Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ESTABLISHING THE KM-ORIENTED BPR MODEL FOR CONSTRUCTION FIRM - A CASE STUDY

This study proposed a KM-oriented BPR model to assist managers to implement the knowledge management in the construction firms. Two philosophies, namely the (1) Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and the (2) Knowledge Management (KM), were combined in the addressed KM-oriented BPR model to ensure the KM operations can be merged with the business processes. That is, by using the proposed model, the current processes can be reengineered to be a new KM-oriented process so that the KM operations can be implemented by the regular activities. To reengineer a KM-oriented process, both of the single-loop learning and double-loop learning utilized in the KM theory were applied for improving knowledge-intensive processes in construction firm. Based on the single and double loop learning mechanism, a knowledge gap analysis was addressed in this study to determine the weakness of processes for satisfying with the functional requirements of KM operations. Summarily, this study combined the knowledge management mechanism with the business process reengineering philosophy to assist managers in design a KM-oriented process, so that a foundation for KM implementation can be established finally.
Efficient indexing for object recognition using large networks

Template matching is an effective means of locating vehicles in outdoor scenes, but it tends to be a computationally expensive. To reduce processing time, we use large neural networks to predict, or index, a small subset of templates that are likely to match each window in an image. Results on actual LADAR range images show that limiting the templates to those selected by the neural networks reduces the computation time by a factor of 5 without sacrificing the accuracy of the results.
Extended airtime fair scheduling method for a Zigbee network

In a Zigbee network, when many nodes simultaneously send data packets to a Zigbee coordinator through routes (branches), the Zigbee coordinator cannot deal with all signals. Interference and noises are existed during data transmission. This problem is still one of challenges in the network communication. In this paper, we propose an extended airtime fair algorithm in which throughput of a Zigbee network is maximized and fractions of airtime are taken into account. We adapt a utility function that is proposed by Kelly (1997) in maximizing the network throughput; nevertheless, throughput of each branch is multiplied by a fraction of airtime. Fractions of airtime play a role in creating a balance of throughputs of branches: the throughput and fairness of each branch is guaranteed. Moreover, the usefulness of our proposed algorithm for a Zigbee network is presented; simulation results show that the throughput and fairness are better than those of a case of not using airtime fair.
Measurement system analysis for process control at Company XYZ

Company XYZ is a glass manufacturer located in west central Wisconsin. Founded in 1962, it has led the industry in the development of durable float glass. In order to expand business, satisfy growing customer demands, meet customer expectation and requirements, and to be more effective in the global market, Company XYZ is building a new plant in Washington D.C. Therefore, the plant in Wisconsin has the opportunity to evaluate the possibility to replace current equipment, especially laser inspection system. If this system needs to be replaced at the Wisconsin facility, they will have the option to purchase new equipment for both plants in order to get a better price fiom suppliers in Europe. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the quality of performance of the laser inspection system in a continuous fully automatic and computer controlled production line. A measurement system analysis for process control will be conducted by using process capability, gage reproducibility, and gage repeatability studies to analyze the inspection system. For this quantitative research, the data collection results were analyzed by using statistical software to evaluate process capability, gage repeatability, and gage reproducibility. The data analysis indicated that the laser inspection system is working satisfactorily under the quality parameters of the Company XYZ. The study will conclude with recommendations to improve this analysis for future evaluations of the laser inspection system at the Company XYZ and a general recommendation for this company to improve its work environment and business processes.
Remote vs. ischaemic preconditioning: the differential role of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways.

AIMS Since mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were found to be implicated in the signalling of ischaemic preconditioning (IPC), we tested the hypothesis of a contribution of these protein kinases to remote preconditioning (RPC). METHODS AND RESULTS To determine the role of p38, ERK1/2, and JNK1/2 MAPKs in mediating cardiac protection, an in vivo model of myocardial infarction was applied in male Wistar rats. RPC or IPC was induced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery or the left coronary artery, respectively. Infarct size (IS) was determined based on 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Phosphorylation of the various MAPKs was analysed by immunoblotting in samples of the small intestine and myocardium obtained after IPC or RPC procedures. The MAPK inhibitors SB203580 (p38), PD98059 (ERK1/2), and SP600125 (JNK1/2) were administered to assess the potential significance of MAPK signalling in RPC. Both preconditioning stimuli decreased myocardial IS significantly after a lethal period of ischaemia. Each of the applied MAPK inhibitors was capable of abrogating the RPC-induced cardioprotection. Western blot analysis of myocardial samples revealed an increase in phosphorylated amounts of ERK1/2 and JNK1 after IPC, whereas phosphorylation of p38 protein was decreased significantly. Likewise, RPC resulted in a considerable increase in phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 proteins in the small intestine, whereas it did not alter the MAPK phosphorylation state in the myocardium. CONCLUSION All investigated MAPK pathways appear to be involved in RPC-induced cardioprotection; however, they do not contribute to the alterations that define the preconditioned state of the myocardium prior to the infarction.
Reliable Probabilistic Prediction of High-Risk Asymptomatic Carotid Plaques

Non-invasive ultrasound imaging of carotid plaques can provide information on the characteristics of the arterial wall including the size and consistency of atherosclerotic plaques. As presented until now this can be used to determine cerebrovascular risk stratification. The aim of this study is to continue the effort being done to estimate the risk based on the characteristics from ultrasound carotid images by applying an approach that produces lower and upper bounds for the conditional probability of the risk for a stroke event. The analysis is based on ultrasonic plaque texture features and clinical features in patients that were followed up for eight years and had asymptomatic internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis at the baseline. The important addition of this work is that the proposed approach is much more informative than conventional techniques by providing reliable probabilities instead of a plain yes/no answer.
Wind energy conversion based on seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter using LabVIEW FPGA

In this paper, an isolated wind energy conversion system (WECS) based on the cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (CHBMLI) topology employing a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) driven by a variable speed wind turbine and feeding high power single-phase local loads has been proposed. A seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter employing phase-shifted multi-carrier pulse width modulation is implemented using LabVIEW FPGA. The output of the synchronous generator with fixed excitation, emulating a PMSG is connected to a three phase diode bridge rectifier. The DC output of the rectifier is then connected to the proposed topology of three H-bridges using IGBT based intelligent power modules (IPM) thus forming a single phase CHBMLI in the laboratory to obtain the experimental results. The switching pulses for the IPM are generated with phase shifted multi carrier PWM using NI LABVIEW with the help of PCI 7831R FPGA data acquisition board that in turn generates a seven-level output voltage across a single-phase load.
Discovering Context Information for Efficient and Accurate Program Analyses

A program analysis may compute spurious information for a program with pointer variables, when the analysis uses alias information provided by efficient flow-insensitive alias analysis algorithms, because the program analysis cannot distinguish the alias relations that hold in a procedure when the procedure is invoked at a specific callsite. This paper presents a technique that determines whether a memory location might be accessed through a pointer dereference at a statement in a procedure when the procedure is invoked at a specific callsite. Empirical studies show that our technique may effectively improve the precision and efficiency of program analyses.
Biodiversity Effects on Plant Stoichiometry

In the course of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning debate, the issue of multifunctionality of species communities has recently become a major focus. Elemental stoichiometry is related to a variety of processes reflecting multiple plant responses to the biotic and abiotic environment. It can thus be expected that the diversity of a plant assemblage alters community level plant tissue chemistry. We explored elemental stoichiometry in aboveground plant tissue (ratios of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and its relationship to plant diversity in a 5-year study in a large grassland biodiversity experiment (Jena Experiment). Species richness and functional group richness affected community stoichiometry, especially by increasing C:P and N:P ratios. The primacy of either species or functional group richness effects depended on the sequence of testing these terms, indicating that both aspects of richness were congruent and complementary to expected strong effects of legume presence and grass presence on plant chemical composition. Legumes and grasses had antagonistic effects on C:N (−27.7% in the presence of legumes, +32.7% in the presence of grasses). In addition to diversity effects on mean ratios, higher species richness consistently decreased the variance of chemical composition for all elemental ratios. The diversity effects on plant stoichiometry has several non-exclusive explanations: The reduction in variance can reflect a statistical averaging effect of species with different chemical composition or a optimization of nutrient uptake at high diversity, leading to converging ratios at high diversity. The shifts in mean ratios potentially reflect higher allocation to stem tissue as plants grew taller at higher richness. By showing a first link between plant diversity and stoichiometry in a multiyear experiment, our results indicate that losing plant species from grassland ecosystems will lead to less reliable chemical composition of forage for herbivorous consumers and belowground litter input.
Dynamic Network Reconstruction from Gene Expression Data Describing the Effect of LiCl Stimulation on Hepatocytes

Summary Wnt/β-catenin signalling plays an important role in zonation of liver parenchyma and in patterning of hepatocyte heterogeneity. A characteristic marker of this heterogeneity is glutamine synthetase, which is expressed only in a subset of pericentrally located hepatocytes. To investigate, whether and how the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway is involved a culture of hepatocytes was stimulated by LiCl. This resulted in an increase in the specific GS activity, indicating that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway may participate in regulating GS levels. Affymetrix GeneChip oligonucleotide arrays were used to monitor the gene expression changes during a period from 2 to 24 hours after stimulation by LiCl. Samples from a cultivation without stimulation were used as controls. Based on the gene expression profiles a hypothetic signal transduction network was constructed by a reverse engineering algorithm. The network robustness was tested and the most stable structure was identified.
How Not to Lie Without Statistics

We highlight, and suggest ways to avoid, a large number of common misunderstandings in the literature about best practices in qualitative research. We discuss these issues in four areas: theory and data, qualitative and quantitative strategies, causation and explanation, and selection bias. Some of the misunderstandings involve incendiary debates within our discipline that are readily resolved either directly or with results known in research areas that happen to be unknown to political scientists. Many of these misunderstandings can also be found in quantitative research, often with different names, and some of which can be fixed with reference to ideas better understood in the qualitative methods literature. Our goal is to improve the ability of quantitatively and qualitatively oriented scholars to enjoy the advantages of insights from both areas. Thus, throughout, we attempt to construct specific practical guidelines that can be used to improve actual qualitative research designs, not only the qualitative methods literatures that talk about them.
User-domain multiservice architecture for wired and wireless IP networks

In the context of wired and wireless IP networks, this paper illustrates a user-domain multiservice architecture and proposes layered schemes for its provision of quality of service. Based on the proposed multiservice architecture, a testbed is constructed and implemented. Issues of user-domain multiservice support, such as integrated service, differentiated service, real-time service, data-compression service, wireless-awareness service, and network-awareness service, are addressed and investigated experimentally. The paper describes several case studies conducted in the testbed such as RSVP efficiency, end-to-end combination of differentiated and integrated services, video-on-demand deploying wireless-awareness services, and proactive and reactive applications using network awareness service.
Quantile-Specific Penetrance of Genes Affecting Lipoproteins, Adiposity and Height

Quantile-dependent penetrance is proposed to occur when the phenotypic expression of a SNP depends upon the population percentile of the phenotype. To illustrate the phenomenon, quantiles of height, body mass index (BMI), and plasma lipids and lipoproteins were compared to genetic risk scores (GRS) derived from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s having established genome-wide significance: 180 SNPs for height, 32 for BMI, 37 for low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, 47 for high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, 52 for total cholesterol, and 31 for triglycerides in 1930 subjects. Both phenotypes and GRSs were adjusted for sex, age, study, and smoking status. Quantile regression showed that the slope of the genotype-phenotype relationships increased with the percentile of BMI (P = 0.002), LDL-cholesterol (P = 3×10−8), HDL-cholesterol (P = 5×10−6), total cholesterol (P = 2.5×10−6), and triglyceride distribution (P = 7.5×10−6), but not height (P = 0.09). Compared to a GRS's phenotypic effect at the 10th population percentile, its effect at the 90th percentile was 4.2-fold greater for BMI, 4.9-fold greater for LDL-cholesterol, 1.9-fold greater for HDL-cholesterol, 3.1-fold greater for total cholesterol, and 3.3-fold greater for triglycerides. Moreover, the effect of the rs1558902 (FTO) risk allele was 6.7-fold greater at the 90th than the 10th percentile of the BMI distribution, and that of the rs3764261 (CETP) risk allele was 2.4-fold greater at the 90th than the 10th percentile of the HDL-cholesterol distribution. Conceptually, it maybe useful to distinguish environmental effects on the phenotype that in turn alters a gene's phenotypic expression (quantile-dependent penetrance) from environmental effects affecting the gene's phenotypic expression directly (gene-environment interaction).
Abnormal white matter integrity in healthy apolipoprotein E epsilon4 carriers

Apolipoprotein E ϵ4 is a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, but the neurobiological basis for this risk is unknown. We used diffusion tensor imaging to measure diffusion anisotropy in the parahippocampal gyrus white matter in healthy elderly apolipoprotein E ϵ4 carriers and noncarriers. We also measured volumes of the lateral ventricles and temporal horns as proxies of cerebral atrophy. The ϵ4 carriers (n=14) showed significantly lower fractional anisotropy and higher radial diffusivity in the parahippocampal white matter 15 mm below the anterior commissure–posterior commissure plane than noncarriers (n=15). No group differences in ventricular volumes were found, nor were diffusion tensor imaging measures modulated by ventricular volumes. Diffusion tensor imaging may be sufficiently sensitive to detect preclinical brain changes related to Alzheimer's disease.
Rat aorta-derived mural precursor cells express the Tie2 receptor and respond directly to stimulation by angiopoietins

Recent studies have implicated the Tie2 tyrosine-kinase receptor and its main ligands - angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) - as crucial regulators of mural cell recruitment during angiogenesis. Angiopoietin-mediated activation of Tie2 promotes perivascular mural cell assembly, but the mechanisms regulating this process are poorly understood because differentiated mural cells do not have the Tie2 receptor, which is reportedly expressed only in endothelial cells. There is also no direct evidence that Tie2 activation results in production of mural cell chemoattractants by the endothelium. In the rat aorta model of angiogenesis, developing microvessels recruit mural cells from the intimal/subintimal layers of the aortic wall. Ang-1 and Ang-2 promote angiogenesis in this system, stimulating branching morphogenesis and mural cell assembly. Mural precursor cells (MPCs) isolated with a nonenzymatic method from the intimal aspect of the rat aorta were positive for smooth muscle cell markers (α-smooth muscle actin and calponin) and negative for endothelial markers (factor-VIII-related antigen and CD31). These cells responded chemotactically to Ang-1 and Ang-2, and secreted MMP-2 when treated with these factors. Western-blot analysis, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR demonstrated that MPCs express the Tie2 receptor. Immunoprecipitation showed phosphorylation of MPC Tie2 on tyrosine residues upon stimulation with Ang-1 or Ang-2. Surface expression of Tie2 was further demonstrated by isolating Tie2+/α-smooth muscle actin+ MPCs from primary aortic outgrowths with anti-Tie2-IgG-coated magnetic beads. Immunostaining of the rat aorta confirmed expression of Tie2 not only in endothelial cells but also in nonendothelial mesenchymal cells located in the aortic intimal/subintimal layers, which are the source of MPCs. These data indicate that the aortic wall contains Tie2+ nonendothelial mesenchymal cells and suggest that Tie2-related recruitment of mural cells during angiogenesis may occur through angiopoietin-mediated direct stimulation of these cells.
Perceptual Adaptation to the Correction of Natural Astigmatism

Background The visual system adjusts to changes in the environment, as well as to changes within the observer, adapting continuously to maintain a match between visual coding and visual environment. We evaluated whether the perception of oriented blur is biased by the native astigmatism, and studied the time course of the after-effects following spectacle correction of astigmatism in habitually non-corrected astigmats. Methods and Findings We tested potential shifts of the perceptual judgments of blur orientation in 21 subjects. The psychophysical test consisted on a single interval orientation identification task in order to measure the perceived isotropic point (astigmatism level for which the image did not appear oriented to the subject) from images artificially blurred with constant blur strength (B = 1.5 D), while modifying the orientation of the blur according to the axis of natural astigmatism of the subjects. Measurements were performed after neutral (gray field) adaptation on naked eyes under full correction of low and high order aberrations. Longitudinal measurements (up to 6 months) were performed in three groups of subjects: non-astigmats and corrected and uncorrected astigmats. Uncorrected astigmats were provided with proper astigmatic correction immediately after the first session. Non-astigmats did not show significant bias in their perceived neutral point, while in astigmatic subjects the perceived neutral point was significantly biased, typically towards their axis of natural astigmatism. Previously uncorrected astigmats shifted significantly their perceived neutral point towards more isotropic images shortly (2 hours) after astigmatic correction wear, and, once stabilized, remained constant after 6 months. The shift of the perceived neutral point after correction of astigmatism was highly correlated with the amount of natural astigmatism. Conclusions Non-corrected astigmats appear to be naturally adapted to their astigmatism, and astigmatic correction significantly changes their perception of their neutral point, even after a brief period of adaptation.