Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New results on higher-order iterative learning control for discrete linear systems

Iterative learning control is applicable to systems that make sweeps or passes through dynamics defined over a finite duration. Once each pass is complete all information generated as its dynamics evolve are available for use in designing the control action to be applied on the next sweep. The design problem is to construct a sequence of control inputs to enforce convergence to a specified reference of the sequence formed from the output produced on each pass and in this form of control the input is that used on the previous pass plus a correction term computed using previous pass output. A critical feature is the ability to use information that would be non-causal in the standard setting provided it is generated on a previous pass. Higher order iterative learning control uses information from more than the previous pass and is the subject of this paper where the generalized KalmanYakubovich-Popov lemma is used to develop new designs.
Exploring Family-Centered Care Among Pediatric Oncology Nurses

Family-centered care (FCC) is important within pediatric oncology nursing. However, pediatric oncology nurses often face challenges and barriers when attempting to provide FCC. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of pediatric oncology nurses in relation to FCC; identify how pediatric oncology nurses implemented FCC into their practice; identify what facilitated and enabled pediatric oncology nurses to implement FCC; and discern the barriers and challenges that were present in their setting when implementing FCC. A qualitative approach utilizing person-centered interviewing was used to collect data. Nurses (N=20) from a western Canadian children’s hospital were recruited through purposeful convenience sampling and were then interviewed. Five major themes were identified from the data set: Hospital support f FCC, How participants defined FCC, Establishing FCC, Enhancing FCC, and Barriers and Challenges to providing FCC. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice and education are offered.
Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Activity of New N4-β-D-Glycoside Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine Derivatives

1 The reaction of 6-hydrazinyl-1,3-dimethylpyrimidine-2,4-(1H,3H)-dione () with ethoxymethylenemalononitrile afforded 5-amino-1-(1,3-dimethyl-2,6-dioxo-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyrimidin- 6-yl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile (2). The latter was reacted with formamide and urea affording the corresponding 4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines 3 and 4. The reaction of monosaccharide aldoses with 3 and 4 gave stereoselectively the β-N-glycosides 5a - d and 6a - d which were treated with acetic anhydride in pyridine to afford the corresponding acetylated derivatives 7a - d and 8a - d. The prepared compounds were tested for their antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and showed moderate to high activities
Conducting and Writing Research Reviews

Research reviews are of fundamental importance to the field of health services research. A review is usually the first step in any major new research study, and reviews are also completed as independent research projects. The distinguishing characteristic of the research review is that it is "not based primarily on new facts and findings, but on publications containing such primary information, whereby the latter is digested, sifted, classified, simplified, and synthesized" (Manten 1973,p. 75). However, the purposes to which reviews are put vary a great deal. The investigator may focus on integrating research findings, identifying research methods, or cataloging theoretical developments, and the goals of his or her review could include the generalization of research findings, criticism of weaknesses in a body of research, or identification of central issues for future research (Cooper 1988). This article is concerned with reviews designed to integrate quantitative research findings for the purpose of generalization. Historically, such reviews have been referred to as "integrative reviews" (Iackson 1980)but are increasingly being labeled "research syntheses" (Cooper and Hedges, "Research Synthesis as a ScientificEnterprise," 1994). In practice, the distinction between research syntheses and other types of research reviews is somewhat blurred. Investigators conducting research syntheses also attempt to understand the relevant theories, critically analyze the research they are reviewing, attempt to resolve conflicts in the literature, and attempt to identify central issues for
One Share Fits All? Regional Variations in the Extent of the Shadow Economy in Europe

Herwartz H. , Tafenau E. and Schneider F. One share fits all? Regional variations in the extent of the shadow economy in Europe, Regional Studies. A multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) approach with spatial effects is followed to estimate the extent of the shadow economy in the regions of the European Union in 2007 and 2008. The shadow economic sector is smallest in regions of the Netherlands and Denmark and highest in Greece, Poland, Portugal and Romania. In several countries the extent of shadow activities varies markedly across regions, calling for regional diversification of measures against it. Moreover, the eligibility status for structural funding by the European Union changes for some regions if shadow activities are included in the gross domestic product to their full extent.
Individual Differences: Case Studies of Rodent and Primate Intelligence

Early in the 20th century, individual differences were a central focus of psychologists. By the end of that century, studies of individual differences had become far less common, and attention to these differences played little role in the development of contemporary theory. To illustrate the important role of individual differences, here we consider variations in intelligence as a compelling example. General intelligence (g) has now been demonstrated in at least 2 distinct genera: primates (including humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and tamarins) and rodents (mice and rats). The expression of general intelligence varies widely across individuals within a species; these variations have tremendous functional consequence, and are attributable to interactions of genes and environment. Here we provide evidence for these assertions, describe the processes that contribute to variations in general intelligence, as well as the methods that underlie the analysis of individual differences. We conclude by describing why consideration of individual differences is critical to our understanding of learning, cognition, and behavior, and illustrate how attention to individual differences can contribute to more effective administration of therapeutic strategies for psychological disorders.
Creative cities: The role of culture

Le role de la culture pour les villes creatives On a assiste au cours des deniers annees a la multiplication de plaidoyers en faveur de la mise en place de nouvelles activites culturelles pour rendre les villes plus soutenables et plus creatives. Sans doute les villes temoignent-elles de capacites de creativite peu connues jusqu’ici, mais ce sont aussi des lieux ou des inegalites economiques sociales et culturelles se developpent, ce qui conduit a penser que les resultats attendus de cette creativite ne se realiseront pas en l’absence de solution a ces problemes. Ce n’est pas la seulement un probleme de redistribution mais aussi de citoyennete et de democratie, de telle sorte que le potentiel de creativite soit porte par toute la collectivite. La creativite ne peut pas seulement etre importee dans la ville par des hackers impenitents ou des bohemiens au gout du jour; elle doit etre secretee par les relations et les reseaux de production et de vie en societe. Dans cette perspective, les activites culturelles apparaissent comme un levier pour creer a la fois de nouveaux espaces de production et de consommation.
Understanding the City Brand in the Regional Tourism Market Among College Students

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the regional tourism market around Buffalo, NY to investigate the relative importance of city brand and other city attributes in tourists' decision making about where to visit for a short weekend trip. A content analysis was used to identify the four competitor cities of Buffalo and the key attributes that the cities possess to attract tourists in the regional driving tourism market. Within the context of destination choice-sets model, the relative importance of the key attributes including city brands was investigated through a choice-based conjoint analysis. Shopping opportunities was found as the most important attribute, followed by restaurant/food, culture/festivals, sports, nature-based attractions, and city brand. Based on the relative importance of the attributes at an individual level, three distinctive tourist segments—Food and Shopping Lovers, City-Driven Do-It-All Tourists, and Cultural Tourists—were generated from a K-means cluster analysis. Different city attribute profiles were identified for those five cities. Implications and suggestions were presented to promote more efficient marketing efforts for regional tourism destinations.
Future price responses to USDA's Cold Storage report

An event study is conducted of the informational content of US Department of Agriculture's Cold Storage report of pork bellies over the period January 1989 to December 1992. Analysis of Knight-Ridder's composite forecast derived from its pre-release survey of market analysts indicates it is a good proxy for the market's expectation of information contained in the report. Nearby pork belly and live hog futures prices are found to respond significantly to unanticipated information in the report. This finding supports the conclusion that the Cold Storage report provides information to the private market and, therefore, performs one of its public policy goals. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Comparative Study of Paired Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Samples from Neurocysticercosis Patients for the Detection of Specific Antibody to Taenia solium Immunodiagnostic Antigen

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an important disease of the central nervous system caused by infection with Taenia solium metacestodes. In addition to the clinical findings and the imaging analysis, the results of immunological tests are informative for the diagnosis of NCC. To compare the usefulness of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples for antibody detection, paired serum and CSF samples from patients with NCC and other neurological diseases were examined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with low-molecular-weight antigens purified from T. solium cyst fluid in a blinded fashion. The sensitivity of both serum and CSF samples was 25.0% in inactive NCC cases (n = 4) and 90.9% in active NCC cases (n = 33), and the specificity of serum and CSF was 100% and 95.8%, respectively. When the serum and CSF samples were combined, the sensitivity in active NCC cases became 100%. There was no difference in test performance between serum and CSF samples. Based on these results, we recommend the detection of specific antibodies in serum for the diagnosis of active NCC because of the ease of collection. When the antibody test is negative, however, CSF should be used to confirm NCC and to rule out other medical disorders of the central nervous system. Antibody detection test using only serum or CSF has a limited diagnostic value and cannot be recommended for the diagnosis of suspected inactive NCC cases.
Is total quality management really unique

The main proposition of this paper is that the principles commonly accepted as defining total quality management (TQM) are not unique to TQM but are part of many other organizational change initiatives or generally accepted 'good' management practice. The paper traces the development of TQM and the concept of management 'fads', and describes the development and definition of a number of approaches: world class manufacturing, guru theory, continuous improvement (CI), business process re-engineering (BPR) and human resource management. These approaches are then compared with each other and with the principles and practices of TQM. It is concluded that 'customer focus' is a key element of all approaches, as is 'commitment' and 'involvement' of all employees, although this is interpreted in various ways. TQM is not as unique as some of its proponent's claim, with its emphasis on processes shared with BPR, and CI one of its basic principles, although its development from the mathematical foundation of quality .
Patient satisfaction and priority setting in ambulatory health care

In this study we consider a general model for analysing the preferences, satisfaction and actual cost-benefit valuation of provided health care services as they are explicitly perceived by the patients. The model is employed for analysing the quality and value of treatment in one of the main clinics in a large hospital in Stockholm. Data from patients are combined with financial information from the hospital authority to estimate the cost per unit of improved patient satisfaction and to specify a cost-benefit model for priority setting and resource allocation. Using a combination of a patient satisfaction and a willingness to pay approach is found to be functional. The respondents are in a position to give specific and consistent information concerning their perception and relative valuation. The results obtained from the empirical survey point at improvements where both the satisfaction and the willingness to pay are strong. It is seen that most of the major improvements proposed in the health personnel-patient relationship are more expensive to implement than the customers (patients) are willing to pay for. At the same time these also imply the most significant increases in satisfaction. This emphasizes the importance of looking at both the revenue and the cost side when designing modifications in the provision of service.
Immunomodulatory effects of Pseudostellaria heterophylla (Miquel) Pax on regulation of Th1/Th2 levels in mice with atopic dermatitis

Pseudostellaria heterophylla (PH) has various pharmacological effects that include immunologic enhancement and anti-oxidation. However, it remains unclear whether PH exerts beneficial effects in dermatological diseases. The present study examined the effects of PH on a 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced atopic dermatitis (AD) mouse model and elucidated its underlying mechanism of action. PH extract (1 and 100 mg/ml) was applied topically to DNCB-treated dorsal skin of mice every day for 11 days. The immunomodulatory effects of PH were evaluated by measuring skin thickness, mast cell infiltration, serum levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), and mRNA expression levels of T helper (h)1/Th2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines in dorsal skin. In addition, cluster of differentiation (CD)4+ T cells were detected in dorsal skin by immunohistochemistry. Topical application of PH significantly reduced the thickness of dermis, epidermis and serum IgE production compared with the DNCB group. PH treatment inhibited infiltration of inflammatory cells, including mast cells and CD4+ T cells, and suppressed the mRNA expression levels of cytokines (interferon-γ, interleukin-4, −6, −8 and −1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α) associated with the immune response. Furthermore, PH treatment significantly downregulated the protein expression levels of nuclear factor-κB, phosphorylated inhibitor of κBα and mitogen-activated protein kinases. The results suggested that PH may be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of AD via the modulation of Th1 and Th2 levels.
Real Estate Rental Growth Rates at Different Points in the Physical Market Cycle

Real estate markets go through both physical cycles (demand and supply) that affect rental growth rates and financial cycles (capital flows to real estate) that affect property Prices (Mueller, 1995). This study develops a rental growth rate hypothesis based on a marketâ€™s position in the physical (demand-supply) market cycle. Using data from fifty-four office and industrial markets in the United States over a thirty-year period, an aggregated national average rental growth rate was calculated for each point in the cycle. An ANOVA test for differences of means found that the national average rental growth rates at each point in the cycle were statistically different. The results show local demand and supply, which interact to affect occupancy, are major determinants in rental growth rates. This research should help investors move from using a single rental growth rate for multiple year forecasts, to using yearly cycle driven rental growth rate estimates in their discounted cash flow projections.
Long-term, Short-term and Renegotiation: On the Value of Commitment in Contracting

Spot contracting generally involves efficiency losses relative to long-term contracting. It is proved here that short-term contracting and renegotiation allow to achieve long-run efficiency when transfers are not limited, objectives are conflicting, and no relevant asymmetric information appears at recontracting dates. This last assumption excludes adverse selection, but not moral hazard when technologies and preferences are time separable. Copyright 1990 by The Econometric Society.
Methylated Cytokinins from the Phytopathogen Rhodococcus fascians Mimic Plant Hormone Activity1[OPEN]

Methylated cytokinins contribute to pathogenesis as hormone-mimics. Cytokinins (CKs), a class of phytohormones that regulate plant growth and development, are also synthesized by some phytopathogens to disrupt the hormonal balance and to facilitate niche establishment in their hosts. Rhodococcus fascians harbors the fasciation (fas) locus, an operon encoding several genes homologous to CK biosynthesis and metabolism. This pathogen causes unique leafy gall symptoms reminiscent of CK overproduction; however, bacterial CKs have not been clearly correlated with the severe symptoms, and no virulence-associated unique CKs or analogs have been identified. Here, we report the identification of monomethylated N6-(∆2-isopentenyl)adenine and dimethylated N6-(∆2-isopentenyl)adenine (collectively, methylated cytokinins [MeCKs]) from R. fascians. MeCKs were recognized by a CK receptor and up-regulated type-A ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA RESPONSE REGULATOR genes. Treatment with MeCKs inhibited root growth, a hallmark of CK action, whereas the receptor mutant was insensitive. MeCKs were retained longer in planta than canonical CKs and were poor substrates for a CK oxidase/dehydrogenase, suggesting enhanced biological stability. MeCKs were synthesized by S-adenosyl methionine-dependent methyltransferases (MT1 and MT2) that are present upstream of the fas genes. The best substrate for methylation was isopentenyl diphosphate. MT1 and MT2 catalyzed distinct methylation reactions; only the MT2 product was used by FAS4 to synthesize monomethylated N6-(∆2-isopentenyl)adenine. The MT1 product was dimethylated by MT2 and used as a substrate by FAS4 to produce dimethylated N6-(∆2-isopentenyl)adenine. Chemically synthesized MeCKs were comparable in activity. Our results strongly suggest that MeCKs function as CK mimics and play a role in this plant-pathogen interaction.
MULTI-MODAL DIALOGUES AS NATURAL USER INTERFACE FOR AUTOMOBILE ENVIRONMENT

We are evolving into a mobile information age where information is expected to be accessed anywhere, anytime, wherever is needed. In this paper, we consider the issues of handling the problems of modality recognizer errors and consistency between multiple modality inputs for a multi-modal dialogue interface in the automobile environment. We describe our work on utterance verification and its application in dialogue management. Also described is the integration method in multi-modal input fusion. Our work is done in the context of an in-car telematics prototype and a brief introduction of the system is provided.
Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational symmetry breaking in a charge-ordered nickelate

Terahertz pulses reveal the multiscale dynamics of the crystal symmetry upon melting and formation of atomic-scale stripes. The ability to probe symmetry-breaking transitions on their natural time scales is one of the key challenges in nonequilibrium physics. Stripe ordering represents an intriguing type of broken symmetry, where complex interactions result in atomic-scale lines of charge and spin density. Although phonon anomalies and periodic distortions attest the importance of electron-phonon coupling in the formation of stripe phases, a direct time-domain view of vibrational symmetry breaking is lacking. We report experiments that track the transient multi-terahertz response of the model stripe compound La1.75Sr0. 25NiO4, yielding novel insight into its electronic and structural dynamics following an ultrafast optical quench. We find that although electronic carriers are immediately delocalized, the crystal symmetry remains initially frozen—as witnessed by time-delayed suppression of zone-folded Ni–O bending modes acting as a fingerprint of lattice symmetry. Longitudinal and transverse vibrations react with different speeds, indicating a strong directionality and an important role of polar interactions. The hidden complexity of electronic and structural coupling during stripe melting and formation, captured here within a single terahertz spectrum, opens new paths to understanding symmetry-breaking dynamics in solids.
Lumenal targeted GFP, used as a marker of soluble cargo, visualises rapid ERGIC to Golgi traffic by a tubulo-vesicular network.

The mechanism by which soluble proteins without sorting motifs are transported to the cell surface is not clear. Here we show that soluble green fluorescent protein (GFP) targeted to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum but lacking any known retrieval, retention or targeting motifs, was accumulated in the lumen of the ERGIC if cells were kept at reduced temperature. Upon activation of anterograde transport by rewarming of cells, lumenal GFP stained a microtubule-dependent, pre-Golgi tubulo-vesicular network that served as transport structure between peripheral ERGIC-elements and the perinuclear Golgi complex. Individual examples of these tubular elements up to 20 microm in length were observed. Time lapse imaging indicated rapid anterograde flow of soluble lumenal GFP through this network. Transport tubules, stained by lumenal GFP, segregated rapidly from COPI-positive membranes after transport activation. A transmembrane cargo marker, the temperature sensitive glycoprotein of the vesicular stomatitis virus, ts-045 G, is also not present in tubules which contained the soluble cargo marker lum-GFP. These results suggest a role for pre-Golgi vesicular tubular membranes in long distance anterograde transport of soluble cargo. http://www. biologists.com/JCS/movies/jcs1334.html
Development as practice in a liberal capitalist world

As we enter the 21st century, a dominant trend in development thinking makes it refer specifically to the practice of development agencies. However, to accept this as the main meaning of development would carry the dangers of losing the complexity and ambiguity of development, of underplaying the importance of vision and of historical process, and of limiting development to actions and policies aimed at reducing poverty in poor countries. It is important to challenge this restricted view of what development is. At the same time, the current prime importance of practice within the development field should be recognized and development practice should be taken more seriously from the point of view of theory building. Focused work on notions such as accountability, trusteeship and public action would help here, as would work on building up a tradition of critical practice analogous that in Organization Development. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.