Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
End-to-end Gated Self-attentive Memory Network for Dialog Response Selection ∗

This paper presents approaches for the noetic end-to-end response selection challenge in DSTC7. Given a pool of response candidates in a dialog history with external domain knowledge, we propose a Gated Self-attentive Memory Network to encode dialog history and external domain knowledge in an end-to-end trainable manner. Our novelty is that each utterance in the memory is enhanced with self-attention building the connection between dialog history and external domain knowledge in a gated multi-hop manner. We ensemble various gated self-attentive memory network with hierarchical GRU baseline models for final submission. Official evaluation results show that our approach ranks at the second place for both student advising and Ubuntu subtasks integrated with external domain knowledge.
Physical Method of control on common myna (Acridotheres tristis) in Sigatoka - Fiji Islands

The invasive common myna is becoming a biggest threat on the indigenous biodiversity in Sigatoka. The study focused on three areas: urban (Sigatoka town), semi-urban (Malevu) and rural (Navola and Namatakula villages). A combination of two different methods was used to control myna in Sigatoka-1) The use of Pee Gee (PG) trap which was less effective due to the distractions caused by villagers, dogs and humans (thieves) and it removed 30% of the common myna. 2) The removal of the myna nests was quite successful as a total of 16 (44%) nests were removed but did not show a significant decrease in the common myna population. Data was collected through questionnaires which focused on myna population, roosting sites, threats and control measures used by framers. The most prominent standing crops and fruits damaged by myna in Sigatoka were eggplant, cabbage, chili, banana and pawpaw. A total of 530 common mynas were seen in Sigatoka with 11 roosting sites, more on trees (77%) and 36 nests on roofs (89%). However, 38% people in Sigatoka regarded myna as a beneficial bird of which 28.5% people were not using any form of control against myna.
Piecewise Linear Approximation of Time Series on the Base of the Weierstrass-Mandelbrot Function

The paper is devoted to the construction of the algorithm of piecewise linear approximation of time series, the distinctive feature of which is the preservation of sharp ”peaks” and data outliers. As a basis, the iterative algorithm of piecewise linear approximation proposed by E. K. Bely in 1994 was taken. This algorithm was used to describe the experimental medical data on respiratory function of the lungs. The algorithm was modified to significantly increase the precision and to reduce the number of iterations. The rule of determining the optimal number of time series splitting by the minimum of the adjusted coefficient of determination was obtained. A new criterion for the algorithm stopping was proposed. As a testing data, the two-factor function of WeierstrassMandelbrot was used, which allows to generate data in a wide range of shapes and variability. In numerical experiment, the control parameters of the function were set by random variables with a uniform distribution law. The estimations of probability densities of the output parameters of the algorithm were obtained by the Monte Carlo method. The convergence of the approximation algorithm was studied and the regions of shape and variability parameters, at which the algorithm converges, were revealed.
Which executive characteristics influence risk-taking behaviours: evidence from Taiwanese companies

ABSTRACT Drawing on motivation and behavioural theories, this study develops a three-way interactive model to examine the antecedents and moderators regarding chief executive officer (CEO) risk-taking. Our sample consists of 136 observations of Taiwanese firms from primary and secondary sources. Using hierarchical regression analysis, we confirm that the relationship between CEO shareholdings and CEO risk-taking is positively moderated by approach orientation but negatively moderated by avoidance orientation. Furthermore, firm complexity strengthens the positive moderating effect of approach orientation.
The Role of Shared Values and Vision in Creating Professional Learning Communities

Defining a vision based on shared values is a crucial step that administrators must consider as they lead their schools through reform efforts. This article reports findings from a national study of creating professional learning communities in schools and how an organizationalframework helped to explain vision development in 18 schools. Recommendations for principals to provide support to faculty members are offered.
A critical study of the open-ended coaxial line sensor technique for RF and microwave complex permittivity measurements

An HP 8510 automatic network analyser and a six-port reflectometer have been used with a purpose-built calculable open-ended coaxial line sensor to measure the reflection coefficients of various materials, including dielectric reference liquids, in the frequency range 50 MHz-2.0 GHz. Factors crucial for calculable measurements have been identified including associated measurement uncertainties. The reference material measurements have been used in critical studies of: a commonly employed lumped equivalent circuit model of the fringing fields of the sensor; and a numerical point-matching theory of the propagating and evanescent modes, at the termination of the sensor. It is concluded that the inverse point-matching theory should enable a more widespread and accurate exploitation of the sensor technique for various applications including those in biomedicine and industrial quality control.
MixEth: efficient, trustless coin mixing service for Ethereum

Coin mixing is a prevalent privacy-enhancing technology for cryptocurrency users. In this paper, we present MixEth, which is a trustless coin mixing service for Turing-complete blockchains. MixEth does not rely on a trusted setup and is more efficient than any proposed trustless coin tumbler. It requires only 3 on-chain transactions at most per user and 1 off-chain message. It achieves strong notions of anonymity and is able to resist denial-of-service attacks. Furthermore the underlying protocol can also be used to efficiently shuffle ballots, ciphertexts in a trustless and decentralized manner.
A digital signal processing approach to interpolation

In many digital signal precessing systems, e.g., vacoders, modulation systems, and digital waveform coding systems, it is necessary to alter the sampling rate of a digital signal Thus it is of considerable interest to examine the problem of interpolation of bandlimited signals from the viewpoint of digital signal processing. A frequency dmnain interpretation of the interpolation process, through which it is clear that interpolation is fundamentally a linear filtering process, is presented, An examination of the relative merits of finite duration impulse response (FIR) and infinite duration impulse response (IIR) digital filters as interpolation filters indicates that FIR filters are generally to be preferred for interpolation. It is shown that linear interpolation and classical polynomial interpolation correspond to the use of the FIR interpolation filter. The use of classical interpolation methods in signal processing applications is illustrated by a discussion of FIR interpolation filters derived from the Lagrange interpolation formula. The limitations of these filters lead us to a consideration of optimum FIR filters for interpolation that can be designed using linear programming techniques. Examples are presented to illustrate the significant improvements that are obtained using the optimum filters.
Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patient as a cause of acute kidney injury

DOI: 10.24292/01.OR. 121140421 Copyright © Medical Education. All rights reserved. AbstrAct Idiopathic tumor lysis syndrome is a rare complication in the course of neoplastic disease. This condition requires an interdisciplinary therapeutic procedure. The presented case of spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in the course of malignant large B-cell lymphoma describes an effective therapeutic approach in this type of cases.
An unsupervised person re-identification approach based on cross-view distribution alignment

Unsupervised clustering is a kind of popular solution for unsupervised person re-identiﬁcation (re-ID). However, due to the inﬂuence of cross-view differences, the results of clustering labels are not accurate. To solve this problem, an unsupervised re ID method based on cross-view distributed alignment (CV-DA) to reduce the inﬂuence of unsupervised cross-view is proposed. Speciﬁcally, based on a popular unsupervised clustering method, density clustering DBSCAN is used to obtain pseudo labels. By calculating the similarity scores of images in the target domain and the source domain, the similarity distribution of different camera views is obtained and is aligned with the distribution with the consistency constraint of pseudo labels. The cross-view distribution alignment constraint is used to guide the clustering process to obtain a more reliable pseudo label. The comprehensive comparative experiments are done in two public datasets, i.e. Market-1501 and DukeMTMC-reID. The comparative results show that the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches with mAP reaching 52.6% and rank1 71.1%. In order to prove the effectiveness of the proposed CV-DA, the proposed constraint is added into two advanced re-ID methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the mAP and rank increase by ∽ 0.5–2% after using the cross-view distribution alignment constraint comparing with that of the associated original methods without using CV-DA.
Communication-protocol-based analysis and synthesis of networked systems: progress, prospects and challenges

In recent years, the communication-protocol-based synthesis and analysis issues have gained substantial research interest owing mainly to their significance in networked systems. In this work, we survey the control and filtering problems of networked systems under the effects induced by communication protocols. First, we introduce the engineering background of networked systems as well as the theoretical frameworks established to deal with the communication-protocol-based analysis and synthesis problems. Then, recent advances (especially the latest results) are reviewed on the stability analysis issue subject to protocol scheduling. Subsequently, the particular effort is devoted to presenting the latest progress on various communication-protocol-based control and filtering problems according to the characteristics of networked systems (e.g. time-varying nature, random behaviours, types of parameter uncertainties, and kinds of distributed structure). After that, we provide a systematic review of the communication-protocol-based fault diagnosis problems. Finally, some research challenges of communication-protocol-based control and filtering problems are outlined for future research.
Thermodynamics Since Einstein

Relativistic thermodynamics is a relatively unknown theory. Thermodynamic laws apply only to quasi-static processes that quickly change between states that are in a long-term equilibrium. However, special relativity postulates that the propagation speed of physical signals is constrained, thus limiting the speed of change in thermal states. Einstein was especially interested in the concept of temperature and the transformation formula of thermodynamic quantities in a moving frame of reference, having inspired numerous investigations for two centuries. This article reviews the historical development of relativistic thermodynamics since Einstein, beginning from the initial idea of Planck-Einstein in which a moving body warms up, to the notion of Blanusa-Ott in which a moving body cools down, and to that of Landsberg in which the temperature remains unchanged—depending on how the observer’s thermometer is defined. Current research focuses on identifying the correct form of relativistic Maxwell distribution to validate the related theory. Recent computational results using molecular dynamic simulations and their relevance to astrophysics are outlined as well.
Do Smallholder Farmers Need Nutrition Education? A Case Study from KwaZulu Natal,
South Africa

South Africa (SA) is considered as the second largest economies in Africa with well-developed agricultural food production system. But food security is still a challenge at household level. Currently, in Africa, smallholder agriculture is recognized to contribute food security at household level. This study investigates the prevalence of food insecurity and nutritional knowledge of 78 local smallholder farmers in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) province of South Africa. The results from this study indicated that nutrition knowledge was poor and food insecurity was prevalent at >40% at the household level. It is therefore recommended that future agricultural training should include nutrition education based on FBDG (Food Based Dietary Guidelines) in their respective programs so as to attain a balanced diet for healthy and productive smallholder farmer communities.
Temporal Dependencies in the Expressive Timing of Classical Piano Performances

In this chapter, we take a closer look at expressive timing in classical piano performances. We discuss various modeling approaches that attempt to capture how expressive timing is shaped by information present in the written score. Among these, we propose a recurrent basis function model allowing for temporal interactions between intermediate representations of musical score contexts, to learn dependencies of expressive timing on the preceding and following score contexts. We find that this temporal approach predicts expressive timing better than static models using the same basis function representations. Finally, we discuss examples of temporal dependencies that the model has learned.
FingerDOS : A Fingerprint Database Based on Optical Sensor

Fingerprint image acquisition is known to be a challenging aspect in fingerprint recognition. Many fingerprint databases were developed in conjunction with the growth of fingerprint algorithms. However, some of the databases are not publicly available, or insufficient number of samples provided, or having inconsistent fingerprint images. The purpose of this study is to present a new fingerprint database based on optical sensor. The main feature of this database is that the displacement of finger on the sensor plate is kept minimum. This is to provide additional test platform for fingerprint recognition algorithm whereby less attention is given for displaced finger, and more focus on the ability to recognize complete fingerprints. There are 3600 fingerprint images acquired from 60 subjects. Each of the subjects contributed 60 fingerprint images of his six fingers (thumb, index finger and middle finger for left and right hands). In this paper, the acquisition protocols are outlined and the content of the database are described. This database is then compared with other existing online fingerprint database and a list of the characteristics of the databases is summarized. In comparison, our database has more number of fingerprint samples with minimal displaced finger. Request for the database is available at http://www.fingerdos. wordpress.com. Key-Words: Fingerprint database, biometric, optical sensor.
Strategic Alignment and Performance for Service-oriented Smart Government in Taiwan: A Comparison between Government Officials and Private Sector Managers

Transformation to service-oriented smart government is one of the most important issues for governments across the world, and has been promoted by academia and practitioners in the recent years. This study conducted quantitative research to evaluate the effect of the two different types of stakeholders – government officials and private sector managers – on the relationship between the strategic alignment and performance of service-oriented smart government in Taiwan. The findings of the study indicated that the government officials and the private sector managers focused on using different strategic alignments to enhance the government performance. These findings are able to serve as a guide to developing and transforming a government into a service-oriented smart government.
Analogue model of inversion tectonics explaining the structural diversity of Late Cretaceous shortening in southwestern Mexico

The Laramide fold-and-thrust belt in southern Mexico is characterized by N-S–trending structures in its central and eastern part and by NW-SE–trending structures in its western part. Here, we investigate, experimentally, the possibility that the Laramide structures of southern Mexico may be the result of inversion of previously thinned lithosphere zones under oblique compression. A revision of the geology of this region shows that the presence of two extensional basins, representing relatively weak blocks within more rigid lithosphere, strongly controlled the subsequent deformation pattern. For modeling purposes, we divided the southern Mexico lithosphere into blocks with different strength profiles: (1) a stable craton; (2) a weak block composed of the Guerrero Morelos Platform; (3) a relatively strong block exposing the pre-Cretaceous Tejupilco schist and the Early Cretaceous Teloloapan volcanic arc (Tejupilco anticlinorium); and (4) a weak block represented by the Arcelia–Palmar Chico basin. A series of physical experiments simulating the mechanical response of an analogue lithosphere composed of five simplified strength profiles was constructed. The model lithosphere was thinned orthogonally and shortened obliquely. Shortening was accommodated mainly by reactivation of preexisting extensional structures. The resulting orogenic deformation in the models is not entirely sequential and foreland-progressive. Inversion tectonics of extensional basins is thus proposed as an explanation for the structural diversity observed in Late Cretaceous shortening of southwestern Mexico. The predictions of our lithospheric model may be tested when more geophysical information about the structure of the southern Mexico lithosphere becomes available.
Mermer Plakalarında Görüntü İşleme Teknikleri ile Yüzey Pürüzlülüğünün Değerlendirilmesi

Mermer isletmeciliginde parlatma ve cilalama islemleri birim maliyet uzerinde onemli bir paya sahiptir. Mermer plakalarina uygulanacak gerekli parlatma ve cilalama islemlerinin secimi ve calisma kosullarinin belirlenmesi, mermer plakalarinin yuzey puruzlulugune bagli olarak tespit edildigi takdirde bu toplam uretim maliyetinin dusmesine neden olacaktir. Bu nedenle mermer plakalarinin yuzey puruzlulugunun dogru bir sekilde belirlenmesi gerekmektedir. Piyasada yuzey puruzlulugunu olcen cesitli ticari cihazlar bulunmasina ragmen bu cihazlar daha cok homojen yapida malzemeler uzerinde dusuk olcum alani kapasitesinde calismaktadir. Ancak mermer gibi genis yuzey alanina sahip ve homojen olmayan malzemenin puruzlulugunu belirlemede yetersiz kalmaktadir. Bu calismada mermer yuzey puruzlulugunun goruntu isleme teknikleri ile belirlendigi bir sayisal goruntu analizi tabanli bir calisma sunulmaktadir. Calismada Bilecik Silkar Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A. Ş’den bloklar halinde temin edilen dort farkli mermer turu uzerinde calisilmistir. Bu mermer ornekleri once boyutlandirilmis ve daha sonra Taramali Elektron Mikroskobu (SEM) ile yuzey goruntuleri elde edilerek MATLAB ortaminda yuzey puruzluluk analizleri gerceklestirilmis ve sonuclar degerlendirilmistir. Elde edilen sonuclar sunulan yontemin puruzluluk belirlemede etkin oldugunu gostermistir.
Computational Options for Standard Errors and Test Statistics with Incomplete Normal and Nonnormal Data in SEM

ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of different computational options for inference following normal theory maximum likelihood (ML) estimation in structural equation modeling (SEM) with incomplete normal and nonnormal data. Complete data are covered as a special case. These computational options include whether the information matrix is observed or expected, whether the observed information matrix is estimated numerically or using an analytic asymptotic approximation, and whether the information matrix and the outer product matrix of the score vector are evaluated at the saturated or at the structured estimates. A variety of different standard errors and robust test statistics become possible by varying these options. We review the asymptotic properties of these computational variations, and we show how to obtain them using lavaan in R. We hope that this article will encourage methodologists to study the impact of the available computational options on the performance of standard errors and test statistics in SEM.
WTO AND PAKISTAN'S AGRICULTURE: A PRICE INTEGRATION AND WELFARE ANALYSIS FOR WHEAT

This study evaluates the impacts of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAoA) on wheat using a partial equilibrium model. We apply cointegration method for Pakistan in order to examine whether there exists a stable long run relationship between farm gate price and wholesale price and between wholesale price and world price of wheat. Further Granger causality test is applied to discover the direction of influence between the prices. Price integration analysis shows that there is a stable long run relationship between farm gate price and wholesale price and between wholesale price and world price of wheat. Direction of influence is from world price to wholesale price and from wholesale price to farm gate price. The welfare analysis has been conducted by estimating the domestic demand and supply functions and by using the concepts of consumer and producer surpluses. It is found that loss in consumer surplus exceeds gain in producer surplus and the nation will have to face net welfare loss in case of wheat under trade liberalization.
Timing is Everything: The COVID-19 Outbreak as a Trigger Event for Sinophobic Hate Crimes in the United Kingdom

We assessed whether the COVID-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom was associated with a rise in sinophobic hate crimes as well as the temporal distribution of victimisation rates. A victimisation survey (N = 393) showed that following the first known case of COVID-19 in the UK, Chinese/East Asian persons had a higher likelihood of being hate crime or incident victims than members of other ethnic minority groups. Specifically, victimisation reported by Chinese/East Asian participants reached its highest level in March 2020 (before lockdown); it then dropped significantly after an initial relaxation of restrictions in May 2020. Overall, we documented a temporary, potentially slightly delayed hate crime trigger effect of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Design and control of a lower limb exoskeleton for robot-assisted gait training

Robot-assisted rehabilitation of gait still faces many challenges, one of which is improving physical human-robot interaction. The use of pleated pneumatic artificial muscles to power a step rehabilitation robot has the potential to meet this challenge. This paper reports on the development of a gait rehabilitation exoskeleton with a knee joint powered by pleated pneumatic artificial muscles. It is intended as a platform for the evaluation of design and control concepts in view of improved physical human-robot interaction. The design was focused on the optimal dimensioning of the actuator configuration. Safety being the most important prerequisite, a proxy-based sliding mode controller PSMC was implemented as it combines accurate tracking during normal operation with a smooth, slow and safe recovery from large position errors. Treadmill walking experiments of a healthy subject wearing the powered exoskeleton show the potential of PSMC as a safe robot-in-charge control strategy for robot-assisted gait training.