Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement of C‐reactive protein: Two high sensitivity methods compared

C‐reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase marker and a predictor of the risk of developing atherosclerotic complications. However, as a predictor of this risk, high sensitivity measurements are needed, and high sensitive CRP (hsCRP) assays have been developed. In this study, we experimentally compared two hsCRP assays, based on nephelometry and turbidimetry, both implemented on automated analyzers. Linearity, imprecision, turbidity interference, and results in the assay of 96 samples have been compared. Method comparison of the same two analytical systems in the assay of CRP was also performed on the basis of results in an interlaboratory external quality assessment scheme (EQAS). The two systems were found to perform substantially equally, both in hsCRP and in CRP measurement, but in the hsCRP assay the precision of nephelometry (CV% in the interval 3.0–5.8) was lower than that of turbidimetry (CV% in the interval 1.8–2.3). The classification of results by the two methods into three predefined relative risk classes gave 18% rate of discordance, in any case by one class only. The two methods proved reliable and comparable in the measurement of hsCRP, but precision should be improved. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 18:280–284, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High-end equipment customer requirement analysis based on opinion extraction

Acquisition and analysis of customer requirements are the essential steps in high-end equipment design. Considering that Internet and big data technologies are integrated into the manufacturing industry, we propose a method of analyzing customer requirements based on open-source data. First, online data are collected with focused crawlers and preprocessed to ﬁ lter noise and duplicate. Then, user opinions are extracted based on the de ﬁ ned template, and users ’ sentiments are analyzed. Based on the relationship between user sentiments and attribute parameters, the parameter range that satis ﬁ es customers can be obtained. The proposed method is evaluated by using an example of new energy vehicle to verify its availability and feasibility
Tunable slot-loaded patch antenna for cognitive radio

This paper presents a reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna for cognitive radio applications. The antenna is fed by a coplanar waveguide via capacitive coupling slot. The antenna allows easy tuning of the resonant frequency by employing two switches and two capacitors inserted in the coupling slot. The resonant frequency of the antenna can be adjusted by activating the switches and/or varying the capacitors. The achievable tuning bandwidth is 1.7:1 and it extends from 1.39 GHz to 2.36 GHz. The structure has a compact and simple biasing circuit. The proposed antenna was verified through both electromagnetic simulation and measurement which indicate that it presents very good impedance matching, stable radiation patterns and good gain within the tuning bandwidth.
Determination of magnetic losses in planar magnetic elements

This paper aims at presenting several parameters for the determination of magnetic losses in planar magnetic devices. All the figures, equations, and graphics presented were obtained by analytical studies, simulations using finite-element analysis, and mainly through the measurements taken on a magnetic device built for this purpose. From the obtained results, it is possible to design a planar transformer or inductor operating with a magnetic induction that minimize losses.
Modèles Décisionnels d'Interaction Homme-Robot

Nous etudions des Modeles Decisionnels pour l'Interaction Homme-Robot bases sur des Processus Decisionnels Markoviens. Premierement, nous proposons un modele de decision augmente du robot compagnon afin d'agir en tenant compte de l'intention estimee de l'etre humain. Ce modele traite le probleme d'estimation de l'intention de l'etre humain en observant ses actions. Nous avons propose de simuler le comportement de l'etre humain afin de construire une bibliotheque de valeurs de ses actions par rapport a ses intentions possibles. Ces valeurs sont integrees dans un Processus Decisionnel Markovien Partiellement Observable (POMDP). Nous parlerons alors de POMDP augmente. Deuxiemement, nous avons presente un modele de decision qui permet au robot en collaborat ion avec un etre humain de choisir son comportement selon l'avancement de la realisation de la tâche partagee. Ce modele est base sur un POMDP augmente et permet au robot d'etre coactif afin d'inciter l'action de l'humain pour realiser la tâche en harmonie avec lui. Troisiemement, nous avons aussi defini un modele unifie pour different types d'interaction homme-robot ou le robot analyse les besoins de l'humain et agit en consequence. Afin de contourner la complexite des POMDPs, le modele unifie separe le probleme en deux partie, une premiere responsable d'estimer les intention de l'humain avec une chaine de Markov Cachee (HMM) et une deuxieme responsable de choisir le type d'interaction correspondant (collaboration, assistance, cooperation) avec un Processus Decisionnel Markovien (MDP). F inalement, nous proposons un modele qui alterne entre interaction verbale afin d'inferer les preference de l'humain et interaction non-verbale ou les preferences sont estimes en observant les actions de l'humain. Ce modele permet de revenir a l'interaction verbale quand une ambiguite dans les preferences est detectee.
Laboratory Evaluation of the Biochemical Parameters in the Haemolymph of the Lepidopteran Larvae after Stinging by the Potter Wasp, Eumenes Conica (Insecta: Hymenoptera)

Potter wasps belong to the subfamily Eumeninae of the family Vespidae. Potter wasp is a common name given for a group of caterpillar hunting wasp which builds the pot-shaped mud nests. Initially the wasp constructs the nest and then starts hunting for its prey, the caterpillars. The prey is stung and paralyzed by the wasp then brought to the nest. It is perhaps a very highly specific behavior of these wasps. The female wasp lays her egg on the prey. The egg is firmly attached to the prey and the larva hatching out sucks the haemocoel which oozes out from the prey. In the present study, the biochemical changes in the haemolypmh of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), before and after stinging by the potter wasp were observed. There is considerable change in the nutritional physiology of parasitized prey. The successful development of the parasitoid depends on the concentration of the host haemolymph. Hosts do not survive and thus parasitoids play an important role in regulating the population of the hosts
Genetic effects of methyl benzimidazole-2-yl-carbamate on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The genetic effects of the mitotic inhibitor methyl benzimidazole-2-yl-carbamate (MBC) have been studied in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. MBC had little or no effect on the frequency of mutation. In some experiments MBC caused an increase in the frequency of mitotic recombination; however, this effect was small and not reproducible. The primary genetic effect of MBC was to induce mitotic chromosome loss at a high frequency. Chromosome loss occurred at equal frequencies for all chromosomes tested (13 of 16). Cells which had lost multiple chromosomes were found more frequently than predicted if individual chromosome loss events were independent. The probability of loss for a particular chromosome increased with length of time cells were incubated with MBC. MBC treatment also increased the frequency at which polyploid cells were found. These results suggested that MBC acted to disrupt the structure or function of the mitotic spindle and cause chromosome nondisjunction.
The recruitment of lymphocytes into the skin by T cell lymphokines: the role of gamma-interferon.

Numerous lymphocytes are recruited from the blood into cutaneous DTH reactions. Alpha/beta-interferon (IFN) and its inducers can recruit lymphocytes into the skin after i.d. injection, but activated T lymphocytes, which are responsible for DTH, produce very little IFN-alpha/beta. Our goal was to determine the major T cell lymphokine (LK) which could stimulate the migration of lymphocytes into the skin. Rats were injected i.d. with LK containing supernatants from activated T cells, and lymphocyte recruitment was measured by the accumulation of 111In-labelled lymphocytes in the skin. Large numbers of labelled cells migrated into sites injected with the LKs. The major portion of the recruiting activity of the LKs coeluted with IFN-gamma after hydroxylapatite and Affigel Blue chromatography, although a second recruiting factor was also found. Both the recruiting and IFN anti-viral activities were partially destroyed by pH 3. A monoclonal anti-IFN-gamma antibody inhibited up to 53% of the recruitment observed after 4 h and up to 43% after 20 h. Kinetic studies showed that maximal recruitment occurred 6 h after i.d. injection of the LKs. Recombinant rat IFN-gamma also stimulated lymphocyte migration into the skin. Histologically, sites injected with IFN-gamma showed a mononuclear cell infiltrate. It is suggested that IFN-gamma is the major mediator of lymphocyte recruitment produced by activated T cells.
Rapid communication: a TaqI restriction fragment length polymorphism in the ovine collagenase gene.

Polymorphism. Tag1 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in the collagenase (CLG) of sheep. Source and Description of Probe. A 2.05-kb cDNA insert was excised from a pSP64 clone using HindIII and SmaI. The insert contains the complete coding sequence of the human fibroblast collagenase gene, as described by Angel et al. (1987). Method of Detection. Prehybridization and hybridization solutions contained 6 x SET buffer, 1% SDS, 5 x Denhardt’s, 10% dextran sulfate, and 100 pgimL of salmon sperm DNA. Filters were prehybridized for approximately 5 h and hybridized for 20 h at 55°C using 1.0 x lo6 cpm of nick-translated probeimL of hybridization buffer. The filters were washed in 2 x SSC/. 5% SDS two times for 20 min at room temperature and . 1 x SSC/. 5% SDS four times for 30 min at 55°C. Description of Polymorphism. Four codominantly inherited bands were detected using TuqI and the sizes were 9.8, 5.2, 4.2, and 3.6 kb. Four monomorphic
Effect of financial knowledge on performance of women farm enterprises in Kenya

PurposeFinancial knowledge (FK) is considered one of the major factors influencing performance of farm enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of FK on performance of women farm enterprises. Performance is measured using levels of savings and enterprise margins.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses primary data of 384 farmers from three sub-counties in Kericho County, Kenya. It employs a propensity score matching (PSM) approach to control for possible selection bias and to model the impact of FK on performance of women farm enterprises.FindingsThe analysis reveals that high FK has a significant positive impact on performance of women farm enterprises. Specifically, respondents with higher levels of FK were also associated with higher amounts of savings and enterprise margins.Research limitations/implicationsEconometrically, robust strategies were employed using PSM to ensure minimal estimation bias. Although PSM captures selection bias due to observable characteristics, it fails to capture selection bias due to unobservable factors.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the growing debate on the role played by FK on performance of small and micro enterprises. It provides insights on the state of FK among women farmers and identifies knowledge gaps and policy implications from a developing country perspective.
Organizational antecedents of firms’ adoption of strategic human resource practices: Toward a reconciliation of CEO perceptions and family influence

There is lively debate in the literature about the effects of family influence on employment practices. Particularly, little empirical research explores the role of family influence in driving a firm’s adoption of specific strategic human resource practices such as high-performance work systems. Drawing from the tenets of the resource-based and stewardship theories, this study examines the relationship between chief executive officers’ perceived human resource capability and firm adoption of high-performance work systems in family business, and the joint moderating effect of family management and ownership on the above linkage. Our analysis uses chief executive officer–human resource manager matched samples of 145 Taiwanese publicly listed firms, the results show that chief executive officers perceived human resource capability is significantly and positively associated with the adoption of high-performance work systems. Moreover, this relationship is found to be the strongest when the family assumes leadership in management (i.e. the firm has a family chief executive officer) and family ownership is high.
Bandwidth allocation for fluid input generalized processor sharing servers

Generalized processor sharing (GPS) service policy is a scheduling algorithm to allocate the bandwidth of a queueing system with multi-class input traffic. Simulating the GPS system in realistic traffic environments requires a large amount of time. Thus, fluid simulation is useful because it requires much less time. We analyze the bandwidth allocation for fluid simulation in GPS servers, in which the traffic into the server is treated as fluid. Three properties which characterize GPS servers with fluid input are discussed. We show that there exists a unique bandwidth allocation with the properties. It is shown that our previously proposed algorithm gives the unique bandwidth allocation and it is equivalent to the well-known Newton-Rapson method. In numerical study, the performance of finding the unique bandwidth allocation based on other known root finding methods is compared with that of our previous algorithm. We also investigate the impact of the length of the unit time on the accuracy of the performance measures.
Contrasting medical models of alcohol problems in Victoria around 1900.

AIMS This paper examines four specialist medical inebriety institutions in Victoria, Australia between 1870 and 1930, which positioned themselves in distinct ways. It analyses how the treatment in each institution was located within wider medical approaches and contemporary medical ideas and practice. METHODS Medical journals and texts, newspaper articles, government reports and institutional archives are used in the analysis. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Alcohol treatment institutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were of several types, differentiated according to treatment approaches and their underlying premises as to the nature of the disease being treated, the particular patient groups for which they catered and their funding models and capacity to take patients committed for treatment under legislation. The institutional types identified in other Anglophone countries in this period can be extended to Australia, with some local variations in the timing of the appearance of the models, the longevity of institutions and gender of patients. In Australia there was no tradition of mutual patient support, as seen at the time in the United States. Each institution represented itself differently, in particular in terms of its particular medical model, although the treatments in practice differed less than in theory. The models employed allowed each institution to position itself in relation to trends in medical theory and practice, in particular to different conceptualizations of the type of disease being treated. Evaluating treatment models for alcohol problems in terms of medical theory and practice of the time can explain contrasting approaches.
RING-H2 Protein WSSV249 from White Spot Syndrome Virus Sequesters a Shrimp Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme, PvUbc, for Viral Pathogenesis

ABSTRACT Modification of proteins by ubiquitin is essential for numerous cellular processes. The RING-H2 finger motif has been implicated in ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2)-dependent ubiquitination. Four proteins, WSSV199, WSSV222, WSSV249, and WSSV403, from white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) contain the RING-H2 motif. Here we report that WSSV249 physically interacts with a shrimp ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, PvUbc, and mediates ubiquitination through its RING-H2 motif in the presence of E1 and PvUbc. Mutations of the putative zinc coordination residues in the RING-H2 domain of WSSV249, however, ablate ubiquitination efficiency. In addition, the RING-H2 domain of WSSV249 is capable of ubiquitination with UbcH1, UbcH2, UbcH5a, UbcH5b, UbcH5c, UbcH6, and UbcH10, respectively, exhibiting a low degree of E2 specificity. Significantly, the expression of WSSV249 and PvUbc increased during infection, as revealed by real-time PCR. Furthermore, in situ hybridization showed that WSSV249 and PvUbc display similar expression patterns in infected shrimps, and immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays showed an increase of PvUbc in infected shrimp cells. These results suggest that the RING-H2 protein WSSV249 from WSSV may function as an E3 ligase via sequestration of PvUbc for viral pathogenesis in shrimp.
Poisson Disk Point Sets by Hierarchical Dart Throwing

Poisson disk point sets are "ideally" generated through a process of dart throwing. The naive dart throwing algorithm is extremely expensive if a maximal set is desired, however. In this paper we present a hierarchical dart throwing procedure which produces point sets that are equivalent to naive dart throwing, but is very fast. The procedure works by intelligently excluding areas known to be fully covered by existing samples. By excluding covered regions, the probability of accepting a thrown dart is greatly increased. Our algorithm is conceptually simple, performs dart throwing in O(N) time and memory, and produces a maximal point set up to the precision of the numbers being used.
PMSM propulsion system for Tokyo Metro

Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (Hereunder;, Tokyo Metro) and Toshiba Corporation (Hereunder; Toshiba) successfully developed and introduced PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) propulsion system for Tokyo Metro Line in Tokyo Japan. It has been past four (4) years without problems since the first revenue service was started. This paper explains the background and evolution of the system and reports the confirmed productive results in view of “Energy savings”, “Low noise emission” and “Less maintenance”.
A Design-for-Test Implementation of an Asynchronous Network-on-Chip Architecture and its Associated Test Pattern Generation and Application

Asynchronous design offers an attractive solution to overcome the problems faced by networks-on-chip (NoC) designers such as timing constraints. Nevertheless, post-fabrication testing is a big challenge to bring the asynchronous NoCs to the market due to a lack of testing methodology and support. This paper first presents the design and implementation of a design-for-test (DfT) architecture, which improves the testability of an asynchronous NoC architecture. Then, a simple method for generating test patterns for network routers is described. Test patterns are automatically generated by a custom program, given the network topology and the network size. Finally, we introduce a testing strategy for the whole asynchronous NoC. With the generated test patterns, the testing methodology presents high fault coverage (99.86%) for single stuck-at fault models.
Effects of knowledge management on innovation capabilities amongst small and medium enterprises in South Africa: The case of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality

Background: South Africa is witnessing a growth in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Given this rise in SMEs, there is a need to pay attention to those factors that influence how these enterprises perform. Aim: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of knowledge management (KM) on innovation capabilities (IC) in SMEs with a special focus on Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Setting: This study is the first to investigate the effects of KM on IC in SMEs operating in South Africa. Given the scarcity of studies on KM in SMEs in the sub-Saharan region, this study contributes to the literature on the effects of KM on IC. Method: A quantitative research approach was followed in carrying out this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses of the study. The respondents ( n = 280) were SME representatives operating in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Results: Knowledge management is found to exert a positive effect on SMEs’ IC. Conclusion: Findings from the study can assist various practitioners, directly or indirectly involved with development of business, to develop strategies that improve SMEs’ growth and sustainability. These practitioners include strategic management researchers, policymakers, SME owners and managers and lecturers.
Deoxyribonuclease activity of polyclonal IgGs and blood serum in patients with early arthritis

Deoxyribonuclease (DNAse) properties of serum and autoantibodies have been demonstrated in patients with autoimmune and infectious diseases, but conclusive data about DNAse activity of serum and antibodies in patients with early arthritis are lacking. We performed a cross-sectional study to evaluate levels of serum and IgG DNAse activity in patients with early arthritis and investigating patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) (n = 53) and acute reactive arthritis (AReA) (n = 48). In addition the EA patients, 39 healthy controls matched for sex and age were recruited. Levels of DNAse activity of serum and IgG were assessed by the rivanol clot method and confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Levels of DNAse serum activity were significantly higher in sera of EA patients than in the control subjects (p < 0.0001). Levels of DNAse IgG activity were significantly higher in EA patients than in the control subjects (p < 0.0001). Patients with ERA displayed significantly higher levels of serum and IgG DNAse activity than patients with AReA (p < 0.0001). Regarding the differentiation of ERA from AReA, serum DNAase activity detection showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of 80.0%, 92.2%, 10.1, and 0.2 respectively, IgG DNAse activity detection showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of 80.0%, 92.2%, 10.1, and 0.2 respectively. Detection of IgG DNAse activity can be employed for the differential diagnosis of EA.