Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Plausible Model for Visual Perception

Traditionally, how to bridge the gap between the low level visual features and the high level semantic concepts has been a tough task for the researchers. In this paper, we propose a novel plausible model, namely globally connected and locally autonomic Bayesian network (GCLABN), to model the process of visual perception. The new model takes advantage of both the low level visual features, such as colors, textures and shapes, of the target object and the interrelationship between the known objects, and integrates them into a Bayesian framework, which possesses both firm theoretical foundation and wide practical applications. According to our meticulous analysis, in many aspects, the novel model theoretically outperforms the original Bayesian network, which has been successfully applied to many related areas, such as object detection, scene analysis and other similar tasks. Finally, although the GCLABN is designed for the visual perception, it also has great potential to be applied to other areas
Test Lorentz Violation Using Propagating UHECRs

Lorentz invariant violation (LIV) test is very important to study new physics. All the known astrophysical constrain s either have a very small examinable parameter space, or are onl y suitable for some special theoretical models. We here sugge st to detect the time delay of ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UH ECRs) directly. We discuss some difficulties of making use of our me thod, including intergalactic magnetic fields. It seems that none f them are crucial, and thus this method could give a larger examina ble parameter space and stronger constraint on LIV.
Engineered Pinning Landscapes for Enhanced 2G Coil Wire

We demonstrate a twofold increase in the in-field critical current of AMSC's standard 2G coil wire by irradiation with 18-MeV Au ions. The optimum pinning enhancement is achieved with a dose of 6 × 1011 Au ions/cm2. Although the 77 K, self-field critical current is reduced by about 35%, the in-field critical current (H//c) shows a significant enhancement between 4 and 50 K in fields > 1 T. The process was used for the roll-to-roll irradiation of AMSC's standard 46-mm-wide production coated conductor strips, which were further processed into standard copper laminated coil wire. The long-length wires show the same enhancement as attained with short static irradiated samples. The roll-to-roll irradiation process can be incorporated in the standard 2G wire manufacturing, with no modifications to the current process. The enhanced performance of the wire will benefit rotating machine and magnet applications.
Our plastic age

Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the many benefits that plastics bring to society. At the same time, we examine the environmental consequences resulting from the accumulation of waste plastic, the effects of plastic debris on wildlife and concerns for human health that arise from the production, usage and disposal of plastics. Finally, we consider some possible solutions to these problems together with the research and policy priorities necessary for their implementation.
Gender, Culture, and Ethnicity: Current Research About Women and Men

This unique anthology brings together the best available research on the joint effects of gender, culture, and ethnicity in people's lives. The 25 carefully selected readings include studies of ethnic minority populations in the United States as well as cross-cultural comparisons. Students will ﬁ nd the articles interesting and readable (each article included in this collection was read and critiqued by undergraduates before ﬁ nal selections were made). Two informative introductory chapters explain key concepts such as culture and ethnicity, outline the nature of sociocultural analyses of gender, and set the stage for the articles to follow.
Sensitivity to phonological, morphological, and semantic cues in early reading and writing in Hebrew

Emergent literacy in Hebrew was studied by analyzing the attempts of nursery children and kindergartners to write and read pairs of nouns. The noun pairs were selected to represent differences along the linguistic dimensions of phonology (length of syllables), semantic content (e.g., individuals vs. plurality), and morphological complexity (mono-vs. bimorphemic words). Children of both age groups exhibited sensitivity to all three linguistic dimensions by writing longer those words that sounded longer, denoted more objects, and were composed of more morphemes. With age, children's sensitivity to phonology increased and sensitivity to semantics decreased, and both these sensitivities played a greater role in literacy acquisition than did sensitivity to morphology
Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumor 1 (DMBT1) Expression Pattern in Normal Cervix and at Different Stages of Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions

RESEARCH ARTICLE Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumor 1 (DMBT1) Expression Pattern in Normal Cervix and at Different Stages of Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions Andrés Valero, María Lorena Roldán, María Fernanda Ruiz, Juan Manuel Teijeiro, Susana Beatriz Marquez and Patricia Estela Marini Laboratorio de Medicina Reproductiva, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Provincial del Centenario Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rosario, Argentina Consejo de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (CIUNR), Rosario, Argentina
Element specific imaging with high lateral resolution: an experimental study on layer structures

Planar defects and individual layers in ceramic material are chemically imaged by high resolution energy‐filtering TEM using a post‐column imaging electron energy filter. Objects are barium layers in the cuprate superconductor NdBa2Cu3O7−δ (isostructual to YBa2Cu3O7−δ) as well as planar defects and precipitates of β‐WB in tungsten‐ and chromium‐doped TiB2. The barium layers with a spacing of 0.42 nm in the cuprate are resolved in jump‐ratio images using the Ba_N edge. In the boride system the β‐WB precipitates with thickness of 0.8 nm can be chemically imaged in elemental maps of B_K, Ti_L ,Cr_L and W_M. The B as well as the Ti map show a decrease in intensity at the precipitates, whereas in the W map an increase in intensity is observed. The boron‐deficient layers with a spacing of 0.38 nm in the β‐WB precipitate can be resolved in boron jump‐ratio images. Additionally, defects containing single boron‐deficient layers are chemically imaged. Hence structures in the dimension of interatomic distances can be imaged with respect to their elemental constituents. Although high resolution electron spectroscopic images contain strong interference contrast from elastic scattering, after normalization or background subtraction the element specific images are dominated by chemical contrast.
Secure information flow by self-composition

Non-interference is a high-level security property that guarantees the absence of illicit information leakages through executing programs. More precisely, non-interference for a program assumes a separation between secret inputs and public inputs on the one hand, and secret outputs and public outputs on the other hand, and requires that the value of public outputs does not depend on the value of secret inputs. A common means to enforce non-interference is to use an information flow type system. However, such type systems are inherently imprecise, and reject many secure programs, even for simple programming languages. The purpose of this paper is to investigate logical formulations of noninterference that allow a more precise analysis of programs. It appears that such formulations are often sound and complete, and also amenable to interactive or automated verification techniques, such as theorem-proving or model-checking. We illustrate the applicability of our method in several scenarios, including a simple imperative language, a non-deterministic language, and finally a language with shared mutable data structures.
Surface proteins, ERAD and antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei

Variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) is central to antigenic variation in African trypanosomes. Although much prior work documents that VSG is efficiently synthesized and exported to the cell surface, it was recently claimed that 2–3 fold more is synthesized than required, the excess being eliminated by ER‐Associated Degradation (ERAD) (Field et al., ). We now reinvestigate VSG turnover and find no evidence for rapid degradation, consistent with a model whereby VSG synthesis is precisely regulated to match requirements for a functional surface coat on each daughter cell. However, using a mutated version of the ESAG7 subunit of the transferrin receptor (E7:Ty) we confirm functional ERAD in trypanosomes. E7:Ty fails to assemble into transferrin receptors and accumulates in the ER, consistent with retention of misfolded protein, and its turnover is selectively rescued by the proteasomal inhibitor MG132. We also show that ER accumulation of E7:Ty does not induce an unfolded protein response. These data, along with the presence of ERAD orthologues in the Trypanosoma brucei genome, confirm ERAD in trypanosomes. We discuss scenarios in which ERAD could be critical to bloodstream parasites, and how these may have contributed to the evolution of antigenic variation in trypanosomes.
Server-aided signatures verification secure against collusion attack

Wireless handheld devices which support e-mail and web browsing are increasingly popular. The authenticity of the information received is important, especially for business uses. In server-aided verification (SAV), a substantial part of the verification computation can be offloaded to a powerful but possibly untrusted server. This allows resource-constrained devices to enjoy the security guarantees provided by cryptographic schemes, such as pairing-based signatures, which may be too heavyweight to verify otherwise. To gain unfair advantage, an adversary may bribe the server to launch various kinds of attacks --- to convince that an invalid signature held by a client is a valid one (say for providing false information or repudiable commitment) or to claim that a valid signature is invalid (say for spoiling the offer provided by an opponent). However, these concerns are not properly captured by existing security models. In this paper, we provide a generic pairing-based SAV protocol. Compared with the protocol of Girault and Lefranc in Asiacrypt '05, ours provides a higher level of security yet applicable to a much wider class of pairing-based cryptosystems. In particular, it suggests SAV protocols for short signatures in the standard model and aggregate signatures which have not been studied before.
Citation matters: two essays on the student journey of citation and how Google Scholar and the principle of least effort can affect academic writing

The paper consists of two short essays on citation matters. The aim is to get the academy thinking about citing and referencing from a student point of view. The first essay (on the student journey of citation) is an attempt of a framework for the academic writer, from the time they are an undergraduate student to an academic researcher. The worldview of citing and referencing is argued to develop in accordance to academic level. The second essay is on academic writing and the principle of least effort. With a few searches on Google Scholar, cyberplagiarism and the pilfering of citation context was demonstrated. With emphasis on patchwriting, the temptation of the academic writer to corner cut is not argued as being exclusive to students but more apparent by students. Technology is also argued to create a conflict for the academic writer showing a path where they can reduce effort.
Language-based support for computational thinking

This paper explores the potential for simplified programming languages to support the development of computational thinking skills in non-programmers. We suggest that novice programming languages might offer a starting point for non-programmers to engage with a substantial subset of computational thinking concepts, and assess a number of languages from this perspective. We outline four key computational thinking skills and examine the support provided by existing languages. We then describe additional characteristics which would be important for a new language aimed specifically at developing computational thinking skills.
A Narrative Review Summarizing the State of the Evidence on the Health-Related Quality of Life Among Childhood Cancer Survivors

This narrative review summarizes the state of the evidence about the phenomenon of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among survivors of childhood cancer. A major strength of the state of the evidence on the HRQOL among survivors of childhood cancer is the availability and quality of the data generated from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Findings from most studies find comparable levels of HRQOL among survivors and constructed cohort samples; however, a poorer level of HRQOL exists among female survivors. Factors that predict a lower or poorer level of HRQOL among survivors include age at diagnosis, age attained, time since diagnosis, socioeconomic status (education level, household income, and employment status), physical role functioning, and health insurance. Those survivors who received cranial radiation, especially survivors of central nervous system tumors, are at an increased risk for poorer HRQOL and long-term negative effects.
An empirical investigation on the determinants of e-procurement adoption in Chinese manufacturing enterprises

This paper reports an empirical investigation conducted to identify the major factors that impact the adoption of electronic procurement in Chinese manufacturing enterprises. A research model inspired by the technology-organization-environment framework is postulated. Logistic regression is used to examine the relationships between the technological, organizational and environmental characteristics and the enterprisespsila adoption of e-procurement. The results generally offer support for the research model and indicate that relative advantage, top management support, external pressure and external support are determinant factors of e-procurement adoption. These findings can be used to develop strategies to promote the successful adoption of e-procurement by enterprises.
Swahili Language Manager: A Storehouse for Developing Multiple Computational Applications

Swahili Language Manager (SALAMA) is a computational environment for managing written Swahili language and for developing various kinds of language applications. Having been subject to development since 1985, it currently (2004) contains the Standard Swahili lexicon as fully as possible. As it is a system for managing the language, it includes also the full morphological and morpho-phonological description of Swahili, a rule-based system for solving the word level ambiguities, a rule-based system for tagging text syntactically (including alternatively a shallow Constraint Grammar parsing or a deep Dependency Grammar parsing), a rule-based system for handling idiomatic expressions, proverbs and other non-standard clusters of words, and a semantic tagging and disambiguation system for defining correct semantic equivalents in English. SALAMA facilitates also a raw translation from Swahili to English, including the correct surface forms in English (e.g. verbs, nouns and adjectives) and transfer rules for the correct English word order. An essential part in developing and testing SALAMA is the Helsinki Corpus of Swahili, which has been under construction since 1988 and is currently globally available at the Language Bank of Finland (www.csc.fi). The paper discusses all these features in detail.
Cochlear power flux as an indicator of mechanical activity.

The question of whether one can conclude just from basilar membrane (BM) vibration data that the cochlea is an active mechanical system is addressed. To this end, a method is developed which computes the power flux through a channel cross section of a short-wave cochlear model from a given BM vibration pattern. The power flux is an important indicator of mechanical activity because a rise in this function corresponds to creation of mechanical energy. The power flux method is applied to BM velocity patterns as measured by Johnstone and Yates [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 55, 584-587 (1974)] and by Sellick et al. [Hear. Res. 10, 101-108 (1983)] in the guinea pig and by Robles et al. [Peripheral Auditory Mechanisms, edited by J.B. Allen, J.L. Hall, A.E. Hubbard, S.T. Neely, and A. Tubis (Springer, New York, 1986a), pp. 121-128, and J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 80, 1364-1374 (1986b)] in the chinchilla. Before the calculations are performed, the BM data are interpolated and smoothed in order to avoid numerical errors as a result of too few and noisy data points. The choice of the smoothing method influences the computed power flux function considerably. Nevertheless, the calculations appear to make a clear distinction between the "old" data, showing broad BM tuning (Johnstone and Yates, 1974), and the "new" data, in which the response is much more peaked (Sellick et al., 1983; Robles et al., 1986a, b). The former do not give rise to a significant increase of the power flux; the latter do, although less convincingly for the Sellick et al. (1983) data than for the Robles et al. (1986a,b) data. It is thus concluded that the recently obtained, sharply tuned BM responses reflect the presence of mechanical activity in the cochlea.
The Impact of Direct and Indirect Network Effects on the Diffusion  of Communication Standards

Expectations about stand-alone and network benefits determine the adoption decision of customers and hence the diffusion of standards. To increase the number of adopters of a communication standard like EDI, not only the ability to exchange messages (as a source of direct network effects), but also the provision of complementary services such as standardized master data, e.g., by establishing a central, industrywide EDI data pool (as a source of indirect network effects) is important. We thus examine the differing impact of direct and indirect network effects on the adoption and diffusion of communication standards. The incorporation of both network benefits into an agent-based simulation model may help to better understand the underlying diffusion problem.
The Effect of Service Context in Consumer Relationship Proneness and Behavior

Objective: The paper discusses the effect of context on service relationships. Considering the customers’ point of view, we argue that customers may hold different proneness to establish a relationship with the provider depending on the specific service context. Different relationship proneness will, in turn, influence the more or less favorable behavior of the consumer in the relationship. As such, this paper aims to increase understanding of consumer relationship proneness and its role in different service settings. Methodology: Data were collected in two contexts, high and low contact services (health services and wholesales, respectively). Through a convenience sample of 516 consumers, we conducted a survey to examine differences in consumer proneness and behaviors in both contexts. Conclusion: Results revealed that consumer relationship proneness and behaviors vary significantly among the contexts studied. In the high contact service (healthcare services), customers exhibit higher relationship proneness and show more favorable behaviors towards the relationship, when compared with the low contact service (wholesales). It was also found that the majority of consumer behaviors are, in both contexts, correlated with relationship proneness. Implications: This research aims to fill an existing gap in the RM literature by taking consumer relationship proneness into consideration. Additionally, the effect of service types has not yet been fully explored, particularly in the customer relationship field. In managerial terms, the results of this study provide guidance to managers to differentiate customer relationship strategies according to the specific service context that they operate in.
Business process management: Attempted concepticide?

INTRODUCTION The utopian picture of Business Process Management (BPM) is ubiquitous. It is “a fundamental change” (CSC, 2002), “the holistic business platform for the agile company of the future” (Smith & Fingar, 2002), “the monniker for the next Killer App” (Delphi, 2002), “the greatest return on investment” (Aberdeen, 2003) and “it will change industry; just like Deming” (Gurley, 2003). Not just skeptics may wonder whether we are witnessing yet another fashion (Abrahamsom, 1996). In this paper, we examine this suspicion. In the first place, we will focus on the supply side of BPM. We argue that overselling of the concept, while understandable to a certain extent, may be driven by very particular interests of IT vendors and market analysts. Secondly, from a content analysis it follows that unlike what BPM propagandists would suggest, there are important similarities with earlier IT/management solutions. The problem, however, is that these links are hardly acknowledged or plainly denied in literature. Our prime motivation for this paper is to warn for the equivocal qualities of BPM. As researchers being active in the BPM arena ourselves, we embrace the attention for this subject. At the same time, we fear the phenomenon of concepticide: the continuous and collective rejection of IT/management solutions that have been widely embraced only a short time before. Concepticide creates an atmosphere unfavorable to the academic ideology of accumulation. This implies that people (1) have to reinvent what others already knew, (2) continue to make the same mistakes and (3) are unable to deal with persistent problems. We hope that this paper enhances the sensitivity of IT academics and practitioners for this issue. The structure of our paper follows the main arguments we described. In Section 2 we focus on a surface analysis of the fashionable aspects of BPM and their perils. In Section 3, we explore on a more substantial level the reincarnation of earlier solutions under the BPM label. We present our conclusions in Section 4.
Well-founded Functions and Extreme Predicates in Dafny: A Tutorial

A recursive function is well defined if its every recursive call corresponds a decrease in some well-founded order. Such well-founded functions are useful for example in computer programs when computing a value from some input. A boolean function can also be defined as an extreme solution to a recurrence relation, that is, as a least or greatest fixpoint of some functor. Such extreme predicates are useful for example in logic when encoding a set of inductive or coinductive inference rules. The verification-aware programming language Dafny supports both well-founded functions and extreme predicates. This tutorial describes the difference in general terms, and then describes novel syntactic support in Dafny for defining and proving lemmas with extreme predicates. Various examples and considerations are given. Although Dafny’s verifier has at its core a first-order SMT solver, Dafny’s logical encoding makes it possible to reason about fixpoints in an automated way.