Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactive Design of Multidimensional Data Projection Layout

Projection methods support effective visualizations of multidimensional data. Linear projections are an important subclass, as they allow for interactive visual exploration of the data space and feature sensitivity analysis. The user interaction is usually based on an iterative modification of the projection matrix elements, for example, by the use of a star coordinate widget. However, such interaction mechanisms become inefficient with increasing number of dimensions. We propose to adapt the projection matrix by allowing the user to directly operate on the projection domain. The desired configuration of the projection layout is obtained by adjusting the positions of (freely chosen) control points. The update of the projection matrix is performed according to the interactive modifications by computing a least-square solution of a linear equation system. Changes can be tracked easily using animation. We apply our method to classified multidimensional data and demonstrate that our approach allows for an intuitive and effective design of projections with desired properties like improved class segregation or reduced clutter.
Evidence for global regulatory control of pilus expression in Escherichia coli by Lrp and DNA methylation: model building based on analysis of pap

Pyelonephritis‐associated pilus (Pap) expression is regulated by a phase variation control mechanism involving PapB, Papl, catabolite activator protein (CAP), leucine‐responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) and deoxyadenosine methylase (Dam). Lrp and Papl bind to a specific non‐methylated pap regulatory DNA region containing the sequence ‘GATC’ and facilitate the formation of an active transcriptional complex. Evidence indicates that binding of Lrp and Papl to this region inhibits methylation of the GATC site by Dam. However, if this GATC site is first methylated by Dam, binding of Lrp and Papl is inhibited. These events lead to the formation of two different pap methylation states characteristic of active (ON) and inactive (OFF) pap transcription states. The fae (K88), daa (F1845) and sfa (S) pilus operons share conserved ‘GATC‐box’ domains with pap and may be subject to a similar regulatory control mechanism involving Lrp and DNA methylation.
The choice of performance measures in annual bonus contracts

This paper examines the factors influencing the relative weights placed on financial and non-financial performance measures in CEO bonus contracts. We find that the use of non-financial measures increases with the level of regulation, the extent to which the firm follows an innovation-oriented strategy, the adoption of strategic quality initiatives, and the noise in financial measures. We find no evidence that the choice of performance measures in bonus contracts is associated with the level of financial distress or the value of CEO equity holdings relative to salary and bonus. Our results also provide no support for the hypothesis that CEOs with greater influence over the board of directors are more likely to be compensated based on non-financial measures.
A Single-Phase Integrated Onboard Battery Charger Using Propulsion System for Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are equipped with onboard level-1 or level-2 chargers for home overnight or office daytime charging. In addition, off-board chargers can provide fast charging for traveling long distances. However, off-board high-power chargers are bulky, expensive, and require comprehensive evolution of charging infrastructures. An integrated onboard charger capable of fast charging of PEVs will combine the benefits of both the conventional onboard and off-board chargers, without additional weight, volume, and cost. In this paper, an innovative single-phase integrated charger, using the PEV propulsion machine and its traction converter, is introduced. The charger topology is capable of power factor correction and battery voltage/current regulation without any bulky add-on components. Ac machine windings are utilized as mutually coupled inductors, to construct a two-channel interleaved boost converter. The circuit analyses of the proposed technology, based on a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM), are discussed in details. Experimental results of a 3-kW proof-of-concept prototype are carried out using a ${\textrm{220-V}}_{{\rm{rms}}}$, 3-phase, 8-pole PMSM. A nearly unity power factor and 3.96% total harmonic distortion of input ac current are acquired with a maximum efficiency of 93.1%.
Showing Important Facts to a Critical Audience by Means Beyond Desktop Computing

Recent research in Visualization has focused mostly on data analysis systems for domain experts, but also considered presentation to external people in the form of storytelling. The established directions assume that the target audience has in inherent interest in the facts to be discovered, sometimes even to the point of them being willing to learn how to operate a complex visualization system and spend considerable time and effort. In reality, sometimes the opposite is true: people unwilling to face an inconvenient truth actively avert their eyes. As a solution, we propose the presentation of facts by experts who manage to gain a limited amount of attention by means of rapid and expressive visualization. Using conventional desktop systems, this method is hard to implement, but new visual channels will open up new possibilities.
Working Papers Working Papers Working Papers Working Papers Measuring the Efficiency When Market Prices Are Subject to Adverse Selection Measuring Efficiency When Market Prices Are Subject to Adverse Selection

The views presented here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia or the Federal Reserve System. ABSTRACT In perfectly competitive markets, prices aggregate inputs and outputs into a money metric that allows production plans to be ranked by their profitability. When informational asymmetries in competitive markets lead to adverse selection, prices in these markets assume an additional role that conveys information about product quality. In the case of banking production, quality is linked to risk because prices are linked to credit quality. The problem of efficiency measurement is complicated by the additional role because quality varies with price and price is a decision variable of firms operating in these markets. The effect of these endogenous components of prices on financial performance is illustrated with a production-based model and a market-value model that generate " best-practice " frontiers. Unlike the standard profit function's frontier, these frontiers are not conditioned on prices so that they compare the financial performance of firms with different quality-linked prices. Hence, they identify the most efficient pricing strategies as well as the most efficient production plans. These two alternative models for measuring efficiency are employed to study the efficiency of highest level bank holding companies in the United States in 1994. The contractural interest rates these banks obtain on their loans and other assets are shown to influence their expected profit, profit risk, market value, and efficiency. 1 Berger and Humphrey (1997) and Berger and Mester (1997) provide extensive reviews of this literature in the field of banking. (p@ y-w@ x) with respect to all technically feasible production plans, {y,x} 0 T(y,x)#0 .
Food security among students at University of Wollongong

Background: Food insecurity occurs whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain. There has been limited research into food security among university students, although one previous study in Queensland reported the prevalence of food insecurity with hunger up to 25% and 46.5% food insecure without hunger using a multi item question, and 12.7% using a single item question to assess food insecurity. This study aimed to investigate the level of food security among university students attending the University of Wollongong (UOW). It investigated the extent of food insecurity among domestic and international students and the factors influencing access to and preparation of foods suitable to meet cultural and religious needs of university students. Design: An online questionnaire was distributed to all the university’s students via UOW student clubs and associations. Food security was measured using both a single item question taken from the Australian National Nutrition Survey (NNS) and multi item questions, based on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit. Students were also asked about purchasing behaviours and cultural requirements of food. The data were assessed using descriptive data analysis, and multiple logistic regression assessed a range of factors associated with reported food insecurity. Results: A total of 337 students from ten faculties completed the questionnaire; mean age 30 years (range 18 to 68 years). The prevalence of food insecurity among UOW students using the single item measure was 19.6% (n=62). Food insecurity using the
Reproducibility of Isometric Strength in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract Physical activity is suggested to be beneficial for most children with cerebral palsy, whereas studies based on scientific results from reproducibility remain poorly known in such children. This study then asses the reproducibility of skeletal muscle function in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy, with a control able-bodied children. 16 children with cerebral palsy (Gross Motor Function Classification System Levels I and II), 10 males and six females, between 10 and 16 years of age) undertook two trial of assessment of skeletal muscle function with one week inter-test interval. 14 ablebodies aged-and sex-matched (10 boys and four girls) served as controls, undertaking only one test at the first trial. Quadriceps maximal voluntary isometric force (MVIF) and isometric endurance time (IET; contraction time to exhaustion at 50% of MVIF) were measured twice one week follow another week. Muscle strength (test1: 115±18.5 vs. Test2: 115±20.9 Nm-1, p=0.458), (and control: 171.1±23.8m-1, p<0.01, respectively) endurance (test1: 94.80±20.48 vs. Test2: 94.80±20.47 sec., p=0.479), (and control: 106±35.63, p=0.85 and p=0.81 respectively), were reproducible during isometric contraction in children with hemiplegic CP. In conclusion, quadriceps maximal voluntary isometric force (MVIF) and isometric endurance time can help physician to measure strength in rehability service in children with hemiplegic CP.
Subprime: Tentacles of a Crisis

How could a 3 percentage point increase in seriously delinquent subprime mortgages, which amounted to an additional $34 billion in troubled loans, so disrupt the $57 trillion U.S. financial system last summer that worldwide financial turmoil ensued? Lax, if not fraudulent, underwriting practices in subprime mortgage lending largely explain the rise in the rate of seriously delinquent loans from 6 percent to 9 percent between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2007. But the impact on financial markets and economies far exceeded any expected losses from mortgage foreclosures.
Social exchange for knowledge exchange.

The factors that motivate people to codify and share knowledge for the benefit of others have been identified as a priority area for individual companies (Smith & Farquhar, 2000, p. 27). They represent the most commonly discussed topic amongst practitioners and academics at conferences on knowledge management (KM) (Prusak, 1999, p. 6) and highlight an important area for knowledge research (Holsthouse, 1998, p. 277). To some the encouragement of employees to contribute knowledge is more important than the issues related its capture, storage and dissemination (see for example Boisot & Griffiths, 1999). While academics may theorise over the relative importance of motivating knowledge sharing, organisations need to find ways to encourage individuals, who have complete discretion over how they handle their knowledge assets, to use them for the benefit of the firm by sharing what they know openly and freely. They want to discourage knowledge hoarding – both wholesale and partial - and knowledge loss caused by employee departure. The sharing of information and knowledge is important to efforts in social learning. It is argued that with straightforward access to common resources employees can execute routine tasks quickly; they can aggregate previously disconnected pieces of information to facilitate innovation in working practices, product design or service delivery; and they can be liberated from the fear of losing important intellectual assets if valued colleagues leave the firm
Electric field calculation and grading ring optimization for 1000 kV AC post porcelain insulator

Grading ring design is an important step in the post porcelain insulator design process, appropriate grading ring configuration can improve the electric field distribution of post insulators and extend the service life. In this paper, a static 3-D model of 1000 kV AC post porcelain insulator was established by using a finite element method (FEM) analysis software ANSYS. The calculation results of electric field distribution along the insulator were presented. The effect of grading ring structure to the electric field distribution of the post porcelain insulator was analyzed and a use of double ring configuration at the conductor side of the insulator is beneficial. Therefore, Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA) was applied to optimize the dimensions and location of grading rings, then the maximum electric field magnitudes on the surfaces of grading rings, flange and insulator sheds were compared and appropriate parameters of grading rings were recommended finally. The achievements of this paper have been successfully applied on the 1000 kV ultra-high voltage (UHV) pilot project in China and it was proved very effective by field observations with an ultraviolet camera.
Inhibition of the Class II HMG–CoA reductase of Pseudomonas mevalonii

There are two structural classes of HMG–CoA reductase, the third enzyme of the mevalonate pathway of isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis—the Class I enzymes of eukaryotes and the Class II enzymes of certain eubacteria. Structural requirements for ligand binding to the Class II HMG–CoA reductase of Pseudomonas mevalonii were investigated. For conversion of mevalonate to HMG–CoA the −CH3, −OH, and −CH2COO− groups on carbon 3 of mevalonate were essential for ligand recognition. The statin drug Lovastatin inhibited both the conversion of HMG–CoA to mevalonate and the reverse of this reaction. Inhibition was competitive with respect to HMG–CoA or mevalonate and noncompetitive with respect to NADH or NAD+. Ki values were millimolar. The over 104‐fold difference in statin Ki values that distinguishes the two classes of HMG–CoA reductase may result from differences in the specific contacts between the statin and residues present in the Class I enzymes but lacking in a Class II HMG–CoA reductase.
A dedicated superbend x-ray microdiffraction beamline for materials, geo-, and environmental sciences at the advanced light source.

A new facility for microdiffraction strain measurements and microfluorescence mapping has been built on beamline 12.3. 2 at the advanced light source of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This beamline benefits from the hard x-radiation generated by a 6 T superconducting bending magnet (superbend). This provides a hard x-ray spectrum from 5 to 22 keV and a flux within a 1 microm spot of approximately 5x10(9) photons/s (0.1% bandwidth at 8 keV). The radiation is relayed from the superbend source to a focus in the experimental hutch by a toroidal mirror. The focus spot is tailored by two pairs of adjustable slits, which serve as secondary source point. Inside the lead hutch, a pair of Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirrors placed in a vacuum tank refocuses the secondary slit source onto the sample position. A new KB-bending mechanism with active temperature stabilization allows for more reproducible and stable mirror bending and thus mirror focusing. Focus spots around 1 microm are routinely achieved and allow a variety of experiments, which have in common the need of spatial resolution. The effective spatial resolution (approximately 0.2 microm) is limited by a convolution of beam size, scan-stage resolution, and stage stability. A four-bounce monochromator consisting of two channel-cut Si(111) crystals placed between the secondary source and KB-mirrors allows for easy changes between white-beam and monochromatic experiments while maintaining a fixed beam position. High resolution stage scans are performed while recording a fluorescence emission signal or an x-ray diffraction signal coming from either a monochromatic or a white focused beam. The former allows for elemental mapping, whereas the latter is used to produce two-dimensional maps of crystal-phases, -orientation, -texture, and -strain/stress. Typically achieved strain resolution is in the order of 5x10(-5) strain units. Accurate sample positioning in the x-ray focus spot is achieved with a commercial laser-triangulation unit. A Si-drift detector serves as a high-energy-resolution (approximately 150 eV full width at half maximum) fluorescence detector. Fluorescence scans can be collected in continuous scan mode with up to 300 pixels/s scan speed. A charge coupled device area detector is utilized as diffraction detector. Diffraction can be performed in reflecting or transmitting geometry. Diffraction data are processed using XMAS, an in-house written software package for Laue and monochromatic microdiffraction analysis.
Prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis and Chlamydia trachomatis Among Danish Patients Requesting Abortion

The aim of the study was to determine lower genital tract carriage rate of Mycoplasma genitalium (M. genitalium) and to compare it to the carriage rates of Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis ) and Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) among 102 women requesting termination of pregnancy at the Horsens Hospital in Denmark. Real-Time PCR was used for the detection of bacterial DNA, and the presence of antibodies to the three microorganisms was determined by ELISA and immunoblotting. Real-Time PCR detected M. genitalium in one swab sample (0.98%) only, while the prevalence of C. trachomatis was high (15.69%) and M. hominis colonization (18.63%) was similar to colonization observed among sexually experienced adults. There was a significant difference in prevalence of M. hominis infection in the different age groups. C. trachomatis load in the cervical samples was significantly higher among young patients. There was no correlation between the presence of genital infection with C. trachomatis and genital mycoplasmas and no correlation between the presence of antibodies to these bacteria. In conclusion, in Danish patients it is not necessary to test for M. genitalium before abortion since less than 1% were found positive. The prevalence of genital C. trachomatis infections was high among the abortion-seeking patients.
Spoken language variety recognition in Dutch

We used the Duch Spoken Corpus CGN Corpus Gesproken Nederlands to train a spoken language variety recognition system, that is capable of discriminating between Dutch spoken in The Netherlands and Belgium. We use a Support Vector Machine classifier to recognise utterances, with a linear kernel in a high-dimensional (50176) supervector space. The supervectors are scaled shifts of the concatenated means of a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). The shifted means for an utterance are found by Maximum A Posteriori adaptation of a so-called Universal Background Model, a 1024-component GMM that is trained with all available training speech in both language varieties. The acoustic features used are Shifted Delta Cepstra, based on Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients obtained from short duration frames of the speech signal. The discrimination performance varies with test segment duration, from an Equal Error Rate of 16.1 % for 3 second segments to 3.4 % for 30 s segments.
Proposal Responsive Parallel Computation

Multicore processors are becoming increasingly prevalent, blurring the lines between traditional parallel programs, which use cooperative threading to reduce execution time, and interactive programs which use competitive threading to increase responsiveness. To assist programmers in developing this new class of responsive parallel programs which use threads for both of these purposes, I propose a model that combines the cooperative and competitive paradigms. The proposed model spans many levels of abstraction. The first component is a cost model that extends existing models of cooperative threading in order to allow programmers to reason about the parallel running time and the responsiveness of responsive parallel applications. The second is a language that neatly combines abstractions for both forms of threading, and enables reasoning about efficiency and responsiveness at the level of the source code. Finally, I propose to implement the language as part of a compiler for Standard ML, and evaluate it on a benchmark suite including a number of realistic responsive parallel applications.
Innate lymphoid cells involve in tumorigenesis

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) promptly initiate cytokine responses to pathogen exposure in the mucosa and mucosal‐associated lymphoid tissues. ILCs were recently categorized as being of the lymphoid lineage and have been classified into three groups. ILCs play important roles in immunity against pathogens, and an anti‐tumor immune‐related function was recently demonstrated. In this review we discuss whether and how ILCs involve in the tumorigenesis, providing new insights into the mechanisms underlying the particular functions of ILCs as well as the potential targets for tumor intervention.
Otitis Media and Speech-in-Noise Recognition in School-Aged Children

The present study examined the long-term consequences of otitis media (OM) on speech perception abilities in noise. 55 children with a prospective 3-monthly documented middle-ear status and hearing loss between birth and 24 months completed a ‘speech-in-noise’ (SPiN) test at the age of 7 years. Both hearing loss and the cumulation of uni- and bilateral OM incidents in early life were significantly correlated to the performance on the SPiN test at school age. Other background factors such as socio-economic status, language perception and cognitive development did not predict the performance on the SPiN test. Only the language production score at age 7 was also significantly related to the score on the SPiN test. The present study deals with the risk of OM in early life and its accompanied hearing loss on auditory processing, specifically speech perception in noise, up to school age.
Improvement of growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae on HEp-2 cells by pretreatment with polyethylene glycol in combination with additional centrifugation and extension of culture time

The following adaptations led to improved growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae on HEp-2 cells compared to that by the standard method: monolayer preincubation with 7% polyethylene glycol (PEG), extension of incubation time to 7 days, and extension of incubation to 7 days in combination with centrifugation on days 3, 4, and 5. These adaptations resulted in approximate increases in numbers of inclusion-forming units (IFU) of 2-, 5-, and 69-fold, respectively. A combination of preincubation with PEG, prolonged incubation, and centrifugation on days 3, 4, and 5 increased the numbers of IFU >300-fold. This is therefore recommended as the optimal method for culturing C. pneumoniae.