Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
UTILITY‐EFFICIENT PROGRAMMING FOR WHOLE‐FARM PLANNING

A programming technique, utility-efficient programming, is developed for farm planning under risk. The objective function is the parametric sum of two parts of the utility function in which the degree of risk aversion varies systematically with the parameter. This technique has several advantages over those previously available: a number of types of utility functions are applicable including ones exhibiting decreasing risk aversion; the degree of risk aversion can be limited to a plausible range; the form of the distribution for activity net revenues is flexible; and the technique can be used with available algorithms. The method is illustrated using a parametric linear programming algorithm.
Determinants of accounting innovation implementation

Accounting innovations are often not successfully implemented or diffused throughout the organization. This study seeks to explain this phenomenon. One of the major impediments to the successful implementation of accounting innovation is that management accounting systems are generally used to serve the decision control needs of top management while at the same time purportedly supporting the decision management needs of lower level managers. To the extent that the accounting system is used for decision control, innovation creates the potential for wealth effects to occur. This prompts managers, whose wealth will be negatively affected, to resist accounting innovation. We present conditions where it is likely for negative wealth effects to occur. Under these conditions the system will fail to achieve its intended objectives. Our theoretical model examines how decentralization choices influence resistance to accounting innovation. We argue that delegation of decision rights can limit the potential for resistance in two ways—(a) by creating the environment which allows managers to ensure that their subunits are able to adapt to the new signals provided by accounting innovations and (b) by enabling subunit managers to become involved in the design of these systems. Our model also enables us to assess the consequences on organizational outcomes when subunit managers resist accounting innovations. Based on data collected from production managers, our results demonstrate the importance of decentralization choices on the effective implementation of accounting innovations.
Enzyme immunosorbent assay for Ebola virus antigens in tissues of infected primates

A sandwich enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA) using a mixture of mouse monoclonal antibodies for antigen capture and polyclonal hyperimmune rabbit anti-Ebola virus serum for antigen detection was developed and evaluated on the tissues of monkeys naturally or experimentally infected with strains of Ebola viruses. When compared with virus isolation, the antigen detection EIA was both sensitive and specific: 44 of 45 (97.7%) liver homogenates and 38 of 41 (92.7%) spleen homogenates that were culture positive and tested by both techniques were positive for viral antigen, while 85 of 87 (97.7%) culture-negative liver homogenates and 66 of 66 culture-negative spleen homogenates were found to be antigen negative. The assay, initially developed to detect antigens of prototype African strains of Ebola virus, reliably detected related strains of Ebola virus found during two recent outbreaks of Ebola virus infection among imported, quarantined Macaca fascicularis monkeys in the United States. The assay allows economical and rapid testing of large numbers of tissue specimens. Antigen was found in homogenates of spleen and liver and in serum.
Approach and Methods for the Assessment of Sustainable Groundwater Management in the Rhine–Neckar Region, Germany

The Rhine–Neckar Region is a densely populated and highly industrialized region with competing interests and strong pressure on the availability of high-quality groundwater. The increasing pressure on both groundwater quantity and quality is due to the high demand of people and industry for water and to pollution by industrial spills as well as agricultural activities. This led to a systematic investigation of the groundwater management of the multilayered transboundary aquifer and the question of its sustainability. A combination of intensive groundwater model simulations, scenario analyses and stakeholder participation proved to be a promising approach to tackle the complex issues of groundwater management. Long-term consequences, changes in natural processes and ecosystem needs were particularly considered. Specific recommendations for improved groundwater management in this region were formulated. The study also shows the need for a general approach towards the assessment of sustainable groundwater management.
Cellular aided vehicular named data networking

With the recent new paradigm for the future Internet named data networking (NDN), contents are searched by names and not by address, and any node storing a content can also act as a source of information. Such a paradigm appears to be of particular interest for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), to extend internet services to vehicles and support new mobile applications. In VANETs, devices not only use, but also generate contents; devices are generally not constrained in power or memory, thus easily carrying large amount of information; in addition, high mobility continuously creates new opportunities for data exchange. In such scenario, the TCP/IP networking paradigm shows some performance limitations and NDN appears as a way to improve reliability and efficiency of content distribution. However, when node density is limited, the exclusive use of short range communications might reduce the effectiveness of NDN. Motivated by this consideration, we propose the use of cellular networks to carry the signaling part of NDN, and the exploitation of short range wireless communications for content distribution. We will show, through simulations performed in an urban scenario with different vehicle densities, that moving the signaling part to cellular networks significantly improves the performance of NDN compared to the case when only short range communications are used.
Ocular surface vasculature recognition using curvelet transform

The vascular patterns seen on the white of the eye, mainly in conjunctival and episcleral layers, are termed as ocular surface vasculature (OSV). OSV is visible in images captured with commercial RGB cameras, and its unique texture can be used for biometric recognition. This study demonstrates the capabilities of curvelet transform for OSV feature extraction. Non-linear feature enhancement and feature mapping in curvelet domain are shown to be effective in differentiating OSV texture. Linear discriminant analysis and similarity metrics are used for matching. A match-score level fusion is used across multiple gaze directions for both eyes. Using a multi-distance dataset of 50 volunteers, where eye images were acquired from 30, 150, and 250 cm using a dSLR, a best equal error rate (EER) of 0.2% is obtained. Using a second dataset of 40 volunteers acquired from 150 cm using a dSLR, a best EER of 3.1% is obtained. For a 216-participant dataset of ocular images acquired using cellular phones from close proximity, an EER of 0.9% is obtained. The proposed methodology was also tested on the publicly available UBIRIS V1 dataset, yielding an EER of 0.7%. The experimental results support the theoretically formulated advantages of the curvelet transform and its capability in successful extraction of curved structures when applied to OSV patterns.
Variety Seeking, Purchase Timing, and the Lightning Bolt Brand Choice Model

The "Lightning Bolt" (LB) model provides a comprehensive framework for accommodating the effects of habit persistence, unobserved heterogeneity, and state dependence on household brand choice behavior. This paper presents a discrete, dynamic brand-choice model that belongs to the LB class of models. We propose a method for incorporating the effects of variety seeking into the LB model formulation. The proposed formulation explicitly links brand choice and purchase timing behavior via the effect of state dependence. This state-dependence based linkage between brand choice and purchase timing comes about due to the attribute satiation notion associated with household variety seeking behavior. Empirical implementation of the model specification req uires recognizing that interpurchase times, like brand choices, also depend upon marketing variables and household characteristics. A hazard model is specified to capture this relationship. Empirical results are presented using household-level data for two different products. Our results reveal the following. (1) State dependence effects decline over time. Hence, households' brand switching and repeat purchase probabilities vary over time, independent of any variation in marketing mix activities. (2) Accounting for the effects of marketing variables on interpurchase times may be important when empirically estimating the proposed model. While the nature of substantive implications is largely unchanged, the magnitudes of the different effects are nevertheless affected. (3) We find evidence for purchase reinforcement (and its effects declining over time), but no evidence for attribute satiation based variety seeking behavior. (4) A comparison of the model's predictive ability with those from two extant specifications reveals that the proposed model outperforms rival specifications.
Forest conservation policy implementation gaps: Consequences for the management of hollow-bearing trees in Australia

Hollow-bearing trees in native forests and woodlands are significant habitat resources for many Australian fauna but habitat removal, commercial timber harvesting and urban development continue to threaten these ecosystems. Protection for these habitats and their species is purportedly provided for in legislation, policy, and strategic management plans. However, public debate and disagreement surrounding forest management has resulted in the disintegration of national plans as interpreted by states and territories as well as individual stakeholders, resulting in gaps in policy implementation. This paper presents a hierarchical review of the current legislation and policy mechanisms underpinning forest conservation in Australia, with specific attention paid to important habitat features such as hollow-bearing trees. Apart from federal and state legislation acknowledging the importance of hollow-bearing trees to biodiversity, sufficient mechanisms to halt the ongoing loss of this resource from Australian landscapes at the local level appear to be lacking. Hollow-bearing tree conservation strategies from 46 local councils in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland were reviewed. Very few (<5%) respondents from local councils across all states indicated that they have specific plans for the conservation and management of hollow-bearing trees, highlighting policy implementation gaps at the local level. Furthermore, apparent environmental management strategies and actions rank relatively low on local council priorities. Therefore, a stronger focus on conservation actions towards management of critical habitat features across the landscape supported by robust local, national, and international policy is needed.
Reliability of new indices of radiographic osteoarthritis of the hand and hip and lumbar disc degeneration.

OBJECTIVE To develop a method for assessing the presence and severity of radiographic features of osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and hand, and thoracic and lumbar disc degeneration. METHODS An atlas illustrating scoring of individual radiographic features and summary grades for individual joints was developed. Three readers evaluated 31 pelvic films, 27 hand films, and 25 lateral lumbar and thoracic spine films selected from a community based sample of healthy elderly women. Interrater agreement between the 3 readers, and test-retest agreement for one of the readers, were estimated by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and kappa statistic. RESULTS Interrater agreement (ICC, unless otherwise noted) for individual radiographic features of the hip ranged from 0.66 for osteophytes to 0.80 for narrowing. For the 9 interphalangeal (IP) joints of the hand, agreement ranged from 0.42 (kappa) for sclerosis to 0.93 for narrowing, and for the lumbar spine from 0.55 (kappa) for sclerosis to 0.95 for narrowing. Interrater agreement for summary grades of radiographic findings was as follows: hip, 0.81; 5 distal interphalangeal joints (DIP), 0.89; 4 proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP), 0.82; and lumbar spine, 0.93. Intrarater agreement for summary grades was as follows: hips, 0.79; 5 DIP, 0.86; 4 PIP, 0.81; and lumbar spine, 0.90. CONCLUSION We have developed reliable indices of the presence and severity of radiographic features of hip and hand OA and spinal disc degeneration for use in epidemiologic studies. The assessment includes grading of individual radiographic features, which allows for the independent variation in these features often found in OA and a summary grade of disease that is derived from the presence and severity of individual features.
Positive and negative effects of thalidomide on refractory cutaneous lupus erythematosus

Background: Thalidomide is used in cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) refractory to conventional therapies. Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is the most severe side effect, but the incidence of PN and its relation to thalidomide dose are still unclear. Objective: To prospectively evaluate the efficacy as well as the occurrence of PN in CLE patients treated with thalidomide, and to assess whether PN, when occurs, correlates with thalidomide dose and/or length of treatment. Methods: Fourteen female patients with CLE in low-dose thalidomide therapy were followed for up to 24 months. Prior to, and regularly during treatment patients underwent rheumatological, dermatological, neurological and electrophysiological evaluations. A decline in sural SNAP of 50% or more from baseline value was considered as criterion of sensory axonal PN. Results: All patients showed a dramatic improvement of skin manifestations. Ten patients (71.4%) developed a sensory axonal PN. The median time free from this complication was 14 months. No correlations were found between age of the patients nor thalidomide cumulative dose and occurrence of PN (Mann-Whitney U Test; p>0.16). Other adverse effects were: tremor, paresthesias, somnolence, amenhorrea, constipation and thoracic pain. Conclusions: Low does thalidomide is efficacious in treating CLE, but PN is a common complication whose occurrence does not seem to correlate with total thalidomide dose, whereas with the duration of therapy. A closer electrophysiological follow-up is therefore recommended in the long-term treatment.
An application of finite element modelling to pneumatic artificial muscle

The purpose of this article was to introduce and to give an overview of the Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs) as a whole and to discuss its numerical modelling, using the Finite Element (FE) Method. Thus, more information to understand on its behaviour in generating force for actuation was obtained. The construction of PAMs was mainly consists of flexible, inflatable membranes which having orthotropic material behaviour. The main properties influencing the PAMs will be explained in terms of their load-carrying capacity and low weight in assembly. Discussion on their designs and capacity to function as locomotion device in robotics applications will be laid out, followed by FE modelling to represent PAMs overall structural behaviour under any potential operational conditions.
Virtual versus real water transfers within China

North China faces severe water scarcity—more than 40% of the annual renewable water resources are abstracted for human use. Nevertheless, nearly 10% of the water used in agriculture is employed in producing food exported to south China. To compensate for this ‘virtual water flow’ and to reduce water scarcity in the north, the huge south–north Water Transfer Project is currently being implemented. This paradox—the transfer of huge volumes of water from the water-rich south to the water-poor north versus transfer of substantial volumes of food from the food-sufficient north to the food-deficit south—is receiving increased attention, but the research in this field has not yet reached further than rough estimation and qualitative description. The aim of this paper is to review and quantify the volumes of virtual water flows between the regions in China and to put them in the context of water availability per region. The analysis shows that north China annually exports about 52 billion m3 of water in virtual form to south China, which is more than the maximum proposed water transfer volume along the three routes of the Water Transfer Project from south to north.
The mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship for external environment effects on performance

A model is proposed that tests the antecedents and the mediating effect of corporate entrepreneurship on the external environment-performance relationship within private and public sector organizations. Hypotheses were tested using data from a sample of chief executive officers in 51 private sector organizations in the United States, 141 private sector organizations in Slovenia and 134 public sector state and semi-state enterprises in Ireland. Data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that dynamism and munificence effects on performance are mediated by an organization's corporate entrepreneurship in the private sector and munificence effects on performance are mediated by an organization's renewal in the public sector and that renewal must be in place to maximize the effect of munificence on performance. The results support a model that incorporates an extensive and diverse literature into a single model and helps illuminate similarities and differences of corporate entrepreneurship between the private sector and the public sector. The study shows that an integrative model and the interplay among the constructs yields new insights unavailable to single and focused approaches. It offers new insights about corporate entrepreneurship, not only as a discrete pursuit, but also as a construct that shapes and extends organizational performance.
Kinetics of granulocyte phagocytosis: rate limited by cytoplasmic viscosity and constrained by cell size.

Micromanipulation of yeast particles and blood granulocytes has been used to study the kinetics of single phagocytosis events. The ingestion process was quantitated by observation of sequential adhesion and encapsulation times. Both adherence and encapsulation times were found to increase greatly as the temperature was reduced below 37 degrees C; calcium in solution facilitated adhesion of the particle to the phagocyte but not encapsulation; both adhesion and encapsulation processes required a minimum level of plasma components (presumably complement). The general nature of these observations were confirmatory of previous studies, but this study is unique in that the specific time course of single particle ingestion was quantitated. It was immediately apparent that the phagocytosis process was 100% efficient above the threshold concentrations required for plasma and temperature, but variations in times from cell to cell indicated heterogeneity in the population. The total time for ingestion varied from as low as 2 sec/particle at 37 degrees C to above several min/particle below 15 degrees C. Encapsulation times for particles were normalized by estimates of particle surface areas to establish a specific time/unit area of particle surface: from 0.5 sec/10(-8) cm2 at 37 degrees C to greater than 8 sec/10(-8) cm2 at 15 degrees C. The temperature dependence of the encapsulation time correlated well with the temperature dependence of the "apparent" viscosity for granulocytes measured by micropipet aspiration. As such, the kinetic properties observed in these phagocytosis tests are consistent with a model that both assembly of the contractile system and the displacement of the surface by active contraction in phagocytosis are limited by viscous dissipation in the cell. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Small-Signal Models for Constant-Current Regulated Converters

The telecom DC uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems include a storage battery to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the system during the power outages in the commercial grid system. The storage battery behaves as an ideal DC voltage source with very low internal impedance but needs to be recharged after discharge of its energy. Therefore, the telecom rectifiers taking care of the recharging have to be provided with output overload limiting for protecting them from damage. Typical overload-protection schemes are modified-constant-power and constant-current methods. It has been observed that the crossover frequency of the output-current loop tends to increase even one decade, when the storage battery is connected as a load. In this paper, the dynamical properties of the current-output converter are investigated, and the set of transfers representing the dynamics is developed based both on the state-space averaging method and on the two-port model of the corresponding voltage-output converter. According to the investigations, the observed tendency to increasing crossover frequency can be addressed to the internal dynamics of the converter, which the storage battery invokes into effect. This means that the origin of the problem is an erroneous control design
1.3-μm InGaAs MQW Metamorphic Laser Diode Fabricated With Lattice Relaxation Control Based on  In Situ Curvature Measurement

We demonstrate a lattice relaxation control by in situ curvature measurement for a metamorphic buffer. Using this relaxation control, we investigated a thin (240 nm) In<sub>0.15</sub>Ga<sub>0.85</sub> As metamorphic buffer for fabricating an unstrained In<sub>0.10</sub>Ga<sub>0.90</sub>As quasi-substrate on a GaAs substrate and succeeded in fabricating a 1.3-μm metamorphic InGaAs multiplequantum well laser diode (LD) on the metamorphic buffer. We confirmed that the LD was directly modulated at 25 Gb/s with a high-characteristic temperature (T<sub>0</sub> = 187 K).
A new look at economic convergence in Europe:a common factor approach

We propose a common factor approach to analyse convergence, which we implement using principal components analysis. We show that this method provides a useful new way of approaching the convergence debate. We apply this technique to a data set of monthly exchange rates of the 12 member countries of the European Monetary Union (EMU) over 1970–2001. Our empirical results neatly capture the convergence patterns related to the various regimes from Bretton Woods towards EMU. The UK's Pound Sterling has been on a gradual convergence path to the Euro, although convergence is less progressed than it was for the EMU countries by 1999. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Economic Capital Allocations for Non-Negative Portfolios of Dependent Risks

In this paper we explore the problem of economic capital allocations in the context of non-negative multivariate (insurance) risks possessing a dependence structure. We derive a general result and illustrate it with a number of useful examples. One such example, for instance, develops explicit expressions for the discussed economic capital decomposition rule when the underlying portfolio consists of dependent compound Poisson risks.