Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Links between systems thinking and complex decision making

There is a widely held belief that systems thinking is an answer to the increasing complexity of the world as well as the workplace. Despite strong interest and assertions, however, the relationship between systems thinking and complex decision making has received scant attention in the literature. Using Richmond's (1997) classiﬁcation scheme as the theoretical base, this paper investigates the link between systems thinking and complex decision making using Verbal Protocol Analysis (VPA) methodology. The ﬁndings of the study indicate that while the degree of systems thinking does matter, certain types of systemic thinking would be more relevant to performance. Further, evidence shows that the subject's approach to the problem is also a highly pertinent factor in task performance, in that better performers displayed a distinctive pattern of thought that differed from that of the poor performers. Better performing subjects attempted to gain an understanding of the system structure before they proceeded to develop strategies and take action. The ﬁndings revealed a cyclical thought pattern that was consistently followed by better performing participants. This pattern, termed the CPA cycle, consists of three distinct phases of conception, planning, and action. This research contributes to the ﬁelds of systems thinking and complex decision making by integrating knowledge and methodology from several disciplines including psychology, management and IT. Speciﬁc contributions include a novel research methodology and, in particular, operationalization of the systems thinking paradigm, as well as identiﬁcation of disaggregated factors affecting complex decision making. The managerial and organizational implications of the research are compelling and invite further research in this nascent ﬁeld. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Early assisted discharge with generic community nursing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: results of a randomised controlled trial

Objectives To determine the effectiveness of early assisted discharge for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations, with home care provided by generic community nurses, compared with usual hospital care. Design Prospective, randomised controlled and multicentre trial with 3-month follow-up. Setting Five hospitals and three home care organisations in the Netherlands. Participants Patients admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of COPD. Patients with no or limited improvement of respiratory symptoms and patients with severe unstable comorbidities, social problems or those unable to visit the toilet independently were excluded. Intervention Early discharge from hospital after 3 days inpatient treatment. Home visits by generic community nurses. Primary outcome measure was change in health status measured by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ). Treatment failures, readmissions, mortality and change in generic health-related quality of life (HRQL) were secondary outcome measures. Results 139 patients were randomised. No difference between groups was found in change in CCQ score at day 7 (difference in mean change 0.29 (95% CI −0.03 to 0.61)) or at 3 months (difference in mean change 0.04 (95% CI –0.40 to 0.49)). No difference was found in secondary outcomes. At day 7 there was a significant difference in change in generic HRQL, favouring usual hospital care. Conclusions While patients’ disease-specific health status after 7-day treatment tended to be somewhat better in the usual hospital care group, the difference was small and not clinically relevant or statistically significant. After 3 months, the difference had disappeared. A significant difference in generic HRQL at the end of the treatment had disappeared after 3 months and there was no difference in treatment failures, readmissions or mortality. Early assisted discharge with community nursing is feasible and an alternative to usual hospital care for selected patients with an acute COPD exacerbation. Trial registration: NetherlandsTrialRegister NTR 1129.
Kernel fuzzy clustering methods based on local adaptive distances

This paper presents kernel fuzzy clustering methods in which dissimilarity measures are obtained as sums of squared Euclidean distances between patterns and centroids computed individually for each variable by means of kernel functions. The advantage of the proposed approach over the conventional kernel clustering methods is that it allows us to use adaptive distances which changes at each algorithm iteration and can be different from one cluster to another. This kind of dissimilarity measure is suitable to learn the weights of the variables during the clustering process, improving the performance of the algorithms. Another advantage of this approach is that it allows the introduction of various fuzzy partition and cluster interpretations tools. Experiments with benchmark data sets illustrate the usefulness of our algorithms and the merit of the fuzzy partition and cluster interpretation tools.
Empirical validation of energy-neutral operation on wearable devices by MISO beamforming of IEEE 802.11ac

We propose an approach to energy-neutral operation by Wi-Fi beamforming for wearable devices to achieve energy-neutral operation. We take advantage of the transmit beamforming feature of IEEE 802.11ac's multiple input, single output (MISO) structure to focus the transmit power to improve the transmission distance and the harvested power level. To analyze the WiFi power distribution, we design the system model of an AP's beamforming. To empirically validate our system model, we measure the wireless power of an AP in a variety of distances. Experimental results show that wearable devices with proper sampling rates can achieve an energy-neutral operation.
Shear Stress‐Induced Release of Nitric Oxide From Endothelial Cells Grown on Beads

An in vitro bioassay system was developed to study endothelium-mediated, shear stressinduced, or flow-dependent generation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). Monolayers of aortic endothelial cells were grown on a rigid and large surface area of microcarrier beads and were packed in a small column perfused with Krebs bicarbonate solution. The perfusate was allowed to superfuse three endothelium-denuded target pulmonary arterial strips arranged in a cascade. Fluid shear stress caused a flow-dependent release of EDRF from the endothelial cells. The action of EDRF was abolished by oxyhemoglobin and methylene blue, and the generation of EDRF in response to shear stress was markedly inhibited or abolished by NG-nitro-L-arginine, by NG-amino-L-arginine, by calcium-free extracellular medium, and by depleting endothelial cells of endogenous L-arginine. Addition of L-arginine to arginine-deficient but not arginine-containing endothelial cells rapidly restored the capacity of shear stress and bradykinin to generate EDRF. These observations indicate that fluid shear stress causes the generation of EDRF with properties of nitric oxide from aortic endothelial cells and that the bioassay system described may be useful for studying the mechanism of mechanochemical coupling that leads to nitric oxide generation.
Cross-domain personality prediction: from video blogs to small group meetings

In this study, we investigate the use of social media content as a domain to learn personality trait impressions, particularly extraversion. Our aim is to transfer the knowledge that can be extracted from conversational videos in video blogging sites to small group settings to predict the extraversion trait with nonverbal cues. We use YouTube data containing personality impression scores of 442 people as the source domain and a small-group meeting data from a total of 102 people as our target domain. Our results show that, for the extraversion trait, by using user-created video blogs, as part of the training data, and a small amount of adaptation data from the target domain, we are able to achieve higher prediction accuracies than using only the data recorded in small group settings.
Identification of the Motif in Versican G3 Domain That Plays a Dominant-negative Effect on Astrocytoma Cell Proliferation through Inhibiting Versican Secretion and Binding*

This study was designed to investigate the mechanisms by which mutant versican constructs play a dominant-negative effect on astrocytoma cell proliferation. Although a mini-versican or a versican G3 construct promoted growth of U87 astrocytoma cells, a mini-versican lacking epidermal growth factor (EGF) motifs (versicanΔEGF) and a G3 mutant (G3ΔEGF) exerted a dominant-negative effect on cell proliferation. G3ΔEGF-transfected cells formed smaller colonies, arrested cell cycle at G1 phase, inhibited expression of cell cycle proteins cdk4 and cyclin D1, and contained multiple nucleoli. In cell surface binding assays, G3 products expressed in COS-7 cells and bacteria bound to U87 cell surface. G3ΔEGF products exhibited decreased binding activity, but higher levels of G3ΔEGF products were able to inhibit the binding of G3 to the cell surface. G3ΔEGF expression inhibited secretion of endogenous versican in astrocytoma cells and also inhibited the secretion of mini-versican in COS-7 cells co-transfected with the mini-versican and G3ΔEGF constructs. The effect seems to depend on the expression efficiency of G3ΔEGF, and it occurred via the carbohydrate recognition domain.
Clustering based - A FAST algorithm on high dimensional data

The rapid advance of computer technologies in data processing, collection and storage has provided unparalleled opportunities to expand capabilities in production, services communication and research. However, a feature selection algorithm may be evaluated from both the efficiency and effectiveness points of view. It finds the subset of features. There are two steps of FAST algorithm. First, using graph theoretic method features are divided into clusters. Second the features which are highly related to target class are selected. We are comparing FAST algorithm with the some representative feature subset selection algorithm name as Fast correlation based filter, Relief-F, Correlation based feature selection, Consist and FOCUS-SF. The results are available on high-dimensional data, microarray, text data and image data. Experimental results show that our FAST algorithm implementation can run faster and obtain better-extracted features than other methods.
Unsupervised Temperature Scaling: Post-Processing Unsupervised Calibration of Deep Models Decisions

Great performances of deep learning are undeniable, with impressive results on wide range of tasks. However, the output confidence of these models is usually not well calibrated, which can be an issue for applications where confidence on the decisions is central to bring trust and reliability (e.g., autonomous driving or medical diagnosis). For models using softmax at the last layer, Temperature Scaling (TS) is a state-of-the-art calibration method, with low time and memory complexity as well as demonstrated effectiveness.TS relies on a T parameter to rescale and calibrate values of the softmax layer, using a labelled dataset to determine the value of that parameter.We are proposing an Unsupervised Temperature Scaling (UTS) approach, which does not dependent on labelled samples to calibrate the model,allowing, for example, using a part of test samples for calibrating the pre-trained model before going into inference mode. We provide theoretical justifications for UTS and assess its effectiveness on the wide range of deep models and datasets. We also demonstrate calibration results of UTS on skin lesion detection, a problem where a well-calibrated output can play an important role for accurate decision-making.
Electrical detection of the contact between a microinjection pipette and cells

This work presents the basic design and tests of a device designed for detecting the contact between a microinjection pipette and cell membrane. The device facilitates the automation of the microinjection procedure of living adherent cells. The measurement of the contact is based on measuring the resistance of the pipette. Breakage and clogging of the pipette can be detected with the same measurement.
User Studies: Why, How, and When?

User studies offer a scientifically sound method to measure a visualization's performance. Reasons abound for pursuing user studies, particularly when evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different visualization techniques. A good starting point in any study is the scientific or visual design question to be examined. This drives the process of experimental design. A poorly designed experiment will yield results of only limited value. Although a comprehensive discussion of experimental design is beyond the scope of the article, we offer suggestions and lessons learned. We also describe how we designed experiments to answer important questions from our own research.
Exploring direct and indirect influences of physical work environment on job satisfaction for early-career registered nurses employed in hospitals.

We explored direct and indirect influences of physical work environment on job satisfaction in a nationally representative sample of 1,141 early-career registered nurses. In the fully specified model, physical work environment had a non-significant direct effect on job satisfaction. The path analysis used to test multiple indirect effects showed that physical work environment had a positive indirect effect (p < .05) on job satisfaction through ten variables: negative affectivity, variety, workgroup cohesion, nurse-physician relations, quantitative workload, organizational constraints, distributive justice, promotional opportunity, local and non-local job opportunities. The findings make important contributions to the understanding of the relationship between physical work environment and job satisfaction. The results can inform health care leaders' insight about how physical work environment influences nurses' job satisfaction.
Of Governance and the BPO Paradox: The Impact of Information Capabilities on Service Satisfaction

1 In a recent survey (April 2005) by Deloitte Consulting , 70 percent of the participants said that they had significant negative experiences with outsourcing projects and now exercise greater caution in approaching such deals. The survey found that although outsourcing is largely driven by cost-related objectives, firms experience hidden costs related to contract administration, profit margins, and in-house management. Therefore, the management of outsourcing relationships was more complex, expensive, and time-consuming than anticipated. Abstract The fundamental value premise of business process outsourcing (BPO) is greater process efficiency at reduced costs of ownership. However, recent studies suggest that BPO may add cost and friction, and require more management attention than originally envisioned to realize the benefits of outsourcing. Service dissatisfaction ensues, giving rise to a BPO paradox. This study focuses on the role of governance choice in resolving this emerging paradox. We build on the information processing view of the firm and theories of interfirm coordination to argue that the alignment between information requirements (IR) of the BPO relationship and information capabilities (IC) of the governance solution is central to service satisfaction. We use this conceptual model of fit to identify two aligned configurations of BPO governance, which reflect the end points of a continuum in decreasing order of IR and IC. These configurations are used to test hypotheses predicting alternative governance choices and the impact of these choices on service satisfaction. Our empirical analysis of survey data on 137 BPO relationships suggests that aligned BPO configurations are marked by higher levels of satisfaction than nonaligned relationships, and that underinvestment in IC has a marked negative impact on satisfaction relative to overinvestment. The findings enhance managerial understanding of governance choice in BPO, and underscore the normative implications of the alignment between IR of the BPO relationship and IC of the governance solution on service satisfaction and the BPO paradox. This study investigates the role of BPO governance in resolving the paradox. Prior research on governance choice in outsourcing relationships has been primarily influenced by transaction cost economics (TCE), which defines a governance solution as the contractual structure that participant firms use to formalize an outsourcing relationship. The TCE perspective focuses on appropriation concerns that arise from relational uncertainty (Pisano 1990; Balakrishnan and Koza 1993), and suggests that hierarchical controls are an effective response to such hazards of cooperation. The greater the appropriation concern, the more hierarchical is the contractual structure (e.g., joint venture) that governs the relationship. firm and increasingly different the role such process uncertainty in structuring the relationship turns more pronounced.
Acyclic Tanner graphs and maximum-likelihood decoding of linear block codes

The maximum-likelihood decoding of linear block codes by Wagner rule decoding is discussed. In this approach, the Wagner rule decoding, which has been primarily applied to single parity check codes, is employed on acyclic Tanner graphs. Accordingly, a coset decoding equipped with Wagner rule decoding is applied to the decoding of a code C having a Tanner graph with cycles. A subcode C/sub 1/ of C with acyclic Tanner graph is chosen as the base subcode. All cosets of C/sub 1/ have the same Tanner graph and are distinguished by their values of parity nodes in the graph. The acyclic Tanner graph of C/sub 1/, together with a trellis representation of the space of the parity sequences, represent the code C. This graphical representation provides a unified and systematic approach to search for an efficient method for the maximum-likelihood decoding of a given linear block code. It is shown that the proposed method covers the most efficient techniques known for the decoding of some important block codes, including the hexacode H/sub 6/, extended Golay codes, Reed-Muller codes, Hamming codes and (32,16,8) quadratic residue code. The generalisation to the decoding of lattices is briefly explained.
Theory and Applications of Surface Plasmon Resonance, Resonant Mirror, Resonant Waveguide Grating, and Dual Polarization Interferometry Biosensors

Biosensors have been used extensively in the scientific community for several purposes, most notably to determine association and dissociation kinetics, protein-ligand, protein-protein, or nucleic acid hybridization interactions. A number of different types of biosensors are available in the field, each with real or perceived benefits over the others. This review discusses the basic theory and operational arrangements of four commercially available types of optical biosensors: surface plasmon resonance, resonant mirror, resonance waveguide grating, and dual polarization interferometry. The different applications these techniques offer are discussed from experiments and results reported in recently published literature. Additionally, recent advancements or modifications to the current techniques are also discussed.
Regulation of the mucosal phenotype in dendritic cells by PPARγ: role of tissue microenvironment

Mucosal DCs play a critical role in tissue homeostasis. Several stimuli can induce a mucosal phenotype; however, molecular pathways that regulate development of mucosal DC function are relatively unknown. This study sought to determine whether PPARγ contributes to the development of the “mucosal” phenotype in mouse DCs. Experiments demonstrated that PPARγ activation in BMDCs induced an immunosuppressive phenotype in which BMDCs had reduced expression of MHC class II and costimulatory molecules, increased IL‐10 secretion, and reduced the ability to induce CD4 T cell proliferation. Activation of PPARγ enhanced the ability of BMDC to polarize CD4 T cells toward iTregs and to induce T cell expression of the mucosal homing receptor, CCR9. Activation of PPARγ increased the ability of BMDCs to induce T cell‐independent IgA production in B cells. BMDCs from PPARγΔDC mice displayed enhanced expression of costimulatory molecules, enhanced proinflammatory cytokine production, and decreased IL‐10 synthesis. Contrary to the inflammatory BMDC phenotype in vitro, PPARγΔDC mice showed no change in the frequency or phenotype of mDC in the colon. In contrast, mDCs in the lungs were increased significantly in PPARγΔDC mice. A modest increase in colitis severity was observed in DSS‐treated PPARγΔDC mice compared with control. These results indicate that PPARγ activation induces a mucosal phenotype in mDCs and that loss of PPARγ promotes an inflammatory phenotype. However, the intestinal microenvironment in vivo can maintain the mucosal DC phenotype of via PPARγ‐independent mechanisms.
Large-Scale Personalized Human Activity Recognition Using Online Multitask Learning

Personalized activity recognition usually has the problem of highly biased activity patterns among different tasks/persons. Traditional methods face problems on dealing with those conflicted activity patterns. We try to effectively model the activity patterns among different persons via casting this personalized activity recognition problem as a multitask learning issue. We propose a novel online multitask learning method for large-scale personalized activity recognition. In contrast with existing work of multitask learning that assumes fixed task relationships, our method can automatically discover task relationships from real-world data. Convergence analysis shows reasonable convergence properties of the proposed method. Experiments on two different activity data sets demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing methods in activity recognition.
Triangular Fixation Technique for Bicolumn Restoration in Treatment of Distal Humerus Intercondylar Fracture

Background Distal humerus intercondylar fractures are intra-articular and comminuted fractures involving soft tissue injury. As distal humerus is triangle-shaped, parallel plating coupled with articular fixation would be suitable for bicolumn restoration in treatment of distal humerus intercondylar fracture. Methods This study included 38 patients (15 males and 23 females) who underwent olecranon osteotomy, open reduction and internal fixation with the triangle-shaped cannulated screw and parallel locking plates (triangular fixation technique). Functional results were assessed with the visual analog scale (VAS) scores, Mayo elbow performance (MEP) scores and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaires. Anteroposterior and lateral elbow radiographs were assessed for reduction, alignment, fracture union, posttraumatic arthrosis, and heterotopic ossification, and computed tomography (CT) scans were used to obtain more accurate measurements of articular discrepancy. Results All fractures healed primarily with no loss of reduction. The mean VAS, MEP, and DASH scores of the affected elbow were not significantly different from those of the unaffected elbow (p = 0.140, p = 0.090, and p = 0.262, respectively). The mean degree of flexion was significantly lower in the affected elbow than in the unaffected elbow, but was still considered as functional (p = 0.001, > 100° in 33 of 38 patients). Two cases of articular step-offs (> 2 mm) were seen on follow-up CT scans, but not significantly higher in the affected elbow than in the unaffected elbow (p = 0.657). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that only Association for Osteosynthesis (AO) type C3 fractures correlated with good/excellent functional outcome (p = 0.012). Complications occurred in 12 of the 38 patients, and the overall reoperation rate for complications was 10.5% (4 of 38 patients). Conclusions Triangular fixation technique for bicolumn restoration was an effective and reliable method in treatment of distal humerus intercondylar fracture. This technique maintained articular congruency and restored both medial and lateral columns, resulting in good elbow function.