Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organizing to achieve e-Government maturity - A case study in a Danish local Government

According to the e-government maturity literature public organizations will move through different stages of maturity implying that the more mature e-Government the better. For many public organizations the next stage to enter is the stage of transformational e-Government (Dhillon, Weerakkody & Dwivedi, 2008). This paper contributes to this literature by reporting the findings from a case-study in a Danish local government who has reached the transformational stage of eGovernment. Using a grounded theory approach, information about the municipality was initially collected and further analysed within a stakeholder perspective. The paper reports how the local government organized oneself to reach the transformational stage and how they succeeded in involving the most important stakeholders in this process. Finally the paper makes six propositions, based on the learning from the case-study, about how to reach the transformational stage of eGovernment.
Design of Compact Dual-Polarized 1.2–10 GHz Eleven Feed for Decade Bandwidth Radio Telescopes

The Eleven antenna is a log-periodic folded-dipole-pair array with two unique radiation characteristics: a constant beamwidth and a fixed phase center location over a decade bandwidth. This paper presents a new compact design of a 1.2-10 GHz Eleven antenna, as a feed for reflector antennas by re-arranging the geometry of the outermost elements of the antenna. Due to the compact size, it is possible to put the whole feed system inside a compact cryostat and cool it down to cryogenic temperatures, in order to reduce the system noise temperature in radio telescope applications. The new compact Eleven feed has only a 40% volume of the original standard Eleven feed with a very similar performance. This reduces the capacity requirement for the cryogenic cooling system significantly and therefore the power consumption for future radio telescopes, such as the square kilometer array (SKA). The concept behind this compact design is analyzed in the paper. Simulations and measurements presented here have verified the design.
Don't Look: Growing Clonal Versus Nonclonal Neural Stem Cell Colonies

Recent reports have challenged the clonality of the neurosphere assay in assessing neural stem cell (NSC) numbers quantitatively. We tested the clonality of the neurosphere assay by culturing mixtures of differently labeled neural cells, watching single neural cells proliferate using video microscopy, and encapsulating single NSCs and their progeny. The neurosphere assay gave rise to clonal colonies when using primary cells plated at 10 cells/μl or less; however, when using passaged NSCs, the spheres were clonal only if plated at 1 cell/μl. Most important, moving the plates during the growth phase (to look at cultures microscopically) greatly increased the incidence of nonclonal colonies. To ensure clonal sphere formation and investigate nonautonomous effects on clonal sphere formation frequencies, single NSCs were encapsulated in agarose and proliferated as clonal free‐floating spheres. We demonstrate that clonal neurospheres can be grown by avoiding movement‐induced aggregation, by single‐cell tracking, and by encapsulation of single cells.
MRE: a flexible approach to multi-resolution modeling

Multi-resolution representation of simulated entities is considered essential for a growing portion of distributed simulations. Heretofore, modelers have represented entities at just one level of resolution, or have represented concurrent representations in an inconsistent manner. The authors address the question of the cost of maintaining multiple, concurrent representations. They present a brief overview of the concept of a multiple resolution entity (MRE) and attribute dependency graph (ADG) both originally described elsewhere, and then compare simulation and consistency costs of some approaches, including our own MRE/ADG-based approach, to multi-resolution modeling. The cost analysis presented is the first known analysis of its type, and will provide a basis for simulation designers to determine the best, and most cost-effective approach to supporting simulation of entities at different levels of resolution concurrently.
Applying Partial and Full Rejuvenation in Different Degradation Levels

In this paper, a two-level software rejuvenation model is introduced. The innovative aspect consists in combining partial, full and failed rejuvenation with the concept of triggering rejuvenation even if the software did not reach the failure probable state. In the later case, either partial or full rejuvenation actions can be performed. The aim is to observe the effects of partial and full rejuvenation frequencies on system's performance, in order to distinguish optimal rejuvenation schedules. System's performance is expressed through availability, downtime and rejuvenation cost indicators.
Event-triggered H∞ anti-synchronisation for delayed neural networks with discontinuous neuron activations via non-fragile control strategy

This paper treats of the global event-triggered anti-synchronisation issue for discontinuous neural networks with the mixed time-varying delays and random feedback gain fluctuation via non-fragile control strategy. The random gain uncertainties are described by stochastic variables satisfying the Bernoulli distribution. Firstly, the novel hybrid controllers, which are composed of the non-fragile controller and the event-triggered controller, are designed. Then, based on Clarke's non-smooth analysis theory, general free-weighting matrix method, the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional approach and Wirtinger-based multiple integral inequality analysis technology, the global event-triggered non-fragile anti-synchronisation conditions are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In addition, under the considered external disturbance, the conditions with respect to the global event-triggered non-fragile anti-synchronisation are also addressed in forms of LMIs. Finally, two illustrative examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the designed event-triggered non-fragile control scheme and the validity of theoretical results.
Assessment of aortic stiffness and ventricular functions in familial Mediterranean fever.

OBJECTIVE To investigate systolic and diastolic ventricular functions, aortic elastic properties and the presence of pericardial effusion in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patients. METHODS A case-controlled, cross-sectional study was performed on 44 FMF patients and 27 controls. Subjects with hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia were excluded. Left and right ventricular functions were measured using echocardiography including two-dimensional, M-mode, and conventional Doppler as well as pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Aortic elasticity was analyzed using M-mode tracing guided by the two-dimensional echocardiography. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann Whitney U, Spearman rho correlation and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS Age, sex, body mass index, smoking status and lipids were comparable in patients and controls (p>0.05). None of the subjects had pericarditis and/or pericardial effusion. Aortic wall properties were similar between groups (p>0.05). The TDI parameters of mitral lateral annulus revealed significantly lower Em/Am ratios in patients compared to controls [1.77 (0.6-3.4) vs. 1.79 (0.9-4.8), p=0.02]. Mitral flow propagation velocity was significantly lower in patients than healthy subjects [63 (39-100) vs. 74 (40-94) cm/s, p=0.008]. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was significantly reduced in FMF group than in controls [2 (1.3-2.5) vs. 2.5 (1.7-3.2) cm; p<0.001]. Eight of the patients and one control had impaired TAPSE (<2 cm; p=0.025). There was no difference regarding right ventricular diastolic dysfunction (RVDD) as assessed by using standard Doppler echocardiography (p>0.05). However, pronounced RVDD was observed in FMF patients documented by TDI (Em/Am<1; 19 patients vs. 0 controls, p<0.001). CONCLUSION Subclinical myocardial involvement is present in a cohort of relatively young FMF patients who were also free of classical cardiovascular risk factors. Pericardium and aorta seem to be spared during attack free periods of FMF.
An efficient method to calculate optimal pulse patterns for multi-level converters

Optimal Pulse Patterns (OPPs) permit setting the switching frequency of power converters to a low value without compromising on Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). The optimization, which is performed offline, is a slow procedure. For instance a normal PC might need up to several weeks to calculate OPPs for a five-level converter. This paper presents a general algorithm for calculating OPPs for multi-level converters. Where calculation time is highly reduced via reformulation of optimization problem and choosing proper initial values. The calculation procedure is explained in detail and compared with standard optimization algorithm for a five-level inverter.
Influence of electron temperature on breaking of plasma oscillations

Abstract The influence of thermal motion of electrons on the processes of relativistic plasma oscillations is studied analytically and numerically. It is shown that if the temperature of electrons grows and exceeds a certain critical level, then the breaking effect vanishes due to transformation of plasma oscillations into travelling waves. Analytical conclusions are made in the framework of the theory of small perturbations based on Lagrangian variables. Numerical simulation of the transformation is performed using three different algorithms constructed on the basis of the method of finite differences in Eulerian variables. The analytical results are in good agreement with numerical experiments.
Index routing for task allocation in Grids

In this paper we show how index routing policies can be used in practice for task allocation in computational grids. We provide a fast algorithm which can be used off-line or even on-line to compute the index tables. We also report numerous simulations providing numerical evidence of the great efficiency of our index routing policy as well as its robustness with respect to parameter changes.
SAVE: source address validity enforcement protocol

Forcing all IP packets to carry correct source addresses can greatly help network security, attack tracing, and network problem debugging. However, due to asymmetries in today's Internet routing, routers do not have readily available information to verify the correctness of the source address for each incoming packet. In this paper we describe a new protocol, named SAVE, that can provide routers with the information needed for source address validation. SAVE messages propagate valid source address information from the source location to all destinations, allowing each router along the way to build an incoming table that associates each incoming interface of the router with a set of valid source address blocks. This paper presents the protocol design and evaluates its correctness and performance by simulation experiments. The paper also discusses the issues of protocol security, the effectiveness of partial SAVE deployment, and the handling of unconventional forms of network routing, such as mobile IP and tunneling.
Novel coronaviruses, astroviruses, adenoviruses and circoviruses in insectivorous bats from northern China

Bats are considered as the reservoirs of several emerging infectious disease, and novel viruses are continually found in bats all around the world. Studies conducted in southern China found that bats carried a variety of viruses. However, few studies have been conducted on bats in northern China, which harbours a diversity of endemic insectivorous bats. It is important to understand the prevalence and diversity of viruses circulating in bats in northern China. In this study, a total of 145 insectivorous bats representing six species were collected from northern China and screened with degenerate primers for viruses belonging to six families, including coronaviruses, astroviruses, hantaviruses, paramyxoviruses, adenoviruses and circoviruses. Our study found that four of the viruses screened for were positive and the overall detection rates for astroviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses and circoviruses in bats were 21.4%, 15.9%, 20% and 37.2%, respectively. In addition, we found that bats in northern China harboured a diversity of novel viruses. Common Serotine (Eptesicus serotinu), Fringed long‐footed Myotis (Myotis fimriatus) and Peking Myotis (Myotis pequinius) were investigated in China for the first time. Our study provided new information on the ecology and phylogeny of bat‐borne viruses.
A Fuzzy-based Two-stage Biometric Sample Quality Evaluation System

Performance of biometric systems is highly dependent on the quality of the input samples captured by the sensing device. Although measures are taken for capturing high quality images, but the authentication system mandates the analysis of captured images for selection of precise data. The benefit of such an analysis are two-fold; it helps to identify the best sample, and is useful for improving the sensor design, user interface for sample collection and providing data interchange standards. In this work, we propose to analyse the quality of the sample data by using a two-stage fuzzy quality evaluation system. The proposed work has been demonstrated on the iris images using CASIA − 3.0 Interval, CASIA 4.0 Interval and IIT Delhi iris database. We evaluate the −quality of the images by classifying them into classes. The experimental results verify the efficacy of the proposed method.
Optimal power control and opportunistic fair scheduling in TH-PPM UWB ad-hoc multimedia networks

— Ultra wideband (UWB) systems are widely envisioned to be the next important wireless infrastructure for efficient short-range communications and mobile applications. Indeed, forming ad hoc networks among various UWB enabled devices is considered as an important mobile data exchange operating environment. In our study, we explore the problem of jointly optimizing the power level and data rate used in the devices in such a UWB based ad hoc network. We propose a practical optimization scheme and decompose the optimization problem into power control for real-time applications and opportunistic scheduling for non-real-time applications. Efficient optimization algorithms are designed to meet different fairness requirements and numerical results are obtained.
Prognostic significance of immunohistochemical expression of EGFR and C-erbB-2 oncoprotein in curatively resected gastric cancer.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of the expression of EGFR and C-erbB-2 gene products by immunohistochemical analysis for curatively resected gastric adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between January 1996 and December 2001, 739 patients with curatively resected gastric cancer patients underwent immunohistochemical staining for EGFR and C-erbB-2 proteins, and we retrospectively analyzed their correlation with the clinical outcome. RESULTS The over expressions of EGFR and C-erbB-2 were 25.4% and 26.2%, respectively. The over expressions of EGFR was associated with the more poorly differentiated tumor (p=0.000) and with neuronal invasion (p=0.03). Over expression of C-erbB-2 was associated with less vascular invasion (p=0.001). Tumor depth or node metastasis was not related to the over expression of EGFR or C-erbB-2. The seven-year overall survival and relapse-free survival rates were 87.2% and 75.8%, respectively. Upon multivariate Cox regression analysis, the tumor stage, tumor size and patient age were important prognostic factors for overall survival, and tumor stage was the important factor for relapse-free survival. Over expressions of EGFR or c-erbB-2 were not significant prognostic factors. CONCLUSION Immunohistochemical staining of EGFR and C-erbB-2 gene products were not independent prognostic factors for predicting the overall survival and the relapse-free survival in curatively resected gastric cancer.
The topographic specificity of muscle reinnervation predicts function

Functional testing has assumed a progressively dominant role in validating the success of experimental nerve repair. Results obtained in one model, however, cannot predict the results in others because they reflect the coordinated interaction of several muscles across multiple joints. As a result, many combinations of topographically correct and incorrect muscle reinnervation could produce the same result. We have developed a binary model in which elbow flexors and extensors are reinnervated, and elbow flexion and extension are the functions tested. The musculocutaneous and radial nerves of Lister‐Hooded rats were subjected to axonotmetic injuries that produced increasing degrees of axonal misdirection at the site of injury ranging from simple crush to transection and rotational offset of proximal and distal stumps. Elbow function was tested with a device that requires coordinated elbow extension to reach sugar pellets and flexion to return them to the mouth. After 12 weeks of regeneration, motoneurons projecting to the distal musculocutaneous nerve were retrogradely labelled with WGA‐Ruby and scored regarding their location within musculocutaneous or radial motoneuron pools. The severity of axonal misdirection resulting from the initial surgery was mirrored by progressive degrees of inappropriate reinnervation of the musculocutaneous nerve by radial nerve axons. The specificity of reinnervation predicted elbow function (r = 0.72), whereas the number of motoneurons regenerating did not. This model is thus well suited to study the interaction of regeneration specificity and function across a single joint, and to produce data that can be generalized more broadly than those obtained from more complex models.
Critical collapse and the primordial black hole initial mass function

It has normally been assumed that primordial black holes (PBHs) always form with a mass approximately equal to the mass contained within the horizon at that time. Recent work studying the application of critical phenomena in gravitational collapse to PBH formation has shown that in fact, at a fixed time, PBHs with a range of masses are formed. When calculating the PBH initial mass function it is usually assumed that all PBHs form at the same horizon mass. It is not clear, however, that it is consistent to consider the spread in the mass of PBHs formed at a single horizon mass, whilst neglecting the range of horizon masses at which PBHs can form. We use the excursion set formalism to compute the PBH initial mass function, allowing for PBH formation at a range of horizon masses, for two forms of the density perturbation spectrum. First we examine power-law spectra with $ng1,$ where PBHs form on small scales. We find that, in the limit where the number of PBHs formed is small enough to satisfy the observational constraints on their initial abundance, the mass function approaches that found by Niemeyer and Jedamzik under the assumption that all PBHs form at a single horizon mass. Second, we consider a flat perturbation spectrum with a spike at a scale corresponding to horizon mass $\ensuremath{\sim}{0.5M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}},$ and compare the resulting PBH mass function with that of the MACHOs (massive compact halo objects) detected by microlensing observations. The predicted mass spectrum appears significantly wider than the steeply falling spectrum found observationally.
Infection Prevention in Total Knee Arthroplasty

Periprosthetic joint infections are devastating complications that are difficult and expensive to treat and have a substantial mortality rate. A major goal of modern joint arthroplasty is to minimize these infections. Preoperative factors associated with increased risk of infection include malnutrition, diabetes mellitus, obesity (body mass index >40 kg/m2), and rheumatoid arthritis. Administration of appropriate antibiotics before the surgical incision is made is essential to minimize infection. The use of laminar flow rooms, proper skin preparation, limiting operating room traffic, and the use of various wound closure techniques can help to decrease infection rates. Postoperatively, optimal management of indwelling urinary catheters, blood transfusions, and wound drainage also may decrease infection rates.
Smoking and T cell co-stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis

In this thesis I investigated if smoking limits the co-stimulatory system of CD8 T cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I took special interest in the co-inhibitory receptor PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1. Blood samples from RA patients with known smoking status and experimental models of RA (RA mice) in which orally administered nicotine simulated smoking were used. Additionally, CD8 T cells were isolated from human blood and stimulated in vitro. Flow cytometry were used to analyze the expression of PD1. ELISA was used to measure the soluble form of PD-L1 in serum samples from RA patients and healthy controls. Quantitative PCR was used for transcriptional analysis of proteins and microRNAs involved in CD8 T cell regulation. Microarray analysis of microRNA was performed in samples of human CD8 T cells. Smokers had fewer activated CD8 T cells that expressed PD-1 compared to non-smokers, and human CD8 T cells stimulated with nicotine in vitro had lower expression of PD-1 messengerRNA. RA mice treated with nicotine had fewer PD-1 expressing CD8 T cells in the bone marrow. This was related to the increased production and release in circulation of the onco-protein survivin, a predictive marker for severe RA. CD8 T cells of smokers adopted a naïve/memory phenotype and had different expression of several microRNA that are involved in the regulation of memory T cell formation, including the FOXO signaling pathway. Smokers also had lower levels of soluble PD-L1 in serum. The low PD-L1 levels were linked to altered expression of antibody receptors on antigen-presenting cells producing soluble PD-L1. The presence of RAspecific autoantibodies was associated with serum levels of soluble PD-L1. I conclude that smoking interferes with the PD-1 inhibitory system on CD8 T cells, which may contribute to higher risk for RA in smokers. This can occur because of the reduced inhibitory control of the CD8 T cells with low PD-1 expression, but also because of a reduced supply of sPD-L1. Furthermore, I suggest that microRNA interfere with the FOXO signaling pathway and influence the phenotype of CD8 T cells in smokers.
How to Choose a Recommender System: Insights and Experiences for Large-Scale User Personalization

Given the large number of items (web-pages, videos) available on the Web, users benefit from being shown only items of potential interest to them. Numerous collaborative filtering (CF) approaches have been proposed in the literature to address this information overload problem. However, with increasingly large datasets, it is often not possible to experiment with every approach and choose the one that best fits an application domain. In this work, we study two CF algorithms, Adsorption and Matrix Factorization, considered to be state-of-the-art approaches, and summarize our experiences and lessons learned from experiments on three implicit feedback data domains. Specifically, we suggest that the characteristics of a domain (e.g., Close connections versus loose connections among users) or characteristics of the data available (e.g., Density of the feedback matrix) can be useful in selecting the most suitable CF approach to use for a particular recommendation problem. Furthermore, we suggest that similar information can also be useful in selecting the best approach to constructing user neighborhoods for Adsorption. Finally, for domains with time information, we show that short user histories can be more effective than long user histories.