Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship between Task Characteristics, BI Quality, and Task Compatibility: An Explorative Study

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between task characteristics, business intelligence (BI) quality, and task compatibility. It is essential to investigate this relationship, as BI often builds up data from the organization's existing information systems, and thus, is a supplement. In addition, there is a gap within existing research about task characteristics and BI. We conducted a survey of three companies, where 104 BI end users answered the questionnaire. Our findings reveal that BI users who experience high information quality solve difficult tasks, have a specified job, and their task solution is independent of others experiencing higher task compatibility. The main contribution of the survey is a better understanding of how tasks and BI fit together. In conclusion, the model could be tested in different industries and with different information systems.
Investigation on Two Techniques for the Reduction of Screening Current-Induced Field Effects in REBCO HTS Coils

Magnetization currents are known to be the cause of field disturbances in high-temperature superconducting REBCO magnets. The tape-like shape of REBCO-coated conductors implies that a magnetic field orthogonal to their flat surface can induce large screening current loops, which in turn generate a screening current-induced field (SCIF). This SCIF results in detrimental effects on the overall field generated by the magnet, lowering its amplitude and disturbing both the field quality and time stability. This paper focuses on the experimental investigation of two techniques for suppressing the detrimental SCIF effects. First, vortex shaking uses an auxiliary ac magnetic field of small amplitude to accelerate the relaxation of the current density in the superconductor, thus, erasing the SCIF in a short period of time. The second technique, the current overshoot, consists in charging the magnet to its nominal operating point with an initial overshoot, which creates a favorable initial current density distribution mitigating the time drift observed on the field. Those techniques were tested on small REBCO single pancake coils at 77 K with different kinds of insulation: full Kapton insulation and metallic cowinding.
Acoustic Noise and Vibration Reduction of SRM by Elimination of Third Harmonic Component in Sum of Radial Forces

A novel method to reduce an acoustic noise and the vibration of a switched reluctance motor has been proposed. In this method, driving current is a sum of dc, fundamental, the second- and the third-harmonic components. This driving current is determined to eliminate the third harmonic component in the sum of radial forces of the stator teeth. Consequently, an acoustic noise and a vibration are reduced. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by means of finite-element method and test machine experiments.
Explaining Urban-Rural Health Disparities in China

Background:Given strict residency controls and geographic imbalances in health care resources, China may experience serious urban-rural health disparities. Objectives:To investigate urban-rural disparities in the patterns of health status and health care utilization in China and to examine the evolution of these disparities from 1997 to 2006. Subjects:This study uses data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 1997–2006 with a sample of 27,897 rural and 13,898 urban respondents aged 18 or older. Measures:We use self-reported health status, activity limitations due to illness, and diagnosis of serious diseases to measure health status, and physician visits for illness to measure health care utilization. Results:Self-reported health status of urban residents is consistently worse than their rural counterparts (OR = 0.76; P < 0.01) based on multivariate logistic regression analysis. Urban residents are significantly more likely to have activity limitations due to illness (OR = 1.13; P < 0.01) and to have been diagnosed with a serious disease (OR = 1.69; P < 0.01). Urban residents are less likely to visit physicians for illness than are rural residents, a difference that has increased substantially since 1997. Conclusions:Urban residents appear to fare worse than rural residents in terms of overall health status and health care utilization in China. Identifying the causes of these urban-rural health disparities and developing appropriate policy responses are critical directions for researchers and policymakers.
When is the Right Time to Refresh Knowledge Discovered From Data?

Knowledge discovery in databases KDD techniques have been extensively employed to extract knowledge from massive data stores to support decision making in a wide range of critical applications. Maintaining the currency of discovered knowledge over evolving data sources is a fundamental challenge faced by all KDD applications. This paper addresses the challenge from the perspective of deciding the right times to refresh knowledge. We define the knowledge-refreshing problem and model it as a Markov decision process. Based on the identified properties of the Markov decision process model, we establish that the optimal knowledge-refreshing policy is monotonically increasing in the system state within every appropriate partition of the state space. We further show that the problem of searching for the optimal knowledge-refreshing policy can be reduced to the problem of finding the optimal thresholds and propose a method for computing the optimal knowledge-refreshing policy. The effectiveness and the robustness of the computed optimal knowledge-refreshing policy are examined through extensive empirical studies addressing a real-world knowledge-refreshing problem. Our method can be applied to refresh knowledge for KDD applications that employ major data-mining models.
Improved occupancy grid learning - the conform approach to occupancy grid mapping

A central requirement for the development of robotic systems, that are capable of autonomous operation in non-specific environments, is the ability to create maps of their operating locale. The creation of these maps is a non trivial process as the robot has to interpret the findings of its sensors so as to make deductions regarding the state of its environment. Current approaches fall into two broad categories: on-line and offline. An on-line approach is characterised by its ability to construct a map as the robot traverses its operating environment, however this comes at the cost of representational clarity. An offline approach on the other hand requires all sensory data to be gathered before processing begins but is capable of creating more accurate maps. In this paper we present a new means of constructing occupancy grid maps which addresses this problem.
Automated Functional Analysis of Astrocytes from Chronic Time-Lapse Calcium Imaging Data

Recent discoveries that astrocytes exert proactive regulatory effects on neural information processing and that they are deeply involved in normal brain development and disease pathology have stimulated broad interest in understanding astrocyte functional roles in brain circuit. Measuring astrocyte functional status is now technically feasible, due to recent advances in modern microscopy and ultrasensitive cell-type specific genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators for chronic imaging. However, there is a big gap between the capability of generating large dataset via calcium imaging and the availability of sophisticated analytical tools for decoding the astrocyte function. Current practice is essentially manual, which not only limits analysis throughput but also risks introducing bias and missing important information latent in complex, dynamic big data. Here, we report a suite of computational tools, called Functional AStrocyte Phenotyping (FASP), for automatically quantifying the functional status of astrocytes. Considering the complex nature of Ca2+ signaling in astrocytes and low signal to noise ratio, FASP is designed with data-driven and probabilistic principles, to flexibly account for various patterns and to perform robustly with noisy data. In particular, FASP explicitly models signal propagation, which rules out the applicability of tools designed for other types of data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of FASP using extensive synthetic and real data sets. The findings by FASP were verified by manual inspection. FASP also detected signals that were missed by purely manual analysis but could be confirmed by more careful manual examination under the guidance of automatic analysis. All algorithms and the analysis pipeline are packaged into a plugin for Fiji (ImageJ), with the source code freely available online at https://github.com/VTcbil/FASP.
Presence of D4 dopamine receptors in human prefrontal cortex: a postmortem study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to explore the presence and the distribution of D4 dopamine receptors in postmortem human prefrontal cortex, by means of the binding of [3H]YM-09151-2, an antagonist that has equal affinity for D2, D3 and D4 receptors. It was therefore necessary to devise a unique assay method in order to distinguish and detect the D4 component. METHOD Frontal cortex samples were harvested postmortem, during autopsy sessions, from 5 subjects. In the first assay, tissue homogenates were incubated with increasing concentrations of [3H]YM-09151-2, whereas L-745870, which has a high affinity for D4 and a low affinity for D2/D3 receptors, was used as the displacer. In the second assay, raclopride, which has a high affinity for D2/D3 receptors and a low affinity for D4 receptors, was used to block D2/D3. The L-745870 (500 nM) was added to both assays in order to determine the nonspecific binding. RESULTS Our experiments revealed the presence of specific and saturable binding of [3H]YM-09151-2. The blockade of D2 and D3 receptors with raclopride ensured that the D4 receptors were labeled. The mean maximum binding capacity was 88 +/- 25 fmol/mg protein, and the dissociation constant was 0.8 +/- 0.4 nM. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Our findings, although not conclusive, suggest that the density of D4 receptors is low in the human prefrontal cortex.
Tumor relapse prevented by combining adoptive T cell therapy with Salmonella typhimurium

ABSTRACT We recently reported that therapeutic vaccination with live tumor antigen-producing Salmonella typhimurium rescues dysfunctional endogenous T cell responses and eradicates long-established tumors refractory to αCTLA-4 and αPD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor blockade. Here, we show that live intravenously injected or heat-killed (HK) intratumorally injected Salmonella typhimurium, even when not producing tumor antigen, synergize with adoptive T cell therapy to eradicate tumors. These data demonstrate that the combination of adoptive T cell transfer with the injection of live or dead Salmonella typhimurium is a promising approach for cancer treatment.
The Implications of Positive Psychological Capital on Employee Absenteeism

Drawing from positive psychology and positive organizational behavior (Luthans, 2002a, 2002b) this study utilized a field study in a high tech manufacturing firm to demonstrate how positive psychological capital reduces levels of both involuntary and voluntary absenteeism. Previous studies setting out to determine job attitude antecedents of absenteeism have been generally disappointing and account for only small levels of variance. In addition, with few exceptions conceptualization of absenteeism has been uni-dimensional despite calls by previous researchers to consider the significant differences in semantic networks of voluntary and involuntary absenteeism as separate metrics. We make this dual dimension distinction and show how previous antecedents of absenteeism contribute to one dimension more than the other. The utility of the study findings conclude the article.
Modulation of proteinase‐K resistant prion protein by prion peptide immunization

Prion diseases are caused by conformational alterations in the prion protein (PrP). The immune system has been assumed to be non‐responsive to the self‐prion protein, therefore, PrP autoimmunity has not been investigated. Here, we immunized various strains of mice with PrP peptides, some selected to fit the MHC class II‐peptide binding motif. We found that specific PrP peptides elicited strong immune responses in NOD, C57BL/6 and A/J mice. To test the functional effect of this immunization, we examined the expression of proteinase‐K‐resistant PrP by a scrapie‐infected tumor transplanted to immunized syngeneic A/J mice. PrP peptide vaccination did not affect the growth of the infected tumor transplant, but significantly reduced the level of protease‐resistant PrP. Our results demonstrate that self‐PrP peptides are immunogenic in mice and suggest that this immune response might affect PrP‐scrapie levels in certain conditions.
The impact of sexual or physical abuse history on pain-related outcomes among blacks and whites with chronic pain: gender influence.

OBJECTIVES Physical and sexual abuses commonly co-occur with chronic pain. We hypothesized that: 1) abuse history questions would form distinct factors that relate differently to pain perceptions and pain outcomes; 2) abuse history consequences on physical and mental health differ by gender; and 3) different abuse types and age of occurrence (childhood vs adolescent/adulthood) predict different negative outcomes. METHODS Chronic pain patients at a tertiary care pain center provided data (64% women, 50% black) through a confidential survey. Factors were formed for abuse type and age. Linear regression, controlling for socio-demographic information, was used to examine the relationship between abuse and abuse by sex interactions with pain-related outcomes. RESULTS Six 3-item abuse factors (α = 0.77-0.91)-sexual molestation, sexual penetration, and physical abuse-were identified in both childhood and adulthood. Lifetime prevalence of abuse was 70% for men and 65% for women. Women experienced lower physical abuse (P = 0.01) in childhood, and higher penetration (P = 0.02) in adulthood. Decreased general health was associated with all abuse types (P < 0.05) in childhood. Affective pain was associated with all childhood abuse scales and adulthood molestation, though childhood molestation only for men (P = 0.04). Disability was associated with childhood (P = 0.02) and adulthood rape (P = 0.04). Men with childhood or adulthood molestation (P = 0.02; P = 0.02) reported higher post-traumatic stress disorder. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms physical and mental health, and pain-related outcomes are affected by abuse history for men and women. These results support screening all patients for abuse to improve the survivor's overall health and well-being.
Practice analysis: defining the clinical practice of primary contact physical therapy.

STUDY DESIGN Nonexperimental descriptive research design. OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency of use and perceived level of importance of professional responsibilities, procedures, and knowledge areas by physical therapists practicing in primary contact care settings and to compare these data to similar data from physical therapists practicing in nonprimary contact care settings. BACKGROUND Physical therapy services have moved toward a primary contact model of practice in response to changes in the health care delivery system. Several studies have reported the effectiveness of primary contact physical therapy. However, a practice analysis has not been performed to define the clinical practice of primary contact physical therapy. METHODS AND MEASURES A sample of 212 physical therapists practicing as primary contact providers in the military and civilian sectors, and a comparison group of 250 physical therapists not practicing as primary contact providers were surveyed. A Delphi technique was used to develop the survey instrument, which was pretested by a pilot group. The final survey instrument consisted of 171 items. Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to examine significant differences among the 3 groups (P<.001). RESULTS Of the 212 surveys mailed to the primary contact group, 119 (56.1%) responses were received (82 military physical therapists and 37 civilian physical therapists). Of the 250 surveys mailed to the comparison group, 103 (41.2%) responses were received. There were numerous significant differences among the 3 groups in professional responsibilities, procedures, and knowledge areas, most notably in the areas of selecting and ordering of imaging procedures, identifying signs and symptoms of nonmusculoskeletal conditions, establishing physical therapy diagnoses, and prescribing over-the-counter medications. CONCLUSION The study describes the clinical practice of physical therapists functioning in the role of primary contact providers or as members of a diverse team of health care professionals in primary care, which may provide curricular direction to professional, postprofessional, and clinical residency or fellowship-based educational settings.
The furanosteroid viridiol

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C20H18O6 (systematic name: 1β,3β-dihydroxy-2β-methoxyfuro[4′,3′,2′:4,5,6]-18-norandrosta-8,11,13-triene-7,17-dione), a dihydro derivative of the fungal steroid viridin, contains two molecules with similar conformations. The rings bearing the hydroxy groups adopt boat conformations. The absolute structure was assigned based on the known chirality of a precursor compound. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating a three-dimensional network and weak C—H⋯O interactions consolidate the packing.
A comparative study of toxocariasis and allergic asthma in murine models

Abstract Histopathology of the lung and total IgE in serum were compared in toxocariasis and allergic asthma murine models using BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Infection with Toxocara canis resulted in both strains of mice in marked histological changes and increased levels of total serum IgE. The ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization/challenge treatment for the induction of allergic asthma resulted in similar histological changes in BALB/c and, to a less extent, in C57BL/6 mice. Serum IgE levels of OVA-treated C57BL/6 mice were low. Histological changes observed included perivascular infiltration with eosinophils and mononuclear cells, peribronchiolitis, alveolitis and mucus production. Although these changes in addition to increased IgE production did occur in T. canis-infected C57BL/6 mice they were more pronounced in BALB/c mice. Thus, BALB/c mice appear to be the most appropriate strain of mice to perform studies on the possible connection between infection with T. canis and allergic asthma.
Capacitation and Ca2+ influx in spermatozoa: role of CNG channels and protein kinase G

Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) has been recently shown to modulate in vitro capacitation of mammalian spermatozoa, but the mechanisms through which it influences sperm functions have not been clarified. There are at least two targets of cGMP, cyclic nucleotide‐gated (CNG) channels and cGMP‐dependent protein kinase (PKG), involved in several physiological events in mammalian spermatozoa. It has been suggested that CNG channels allow the influx of Ca2+ to cytoplasm during capacitation, whereas PKG could trigger a phosphorylation pathway which might also, indirectly, mediate calcium entry. Using the patch‐clamp technique in whole‐cell configuration, we showed how l‐cis‐Diltiazem (a CNG‐channel inhibitor) and KT5823 (a PKG inhibitor) decreased significantly the amplitude of macroscopic ion currents in a dose–response manner, and decreased in vitro capacitation. The inhibition of CNG channels completely abolishes the Ca2+ influx induced by cyclic nucleotides in mouse spermatozoa. This work suggests that the downstream cGMP pathway is required in mammalian sperm capacitation and the mechanisms involved include CNG channels and PKG, highlighting these molecules as important therapeutic targets for infertility treatments or to develop new male contraceptives.
Solvability of Nonlinear Langevin Equation Involving Two Fractional Orders with Dirichlet Boundary Conditions

We study a Dirichlet boundary value problem for Langevin equation involving two fractional orders. Langevin equation has been widely used to describe the evolution of physical phenomena in fluctuating environments. However, ordinary Langevin equation does not provide the correct description of the dynamics for systems in complex media. In order to overcome this problem and describe dynamical processes in a fractal medium, numerous generalizations of Langevin equation have been proposed. One such generalization replaces the ordinary derivative by a fractional derivative in the Langevin equation. This gives rise to the fractional Langevin equation with a single index. Recently, a new type of Langevin equation with two different fractional orders has been introduced which provides a more flexible model for fractal processes as compared with the usual one characterized by a single index. The contraction mapping principle and Krasnoselskii's fixed point theorem are applied to prove the existence of solutions of the problem in a Banach space.
Significance of hepatitis B virus genotypes A to E in a cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis B in the Seine Saint Denis District of Paris (France)

The aim of this study was to examine the genetic variability of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its significance. HBV genotypes, core promoter and precore mutants were characterized in 109 consecutive patients with biopsy‐proven HBV chronic hepatitis. Genotypes A (26.6%), B (12.8%), C (18.3%), D (18.3%), and E (14.7%) indicate a wide genotypic distribution. Patients were from Asia (30.3%), Europe (28.4%), Sub Saharan Africa (23.9%), the Caribbean (10.1%), North Africa (5.5%), and Madagascar (1.8%). HBV genotypes A and D (HBV/A and /D) infected all subgroups except Asian patients. HBV/B or /C were found in 97% of Asian patients, whereas HBV/E only infected sub‐Saharan African and Caribbean patients. Differences according to genotypes were: an increased prevalence of anti‐HBe antibodies in patients infected with HBV/D (P = 0.003), higher serum transaminases in patients infected with HBV/A and/D (P = 0.043), more severe liver fibrosis in patients infected with HBV/A, /C and/D (P = 0.02). Precore and core promoter mutants were found in 87% of anti‐HBe positive patients, and were associated with HBV/D (P = 0.04) and severe liver fibrosis (P = 0.002). It is concluded that HBV genotypes A, B, C, D, and E circulate in the Seine Saint Denis District, reflecting the geographical origin of patients. HBV/A, /C and/D seem to be associated with more severe hepatic disease. J. Med. Virol. 78:335–340, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.