Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How to turn managers into data-driven decision makers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need to engender a positive attitude toward business analytics in order for firms to more effectively transform into data-driven businesses, and for business schools to better prepare future managers. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops and validates a measurement instrument that captures the attitude toward business statistics, the foundation of business analytics. A multi-stage approach is implemented and the validation is conducted with a sample of 311 students from a business school. Findings The instrument has strong psychometric properties. It is designed so that it can be easily extrapolated to professional contexts and extended to the entire domain of business analytics. Research limitations/implications As the advent of a data-driven business world will impact the way organizations function and the way individuals think, work, communicate and interact, it is crucial to engage a transdisciplinary dialogue among domains that have the expertise to help train and transform current and future professionals. Practical implications The contribution provides educators and organizations with a means to measure and monitor attitudes toward statistics, the most anxiogenic component of business analytics. This is a first step in monitoring and developing an analytics mindset in both managers and students. Originality/value By demonstrating how the advent of the data-driven business era is transforming the DNA and functioning of organizations, this paper highlights the key importance of changing managers’ and all employees’ (to a lesser extent) mindset and way of thinking.
Distinctive regions in acoustic tubes. Speech production modelling

Presentation d'un modele de commande des dimensions d'un tube acoustique permettant de realiser des modulations optimales des frequences de resonance de ce tube. Ce modele est divise en «regions distinctives» dont les sections en sont les parametres, se comporte de facon pseudo orthogonale et peut ainsi etre exploite dans un systeme de codage acoustique. Comparaison avec les mecanismes de production et de perception de parole et presentation d'applications
Is time of childbirth affected by chronotype of the mother?

We have investigated if biological rhythms, which affect many physiological and pathological events, influence the time of birth. Two hundred and sixty-three cases who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of active labor and who delivered vaginally were enrolled in the study. Information about the age, gravidity, parity, gestational age on admission, and time of onset of labor and birth was registered. A Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) was administered for determining the patients’ chronotypes and dividing them into a morning- or evening-type group. While 20 (35%) of the morning-types delivered between 18:00 and 24:00 h, only 11 (19%) of them delivered between 06:00 and 12:00 h. From the evening types, 6 (33%) delivered between 18:00 and 24:00 h and 3 (17%) between 06:00 and 12:00 h. We conclude that there was no statistically significant difference between the chronotypes in terms of delivery time.
Network complexity and learning efficiency of constructive learning algorithms

Connectionist constructive learning dynamically constructs a network to balance the complexity of the network topology with the complexity of the function specified by the training data. In order to evaluate the quality of a constructive learning algorithm, not only the learning efficiency of the algorithm need to be measured, but also the topological complexity of the constructed network has to be examined. This paper discusses both the learning speeds and the network sizes of constructive learning algorithms. As the backprop requires more nodes than necessary for the network to converge, it is used as a reference to measure the complexity of constructive networks. Experiments using two constructive algorithms, cascade correlation and stack, indicates that the network built by constructive learning algorithms can have less complexity than the network required by the backprop algorithm. <<ETX>>
Handwritten and printed text distinction by using stroke thickness features

This paper presents an algorithm to identify the handwritten and the printed texts among document images. The characteristic of stroke thickness is used and a kind of calculating method is designed for this feature. The proposed method, which is clearly defined and easily realized, calculates the stroke thickness feature by counting edge pixels in a neighborhood. Document images are generally divided into text lines or characters. However, the line and the character are not conducive to the judgment between handwritten and printed text distinction. The line is too rough and the character is too small. Using the stroke thickness characteristics, combined with layout analysis, the text line in the document image is further divided into the area of uniform thickness. This kind of area is more detailed than text line and larger than a single character. So more stable features can be extracted from it. Last, the features of these regions are divided by using SVM. The proposed algorithm obtained better performance in the document image database including handwritten and printed texts.
Unidirectional synchronization of Jerk circuit and it’s uses in secure communication system

Information is masked by chaotic signals at the transmitter, and then sent to the receiver by the public channel. Finally the encrypted signals are decrypted at the receiver. In this scheme, the key issue is that the two identical chaos generators in the transmitter end and the receiver end need to be synchronized. In this paper, in order to show some interesting phenomena of three dimensional autonomous ordinary differential equations, the chaotic behavior as a function of a variable control parameter, has been studied. The initial study in this paper is to analyze the phase portraits, the Lyapunov exponents, the Poincaré maps and the bifurcation diagrams. Moreover, some appropriate comparisons are made to contrast some of the existing results. Finally, the effectiveness of the unidirectional coupling scheme between two identical Jerk circuits in a secure 546 Aceng Sambas et al. communication system is presented in details. Finally, the simulation and the experimental results are shown to demonstrate that the proposed method is correct and feasible
Un laboratori de divulgació tecnològica. El New York Museum of Science and Industry i la política de la museïtzació de la tecnologia als Estats Units (1912-1951)

Aquesta tesi doctoral analitza els canvis en la politica de la museitzacio de la tecnologia als Estats Units durant el periode d’entreguerres a traves del cas d’estudi del New York Museum of Science and Industry (1912-1951), un dels primers museus industrials dels Estats Units. El museu, que havia d’ubicar-se en un edifici d’estil neoclassic en un parc, va neixer l’any 1927 com a Museum of the Peaceful Arts, va passar a anomenar-se New York Museum of Science and Industry quan va traslladar-se al Daily News Building l’any 1931 i va estar a punt de ser rebatejat com a Science Center quan va reinaugurar-se al Rockefeller Center l’any 1936. La tesi segueix la trajectoria d’aquest museu errant a traves de tots els canvis de nom, lloc i coses, que reflecteixen un allunyament gradual de les coordenades ideologiques, els regims visuals i les caracteristiques arquitectoniques del que Tony Bennett anomena exhibitionary complex. La tesi replanteja i fa mes complexa la narrativa historica sobre els museus tecnics del segle XX, tot defensant que el periode d’entreguerres va viure una transformacio en la politica de la museitzacio de la tecnologia, que va tenir el seu origen als Estats Units i que suposa la transicio entre el model cultural dels grans museus tecnics nacionals del segle XIX i el dels science centers “interactius” de la segona meitat del segle XX. Els museus tecnics, que havien nascut de la ma del sector mes conservador dels enginyers nord-americans amb una retorica paternalista de disciplinament i elevacio moral de les classes treballadores a traves de l’educacio industrial, van concentrar-se arrel de la Gran Depressio en la produccio i reproduccio de discursos sobre el rol de la tecnologia en la historia i, en una creixent simbiosi amb les grans corporacions tecnocientifiques, van adoptar noves tecniques expositives dirigides a fomentar l’alfabetitzacio tecnologica entre els consumidors de classe mitjana definits per la industria cultural de la comunicacio de masses. A traves de fonts textuals i visuals, aquesta tesi combina la historia de la tecnologia amb el que en el mon academic anglosaxo s’anomena museum studies, que posa l’accent en la importancia de la materialitat i estructura dels espais expositius, aixi com en la performativitat de les practiques de visita, per tal d’entendre la produccio i reproduccio de significats als museus. La tesi considera els museus tecnics com a espais en que es produien, consumien i legitimaven imatges de la ciencia i la tecnologia en un context de lluita ideologica per l’hegemonia cultural. Defensa que el New York Museum of Science and Industry va ser un laboratori experimental de divulgacio tecnologica i explora els mecanismes canviants a traves dels quals aquestes imatges van circular en un context historic en que eren ingredients fonamentals de la produccio de consensos al voltant d’un capitalisme en crisi.
Design of CAN Interface in Tractor AMT Control System Based on DSP

In this paper, the CAN interface circuit and application layer protocol of automatic mechanical transmission (AMT) controller is designed based on ISO 11783, and the real-time communication between AMT and engine is realized. The semi-physical simulation that includes a real node (AMT_ECU) is completed by using CANoe software and CANcaseXL interface card. The simulation results show that the CAN interface of tractor AMT control system meets the requirements of tractor CAN network system, the information sending and receiving between AMT ECU and engine ECU is realized, and the design goal for stable and real-time communication is achieved.
Epidemiology beyond its limits

In 1995, journalist Gary Taubes published an article in Science titled “Epidemiology faces its limits,” which questioned the utility of nonrandomized epidemiologic research and has since been cited more than 1000 times. He highlighted numerous examples of research topics he viewed as having questionable merit. Studies have since accumulated for these associations. We systematically evaluated current evidence of 53 example associations discussed in the article. Approximately one-quarter of those presented as doubtful are now widely viewed as causal based on current evaluations of the public health consensus. They include associations between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, residential radon exposure and lung cancer, and the use of tanning devices and melanoma. This history should inform current debates about the reproducibility of epidemiologic research results.
The NHS Review and the Funding of Teaching Hospitals

The NHS review has implications for the funding of teaching hospitals and the relationship between them and the medical schools. The ring‐fencing of the Service Increment for Teaching and Research (SIFTR) and the need to develop contractual relationships for the provision of service facilities for teaching and research means that more information is needed on the nature and distribution of the service costs of these activities. The article describes research which informed the process of allocating SIFTR in a large teaching district. A methodology for developing rational SIFTR contracts is described and the implications for the future of medical education and research discussed. The local distribution of SIFTR must be well managed if teaching and research are not to suffer as a result of the financial pressures generated by the NHS review.
Fast Text Detection for Road Scenes

Extraction of text information from visual sources is an important component of many modern applications, for example, extracting the text from traffic signs on a road scene in an autonomous vehicle. For natural images or road scenes this is a unsolved problem. In this thesis the use of histogram of stroke widths (HSW) for character and noncharacter region classification is presented. Stroke widths are extracted using two methods. One is based on the Stroke Width Transform and another based on run lengths. The HSW is combined with two simple region features– aspect and occupancy ratios– and then a linear SVM is used as classifier. One advantage of our method over the state of the art is that it is script-independent and can also be used to verify detected text regions with the purpose of reducing false positives. Our experiments on generated datasets of Latin, CJK, Hiragana and Katakana characters show that the HSW is able to correctly classify at least 90% of the character regions, a similar figure is obtained for non-character regions. This performance is also obtained when training the HSW with one script and testing with a different one, and even when characters are rotated. On the English and Kannada portions of the Chars74K dataset we obtained over 95% correctly classified character regions. The use of raycasting for text line grouping is also proposed. By combining it with our HSW-based character classifier, a text detector based on Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) was implemented. The text detector was evaluated on our own dataset of road scenes from the German Autobahn, where 65% precision, 72% recall with a f-score of 69% was obtained. Using the HSW as a text verifier increases precision while slightly reducing recall. Our HSW feature allows the building of a script-independent and low parameter count classifier for character and non-character regions.
Managing complexity in software engineering

* Part 1: Development paradigms * Chapter 1: Paradigms of modular system development * Chapter 2: The evolution of object-oriented design from concept to method * Chapter 3: The role of formal methods in managing complexity * Chapter 4: Putting mathematics to use * Chapter 5: The theory of organisation: a mathematical treatment of processing structures * Part 2: Project management * Chapter 6: The need for a quality culture for software development * Chapter 7: Quality metrics for software management and engineering * Chapter 8: Measuring to manage * Chapter 9: Structuring routine interactions in software engineering * Part 3: Automated development support * Chapter 10: Methods and tools * Chapter 11: Development support environments * Chapter 12: Structuring for managing complexity * Chapter 13: A method-driven support environment * Chapter 14: Automated support for marrying requirements to programs * Chapter 15: Configuration support for system description, construction and evolution
VALIDATING THE PERFORMANCE OF PERSONALIZATION TECHNIQUES IN SEARCH ENGINE

User profiling is an important and basic component in personalized search engine. Search engines respond to a user’s query by using the bag-of-words model, which matches keyword between the query and web documents but ignore contexts and users’ preferences. Personalized search greatly improves the search results as of the results provided by the search engine without personalization. In this paper, the performance of personalized search based on content analysis and personalized search based on user group have been evaluated. In personalized search based on content analysis the contents are traced by finding the user’s browsed documents and search history, which reduce the users search time. In user profile only user preference alone is taken into consideration. The experimental results show that the personalized search based on user group method having higher precision and recall rate than the content analysis method.
A South African response to The postmodern Bible - a time to break down or a time to build up?

In this review article of The postmodern Bible: The Bible and culture collective (Yale University Press, 1995), four African authors present their response collaboratively in the form of a «summary» of the argument of the book ; some critical questions are raised about the six approaches to Biblical interpretation discussed. The article concludes with a general assessment of the book. It is suggested that a vision (or visions) for church and society and for the practise of Biblical criticism in postmodernist fashion is not made out clear enough in The postmodern Bible. Specifically in the context of South Africa, it is important to go beyond de(con)structing the traditional sources of inspiration and action and commitment. It is a situation calling for the courage to build, to say, to do, to put into practice, to commit and to actually deal with power structures (and not only unmask and criticise it) in order to make the country a better place for all its citizens.
Knowledge transfer in IT outsourcing relationships: three international case studies

Several researchers emphasise the important role of knowledge for inter-organisational learning and innovation. An outsourcing arrangement between vendor and client seems dependent on knowledge transfer. Nevertheless, our three case studies indicate that the importance of knowledge transfer was discovered after implementation of each outsourcing arrangement. With changing business environments, the locus of value creation is no longer within the boundaries of a single firm, but occurs instead at the nexus of relationships between parties. With the growing importance of pooling knowledge resources, knowledge management will have to transcend organisational boundaries.
Screening the Effect of Metformin on Serum Vitamin B12 and Blood Homocysteine Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Vitamin B12 deficiency is a side effect of metformin use in patientswith type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and associated with increase in plasma homocysteine levels.The aim of present work was to screen vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels in patients with T2DM on metformin therapy. Patients with T2DM collected from Fayoum University hospital outpatient clinics were screened and divided into three groups. Group 1 was thirty patients on metformin therapy for more than one year without vitamin B12 supplementation; group 2 was thirty patients on metformin therapy for more than one year on vitamin B12 supplementation and group 3 was patients not receiving metformin therapy (control group). All patients were subjected to complete history taking, including peripheral neuropathy and laboratory investigations. The mean±SD serum vitamin B12 level was significantly higher in the metformin and vitamin B12 supplementation users compared to metforminonly and non-metformin users (p
Eye gaze tracking based on the shape of pupil image

Eye tracker is an important instrument for research in psychology, widely used in attention, visual perception, reading and other fields of research. Because of its potential function in human-computer interaction, the eye gaze tracking has already been a topic of research in many fields over the last decades. Nowadays, with the development of technology, non-intrusive methods are more and more welcomed. In this paper, we will present a method based on the shape of pupil image to estimate the gaze point of human eyes without any other intrusive devices such as a hat, a pair of glasses and so on. After using the ellipse fitting algorithm to deal with the pupil image we get, we can determine the direction of the fixation by the shape of the pupil.The innovative aspect of this method is to utilize the new idea of the shape of the pupil so that we can avoid much complicated algorithm. The performance proposed is very helpful for the study of eye gaze tracking, which just needs one camera without infrared light to know the changes in the shape of the pupil to determine the direction of the eye gazing, no additional condition is required.
Economics A Discriminant Analysis of Students' Perceptions of Web-Based Learning

Students enrolled in undergraduate economic statistics classes at Youngstown State University (YSU) were surveyed in an attempt to differentiate between users and nonusers of Web-based instruction (WBI) as a supplement to the traditional classroom lecture/problem-solving approach. Discriminant analysis and descriptive statistics tools were used to compare and contrast the perceptions of users and nonusers. The users concluded that distance learning via the World Wide Web (WWW or the Web) was not only a good method of obtaining general information but a useful tool in improving their academic performance in a quantitative economic class. Nonusers thought the university should help provide financial assistance for going online and that WBI should not be required for graduation.
Evaluating a Bilingual Text-Mining System With a Taxonomy of Key Words and Hierarchical Visualization for Understanding Learner-Generated Text

This study evaluated a bilingual text-mining system, which incorporated a bilingual taxonomy of key words and provided hierarchical visualization, for understanding learner-generated text in the learning management systems through automatic identification and counting of matching key words. A class of 27 in-service teachers studied a course “e-Learning in primary mathematics” was asked to reflect “what is e-Learning” before and after the course. Their concept of “e-Learning” was investigated by counting the matching key words using the text-mining system and a content analysis of learner-generated text using a rubric, respectively. The correlations of the results using these two methods were . 823 and . 840 in the preteaching and postteaching reflections. This text-mining system has the potential as a supporting tool for teachers to gain a general understanding of learner-generated text using the hierarchical visualization for supporting pedagogical decision-making, which can be applied to massive open online courses with a large enrolment of learners.
Perianal Abscess; Simple Drainage versus Drainage and Fistulotomy

Introduction: Perianal abscess is one of the most common general surgical emergencies encountered in clinical practice and the initial treatment is simple incision and drainage, other surgical procedures as fistulotomy may be required as a definitive measure for treating fistula because about 40% of patients present with a fistula after simple incision and drainage of their perianal abscesses. The aim of this study was to detect the outcome of simple drainage versus drainage and fistulotomy for perianal abscess as regard to abscess recurrence, fistula formation and time off from work. Patients and Methods: A total number of 200 patients of both sexes; 100 for each group, their ages ranged between 21- 65 years were enrolled to this parallel prospective randomized clinical trial where patients were divided randomly into two main groups; A and B. Group A patients [N =100] were subjected to simple incision & drainage and those of group B [N = 100] were subjected to drainage & fistulectomy for acute perianal abscess. End Points: The primary end points were abscess recurrence, fistula formation and incontinence. The secondary end points were time off from work, wound discharge, wound healing and patients’ satisfaction. Results: Patient’s satisfaction of the treatment maneuver in relation to abscess recurrence and fistula occurrence was 80 % and 95% of group A and B respectively. Conclusion: The present study showed that treatment of perianal abscess through the combined maneuver of incision – drainage with fistulotomy at the same time significantly reduced the likelihood of persistent abscess, recurrence and need for repeat surgery. Patient’s satisfaction after treatment with this combined method showed a significant value than incision – drainage only as regard disease recurrence, time of wound discharge and the incidence of fistula formation.