Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Evaluation of a Concomitant Variable Behaviour in a Mixture of Regression Models

Finite mixture of regression models are a popular technique for modelling the unobserved heterogeneity that occurs in the population. This method acquires parameters estimates by modelling a mixture conditional distribution of the response given explanatory variables. Since this optimization problem appears to be too computationally demanding, the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, an iterative algorithm for computing maximum likelihood estimates from incomplete data, is used in practice. In order to specify different components with higher accuracy and to improve regression parameter estimates and predictions the use of concomitant variables has been proposed. Based on a simulation study, performance and obvious advantages of concomitant variables are presented. A practical choice of appropriate concomitant variable and the effect of predictors' domains on the estimation are discussed as well.2 The Evaluation of a Concomitant Variable Behaviour in a Mixture of Regression Models Kristýna Vaňkátová1 | Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic Eva Fišerová | Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic INTRODUCTION The basic requirement for the proper use of a standard linear regression model is a homogeneity in the studied population. If this assumption is violated and a standard regression model is inapplicable due to several heterogeneous groups in data, an alternative approach to modelling by means of mixture of regression models can be utilized (DeSarbo and Cron, 1988; McLachlan and Peel, 2000). While a standard regression mainly aims to estimate regression parameters, a mixture of regression models is also used as a tool for data clustering and therefore works as a clusterwise regression. Mixtures of linear regression models, originally called switching regressions, are a special case of mixture density models (also known as a mixture of distributions) that were initially studied by means of a moment-generating function (Pearson, 1894). Recently, however, a likelihood point of view has been preferred for mixture models with a fixed number of components. A standard technique to obtain the maximum likelihood estimates is the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm (Dempster et al., 1977).
UTILIZATION OF WATER TREATMENT PLANTS SLUDGE ASH IN BRICK MAKING

The present study investigates the possibility of using water treatment plant (WTP) sludge of New Assiut city (AssiutEgypt) as partial substitute for shale in brick making. Due to the high content of organic matter in water sludge, incineration of the WTP sludge is necessary to remove of all organic compounds contained therein. For brick making, mixture of various proportions from 10 % to 50% by weight of sludge ash added to shale are used as raw materials in hand molding brick making. The produced brick samples after drying process and firing at 1000 0 C for 6 hr ,, s , received a series of tests including firing shrinkage , weight loss on ignition water, absorption ,bulk density ,compressive strength , slake durability and efflorescence test. Satisfactory results were achieved when the percentage of sludge ash was up to 30% (by wt.) or less in the mixture. The specifications of the produced bricks match the Egyptian standard ES: 1756/1989 of fired clay building units for non load bearing walls. The test results indicate that, the sludge ash proportions are one of the most important key factors determining the brick quality. Reuse of sludge ash as a construction and building material converts the waste into useful products that can alleviate the disposal and environmental problems.
Interactive Multimedia Games to Enhance the Emotional Intelligence of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to design and test interactive multimedia games to enhance the emotional intelligence (EI) of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) learners age 13 to 15 in Thailand. The main content of each of the six games focused on improving EI. The interactive multimedia game was tested with 10 DHH learners in a school for the deaf in the eastern part of Thailand over a 12-week period. The Thai Emotional Intelligence Screening Test (TEIST) served as a preand post-test. The results were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. The results of the study showed a significant improvement for emotional-self-control, empathy, problem-solving, self-regard, life-satisfaction, and peace in all participants. Overall results showed that the interactive multimedia games can have beneficial effects on the EI of DHH learners.
Breaking of CP , P , and T in cosmological scales in TGD Universe

The twistor lift of TGD forces the analog of Kähler form for M. Covariantly constant sef-dual Kähler form J(CD) depends on causal diamond of M and defines rest frame and spin quantization axis. This implies a violation of CP , P , and T . By introducing a moduli space for the Kähler forms one avoids the loss of Poincare invariance. The natural question is whether J(CD) could relate to CP breaking for K and B type mesons, to matter antimatter asymmetry and the large scale parity breaking suggested by CMB data. The simplest guess for the coupling strength of U(1) interaction associated with J(CD) predicts a correct order of magnitude for CP violation for K meson and for the antimatter asymmetry and inspires a more detailed discussion. A general mechanism for the generation of matter asymmetry is proposed, and a model for the formation of diskand elliptic galaxies is considered. The matter antimatter asymmetry would be apparent in the sense that the CP asymmetry would force matter-antimatter separation: antimatter would reside as dark matter (in TGD sense) inside magnetic flux tubes and matter outside them. Also the angular momenta of dark matter and matter would compensate each other.
Process for Simulation-based Sustainability Evaluation of Future Energy Scenarios Whitepaper-Version 1 – December 15 nd , 2016

Political and technological decisions regarding the transformation of energy systems with respect to sustainability criteria have to follow a defined process fulfilling several requirements. In this work, we present the work foundations from the research project NEDS Nachhaltige Energieversorgung Niedersachsen covering a process model to evaluate sustainability in future energy scenarios – the NEDS sustainability evaluation process (NEDS SEP). In the process presented, the single steps from the creation of qualitative scenarios and definition of sustainability objectives up to empirical simulation studies and finally decision support are described.
Evolvability ES : Scalable Evolutionary Meta-Learning

This paper introduces Evolvability ES, an evolutionary meta-learning algorithm for deep reinforcement learning that scales well with computation and to models with many parameters (e.g. deep neural networks). This algorithm produces parameter vectors for which random perturbations yield a repertoire of diverse behaviors; we highlight that surprisingly, such points in the search space exist and can be reliably found. The resultant algorithm is evocative of MAML (which optimizes parameters to be amenable to quick further gradient descent), but operates in a much different way, and provides a different profile of benefits and costs. We highlight Evolvability ES’s potential through experiments in 2-D and 3-D locomotion tasks, where surprisingly evolvable solutions are found that can be quickly adapted to solve an unseen test-task. This work thus opens up a novel research direction in exploiting the potential of evolvable representations for deep neural networks.
PLF-Join : An Efficient MapReduce Algorithm for Vector Similarity

PLF-Join: An Efficient MapReduce Algorithm for Vector Similarity Join Hyun Joon Kim School of Computer Science Engineering Collage of Engineering The Graduate School Seoul National University Vector similarity join is a problem of finding all pairs of vectors which has a similarity measure that exceeds a given threshold from a set of vectors. Vector similarity join is used in many applications such as near duplication detection in web pages, recommendation, and mining social data. However, it requires O(n2) complexity where n is the number of vectors. This impractical time complexity makes it hard to utilize Vector similarity join on many real world problems. Hence, a lot of the Hadoop MapReduce algorithms were proposed to quickly compute Vector similarity join. The state-of-the-art algorithm considers prefix filtering and length filtering methods to reduce the time taken for Vector similarity join operation. To even further reduce this time complexity, we propose a variation of an algorithm that can be used to reduce the overhead involved in the network I/O cost. Along with a MapReduce algorithm we propose an efficient pre-processing technique which facilitates Vector similarity join calculation.
Prevention of Pale , Soft , Exudative ( PSE ) Turkey Meats Using Cold-batter Mincing of Hot-boned Crust-frozen Air-chilled Turkey Breasts

Consumption of poultry meat has increased throughout the world including the United States. In order to meet the growing demand, the turkey industry adapted quantitative genetic selection methods which successfully increased turkey weights approximately twice of the lines used in production 50 years ago (Barbut et al., 2008). These strains are heavily muscled with rapid growth. However, processors noticed that these commercial turkeys also produced meat defects similar to the pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) meat in the pork industry. In an effort to mitigate this problem, Medellin-Lopez et al. (2014) rapidly chilled turkey breasts using the technique of hot-boning, quarter sectioning and crust-freezing-air-chilling (HB-1⁄4CFAC) at -12 o C. Results indicated that those breasts had significantly higher pH and lower R-value than the control of water-immersion chilling (WIC). Upon subjecting the HB-1⁄4CFAC muscle to cold-mincing, the meat showed higher protein extraction and better cooking yield than the WIC control. In a continued study, Lee et al. (2014) was able to improve protein functionality and reduce sodium content by 50% in protein gelation. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of HB-1⁄4CFAC and cold-batter mincing on preventing turkey PSE meats in two genetic lines: genetically-selected and random-bred.
RANDOM and REPEATED statements - How to Use Them to Model the Covariance Structure in Proc Mixed

Proc Mixed, a SAS procedure based on mixed model methodology, has been widely used for longitudinal data analyses since its release in 1992. It provides for convenient modeling of the covariance structure using RANDOM and REPEATED statements, with the RANDOM statement often used to model between-subject variation and the REPEATED statement often used to model within-subject variation. However, the proper use of the RANDOM and REPEATED statements depends on the covariance structure and might not be fully understood by the users. This paper studies proper use of the RANDOM and REPEATED statements in Proc Mixed to model three commonly used covariance structures - unstructured (UN), compound symmetry (CS), and auto-regressive (AR(1)). Based on mathematical formula and simulation study results, using only the REPEATED statement is recommended with UN and CS. For AR, if the variance of the random between subject effects is significant, using both the RANDOM and REPEATED statements is recommended; otherwise, only the REPEATED statement should be used for proper modeling. However, simulation results showed using only the REPEATED and using both the RANDOM and REPEATED statements for AR structure had similar Type I and II error rates.
orphan a nesthesia 1 Anaesthesia recommendations for patients suffering from Pompe disease Disease

Pompe disease is an autosomal recessive condition with an incidence of around 1 in 40,000 in the general population, and is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme acid alphaglucosidase. Clinical features occur due to the deposition and accumulation of glycogen within lysosomes, most notably those within the cardiac and skeletal muscles. The extent of this enzyme deficiency affects both the age of onset and severity of symptoms, and allows for clinical stratification into distinct subgroups.
Service Quality , Satisfaction and Loyalty on Online Marketing : An Empirical Investigation

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impacts of satisfaction on eservice quality, trust and on e-loyalty in online marketing. The theoretical background used in this study was social exchange theory. Online survey from students and faculty members of Kathmandu University, Nepal was conducted in this study. The analytical results indicate that e-service quality, customer service, and trust have strong direct effect on satisfaction and impacts of indirect effects with e-loyalty are more significant. Findings also indicated that satisfaction was a significant variable that mediated the relationships between service quality and
Great Recession and over-education among high skilled . The case of Italian Ph . D graduates

This paper evaluates the impact of the Great Recession on over-education among Italian Ph.D graduates drawn from the four cohorts 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 surveyed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Originally, regional resilience (Martin, 2012) is adopted, among other proxies, to assess the effect of the crisis. The paper also adds empirical evidence on the main determinants of over-education among the highest skilled workers as the literature has mainly focused on graduated. Over-education is examined through the definitions of over-skilling and over-qualification. The results show that economic crisis dampens the optimal skill job matching in early phd holders’ careers; the evidence is less robust when over-qualification is examined. The impact is attenuated if the Ph.D holder works in more economic resilient areas and hold R&D based activities. Additionally, it emerges that sociodemographic variables do not exert a relevant influence on over-education. Conversely, job attributes such as working in academia or carrying out R&D activities reduce the likelihood of incurring into over-education. On the contrary, being self-employed increases the risk of over-education. Among Ph.D related features, visiting abroad is always a driver to overcome any kind of job mismatch.
Structural evolution and optical properties of hydrogenated germanium carbonitride fi lms

Although the control of bond structure and optical properties in hydrogenated amorphous germanium carbonitride films (a-GeC1 xNx:H) is important for technological applications, the composition dependence of chemical bonds, especially hydrogen-containing bonds, is not yet well explored. The evolution in refractive index (n) and Urbach tail width (E0) remains unclear. Here, we show that nitrogen content (CN) exerts a significant effect on bonding structure and optical properties of a-GeC1 xNx:H films. As CN increases, the fraction of NeH increases, whereas that of CeH and GeeH bonds reduces, and GeeN bonds form at expense of GeeC bonds. The replacement of carbon by nitrogen induces a substantial decrease in n from 3.0 to 2.3 because of decrease in electronic polarizability. With increasing CN, a significant increase in E0 from 198.8 to 327.9 meV takes place. This behavior arises from decrease in dielectric coefficient (ε), rather than the change in the degree of disorder previously believed. The change in E0 is proportional to the variation in 1/ε2, which agrees well with hydrogen-like atom model. This study discovers that aGeC1 xNx:H films have the apparent tunability of n and E0 over a wide range, which is useful in controlling the optical transmission and absorption characteristics of these films. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Development of effective code for earthquake dynamic source simulations

Dynamic rupture modeling coupled with strong motion data fitting offers an insight into physical mechanisms behind earthquake sources [Gallovic et al., 2019]. Running a large number of dynamic model simulations is required due to the nonlinearity of the inverse problem. The goal of this Thesis is a development of an efficient forward solver for the dynamic inversions. The finite difference staggered grid code FD3D by Madariaga and Olsen [1998] served as a basis for the development, offering sufficient speed, but rather low accuracy. Traction at split node implementation of the fault boundary condition and perfectly matched layers as the absorbing boundary condition were required to obtain desirable accuracy. In addition to the slip weakening friction law, fast velocity weakening friction law has been implemented, increasing the applicability of the code. We test the new code FD3D TSN using USGS/SCEC benchmarks TPV5 (slip-weakening friction) and TPV104 (fast rate weakening friction) [Harris et al., 2018], showing very good agreement with results calculated by advanced numerical codes.
DC motor hybrid equivalent circuit model and numerical simulation

This paper describes an example implementation illustrating methods for the derivation, SIMULINK implementation and educational application of complete circuit DC machine models and related methods for measuring machine parameters. The model represents the complete electric circuit including all armature and field coils and two different equivalent circuits allowing for the switching action of commutation. It is shown how to obtain inductive circuit parameters by innovative measurement on an actual machine and how results from simulation compare to laboratory testing. The resulting "complete" model is more logical than conventionally used equivalent circuits and aid in understanding of the principles of DC machines.
Derivation of high quality tests for large heterogeneous circuits: floating-point operations

The problem of deriving high quality tests for fast combinational floating-point realizations is investigated. Floating-point circuits are heterogeneous, consisting of a large number of regular and irregular modules. Thus, the test strategy applied combines specialized structure based methods and universal test generation. In order to guarantee sufficient controllability and observability of embedded modules, small hardware modifications are proposed. As a result, the authors obtain optimal-time floating-point circuits for arbitrary operand lengths which can be tested completely with respect to a strong fault model by a minimal number of test patterns. <<ETX>>
Knowledge Base Video Retrieval at TRECVID 2012

This paper describes Knowledge Base Video Retrieval's (KBVR) participation in TREC Video 2012. We submitted 3 runs in the automatic Known-Item Search Task (KIS). Run KBVR_1 uses a probabilistic information retrieval model based on the BM25 ranking function. Runs KBVR_2 and KBVR_3 enhance the initial model using a re-ranking approach based on concept expansion.
Accommodating a " foreign " organ inside the body : Post-transplant bodily experiences of Filipino kidney recipients

Suppose that you have undergone a kidney transplant after months or years of life on dialysis. A transplant surgeon has made an incision into your belly and, as he usually does, placed a new kidney into the abdominal cavity. He has sutured together the renal arteries and veins and iliac arteries and veins of your body; he has also connected a ureter to the bladder. A pale kidney has turned rosy, as if it has come back to life. The surgeon has stitched up the surgical incision. Now you have become a kidney recipient. Is this new kidney, which was removed from a donor’s body and was once his or her organ, your kidney? Is it a part of your body? Is it a part of you?
A NOTE ON CYCLIC ORTHOGONAL DESIGNS

Orthogonality is considered to be one of the most important features for design of experiment. In this paper, we investigate orthogonal main-effect designs with cyclic structure in order to ensure the balance among all design columns. We show that such designs exist for any number of factors (k) and moreover, they are not unique. An explicit form for D-efficiency of cyclic orthogonal designs is derived. It is shown that D-optimal cyclic design essentially involves minimizing the tightness of the experimental range. The minimum tightness D-optimal cyclic orthogonal designs are presented and tabulated for k < 10.
ACCENT AND PRO-DPS IN BLACKFOOT

This paper argues that Blackfoot clitics are prosodized uniformly as phonological adjuncts. I use the behavior of stress in nominalizations under proclisis as a diagnostic. Although stress exhibits two behaviors under proclisis, I show that this does not correspond to two strategies of clitic prosodization, but instead results from the extrametrical nature of phrase-initial syllables in Blackfoot. I situate my analysis within a Prosodic Phonology framework (e.g. in Inkelas 1989; Ito and Mester 1992; Selkirk 1984) and fit Blackfoot into Peperkamp’s (1996) typology of clitic prosodization.
Iterative interference cancellation and decoding using a soft cancellation factor for DS-CDMA

We consider a DS-CDMA system that employs both partial parallel interference cancellation (PIC) and convolutional coding. Information is shared between the operations of interference cancellation and decoding in an iterative manner, using log-likelihood ratios (LLR) of the estimated coded symbols. We investigate the performance of this system for both synchronous and asynchronous CDMA systems, and for both equal and unequal signal powers. Previous work has demonstrated the improved performance of partial parallel interference cancellation in which the interference estimates are weighted by a soft cancellation factor (SCF). We examine the best choice of the SCF for optimizing the combined performance of interference cancellation and coding.
Envisioning value : Certification , matchmaking , and returns to brokerage . *

Brokers often mediate market exchange by alleviating information asymmetries between buyers and sellers. Although brokerage is known to be rewarding, less is known about how brokers generate returns or maintain their intermediary positions despite attempts to disintermediate and to replace them. We, therefore, propose a general approach to identifying two brokerage mechanisms in mediated markets: (1) certification and (2) matchmaking. Analyses of U.S. venture capital fundraising demonstrate that in this market brokers facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges between specific buyers and sellers (i.e., matchmaking) but do not screen offerings for general value (i.e., certification). We discuss how researchers might apply our approach to study brokers’ disintermediation risks and entrepreneurial opportunities to replace incumbent brokers.
GPU BASED MONTE CARLO FOR PET IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION: DETECTOR MODELING

Monte Carlo (MC) calculations and Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) are almost like the dedicated hardware designed for the specific task given the similarities between visible light transport and neutral particle trajectories. A GPU based MC gamma transport code has been developed for Positron Emission Tomography iterative image reconstruction calculating the projection from unknowns to data at each iteration step taking into account the full physics of the system. This paper describes the simplified scintillation detector modeling and its effect on convergence.