Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysing the Variability of Transit Users Behaviour with Smart Card Data

This paper proposes various measures regarding the variability of travel behaviours of transit users. The analyses are performed with smart card data collected over a ten months period. The variability in terms of boarding per day and new stops frequented with the days of travel on the transit network is examined. Data mining techniques are then used to classify days of travel according to the similarity of the boarding time periods. In this view, the use of two specific smart cards is examined in more details. These experiments first show that the behaviours of regular transit users evolve with time both in terms of transit stops frequented and time of boarding. Hence, variability of behaviours also changes for various user types
Are Corporate Spin-Offs Prone to Insider Trading?

Recent research has documented empirical evidence of informed trading ahead of major corporate events such as earnings announcements, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate bankruptcies. Surprisingly, however, no such evidence exists ahead of corporate divestiture or spino (SP) announcements. This is noteworthy because the parent company’s stock usually experiences a price jump at the time of the deal announcement, as does the M&A target’s stock, which suggests that there exist economic gains from trading on private information. Using a sample of 426 corporate SPs in the US over the time period January 1996 to December 2013, we rst present evidence of average abnormal stock announcement returns for the parent companies of approximately 2%, with greater abnormal returns for cross-industry SPs, deals that reect a greater fraction of a parent’s market capitalization, and those where the subsidiary is incorporated in the same state. We then investigate informed trading activity in stocks and equity options prior to the announcement of corporate SPs for a subsample of 280 events. For the parent companies, we document pervasive directional activity in options, but not in stocks, consistent with strategies that could yield very high abnormal returns to investors with private information. This is evidenced by positive abnormal trading volumes and excess implied volatility for options prior to SP announcements. The eects are stronger for call options than for put options, in particular for out-of-the-money (OTM) and at-the-money (ATM) options. High-frequency data conrm the presence of unusual net buying activity in the options market, but not the stock market. We also nd that abnormal options volume is the only measure of informed trading that positively and robustly predicts abnormal announcement returns. Positive abnormal stock announcement returns are associated with negative abnormal bond announcement returns, plausibly due to a wealth transfer from bondholders to shareholders. Thus, we further examine informed trading in the xed income market
Segmental and prosodic cues to vowel identification: The case of /I i i:/ and /U u u:/ in Saterland Frisian

Saterland Frisian has a complete set of closed short tense vowels. Together with the long tense vowels and the short lax vowels they constitute series of phonemes that differ by length and/or tenseness. We examined the cues that distinguish the front unrounded and the back rounded series of short lax and short and long tense vowels in triplets by eliciting ‘normal speech’ and ‘clear speech’ in a reading task from two speakers. Short and long vowels were distinguished by vowel duration, and lax and tense vowels by their location in the F1-F2 space. The durational difference between short tense and long tense vowels, however, was largely restricted to the ‘clear speech’ condition. In ‘clear speech’, f0 dynamics and centralization in the F1-F2 space were used as additional means to make short tense vowels more distinct from long tense vowels. These results suggest that length and tenseness are used as distinctive features, while f0 dynamics and centralization in the F1-F2 space were optionally used to enhance the contrast between short and long tense vowels. Index Terms: f0 dynamics, f0 excursion, formants, Saterland Frisian, tenseness, vowel duration
Policy Analysts in the Bureaucracy.

For many years, the public administration community and the newer field of public policy analysis were at war, fighting battles in the way that academicians sometimes do-with disparaging statements about the intellectual prowess of the other and with acerbic comments about the relevancy and effectiveness of the opposing approach. Within these debates, rigid stereotypes were used to frame the arguments. To the public policy community, public administrators were functionaries who could not see beyond the limitations of their narrow techniques and their organizational myopia. The public administration community viewed the public policy people as Chicago-school economists in new dress-individuals who were driven by their maximizing models and who, in the process, ignored the "reality" of the institutional policy world. Times have changed. In some instances, the opposing "force" simply adopted the values and approach of the other. For example, some schools and departments of public administration offer courses in public policy analysis that are really applied micro-economic approaches, focusing on the formal, goal-maximizing techniques of analysis. Conversely, some public policy schools have "discovered" public management and have become infatuated with the processes and nuances of organizational behavior. The reappearance in paperback of Arnold J. Meltsner's important work, Policy Analysts in the Bureaucracy, reminds us that there is another way to approach these issues. The book, originally published in 1976, was the first work in the public policy literature that focused on the working policy analyst. Based on interviews with federal officials who were selfor organizationallyidentified as "policy analysts," the work continues to be a powerful source for individuals who are concerned about the way that decision makers are given-and receive-advice. While the examples in the volume are somewhat dated, the organizing framework in the work continues to be extremely salient. Meltsner conceptualizes the policy analyst as an individual who is located in the center ring of four concentric circles. Surrounding the analyst are the immediate client, who as the decision maker is the receiver of advice; then the organizational context, in which both the analyst and the client work; and, finally, the policy area itself, which is made up of a group of policy problems, knowledge, and politics. This approach to policy analysis immediately joins the two worlds of organization and analysis; it catapults the reader to a framework in which the interdependency between the two is the point of departure. Through his interviews of 116 federal policy analysts, Meltsner found that analysts are "a highly variegated species" (p. 14) who could be classified along two major
A FPGA based C runtime hardware accelerator

As the complexity of embedded systems, as well as the range of applications, grows, the demand for low power high-performance systems also increases. Solutions to address these issues have been presented in the literature, addressing techniques to increase performance by replacing software features, namely RTOS primitives, by hardware implementations. This paper presents an acceleration technique at a lower level: the runtime environment. Hardwiring part of a programming language's runtime environment decreases the required time to perform a task, offering acceleration at a low-level, transparent to higher-level layers. The developed technique was implemented on a FPGA based RISC processor; experimental results showed a decrease in the time required to perform a given task of up to 16%.
Integral membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans

Heparan sulfate is a regulatory polysaccharide. It modulates specific growth factor‐receptor interactions, accelerates the formation of specific proteinase‐proteinase inhibitor complexes, and mediates interactions of the cell surface with several enzymes and structural proteins. It abounds on the surfaces of embryonic cells, respecting or outlining morphogenetic rather than histological boundaries. This cell surface‐associated heparan sulfate is implanted on specific integral membrane proteins, which together constitute two novel molecular families. The first family includes four syndecan‐like integral membrane proteoglycans (SLIPS), with core proteins that span the membrane and shared sequence motifs in highly conserved cytoplasmic domains. The second is made up by two or more glypican‐related integral membrane proteoglycans (GRIPS) that are linked to the cell surface via glycosyl phosphatidylinositol. These proteoglycans show differential expression and turnover patterns, prevailing in distinct cell types, membrane domains, and endocytotic machineries, and are subject to strict developmental controls. This suggests that each of these cell surface proteoglycans functions in a specific context, and that these functions pertain to the transduction of signals that emanate from the continuous interplay between matrix components, growth factors, and proteinases. Caution: beware of loose GRIPS and SLIPS on unsteady cell surfaces. —David, G. Integral membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans. FASEB J. 7: 1023‐1030; 1993.
Stigma and Self-Acceptance of Vulnerable and Disadvantaged Learners in Zimbabwean Inclusive Education Settings. An Exploratory Study

DOI: 10.15580/GJSS.2018. 3.090718131 The purpose of this study was to explore of the existence of stigma and its effects on self-acceptance on vulnerable and disadvantaged learners learning at an inclusive education school in Chinhoyi Urban in Zimbabwe. A constructivist lived experience perspective underpinned this research, in which multiple case studies were used to interact with the participants on inclusion, stigma and self-acceptance of vulnerable and disadvantaged learners from an inclusive education in Chinhoyi Urban. Purposive sampling was used to select 6 participants (3 males and 3 females). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and transcribed verbatim. Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis of data sources. It was found out that participants were facing stigmatic problems and reported low levels of self-esteem, poor self-acceptance, low level of self-worth and a decline was noted in their self-goodness. The findings of this study should enable inclusive education policy makers and researchers to better understand stigmatic issues in inclusive education settings and its effects on the self-acceptance of vulnerable and disadvantaged learners learning in inclusive education setting. Submitted: 07/09/2018 Accepted: 12/09/2018 Published: 25/09/2018
Dicer Is Required for Haploid Male Germ Cell Differentiation in Mice

Background The RNase III endonuclease Dicer is an important regulator of gene expression that processes microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). The best-characterized function of miRNAs is gene repression at the post-transcriptional level through the pairing with mRNAs of protein-encoding genes. Small RNAs can also act at the transcriptional level by controlling the epigenetic status of chromatin. Dicer and other mediators of small RNA pathways are present in mouse male germ cells, and several miRNAs and endogenous siRNAs are expressed in the testis, suggesting that Dicer-dependent small RNAs are involved in the control of the precisely timed and highly organised process of spermatogenesis. Principal Findings Being interested in the Dicer-mediated functions during spermatogenesis, we have analysed here a male germ cell-specific Dicer1 knockout mouse model, in which the deletion of Dicer1 takes place during early postnatal development in spermatogonia. We found that Dicer1 knockout testes were reduced in size and spermatogenesis within the seminiferous tubules was disrupted. Dicer1 knockout epididymides contained very low number of mature sperm with pronounced morphological abnormalities. Spermatogonial differentiation appeared unaffected. However, the number of haploid cells was decreased in knockout testes, and an increased number of apoptotic spermatocytes was observed. The most prominent defects were found during late haploid differentiation, and Dicer was demonstrated to be critical for the normal organization of chromatin and nuclear shaping of elongating spermatids. Conclusions/Significance We demonstrate that Dicer and Dicer-dependent small RNAs are imperative regulators of haploid spermatid differentiation and essential for male fertility.
Key consideration factors of adopting cloud computing for science

The scientific projects are characterized of requiring high performance computing resources, complex configuration environment, and massive storage. Compared with the traditional grid computing that has been employed by scientific projects for decades, the emerging cloud computing technology offers scientists an alternative of acceptable computing performance and massive storage required with lower infrastructure construction cost and more elastic and flexible system extendibility. Despite these enticing benefits and growing interest of exercising science cloud, there exist uncertainties and challenges that barricade the wide adoption of cloud computing in the scientific field. The goal of this paper is to identify the key consideration factors of adopting cloud computing for science and explore the interrelationship among them. We first developed a comprehensive hierarchy of consideration factors comprising four dimensions and ten underlying factors. Subsequently, we conducted an in-depth survey and interview of 22 domain experts who were actively involved in constructing Taiwan national science clouds. The surveyed data was finally analyzed by employing Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to explore the influential network relationship of these consideration factors. Our findings suggest that Cost, Networking, and Elasticity are the top three dominant factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing for science.
Artificial vision in road vehicles

The last few decades have witnessed the birth and growth of a new sensibility to transportation efficiency. In particular the need for efficient and improved people and goods mobility has pushed researchers to address the problem of intelligent transportation systems. This paper surveys the most advanced approaches to (partial) customization of the road following task, using on-board systems based on artificial vision. The functionalities of lane detection, obstacle detection and pedestrian detection are described and classified, and their possible application in future road vehicles is discussed.
Business Modelling to Support the Development of Integrated Process Support Systems in the Extended Enterprise

Recent years have witnessed rapid advances in the areas of Business Process Reengineering(BPR) and Software Engineering. In order for BPR to work, successful deployment of Information Technology is imperative, with the lack of adequate IT support being cited as the single largest impediment in BPR projects. Furthermore, new business concepts such as extended enterprises and agile enterprises which build upon basic BPR call for even more complex software support in an everchanging global business environment. This paper addresses these problems and proposes a framework which supports the design and development of information systems which support business processes in the extended enterprise.
Exploring different strategies for the automatic generation of song lyrics with Tra-la-Lyrics

Using as starting point the architecture of a system that generates lyrics for given melodies, this paper explores possible different strategies for their automatic generation. Some important features concerning lyrics generation and some problems about different strategies are introduced. Examples of generated lyrics are shown and discussed. The results were validated and evaluated. People were invited to answer evaluation inquiries where some lyrics could be found. The evaluation results are also a topic for discussion.
Detection of novel astroviruses in urban brown rats and previously known astroviruses in humans

Several novel astroviruses have been recently discovered in humans and in other animals. Here, we report results from our surveillance of astroviruses in human and rodent faecal samples in Hong Kong. Classical human astroviruses (n=9) and a human MLB1 astrovirus were detected in human faecal samples (n=622). Novel astroviruses were detected from 1.6 % of the faecal samples of urban brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) (n=441), indicating the prevalence of astrovirus infection in rats might be much lower than that recently observed in bats. These rat astroviruses were phylogenetically related to recently discovered human astroviruses MLB1 and MLB2, suggesting that the MLB viruses and these novel rat astroviruses may share a common ancestor.
Association of hyperphosphataemia with haemodynamic disturbances in end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Because recent data demonstrated that the shortened survival and excess cardiovascular death of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients are predicted by hyperphosphataemia, we examined the haemodynamic alterations associated with high serum phosphorus levels in ESRD patients on haemodialysis. METHODS Sixty-six ESRD patients were studied. Patients were separated arbitrarily into two groups, i.e. with predialysis serum phosphate <2 mmol/l ('normal' phosphate) and, serum phosphate >2 mmol/l ('high' phosphate). Cardiac and arterial function and structure were analysed by computer-assisted ultrasonography. RESULTS Hyperphosphataemic patients were characterized by higher diastolic and mean blood pressures (P<0.05), and higher cardiac index (P<0.001) caused by an increased stroke index (P<0.05) and higher heart rate (P<0.01). The cardiac work index was significantly increased in patients with higher phosphate levels (P<0.01). Hyperphosphataemic patients tended to have a higher common carotid artery diameter (P=0.07), but similar carotid artery intima-media thickness, and lower carotid wall-to-lumen ratio (P<0.05) than patients with 'normal' serum phosphorus. As a result of lower wall-to-lumen ratio in the presence of higher mean blood pressure, the carotid tensile stress was higher in hyperphosphataemic ESRD patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSION These findings suggest that, in stable ESRD patients, hyperphosphataemia is associated with increased BP, hyperkinetic circulation, increased cardiac work, and high arterial tensile stress. These haemodynamic abnormalities could favour the development of cardiovascular complications and contribute to high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Language growth trajectories: does immigrant generation status moderate linguistic interdependence?

ABSTRACT This two-year longitudinal study examined the role of linguistic interdependence between Spanish and English among a group of first, second, and third generation immigrant Spanish-English bilingual children. Starting from a theoretical perspective on linguistic interdependence that takes into account linguistic constructs and their measurement, the study reports on the English developmental trajectories of 112 Latinx bilinguals in second, third, and fourth grade. Multilevel growth modeling was used to develop trajectories for English vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and semantics and assess the degree to which they were predicted by initial levels of Spanish vocabulary and Spanish syntax. Findings showed that Spanish syntax was a significant predictor for English intercepts for both syntax and morphology. These cross-linguistic effects were moderated by generation status such that the effect of Spanish syntax on English morphology and syntax was, in fact, negative for first-generation students, while positive for second and third generation students. The finding that more metalinguistically focused constructs (syntax and morphology) are robust to cross-linguistic association is consistent with current theories on linguistic interdependence. Because the groups were comparable on Spanish syntax performance, the effect of generation status has some implications for levels of English proficiency necessary in order for linguistic interdependence to manifest.
A Bootstrapping Method for Finer-Grained Opinion Mining Using Graph Model

Pursuing on the analysis of product reviews, a bootstrapping method is proposed to find the product features and opinion words in iterative steps. Different from conventional methods, a graph model is built to link and measure the relationship between the pairs of product features and opinion words. A rule-based method is presented to get the initial seeds of product features and opinion words automatically. Our experimental results on electronic product reviews are encouraging, which prove the proposed method and techniques are effective in performing this task of feature level opinion mining.
Opportunistic collaboration in participatory sensing environments

The proliferation of networked mobile devices that can capture and communicate various kinds of data provides an opportunity to design novel man-machine sensing environments of which this paper considers participatory sensing. To achieve energy efficiency and reduce data redundancy, we propose Aquiba protocol that exploits opportunistic collaboration of pedestrians. Sensing activity is reduced according to the number of available pedestrians in nearby area. The paper investigates the benefit of opportunistic collaboration in large-scale scenarios through simulation studies. To take microscopic interaction of social crowds into consideration, we adapt the social force model and include it as one of three mobility models applied in our studies. Though the simulation results depend on mobility models, they validate the benefit of opportunistic collaboration employed by Aquiba protocol.
Multi-task copula by sparse graph regression

This paper proposes multi-task copula (MTC) that can handle a much wider class of tasks than mean regression with Gaussian noise in most former multi-task learning (MTL). While former MTL emphasizes shared structure among models, MTC aims at joint prediction to exploit inter-output correlation. Given input, the outputs of MTC are allowed to follow arbitrary joint continuous distribution. MTC captures the joint likelihood of multi-output by learning the marginal of each output firstly and then a sparse and smooth output dependency graph function. While the former can be achieved by classical MTL, learning graphs dynamically varying with input is quite a challenge. We address this issue by developing sparse graph regression (SpaGraphR), a non-parametric estimator incorporating kernel smoothing, maximum likelihood, and sparse graph structure to gain fast learning algorithm. It starts from a few seed graphs on a few input points, and then updates the graphs on other input points by a fast operator via coarse-to-fine propagation. Due to the power of copula in modeling semi-parametric distributions, SpaGraphR can model a rich class of dynamic non-Gaussian correlations. We show that MTC can address more flexible and difficult tasks that do not fit the assumptions of former MTL nicely, and can fully exploit their relatedness. Experiments on robotic control and stock price prediction justify its appealing performance in challenging MTL problems.