Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D Representation of the Digestive Tract Surface in Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Videos

Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) is an endoscopy technology that allows medical personnel to view the digestive tract non-invasively. Physicians can detect diseases such as blood-based abnormalities, polyps, ulcers and Crohn’s disease. In previous papers we have proposed methodologies that deal with such abnormalities. In the current paper we are proposing a novel approach to visualize the digestive tract surface in the three-dimensional (3D) space using images (2D) of WCE videos. Current capsule technology has a low video frame rate (3 frames/second) and therefore a 3D reconstruction of the digestive tract lacks of detailed coherence. Since such a 3D reconstruction is unfeasible we focused our research on extracting and representing the texture of the surface of the digestive tract in 3D and not the digestive tract itself. The use of this technique has been well appreciated by our collaborating physicians for giving them the ability to view the WCE videos in a new different way. To our knowledge no similar research has been performed on WCE videos. Illustrative results from the methodology are also given in this paper.
Taking the Risk Out of Systemic Risk Measurement

An emerging literature proposes using conditional value at risk (CoVaR) and marginal expected shortfall (MES) to measure financial institution systemic risk. We identify two weaknesses in this literature: (1) it lacks formal statistical hypothesis tests; and, (2) it confounds systemic and systematic risk. We address these weaknesses by introducing a null hypothesis that stock returns are normally distributed. This allows us to separate systemic from systematic risk and construct hypothesis tests for the presence of systemic risk. We calculate the sampling distribution of these new test statistics and apply our tests to daily stock returns data over the period 2006-2007. The null hypothesis is rejected in many instances, consistent with tail dependence and systemic risk but the CoVaR and MES tests often disagree about which firms are potentially “systemic. ” The highly restrictive nature of the null hypothesis and the wide range of firms identified as systemic makes us reluctant to interpret rejections as clear evidence of systemic risk. The
A Mobile Application for Easy Design and Testing of Algorithms to Monitor Physical Activity in the Workplace

This paper addresses approaches to Human Activity Recognition (HAR) with the aim of monitoring the physical activity of people in the workplace, by means of a smartphone application exploiting the available on-board accelerometer sensor. In fact, HAR via a smartphone or wearable sensor can provide important information regarding the level of daily physical activity, especially in situations where a sedentary behavior usually occurs, like in modern workplace environments. Increased sitting time is significantly associated with severe health diseases, and the workplace is an appropriate intervention setting, due to the sedentary behavior typical of modern jobs. Within this paper, the state-of-the-art components of HAR are analyzed, in order to identify and select the most effective signal filtering and windowing solutions for physical activity monitoring. The classifier development process is based upon three phases; a feature extraction phase, a feature selection phase, and a training phase. In the training phase, a publicly available dataset is used to test among different classifier types and learning methods. A user-friendly Android-based smartphone application with low computational requirements has been developed to run field tests, which allows to easily change the classifier under test, and to collect new datasets ready for use with machine learning APIs. The newly created datasets may include additional information, like the smartphone position, its orientation, and the user’s physical characteristics. Using the mobile tool, a classifier based on a decision tree is finally set up and enriched with the introduction of some robustness improvements. The developed approach is capable of classifying six activities, and to distinguish between not active (sitting) and active states, with an accuracy near to 99%. The mobile tool, which is going to be further extended and enriched, will allow for rapid and easy benchmarking of new algorithms based on previously generated data, and on future collected datasets.
Synthesis of 3D clock tree with pre-bond testability

Three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D-ICs) is a promising way to implement system-on-chip. To achieve acceptable manufacturing yield, pre-bond test is necessary to make sure only good dies are bonded. A true 3D clock tree requires shorter overall routing lengths and consumes lower power. However, a true 3D clock tree also renders pre-bond test impossible since there are not complete clock trees in dies under test. Therefore, redundant trees have to be added to make dies pre-bond testable. In this paper, we propose a heuristic approach for 3D clock tree synthesis targeted to minimize the number of Through-Silicon-Vias (TSV) and reduce the overhead for redundant trees. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve both goals efficiently.
Mangled Extremity Severity Score in Children

Treatment of the severely traumatized or mangled lower extremity poses significant challenges. The Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS) is a scale that uses objective criteria to assist with acute management decisions. Most research on the MESS has been in adults or combined series with few children. The study was performed to investigate the MESS in children exclusively. The MESS was applied retrospectively to 36 patients with grades IIIB and IIIC open lower extremity fractures collected from two level 1 pediatric trauma centers. Patients were divided into limb salvage and primary amputation groups based on the decision of the treating surgeon. In the salvage group there were 18 grade IIIB fractures and 10 grade IIIC fractures. The MESS prediction was accurate in 93% of the injured limbs. In the amputation group eight limbs met the inclusion criteria; the MESS agreed with the treating surgeon in 63% of cases. These findings suggest the MESS should be considered when managing a child with severe lower extremity trauma.
The evolution from brand equity to customer relationship equity to trust equity: the new challenge

Brand equity and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) have both received considerable attention during the last decade, but have either played down or ignored the importance of trust in building a relationship. This article attempts to examine these concepts and integrate them into a new model of Customer Relationship Equity (CRE). The model is presented following a short, chronological discussion of previously presented customer relationship models and includes trust as a precursor and antecedent of the equity relationship.
Detention of British citizens as hostages in the Gulf--health, psychological, and family consequences.

OBJECTIVE--To describe the physical, psychological, and family consequences of the detention of British subjects as hostages in Kuwait or Iraq, or both, after the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and to investigate the relation between types of trauma experienced and these reactions. DESIGN--Postal questionnaire. SUBJECTS--381 respondents. RESULTS--Many health, social, and psychological sequelae were identified. Problems with present finance, accommodation, and work are important causes of distress. Many hostages coped well and gained self esteem. CONCLUSIONS--A minority of respondents require further support and treatment. Expatriates in risk areas should retain assets in their home country.
Performance determinants of wine farms in the Western Cape: An interval modelling approach

Abstract This study identifies wine farm and owner characteristics that affect the performance of wine farms in three wine growing regions of the Western Cape, South Africa, using the interval regression approach based on a sample of 91 wine farms. Characteristics of wine farm owners found to impact significantly on wine farm performance include gender, age, and objectives. Wine farms attributes that were significant include the size of the farm, farm location, number of years that the farm has been bottling its own wine, restaurant on site, the type of wine produced, farm friendliness to disabled people, distance from the nearest urban centre, and total number of workers. The McFadden's pseudo-R2 is 0.1867, indicating that the predictors accounted for approximately 18.67 per cent of the variability in the latent outcome variable. The findings show that the performance of wine farms is influenced by both internal firm and entrepreneurial factors.
Stiglitz versus the IMF on the Asian Debt Crisis: An Intertemporal Model with Real Exchange Rate Overshooting

This paper develops a real model of financial crisis, and uses it to elucidate the controversy between Joe Stiglitz and the IMF concerning the Asian financial crisis. Borrowers of foreign capital are bound by lending contracts to pay the world rate of return on their borrowing, following an adverse shock; by assumption, they do not default. This is onerous, since the shock makes the marginal product of capital fall to less than the world rate of return, and creates a debt overhang on which interest must be paid. The country faces a choice. It could choose to pay these extra interest obligations on its debt overhang -- a transfer -- in every period, raise taxes in order to meet these obligations, and thereby gradually reduce capital to its new lower level, at which point there would no longer be a debt overhang. We describe this as the `IMF strategy'. Alternatively the country could choose the `Stiglitz strategy': it could immediately borrow internationally the sum of all the future interest obligations on its debt overhang, perhaps with the assistance of the IMF. It would need to raise taxes in order to meet the interest costs on that extra borrowing. But the fiscal cost of doing this would be finite and the fiscal costs would be equally spread across time. The short run tax burden would thus be smaller. We show that balance sheet effects mean that the real exchange rate can greatly overshoot in the IMF strategy, whereas it need not overshoot in the Stiglitz strategy. That will lessen the `crisis' aspects of the short run responses to the shock.
Eco-labelled food products: what are consumers paying for?

The paper investigates whether the premium consumers are willing to pay for an eco-labelled product is driven by selfish or altruistic motives. Using an incentive-compatible experiment with both a within- and a between-subject design, we study the effect on this premium of information stating that eco-friendly products do not necessarily lead to higher private benefits. We find that this information does not affect buying prices in the within-subject experiment. This suggests that consumers' willingness to pay for the eco-labelled product does not derive from perceived higher taste or safety attributes but from other motives. These results are confirmed in the between-subject design where we find that information affects buying prices for the eco-friendly product but also for the control product in the between-subject experiment. Oxford University Press and Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics 2009; all rights reserved. For permissions, please email journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.
Wealth, Asset Portfolio, Money Demand and Policy Rule

I look at the linkages between monetary policy and asset wealth using quarterly data for the USA. I show that a positive interest rate shock leads to a fall in aggregate wealth and an important change in portfolio composition: housing wealth gradually decreases, but the effects are very persistent; and financial wealth quickly shrinks, but the impact is short‐lived. I also find that the money market can be characterized as follows: (i) the money demand has a large interest elasticity and a small output elasticity; and (ii) the estimated monetary policy reaction function highlights the special focus given by the central bank to developments in monetary aggregates. These features call for an approach whereby monetary authorities put more emphasis on tracking wealth developments, in particular, given the asset portfolio rebalancing between money holdings and financial and/or housing assets.
Volatility transmission patterns and terrorist attacks

The objective of this study is to analyse volatility transmission between the US and Eurozone stock markets considering the financial market responses to the September 11, March 11 and July 7 terrorist attacks. In order to do this, we use a multivariate GARCH model and take into account the asymmetric volatility phenomenon, the non-synchronous trading problem and the turmoil periods themselves. Moreover, a graphical analysis of the Asymmetric Volatility Impulse-Response Functions (AVIRF) is introduced, which takes into consideration the financial market responses to the terrorist attacks. Results suggest that there is bidirectional and asymmetric volatility transmission and show the different impacts that terrorist attacks had on both markets.
The Use of Foreign Currency Derivatives, Corporate Governance, and Firm Value Around the World

This paper examines the impact of currency derivatives on firm value using a broad sample of firms from thirty-nine countries with significant exchange-rate exposure. Derivatives can be used for managers' self-interest, for hedging or for speculative purposes. We hypothesize that investors can appeal to a firm's internal (firm-level) and external (country-level) corporate governance to draw inferences on a firm's motive behind the use of derivatives, since well-governed firms are more likely to use derivatives to hedge rather than to speculate or pursue managers' self-interest. Consistent with this explanation, we find strong evidence that the use of currency derivatives for firms that have strong internal firm-level or external country-level governance is associated with a significant value premium.
Performance measurement of SHER service supply chain: a balanced score card – ANP approach

The prime objective of this paper is to analyse the performance of safety, health, environment and risk (SHER) consultancy service supply chain (SSC) in the Indian context. One of the crucial problems faced by the management is the comparative evaluation of the various alternatives of decision problem. Current decision makers and researchers witness the power of the analytic network process (ANP) as an improved solution for this multi dimensional evaluation problem. ANP model structures the decision problem in a hierarchical form and links the determinants, dimensions, and enablers with alternatives available to the decision maker. Therefore, in this paper, the dimensions of SHER service sector have been captured in four perspectives viz. customer, internal business, innovation and learning, and finance, which mimic a balanced score card. The three services (consultancy, training and testing) provided by the organisation have been considered for analysis. The priority is expressed in terms of overall weighted service index. The results indicated that 'training' is the most value adding service. The results are supported with action plan for enhancing the training and managerial implications.
The gene coding for protein p60 of Listeria monocytogenes and its use as a specific probe for Listeria monocytogenes

The gene of Listeria monocytogenes that encodes a major extracellular protein (p60) was cloned in Escherichia coli. The gene was designated iap, as p60 was previously shown to represent an invasion-associated protein (M. Kuhn and W. Goebel, Infect. Immun. 57:55-61, 1989). The recombinant E. coli clone expressed p60, as shown by immunoblotting. The complete nucleotide sequence of iap was determined. The deduced amino acid sequence of p60 (484 amino acids) contains a putative N-terminal signal sequence of 27 amino acids and an extended repeat region consisting of 19 threonine-asparagine units. Hybridization with the entire iap gene revealed the presence of homologous sequences in most other Listeria species. In contrast, a 400-base-pair internal iap probe which contained the whole repeat region hybridized only with genomic DNA from L. monocytogenes. Four oligonucleotides previously described as specific probes for the detection of L. monocytogenes (A. R. Datta, B. A. Wentz, D. Shook, and M. W. Trucksess, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54:2933-2937, 1988) were shown to be part of the iap gene.
Robust adaptive formation control with autonomous surface vehicles

In this paper, a robust adaptive formation control law is proposed for multiple autonomous surface vehicles moving in a leader-follower formation. The presented method uses only measurements of line-of-sight range and angle by local sensors, no other information about leader is required for control implementation. Neural networks are trained online to compensate for uncertainties due to unknown velocity of the leader. Based on Lyapunov synthesis, the proposed adaptive NN control ensures that both relative distance and angle track the given bounded reference signals to a small neighborhood of zero. The effectiveness of proposed formation controller with applications to three autonomous surface vehicles is illustrated by numerical simulations.
Theoretical Analysis for Temperature Elevation of Human Body Due to Millimeter Wave Exposure

This paper investigated the analytical solution of the temperature elevation in one-dimensional human model due to millimeter wave exposure for parametric analysis. The analytical solution of the bioheat equation for the one-dimensional three-layer model has been derived using the Laplace transform. Temperature distribution obtained from the analytical solution is compared with those derived from a numerical difference method. Good agreement has been found between them, suggesting the validity of our analytical solution. The derived expression is useful to clarify the effects of biological parameters on the temperature elevation.
Restriction molecules involved in the interaction of T cells with allogeneic antigen-presenting cells

The proliferative responses of T cells, depleted of alloreactive cells, were tested upon stimulation by antigens presented on allogeneic antigen-presenting cells (APC). Restriction molecules involved in these responses were identified by inhibition of T cell proliferation with monoclonal antibodies against A(A alpha A beta) and E(E alpha E beta) molecules of the APC. The responses to all three antigens tested [Poly(Glu40Ala60) (GA), lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), and poly(Glu51, Lys34, Tyr15) (GLT)] were A plus E restricted when the allogeneic APC expressed both molecules, and only A restricted when the APC did not express cell surface E molecules. In contrast, when T cells and APC are syngeneic, the same antigens are recognized only in the context of either A molecules (GA and LDHB) or E molecules (GLT). The data indicate that the immune response gene control of these responses is not associated with either a failure of antigen presentation, or the lack of certain T cell specificities from the germ line repertoire, but probably with selective somatic elimination (tolerance) of certain clones from the T cell repertoire.
Efficiency based comparative analysis of selected classical MPPT methods

The control system block in a photovoltaic (PV) system includes the algorithm which makes possible the PV system operation under adequate conditions to extract the maximum electrical power available from the PV array, this algorithm is commonly called Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT). In the literature, different algorithms that researchers have developed, some more efficient, more easily to implement, more robust and faster than others, have been reported. Therefore, in this paper a comparative analysis between frequently used MPPT methods is presented. The methods considered in this analysis correspond to the classical Hill Climbing method, Perturb and Observe (P&O) method and the Incremental Conductance (INC) technique. The analysis has been oriented to measure the efficiency of each method being this parameter one of the most important to determine their performance. The simulated results permit to analyze the MPPT algorithms between them, in such a way the reader can discern the most appropriate method for his own application.
Plasma oxysterols and angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis: a case control study.

Several in vitro and in vivo experiments have implicated oxysterols in the aetiology and progression of atherosclerosis. Oxysterols may be formed endogenously by oxidation of cholesterol and thus may form a marker of LDL oxidation. They may also be obtained exogenously through dietary intake. We investigated the association of oxysterols with the degree of coronary stenosis in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Cases with severe coronary atherosclerosis 80 stenosis in one of the major coronary vessels, n =80 were compared with controls with no or minor stenosis 50 stenosis in all three major coronary vessels, n =79 . Cases and controls were prestratified on age, gender and smoking habits. Evaluated were plasma levels of unesterified 7 hydroxycholesterol, 7 hydroxycholesterol, 25 hydroxycholesterol, 7 ketocholesterol, cholestane triol and 5,6 epoxycholestanol. 7 Hydroxycholesterol made up 67 of the total amount of plasma oxysterol concentration and was the only one significantly higher in cases 1.53 mu g per 100 ml vs 1.27 mu g per 100 ml, p 0.05 . Further, cases had somewhat higher LDL cholesterol levels and significantly lower HDL cholesterol levels than controls. After multivariate adjustment to account for this difference in lipid levels and for the prestratification factors the mean difference between cases and controls for 7 hydroxycholesterol 0.14 mu g per 100 ml was no longer significant. Also the other oxysterols showed no significant association with the degree of coronary stenosis. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed an adjusted odds ratio of 1.07 95 CI, 0.45-2.59 in the highest tertile of total plasma oxysterol level. We conclude, that this study does not support the hypothesis that plasma oxysterols form an additional risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis.
Retinoic acid syndrome in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been used successfully in inducing remission in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Its overall toxicity is considerably less compared to standard induction chemotherapy; however, it is associated with a high incidence of a potentially fatal symptom complex referred to as "retinoic acid syndrome. " This report describes a patient with APL who developed the syndrome a few weeks after initiating induction therapy with ATRA despite being treated for hyperleukocytosis. The case illustrates the classic features of the syndrome and its dramatic response to corticosteroid treatment.
Inverse model-based iterative learning control for active control of repetitive impulsive noise with a non-minimum phase secondary path

In this paper, active control of impulsive noise is studied. A novel approximate inverse model combined with optimal criterion-based iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm is used for an active noise control (ANC) system with a non-minimum phase secondary path. Computer simulations have been carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The plant model used in the computer simulations is obtained from a practical ANC system in our laboratory. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the impulsive noise and the convergence rate is fast for a non-minimum phase plant.