Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE CUSTOMER VALUE SCORECARD At a time when financial reporting is less than reliable , Behram Hansotia

At a time when financial reporting is less than reliable, Behram Hansotia proposes that companies use a customer value scorecard to report statistics associated with customer lifetime value. These scorecards will clearly show if a company is making progress in increasing customer loyalty and share of wallet. C EOs, academicians and the financial community are all dissatisfied with the standard financial balance sheet and how it reflects the assets of a company. Though the balance sheet may have been an adequate representation of a company's assets in an industrial environment , today's knowledge-and information-intensive company needs better representation of its assets.A company's core assets today are its: • Culture that empowers its employees to do the right thing and provides core values for decision-making, integrity, entrepreneur-ship and respect for all. • Employees who can help the company continuously innovate. • Processes, internal and those that stretch across the company's supply chain, that create value for stakeholders and help acquire,develop and retain the right customers. • Patents, which give the company dominance in the industry and protect it from brutal competition. • Loyal customers who repeatedly buy a variety of products that the company offers. For service businesses like consulting, these assets represent almost the entire asset base of the company. The rapid downward spiral of both Arthur Andersen LLP and Enron graphically attest to the importance of these softer assets.Yet none of these assets are reflected in companies' balance sheets and few companies report them in even a cursory fashion. Assets are a company's core inputs to present and future value creation. In assessing a firm's financial value (market capitalization), investors intuitively struggle with these measures and attempt to impute the total value as a multiplier of a firm's book value. Companies that are estimated to score high on these soft assets typically have market capitalizations significantly higher than book value. A company's income statement — namely free cash flow — provides a second measure that is tracked in estimating value. Financial textbooks recommend estimating a firm's value as the net present value (NPV) of its projected free cash flow. Although theoretically NPV is a sound measure, in practice it is notoriously difficult to estimate , particularly in a rapidly changing environment when viewed at the macro firm level. An approach based on NPV that can shed significant light on the firm's value-creation capabilities is customer lifetime value (LTV) — …
Poster: Community-Based Security and Privacy Protection During Web Browsing

When surfing the web today people want to be secure and their data to remain private. Internet users however do not see the protection of their privacy or security as the primary goal of their activity. They do not care for their online security and privacy actively [3]. Frequently appearing unnecessary warning messages constantly lower the users’ trust in those warnings. In this work, we present first ideas of a community based approach known from rating systems in online shopping to provide others with security and privacy relevant information on arbitrary websites. Such a system could then be used to warn users about critical websites and reestablish the users’ trust in warning messages. Using web browsers often leads to errors and warnings that do not denote any immediate danger to the user (e.g. blocking downloads). This leads to users constantly ignoring other warnings that would be really valuable to them [1]. On the other hand, there are cases (especially for phishing attacks) where the user is not alerted at all. Since the browsers security warnings are not absolutely correct, users quickly get habituated to them. We recommend a new approach by using community opinions as in rating systems to make people more comfortable about the source of the warnings. We do this by creating a browser plugin that will be capable of collecting and displaying security and privacy ratings for different web sites. Cranor et al. [2] presented in 2006 thoughts on ”User Interfaces for Privacy Agents” and came up with a particular user interface that was able to visualize the P3P privacy preferences of a website. They called it ”Privacy Bird”. A little bird icon at the top of the browser tells the user how well his privacy preferences match the ones provided by the website owner using P3P. A problem with visualizing P3P is that the information which is matched to the users preferences is provided by the website itself. Like that websites can simply fake their privacy appearance. Another idea to enhance user perception for security risks is security toolbars. Wu et al. [4] provided a good overview over existing toolbars in 2006. They categorized current approaches and compared them during a user study. They found people not noticing the warnings due to the fact that they have another primary goal besides their wish to be secure. Having users participate in classifying good and bad sites may raise the overall awareness for the problem space. Figure 1: Mockup images of the final plugin. Showing a) the browser screen b) the status-bar indication for a site c) the no-voters-yet-warning c) a critical privacy level and d) a critical security level.
Analysis and Synthesis of Music using Semiotic Intelligent System

This paper presents one of the possible ways of computer music perception and synthesis using intelligent systems. Music pieces express emotions which are defined by certain musical features. The author suggests using the semiotic intelligent system to analyze the emotions in music, tag music pieces according to their emotional content, and also create new music pieces that express certain defined emotions.
ACCRETION SHOCKS IN CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES AND THEIR SZ SIGNATURE FROM COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS

Cold dark matter (CDM) hierarchical structure formation models predict the existence of large-scale accretion shocks between the virial and turnaround radii of clusters of galaxies. Kocsis et al. suggest that the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal associated with such shocks might be observable with the next generation radio interferometer, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array). We study the three-dimensional distribution of accretion shocks around individual clusters of galaxies drawn from adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of ΛCDM (dark energy dominated CDM) models. In relaxed clusters, we find two distinct sets of shocks. One set (“virial shocks”), with Mach numbers of 2.5–4, is located at radii 0.9–1.3 Rvir, where Rvir is the spherical infall estimate of the virial radius, covering about 40%–50% of the total surface area around clusters at these radii. Another set of stronger shocks (“external shocks”) is located farther out, at about 3 Rvir, with large Mach numbers (≈100), covering about 40%–60% of the surface area. We simulate SZ surface brightness maps of relaxed massive galaxy clusters drawn from high-resolution AMR runs, and conclude that ALMA should be capable of detecting the virial shocks in massive clusters of galaxies. More simulations are needed to improve estimates of astrophysical noise and to determine optimal observational strategies.
Merger of massive black holes using N-body simulations with post-Newtonian corrections

We present preliminary results from self-consistent, high resolution direct N –body simulations of massive black hole binaries in mergers of galactic nuclei. The dynamics of the black hole binary includes the full Post-Newtonian corrections (up to 2.5PN) to its equations of motion. We show that massive black holes starting at separations of 100 pc can evolve down to gravitational-wave-induced coalescence in less than a Hubble time. The binaries, in our models, often form with very high eccentricity and, as a result, reach separations of 50 Schwarzschild radius with eccentricities which are clearly distinct from zero — even though gravitational wave emission damps the eccentricity during the inspiral. These deviations from exact circular orbits, at such small separations, may have important consequences for LISA data analysis.
Neuronal oscillations and the rate-to-phase transform: mechanism, model and mutual information

Theoretical and experimental studies suggest that oscillatory modes of processing play an important role in neuronal computations. One well supported idea is that the net excitatory input during oscillations will be reported in the phase of firing, a ‘rate‐to‐phase transform’, and that this transform might enable a temporal code. Here, we investigate the efficiency of this code at the level of fundamental single cell computations. We first develop a general framework for the understanding of the rate‐to‐phase transform as implemented by single neurons. Using whole cell patch‐clamp recordings of rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons in vitro, we investigated the relationship between tonic excitation and phase of firing during simulated theta frequency (5 Hz) and gamma frequency (40 Hz) oscillations, over a range of physiological firing rates. During theta frequency oscillations, the phase of the first spike per cycle was a near‐linear function of tonic excitation, advancing through a full 180 deg, from the peak to the trough of the oscillation cycle as excitation increased. In contrast, this relationship was not apparent for gamma oscillations, during which the phase of firing was virtually independent of the level of tonic excitatory input within the range of physiological firing rates. We show that a simple analytical model can substantially capture this behaviour, enabling generalization to other oscillatory states and cell types. The capacity of such a transform to encode information is limited by the temporal precision of neuronal activity. Using the data from our whole cell recordings, we calculated the information about the input available in the rate or phase of firing, and found the phase code to be significantly more efficient. Thus, temporal modes of processing can enable neuronal coding to be inherently more efficient, thereby allowing a reduction in processing time or in the number of neurons required.
Causation and future reference

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Causation and future reference Bridget Copley
Do age and education predict performance of older adults on the d2 Test?

The objective of this study was to investigate the association of age and education in the performance of cognitively preserved older adults in the d2 Sustained-Attention Test, and to compare the results of different age groups and levels of schooling in this instrument. The sample was composed of 211 adults, 60 years of age or older, who were not institutionalized, and who completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini Mental State Examination, the Geriatric Depression Scale (short form), and the d2 Test. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, partial correlations, multiple linear regression and one-way ANOVA. The results of partial correlations and multiple linear regression showed that age and years of schooling demonstrated significant associations with all d2 Test scores, with age being the predictive variable that showed the greatest influence on the performance of the older adults. Comparison of performance in the d2 Test among the six groups according to the distribution by age group (60-69 years and 70 years or more) and by levels of schooling (primary, secondary and higher) showed that younger adults with a higher level of schooling scored better on the d2 Test, suggesting the need for normative data studies for this population. ***Idade e escolaridade são preditoras de desempenho de adultos idosos no Teste d2? ***O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a associação da idade e da escolaridade com o desempenho de idosos cognitivamente preservados no Teste d2 de Atenção Concentrada, além de comparar os resultados de diferentes grupos etários e de níveis de escolaridade nesse instrumento. Participaram 211 adultos com idade igual ou superior a 60 anos, não institucionalizados, que responderam a uma ficha de dados sociodemográficos, ao Mini Exame do Estado Mental, à Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (versão reduzida), e ao Teste d2. A análise dos dados foi conduzida por meio de estatística descritiva, correlações parciais, regressão linear múltipla e ANOVA de uma via (one-way ANOVA). Os resultados das correlações parciais e da regressão linear múltipla revelaram que a idade e os anos de escolaridade demonstraram associações significativas com todos os escores do Teste d2, sendo a idade a variável preditora que demonstrou maior influência no desempenho dos idosos. A comparação de desempenho no teste d2 entre os seis grupos conforme distribuição por faixa etária (60-69 anos e 70 anos ou mais) e por níveis de escolaridade (fundamental, médio e superior) demonstrou que os idosos mais jovens e com maior nível de escolaridade apresentam melhores pontuações no Teste d2, sugerindo a necessidade de estudos de dados normativos para essa população.
SYCP2 and SYCP3 are required for cohesin core integrity at diplotene but not for centromere cohesion at the first meiotic division

Much of the organization of the meiotic prophase-I chromosome axis is attributed to two groups of proteins: the axial element proteins, SYCP2 and SYCP3; and the cohesin-complex proteins. Although the cohesin-complex proteins ensure that sister chromatids remain paired during meiosis, the role of SYCP2 and SYCP3 is not clear. Interestingly, it has been shown that SYCP3 and SYCP2 associate with the centromere regions of male, but not female, metaphase-I chromosomes, suggesting a sex-specific function for the two proteins. We have analysed the spatial distribution of cohesin-complex proteins associated with meiotic chromosomes in germ cells derived from Sycp3-deficient female and male mice. We show that, in the absence of SYCP3, the cohesin cores associated with the female meiotic chromosomes disassemble prematurely at the diplotene stage of meiosis. We also show that SYCP3 and SYCP2 are not required for centromere cohesion at the metaphase-I stage in male germ cells. We conclude that SYCP3 has a temporally restricted role in maintaining, but not establishing, cohesin-core organization during prophase I. This finding supports a model in which the removal of bulk cohesin from paired sister chromatids at late prophase in both meiotic and mitotic cells ensures proper chromosome compaction and segregation.
Bark Classification Using RBPNN in Different Color Space

Abstract — This paper presents an algorithm for feature extraction from a bark image set based on parameter of generalized Gaussian density (GGD) model and color angles in different color space. The extracted features such as the scale parameter and the shape parameter of GGD for image will be employed for classification. The radial basis probabilistic neural networks (RBPNN) and supporting vector machine (SVM) were used as the classifiers for bark image classification. The experimental results about the data set with 300 bark images show that the proposed feature extraction algorithm is a promising technique.
Beliefs about desires: Children's understanding of how knowledge and preference influence choice

Knowledgeable agents always choose what they like best, thus revealing their preferences. But naive agents only choose what they believe they like best, and may end up disliking their choice. As such, sensitivity to an agent’s prior experience is critical for interpreting their behavior. Here we show that fourand five-year-olds expect knowledgeable agents, as compared to naive agents, to have stable choices that lead to higher rewards (Experiments 1 and 2). Additionally, we show that fourand five-year-olds can infer which of two agents is naive given information about the rewards they obtained and the stability of their choices (Experiments 3 and 4). These results show that young children understand that beliefs and desires are interconnected and that, in addition to having uncertainty about the world, agents can also be uncertain about their own desires.
Embodying Mallorquinness through Performativity and Narration of Mallorquin Dance

The Mallorcan dancers' sense of embodying Mallorquiness as stylistic qualities of their stage performances, produces in them a sense of representing a double identity: one for themselves in social contexts performing improvised dances as a contemporary image to each other, and another that is more ancient and projects the romantic nationalism associated with the dances' origins in stage presentations for tourists. It is the stage presentations that are a focus of this paper, where an ancient identity is created in the visual imagery of the Mallorcan dancers’ performances as a reconstruction of their past. This paper explores the relationship between the embodied agency of the dancers and the influences of tourism as part of the cultural production of historical representation of the island's cultural traditions. Embodiment is in this sense construed through the influences of tourism, which is concomitant with the Mallorcan dancers' performative identities and embodying Mallorquinness .
Opportunity makes opinion leaders: analyzing the role of first-hand information in opinion leadership in social media networks

ABSTRACT Theorizing information flows is at the heart of traditional communication theories such as the two-step flow of communication and the concept of opinion leadership. Social media have fundamentally altered how information reaches people. This study examines opinion leadership in social media networks and argues that opinion leaders may no longer need to rely on information provided by the media if they have access to first-hand information. To test this assumption empirically, we used data from the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). Attendees of the conference had direct information about what was happening, which they were able to share live with their followers via social media. We used geo-located tweets to identify Twitter users who attended the COP21 summit. We then located these users in a data set of tweets that were collected based on the main conference hashtag (#COP21) and represent the wider social media debate on the conference. Our results, which are based on network analysis measures and Twitter user data, show that COP21 participants were more central actors compared to the average user in the network, and that they were more likely to have brokering positions. They were also more involved in the debate and received more attention from other users. We used automated content analysis to divide COP21 participants into different actor types and performed the analysis by actor group. The results show only minor differences across the actors and support the robustness of our analysis.
RGMa and RGMb expression pattern during chicken development suggest unexpected roles for these repulsive guidance molecules in notochord formation, somitogenesis, and myogenesis

Background: Repulsive guidance molecules (RGM) are high‐affinity ligands for the Netrin receptor Neogenin, and they are crucial for nervous system development including neural tube closure; neuronal and neural crest cell differentiation and axon guidance. Recent studies implicated RGM molecules in bone morphogenetic protein signaling, which regulates a variety of developmental processes. Moreover, a role for RGMc in iron metabolism has been established. This suggests that RGM molecules may play important roles in non‐neural tissues. Results: To explore which tissues and processed may be regulated by RGM molecules, we systematically investigated the expression of RGMa and RGMb, the only RGM molecules currently known for avians, in the chicken embryo. Conclusions: Our study suggests so far unknown roles of RGM molecules in notochord, somite and skeletal muscle development. Developmental Dynamics, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Rb Suppresses Collective Invasion, Circulation and Metastasis of Breast Cancer Cells in CD44-Dependent Manner

Basal-like breast carcinomas (BLCs) present with extratumoral lymphovascular invasion, are highly metastatic, presumably through a hematogenous route, have augmented expression of CD44 oncoprotein and relatively low levels of retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor. However, the causal relation among these features is not clear. Here, we show that Rb acts as a key suppressor of multiple stages of metastatic progression. Firstly, Rb suppresses collective cell migration (CCM) and CD44-dependent formation of F-actin positive protrusions in vitro and cell-cluster based lymphovascular invasion in vivo. Secondly, Rb inhibits the release of single cancer cells and cell clusters into the hematogenous circulation and subsequent metastatic growth in lungs. Finally, CD44 expression is required for collective motility and all subsequent stages of metastatic progression initiated by loss of Rb function. Altogether, our results suggest that Rb/CD44 pathway is a crucial regulator of CCM and metastatic progression of BLCs and a promising target for anti-BLCs therapy.
A New Dual-Polarization Radar Rainfall Algorithm: Application in Colorado Precipitation Events

The efficacy of dual-polarization radar for quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) has been demonstrated in a number of previous studies. Specifically, rainfall retrievals using combinations of reflectivity (Zh), differential reflectivity (Zdr), and specific differential phase (Kdp) have advantages over traditional Z‐R methods because more information about the drop size distribution (DSD) and hydrometeor type are available. In addition, dual-polarization-based rain-rate estimators can better account for the presence of ice in the sampling volume. An important issue in dual-polarization rainfall estimation is determining which method to employ for a given set of polarimetric observables. For example, under what circumstances does differential phase information provide superior rain estimates relative to methods using reflectivity and differential reflectivity? AtColoradoStateUniversity(CSU),anoptimizationalgorithmhasbeendevelopedandusedforanumberof years to estimate rainfall based on thresholds of Zh, Zdr, and Kdp. Although the algorithm has demonstrated robust performance in both tropical and midlatitude environments, results have shown that the retrieval is sensitive to the selection of the fixed thresholds. In this study, a new rainfall algorithm is developed using hydrometeor identification (HID) to guide the choice of the particular rainfall estimation algorithm. A separate HID algorithm has been developed primarily to guide the rainfall application with the hydrometeor classes, namely, all rain, mixed precipitation, and all ice. Both the data collected from the S-band Colorado State University‐University of Chicago‐Illinois State Water Survey (CSU‐CHILL) radar and a network of rain gauges are used to evaluate the performance of the new algorithm in mixed rain and hail in Colorado. The evaluation is also performed using an algorithm similar to the one developed for the Joint Polarization Experiment (JPOLE). Results show that the new CSU HID-based algorithm provides good performance for the Colorado case studies presented here.