Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating ERP projects using DEA and regression analysis

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects appear to be a dream come true. This study evaluates ten ERP projects based on their productivity using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results of the DEA for preeminent ERP projects are uploaded into a project database. Regression analysis is then applied to the data in the project database to predict the efforts required for new ERP projects to acquire high productivity. Extensive literature survey shows that the DEA is the preeminent slant to evaluate ERP projects. The upshots of the study are: (1) Function Points (FP) and project efforts are the performance indicators of the ERP projects from the viewpoint of software engineering; (2) Lines of Code (LOC) have considerable influence over the efficiency of ERP projects; and (3) DEA, in combination with regression analysis, produces fruitful results for the ERP projects. Future directions in the performance enhancement of ERP projects are also indicated.
Does Collateral Value Affect Asset Prices? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Texas

Does the ability to pledge an asset as collateral, after purchase, affect its price? This paper identifies the impact of collateral service flows on house prices, exploiting a plausibly exogenous constitutional amendment in Texas that legalized home equity loans in 1998. The law change increased Texas house prices 4 $\%$; this is price-based evidence that households are credit-constrained and value home equity loans to facilitate consumption smoothing. Prices rose more in locations with inelastic supply, higher prelaw house prices, higher income, and lower unemployment. These estimates reveal that richer households value the option to pledge their home as collateral more strongly.
Association of the built environment with physical activity and obesity in older persons.

OBJECTIVE We examined whether older persons who live in areas that are conducive to walking are more active or less obese than those living in areas where walking is more difficult. METHODS We used data from the Adult Changes in Thought cohort study for a cross-sectional analysis of 936 participants aged 65 to 97 years. The Walkable and Bikable Communities Project previously formulated a walkability score to predict the probability of walking in King County, Washington. Data from the cohort study were linked to the walkability score at the participant level using a geographic information system. Analyses tested for associations between walkability score and activity and body mass index. RESULTS Higher walkability scores were associated with significantly more walking for exercise across buffers (circular zones around each respondent's home) of varying radii (for men, odds ratio [OR]=5.86; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.01, 34.17 to OR=9.14; CI=1.23, 68.11; for women, OR=1.63; CI=0.94, 2.83 to OR=1.77; CI=1.03, 3.04). A trend toward lower body mass index in men living in more walkable neighborhoods did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that neighborhood characteristics are associated with the frequency of walking for physical activity in older people. Whether frequency of walking reduces obesity prevalence is less clear.
Spinal Cord and Cerebral Blood Flow Responses to Subarachnoid Injection of Local Anesthetics with and without Epinephrine

Subarachnoid anesthesia with lidocaine, mepivacaine, or tetracaine with and without added epinephrine (1:100000) produced no demonstrable changes in average cerebral (CBF) or segmental spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) in 38 cats anesthetized with pentobarbital. Blood flow was measured by the injection of radioactive microspheres. Seven groups of cats received either lidocaine 15 mg, lidocaine 15 mg with epinephrine, mepivacaine 10 mg, mepivacaine 10 mg with epinephrine, tetracaine 5 mg, tetracaine 5 mg with epinephrine, or saline with epinephrine 1:100000. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) decreased significantly (P<0.05) in Groups I‐VI. Added epinephrine had no effect on the decrease in MAP. Amplitude of the somatosensory cortical evoked response decreased significantly in Groups I‐VI, but did not change from control in Group VII. No significant change in CBF or SCBF was demonstrated in any group at any time. Plasma lidocaine and mepivacaine levels were significantly less at 5 min after subarachnoid injection in the groups receiving epinephrine compared to those not receiving epinephrine (P<0.05). The data appear to support the hypothesis of a vasoconstrictive reduction in systemic absorption of intrathecal local anesthetics, but suggest that significant segmental spinal cord ischemia does not occur. Maintenance of total flow in the face of a decrease in MAP suggests that autoregulation in brain and spinal cord may be maintained. Changes in regional SCBF or CBF may have been present but were not examined in this study. Further studies of brain and spinal cord blood flow dynamics, regional flow changes, and regulation of flow after intrathecal agents are necessary.
The association between childhood depression and adulthood body mass index.

OBJECTIVE Stress in childhood relates to both childhood depression and elevated adult body mass index (BMI), a measure of relative overweight. However, there are limited data on the association between major depression in childhood and BMI in adulthood. The current study examines this association. METHOD Children 6 to 17 years old with major depression (n = 90) or no psychiatric disorder (n = 87) were identified at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and followed up 10 to 15 years later. Psychiatric status at intake and follow-up was assessed via standardized psychiatric interviews. BMI during adulthood was recorded so that the association between depression and BMI could be considered over time. RESULTS Participants with childhood major depression had a BMI of 26.1 +/- 5.2 as adults, compared with a BMI of 24.2 +/- 4.1 in healthy comparisons (t(175) = 2.7). This association could not be explained by a number of potentially confounding factors, including age, gender, cigarette or alcohol use, social class, and pregnancy or medication history. Although poverty during adulthood also predicted adult BMI, both the association between poverty and adult BMI (t(152) = 2.9), as well as between childhood depression and adult BMI (t(152) = 2.2) were significant in a multivariate model. Finally, duration of depression between childhood and adulthood also emerged as a predictor of adult BMI. CONCLUSIONS Depression during childhood is positively associated with BMI during adulthood. This association cannot be explained by various potential confounding variables and may develop over time as children pass into their adult years.body mass index, depression, children, adolescents.
What Do Language Disorders Reveal about Brain–Language Relationships? From Classic Models to Network Approaches

Abstract Studies of language disorders have shaped our understanding of brain–language relationships over the last two centuries. This article provides a review of this research and how our thinking has changed over the years regarding how the brain processes language. In the 19th century, a series of famous case studies linked distinct speech and language functions to specific portions of the left hemisphere of the brain, regions that later came to be known as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. One hundred years later, the emergence of new brain imaging tools allowed for the visualization of brain injuries in vivo that ushered in a new era of brain-behavior research and greatly expanded our understanding of the neural processes of language. Toward the end of the 20th century, sophisticated neuroimaging approaches allowed for the visualization of both structural and functional brain activity associated with language processing in both healthy individuals and in those with language disturbance. More recently, language is thought to be mediated by a much broader expanse of neural networks that covers a large number of cortical and subcortical regions and their interconnecting fiber pathways. Injury to both grey and white matter has been seen to affect the complexities of language in unique ways that have altered how we think about brain–language relationships. The findings that support this paradigm shift are described here along with the methodologies that helped to discover them, with some final thoughts on future directions, techniques, and treatment interventions for those with communication impairments. (JINS, 2017, 23, 741–754)
“Preference pattern of Investors in Stock Market-A case study of Investors in North Karnataka Region”

Investors in the stock market in the study area have exhibited some significant trends regarding their preferences for investment. The study has covered 600 selected investor-respondents consisting of 482 male investors and 118 female investors in selected district head quarters of North Karnataka region. The major socio-economic profile of the respondents related to their sex, age categories, educational status, occupation, income groups and duration of experience in stock market. Majority of male investors seem to have preference for ‘Large’ and ‘Midcaps’ for investments while all the selected female respondents’ investors have preferred ‘small caps’. Preference for large and mid caps is more pronounced among majority of respondent investors with different socio-economic profiles like age, education, occupation, income and stock market experience. Male investors have exhibited more aggressive and risk assuming behaviour while female investors have indicated risk aversion approach.
The relationship between hospital admission rates and rehospitalizations.

BACKGROUND Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions have focused primarily on improving transitional care. Yet variation in readmission rates may more closely reflect variation in the underlying hospitalization rates than differences in the quality of care during and after discharge. METHODS We used national Medicare data to calculate, for each local hospital referral region (HRR), the 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day readmission rates among patients discharged with congestive heart failure or pneumonia. We also calculated population-based all-cause admission rates among Medicare enrollees in each HRR. We examined the variation in HRR readmission rates that was explained by overall hospitalization rates versus differences in patients' coexisting conditions, quality of discharge planning, physician supply, and bed supply. RESULTS HRR readmission rates ranged from 11 to 32% for congestive heart failure and from 8 to 27% for pneumonia. In univariate analyses, all-cause admission rates accounted for the highest proportion of regional variation in readmission rates for congestive heart failure (28%, 34%, and 37% at 30, 60, and 90 days, respectively); the next highest proportions were explained by case mix (11%, 15%, and 18%) and the number of cardiologists per capita (12%, 14%, and 15%). Results for pneumonia were similar, except that the number of pulmonologists per capita accounted for a lower proportion of the variation (6%, 8%, and 7%, respectively). In multivariate analyses, admission rates accounted for 16 to 24% of the variation for congestive heart failure and 11 to 20% for pneumonia; no other factor accounted for more than 6%. CONCLUSIONS We found a substantial association between regional rates of rehospitalization and overall admission rates. Programs directed at shared savings from lower utilization of hospital services might be more successful in reducing readmissions than programs initiated to date. (Funded by the Commonwealth Fund.).
Why Has the FCAs Market Cleanliness Statistic for Takeover Announcements Decreased Since 2009?

After remaining close to 30% for four years, the FCA’s market cleanliness statistic for takeovers decreased to about 15% between 2010 and 2013. This paper investigates the possible explanations for the fall in the statistic. We find evidence to exclude methodological bias, information leaking earlier relative to the takeover announcement or changes in sample characteristics as explanations for the decrease. This supports the hypothesis that the recent decrease in the statistic indicates that markets are cleaner. We note that the change in the statistic coincides with a material increase in regulatory enforcement activity and sanctions. Finally, we show that international comparisons of market cleanliness statistics can be misleading, and so should not be made, because countries have different disclosure regimes that affect the overall level of the statistic.
CD44 glycoproteins in colorectal cancer: expression, function, and prognostic value.

In colorectal cancer patients, prognosis is not determined by the primary tumor but by the formation of distant metastases. Among the molecules that have been implicated in the metastatic process are the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met and CD44 glycoproteins. Recently, we provided evidence for functional collaboration between these two molecules. CD44 isoforms decorated with heparan sulfate (HS) chains (CD44-HS) bind the c-Met ligand, the growth and motility factor hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). This interaction strongly promotes c-Met signaling, a pathway mediating a broad range of biological activities including cell-growth and -motility, angiogenesis, and tumor invasion and metastasis. In the present study, we have assessed the expression of c-Met, HGF/SF, and CD44-HS in human colorectal cancer. We demonstrate that c-Met is strongly expressed on colorectal adenomas, carcinomas, and colorectal cell lines, while HGF/SF mRNA levels are increased levels within tumor tissue. Both heparitinase treatment and experiments with an HGF/SF mutant with strongly reduced affinity for heparan sulfate, indicate that interaction of HGF/SF with HS-moieties promotes activation of c-Met in colorectal carcinoma (HT-29) cells. Survival analysis shows that CD44-HS (CD44v3) expression predicts unfavorable prognosis in patients with invasive colorectal carcinomas. Our findings suggest that collaboration between CD44-HS and the c-Met signaling pathway plays an important role in colorectal tumorigenesis. In tumors overexpressingCD44-HS, constitutively enhanced c-Met signaling may promote tumor growth, invasiveness and metastasis, resulting in poor patient survival.
Interpolation in digital modems. II. Implementation and performance

For pt.I, see ibid., vol.41, no.3, p.502-208 (1993). Properties of a specific class of interpolators that are based upon polynomials are discussed. Several implementations are described, one of which is particularly convenient in practical hardware. Simulations demonstrate that simple interpolators give excellent performance. In many cases, two-point, linear interpolation is adequate. If better performance is needed, classical four-point, third-order polynomials could be used. Better yet, a novel four-point interpolating filter with piecewise-parabolic impulse response can have performance superior to that of the standard cubic interpolator and still be implemented much more simply. The NCO-based control method presented in Part I is shown to be equivalent to a conventional phase locked loop and its operation is verified by simulation. >
The mechanisms of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury during thyroidectomy and the impact of continuous intraoperative nerve monitoring on surgical strategy

Objective: To evaluate the mechanisms of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury during thyroidectomy and the impact of continuous intraoperative nerve monitoring (C-IONM) on surgical strategy. Material and Methods: The data of 364 consecutive patients who underwent total or hemithyroidectomy between June 2014 and January 2016 were evaluated prospectively. All patients underwent thyroidectomy by using C-IONM. The mechanisms of RLN injury and the outcomes of the patients with combined events (CE) and loss of signal (LOS) were evaluated. Results: Combined events (CE) occurred in 6 (1.6%) of these 364 patients. The reduced electromyographic (EMG) amplitude and prolonged latency recovered in all patients intraoperatively by the reversal of the medial traction maneuver. Loss of signal (LOS) occurred in 7(1.9%) patients. The mechanisms of LOS was ligation of the anterior branch of the nerve in 1 (14.3%) patient and traction in 4(57%) patients. The probable mechanism of LOS was traction or transection in 2 (28.6%) patients in whom LOS occurred during the dissection of the intrathoracic portion of large substernal goiter. Of these 7 patients, LOS recovered intraoperatively after 20 minutes of waiting in 1(14.3%) patient. In the remaining 6 (85.7%) patients, unilateral vocal cord paralysis (VCP) was verified on the postoperative laryngoscopic examination. The overall temporary and permanent unilateral VCP rates were 1.6% (n=6) and 0.8% (n=3), respectively in these 364 patients. No bilateral VCP was recorded. Continuous intraoperative nerve monitoring (C-IONM) prevented bilateral VCP in 1 (0.3%) patient. Conclusion: The major advantage of C-IONM is to alert the surgeon for imminent RLN injury. Combined event (CE) is a pathognomonic sign of impending nerve injury that may progress to LOS. This situation enables the surgeon to adverse (reverse) the surgical maneuver before permanent damage to the nerve sets in. Continuous intraoperative nerve monitoring (C-IONM) can also immediately spot RLN injury during thyroidectomy. This property of C-IONM gives the surgeon the opportunity for an early corrective action to release the affected nerve promptly. In case of permanent LOS, staged thyroidectomy could be planned to prevent bilateral VCP.
Grounding Natural Language Instructions with Unknown Object References using Learned Visual Attributes

Our goal is to enable robots to interpret or ground natural language instructions from a human in the context of the operating workspace. We address the problem of grounding linguistic references within an instruction associated with semantic objects populating the scene. In realistic workspaces, the types and locations of objects may only be partially known to the robot. Hence, the robot may encounter novel objects types for which pre-trained visual classifiers may not exist and hence cannot be recognized from an image. Further, ambiguity arises when an instruction may refer to one of several unknown object types detected in the scene. Recent progress has been made in probabilistic approaches that relate language with semantic concepts derived from the environment, such as (Tellex et al. 2011), (Howard, Tellex, and Roy 2014), (Matuszek, Fox, and Koscher 2010), (Chai et al. 2016), (Paul et al. 2016), (Mei, Bansal, and Walter 2016) and (Shridhar and Hsu 2017). These models rely on an a priori known set of object types and hence cannot ground references to novel objects in the scene. Complementary work exists in the computer vision community, where researches explore zero shot learning, i.e., the ability to learn a classifier for unseen or novel objects. Approaches in this category learn a classification model based on primitive visual attribute such as shape, texture, patterns etc. Examples include (Ferrari and Zisserman 2007), (Farhadi et al. 2009), (Lampert, Nickisch, and Harmeling 2009), and (Jayaraman and Grauman 2014). In this work, we consider the scenario of grounding unknown noun references in scenes populated multiple objects that the robot cannot recognize. We build on prior work and present a model that resolves ambiguity amongst unknown groundings by eliciting visual attribute descriptions from the human. Linguistic attribute descriptions that convey texture, material, shape, and appearance is fused with a probabilistic language grounding framework by introducing probabilistic factors that predict a set of visual attributes from an image. The attribute predictor is trained from a crowd sourced dense image annotation data set. Figure 1 presents an overview of the approach.
Single-molecule imaging of translational output from individual RNA granules in neurons

Translation events in RNA granules in neurons are spatially clustered near individual granules, and translation output from individual granules is either sporadic or bursty. Translation of Venus-FMRP RNA is more bursty than translation of Venus-ARC RNA, and mGluR activation increases overall translation but decreases bursty translation.
Emotion recognition from facial image analysis using composite similarity measure aided bidimensional empirical mode decomposition

The aim of this work is to automatically detect and analyse the emotions from the digital videos and images. Initially the images are extracted from pre-recorded videos, from which the faces are cropped automatically. The training dataset is formed with minimal number of images per subject for each emotion. Bi-dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition (BEMD) is used to decompose the images in its Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF). Composite Similarity Measure (CSM) based classification has been employed to detect the correct emotion from the images. "ENTERFACE'05 Audio-Visual Emotion Database", "JAFFE Database" and a database developed in laboratory called "DCAB database" are used to test the performance of the proposed method. The advantage of this method is to be able to classify or rank the emotions found in an image or a video even when the image or video is subjected to feature occlusion such as the subject putting on spectacles or sunglasses. Moreover, it is robust to illumination, different view point and background colour of the image or video. The performance is also invariant to the dress, hair style, facial hair or moustache of the subject. This method is also able to overcome the problem related to ageing to some extent.
Heavy chain-only antibodies and tetravalent bispecific antibody neutralizing Staphylococcus aureus leukotoxins

Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin associated with current outbreaks of community-associated methicillin-resistant strains and implicated directly in the pathophysiology of Staphylococcus aureus-related diseases. Humanized heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAb) were generated against S. aureus PVL from immunized transgenic mice to neutralize toxin activity. The active form of PVL consists of the two components, LukS-PV and LukF-PV, which induce osmotic lysis following pore formation in host defense cells. One anti–LukS-PV HCAb, three anti–LukF-PV HCAbs with affinities in the nanomolar range, and one engineered tetravalent bispecific HCAb were tested in vitro and in vivo, and all prevented toxin binding and pore formation. Anti–LukS-PV HCAb also binds to γ-hemolysin C (HlgC) and inhibits HlgC/HlgB pore formation. Experiments in vivo in a toxin-induced rabbit endophthalmitis model showed that these HCAbs inhibit inflammatory reactions and tissue destruction, with the tetravalent bispecific HCAb performing best. Our findings show the therapeutic potential of HCAbs, and in particular, bispecific antibodies.