Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Surface Modification and Bulk Geometry on the Biotribological Behavior of Cross-Linked Polyethylene: Wear Testing and Finite Element Analysis

The wear and creep deformation resistances of polymeric orthopedic bearing materials are both important for extending their longevity. In this study, we evaluated the wear and creep deformation resistances, including backside damage, of different polyethylene (PE) materials, namely, conventional PE, cross-linked PE (CLPE), and poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)- (PMPC-) grafted CLPE, through wear tests and finite element analysis. The gravimetric and volumetric degrees of wear of disks (3 or 6 mm in thickness) of these materials against a cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy pin were examined using a multidirectional pin-on-disk tester. Cross-linking and PMPC grafting decreased the gravimetric wear of the PE disks significantly. The volumetric wear at the bearing surface and the volumetric penetration in the backside of the 3-mm thick PE disk were higher than those of the 6-mm thick PE disk, regardless of the bearing material. The geometrical changes induced in the PE disks consisted of creep, because the calculated internal von Mises stress at the bearing side of all disks and that at the backside of the 3-mm thick disks exceeded their actual yield strengths. A highly hydrated bearing surface layer, formed by PMPC grafting, and a cross-linking-strengthened substrate of adequate thickness are essential for increasing the wear and creep deformation resistances.
Measuring Information Systems Service Quality: Concerns on the Use of the SERVQUAL Questionnaire

A recent MIS Quarterly article rightfully points out that service is an important part of the role of the information systems (IS) department and that most IS assessment measures have a product orientation (Pitt, et al. 1995). The article went on to suggest the use of an IS-context-modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument to assess the quality of the services supplied by an information services provider (Parasuraman, et al. 1985, 1988, 1991). However, a number of problems with the SERVQUAL instrument have been discussed in the literature (e.g., Babakus and Boller 1992; Carman 1990; Cronin and Taylor 1992, 1994; Teas 1993). This article reviews that literature and discusses some of the implications for measuring service quality in the information systems context. Findings indicate that SERVQUAL suffers from a number of conceptual and empirical difficulties. Conceptual difficulties include the operationalization of perceived service quality as a difference or gap score, the ambiguity of the expectations construct, and the unsuitability of using a single measure of service quality across different industries. Empirical problems, which may be linked to the use of difference scores, include reduced reliability, poor convergent validity, and poor predictive validity. This suggests that (1) some alternative to difference scores is preferable and should be utilized; (2) if used, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of IS-SERVQUAL difference scores; and (3) further work is needed in the development of measures for assessing the quality of IS services.
HostView

Network disruptions can adversely impact a users' web browsing, cause video/audio interruptions, or render web sites and services unreachable. Such problems are frustrating to Internet users, who are oblivious to the underlying problems, but completely exposed to the service degrada- tions. Ideally users' end systems would have diagnostic tools that can automatically detect, diagnose and possibly repair, performance degradations. Hopefully, this can be done without user intervention. Clearly, the first step for any such (end-host) diagnostic tool is a methodology to automatically detect performance degradations in the network that can affect a user's perception of application performance.
Segmentation of Coffee Consumers Using Sustainable Values: Cluster Analysis on the Polish Coffee Market

Producers and retailers are the driving force behind the adoption of the idea of sustainability. It has been found that while preparing their product range offer, many still pay attention to the same set of criteria: size of the customers’ earnings, how often they shop, and how much they buy when shopping. In general, sustainable values applied by consumers in their purchasing decisions are rarely taken into account in consumer segmentation. The aim of this study is to recognize if values such as environmental protection, producers’ ethical behavior, fair trade or maximizing the utility function of consumption are important factors in the purchasing process of coffee and if they can be used as segmentation variables. The discussed findings come from a standardized online survey conducted on a sample of 800 Polish coffee consumers in July 2018. The obtained results are discussed by employing multi-dimensional analyses, such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and cluster analysis (CA). In consequence, six segments of coffee consumers are identified and described: “responsible, aspiring to be connoisseurs”, “loyal coffee enthusiasts”, “pragmatic users”, “coffee laypersons”, “sophisticated connoisseurs”, and “consumerists, connoisseurs, but not at any price”. Among the identified segments, the most often indicated sustainable consumption values refer to “responsible, aspiring to be connoisseurs”, and the least often to “consumerists, connoisseurs, but not at any price”. The conclusions may be used by manufacturing and trade enterprises operating in the coffee market to respond to the identified needs and expectations of consumers.
An Analysis of Deadline-Monotonic Schedulability on a Multiprocessor

A new schedulability test is presented for preemptive deadline-monotonic scheduling of periodic or sporadic real-time tasks on a single-queue m-server system. This generalizes and extends a result of Andersson, Baruah, and Jonsson, for the case where deadline equals period, which showed all deadlines will be met if the total utilization is at most m=(3m 1) and the utilization of each task is at most m=(3m 2). The new condition does not require that the task deadline be equal to the period, and can be used to verify schedulability for task sets with higher total utilizations or lower individual task utilizations. In addition to the lower bound on the minimum achievable utilization, an upper bound of +m ln( 2 1+ ) is derived.
EVALUATION OF ANTI-ULCER ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF ABUTILON INDICUM LINN LEAVES IN EXPERIMENTAL RATS

Gastric ulcer is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders, which affects approximately 5-10% of people during their life. In recent years, abundant work has been carried out on herbal medicine to clarify their potential efficacy in gastric ulcer prevention or management. Here, present study was carried out to investigate antiulcer activity of methanol extract of Abutilon indicum L. (Family: Malvaceae) leaves in pylorus ligated and ethanol induced ulceration in the albino rats. Preliminary methanol extract of A. indicum was subjected to the acute oral toxicity study according to the OECD guideline no. 425. Based on which, two dose levels i.e. 250 and 500 mg/kg were selected for the further study. In pylorus ligation induced ulcer model, various parameters were studied viz. gastric volume, pH, total acidity, free acidity, and ulcer index. Ulcer index and percentage inhibition of ulceration was determined for ethanol induced ulcer model. Ranitidine at 50 mg/kg was used as the standard drug. Pretreatment of methanol extract of A. indicum leaves showed significant (P<0.05) decrease in the gastric volume, total acidity and free acidity. However, pH of the gastric juice was significantly (P<0.05) increased only at higher dose, 500 mg/kg. It showed also significant (P<0.05) decrease in number of ulcers and ulcer score index in pylorus ligation and ethanol induced ulceration models. The methanol extract of A. indicum leaves possess significant antiulcer properties in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion the antiulcer properties of the extract may be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals like flavonoids (quercetin), alkaloids and tannins present in the plant extract with various biological activities.
Androgen activity and markers of inflammation among men in NHANES III

Inflammation contributes to chronic diseases. Lower serum testosterone among men is associated with less inflammation, yet immune defense is thought to trade‐off against reproduction with androgens adversely affecting immune function. Anti‐androgens are effective at castrate levels of serum testosterone, suggesting serum testosterone may not capture all androgen activity. The association of two androgen biomarkers with key markers of inflammation was examined.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review

There is a gap in the literature regarding suicide risk among traumatized individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and this article aims to systematically review literature on the relationship between PTSD and suicidal behavior and ideation. A meta-analysis of 50 articles that examined the association between PTSD and past and current suicidal ideation and behavior was conducted. There was no evidence for an increased risk of completed suicide in individuals with PTSD. PTSD was associated with an increased incidence of prior attempted suicide and prior and current suicidal ideation. Controlling for other psychiatric disorders (including depression) weakened, but did not eliminate, this association. The evidence indicates that there is an association between PTSD and suicidality with several factors, such as concurrent depression and the pre-trauma psychiatric condition, possibly mediating this relationship. There are significant clinical implications of the reported relationship for suicide risk assessment and therapy, and further studies might help to understand the mediating pathways between PTSD and increased suicide risk.
A Tale of Two Growth Engines: Interactive Effects of Monetary Policy and Intellectual Property Rights

How do intellectual property rights that determine the market power of firms influence the effects of monetary policy on economic growth and social welfare? To analyze this question, we develop a monetary RD furthermore, a larger market power of firms strengthens these effects of monetary policy in the R&D model. In contrast, increasing the market power of firms dampens the effects of monetary policy in the AK model. In other words, the market power of firms has surprisingly opposite implications on the growth and welfare effects of monetary policy under the two growth engines (i.e., innovation versus capital accumulation). Finally, we simulate the transition dynamics of the R&D-based growth model to compute the complete welfare changes from reducing inflation.
Well-quasi-ordering infinite graphs with forbidden finite planar minor

On montre que pour toute suite G 1 , G 2 ,. de graphes ou G 1 est planaire fini et tous les autres G i sont eventuellement infinis, il existe des indices i, j tels que i<j et G i soit isomorphe a un mineur de G j . On generalise ainsi aux graphes infinis les resultats de Robertson et Seymour
Clusters and superclusters of galaxies

Rich clusters of galaxies are the most massive virialized systems known. Even though they contain only a small fraction of all galaxies, rich clusters provide a powerful tool for the study of galaxy formation, dark matter, large-scale structure, and cosmology. Superclusters, the largest known systems of galaxies, extend to (approx) 100h^{-1} Mpc in size and highlight the large-scale structure of the universe. This large-scale structure reflects initial conditions in the early universe and places strong contraints on models of galaxy formation and on cosmology. Some of the questions that can be addressed with clusters and superclusters of galaxies include: How did galaxies and larger structures form and evolve? What is the amount, composition, and distribution of matter in clusters and larger structures? How does the cluster mass density relate to the matter density in the universe? What constraints can the cluster and supercluster data place on cosmology? I will discuss in these lectures some of the properties of clusters and superclusters of galaxies that can be used to investigate these topics.
Cutting Edge: Direct Suppression of B Cells by CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells1

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) can potentially migrate to the B cell areas of secondary lymphoid tissues and suppress T cell-dependent B cell Ig response. T cell-dependent Ig response requires B cell stimulation by Th cells. It has been unknown whether Tregs can directly suppress B cells or whether they must suppress Th cells to suppress B cell response. We report here that Foxp3+ Tregs are found in T-B area borders and within germinal centers of human lymphoid tissues and can directly suppress B cell Ig response. Although Tregs can effectively suppress T cells, they can also directly suppress B cell response without the need to first suppress Th cells. The direct suppression of B cell Ig production by Tregs is accompanied by inhibition of Ig class switch recombination.
CD 1 Expression Defines Subsets of Follicular and Marginal Zone B Cells in the Spleen : b 2-Microglobulin-Dependent and Independent Forms 1

We have used multicolor FACS analysis, immunohistology, and functional assays to study the expression of CD1 on B cell subsets from normal and b2m 2/2 mice. Two B cell subpopulations were identified that express high levels of CD1 in normal mice: splenic marginal zone B cells (IgM IgD CD21 CD24 CD23 CD43) and a newly identified subpopulation of follicular B cells. The latter cells are unusual, because they are IgD high CD23, like follicular B cells, but express high levels of CD21 and IgM, an expression pattern that is associated with marginal zone B cells. Therefore, the high-level expression of CD1 and CD21 was found to be closely associated on splenic B cells. Immunohistology confirmed the expression of CD1 on marginal zone B cells and on clusters of B cells in splenic follicles. Both the high-level CD1 expression by these cells and the low-level CD1 expression by subpopulations of B cells in the spleen, lymph node, peritoneal cavity, and bone marrow were markedly reduced in b2m 2/2
A Technique for Cleft Palate Repair

The author has developed a technique of palate repair that combines minimal hard palate dissection with radical retropositioning of the velar musculature and tensor tenotomy. The repair is performed under the operating microscope. Results are reported for 442 primary palate repairs performed between 1978 and 1992 inclusive, with follow-up of at least 10 years. In 80 percent of these palate repairs, repair was carried out through incisions at the margins of the cleft and without any mucoperiosteal flap elevation or lateral incisions. Secondary velopharyngeal rates have decreased from 10.2 to 4.9 to 4.6 percent in successive 5-year periods within this 15-year period. Evidence from independent assessment of speech results in palate re-repair and submucous cleft palate repair suggests that this more radical muscle dissection improves velar function.
Variables Associated With Achievement in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses

The last 2 decades witnessed a surge in empirical studies on the variables associated with achievement in higher education. A number of meta-analyses synthesized these findings. In our systematic literature review, we included 38 meta-analyses investigating 105 correlates of achievement, based on 3,330 effect sizes from almost 2 million students. We provide a list of the 105 variables, ordered by the effect size, and summary statistics for central research topics. The results highlight the close relation between social interaction in courses and achievement. Achievement is also strongly associated with the stimulation of meaningful learning by presenting information in a clear way, relating it to the students, and using conceptually demanding learning tasks. Instruction and communication technology has comparably weak effect sizes, which did not increase over time. Strong moderator effects are found for almost all instructional methods, indicating that how a method is implemented in detail strongly affects achievement. Teachers with high-achieving students invest time and effort in designing the microstructure of their courses, establish clear learning goals, and employ feedback practices. This emphasizes the importance of teacher training in higher education. Students with high achievement are characterized by high self-efficacy, high prior achievement and intelligence, conscientiousness, and the goal-directed use of learning strategies. Barring the paucity of controlled experiments and the lack of meta-analyses on recent educational innovations, the variables associated with achievement in higher education are generally well investigated and well understood. By using these findings, teachers, university administrators, and policymakers can increase the effectivity of higher education.
Steady State Creep Behavior of Functionally Graded Thick Cylinder C

Creep behavior of thick-walled functionally graded cylinder consisting of AlSiC and subjected to internal pressure and high temperature has been analyzed. The functional relationship between strain rate with stress can be described by the well known threshold stress based creep law with a stress exponent of five. The effect of imposing non-linear particle gradient on the distribution of creep stresses in the thick-walled functionally graded composite cylinder has been investigated. The study revealed that for the assumed non-linear particle distribution, the radial stress decreases throughout the cylinder, whereas the tangential, axial and effective stresses have averaging effect. The strain rates in the functionally graded composite cylinder could be reduced to significant extent by employing non-linear gradient in the distribution of reinforcement. Keywords—Functionally Graded Material, Pressure, Steady State Creep, Thick-Cylinder.
Emotion recognition in autism: Verbal and nonverbal information

This study examined the roles of verbal and nonverbal sources of information in the ability of persons with and without autism to recognize emotion. Child, adolescent, and young adult participants in four groups [Lower Functioning Autism (LFA) (n = 17), High Functioning Autism (HFA) (n = 18), Lower Functioning Comparison (LFC) (n = 18), and High Functioning Comparison (HFC) (n = 23)] identified emotions shown (happy, angry, sad, surprised, or neutral) in video clips of individuals expressing emotion verbally, nonverbally, or both. Verbal expressions of emotion were either Explicit, Implicit, or Neutral, whereas nonverbal expressions were Animate or Flat (3 × 2). Pairwise ANCOVAs indicated no group differences between HFA and HFC groups or between the LFA and LFC groups, and indicated instead group differences between higher and lower functioning persons. With groups collapsed into High Functioning (HF) and Lower Functioning (LF), significant group differences were found. Performance of LF individuals suggested they had difficulty inferring how a person felt based on what the person said, if the emotion was not explicitly named. Performance of HF individuals suggested they relied more on nonverbal than on verbal information to determine a speaker's emotion, except where the emotion was explicitly named. Results suggested that persons with autistic spectrum disorders can use affective information from multiple sources in much the same ways as persons of comparable developmental level without autism.
Maritime logistics and applications of information technologies

Due to the globalization, international logistics becomes to rely more on the maritime transportation than ever before. This presentation discusses various research issues in field of maritime logistics, which need to be solved by researchers of industrial engineering. The issues include port logistics, container transportation, and maritime transportation systems. Various research topics on the optimization of maritime logistics are introduced in more detail, including topics on the design and operation container terminals and container transportation systems. It is also discussed how information technologies can contribute to making maritime logistics more efficient. Applications of hardware and devices for real-time locating systems and automated handling equipment to maritime logistics are illustrated.
Propagation Lifetime from the Surface and Internal Defects in the Ultra High Cycle Fatigue Regime

Ultra High Cycle fatigue leads to a failure initiated in the bulk material of a material. Some results on the nodular cast iron are presented: initiation occurs from the defects, located at the surface or in the bulk. It has been shown that environment plays a major role that could explain the difference between fatigue lives, for the surface and internal initiation. The influence of the defect size and crack growth law is discussed and, the importance of fatigue crack initiation stage is revealed, in the ultra high cycle regime
Venture capitalist-induced relational fit and new venture performance: a Dutch biotech comparative case analysis

Abstract Venture capitalists contribute financially as well as non-financially to new venture development. Their non-financial support consists of both direct strategic advice and indirect advice via networking. But the effectiveness of this advice is more dependent on its acceptance than on its nature. The acceptance of the advice of a venture capitalist by the entrepreneurs has been demonstrated to depend on the latter’s perception of fairness in their relationship with the venture capitalist. In this study, we demonstrate that more dimensions of relational fit than only the perception of fairness of entrepreneurs in their relationship with a venture capitalist play an important role in their relational fit, i.e. goal congruence and complementarity of competences and cognitions. Additionally, this study shows that venture capitalists can improve their relational fit to entrepreneurs and thereby the new venture development by taking some fit improving measures like bonding, avoiding forced decisions and a too large overlap of knowledge, adherence to shared norms of conduct and heterogeneity of the knowledge exchanged.
Technology Adoption Under Production Uncertainty: Theory and Application to Irrigation Technology

We propose a theoretical framework to analyze the conditions under which a farmer facing production uncertainty (due to a possible water shortage) and incomplete information will adopt a more efficient irrigation technology. A reduced form of this model is empirically estimated using a sample of 265 farms located in Crete, Greece. The empirical results suggest that farmers choose to adopt the new technology in order to hedge against production risk. In addition, we show that the farmer's human capital also plays a significant role in the decision to adopt modern, more efficient irrigation equipment.