Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding the impact of web layout and emotional changes towards navigation behaviour among visually impaired users

Facebook is the largest social network and it’s widely used by everyone. Facebook consists of webpages designed in modular layouts. Assistive technologies such as screen readers not able interpret the content in complex layout to visually impaired (VI) users. This causes lots of troubles to VI users. In order to understand the impact of layout to VI users’ navigation behavior, we conducted a comparison study of how VI users navigate in Facebook desktop and mobile version. Besides, this article examines the relationships between users’ emotions and their navigation behavior in complex layout. The result shows that VI users prefer Facebook mobile version compares to desktop version. The study revealed that there is a strong relationship between users’ emotions and their navigation behavior. The understanding of VI users’ navigation behavior and their emotions changes can help web designers to bridge the gap between the user and system.
An application-oriented analysis of power/precision trade-off in fixed and floating-point arithmetic units for VLSI processors

Floating and fixed-point formats represent the most used representation in VLSI DSP systems. Fixed-point formats are often preferred for lower power and faster operation, when the algorithm permits the appropriate scaling factors. Floating-point formats require additional hardware and power, but guarantee better precision performance. This work compares the energy dissipated by the key arithmetic units in DSP systems, addition and multiplication, in both floatingand fixed-point scenarios, also considering reduced precision and power-aware architecture solutions. The evaluation has been performed referring to STMicroelectronics 180nm,130nm and 90nm CMOS processes. The results show that specialized floating-point formats can be the best energy-efficient solution in low power DSP.
Ca2+ permeation in cyclic nucleotide‐gated channels

Cyclic nucleotide‐gated (CNG) channels conduct Na+, K+ and Ca2+ currents under the control of cGMP and cAMP. Activation of CNG channels leads to depolarization of the membrane voltage and to a concomitant increase of the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. Several polypeptides were identified that constitute principal and modulatory subunits of CNG channels in both neurons and non‐excitable cells, co‐assembling to form a variety of heteromeric proteins with distinct biophysical properties. Since the contribution of each channel type to Ca2+ signaling depends on its specific Ca2+ conductance, it is necessary to analyze Ca2+ permeation for each individual channel type. We have analyzed Ca2+ permeation in all principal subunits of vertebrates and for a principal subunit from Drosophila melanogaster. We measured the fractional Ca2+ current over the physiological range of Ca2+ concentrations and found that Ca2+ permeation is determined by subunit composition and modulated by membrane voltage and extracellular pH. Ca2+ permeation is controlled by the Ca2+‐binding affinity of the intrapore cation‐binding site, which varies profoundly between members of the CNG channel family, and gives rise to a surprising diversity in the ability to generate Ca2+ signals.
Protective or Counter-Productive? Labor Market Institutions and the Effect of Immigration on EU Natives

We estimate the effect of immigrant flows on native employment in Western Europe, and then ask whether the employment consequences of immigration vary with institutions that affect labor market flexibility. Reduced flexibility may protect natives from immigrant competition in the near term, but our theoretical framework suggests that reduced flexibility is likely to increase the negative impact of immigration on equilibrium employment. In models without interactions, OLS estimates for a panel of European countries in the 1980s and 1990s show small, mostly negative immigration effects. To reduce bias from the possible endogeneity of immigration flows, we use the fact that many immigrants arriving after 1991 were refugees from the Balkan wars. An IV strategy based on variation in the number of immigrants from former Yugoslavia generates larger though mostly insignificant negative estimates. We then estimate models allowing interactions between the employment response to immigration and institutional characteristics including business entry costs. These results, limited to the sample of native men, generally suggest that reduced flexibility increases the negative impact of immigration. Many of the estimated interaction terms are significant, and imply a significant negative effect on employment in countries with restrictive institutions.
Prefrontal Cortical Thickness Deficit in Detoxified Alcohol-dependent Patients

Alcohol dependence is a serious disorder that can be related with a number of potential health-related and social consequences. Cortical thickness measurements would provide important information on the cortical structural alterations in patients with alcohol dependence. Twenty-one patients with alcohol dependence and 22 healthy comparison subjects have been recruited and underwent high-resolution brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and clinical assessments. T1-weighted MR images were analyzed using the cortical thickness analysis program. Significantly thinner cortical thickness in patients with alcohol dependence than healthy comparison subjects was noted in the left superior frontal cortical region, correcting for multiple comparisons and adjusting with age and hemispheric average cortical thickness. There was a significant association between thickness in the cluster of the left superior frontal cortex and the duration of alcohol use. The prefrontal cortical region may particularly be vulnerable to chronic alcohol exposure. It is also possible that the pre-existing deficit in this region may have rendered individuals more susceptible to alcohol dependence.
Organizational motivation, employee job satisfaction and organizational performance

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of motivation on job satisfaction and organizational performance in the context of container shipping companies in Taiwan. Four motivation dimensions were identified based on an exploratory factor analysis, including remuneration, job achievement, job security and job environment. In addition, five job satisfaction dimensions were identified, namely: job policy, job autonomy, job workload, job performance and job status. Organizational performance dimensions included financial and non-financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Factor analysis was used to summarize a large number of motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance attributes to identify the crucial factors. Reliability tests based on Cronbach’s alpha and corrected item-total correlation coefficients was used to test the internal consistency of questionnaire responses. ANOVA tests were subsequently used to test for differences in respondents’ perception of these factors according to selected demographics. Finally, a multiple regression model analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance. Findings Results indicated that remuneration and job performance had a positive effect on financial performance dimensions such as return on assets, turnover growth rate and profitability while job environment and job autonomy had a positive effect on non-financial performance dimensions, such as customer service, employee productivity and service quality. Originality/value This study has drawn attention to the importance of the relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance in the container shipping context. The findings have significant implications for researchers and shipping practitioners. Despite the existence of research on the inter-relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance in other disciplines, no empirical study was discussed in previous shipping or transportation-related research.
Antibiotic Overproduction by rpsL and rsmG Mutants of Various Actinomycetes

ABSTRACT Certain streptomycin resistance mutations (i.e., rpsL and rsmG) result in the overproduction of antibiotics in various actinomycetes. Moreover, rpsL rsmG double-mutant strains show a further increase in antibiotic production. rpsL but not rsmG mutations result in a marked enhancement of oligomycin production in Streptomyces avermitilis and erythromycin production in Saccharopolyspora erythraea, accompanied by increased transcription of a key developmental regulator gene, bldD, in the latter organism.
Hyaluronan receptor-directed assembly of chondrocyte pericellular matrix

Initial assembly of extracellular matrix occurs within a zone immediately adjacent to the chondrocyte cell surface termed the cell- associated or pericellular matrix. Assembly within the pericellular matrix compartment requires specific cell-matrix interactions to occur, that are mediated via membrane receptors. The focus of this study is to elucidate the mechanisms of assembly and retention of the cartilage pericellular matrix proteoglycan aggregates important for matrix organization. Assembly of newly synthesized chondrocyte pericellular matrices was inhibited by the addition to hyaluronan hexasaccharides, competitive inhibitors of the binding of hyaluronan to its cell surface receptor. Fully assembled chondrocyte pericellular matrices were displaced using hyaluronan hexasaccharides as well. When exogenous hyaluronan was added to matrix-free chondrocytes in combination with aggrecan, a pericellular matrix equivalent in size to an endogenous matrix formed within 30 min of incubation. Addition of hyaluronan and aggrecan to glutaraldehyde-fixed chondrocytes resulted in matrix assembly comparable to live chondrocytes. These matrices could be inhibited from assembling by the addition of excess hyaluronan hexasaccharides or displaced once assembled by subsequent incubation with hyaluronan hexasaccharides. The results indicate that the aggrecanrich chondrocyte pericellular matrix is not only on a scaffolding of hyaluronan, but actually anchored to the cell surface via the interaction between hyaluronan and hyaluronan receptors.
Lyman Break Galaxies and Luminous IR Galaxies at z ~ 1

We use deep GALEX images of CDFS in UV to define the first large sample of 420 Lyman Break Galaxies at z~1. We use a PSF fitting to estimate UV magnitudes on these deep crowded images. Deep Spitzer IRAC and MIPS provide the first detection of a large sample of Lyman Break Galaxies in the mid- to far-infrared range. We are therefore able to study and compare the UV and TIR emission of Lyman Break Galaxies. We find that about 15% of the LBG sample are strong emitters at 24 microns (Red LBGs). Most of them are Luminous IR Galaxies (LIRGs) while the rest (Blue LBGs) are undetected at the 83 microJy level of MIPS GTO image. We find that Blue LBGs have a Spectral Energy Distribution similar to high redshift Lyman Break Galaxies. Finally, the dust-to-FUV ratio of this sample is compared with similar ratios at z=1 and z~2. This work suggests an evolution (decrease) of the dust-to-FUV ratio with the redshift.
Smart energy-aware sensors for event-based control

This paper proposes an event-based scheme to control a networked control system and to manage the radio-modes of its smart sensor node. The smart node is battery driven and is in charge of sensing the system and computing the control law which is sent to the receiver using a wireless channel. To save energy and to limit the amount of communication with the receiver, the smart node combines two techniques: event-based control and radio-mode management. The control law and radio-mode switching policy are derived jointly in a predictive finite receding horizon optimization problem. We derive a Model Predictive Controller using Dynamic Programming and we prove the stability of the obtained control law using the Input-to-State Stability framework. The main contribution of this paper is to take into account several low consuming radio-modes, e.g. Idle and Sleep and the energy-transition costs between modes. Most of the existing literature only considers one mode when the radio is not transmitting, i.e., the scheduling problem. As illustrated via simulations, our proposal has the potential of significant energy savings.
Relationship of Occupational and Non-Occupational Stress with Smoking in Automotive Industry Workers

Background Tobacco use is the second cause of death and first cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Smoking in the workplace is particularly concerning. Smoking-free workplaces decrease the risk of exposure of non-smoking personnel to cigarette smoke. Recent studies have mostly focused on the effect of daily or non-occupational stressors (in comparison with occupational stress) on prevalence of smoking. Occupational stress is often evaluated in workplaces for smoking cessation or control programs, but the role of non-occupational stressors is often disregarded in this respect. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in an automobile manufacturing company. The response of automotive industry workers to parts of the validated, reliable, Farsi version of Musculoskeletal Intervention Center (MUSIC)-Norrtalje questionnaire was evaluated. A total of 3,536 factory workers participated in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The correlation of smoking with demographic factors, occupational stressors and life events was evaluated. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjusting for the confounding factors, cigarette smoking was significantly correlated with age, sex, level of education, job control and life events (P<0.05). Conclusion The results showed that of occupational and non-occupational stressors, only job control was correlated with cigarette smoking. Non-occupational stressors had greater effect on cigarette smoking. Consideration of both non-occupational and occupational stressors can enhance the success of smoking control programs. On the other hand, a combination of smoking control and stress (occupational and non-occupational) control programs can be more effective than smoking cessation interventions alone.
Fairness and Cheating

We present evidence from a laboratory experiment showing that individuals who believe they were treated unfairly in an interaction with another person are more likely to cheat in a subsequent unrelated game. Specifically, subjects first participated in a dictator game. They then flipped a coin in private and reported the outcome. Subjects could increase their total payoff by cheating, i.e., lying about the outcome of the coin toss. We found that subjects were more likely to cheat in reporting the outcome of the coin flip when: 1) they received either nothing or a very small transfer from the dictator; and 2) they claimed to have been treated unfairly. This is consistent with the view that experiencing a norm violation is sufficient to justify the violation of another norm at the expense of a third party. This result extends the growing literature on social norms.
Development of Functional Topography in the Corticorubral Projection: An In Vivo Assessment Using Synaptic Potentials Recorded from Fetal and Newborn Cats

In mammals, topographic maps emerge from initially diffuse projections during development. To gain insight into the mechanisms governing the transition from a diffuse projection to a topographic map, we studied topographic specificity of functional connections during development, using the cat corticorubral system as a model. In the adult cat, rubrospinal neurons in the dorsomedial part of the red nucleus (RN) receive input primarily from the forelimb area of the sensorimotor cortex, whereas those in the ventrolateral part receive input primarily from the hindlimb area. During development, axons from the sensorimotor cortex arrive in the RN at embryonic day 50 (E50) (Song et al., 1995a) and are diffusely distributed in the RN until postnatal day 13 (P13) (Higashi et al., 1990). Here, we studied the development of the pattern of functional cortical inputs to individual rubrospinal neurons, using synaptic potentials recorded in vivo. The functional topography in each rubrospinal neuron in developing cats was examined and classified either as adult-like or nonadult-like by comparison with the adult pattern. In preterm kittens from E61 to E65, only about half of the recorded neurons (41%;n = 22) showed adult-like functional topography. This percentage, however, increased to 82% (n = 56) in P1–P8 kittens and to 93% (n = 42) in P13–P28 kittens. These results, in conjunction with the above mentioned anatomical observations, suggest that corticorubral axons make functional synapses nonselectively with rubrospinal neurons before birth. Furthermore, the functional topographic map developed earlier than the anatomical map (P13), suggesting that there is a developmental step of selective promotion of synapse formation and/or selective enhancement of synaptic efficacy in topographically appropriate regions in the RN, before the emergence of the mature anatomical map.
Seropositivity to Cytomegalovirus, Inflammation, All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease-Related Mortality in the United States

Background Studies have suggested that CMV infection may influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality. However, there have been no large-scale examinations of these relationships among demographically diverse populations. The inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is also linked with CVD outcomes and mortality and may play an important role in the pathway between CMV and mortality. We utilized a U.S. nationally representative study to examine whether CMV infection is associated with all-cause and CVD-related mortality. We also assessed whether CRP level mediated or modified these relationships. Methodology/Principal Findings Data come from subjects ≥25 years of age who were tested for CMV and CRP level and were eligible for mortality follow-up on December 31st, 2006 (N = 14153) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988–1994). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause and CVD-related mortality by CMV serostatus. After adjusting for multiple confounders, CMV seropositivity remained statistically significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.41). The association between CMV and CVD-related mortality did not achieve statistical significance after confounder adjustment. CRP did not mediate these associations. However, CMV seropositive individuals with high CRP levels showed a 30.1% higher risk for all-cause mortality and 29.5% higher risk for CVD-related mortality compared to CMV seropositive individuals with low CRP levels. Conclusions/Significance CMV was associated with a significant increased risk for all-cause mortality and CMV seropositive subjects who also had high CRP levels were at substantially higher risk for both for all-cause and CVD-related mortality than subjects with low CRP levels. Future work should target the mechanisms by which CMV infection and low-level inflammation interact to yield significant impact on mortality.
Rigorous time complexity analysis of Univariate Marginal Distribution Algorithm with margins

Univariate Marginal Distribution Algorithms (UMDAs) are a kind of Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) which do not consider the dependencies among the variables. In this paper, on the basis of our proposed approach in [1], we present a rigorous proof for the result that the UMDA with margins (in [1] we merely showed the effectiveness of margins) cannot find the global optimum of the TRAPLEADINGONES problem [2] within polynomial number of generations with a probability that is super-polynomially close to 1. Such a theoretical result is significant in sheding light on the fundamental issues of what problem characteristics make an EDA hard/easy and when an EDA is expected to perform well/poorly for a given problem.
An intelligent fault recognizer for rotating machinery via remote characteristic vibration signal detection

Monitoring industrial machine health in real-time is not only highly demanded but also significantly complicated and difficult. Possible reasons for this include: (a) Access to the machines on site is sometimes impracticable; and (b) The environment in which they operate is usually not human-friendly due to pollution, noise, hazardous wastes, etc. Despite the theoretically sound findings on developing intelligent solutions for machine condition based monitoring, there are few commercial tools in the market that can readily be used. This paper reports on the development of an intelligent fault recognition and monitoring system (Melvin I), which detects and diagnoses rotating machine conditions according to changes in fault frequency indicators. The signals and data are remotely collected from designated sections of machines via data acquisition cards. They are processed by a signal processor in order to extract characteristic vibration signals of ten key performance indicators (KPIs). A 3-layer neural network is designed to recognize and classify faults based on the set of KPIs. The system implemented in our laboratory and applied in the field can also incorporate new experiences into the knowledge base without overwriting previous training. Preliminary results have demonstrated that Melvin I is a smart tool for both system vibration analysts and industrial machine operators.