Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Entropy and optimality in abstract art: an empirical test of visual aesthetics

How can aesthetic responses to artworks be computed? Previous authors have proposed governing properties, including symmetry and complexity, along with equations for quantifying these properties and combining them into an overall measure of aesthetics. But existing mathematical models have not been well motivated by psychological theories or well validated by empirical testing. An alternative model is derived here, using a novel measure of visual entropy to quantify graphic complexity and compute aesthetic optimality. This model is tested against human judgments of complexity and aesthetics using abstract designs composed of horizontal and vertical grid lines. The empirical results support the mathematical model of entropy and optimality, but also highlight difficulties associated with computing aesthetics for other abstract and figurative artworks. Implications of the data and model are discussed with regard to current and future efforts in the field of computational aesthetics, aimed at automating the evaluation of aesthetics and generation of artworks.
Continued Discussion of the Theory by Canuto and Dubovikov

7. Some genuinely testable theories, when found to be false, are still upheld by their admirers–for example by introducing ad hoc some auxiliary assumption, or by reinterpreting the theory ad hoc in such a way that it escapes refutation. Such a procedure is always possible, but it rescues the theory from refutation only at the price of destroying, or at least lowering, its scientific status. (I later described such as rescuing operation as a ‘conventionalist twist ’ or a ‘conventionalist stratagem’.)
How Many People Constitute a Crowd and What Do They Do? Quantitative Analyses of Revisions in the English and German Wiktionary Editions

Wie viele Menschen sind in einer 'Crowd', und was tun sie? Quantitative Analysen der Revisionen im englischen und deutschen Wiktionary. Wiktionary gewinnt immer mehr an Einfluss in vielen linguistischen Bereichen wie bspw. NLP und Lexikographie. Es hat das groste Potential, ein ernsthafter Wettbewerber fur die Vertragslexikographie und akademische Lexikographie zu werden. Allerdings wissen wir wenig uber die "Crowd", die fur den Inhalt von Wiktionary verantwortlich zeichnet. Im vorliegenden Artikel wollen wir einige ausgewahlte Fragen bearbeiten, die sich auf gros angelegte Kooperationsarbeit an Online-Worterbuchern beziehen. Wir verfolgen dabei einen quantitativen Ansatz und verwenden die kompletten Historien des englischen und deutschen Wiktionarys als Datenbasis. Wir zeigen, dass — im Vergleich zur kompletten Autorenbasis des Wiktionarys — nur sehr wenige Autoren fur die uberwaltigende Mehrheit der Revisionen in beiden Wiktionarys verantwortlich sind. Im Folgenden vergleichen wir diese Verteilung mit der Verteilung der Revisionen uber alle Artikel. Dann werden die Artikel hinsichtlich Grundlichkeit und Diversitat, typischen Revisionsmustern in der Zeit sowie der Neuigkeit (Zeit seit der letzten Revision) untersucht. Wir schliesen mit einer Analyse des Zusammenhangs zwischen Korpusfrequenz des Stichworts, der Anzahl der Seitenaufrufe des Artikels und der Anzahl der Revisionen des Artikels.
Microsoft Word - 93_11_Lukaniszyn.docx

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Nucleoredoxin and Wnt signaling in F9 cells

Nucleoredoxin is a redox sensitive protein recently shown to be involved in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway through binding dishevelled. When Wnt is present, dishevelled prevents a destruction complex from degrading β-catenin. This facilitates the translocation of β-catenin into the nucleus where it binds to TCF-LEF to impart changes in gene expression. This study used mouse F9 cells as a model to examine whether or not nucleoredoxin is involved in augmenting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling required for extraembryonic endoderm differentiation. It was found that nucleoredoxin and three dishevelled isoforms were present in F9 cells. Furthermore, nucleoredoxin was found to bind to dishevelled-2, and when cells were treated with an oxidizing agent this interaction diminished. Lastly, when nucleoredoxin expression was knocked down, F9 cells differentiated into extraembryonic endoderm. Together, the data would indicate that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway obligatory for extraembryonic endoderm differentiation is redox regulated at the level of nucleoredoxin.
EFFECTIVENESS CRITERIA FOR ICONS AS TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA

As the application of human icons as tourist attractions continues to increase, there is a growing need to better understand how these famous individuals are used by destinations. Based on literature in several relevant fields, such as history, social science, and destination management, effectiveness criteria for icon attractions were analyzed in this study. Three “situational” factors influencing the operation of icon attractions (culture, history, and government involvement) were included in these criteria. It also suggested that icon attractions can be evaluated from three aspects: characteristics of icons, organization, and impacts. The applications of icon effectiveness criteria for tourist attractions in the United States and China were compared. The validity and practical value of the effectiveness criteria were demonstrated. Management implications in the utilization of icon attractions were derived.
The Influence of Hedonic versus Utilitarian Consumption Goals on the Compromise Effect

This article reports the effects of hedonic versus utilitarian consumption goals on consumers’ choices between middle and extreme options and the compromise effect. The authors formulate competing hypotheses regarding the role of different types of consumption goals on consumers’ preferences for middle vs. extreme options and the compromise effect based on three different research streams (i.e., the justification mechanism, different types of valuation mechanism, and self-regulatory focus mechanism). Two studies are conducted, and the findings suggest that the compromise effect is higher for the utilitarian (vs. hedonic) consumption situation.
Cloud‐based video analytics using convolutional neural networks

Object classification is a vital part of any video analytics system, which could aid in complex applications such as object monitoring and management. Traditional video analytics systems work on shallow networks and are unable to harness the power of distributed processing for training and inference. We propose a cloud‐based video analytics system based on an optimally tuned convolutional neural network to classify objects from video streams. The tuning of convolutional neural network is empowered by in‐memory distributed computing. The object classification is performed by comparing the target object with the prestored trained patterns, generating a set of matching scores. The matching scores greater than an empirically determined threshold reveal the classification of the target object. The proposed system proved to be robust to classification errors with an accuracy and precision of 97% and 96%, respectively, and can be used as a general‐purpose video analytics system.
DETECTION OF ENTEROTOXIGENIC STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAINS USING A COMMERCIAL ELISA AND MULTIPLEX-PCR

A commercial ELISA and multiplex-PCR were used to determine the enterotoxigenicity of 99 S. aureus strains. In 36 strains the genes of enterotoxins SEA to SEE were detected. Out of these, 32 strains were found to be enterotoxin producers. In the remaining 4 strains the enterotoxin was not detected. These 4 strains were tested by RT-PCR for SE mRNA presence. In the case of sea- and sec-harbouring strains, the presence or absence of an RT-PCR product was consistent with the presence and absence of an ELISA signal, respectively. In the case of strains carrying the sed gene, a similar correlation could not be observed. The presence of sed RT-PCR product was found in all the strains regardless of their ability to produce SED.
Adsorption characteristics of Kynurenic acid as green corrosion inhibitor atmild steel/hydrochloric acid interface

The corrosion inhibition effect of kynurenic acid (KYN) has been investigated against mild steel in 1M HCl solution by using weight loss method, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization measurements. In weight loss studies, the inhibition efficiency is increased with increase in the concentration of the inhibitor. EIS is used to investigate the mechanism of corrosion inhibition. Polarization measurements infer inhibitor acts as mixedtype inhibitor. The adsorption of inhibitor on mild steel surface followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The surface morphology of inhibited and uninhibited mild steel is also analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).
The MAV3DSim: A Simulation Platform for Research, Education and Validation of UAV Controllers

Despite the substantial interest in UAVs, little attention has been paid to developing realistic simulators which represents a complete mathematical model of the UAV and the external variables, that is the reason why we present a Multi-Aerial Vehicle 3D Simulator (MAV3DSim) that will help with the validation of new controllers. It is multi-aerial because it has the possibility to simulate a fixed-wing or a quadrotor UAV. The multiple display options of the MAV3DSim provides a big help in the development of the controllers. Finally we present the previous implementation of two different controllers, for the fixed-wing a path following strategy is implemented while for the quadrotor an attitude and altitude controller, both strategies are implemented on the same simulation environment.
Help received from relatives and services to satisfy needs of adults with severe mental disorders

Background: Few studies have considered the impact of demographic and clinical variables on help received respectively from services and relatives to satisfy needs of adults with severe mental disorders (SMD). Purposes: To identify major needs receiving help and, using the Andersen’s Behavioural Model of Health Service Use, to identify and compare predisposing, enabling and need factors associated with help given respectively by services and relatives. Methods: 352 adults with SMD from Montreal (Canada) were interviewed using six standardized instruments. Clinical records were consulted. Multiple linear regression analyses were processed to measure level of help received from relatives and services. Results: Factors significantly associated with help from relatives were: higher number of perceived needs; fewer diagnoses; better community functioning; being younger, and in a conjugal relationship; living autonomously; having social support and better quality of life; and, marginally, being an immigrant. Factors significantly associated with help from services were: higher number of perceived needs, better quality of life, supervised housing, adjustment disorder and schizophrenia. Conclusions: Help overall is insufficient to meet users’ needs. Services are more helpful than relatives, in particular regarding health needs. Comparatively to help from services, help from relatives is associated with predisposing factors like age, marital status and nationality.
Performance of new silica aerogels in a threshold Cerenkov counter

New highly transparent, hydrophobic silica aerogels with refractive indices of 1.01 to 1.07 have been produced by Aspen Aerogels, Inc., and select tiles have been tested using an electron beam at the DESY, Hamburg facility. A diffusively-reflective threshold Cerenkov counter was designed and constructed for the purpose of evaluating the aerogels, and can accommodate aerogel tile areas of up to 20 cm by 20 cm. Measurements of the performance of the counter using the new aerogels as Cerenkov radiators are given in terms of photoelectron yields and a figure of merit.
Variational Inference for Quantile Rgression

of the Thesis Variational Inference for Quantile Rgression by Bufei Guo A.M. in Statistics Washington University in St. Louis, 2019. Professor Nan Lin, Chair Quantile regression (QR) (Koenker and Bassett, 1978), is an alternative to classic linear regression with extensive applications in many fields. This thesis studies Bayesian quantile regression (Yu and Moyeed, 2001) using variational inference, which is one of the alternative methods to the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) in approximating intractable posterior distributions. The lasso regularization is shown to be effective in improving the accuracy of quantile regression (Li and Zhu, 2008). This thesis developed variational inference for quantile regression and regularized quantile regression with the lasso penalty. Simulation results show that variational inference is a computationally more efficient alternative to the MCMC, while providing a comparable accuracy.
Availability, Affordability and Volatility: The Case of Hong Kong Housing Market

Housing prices in Hong Kong have gained international attention. This study suggests that the housing supply may be insufficient. Consistent with previous studies, we confirm that merely increasing the land supply may not increase the housing supply. We also find preliminary evidence for widening income inequality, which, when combined with unavailability, can lead to unaffordability in the housing market. Given the current housing supply elasticity with respect to price, Hong Kong is not more volatile than major cities in the United States. Thus, improving housing availability and thereby increasing housing supply elasticity, could effectively decrease housing price volatility.
Origin of parautochthonous Polish moldavites – a palaeogeographical and petrographical study

In this article, the most recent moldavite discoveries in Poland and their host sediments are characterised and discussed. They were discovered at Lasow, located about 8 km north of Zgorzelec (Poland) and Gorlitz (Germany), about 700 m from the Polish-German border, close to the Lusatian Neisse (Nysa) River. The tektites were collected from Vistulian (Wiechselian) glacial age sand and gravel of a closed quarry pit, associated with the river terraces. In the Lasow area, the moldavite-bearing sediments are Pleistocene in age and represent Lusatian Neisse terrace deposits. They were redeposited from the upper part of the drainage basin of the Lusatian Neisse, probably washed out from the Miocene sediments that filled the Zittau Depression, the Berzdorf–Radomierzyce Depression, the Visňova Depression and the tectonically uplifted Izera Mts. and Dzialoszyn Depression. The erosion of Miocene deposit occured on a large scale in the uplifted foothills of the Upper Miocene Izera, Lusatia and Kaczawa complexes. The sediment cover was removed from the Dzialoszyn Depression. The drainage basin of the Lusatian Neisse is the area where moldavites were formed by the Nordlinger Ries impact. The source area of moldavite is the same for the Miocene deposits around Gozdnica, as well as for the Pleistocene sediments at Lasow.
Energy Profiling and Performance Optimization for Network-related Transactions in Virtualized Cloud

Networking and machine virtualization play critical roles in the success of modern cloud computing. The energy consumption of physical machines has been carefully examined in the past, including the impact from network traffic. When it comes to virtual machines (VMs) in cloud data centers, it remains unexplored how the highly dynamic traffic affects the energy consumption in virtualized environments. In this thesis, we first present an empirical study on the interplay between energy consumption and network transactions in virtualized environments. Through the real-world measurement on both Xenand KVMbased platforms, we show that these state-of-the-art designs bring significant overhead on virtualizing network devices and noticeably increase the demand of CPU resources when handling network traffic. Furthermore, the energy consumption varies significantly with traffic allocation strategies and virtual CPU affinity conditions, which was not seen in conventional physical machines. Next, we study the performance and energy efficiency issues when CPU intensive tasks and I/O intensive tasks are co-located inside a VM. A combined effect from device virtualization overhead and VM scheduling latency can cause severe interference in the presence of such hybrid workloads. To this end, we propose Hylics, a novel solution that enables an efficient data traverse path for both I/O and computation operations, and decouples the costly interference. Several important design issues are pinpointed and addressed during our implementation, including efficient intermediate data sharing, network service offloading, and QoS-aware memory usage management. Based on our realworld deployment in KVM, Hylics can improve computation and networking performance with a moderate amount of memory usage. Moreover, this design also sheds new light on optimizing the energy efficiency for virtualized systems.
Exploring, Engaging, Understanding in Museums

Patterns of accessibility through the space of the exhibition, connections or separations among spaces or exhibition elements, sequencing and grouping of elements, form our perceptions and shape our understanding. Through a review of several previous studies and the presentation of new work, this paper suggests that these patterns of movement form the basis of visitor understanding and that these effects can be deliberately controlled and elaborated through a closer examination of the influence of the visual and perceptual properties of an exhibition. Furthermore, it is argued that there is also a spatial discourse based on patterns of access and visibility that flows in its own right, although not entirely separate from the curatorial narrative.
Effect of Wind Speed and Load Correlation on ELCC of Wind Turbine Generator

Utilization of wind turbines as economic and green production units, poses new challenges to the power system planners, mainly due to the stochastic nature of the wind, adding a new source of uncertainty to the power system. Different types of distribution and correlation between this random variable and the system load make conventional method inappropriate for modeling such a correlation. In this paper, the correlation between the wind speed and system load is modeled using Copula, a mathematical tool recently used in the field of the applied science. As the effect of the correlation coefficient is the main concern, the copula modeling technique allows simulating various scenarios with different correlations. The conducted simulations in this paper reveal that the wind speed correlation with the load has a significant effect on the system reliability indices, such as Expected Energy Not Served (EENS) and Loss Of Load Probability (LOLP). Moreover, in this paper the effect of the correlation coefficient on the Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) of the wind turbines is analyzed, too. To perform the aforementioned simulations and analyses, the modified RBTS with an additional wind farm is used.
Mid-IR waveguides and grating couplers for 2.7-2.9 μm

Integrated silicon photonics strip waveguides and grating couplers are developed for midinfrared (mid-IR) wavelengths at 2.7 μm and 2.9 μm. Waveguide loss is measured as a function of width for 2.7 μm light in the vicinity of a prominent OH absorption band, and a loss of less than 2 dB/cm is recorded for the 1.0 μm width waveguide. A fabrication bias metric is determined for accurately developing grating couplers at 2.9 μm on a 500 nm siliconon-insulator (SOI), 3 μm buried-oxide substrate. A high resolution measurement scheme is motivated and measurements indicate that these devices will be capable of studying the Se+ donor spin qubit cavity coupling platform proposed by researchers at Simon Fraser University.
A Model of Persuasion for Speaking Rate Adaptation

Proper speaking rate is a key attribute of effective communication. Emerging persuasive technologies use computers as a tool to induce human behavioural and attitude changes. This thesis established a computational framework which can persuade people to slow down their speech and communicate more effectively. We defined a conceptual model and implemented a computer software system, both serving as the cornerstones of our persuasion framework. The computer system is designed to persuade people to be aware of their speaking rate and to slow down their speech. The combination of computer technology and persuasive technologies and theories are embedded in the system. In order to conduct effective persuasion, a number of computer-based survey questions were asked and a short tailored letter was generated for each participant. A virtual coach system monitored and reminded the participant to slow down. A few adaptive cues were used to enhance the effects of the persuasion. We evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of the overall system. At the same time, we evaluated the feasibility of individual elements. A total of 22 participants was selected to make up the sample. The experiments were conducted under controlled conditions. The results indicated that our system is effective in persuading people to speak more slowly. The feedback from users indicated that our system raised their awareness about speaking rate.
Statistical Analysis of Determinants of Maternal Institutional Delivery Service Utilization in Ethiopia

Utilization of maternal healthcare service is a proximate determinant of maternal morbidities and mortalities. On the way to improve maternal health care service, it is important to understand factors influencing maternal health care service utilization. The main purpose of this study is to determine statistically the correlates of maternal place of delivery in Ethiopia, using 2011 EDHS data. The overall frequency of maternal delivery at heath facility in Ethiopia was 12.8%. Logistic regression model was used to model the effects of selected socioeconomic and demographic covariates. It was found that the covariates place of residence, birth order of child, mother’s age at child birth, mother’s educational level, household economic status and mothers employment status were the most important determinants of mothers place of delivery in the Ethiopia. It is suggested that to improve maternal healthcare service utilization, maternal education should be supported as a policy and this could be achieved through female literacy programs in the country.
The Development of Intergroup Forgiveness in Northern Ireland

As societies like Northern Ireland, Israel, and South Africa strive to resolve social conflict, there is growing theoretical and empirical interest in the role of intergroup forgiveness. This study examined intergroup forgiveness among 340 young adults in Northern Ireland. A short form of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory explored possible influences on propensity to forgive. All participants were Catholic and female (mean age 17.36 years), and had experienced verbal or physical injury or bereavement due to the Northern Irish political violence. Overall forgiveness levels were low in comparison with previous studies of interpersonal forgiveness but similar to previous studies of intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland. The strongest (negative) predictor of forgiveness was the perceived degree of hurt caused by the injury.