Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative Importance of Business Communication Ski Lls for the Next Ten Years

This study sought to determine the relative importance of business communication skills needed by the newly hired college graduate for the next ten years. For this purpose, the opinions of corporate execu tives of firms represented in Fortune's 500 were sampled. The results largely confirmed the relative rankings reported by past studies. How ever, corporate executives tended to place greater importance upon oral and written skills essential for communication between the firm and its external environment.
Sampled-Data Based Consensus of Continuous-Time Multi-Agent Systems With Time-Varying Topology

This technical note studies consensus problems of multiple agents with continuous-time second-order dynamics, where each agent can obtain its positions and velocities relative to its neighbors only at sampling instants. It is assumed that the sampling period of each agent is independent of the others' and the interaction topology among agents is time-varying, where the associated direct graphs may not have spanning trees. If the union graph of all direct graphs has a spanning tree, then there exist controller gains and sampling periods such that consensus is reached. Moreover, two approaches are presented to design such controller gains and sampling periods. Simulations are performed to validate the theoretical results.
MATE: Machine Learning for Adaptive Calibration Template Detection

The problem of camera calibration is two-fold. On the one hand, the parameters are estimated from known correspondences between the captured image and the real world. On the other, these correspondences themselves—typically in the form of chessboard corners—need to be found. Many distinct approaches for this feature template extraction are available, often of large computational and/or implementational complexity. We exploit the generalized nature of deep learning networks to detect checkerboard corners: our proposed method is a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained on a large set of example chessboard images, which generalizes several existing solutions. The network is trained explicitly against noisy inputs, as well as inputs with large degrees of lens distortion. The trained network that we evaluate is as accurate as existing techniques while offering improved execution time and increased adaptability to specific situations with little effort. The proposed method is not only robust against the types of degradation present in the training set (lens distortions, and large amounts of sensor noise), but also to perspective deformations, e.g., resulting from multi-camera set-ups.
Sound transmission in slowly varying circular and annular lined ducts with flow

Sound transmission through straight circular ducts with a uniform inviscid mean flow and a constant acoustic lining (impedance wall) is classically described by a modal expansion. A natural extension for ducts with axially slowly varying properties (diameter and mean flow, wall impedance) is a multiple-scales solution. It is shown in the present paper that a consistent approximation of boundary condition and isentropic mean flow allows the multiple-scales problem to have an exact solution. Since the calculational complexities are no greater than for the classical straight duct model, the present solution provides an attractive alternative to a full numerical solution if diameter variation is relevant. A unique feature of the present solution is that it provides a systematic approximation to the hollow-to-annular cylinder transition problem in the turbofan engine inlet duct.
Gene tree reconstruction and orthology analysis based on an integrated model for duplications and sequence evolution

Gene tree and species tree reconstruction, orthology analysis and reconciliation, are problems important in multigenome-based comparative genomics and biology in general. In the present paper, we advance the frontier of these areas in several respects and provide important computational tools. First, exact algorithms are given for several probabilistic reconciliation problems with respect to the probabilistic gene evolution model, previously developed by the authors. Until now, those problems were solved by MCMC estimation algorithms. Second, we extend the gene evolution model to the gene sequence evolution model, by including sequence evolution. Third, we develop MCMC algorithms for the gene sequence evolution model that, given gene sequence data allows: (1) orthology analysis, reconciliation analysis, and gene tree reconstruction, w.r. t. a species tree, that balances a likely/unlikely reconciliation and a likely/unlikely gene tree and (2) species tree reconstruction that balance a likely/unlikely reconciliation and a likely/unlikely gene trees. These MCMC algorithms take advantage of the exact algorithms for the gene evolution model. We have successfully tested our dynamical programming algorithms on real data for a biogeography problem. The MCMC algorithms perform very well both on synthetic and biological data.
Chronic Cough Due to Acute Bronchitis

Background: The purpose of this review is to present the evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of cough due to acute bronchitis and make recommendations that will be useful for clinical practice. Acute bronchitis is one of the most common diagnoses made by primary care clinicians and emergency department physicians. It is an acute respiratory infection with a normal chest radiograph that is manifested by cough with or without phlegm production that lasts for up to 3 weeks. Respiratory viruses appear to be the most common cause of acute bronchitis; however, the organism responsible is rarely identified in clinical practice because viral cultures and serologic assays are not routinely performed. Fewer than 10% of patients will have a bacterial infection diagnosed as the cause of bronchitis. The diagnosis of acute bronchitis should be made only when there is no clinical or radiographic evidence of pneumonia, and the common cold, acute asthma, or an exacerbation of COPD have been ruled out as the cause of cough. Acute bronchitis is a self-limited respiratory disorder, and when the cough persists for > 3 weeks, other diagnoses must be considered. Methods: Recommendations for this review were obtained from data using a National Library of Medicine (PubMed) search dating back to 1950, which was performed in August 2004. The search was limited to literature published in the English language and human studies, using search terms such as “cough,” “acute bronchitis,” and “acute viral respiratory infection. ” Results: Unfortunately, most previous controlled trials guiding the treatment of acute bronchitis have not vigorously differentiated acute bronchitis and the common cold, and also have not distinguished between an acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and acute asthma as a cause of acute cough. For patients with the putative diagnosis of acute bronchitis, routine treatment with antibiotics is not justified and should not be offered. Antitussive agents are occasionally useful and can be offered as therapy for short-term symptomatic relief of coughing, but there is no role for inhaled bronchodilator or expectorant therapy. Children and adult patients with confirmed and probable whooping cough should receive a macrolide antibiotic and should be isolated for 5 days from the start of treatment; early treatment within the first few weeks will diminish the coughing paroxysms and prevent spread of the disease; the patient is unlikely to respond to treatment beyond this period. Conclusion: Acute bronchitis is an acute respiratory infection that is manifested by cough and, at times, sputum production that lasts for no more than 3 weeks. This syndrome should be distinguished from the common cold, an acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, and acute asthma as the cause of acute cough. The widespread use of antibiotics for the treatment of acute bronchitis is not justified, and vigorous efforts to curtail their use should be encouraged.
Psychological Operations: A New Variation on an Age Old Art: Hezbollah versus Israel

How could a few hundred guerrillas force their will on a regional power? The struggle of Hezbollah against Israel is a striking case study of applying psychological warfare techniques, which can provide an explanation to the above question as well as to similar conflicts against radical Islam. The article outlines the structure of a PSYOP plan adopted by Hezbollah, details their messages to the selected target audiences, means of their delivery, and the unique doctrine developed and executed, which eventually led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Bereavement Among African American and White Older Adults

Purpose: The authors examined epidemiology and sociodemographic predictors of spousal, nonspousal family, and friendship bereavement among African American and White community-dwelling older adults using longitudinal data from 839 participants of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging, a prospective cohort study of a random sample of Alabama Medicare beneficiaries. Method: Authors calculated cumulative incidences of each type of loss and used logistic regression to identify factors significantly and independently associated with loss. Results: Of participants, 71% reported at least one loss; 50% reported nonspousal family loss, and 37% reported friendship loss. For married participants, the cumulative incidence of spousal loss was 8.1%. Female sex and income < $12,000 were predictors of spousal loss. Female sex and education ≥ 12 years were predictors of friendship loss. Higher educated African American women were at greater risk of nonspousal family loss. Discussion: Future research should examine bereavement burden and identify health outcomes of multiple losses.
Large-scale robust visual codebook construction

The web-scale image retrieval system demands a large-scale visual codebook, which is difficult to be generated by the commonly adopted K-means vector quantization due to the applicability issue. While approximate K-means is proposed to scale up the visual codebook construction it needs to employ a high-precision approximate nearest neighbor search in the assignment step and is difficult to converge, which limits its scalability. In this paper, we propose an improved approximate K-means, by leveraging the assignment information in the history, namely the previous iterations, to improve the assignment precision. By further randomizing the employed approximate nearest neighbor search in each iteration, the proposed algorithm can improve the assignment precision conceptually similarly as the randomized k-d trees, while nearly no additional cost is introduced. The algorithm can be proved to be convergent and we demonstrate that the proposed algorithm improves the quality of the generated visual codebook as well as the scalability experimentally and analytically.
Implanting inequality: Empirical evidence of social and ethical risks of implantable radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess empirically the social and ethical risks associated with implantable radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices. Methods: Qualitative research included observational studies in twenty-three U.S. hospitals that have implemented new patient identification systems and eighty semi-structured interviews about the social and ethical implications of new patient identification systems, including RFID implants. Results: The study identified three primary social and ethical risks associated with RFID implants: (i) unfair prioritization of patients based on their participation in the system, (ii) diminished trust of patients by care providers, and (iii) endangerment of patients who misunderstand the capabilities of the systems. Conclusions: RFID implants may aggravate inequalities in access to care without any clear health benefits. This research underscores the importance of critically evaluating new healthcare technologies from the perspective of both normative ethics and empirical ethics.
Energy and Performance Comparison of Microbial Fuel Cell and Conventional Aeration Treating of Wastewater

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology provides a low cost alternative to conventional aerated wastewater treatment, however, there has been little comparison between MFC and aeration treatment using real wastewater as the substrate. This study attempts to directly compare the wastewater treatment efficiency and energy consumption and generation among three reactor systems-a traditional aeration process, a simple submerged MFC configuration, and a control reactor acting similar as natural lagoons. Results showed that all three systems were able to remove >90% of COD, but the aeration used shorter time (8 days) than the MFC (10 days) and control reactor (25 days). Compared to aeration, the MFC showed lower removal efficiency in high COD concentration, but much higher efficiency when the COD is low. Only the aeration system showed complete nitrification during the operation, reflected by completed ammonia removal and nitrate accumulation. Suspended solid measurements showed that MFC reduced sludge production by 52-82% as compared to aeration, and it also saved 100% of aeration energy. Furthermore, though not designed for high power generation, the MFC reactor showed a 0.3 Wh/g COD/L or 24 Wh/m3 (wastewater treated) net energy gain in electricity generation. These results demonstrate that MFC technology could be integrated into wastewater infrastructure to meet effluent quality and save operational cost.
Salvia officinalis L. extract and its new food antioxidant formulations induce apoptosis through mitochondrial/caspase pathway in leukemia L1210 cells

ABSTRACT Salvia officinalis, L. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most widespread herbal species used in the area of human health and in the foodprocessing industry. Salvia and its extracts are known to be a rich source of antioxidants. As shown previously, the crude ethanolic extract of salvia (SE) exerts lower anti-oxidative properties in lard compared to the new salvia food formulations No. 1 (SF1; 32% of SE + 68% of the emulsifier Dimodan S-T) and No. 2 (SF2; 32% of SE + 68% of the emulsifier Topcithin 50). The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the effects of the SE and its food formulations SF1 and SF2 on the toxicity and/or proliferation of L1210 leukemia cells. We found that SE and both SF1 and SF2 demonstrated different concentration- and time-dependent cytotoxic/antiproliferative cellular effects already within the first 24 h of the treatment. However, SE was nearly 10 times more effective than the new salvia food formulations SF1 and SF2. We investigated partially also the molecular mechanisms lying behind the action of SE, SF1 and SF2 induced apoptosis in our cell model. We found an apparent involvement of the mitochondrial/caspase-dependent pathway in the described processes. Nevertheless, further investigation is needed before salvia extract and its new antioxidant formulations can be included among the potential food antioxidants with protective properties against cancer.
The Language of Distance Perception: Cultural and Linguistic Implications in Distance Expression

Do speakers that use different kinds of language representations to describe the same concept come to perceive and conceptualize the world in different ways? Particularly, what role does culture play in creating and defining our conceptualization of the physical and abstract domains of the human experience, in domains such as space, time and distance, and does it in fact determine the language is used to describe those conceptualizations? This study examined the effects of culture on influencing the language used to describe concepts of distance and whether the language used shapes how distances are perceived among different cultures. Following in a line of research aimed at the question of whether the linguistic representations used to represent concepts actually define how those concepts are perceived, especially within the natural world, the current study examines the specific parameter of culture in (1) dictating the type of language used to express the same physical space, and within a cultural group (2) manipulating and defining individual perceptions of space as it applies to the cognition of distance reasoning and expression. In two experiments, a survey and a navigation decision task examined several elements of culture and the impact it has in designating the type of language choices that are made, and found that culture does in fact influence the type of language that is chosen to describe distances. Furthermore it was found that the language used to describe distances reflects a cognitive perspective that influences reasoning in a navigation task.
Reachability Logic: An Efficient Fragment of Transitive Closure Logic

We define reachability logic (RL), a fragment of FO(TC) (with boolean variables) that admits efficient model checking – linear time with a small constant – as a function of the size of the structure being checked. RL is expressive enough so that modal logics PDL and CTL? can be linearly embedded in it. The model checking algorithm is also linear in the size of the formula, but exponential in the number of boolean variables occurring in it. In practice this number is very small. In particular, for CTL and PDL formulas the resulting model checking algorithm remains linear. For CTL? the complexity of model checking — which is PSPACE complete in the worst case — can be read from the face of the translated formula.
A combined kalman filter — Discrete wavelet transform method for leakage detection of crude oil pipelines

The leakage detection system based on negative pressure wave method has been widely applied to crude oil pipelines. Aiming at its shortcomings in reducing false alarms and improving location precision, a combined Kalman filter — discrete wavelet transform method for the leakage detection of crude oil pipelines has been proposed. In view of the nonstationarity of collected signals and excessive field noise, the Kalman filter (KF) is used for the pre-processing of pressure and flow signals at first, and then the leakage judgment and location of crude oil pipelines are carried out based on the filtered signals. The leakage location is obtained by extracting inflection points of the filtered pressure signal with the method of discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The field experiment results indicate that the method presented in this paper can reduce false alarm rate effectively and improve detection sensitivity and location precision.
Secretion of Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein Is Affected by the Signal Peptide*

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a secreted glycoprotein found in the extracellular matrices of skeletal tissues. Mutations associated with two human skeletal dysplasias, pseudoachondroplasia and multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, disturb COMP secretion leading to intracellular accumulation of mutant COMP, especially in chondrocytes. Here we show that the manifestation of this secretory defect is dramatically influenced by the signal peptide that targets COMP for secretion. The comparison of wild type and mutant COMP secretion directed by the COMP or BM40 signal peptide in HEK-293 cells and rat chondrosarcoma cells revealed that the BM40 signal peptide substantially enhances secretion of mutant COMP that accumulates in endoplasmic reticulum-like structures when targeted by its own signal peptide. Additionally, we demonstrate that mutant COMP forms mixed pentamers with wild type COMP. Our findings suggest that the secretory defect in pseudoachondroplasia and multiple epiphyseal dysplasia is not specific for chondrocytes, nor does it require interaction of mutant COMP with other matrix proteins prior to transport from the cell. They also imply a previously unappreciated role for the signal peptide in the regulation of protein secretion beyond targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum.
Time-scale and pitch-scale modification by the phase vocoder without occurring the phase unwrapping problem

A phase vocoder is one of the well-known methods for time-scale and pitch-scale modification. This method performs time-scale and pitch-scale modification by increasing or decreasing an estimated instantaneous angular frequency. However, due to the phase unwrapping problem, which is a well-known problem in the phase vocoder, the phase vocoder distorts the waveform of modified signal. The phase unwrapping problem occurs when the phase vocoder estimates the instantaneous angular frequency. In this paper, we propose a phase vocoder without occurring the phase unwrapping problem. The proposed method uses the difference of phases between adjacent analysis frames directly for the phase modification. Because this method does not use the estimated instantaneous angular frequency, the phase unwrapping problem can be avoided. We verified the effectiveness of the proposed method by simulations of time-scale and pitch-scale modification.
Binary Signaling of Correlated Sources Over Orthogonal Multiple-Access Channels

The optimal energy allocations for minimizing the joint symbol error rate for binary signaling of two correlated sources over the orthogonal multiple-access Gaussian channel under joint maximum a priori (MAP) detection are determined. An exact expression for the system's probability of joint symbol error, as well as its union bound, is derived. Analytic minimization of the union bound reveals that the optimal energy allocation coincides with that of nonuniform binary signaling over the single-user additive white Gaussian noise channel. It is also shown numerically that the optimal energies that minimize the union bound also minimize the exact probability of error. Finally, it is shown via simulations for strongly biased sources that the use of joint MAP detection over two independent single-user systems leads to significant gains.
Representações dinâmicas e distribuídas: indícios do português brasileiro adulto e infantil

This paper argues for dynamic distributed representations of phonological units and categories on the basis of analyses of the following sets of Brazilian Portuguese data: phonotactic biases in the adult lexicon, phonotactic biases in a child acquiring the liquid class, and covert phonological distinctions in a group of children diagnosed as phonologically impaired. Together, the three data sets support the emergence of abstract phonological categories from lexical phone frequencies as a result of the interaction between articulatory dynamics and phonotactics. The fact that most phonological information is neither punctual nor local has important implications for language acquisition, a number of which are discussed throughout the paper
A hazard rate approach to the timing of births.

"This paper discusses two approaches that economists have taken in analyzing the timing of births. It formulates an empirical model appropriate for one of these approaches and demonstrates its usefulness using household survey data from Costa Rica. The hazard rate technique employed in this paper is a natural way of modeling a broad class of problems where the occurrence of an event is uncertain. " The study also indicates that "historical data can be used to determine whether the strong trend in the relationship between regional mortality levels and the age at first birth is real or the result of inappropriate data. Additionally, data from other countries might be employed to determine whether the significant effect of male education levels on the risk of subsequent births is a general result. Finally. , the predictions of theoretical models dealing with the number and pace of births can be tested using data from younger women. "