Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Permission-based mobile marketing and sources of trust in selected European markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a three‐country comparison of personal and institutionally based trust as factors affecting consumers' willingness to participate in permission‐based mobile marketing.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model of different dimensions of personal and institutionally based trust and their effect on the consumer's willingness to provide personal information and the permission to use it is tested with data from surveys of young consumers in Finland, Germany and the UK. The data were analysed by structural equation modelling (LISREL8.7). Findings – The main factor affecting the consumers' decision to participate in mobile marketing is the company's media presence, which is a significant factor in all three countries.Research limitations/implications – While the results of this study establish the sources of trust that play a role in permission‐based mobile marketing, the study of trust in the context of mobile marketing would greatly benefit from research .
The creation of a tool to measure and visualise design effectiveness through analysis of shopper/consumer decision-making processes

This paper summarises the journey undertaken in order to develop the d³ tool that enables the delivery of measurable design value to client brand portfolios. The d³ tool was developed and forms part of the practice of a design consultancy operating out of London, Newcastle and Geneva with combined specialisms in packaging design, shopper marketing and digital communications. The development of the d³ tool aims to add efficiency to the creative process by providing insightful consumer knowledge to inform design processes and marketing initiatives. It combines the concepts of power, evidence and opinion-based decision-making processes, and is used to evaluate design strategies, measure design effectiveness and identify marketing opportunities. The visual component of the d3 tool allows clients to see at a glance how effectively their brand communicates its message through packaging design, shopper marketing and digital materials in relation to their competition. Clients include global corporations with international fast moving consumer goods brand portfolios, present in both physical and digital environments. Typical projects where the d³ tool is used include new product launches, brand design, packaging design and range extensions, digital shopper communications and point of sale materials. The ultimate purpose of the d3 tool is to assist design teams to provide creative solutions that help brands perform effectively on strategy within this cross-platform shopping environment for business success.
The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Northwest Atlantic through Eastern Tropical Pacific

The world's oceans contain a complex mixture of micro-organisms that are for the most part, uncharacterized both genetically and biochemically. We report here a metagenomic study of the marine planktonic microbiota in which surface (mostly marine) water samples were analyzed as part of the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition. These samples, collected across a several-thousand km transect from the North Atlantic through the Panama Canal and ending in the South Pacific yielded an extensive dataset consisting of 7.7 million sequencing reads (6.3 billion bp). Though a few major microbial clades dominate the planktonic marine niche, the dataset contains great diversity with 85% of the assembled sequence and 57% of the unassembled data being unique at a 98% sequence identity cutoff. Using the metadata associated with each sample and sequencing library, we developed new comparative genomic and assembly methods. One comparative genomic method, termed “fragment recruitment,” addressed questions of genome structure, evolution, and taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity, as well as the biochemical diversity of genes and gene families. A second method, termed “extreme assembly,” made possible the assembly and reconstruction of large segments of abundant but clearly nonclonal organisms. Within all abundant populations analyzed, we found extensive intra-ribotype diversity in several forms: (1) extensive sequence variation within orthologous regions throughout a given genome; despite coverage of individual ribotypes approaching 500-fold, most individual sequencing reads are unique; (2) numerous changes in gene content some with direct adaptive implications; and (3) hypervariable genomic islands that are too variable to assemble. The intra-ribotype diversity is organized into genetically isolated populations that have overlapping but independent distributions, implying distinct environmental preference. We present novel methods for measuring the genomic similarity between metagenomic samples and show how they may be grouped into several community types. Specific functional adaptations can be identified both within individual ribotypes and across the entire community, including proteorhodopsin spectral tuning and the presence or absence of the phosphate-binding gene PstS.
Z-Spectrum Analysis Provides Proton Environment Data (ZAPPED): A New Two-Pool Technique for Human Gray and White Matter

A new technique – Z-spectrum Analysis Provides Proton Environment Data (ZAPPED) – was used to map cross-relaxing free and restricted protons in nine healthy subjects plus two brain tumor patients at 3T. First, MT data were acquired over a wide symmetric range of frequency offsets, and then a trio of quantitative biomarkers, i.e., the apparent spin-spin relaxation times (T2,f, T2,r) in both free and restricted proton pools as well as the restricted pool fraction Fr, were mapped by fitting the measured Z-spectra to a simple two-Lorentzian compartment model on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The mean restricted exchangeable proton fraction, Fr, was found to be 0.17 in gray matter (GM) and 0.28 in white matter (WM) in healthy subjects. Corresponding mean values for apparent spin-spin relaxation times were 785 µs (T2,f) and 17.7 µs (T2,r) in GM, 672 µs (T2,f) and 23.4 µs (T2,r) in WM. The percentages of Ff and Fr in GM are similar for all ages, whereas Fr shows a tendency to decrease with age in WM among healthy subjects. The patient ZAPPED images show higher contrast between tumor and normal tissues than traditional T2-weighted and T1-weighted images. The ZAPPED method provides a simple phenomenological approach to estimating fractions and apparent T2 values of free and restricted MT-active protons, and it may offer clinical useful information.
Albendazole Microparticles Prepared by Spray Drying Technique: Improvement of Drug Dissolution

Purpose: To enhance the dissolution of albendazole (ABZ) using spray-drying technique. Method: ABZ binary mixtures with Kollicoat IR® (KL) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) in various drug to polymer ratios (1: 1, 1: 2 and 1; 4) were prepared by spray-drying. The spray-dried particles were characterized for particle shape, and dissolution rate as well as by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Results: Scanning electron micrographs showed a homogeneous distribution of ABZ in the polymer matrix for ABZ-PVP spray-dried system in ratios of 1: 2 and 1: 4, while it was observed only upon using a ratio of ABZ: KL 1: 4 in case of ABZ-KL systems. FT-IR spectra of both physical mixtures and spraydried mixtures did not show any change for all ABZ-polymer systems, thus indicating the compatibility of the carriers with ABZ. ABZ exhibited a noticeable enhanced dissolution rate from its spray-dried coacervate with PVP and this was independent of the drug/polymer ratio. Drug release was 78, 81 and 81 % from the spray-dried ABZ-PVP systems of drug: polymer ratio of 1:1, 1:2 and 1: 4, respectively, within 5 min. Drug showed complete dissolution within 15 min. On the other hand, enhancement of dissolution rate varied with ABZ: Kl ratio. Conclusion: Enhancement of ABZ dissolution for both types of spray-dried particles is due to the reduction in drug particle sizes, wetting of the dissolution medium by the hydrophilic carriers and the amorphosization of the drug crystals by the carriers.
The Role of Social Work Leadership: Mount Sinai Care, the Accountable Care Organization, and Population Health Management

In July 2012, The Mount Sinai Medical Center was selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to join the first cohort of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in this country under its Medicare Shared Savings Program. A critical component of an ACO is care coordination of patients, which is a complex concept, intertwined with other concepts related to quality, delivery and organization of health care. This article provides an overview of the development, structure and functionality of Mount Sinai Care, the ACO of The Mount Sinai Health System, and how it was the beginning of its work in population health management. It describes the important role of social work leadership in the development and operation of its care coordination model. The model’s successes and challenges and recommendations for future development of care coordination and population health management are outlined.
Sensor-Network based Intelligent Water Quality Monitoring and Control

Recent advances in communication technology, especially wireless sensor networks have inspired numerous remote sensing and control applications. Here, we focus on the monitoring and control of water quality in natural water bodies such as rivers and lakes. An intelligent system that combines monitoring and actuation capabilities is designed. Major technical challenges such as sensor selection and control over wireless networks are discussed and appropriate algorithms are adopted based on system design requirement.
Potential challenges and issues in implementation of MIM diodes for rectenna application

Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diodes are one of the widely explored diodes for high frequency applications. The tunneling based transport mechanism in such diodes provides an ultra-fast switching speed which makes it a promising candidate for high frequency rectification in rectennas (Antenna coupled diode). However, despite of a lot of headway in the innovation of MIM diodes, the desired performance has not been achieved yet. This paper brings forward the various challenges and issues confronted in the successful implementation of MIM diodes for rectenna energy harvesting system.
Control system of the power unit

A control apparatus for a power unit equipped with an internal combustion engine and outputs a power. The control apparatus according to the invention starts engine operation when the required power becomes equal to or larger than an engine start threshold during engine stop, and stops engine operation when the required power becomes equal to or smaller than an engine stop threshold during engine operation. The internal combustion engine is equipped with a catalyst. When the purification capacity of the catalyst is lower than a start threshold correction threshold, a value smaller than a reference engine start threshold is set as the engine start threshold. When the purification capacity of the catalyst is equal to or higher than the start threshold correction threshold, a value equal to the reference engine start threshold or a value larger than the reference engine start threshold is set as the engine start threshold.
Navidget for Easy 3D Camera Positioning from 2D Inputs

Navidget is a new interaction technique for camera positioning in 3D environments. This technique derives from the point-of-interest (POI) approaches where the endpoint of a trajectory is selected for smooth camera motions. Unlike the existing POI techniques, Navidget does not attempt to automatically estimate where and how the user wants to move. Instead, it provides good feedback and control for fast and easy interactive camera positioning. Navidget can also be useful for distant inspection when used with a preview window. This new 3D User interface is totally based on 2D inputs. As a result, it is appropriate for a wide variety of visualization systems, from small handheld devices to large interactive displays. A user study on TabletPC shows that the usability of Navidget is very good for both expert and novice users. This new technique is more appropriate than the conventional 3D viewer interfaces for some camera positioning tasks in 3D environments.
Power Factor Corrected (pfc) Zeta Converter Fed Bldc Motor

—A power factor corrected (PFC) zeta converter feeding Brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive with direct back emf detection is proposed in this paper. The voltage of a DC link capacitor which is lying between zeta converter and Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) is controlled by a single phase power supply followed by a uncontrolled bridge rectifier and zeta converter.
Effective Wet-in-Wet Flow Synthesis for Ink Diffusion

Wet-in-wet flow effect is a famous phenomenon in Chinese ink paintings. In this paper, we propose a new two-stage algorithm to synthesize this renowned effect. Given a reference image, in the first stage, we render the reference image using a new color ink diffusion synthesis algorithm. This physically-based algorithm explores a new and more sensitive Kubelka-Munk (SK-M) equation. As a result, this new algorithm produces an ink diffused image, which has the similar tone to the reference image and offers better visual plausibility than our previous work [1]. In the second stage, we present a controllable flow effect technique in order to synthesize the wet-in-wet flow effect. In particular, the adaptive length line integral convolution is adopted to represent the global flow of the reference image. Given this global flow and luminance of the reference image, a controllable flow map is generated using the desired weight coefficients controlled by the user. Finally, we blend this controllable flow map with the ink diffused image rendered in the first stage. The blending takes advantage of the new SK-M equation again, synthesizing a Chinese ink diffused image with a notable wet-in-wet effect. Our algorithm has four advantages: visually pleasing, controllable, independent, and simple.
Chaos-based encryption of biomedical EEG signals using random quantization technique

As electroencephalography (EEG) signals contain sensitive personal health information, it is generally a legal requirement to prevent their unauthorized access. For example, the HIPAA in the US requires that access to personal health information is limited to properly authorized individuals. In this paper, a chaos-based encryption method is proposed to secure patients' EEG data before transmission over an insecure channel. The proposed method employs a multiplexer to dynamically select between two randomly quantized bitstreams for secure key generation. This method is simulated to encrypt the EEG datasets and the statistical properties such as signal distribution, auto and cross-correlation, power spectral density and the residual deviation of the encrypted/original EEG signals are evaluated. The experimental results verify that the proposed method has high security and is suitable for the protection of sensitive EEG data.
Adaptive head movements tracking algorithms for AR interface controlled telepresence robot

The paper describes the design of the telepresence robot controlled via the head-mounted display equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). To control the robot and the camera gimbal motion independently with only 3 DOF reference, we developed algorithms based on nonlinear filtering to process IMU measurements and capture head motion patterns. The system is adaptable to different operators' behaviour and works in real-time using only natural head movements. We implement this solution for shared autonomy remotely controlled robots with an augmented reality (AR) interface, which are in a rising demand for technical drills, monitoring and maintenance applications as well as for indoor guided tours.
System optimization for energy measurements of EUV radiation pulses

The paper presents a detection system for energy measurement of extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV). The system consists of a calibrated silicon photodiode and a single multilayer mirror. It can be used for energy measurements of radiation pulses at 13.5 plusmn 0.5 nm wavelength range (FWHM = 7.3%). A construction of the system was optimized for operation with a laser-plasma source with gas puff target. The system provides energy measurements with uncertainty of 7.2%. Influence of particular system elements on uncertainty of the energy measurement.
Planning Under Uncertainty Using Reduced Models: Revisiting Determinization

We introduce a family of MDP reduced models characterized by two parameters: the maximum number of primary outcomes per action that are fully accounted for and the maximum number of occurrences of the remaining exceptional outcomes that are planned for in advance. Reduced models can be solved much faster using heuristic search algorithms such as LAO*, benefiting from the dramatic reduction in the number of reachable states. A commonly used determinization approach is a special case of this family of reductions, with one primary outcome per action and zero exceptional outcomes per plan. We present a framework to compute the benefits of planning with reduced models, relying on online planning when the number of exceptional outcomes exceeds the bound. Using this framework, we compare the performance of various reduced models and consider the challenge of generating good ones automatically. We show that each one of the dimensions---allowing more than one primary outcome or planning for some limited number of exceptions---could improve performance relative to standard determinization. The results place recent work on determinization in a broader context and lay the foundation for efficient and systematic exploration of the space of MDP model reductions.
Creating a Bi-lingual Entailment Corpus through Translations with Mechanical Turk: $100 for a 10-day Rush

This paper reports on experiments in the creation of a bi-lingual Textual Entailment corpus, using non-experts' workforce under strict cost and time limitations ($100, 10 days). To this aim workers have been hired for translation and validation tasks, through the Crowd-Flower channel to Amazon Mechanical Turk. As a result, an accurate and reliable corpus of 426 English/Spanish entailment pairs has been produced in a more cost-effective way compared to other methods for the acquisition of translations based on crowdsourcing. Focusing on two orthogonal dimensions (i.e. reliability of annotations made by non experts, and overall corpus creation costs), we summarize the methodology we adopted, the achieved results, the main problems encountered, and the lessons learned.
The molecular aetiology of tRNA synthetase depletion: induction of a GCN4 amino acid starvation response despite homeostatic maintenance of charged tRNA levels

During protein synthesis, charged tRNAs deliver amino acids to translating ribosomes, and are then re-charged by tRNA synthetases (aaRS). In humans, mutant aaRS cause a diversity of neurological disorders, but their molecular aetiologies are incompletely characterised. To understand system responses to aaRS depletion, the yeast glutamine aaRS gene (GLN4) was transcriptionally regulated using doxycycline by tet-off control. Depletion of Gln4p inhibited growth, and induced a GCN4 amino acid starvation response, indicative of uncharged tRNA accumulation and Gcn2 kinase activation. Using a global model of translation that included aaRS recharging, Gln4p depletion was simulated, confirming slowed translation. Modelling also revealed that Gln4p depletion causes negative feedback that matches translational demand for Gln-tRNAGln to aaRS recharging capacity. This maintains normal charged tRNAGln levels despite Gln4p depletion, confirmed experimentally using tRNA Northern blotting. Model analysis resolves the paradox that Gln4p depletion triggers a GCN4 response, despite maintenance of tRNAGln charging levels, revealing that normally, the aaRS population can sequester free, uncharged tRNAs during aminoacylation. Gln4p depletion reduces this sequestration capacity, allowing uncharged tRNAGln to interact with Gcn2 kinase. The study sheds new light on mutant aaRS disease aetiologies, and explains how aaRS sequestration of uncharged tRNAs can prevent GCN4 activation under non-starvation conditions.
What Environmental Economists Think Every Conservation Biologist Should Know: Reply to Gowdy et al.

We believe that Gowdy et al. (2010), in their recent essay in Conservation Biology, do a disservice to the cause of increased understanding between economists and conservation professionals. They give the impression that economists and the economic theory and models they use are much more naive of the shortcomings of market outcomes than they actually are. The end result is that the reader is lead to believe that economic theory is useless and should be abandoned altogether or at least until economists “discard the current core economic model. ”
Detection of Oil Spill and Look-Alike from SAR Imagery Based on Ontology and Kernel Fuzzy C-Means

Oil spills is a major threat to ocean ecosystems. The capability of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors to detect oil spills over the sea surface is established and proven. Oil spills appear as dark spots in SAR images. However, dark formations can be caused by a number of phenomena (e.g., manmade actions, geological conditions, and meteorological and hydrological effects). The current researches aims to distinguish oil spills or look-alikes. The methods include three main parts, dark formation detection, feature extraction, and classification. To further improve the accuracy and efficiency of SAR image segmentation in the detection of marine oil spill, this study presents a new framework for oil spill and look-alike classification based on kernel fuzzy C-means (KFCM) and ontology. Ontologies are employed to model semantic concepts about shape, existence time, forming reason, and texture. Pre-classification can be performed by matching each region with the concepts of ontology. Once the needed dark formations have been selected, KFCM algorithm is used for classification. Experiment results show that this method performs well.
Prediction of inclusion body solubilization from shaken to stirred reactors

Inclusion bodies (IBs) were solubilized in a µ‐scale system using shaking microtiter plates or a stirred tank reactor in a laboratory setting. Characteristic dimensionless numbers for mixing, the Phase number Ph and Reynolds number Re did not correlate with the kinetics and equilibrium of protein solubilization. The solubilization kinetics was independent of the mixing system, stirring or shaking rate, shaking diameter, and energy input. Good agreement was observed between the solubilization kinetics and yield on the µ‐scale and laboratory setting. We show that the IB solubilization process is controlled predominantly by pore diffusion. Thus, for the process it is sufficient to keep the IBs homogeneously suspended, and additional power input will not improve the process. The high‐throughput system developed on the µ‐scale can predict solubilization in stirred reactors up to a factor of 500 and can therefore be used to determine optimal solubilization conditions on laboratory and industrial scale. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;111: 84–94. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.