Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking stability to demographics, strength and sensory system function in women over 40 to support pre-emptive preventive intervention

Objective To investigate differences in demographics, strength and sensory system function of 254 women aged 40–80 years categorized as stable, unsteady or unstable using simple balance tests. Method Demographics (age, height, weight, medications, co-morbidities, falls history, activity level), measures of quadriceps, hip abductor and adductor strength, somatosensory, visual and vestibular function were recorded. Subjects were categorized as stable (completed all trials), unsteady (failed one/two trials) or unstable (failed all trials) after three 10-s trials of bilateral stance (foam surface, eyes closed (EC)) and one-leg stance (firm surface, eyes open (EO)), and the results were compared. Results Both balance tasks identified women in their fifties as unstable (∼9%), with 60% of these women failing both tasks. More women were unsteady or unstable on foam EC (27%) than in one-leg stance EO (20%). Unsteady and unstable categories of women were older, reported more co-morbidities and medications and less activity than stable women. The women categorized as unstable in either test recorded weaker hip muscles, higher vibration thresholds, greater joint positioning error, reduced edge contrast sensitivity, low-contrast visual acuity and reduced dynamic visual acuity than the stable categories (p < 0.01). The two tests detected differences in characteristics of unstable women, with those failing one-leg stance EO being heavier, and those failing foam EC having weaker quadriceps. Conclusion These data link instability in women from the fifties to multiple demographic and sensorimotor factors associated with increased risk of falls, thus supporting use of balance tests in primary-care settings to assist referral for diagnostic assessment and pre-emptive interventions.
Information Systems, Supply Chain Management and Operational Performance: Tri-linkage—An Exploratory Study on Pharmaceutical Industry of India

The present study made an effort to investigate the tri-linkage between information systems (ISs) and supply chain management (SCM) practices to enhance the operational performance (OP) of an organization. The study made an effort to find out, how different kinds of ISs help the supply chain to achieve greater OP. Three constructs, namely, operational IS, strategic IS and infrastructural IS, have been identified from literature. Four plant-level supply chain constructs, namely, strategic supplier partnership, information sharing and information quality, purchasing management and inventory management, have been identified. The co-relation between ISs, supply chain practices and OP has been tested. Finally, both ISs and supply chain impact on OP have been evaluated. The ISs create an indirect impact on OP via supply chain practices, which results in OP. The OP can be in the form of reduction in number of defects in operations, quality improvement in products, delivery of products or raw material at right place, at right time and in right quantity. The study leads to interesting implications for practitioners. The ISs should be connected at various levels, that is, operational, strategic and infrastructural, to support the entire supply chain. With the changing dynamics of accuracy and speed in operations and the target of achieving economies of scale, the role of ISs becomes critical in the entire supply chain. The supply chain and information technology practices impact on OP has been studied by the number of authors. However, the classification of ISs and plant-level supply chain impact on OP has not been studied in detail by authors.
Identification of a high affinity TAG-72 binding peptide by phage display selection

Purpose: Phage display was used to select novel peptides that specifically bind the TAG-72 antigen and with properties suitable for imaging TAG-72 positive cancers. Results: After three rounds of selection against TAG-72 and using two different elution conditions including a long elution, the consensus sequences FRERCDKHPQKCTKFL and DPRHCQKRVLPCPAWL were expressed on phages G3-15 and T3-15 respectively. ELISA, fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis and fluorescence microscopy provided evidence that both phages specifically bound TAG-72 in vitro. Both peptides are stable in 37oC serum. By a cell binding competition assay, the IC50 for T3-15 was measured as 0.29 nM and therefore 36-fold higher affinity than G3-15 at 10.32 nM. The biodistribution in mice carrying LS-174T tumors in one thigh were similar for both 99mTc-peptides at 30 min, but at 90 min the 99mTc-T3-15 peptide accumulated almost three times higher in the tumor. The SPECT/CT images were consistent with the biodistribution results. Procedures: The f88-4/Cys6 phage library and two different elution conditions were used to identify two new higher affinity binding peptides for the TAG-72 antigen. One, was a single brief elution with pH 2.2 glycine buffer, and the second began with the glycine elution but was followed with a longer elution with Tris buffered saline (TBS) at pH 7.4. The phages that bound TAG-72 were evaluated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis using TAG-72 positive LS-174T cells and confirmed by immunofluorescence imaging. The consensus peptides displayed on the selected phages were synthesized and conjugated with NHS-MAG3 for radiolabeling with 99mTc. The IC50 for TAG-72 binding was evaluated by cell binding competition in vitro while binding affinity was evaluated in vivo by necropsy and SPECT/CT imaging in a tumor mouse model. Conclusion: We have identified a peptide with a sub nanomolar inhibition constant for the TAG-72 antigen that may have application in cancer imaging.
Engagement and undergraduate retention: social network analysis and student social ecologies

Undergraduate student retention is known to be complex and subject to multiple factors acting together on individual students in different contexts. This study examines an innovative multifactorial model that provides a student-centered and place-based identification of the duality of risk/opportunity in undergraduate education. The model, developed using a novel alignment of social network theory and ecological systems theory, is here applied to analysis of a large archive of behavioral data sets related to 4065 undergraduate students at a regional university in Australia. The model provided illustrations of how previously identified risk factors are connected within social ecologies, both for individuals and groups. The analysis also provided additional risk factors, calculated from the social ecology data sets. All risk factors were examined against the background of the student social ecology network with significant results: the identified risk factors can be seen to be linked in some individuals and sub-cohorts; the newly-identified risk factors can also be linked; and, all risk factors can be connected to other proximal factors. Implications for intervention and support are discussed.
Dynamic Associated Analysis of Japan's Stock Market and Exchange Rates: DCC and EGARCH Model

This paper studies the relatedness and the model construction of exchange rate volatility and the Japanese stock market returns. Empirical results show that we can construct a bivariate EGARCH(1, 2) model with a dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) to analyze the relationship of exchange rate volatility and Japan's stock market returns. The average estimation value of the DCC coefficient for these two markets equals to 0.1375, this result indicates that the exchange rate volatility positively affects the Japanese stock market. Empirical result also shows that there exists an asymmetrical effect on the exchange rate and Japanese stock markets. Based on the good news and bad news of the stock market [1], the bivariate EGARCH(1, 2) model with a DCC has the better explanation ability compared to the bivariate GARCH(1, 1) model.
Syncytium-Inhibiting Monoclonal Antibodies Produced against Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1-Infected Cells Recognize Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecules and Block by Protein Crowding

ABSTRACT Four new monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that inhibit human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-induced syncytium formation were produced by immunizing BALB/c mice with HTLV-1-infected MT2 cells. Immunoprecipitation studies and binding assays of transfected mouse cells showed that these MAbs recognize class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Previously produced anti-class II MHC antibodies also blocked HTLV-1-induced cell fusion. Coimmunoprecipitation and competitive MAb binding studies indicated that class II MHC molecules and HTLV-1 envelope glycoproteins are not associated in infected cells. Anti-MHC antibodies had no effect on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) syncytium formation by cells coinfected with HIV-1 and HTLV-1, ruling out a generalized disruption of cell membrane function by the antibodies. High expression of MHC molecules suggested that steric effects of bound anti-MHC antibodies might explain their inhibition of HTLV-1 fusion. An anti-class I MHC antibody and a polyclonal antibody consisting of several nonblocking MAbs against other molecules bound to MT2 cells at levels similar to those of class II MHC antibodies, and they also blocked HTLV-1 syncytium formation. Dose-response experiments showed that inhibition of HTLV-1 syncytium formation correlated with levels of antibody bound to the surface of infected cells. The results show that HTLV-1 syncytium formation can be blocked by protein crowding or steric effects caused by large numbers of immunoglobulin molecules bound to the surface of infected cells and have implications for the structure of the cellular HTLV-1 receptor(s).
ℓ1-Norm based reconstruction error evaluation for human action recognition

Automatic human action recognition is a core functionality of systems for video surveillance and human object interaction. Sparse representation-based classification (SRC) has been widely used for face recognition (FR) and extended for video classification. Reconstruction error is an important scalar for object classification. If the reconstruction error of intra-class is small and the reconstruction error of inter-class is large, the classifier is robustness. In this paper, we propose an improved sparse representation-based classification method with ℓ1-norm based re-construction error evaluation and local spatio-temporal features for human action recognition. The main idea in our method is to make the reconstruction error sparse and stable in order to improve the robustness of classifier. Because of L2-norm is sensitive to the singular samples, the reconstruction error with L2-norm scale is unstable for training and recognition. Against to L2-norm, the ℓ1-norm makes the model more compact and sparse. So, we restrict the reconstruction error by a ℓ1-norm constraint in sparse representation over-compete dictionary training and classifying. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated on two public available datasets, KTH Action Dataset and UCF Sports Action Dataset, and obtained a higher recognition accuracy compared to other state-of-art methods in the literatures.
Characterization and epidemiological relationships of Spanish Brachyspira hyodysenteriae field isolates

SUMMARY This research aimed to describe the genetic and phenotypic diversity of 74 Spanish Brachyspira hyodysenteriae field isolates, to establish epidemiological relationships between the isolates and to confirm the presence of tiamulin-resistant isolates in Spain. For these purposes, we performed biochemical tests in combination with diagnostic PCR analysis for the identification of Brachyspira spp. and for detection of the smpA/smpB gene. We also used antimicrobial susceptibility tests, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and a new pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) protocol. The combination of RAPD and PFGE allowed the study of epidemiological relationships. Both indole-negative and tiamulin-resistant isolates of B. hyodysenteriae are reported in Spain for the first time. The genetic analyses indicated a relationship between these Spanish isolates and indole-negative isolates previously obtained from Germany and Belgium.
Preserving Privacy through Data Control in a Cloud Computing Architecture Using Discretion Algorithm

Cloud computing is an On-demand self-service Internet infrastructure where a customer can pay and use only what is needed, managed by an API. The SP plays an active role in transmitting information across the cloud. Privacy for the information through authentication is being considered important. Providing security requires more than user authentication with passwords or digital certificates. The discretion algorithm has been designed and the IDS provide passive security solution. Since the context data is stored by the service provider the control of the data propagate to the whole cloud chain.
The Prediction of Currency Crises through Artificial Neural Network

This study examines the causes of the Asian exchange rate crisis and compares it to the European Monetary System crisis. In 1997, emerging countries in Asia experienced financial crises. Previously in 1992, currencies in the European Monetary System had undergone the same experience. This was followed by Mexico in 1994. The objective of this paper lies in the generation of useful insights from these crises. This research presents a comparison of South Korea, United Kingdom and Mexico, and then compares three different models for prediction. Previous studies of economic crisis focused largely on the manual construction of causal models using linear techniques. However, the weakness of such models stems from the prevalence of nonlinear factors in reality. This paper uses a structural equation model to analyze the causes, followed by a neural network model to circumvent the linear model’s weaknesses. The models are examined in the context of predicting exchange rates In this paper, data were quarterly ones, and Consumer Price Index, Gross Domestic Product, Interest Rate, Stock Index, Current Account, Foreign Reserves were independent variables for the prediction. However, time periods of each country’s data are different. Lisrel is an emerging method and as such requires a fresh approach to financial crisis prediction model design, along with the flexibility to accommodate unexpected change. This paper indicates the neural network model has the greater prediction performance in Korea, Mexico, and United Kingdom. However, in Korea, the multiple regression shows the better performance. In Mexico, the multiple regression is almost indifferent to the Lisrel. Although Lisrel doesn’t show the significant performance, the refined model is expected to show the better result. The structural model in this paper should contain the psychological factor and other invisible areas in the future work. The reason of the low hit ratio is that the alternative model in this paper uses only the financial market data. Thus, we cannot consider the other important part. Korea’s hit ratio is lower than that of United Kingdom. So, there must be the other construct that affects the financial market. So does Mexico. However, the United Kingdom’s financial market is more influenced and explained by the financial factors than Korea and Mexico.
The reliability evaluation of configuration of bus arrangement in substations by the variable failure rate of power circuit breaker under time-based maintenance

This paper addresses the study of the variable failure rate of high-voltage circuit breaker by using the Weibull distribution method to set time-based maintenance schedule properly. Power circuit breaker is installed in the substation in varied configurations, the case study for compared with, Main and Transfer bus arrangement, and Breaker and A Half bus arrangement. These are used more in substation of Thailand. From the numbers of failure data of power circuit breaker in 230-kV level, recorded by maintenance engineers of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's transmission network in the period of 1991-2011. The Weibull distribution is the well-known method to analyze electrical equipment to calculate the failure rate and Mean Time Between Failure of each part of power circuit breaker. After getting Mean Time Between Failure, the parts can categorized and the time-based maintenance schedule can be set consequently. This schedule replacement of such subcomponents usually decreases the total failure rate designated as variable failure rate of high voltage equipment. The results from the table of maintenance schedule by categorizing each part of power circuit breaker with the new replacement subcomponent group show that the failure rate of power circuit breaker can be diminished and it helps to plan maintenance schedule, and also to store up parts of power circuit breaker properly, which will reduce the cost of power circuit breaker maintenance as well.
Characterized cantharidin distribution and related gene expression patterns in tissues of blister beetles, Epicauta chinensis

Cantharidin (CTD), a terpenoid defensive toxin mainly produced by blister beetles, is widely known by its toxicity to both cancer cells and pests. However, little information is known about its biosynthesis in blister beetles. In this study, first we determined the CTD content in various tissues of adult blister beetles on different days after mating, and then detected the temporal and spatial expression patterns of genes related to CTD biosynthesis in Epicauta chinensis. Results revealed that the accessory gland is the source of the highest CTD production. The second highest level was in the fat body in male blister beetles after mating. In females, the highest CTD content was in the reproductive system except the ovary after mating. As revealed by messenger RNA expression level analysis, the highest levels of 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutary‐CoA reductase (HMGR) and juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase (JHEH) transcripts of E. chinensis were observed in the fat body in males after mating. However, the highest transcript level of EcHMGR was in the ovary and EcJHEH was maintained at a nearly similar level in females. The transcript level of methyl‐farnesoate epoxide was significantly higher in the head and that of CYP4BM1 in the midgut in both male and female E. chinensis. We speculate that the fat body may play a more important role than other tissues on the CTD biosynthesis in male E. chinensis after mating. There may be multiple tissues involved in the process of CTD biosynthesis. These four genes probably play regulatory roles in different tissues in males.
Institutional Logics and ERP Implementation in Public Sector Agency

This paper aims to explain the ERP implementation in public sector agency in UAE. It explores the relationships between institutional logics and institutional work when a new accounting change is occurring in the field. This paper presents a case study of Community Development Authority (CDA). It draws on the institutional logics lens to inform Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System. It proposes that this system produces a duality of change. On one hand, this system is subject to institutional forces and institutional processes that set the rules of rationality. On the other hand, it is also an important embodiment of institutional commitments and serves to preserve these rules by constraining the actions of human agents. By examining a case of the CDA, the findings compare differentiated institutional work and institutional logics of ERP implementation, as well as analysis of mechanisms that led to different business outcomes. Through institutional analysis of interviews and documents and archival data, the study found that institutional logics (rules) based on correspondent institutional work (actions). The findings also show that CDA was able to align institutional works with its logics built in ERP, resulting in a success in the standard version. It identifies the success factors, software selection steps, and implementation procedures that are critical to a successful implementation of ERP system. The implementation of ERP confirms the practice variance between the institutional logics and situated logics as evident in Dubai Smart Government. This paper can be considered as a one of very few studies about the implementation of ERP system in the Middle East. This study has important implications for academic and practitioners alike by examining the interaction between institutional logics and institutional work when a new accounting change is taking place in the public sector.
IRuSL: Image Recommendation Using Semantic Link

Popularity of social networking sites and introduction of e-commerce has led to an increase in number of multimedia resources generated every year. The growth in the number of images that are being uploaded has brought a need to develop systems that can store, process and organize them as how and when needed. A survey conducted on working ability of famous e-commerce systems has brought into light the need for semantic integration in recommendation systems. This paper proposes a framework in which images are recommended to users based on their semantic integration. This integration is made possible by using tags and surrounding text of an image to determine their semantic association. In this paper four semantic relatedness methods are used. The methods are Jaccard similarity of sets, Dice, edit distance and Overlap, these techniques are compared to find the best semantic recommendation. The proposed system has wide application in recommendation systems such as image recommendation in social networking, books recommendation, movie recommendation and product recommendation in e-commerce websites.
Gestational Diabetes Screening: The International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups Compared With Carpenter-Coustan Screening

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether one-step gestational diabetes screening recommended by The International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) is associated with better maternal, perinatal, or neonatal outcomes than the two-step Carpenter-Coustan screening. METHODS: In this before–after retrospective cohort study conducted between July 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, we compared Carpenter-Coustan and IADPSG screening in patients with singleton pregnancies. All patients diagnosed with gestational diabetes received intensive teaching, home glucose monitoring, and medications as indicated. The primary outcome was the rate of large-for-gestational-age neonates. Secondary outcome measures were macrosomia (greater than 4,000 g), primary cesarean delivery, neonatal intensive care unit admission, preterm delivery, preeclampsia, and hyperbilirubinemia. We determined that a sample size of 2,782 per group was sufficient to detect a 2% difference in the primary outcome between groups with 80% power assuming a 10% incidence in the before group. The groups were compared using Fisher exact test for proportions and a &khgr;2 test for odds ratios. RESULTS: In the before (Carpenter-Coustan) group, 513 (17%) of the 2,972 patients were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and in the after (IADPSG) group, 847 (27%) of the 3,094 patients were so diagnosed (P<.001). There was no significant difference in rates of large for gestational age, 10% and 9%, respectively (P=.25). The IADPSG group had a significantly higher primary cesarean delivery rate—16% compared with 20% (P<.001), but there were no significant differences in any other pregnancy outcomes. CONCLUSION: Although one-step screening was associated with more patients being treated for gestational diabetes, it was not associated with a decrease in large-for-gestational-age or macrosomic neonates but was associated with an increased rate of primary cesarean delivery. Our results did not support the IADPSG-recommended screening protocol.