Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sickness absence management: Encouraging attendance or ‘risk-taking’ presenteeism in employees with chronic illness?

Purpose. To investigate the organizational perspectives on the effectiveness of their attendance management policies for chronically ill employees. Methods. A mixed-method approach was employed involving questionnaire survey with employees and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders of the organizational policies. Results. Participants reported that attendance management polices and the point at which systems were triggered, posed problems for employees managing chronic illness. These systems presented risk to health: employees were more likely to turn up for work despite feeling unwell (presenteeism) to avoid a disciplinary situation but absence-related support was only provided once illness progressed to long-term sick leave. Attendance management polices also raised ethical concerns for ‘forced’ illness disclosure and immense pressures on line managers to manage attendance. Conclusions. Participants felt their current attendance management polices were unfavourable toward those managing a chronic illness. The policies heavily focused on attendance despite illness and on providing return to work support following long-term sick leave. Drawing on the results, the authors conclude that attendance management should promote job retention rather than merely prevent absence per se. They outline areas of improvement in the attendance management of employees with chronic illness.
4768 - FRACTURE AND FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF MEMS RELATED MICRO MATERIALS

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) stand for the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology. MEMSmaterials can be used for a large number of components. These materials show a complex material behaviour due to different mechanical and thermal properties throughout the sandwich, which can influence the mechanical and thermal reliability as well as the life time of it. Filled epoxy resin and electrodeposited metallic thin films are frequently used as MEMS-related materials. However, their mechanical characteristics, which are especially important for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), vary over a wide range. Therefore, for small-dimension samples the theory for bulk materials is oftentimes inaccurate. In this paper, a test method has been developed to determine the fracture toughness of filled epoxy resin with miniature CT-specimens (1” x 1”). The investigation of fracture using small specimens is based on analysing crack resistance against stable and unstable crack growth behaviour of standard specimens under quasi-static loading conditions by means of experimental fracture mechanics. The experimentally obtained fracture mechanics parameters will be geometry independent, if they fulfil the geometry criterion of minimal specimen thickness. The critical minimum specimen thickness of epoxy was determined to be 4 mm. Furthermore, a new test methodology will be presented for the determination of the fatigue behaviour of thin copper and nickel films, which is based on bi-material bending. The tests were accompanied by FEA to calculate the cyclic plastic strain of the bending experiments.
Relevance of Fucose-Rich Extracellular Polysaccharides Produced by Rhizobium sullae Strains Nodulating Hedysarum coronarium L. Legumes

ABSTRACT Specific and complex interactions between soil bacteria, known as rhizobia, and their leguminous host plants result in the development of root nodules. This process implies a complex dialogue between the partners. Rhizobia synthesize different classes of polysaccharides: exopolysaccharides (EPS), Kdo-rich capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides, and cyclic β-(1,2)-glucans. These polymers are actors of a successful symbiosis with legumes. We focus here on studying the EPS produced by Rhizobium sullae bacteria that nodulate Hedysarum coronarium L. , largely distributed in Algeria. We describe the influence of the carbon source on the production and on the composition of EPS produced by R. sullae A6 and RHF strains. High-molecular-weight EPS preserve the bacteria from desiccation. The structural characterization of the EPS produced by R. sullae strains has been performed through sugar analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The low-molecular-weight EPS of one strain (RHF) has been totally elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance and quantitative time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry analyses. An unusual fucose-rich EPS has been characterized. The presence of this deoxy sugar seems to be related to nodulation capacity.
Impact of ROHC on IP encapsulation efficiency in a DVB-S2 GSE-only transmission system

The 2nd generation of Digital Video Broadcasting for Satellite (DVB-S2) standards allows the direct transmission of IP content using the Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE) protocol, replacing the existing Transport Stream (MPEG-2 TS). This represents an evolution from the two current encapsulation methods: the native use of the Packetized Elementary Stream (PES) over TS for MPEG-2 encoded applications and, the use of adaptation protocols such as the Multi-Protocol Encapsulation (MPE) and the Unidirectional Lightweight Encapsulation (ULE) over TS for IP-based MPEG-4 encoded content. This paper reviews this evolution and analyses the overhead improvement resulting from this IP-only architecture. This evaluation considers the impact of using RObust Header Compression (ROHC) on the efficiency for DVB-S2 IP/GSE-only transmission.
A mouse model of necrotic biliary pancreatitis induced by combining gallstone formation and ligation of the biliary-pancreatic duct

Objective The aim of the present investigation is to develop a mouse model of biliary pancreatitis with characteristics of both gallstone formation and pancreatitis, mimicking the human etiology and pathphysiological character. Design Male C57BL/6 mice were fed with chow, high fat/cholesterol and lithogenic diet for 12 weeks respectively. Laparotomy was done followed by ligation of pancreatic duct (PD), bile duct and pancreatic duct (BPD), or sham operation. Results Little or no evidence of pancreatitis was observed in PD group of mice fed with chow or high fat/cholesterol diet, or in the tail of pancreata removed from animals fed with lithogenic diet. In the head of pancreas, pancreas damage was dramatically more severe in the lithogenic group. When bile reflux was blocked by BPD, pancreas damage markedly reduced to level of chow diet group. The lithogenic diet group also developed significantly more severe multi organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in the lung, kidney and liver. The severity of pancreatitis is associated with persistent high bile level of cholesterol and bile acid after obstruction of the biliary-pancreatic duct. Cholesterol crystal aggravated injury of pancreatic acinar cells caused by taurocholate. After obstruction of the biliary-pancreatic duct, in the lithogenic diet group, liver Abcg8 and Cyp7a1 was up-regulated, compared to the control group. Conclusion We developed a mouse model of severe biliary pancreatitis in both local pancreas damage and MODS. This model provides a sound explanation for the Opie theory dilemma and a potential therapeutical direction in clinical practice as well. Summary statement A biliary pancreatitis has characters of both gallstone and pancreatitis, mimicking human etiology and pathophysiology, which gave a clear answer to the long time Opie theory dilemma.
Deletion of CB2 cannabinoid receptors reduces synaptic transmission and long‐term potentiation in the mouse hippocampus

The effects of cannabinoids are mostly mediated by two types of cannabinoid receptors—CB1 receptors in the nervous system and CB2 receptors in the immune system. However, CB2 cannabinoid receptors have recently been discovered in the brain and also implicated in neurophysiological functions. The deletion of CB2 receptors in mice induces long‐term memory deficits and schizophrenia‐like behaviors, implying that endogenous activity of CB2 receptors might be involved in neuropsychiatric effects. Little is known about the cellular mechanisms by which physiological activation of CB2 receptors modulates neuronal functions. We aimed to determine how deletion of CB2 receptors in mice affects synaptic transmission and plasticity. Electrophysiological and morphological studies indicated that CB2 receptor knockout resulted in decreases in excitatory synaptic transmission, long‐term potentiation, and dendritic spine density in the hippocampus. Our data imply that endogenous activity of CB2 receptors might contribute to the maintenance of synaptic functions and the expression of normal long‐term potentiation. This study provides insights into the role of CB2 cannabinoid receptors in regulating cognitive functions such as long‐term memory. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Unified theory of effects of segregated interstitials on grain boundary cohesion

AbstractThe ideas of the electron theory of chemisorption are applied to the behaviour of H, B, C, N, and 0 atoms segregated on and in iron. The general theory can be divided naturally into two branches depending on whether the valence levels of the embedded atoms ‘float’ at the Fermi level, as in the case of B, C, and N; or ‘sink’ to a level below the bottom of the d band, as with Hand O. In the former, the valence states take on the cationic role when they hybridise with nearby d states and a predominantly covalent bond is formed, which increases grain boundary cohesion. In the latter, the atoms form screened negative ions, with little covalent interaction, and thereby decrease cohesion, so promoting intergranular brittleness.MST/1267
Spine immobilization in penetrating trauma: more harm than good?

BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested that prehospital spine immobilization provides minimal benefit to penetrating trauma patients but takes valuable time, potentially delaying definitive trauma care. We hypothesized that penetrating trauma patients who are spine immobilized before transport have higher mortality than nonimmobilized patients. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of penetrating trauma patients in the National Trauma Data Bank (version 6.2). Multiple logistic regression was used with mortality as the primary outcome measure. We compared patients with versus without prehospital spine immobilization, using patient demographics, mechanism (stab vs. gunshot), physiologic and anatomic injury severity, and other prehospital procedures as covariates. Subset analysis was performed based on Injury Severity Score category, mechanism, and blood pressure. We calculated a number needed to treat and number needed to harm for spine immobilization. RESULTS In total, 45,284 penetrating trauma patients were studied; 4.3% of whom underwent spine immobilization. Overall mortality was 8.1%. Unadjusted mortality was twice as high in spine-immobilized patients (14.7% vs. 7.2%, p < 0.001). The odds ratio of death for spine-immobilized patients was 2.06 (95% CI: 1.35-3.13) compared with nonimmobilized patients. Subset analysis showed consistent trends in all populations. Only 30 (0.01%) patients had incomplete spinal cord injury and underwent operative spine fixation. The number needed to treat with spine immobilization to potentially benefit one patient was 1,032. The number needed to harm with spine immobilization to potentially contribute to one death was 66. CONCLUSIONS Prehospital spine immobilization is associated with higher mortality in penetrating trauma and should not be routinely used in every patient with penetrating trauma.
Parasitological Indices of Malaria Transmission in Children under Fifteen Years in Two Ecoepidemiological Zones in Southwestern Burkina Faso

Twenty years after the latest publications performed on the parasitological indices of malaria transmission in northwest of the second city of Burkina Faso, it was important to update the epidemiological profile of malaria in children under the age of 15 years. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the parasitological parameters of malaria transmission by season, area, and age in the two zones (rice and savanna) in the northwest of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Overall, the results showed that there was no significant difference in the parasitological indices of malaria transmission within children under fifteen years between the rice site and the savannah site and whatever the season (P > 0.05). The profound environmental modifications that occurred in the rice zone would have led to changes in vector behavior and consequently to changes in the epidemiological profile of malaria, contrary to the results obtained since the last publications. An entomological study correlated with this study is therefore necessary for effective decision-making for the malaria control in both areas. Future research must now focus on the impact that these profound environmental modifications of rice area are having on malaria control in Burkina Faso.
Incorporating job migration and network RAM to share cluster memory resources

Job migrations and network RAM are two approaches for effectively using global memory resources in a workstation cluster, aimed at reducing page faults in each local workstation and improving the overall performance of cluster computing. Using either remote executions or pre-emptive migrations, a load-sharing system is able to migrate a job from a workstation without sufficient memory space to a lightly loaded workstation with a large idle memory space for the migrated job. In a network RAM system, if a job cannot find sufficient memory space for its working sets, it utilizes idle memory space from other workstations in the cluster through remote paging. Conducting trace-driven simulations, we have compared the performance and tradeoffs of the two approaches and their impacts on job execution time and cluster scalability. Job migration-based load-sharing schemes are able to balance executions of jobs in a cluster well, while network RAM is able to satisfy data-intensive jobs which may not be migratable by sharing all the idle memory resources in a cluster. A network RAM cluster of workstations is scalable only if the network is sufficiently fast. We propose an improved load-sharing scheme by combining job migrations with network RAM for cluster computing. This scheme uses remote execution to initially allocate a job to the most lightly loaded workstation and, if necessary, network RAM to provide a larger memory space for the job than would be available otherwise. The improved scheme has the merits of both job migrations and network RAM. Our experiments show its effectiveness and scalability for cluster computing.
Project Beehive: A Hardware/Software Co-designed Stack for Runtime and Architectural Research

The end of Dennard scaling combined with stagnation in architectural and compiler optimizations makes it challenging to achieve significant performance deltas. Solutions based solely in hardware or software are no longer sufficient to maintain the pace of improvements seen during the past few decades. In hardware, the end of single-core scaling resulted in the proliferation of multi-core system architectures, however this has forced complex parallel programming techniques into the mainstream. To further exploit physical resources, systems are becoming increasingly heterogeneous with specialized computing elements and accelerators. Programming across a range of disparate architectures requires a new level of abstraction that programming languages will have to adapt to. In software, emerging complex applications, from domains such as Big Data and computer vision, run on multi-layered software stacks targeting hardware with a variety of constraints and resources. Hence, optimizing for the power-performance (and resiliency) space requires experimentation platforms that offer quick and easy prototyping of hardware/software co-designed techniques. To that end, we present Project Beehive: A Hardware/Software co-designed stack for runtime and architectural research. Project Beehive utilizes various state-of-the-art software and hardware components along with novel and extensible co-design techniques. The objective of Project Beehive is to provide a modern platform for experimentation on emerging applications, programming languages, compilers, runtimes, and low-power heterogeneous many-core architectures in a full-system co-designed manner.
Image Classification using Tag and Segmentation based Retrieval

today's scenario when social media sites are widely used and high resolution images are shared. Tagging is an important approach for the retrieval of images in various applications. These are also used to manage personal media data. There are various techniques implemented for the image retrieval such as feature based, histogram based and transformation based but these techniques are not efficient in terms of classification ratio and accuracy. Here in this paper various tag based image technique are discussed so by analyzing the tag based image retrieval techniques a new proposed methodology can be implemented in the future. KeywordsCBIR, tag annotation, AFSVM, NDCG.
The molecular mechanisms underlying the reduction of LDL apoB-100 by ezetimibe plus simvastatins⃞ Published, JLR Papers in Press, November 27, 2006.

The combination of ezetimibe, an inhibitor of Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 protein (NPC1L1), and an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor decreases cholesterol absorption and synthesis. In clinical trials, ezetimibe plus simvastatin produces greater LDL-cholesterol reductions than does monotherapy. The molecular mechanism for this enhanced efficacy has not been defined. Apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) kinetics were determined in miniature pigs treated with ezetimibe (0.1 mg/kg/day), ezetimibe plus simvastatin (10 mg/kg/day), or placebo (n = 7/group). Ezetimibe decreased cholesterol absorption (−79%) and plasma phytosterols (−91%), which were not affected further by simvastatin. Ezetimibe increased plasma lathosterol (+65%), which was prevented by addition of simvastatin. The combination decreased total cholesterol (−35%) and LDL-cholesterol (−47%). VLDL apoB pool size decreased 26%, due to a 35% decrease in VLDL apoB production. LDL apoB pool size decreased 34% due to an 81% increase in the fractional catabolic rate, both of which were significantly greater than monotherapy. Combination treatment decreased hepatic microsomal cholesterol (−29%) and cholesteryl ester (−65%) and increased LDL receptor (LDLR) expression by 240%. The combination increased NPC1L1 expression in liver and intestine, consistent with increased SREBP2 expression. Ezetimibe plus simvastatin decreases VLDL and LDL apoB-100 concentrations through reduced VLDL production and upregulation of LDLR-mediated LDL clearance.
Distributed coordination protocol for ad hoc cognitive radio networks

The exponential growth in wireless services has resulted in an overly crowded spectrum. The current state of spectrum al- location indicates that most usable frequencies have already been occupied. This makes one pessimistic about the feasibility of integrating emerging wireless services such as large-scale sensor net- works into the existing communication infrastructure. Cognitive radio is an emerging dynamic spectrum access technology that can be used for flexibly and efficiently achieving open spectrum sharing. Cognitive radio is an intelligent wireless communication system that is aware of its radio environment and that is capable of adapting its operation to statistical variations of the radio frequency. In ad hoc cognitive radio networks, a common control channel (CCC) is usually used for supporting transmission coordination and spectrum-related information exchange. Determining a CCC in distributed networks is a challenging research issue be- cause the spectrum availability at each ad hoc node is quite different and dynamic due to the interference between and coexistence of primary users. In this paper, we propose a novel CCC selection protocol that is implemented in a distributed way according to the appearance patterns of primary systems and connectivity among nodes. The proposed protocol minimizes the possibility of CCC disruption by primary user activities and maximizes node connectivity when the control channel is set up. It also facilitates adaptive recovery of the control channel when the primary user is detected on that channel.
Estimating the Largest Eigenvalue by the Power and Lanczos Algorithms with a Random Start

Our problem is to compute an approximation to the largest eigenvalue of an n n large symmetric positive deenite matrix with relative error at most ". We consider only algorithms that use Krylov information b; Ab; : : :; A k b] consisting of k matrix-vector multiplications for some unit vector b. If the vector b is chosen deterministically then the problem cannot be solved no matter how many matrix-vector multiplications are performed and what algorithm is used. If, however, the vector b is chosen randomly with respect to the uniform distribution over the unit sphere, then the problem can be solved on the average and probabilistically. More precisely, for a randomly chosen vector b we study the power and Lanczos algorithms. For the power algorithm (method) we prove sharp bounds on the average relative error and on the probabilistic relative failure. For the Lanczos algorithm we present only upper bounds. In particular , ln(n)=k characterizes the average relative error of the power algorithm, 1 whereas O((ln(n)=k) 2) is an upper bound on the average relative error of the Lanczos algorithm. In the probabilistic case, the algorithm is characterized by its probabilistic relative failure which is deened as the measure of the set of vectors b for which the algorithm fails. We show that the probabilistic relative failure goes to zero roughly as p n(1? ") k for the power algorithm and at most as p n e ? (2k? 1) p " for the Lanczos algorithm. These bounds are for a worst case distribution of eigenvalues which may depend on k. We also study the behavior in the average and probabilistic cases of the two algorithms for a xed matrix A as the number of matrix-vector multiplications k increases. The bounds for the power algorithm depend then on the ratio of the two largest eigenvalues and their multiplicities. The bounds for the Lanczos algorithm depend on the ratio between the diierence of the two largest eigenvalues and the diierence of the largest and the smallest eigenvalues.
Computational Models of Affect and Fuzzy Logic

In light of recent research and empirical findings a new view on emotion and affect has surfaced. Within this view ‘feeling’ (core affect) is separated from ‘emotion’ (psychological construction). This model appears to be a good candidate for a computation model of affect and emotion. We argue that fuzzy logic is the perfect tool for its implementation, for the modeling of core affect dynamics, the linguistic description of emotions, the description of a cognitive rule base, as well as the mapping between the core affect level and the cognitive level.
A Collision Predict Based Local Path Planning of Mobile Robots

Based on the velocity of obstacles and its distribution, the position of the dangerous region (potential collision region) has been predicted. So that the dangerous region would be expanded based on the distribution of its position to ensure the security. By finding the best “Free Road” and estimate the “danger”, a data reduction technique is employed to compress all the information needed in path planning. With the help of that the efficiency of the fuzzy logic controller is improved significantly which is also employed to calculate the speed of the robot. Benefit from the fuzzy logic controller and the dangerous region predicted technique, our method is more robust in dynamic environment with uncertainty. And the results of both experiments and simulations have proved that our method get a better effect than the conventional ones.