Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does the body modified appearance of front-line employees matter to hotel guests?

The hospitality industry is all about providing service. This service provision takes place in the employee and guest encounter. Hence, this interaction is crucial for the hospitality industry. The employees in this interplay are expected to represent the company and present its brand image. Next to the knowledge and skills of these service employees, the personal appearance is also important. The opinion of the guests about the quality of service is, among other things, related to the employees’ appearance. Hence, companies influence the appearance of employees through grooming standards. Thus, employees are expected to engage in aesthetic labour. This form of labour was developed by the researchers Warhurst, Nickson, and Witz and is the concept of forming and developing the employee’s appearance and aesthetic skills. This includes dress codes, rules for make-up, hair styling, tattoos and piercings. Moreover, in the process of selecting new staff, the employees’ aesthetics are a decisive aspect. A codified appearance, however, is challenged by an increasing societal acceptance of tattoos and piercings, or so-called body modification. Wearing tattoos and piercings is no longer purely related to, for instance, sailors or artists; body modification can be seen as a form of self-expression for anybody. Consequently, the question arises how the hospitality industry reacts to this changing perspective on body modification, as it seems to contradict the idea of codifying appearance for brand image purposes. Since the guest experience and opinion on service quality is crucial for providing service, the guest opinion about being served by service staff wearing visibly tattoos and/or piercings is relevant in the discussion on how the hospitality industry can react to this phenomenon. In a descriptive, quantitative master’s thesis, the perceptions of guests in hotels in Germany are investigated to contribute to the discussion about whether hospitality companies should reconsider their traditional grooming standards.
MULTIFOCAL LEUCOENCEPHALOPATHY PRESENTING AS ANTIDEPRESSANT INDUCED MANIA

A male patient presented with tricyclic induced hypomania after treatment for chronic depression. On follow up the patient deteriorated towards dementia with multifocal leucoencephalopathy. The possible role of brain lesions in the causation of affective syndromes and the neurobiological hypothesis of bipolar syndromes are discussed. The authors propose that chronic depression should be thoroughly investigated for a probable Axis III diagnosis.
Isolated emitter AlGaAs/GaAs HBT integrated with emitter-down HI/sup 2/L technology

A process that integrates isolated-emitter heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with common-emitter HBTs in the emitter-down epi structure on n/sup +/ substrates is discussed. Overgrowth of the epi onto a p/sup -/ implanted region results in back-to-back diodes for approximately 12-V vertical isolation. Isolated transistors are used in emitter-follower output buffers for heterojunction injection logic (HI/sup 2/L) ring oscillators, demonstrating the integration of the two transistor types. <<ETX>>
Inducible Activation of TLR4 Confers Resistance to Hyperoxia-Induced Pulmonary Apoptosis

TLRs are essential mediators of host defense against infection via recognition of unique microbial structures. Recent observations indicate that TLR4, the principal receptor for bacterial LPS, may also be activated by noninfectious stimuli including host-derived molecules and environmental oxidant stress. In mice, susceptibility to ozone-induced lung permeability has been linked to the wild-type allele of TLR4, whereas deficiency of TLR4 predisposes to lethal lung injury in hyperoxia. To precisely characterize the role of lung epithelial TLR4 expression in the host response to oxidant stress, we have created an inducible transgenic mouse model that targets the human TLR4 signaling domain to the airways. Exposure of induced transgenic mice to hyperoxia revealed a significant reduction in pulmonary apoptosis compared with controls. This phenotype was associated with sustained up-regulation of antiapoptotic molecules such as heme oxygenase-1 and Bcl-2, yet only transient activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. Specific in vivo knockdown of pulmonary heme oxygenase-1 or Bcl-2 expression by intranasal administration of short interfering RNA blocked the effect of TLR4 signaling on hyperoxia-induced lung apoptosis. These results define a novel role for lung epithelial TLR4 as a modulator of cellular apoptosis in response to oxidant stress.
Perceived Effectiveness of Information Technology Governance Initiatives Among IT Practitioners

Information Technology (IT) governance has risen in importance in recent years, driven by various trends in IT development. With rapid growth in the country and the globalization of the IT sector, there is growing interest in IT governance in Malaysia. This study aims to explore whether IT practitioners with different job functions, education levels, education areas of specialization, certifications and experience levels have different perceptions of IT governance effectiveness in their organization. The results reveal differences in perceived IT governance effectiveness between different job function groups, but not between groups with different education levels, certification or experience levels. The findings for education area of specialization are not conclusive. The findings of this study will help IT managers to identify areas of focus to maximize effectiveness of IT governance initiatives through their IT staff. The implications of the findings are discussed at the end of the paper.
A Novel Ego-Motion Compensation Strategy for Automatic Target Tracking in FLIR Video Sequences taken from UAVs

Tracking targets in forward-looking infrared (FLIR) video sequences taken from airborne platforms is a challenging task. Several tracking failure modes can occur; in particular, discontinuities due to platform's motion can produce the so called ego-motion failure leading to unrecoverable errors in tracking the target. A novel ego-motion compensation technique for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) is proposed. Data received from the autopilot can be used to predict the motion of the platform, thus allowing to identify a smaller region of the image (subframe) where the candidate target has to be searched for in the next frame of the sequence. The presented methodology is compared with a recently robust algorithm for automatic target tracking; experimental results show that the proposed motion estimation approach helps to improve performance both in terms of frames processed per second (targets are searched in smaller regions) and in terms of robustness (targets are correctly tracked for all the sequence's frames).
The MutS C Terminus Is Essential for Mismatch Repair Activity In Vivo

ABSTRACT An Escherichia coli K-12 strain was constructed with a chromosomal deletion (mutSΔ800) in the mutS gene that produced the removal of the C-terminal 53 amino acids which are not present in the MutS crystal structure. This strain has a MutS null phenotype for mutation avoidance, antirecombination, and sensitivity to cytotoxic agents in a dam mutant background.
Investment portfolio balancing: application of a generic self-organizing fuzzy neural network (GenSoFNN)

In contrast to short-term stock trading, portfolio managers are interested in the mediumto long-term peaks and troughs of the stock price cycles as signals to balance their stock portfolios – the predicted trough is the signal to buy the stock and the predicted peak is the signal to sell the stock. As statistical models are generally inadequate or incapable of providing such portfolio balancing signals, we propose using the generic selforganizing fuzzy neural network (GenSoFNN)—a fuzzy neural system – as a tool for portfolio balancing. The network adopts the supervised learning approach to detect inflection points in the stock price cycles, and a modified locally weighted regression algorithm is employed to smooth the stock cycles. The GenSoFNN-based portfolio balancing system was evaluated with experiments conducted using 23 stocks from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and the results showed an average profit return of 65.66%. The contributions of the proposed GenSoFNN intelligent portfolio balancing system are twofold: it can be used as an efficient trading solution and it can provide decision support in trading via its generated rules. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychologic and social sequelae of secondary lymphedema

The psychological and social sequelae of secondary lymphedema (SLE) have been an underrecognized and little‐researched complication of treatment for breast carcinoma. The reported incidence and prevalence of SLE varied widely (0–48%). Reported reasons for the differences are related to the lack of standard diagnostic and universal assessment criteria.
Low temperature bonded Cu/LCP materials for FPCs and their characteristics

A new cladding process has been developed using the surface activated bonding (SAB) method. In this process, the surfaces of materials to be bonded are cleaned, activated by Ar ion sputter etching, and immediately rolled together with low distortion at room temperature in a vacuum chamber . This process is applicable not only to cladding metals but also to laminating polymer film on metal without adhesives. We focused on laminating liquid crystal polymer (LCP) on copper (Cu) foil using the SAB method , which is different from other conventional methods . We also investigated the chemical state at the interface between the Cu foil and LCP film before and after heat treatment (up to 300/spl deg/C), by comparing with that on raw LCP film. All laminated materials were etched and cropped out, and the LCP surfaces were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). After the heat treatment, the ratio of C=O increased with increasing heat treatment temperature. It indicated that, under the high temperature of the heat treatment, the oxidation occurs not only at the Cu foil/sputtered Cu but also the LCP surfaces. We reported previously that the peel strength of laminated material made by the SAB method was improved by using Cu sputtering on the LCP film , . But after a heat-resistance test, the peel strength significantly decreased. This decrease resulted from the oxidation around the interface between the Cu foil/sputtered Cu and the LCP film due to gas permeation through the LCP film, and the softening of the Cu foil by its recrystallization due to high temperature. To prevent this loss of peel strength, we used Cu-0.02%Zr alloy foil with a higher recrystallization temperature and sputter Cu-Ni alloy or Ni-Cr alloy on the LCP film instead of Cu. It is also shown that the Cu/LCP materials produced by the SAB method have excellent electrical properties and etching ability.
A size reduction technique for Artificial Magnetic Conductors

This paper presents a new size reduction technique for Artificial Magnetic Conductors (AMC) without useful bandwidth degradation. This technique is based on the use of a slotted layer which is placed into the substrate of an AMC structure. Further, this layer allows the tuning of the operation frequency keeping the overall size of the AMC structure. With this technique, the AMC miniaturization preserves the operating frequency band. For example in UHF RFID ETSI band, the miniaturization factor using the AMC structure with square patch lattice is 0.69 in size and 0.46 in surface.
Kidney transplantation in patients with IgA mesangial glomerulonephritis.

BACKGROUND Strategies for treating IgA glomerulonephritis (IgAGN) are controversial, particularly with regards to the long-term results of kidney transplantation, including the risk of recurrence of IgAGN post-transplant and the impact of this recurrence on graft survival. METHODS The outcomes of 106 adults transplanted because of a biopsy-proven IgAGN and of 212 patients without IgAGN transplanted during the same period were analyzed. To evaluate the risk of recurrence, patients with hematuria, proteinuria, or an increase in plasma creatinine were submitted to allograft biopsy. Factors influencing recurrence and the impact of recurrence on graft survival were analyzed. RESULTS The ten-year patient (0.93 vs. 0.92) and graft survival (0.75 vs. 0.82) probabilities were not significantly different between IgAGN patients and controls. Only plasma creatinine and proteinuria at six months were associated with an increased relative risk (RR) of graft failure (RR 2.79 and 5.94, respectively). Histological recurrence of IgA glomerulonephritis was diagnosed in 37 patients. Younger age (RR 2.63), increased plasma creatinine (RR 2.39), and proteinuria (RR 6.02) at six months were associated with the risk of recurrence. If proteinuria and plasma creatinine at six months were considered in the Cox model, IgA recurrence per se was not associated with an increased risk of graft failure (P = 0.181). The main causes of graft failure were glomerulonephritis in patients with recurrence of IgAGN and chronic rejection in patients without recurrence. CONCLUSIONS The ten-year graft survival rate was similar in patients with IgAGN or other renal diseases. At least 35% IgAGN patients had biopsy-proven recurrence, and younger patients were more prone to the risk of recurrence. Recurrence did not affect the ten-year graft survival.
The Economic Effect of Screening Orthopedic Surgery Patients Preoperatively for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Background and Objective. Patients undergoing orthopedic surgery are susceptible to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, which can result in increased morbidity, hospital lengths of stay, and medical costs. We sought to estimate the economic value of routine preoperative MRSA screening and decolonization of orthopedic surgery patients. Methods. A stochastic decision-analytic computer simulation model was used to evaluate the economic value of implementing this strategy (compared with no preoperative screening or decolonization) among orthopedic surgery patients from both the third-party payer and hospital perspectives. Sensitivity analyses explored the effects of varying MRSA colonization prevalence, the cost of screening and decolonization, and the probability of decolonization success. Results. Preoperative MRSA screening and decolonization was strongly cost-effective (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio less than $6,000 per quality-adjusted life year) from the third-party payer perspective even when MRSA prevalence was as low as 1%, decolonization success was as low as 25%, and decolonization costs were as high as $300 per patient. In most scenarios this strategy was economically dominant (ie, less costly and more effective than no screening). From the hospital perspective, preoperative MRSA screening and decolonization was the economically dominant strategy for all scenarios explored. Conclusions. Routine preoperative screening and decolonization of orthopedic surgery patients may under many circumstances save hospitals and third-party payers money while providing health benefits.
A 1-V PTAT current reference circuit with 0.05%/V current sensitivity to VDD

This paper presents a CMOS PTAT current reference circuit which is robust against process and supply voltage variations over a wide voltage and temperature range, i.e. from 0.9 V to 2.5 V and from -40° C to 125° C, respectively. Two implementations of the same circuit were designed for comparison: the first one uses core transistors (1.1 V), while the second one employs IO transistors (2.5 V). The circuit uses a PMOS version of a conventional PTAT current generator with a PMOS self-cascode MOSFET and a PMOS feedback amplifier to enhance the circuit performance. Simulation results have shown a PTAT current sensitivity to the supply voltage of 2.9%/V @ 27° C (from 0.9 V to 1.5 V) and of 0.05%/V @ 27° C (from 1 V to 2.5 V) for core and IO transistors implementations, respectively, and a nearly constant current spread over temperature, with a maximum variation of 10% (3σ) for both ones.
Sexual reproduction in aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus nomius

Sexual reproduction was examined in the aflatoxin-producing fungus Aspergillus nomius. Crosses between sexually compatible strains resulted in the formation of multiple nonostiolate ascocarps within stromata, which places the teleomorph in genus Petromyces. Ascocarp and ascospore morphology in Petromyces nomius were similar to that in P. flavus and P. parasiticus, and differences between teleomorphs were insufficient for species separation. Formation of mature ascocarps was infrequent, with only 24% of the 83 crosses producing viable ascospores. The majority of P. nomius strains contained a single mating-type gene (MAT1-1 or MAT1-2), but several strains contained both genes. MAT1-1/MAT1-2 strains were self-sterile and capable of mating with both MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 strains; hence P. nomius appears to be functionally heterothallic.
ABO3, a WRKY transcription factor, mediates plant responses to abscisic acid and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.

The biological functions of WRKY transcription factors in plants have been widely studied, but their roles in abiotic stress are still not well understood. We isolated an ABA overly sensitive mutant, abo3, which is disrupted by a T-DNA insertion in At1g66600 encoding a WRKY transcription factor AtWRKY63. The mutant was hypersensitive to ABA in both seedling establishment and seedling growth. However, stomatal closure was less sensitive to ABA, and the abo3 mutant was less drought tolerant than the wild type. Northern blot analysis indicated that the expression of the ABA-responsive transcription factor ABF2/AREB1 was markedly lower in the abo3 mutant than in the wild type. The abo3 mutation also reduced the expression of stress-inducible genes RD29A and COR47, especially early during ABA treatment. ABO3 is able to bind the W-box in the promoter of ABF2in vitro. These results uncover an important role for a WRKY transcription factor in plant responses to ABA and drought stress.
A study of tunnel recombination junction on a-Si:H/HIT tandem structure solar cell

Novel tandem solar cell structure a-Si:H/HIT has been developed. The fabrication of hetero structure tandem cell (HSTC) has been combined an hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) p-i-n thin film solarp cell for a top cell and a heterojunction with an intrinsic thin layer (HIT) type silicon solar cell for a bottom cell. Using the novel tandem structure, an open circuit voltage of 1.43 V has been obtained. A tunnel recombination junction (TRJ) quality of an amorphous silicon based tandem solar cell can have a significant impact on its performance. Therefore, it is important to understand the TRJ characteristics.
Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) in the Clinical Management of Acute COPD in 233 UK Hospitals: Results from the RCP/BTS 2003 National COPD Audit

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is a clinically proven, cost-effective intervention for acidotic exacerbations of COPD that is recommended by UK national guidelines. This study examines the extent to which these recommendations are being followed in the UK. Between August and October 2003 a national audit of COPD exacerbations was conducted by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Thoracic Society. 233 (94%) UK hospitals submitted data for 7,529 prospectively recruited acute COPD admissions, documenting process of care and outcomes from a retrospective case note audit. They also completed a resources and organisation of care proforma. Nineteen hospitals (8%) reported they did not offer NIV. There was no access to NIV in 92 (39%) intensive care units in 88 (36%), high-dependency units or on general wards of 85 (34%) hospitals. In 74 (30%) NIV was available on all 3 sites. A low pH (<7.35) was noted at some time during admission for 26% (1714/6544) of patients and NIV was administered to 31%. Patients receiving NIV were more often admitted under a respiratory physician, or seen at some stage by a respiratory specialist and had more severe disease (higher PaCO2 (median 9.8 v 7.8 kPa), lower oxygen tension (median 8.8 v 9.8 kPa), higher incidence of peripheral oedema (48% v 39%), of pneumonia (27% v 16%), higher in-hospital mortality (26% v 14%) and at 90 days (37% v 24%) and longer hospital stays (median 9 v 7 days) than those not receiving NIV. Hospitals with least usage of NIV had similar mortality rates to those using NIV more often. A comprehensive NIV service is not available in many hospitals admitting patients with acute respiratory failure secondary to COPD. Access to acute NIV is inadequate and does not conform with NICE and BTS guidelines. These observational audit data do not demonstrate benefits of NIV on survival when compared to conventional management, contrary to results from randomised trials. Reasons for this are unclear but unmeasured confounding factors and poor patient selection for NIV are likely explanations.
Spatial Equity in Devolved Healthcare: Geospatially Exploring Local Disparities in Maternal Healthcare Uptake After Devolution in Kenya

Devolved healthcare in Kenya was to ensure provision of proximate and easily accessible services throughout the Country, thereby improving local uptake as an outcome from patient perspective. Over five years after operationalization of the devolved healthcare, it isn’t certain whether or not there have been reducing spatial disparities and/or improving prospects of spatial equity in local utilizations of essential primary healthcare. The paper seeks to explore spatial disparities in maternal healthcare utilization and prospects of realising spatial equity after devolution of healthcare in Kenya. County of Siaya and 30 Wards therein were, respectively, selected as spatially heterogeneous and homogenous multiple cases for the study through retrospective patient-based surveys. The study leveraged on Kenyan webbased health information systems to capture spatial and attribute data on skilled birth attendance and antenatal care before and after devolution by each of the 220 registered health facility the County by Wards. Local utilization ratio, a new innovative indicator, was applied to effectively measure and analyse the spatial disparities in maternal healthcare through ordinary least square spatial regression analysis within spatio-temporal analysis realm using ArcGIS 10.3. Result showed significant positive spatial relationship in maternal service utilizations before and after devolution by Wards (p<0.01, R 2>90%). but stagnating or deteriorating spatial disparities irrespective of either increasing or decreasing uptake of the services. This trend points to lower prospects by devolved healthcare in realizing spatial health equity without improving quality and comprehensiveness of primary health services in Siaya County and related decentralised units in Kenya and beyond.