Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review of Acupuncture Treatment for Infertility

The purpose of this study was to analyze acupuncture treatment methods and acupoint used to treat infertility in the last decade. The data were retrieved from 2010.1 to 2021.8. using national and international electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, OASIS, NDSL, and KISS). “Infertility,” “sterility,” “acupuncture,” “electroacupuncture,” “bloodletting,” “pharmacopuncture,” were used as search terms. All studies were mainly concerned with acupuncture treatment of infertility, but the studies which were not related included; (1) infertility or acupuncture treatment; (2) animal studies; (3) review/meta/protocol or clinical study; comparative studies and case reports which were excluded from this review. Only clinical trials for acupuncture treatment of infertility were included in this review (n = 18). For infertility treatment studies using acupuncture, polycystic ovarian syndrome was the main cause of infertility, the most common acupoint used was CV4, CV3, CV6, SP6, BL23, and the treatment effect significantly improved in the group receiving acupuncture treatment compared with the control group, or the group taking Western medicine alone. In some studies, the group using acupuncture treatment did not show side effects. Acupuncture is an effective treatment for infertility.
An instrumented vehicle for microscopic monitoring of driver behaviour

A vehicle-based data collection system is explored. It is capable of gathering accurate data on the relative movements of adjacent vehicles, and hence driver behavior, in a traffic stream. The instrumented vehicle may support a variety of detection devices, for example a tracking laser rangefinder head, or a constantly scanning laser beam (a LIDAR). To relate the measurements to the position of the vehicles on the road, several sub-systems are devised to calculate corrections required by variations in steering, and vibrational movements caused by the road surface. Operational specifications of the vehicle are devised, in terms of road and traffic conditions required for optimum performance, and strategies for use.
Critical Factors Affecting Consumer Intention of Using Mobile Banking Applications During COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study from Vietnam

The study analyzes the factors affecting the intention and recommendation to use the mobile banking applications of 314 customers from Vietnam. The study analyzes 7 factors affecting the intention and recommendation to use the mobile banking applications of customers from Vietnam, including (i) Perceived risk;(ii) Perceived ease of use;(iii) Perceived usefulness;(iv) Attitude;(v) Perceived trust;(vi) Social image;and (vii) Innovativeness. Besides, the study also analyzes 4 variables that reflect the customer's demographics, including gender, age, education, and occupation, and 6 variables describing the behavior of customers using mobile banking applications. The study findings indicate that the following factors (i) Innovativeness;(ii) Attitude;(iii) Perceived risk;(iv) Perceived ease of use, and (v) Perceived trust have the most significant impact on customers' behavior of using mobile banking applications in emerging markets such as Vietnam in the context of prolonged pandemic and continuous lockdown in many provinces and cities. The study is also of great value to studies on behavior changes among customers using mobile banking applications after the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The study will provide additional empirical evidence useful to bank administrators in motivating customers to use mobile banking applications, helping develop a digital economy in Vietnam.
Measurement and Meaning: Critical Reflection on the Maturation and Potential of National Urban Land Studies in the United States

Precise measurement of urban land (UL) is an essential tool for planning in a world of accelerating change and increasing risk, but analysis has traditionally faced methodological and conceptual challenges. This review traces the evolution of UL measurement in the United States (US) from early attempts at quantification through current innovative approaches that analyze the qualities of UL. Researchers now have tools better suited to multi-scalar and complex conceptualization of urban systems. Given this maturation, critical reflection on research design has become essential to UL research, in particular the alignment of measurement tools with desired outcomes and planning goals.
Citizens and the legitimacy outcomes of collaborative governance An administrative burden perspective

ABSTRACT Is collaborative governance ‘democracy-enhancing’ and does it generate legitimacy? Drawing from the literatures on administrative burden and policy feedback and a positive approach to legitimacy, this theoretical article studies how the institutional design of collaborative governance impacts on the legitimacy citizens grant the state and the bureaucracy. It argues that three legitimacy-enhancing effects based on targeting, deliberation and exposure are likely, providing that a specific set of institutional features is present. This article invites scholars and practitioners to reflect not only on the direct consequences of collaborative governance but also on its broader democratic outcomes.
Programmable Shunt Valves for Pediatric Hydrocephalus: 22-Year Experience from a Singapore Children’s Hospital

(1) Background: pediatric hydrocephalus is a challenging condition. Programmable shunt valves (PSV) have been increasingly used. This study is undertaken to firstly, to objectively evaluate the efficacy of PSV as a treatment modality for pediatric hydrocephalus; and next, review its associated patient outcomes at our institution. Secondary objectives include the assessment of our indications for PSV, and corroboration of our results with published literature. (2) Methods: this is an ethics-approved, retrospective study. Variables of interest include age, gender, hydrocephalus etiology, shunt failure rates and incidence of adjustments made per PSV. Data including shunt failure, implant survival, and utility comparisons between PSV types are subjected to statistical analyses. (3) Results: in this case, 51 patients with PSV are identified for this study, with 32 index and 19 revision shunts. There are 3 cases of shunt failure (6%). The mean number of adjustments per PSV is 1.82 times and the mean number of adjustments made per PSV is significantly lower for MEDTRONIC™ Strata PSVs compared with others (p = 0.031). Next, PSV patients that are adjusted more frequently include cases of shunt revisions, PSVs inserted due to CSF over-drainage and tumor-related hydrocephalus. (4) Conclusion: we describe our institutional experience of PSV use in pediatric hydrocephalus and its advantages in a subset of patients whose opening pressures are uncertain and evolving.
Circulators Using Planar Triangular Resonators

This paper gives the theoretical description of 3-port circulators using planar triangular resonators. The standing-wave solution for this circulator is obtained by taking a linear combination of two TM/sub 1,0,-1/ standing waves with one of them rotated through 120/spl deg/. The loaded Q factor for this junction is derived by forming the ratio of the energy stored in the circuit to that dissipated in the termination. The bandwidth of circulators using apex-coupled triangular resonators is three times that of circulators using conventional disk resonators. In the case of circulators using side-coupled triangular resonators, the bandwidth is one-third of that of the conventional arrangement.
Design and implementation of A 1.9–22.5 GHz CMOS wideband LNA with dual‐RLC‐branch wideband input and output matching networks

A 1.9–22.5 GHz wideband low‐noise amplifier (LNA) based on the current‐reused cascade configuration in 90 nm CMOS is reported. The wideband input‐impedance matching was achieved by taking advantage of the resistive shunt‐shunt feedback in conjunction with a parallel LC load to make the input network equivalent to two parallel resistor‐inductor‐capacitor (RLC) branches, that is, a second‐order wideband band‐pass filter (BPF). The wideband output‐impedance matching was also achieved by making the output network equivalent to a second‐order wideband BPF. Theoretical analysis shows that both the frequency response of input matching and noise figure (NF) can be described by second‐order functions with quality factors as parameters. The LNA (LNA‐1) dissipates 9.96 mW and achieves low and flat NF of 3.24 ± 0.5 dB and high and flat S21 of 12.02 ± 1.5 dB for frequencies 1.9–22.5 GHz. The corresponding figure of merit (FOM) is 7.44 GHz/mW, one of the highest FOMs ever reported for a wideband LNA with bandwidth around 20 GHz. To study the effect of self‐forward body bias (SFBB) on LNA‐1, an LNA‐2 consisting of LNA‐1 and SFBB is implemented for comparison. The results show LNA‐2 consumes less power at the expense of a worse NF due to the body noise. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:677–684, 2014
Accurate MHC Motif Deconvolution of Immunopeptidomics Data Reveals a Significant Contribution of DRB3, 4 and 5 to the Total DR Immunopeptidome

Mass spectrometry (MS) based immunopeptidomics is used in several biomedical applications including neo-epitope discovery in oncology and next-generation vaccine development. Immunopeptidome data are highly complex given the expression of multiple HLA alleles on the cell membrane and presence of co-immunoprecipitated contaminants. The absence of tools that accurately deal with these challenges is currently a major bottleneck for the large-scale application of this technique. Here, we present the MHCMotifDecon that benefits from state-of-the-art HLA class-I and class-II predictions to accurately deconvolute immunopeptidome datasets and assign individual ligands to the most likely HLA allele while discarding co-purified contaminants. We have benchmarked the tool against other state-of-the-art methods and illustrated its application on experimental datasets for HLA-DR demonstrating a previously underappreciated role for HLA-DRB3/4/5 molecules in defining HLA class II immune repertoires. With its ease of use MHCMotifDecon can efficiently guide interpretation of immunopeptidome datasets, serving the discovery of novel T cell targets.
Spatial and temporal distribution of driving rain on a low-rise building

This paper presents a practical numerical method to determine both the spatial and temporal distribution of driving rain on buildings. It is based on an existing numerical simulation technique and uses the building geometry and climatic data at the building site as input. The method is applied to determine the 3D spatial and temporal distribution of wind-driven rain on the facade a low-rise building of complex geometry. Distinct wetting patterns are found. The important causes giving rise to these particular patterns are identified : (1) sweeping of raindrops towards vertical building edges, (2) sweeping of raindrops towards top edges, (3) shelter effect by various roof overhang configurations. The comparison of the numerical results with full-scale measurements in both space and time for a number of on site recorded rain events shows the numerical method to yield accurate results.
Actual Crop Evapotranspiration and Alfalfa- and Grass-Reference Crop Coefficients of Maize under Full and Limited Irrigation and Rainfed Conditions

AbstractThe evapotranspiration crop coefficients (Kc) that are used to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ETa) using a two-step approach (i.e., Kc×reference ET) for limited irrigated and rainfed maize are extremely rare. The effects of full and limited irrigation and rainfed practices on maize ETa and soil water dynamics were quantified. Grass- and alfalfa-based crop coefficients (Kco and Kcr) were developed for full- and limited-irrigation settings as well as for rainfed conditions. Four irrigation regimes [fully irrigated treatment (FIT), 75% FIT, 60% FIT, 50% FIT] and rainfed treatments were implemented. In general, depletion in available soil water increased with the decrease in irrigation regime from FIT to rainfed treatment. Maize ETa increased with irrigation amounts and ranged from 481 mm for the rainfed treatment to 620 mm for the FIT in 2009 and from 579 to 634 mm for the same treatments, respectively, in 2010. Reduction in seasonal ETa relative to FIT were 22, 9, 7, and 2% for the rainfed, 50%.
A real-time methodology for minimizing mean flowtime in FMSs with machine breakdowns: threshold-based selective rerouting

This paper presents the threshold-based selective rerouting (TSR) heuristic to minimize mean flowtime of parts in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) with machine failures. Most of the available methodologies considering machine failures are either off-line methods or propose different versions of rerouting all the jobs to alternate machines. The objective of this methodology is to develop an efficient real-time rerouting strategy, which can be easily applicable in case of machine failures and is able to adapt to the dynamic features of an FMS. Parts in the queue of a failed machine are selectively rerouted to alternate machines when the benefit in terms of waiting time obtained from rerouting exceeds a specific pre-determined threshold value. The threshold concept and the performance of TSR in minimizing mean flowtime are tested with extensive simulation experiments. It has been shown that TSR provides significant improvements in system performance measures compared to other real-time rerouting methods and that the threshold value is dependent on system parameters. The relationship between the threshold value and system parameters has also been determined.
Usability and abandonment of assistive technology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus upon some important prerequisites for a qualitative good life for people who are users of signalling devices, prerequisites that at the same time represent barriers for communication, mobility and partaking in ordinary activities. It is also to discuss usability and user satisfaction from a new angle by combining disability studies with STS‐perspectives (Science, Technology and Society) in order to grasp the connection between disability as a social phenomenon and technology as a social actor. The paper discusses reasons for abandonment of AT‐devices (assistive technology‐devices) and the shaping of action by technologies.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach is used by the way of semi‐structured interviews with users and public and private service providers in the Norwegian hearing aid market. A bottom‐up strategy is used for data collection. First, users of signaling devices were interviewed about their experiences on how to get and use devi.
Heat integration of an Olefins Plant: Pinch Analysis and mathematical optimization working together

This work explores a two-step, complexity reducing methodology, to analyze heat integration opportunities of an existing Olefins Plant, identify and quantify reduction of energy consumption, and propose changes of the existing heat exchanger network to achieve these goals. Besides the analysis of plant design conditions, multiple operational scenarios were considered to propose modifications for handling real plant operation (flexibility). On the strength of plant complexity and large dimension, work methodology was split into two parts: initially, the whole plant was evaluated with traditional Pinch Analysis tools. Several opportunities were identified and modifications proposed. Modifications were segregated to represent small and independent portions of the original process. One of them was selected to be re-analyzed, considering two scenarios. Reduction of problem dimension allowed mathematical methodologies (formulation with decomposition, applying LP, MILP and NLP optimization methods) to synthesize flexible networks to be applied, generating a feasible modification capable of fulfilling the proposed operational scenarios.
Aircraft Antenna-Coupled Interference Analysis

A mathematical model specifically for aircraft antenna-to-antenna electromagnetic interference analysis has been developed. Basically, the model consists of a two-level analysis: 1) frequency coincidence to indicate potential interference and 2) a detailed analysis involving power levels and receiver thresholds. A receiver and transmitter are selected from the input data, and their frequency bands are compared for coincidence. The frequency comparison includes the fundamental and significant harmonics as specified for the transmitter. If frequency coincidence is found, indicating potential interference, the worst-case power level at the receiver from the transmitter is computed using the shortest path along the aircraft surface. When the path is around the fuselage, allowance is made for shading (diffraction) effects. The power received is compared with the receiver threshold to obtain an EMI margin. Each case with an EMI margin above a specified value is listed in the computer output as are the frequencies involved and the computational method used. Margins are computed for each antenna combination of the two systems. This process is repeated for each transmitter and receiver on the aircraft. The method of analysis is presented with particular emphasis on the techniques used to obtain propagation paths and shading factors.
Effects of Curing on Photosensitive Resins in SLA Additive Manufacturing

Different mechanical properties characterise the materials of 3D printed components, depending on the specific additive manufacturing (AM) process, its parameters, and the post-treatment adopted. Specifically, stereolithography (SLA) uses a photopolymerisation technique that creates solid components through selective solidification. In this study, 72 specimens were 3D printed using 12 commercial-grade methacrylate resins and tested under uniaxial tensile loads. The resin specimens were evaluated before and after curing. The recommended cure temperature and time were followed for all materials. The stress-strain curves measured during the testing campaign were evaluated in terms of maximum tensile strength, Young’s modulus, ductility, resilience, and toughness. The results reveal that the curing process increases the material stiffness and resistance to tensile loads. However, it was found that the curing process generally reduces the plasticity of the resins, causing a more or less marked brittle behaviour. This represents a potential limitation to the use of SLA 3D printing for structural elements which require some plasticity to avoid dangerous sudden failures.
Stresses in thin film metallization

Stresses in conductors used in microelectronic interconnections are a critical processing and reliability issue. This work examines: 1) the temperature-dependent stress behavior of sputtered and electroplated silver and gold films on silicon substrates; 2) the use of wafer curvature using multiple substrates for the simultaneous determination of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and modulus for thin films. The stress-temperature behavior of gold films on gallium arsenide and aluminum substrates was measured to determine its CTE and modulus. It is shown that electroplated noble metal films have lower stresses than sputtered films, due to larger grain sizes.
Design of a new high-performance electrohydraulic actuator

This paper describes the design and prototyping of a new high-performance actuation system that combines the benefits of conventional hydraulic systems and direct-drive electrical actuators, namely high torque/mass ratio and modularity. It is referred to as the electrohydraulic actuator (EHA) and results from the fusion of the above-mentioned technologies. The EHA is a unique device with its own characteristics and requires hydraulic components that are specifically tailored to its needs and requirements. Based on a mathematical model of the EHA, the requirements for its components are determined. These requirements are used as a basis for component selection, component modification, and design of a customized new symmetrical linear actuator. The analysis of the EHA presented is supported by experimental data and explains the extremely high level of performance attained by a prototype of the EHA.
On Measuring the Criticality of Various Variables and Processes in Organization Information Systems: Proposed Methodological Procedure

This paper proposes methodological procedures to be used by the accounting, organizational and managerial researchers and executives to ascertain the criticality of the variables and the processes in the measurement of management control system. We have restricted the validation of proposed methods to the extraction of critical success factors (CSF) in this study. We have also provided a numerical illustration and tested our methodological procedures using a dataset of an empirical study conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the CSFs. The proposed methods can be used by the researchers in accounting, organizational information systems, economics, and business and also in other relevant disciplines of organizational sciences. The main contribution of this paper is the extension of Rockartâ€™s work [33] on critical success factors. We have extended the theory of CSF beyond the initially suggested domain of information into management control system decision making. The methodological procedures developed by us are expected to enrich the literature of analytical and empirical studies in accounting and organizational areas where it can prove helpful in understanding the criticality of individual variables, processes, methods or success factors.
Reproductive Ability of Hybrids between Japanese Pond Turtle (Mauremys japonica) and Reeves' Pond Turtle (Mauremys reevesii)

Hybridization induced by human activities, such as crossbreeding between invasive and native species, can adversely affect the natural biodiversity of an ecosystem. In Japan, the endemic turtle species Mauremys japonica is known to hybridize with the alien species Mauremys reevesii, and putative hybrids have been encountered in the wild. If M. japonica × M. reevesii hybrids can readily crossbreed with M. japonica, the hybridization with M. reevesii could lead to the extinction of pure M. japonica populations. However, information on the reproductive ability of M. japonica × M. reevesii hybrids is limited. In this study, we collected wild-caught hybrids from across western Japan to assess their reproductive ability. We investigated the nesting season timing, clutch size, embryonic development, hatching success, and sperm viability. The results showed that female hybrids nested during the same months as the parental species and had similar clutch sizes and hatching success. No embryonic development abnormalities were detected, and viable sperm were observed in all hybrid male semen samples. In conclusion, the fertility of M. japonica × M. reevesii hybrids appears to be similar to the fertilities of the parental species, posing a potential challenge for M. japonica conservation.