Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A practical approach for constructing a parallel network simulator

Network simulation is widely used in network research to evaluate the performance of various network protocols and control algorithms. With the development of computer networks, the network models grow in size and complexity, so the execution time of simulation can be unbearably long. We present a practical approach to construct a parallel network simulator which is based on the popular sequential network simulator ns. Parallel discrete event simulation (PDES) techniques are applied to modify the event scheduling mechanism in ns. Some necessary extensions are also made to ns network model library. Performance measures including speedup and memory consumption are evaluated at last.
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria: Variation in Clinical Severity and Association with Bone‐Marrow Hypoplasia

PAROXYSMAL nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) is remarkable amongst the haemolytic anaemias on many counts, not least in its extremely chronic and variable course and in its association with marrow hypoplasia. In this paper three patients are described, and the relevant literature is reviewed. The first patient had the disease in its most severe form but was kept alive by blood transfusions over a period of 11 years. The second patient was much less severely affected and has now, after 8 years of observation, recovered clinically, although the laboratory tests for the disease are still weakly positive. The third patient presented with pancytopenia and marrow hypoplasia. The proportion of erythrocytes shown by laboratory tests to have the PNH abnormality was unusually small. Splenectomy was carried out and this was followed by an improvement in the blood picture.
New Experimental Results on the Compensation of Static Friction in Passive Joints of Robotic Manipulators

The progress made in friction compensation in robotics was concentrated on friction losses in the actuated joints. The newly emerging parallel manipulators however, possess considerable number of passive joints. This paper discusses the influence of passive joint friction (PJF) in robot's dynamics and its impact on control performance. It gives a basic framework on the modeling, the detection of such phenomena and provides experimental examples achieved on a spatial parallel robot. All proposed methods do not require additional sensors and use only the actuators for detection and compensation. Due to its dependency on the robot's configuration, even small magnitudes of PJF can affect the system's behavior, especially at unfavorable configurations.
Two theorems on joint production

The aim of this note is to present some new results in joint production models represented by linear equations.1 Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of a semi-positive (positive) price vector and for a decreasing relation between profit and wage rates.2 As a corollary the presence of negative labour values and positive prices is explained and the scrap age of a machine determined.
Arterial wall imaging: evaluation with 16-section multidetector CT in blood vessel phantoms and ex vivo coronary arteries.

PURPOSE To evaluate the diagnostic performance of 16-section multidetector computed tomography (CT) for assessment of plaques in phantoms and ex vivo coronary arteries, with intravascular ultrasonography (US) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) as reference standards. MATERIALS AND METHODS Research protocol was HIPAA compliant and approved by institutional review board, without informed consent required. Blood vessel and lesion composition phantoms and ex vivo coronary arteries were imaged with 16-section CT. Wall areas of phantoms and ex vivo coronary arteries were measured with multidetector CT and intravascular US. Sensitivity and specificity for lipid detection were determined in lesion composition phantoms. CT numbers of blood vessel wall were determined in ex vivo coronary arteries and compared with lesion classification results from OCT. Agreement in dimensional measurements was compared (paired t tests). CT numbers within blood vessel wall of CT cross sections classified as lipid rich, fibrous, and calcified at OCT were compared (Kruskal-Wallis tests). RESULTS Mean blood vessel wall areas measured with CT and US in phantoms were 9.2 mm(2) +/- 1.8 (standard deviation) and 10.4 mm(2) +/- 3.4 (bias, -1.3 mm(2) +/- 3.1; P < . 05), respectively. Mean blood vessel wall areas measured in ex vivo coronary arteries with CT and US were 10.9 mm(2) +/- 4.1 and 9.1 mm(2) +/- 3.1 (bias, 1.8 mm(2) +/- 3.0; P < . 001), respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 92%, respectively, for identification of lipid-rich lesions were observed in lesion composition phantoms. Mean CT numbers in blood vessel wall of ex vivo coronary arteries identified at OCT as predominantly lipid rich, fibrous, and calcified were 29 HU +/- 43, 101 HU +/- 21, and 135 HU +/- 199, respectively (P < .001). CONCLUSION Determination of composition of individual plaques from attenuation values can be more challenging because of overlapping values for different tissue types.
[Attentional neural networks impairment in healthy aging].

INTRODUCTION Diverse evidences have shown that the process of natural aging causes a decline in different cognitive functions, including among them the attentional process. AIM To determine how the healthy aging affects to the different attentional networks. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Two groups: young subjects (32.5 ± 9.7 years) and an elderly group (62.7 ± 4.7 years). As instrument to evaluate the attention process the ANT (Attention Network Test) was used. RESULTS Highly significant differences were observed for all conditions involved in the ANT (no cue, center cue, spatial cue, congruent and incongruent) between both groups (p < 0.001). As for the analysis of network effects, no one showed differences between the two groups. Considering the block variable, the post hoc analysis showed that the orienting network for the young subjects exhibited a normal benefit in the first block while the elderly group don't show that benefit caused by the deficiency using spatial cues. Moreover, the alerting network showed a bigger effect in the first block regarding the second one in the older adults and the opposed effect for the executive and orienting network was observed. CONCLUSIONS The obtained data show that a decrease exists in the speed processing in the elderly group. In the orienting network seems that the older adults require a bigger training period to use the spatial cues, although later on, they can benefit from the same cues almost at the same level that the young subjects.
Characteristics of early and late adopters of pension accounting standard SFAS No. 87

Although there was strong opposition to the FASB's pension standard, SFAS No. 87, there is evidence that adoption of the standard had a favorable transitory effect on the earnings of a number of companies. This study examines firms' decisions to adopt SFAS No. 87 earlier than the FASB required. The results indicate that there were significant differences among firms that chose to adopt SFAS No. 87 early and those that did not. Unlike earlier studies of incomeâ€ increasing accounting choices, early adopters were large firms with large, more fully funded pension obligations. They were subject to more accountingâ€ based debt constraints, especially on working capital, and were more constrained on interest coverage than were those that did not adopt. Of early adopters, officers and directors owned less stock than did outside owners. RA©sumA©. Bien que la norme SFAS no 87 du FASB relative aux rA©gimes de retraite soulA¨ve une forte opposition, les faits dA©montrent que l'adoption de cette norme a eu des consA©quences transitoires favorables sur les bA©nA©fices de nombreuses entreprises. Les auteurs se penchent sur la dA©cision de certaines sociA©tA©s d'adopter la norme SFAS no 87 avant l'A©chA©ance fixA©e par le FASB. Leur analyse rA©vA¨le d'importantes diffA©rences entre les entreprises qui ont choisi d'adopter la norme avant l'A©chA©ance et celles qui ont prA©fA©rA© attendre. Contrairement A ce qu'ont indiquA© les A©tudes prA©cA©dentes relatives aux choix comptables entraA®nant une hausse des bA©nA©fices, les entreprises qui ont adoptA© la norme avant l'A©chA©ance sont de grandes entreprises dont les obligations au titre du rA©gime de retraite sont importantes et dont le rA©gime est davantage provisionnA©. Elles sont assujetties A des contraintes fondA©es sur leurs obligations comptables, en particulier en ce qui a trait au montant de fonds de roulement A maintenir, et doivent assurer une bonne couverture des intA©rAats. Les cadres et les administrateurs des entreprises qui ont pris les devants possA¨dent moins d'actions que ceux des entreprises qui ont prA©fA©rA© attendre.
A novel low cost integrated on-board charger topology for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

The on-board charger of a PHEV should be compatible with harmonic standards and operate with high power factor. This manuscript proposes a novel integrated on-board charger topology for PHEVs, with minimum number of switches in comparison to the conventional chargers while using only one inductor for all operation modes. The analysis proved that proposed topology successfully operates in motoring, driving, and charging modes with a power factor above 0.995 and total harmonic distortion of less than 5%.
Strategic change and firm performance: the moderating effect of organisational learning

Purpose – The primary purpose of this research is to review and discuss the potential associations among strategic change, organisational learning, and firm performance, and to propose a conceptual model to investigate such relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The literature on the strategic change‐performance relationship was explored with the emphasis on elaborating the effects of frequency of strategic change on firm performance. In addition, a moderating role of organisational learning on such a relationship is introduced.Findings – From the literature review, it is proposed that the relationship between strategic change and firm performance is an inverted U‐shape. Extremely frequent and infrequent strategic changes are deemed to be detrimental to firm performance. However, the research reveals that the strategic change‐performance relationship may alter due to the moderation of organisational learning.Research limitations/implications – Given the conceptual nature of this paper, a review of re.
Regional Productivity and Convergence in Bangladesh Agriculture

This paper applies the sequential Malmquist index to calculate multi-lateral, multi-factor productivity (MFP) indices for agriculture in 16 regions of Bangladesh from 1964 to 1992 and examines convergence amongst regions. Productivity grew at an average rate of 0.9% per annum, led by regions with high level of Green Revolution technology diffusion. The growth mainly occurred due to technological progress estimated at 1.9% per year. Overall technical efficiency declined steadily at 1.0% per year due to falling efficiency in most of the regions in later years. Both cross-section and time-series tests confirm that divergence among regions disappeared and agricultural productivity reached convergence in the long-run. Policy options to reverse declining efficiency are considered. These include: strengthening of extension services, improvements in rural infrastructure, widening of R&D activities to non-cereals, and promotion of new technologies.
Modeling Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Macroeconomic Variables in Sudan

Over the past two decades, many countries around the world have experienced substantial growth in their economies, driven by inflow of the foreign capital especially in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). The share of net FDI in world GDP has grown five-fold through recent years, making the impact and consequences of FDI on economic growth a subject of ever-growing interest. This paper attempts to make a contribution in this context, by analyzing the existence and nature of impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth, if any, in Sudan during the period (1982-2007), also to investigate how to attract the required flow of FDI that is enough to fill saving-investment gap to sustain economic growth. With the hypothesis that sustained efforts to promote political and macroeconomic stability and implement essential structural reforms, and the policies of aligning some emerging markets has encouraged the inflow of FDI to Sudan in different sectors.The important findings are that FDI helps to promote economic growth in the Sudan, i.e. there is clear evidence of a one-way causality from FDI to economic growth for the whole period, in the sense that FDI have a significant positive effect on the GDP Growth, for it promotes exports and so balance of payments, provision of job opportunities and enhancing the quality of labor and production. However, the study finds that it is difficult to construct accurate and comparable measures of FDI data by sector for the Sudan as in most developing countries over several decades. Moreover, the tendency of major sources to present FDI data in broad aggregates limits the study of the effects or impacts. So the main recommendations are that: the investment climate in the country must be improved through appropriate measures to keep pace with global economics developments, Government needed to establish a proper investment map serving the objectives of economic growth and developments consists of all data that may needed by foreign investors, supported by the necessary infrastructures. Government must develop and improve the periodic statistics concerning investment, foreign capital flows and sources of capital. Future researches in this area should analyze the causal link in a multivariate VAR analysis to account for other vital determinants of FDI and GDP growth. This is likely to improve our results and may provide more conclusions.
Reflecting on the process of developing a nursing framework through collaboration

Background: Three central North Island District Health Boards developed a collaborative partnership to create an education framework to improve workplace learning by nurses. A Joint Nursing Speciality Education Project Group was formed to explore frameworks and models of care that would support and enhance nursing practice. Aims and objectives : The aim of this article is to reflect critically on the process of leading the project group during the development of a nursing framework that would encompass a holistic view of education and meet the needs of each participating health board. The article also examines the issues encountered, which included the difficulties of working with nurses from different organisations in different geographical locations. Conclusions and implications for practice : The process of developing the Person-Whānau (Family) Centred Nursing Framework was a team effort and working collaboratively across health boards has been extremely rewarding. We faced workload and geographical challenges in trying to get the whole group together but the chance to develop a framework that has the ability to improve patient outcomes has been exciting and the relationships we have forged along the way with members of the project group have been positive.
Zwischen Immobilität und Instabilität: Auswirkungen der Einführung der allgemeinen Volksinitiative und der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit in der Schweiz

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe raumlicher Modelle der Entscheidungsanalyse zeigt der Autor auf, welche Auswirkungen die Einfuhrung von Gesetzesinitiative und Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit auf die Berechenbarkeit und Konsistenz politischer Entscheidungen hat. Grundlegend ist, dass ein Trade-off zwischen Handlungsmoglichkeiten und Berechenbarkeit besteht. Die gegenwartigen Entscheidungsregeln mit der Dominanz des Gesetzgebungsprozesses mit seinem dreifachen Zustimmungserfordernis (beide Parlamentskammern plus fakultatives Referendum) fuhren zu sehr dauerhaften Entscheidungen. Demgegenuber wurde die Einfuhrung von Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit und allgemeiner Volksinitiative die bestehende Gewaltenteilung grundlegend verandern und mehr Handlungsmoglichkeiten schaffen, aber auch die Gefahr instabiler und inkonsistenter Entscheidugen erhohen. Einen mittleren Weg stellt die Schaffung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit ohne gleichzeitige Einfuhrung eines Vorschlagsrechtes von Gesetzen dar, wenn die Einheit der Materie strikt durchgesetzt wird.
MANAGING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT: AN OPTIMAL ALLOCATION BETWEEN R&D AND PROTOTYPE FUNDING

The research and development manager allocates R&D funds to maximize the expected discounted net value of the R&D programme. Because public R&D managers do not have the same market discipline (or rewards) as private R&D managers, public R&D managers require a methodology for maximizing the expected net benefits. The US National Research Council of the National Academies in Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase One): A First Look Forward (2005) proposed a cost-benefit methodology to evaluate US Department of Energy's Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) programmes. This paper specifies and extends this methodology, e.g., by adding cost targets into each stage of the RD&D process. Expected benefits are modelled as a function of funding levels, stage durations, stage transition probabilities, and target costs. With this method, the paper determines an optimal allocation of pre-prototype R&D funding, given a total funding constraint for an advanced energy system.
Recent advances in genetic transformation of forage and turf grasses

SummaryForage and turf grasses are critical to sustainable agriculture and contribute extensively to the world economy. Tremendous progress has been made in genetic transformation of forage and turf grasses in the past decade. The rapid advancement of cellular and molecular biology and transgenic technology provides novel methods to accelerate and complement conventional breeding efforts. This review summarizes the latest developments in genetic transformation methods and the applications of molecular techniques for the improvement of forage and turf grasses.
Permanent employee investment and social exchange and psychological cooperative climate among temporary employees

This study investigated the mediating role of the psychological climate for cooperation in the client organization on the relationship between temporary employees’ perceived investment in permanent employee development in the client organization, and exchange perceptions and exchange outcomes, among 2022 temporary employees. After controlling for perceived investment in the temporary employees themselves, the results suggest that the psychological climate for cooperation in the client organization partly mediated the relationship between temporary employees’ perceived investment in permanent employee development and social exchange perception, and fully mediated the relationship between temporary employees’ perceived investment in permanent employee development and economic exchange perception. Moreover, social exchange perception was positively related to work quality, work effort and organizational citizenship behaviour, whereas economic exchange perception was negatively related to work effort and organizational citizenship behaviour.
Extravascular Administration of Factor IX: Potential for Replacement Therapy of Canine and Human Hemophilia B

Summary Current therapy for hemophilia B requires large intravenous doses of factor IX (F.IX) given in the clinic or at home. Although home therapy is possible for many patients, it is often complicated by factors such as the lack of good venous access. Very little is known about extravascular routes for administering proteins like F.IX (57 kD) or other vitamin K-dependent procoagulant factors into the circulation. Questions about the absorption rate from extravascular administration as well as plasma recovery and bioavailability have arisen recently with the growing availibility of highly purified procoagulant proteins and increased interest in gene therapy of hemophilia B. Therefore, a group of studies were undertaken to determine the absorption rate, plasma recovery, and bioavailability of high purity, human plasma-derived F.IX concentrates administered via extravascular routes in hemophilia B dogs and in one human hemophilia B subject. Five hemophilia B dogs were given human F.IX via either a subcutaneous (SC), intramuscular (IM), intra- peritoneal (IP) or intravenous (IV) route. In a subsequent study, a single SC administration of human F.IX was compared to an identical IV dose of F.IX in the human hemophilia B subject. All extravascular routes of F.IX administration in both the canine and human gave lower levels of circulating plasma F.IX than the IV route, however all routes resulted in measurable F.IX activity. Of the extravascular routes, the IM injection in the canine resulted in a bioavailibility of 82.8%, while the SC injection resulted in a bioavailability of 63.5%. F.IX reached the plasma compartment by all extravascular routes used, confirming that F.IX can be absorbed extravascularly. The duration of measurable F.IX activity following extravascular administration is prolonged beyond that typically seen with IV administration. These data show that significant levels of F.IX may be obtained via SC injection in canine and ‘ human hemophilia B subjects and further highlight the potential of extravascular routes of administration for future experimental and clinical uses of F.IX and other procoagulant proteins.
Portuguese Charter Tourists to Long-Haul Destinations: A Travel Motive Segmentation

This article presents an empirical study of tourist segmentation based on motivations. The present study, exploratory by nature, aims to provide a deeper insight into profiles of Portuguese tourists traveling to Latin American and African destinations. The research was conducted with 1,097 tourists traveling on Air Luxor to long-haul destinations, by means of factor-cluster analysis, followed by a discriminant and a homals analysis. Three market segments were found: adventure, leisure, and social tourism. The research reveals that each of these segments presents a different profile in terms of motivations and in terms of vacation patterns. However, in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, the differences are not so evident. The managerial implications of these findings are highlighted.
Service Time Competition

How can two physically identical gasoline stations differentiate themselves? In this article we develop and test a model of service time competition: some stations set higher prices and thereby offer shorter queues, whereas others offer lower price and longer queues. We find that retail demand is sensitive to service time: customers are, on average, willing to pay about 1% more for a 6% reduction in congestion. Consistent with the service time hypothesis, prices are more dispersed at stations facing more direct competition.
Country size, income level and intra-industry trade

This study investigates three testable hypotheses of intra-industry trade. , It begins by developing a theoretical, two country model. , The model explicitly includes two goods: differentiated products and homogeneous goods. , Then three empirical hypotheses are derived as follows. , The share of intra-industry trade will be large: (a) if the two economies are of similar size, (b) if the capital-labour endowment ratio of both countries is similar, and (c) if the total size of the two economies is large. , From the cross-sectional analysis using 1970–1994 data, results are obtained that support the model. , Furthermore, the results are confirmed using panel analysis on the pooled data. ,