Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computing on quantum shared secrets

A (k,n)-threshold secret-sharing scheme allows for a string to be split into n shares in such a way that any subset of at least k shares suffices to recover the secret string, but such that any subset of at most k-1 shares contains no information about the secret. Quantum secret-sharing schemes extend this idea to the sharing of quantum states. Here we propose a method of performing computation on quantum shared secrets. We introduce a (n,n)-quantum secret sharing scheme together with a set of protocols that allow quantum circuits to be evaluated on the shared secret without the need to decode the secret. We consider a multipartite setting, with each participant holding a share of the secret. We show that if there exists at least one honest participant, no group of dishonest participants can recover any information about the shared secret, independent of their deviations from the protocol.
Treatment of Missing Data in the FBI ’ s National Incident Based Reporting System : A Case Study in the Bakken Region

In response to the growing reliance upon administrative records to generate national estimates of key indicators of interest, federal statistical agencies have been expanding and enhancing activities to assess and improve the quality of data collected through administrative records systems. Given that administrative records are often collected across different agencies or local reporting units, encountering missing data at both the individual and aggregated levels is inevitable and must be addressed when developing estimates. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is a system designed to collect data from administrative records to be used for research and statistical purposes. It was developed as an expansion to its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program to improve the quality of crime data collected by law enforcement by capturing detailed information on each single crime occurrence. In this paper, we present an imputation method developed to handle missing data in NIBRS by leveraging other relevant external data sources. Given the hierarchical structure of NIBRS, this particular method addresses missing data occurring at multiple levels, including: a) incident level, due to item missing within each incident; b) agency level by month, due to some agencies reporting only for a partial year; and c) agency level by year, due to some agencies not submitting data to NIBRS for an entire year. The proposed method will be applied to a study in the Bakken region of the United States that utilizes the NIBRS data to examine how crime and law enforcement changed in the region as oil production increased from 2006 to 2012. A variance estimation method was also developed to evaluate the uncertainties in our estimates introduced by this imputation technique. In a broad sense, this research also can be viewed as an example of how to handle missing data in hierarchically structured administrative records.
Echocardiography Mitral Valve Prolapse in the General Population The Benign Nature of Echocardiographic Features in the Framingham Heart Study

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine the echocardiographic features and associations of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) diagnosed by current two-dimensional echocardiographic criteria in an unselected outpatient sample. BACKGROUND Previous studies of patients with MVP have emphasized the frequent occurrence of echocardiographic abnormalities such as significant mitral regurgitation (MR) and left atrial (LA) enlargement that are associated with clinical complications. These studies, however, have been limited by the use of hospital-based or referral series. METHODS We quantitatively studied all 150 subjects with possible MVP by echocardiography and 150 ageand gender-matched subjects without MVP from the 3,491 subjects in the Framingham Heart Study. Based on leaflet morphology, subjects were classified as having classic (n 46), nonclassic (n 37), or no MVP. RESULTS Leaflet length, MR degree, and LA and left ventricular size were significantly but mildly increased in MVP (p 0.0001 to 0.004), with mean values typically within normal range. Average MR jet area was 15.1 1.4% (mild) in classic MVP and 8.9 1.5% (trace) in nonclassic MVP; MR was severe in only 3 of 46 (6.5%) subjects with classic MVP, and LA volume was increased in only 8.7% of those with classic MVP and 2.7% of those with nonclassic MVP. CONCLUSIONS Although the echocardiographic characteristics of subjects with MVP in the Framingham Heart Study differ from those without MVP, they display a far more benign profile of associated valvular, atrial, and ventricular abnormalities than previously reported in hospitalor referral-based series. Therefore, these findings may influence the perception of and approach to the outpatient with MVP. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2002;40:1298–304) © 2002 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation
Synthetic Teammate Communication and Coordination With Humans

A synthetic teammate based on ACT-R cognitive architecture has been developed to function as an Air Vehicle Operator in the context of a three-agent Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ground control team taking part in studies in a Synthetic Task Environment (STE). In order for the synthetic teammate to function as team player with human teammates, it needs to skillfully handle the subtleties of team communication and coordination. Data from early synthetic teammate interactions with two human teammates are presented here to illustrate team communication and coordination challenges for the synthetic teammate. In turn, the synthetic teammate limitations have highlighted the intricacies involved in effective teamwork. Communication, though a terrifically challenging problem in itself, is only a foundation for coordinated teamwork or interacting as a team player.
instructors as leaders in a virtual learning environment Transformational and passive leadership : An initial investigation of university

The study investigated whether students perceive their university instructors in a virtual learning environment as leaders. Referring to the full range leadership theory (FRLT), we examined the effects of transformational and passive leadership styles of university instructors on students’ satisfaction and learning outcomes. Completed web-based questionnaires were obtained from 1270 students who enrolled in large academic courses led by instructors in web-based instructional environments. Data analyses confirmed the validity of the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) in the virtual asynchronous communication setting with three second-order factors model composed of transformational, active management-by-exception and passive leadership. Leadership styles correlated with student satisfaction: the more the students attributed transformational leadership style to the instructor and the less they attributed a passive leadership style, the more satisfied they were. The attributed leadership style was not related to the actual participation of the students in the virtual discussions or to their academic achievements. The findings suggest that subordinates’ satisfaction might be tied more strongly to their perception of the leader than to the actual tangible benefits the leader can provide. Moreover, the study shows that the FRLT is applied to the asynchronous, webbased, instructional environment which is being increasingly adopted in higher education institutions.
Online and offline political participation in the 2014 presidential elections in Salvador

This study investigates the influence of sociodemographic variables (gender, age and schooling), family income, political attitudes (civic engagement and party preference) and the use of digital social media platforms on the online and offline political participation of voters of Salvador (in the state of Bahia, Brazil) during the 2014 presidential elections. The results of multinomial statistical analysis proved that social media engagement was determinant for online and offline political participation. On the other hand, a higher education was decisive for web participation. Multivariate analyses also confirmed the Reinforcement Hypothesis (DI GENNARO; DUTTON, 2006; NORRIS, 2001), evidencing that the most engaged voters in conventional participation used digital technologies to reinforce their participatory activity. The data of this study was obtained through household survey conducted in January 2015 in Salvador to investigate the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the electoral decision-making process.
1 Alternative Approaches to Measuring House Price Inflation

The paper uses data on sales of detached houses in a small Dutch town over 14 quarters starting at the first quarter of 2005 in order to compare various methods for constructing a house price index over this period. Four classes of methods are considered: (i) stratification techniques plus normal index number theory; (ii) time dummy hedonic regression models; (iii) hedonic imputation techniques and (iv) additive in land and structures hedonic regression models. The last approach is used in order to decompose the price of a house into land and structure components and it relies on the imposition of some monotonicity constraints or exogenous information on price movements for structures. The problems associated with constructing an index for the stock of houses using information on the sales of houses are also considered.
COMPARING IMPUTATION OF ENTIRE SUBSCALES VERSUS INDIVIDUAL ITEMS IN A STUDY OF QUALITY OF LIFE FOLLOWING BREAST CANCER

In analyses that use variables comprised of several individual items, missing item values force a decision about whether to treat composite variables as missing or to use responses on available component items. In our motivating example, an initial approach was based on a threshold rule: if a critical number of items was observed on the subscale, then the mean of the available items was treated as the observed value for that variable, otherwise the variable was treated as missing. A more sophisticated alternative that exploits information about associations between component items presents technical challenges because of the large number (183) of variables in the study. We compare the results from regression models fitted to (i) a data set where threshold rules were applied and remaining missing items were multiply imputed in a model with 35 composite variables, and (ii) a data set where imputation models were used to accommodate missingness on any of 183 items. Although most inferences from the alternative approaches were similar, each model featured results where statistical significance at conventional levels was affected by the treatment of missing data.
A New Static Data Flow Clustering Algorithm for Task Scheduling of Irregular Mesh in NoCs Based on Complex Networks

The majority of recent embedded systems are based on MPSoCs (Multi-Processors System on Chip) architectures. The topologies and the interconnections inside multi processors almost adopt NoCs (Networks on Chip) whose topology and task scheduling algorithm have a direct impact on its performances. In this paper, by using static data flow, a task scheduling algorithm which would automatically assign the application tasks onto different processors is proposed based on complex network. The goal of our algorithm is to replace the static data flow subnetwork by a single dynamic data flow actor such that the global performance in terms of latency and throughput is optimized. Through complex network, it greatly enhances the power of our algorithm in terms of avoiding deadlock, saving energy and providing for integration with more general models of computation. Experimental results show up to 60% performance improvement for real-world examples.
ASSESSMENT OF MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF HISTORIC TIMBER JOINTS PERFORMED USING DIGITAL IMAGE CORRELATION

Because traditional historic timber joints lack standardized design rules, their testing is of high importance. For a detailed analytical model it is needed to know where and when the parts of the joint come into contact during the loading of the structure. To measure this quantity it is possible to use extensometers, however, because of presence of big displacements and brittle cracking it is preferable to introduce more efficient tool, the digital image correlation (DIC) method. In the work DIC was applied in experimental analysis of a joint. The joint is intended for replacement of decayed parts of ceiling joists and consists of two oblique faces and a single pin in the middle of the faces. The joint was made in a beam (Norway spruce, dims. 6x0.2x0.24 m, number of samples N=8) in two positions: four joints (group A) were loaded using both shear and bending moment loading (1.5 m from the support, three point bending), four joints (group B) were loaded using bending moment (in the middle between applied forces, four point bending). During the loading a camera triggered by a remote camera controller took pictures every five seconds. The algorithm used in this study is more deeply described in the article. The results show the group A has different contact length on both sides which was caused by different loading at the two ends (face length μ=43.8%, σ=14.7% vs. μ=19.9%, σ=4.5%). In the group B where the contact length should be equal the obtained standard deviation of the contact length determination was μ=30.7%, σ=13.1%. Not only the contact length, but also sliding behavior of the two surfaces can be described this way. It is an efficient and simple way suited especially for investigation of timber connections and can be directly applied to analytic models of the joint.
Low Power Testing of VLSI Circuits Using Test Vector Reordering

Power consumption is one of the biggest challenges in high performance VLSI design and testing. Low power VLSI circuits dissipate more power during testing when compared with that of normal operation. Dynamic power has been the dominant part of power dissipation in CMOS circuits, however, in future technologies the static portion of power dissipation will outreach the dynamic portion. The proposed approach is based on a reordering of test vectors in the test sequence to minimize the average and peak power of the circuit using test application. In this paper weighted switching activity is derived based on the average power consumed in the logic gates during all possible event conditions. Since this weighted switching activity is based on the power, the proposed method gives more accurate results. The proposed algorithm is implemented and verified using ISCAS85 benchmark circuits. Power is estimated for the circuits using Tanner EDA tool. The results show that power is reduced significantly over the existing methods. 
L'approche TaxoMap Framework et son application au raffinement de mappings

Ontology alignment is an important task for information integration. Current ontology matchers are not efficient for all application domains or ontologies. Very often the quality of the results can be improved by considering the specificities of the ontologies domain. In this paper, we propose an environment, called TaxoMap Framework, based on TaxoMap, an alignment tool, which helps an expert to specify treatments based on alignment results. The aim is to refine these results or to merge, restructure or enrich ontologies. We apply our approach to mapping refinement in the topographic field within the ANR project, GeOnto.
Chapter 2 Marker Assisted Selection Made Cheap and Easy

Molecular markers in perennial forages are becoming ubiquitous for marker assisted selection (MAS). Nevertheless, widespread implementation of MAS in perennial forage breeding programs for highly quantitative traits has not yet occurred. A primary reason is likely the cost associated with genotyping plants using molecular markers. Presented are cost-effective MAS strategies that are immediately implementable in most diploid or polyploidy perennial forage breeding programs. Breeding methods developed during the pre-MAS era maximize the ratio between additive variance and the square root of the phenotypic variance (i.e. hσA). With the advent of molecular markers, many new breeding methods based primarily on correlated selection responses between molecular markers and quantitative traits have been proposed (i.e. rσA). MAS strategies should be considered using molecular markers to improve hσA by enhancing traditional breeding methods. A selection strategy pyramid is envisioned with traditional maternal halfsib selection serving as the base followed by marker assisted paternity selection. With no additional cost within maternal and paternal maximum linkage disequilibrium based MAS strategies can be added. Finally, as the total cost to genotype one individual decreases, residual linkage disequilibrium based MAS strategies can be added to the above mentioned strategies or at some price point supplant these strategies.
Effect of Spoiler Angle on the Aerodynamic Performance of Hatchback Model

Rear spoiler is a device commonly found on road vehicles for improving their aerodynamic performance. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of varying the spoiler angle on the aerodynamic performance of hatchback vehicles. A simplified road vehicle model was used to facilitate the investigation. The study utilized a RANS-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. As for the purpose of validating the method, the numerically obtained results was compared to the experimental data. The numerical result shows that at positive spoiler angle, the aerodynamic lift of the hatchback model has reduced dramatically – up to 2937%. However, the spoiler effect is unfavorable to lift reduction when configured at negative inclination angle. Although the aerodynamic lift was found to decrease with the increase in spoiler angle, there is accompanied by a drag penalty. Finally, the physical mechanism was discussed based on flow visualization results.
TESTING EQUALITY OF VECTORS OF PROPORTIONS FOR SEVERAL CLUSTER SAMPLES

A test statistic for comparing proportions should reflect the type of sampling scheme used to collect the data. This paper considers obtaining a test statistic for proportions under cluster sampling. Brier (1980) used the Dirichlet Multinomial model for contingency tables generated by cluster sampling schemes. Here the Dirichlet Multinomial is used for comparing vectors of proportions from different subpopulations. This model assumes that the covariance matrix of the estimated proportion under Dirichlet Multinomial sampling is a multiple of the covariance matrix of the estimated proportions under multinomial sampling. Several methods are suggested for estimating this multiplier. A test for the fit of the model is obtained. The Dirichlet Multinomial model is used to analyze data taken from Brier (1980).
A history of attitudes and persuasion research

For the most part, the history of the field of attitudes and persuasion parallels the history of social psychology itself. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the attitude concept was a central and dominant one in social psychology from its inception. Second, because the concept of attitudes was so fundamental (basic) to so many social psychological phenomena, theories regarding attitudes and their formation and change have served as the building blocks for numerous other t-apics in the field ranging from prejudice to relationships. Although the absolute hegemony of this topic has risen and fallen over time in a cyclic way, as we will document in this chapter, in every decade over the past 100 years there has been at least one core idea or theory that has not only influenced researchers of attitudes, but social psychologists more generally. We present the history of attitudes as the history of the key schools, people, topics and ideas that have permeated the field, with a focus on those contributing to basic research and theory within social psychology. Thus, we do not cover the linked developments in the numerous areas of application ofbasic attitudes research such as in the domains of prejudice, consumer, health, and political psychology, and many others. We begin by providing a general overview of the roots of the attitude concept itself Next, we describe the work on attitudes and persuasion within broad traditions located at particularly influential universities. We cover core ideas regarding attitude measurement, attitude-behavior relationships, and especially attitude change as they were developed in the places where a group of key researchers concentrated their efforts, including Yale, Stanford, Illinois and Ohio State. ln the second part of the chapter, we more briefly describe additional ideas regarding each of these major topics presented in chronological order so that it is easier to see how researchers have built on related contributions. This also allows us an opportunity to present some important ideas that were not originated in the four main centers of attitude research.
ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION ON EFFECT OF HEAD AND BUCKET SPLITTER ANGLE ON THE POWER OUTPUT OF A PELTON TURBINE

This paper presents the effect of head and bucket splitter angle on the power output of a pelton turbine (water turbine), to harmonize the gas turbine sector to enhance the power generation by the use of efficient Hydro-electric power generation systems. Analysis and simulation using experimental data were carried out on pelton turbine head conditions, high head and low flow with increased pressure delivered more energy on the bucket splitter which then generates a force in driving the wheel compared to the result obtained from low head and high flow operating conditions. A simulation program was developed using MatLab to simulate the force generated by the bucket as the water jet strikes the existing splitter angle (10 0 to 15 0 ) and predicted (1 0 to 25 0 ) splitter angles. Result shows that as volumetric flow rate was decreasing from 0.24 to 0.06 , as the volume of water decreases the pressure is increased. This increase in pressure influences the power delivered to the wheel by the jet of water. The jet of water causes the turbine speed to increase or decrease depending on the shape, size of bucket and the splitter which the jet strikes. The specific speed of the turbine increases and the shaft output also increases. It was equally noted that as the reservoir increases in elevation from 100m to 1000m, the hydraulic power in water fall (which is given a direction in a pipe line) increases the power delivered to the wheel from (4.4 to 5.05) x .
DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMER-PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY IN FAST-FOOD RESTAURANTS (FFRS)

This study extends the underlying dimensions of service quality in the context of FFRs. The original 22-item SERVPERF scale is modified, and another potential dimension, recovery, is empirically examined. An online survey was administered to college students in a large southwestern university. Findings from EFA and CFA indicate that the dominant dimensions of service quality in FFRs are: tangibles, assurance, empathy, COM, and recovery. All the four items measuring recovery in this study are significant. These results suggest that service managers in FFRs should develop their managerial strategies according to these dominant dimensions of service quality. Future research will investigate the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions.