Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of osteoporotic alterations in type 2 diabetes: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES To analyze the influence of Type 2 diabetes on bone mineral density (BMD) and panoramic radiomorphometry in postmenopausal females, comparing with results from non-diabetic postmenopausal females. METHODS A total of 228 postmenopausal females (mean age: 59.51 ± 11.08 years) were included in this study. Demographics, T scores and Z scores from peripheral dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and mandibular cortical index (MCI) from panoramic radiographs were assessed. Mean comparison between results for diabetics and non-diabetics was carried out with the Student's t-test. In addition, non-parametric correlations between MCI and DXA results were carried out with Spearman's test, at a level of significance of 5%. RESULTS Mean Z score values were significantly higher in diabetics than in non-diabetics (p = 0.001). T and Z score values were also significantly correlated with MCI (r = 0.428, p = 0.001, and r = 0.356, p = 0.022, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Within the limitations of this study, the present results suggest that Type 2 diabetes might increase BMD in postmenopausal females.
The Billion Prices Project: Using Online Prices for Measurement and Research

New data-gathering techniques, often referred to as “Big Data” have the potential to improve statistics and empirical research in economics. In this paper we describe our work with online data at the Billion Prices Project at MIT and discuss key lessons for both inflation measurement and some fundamental research questions in macro and international economics. In particular, we show how online prices can be used to construct daily price indexes in multiple countries and to avoid measurement biases that distort evidence of price stickiness and international relative prices. We emphasize how Big Data technologies are providing macro and international economists with opportunities to stop treating the data as “given” and to get directly involved with data collection.
Cost-Effectiveness of Two Self-Care Interventions to Reduce Disability Associated With Back Pain

Study Design. Two randomized, controlled trials. Objective. To evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of psychologist-led and lay-led interventions in reducing disability in 2 cohorts of primary care patients with back pain. Summary of Background Data. Although activating self-care interventions have been advanced as effective tools to reduce back pain-related activity limitations, few studies have evaluated the added costs of these programs relative to their added benefits. Methods. We estimated the incremental benefits and incremental costs associated with 2 self-care interventions for primary care patients with back pain. Effectiveness was measured as the number of low-impact back pain days (i.e., days when patients were satisfied with their level of back pain) over a 1-year follow-up. Costs of back-pain related services were estimated from health plan cost data. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for each intervention to determine the costs associated with an additional low-impact back pain day. Results. Patients assigned to the lay and psychologist interventions had a mean of 14.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] −2.7 to 30.9) and 26.2 (95% CI 9.1–44.4) additional low-impact back pain days, respectively, compared with patients receiving usual care. The incremental per-person costs of the lay-led and psychologist-led interventions were $139 (95% CI −$62.13 to $321.76) and $161 (95% CI $51.18 to $275.93), respectively. The mean cost of an additional low-impact back pain day was $9.70 for the lay-led intervention and $6.13 for the psychologist-led intervention. Conclusions. Both the lay and psychologist interventions were associated with modest improvements in outcomes but with somewhat higher costs compared to usual care.
Local Bayesian Optimization of Motor Skills

Bayesian optimization is renowned for its sample efficiency but its application to higher dimensional tasks is impeded by its focus on global optimization. To scale to higher dimensional problems, we leverage the sample efficiency of Bayesian optimization in a local context. The optimization of the acquisition function is restricted to the vicinity of a Gaussian search distribution which is moved towards high value areas of the objective. The proposed informationtheoretic update of the search distribution results in a Bayesian interpretation of local stochastic search: the search distribution encodes prior knowledge on the optimum’s location and is weighted at each iteration by the likelihood of this location’s optimality. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm on several benchmark objective functions as well as a continuous robotic task in which an informative prior is obtained by imitation learning.
THE NEPHROPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF PHYLLANTHUS ACIDUS LEAVES AGAINST GENTAMYCIN-INDUCED NEPHROTOXICITY IN EXPERIMENTAL RODENTS.

Objective: The existing drugs can cure most of the diseases. Still there is a never ending search for finding new drugs in the hope that it would yield drugs with lesser side effects and better therapeutic benefit than the existing drugs. This work was researched for evaluation of the Nephroprotective activity of methnolic leaf extracts of Phyllanthus acidus against gentamycin induced nephrotoxicity in albino rats. Materials and Methods: Nephrotoxicity was induced in albino rats by intraperitoneal administration of gentamycin 100 mg/kg/day for 10 days and methanolic extracts of leaves of Phyllanthus acids at a dose of 50,100mg/kg & 200mg/kg body weight were concurrently given by oral. Serum creatinine, serum urea, SGOT, SGPT and ALT were determined on 11thday. Histopathological study of the kidney also done. Results: The extracts produced significant nephroprotective activity in Gentamycin induced nephrotoxicity model as evident by a decrease in elevated Serum creatinine, serum urea, SGOT, SGPT and ALT which was further confirmed by histopathological study. Gentamycin induced glomerular congestion, blood vessel congestion, epithelial desquamation, accumulation of inflammatory cells and necrosis of the cells were found to be reduced in the groups receiving methanolic extracts of leaves of Phyllanthus acids along with gentamycin. Conclusion: The results of this study have led to the conclusion that methnolic leaf extracts of Phyllanthus acidus possesses nephro protective activity against gentamycin induced nephrotoxicity in albino rats.
Cluster Magnetic Fields from Large-Scale Structure and Galaxy Cluster Shocks

The origin of the microgauss magnetic fields in galaxy clusters is one of the outstanding problems of modern cosmology. We have performed three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the nonrelativistic Weibel instability in an electron-proton plasma, in conditions typical of cosmological shocks. These simulations indicate that cluster fields could have been produced by shocks propagating through the intergalactic medium during the formation of large-scale structure or by shocks within the cluster. The strengths of the shock-generated fields range from a few nanogauss in the intercluster medium to a fraction of a microgauss inside galaxy clusters. Further amplification of these fields by sheared turbulent motions and gas accretion in clusters may be expected. Thus, cluster fields may be explained without resorting to the amplification of a primordial field.
Design of complex data acquisition system for kinetics, kinematics, and kinesiological gait analysis

Gait is one of biometrie information and defined as pattern movement of lower limb. Clinical gait analysis is important for treatment, diagnosis, and reference for therapy. This paper presents kinematics, kinetics analysis, and kinesiological of muscle signal using complex data acquisitions from normal subject. Gait data were taken using 4 instruments, Optotrak certus 3020, Vernier Force Plate, 8 channels self-design LE EMG, and Wearable sensor that consist of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and Force Sensitive Resistor (FSRs). The results of FSR (kinetics), wearable sensors (kinematics), LE-EMG (kinesiology), Optotrak Certus 3020 (kinematics) were integrated together so different results can be seen from the data. The data of LE hardware and LE software from muscle signal were compared. The analysis result of Force Plate was obtaining kinetics analysis, Fmax, Fmin, FTO, and FHO. This study was able to take gait data using 4 instruments simultaneously and kinetics, kinematics, and kinesiological gait analysis was succeed to made. This study presented gait data from 5 subjects. Further, data can be reproduced to get more normal and abnormal gait data and used for rehabilitation purpose.
An empirical test of a proposed customer satisfaction model in e‐services

Purpose – This research aims to build on recent advances in services marketing theory to propose and evaluate empirically a model of online customer satisfaction and its key antecedent and consequent constructs. This research also aims to establish the role of attribution and disconfirmation within this context.Design/methodology/approach – An online survey is utilized to collect data and the proposed theoretical model is estimated using structural equation modeling via the AMOS software.Findings – The findings indicate that perceived value may both directly and indirectly (via disconfirmation) affect not just satisfaction, but it may also indirectly affect attribution via disconfirmation.Originality/value – This research contributes to extant literature via further extending theory related to customer satisfaction in the online environment. For example, one major contribution of the study pertains to illustrating the role of perceived value in affecting an online shopper's satisfaction. Since satisfactio.
Privatization and firm performance: The case of Libya

This study specially addresses the economic aspects of the privatization programme in Libya. The main objectives of this study are to explore the effectiveness of the privatization programme in the industrial companies; to evaluate the privatization effects on firm performance in the industrial companies; and to identify the important obstacles that hinder the privatization programme. The firms’ performances were evaluated using both primary and secondary data analyses. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Secondary data were collected from the financial reports of the selected privatized firms for the period 2002-2010. Two econometric analyses; mean comparison and traditional panel models were employed in the empirical analysis. In the mean comparison analysis, the performances of state-owned enterprises were examined. For traditional panel analysis, the fixed effects model and the random effects model were employed to analyze the effect of the privatization programme on firm performances. Modelling of the traditional panel models involved two dependent variables (operational efficiency and profitability level) and six independent variables (productivity, ownership structure, employment, capital, privatization and liquidity). The results of the field survey show that managers and workers were in favour of the privatization programme and privatization in Libya has faced minor difficulties. The results of the mean comparison analysis indicate a significant difference of mean values in pre-privatization and post-privatization. The mean values of profitability level, operating efficiency, capital, ownership structure and productivity in the post-privatization are higher than in pre-privatization. The mean value of employment in post-privatization is lower than in pre-privatization. The results of panel analysis show that privatization and employment have positive and significant effects on operational efficiency and the profitability level of privatized firms; ownership structure has significantly improved privatized firms’ efficiency, but has no effect on profitability level; and liquidity has no statistically significant effect on privatized firm’s operating efficiency and profitability level. The privatization programme in Libya has improved the performance and the working conditions of privatized firms
Muscle stabilization strategies in people with medial knee osteoarthritis: The effect of instability

The sensation of knee instability (shifting, buckling. and giving way) is common in people with medial knee osteoarthritis (OA). Its influence on knee stabilization strategies is unknown. This study investigated the influence of knee instability on muscle activation during walking when knee stability was challenged. Twenty people with medial knee OA participated and were grouped as OA Stable (OAS) (n = 10) and OA Unstable (OAU) (n = 10) based on self‐reported knee instability during daily activities. Quadriceps strength, passive knee laxity, and varus alignment were assessed and related to knee instability and muscle cocontraction during walking when the support surface translated laterally. Few differences in knee joint kinematics between the groups were seen; however, there were pronounced differences in muscle activation. The OAU group used greater medial muscle cocontraction before, during, and following the lateral translation. Self‐reported knee instability predicted medial muscle cocontraction, but medial laxity and limb alignment did not. The higher muscle cocontraction used by the OAU subjects appears to be an ineffective strategy to stabilize the knee. Instability and high cocontraction can be detrimental to joint integrity, and should be the focus of future research. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 26:1180–1185, 2008
Performance Evaluation and Improvement of Queuing System in Iran Khodro Agency, A Case Study

Today, in a competitive market, service organizations and producers have a great attention to optimization and customer satisfaction in order to become competitive. Service organization must reduce the number of arrival, waiting time and service time in the queue to increase the customer satisfaction. In this paper by the aim of queuing theory we analyze the optimal amount of increment in a repair shop space and number of purchasing advanced equipment in one of the branches of Iran Khodro, automobile producer and assembler in Iran, in order to reduce customer waiting time; then we fine M/M/S ، M/M/S/S ، M/M/S/k models that fit to our analysis. Also we do the data sensitivity analysis in each part of the repair shop with respect to the cost of each situation and the effect of it on the whole system; then we specify the economic optimal service level in order to rearrange the stations in this branch.
Probing the Unobtrusive Link: Dominant Logic and the Design of Joint Ventures at General Electric

Prahalad and Bettis (1986) have proposed that the successful management of highly diversified firms can be attributed to the concept of a corporate “dominant logic” that guides all of its business units. We argue that dominant logic addresses the problem of balancing the needs of business units against those of the corporation as a whole. We also suggest that the presence of a clear and consistent dominant logic must lead to a high degree of consistency in the strategic moves that are undertaken by each of the business units within the diversified firm. Based on a study of the joint ventures initiated by General Electric between 1984 and 1993, we show that the design of these ventures follows a pattern that is consistent with the presence and influence of dominant logic. Finally, we demonstrate that the early failure of joint ventures can generally be linked to a shift away from this dominant logic.
Bag of frequent subgraphs approach for image classification

The bag of words approach describes an image as a histogram of visual words. Therefore, the structural relation between words is lost. Since graphs are well adapted to represent these structural relations, we propose, in this paper, an image classification framework which draws benefit from the efficiency of the graph in modeling structural information and the good classification performances given by the bag of words method. For each image in the dataset, a graph is created by modeling the spatial relations between dense local patches. Thus, we obtain a graph dataset. From the graph dataset, we select the most frequent subgraphs to construct the bag of subgraphs (BoSG) and we associate to each image a subgraph histogram that describes its visual content. For experiments, we have used the two challenging datasets: 15 Scenes and Pascal VOC 2007. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the bag of words and the spatial pyramid models in terms of recognition rate.
Indian consumers' purchase behavior toward US versus local brands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect effects of individuals' self‐concept, product‐oriented variables (i.e. consumer's need for uniqueness (NFU), and clothing interest), and brand‐specific variables (i.e. perceived quality and emotional value) on purchase intention toward a US retail brand versus a local brand that are available in the Indian market.Design/methodology/approach – Data obtained from 405 college students in India were analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings – This study found that Indian consumers' self‐concept and NFU had indirect effects on purchase intention of the US brand and the local brand. Both self‐concept and NFU positively influenced clothing interest. Clothing interest positively influenced perceived quality and emotional value for the US brand, but not for the local brand. Emotional value was found to be an important factor influencing purchase intention toward the US brand and the local brand as well. However, perceived quality .
Localization of aquaporin‐5 in sweat glands and functional analysis using knockout mice

Sweat secretion involves the transport of salt and water into the lumen of the secretory coil of the sweat gland. By analogy to salivary and submucosal glands, where fluid secretion is aquaporin‐5 (AQP5) dependent, we postulated that aquaporin water channels might facilitate sweat secretion. Immunolocalization with specific antibodies revealed strong expression of AQP5 at the luminal membrane of secretory epithelial cells in sweat glands in mouse paw skin. Novel quantitative methods were developed to compare sweat secretion in wild‐type mice and mice lacking AQP5. Total hindpaw sweat secretion was measured by proton nuclear magnetic resonance of sweat‐derived 1H2O in 2H2O solvent, and sweat secretion from individual glands was measured by real‐time video imaging of sweat droplet formation under oil. Sweat secretion rates after pilocarpine stimulation did not differ in wild‐type mice (0.21 ± 0.03 nl min−1 gland−1) vs. mice lacking AQP5 (0.19 ± 0.04 nl min−1 gland−1). The lack of effect of AQP5 on sweat secretion rate was confirmed by microcapillary collections of sweat from defined regions of mouse paws. Also, as by direct counting of droplets, the number of functional sweat glands was not affected by AQP5 deletion. Sweat gland morphology was similar in wild‐type and AQP5 null mice. From sweat coil geometry and gland secretion rate, the rate of fluid secretion was estimated to be 130 nl min−1 cm−2 of secretory epithelium, substantially lower than that of > 500 nl min−1 cm−2 in kidney proximal tubules and salivary glands, where active fluid absorption or secretion is aquaporin dependent. These results indicate the expression of AQP5 in sweat gland secretory epithelium, but provide direct evidence against its physiological involvement in sweat fluid secretion in mice.
The FhuA protein is involved in microcin 25 uptake

A chromosomal Tn5 insertion resulting in complete resistance to the peptide antibiotic microcin 25 was mapped to the min 4 region of the Escherichia coli genetic map. Additional experiments showed that the insertion disrupted the fhuA gene, which encodes the multifunctional outer membrane receptor for ferrichrome, the antibiotic albomycin, colicin M, and bacteriophages T5, T1, and phi 80. Thus, microcin 25 and all of these agents share the same receptor.
In vivo uniform 15N‐isotope labelling of plants: Using the greenhouse for structural proteomics

Isotope labelling of proteins is important for progress in the field of structural proteomics. It enables the utilisation of the power of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) for the characterisation of the three‐dimensional structures and corresponding dynamical features of proteins. The usual approach to obtain isotopically labelled protein molecules is by expressing the corresponding gene in bacterial or yeast host organisms, which grow on isotope‐enriched media. This method has several drawbacks. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to fully label a plant with 15N‐isotopes. The advantage of in vivo labelling of higher organisms is that all constituting proteins are labelled and become available as functional, post‐translationally modified, correctly folded proteins. A hydroponics set‐up was used to create the first example of a uniformly 15N‐labelled (> 98%) plant species, the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum L., cv. Elkana). Two plants were grown at low costs using potassium‐[15N]‐nitrate as the sole nitrogen source. At harvest time, a total of 3.6 kg of potato tubers and 1.6 kg of foliage, stolons and roots were collected, all of which were fully 15N‐labelled. Gram quantities of soluble 15N‐labelled proteins (composed mainly of the glycoprotein patatin and Kunitz‐type protease inhibitors) were isolated from the tubers. NMR results on the complete proteome of potato sap and on an isolated protease inhibitor illustrate the success of the labelling procedure. The presented method of isotope labelling is easily modified to label other plants. Its envisioned impact in the field of structural proteomics of plants is discussed.
VENDOR LOCATION PROBLEM

VENDOR LOCATION PROBLEM Yuce Cinar M.S. in Industrial Engineering Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Hande Yaman July, 2009 In this study, we aim to design a distribution system with the following components: the location of vendors, the number of vendors, the service region of the vendors, the number of vehicles and workers, and the assignment of demand points to these vendors and vehicles. We define our problem as a two-level capacitated discrete facility location problem with minimum profit constraints and call it Vendor Location Problem. In order to formulate the problem, two different objective functions are used: vendors’s profit maximization and maximization of the demand covered. Integer linear programs for these two versions of the problem are formulated. Valid inequalities are used to strengthen the upper bounds. Finally, the performance of these models with different parameters are compared in terms of linear programming relaxation gap, optimality gap, CPU time, and the number of opened nodes for four different types of instances: instances with demand and profit which are independent of distance; profit function of distance; demand function of distance; demand and profit function of distance.