Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting Financial Failure Using Decision Tree Algorithms: An Empirical Test on the Manufacturing Industry at Borsa Istanbul

This study aims to develop a model using C5.0 and CHAID decision tree algorithms to estimate the financial failure and/or success of a given manufacturing company. Within the scope of this study, 35 financial ratios are used as independent variables calculated on the grounds of both company’s annual financial statements and notes from 2007 to 2013. The dependent variable is the successful or unsuccessful status in terms of financial capability of 206 manufacturing firms listed on the Borsa Istanbul. Qualitative criteria are used to categorize the companies as successful or unsuccessful. The rates of accurate classification for both models are found to be at acceptable levels. Although the CHAID algorithm’s general rate of accuracy and its rate for successful companies are greater than the rates obtained from the C5.0 algorithm for the same observations, the CHAID algorithm yielded much lower results than the C5.0 algorithm in predicting unsuccessful companies.
Relative Competitiveness of Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi) with Tall Fescues and Kentucky Bluegrass

Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi) is a warm-season perennial grass (weed) native to the United States and Canada with low palatability. This species is dominant in many horse pastures in which bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is the primary forage. Tall fescues infected with endophyte fungae gives tall fescue plants greater competitividade ability and enviromental stress tolerance than their noninfected counterparts. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative competitiveness of nimblewill with bluegrass and tall fescues (Lolium arundinaceum) with or without endophytic fungi (strain AR584) through experiments using a replacement series design. Replacement series experiments were conducted in pots to evaluate the growth of species in a pure stand and in a mix stand with variables rates. Species competitiveness was evaluated based on the relative yield and relative yield total (and competitiveness index) of the dry weight of shoots from species grown together. Nimblewill was found to be more competitive than bluegrass, and all tall fescues were more competitive than nimblewill. Our results demonstrated that the presence of endophytes in three different tall fescues did not alter the competitiveness of these fescues with nimblewill, but the tall fescue Kentucky 31 was more competitive between tall fescues. Based on our finding, we concluded that fescues are recommended, especially without the endophytic fungi to suppress nimblewill in implantation of pastures to horses.
Determination of human pathogen profiles in food by quality assured microbial assays

Shrimp continues to be an important export commodity for Indonesia and contributed significantly to the country's revenue. However, shrimp exports have been frequently rejected by importing countries due to filth, Salmonella and insanitary conditions. This study was conducted to evaluate the profiles of bacterial contamination of ocean and aquaculture shrimp obtained from the area of West, Central and East Java; frozen shrimp and shrimp during industry production of frozen shrimp. The study indicated that both ocean and aquaculture shrimp obtained from the study area were heavily contaminated. On the average, shrimp obtained from West Java were more contaminated than those obtained from East and Central Java. The total bacterial counts were generally higher in ocean shrimp than those of aquaculture ones. Salmonella was present in two of 32 samples of ocean shrimp and in four of 32 samples of aquaculture shrimp obtained from the study area. Vibrio cholerae was not detected in shrimp from West Java, but was found in three out of 16 samples obtained from East and Central Java. V. parahaemolyticus was frequently identified in aquaculture shrimp but absent in fresh ocean shrimp. Studies on shrimp collected from six sampling points during frozen shrimp production revealed that processing will reduce the number of total bacterial, E. coli, and Staphylococal counts. However, the processing did not effectively reduce the incidence of Salmonella or V. parahaemolyticus when the raw material has been contaminated with the pathogens. Sizing and grading as well as arrangement of shrimp before freezing were considered as the critical points where bacteria should be controlled to inhibit growth and cross contamination with bacteria such as Listeria. Implementation of Good Agricultural Practices in production of raw shrimp as well as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point at the line processing are expected to improve the quality of fresh and frozen shrimp.
Cultural-Products Industries and Urban Economic Development

The article begins with a brief definition of the cultural economy. A first generation of local economic development policy approaches based on place marketing and associated initiatives is described. The possibilities of a more powerful second-generation approach are then sketched out with special emphasis on localized complexes of cultural-products industries. An extensive review and classification of these complexes is laid out, and their inward and outward relations to global markets are considered. On this basis, a critical discussion of local economic policy options focused on cultural-products industries is offered. Contrasting examples of development initiatives in major global cities, in selected old manufacturing towns, and in the Multimedia Super Corridor of Malaysia are briefly presented. It is suggested that the growth and spread of localized production agglomerations based on cultural-products industries are leading not to cultural uniformity but to greatly increased diversity at the global level.
What Have We Learned from the Land Sparing-sharing Model?

The land sparing-sharing model provides a powerful heuristic and analytical framework for understanding the potential of agricultural landscapes to support wild species. However, its conceptual and analytical strengths and limitations remain widely contested or misunderstood. Here, I review what inferences can and cannot be derived from the framework, and discuss eight specific points of contention and confusion. The land sparing-sharing framework is underpinned by an ethic that seeks to minimise harm to non-human species. It is used to quantify how good farmland is for different species, in relation to appropriate reference land uses, and at what opportunity cost. The results of empirical studies that have used the model indicate that most species will have larger populations if food is produced on as small an area as possible, while sparing as large an area of native vegetation as possible. The potential benefits of land sharing or intermediate strategies for wild species are more limited. I review disagreements about the scope of analysis (food production cf. food security), the value of high-yield farmland for wildlife, the (ir)relevance of the Borlaug hypothesis, scale and heterogeneity, fostering human connections to nature, the prospects for land sparing in heavily-modified landscapes, the role of land sparing in improving connectivity, and the political implications of the model. Interpreted alongside insights from social, political and economic studies, the model can help us to understand how decisions about land-use will affect the persistence of wild species populations into the future.
The Novel Approach for Design of Initial Parameters of Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna with a Cardioid Pattern

The modified representation of the magneto-electric dipole antenna is presented and analyzed by the method of space transformation. The one electric and one magnetic dipole can be properly combined to yield a cardioid-shaped pattern for linearly polarized electromagnetic waves. The shape and the half-power beam-width of the pattern are examined. This modified representation offers important advantages in prediction of the initial geometrical parameters to be used in full-wave electromagnetic optimization by proper solver such as “WIPL-D” “CST Studio Suite” “Ansoft HFSS” and so on.
CHAPTER V CARRUTHERS ’ DEFENCE OF THEORY OF MIND IN THE LIGHT OF CARTESIAN EPISTEMOLOGY

Simulationism discards functionalist version of theory of mind, and maintains that our mindreading ability depends upon process of simulation rather than on the deployment of theoretical knowledge . The implication here is that we can pretend or imagine ourselves to be positioned and motivated in just the way that other people are and then go on to reason for ourselves within that perspective to see how we might then think, feel and react. 2 In other words, simulationism is the view that, we put ourselves in other people’s shoes.It is unnecessary to store general information about what makes people to bahave in particular way, if the resources that brain uses to guide our own behaviour can be modified to work as representations of other people. Even though, the contemporary dispute regarding folk psychology is the debate between the proponents of the theorytheory of folk psychology and simulation theory; the basic theoretical choice is not restricted with between theorytheory and simulation and a hybrid view. We shall explain all these issues and Caruthers’ choice of a model of mindreading which he claims to be the viable one.
Interactive animation of the eye region

Humans are extremely sensitive to facial realism and spend a surprisingly amount of time focusing their attention on other people’s faces. Thus, believable human character animation requires realistic facial performance. Various techniques have been developed to capture highly detailed actor performance or to help drive facial animation. However, the eye region remains a largely unexplored field and automatic animation of this region is still an open problem. We tackle two different aspects of automatically generating facial features, aiming to recreate the small intricacies of the eye region in real-time. First, we present a system for real-time animation of eyes that can be interactively controlled using a small number of animation parameters, including gaze. These parameters can be obtained using traditional animation curves, measured from an actors performance using off-the-shelf eye tracking methods, or estimated from the scene observed by the character using behavioral models of human vision. We present a model of eye movement, that includes not only movement of the globes, but also of the eyelids and other soft tissues in the eye region. To our knowledge this is the first system for real-time animation of soft tissue movement around the eyes based on gaze input. Second, we present a method for real-time generation of distance fields for any mesh in screen space. This method does not depend on object complexity or shape, being only constrained by the intended field resolution. We procedurally generate lacrimal lakes on a human character using the generated distance field as input. We present different sampling algorithms for surface exploration and distance estimation, and compare their performance. To our knowledge this is the first method for real-time or screen space generation of distance fields.
Highly sensitive MYD88L265P mutation detection by droplet digital PCR in Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

(Article begins on next page) Anyone can freely access the full text of works made available as "Open Access". Works made available under a Creative Commons license can be used according to the terms and conditions of said license. Use of all other works requires consent of the right holder (author or publisher) if not exempted from copyright protection by the applicable law. Availability: This is the author's manuscript
Rischio e comunicazione. Teorie, modelli, problemi Andrea Cerase, Milan: Egea, 2017, 288pp. €25.50

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, zoonotic diseases, vaccines, climate change, nuclear energy and terrorism are very different phenomena, but all have in common the capability to threaten the ordinary life of communities. Although the nature of the threat and the instruments for mitigation it change, the range of problems that these different risks lead to can be comparable. In fact, all these risks generate social, political, economic and legal issues related to the mitigation of their (possible) impact on the relevant communities. The global reach of (some of) these phenomena also affects the effectiveness of the response. Risk studies aim to investigate these different dimensions of risk and offer a holistic approach to the different phases of risk mitigation; that is, risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. Cerase’s volume reconnects to this strand of research in risk studies and points out that the notion of risk is not a prerogative of scientists and experts disconnected from the rest of society. The author thus highlights how this holistic approach to risk shall entail a structural “paradigm shift” (p 27) in the mitigation policies and, particularly, in risk communication. The increasing complexity and interconnection of our societies made risk a crucial concept to understand natural, social, political, economic and legal realities. Because of this complexity, science has no longer been considered as the exclusive owner of the mitigation recipes, or the undisputed authority offering the right approach to risk regulation. As Alberto Alemanno pointed out in the preface to this volume, the “pluralistic approach to risk” does not abandon “the need to objectivise risk” and is still “intrinsic to any attempt to govern it” (p 15), but enriches the rational approach to risk. The enrichment of rational theory, based on the centrality of science, brought the relevance of social sciences in risk analysis and the expansion of the concept of risk, including less predictable events. Uncertainty is placed alongside the probability function and social sciences pool values in risk mitigation. Against this backdrop, Cerase situates the specific issue of risk communication, which is intended as a “strategic instrument of Risk Governance”, based on expertise, continuous professional development and situational awareness (p 33). The holistic approach of risk studies affects the approach to risk communication and substantially changes communication practices. Insofar as risk concerns uncertainty, its interpretation generates conflicts, and risk communication can no longer be considered as a “linear, hierarchical, unidirectional and deterministic” transfer of information (p 34).
Molecular evidence of bidirectional introgression between Quercus suber and Quercus ilex

Abstract: Cork oak and holm oak share a large part of their natural range, and are known to hybridize in mixed stands. This hybridization is supposed to have played a relevant role in the past history of cork oak. Previous research has reported that F1 hybrids are produced with holm oak acting as pollen recipient, therefore carrying holm oak chloroplast. Additionally, F1 hybrids have been assumed to be pollinated mostly by cork oak. Continued backcrossing of F1 hybrids with cork oak (supported by flowering phenology) could have created the organellar introgression patterns observed nowadays in Eastern Spain and Southern France cork oak populations. On the contrary, no organellar introgression has been detected in holm oak and multiple generation backcross individuals to holm oak have not been reported so far. In this work, we examined whether hybrids preferentially backcross with cork oak or with holm oak. To reach this goal, we genotyped by using eight microsatellite loci the progeny of four cork and four holm oak trees (33 and 44 half-siblings, respectively), and of four hybrids (468 half-siblings) collected over three years from a natural mixed population. We used the STRUCTURE software to estimate the proportion of the genotype of each seedling inherited from cork oak (qs) or from holm oak (qi). The ratio of the offspring q value over the mother q value helped determine the source of pollen that originated each acorn. Our results show for the first time that hybrid trees can be effectively pollinated by both parental species. Additionally, each hybrid tree was predominantly pollinated by the most abundant oak species in its vicinity. These results confirm the occurrence of bidirectional introgression, previously suggested for adult hybrid trees in the field, and point out the pattern of introgression in the seedlings could be most affected by the abundance of the parental species.
How do Size and Resource Availability Control Aboveground Biomass Allocation of Tree Seedlings

In a three (light availability levels)×two (soil moisture levels) factorial greenhouse experiment we quantified to what extent light availability and soil moisture on the one hand and seedling size on the other hand control the relationship between branch and stem biomass of European beech and Norway spruce seedlings. Aboveground biomass partitioning of both tree species were influenced by size and to a lesser extent by the environmental conditions. The branch biomass allocation pattern to reduced light and soil moisture differed strongly between the two species. European beech allocation was only driven by size and of Norway spruce by size and the environmental conditions. Overall, beech seedlings seem to have much higher crown plasticity as spruce. Our results indicate that in contrast to above-belowground biomass allocation pattern which depend very much on the environmental conditions, aboveground biomass partitioning seem to be mainly controlled by plant size.
Face Anti-Spoofing with Multi-Scale Information

Face anti-spoofing has encountered increasing demand as one of the key technologies for reliable and safe authentication with faces. Current face anti-spoofing methods generally take a single crop of face region as input for classification, i.e. exploiting information at only one scale. This single-scale scheme mainly focuses on facial characteristics but not utilize the surrounding information, causing poor generalization for different scenarios with varied means of attacks. Besides, it is tedious or highly empirical to determine an optimal scale of face crops. To overcome the limitations of single-scale methods, in this work we propose to integrate Multi-Scale information for better Face ANti-Spoofing (MS-FANS). Specifically, the proposed MS-FANS method takes multiple face crops at different scales as input followed by a convolutional neural network (CNN) for feature extraction. Then the features from different scales form as a sequence, which are fed into a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network for adaptive fusion of multi-scale information, constructing the final representation for classification. Benefited from this multi-scale design, MS-FANS can adaptively utilize context information from multiple scales, leading to promising performance on two challenging face anti-spoofing datasets, Idiap REPLAY-ATTACK and CASIA-FASD, with significant improvement compared with the existing methods.
Buffer-Aided Energy Harvesting Relay Systems under Statistical Energy Underflow Constraint

1This paper considers a two-hop communication system with buffer-aided energy harvesting relay node subject to statistical energy underflow constraint in terms of battery shortage probability. The half-duplex decode-and-forward relay is assumed to be equipped with an infinite size data buffer and a limited size energy harvesting battery. Perfect knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) of the system is assumed to be available at both the source and the relay. Optimal and ON/OFF power control policies with the associated optimal link selection policies under energy underflow constraints are proposed, which are irrespective of the instantaneous battery state. Closed-form characterizations in Rayleigh fading channels are derived. Numerical results are provided as well. It is shown that the proposed schemes can achieve superior performance than the naive power control, where the available energy is exhausted whenever relay transmits.
CUSTOMISATION OF OPENMRS FOR THE LEISHMANIASIS RESEARCH AND TREATMENT CENTRE IN ETHIOPIA

In this era of evidence based medical practice, low and middle income countries (LMICs) are significantly affected by the scarcity of locally generated data. This is mainly due to the absence of electronic medical record systems even in large medical and research centres. Most still use paperbased patient registration and documentation. However, the shift to digital records can benefit both clinicians and patients. Developing countries need health information technology more than other countries due to the challenges in patient tracking and exchanging data even within one medical centre. In Ethiopia, similar to other LMICs, medical recording, patient transfers and consultations are all done with paper-based documentation, and electronic medical records are not implemented in the majority of the country’s facilities. The first attempt to select and contextualise an open source electronic health record (EHR) system at the Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Centre, University of Gondar, Ethiopia is described.
CAAE++: Improved CAAE for Age Progression/Regression

Face age progression/regression has garnered substantial active research interest due to its tremendous impact on a wide-range of practical applications like searching for missing individuals with photos of childhood, entertainment, and so on. Most existing face aging models have proven to be successful and effective in learning the transformation between age groups with the aid of paired samples, i.e., face images of the same person at different ages. Considering the expensive cost of collecting paired datasets, Conditional Adversarial Autoencoder (CAAE) is designed for face aging task without paired samples and first achieves face age progression and regression in a holistic framework. However, only rough wrinkles are generated because of the insufficient discriminative and generative ability. To tackle this problem, in this paper, we develop a novel generative model based on CAAE, dubbed CAAE++, which defeats the previous CAAE mainly for two enhancements: 1) an auxiliary classifier is added on top of the discriminator, which allows a single discriminator not only distinguishes real images from synthetics but also classifies them into the target age group; and 2) a pre-trained deep face recognition model and a pre-trained age estimation model are exploited to preserve identity and age similarity, respectively. We train CAAE++ on UTKFace dataset and test on FGNET dataset. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed method in terms of fidelity.