Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of a multigene family of chorion proteins in silkmoths

The evolution of the A family of chorion genes was examined by comparing new protein and DNA sequences from the silkmoths Antheraea pernyi and Bombyx mori with previously known sequences from Antheraea polyphemus. The comparisons indicated that the A family and its major subfamilies are ancient and revealed how parts of the genes corresponding to distinct regions of the protein structure have evolved, both by base substitutions and by segmental reduplications and deletions.
GBFSJ: Bloom Filter Star Join algorithms on GPUs

With the GPUs computing and storage capability continue increasing, GPUs-based parallel accelerated algorithms got many attention and success. The star join is a core and base action in relational database systems and has great impact on system performance. In this paper, we propose a massive parallelism and high scalability star join algorithm: GPUs Bloom Filter Star Join (GBFSJ). In this algorithm, fact table and dimension tables are column storage, and every column is processed separately. Star join is composed of several parallel hash join procedures. To facilitate and improve the executions of hash join on GPUs, bloom filter is used here instead of hash lookup. Bloom filter is a high space efficiency probabilistic data structure and suitable for parallel processing; each filtered dimension table build one bit vector which can be easily stored and processed. Also, GBFSJ algorithm integrate late materialization and the fact table is accessed only once, avoid large number of intermediate results and fact table multi-access. GBFSJ improves concurrency and reduce I/O operations and obtain better performance.
Meta modelling of job satisfaction effective factors for improvement policy making in organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a Meta modeling based on regression, neural network, and clustering to analyze the job satisfaction factors and improvement policy making. Design/methodology/approach – Since any job satisfaction evaluation supposes to improve the status by prescribing specific strategies to be performed in the organization, proposing applicable strategies is decisively important. Task demand, social structure and leader-member exchange (LMX) are general applications easily conceptualized while proposing job satisfaction improvement strategies. Findings – On the basis of these empirical findings, the authors first aim to identify relationships between LMX, task demand, social structure and individual factors, organizational factors, job properties, which are easier to be employed in strategy formulation for job satisfaction, and then determine the sub-factors and subsequently cluster them. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by a case study. Originality/val.
A typology and assessment of human resources performance in the financial services industry: The human resources scorecard perspective

Under the trend of flourishing development and rapid transformation in global financial markets, the domestic financial service industry needs to adjust their strategies more actively to accommodate to such a global trend. As these changes can not be implemented without manpower, the importance of human resources is more signifi cant then ever. The human resource management performance plays a vital role in reinforcing a company's competitive advantage. The way to measure human resource performance is an essential part in evaluating competitiveness. Academics and professionals have pay attention to developing the model measuring human resource performance. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to develop a human resource performance measurement model that is suitable for Taiwan's financial service industry through the collection and summarization of the literatures about human resource management, performance evaluation, balance scorecard and human resource performance, in conjunction with expert survey and analytic hierarchy process. The measurement model in this paper consists of four constructs: finance, customer, operation, and learning. Each construct is divided into two or three sub-constructs, and consists of some indices. The corresponding weights for each construct and index are computed by using the method of analytic hierarchy process. The results show that the order of importance for measurement constructs is customer, learning, finance, and operation. Among measurement indices, the index of employees' satisfaction on their jobs has the highest weight of importance. The results of this paper can provide some references for the financial service industry while they measure human resource performance.
Comparative study of joint-detection based on FFTs and the 2-RAKE receiver of the TD-SCDMA up-link [2-RAKE read 2D RAKE]

JD (joint-detection) and 2D RAKE (two-dimensional RAKE) receiver method are two important methods of MUD (multiuser detection) of the TD-SCDMA (time division synchronization-code division multiple access) up-link. We compare these two method for complexity and performance. In the JD method, we also use FFTs (fast Fourier transforms) and overlapping to reduce the computational complexity. We analyze the complexity and performance of these two methods theoretically and also apply Monte Carlo simulation to them. From the analysis and the simulation, we can draw the conclusion that the performance of JD based on FFTs is better than that of the 2D RAKE in the TD-SCDMA up-link, but with more complexity. The analysis and simulation do not involve intercell interference and the simulation channel is the Rayleigh channel based on 3GPP TS 25.105.
The Nexus between Analyst Forecast Dispersion and Expected Returns Surrounding Stock Market Crashes

The performance of analysts’ forecasts has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, as yet, no empirical study has investigated the nexus between the analyst forecast dispersion (AFD) and excess returns surrounding stock market crashes in any depth. This paper attempts to fill this void by estimating a Fama-French model regression with AFD as a factor. Instead of an expected linear relationship, a nonlinear U-shape relationship between the AFD and excess returns is found.
Web-based or paper-based self-management tools for asthma--patients' opinions and quality of data in a randomized crossover study.

UNLABELLED The use of communication technologies may overcome some of the difficulties of conventional, paper-based, self-management of chronic diseases. This paper aims to describe and evaluate the use of P'ASMA - a web based asthma self-management support tool regarding the opinion of patients and their adherence to monitoring in comparison to standard paper-based tools. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION P'ASMA allows the collection of asthma monitoring data and provides, to both patient and doctor, immediate feedback about patient's condition. For each patient a set of forms and scheduling options can be chosen. EVALUATION METHODS Twenty-one adults with previous medical diagnosis of asthma were included in an exploratory randomized crossover study. Patients used P'ASMA or a paper asthma diary and action-plan each during 4 weeks in a random sequence. RESULTS The number of patients who wrote negative remarks regarding P'ASMA was 2 and regarding paper-tools was 11; positive comments were 6 and 1 respectively for P'ASMA and Paper-based. Twelve patients were very interested to continue to monitor their asthma using P'ASMA whereas only 2 with Paper-based (p=0.002). Of the 19 problems reported with P'ASMA, 9 were related to the Internet connection, 5 to the user interface, 3 to internal system errors and 2 to the questions interpretation. The completeness of paper diary records was better; however, 10 patients reported filling it several days at once which was not allowed in P'ASMA. CONCLUSIONS The intervention was feasible, safe and the problems detected in the web-application can be corrected. With P'ASMA data quality improved as the integrity features increase the reliability of the data. Moreover, patients preferred the web-based application to monitor their asthma.
Link Adaptation for LTE-A Systems Employing MMSE Turbo Equalization

Turbo equalization for multiple-input-multipleoutput (MIMO) wireless communication systems can achieve close-to-optimal performance over frequency selective channels at reasonable complexity. In this paper, a turbo equalizer for the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) uplink is proposed. Moreover, a novel approach for link adaption based on the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart analysis of the turbo equalizer is discussed. Specifically, it is shown that the specific feedback parameters CQI, PMI, and RI used for spatial processing can be efficiently calculated. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the performance enhancement achieved in realistic channel fading environments by the proposed link adaption scheme.
[Association between blood pressure level and incidence of carotid artery plaque in middle-aged and elderly people].

OBJECTIVE To explore the association between blood pressure level and incidence of carotid arterial plaque in middle-aged and elderly people. METHODS A total of 5852 individuals were randomly stratified from the 101 510 health examination survey participants in Tangshan Kailuan Company community during 2006-2007. A total of 5440 people (age above 40 years old, free of stroke, TIA and myocardial infarction) were enrolled in the final analysis. A questionnaire survey, blood biochemical analysis and carotid artery ultrasound examination were finished by trained medical staff. Sixteen individuals without carotid artery plaques information and 35 individuals without blood pressure information were excluded. Finally, a total of 5389 participants [3235 male, mean age: (54.7 ± 11.8) years] were analyzed. According to 2010 Chinese guideline to prevention and treatment of hypertension and blood pressure level classification, participants were divided into normotensive group (n = 1377), high normal blood pressure group (n = 1971) and hypertensive group (n = 2041). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors of the carotid artery plaques. RESULTS Age, male gender, BMI, IMT, TG, FBG, smoking and alcohol drinking rate were significantly higher in high normal blood pressure group than in normotensive group (all P < 0.05), LDL-C, HDL-C, hs-CRP and TC were similar between these two groups. Incidence of carotid artery plaques in normotensive, high normal blood pressure and hypertensive groups was 24.8%, 37.4%, 60.2% respectively. The risk of carotid artery plaques was increased to 38% and 163% in high normal and hypertensive groups compared to normotensive group, the OR ratio was 1.38 (95%CI: 1.15-1.66) and 2.63 (95%CI: 2.18-3.18), respectively. After adjusting gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, TG, TC, HDL-C, FBG, hs-CRP and BMI, the risk of developing carotid artery plague was increased in proportion to increasing blood pressure and the OR value was 1.24 (95%CI:1.01-1.52) , 1.69 (95%CI:1.34-2.15) and 2.66 (95%CI:2.20-3.21) in high normal group I [SBP/DBP 121-129/80-84 mm Hg(1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa)] and high normal group II (SBP/DBP 130-139/85-89 mm Hg) and hypertensive group, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The cardiovascular risk factors and prevalence of carotid artery plague increase in proportion to blood pressure level in this cohort. The detection rate of carotid artery plague is already significantly increased in individuals with high normal blood pressure.
Scheduling Parallel DAG Jobs Online to Minimize Average Flow Time

In this work, we study the problem of scheduling parallelizable jobs online with an objective of minimizing average flow time. Each parallel job is modeled as a DAG where each node is a sequential task and each edge represents dependence between tasks. Previous work has focused on a model of parallelizability known as the arbitrary speed-up curves setting where a scalable algorithm is known. However, the DAG model is more widely used by practitioners, since many jobs generated from parallel programming languages and libraries can be represented in this model. However, little is known for this model in the online setting with multiple jobs. The DAG model and the speed-up curve models are incomparable and algorithmic results from one do not immediately imply results for the other. Previous work has left open the question of whether an online algorithm can be O(1)-competitive with O(1)-speed for average flow time in the DAG setting. In this work, we answer this question positively by giving a scalable algorithm which is (1 + e)-speed O([EQUATION])-competitive for any e > 0. We further introduce the first greedy algorithm for scheduling parallelizable jobs --- our algorithm is a generalization of the shortest jobs first algorithm. Greedy algorithms are among the most useful in practice due to their simplicity. We show that this algorithm is (2 + e)-speed O([EQUATION])-competitive for any e > 0.
A coordinated, communitywide program in Monroe County, New York, to increase influenza immunization rates in the elderly.

BACKGROUND Despite the efficacy of influenza vaccination in preventing complications of influenza, rates of immunization among high-risk populations remain low. The Monroe County (New York) Influenza Vaccination Demonstration was a communitywide, collaborative effort to increase the rates of influenza immunization to greater than 60% in elderly Medicare recipients. METHODS The local health department, university medical center, and practicing physicians collaborated to develop a communitywide demonstration directed to all Medicare part B enrollees 65 years of age or older, multiple coordinated approaches were used over a 4-year period (1988 to 1992). Most providers, including public agencies, private providers, hospital outpatient facilities, nursing homes, and insurance providers, were enrolled in a comprehensive program that included centralized claims processing, vaccine distribution and promotion, and extensive provider and public education efforts, including a special urban outreach program. An office-based, denominator-driven physician incentive project was also evaluated. RESULTS The demonstration project resulted in a 1991 influenza immunization rate of 74.3% among 88,811 Medicare enrollees 65 years of age or older. The increase in immunization rate occurred primarily among the patients of private physicians. CONCLUSION A communitywide, collaborative approach can succeed in achieving high rates of influenza immunization.
A reduced converter count solid state transformer for grid connected Photovoltaic applications

This paper presents a Solid State Transformer (SST) interface for grid connected Photovoltaic (PV) system. A new method is proposed for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) through a single phase inverter with phase displacement control. The inverter control variable is redefined such that it can be used for MPPT. Due to this control technique one converter stage for power tracking is eliminated, leading to a reduced component count for the overall system. The high frequency transformer's model parameters are designed for an operating frequency of 20 kHz for simulation studies. The grid side converter is controlled for synchronization and power flow using a Synchronous Reference Frame (SRF) current controller. The overall system is tested in simulation for a panel rating of 1.15 kWp under various insolation conditions and power balance is verified and presented. Testing is carried out under step change in the insolation to evaluate the performance of the SST interface under transient conditions. The proposed system is tracking the maximum power available from the panel and delivering it into the grid with high efficiency. The overall system efficiency and the high frequency transformer efficiencies are presented under various operating conditions.
Ground-based FTIR retrievals of SF6 on Reunion Island

Abstract. SF6 total columns were successfully retrieved from FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) measurements (Saint Denis and Maido) on Reunion Island (21 ∘ S, 55 ∘ E) between 2004 and 2016 using the SFIT4 algorithm: the retrieval strategy and the error budget were presented. The FTIR SF6 retrieval has independent information in only one individual layer, covering the whole of the troposphere and the lower stratosphere. The trend in SF6 was analysed based on the FTIR-retrieved dry-air column-averaged mole fractions ( X SF 6 ) on Reunion Island, the in situ measurements at America Samoa (SMO) and the collocated satellite measurements (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding, MIPAS, and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer, ACE-FTS) in the southern tropics. The SF6 annual growth rate from FTIR retrievals is 0.265±0.013 pptv year−1 for 2004–2016, which is slightly weaker than that from the SMO in situ measurements ( 0.285±0.002 pptv year−1 ) for the same time period. The SF6 trend in the troposphere from MIPAS and ACE-FTS observations is also close to the ones from the FTIR retrievals and the SMO in situ measurements.
Evaluation von Buttons im Kontext des Gestaltungsstils Flat Design

Bis vor wenigen Jahren waren viele Elemente grafischer Benutzerschnittstellen (engl. Graphical User Interfaces, GUI) durch realistische Gestaltungsmerkmale gepragt. Viele GUIs stellten beispielsweise dreidimensionale Buttons mit Schatten, Spiegelungen und Lichteffekten dar, ohne dass dies fur deren Funktion notwendig gewesen ware. Diesem so genannten Skeuomorphismus steht seit wenigen Jahren der Gestaltungsstil Flat Design gegenuber, bei dem GUI-Elemente ganz bewusst minimalistisch und ohne Bezug zu realen Vorbildern gestaltet werden. Im Rahmen einer Studie (N=332 Teilnehmer) wurden Eingabe-Buttons in verschiedenen Auspragungen hinsichtlich der Auswahlhaufigkeit, Reaktionszeit und Praferenz untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Mindestmas an Affordanz (insbesondere ein Rahmen um die Buttonflache) notwendig ist, sich die Performanz jedoch ansonsten zwischen den Auspragungen und ihren Gestaltungsmerkmalen nicht signifikant unterscheidet.
Flexible social organization and high incidence of drifting in the sweat bee, Halictus scabiosae

The very diverse social systems of sweat bees make them interesting models to study social evolution. Here we focus on the dispersal behaviour and social organization of Halictus scabiosae, a common yet poorly known species of Europe. By combining field observations and genetic data, we show that females have multiple reproductive strategies, which generates a large diversity in the social structure of nests. A detailed microsatellite analysis of 60 nests revealed that 55% of the nests contained the offspring of a single female, whereas the rest had more complex social structures, with three clear cases of multiple females reproducing in the same nest and frequent occurrence of unrelated individuals. Drifting among nests was surprisingly common, as 16% of the 122 nests in the overall sample and 44% of the nests with complex social structure contained females that had genotypes consistent with being full‐sisters of females sampled in other nests of the population. Drifters originated from nests with an above‐average productivity and were unrelated to their nestmates, suggesting that drifting might be a strategy to avoid competition among related females. The sex‐specific comparison of genetic differentiation indicated that dispersal was male‐biased, which would reinforce local resource competition among females. The pattern of genetic differentiation among populations was consistent with a dynamic process of patch colonization and extinction, as expected from the unstable, anthropogenic habitat of this species. Overall, our data show that H. scabiosae varies greatly in dispersal behaviour and social organization. The surprisingly high frequency of drifters echoes recent findings in wasps and bees, calling for further investigation of the adaptive basis of drifting in the social insects.
Development of a Higher Order Cognitive Optimization algorithm

In this paper, we develop a human social intelligence inspired population-based optimization algorithm called Higher Order Cognitive Optimization (HOCO) algorithm. Each of the individuals in this HOCO possess human-like characteristics such as decision making ability, self/social-awareness, self/social belief, shared information processing, and self-regulation. These characteristics are modeled as a hierarchical inter-related structure with each layer realizing different levels of granularity. In this paper, HOCO is implemented as a three layered inter-related architecture for single-objective optimization. The main aspects of the proposed optimization technique are: (1) development of a socially intelligent optimization algorithm; (2) each individual employs their meta-cognitive as well as social meta-cognitive abilities, in addition to the cognitive abilities to attain the global optimal solution; and (3) the meta-cognitive and social meta-cognitive components self-regulate the cognitive component by adapting its strategies, such that a globally optimal solution formulation is achieved. Performance has been analyzed on six standard benchmark problems and compared with other meta-heuristic algorithms. Further, the performance on computationally expensive CEC2015 benchmark problems has also been studied. The comparison with other population based meta-heuristic approaches indicates the significance of the HOCO algorithm.
Noise effect estimation and reduction in high-speed voltage controlled oscillators

The paper presents an investigations of various noise effects on frequency stability of differential ring voltage controlled oscillators. The impact of bias generator parameters and PVT variations on noise immunity is demonstrated and simplified models are developed. A method of bias generator parameter calculation and PVT compensation is suggested. The efficiency of the developed means is tested on a deep submicron CMOS phase locked loop.
Issues and Challenges in Global IT Outsourcing

Many large companies are increasingly outsourcing their IT functions. Factors like lower costs, improved productivity, higher quality, higher customer satisfaction, and ability to focus on core areas are some of the benefits of outsourcing. However, there are many challenges and risks associated with IT outsourcing. In this paper, we identify the main risk factors and best practices in global IT outsourcing. In addition, we delve into some important issues on IT outsourcing, particularly the challenges along with benefits. Finally we present case studies of two Global 200 companies and validate some of the claims made by previous researchers on IT outsourcing. This study will help the management to identify the risk factors and take the necessary remedial steps.
Preliminaries into problems to access information – the digital divide and rural communities

Closing the digital divide is a problem that is not so easy for developing countries to solve. The lack of infrastructure and other factors, such as the rate of unemployment and low educational level, prevent the eradication of the gap. Community intervention is needed and one recommendation the study makes is that people in rural areas, affected by the lack of information, should develop a strategy to manage their own resources properly.
Conceptualizing the country of origin of brand

With the globalization of international trade, consumers today are faced with a proliferation of products with multicountry affiliations (hybrid products). As such it is likely that the country of origin of manufacture of a hybrid product is no longer the most important determinant in the evaluation of brand image and product quality. This paper therefore extends prior country of origin research by conceptualizing the country of origin of brand as an alternative evaluation tool. In particular, an earlier definition of country of origin is revisited for its emphasis on the country of brand. We have also highlighted the strategic, conceptual and practical relevance in the form of future research propositions. The managerial implications are also presented.