE II SUPERNOVAE BASED SOLELY ON PHOTOMETRY: THE PHOTOMETRIC COLOR METHOD

We present a Hubble diagram of SNe II using corrected magnitudes derived only from photometry, with no input of spectral information. We use a data set from the Carnegie Supernovae Project I for which optical and near-infrared light curves were obtained. The apparent magnitude is corrected by two observables, one corresponding to the slope of the plateau in the V band and the second a color term. We obtain a dispersion of 0.44 mag using a combination of the (V − i) color and the r band and we are able to reduce the dispersion to 0.39 mag using our golden sample. A comparison of our photometric color method (PCM) with the standardized candle method (SCM) is also performed. The dispersion obtained for the SCM (which uses both photometric and spectroscopic information) is 0.29 mag, which compares with 0.43 mag from the PCM for the same SN sample. The construction of a photometric Hubble diagram is of high importance in the coming era of large photometric wide-field surveys, which will increase the detection rate of supernovae by orders of magnitude. Such numbers will prohibit spectroscopic follow up in the vast majority of cases, and hence methods must be deployed which can proceed using solely photometric data.