Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dell's Channel Transformation: Leveraging Operations Research to Unleash Potential Across the Value Chain

Dell pioneered the direct sales model by offering its customers technology solutions through full-system configurability. In 2007, Dell launched several strategic initiatives to drive channel transformation by offering fixed configurations through online channels, retailers, distributors, and other channel partners. Dell's center of excellence CoE in analytics developed solutions that apply operations research OR to address key challenges across the value chain and enable profitable growth in the new channels. These solutions include 1 a configuration optimizer to reduce product complexity by identifying fixed hardware configurations FHCs, which Dell builds and stocks, 2 an online conversion rate accelerator to improve the online customer purchase experience, leading to increased revenues and customer satisfaction, and 3 a retail margin maximizer to improve forecasts, mitigate inventory risk, and recommend promotions to increase margins. Since 2007, OR has helped Dell solve complex business problems and has facilitated its growth in the FHC business to $15 billion. Since 2010, these OR solutions have delivered a margin impact of more than $140 million by reducing markdown expenditures, improving online conversion rates, increasing ocean shipments, and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Hip flexibility and strength measures: reliability and association with athletic groin pain

Objective: Groin pain commonly affects football players and can be associated with prolonged recovery periods. Understanding the relationship between groin pain and reliable measures of hip flexibility and strength may facilitate the development of optimal rehabilitation and prevention strategies. In this study, the reliability and association with athletic groin pain of hip flexibility and strength measures were investigated. Methods: A cohort of 29 football players (15–21 years) participating in junior elite competitions (Australian Rules football and soccer) were recruited. The intra-rater reliability (n = 13) and inter-rater reliability (n = 12) of various hip flexibility (bent knee fall out test, hip internal rotation, hip external rotation) and strength (hip abduction, hip internal rotation, hip external rotation, hip adduction (squeeze test)) measures were investigated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Reliable hip flexibility and strength measures were compared between football players with (n = 10) and without (n = 19) groin pain. Results: The bent knee fall out test, hip internal rotation flexibility and the squeeze test demonstrated acceptable (ICC>0.75) intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, while hip external rotation flexibility and hip abduction strength demonstrated acceptable intra-rater but not inter-rater reliability. Hip internal and external rotation strength tests were not found to be reliable. Football players with groin pain had significantly reduced force production on the squeeze test (p>0.05). Conclusion: Several hip flexibility and strength measures were found to be reliable. Only the squeeze test discriminated between football players with and without groin pain.
A Modified Particle Swarm Neural Network Based on Local Chaotic Optimization Strategy

BP neural network is an important type of neural network that has good approximation property and generalization ability. However, it often converges to local optima in implementation. the particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a global optimization method. It is integrated into BP neural network to enhance the global problem-solving ability. Premature problems are often encountered in optimization. to alleviate this problem, a chaotic strategy is devised to prevent the combined algorithm from falling into premature state. This hybrid algorithm is named with modified chaotic particle swarm optimization (MCPSO) algorithm. We use it to optimize the parameters of a BP neural network, and then apply this network to Iris data classification problem. Simulation results show that MCPSO-based BP neural network can not only optimize the network's parameters and thresholds, but also can achieve accurate classification results.
The Northern Population Development; Colonization And Mortality In Swedish Sapmi, 1776–1895

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the Consequence of Colonization project is to study population development and mortality in Swedish Sapmi. This article, the first to be drawn from our research, compares these changes between Sami and non-Sami, South and North Sami. Study design. Longitudinal individual based data from computerized records ofthe Glillivare, Undersaker and Frostviken parishes, divided into 2 40-year periods: 1776–1815 and 1856-1895. METHODS: The main source material used for the present study was a set of data files from the Demographic Data Base (DDB) at Umea University, the largest historical database in Europe. A Sami cohort was created by indicators of ethnicity in the parish registers, and was later extended with automatic linkages to children and parents. RESULTS: Sami mortality rates show great fluctuations during the period 1776–1815, almost always peaking at a higher rate than in the rest of Sweden. The non-Sami group had lower mortality rates compared with both Sweden as a whole and the Sami in the parish. Between 1856 and 1895, the non-Sami experienced a very small reduction in their mortality rates and the Sami experienced overall improvement in their health status. Significant differences in age-specific mortality appear when the South and North Sami are compared, showing that the South Sami had far lower child mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: The Sami population’s health status improved during the nineteenth century. This indicates that they had advanced in the epidemiologic transition model. A corresponding change is not found for the non-Sami group.
Simplified Mechanisms with Applications to Sponsored Search and Package Auctions

A simplified mechanism is a direct mechanism modified by restricting the set of reports or bids. An example is the auction used to place ads on Internet search pages, in which each advertiser bids a single price to determine the allocation of eight or more ad positions on a page. If a simplified mechanism satisfies the “best-reply-closure” property, then all Nash equilibria of the simplified mechanism are also equilibria of the original direct mechanism. For search advertising auctions, suitable simplifications eliminate inefficient, low-revenue equilibria that are favored in the original direct mechanism when bidding costs are positive.
Verb preference effects in the sentence comprehension of fluent aphasic individuals

Abstract This investigation examined sentence processing of fluent aphasic subjects with varying severity levels. Subjects performed a cross-modal lexical decision task for transitive and intransitive verbs in preferred and non-preferred frameworks. Verb processing was measured by reaction times during on-line sentence comprehension. Reaction times to the cross-modal lexical decision (CMLD) task indicated that the subjects with aphasia were insensitive to preference information associated with the processing of verbs in sentences. Severity level did not alter the pattern observed regarding verb type and preferences.
Kantian Rigorism and Mitigating Circumstances*

A task facing any moral theory is to account for both the rigidity and the flexibility of moral rules. It is natural to think of moral rules as being both uncompromising across some range of core cases and open to modification or exception at the margins. Utilitarianism and Kantianism face complementary challenges when it comes to justifying this intuition. Utilitarianism threatens too much flexibility; critics argue that the theory would require us to break our promises, tell lies, and condemn the innocent whenever doing so happens to be expedient. Kantianism, by contrast, seems too rigid. When a murderer comes to the door asking the whereabouts of his intended victim, it seems morally myopic to refrain from lying to him out of a sense of duty. In general, utilitarianism appears to be more attractive than Kantianism in cases that are in some sense marginal or exceptional, cases where we are inclined to depart from our ordinary standards in the face of mitigating circumstances. But Kantianism seems more attractive in what we might call core cases, cases where we are inclined to keep our promises or tell the truth “on principle,” independent of any
Levels of consensus and majority and minority influence.

Three experiments are reported which examine the effects of consensus information on majority and minority influence. In all experiments two levels of consensus difference were examined; large (82% versus 18%) and small (52% versus 48%). Experiment 1 showed that a majority source had more influence than a minority source, irrespective of consensus level. Experiment 2 examined the cause of this effect by presenting only the source label (‘majority’ versus ‘minority’), only the consensus information (percentages) or both. The superior influence of the majority was again found when either (a) both source label and consensus information were given (replicating Experiment 1) and (b) only consensus information was given, but not when (c) only the source label was given. The results showed majority influence was due to the consensus information indicating more than 50% of the population supported that position. Experiment 3 also manipulated message quality (strong versus weak arguments) to identify whether systematic processing had occurred. Message quality only had an impact with the minority of 18%. These studies show that consensus information has different effects for majority and minority influence. For majority influence, having over 50% support is sufficient to cause compliance while for a minority there are advantages to being numerically small, in terms of leading to detailed processing of its message.
Comparison Study of MS-HRM and Pyrosequencing Techniques for Quantification of APC and CDKN2A Gene Methylation

There is increasing interest in the development of cost-effective techniques for the quantification of DNA methylation biomarkers. We analyzed 90 samples of surgically resected colorectal cancer tissues for APC and CDKN2A promoter methylation using methylation sensitive-high resolution melting (MS-HRM) and pyrosequencing. MS-HRM is a less expensive technique compared with pyrosequencing but is usually more limited because it gives a range of methylation estimates rather than a single value. Here, we developed a method for deriving single estimates, rather than a range, of methylation using MS-HRM and compared the values obtained in this way with those obtained using the gold standard quantitative method of pyrosequencing. We derived an interpolation curve using standards of known methylated/unmethylated ratio (0%, 12.5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of methylation) to obtain the best estimate of the extent of methylation for each of our samples. We observed similar profiles of methylation and a high correlation coefficient between the two techniques. Overall, our new approach allows MS-HRM to be used as a quantitative assay which provides results which are comparable with those obtained by pyrosequencing.
Caloric restriction or catalase inactivation extends yeast chronological lifespan by inducing H2O2 and superoxide dismutase activity

The free radical theory of aging posits oxidative damage to macromolecules as a primary determinant of lifespan. Recent studies challenge this theory by demonstrating that in some cases, longevity is enhanced by inactivation of oxidative stress defenses or is correlated with increased, rather than decreased reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage. Here we show that, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, caloric restriction or inactivation of catalases extends chronological lifespan by inducing elevated levels of the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide, which activate superoxide dismutases that inhibit the accumulation of superoxide anions. Increased hydrogen peroxide in catalase-deficient cells extends chronological lifespan despite parallel increases in oxidative damage. These findings establish a role for hormesis effects of hydrogen peroxide in promoting longevity that have broad implications for understanding aging and age-related diseases.
Beyond Interdisciplinary Teaming: Findings and Implications of the NASSP National Middle Level Study

This article reports trends and implications of interdisciplinary teaming practices in middle level schools, based on findingsfrom a national survey. Noting that nearly 80% of schools currently implement teaming the authors challenge principals and teachers to move beyond the simple formation of teams to the creation of an infrastructure that supports highperforming teams and thereby promotes improved student achievement.
Verb lexicons in SLI: Some experimental data from Modern Greek

The aim of this study is to investigate the verb lexicons of Greek children with SLI on the basis of experimental data from production and comprehension tasks. Two groups of children participated in the experiments: one group of 4 SLI children and one control group of normally developing children matched on chronological age. As the production data analysis indicates, SLI children use a limited verb lexicon comprising a considerable number of light verbs that were often used in a non-adult fashion. Despite the apparent differences between SLI children’s verb production and that of the control group, it is argued that the verb lexicons of SLI children are compatible with the adult verb system in Modern Greek. Based on comprehension data, it is suggested that SLI children’s problems in verb production can be attributed to difficulties in verb retrieval rather than to completely impaired lexical representations.
Fusion of Human Neutrophil Phagosomes with Lysosomes in Vitro

The intracellular killing of microorganisms in phagocytes involves the fusion of lysosomes containing bactericidal factors with phagosomes, and several intracellular pathogens are able to inhibit this fusion event. In this study, we report the reconstitution of phagosome-lysosome fusion in vitro, using an assay based on resonance energy transfer between fluorescent phospholipid analogues that were inserted into whole human NB4-neutrophil membranes from liposomes containing positively charged lipids. Cytosol was required for fusion, and fusion was stimulated 3-fold if this cytosol had been prepared from neutrophils activated by using opsonized zymosan or a combination of the calcium ionophore (A23187) and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Fusion was inhibited by the addition of PP1, an inhibitor of Src family protein kinases, or GTPγS. We have previously reported that the biogenesis of phagolysosomes in human neutrophils is inhibited by mycobacteria. Here we show that cytosol from cells having internalized live (not heat-killed) Mycobacterium smegmatisor cytosol simply incubated with mycobacteria inhibited fusion, indicating that soluble factors are involved in mycobacterial inhibition of phagosome-lysosome fusion.
Deep Learning for Image Denoising

Deep learning is an emerging approach for finding concise, slightly higher level representations of the inputs, and has been successfully applied to many practical learning problems, where the goal is to use large data to help on a given learning task. We present an algorithm for image denoising task defined by this model, and show that by training on large image databases we are able to outperform the current state-of-the-art image denoising methods.
Sharing of drug preparation equipment as a risk factor for hepatitis C.

OBJECTIVES This study investigated the sharing of drug preparation equipment as a possible route of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission. METHODS HCV seroconversion was measured in a cohort of 317 injection drug users who tested negative for HCV antibody at recruitment. RESULTS Cumulative HCV incidence was 16.7% per year. Among those who did not share syringes, HCV seroconversion was associated with sharing drug cookers and filtration cotton (adjusted risk ratio = 5.9; 95% confidence interval = 1.1, 31.7); 54% of HCV infections in injection drug users who did not share syringes were attributable to cooker/cotton sharing. CONCLUSIONS Among injection drug users who do not share syringes, an important proportion of HCV infections may be attributed to cooker/cotton sharing.
Psychiatric patients with histories of aggression and crime five years after discharge from a cognitive-behavioral program

A program evaluation examined a long-term cognitive skills inpatient program (STAIR) in reducing rehospitalization and rearrest rates in mental illness. Psychiatric and criminal histories were obtained. Psychological tests were administered. After discharge, monthly follow-up was obtained. One hundred forty-five patients completed the STAIR program and were followed for a range of six to 60 months after discharge. Thirty-one (21.4%) remained stable, 67 (46.2%) were rehospitalized, and 47 (32.4%) were rearrested and/or rehospitalized. Group membership was predicted by STAIR admission age and outpatient medication compliance. Significantly, fewer arrests, hospitalizations, and days institutionalized occurred post-STAIR. Medication compliance is the single most enduring factor associated with clinical stability and prevention of criminal behavior. Other factors’ impact may vary depending on the length of stay in the community. Long-term inpatient programs (e.g., STAIR) may be helpful to some of these patients.
Performance simulation and analysis of a CMOS/nano hybrid nanoprocessor system

This paper provides detailed simulation results and analysis of the prospective performance of hybrid CMOS/nanoelectronic processor systems based upon the field-programmable nanowire interconnect (FPNI) architecture. To evaluate this architecture, a complete design was developed for an FPNI implementation using 90 nm CMOS with 15 nm wide nanowire interconnects. Detailed simulations of this design illustrate that critical design choices and tradeoffs exist beyond those specified by the architecture. This includes the selection of the types of junction nanodevices, as well as the implementation of low-level circuits. In particular, the simulation results presented here show that only nanodevices with an ‘on/off’ current ratio of 200 or more are suitable to produce correct system-level behaviour. Furthermore, the design of the CMOS logic gates in the FPNI system must be customized to accommodate the resistances of both ‘on’-state and ‘off’-state nanodevices. Using these customized designs together with models of suitable nanodevices, additional simulations demonstrate that, relative to conventional 90 nm CMOS FPGA systems, performance gains can be obtained of up to 70% greater speed or up to a ninefold reduction in energy consumption.
Regulation of cytokine-independent survival kinase (CISK) by the Phox homology domain and phosphoinositides

PKB/Akt and serum and glucocorticoid–regulated kinase (SGK) family kinases are important downstream targets of phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI-3) kinase and have been shown to mediate a variety of cellular processes, including cell growth and survival. Although regulation of Akt can be achieved through several mechanisms, including its phosphoinositide-binding Pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, how SGK kinases are targeted and regulated remains to be elucidated. Unlike Akt, cytokine-independent survival kinase (CISK)/SGK3 contains a Phox homology (PX) domain. PX domains have been implicated in several cellular events involving membrane trafficking. However, their precise function remains unknown. We demonstrate here that the PX domain of CISK interacts with phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns)(3,5)P2, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, and to a lesser extent PtdIns(4,5)P2. The CISK PX domain is required for targeting CISK to the endosomal compartment. Mutation in the PX domain that abolished its phospholipid binding ability not only disrupted CISK localization, but also resulted in a decrease in CISK activity in vivo. These results suggest that the PX domain regulates CISK localization and function through its direct interaction with phosphoinositides. Therefore, CISK and Akt have evolved to utilize different lipid binding domains to accomplish a similar mechanism of activation in response to PI-3 kinase signaling.
PhD forum: A data mining approach for human activity learning in a multi-modal sensor system

In this paper, we investigate the problem of monitoring human activities using a network of sensors, including video cameras, in a smart home environment. We introduce an unsupervised method for mining a new kind of temporally structured activity models from sensor data. We present an application of our method to the recognition of activities of daily living in an elderly care context.
Differential Cardiac Effects of Aerobic Interval Training Versus Moderate Continuous Training in a Patient with Schizophrenia: A Case Report

Increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates for patients with schizophrenia are reported to contribute to their reduced life expectancy. Common reasons for increased cardiac mortality rates include cigarette smoking, obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and poorer health behavior in general. The majority of excess mortality among people with schizophrenia is caused by cardiovascular complications. Reduced vagal activity might be one important mechanism leading to this increased cardiac mortality and has been consistently described in patients and their healthy first-degree relatives. In this case study, we compared two different aerobic exercise regimes in one patient with chronic schizophrenia to investigate their effects on cardiovascular regulation. The patient completed a 6-week period of moderate continuous training (CT) followed by a 6-week period of interval training (IT), each regime two times per week, on a stationary bicycle. This was followed by a 6-week period of detraining. Primary outcome measures examined heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) at rest while secondary measures assessed fitness parameters such as the ventilatory threshold 1 (VT1). We observed that IT was far more effective than moderate CT in increasing HRV, as indicated by root mean of squared successive difference (improvement to baseline 27 versus 18%), and reducing resting HR (−14 versus 0%). Improvement in VT1 (21 versus −1%) was only observed after IT. Our study provides preliminary data that the type of intervention is highly influential for improving cardiac function in patients with schizophrenia. While cardiovascular function might be influenced by CT to some degree, no such effect was present in this patient with schizophrenia. In addition, the beneficial effect of IT on HR regulation vanished completely after a very short period of detraining after the intervention.