Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrasting the application of soft systems methodology and reflective practice to the development of organizational knowledge and learning — a review of two cases in the UK National Health Service

c.bond@coventry.ac. uk The following paper seeks to review work undertaken by the two authors in developing and enhancing the contribution made to organizational knowledge and learning by Information Management and Technology (IM&T) Specialists in the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS). This paper reviews two national consultancy projects and presents some reflective observations on the epistemological foundations of the approaches used within the context of the cases’. Data from this work has therefore been analyzed retrospectively and from a qualitative and largely interpretative domain. Indeed neither of the authors approached this consultancy work from a traditional research approach, our main participation in these initiatives came from our involvement as process and technical consultants. (Schein, 1987) The first case study focuses on the use of soft systems methodology (SSM) within an oncology project designed to improve cancer services within a local region. The second case study reviews the use of an epistemology of reflective practice as a means of developing a new Professional ’ For a more detailed account of the two case studies please refer to the publications cited in the references under Kirkham & LeMaistre and Bond &Wilson. pel~llission to nuke digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granled without fee provided that COpicS are not made or distrihuted for prolit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first pagC. To copy otherwise. to republish, to post on sewers or to redistribute to lists. requires prior specific permission and! or a fee. SIGCPR ‘99 New Orleans LA USA Copyright ACM 1999 I-581 13-063-5/99/04. $5.00 Sandi Kirkham Principal Lecturer in
Comparative Drug Disposition, Urinary Pharmacokinetics, and Renal Effects of Multilamellar Liposomal Nystatin and Amphotericin B Deoxycholate in Rabbits

ABSTRACT The comparative drug dispositions, urinary pharmacokinetics, and effects on renal function of multilamellar liposomal nystatin (LNYS; Nyotran) and amphotericin B deoxycholate (DAMB; Fungizone) were studied in rabbits. Drug concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography as total concentrations of LNYS and DAMB. In comparison to a standard dose of 1 mg of DAMB/kg of body weight, therapeutic dosages of LNYS, i.e., 2, 4, and 6 mg/kg, resulted in escalating maximum concentrations (Cmax) (17 to 56μ g/ml for LNYS versus 3.36 μg/ml for DAMB; P< 0.001) and values for the area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC0-24) (17 to 77μ g · h/ml for LNYS versus 12μ g · h/ml for DAMB; P < 0.001) in plasma but a significantly faster total clearance from plasma (0.117 to 0.080 liter/h/kg for LNYS versus 0.055 liter/h/kg for DAMB; P = 0.013) and a ≤8-fold-smaller volume of distribution at steady state (P = 0.002). Urinary drug concentration data revealed a ≥10-fold-higher Cmax (16 to 10 μg/ml for LNYS versus 0.96μ g/ml for DAMB; P = 0.015) and a 4- to 7-fold-greater AUC0-24 (63 to 35μ g · h/ml for LNYS versus 8.9μ g · h/ml for DAMB; P = 0.015) following the administration of LNYS, with a dose-dependent decrease in the dose-normalized AUC0-24 in urine (P= 0.001) and a trend toward a dose-dependent decrease in renal clearance. Except for the kidneys, the mean concentrations of LNYS in liver, spleen, and lung 24 h after dosing were severalfold lower than those after administration of DAMB (P,<0.002 to <0.001). Less than 1% each of the total dose of LNYS was recovered from the kidneys, liver, spleen, and lungs; in contrast, a quarter of the total dose was recovered from the livers of DAMB-treated animals. LNYS had dose-dependent effects on glomerular filtration and distal, but not proximal, renal tubular function which did not exceed those of DAMB at the highest investigated dosage of 6 mg/kg. The results of this experimental study demonstrate fundamental differences in the dispositions of LNYS and DAMB. Based on its enhanced urinary exposure, LNYS may offer a therapeutic advantage in systemic fungal infections involving the upper and lower urinary tracts that require therapy with antifungal polyenes.
Collapsible cubes: Removing overhangs from 3D point clouds to build local navigable elevation maps

Elevation maps offer a compact 2½ dimensional model of terrain surface for navigation in field mobile robotics. However, building these maps from 3D raw point clouds containing overhangs, such as tree canopy or tunnels, can produce useless results. This paper proposes a simple processing of a ground-based point cloud that identifies and removes overhang points that do not constitute an obstacle for navigation while keeping vertical structures such as walls or tree trunks. The procedure uses efficient data structures to collapse unsupported 3D cubes down to the ground. This method has been successfully applied to 3D laser scans taken from a mobile robot in outdoor environments in order to build local elevation maps for navigation. Computation times show an improvement with respect to a previous point-based solution to this problem.
BioMiner - modeling, analyzing, and visualizing biochemical pathways and networks

MOTIVATION Understanding the biochemistry of a newly sequenced organism is an essential task for post-genomic analysis. Since, however, genome and array data grow much faster than biochemical information, it is necessary to infer reactions by comparative analysis. No integrated and easy to use software tool for this purpose exists as yet. RESULTS We present a new software system--BioMiner--for analyzing and visualizing biochemical pathways and networks. BioMiner is based on a new comprehensive, extensible and reusable data model--BioCore--which can be used to model biochemical pathways and networks. As a first application we present PathFinder, a new tool predicting biochemical pathways by comparing groups of related organisms based on sequence similarity. We successfully tested PathFinder with a number of experiments, e.g. the well studied glycolysis in bacteria. Additionally, an application called PathViewer for the visualization of metabolic networks is presented. PathViewer is the first application we are aware of which supports the graphical comparison of metabolic networks of different organisms. AVAILABILITY http://www.zbi. uni-saarland.de/chair/projects/BioMiner SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Additional information on experimental results can be found on our web site.
Labor Productivity, Perceived Effectiveness, and Sustainability of Innovative Projects

ObjectiveTo assess labor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability of a national quality program that sought to stimulate efficiency gains through increased labor productivity while maintaining quality through implementing small‐scale innovation projects. DesignLongitudinal measures of labor productivity and quality were collected at baseline and after completion of the innovation projects. Perceived effectiveness and sustainability (measured by routinization) were assessed cross‐sectionally after project completion. SettingThis study was conducted in The Netherlands. ParticipantsNinety‐eight improvement projects in long‐term care organizations. InterventionA national quality program to stimulate innovative approaches in long‐term care. Main Outcome MeasuresLabor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability were the main outcome measures. ResultsLabor productivity data were available for only 37 (38%) of the 98 projects, 33 (89%) of which demonstrated significantly improved efficiency. Perceived effectiveness was significantly associated with sustainability (0.29; p < .05), but not labor productivity. ConclusionsTo achieve sustainability in long‐term care, developers of innovative projects must collect better quality information on efficiency gains in terms of labor productivity and focus more on efficiency improvement. More research is necessary to explore relationships between labor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability.
Dissecting the Effects of Ischemia and Reperfusion on the Coronary Microcirculation in a Rat Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background Microvascular injury (MVI) after coronary ischemia-reperfusion is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Both ischemia and reperfusion are involved in MVI, but to what degree these phases contribute is unknown. Understanding the etiology is essential for the development of new potential therapies. Methods and Findings Rats were divided into 3 groups receiving either 30 minutes ischemia, 90 minutes ischemia or 30 minutes ischemia followed by 60 minutes reperfusion. Subsequently hearts were ex-vivo perfused in a Langendorff-model. Fluorescence and electron microscopy was used for analysis of capillary density, vascular permeability and ultrastructure. Most MVI was observed after 30 minutes ischemia followed by 60 minutes reperfusion. In comparison to the 30’ and 90’ ischemia group, wall thickness decreased (207.0±74 vs 407.8±75 and 407.5±71, p = 0.02). Endothelial nuclei in the 30’-60’ group showed irreversible damage and decreased chromatin density variation (50.5±9.4, 35.4±7.1 and 23.7±3.8, p = 0.03). Cell junction density was lowest in the 30’-60’ group (0.15±0.02 vs 2.5±0.6 and 1.8±0.7, p<0.01). Microsphere extravasation was increased in both the 90’ ischemia and 30’-60’ group. Conclusions Ischemia alone for 90 minutes induces mild morphological changes to the coronary microcirculation, with increased vascular permeability. Ischemia for 30 minutes, followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion, induces massive MVI. This shows the direct consequences of reperfusion on the coronary microcirculation. These data imply that a therapeutic window exists to protect the microcirculation directly upon coronary revascularization.
A Personal Content Manager Architecture for a Personal Distributed Environment

This paper focuses on determining a personal content manager (PCM) architecture most suitable for use with a personal distributed environment (PDE), where a diverse range of heterogeneous devices on different sub-networks communicate with one another. Three different PCM deployment architectures, based on the knowledge of content residing in a PDE were investigated. A simulation of a content management task was done to compare the performances of these architectures in a simple PDE scenario. The simulation studies provided a comparison of the performance of the PCM architectures from both the user's and system's perspectives and allowed the most competent architecture to be chosen for implementation in the PDE. This research has been funded by the Industrial Companies who are Members of Mobile VCE, with additional financial support from the UK Governments Technology Strategy Board (previously DTI).
Single Machine Scheduling with Rejection: Minimizing Total Weighted Completion Time and Rejection Cost

In this paper, the authors consider a single machine scheduling problem with rejection. In traditional research, it is assumed all jobs must be processed. However, in the real-world situation, certain jobs can be rejected. In this study, the jobs can be either accepted and scheduled or be rejected at the cost of a penalty. Two objective functions are considered simultaneously: (1) minimization of the sum of weighted completion times for the accepted jobs, and (2) minimization of the sum of penalties for the rejected jobs. The authors apply two-phase method (TPM), which is a general technique to solve bi-objective combinatorial optimization problems, to find all supported and non-supported solutions for small-sized problems. The authors present a mathematical model for implementing both phases. On the other hand, three different bi-objective simulated annealing algorithms have also been developed to find a good estimation of Pareto-optimal solutions for large-sized problems. Finally the authors discuss the results obtained from each of these algorithms.
Toward a Procedural Theory of Judgment.

Abstract : A procedural theory of judgment is described in which judgment is viewed as a serial 'anchoring and adjustment' process. The process is described as comprising scanning, anchoring, and adjusting operations, the latter of which is applied iteratively (with order of adjustment steps usually determined by relative importance) until the judge deems that sufficient information has been integrated and outputs a final response. The paper has three major sections. First, the procedural theory is described and contrasted with the implicit characterization of process that might be drawn from algebraic models of judgment. Next, three common forms of judgment are described (averaging rules, relative ratio rules, and multiplying rules) and discussed in terms of the factors that predispose subjects to 'use' those rules for particular tasks. Finally, several common phenomena to judgment (primacy and recency effects, initial impression effects, differential weighting effects and violations of additivity) are interpreted within the serial adjustment model. (Author)
Time use among individuals with persistent mental illness: Identifying risk factors for imbalance in daily activities

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate associations between time use in daily activities and sociodemographic and clinical factors in order to identify individuals with persistent mental illness at risk of having an imbalance in daily activities, as reflected in their time use and daily rhythm. Participants (n=103) were selected from a psychiatric outpatient unit using a randomized stratified selection procedure. The main findings indicated that time spent in daily activities increased with age, and that older individuals more often had a beneficial daily rhythm. Women and individuals living with children spent more time on self-care/self-maintenance than men and individuals living without children. Individuals with a diagnosis of psychosis spent less total time in daily activities than individuals with non-psychosis. In conclusion, general psychiatric symptoms, such as self-blame, anxiety, and difficulties in cooperating with others, explained most of the risk of spending little time in work/education as well as the risk of spending long periods asleep and having an adverse daily rhythm. A diagnosis of psychosis and high levels of general symptoms together explained most of the risk of having low total time use in activity. Factors such as age and living with children or not seemed to be important factors in relation to time use and daily rhythm.
Changes in the Cation Ordering of Layered O3 LixNi0.5Mn0.5O2 during Electrochemical Cycling to High Voltages: An Electron Diffraction Study

Selected area electron diffraction patterns were collected from pristine LiNi0.5Mn0. 5O2 and cycled LixNi0.5Mn0. 5O2 samples (to either 4.5 V or 5.3 V) in the charged and discharged states. Superlattice reflections characteristic of the √3aHex. × √3aHex. × cHex. supercell, which are associated with ordering of Li-rich and Li-deficient sites in the transition metal layer of the pristine sample, were weakened considerably or disappeared completely in the charged samples, indicating a reduction of this long-range ordering. Detailed analysis revealed not only a considerable amount of Ni migration from the Li layer to the transition metal layer upon charging to 4.5 V but also that a complete removal of Ni from the Li layer might be possible upon charging to 5.3 V as evidenced by the detection of the O1 phase with a hexagonal-close-packed oxygen array. The Ni migration was in part reversible upon discharge as the fractions of crystals exhibiting the √3aHex. × √3aHex. × cHex. superlattice reflections were consider.
A Complete System for Polyps Flagging in Virtual Colonoscopy

Abstract : Computer tomographic colonography, combined with computer-aided detection, is a promising emerging technique for colonic polyp analysis. We present a complete pipeline for polyp flagging based on a simple segmentation technique that enhances polyps, a multi-scale candidate polyp delineation and new texture and geometric features that consider both the information in the candidate polyp location and its immediate surrounding area. The proposed algorithm is tested with ground truth data, including flat and small polyps which are hard to detect even with optical colonoscopy, obtaining very promising results. For polyps greater than 6mm in size we achieve 100% sensitivity with just 0:8 false positives per study, and for polyps greater than 3mm in size we achieve 100% sensitivity with 2:2 false positives per study.
Experimental analysis and modeling of CSS ranging in LOS and NLOS environments

Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) defined in IEEE 802.15. 4a, known to be resistant to signal interference and multipath fading, can perform precise ranging and it is a promising technology for localization systems. This paper is designed to investigate the performance and characteristic of CSS ranging in LOS and NLOS surroundings. On the basis of the experimental analysis, we propose a voting-averaging filter to deal with the problem of unpredictable abnormal ranging points and measurement noise. Secondly, we further propose a uniform model of CSS ranging, which can apply to LOS and NLOS range measurement, to improve the performance of distance measurement.
Discovering unexpected information on the basis of popularity/unpopularity analysis of coordinate objects and their relationships

Although many studies have addressed the problem of finding Web pages seeking relevant and popular information from a query, very few have focused on the discovery of unexpected information. This paper provides and evaluates methods for discovering unexpected information for a keyword query. For example, if the user inputs "Michael Jackson," our system first discovers the unexpected related term "karate" and then returns the unexpected information "Michael Jackson is good at karate. " Discovering unexpected information is useful in many situations. For example, when a user is browsing a news article on the Web, unexpected information about a person associated with the article can pique the user's interest. If a user is sightseeing or driving, providing unexpected, additional information about a building or the region is also useful. Our approach collects terms related to a keyword query and evaluates the degree of unexpectedness of each related term for the query on the basis of (i) the relationships of coordinate terms of both the keyword query and related terms, and (ii) the degree of popularity of each related term. Experimental results show that considering these two factors are effective for discovering unexpected information.
Manpower and Counterinsurgency: Empirical Foundations for Theory and Doctrine

How does manpower affect counterinsurgency? Important debates about counterinsurgency theory, military doctrine, force planning, and ongoing military operations revolve around assumptions about the role manpower plays in determining counterinsurgency outcomes. But these assumptions have not, by and large, been subjected to large-n analysis. This paper helps serve that role by examining new data on counterinsurgents’ deployments across 171 campaigns since World War I. These data provide insight into a range of important issues, such as how force size should be measured, whether it is related to counterinsurgent success, whether troop nationality matters, and whether the role of manpower varies across contexts. Of these findings, the most notable is that conventional rules of thumb for force sizing, including the recommendation put forth in official US military doctrine, receive no empirical support. These findings therefore challenge the prevailing wisdom, while laying the groundwork for a range of future scholarship.
The Job Demand-Control-Support Model and stress-related low-grade inflammatory responses among healthy employees: A longitudinal study

Abstract We investigated the direct (additive) and interactive effects of the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDC-S) model's components on subsequent changes in three indicators of stress-induced low-grade inflammation in the body: C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen and white blood cell count (WBC) plasma concentrations. These inflammation biomarkers have been shown to be implicated in the aetiology of cardiovascular disease. We studied separately healthy male (N=738) and female (N=383) employees who underwent periodic health examinations twice, about 18 months apart. Out of the 18 expected direct effects, only two, both supportive of our predictions, were found. Out of the 12 expected interactive effects derived from the JDC-S model, only two were found and both, when plotted on a graph, did not support the job strain model. We found no evidence supporting the possibility of reverse-causation, namely that each T1 fibrinogen, CRP and WBC predicted each T2 workload, control and support (controlling for their Time 1 values, respectively). We suggest that the physiological mechanism linking the JDC-S model with cardiovascular morbidity probably does not include inflammatory processes in the body.
Intrinsic Motivation and Automatic Curricula via Asymmetric Self-Play

We describe a simple scheme that allows an agent to learn about its environment in an unsupervised manner. Our scheme pits two versions of the same agent, Alice and Bob, against one another. Alice proposes a task for Bob to complete; and then Bob attempts to complete the task. In this work we will focus on two kinds of environments: (nearly) reversible environments and environments that can be reset. Alice will "propose" the task by doing a sequence of actions and then Bob must undo or repeat them, respectively. Via an appropriate reward structure, Alice and Bob automatically generate a curriculum of exploration, enabling unsupervised training of the agent. When Bob is deployed on an RL task within the environment, this unsupervised training reduces the number of supervised episodes needed to learn, and in some cases converges to a higher reward.
Max-Sum Decentralised Coordination for Sensor Systems (Demo Paper)

A key challenge for the successful deployment of systems consisting of multiple autonomous networked sensors is the development of decentralised mechanisms to coordinate the activities of these physically distributed devices in order to achieve good system-wide performance. Such mechanisms must act in the presence of local constraints (such as limited power, communication and computational resources) and dynamic environments (where the topology, constraints and utility of the sensor network may change at any time). We propose the use of message passing techniques based on the max-sum algorithm to address this challenge, and in this paper, we demonstrate its use in two different settings. We first pre sent a software simulation where our max-sum decentralised coordination algorithm is used to coordinate sectored radar sensors tracking multiple moving targets (see the ARGUS II DARP project ‐http: //www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/research/projects/ARGUS). We then present a hardware implementation of the same algorithm that performs decentralised graph colouring ‐ an intermediate step towards deploying the algorithm to coordinate the sleep/sense cycles of a network of low-power embedded sensors (see the DIF DTC ‘Adaptive Energy-Aware Sensor Network’ project ‐ http: //www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/research/projects/AEASN).