Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chain Independence and Common Information

We present a new proof of a celebrated result of Gács and Körner that the common information is far less than the mutual information. Consider two sequences α<sub>1</sub>,. α<sub>n</sub> and β<sub>1</sub>,. β<sub>n</sub> of random variables, where pairs (α<sub>1</sub>, β<sub>1</sub>),. (α<sub>n</sub>, β<sub>n</sub>) are independent and identically distributed. Gács and Körner proved that it is not possible to extract “common information” from these two sequences unless the joint distribution matrix of random variables (α<sub>i</sub>, β<sub>i</sub>) is a block matrix. In 2000, Romashchenko introduced a notion of chain independent random variables and gave a simple proof of the result of Gács and Körner for chain independent random variables. Furthermore, Romashchenko showed that Boolean random variables α and β are chain independent unless α = β a.s. or α = 1 - β a.s. In this paper, we generalize this result to arbitrary (finite) distributions of α and β and thus give a simple proof of the result of Gács and Körner.
A Probabilistic Modeling Framework for Lexical Entailment

Recognizing entailment at the lexical level is an important and commonly-addressed component in textual inference. Yet, this task has been mostly approached by simplified heuristic methods. This paper proposes an initial probabilistic modeling framework for lexical entailment, with suitable EM-based parameter estimation. Our model considers prominent entailment factors, including differences in lexical-resources reliability and the impacts of transitivity and multiple evidence. Evaluations show that the proposed model outperforms most prior systems while pointing at required future improvements.
Characteristics of Fluid Composition of Left Displaced Abomasum in Beef Cattle Fed High-Starch Diets

ABSTRACT To clarify the pathophysiology of left displaced abomasum (LDA), beef cattle fed high-starch diets were examined. The abomasal pH in beef cattle with LDA was lower than that in non-LDA reference animals (data from beef cattle at an abattoir), suggesting that it facilitated acidity. Bacteriological examinations of the abomasal fluid in cattle with LDA revealed the presence of Pseudomonas spp. , Clostridium spp. and Candida spp. , presumably reflecting the accelerated influx of ruminal fluid into the abomasum. Biochemical analyses of serum revealed that LDA cattle had higher lactic acid and lower vitamin A and E levels than non-LDA reference animals. These results indicate that beef cattle with LDA may suffer from vitamin A and E deficiencies due to maldigestion of starch and the high acidity of abomasal fluid.
CEPS WORKING DOCUMENT NO . 200 MARCH 2004 BUSINESS CYCLE SYNCHRONISATION IN THE ENLARGED EU : CO-MOVEMENTS IN THE NEW AND OLD MEMBERS ZSOLT DARVAS

It is generally recognised that countries wanting to join a monetary union should display the optimal currency area properties. One such property is the similarity of business cycles. We therefore undertook to analyse the synchronisation of business cycles between the EMU-12 and the eight new EU members from Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs), for which the next step to be considered in the integration process is entry into the EMU. In contrast to the usually analysed GDP and industrial production data, we extend our analysis to the major expenditure and sectoral components of GDP and use several measures of synchronisation. The main findings of the paper are that Hungary, Poland and Slovenia have achieved a high degree of synchronisation with EMU for GDP, industrial production and exports, but not for consumption and services. The other CEECs have achieved less or no synchronisation. There has been a significant increase in the synchronisation of GDP and also its major components in the EMU members since the start of the run-up to EMU. While this lends support for the existence of OCA endogeneity, it cannot be unambiguously attributed to it because there is also evidence of a world business cycle. Another finding is that the consumption-correlation puzzle remains, but its magnitude has greatly diminished in the EMU members, which is good news for common monetary policy. JEL Classification numbers: E32, F41
Frightened by Links

This article describes a recent attack trend called clickjacking, which exploits hyperlinks as the attack vehicle. This article introduces the reader to the attack concept and to the possible ways to implement it, by means of some practical example. Then it discusses the detectability of such an attack and some possible countermeasures.
Detection & Classification of Network Anomalies using SVM and Decision Tree

Here in this paper a new technique of detecting network anomalies in the traffic is implemented using the concept of Support vector machine and decision tree. The idea is to first apply clustering of the data traffic using support vector machine and then classifying the network traffic using vertical partition based id3 decision tree algorithm. The proposed technique implemented here provides high accuracy of detecting network anomalies as well as providing less time complexity and less error rate.
Effects of Alterations in Aortic Impedance on the Performance of the Ventricles

We have investigated the effects of sudden changes in the load against which the left ventricle contracts in healthy conscious dogs. During a steady state, initial responses were assessed by comparing the beat before with the beat after such a change. Flow was measured by electromagnetic flowmeters and pressure usually by a catheter-tip transducer. Results show that under the conditions of these experiments the curves relating external work and power to load are consistent with the parabolic relationship shown for isolated hearts and muscle strips and that in each case the left ventricle normally functions near the peak of the curve. When an increased load was maintained until a new steady state was reached the left ventricle still functioned on the descending limbs of what presumably were different work-load and power-load curves. It was concluded from this that either the increase in load was too great or the time too short for reflex humoral and intrinsic mechanisms to readjust and permit the ventricle to function again at the peak of each curve, or that the circulatory system does not make relatively rapid adaptations in this way to an increase in systemic load. The immediate effects of changes in load on left ventricular stroke volume were similar to those seen in isolated preparations. Stroke volume varied inversely with the load. Stroke volume changes were accompanied by changes in the duration, rate, and velocity of ejection. The duration of the isovolumetric phase was affected little but the period from valve closure to the end of ventricular relaxation varied with the load so that the total duration of contraction and relaxation of the ventricle was relatively unchanged, though an increase in load did tend to prolong it. Before the onset of the baroreceptor response the right ventricle was not affected, the two ventricles acting independently in relation to all these changes.
ON A CONVERSE OF LAGUERRE'S THEOREM

The problem of characterizing all real sequences 0 with the property that if 0 is any real polynomial, then 0 has no more nonreal zeros than , remains open. Recently, the authors solved this problem under the additio nal assumption that the sequences 0 , with the aforementioned property, can be interpolated by polynomials. The purpose of this paper is to extend this result to certain transcendental entire functions. In particular, t he main result establishes a converse of a classical theorem of Laguerre for these transcendental entire functions.
Towards a Framework for Social Semiotic Mining

Although the theory of semiotics arguably has ancient beginnings and came to the forefront with the seminal work of Pierce in the 20th century, and despite the growth of social media and the direct relevance of semiotics, no framework has so far been provided, which not only enables the re-examination of social content and tagging under the light of semiotics, but can also be used to analyze data mining and clustering algorithms utilized on social data. We provide the motivation and the outline of such a framework in the paper, and demonstrate how it can be applied not only in order to analyze specific algorithms, but also in order to structure the general space of potential algorithms for clustering data derived from social media.
Are Phonological Awareness Intervention Programs Effective for Children with Disabilities? A Systematic Review

The purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness of phonological awareness intervention programs. Computerized databases, including ERIC, PubMed, ProQuest Education Journals, and SCOPUS, were searched using the following search strategy: ("phonological awareness”) AND )impairment OR intervention OR training programme). The search was limited to English journal articles. No limitations were set on date of publication. Studies selected for inclusion in this review were required to examine phonological awareness intervention programs for children with disabilities including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Visual Impairments, Down syndrome, Speech and/or Language Impairments, Intellectual Disabilities, Hearing Loss, and Learning/ Reading Disabilities. Overall, available research findings support the use of phonological awareness intervention programs designed for children with disabilities as an effective tool to improve phonological awareness skills. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
The economies of online cooperation

Even a casual trip through cyberspace will turn up evidence of hostility, selfishness, and simple nonsense. Yet the wonder of the Internet is not that there is so much noise, but that there is any significant cooperation at all. Given that online interaction is relatively anonymous, that there is no central authority, and that it is difficult or impossible to impose monetary or physical sanctions on someone, it is striking that the Internet is not literally a war of all against all. For a student of social order, what needs to be explained is not the amount of conflict but the great amount of sharing and cooperation that does occur in online communities.
Evil monsters and cunning perverts: Representing and regulating the dangerous paedophile

Purpose – The crime of child sex offending or child sexual abuse is a serious social problem. Since the 1990s, it has been popularly conceptualised as a ‘paedophile threat’ and has become one of the most high-profile crimes of our times. This chapter examines the social construction of paedophiles in UK newspapers and its impact on official regulation of child sex offenders. Methodology/approach – Discourse analysis is used to establish how newspaper language produces common discourses around child sex offenders. Documentary research of government legislation and law enforcement helps analyse the ways in which official regulation is informed by media discourses. Findings – Newspaper discourses around child sex offenders construct the paedophile as a distinct and dangerous category of person. This media figure informs government legislation and law enforcement in several ways. For example, discourses around paedophiles necessitate and legitimate punitive legal trends regarding child sex offenders and facilitate the conceptualisation of specific laws. The conceptual shift towards understanding child sexual abuse through the figure of the paedophile has several detrimental consequences. This chapter offers a critique of contemporary media and governmental/legal discourses, pointing to misrepresentation, sensationalism, demonisation and insufficient child protection. Value – This research indicates that discourses and conceptual shifts around child sex offenders are driven by the media but have come to be accepted and perpetuated by the government and the law. This dynamic not only illustrates the power of the media to set agendas but raises questions regarding the adequacy of official governance informed by media discourses.
Spatiotemporal Pattern of Doublecortin Expression in the Retina of the Sea Lamprey

Despite the importance of doublecortin (DCX) for the development of the nervous system, its expression in the retina of most vertebrates is still unknown. The key phylogenetic position of lampreys, together with their complex life cycle, with a long blind larval stage and an active predator adult stage, makes them an interesting model to study retinal development. Here, we studied the spatiotemporal pattern of expression of DCX in the retina of the sea lamprey. In order to characterize the DCX expressing structures, the expression of acetylated α-tubulin (a neuronal marker) and cytokeratins (glial marker) was also analyzed. Tract-tracing methods were used to label ganglion cells. DCX immunoreactivity appeared initially in photoreceptors, ganglion cells and in fibers of the prolarval retina. In larvae smaller than 100 mm, DCX expression was observed in photoreceptors, in cells located in the inner nuclear and inner plexiform layers (IPLs) and in fibers coursing in the nuclear and IPLs, and in the optic nerve (ON). In retinas of premetamorphic and metamorphic larvae, DCX immunoreactivity was also observed in radially oriented cells and fibers and in a layer of cells located in the outer part of the inner neuroblastic layer (INbL) of the lateral retina. Photoreceptors and fibers ending in the outer limitans membrane (OLM) showed DCX expression in adults. Some retinal pigment epithelium cells were also DCX immunoreactive. Immunofluorescence for α-tubulin in premetamorphic larvae showed coexpression in most of the DCX immunoreactive structures. No cells/fibers were found showing DCX and cytokeratins colocalization. The perikaryon of mature ganglion cells is DCX negative. The expression of DCX in sea lamprey retinas suggests that it could play roles in the migration of cells that differentiate in the metamorphosis, in the establishment of connections of ganglion cells and in the development of photoreceptors. Our results also suggest that the radial glia and retinal pigment epithelium cells of lampreys are neurogenic. Comparison of our observations with those reported in gnathostomes reveals similarities and interesting differences probably due to the peculiar development of the sea lamprey retina.
Constrained Estimation of Mixture Vector Autoregressive Model

A mixture vector autoregressive model has recently been introduced to the literature. This model consists of a mixture of finite number of vector autoregressive models. The firstand second-order stationarity conditions have been derived and an EM algorithm for estimation has been proposed. A mixture of stationary and nonstationary vector autoregressive components may still result in a stationary model. With the shape-changing predictive distribution, flexible conditional moment and autocorrelation structures, the mixture vector autoregressive model represents an attractive candidate for nonlinear multiple time series modeling. However, previous methodology has two limitations. First, method for computing or approximating the standard errors of the estimates has not been investigated. The approximation of the standard errors based on numerical procedures could be seriously inaccurate. Second, as a multivariate model, the MVAR model contains a large number of parameters in its specification. Estimation efficiency for short time series may be poor. Thus, it is important to consider procedures that eliminate unnecessary parameters and estimate the models with parameter constraints. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, a form of parameter constraints is introduced with an efficient EM algorithm for estimation. Second, an accurate method for computing standard errors is presented for the model with and without parameter constraints. Lastly, a hypothesis-testing approach based on likelihood ratio tests is proposed, which aids in the selection of unnecessary parameters and leads to the greater efficiency at the estimation. An example employing U.S. Treasury constant maturity rates illustrates the applicability of the mixture vector autoregressive model with parameter constraints, and the importance of using a reliable method to compute standard errors.
Exploring the role of customer value change and relationship adaptation in global business services

Global business executives recently highlight the importance of understanding the sources of value creation for customers around the world. Beyond a push to better grasp what customers currently value, firms interact with dynamic customers whose needs do not stand still. In response, managers are searching for innovative ways to sense ongoing changes in customers’ desires and effectively adapt their company’s value propositions. Yet, an extensive research review suggests there is little, if any, evidence that managers can rely on to understand how business customers are changing what they value across global markets – or what these changes mean for fostering loyalty in those relationships. This global study responds to these challenges through exploring the sources of value creation and the effects of value change for 939 customers of business services in the United States, Sweden, India, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. A theoretical framework is proposed that builds on research in customer value, international buyer behavior, and buyer-seller relationships and tests 22 hypotheses across three models. Two new constructs are developed, value change responsiveness and value change anticipation, which demonstrate significant effects on customer value. Significant results and close fit across three models tested with structural equation modeling generate a number of interesting implications for global and domestic managers. For executives and strategists who are concerned about growing a profitable base of loyal customers, this study provides insights for how customers in different market segments around the world are changing what they value, and specifically the role that this change plays in their perceptions of satisfaction and loyalty.
Predicting stock market trends using random forests: A sample of the Zagreb stock exchange

Stock market prediction is considered to be a challenging task for both investors and researchers, due to its profitability and intricate complexity. Highly accurate stock market predictive models are very often the basis for the construction of algorithms used in automated trading. In this paper, 5-days-ahead and 10-days-ahead predictive models are built using the random forests algorithm. The models are built on the historical data of the CROBEX index and on a few companies listed at the Zagreb Stock Exchange from various sectors. Several technical indicators, popular in quantitative analysis of stock markets, are selected as model inputs. The proposed method is empirically evaluated using stratified 10-fold cross-validation, achieving an average classification accuracy of 76.5% for 5-days-ahead models and 80.8% for 10-days-ahead models.
Gap analysis: a tool for complementary genetic conservation assessment

Aim Gap analysis is a well‐established conservation technique that identifies areas in which selected elements of biodiversity are represented and through comparison with existing in situ protected area networks identifies habitats or ecosystems that need additional protection. We aim to demonstrate that gap analysis may be extended to encompass both in situ and ex situ genetic diversity conservation strategies.
Determinants of Action Potential Propagation in Cerebellar Purkinje Cell Axons

Axons have traditionally been viewed as highly faithful transmitters of action potentials. Recently, however, experimental evidence has accumulated to support the idea that under some circumstances axonal propagation may fail. Cerebellar Purkinje neurons fire highfrequency simple spikes, as well as bursts of spikes in response to climbing fiber activation (the “complex spike”). Here we have visualized the axon of individual Purkinje cells to directly investigate the relationship between somatic spikes and axonal spikes using simultaneous somatic whole-cell and cell-attached axonal patch-clamp recordings at 200-800 μm from the soma. We demonstrate that sodium action potentials propagate at frequencies up to ∼260 Hz, higher than simple spike rates normally observed in vivo. Complex spikes, however, did not propagate reliably, with usually only the first and last spikes in the complex spike waveform being propagated. On average, only 1.7 ± 0.2 spikes in the complex spike were propagated during resting firing, with propagation limited to interspike intervals above ∼4 msec. Hyperpolarization improved propagation efficacy without affecting total axonal spike number, whereas strong depolarization could abolish propagation of the complex spike. These findings indicate that the complex spike waveform is not faithfully transmitted to downstream synapses and that propagation of the climbing fiber response may be modulated by background activity.
The Interrelation between Speech Perception and Phonological Acquisition from Infant to Adult*

The acquisition of a second language (L2) is clearly somehow different from that of a first language (L1): adult second language learners rarely (if ever) achieve the same native competence that children do learning their first language and, conversely, children never experience the degree of difficulty that L2 learners do. This disparity between L2 and L1 acquisition is perhaps most apparent with respect to the acquisition of a second phonological system. Whereas children consistently achieve native competence across the full range of subtle and complex phonological properties of their language,
Experimental Evaluation of Pair Programming

Pair programming is a kind of collaborative programming where two people are working simultaneously on the same programming task. It is one of the key practices of eXtreme Programming. In the paper we compare it with two variants of individual programming: one of them is based on Personal Software Process that has been proposed by W. Humphrey, and the other is a variant of eXtreme Programming tailored to individuals. Four experiments are described that has been performed at the Poznan University of Technology. During those experiments 21 students wrote 4 C/C++ programs ranging from 150 to 400 LOC. The obtained results are compared with the results of similar experiments described by J.T. Nosek and L. Williams et al.
An Empirical Study on New Generation Worker's Organizational Commitment, Motivation, Work Outcomes and HRM Strategic implications

Although organizational commitment is increasingly regarded as a vital work-related attitude of enhancing employee's psychological attachment to the organization, it has also precluded an in-depth examination of particular inputs and configurations to individual attitudes and behaviors in workplace. Drawing upon social exchange theory, a model of new generation worker's organizational commitment and its work outcomes in term of job satisfaction and turnover intention was developed and tested using a sample of 392 employees working in Pearl River Delta of China. This model predicts that individual's need for growth and existence, job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback), and perception of organizational politics have direct effects on organizational commitment. Results show the social exchange variables are strong predictors of organizational commitment and work outcomes. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are provided.