Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resource cost and QoS achievement in a contract-based resource manager for mobile communications systems

The management of QoS in mobile communications networks has been a popular research topic for many academic and industrial organisations. Many techniques have been developed to route network traffic according to application specific requirements. Consequently, significant contributions have been proposed to improve network operator infrastructures. However, little has been done for the management of QoS from a service provider/application developer perspective. This paper presents an integrated QoS management scheme where management entities, possibly belonging to different administrative parties, can negotiate QoS contracts in a multi-vendor, multi-technology and multimedia environment. The traded commodity, the QoS contract, can be defined in many ways: as a service specific quality contract for the service provider/application developer, as a network specific performance contract for the network operator or as a generic QoS contract for negotiations. In this paper, simulation results show the benefits of link adaptation techniques in the maintenance of QoS contract requirements over lossy wireless links. For that purpose, the TETRA system has been used as an experimental platform.
Quantum-information processing using strongly dipolar coupled nuclear spins

Dipolar coupled homonuclear spins present challenging, yet useful systems for quantum-information processing. In such systems, the eigenbasis of the system Hamiltonian is the appropriate computational basis and coherent control can be achieved by specially designed strongly modulating pulses. In this paper we describe the first experimental implementation of the quantum algorithm for numerical gradient estimation by nuclear magnetic resonance, using the eigenbasis of a four spin system.
Corporate governance and financial performance of public universities in Uganda.

The study examined the relationship between Corporate Governance and Fnancial Performance in four Public Universities in Uganda. The study was prompted by Institutional turbulences as a result of adhoc policy and decision making processes and poor financial performance of Public Universities.A cross sectional and correlational study was conducted in four public Universities in Uganda. Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was used so as to work out Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression Analysis. These determine the magnitude of the relationship and prediction of financial performance respectively. The findings revealed that corporate governance variables namely; board size, had a negative effect on financial performance while policy and decision making had a significant positive relationship with financial performance. Corporate Governance had a significant positive relationship with board roles, board roles had a significant positive relationship with board effectiveness, and contingency had a significant positive relationship with board roles and effectiveness. There is need for Public Universities to formulate policies and make decisions that can stand test of time. Constitute manageable Council and Senate committees, understand theirroles, manage contingency and improve on board effectiveness to realize improved financial performance.
Soils and rainfall drive landscape‐scale changes in the diversity and functional composition of tree communities in premontane tropical forest

Questions Premontane tropical forests harbour exceptionally high plant species diversity; understanding which factors influence their species composition is critical to conserving them, and to predicting how global environmental change will affect them. We asked: (1) How does alpha and beta diversity vary at the landscape scale? (2) How important is environmental filtering in structuring these communities? (3) Which soil and climate variables account for the most compositional variation? Location Old-growth premontane forest (850-1330 m a.s.l) in the Fortuna Forest Reserve, western Panama. Methods All trees ≥ 5 cm diameter at breast height (d.b.h) were censused in twelve 1 ha plots up to 13 km apart. For each plot, we measured soil properties (0-10 cm depth) at thirteen locations, and estimated or measured monthly rainfall. To evaluate how the environmental and spatial variables are associated with community composition, we used ordination and mantel tests. Results Alpha diversity varied nearly three-fold among plots (68 – 184 species ha−1). Beta diversity was also high, with only one of 364 species present in all plots. Turnover reflected distinct forest community types that have developed on different parent materials: forests on rhyolite had an abundance of either ectomycorrhizal-associated trees or canopy palms, while forests on the other rock types (andesite, dacite and basalt) were dominated by trees that form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations. While NMDS ordination showed that seasonality of rainfall was significantly correlated with species turnover, turnover also covaried with geographic distance. Nonetheless, large compositional differences were apparent among sites <2 km apart with similar rainfall but differing soils. Partial Mantel tests controlling for geographic distance highlighted the relationship between total phosphorus and species composition. Conclusions Soil nutrient availability and rainfall seasonality in premontane forests at Fortuna is associated with striking variation in the taxonomic and functional composition of nearby tree communities, and with plot differences in species richness comparable in magnitude to those reported over >1000 m of elevation in previous studies. Accounting for how local edaphic conditions structure premontane and montane tropical forests will be critical to predicting how tree communities will respond to climate change. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Design and Development of an Electronic Interface for Gas Detection and Exhaled Breath Analysis in Liquids

Among gas sensors, the ones measuring carbon dioxide and oxygen are crucial for many application fields: the monitoring of air quality, the control of food packaging processes, the study of biochemical mechanisms, and specific reactions related to many different studies in the biomedical context. Many of the sensors used for the measure of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) are based on electrochemical, optical, and conductometric working principles, which allow to cover the very different ranges of concentration which represent the target of each different field or specific application with good reproducibility and sensitivity. This paper presents a voltammetric sensor showing an innovative approach for the measure of gas and vapors by the interaction of a screen-printed electrode system with the liquid solution, where the gases are conveyed. The design and realization of this sensor system are reported. Calibration tests with CO2 and O2 have given acceptable reproducibility and sensitivity. Besides, this paper shows that new results have been obtained by analyzing exhaled breath collected by control individuals.
Fly, Robot, Fly

There is no more rewarding moment for roboticists than when they first see their creations begin to twitch with a glimmer of life. For me, that moment of paternal pride came a year ago this month, when my artificial fly first flexed its wings and flew. It began when I took a stick-thin winged robot, not much larger than a fingertip, and anchored it between two taut wires, rather like a miniature space shuttle tethered to a launchpad. Next I switched on the external power supply. Within milliseconds the carbon-fiber wings, 15 millimeters long, began to whip forward and back 120 times per second, flapping and twisting just like an actual insect's wings. The fly shot straight upward on the track laid out by the wires. As far as I know, this was the first flight of an insect-size robot.
Studying Interrelation: Employee Turnover & Technology

Employers are facing unique problem of retaining good employees and relieving the bad one. Excessive em- ployee turnover is not only a cost to the business, but it also affects smooth business functioning. Employee turnover depends upon several factors interplaying with each other. Employer - Employee relation is about mutual gain. Today's businesses are substantially depending upon technology. The technology changes have altered the human power, individual independence, and range of the individual; they have realigned the locus and structures of power. Technology has increased accuracy and speed, while reduced the cost and space. Technology is subject to faster changes and hence younger employees are most fit to work with as of their adaptive nature. Thus an employee retires early in high technology area. Another dimension of technology is high remuneration offer from competitive organizations. Thus attrition is directly related with use of technology in the business. This paper discusses interrelation of employee turnover vis-a-vis technology.
Hybrid discourse modeling and summarization for a speech-to-speech translation system

This thesis describes the result of several years of research focusing on a small part of natural language processing: with an overall goal of languageindependence, a robust approach to dialogue modeling and discourse processing. The main context in which the approach has been developed is VerbMobil—a project for a speech-to-speech translation system for spontaneously spoken negotiation dialogue. The first major contribution of the thesis is a dialogue model based on propositional content and intentions. Two distinct parts of the model are discussed in depth: (a) An approach to the modeling and tracking of propositional content that is based on description logics and default unification. This technique has been developed further within the SmartKom project—a project for symmetric multimodal dialogue. This is true in particular for the advancement and formalization of overlay, a default unification algorithm in combination with a scoring function that together serve as the main operation for the contextual interpretation of user hypotheses. (b) An approach to the modeling and tracking of intentions that is based on dialogue acts, dialogue moves and dialogue games together with dialogue phases. These building blocks can be arranged in such a way that the complete dialogue is described on five different levels in a language-independent way. A new characterization called dialogue moves is introduced that encompasses several dialogue acts. In the second major contribution of the thesis, an application based on the content of the discourse memory is described: multilingual generation of summaries. For negotiative dialogue, the discourse memory contains at the end of the dialogue amongst other discourse objects those objects that have been agreed upon by both interlocutors. On the basis of these, a data-driven bottom-up generation algorithm is described that together with two already existing modules of the VerbMobil system—the transfer module and the multilingual generator GECO—produces summaries in any language deployed by the system.
Antimalarial drug policy in India: Past, present & future

The use of antimalarial drugs in India has evolved since the introduction of quinine in the 17th century. Since the formal establishment of a malaria control programme in 1953, shortly after independence, treatments provided by the public sector ranged from chloroquine, the mainstay drug for many decades, to the newer, recently introduced artemisinin based combination therapy. The complexity of considerations in antimalarial treatment led to the formulation of a National Antimalarial Drug Policy to guide procurement as well as communicate best practices to both public and private healthcare providers. Challenges addressed in the policy include the use of presumptive treatment, the introduction of alternate treatments for drug-resistant malaria, the duration of primaquine therapy to prevent relapses of vivax malaria, the treatment of malaria in pregnancy, and the choice of drugs for chemoprophylaxis. While data on antimalarial drug resistance and both public and private sector treatment practices have been recently reviewed, the policy process of setting national standards has not. In this perspective on antimalarial drug policy, this review highlights its relevant history, analyzes the current policy, and examines future directions.
Exome sequencing identifies FANCM as a susceptibility gene for triple-negative breast cancer

Significance The major portion of hereditary breast cancer still remains unexplained, and many susceptibility loci are yet to be found. Exome sequencing of 24 high-risk familial BRCA1/2-negative breast cancer patients and further genotyping of a large sample set of breast/ovarian cancer cases and controls was used to discover previously unidentified susceptibility alleles and genes. A significant association of a FANCM nonsense mutation with breast cancer, especially triple-negative breast cancer, identifies FANCM as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Identification of such risk alleles is expected to improve cancer risk assessment for breast cancer patients and families, and may lead to improvements in the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Inherited predisposition to breast cancer is known to be caused by loss-of-function mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, CHEK2, and other genes involved in DNA repair. However, most families severely affected by breast cancer do not harbor mutations in any of these genes. In Finland, founder mutations have been observed in each of these genes, suggesting that the Finnish population may be an excellent resource for the identification of other such genes. To this end, we carried out exome sequencing of constitutional genomic DNA from 24 breast cancer patients from 11 Finnish breast cancer families. From all rare damaging variants, 22 variants in 21 DNA repair genes were genotyped in 3,166 breast cancer patients, 569 ovarian cancer patients, and 2,090 controls, all from the Helsinki or Tampere regions of Finland. In Fanconi anemia complementation gene M (FANCM), nonsense mutation c.5101C>T (p.Q1701X) was significantly more frequent among breast cancer patients than among controls [odds ratio (OR) = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.26–2.75; P = 0.0018], with particular enrichment among patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC; OR = 3.56, 95% CI = 1.81–6.98, P = 0.0002). In the Helsinki and Tampere regions, respectively, carrier frequencies of FANCM p.Q1701X were 2.9% and 4.0% of breast cancer patients, 5.6% and 6.6% of TNBC patients, 2.2% of ovarian cancer patients (from Helsinki), and 1.4% and 2.5% of controls. These findings identify FANCM as a breast cancer susceptibility gene, mutations in which confer a particularly strong predisposition for TNBC.
The Business Value of Cloud Computing in South Africa

Cloud computing is a prominent trend in the field of Information Technology (IT). Existing research presents the benefits and challenges of cloud computing, however few articles take a corporate approach. Moreover, considering that cloud computing provides numerous benefits, no research has aided the understanding of the business value associated with the technology and the context within which benefits and barriers are realized. The issues in South Africa make it difficult to prove the business value of cloud computing. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the business value of cloud computing using qualitative evidence extracted from an exploratory study. The evaluation results are used to generate a theoretical framework. The themes concluded that cloud computing provides speed and agility as a value driver to organizations. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by promoting an understanding of the business value of cloud computing in South Africa. Johnston et al. Business Value of Cloud Computing in South Africa The African Journal of Information Systems, Volume 8, Issue 2, Article 1 2
On the Emergence of Hierarchies: Coordination Versus Incentives

This paper studies internal organization of a multi-divisional firm using an incomplete contracting approach a la Grossman-Hart-Moore and Aghion-Tirole. Performance of each division depends on the level of human capital invested in it and there are externalities among divisional activities. We compare three types of organizational structures: centralization where the center retains decision-making authority for all divisions, decentralization where each division makes its own decision, and hierarchical delegation where authority is allocated in a hierarchical fashion. Centralization is optimal when externalities and the requisite coordination are the main issue. Decentralization is optimal if the investment in human capital is more important. Hierarchical delegation is optimal in the intermediate case. We also discuss the optimal pattern of hierarchical delegation as well as several directions extending the basic model.
Cell adhesion molecules in liver function and pattern formation

In epithelia, adhesive interactions participate in specific histogenetic events and also instate a morphological polarization that is linked to the vectorial functioning of the epithelium. Cell polarity is a recurring event in differentiation, first observed in the preimplantation embryo and then during organogenesis, whereas in oncogenesis a breakdown of polarity may occur. We review here recent work on adhesive interactions in the liver parenchyma. We focus on the effect of cell‐biomatrix interactions on hepatocyte function and polarization, on the integration of adhesive cell‐cell and cell‐matrix interactions, and on the correlation between structural differentiation and adhesion during hepatic development, regeneration, and oncogenesis. Although highlighting morphological differences between the liver and other epithelia, we stress that adhesion‐mediated effects such as substratum regulation of differentiation, feedback control of matrix synthesis, and integration of intercellular and cell‐matrix interactions, shown to transpire in the liver, most probably occur in other parenchymal tissues too. —Stamatoglou, S. C. , Hughes, R. C. Cell adhesion molecules in liver function and pattern formation. FASEB J. 8: 420‐427; 1994.
Size-specific growth and grazing rates for picophytoplankton in coastal and oceanic regions of the eastern Pacific

Estimates of growth and grazing mortality rates for different size classes and taxa of natural picophytoplankton assemblages were measured in mixed-layer experiments conducted in 3 regions of the eastern Pacific: the California Current Ecosystem, Costa Rica Dome, and equatorial Pacific. Contrary to expectation, size-dependent rates for cells between 0.45 and 4.0 μm in diameter showed no systematic trends with cell size both in and among regions. For all size classes, mean ± SD growth rates ranged from . 0.70 ± 0.17 to 0.83 ± 0.13 d-1 and grazing rates between . 0.07 ± 0.13 and 1.17 ± 0.10 d-1. Taxon-specific growth rates for Prochlorococcus ranged from 0.17 ± 0.12 to 0.59 ± 0.01 d -1, for Synechococcus from 0.68 ± 0.03 to 0.97 ± 0.04 d-1, for picoeukaryotes from 0.46 ± 0.13 to 1.03 ± 0.06 d-1, and for all cells combined between 0.45 ± 0.03 and 0.65 ± 0.02 d-1. For grazing, Prochlorococcus rates ranged between 0.02 ± 0.12 and 0.66 ± 0.02 d-1, Synechococcus rates between 0.24 ± 0.08 and 0.92 ± 0.05 d-1, for picoeukaryotes between 0.19 ± 0.10 and 0.78 ± 0.09 d-1, and for all cells between 0.16 ± 0.05 and 0.75 ± 0.02 d -1. When comparing rates among taxa, only Prochlorococcus had consistently lower rates than Synechococcocus in all regions. No other trends were apparent. Temperature relationships based on the Metabolic Theory of Ecology were able to explain more of the variability among grazing rates than among growth rates for each taxon considered. © 2014 Inter-Research.
Critical factors affecting the planning and implementation of major projects

This exploratory study reports the results of a quantitative cross‐sectional analysis of 68 case descriptions of major projects. Variables describing the context of the projects, project planning and implementation processes, and project outcomes were coded using information contained in the case descriptions. Factor analysis was used to identify major factors associated with context, process and outcomes. The influences of context on process, and context and process on outcomes were estimated using regression. The results indicate that a number of contextual variables strongly influence aspects of the project planning and implementation process, and then indirectly influence project outcomes through the planning and implementation process. In addition, both process and contextual variables affect outcomes directly. Several conclusions of a theoretical, methodological and practical nature are drawn.
Do Independent Analysts Provide Superior Stock Recommendations?

Many investors were upset with the losses they experienced by following the recommendations of stock analysts during the recent market downturn. Allegations that these recommendations were often tainted by investment banking relationships fueled their anger. This study examines the investment performance of stock recommendations made by analysts employed by lead underwriters as compared to analysts independent of investment banking. The results indicate that during the 1994-2003 time period, affiliated analysts offered inferior investment advice for all recommendation categories except Sell. The paper then examines possible causes and finds that investment banking conflict of interest is a more complete explanation than a selection bias.
Vanishing Point: The Mix Management Paradigm Re-Viewed

It's mid afternoon and the sun is blazing a trail across the blue sky. You've got the sweet aroma of tar in your nostrils and a sudden hunger to take to the road. Don your shades and sit in your car. Wind the top down, start your engine and come with us on a journey. Our travels will take us past some pretty familiar territory. In particular, we'll pay a visit to that most popular of tourist attractions, the mix management paradigm. But don't worry - you'll also get the chance to go off-road.
Book Review: The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins

A book review on The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell, Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015 In the early 1980s, Hal Whitehead and other budding whale biologists set their sails across the Indian Ocean in search of whales. The International Whaling Commission had just declared the Indian Ocean as a giant no-whaling sanctuary. Whitehead and crew's post-whaling reconnaissance aimed to see what was left. Near Sri Lanka, they encountered sperm whales, groups of intensely social females and calves, surprisingly shy and incessantly clicking. That and subsequent sailing expeditions meeting sperm whale groups in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as humpback and other whale work, set Whitehead on a path leading to The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins (Whitehead and Rendell, 2015). Co-author Luke Rendell began collaborating with Whitehead in the 1990s, focusing on sperm whale social behavior and 1,2*
HKBU at MediaEval 2017 - Emotional Impact of Movies Task

In this paper, we describe our model designed for automatic prediction of emotional impact of movies. Specifically, a two-stage learning framework is proposed. First, the dimensionality reduction techniques are employed to discover the key emotion information embedded in the original feature space. Specifically, we use a classical method principal component analysis (PCA) and a new algorithm biased discriminant embedding (BDE) to learn the subspace. After dimensionality reduction, SVM is utilized for prediction. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of our approaches.