Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION BY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS: AN OVERVIEW OF THEORETICAL MODELS AND THEIR APPLICATION

ABSTRACT It has long been advocated that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers a huge potential to answer many of the challenges that the healthcare sector is facing. ICT applications promise efficient tools to collect, store, process and communicate health-related data and information. In that respect, it is believed that ICT could improve safety, quality, and cost-efficiency of healthcare services. Benefits for patients, health care professionals, organizations and the public in general are thus expected. Therefore, the integration of ICT into the health system constitutes a priority for many countries. However, ICT adoption among healthcare providers remains an important issue. This paper reviews some of the theoretical models that have been applied to the study of ICT adoption in the specific sector of healthcare, presents a synthesis of actual knowledge on factors involved in ICT adoption among healthcare professionals, and identifies key issues that need to be addressed in order to promote the integration of ICT in the daily practice of healthcare professionals.
Regulation of Group I Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Trafficking and Signaling by the Caveolar/Lipid Raft Pathway

Endocytic trafficking of neurotransmitter receptors is critical to neuronal signaling and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. Although the importance of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in receptor trafficking in neurons is well established, the contribution of the caveolar/lipid raft pathway has been little explored. Here, we show that caveolin-1, an adaptor protein that associates with lipid rafts and the main coat protein of caveolae, binds to and colocalizes with metabotropic glutamate receptors 1/5 (mGluR1/5). The interaction with caveolin-1 controls the rate of constitutive mGluR1 internalization, thereby regulating expression of the receptor at the cell surface. Consistent with a role for caveolin-1 in mGluR trafficking, we show that mGluR1/5 associate with lipid rafts in the brain and that their constitutive internalization is mediated, in both heterologous cells and neurons, by caveolar/raft-dependent endocytosis. We further show that caveolin-1 attenuates mGluR1-dependent activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)–mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, an effect that is abolished in cells expressing mutant mGluR1 lacking intact caveolin binding motifs. Neurons from caveolin-1 knock-out mice show enhanced basal ERK1/2 phosphorylation and prolonged ERK1/2 activation in response to stimulation with DHPG [(RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine], a group I mGluR-selective agonist. Together, these findings underscore the importance of caveolar rafts in neurons and suggest that this pathway might play an important role in synapse formation and plasticity.
TSH and Thyrotropic Agonists: Key Actors in Thyroid Homeostasis

This paper provides the reader with an overview of our current knowledge of hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid feedback from a cybernetic standpoint. Over the past decades we have gained a plethora of information from biochemical, clinical, and epidemiological investigation, especially on the role of TSH and other thyrotropic agonists as critical components of this complex relationship. Integrating these data into a systems perspective delivers new insights into static and dynamic behaviour of thyroid homeostasis. Explicit usage of this information with mathematical methods promises to deliver a better understanding of thyrotropic feedback control and new options for personalised diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction and targeted therapy, also by permitting a new perspective on the conundrum of the TSH reference range.
Impact of Shift Work on Individuals and Families

Shift work introduces multiple strains into the lives of working women and men. Nonstandard working hours affect sleeping and eating regimes, dating opportunities, long-term relationships, child-raising patterns, sexual life, and stress levels. This article focuses upon helping human service workers to assess the psychosocial and physiological impact of shift work and to assist clients with the development of coping strategies.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays for medical imaging: experimental results

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) arrays provide broad bandwidth, high sensitivity, low mechanical impedance, and potential for electronic integration, and thus are promising for medical imaging applications. We have designed and fabricated 1D and 2D MUT arrays of various sizes using standard integrated circuit fabrication processes. We improved the device parameters for medical imaging applications to achieve fully functional 64- and 128-element linear 1D cMUT arrays. We have also built a computer controlled experimental setup for collecting pulse-echo data from the test phantoms using MUT arrays. In this paper the design and optimization of the immersion cMUTs for medical imaging system are discussed, and the phased array B-scan sector images taken by 1D MUT arrays are presented.
Governance of Service-Oriented Architecture through the CommonGov Approach

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a paradigm used by organizations to reduce costs and foster agility through reuse of assets and an increase of alignment between business and IT. To achieve these benefits, a governance model is vital to ensure that technical actions and decisions of IT departments are aligned to organizations’ business goals and requirements. There are several proposals of SOA governance models in academia and industry. However, there are important differences between them concerning process, elements and definitions they propose. This work analyzes the main current SOA governance models proposed by literature, and presents a consolidate approach aiming to create a governance model that addresses the most important issues for organizations.
Psychometric properties of the Polish versionof the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS)

background Self-concept clarity is one of the features describing the structural aspect of the self. It refers to the extent to which the contents of an individual’s self-concept are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable. The aim of the study was to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS).
A Semi-Naturalistic Grocery List Recall Task as a Working Memory Distractor

The present study evaluates the usefulness of a semi-naturalistic task as a working memory distractor. Previous studies not finding a relationship between working memory and distraction may not have used a distractor which loaded onto working memory. To address these limitations, we created a semi-naturalistic distractor meeting Kane et al.’s (2007) domain-general criteria of working memory where the primary task tapped into executive attention and the secondary task tapped into memory storage. Finally, participants completed two driving scenarios: one while engaging in the distractor task, and one while not engaging in any distraction, to evaluate the distractor’s effects on driving performance. Theoretical and practical implications on driver safety are discussed.
ALGORITHMS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSIORTATION tROBLEMS*

In this paper we presen algorithms for the solution of the general assignment and transportation problems. In Section 1, a statement of the algorithm for the assignment problem appears, along with a proof for the correctness of the algorithm. The remarks which constitute the proof are incorporated parenthetically into the statement of the algorithm. Following this appears a discussion of certain theoretical aspects of the problem. In Section 2, the algorithm is generalized to one for the transportation problem. The algorithm of that section is stated as concisely as possible, with theoretical remarks omitted.
On the Complexity of Bundle-Pricing and Simple Mechanisms

We show that the problem of finding an optimal bundle-pricing for a single additive buyer is #P-hard, even when the distributions have support size 2 for each item and the optimal solution is guaranteed to be a simple one: the seller picks a price for the grand bundle and a price for each individual item; the buyer can purchase either the grand bundle at the given price or any bundle of items at their total individual prices. We refer to this simple and natural family of pricing schemes as discounted item-pricings. In addition to the hardness result, we show that when the distributions are i.i. d. with support size 2, a discounted item-pricing can achieve the optimal revenue obtainable by lottery-pricings and it can be found in polynomial time.
A Backlog Evaluation Formula for Admission Control Based on the Stochastic Network Calculus with Many Flows

Admission control is a procedure to guarantee a given level of Quality of Service (QoS) by accepting or rejecting arrival connection requests. There are many studies on backlog or loss rate evaluation formulas for admission control at a single node. However, there are few studies on end-to-end evaluation formulas suitable for admission control. In a previous paper, the authors proposed a new stochastic network calculus for many flows using an approach taken from large deviations techniques and obtained asymptotic end-to-end evaluation formulas for output burstiness and backlog. In this paper, we apply this stochastic network calculus to a heterogeneous tandem network with many forwarding flows and cross traffic flows constrained by leaky buckets, and obtain a simple evaluation formula for the end-to-end backlog. In this formula, the end-to-end backlog can be evaluated by the traffic load at the bottle neck node. This result leads us to a natural extension of the evaluation formula for a single node.
Association of Endothelial Dysfunction with Endothelin, Nitric Oxide and eNOS Glu298Asp Gene Polymorphism in Coronary Artery Disease

The endothelial dysfunction has been implicated as a major event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Therefore, this study was planned to determine (a) role of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin as coronary artery disease (CAD) risk markers and (b) intergenotypic variation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) Glu298Asp polymorphism in CAD.The endothelin, NO and eNOS genotypes were determined in 60 patients with documented history of CAD. These were compared with 50 age- and sex- matched healthy controls. The genotype frequencies for eNOS gene polymorphism were determined by PCR and RFLP. The plasma endothelin in CAD patients was significantly higher (p < 0.001) whereas, the NO level in CAD group was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than the control group. The genotype frequencies for Glu298/Asp (Glu/Glu and Glu/Asp) genotypes were 75% and 25% in CAD subjects and 88% and 12% in control subjects, respectively. No Asp/Asp was found in any of the groups. The genotype frequencies differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the controls and cases. In conclusion, endothelin and NO may be used as markers of endothelial dysfunction in CAD. Asp allele might be a risk factor for CAD in the North Indian population.
Large Populations Are Not Always The Best Choice In Genetic Programming

In genetic programming a general consensus is that the population should be as large as practically possible or sensible. In this paper we examine a batch of problems of combinatory logic, previously successfully tackled with genetic programming, which seem to defy this consensus. Our experimental data gives evidence that smaller populations are competitive or even slightly better. Moreover, hill-climbing appears to exhibit the best performance. While these results are in a way unexpected, theoretical considerations provide a possible explanation in terms of a special constellation rather than a general misconception as to the benefits of large populations or genetic programming as such.
Pre-LHC SUSY searches: an overview

We discuss the prospects for searches of low-energy supersymmetry in the time interval separating us from the advent of LHC. In this period of time “indirect” searches may play a very relevant role. We refer to manifestations of supersymmetry in flavour changing neutral current and CP violating phenomena and to signals of the lightest supersymmetric particle in searches of dark matter. In the first part of the talk we critically review the status of the minimal supersymmetric model to discuss the chances that direct and indirect supersymmetric searches may have before the LHC start. In the second part we point out what we consider to be the most promising grounds where departures from the standard model prediction may signal the presence of new physics, possibly of supersymmetric nature. We argue that the often invoked complementarity of direct and indirect searches of low-energy supersymmetry is becoming even more true in the pre-LHC era.
An optimal internet location strategy for markets with different tax rates

The traditional view that a high sales tax rate reduces trade by driving a wedge between the purchase and sale price may not apply to internet commerce for two reasons. The first reason is that the sales tax paid by buyers purchasing via the internet is determined by the tax rate in the region of the buyer. The second reason is that a high sales tax may lower the before-tax price if sellers absorb part of the tax. Taken together, this implies that internet distributors may profitably target customers in regions with low tax rates by locating their selling addresses in high tax regions. Consequently the optimal marketing strategy for a global internet distributor may include siting selling locations in regions with high tax rates in order to target customers in regions with low tax rates. An empirical analysis of the European car market suggests that this is more than a remote theoretical possibility by demonstrating that the before-tax prices recommended by manufacturers for new cars are lower in high tax countries.
Perceptions of Internet Information Credibility

People increasingly rely on Internet and web-based information despite evidence that it is potentially inaccurate and biased. Therefore, this study sought to assess people's perceptions of the credibility of various categories of Internet information compared to similar information provided by other media. The 1,041 respondents also were asked about whether they verified Internet information. Overall, respondents reported they considered Internet information to be as credible as that obtained from television, radio, and magazines, but not as credible as newspaper information. Credibility among the types of information sought, such as news and entertainment, varied across media channels. Respondents said they rarely verified web-based information, although this too varied by the type of information sought. Levels of experience and how respondents perceived the credibility of information were related to whether they verified information. This study explores the social relevance of the findings and discusses them in terms of theoretical knowledge of advanced communication technologies.
Subjective Performance and the Value of Blind Evaluation

The incentive and project selection effects of agent anonymity are investigated in a setting where an evaluator observes a subjective signal of project quality. Although the evaluator cannot commit ex ante to an acceptance criterion, she decides up front between informed review, where the agent's ability is directly observable, or blind review, where it is not. An ideal acceptance criterion balances the goals of incentive provision and project selection. Relative to this, informed review results in an excessively steep equilibrium acceptance policy: the standard applied to low-ability agents is too stringent and the standard applied to high-ability agents is too lenient. Blind review, in which all types face the same standard, often provides better incentives, but it ignores valuable information for selecting projects. The evaluator prefers a policy of blind (respectively informed) review when the ability distribution puts more weight on high (respectively low) types, the agent's pay-off from acceptance is high (respectively low), or the quality signal is precise (respectively imprecise). Applications discussed include the admissibility of character evidence in criminal trials and academic refereeing. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.
The possible role of r-modes in post-glitch relaxation of the Crab pulsar

ABSTRA C T The loss of angular momentum through gravitational radiation, driven by the excitation of r-modes, is considered for neutron stars that have rotation frequencies lower than the associated critical frequency. We find that for reasonable values of the initial amplitudes of such pulsation modes of the star, being excited at the event of a glitch in a pulsar, the total post-glitch losses correspond to a negligible fraction of the initial rise of the spin frequency in the case of Vela and older pulsars. However, for the Crab pulsar the same effect would result, within a few months, in a decrease in its spin frequency by an amount larger than its glitch-induced frequency increase. This could provide an explanation for the peculiar behaviour observed in the post-glitch relaxations of the Crab pulsar.
Unconscious Insights

From early in the history of psychology, theorists have argued about whether insights are initially unconscious or whether they are conscious from the start. Empirically identifying unconscious insights has proven difficult, however: How can we tell if people have had an insight if they do not tell us they have had one? Fortunately, although obtaining evidence of unconscious insights is difficult, it is not impossible. The present article describes an experiment in which evidence of unconscious insights was obtained. Almost 90% of second graders generated an arithmetic insight at an unconscious level before they were able to report it. Within five trials of the unconscious discovery, 80% of the children made the discovery consciously, as indicated by their verbal reports. Thus, the initial failure to report the insight could not be attributed to the children lacking the verbal facility to describe it. The results indicate that at least in some cases, insights arise first at an unconscious level, and only later become conscious. Rising activation of the new strategy may be the mechanism that leads children to become conscious of using it.
Learning Interactive Affordance for Human-Robot Interaction

In this paper, we present an approach for robot learning of affordance from human activity videos. We consider the problem particularly in the context of human-robot interaction: Our approach learns structural representations of human-human (and human-object-human) interactions, describing how body-parts of each agent move with respect to each other and what spatial relations they should maintain to complete each sub-event (i.e., sub-goal). This enables the robot to infer its own movement in reaction to the human body motion, allowing it to naturally replicate such interactions. We introduce the representation of interactive af-fordance and propose a generative model for its weakly supervised learning from human demonstration videos. Our approach discovers critical steps (i.e., latent sub-events) in an interaction and the typical motion associated with them, learning what body-parts should be involved and how. The experimental results demonstrate that our Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based learning algo-rithm automatically discovers semantically meaningful interactive affordance from RGB-D videos, which allows us to generate appropriate full body motion for an agent.
Priority Handling Aggregation Technique (PHAT) for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have limited power capabilities, whereas they serve applications which usually require specific packets, i.e. High Priority Packets (HPP), to be delivered before a deadline. Hence, it is essential to reduce the energy consumption and to have real-time behavior. To achieve this goal we propose a hybrid technique which explores the benefits of data aggregation without data size reduction in combination with prioritized queues. The energy consumption is reduced by appending data from incoming packets with already buffered Low Priority Packets (LPP). The real-time behavior is achieved by directly forwarding the HPP to the next node. Our study explores the impact of the proposed hybrid technique in several all-to-one data flow scenarios with various traffic loads, wait time intervals and percentage of HPP. Our results show gain up to 23,3% in packet loss and 36,6% in energy consumption compared with the direct forwarding of packets.
Behavioral / Systems / Cognitive Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Investigation of Overlapping Lateral Occipitotemporal Activations Using Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis

Several functional areas are proposed to reside in human lateral occipitotemporal cortex, including the motion-selective human homolog of macaque area MT (hMT), object-form-selective lateral occipital complex (LO), and body-selective extrastriate body area (EBA). Indeed, several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported significant activation overlap among these regions. The standard interpretation of this overlap would be that the common areas of activation reflect engagement of common neural systems. Alternatively, motion, object form, and body form may be processed independently within this general region. To distinguish these possibilities, we first analyzed the lateral occipitotemporal responses to motion, objects, bodies, and body parts with whole-brain group-average analyses and within-subjects functional region of interest (ROI) analyses. The activations elicited by these stimuli, each relative to a matched control, overlapped substantially in the group analysis. When hMT, LO, and EBA were defined functionally within subjects, each ROI in each hemisphere (except right-hemisphere hMT) showed significant selectivity for motion, intact objects, bodies, and body parts, although only the peak voxel of each region was tested. In contrast, multi-voxel analyses of variations in selectivity patterns revealed that visual motion, object form, and the form of the human body elicited three relatively independent patterns of fMRI activity in lateral occipitotemporal cortex. Multi-voxel approaches, in contrast to other methods, can reveal the functional significance of overlapping fMRI activity in extrastriate cortex and, by extension, elsewhere in the brain.