Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Interpersonal Consequences of Humor

Humor is a fundamental part of personal and professional interactions. Yet, prior psychology and management literature has largely overlooked humor. By using field and experimental methods, I explore the interpersonal consequences of the use of humor. I find that humor significantly shapes interpersonal perception and behavior. In order to understand organizations, we must first understand humor. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Operations & Information Management First Advisor Maurice E. Schweitzer Subject Categories Social Psychology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/3023 THE INTERPERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF HUMOR Thomas Bradford Bitterly A DISSERTATION in Operations, Information and Decisions For the Graduate Group in Managerial Science and Applied Economics Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Optimization and evaluation of Gabor feature sets for ASR

In order to enhance automatic speech recognition performance in adverse conditions, Gabor features motivated by physiological measurements in the primary auditory cortex were optimized and evaluated. In the Aurora 2 experimental setup such localized, spectro-temporal filters combined with a Tandem system yield robust performance with a feature set size of 30. Improved results can be obtained when using a Hanning window instead of a cut-off Gaussian envelope due to better modulation frequency characteristics. An analysis of complementarity of Gabor and MFCC features shows that errors could be reduced by 55% with a perfect classifier. In a real world scenario, a relative WER reduction of 15% compared to a competitive baseline is achieved by combining the feature types, indicating the potential of this class of physiologically motivated features.
The Hedgehog Signal Induced Modulation of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling: An Essential Signaling Relay for Urinary Tract Morphogenesis

Background Congenital diseases of the urinary tract are frequently observed in infants. Such diseases present a number of developmental anomalies such as hydroureter and hydronephrosis. Although some genetically-modified mouse models of growth factor signaling genes reproduce urinary phenotypes, the pathogenic mechanisms remain obscure. Previous studies suggest that a portion of the cells in the external genitalia and bladder are derived from peri-cloacal mesenchymal cells that receive Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in the early developmental stages. We hypothesized that defects in such progenitor cells, which give rise to urinary tract tissues, may be a cause of such diseases. Methodology/Principal Findings To elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of upper urinary tract malformations, we analyzed a series of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) deficient mice. Shh−/− displayed hydroureter and hydronephrosis phenotypes and reduced expression of several developmental markers. In addition, we suggested that Shh modulation at an early embryonic stage is responsible for such phenotypes by analyzing the Shh conditional mutants. Tissue contribution assays of Hh-responsive cells revealed that peri-cloacal mesenchymal cells, which received Hh signal secreted from cloacal epithelium, could contribute to the ureteral mesenchyme. Gain- and loss-of-functional mutants for Hh signaling revealed a correlation between Hh signaling and Bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) signaling. Finally, a conditional ablation of Bmp receptor type IA (BmprIA) gene was examined in Hh-responsive cell lineages. This system thus made it possible to analyze the primary functions of the growth factor signaling relay. The defective Hh-to-Bmp signaling relay resulted in severe urinary tract phenotypes with a decrease in the number of Hh-responsive cells. Conclusions/Significance This study identified the essential embryonic stages for the pathogenesis of urinary tract phenotypes. These results suggested that Hh-responsive mesenchymal Bmp signaling maintains the population of peri-cloacal mesenchyme cells, which is essential for the development of the ureter and the upper urinary tract.
β-Catenin stabilizes Cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA by interacting with AU-rich elements of 3′-UTR

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA is induced in the majority of human colorectal carcinomas. Transcriptional regulation plays a key role in COX-2 expression in human colon carcinoma cells, but post-transcriptional regulation of its mRNA is also critical for tumorigenesis. Expression of COX-2 mRNA is regulated by various cytokines, growth factors and other signals. β-Catenin, a key transcription factor in the Wnt signal pathway, activates transcription of COX-2. Here we found that COX-2 mRNA was also substantially stabilized by activating β-catenin in NIH3T3 and 293T cells. We identified the β-catenin-responsive element in the proximal region of the COX-2 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) and showed that β-catenin interacted with AU-rich elements (ARE) of 3′-UTR in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, β-catenin induced the cytoplasmic localization of the RNA stabilizing factor, HuR, which may bind to β-catenin in an RNA-mediated complex and facilitate β-catenin-dependent stabilization of COX-2 mRNA. Taken together, we provided evidences for β-catenin as an RNA-binding factor and a regulator of stabilization of COX-2 mRNA.
Probabilistic Preference Logic Networks

Reasoning about an entity's preferences (be it a user of an application, an individual targeted for marketing, or a group of people whose choices are of interest) has a long history in different areas of study. In this paper, we adopt the point of view that grows out of the intersection of databases and knowledge representation, where preferences are usually represented as strict partial orders over the set of tuples in a database or the consequences of a knowledge base. We introduce probabilistic preference logic networks (PPLNs), which flexibly combine such preferences with probabilistic uncertainty. Their applications are clear in domains such as the Social Semantic Web, where users often express preferences in an incomplete manner and through different means, many times in contradiction with each other. We show that the basic problems associated with reasoning with PPLNs (computing the probability of a world or a given query) are #P-hard, and then explore ways to make these computations tractable by: (i) leveraging results from order theory to obtain a polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS) under fixed-parameter assumptions; and (ii) studying a fragment of the language of PPLNs for which exact computations can be performed in fixed-parameter polynomial time.
Restricted Autoantigen Recognition Associated with Deletional and Adaptive Regulatory Mechanisms1

Autoimmune diabetes (T1D) is characterized by CD4+ T cell reactivity to a variety of islet-associated Ags. At-risk individuals, genetically predisposed to T1D, often have similar T cell reactivity, but nevertheless fail to progress to clinically overt disease. To study the immune tolerance and regulatory environment permissive for such autoreactive T cells, we expressed TCR transgenes derived from two autoreactive human T cells, 4.13 and 164, in HLA-DR4 transgenic mice on a C57BL/6-derived “diabetes-resistant” background. Both TCR are responsive to an immunodominant epitope of glutamic acid decarboxylase 65555–567, which is identical in sequence between humans and mice, is restricted by HLA-DR4, and is a naturally processed self Ag associated with T1D. Although both TCR use the identical Vα and Vβ genes, differing only in CDR3, we found stark differences in the mechanisms utilized in vivo in the maintenance of immune tolerance. A combination of thymic deletion (negative selection), TCR down-regulation, and peripheral activation-induced cell death dominated the phenotype of 164 T cells, which nevertheless still maintain their Ag responsiveness in the periphery. In contrast, 4.13 T cells are much less influenced by central and deletional tolerance mechanisms, and instead display a peripheral immune deviation including differentiation into IL-10-secreting Tr1 cells. These findings indicate a distinct set of regulatory alternatives for autoreactive T cells, even within a single highly restricted HLA-peptide-TCR recognition profile.
Diluting Cosmological Constant via Large Distance Modification of Gravity

We review a solution of the cosmological constant problem in a brane-world model with infinite-volume extra dimensions. The solution is based on a nonlinear generally covariant theory of a metastable graviton that leads to a large-distance modification of gravity. From the extra-dimensional standpoint the problem is solved due to the fact that the four-dimensional vacuum energy curves mostly the extra space. The four-dimensional curvature is small, being inversely proportional to a positive power of the vacuum energy. The effects of infinite-volume extra dimensions are seen by a brane-world observer as nonlocal operators. From the four-dimensional perspective the problem is solved because the zero-mode graviton is extremely weakly coupled to localized four-dimensional sources. The observable gravity is mediated not by zero mode but, instead, by a metastable graviton with a lifetime of the order of the present-day Hubble scale. Therefore, laws of gravity are modified in the infrared above the Hubble scale. Large wave-length sources, such as the vacuum energy, feel only the zero-mode interaction and, as a result, curve space very mildly. Shorter wave-length sources interact predominantly via exchange of the metastable graviton. Because of this, all standard properties of early cosmology, including inflation, are intact.
Design Considerations and Performance Evaluation of 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET-Based Two-Level Voltage Source Converter

Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET is capable of achieving better efficiency and better power density of power converters due to its low on-state resistance and lower switching losses compared to silicon (Si) Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor. Operation of power converters at higher switching frequency using SiC devices allows reduction in filter size and hence improves the power to weight ratio of the converter. This paper presents switching characterization of 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET module and compares the efficiency of a two-level voltage source converter (2L-VSC) using SiC MOSFETs and Si IGBTs. Also, various design considerations of the 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET-based 2L-VSC including gate drive design, bus bar packaging, and thermal management have been elaborated. The designed and developed 2L-VSC is operated to supply 35 kVA load at 20-kHz switching frequency with dc bus voltage of 800 V and the corresponding experimental results are presented.
PowerChop: Identifying and Managing Non-critical Units in Hybrid Processor Architectures

On-core microarchitectural structures consume significant portions of a processor's power budget. However, depending on application characteristics, those structures do not always provide (much) performance benefit. While timeout-based power gating techniques have been leveraged for underutilized cores and inactive functional units, these techniques have not directly translated to high-activity units such as vector processing units, complex branch predictors, and caches. The performance benefit provided by these units does not necessarily correspond with unit activity, but instead is a function of application characteristics. This work introduces PowerChop, a novel technique that leverages the unique capabilities of HW/SW co-designed hybrid processors to enact unit-level power management at the application phase level. PowerChop adds two small additional hardware units to facilitate phase identification and triggering different power states, enabling the software layer to cheaply track, predict and take advantage of varying unit criticality across application phases by powering gating units that are not needed for performant execution. Through detailed experimentation, we find that PowerChop significantly decreases power consumption, reducing the leakage power of a hybrid server processor by 9% on average (up to 33%) and a hybrid mobile processor by 19% (up to 40%) while introducing just 2% slowdown.
Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach

This study investigated the language-accommodation strategies used by Taiwanese teachers when communicating with older adults in senior-education contexts. First, the interview phase identified various communication strategies and their underlying rationales; second, the survey phase verified the degree to which the identified communication strategies were used, as well as their associations with teachers’ age differences. The identified communication strategies were divided into four broad categories: secondary baby talk, mitigation of references to death or illness, politeness strategies and code selection (use of the dialect preferred by older students). The underlying considerations included older students’ perceived age-related physical or cognitive decrements, their social backgrounds and socio-psychological needs, as well as the teachers’ self-determined relational positioning or priority in the communication process. Young and middle-aged teachers were more likely to experience a deep-rooted conflict and power struggle arising from the fact that a teacher in Taiwan is traditionally endowed with greater power than his or her students, whereas younger people are expected to show respect to their elders. Hence, they frequently chose to address older students using forms that implied intergenerational relationships and to use code-switching to converge their own communication with their older students’ preferred dialects. Implications for older-adult education and possible directions for further research are discussed in the conclusion.
Cell Migration: Integrating Signals from Front to Back

Cell migration is a highly integrated multistep process that orchestrates embryonic morphogenesis; contributes to tissue repair and regeneration; and drives disease progression in cancer, mental retardation, atherosclerosis, and arthritis. The migrating cell is highly polarized with complex regulatory pathways that spatially and temporally integrate its component processes. This review describes the mechanisms underlying the major steps of migration and the signaling pathways that regulate them, and outlines recent advances investigating the nature of polarity in migrating cells and the pathways that establish it.
The specificity of terms affects conditional reasoning

ABSTRACT Conditional inferences can be phrased with unspecific terms (“If a person is on a diet, then the person loses weight. A person is on a diet. The person loses weight”) or specific terms (“If Anna is on a diet, then Anna loses weight. Anna is on a diet. Anna loses weight”). We investigate whether the specificity of terms affects people's acceptance of inferences. In Experiment 1, inferences with specific terms received higher acceptance ratings than inferences with unspecific terms. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used the same problems as in Experiment 1 but also problems with unspecific terms in the conditional and specific terms in the categorical and vice versa. When the conditional and the categorical had the same specificity, results were as in Experiment 1. When the specificity of the conditional and the categorical mismatched, acceptance ratings were lower. Our results illustrate the importance of phrasing on reasoning.
Global patterns in bacterial diversity

Microbes are difficult to culture. Consequently, the primary source of information about a fundamental evolutionary topic, life's diversity, is the environmental distribution of gene sequences. We report the most comprehensive analysis of the environmental distribution of bacteria to date, based on 21,752 16S rRNA sequences compiled from 111 studies of diverse physical environments. We clustered the samples based on similarities in the phylogenetic lineages that they contain and found that, surprisingly, the major environmental determinant of microbial community composition is salinity rather than extremes of temperature, pH, or other physical and chemical factors represented in our samples. We find that sediments are more phylogenetically diverse than any other environment type. Surprisingly, soil, which has high species-level diversity, has below-average phylogenetic diversity. This work provides a framework for understanding the impact of environmental factors on bacterial evolution and for the direction of future sequencing efforts to discover new lineages.
Fast Detection of Independent Motion in Crowds Guided by Supervised Learning

Different from appearance-based methods, clustering feature points only by their motion coherence is an emerging category of approach to detecting and tracking individuals among crowds. This paper reformalizes the problem and models a novel objective function for clustering with potential functions as in conditional random field approach. The merits include: (1) it integrates motion, spatial, temporal information; (2) the parameters are automatically obtained by supervised learning; (3) the objective function is based on feature-pair information, which enables effective learning on small amount of training data, as well as very fast online processing speed. Detection ROC curves are given on several datasets (including the CAVIAR set).
Practical issues in the development of a minimalistic power management solution for WSNs

A flexible Wireless Sensor Network platform for implementation of diverse applications has been developed and deployed at Instituto Superior Tecnico – Technical University of Lisbon (IST-TUL). Since its initial deployment in 2007, this testbed has grown steadily, supporting new nodes, applications and experiments. However, some initial problems, which were solved on an ad hoc basis, were becoming more serious as the network spanned throughout the campus. Major issues, like global power management, have to be tackled not only with traditional protocol level approaches but also from a system's viewpoint, providing solutions capable of guaranteeing a consistent testbed. We discuss the main issues related with the development of power management solutions, presenting our architecture, design choices and implementation, and address the lessons learnt from its integration. Experimental evaluation of our solution has shown considerable energy savings, extending network lifetime by up to nine times.
Doherty Power Amplifier With Enhanced Efficiency at Extended Operating Average Power Levels

This paper proposes an electronically reconfigurable Doherty amplifier capable of efficiently amplifying wireless signals with significant time varying average power. This paper outlines closed-form equations used to design an effective Doherty amplifier that can be driven with signals of variable power levels using a small number of electronically tunable devices. As a proof of concept, a reconfigurable Doherty amplifier prototype was designed and fabricated that efficiently amplified signals centered at 2.6 GHz with output average power levels equal to 35, 30, and 25 dBm. The measurement results obtained using continuous wave signals revealed power-added efficiencies of greater than 66%, at input power level adjustments of 21 and 16 dBm, and more than 62% when the average input power level setting was adjusted to 11 dBm. In addition, the reconfigurable Doherty amplifier, driven with a 20-MHz long-term evolution signal, was successfully linearized using a pruned Volterra series based digital predistrtion algorithm.
Redundancy Prevention and Secure Audit of Encrypted BigData in HDFS Cloud using CloudGaurd+ System

The recent emerging Cloud Storageand Computing Technology provides a better approach for administrations and service provisioning over the Internet byoffering various computing and storage resources. The key significant and favored cloud service’s is information storage. Therefore, to maintain and conserve the privacy of data owners, data is often encrypted and stored onto the cloud as ciphered data. Nevertheless, a ciphered data introduces some issues for cloud data redundancy, which has been proved to be critical for Bigdata storage and computation in cloudenvironment. Conventional redundancy prevention methods do not work efficiently over ciphered data. Existing systems forciphered data redundancy prevention raises security issues and eventually effects the cloud processing. These existing systems are not capable of efficiently handling data access control and revocations. Therefore aiming to overcome these issues and achieving both redundancy prevention and integrity of cloud data, in this paper we propose a system, namely CloudGaurd+, to prevent redundancy of the stored ciphered data in HDFS Cloud based on authentication provocation and cryptography techniques. CloudGaurd+ incorporates cloud information redundancy prevention with access control. We assess its efficiency and performance based on substantial analysis and computer programming and simulations. The investigation and reenactment comes about demonstrates the unrivaled productivity and adequacy of the CloudGaurd+ system for prospective deployment practically , particularly for Bigdata redundancy prevention in HDFS distributed cloud storage can be achieved.
Questioning Strategy of the Faculty Members: Input to Modified Exemplar in Social Science

This study looked into the social science instructors’ questioning strategies. Specifically, determines the types of questions in the level of cognition asked by the instructors as perceived by the students and themselves, determines the effectiveness of the questioning strategy as perceived by students and instructors themselves, and tests the perceptions of the respondents on its effectiveness and develop a lesson exemplar. Descriptive method and cluster sampling were used. The findings were students perceived the instructor's’ type of questions in terms of level of cognition as lower order thinking skills and always asked by their instructors; and instructors’ perceived those as higher order thinking skills and always practiced by themselves. Its effectiveness in the classroom discussion was less effective to students and very effective to teachers while in periodical test, under lower order thinking skills was more effective and higher order thinking skills appeared less effective to students. The difference of perceptions on the level of cognition in the computed t-value of 7.825 is higher than the tabular value of 2.101 which means the rejection of the null hypothesis at 0.05 levels at the p-value of 0.034 is significantly different. The study concluded that the type of questions of the social science instructors are classified as lower order thinking by the students and higher order thinking for the instructors, there is a significant difference between the perceptions of both students and instructors and there is a need to develop a modified exemplar in social science subjects.