Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Virtual Integration Theory of Improved Supply-Chain Performance

Organizing and maintaining a competent and flexible supply chain is a major challenge to manufacturers in today's increasingly competitive and uncertain environments. Virtual integration represents the substitution of ownership with partnership by integrating a set of suppliers through information technology (IT) for tighter supply-chain collaboration. From the systems and control perspectives, this study develops a theory of virtual integration with an empirical model to examine the role that virtual integration plays in facilitating manufacturers to achieve greater manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage. Based on a survey of Taiwanese manufacturing firms, our results show that environmental uncertainty tends to motivate manufacturers to increase their manufacturing flexibility, with both virtual integration and supplier responsiveness playing a vital enabling role. The results demonstrate the importance of supplier responsiveness for manufacturers to gain manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage in supply-chain operations. Environmental uncertainty, thus, might first appear as a threat to a manufacturer, but with the help of IT and more responsive suppliers, such a threat could be transformed into a competitive edge, as reflected in the manufacturer's higher levels of manufacturing flexibility and comparative cost advantage.
Decrease in ventilation time with a standardized weaning process.

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that standardizing the process of weaning from mechanical ventilation would decrease ventilation times and length of stay in a surgical intensive care unit. DESIGN Comparison of historic ventilation times with physician-directed weaning with those obtained with protocol-guided weaning by respiratory therapists. SETTING Urban, teaching surgical intensive care unit with open admission policy and no dominant diagnosis related group. RESULTS From January 1, 1995, through December 31, 1995, 378 patients who underwent physician-directed weaning from a ventilator had 64488 hours of ventilation, compared with 57796 ventilation hours in 515 patients with protocol-guided weaning (April 1, 1996, through May 31, 1997). The mean hours of ventilation decreased by 58 hours, a 46% decrease (P<.001). The length of hospital stay decreased by 1.77 days (29% change), while the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III score remained at 50 to 51. The number of reintubations did not change. The marginal cost savings was $603580. CONCLUSION Protocol-guided weaning from mechanical ventilation leads to more rapid extubation than physician-directed weaning and has great potential for cost savings.
A wide deep infrared look at the Pleiades with UKIDSS: new constraints on the substellar binary fraction and the low-mass initial mass function

We present the results of a deep wide-field near-infrared survey of 12 deg 2 of the Pleiades conducted as part of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Galactic Cluster Survey (GCS). We have extracted over 340 high-probability proper motion (PM) members down to 0.03 M⊙ using a combination of UKIDSS photometry and PM measurements obtained by cross-correlating the GCS with data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Isaac Newton Telescope and the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. Additionally, we have unearthed 73 new candidate brown dwarf (BD) members on the basis of five-band UKIDSS photometry alone. We have identified 23 substellar multiple system candidates out of 63 candidate BDs from the ( Y − K , Y ) and ( J − K , J ) colour–magnitude diagrams, yielding a binary frequency of 28–44 per cent in the 0.075−0.030 M⊙ mass range. Our estimate is three times larger than the binary fractions reported from high-resolution imaging surveys of field ultracool dwarfs and Pleiades BDs. However, it is marginally consistent with our earlier ‘peculiar’ photometric binary fraction of 50 ± 10 per cent presented by Pinfield et al., in good agreement with the 32–45 per cent binary fraction derived from the recent Monte Carlo simulations of Maxted & Jeffries and compatible with the 26 ± 10 per cent frequency recently estimated by Basri & Reiners. A tentative estimate of the mass ratios from photometry alone seems to support the hypothesis that binary BDs tend to reside in near equal-mass ratio systems. In addition, the recovery of four Pleiades members targeted by high-resolution imaging surveys for multiplicity studies suggests that half of the binary candidates may have separations below the resolution limit of the Hubble Space Telescope or current adaptive optics facilities at the distance of the Pleiades (a ∼7 au). Finally, we have derived luminosity and mass functions from the sample of photometric candidates with membership probabilities. The mass function is well modelled by a lognormal peaking at 0.24 M⊙ and is in agreement with previous studies in the Pleiades.
A New and Efficient Algorithm to Binarize Document Images Removing Back-to-Front Interference

Back-to-front interference", "bleeding" and "show-through" is the name given to the phenomenon found whenever documents are written on both sides of translucent paper and the print of one side is visible on the other one. The binarization of documents with back-to- front interference with standard algorithms yields unreadable documents. This paper presents a fast entropy-based segmentation method for generating high-quality binarized images of documents with back-to-front interference.
Assessment of Bond Strength between Metal Brackets and Non-Glazed Ceramic in Different Surface Treatment Methods

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the bond strength between metal brackets and non-glazed ceramic with three different surface treatment methods. Materials and Methods: Forty-two non-glazed ceramic disks were assigned into three groups. Group I and II specimens were etched with 9.5% hydrofluoric acid. Subsequently in group I, silane and adhesive were applied and in group II, bonding agent was used only. In group III, specimens were treated with 35% phosphoric acid and then silane and adhesive were applied. Brackets were bonded with light-cured composites. The specimens were stored in water in room temperature for 24 hours and then thermocycled 500 times between 5°C and 55°C. Results: The difference of tensile bond strength between groups I and III was not significant (P=0.999). However, the tensile bond strength of group II was significantly lower than groups I, and III (P<0.001). The adhesive remnant index scores between the three groups had statistically significant differences (P<0.001). Conclusion: With the application of scotch bond multi-purpose plus adhesive, we can use phosphoric acid instead of hydrofluoric acid for bonding brackets to non-glazed ceramic restorations.
Motivation in Later Life: Theory and Assessment

A framework that has been found useful in research on young adults, Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory [1, 2], is suggested as a promising direction for research on motivation in later life. The theory proposes the existence of four types of motivation (intrinsic, self-determined extrinsic, nonself-determined extrinsic, and amotivation) which are assumed to have varying consequences for adaptation and well-being. A previously published French measure of motivational styles which is known to be reliable and valid was translated into English and was tested on seventy-seven nursing home residents (aged 60 to 98 years). It was found that the four motivational styles can be reliably measured; that the intercorrelations between the motivational styles are consistent with theoretical predictions; and that the four types of motivation are related to other important aspects of the lives of elderly people in a theoretically meaningful manner. Suggestions are made for further research using self-determination theory and the present scales.
Getting a Grip on Drinking Behavior

Alcohol abuse disrupts core executive functions, including working memory (WM)—the ability to maintain and manipulate goal-relevant information. When executive functions like WM are weakened, drinking behavior gets out of control and is guided more strongly by automatic impulses. This study investigated whether training WM restores control over drinking behavior. Forty-eight problem drinkers performed WM training tasks or control tasks during 25 sessions over at least 25 days. Before and after training, we measured WM and drinking behavior. Training WM improved WM and reduced alcohol intake for more than 1 month after the training. Further, the indirect effect of training on alcohol use through improved WM was moderated by participants’ levels of automatic impulses: Increased WM reduced alcohol consumption in participants with relatively strong automatic preferences for alcohol. These findings are consistent with the theoretical framework and demonstrate that training WM may be an effective strategy to reduce alcohol use by increasing control over automatic impulses to drink alcohol.
Effects of Macro and Microstructure of Aluminum Alloy AA 6063-T6 with TIG-AC Welding Process with Unbalanced Rectangular Wave

The use of the rectangular wave in the TIG-CA welding process for aluminum alloys allows numerous possibilities of frequency control, wave amplitude variation and positive or negative current for the same wave cycle. The configuration selected is decisive for the effect and final property of the weld bead, where alternating current variation in aluminum alloy welding is widely used and is intended to promote surface oxide layer cleanliness while promoting penetration of the joint. In the literature it is common to find statements that the cleaning of the oxide layer at the welding time is connected to the positive wave cycle and the penetration is connected to the negative wave cycle time. For the research proposal, TIG-AC welding of the aluminum alloy AA 6063-T6 was performed by simple plate deposition with rectangular wave with variation both in the current and in the time of positive polarity of the electrode in the cycle in the current welding wave 140 A, For balance conditions at 50% of the positive polarity at a waveform time period of 20 ms, followed by wave unbalance to 32.5% and 15% of the positive polarity acting time maintaining a constant frequency of 50 Hz for all settings. The results for the selected settings show that the decrease in the positive wave time decreases the penetration and the width of the weld bead and this may be related to the selection of time and frequency used.
Generalized L-geodesic and monotonicity of the generalized reduced volume in the Ricci flow

Suppose $M$ is a complete n-dimensional manifold, $n\ge 2$, with a metric $\bar{g}_{ij}(x,t)$ that evolves by the Ricci flow $\partial_t \bar{g}_{ij}=-2\bar{R}_{ij}$ in $M\times (0,T)$. For any $0 0$, we will prove the existence of a $\Cal{L}_p$-geodesic which minimize the $\Cal{L}_p(q,\bar{\tau})$-length between $p_0$ and $q$ for any $\bar{\tau}>0$. This result for the case $p=1/2$ is conjectured and used many times but no proof of it was given in Perelman's papers on Ricci flow. My result is new and answers in affirmative the existence of such $\Cal{L}$-geodesic minimizer for the $L_p(q,\tau)$-length which is crucial to the proof of many results in Perelman's papers on Ricci flow. We also obtain many other properties of the generalized $\Cal{L}_p$-geodesic and generalized reduced volume.
Research on the carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) cutting mechanism using macroscopic and microscopic numerical simulations

The essence of cutting carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites is a process of material failure and chip formation. The mechanism of cutting CFRPs can be explained from the perspective of local removal of material on the microscopic level. The morphology of the chips resulting from the cutting process can be determined from the perspective of the overall failure of the material on the macroscopic level. To reveal the mechanism of cutting CFRPs at both levels, a macroscopic model and a microscopic model are established in this study. Orthogonal cutting is applied in both of the models to illuminate the removal process. Combined with experimental observations, the results that obtained from both the macroscopic and microscopic level revealed the different mechanics of cutting CFRPs for different fibre orientations. For example, the forms of fracture that occur at 0° fibre orientation are primary interface cracking and fibre bending; the resulting chips have long shapes.
Aberrant regulation of Wnt signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal malignancies in the world. Several signaling pathways, including the wingless/int-1 (Wnt) signaling pathway, have been shown to be commonly activated in HCC. The Wnt signaling pathway can be triggered via both catenin β1 (CTNNB1)-dependent (also known as “canonical”) and CTNNB1-independent (often referred to as “non-canonical”) pathways. Specifically, the canonical Wnt pathway is one of those most frequently reported in HCC. Aberrant regulation from three complexes (the cell-surface receptor complex, the cytoplasmic destruction complex and the nuclear CTNNB1/T-cell-specific transcription factor/lymphoid enhancer binding factor transcriptional complex) are all involved in HCC. Although the non-canonical Wnt pathway is rarely reported, two main non-canonical pathways, Wnt/planar cell polarity pathway and Wnt/Ca2+ pathway, participate in the regulation of hepatocarcinogenesis. Interestingly, the canonical Wnt pathway is antagonized by non-canonical Wnt signaling in HCC. Moreover, other signaling cascades have also been demonstrated to regulate the Wnt pathway through crosstalk in HCC pathogenesis. This review provides a perspective on the emerging evidence that the aberrant regulation of Wnt signaling is a critical mechanism for the development of HCC. Furthermore, crosstalk between different signaling pathways might be conducive to the development of novel molecular targets of HCC.
Guinea pig 5-HT transporter: cloning, expression, distribution, and function in intestinal sensory reception.

Studies of the guinea pig small intestine have suggested that serotonin (5-HT) may be a mucosal transmitter that stimulates sensory nerves and initiates peristaltic and secretory reflexes. We tested the hypothesis that guinea pig villus epithelial cells are able to inactivate 5-HT because they express the same 5-HT transporter as serotonergic neurons. A full-length cDNA, encoding a 630-amino acid protein (89.2% and 90% identical, respectively, to the rat and human 5-HT transporters) was cloned from the guinea pig intestinal mucosa. Evidence demonstrating that this cDNA encodes the guinea pig 5-HT transporter included 1) hybridization with a single species of mRNA (∼3.7 kb) in Northern blots of the guinea pig brain stem and mucosa and 2) uptake of [3H]5-HT by transfected HeLa cells via a saturable, high-affinity (Michaelis constant 618 nM, maximum velocity 2.4 × 10-17mol ⋅ cell-1 ⋅ min-1), Na+-dependent mechanism that was inhibited by chlorimipramine > imipramine > fluoxetine > desipramine > zimelidine. Expression of the 5-HT transporter in guinea pig raphe and enteric neurons and the epithelium of the entire crypt-villus axis was demonstrated by in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry. Inhibition of mucosal 5-HT uptake potentiates responses of submucosal neurons to mucosal stimulation. The epithelial reuptake of 5-HT thus appears to be responsible for terminating mucosal actions of 5-HT.
Human muscle spindle discharge during isometric voluntary contractions. Amplitude relations between spindle frequency and torque.

During isometric voluntary contractions, the impulse frequency in muscle spindle afferents was analysed in relation to the contraction intensity in man. Single unit impulses from the finger flexor muscles were recorded with percutaneously inserted tungsten needle electrodes from the median nerve. The spindle frequency increased with the contraction intensity. For very weak contractions the increase was steep but levelled off to attain an average slope of 32.8 ips/Nm at the metacarpo-phalangeal joint for the primaries and 22.8 ips/Nm for the secondaries when the muscles to a single finger were activated. The close relation between spindle frequency and torque suggests parallel modulations of the skeletomotor and the fusimotor outputs during voluntary contractions. The dominating type of fusimotor outflow was of the static type but clear indications of increased dynamic fusimotor outflow were also seen. Quantitative considerations of the spindle frequency as a function of contraction intensity and as a function of muscle length suggest that the muscle spindles and their central connections do not constitute a very powerful mechanism for holding the muscle at constant length when the load varies.
Occupational balance in health professionals in Sweden

Abstract Background: Health care employees are often women, a group that has high degrees of sick leave and perhaps problems attaining occupational balance. However, people think differently about their everyday activities and it is therefore important to take their perceptions into account but occupational balance has not yet been measured in health professionals. The aim was to describe occupational balance in three different samples of health professionals in Sweden. A further aim was to investigate whether occupational therapists (OTs) rate their occupational balance differently from other health professionals. Material and method: Four hundred and eighty-two health professionals, employees in public dentistry, mental health care and OTs, aged 21–70 years participated. The participants’ occupational balance was measured using the occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ). Results: The ratings of occupational balance were similar to earlier studies and did not differ significantly between the samples. The OTs’ occupational balance was also similar to that of the other health professionals. Conclusion: The similarities in occupational balance indicate the same difficulties in attaining it. Significance: The result highlights the possibility that working people face similar difficulties in achieving occupational balance. Further research is warranted about how to attain it.
Automated Compliance Checking Methodology for Non-Log Operations

ABSTRACT Compliance Management (CM) is the management process that an organization implements to ensure organizational compliance with relevant requirements and expectations. The most complicated, time-consuming, and costly process in CM is compliance checking because it requires a person who has a good knowledge in policy to examine whether the current operations meet the policy requirements. Many researchers have tried to study better ways to automate the compliance checking process, but most of them require the operation logs in to the computer systems. This paper proposes a methodology to enable the automation of compliance checking for those operations that have no log in computer systems by using questions and answers principle to cooperate with the semantic web technologies. Since there are some operations that cannot be understood by computer systems, using questions is one way to gather the answers, such as operation log to evaluate their compliance. The proposed methodology can help noncertified auditors perform the compliance checking so that the time and cost of compliance checking would be greatly reduced.
Vehicle Recognition Using Contourlet Transform and SVM

This paper proposes the performance of a new algorithm for vehicles recognition system. This recognition system is based on extracted features on the performance of image's Contourlet transform & achieving standard deviation of Contourlet coefficients matrix in different subbands & various directions. This paper presents the application of three different types of classifiers to the vehicle recognition. They include support vector machine (one versus one), k nearest-neighbor and support vector machine (one versus all). In addition, the proposed recognition system is obtained by using different subbands information as feature vector. So, we could clarify the most important subbands in aspect of having useful information. The performed numerical experiments for vehicles recognition have shown the superiority of Contourlet and standard deviation preprocessing, which are associated with the support vector machine structure (one versus one). The results of this test show, the right recognition rate of vehicle's model in this recognition system, at the time of using total subbands information numbers 3&4 Contourlet coefficients matrix is about 99%. We've gathered a data set that includes 300 images from 5 different classes of vehicles. These 5 classes of vehicles include of: PEUGEOT206, PEUGEOT405, Pride, RENAULT and Peykan. We 've examined 230 pictures as our train data set and 70 pictures as our test data set.
Expansion of natural (NK1+) T cells that express alpha beta T cell receptors in transporters associated with antigen presentation-1 null and thymus leukemia antigen positive mice

Thymic selection of natural killer-1+ natural T cells that express alpha beta T cell receptors requires a conserved beta 2-microglobulin- associated molecule, presumably CD1d, displayed by CD4+8+ thymocytes. Here we demonstrate that positive selection of natural T cells occurs independent of transporters associated with antigen presentation-1 (TAP- 1) function. Moreover, natural T cells in TAP-1o/o mice are numerically expanded. Several H-2 class Ib molecules function in a TAP-independent manner, suggesting that if expressed in TAP-1o/o thymocytes, they could play a role in natural T cell development. Of these class Ib molecules, H-2TL is expressed by TAP-1o/o thymocytes. Moreover, we find that thymi of TL+ mice congenic or transgenic for H-2T18 also have a numerically expanded natural T cell repertoire compared with TL- mice. This expansion, as in TAP-1o/o thymi, is evident in each of the limited T cell receptor V beta chains expressed by natural T cells, suggesting that TL and CD1d impact similar repertoires. Thus TL, in addition to CD1d, plays a role in natural T cell development.
Exploring Centrality-Lethality Rule from Evolution Constraint on Essential Hub and Nonessential Hub in Yeast Protein-Protein Interaction Network

In the analysis of Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network, one intriguing problem is the reason for centrality-lethality rule. To discover the relationship between topological properties and functional features of proteins in PPI network, we classified hub proteins into two types: essential hub and nonessential hub and combined proteins' topological structure and evolutionary rate information together. We found that essential hub proteins tend to be intra-modular hubs and they had higher evolutionary conservation, nonessential hub proteins tend to be inter-modular hubs and they had lower evolutionary conservation.