Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internal Control Information Disclosure Quality, Agency Cost and Earnings Management—Based on the Empirical Data from 2011 to 2013

Internal control information disclosure is a key factor to investors’ decisions, and is closely connected with corporate governance. It also has a direct impact on agency cost and earnings management. This article verifies the relationship between internal control information disclosure, agency cost and earnings management with the Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2013 as samples, and we build the internal control information disclosure index (ICIDI) to evaluate the quality of internal control information disclosure based on the Standard for Enterprise Internal Control. By analyzing, we found that internal control information disclosure can affect earnings management through agency cost, and the improvement of internal control information disclosure will effectively reduce agency cost, thus reducing earnings management.
Quantized topological terms in weak-coupling gauge theories with a global symmetry and their connection to symmetry-enriched topological phases

We study the quantized topological terms in a weak-coupling gauge theory with gauge group $G_g$ and a global symmetry $G_s$ in $d$ space-time dimensions. We show that the quantized topological terms are classified by a pair $(G,\nu_d)$, where $G$ is an extension of $G_s$ by $G_g$ and $\nu_d$ an element in group cohomology $\cH^d(G,\R/\Z)$. When $d=3$ and/or when $G_g$ is finite, the weak-coupling gauge theories with quantized topological terms describe gapped symmetry enriched topological (SET) phases (i.e. gapped long-range entangled phases with symmetry). Thus, those SET phases are classified by $\cH^d(G,\R/\Z)$, where $G/G_g=G_s$. We also apply our theory to a simple case $G_s=G_g=Z_2$, which leads to 12 different SET phases in 2+1D, where quasiparticles have different patterns of fractional $G_s=Z_2$ quantum numbers and fractional statistics. If the weak-coupling gauge theories are gapless, then the different quantized topological terms may describe different gapless phases of the gauge theories with a symmetry $G_s$, which may lead to different fractionalizations of $G_s$ quantum numbers and different fractional statistics (if in 2+1D).
ON DAVIDSON'S PROBLEM IN THE COLLECTIVE RISK THEORY

In this paper Davidson's classic problem concerning the solution of an integrodifferential equation regarding the collective risk theory with the aim of examining the probability of the failure of an insurance company is further analysed. The validity of a new representation’s formula to the solution of the problem is demonstrated after having discussed the question of the existence of that solution.
Trustworthy Sensor Networks : Issues , Challenges & Solutions

Building sensor networks poses challenges of secure routing, node authentication, data integrity, data confidentiality and access control that are faced in conventional wireless and wired networks as well. In this paper, we argue that the conventional view of security based on cryptography and authentication alone is not sufficient for the unique characteristics and novel misbehaviors encountered in sensor networks. Fundamental to this is the observation that sensor network applications are based on collective interaction between a large numbers of nodes, which do collaborative data gathering, collective data/information processing, and multi-hop data delivery. This decentralized in-network decision-making, which relies on the inherent trust among the sensor nodes, can be abused by adversaries to carry out security breaches. An adversary can potentially insert bogus data to mislead the whole network! Cryptographic mechanisms alone cannot be used to solve this problem as adversarial or faulty sensor nodes can use valid cryptographic keys to authenticate bogus data. We highlight some scenarios where solely using cryptography fails. On the basis of these observations, we motivate the need of integrating tools from different domains such as economics, statistics and data analysis with cryptography to facilitate the development of high integrity sensor networks. Following this approach, we introduce a reputation-based framework that provides a unified solution for countering several types of malicious/non-malicious misbehavior in sensor networks.
Sea-surface salinity variations in the northern Caribbean Sea across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition

Abstract. By reconstructing past hydrologic variations in the Northern Caribbean Sea and their influence on the stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the last 940 ka, we seek to document climate changes in this tropical area in response to the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Using core MD03-2628, we estimated past changes in sea surface salinity (SSS) using Δδ18O, the difference between the modern, and the past δ18O of seawater (obtained by combining alkenone thermometer data with the δ18O of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides rube (white) and corrected for ice-sheet volume effects). Today, the lowest SSS values in the area studied are associated with the northernmost location of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The Δδ18O record obtained from core MD03-2628 exhibits glacial/interglacial cyclicity with higher values during all glacial periods spanning the last 940 ka, indicating increased SSS. A long-term trend was also observed in the Δδ18O values that exhibited a shift toward lower values for interglacial periods during the last 450 ka, as compared to interglacial stages older than 650 ka. A rise in SSS during glacial stages may be related to the southernmost location of the ITCZ, which is induced by a steeper cross-equator temperature gradient and associated with reduced northward cross-equatorial oceanic transport. Therefore, the results suggest a permanent link between the tropical salinity budget and the AMOC during the last 940 ka. Following the MPT, lower salinities during the last five interglacial stages indicated a northernmost ITCZ location that was forced by changes in the cross-equator temperature gradient and that was associated with the poleward position of Southern Oceanic Fronts that amplify the transport of heat and moisture to the North Atlantic. These processes may have contributed to the amplification of the climate cycles that followed the MPT.
Listening test for three-dimensional audio system based on multiple vertical panning

In this paper, the novel three-dimensional (3D) audio system is proposed. The proposed system is based on Multiple Vertical Panning (MVP) method and matches to the glasses-free 3D display system in which the size of screen is very large. The vertical position of sound images is synthesized by the panning between two loudspeakers placed at the top and bottom of screen. The horizontal position of sound images is controlled by the position of two loudspeakers. By the proposed system, multiple listeners can simultaneously feel the sound images at the position of objects depicted by the 3D display system. In order to evaluate the auditory performance of the proposed system, the listening test was designed by using the loudspeaker array in which twenty-seven loudspeakers were aligned on the vertical line. Sound images were synthesized by the panning between two loudspeakers placed at the top and bottom of the loudspeaker array. Twelve subjects listened to a sound and reported the position of synthesized sound i.
Women‐owned small and medium enterprises in England: Analysis of factors influencing the growth process

Purpose - This study attempts to understand the nature and activities of growth-oriented women-owned businesses in the East of England by highlighting the problems faced by women entrepreneurs during the growth process. Design/methodology/approach - The approach analysed the main growth factors and their influence on the adoption of different growth strategies. An online questionnaire was designed using Snap survey software™, with results exported to SPSS™ for analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a variety of scaled, open-ended, rank order, dichotomous, multiple choice and open questions. Findings - The research indicates that most do not opt to develop growth-oriented businesses, choosing instead small, non-scalable, locally focused businesses providing services or operating in low-tech industries. Women who are growth-oriented appear to be inhibited due to a lack of access to, and control over such resources as, capital, business premises, information and technology, production inputs, appropriate childcare, qualifications, experience, training facilities and appropriate assistance from business development agencies. Non-effective accumulation and use of social capital hinders access to appropriate decision-making circles, and limits the probability of accessing critical management and financing resources, especially through the venture capital industry. Practical implications - This research has implications for government or other business development agencies seeking to understand the growth patterns and problems of women-owned enterprises in the East of England. Originality/value - There are few British studies that have focussed on growth oriented women-owned businesses. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by attempting to understand the nature and activities of such business, by analysing the main growth factors and their influence on different growth strategies.
Television Exposure and Academic Skills of Children: New Findings from India

The studies associating television viewing to performance are primarily based on developed countries. The effect of television on children in developing countries, like India, might be different from that of the developed countries, owing to cultural and socioeconomic differences. Additionally, in the Indian case, no study has systematically analyzed the relationship between children’s academic skills and television viewing. We examined the association between academic skills (Reading, Mathematics and Writing) of Indian children and television viewing using a sample of children (aged 8-11 years) who were in school or had ever attended school, from a universe of all the households included in a micro unit recorded nationally representative survey (IHDS, 2004-05). Relevant socioeconomic, demographic, parent/household-level controls were included in the multivariate analysis. The impact of content of the television programs was also controlled in the analysis. The analysis was done at two levels: first, for the full sample; and second for subsamples, formed first by sex and second by economic status. Findings suggested positive correlation between overall viewing and the reading skills of boys and the mathematics skills of girls, but negative correlation with the writing skills of both. The correlation of educational content with academic skills also differed by gender, with a positive correlation with the three skills of girls but a positive correlation with only the writing skills of boys. Moreover, educational content was positively correlated with the skills of children belonging to the lowest wealth class but had no correlation with the skills of the children belonging to the highest wealth class.
Effect of pleurotus sajor-caju polysaccharide encapsulated in poly D, L lactide-co-glycolide nanoparticles for HPV vaccine in murine model

Objective(s): In the current work, poly D, L lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) particles were applied for a viral vaccine for the delivery of antigens in cytosolic pathway by increasing the antigen presentation to T-lymphocytes. HPV-E7 protein with PLGA particles has been reported as a potent adjuvant for HPV vaccine by encapsulating protein into the PLGA particles. Polysaccharide from Pleurotus sajor-caju was also applied as a potent immunomodulator. Materials and Methods: HPV-E7 protein and Pleurotus sajor-caju polysaccharides (PSC) were encapsulated into PLGA nanoparticles. This combination comprised a strategy to induce helper and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) expansion. Mice antibodies and T-lymphocyte expansion were investigated in comparison between encapsulated E7 protein into PLGA nanoparticles (E7PLGA) and E7 protein with PSC encapsulated into PLGA nanoparticles (PSC-E7PLGA). Results: The results showed that E7PLGA and PSC-E7PLGA could induce antibody response to HPV. The PSC-E7PLGA could increase the level of viral antigen-specific IgG antibodies. The cellular immune responses are also significantly enhanced by expansion of helper T-lymphocytes and CTL. PSC-E7PLGA was shown to be significantly higher in immunomodulating activity than E7PLGA. Conclusion: Thus, the encapsulation of polysaccharide and HPV-E7 antigen into PLGA nanoparticles is a strategy for development of HPV vaccine.
Syndesis : Mapping Objects to Files for a Unified Data Access System

The predominant data model in cloud storage is the object-based storage. Object stores follow a simpler API with get() and put() operations to interact with the data. A wide variety of data analysis software has been developed around objects using their APIs. In fact, the evolution of Big Data analytics is a major driver for highly optimized data-centric quality software. However, organizations maintain file-based storage clusters and a high volume of existing data are stored in files. This is specifically true for the scientific communities. In this paper, we present the key characteristics of object-based and file-based storage APIs, we explore several object-to-file mappings aiming to bridge the semantic gap between these data models. The evaluation of our mapping algorithms exposes various strengths and weaknesses of each strategy and frames the extended potential of a unified data access system. Results show that our solution can offer more than 3x higher performance for specific workloads while keeping minimal overhead of our library.
Self-organising Roles in Agile Globally Distributed Teams

The ability to self-organise is posited to be a fundamental requirement for successful agile teams. In particular, self-organising teams are said to be crucial in agile globally distributed software development (AGSD) settings, where distance exacerbates team issues. We used contextual analysis to study the specific interaction behaviours and enacted roles of practitioners working in multiple AGSD teams. Our results show that the teams studied were extremely task focussed, and those who occupied team lead or programmer roles were central to their teams’ self-organisation. These findings have implications for AGSD teams, and particularly for instances when programmers – or those occupying similar non-leadership positions – may not be willing to accept such responsibilities. We discuss the implications of our findings for information system development (ISD) practice.
Dengue outbreaks in Taiwan, 1998-2017: Importation, serotype and temporal pattern

Objective: To ascertain the role of imported cases and serotypes on dengue outbreaks in Taiwan which have been sporadic yet highly volatile during the past two decades, exhibiting record-breaking magnitude in recent years. Methods: Confirmed case and serotype data from Taiwan Centers for Disease Control during 1998-2017 were fully examined, with fitting of weekly and daily case data of each city/county to a mathematical model to pinpoint the waves of cases and their locations. Moreover, we quantify the timing of turning point and transmission potential of each wave and determine its circulating serotype, to ascertain any pattern or connection between the variations in circulating serotypes and the magnitude/transmissibility of outbreak. Results: While the number of imported case increased steadily during past two decades, the yearly number of indigenous cases fluctuated wildly. Moreover, while yearly percentages of serotypes for imported cases remains steady, that of indigenous cases does not exhibit any clear pattern. There was at least one wave of reported cases somewhere in Taiwan every year from 1998 to 2015, except in 2016-2017. The effective reproduction number R for all waves in all locations ranged from 1.14 to 2.87, with the exception of two Tainan waves, in 2010 (3.95) and 2015 (6.84). Four major outbreaks of over 2000 cases reveal circulation of one dominant serotype. Conclusions: Correlation between imported cases and indigenous outbreak prove to be difficult to ascertain, even with the availability of serotype data. However, although there had been occasional co-circulation of serotypes in one location, and for some years with different serotypes circulating in different locations, all major outbreaks of over 2 000 cases during the past two decades are due to circulation of mainly a single serotype, perhaps indicating greater transmission potential with one dominating serotype.
New evidence for explosive behavior of commodity prices

Over the past decade, the academic literature has engaged in a lively discussion about speculative bubbles in commodity markets. A number of papers have empirically investigated explosive behavior, albeit employing different econometric approaches that examine univariate time series for the existence of bubbles. Largely, these individual tests have been applied on a set of univariate time series such as stock indices or commodity prices, ignoring the multiple testing nature of the problem. Departing from there, we examine explosive behavior in commodity futures markets, by employing a panel-data set containing the ten most liquid agricultural futures contracts traded in the US to conduct the Generalised Sub-ADF test by Phillips et al. (2015). We aggregate individual test-results using a stagewise rejective multiple test procedure. Overall, our results show evidence for several periods of explosive behavior in the markets for wheat, cattle, cocoa, coffee and cotton over the past 35 years. Our paper is the first to employ this approach on a panel data set, thereby solving econometric shortcomings of previously published work in the extant literature.
Self-contragredient supercuspidal representations of $\mathrm{GL}

Let F be a non-archimedean local ﬁeld of residual characteristic p . Then GL n ( F ) has tamely ramiﬁed self-contragredient supercuspidal representations if and only if n or p is even. When such representations exist, they do so in abundance.
Nutritional Status of Mother and Gestational Age

Back ground: Mothers’ nutritional status is an important factor in the determination of preterm births among Indian children. Objective: To assess mothers’ nutritional status during pregnancy determining the gestational age. Material and method: A comparative, exploratory approach and Prospective Cohort study design was used to identify maternal risk factors like maternal occupation, nutrition, and rest during night and during day time and education of father influencing on gestational age. The data was collected by using structured interview schedule. All consecutive 365 eligible mothers delivered at Krishna Hospital, Karad till the desired sample size was reached were included in the study. Results: The mean gestational age was lower among mothers doing sedentary, moderate and heavy work, whose calorie requirement was less than RDA [i.e. < 2250 kcal, < 2580 Kcal and < 3200 kcal respectively]. Conclusion: The mean gestational age of babies born to the heavy workers was significantly lower than the moderate and sedentary workers.
Repression of fecundity in the neritic copepod Acartia clausi exposed to the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium lusitanicum: relationship between feeding and egg production

The effect of the saxitoxin-producing dinoflagellate Alexandrium lusitanicum on the reproductive success of the calanoid copepod Acartia clausi was examined in the laboratory. Experiments were carried out to investigate the functional response of feeding and fecundity of copepod females at increasing concentrations (200 to 1600 pg C I-') of either the toxic A. lusitanicum or the nontoxic Rhodomonas baltica as food sources. Additional expenments were performed to determine if prolonged exposure to A. luatanlcum affects copepod survival and fecundity. Results demonstrate that A. clausj fed on toxic cells at high rates without lethal effects and was able to produce eggs. Survival of females was similar with both diets. Depending on the food source, different functional responses were found. Feeding and fecundity of A. clausi on a diet of R. baltica followed simultaneously a typical satiation response. Fecundity was high and attained maximal rates of 32 to 36 eggs female-' d-'. In contrast, functional responses of ingestion and fecundity by A. clausi fed on A. lusjtanicum were not closely associated. Whereas feeding rates increased linearily with increasing food concentrations, egg production was llmited and stayed constant at 16 to 20 eggs female-' d-' over the range of food concentrations offered. The comparison of calculated gross growth efficiencies for females feeding on both algae indicated an inefficient utilization of ingested toxic food. High feeding rates on toxic A. lusitanicum suggest that saxitoxins do not act as allelopathic chemicals against grazing in A. clausi. Nevertheless, fecundity was adversely affected. It is suggested that ingested toxins probably interfere with digestive processes or cause an enhanced energy expenditure due to detoxiflcation because copepods could cope with toxic algae. As a result, less energy is available and this might explain the reduced fecundity in females
MULTI-VIEWPOINT TRACKING FOR VISUAL SURVEILLANCE USING SINGLE DOME CAMERA

Efficient surveillance systems crave to track multiple objects throughout the scene with unique tracking IDs. Tracking multiple objects robustly requires invariant attributes matching. If objects have to be tracked across viewpoints, then a technique is required to reassign those IDs. Such an approach is proposed which combines extended Kalman filter with past information for isolated object tracking. And whenever objects partially or fully overlapped, features like color, size and object class are used to distinguish between them. To track objects across viewpoints, color matching and expected position is find out. The proposed method is also robust to background modeling technique. The system was tested in real world application and successful results were obtained.
Fixed point results for cyclic contraction satisfying generalized altering distances and application

A sufficient condition for the existence and uniqueness of fixed point for a new variant of cyclic contractive mapping, named as weakly cyclic contractive mappings, involving a generalized altering distance function in complete metric spaces are provided. Examples are given to support the usability of our results. At the end of the results, an application to the study of existence and uniqueness of solutions for a class of two-point boundary value problem of second order differential equation is discussed by using the fixed point results.