Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AGILEUX Model: Towards a Reference Model on Integrating UX in Developing Software Using Agile Methodologies

This paper presents a maturity model for integrating agile methods and user experience in the software development cycle that may be suitable for small companies. The proposal is in line with CMMI, MPS. BR and ISO18529. The model focuses on the first level of maturity where seeks to establish a standard process within an organization by defining agile practices, principles, techniques and artifacts of user experience. It also offers guidelines on how to integrate practices that are important for the evolution of maturity in order to evolve to more advanced levels. The preliminary model was verified by panels of experts. Future studies will be conducted so as to extend the model and do so by detailing other process levels and conducting action research at companies with experience in the maturation of process of integrating user experience into the software development cycle with CMMI and/or MPS. BR certifications.
A programming environment for the design of complex high speed ASICs

A C++ based programming environment for the design of complex high speed ASICs is presented. The design of a 75 Kgate DECT transceiver is used as a driver example. Compact descriptions, combined with efficient simulation and synthesis strategies are essential for the design of such a complex system. It is shown how a C++ programming approach outperforms traditional HDL-based methods.
Timing of Surgery for Primary Exotropia in Children

Objective To compare the postoperative alignment and sensory functions in patients with primary exotropia who had been operated at an early age (< 7 years) with those in patients who had been operated at an older age (> 7 years). Methods In a consecutive retrospective cohort study, 112 patients who had had a surgical intervention for primary exotropia between 1997 and 2003 were evaluated for postoperative results. After applying criteria for eligibility, the group of patients was divided into two groups: those who had had surgery before the age of seven years (n = 24) and those who had had surgery after the age of seven years (n = 36). Age at surgery, preoperative alignment and sensory functions were correlated with the postoperative status. The follow-up was at least one year (1.0 year to 7 years; median: 2.3 and 3.5 years, respectively). Results Patients who had had surgery before the age of seven had significantly better alignment and sensory functions. The univariate logistic regression model confirmed a statistically significant association between motor outcome (exodeviation less than 10 diopters) and age at the time of surgery (before or after the age of seven; p = 0.002). In the multivariate model, the association between age at time of surgery and motor outcome was even stronger. The number of re-operations in the group operated before the age of 7 years was significantly less than in the group operated after the age of seven (2 versus 12, p = 0.023). Conclusion The postoperative alignment and sensory functions for patients with primary exotropia who had had a surgical intervention before the age of seven years were, in this study, better than those in patients who had had surgery after the age of seven years.
Cohesion and Power-Law as an “Elite Club” in a Large-Scale Industrial District: Flexible Specialization or Dual Economy? (word count 13,024 in total all included)

(80 words for the limit of 80) The Marxian “dual economy” became obsolete after the mid-20th century, and collaborative network arrangements between large and small firms became widely practiced after the 1980s. For many SMEs in industrial districts, with the explosion of globalization, partnership experiences were disappointing. Our network analysis of a giant Tokyo industrial cluster shows a cohesive core of large OEMs and powerful suppliers that excluded most SMEs. As of the mid-1990s, the egalitarian “flexible specialization” appears to generate a
Put the Concert Attendee in the Spotlight. A User-Centered Design and Development Approach for Classical Concert Applications

As the importance of real-life use cases in the music information retrieval (MIR) field is increasing, so does the importance of understanding user needs. The development of innovative real-life applications that draw on MIR technology requires a user-centered design and development approach that assesses user needs and aligns them with technological and academic ambitions in the MIR domain. In this paper we present such an approach, and apply it to the development of technological applications to enrich classical symphonic concerts. A userdriven approach is particularly important in this area, as orchestras need to innovate the concert experience to meet the needs and expectations of younger generations without alienating the current audience. We illustrate this approach with the results of five focus groups for three audience segments, which allow us to formulate informed user requirements for classical concert applications.
CEO reputation and internal corporate governance

This study examines how CEO reputation affects internal corporate governance strength across firms. Drawing from several streams of research in economics, finance, and accounting, I generate competing hypotheses on this relation. Using several proxies for CEO reputation, I find a U-shaped relation between CEO reputation and governance strength along many governance dimensions. This study makes a contribution to the literature by enhancing our understanding of the observed heterogeneity in corporate governance strength across firms. JEL classification: G3; M4
Context-aware saliency detection

We propose a new type of saliency – context-aware saliency – which aims at detecting the image regions that represent the scene. This definition differs from previous definitions whose goal is to either identify fixation points or detect the dominant object. In accordance with our saliency definition, we present a detection algorithm which is based on four principles observed in the psychological literature. The benefits of the proposed approach are evaluated in two applications where the context of the dominant objects is just as essential as the objects themselves. In image retargeting we demonstrate that using our saliency prevents distortions in the important regions. In summarization we show that our saliency helps to produce compact, appealing, and informative summaries.
Static and dynamic cardiac modelling: Initial strides and results towards a quantitatively accurate mechanical heart model

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has exhibited significant potential for quantifying cardiac function and dysfunction in the mouse. Recent advances in high-resolution cardiac MR imaging techniques have contributed to the development of acquisition approaches that allow fast and accurate description of anatomic structures, and accurate surface and finite element (FE) mesh model constructions for study of global mechanical function in normal and transgenic mice. This study presents work in progress for construction of quantitatively accurate three-dimensional (3D) and 4D dynamic surface and FE models of murine left ventricular (LV) muscle in C57BL/6J (n=10) mice. Constructed models are subsequently imported into commercial software packages for the solution of the constitutive equations that characterize mechanical function, including computation of the stress and strain fields. They are further used with solid-free form fabrication processes to construct model-based material renditions of the human and mouse hearts.
Posttranscriptional regulation of rat growth hormone gene expression: increased message stability and nuclear polyadenylation accompany thyroid hormone depletion

In thyroid hormone-depleted rats, the rate of transcription of the growth hormone (GH) gene in the anterior pituitary gland is lower than the rate in euthyroid controls, and there is a corresponding reduction in the abundance of the GH mRNA. Concomitantly, the poly(A) tail of the GH mRNA increases in length. Examination of nuclear RNA from anterior pituitary glands of control and thyroid hormone-depleted rats revealed no difference in the length of pre-mRNAs containing the first and last introns of the GH gene. However, mature nuclear GH RNA is differentially polyadenylated in euthyroid and hypothyroid animals. We suggest that the extent of polyadenylation of the GH transcript is regulated in the cell nucleus concomitant with or subsequent to the splicing of the pre-mRNA. Experiments with anterior pituitary gland explant cultures demonstrated that the GH mRNA from thyroid hormone-depleted rats is more stable than its euthyroid counterpart and that the poly(A) tail may contribute to the differential stability of free GH ribonucleoproteins.
Nonlinear operators in image restoration

We present a variational approach such that during image restoration, edges detected in the original image are being preserved. We compare the mathematical foundation of this method with respect to some of the well known methods recently proposed in the literature within the class of PDE based algorithms (anisotropic diffusion, mean curvature motion, min/max flow technique). The performance of our approach is carefully examined and compared to the classical methods. Experimental results on synthetic and real images illustrate the capabilities of all the studied approaches.
Upper limb disability in HAVS cases--how does it relate to the neurosensory or vascular elements of HAVS?

AIMS Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) consists of vascular, neurosensory and musculoskeletal components, characterized by symptoms that include Raynaud's phenomenon, tingling and numbness in the hands. However, there has been little published data on the effects of HAVS on the capability to carry out normal daily tasks. We have investigated the application of the widely-used disability, arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) disability questionnaire that reflects functionality problems in the upper extremities, as well as symptoms, in a HAVS cohort. METHODS The cohort consisted of 118 males who, as a part of their health surveillance, had been referred for further assessment and Stockholm workshop staging. This process involved medical interview, physical examination and quantitative tests covering neurosensory function, manual dexterity and handgrip strength. RESULTS The relationship between DASH outcome metric and a combination of quantitative tests reflecting a range of abnormalities found in HAVS, supports the validity of this questionnaire in HAVS studies. The data suggest that HAVS cases have a greater level of upper extremity disability compared with a general population. The study confirms that disability in HAVS is very largely related to sensorineural Stockholm workshop staging, rather than vascular staging. Any influence of vibration-induced Raynaud's phenomenon on upper extremity disability is related to the frequency of blanching attacks rather than their extent across the digits. CONCLUSION This study strengthens the importance of identifying and preventing the exacerbation of the neurosenory component of HAVS, that unlike the blanching attacks of the vascular component does not have such an obvious pathognomic signal.
Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles

The well-known Easterlin paradox points out that average happiness has remained constant over time despite sharp rises in GNP per head. At the same time, a micro literature has typically found positive correlations between individual income and individual measures of subjective well-being. This paper suggests that these two findings are consistent with the presence of relative income terms in the utility function. Income may be evaluated relative to others (social comparison) or to oneself in the past (habituation). We review the evidence on relative income from the subjective well-being literature. We also discuss the relation (or not) between happiness and utility, and discuss some nonhappiness research (behavioral, experimental, neurological) related to income comparisons. We last consider how relative income in the utility function can affect economic models of behavior in the domains of consumption, investment, economic growth, savings, taxation, labor supply, wages, and migration.
Semantic Similarity Using First and Second Order Co-occurrence Matrices and Information Content Vectors

Massiveness of data on the Web demands automated Knowledge Engineering techniques enabling machines to achieve integrated definition of all available data to make a unique understanding of all discrete data sources. This research deals with Measures of Semantic Similarity resolving foregoing issue. These measures are widely used in ontology alignment, information retrieval and natural language processing. The study also introduces new normalized functions based on first and second order context and information content vectors of concepts in a corpus. By applying these measures to Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) using WordNet as a general taxonomy and MEDLINE abstract as the corpus to extract information content and information content vectors, these functions get evaluated against a created test bed of 301 biomedical concept pairs scored by medical residents. The paper shows newly proposed Semantic Similarity Measures outperform previous functions. Key-Words: Semantic Similarity, Computational Linguistic, UMLS, WordNet
Lower Extremity Range of Motion in the Recreational Sport Runner

The purposes of this study in the recreational runner were to describe and compare lower extremity sag ittal range of motion and vertical body displacement for slow and fast paces during treadmill and over ground running, and to compare timing of the running phases at the two paces. Vertical displacement of the body, and flexion and extension of the hip, knee, and ankle were measured with a motion analysis system at 200 hertz as the subjects self-selected the two paces. No statistically significant differences were seen when comparing sagittal motion on a treadmill with overground running. Statistically more vertical displacement during overground running was re corded when compared with treadmill running. Peak vertical force was near midstance when the ankle, knee, and hip approached maximum flexion. Results demonstrated that during a slow pace the approxi mate arcs of motion were: ankle, 50°; knee, 95°; and hip, 40°. During running at a fast pace, the hip re quired more extension in early swing; the hip and knee required more flexion in middle and late swings. The fact that ankle motion did not change with the different speeds gave credence to the belief that push-off, or toe-off, is not the source of power in running.
Circularly Polarized Conical-Beam Antenna With Wide Bandwidth and Low Profile

This work introduces a circularly polarized (CP) conical-beam antenna with low profile and wide impedance & axial ratio (AR) bandwidths. The antenna structure simply consists of a wideband monopolar patch antenna and eight parasitic loop stubs for generating vertically polarized electric field Eθ and horizontally polarized field Eφ, respectively. The proposed antenna is low profile but wideband because of merging the TM01 and TM02 modes at around the center frequency. In order to obtain the wideband CP radiation, the eight parasitic loop stubs are printed and placed sequentially along the radiating edge of the patch. With the resultant radiations from both the patch antenna and the loop stubs, the CP conical-beam radiation pattern can be obtained. In addition, a parametric study of the shorting vias effect, number of loop stub elements, and loop widths are demonstrated how to design this wideband CP antenna. The antenna exhibits the wide impedance bandwidth of 28% from 4.9 to 6.5 GHz (for the reflection coefficient ≤ -10 dB) and the 3-dB AR bandwidth of 14.4% from 5.8 to 6.7 GHz. The thickness of this antenna is only 0. 06λ in terms of the free-space wavelength at its lowest operation frequency. Stable omni-directional conical-beam radiation patterns are observed over the operating bandwidth with the peak gain of 4.9 dBic. The antenna can cover the uplink of standard C band (5.85 to 6.425 GHz) for satellite communication.
Modulation of multiple experimental arthritis models by collagen-induced arthritis quantitative trait loci isolated in congenic rat lines: different effects of non-major histocompatibility complex quantitative trait loci in males and females.

OBJECTIVE Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is a model of inflammatory arthritis with many similarities to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We previously mapped in F(2) offspring of CIA-susceptible DA and CIA-resistant F344 rats, 5 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for which F344 alleles were associated with reduced CIA severity. In the present study, we sought to characterize the independent arthritis-modulating effects of these 5 QTLs. METHODS CIA-regulatory regions were transferred from the F344 genome to the DA background or vice versa by repeated backcrossing. The arthritis-modulating effects of the transferred alleles were determined by comparing the severity of experimentally induced arthritis in congenic rats with that in DA rats. RESULTS Congenic lines with either the F344 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the DA background or the DA MHC on the F344 background were resistant to CIA, confirming both MHC and non-MHC contributions to the genetic regulation of CIA. F344 alleles at the Cia3 and Cia5 regions of chromosomes 4 and 10 reduced CIA severity relative to that observed in DA rats. F344 Cia4 and Cia6 regions of chromosomes 7 and 8 failed to significantly alter CIA severity. Arthritis-modifying effects of Cia4 and Cia6 were, however, detected in pristane-induced and/or Freund's incomplete adjuvant oil-induced arthritis. The arthritis-modifying effects of the non-MHC CIA-regulatory loci differed in males and females. CONCLUSION These congenic lines confirmed the existence and location of genes that regulate the severity of experimental arthritis in rats. Mechanisms responsible for the sex-specificity of individual arthritis-regulatory loci may explain some of the sex differences observed in RA and other autoimmune diseases in humans.
Constraints and Dedication as Drivers for Relationship Commitment

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to empirically determine the role of constraints and dedication as drivers of relationship commitment as most of the existing work is of a conceptual nature only. We assess how and to which extent these two drivers fit into the established relationships between overall service quality, satisfaction, trust, and commitment. Using LISREL, we estimate the conceptual model based on a sample of customers of health-care centers. The results indicate that both constraints and dedication are important drivers of relationship commitment. The study has important implications for relationship marketing theory and for service providers aiming at relationship commitment.
Possible Effects of Stress on Steel Weld Microstructures

Little is known about the effect of stress on the development of microstructure in steel welds. This paper contains an assessment of published data together with a description of the theory that is available for dealing with stress–affected transformations in steels. Attention is focused on those transformations which have the greatest potential for interaction with an externally applied stress. These include the solid–state transformation products of austenite, such as Widmanstätten ferrite, acicular ferrite, bainite and martensite.
THE LIPID COMPOSITION OF PURIFIED BOVINE BRAIN MYELIN *

IN an earlier report (AUTILIO, NORTON and TERRY, 1964) we described a method for isolating purified bovine brain myelin. The two myelin fractions which were obtained were called light and heavy, according to their relative positions after centrifugation in a sucrose density gradient. Preliminary data on the lipid composition of the light myelin fractions have already been reported (NORTON and AUTILIO, 1965). The detailed analysis of both fractions is presented here.
Stimulation of Renin Release from Rabbit Renal Cortex by Arachidonic Acid and Prostaglandin Endoperoxides

The mechanism by which renal prostaglandins stimulate renin secretion in vivo is unknown. In this in vitro study we measured the effects of activation of the prostaglandin (PG) system on renin release from slices of rabbit renal cortex. The PG precursor arachidonic add (C20:4), a natural PG endoperoxide (PGG2), two stable synthetic PG endoperoxide analogues (EPA I and H), PGE,, PGF2α, and two different PG synthesis Inhibitors [indomethadn and 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic add (ETA)] were used to evaluate the possibility of a direct action of the cortical PG system on renin secretion. Renin release increased significantly with time after addition of C20:4, PGG2, EPA I, and EPA II to the incubation medium. Stimulation of renin release was se-related for C20:4 in concentrations of 0.6 to 4.5 × 10-6 m, for EPA I in concentrations of 0.7 to 2.8 × 10-6, and for EPA II in concentrations of 1.4 to 14.0 × 10-6 m. Indometbadn (10-4 m) and ETA (10-4 m) significantly decreased basal renin release as well as the renin release stimulated by C20:4 and EPA I. PGE, (10-12 to 10-6 m) had no effect on renin release, whereas PGF2α (10-12 to 10-6 m) decreased renin release in a dose-dependent manner. These data raise the possibility of a direct action of the renal cortical PG system on renin secretion. The results further indicate that stimulation of renin release by C20:4 may depend more specifically on the action of PG endoperoxides than on the primary prostaglandins.
Computational Complexity between K-Means and K-Medoids Clustering Algorithms for Normal and Uniform Distributions of Data Points

Problem statement: Clustering is one of the most important research ar eas in the field of data mining. Clustering means creating groups of ob jects based on their features in such a way that th e objects belonging to the same groups are similar an d those belonging to different groups are dissimila r. Clustering is an unsupervised learning technique. T he main advantage of clustering is that interesting patterns and structures can be found directly from very large data sets with little or none of the background knowledge. Clustering algorithms can be applied in many domains. Approach: In this research, the most representative algorithms K-Mean s and K-Medoids were examined and analyzed based on their basic approach. The best algorithm i n each category was found out based on their performance. The input data points are generated by two ways, one by using normal distribution and another by applying uniform distribution. Results: The randomly distributed data points were taken as input to these algorithms and clusters are found ou t for each algorithm. The algorithms were implemented using JAVA language and the performance was analyzed based on their clustering quality. The execution time for the algorithms in each category was compar ed for different runs. The accuracy of the algorith m was investigated during different execution of the program on the input data points. Conclusion: The average time taken by K-Means algorithm is greater than the time taken by K-Medoids algorithm for both the case of normal and uniform distributions. The r esults proved to be satisfactory.