Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Survival-Analysis to Assess Reneging Behavior: Correcting Self-Reported Maximum Impatience

As waiting time is known to influence customer satisfaction, maximum impatience (i.e. reneging) has repeatedly been used as a benchmark when staffing queues. However, a more suitable method should be to measure maximum patience, i.e. the point when the customer first becomes dissatisfied with the waiting time. In order to provide groundwork for doing so, the aim of the present study was to present a new method in assessing reneging behavior and to create a formula to correct self-reported maximum impatience. Participants were 1,485 customers of 2 call centers. Actual waiting times were retrieved from the systems’ databases and customers answered various questions about their patience, perceived waiting time, and the quality of service. Results showed that survival analysis provided valuable information which could easily be utilized by service providers. Furthermore, a correction formula based on polynomial regression estimates led to no differences between actual and self-reported maximum impatience. The results are a great addition to the literature as a successful correction of self-reported maximum impatience can be applied to self-reported statements of maximum patience. Furthermore, it would empower service providers in optimizing utilization of human resources but at the same time maintaining customer satisfaction.
A compression-based area-efficient recovery architecture for nonvolatile processors

Nonvolatile processor has become an emerging topic in recent years due to its zero standby power, resilience to power failures and instant on feature. This paper first demonstrated a fabricated nonvolatile 8051-compatible processor design, which indicates the ferroelectric nonvolatile version leads to over 90% area overhead compared with the volatile design. Therefore, we proposed a compare and compress recovery architecture, consisting of a parallel run-length codec (PRLC) and a state table logic, to reduce the area of nonvolatile registers. Experimental results demonstrate that it can reduce the number of nonvolatile registers by 4 times with less than 1% overflow possibility, which leads to 43% overall processor area savings. Furthermore, we implemented the novel PRLC and defined the method to optimize the optimal parallel degree to accelerate the compressions. Finally, we proposed a reconfigurable state table architecture, which supports the reference vector selecting for different applications. With our heuristic vector selecting algorithm, the optimal vector can provide over 42% better register number reduction than other vector selecting approaches. Our method is also applicable to designs with other nonvolatile materials based registers.
Leisure activity and coping with the stress of university life

by KATHERINE ANN JORDAN (Under the Direction of Douglas A. Kleiber) ABSTRACT Students within a university setting are experiencing life transitions that may be difficult to manage. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between leisure, time pressure and managing stress in undergraduate and graduate students at a public southeastern university. The main findings indicate that perceived stress and time pressure are associated; that leisure activity is used to manage stress but not necessarily reduce it; that higher stress is associated with a greater propensity to utilize mood enhancing leisure activities; and that upperclassman and graduate students are more likely to cope by seeking companionship through their leisure than freshman and sophomores. These findings make a case for further research on why and how these factors are associated and suggest that leisure time and activity are relevant variables for students and others concerned with managing the stress of university life.
Are There Universal Aspects in the Structure and Contents of Human Values

This article presents a theory of potentially universal aspects in the content of human values. Ten types of values are distinguished by their motivational goals. The theory also postulates a structure of relations among the value types, based on the conflicts and compatibilities experienced when pursuing them. This structure permits one to relate systems of value priorities, as an integrated whole, to other variables. A new values instrument, based on the theory and suitable for cross-cultural research, is described. Evidence relevant for assessing the theory, from 97 samples in 44 countries, is summarized. Relations of this approach to Rokeach's work on values and to other theories and research on value dimensions are discussed. Application of the approach to social issues is exemplified in the domains of politics and intergroup relations.
Calcium Efflux from Internally Dialyzed Squid Giant Axons

Calcium efflux has been studied in squid giant axons under conditions in which the internal composition was controlled by means of a dialysis perfusion technique. The mean calcium efflux from axons dialyzed with 0.3 µM calcium and 5 mM ATP was 0.26 pmol/cm2·s at 22°C. The curve relating the Ca efflux with the internal Ca concentration had a slope of about one for [Ca]i lower than 0.3µM and a slope smaller than one for higher concentrations. Under the above conditions replacement of [Na]o and [Ca]o by Tris and Mg causes an 80% fall in the calcium efflux. When the axons were dialyzed with a medium free of ATP and containing 2 mM cyanide plus 5µg/ml oligomycin, analysis of the perfusion effluent gave values of 1–4 µM ATP. Under this low ATP condition, replacement of external sodium and calcium causes the same drop in the calcium efflux. The same effect was observed at higher [Ca]i, (80 µM). These results suggest that the Na-Ca exchange component of the calcium efflux is apparently not dependent on the amounts of ATP in the axoplasm. Axons previously depleted of ATP show a significant transient drop in the calcium efflux when ATP is added to the dialysis medium. This effect probably represents the sequestering of calcium by the mitochondrial system. The consumption of calcium by the mitochondria of the axoplasm in dialyzed axons was determined to be of the order of 6.0 x 10-7 mol Ca++/mg of protein with an initial rate of 2.6 x 10-8 mol Ca++/min·mg of protein. Axons dialyzed with 2 mM cyanide after 8–10-min delays show a rise in the calcium efflux in the presence of "normal" amounts of exogenous ATP. This effect seems to indicate that cyanide, per se, can release calcium ions from internal sources.
Clinical Significance of Mycobacterium asiaticum Isolates in Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium asiaticum was first reported as a cause of human disease in 1982, with only a few cases in the literature to date. This study aims to review the clinical significance of M. asiaticum isolates in Queensland, Australia. A retrospective review (1989 to 2008) of patients with M. asiaticum isolates was conducted. Data were collected through the Queensland TB Control Centre database. Disease was defined in accordance with the American Thoracic Society criteria. Twenty-four patients (13 female) had a positive culture of M. asiaticum, many residing around the Tropic of Capricorn. M. asiaticum was responsible for pulmonary disease (n = 2), childhood lymphadenitis (n = 1), olecranon bursitis (n = 1), 6 cases of possible pulmonary disease, and 2 possible wound infections. Chronic lung disease was a risk factor for pulmonary infection, and wounds/lacerations were a risk factor for extrapulmonary disease. Extrapulmonary disease responded to local measures. Pulmonary disease responded to ethambutol-isoniazid-rifampin plus pyrazinamide for the first 2 months in one patient, and amikacin-azithromycin-minocycline in another patient. While M. asiaticum is rare in Queensland, there appears to be an environmental niche. Although often a colonizer, it can be a cause of pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease. Treatment of pulmonary disease remains challenging. Extrapulmonary disease does not mandate specific nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) treatment.
Fuzzy modeling with multivariate membership functions: gray-box identification and control design

A novel framework for fuzzy modeling and model-based control design is described. The fuzzy model is of the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) type with constant consequents. It uses multivariate antecedent membership functions obtained by Delaunay triangulation of their characteristic points. The number and position of these points are determined by an iterative insertion algorithm. Constrained optimization is used to estimate the consequent parameters, where the constraints are based on control-relevant a priori knowledge about the modeled process. Finally, methods for control design through linearization and inversion of this model are developed. The proposed techniques are demonstrated by means of two benchmark examples: identification of the well-known Box-Jenkins gas furnace and inverse model-based control of a pH process. The obtained results are compared with results from the literature.
Integrated Pest Management of Coffee Berry Borer: Strategies from Latin America that Could Be Useful for Coffee Farmers in Hawaii

The coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is the primary arthropod pest of coffee plantations worldwide. Since its detection in Hawaii (September 2010), coffee growers are facing financial losses due to reduced quality of coffee yields. Several control strategies that include cultural practices, biological control agents (parasitoids), chemical and microbial insecticides (entomopathogenic fungi), and a range of post-harvest sanitation practices have been conducted to manage CBB around the world. In addition, sampling methods including the use of alcohol based traps for monitoring CBB populations have been implemented in some coffee producing countries in Latin America. It is currently unclear which combination of CBB control strategies is optimal under economical, environmental, and sociocultural conditions of Hawaii. This review discusses components of an integrated pest management program for CBB. We focus on practical approaches to provide guidance to coffee farmers in Hawaii. Experiences of integrated pest management (IPM) of CBB learned from Latin America over the past 25 years may be relevant for establishing strategies of control that may fit under Hawaiian coffee farmers’ conditions.
Where are the women? Evaluating visibility of Nigerian female politicians in news media space

Abstract This study examines the spatial representation of Nigerian women politicians in the news media of Africa’s most populous country. Through a content analysis of newspaper coverage of four high-profile women politicians during the 2015 electoral cycle, the study investigates the visibility of the women in three national newspapers. The analysis shows that women do not only occupy limited space in the news media but are also marginalised in political news despite decades of advocacy for gender equality. Although women have become more active politically since the end of military dictatorship in 1999, their participation and engagement in politics is not reflected in media coverage. The study argues that the degree of visibility of women in political news entrenches marginalisation and reinforces assumptions that ‘only men do politics. ’ From this standpoint, the study illustrates how newspapers reinforce patriarchal understanding of politics and consequently highlights the manifest and latent obstacles that women encounter in the political arena. It comes to the conclusion that the relative absence of women in media spaces is emblematic of public perception of their political status.
Towards variable stiffness control of antagonistic twisted string actuators

This paper shows the possibility of using two antagonistic twisted strings actuators as a new type of variable stiffness actuator. Variable stiffness model of the twisted string actuator is identified empirically, and the control strategy is proposed for simultaneous position and stiffness control of the actuator. A variable stiffness linear joint actuated by antagonistic twisted string actuators is proposed as a target system. The proposed model and control strategy make it possible to control the position and the stiffness of the joint without position and force sensor at the load side. The developed variable stiffness linear joint can be effectively used in applications where weight distribution is vital, such as exoskeleton systems and low weight manipulators.
The alignment of the nouveau riche to generational wealth

Generational wealth is built on a foundation of asset accumulation, a contributor to which is savings. The capacity of a nation’s ability to save is strongly related to its ability to achieve elevated sustained and inclusive economic growth and social development. The need for this research stemmed from the slow economic growth, declining savings rate and, in particular, the resulting poverty and middle-income traps, which have become of great concern for South Africa. South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) pursues to address issues of wealth, inequality and economic growth. At the centre of these issues lie factors such as asset accumulation and wealth mobility. The post-apartheid era has seen an increase of new self-made wealth among its growing middle class. A major concern, however, is the conspicuous consumption behaviour that has come with this newly acquired wealth and could be the antithesis of asset accumulation and wealth mobility. This research investigated the alignment of the nouveau riche to transition from new wealth to generational wealth through materialism, future orientation, money attitudes and the resultant behaviour of either conspicuous consumption or asset accumulation. A theoretical model (Figure 2) was created from concepts present in the literature review. This model was used to create the survey that was completed by a sample size of 44 respondents who fitted the nouveau riche criteria. The findings were used to design the new-generational wealth model (Figure 12), a model representing the alignment of new wealth to generational wealth. The results reflected that the nouveau riche are aligned to transition to generational wealth based on their relative asset accumulation and conspicuous consumption behaviour. It also suggested that their asset development behaviour, the foundation of generational wealth, is mediated by their money attitudes, influenced by the nouveau riche’s materialistic and future orientation values. The results have theoretical implications, and also provide useful information to consumer-interest groups, banks, retailers, and policy-makers. The insights regarding the money attitudes of the growing nouveau riche segment are of importance in designing product offerings focused on the transition to generational wealth, and to policy-makers who can play a huge role in creating innovative policies that develop, encourage and reward those behaviours necessary to build the overall wealth of the citizens of South Africa. © University of Pretoria `ii
Design and performance evaluation of a conservative parallel discrete event core for GES

The empirical study of large-scale distributed systems often calls for the use of computer simulations as real-world experimentation is too costly or simply infeasible. Computer simulations can also provide results on a much shorter timespan, increasing productivity. Nevertheless, large-scale system simulation can prove to be non-responsive on modern computers, especially when the modeled system has a high level of complexity or when detailed and compute intensive models are used. In order to fully harness the computational power of modern multi-core computer architectures, computer simulations need to execute in a parallel fashion. In this paper we investigate the potential of parallelizing the execution of the Grid Economics Simulator (GES), a Java-based discrete-event simulator that is targeted towards the simulation of distributed systems in general, and economic forms of resource management in grids in particular. We present the design of a parallel continuation-based simulation core that uses a conservative time synchronization protocol. We analyze the performance of the parallel simulation core through synthetic benchmarks. The results of our performance evaluation give a clear insight in the impact of simulation model properties such as event arrival rates, computational workload, remoteness of events, and look-ahead size, on the speedup that can be achieved through parallel execution.
You’re the emotional one: the role of perspective for emotion processing in reading comprehension

ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to explore whether perspective influences the way readers engage with and process emotional information while reading. Texts presenting characters in an emotional situation from either a personal or an onlooker perspective were presented and reading times were measured for each sentence. Participants also provided emotional self-ratings after reading. In the first experiment, positive texts were processed with greater ease, especially when readers experienced the texts from a personal perspective. In Experiment 2, an emotional match/mismatch was inserted so that a final explicit emotion word either matched or mismatched the emotional valence of the text. Mismatch effects were stronger and more consistent for the personal perspective. The two experiments provide evidence that the perspective of the reader can influence emotion processing. Processing of emotional information was easier for the personal perspective, and readers were more sensitive to inconsistent emotional information from that perspective.
Capital Versus Performance Covenants in Debt Contracts

Building on contracting theory, we argue that financial covenants control the conflicts of interest between lenders and borrowers via two different mechanisms. Capital covenants control agency problems by aligning debtholder-shareholder interests. Performance covenants serve as tripwires that limit agency problems via the transfer of control to lenders in states where the value of their claim is at risk. Companies trade off these mechanisms. Capital covenants impose costly restrictions on capital structure, while performance covenants require contractible accounting information to be available. Consistent with these arguments, we find that the use of performance covenants relative to capital covenants is positively associated with (1) the financial constraints of the borrower, (2) the extent to which accounting information portrays credit risk, (3) the likelihood of contract renegotiation, and (4) the presence of contractual restrictions on managerial actions. Our findings suggest that accounting-based covenants can improve contracting efficiency in two conceptually different ways.
A novel method for pachymetry mapping of human precorneal tear film using Pentacam with fluorescein.

PURPOSE To report a novel method for pachymetry mapping of human precorneal tear film using Pentacam. METHODS Precorneal tear film is routinely undetected by Pentacam but could be well visualized with the aid of fluorescein. Twenty patients with dry eye and 20 age-matched control subjects with normal eyes were enrolled in this prospective study. The right eye of each subject was scanned once with Pentacam and rescanned after instillation of 1 microL 0.1% fluorescein, and the differential map of corneal thickness between the two measurements was identified as the pachymetry map of tear film. Then the central tear film thickness was evaluated, and the pattern of each pachymetry map was determined. RESULTS Mean central tear film thickness in dry eyes (22.2 +/- 4.5 microm) was less than in normal eyes (24.7 +/- 3.9 microm) (Student's t-test, P = 0.0614). Additionally, the tear film pachymetry map could be classified into three patterns: pattern 1, thickening upward; pattern 2, uniform distribution; pattern 3, thickening downward. Tear film pachymetry maps of normal eyes consisted of pattern 1 (40%), pattern 2 (40%), and pattern 3 (20%), whereas those of dry eyes consisted of pattern 1 (70%), pattern 2 (20%), and pattern 3 (10%). Dry eyes tended to have a higher proportion of pattern 1 pachymetry maps than normal eyes, though still no significant difference was found between two groups (Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi(2) test, P = 0.0852). CONCLUSIONS This novel method feasibly could be used to map tear film thickness, and it provides a valuable means to investigate the spatial distribution of tear film.
Toxicity of Acetaminophen, Salicylic Acid, and Caffeine for First-Passage Rat Renal Inner Medullary Collecting Duct Cells

Chronic excess ingestion of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs causes renal medullary necrosis. Previously, using an immortalized line of mouse inner medullary collecting ducts cells (mIMCD3), we found that acetaminophen, salicylic acid, and caffeine are toxic, and the effects of acetaminophen and caffeine are strongly additive. Furthermore, toxicity was greater in proliferating than in nonproliferating cells. Important limitations were that mIMCD3 cells do not readily tolerate the high concentrations of salt and urea normally present in renal inner medullas and proliferate much more rapidly than inner medullary cells in vivo. Thus, these cells may not serve as an appropriate model for the in vivo IMCD. The present studies address these limitations by using passage-1 rat inner medullary collecting duct (p1rIMCD) cells, which tolerate high salt and urea and become contact inhibited when confluent. At 640 mOsmol/kg (the lowest normal inner medullary osmolality), the drugs, singly and in combination, reduce the number of proliferating (i.e., subconfluent) p1rIMCD cells more than they do confluent cells. Effects of acetaminophen and caffeine are strongly additive. Addition of as little as 0.1 mM caffeine significantly enhances the toxicity of acetaminophen plus salicylic acid. With confluent cells at 640 mOsmol/kg and very slowly growing cells at 1370 mOsmol/kg, combinations of drugs that include acetaminophen increase proliferation, accompanied by DNA damage and apoptosis. We conclude that these drugs are toxic to renal inner medullary collecting duct cells under the conditions of high osmolality normally present in the inner medulla, that combinations of the drugs are more toxic than are the drugs individually, and that the toxicity includes induction of proliferation of these cells that are otherwise quiescent in the presence of high osmolality.