Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EMC ’ 04 / Sendai MICROWAVE ANTENNAS FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE THERMAL THERAPY

This paper presents an overview on the procedures for analyzing and design of microwave antennas for cardiac ablation and thermal therapy of cancerous tumors. The numerical technique based on the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method is used to calculate the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) deposited into the tissue by the microwave antenna. The SAR values are then used to calculate the thermal distribution within the tissue by using the bioheat transfer equation (BHTE). The results indicate the effectiveness of proposed microwave thermal therapeutic techniques.
The Impact of Critical Incidents on Customer Satisfaction in Business-to-Business Relationships

ABSTRACT The few existing studies of satisfaction measurement in business-to-business markets focus on attribute-based approaches and neglect the relevance of critical incidents in relationships. From preliminary empirical studies, we know that critical incidents have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. To analyze this impact, a complementary attribute- and incident-based approach is used. It is assumed that critical incidents exert both a direct impact through influencing the level of overall and attribute satisfaction, and an indirect impact of incidents leading to a changed arithmetic mode in overall satisfaction formation. The results of an empirical study in the logistics industry show several asymmetric direct effects and a tendency for nonlinear satisfaction formation if there are critical incidents.
Array-based GNSS signal tracking with a reduced state signal model

This paper introduces a reduced state signal model in which interfering signals are suppressed with the help of beamforming. Based on our model, a particle filtering algorithm integrated with beamformer for satellite navigation signal tracking is proposed to increase the computational efficiency and the robustness to the signal model mismatch from unknown interference. Through extensive simulations and flop complexity analysis, we verify the superiority of the proposed algorithm against existing Bayesian filtering algorithms without beamforming.
Breakpoint junctions of chromosome 9p deletions in two human glioma cell lines

Interstitial deletions of the short arm of chromosome 9 are associated with glioma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, melanoma, mesothelioma, lung cancer, and bladder cancer. The distal breakpoints of the deletions (in relation to the centromere) in 14 glioma and leukemia cell lines have been mapped within the 400 kb IFN gene cluster located at band 9p21. To obtain information about the mechanism of these deletions, we have isolated and analyzed the nucleotide sequences at the breakpoint junctions in two glioma-derived cell lines. The A1235 cell line has a complex rearrangement of chromosome 9, including a deletion and an inversion that results in two breakpoint junctions. Both breakpoints of the distal inversion junction occurred within AT-rich regions. In the A172 cell line, a tandem heptamer repeat was found on either side of the deletion breakpoint junction. The distal breakpoint occurred 5' of IFNA2; the 256 bp sequenced from the proximal side of the breakpoint revealed 95% homology to long interspersed nuclear elements. One- and two-base-pair overlaps were observed at these junctions. The possible role of sequence overlaps, and repetitive sequences, in the rearrangement is discussed.
Comparison of feature detection techniques for AUV navigation along a trained route

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV)s traversing a path will incur positional error drift over time while submerged. We are developing a route following system which is based upon features extracted from the seabed using sidescan sonar collected in a training phase. Through matching of sonar images, this system navigates over a path without the need for a continual global position estimate. At the core of this system is the need to reliably extract features and match images derived from the sonar. At our disposal is an array of algorithms which implement the OpenCV common interface for feature extraction and matching. Using pre-collected sets of data we compare the performance of several of these algorithms in the context of matching sonar image tiles. Our results compare the performance of various feature types over two common sets of data. The feature types tested include SIFT[12], SURF[3], MSER[13], STAR[1], ORB[15], and BRIEF[4].
Formulation and in vitro Evaluation of Sustained Release Matrix Tablets of Levetiracetam for Better Epileptic Treatment

The objective of the present study was to develop sustained release oral matrix tablets of anti epileptic drug levetiracetam. The sustained release matrix tablets of levetiracetam were prepared using hydrophilic matrix hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as a release retarding polymer by wet granulation method. Prior to compression, FTIR studies were performed to understand the compatibility between the drug and excipients. The study revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and excipients used in the study. The tablets were characterized by physical and chemical parameters and results were found in acceptable limits. In vitro release study was carried out for the tablets using 0.1 N HCl for 2 hours and in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 for remaining time up to 12 hours. The effect of polymer concentration was studied. Different dissolution models were applied to drug release data in order to evaluate release mechanisms and kinetics. The drug release data fit well to zero order kinetics. Drug release mechanism was found as a complex mixture of diffusion, swelling and erosion. Keywords—Levetiracetam, sustained-release, hydrophilic matrix tablet, HPMC grade K 100 MCR, wet granulation, zero order release kinetics.
Two components from eye tissue that differentially stimulate the growth and development of ciliary ganglion neurons in cell culture

Survival and development of chick ciliary ganglion neurons in vivo appear to depend on information from the embryonic eye structure that contains the postsynaptic targets of the neurons. We have tested embryonic eye extracts on ciliary ganglion neurons in dissociated cell culture for stimulation of growth and development. Control conditions were chosen that permitted the long term maintenance of the neurons in the absence of tissue extracts of conditioned medium. The conditions included coating the culture substratum with fibroblast material and increasing the K+ concentration in the culture medium to 25 mM. Neurons survived for at least 3 weeks in control conditions. Two major components were resolved in eye extracts that stimulated growth and development of the neurons above the basal levels obtained with control conditions. One component, with an apparent molecular weight of about 2 X 10(4) by gel filtration analysis, stimulated neuronal growth without increasing the levels of choline acetyltransferase activity per neuron. The second component, with an apparent molecular weight of about 5 X 10(4), increased development of choline acetyltransferase levels per neuron but had no effect on neuronal growth. Both components were effective in normal K+ as well as 25 mM K+. These components may represent mechanisms by which the postsynaptic target tissue acts in vivo to direct the growth and development of ciliary ganglion neurons.
Nurses’experiences of perceived support and their contributing factors: A qualitative content analysis

Background: Following professional standards is the main concern of all managers in organizations. The functions of nurses are essential for both productivity and improving health organizations. In human resources management, supporting nursing profession is of ultimate importance. However, nurses’ experiences of perceived support, which are affected by various factors in workplace, have not been clearly explained yet. Thus, this study aimed to explain nurses’ experiences of perceived support and their contributing factors. Materials and Methods: This study is a qualitative research in which 12 nurses were selected through purposive sampling among nurses in university hospitals affiliated to University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran, during 2011-2012. Data collection was conducted through deep interviews with semi-structural questions. All interviews were first recorded and then transcribed. Finally, data were analyzed through conventional content analysis. Results: The four main themes indicated that nurses experienced their workplace as non-supportive. Themes such as poor organizational climate, low social dignity, poor work conditions, and managers’ ignorance to individual and professional values were considered as inhibitory factors to support. Conclusion: Nursing managers can promote nurses’ positive support perceptions through recognizing inhibitory factors and applying fair solutions and take benefits of their positive consequences including high efficacy, self-esteem, and organizational commitment to promote the quality of care.
Chronic Low Back Pain: The Relationship Between Patient Satisfaction and Pain, Impairment, and Disability Outcomes

Study Design. Treatment outcomes for low back pain have been measured by varying standards of pain, impairment, and disability. This study examines the relationship between these three outcomes and treatment satisfaction in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods. Ninety CLBP patients underwent initial pain (VAS), impairment (PIS), and disability (OPQ) evaluations. Results. Correlation coefficients between initial VAS, PIS, and OPQ were all less than 0.50. At 5-year follow-up, pain and disability scores were closely matched, more with lower mean scores among workers (P = 0.04 and 0.001). For 65 rehabilitation participants, 5-year patient satisfaction scores did not relate closely with VAS, PIS, and OPQ improvements during treatment (r = 0.15, 0.01, and 0.14). Five-year satisfaction correlated weakly with current pain and disability (r = 0.32, −0.36). Satisfaction levels were higher for workers after 1 year (P = 0.01), and after 5 years (P = 0.34). Conclusions. This study suggests that CLBP patients and their health care practitioners mutually set distinct pretreatment pain, impairment, and disability goals and judge outcomes accordingly.
Comparative Quality Estimation for Machine Translation Observations on Machine Learning and Features

Abstract A deeper analysis on Comparative Quality Estimation is presented by extending the state-of-the-art methods with adequacy and grammatical features from other Quality Estimation tasks. The previously used linear method, unable to cope with the augmented features, is replaced with a boosting classifier assisted by feature selection. The methods indicated show improved performance for 6 language pairs, when applied on the output from MT systems developed over 7 years. The improved models compete better with reference-aware metrics. Notable conclusions are reached through the examination of the contribution of the features in the models, whereas it is possible to identify common MT errors that are captured by the features. Many grammatical/fluency features have a good contribution, few adequacy features have some contribution, whereas source complexity features are of no use. The importance of many fluency and adequacy features is language-specific.
Macroprudential Policy and Zombie Lending in Korea

During the housing boom in the mid-2000s, Korea used the Loan-to-Value ratio (LTV) regulation and Debt-to-Income ratio (DTI) regulation to limit the expansion of mortgage financing and the rapid rise of housing prices successfully. The limit on mortgage financing, however, made many banks to look for other opportunities to extend credit. The banks ended up competing to lend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), some of which had questionable quality. This paper shows that increased loans to the non-performing SMEs led to the zombie problem that Caballero et al. (2008) found for Japanese non-performing companies helped by their creditors. Similar to the Japanese zombies, we find the Korean zombies discouraged healthy companies from expanding. We also find the productivity gap between zombies and non-zombies increase as the proportion of zombies in the industry increases.
Market segmentation in managerial practice: a qualitative examination

This paper offers an examination of the ways in which managers implement market segmentation. Market segmentation practices are examined in the context of the UK apparel retail sector. A qualitative research framework, which draws on Weick's (1995a) sensemaking approach, is adopted. Managerial insights are evidenced through a key-informant interviewing method within 10 case-organisations. The results indicate a number of plausible, managerial reasons for not pursuing sophisticated segmentation solutions. An underlying issue is a widely held belief in the adequacy and manageability of gross-level, descriptive segmentation approaches. Market segmentation was also seen as a managerial concept from which to inform decision-making but not for determining it or supplanting it. Segmentation thus represents an important sensemaking tool, often for communicative purposes. According to evidence revealed in this inquiry, contemporary applications and uses of market segmentation no longer provide synergy with the methodological and conceptual foundations of the concept.
Initial Public Offerings: Investor Behavior and Underpricing

A questionnaire survey of investors in initial public offerings (IPO's) was undertaken to learn about patterns of investor behavior that might be relevant to theories of their underpricing. Respondents were asked for their perception of the allocation process, their concern with stockbroker or underwriter reputation, their theories of IPO underpricing, and their communications and information sources. Results are interpreted as supporting the notion that there is an element of truth in some existing theories of IPO underpricing. and also suggesting different hypotheses. The impresario hypothesis is that underwriters deliberately underprice to obtain publicity and promote enthusiasm. Other hypotheses suggested by the results are an investor risk perception hypothesis and a fairness-relationship hypothesis.
Review of Simulators for Wireless Mesh Networks

|The research of computer networks construction of models that re(cid:13)ect the current audited environment to carry out practical research is extremely di(cid:14)cult and often involves signi(cid:12)cant costs. Hence, the popularity of simulation tools that help developers to determine as early as at the stage of the simulation whether a given solution can be deployed in a real network. However, over time many di(cid:11)erent simulation tools have been developed, each with di(cid:11)erent characteristics, di(cid:11)erent uses, di(cid:11)erent strengths and weaknesses. It is the task of the researcher then to select, before starting the actual research, one of the available simulators in accordance with the needs and adopted criteria of evaluation. In the article the authors present issues related to the simulation tools and the main advantages of simulation as well as their drawbacks. To help researchers select an appropriate simulation environment, the authors present statistical information gathered during a literature survey of a number of research articles from the most popular publishers in which the selected simulators were used in initial system design.
Comparison of realization techniques for PFC inductor operating in discontinuous conduction mode

Several design techniques are compared for producing a power factor correction (PFC) boost inductor operating in discontinuous conduction mode. In this application, fringing fields associated with high frequency current pulses cause problems of winding loss in the vicinity of an air gap, in particular with planar core shapes. For this reason, a planar inductor in which a lumped gap is replaced by a distributed air gap material is described and investigated. The consequences of lumped versus distributed air gap for the losses of the boost inductor are investigated. A significant reduction in AC winding loss of the planar structure with the composite core is demonstrated. However, the trade-off between reduced winding loss and increased core loss for this technique has to be considered along with the selection of proper winding technology. Four boost inductor design realizations are built and compared. Presented winding loss models are verified with measurements on prototypes operating in an 80 W PFC converter.
GNSS Signals Characteristics

The paper deals with second order signals characteristics for satellite navigation systems. The main goal of the paper is to simplify and clarify signals analysis task by introducing a system of signals characteristics and their mutual relations. The conception of the system is based on the fact that the structure of navigation signals is partially given since the signals should ensure reliable pseudorange estimations. The proposed conception is then applied on the tiered code construction employed in Galileo system. Finally it is shown that the results of the tiered code analysis can be used in case of the power spectra estimation of BOC modulated signals.
Transaction Attributes and Customer Valuation

Dynamic customer targeting is a common task for marketers actively managing customer relationships. Such efforts can be guided by insight into the return on investment from marketing interventions, which can be derived as the increase in the present value of a customer's expected future transactions. Using the popular latent attrition framework, one could estimate this value by manipulating the levels of a set of nonstationary covariates. The authors propose such a model that incorporates transaction-specific attributes and maintains standard assumptions of unobserved heterogeneity. They demonstrate how firms can approximate an upper bound on the appropriate amount to invest in retaining a customer and demonstrate that this amount depends on customers’ past purchase activity—namely, the recency and frequency of past customer purchases. Using data from a business-to-business service provider as their empirical application, the authors apply the model to estimate the revenue the service provider loses when it fails to deliver a customer's requested level of service. They also show that the lost revenue is larger than the corresponding expected gain that would result from exceeding a customer's requested level of service. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for marketers in terms of managing customer relationships.
The secularism of state scale

The debate on the secularism of State returns whenever the regulation of certain issues, such as the display of religious symbols in public buildings, same-sex marriage, or embryonic stem cell research, arise. In order to improve the knowledge of attitude toward secularism of State, the Secularism of State Scale was developed. It is composed of eight items investigating attitude toward a secular State. The scale was tested on two university students’ samples (200 Italian and 200 Spanish). A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the single factor structure of the scale fitted the data well. In order to test the concurrent validity, the following correlates were used: conservation, Catholic identity, political orientation, and desired status relation between State and Church. Results showed that desire to have a secular State negatively correlated with conservation and Catholic identity; moreover, the higher the desire to have a secular State, the higher the desired status of the State with respect to the Church, and the more the political orientation was left-wing. Finally, no correlation was found between the scale and social desirability.
Choline and Betaine Intake and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Men

Dietary choline and betaine have been hypothesized to decrease the risk of cancer because of their role as methyl donors in the one-carbon metabolism. However, it remains unknown whether dietary intake of choline and betaine is associated with colorectal cancer risk. We prospectively examined the associations between dietary choline and betaine intake and risk of colorectal cancer in men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. We followed 47,302 men and identified a total of 987 incident colorectal cancer cases from 1986 to 2004. We assessed dietary and supplemental choline and betaine intake every 4 years using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate multivariate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals. All statistical tests were two-sided. We did not find any statistically significant associations between choline intake or betaine intake and risk of colorectal cancer. Comparing the top quintile with bottom quintile, multivariate relative risks (95% confidence interval) were 0.97 (0.79-1.20; Ptrend = 0.87) for choline intake and 0.94 (0.77-1.16; Ptrend = 0.79) for betaine intake. Similarly, we observed no associations between colorectal cancer risk and choline from free choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine, phosphatidylcholine, or sphingomyelin. Our data do not support the hypothesis that choline and betaine intake is inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(3); 884–7
Application of counterpropagation artificial neural network for modelling properties of fish antibiotics

The present study focuses on fish antibiotics which are an important group of pharmaceuticals used in fish farming to treat infections and, until recently, most of them have been exposed to the environment with very little attention. Information about the environmental behaviour and the description of the environmental fate of medical substances are difficult or expensive to obtain. The experimental information in terms of properties is reported when available, in other cases, it is estimated by standard tools as those provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPISuite software and by custom quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) applications. In this study, a QSAR screening of 15 fish antibiotics and 132 xenobiotic molecules was performed with two aims: (i) to develop a model for the estimation of octanol--water partition coefficient (log P) and (ii) to estimate the relative binding affinity to oestrogen receptor (log RBA) using a model constructed on the activities of 132 xenobiotic compounds. The custom models are based on constitutional, topological, electrostatic and quantum chemical descriptors computed by the CODESSA software. Kohonen neural networks (self organising maps) were used to study similarity between the considered chemicals while counter-propagation artificial neural networks were used to estimate the properties.