Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The value of personalised recommender systems to e-business: a case study

Recommender systems have recently grown in popularity both in e-commerce and in research. However, there is little, if any, direct evidence in the literature of the value of recommender systems to e-Businesses, especially relating to consumer packaged goods (CPG) sold in a supermarket setting. We have been working in collaboration with LeShop (www.LeShop.ch), to gather real evidence of the added business value of a personalised recommender system. In this paper, we present our initial evaluation of the performance of our model-based personalised recommender systems over the 21-month period from May 2006 to January 2008, with particular focus on the added-value to the business. Our analysis covers shopper penetration, as well as the direct and indirect extra revenue generated by our recommender systems. One of the key lessons we have learnt during this case study is that the effect of a recommender system extends far beyond the direct extra revenue generated from the purchase of recommended items. The importance of maintaining updated model files was also found to be key to maintaining the performance of such model-based systems.
Reentry of the Addicted Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist: A Review of the Literature

Although not extensive, there is a body of literature pertaining to addiction and reentry to practice in health care providers (HCPs), including nurses, physicians, and anesthesiologists. Yet very little has been published regarding addiction and practice reentry among Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist s (CRNA), a population of HCPs at unique risk for developing addiction. This paper provides an extensive review of the literature pertaining to reentry of the recovering CRNA and relevant topics thereof. Discovered is that that there are clear gaps in knowledge about reentry to practice in general, and that available data are quite dated. The results of reentry studies in the anesthesiologist are conflicting, and across the research literature, flaws in design and operationalization of successful reentry are evident. Further, although extant recommendations for reentry tend to be consistent across sources, there is very little empirical data to support them. Acknowledging limited understanding of the i.
Pharmacological assays reveal age-related changes in synaptic transmission at the Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junction that are modified by reduced insulin signalling

SUMMARY Frailty is a feature of neuromuscular ageing. Here we provide insight into the relative contribution of pre- and postsynaptic dysfunction to neuromuscular ageing using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Assays of C. elegans motility highlight a precipitous decline during ageing. We describe a novel deployment of pharmacological assays of C. elegans neuromuscular function to resolve pre- and postsynaptic dysfunction that underpin this decreased motility during ageing. The cholinergic agonist levamisole and the cholinesterase inhibitor aldicarb elicited whole worm contraction and allowed a direct comparison of neuromuscular integrity, from 1 to 16 days old: measurements could be made from aged worms that were otherwise almost completely immobile. The rapidity and magnitude of the drug-induced contraction provides a measure of neuromuscular signalling whilst the difference between levamisole and aldicarb highlights presynaptic effects. Presynaptic neuromuscular transmission increased between 1 and 5 days old in wild-type but not in the insulin/IGF1 receptor mutant daf-2 (e1370). Intriguingly, there was no evidence of a role for insulin-dependent effects in older worms. Notably in 16-day-old worms, which were virtually devoid of spontaneous movement, the maximal contraction produced by both drugs was unchanged. Taken together the data support a maturation of presynaptic function and/or upstream elements during early ageing that is lost after genetic reduction of insulin signalling. Furthermore, this experimental approach has demonstrated a counterintuitive phenomenon: in aged worms neuromuscular strength is maintained despite the absence of motility.
Challenging zebrafish escape responses by increasing water viscosity

SUMMARY Escape responses of fishes have long been studied as a model locomotor behavior in which hypothesized maximal or near-maximal muscle power output is used to generate rapid body bending. In this paper we present the results of experiments that challenged zebrafish (Danio rerio) to perform escape responses in water of altered viscosity, to better understand the effects that the fluid mechanical environment exerts on kinematics. We quantified escape kinematics using 1000 frames s–1 high-speed video, and compared escape response kinematics of fish in three media that differed in viscosity: 1 mPa s (normal water), 10 mPa s and 20 mPa s (20 times normal water viscosity). We hypothesized that because viscosity is increased but not density there will be a different effect on kinematic variables resulting from unsteady (acceleration-dependent) hydrodynamic forces and steady (velocity-dependent) ones. Similarly, we hypothesized that the kinematics of stage 1 will be less affected by viscosity than those of stage 2, as higher angular velocities are reached during stage 1 resulting in higher Reynolds numbers. Our results showed a significant overall effect of viscosity on escape response kinematics but the effect was not in accordance with our predictions. Statistical tests showed that increasing viscosity significantly decreased displacement of the center of mass during stage 1 and after 30 ms, and decreased maximum velocity of the center of mass, maximum angular velocity and acceleration during stage 1, but increased time to maximum angular acceleration and time to maximum linear velocity of the center of mass. Remarkably, increasing water viscosity 20 times did not significantly affect the duration of stage 1 or stage 2.
The cardiovascular complications of intravenous regional anaesthesia

In view of the uncertainty over the safety of intravenous regional anaesthesia the heart‐rate, blood‐pressure, and electrocardiogram were recorded seriany in 100 Bantu gold‐miners in whom this form of anaesthesia was used for minor surgical procedures on the extremities. Changes in blood‐pressure were infrequent and mild. In 31 patients the heart slowed by more than 10 beats per minute after release of the tourniquet, falling to less than 60 beats per minute in 27. One patient with sinus bradycardia developed sino‐atrial block with cardiac standstill of short duration, a second developed an intermittent idioatrial tachycardia and premature atrial beats, and in 3 others sinus bradycardia was complicated by atrial escape beats, nodal rhythm, and premature ventricular beats respectively. These toxic effects were thought to be due either to direct myocardial depression or to increased vagal or decreased sympathetic tone, or to both of these mechanis. It is suggested that the cardiovascular depression caused by large doses of lignocaine may be aggravated by coexisting ischaemic heart disease. The importance of monitoring the patients carefully after release of the tourniquet and having facilities available for resuscitation is stressed.
Trusted computing building blocks for embedded linux-based ARM trustzone platforms

Security is an emerging topic in the field of mobile and embedded platforms. The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) has outlined one possible approach to mobile platform security by recently extending their set of Trusted Computing specifications with Mobile Trusted Modules (MTMs). The MTM specification [13] published by the TCG is a platform independent approach to Trusted Computing explicitly allowing for a wide range of potential implementations. ARM follows a different approach to mobile platform security, by extending platforms with hardware supported ARM TrustZone security [3] mechanisms. This paper outlines an approach to merge TCG-style Trusted Computing concepts with ARM TrustZone technology in order to build an open Linux-based embedded trusted computing platform.
Preclinical update on BOTOX® (botulinum toxin type A)‐purified neurotoxin complex relative to other botulinurn neurotoxin preparations

Ongoing investigations evaluated clinically relevant properties of BOTOX® (botulinum toxin type A) relative to other botulinum neurotoxin preparations based on the same (type A) or different (types B, C, E and F) serotypes. The mouse Digit Abduction Scoring (DAS) assay was used to compare muscle weakening efficacy, the antigenic potential of two BOTOX® preparations was measured in rabbits, and the presence of antibodies to serotypes A and B was analysed in humans. BOTOX® and new BOTOX® produced similar degrees of dose‐related muscle weakness in mice. Both preparations of BOTOX® were approximately four times more potent than Dysport®. Preparations of serotypes B, C, and F also demonstrated lower potency than BOTOX®, with serotype F also having a shorter duration of action. Neutralising antibodies were found in rabbits 3 months post‐treatment with BOTOX®, but were undetected 8 months post‐treatment with new BOTOX®. A high incidence of antibodies to type B was observed in individuals with no known exposure to type B toxin: highest in groups with the highest incidence of type A antibodies. The safety margin for BOTOX®, calculated using DAS median effective dose (ED,) and the minimum dose producing a 10% reduction in body weight, was more than twice that of Dysport®. In conclusion, each botulinum toxin serotype tested exhibited a different muscle weakening efficacy; BOTOX® consistently exhibited the greatest eficacy. Importantly, BOTOX® and Dysport® exhibited markedly different efficacy and safety profiles, and should not be considered interchangeable. Antibody distribution in humans suggests that there may be immunological cross‐reactivity between serotypes A and B.
Predicting technology acceptance and adoption by the elderly: a qualitative study

Technology adoption has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Information systems, Sociology and Human-Computer Interaction researchers have come up with various models incorporating factors and phases to predict adoption that, in turn, will lead to persistent use. Technology acceptance by the elderly mobile phone user has received less attention and no model currently exists to predict factors influencing their technology adoption. A literature study yielded a set of acceptance factors (derived mostly from quantitative studies) and adoption phases (derived mostly from qualitative studies) that could influence and predict mobile phone adoption by the elderly user. We confirmed a subset of these factors by consulting findings from research into the context of senior mobile phone users, including the needs and limitations of these users. We then verified the factors qualitatively by means of structured interviews with senior mobile phone users. The interviews included the use of scenarios as well as a mobile phone design activity. Triangulating the quantitative findings from literature with the qualitative findings from this study led to a set of interlinked acceptance factors and adoption phases that we present as the Senior Technology Acceptance& Adoption model for Mobile technology (STAM). This paper makes a contribution to understanding technology acceptance by senior users and should be of interest to researchers, designers and decision-makers on technology adoption, especially mobile features and services.
Eigenstates and Eigenvalues of Chain Hamiltonians Based on Multiparameter Braid Matrices for All Dimensions

We study chain Hamiltonians derived from a class of multidimensional, multiparameter braid matrices introduced and explored in a series of previous papers. The N2 × N2 braid matrices (for all N) have <path id="x1D441" d="M857 650l-6 -28q-44 -4 -61.5 -16.5t-29.5 -48.5q-11 -32 -37 -166l-78 -399h-29l-351 537h-4l-56 -276q-24 -120 -24 -164q0 -35 17.5 -46t75.5 -15l-6 -28h-245l7 28q41 2 62 14t31 44q10 30 41 171l53 245q8 44 6.5 60.5t-14.5 33.5q-10 15 -27 19.5t-64 6.5l6 28h153 l350 -516h5l48 257q25 131 25 171q0 34 -17.5 45t-77.5 15l7 28h240z" /> free parameters for even N and for N odd. We present systematic explicit constructions for eigenstates and eigenvalues of chain Hamiltonians for <path id="x33" d="M285 378v-2q65 -13 102 -54.5t37 -97.5q0 -57 -30.5 -104.5t-74 -75t-85.5 -42t-72 -14.5q-31 0 -59.5 11t-40.5 23q-19 18 -16 36q1 16 23 33q13 10 24 0q58 -51 124 -51q55 0 88 40t33 112q0 64 -39 96.5t-88 32.5q-29 0 -64 -11l-6 29q77 25 118 57.5t41 84.5 q0 45 -26.5 69.5t-68.5 24.5q-67 0 -120 -79l-20 20l43 63q51 56 127 56h1q66 0 107 -37t41 -95q0 -42 -31 -71q-22 -23 -68 -54z" /> and all chain lengths r. We derive explicitly the constraints imposed on these states by periodic (circular) boundary conditions. Our results thus cover both open and closed chains. We then indicate how our formalism can be extended for all <path id="x1D45F" d="M393 379q-9 -16 -28 -29q-15 -10 -23 -2q-19 19 -36 19q-21 0 -52 -38q-57 -72 -82 -126l-40 -197q-23 -3 -75 -18l-7 7q49 196 74 335q7 43 -2 43q-7 0 -30 -14.5t-47 -37.5l-16 23q37 42 82 73t67 31q41 0 15 -113l-11 -50h4q41 71 85 117t77 46q29 0 45 -26 q13 -21 0 -43z" /> . The dependence of the eigenvalues on the free parameters is displayed explicitly, showing how the energy levels and their differences vary in a particular simple way with these parameters. Some perspectives are discussed in conclusion.
Learning to link with wikipedia

This paper describes how to automatically cross-reference documents with Wikipedia: the largest knowledge base ever known. It explains how machine learning can be used to identify significant terms within unstructured text, and enrich it with links to the appropriate Wikipedia articles. The resulting link detector and disambiguator performs very well, with recall and precision of almost 75%. This performance is constant whether the system is evaluated on Wikipedia articles or "real world" documents. This work has implications far beyond enriching documents with explanatory links. It can provide structured knowledge about any unstructured fragment of text. Any task that is currently addressed with bags of words - indexing, clustering, retrieval, and summarization to name a few - could use the techniques described here to draw on a vast network of concepts and semantics.
Efficient sampling of information in social networks

As online social networking emerges, there has been increased interest to utilize the underlying social structure as well as the available social information to improve search. In this paper, we focus on improving the performance of information collection from the neighborhood of a user in a dynamic social network. To this end, we introduce sampling based algorithms to quickly approximate quantities of interest from the vicinity of a user's social graph. We then introduce and analyze variants of this basic scheme exploring correlations across our samples. Models of centralized and distributed social networks are considered. We show that our algorithms can be utilized to rank items in the neighborhood of a user, assuming that information for each user in the network is available. Using real and synthetic data sets, we validate the results of our analysis and demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithms in approximating quantities of interest. The methods we describe are general and can probably be easily adopted in a variety of strategies aiming to efficiently collect information from a social graph.
Aesthetics and experience-centered design

The aesthetics of human-computer interaction and interaction design are conceptualized in terms of a pragmatic account of human experience. We elaborate this account through a framework for aesthetic experience built around three themes: (1) a holistic approach wherein the person with feelings, emotions, and thoughts is the focus of design; (2) a constructivist stance in which self is seen as continuously engaged and constituted in making sense of experience; and (3) a dialogical ontology in which self, others, and technology are constructed as multiple centers of value. We use this framework to critically reflect on research into the aesthetics of interaction and to suggest sensibilities for designing aesthetic interaction. Finally, a digital jewelery case study is described to demonstrate a design approach that is open to the perspectives presented in the framework and to consider how the framework and sensibilities are reflected in engagement with participants and approach to design.
Differential regulation of sodium–potassium pump isoforms during smolt development and seawater exposure of Atlantic salmon

SUMMARY Freshwater and seawater isoforms of the alpha subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) have previously been identified in gill ionocytes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). In the present study we examine the abundance and cellular localization of these isoforms during the parr–smolt transformation, a developmental process that is preparatory for seawater entry. The abundance of NKAα1a was lower in smolts than in parr, remained relatively constant during spring and decreased in summer. NKAα1b increased tenfold in smolts during spring, peaking in late April, coincident with downstream migration and increased salinity tolerance. NKAα1b increased a further twofold after seawater exposure of smolts, whereas NKAα1a decreased by 98%. The abundance of NKAα1b-positive, and NKAα1b and NKAα1a co-labeled ionocytes increased during smolt development, whereas the number of NKAα1a cells decreased. After seawater exposure of smolts, NKAα1b-positive ionocytes increased, NKAα1a-positive cells decreased, and co-labeled cells disappeared. Plasma growth hormone and cortisol increased during spring in smolts, but not in parr, peaking just prior to the highest levels of NKAα1b. The results indicate that the increase in the abundance of NKAα1b during smolt development is directly linked to the increase in salinity tolerance that occurs at this stage, but that significant changes also occur after seawater exposure. Spring increases in circulating levels of growth hormone and cortisol indicate that these hormones may be instrumental in upregulating NKAα1b during smolt development.
The language of emotion in short blog texts

Emotion is central to human interactions, and automatic detection could enhance our experience with technologies. We investigate the linguistic expression of fine-grained emotion in 50 and 200 word samples of real blog texts previously coded by expert and naive raters. Content analysis (LIWC) reveals angry authors use more affective language and negative affect words, and that joyful authors use more positive affect words. Additionally, a co-occurrence semantic space approach (LSA) was able to identify fear (which naive human emotion raters could not do). We relate our findings to human emotion perception and note potential computational applications.
The role of light in mediating the effects of ocean acidification on coral calcification

SUMMARY We tested the effect of light and PCO2 on the calcification and survival of Pocillopora damicornis recruits settled from larvae released in southern Taiwan. In March 2011, recruits were incubated at 31, 41, 70, 122 and 226 μmol photons m−2 s−1 under ambient (493 μatm) and high PCO2 (878 μatm). After 5 days, calcification was measured gravimetrically and survivorship estimated as the number of living recruits. Calcification was affected by the interaction of PCO2 with light, and at 493 μatm PCO2 the response to light intensity resembled a positive parabola. At 878 μatm PCO2, the effect of light on calcification differed from that observed at 493 μatm PCO2, with the result that there were large differences in calcification between 493 μatm and 878 μatm PCO2 at intermediate light intensities (ca. 70 μmol photons m−2 s−1), but similar rates of calcification at the highest and lowest light intensities. Survivorship was affected by light and PCO2, and was highest at 122 μmol photons m−2 s−1 in both PCO2 treatments, but was unrelated to calcification. In June 2012 the experiment was repeated, and again the results suggested that exposure to high PCO2 decreased calcification of P. damicornis recruits at intermediate light intensities, but not at lower or higher intensities. Together, our findings demonstrate that the effect of PCO2 on coral recruits can be light dependent, with inhibitory effects of high PCO2 on calcification at intermediate light intensities that disappear at both higher and lower light intensities.
Electric organ discharge diversity in the genus Gymnotus: anatomo-functional groups and electrogenic mechanisms

SUMMARY Previous studies describe six factors accounting for interspecific diversity of electric organ discharge (EOD) waveforms in Gymnotus. At the cellular level, three factors determine the locally generated waveforms: (1) electrocyte geometry and channel repertoire; (2) the localization of synaptic contacts on electrocyte surfaces; and (3) electric activity of electromotor axons preceding the discharge of electrocytes. At the organismic level, three factors determine the integration of the EOD as a behavioral unit: (4) the distribution of different types of electrocytes and specialized passive tissue forming the electric organ (EO); (5) the neural mechanisms of electrocyte discharge coordination; and (6) post-effector mechanisms. Here, we reconfirm the importance of the first five of these factors based on comparative studies of a wider diversity of Gymnotus than previously investigated. Additionally, we report a hitherto unseen aspect of EOD diversity in Gymnotus. The central region of the EO (which has the largest weight on the conspecific-received field) usually exhibits a negative–positive–negative pattern where the delay between the early negative and positive peaks (determined by neural coordination mechanisms) matches the delay between the positive and late negative peaks (determined by electrocyte responsiveness). Because delays between peaks typically determine the peak power frequency, this matching implies a co-evolution of neural and myogenic coordination mechanisms in determining the spectral specificity of the intraspecific communication channel. Finally, we define four functional species groups based on EO/EOD structure. The first three exhibit a heterogeneous EO in which doubly innervated electrocytes are responsible for a main triphasic complex. Group I species exhibit a characteristic cephalic extension of the EO. Group II species exhibit an early positive component of putative neural origin, and strong EO auto-excitability. Group III species exhibit an early, slow, negative wave of abdominal origin, and variation in EO auto-excitability. Representatives of Group IV generate a unique waveform comprising a main positive peak followed by a small, load-dependent negative component.
Neuromodulation of early electrosensory processing in gymnotiform weakly electric fish

Summary Sensory neurons continually adapt their processing properties in response to changes in the sensory environment or the brain's internal state. Neuromodulators are thought to mediate such adaptation through a variety of receptors and their action has been implicated in processes such as attention, learning and memory, aggression, reproductive behaviour and state-dependent mechanisms. Here, we review recent work on neuromodulation of electrosensory processing by acetylcholine and serotonin in the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. Specifically, our review focuses on how experimental application of these neuromodulators alters excitability and responses to sensory input of pyramidal cells within the hindbrain electrosensory lateral line lobe. We then discuss current hypotheses on the functional roles of these two neuromodulatory pathways in regulating electrosensory processing at the organismal level and the need for identifying the natural behavioural conditions that activate these pathways.