Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fabrication and structural characterization of a resonant frequency PZT microcantilever

The fabrication and structural characterization of a surface micromachined, resonant frequency, Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) microcantilever will be presented. The PZT microcantilever was fabricated using surface micromachining techniques, and used a low-stress silicon nitride thin film as the base material for the microcantilever onto which a PZT thin film was incorporated. The PZT thin film is used as both the microsensor and the microactuator. A unique fabrication procedure was developed in order to eliminate the step of encapsulating the PZT during the removal of the spacer layer. The encapsulation step was avoided because of the difficulty in finding a suitable material, which would protect the PZT during the removal of the spacer layer yet not affect its material properties. This predicament was resolved by removing the spacer layer prior to the deposition of the PZT. The microcantilevers were characterized extensively using an atomic force microscope in an unusual manner. The atomic force microscope was modified in such a fashion that the deflection at the tip of the microcantilever could be measured as the frequency of an electrical signal applied to the PZT thin film was varied. In addition, an impedance analyzer was used to characterize the microcantilevers. Simple thin-film, laminated plate theory was used to obtain a closed-form solution for the modal response of the microcantilever, while ANSYS was used to obtain modal and harmonic simulation results. It will be shown that the experimental, numerical, and theoretical modal results are within ±10% of one another. The experimental and numerical harmonic results differ by an order of magnitude; however, the numerical model is currently being modified to more accurately represent the PZT microcantilever. From the information gathered during the structural characterization of the PZT microcantilever, it will be shown that certain higher-order resonant frequency modes have very large mechanical responses. These higher-order resonant frequency modes give designers another parameter to adjust when trying to optimize the design of their resonant frequency device.
Fish activity tracking and species identification in underwater video

In this paper we propose an automatic marine life monitoring system. First task in the monitoring process is to detect underwater moving objects as fishes. Second Task is to identify the species of the detected fish. Third task is to track the detected fish to avoid multiple counting and record their activities. Detection is performed using GMM based background subtraction method, classification is performed using Pyramid Histogram Of visual Words (PHOW) features with SVM classifier and finally identified fishes are tracked using “Kalman Filter”. This experiment is performed using data-set from the CLEF 2015. The proposed system can detect and track fishes with 48.94 percent accuracy in videos, and it can identify fishes in high resolution still image with 91.7 percent accuracy where as in the low quality video fishes are detected with 40.1 percent accuracy.
Photoelectric characteristics of Schottky diode based on a Ge/Si core/shell nanowire

Schottky photodiode fabricated with Ge/Si core/shell nanowires grown on Si (111) was quantitatively analyzed in terms of electrical properties as well as microstructure. The present device comprised of single nanowire grown by VLS process is quite sensitive enough to detect less than 1 pA at the mid infrared of 3 μm. The barrier of the present nanowire Schottky photodiode isj 1.5 volts. We scrutinized the electrical characteristics of the nanoscale Schottky junction both at forward and reverse bias ranges with thermionic model.
Kalimucho for smart-∗: One step towards eternal applications

The main idea behind this article is to propose technological tools in order to design, implement and deploy applications dedicated to smart-*. Our approach is particularly relative to the smart cities domain, which is the most suitable field of experimentation for a wider domain called long-life applications. Currently, our computers and more generally, our mobile devices (tablets, smartphones) host many applications that have to be downloaded and installed from a store. One must be able to find, select, install (then uninstall when no more needed or not suitable) applications. The increasingly use of mobile components introduces a new way of running and designing software applications. More and more connected objects provide us with a wide range of software capabilities. In this connected environment, we have to rethink the way we have traditionally considered our interactions with our applications. These interactions are now potentially spread over multiple devices with different interacting modalities. Instead of having various applications, we propose a different approach. The “core“ application starts once, and evolves dynamically (include/exclude business functionalities, update interactions mode) according to the user's need when moving in his smart environment.
Characterization and localization of the BM88 antigen in the developing and adult rat brain

Monoclonal antibody BM88 identifies a neuron‐specific antigen (BM88 antigen) present in the central and peripheral nervous system of the pig (Patsavoudi et al.: Neuroscience 30:463–478, 1989; J Neurochem 56:782–788, 1991). We have previously shown that the antigen is also expressed by cultured neurons derived from newborn rat brain. In the present study we have used the monoclonal antibody BM88 and a specific polyclonal antibody in order to identify the nature of the cross‐reactive antigen in rat brain and to investigate its expression and cellular localization in the developing and adult rat nervous system. Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry revealed that the rat BM88 antigen displays very similar biochemical properties with its porcine homologue. It is a neuron‐specific integral membrane protein, apparently not glycosylated, consisting of two 23 kD polypeptide chains. Immunoperoxidase staining demonstrated that the BM88 antigen is widely distributed in the brain of 19‐day‐old rat embryos. At this stage, immunoreactivity was particularly prominent in differentiated cellular areas and developing fiber tracts of the embryonic rat brain, but was also present in the neuroepithelium. A similar wide distribution of the BM88 antigen was observed in the adult rat brain. Here, immunoreactivity was detected in the neuropil and neuronal perikarya. Immunocytochemical analysis of the expression of the BM88 antigen during postnatal development of the cerebellar cortex showed that this molecule is particularly concentrated in the Purkinje cells between postnatal days 10 to 15; their somata and developing dendrites were distinctly immunopositive during this period. An agedependent increase in the expression of the BM88 antigen both in brain and in the cerebellum was noted. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of the BM88 reaction product within the perikarya, axons and dendrites of labeled neurons in the adult brain. The BM88 reaction product was preferentially associated with the limiting membrane of mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and small electron‐lucent vesicles, but was also present in the plasma membrane, especially at the level of synaptic densities. Our results show that the BM88 antigen participates in an activity common to all or most neurons, and demonstrate that the expression of this antigen is elevated upon neuronal differentiation and maturation. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predictors of the need to initiate noninvasive ventilation in stable outpatients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVE Predictors of the need to initiate noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in stable COPD outpatients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD-AE) are insufficiently defined. The objective of this study was to investigate predictors of the need to initiate NIV in stable COPD-AE outpatients. METHODS A total of 140 consecutive stable COPD outpatients who were hospitalized for COPD-AE for the first time were retrospectively examined. Demographic and clinical parameters measured in the stable state were evaluated, including data for arterial blood gases, the pulmonary function, body mass index and dyspnea scores. RESULTS Of the 140 patients included, NIV was used in 32 (23%) patients. In a univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis, the baseline partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) (hazard ratio (HR), 1.14 per mmHg; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-1.21) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)% predicted (HR, 1.03 per %; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05) were identified to be significant predictors. A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed only the PaCO2 (HR, 1.18 per mmHg; 95% CI, 1.12-1.26) to be a significant predictor. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that the PaCO2 measured in the stable state is an independent significant predictor of the need to initiate NIV in COPD-AE patients who are hospitalized for the first time.
Presence of α and a Mating Types in Environmental and Clinical Collections of Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii Strains from Australia

ABSTRACT Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii lives in association with certain species of eucalyptus trees and is a causative agent of cryptococcosis. It exists as two mating types, MATα and MATa, which is determined by a single-locus, two-allele system. In the closely related C. neoformansvar. neoformans, the α mating type has been found to outnumber its a counterpart by at least 30:1, but there have been very limited data on the proportions of each mating type in C. neoformans var. gattii. In the present study, specific PCR primers were designed to amplify two separate α-mating-type genes from C. neoformans var.gattii strains. These were used to survey for the presence of the two mating types in clinical and environmental collections ofC. neoformans var. gattii strains from Australia. Sixty-eight of 69 clinical isolates produced both α mating type-specific bands and were assumed to be of the α mating type. The majority of environmental isolates were also of the α mating type, but the a mating type was located in two separate areas. In one area, the a mating type outnumbered the α mating type by 27:2, but in the second area, the ratio of the two mating types was close to the 50:50 ratio expected for sexual recombination.
Private Investment in ICT Sector of Indian States

This paper provides a framework to estimate private investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Indian states and explores the determinants using panel regression methods covering the period from 1999–2000 to 2004–05. There is no study dealing with these issues in the Indian context, importantly due to the paucity of data. The study finds that there is high variation in private investment in ICT sector across the states. The factors including labour productivity, agglomeration of economy, Research and Development, physical infrastructures, ICT sector specific infrastructure and human resources, and state’s wealth explain the inter-state variation in private investment in ICT sector in the Indian states. As investment in the ICT sector is mainly sourced from the private sector, and has a crucial role in the process of economic growth in India, the policy makers should lay emphasis on these factors influencing the private investment in ICT sector to reduce the disparity in economic growth across states.
A Novel 3D Indoor Localization Scheme Using Virtual Access Point

The global positioning system (GPS) is a popular choice for accurate location sensing and is often used in navigation systems. However, GPS fails to operate inside buildings because satellite signals are blocked. Thus, GPS cannot be used for localization indoors. Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish between the different floors. Research to overcome this problem using the ultrawideband (UWB), radio frequency identification (RFID), and infrared ray (IR) has been conducted. These methods, however, have drawbacks, such as the need for an additional communication module and database. Wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) is widely installed at various locations, and using these WLAN APs can be a viable alternative. The proposed system in this paper indicates the location information in the service set identifier (SSID) of virtual AP. Therefore, merely by scanning the WLAN signals, mobile users can detect their location indoors.
ABC implementation in public and private sectors in both developed and developing countries

This article reviews management accounting research on Activity Based Accounting. In this review, we focus on different issues, such as how academics and practitioners in public and private sections pay attention to Activity Based Costing and Time Driven Activity Based Costing; why and how they implemented globally; why they do not implemented by considerable public and private companies; what are the strengths and weaknesses in the adoption process. The review includes both developing and developed countries to come to an overall insight about the matter. The results show that although ABC system has many advantages compared to traditional system but it suffers some disadvantages. These weaknesses make ABC hard to be implemented while some the weaknesses have eliminated in TDABC.
Development and standardization of a new telephonic cognitive screening test: the Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Screen (MCAS).

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of a telephonically administered cognitive screening battery, consisting of nine brief tests (orientation, attention, delayed word recall, comprehension, repetition, naming, computation, judgment, and verbal fluency), to distinguish between patients with dementia and healthy control subjects. BACKGROUND Existing telephonic screening instruments do not take full advantage of strategies that might increase precision. METHODS A total of 228 elderly individuals received a telephone assessment of cognitive function (99 mildly to moderately demented nursing home residents with an established diagnosis of dementia residing in 1 of 12 nursing facilities, and 129 community-dwelling elderly individuals who were independently screened to verify normal cognitive function). RESULTS Nurses and psychologists experienced in telephonic test administration typically completed the screening with each subject in less than 20 minutes. At the 100% sensitivity level, the test battery had a specificity of 87%. The post hoc optimal cut-score of the discriminant analysis yielded a sensitivity of 97.5% and a specificity of 98.5%. The split-half reliability of the test battery was 0.91. The more powerfully predictive subtests were orientation, delayed word recall, verbal fluency, computation, and judgment. CONCLUSIONS This telephonic screening instrument appears to have promise to distinguish, with high precision, healthy elderly individuals from those individuals with cognitive impairment. The Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Screen (MCAS) should undergo further study in unselected elderly populations to better understand its value as a screening tool.
ID-Score: A New Empirical Scoring Function Based on a Comprehensive Set of Descriptors Related to Protein-Ligand Interactions

Scoring functions have been widely used to assess protein-ligand binding affinity in structure-based drug discovery. However, currently commonly used scoring functions face some challenges including poor correlation between calculated scores and experimental binding affinities, target-dependent performance, and low sensitivity to analogues. In this account, we propose a new empirical scoring function termed ID-Score. ID-Score was established based on a comprehensive set of descriptors related to protein-ligand interactions; these descriptors cover nine categories: van der Waals interaction, hydrogen-bonding interaction, electrostatic interaction, π-system interaction, metal-ligand bonding interaction, desolvation effect, entropic loss effect, shape matching, and surface property matching. A total of 2278 complexes were used as the training set, and a modified support vector regression (SVR) algorithm was used to fit the experimental binding affinities. Evaluation results showed that ID-Score outperformed other selected commonly used scoring functions on a benchmark test set and showed considerable performance on a large independent test set. ID-Score also showed a consistent higher performance across different biological targets. Besides, it could correctly differentiate structurally similar ligands, indicating higher sensitivity to analogues. Collectively, the better performance of ID-Score enables it as a useful tool in assessing protein-ligand binding affinity in structure-based drug discovery as well as in lead optimization.
Commercial bank information: implications for the structure of banking

Commercial Bank Information: Implications for the Structure of Banking The asymmetric information banks possess about borrowers and banks' role in the payments system determine the "specialness" of banks and their unique regulatory treatment. Much of the informational advantage of banks in lending, I argue, comes from their role in payments -their unique access to the information in commercial checking accounts. I argue further that this information is primarily of value in lending to small and medium size borrowers-but not large borrowers. The information banks derive from checking accounts of small and medium commercial firms is relatively complete and comprehensible while remaining exclusive. Similar information on large borrowers is not nearly as comprehensive; large borrowers do business in many locations and, under current law, banks cannot branch widely enough to capture a large borrower's full checking business. As a consequence, the market for loans to large borrowers is quite competitive. The final step in the argument is that small banks lend to small borrowers and large banks to large borrowers. Large banks are not efficient lenders to small borrowers because of managerial diseconomies of scale, which arise from asymmetric information within the banking firm. This helps to explain the relatively weak profitability of large banks compared to smaller banks, and the slow pace of the consolidation of the banking system. The traditional rationale for regulation of smaller banks remains in place, although it has disappeared for large banks.
Short Selling and Over‐Optimism: Do Short Sellers Profit on the Australian Stock Exchange?

This paper considers short sellers’ activities when equity analysts are over-optimistic about a stock’s future performance. We use a novel dataset of daily aggregated stock lending information for stocks short sold on the Australian Security Exchange (ASX) during the period of October 2005 to January 2012. We document that there are abnormal profits on stocks short sold based on over-optimistic expectations and these profits are both statistically and economically significant. Our results suggest that short sellers are able to discern between analyst over‐optimism and valid optimism among stocks with a positive skew in analyst forecasts around the consensus.
Upper-Ocean Temperature Response to Hurricane Felix as Measured by the Bermuda Testbed Mooring

Hurricane Felix passed over the Bermuda testbed mooring on 15 August 1995, providing a unique opportunity to observe the response of the upper ocean to a hurricane. In the vicinity of Bermuda, Felix was a particularly large hurricane with hurricane-force winds over a diameter of about 300‐400 km and tropical storm‐force winds over a diameter of about 650‐800 km. Felix moved northwestward at about 25 km h21 with the eye passing about 65 km southwest of the mooring on 15 August. Peak winds reached about 135 km h21 at the mooring. Complementary satellite sea surface temperature maps show that a swath of cooler water (by about 3.58‐4.08C) was left in the wake of Felix with the mooring in the center of the wake. Prior to the passage of Felix, the mooring site was undergoing strong heating and stratification. However, this trend was dramatically interrupted by the passage of the hurricane. As Felix passed the mooring, large inertial currents (speeds of 100 cm s 21 at 25 m) were generated within the upper layer. The e-folding decay timescale of the inertial currents was about 9 days. The mixed layer depth was about 15 m before the arrival of Felix and deepened to about 45 m within three days after Felix’s passage; the temperature at 25 m decreased by approximately 3.5 8‐4.08C. Large-amplitude temperature oscillations (;1.58C) near the inertial period (inertial pumping effect) were set up by the hurricane in the seasonal thermocline resulting in vertical displacements of isotherms of approximately 15 m at 60‐70 m. Comparative scale analyses of the upper-ocean responses to Hurricane Felix and Hurricane Gloria (1985) indicate that they have several similarities.
Penile cancer in Scandinavia: Current practice and future perspectives

Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark, Department of Urology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark, Department of Urology, Orebro University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden, Department of Urology, Skane University Hospital, Malmo€, Sweden, Department of Surgery, Satakunta Central Hospital, Pori, Finland, Department of Urology, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland, Department of Surgery, St. Olavs University Hospital of Trondheim, Norway, Department of Urology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, and Surgical Division, The National University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
How could knowledge management support innovation in small to medium-sized enterprises in the UK energy sector?

The knowledge management process is crucial in fostering and sustaining competitive innovation processes that create economic and social value through the generation, development and implementation of ideas. These new ideas are behind the production of new or significantly improved products and processes. The organisations which have readily adopted and implemented KM are found to be the larger, well financed and better resourced organisations. There are many success stories of KM in large organisations, but these have not been replicated in Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This study explores how KM could be used in SMEs to support innovation. The research question was further divided into three research objectives: What are the KM goals of SMEs? What are the Innovation goals of SMEs? What association is their between KM and Innovation in SMEs which could be further explored? The research design for the project is based on a deductive research approach composed by an extensive literature review, to express an informed conceptual model, and a sector wide questionnaire survey, to identify issues emerging from practice. The questionnaire uses a purposively theoretical/conceptual model (KMOLI Cycle) deduced from the literature review. The model was improved by mapping it against KM- Innovation activities. The questionnaire tests aims to identify issues or discrepancies between the theoretical/conceptualisation and actual KM- Innovation activities. This deductive approach questioned a universe of 400 UK SMEs from the UK Energy Sector. This report presents the findings of the questionnaire as well as the findings of research project as a whole. It was found that SMEs are surprisingly innovation and KM active but lack a strategic perspective for both KM and innovation. The questionnaire highlighted a number of discrepancies for further exploration.