Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revisiting IT readiness: an approach for small firms

Purpose – Drawing from the literature, the purpose of this paper is to offer an empirically validated framework for examining information technology (IT) readiness in small firms. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework of IT readiness for small firms is developed and validated empirically using a quantitative survey of 117 UK manufacturing small firms to identify distinct clusters of firms according to their states of IT readiness. Findings – The survey responses are grouped according to three distinct profiles that display varying degrees of IT readiness depending upon their strategic motivation, IT processes, project management and technology complexity. Research limitations/implications – Prior studies examining IT readiness in small-and medium-sized enterprises have not offered a differentiated understanding of small firms that is grounded in quantitative data. The varying profiles of small firms discovered indicate potential paths of IT readiness which offers a basis for further researc.
An Adaptive Thread Scheduling Mechanism With Low-Power Register File for Mobile GPUs

In response to the remarkable increase in 3D applications in consumer electronics devices in recent years, graphics processing units (GPUs) have become widely available on mobile devices. These GPUs typically use hardware multithreaded shaders to improve their throughputs for real-time rendering, but they depend on duplicate register files to maintain the context of each hardware thread, increasing power consumption. However, the register usage of shading programs is often relatively low, which causes many registers to remain unused, thus wasting power. Long latency memory operations can also consume unnecessary power to activate registers. This study proposes a low-power register file with multiple power modes to reduce the power consumption of the register file. This study also presents an adaptive thread scheduling mechanism to achieve a tradeoff between the power consumption of the register file and frames per second (FPS). Results show that the average performance degradation from the proposed low-power register file is only 0.62%. The proposed adaptive thread scheduling has average under prediction ratio of 3.32%. The leakage reduction of the proposed low-power register file is 74.80%. This reduction can be improved to 81.49%, 82.22%, and 84.28% with adaptive thread scheduling at frame rates of 30, 25, and 20, respectively.
Stochastic Dynamics Underlying Cognitive Stability and Flexibility

Cognitive stability and flexibility are core functions in the successful pursuit of behavioral goals. While there is evidence for a common frontoparietal network underlying both functions and for a key role of dopamine in the modulation of flexible versus stable behavior, the exact neurocomputational mechanisms underlying those executive functions and their adaptation to environmental demands are still unclear. In this work we study the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying cue based task switching (flexibility) and distractor inhibition (stability) in a paradigm specifically designed to probe both functions. We develop a physiologically plausible, explicit model of neural networks that maintain the currently active task rule in working memory and implement the decision process. We simplify the four-choice decision network to a nonlinear drift-diffusion process that we canonically derive from a generic winner-take-all network model. By fitting our model to the behavioral data of individual subjects, we can reproduce their full behavior in terms of decisions and reaction time distributions in baseline as well as distractor inhibition and switch conditions. Furthermore, we predict the individual hemodynamic response timecourse of the rule-representing network and localize it to a frontoparietal network including the inferior frontal junction area and the intraparietal sulcus, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This refines the understanding of task-switch-related frontoparietal brain activity as reflecting attractor-like working memory representations of task rules. Finally, we estimate the subject-specific stability of the rule-representing attractor states in terms of the minimal action associated with a transition between different rule states in the phase-space of the fitted models. This stability measure correlates with switching-specific thalamocorticostriatal activation, i.e., with a system associated with flexible working memory updating and dopaminergic modulation of cognitive flexibility. These results show that stochastic dynamical systems can implement the basic computations underlying cognitive stability and flexibility and explain neurobiological bases of individual differences.
Information myths and intimate partner violence: Sources, contexts, and consequences

Survivors of intimate partner violence face more than information gaps; many face powerful barriers in the form of information myths. Triangulating data from in-depth interviews and community bulletin board postings, this study incorporates insights from survivors, police, and shelter staff to begin mapping the information landscape through which survivors move. An unanticipated feature of that landscape is a set of 28 compelling information myths that prevent some survivors from making effective use of the social, legal, economic, and support resources available to them. This analysis of the sources, contexts, and consequences of these information myths is the first step in devising strategies to counter their ill effects.
Load Frequency Control for Micro Hydro Power Plants by Sliding Mode and Model Order Reduction

Micro hydro is treated as a major renewable energy resource. Such a kind of plants blooms because they can evade some dilemmas like population displacement and environmental problems. But their performance on the frequency index of power systems may be deteriorated in the presence of sudden small load perturbations and parameter uncertainties. To improve the performance, the problem of load frequency control (LFC) raises up. Design of state-based controllers on the aspect of modern control is challenging because only a part of the system states are measurable. This paper addresses the scheme of sliding mode control by model order reduction for the LFC problem of micro hydro power plants. The kind of plants usually has two operating modes, i.e., isolated mode and grid-connected mode. Under each operating mode, mathematical model and model reduction are investigated at first. According to the reduced-order model, a sliding mode control law is subsequently derived. Since the control law is applied to the original system, a sufficient condition about the system stability is proven in light of small gain theory. Simulation results illustrate the feasibility, validity and robustness of the presented scheme.
Computing Geo-Spatial Motives from Linked Data for Search-driven Applications

The Web of Data puts a vast and ever-increasing amount of information at the disposal of its users. In the era of big data, interpreting and exploiting these information is both a highly active research area and a key issue for users in industry trying to gain a competitive edge. One current problem in industry with many potential application areas is finding a common theme for varying features by generating higher level summaries. We introduce the notion of motives to describe these common themes. Motives can be identified for all sorts of entities such as geo-spatial regions (e.g., “cultural regions”) or holidays (e.g., “winter holidays”, “activity holidays”). These motives are closer to common language and human conversations than ordinary keywords. Since users prefer formulating their information needs using everyday language, which expresses their understanding of the world, the potential for a strong industrial impact for search applications can be derived. However, capturing the users’ often vaguely formulated intentions and matching them to appropriate retrieval operations on the available knowledge bases is a challenging issue. Yet, it is an important step on the way of providing the best possible search experience to users. This paper presents our work in progress on computing motives for geospatial regions. Following a long term agenda, we are evaluating the requirements for identifying such motives in large data sets. At this point, we can show that out-of-the-box machine learning methods can be used on Linked Data to train a model for computation of geo-spatial motives with good accuracy.
Heterogeneous Volatility Cascade in Financial Markets

Using high frequency data, we have studied empirically the change of volatility, also called volatility derivative, for various time horizons. In particular, the correlation between the volatility derivative and the volatility realized in the next time period is a measure of the response function of the market participants. This correlation shows explicitly the heterogeneous structure of the market according to the characteristic time horizons of the different agents. It reveals a volatility cascade from long to short time horizons, with a structure different from the one observed in turbulence. Moreover, we have developed a new ARCH-type model which incorporates the different groups of agents, with their characteristic memory. This model reproduces well the empirical response function, and allows us to quantify the importance of each group.
Urease as a Virulence Factor in Experimental Cryptococcosis

ABSTRACT Urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbamate and has been found to be an important pathogenic factor for certain bacteria. Cryptococcus neoformans is a significant human pathogenic fungus that produces large amounts of urease; thus we wanted to investigate the importance of urease in the pathogenesis of cryptococcosis. We cloned and sequenced the genomic locus containing the single-copy C. neoformans urease gene (URE1) and used this to disrupt the native URE1in the serotype A strain H99. The ure1 mutant strains were found to have in vitro growth characteristics, phenoloxidase activity, and capsule size similar to those of the wild type. Comparison of aure1 mutant with H99 after intracisternal inoculation into corticosteroid-treated rabbits revealed no significant differences in colony counts recovered from the cerebrospinal fluid. However, when these two strains were compared in both the murine intravenous and inhalational infection models, there were significant differences in survival. Mice infected with a ure1 strain lived longer than mice infected with H99 in both models. The ure1 strain was restored to urease positivity by complementation withURE1, and two resulting transformants were significantly more pathogenic than the ure1 strain. Our results suggest that urease activity is involved in the pathogenesis of cryptococcosis but that the importance may be species and/or infection site specific.
Using time-domain transient simulation to characterize nonlinear intermodulation distortions in photodetectors

We propose a universal simulating solution to characterize the OIP3 of most kinds of photodetectors using Silvaco TCAD simulation tools. For a normal PIN photodetector and a unitraveling-carrier photodetector, a fine agreement was observed in experimental results and simulation results. We believe that this solution could be useful in designing and optimizing high-power photodetectors.
One- and two-dimensional high-performance thin-layer chromatography as an alternative analytical tool for investigating polyphenol-protein interactions.

INTRODUCTION Polyphenols and simple phenolic compounds are able to react with other food constituents during processing and storage. In the past, it has been shown that their reaction with proteins can lead to changes of the technofunctional or even physiological properties of both compound classes. However, identification of specific binding sites of small molecules within a protein sequence (and the corresponding conformational position) is still challenging. OBJECTIVE Investigating the reaction between different food proteins and phenolic compounds in alkaline medium with one- and two-dimensional high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) with time-of-flight (TOF) MS for analysing the peptide profiles after tryptic digestion. METHODS After modification with phenolic compounds, protein derivatives were digested and peptides were separated with one- and two-dimensional HPTLC. Peptide profiles were detected with visible and UV wavelengths as well as with fluorescamine, ninhydrin and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid staining. In order to perform mass spectrometric measurements, peptides separated in the first dimension were analysed by MALDI/TOF/MS. RESULTS Results show that the phenolic acids applied in this study show different specificity and susceptibility when modifying proteins resulting in changes of the peptide profiles, peptide quantity, polarity, UV-activity, radical-scavenging activity and molecular mass. CONCLUSION One- and two-dimensional HPTLC supported by mass spectrometric detection represents an innovative, alternative tool for investigating and understanding polyphenol-protein interactions. This approach enables the identification of binding sites inside the protein chain and contributes to understanding the mechanism of polyphenol-protein interactions in vitro and in vivo.
Relaxin inhibits renal myofibroblast differentiation via RXFP1, the nitric oxide pathway, and Smad2

The hormone relaxin inhibits renal myofibroblast differentiation by interfering with TGF‐β1/ Smad2 signaling. However, the pathways involved in the relaxin‐TGF‐β1/Smad2 interaction remain unknown. This study investigated the signaling mechanisms by which human gene‐2 (H2) relaxin regulates myofibroblast differentiation in vitro by examining its effects on mixed populations of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts propagated from injured rat kidneys. Cultures containing ~60–70% myofibroblasts were used to determine which relaxin receptors, G‐proteins, and signaling pathways were involved in the H2 relaxin‐mediated regulation of α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA; a marker of myofibroblast differentiation). H2 relaxin only inhibited α‐SMA immunostaining and collagen concentration in the presence of relaxin family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1). H2 relaxin also induced a transient rise in cAMP in the presence of Gi/o inhibition, and a sustained increase in extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK)‐1/2 phosphorylation. Furthermore, inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), NO, and cGMP significantly blocked the inhibitory effects of relaxin on α‐SMA and Smad2 phosphorylation, while the NO inhibitor, l‐nitroarginine methyl ester (hydrochloride) (l‐NAME) significantly blocked the inhibitory actions of relaxin on collagen concentration in vivo. These findings suggest that relaxin signals through RXFP1, and a nNOS‐NO‐cGMP‐dependent pathway to inhibit Smad2 phosphorylation and interfere with TGF‐β1‐mediated renal myofibroblast differentiation and collagen production. —Mookerjee, I. , Hewitson, T. D. , Halls, M. L. , Summers, R. J., Mathai, M. L. , Bathgate, R. A. D. , Tregear, G. W. , Samuel, C. S. Relaxin inhibits renal myofibroblast differentiation via RXFP1, the nitric oxide pathway, and Smad2. FASEB J. 23, 1219–1229 (2009)
A generic model for constructing three-stage amplifiers

This paper presents a generic model that links the compensation techniques used in two-stage amplifiers to the structures of three-stage amplifiers. Many previous designs can be derived from this model, and new three-stage amplifiers can potentially be constructed. A novel three-stage amplifier based on this generic model is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed design outperforms many recent designs.
Visibility and Rhetoric: The Power of Visual Images in Norman Rockwell's Depictions of Civil Rights

This essay demonstrates how visual works of art may operate rhetorically to articulate public knowledge, to illustrate the moral challenges facing citizens, and to shape commemorative practices, through an analysis of Norman Rockwell's civil rights paintings of the 1960s. By examining the rhetorical aspects of these paintings, including their form and composition, the essay demonstrates the power of visual works of art to evoke common humanity in three significant ways: (1) disregarding established caricatures; (2) creating recognition of others through particularity; and (3) depicting material aspects of American society, thereby reminding viewers that abstract political concepts are always relative to the individuals or groups whose lives are most directly influenced by their presence or absence.
Total Variation Minimization for Compressed Sensing with “Smoothly” Varying Covariates

The LASSO is a variable subset selection procedure in statistical linear regression based on sparsity promoting `1 penalization of the least-squares operator. In many applications, the design matrix has strongly correlated columns which are smoothly evolving with the column index. For such applications, the standard LASSO does not provide satisfactory solutions in practice because some incoherence is often needed for support recovery of sparse vectors. In this paper, we circumvent this problem by using a Total Variation penalty and obtain adaptive confidence intervals for the nonzero components of the signal. The relaxation parameter is calibrated by a new multiscale data acquisition scheme. This approach is illustrated by some simulations results for a source localization problem in a marine environment.
Evaluating Matching Algorithms: the Monotonicity Principle

In this paper we present the monotonicity principle, a sufficient condition to ensure that exact mapping, a mapping as would be performed by a human observer, is ranked close to the best mapping, as generated automatically by a matching algorithm. The research is motivated by the introduction of the semantic Web vision and the shift towards machine understandable Web resources. We support the importance of the monotonicity principle by empirical analysis of a matching algorithm, showing that algorithms that obey this principle rank the exact mapping close to the best mapping. keywords: Ontology matching, Novel integration architectures
Spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements and nanocharacterization of conductive graft copolymer thin films

This work presents an investigation on the influence of different factors on conductive graft comb copolymer polymethylsiloxane (PMS) with poly(3-hexyltiophene) (P3HT) and poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) or dodec-1-en as functional side groups grafted on poly(methylhydrosiloxane) backbone. The analysed factors that influenced the parameters of the layers were temperature and different gas atmosphere (N2, NO2). Samples were measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry under the influence of a gas atmosphere. Moreover, morphology (sample roughness) and optical properties (refractive index, extinction coefficient) were measured of obtained thin films deposited on glass substrate using spin coating method. The study showed that obtained thin films of copolymers shows the possibility of using such polymers in the implementation of gas sensing structures.
Deciphering Key Residues Involved in the Virulence-promoting Interactions between Streptococcus pneumoniae and Human Plasminogen*

Bacterial pathogens recruit circulating proteins to their own surfaces, co-opting the host protein functions as a mechanism of virulence. Particular attention has focused on the binding of plasminogen (Plg) to bacterial surfaces, as it has been shown that this interaction contributes to bacterial adhesion to host cells, invasion of host tissues, and evasion of the immune system. Several bacterial proteins are known to serve as receptors for Plg including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), a cytoplasmic enzyme that appears on the cell surface in this moonlighting role. Although Plg typically binds to these receptors via several lysine-binding domains, the specific interactions that occur have not been documented in all cases. However, identification of the relevant residues could help define strategies for mitigating the virulence of important human pathogens, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp). To shed light on this question, we have described a combination of peptide-spot array screening, competition and SPR assays, high-resolution crystallography, and mutational analyses to characterize the interaction between SpGAPDH and Plg. We identified three SpGAPDH lysine residues that were instrumental in defining the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the interaction. Altogether, the integration of the data presented in this work allows us to propose a structural model for the molecular interaction of the SpGAPDH-Plg complex.
Assessment on Tension Bar Lap Splices of Concrete Reinforcement Steel

Splicing rebar with lap splices must be done in its implementation due to the influence on the methods of implementation and the availability of existing reinforcing steel length. Lap splices length (ld) serves to channel the force borne by the steel reinforcement. Lap splices length testing conducted to determine the distribution of force occurs. The test specimen lap splice using a class B which is 1.3 ld with concrete covers at least 3 cm. By using an experimental study in which the use of reinforcing steel D-10 with a lap splices length of 1.3 ld by 43 cm, 1.2 ld by 40 cm using K-400 concrete and calculation analysis produces the lap splices length 27 cm and 30 cm use quality of concrete K-400 and K-450. Tests using the tensile test equipment (Universal Testing Machine) in laboratory B2TKS BPPT. Results from this study is the length of the lap splices of 1.3 ld and 1.2 ld use quality of concrete K-400 is able to meet the mechanical properties of reinforcing steel for the collapse occurred in the reinforcing steel. With lap splices length 27 cm and 30 cm using quality of concrete K-400 occur in lap splice collapse after passing the yield stress of reinforcing steel 40 kg/mm2. While the lap splices length 27 cm and 30 cm using the quality of concrete K-450 collapse there are a difference between the test specimens due to the tension that occur closer to the ultimate stress of rebar’s at 57 kg / mm2