Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing the Influence of IS Capability on Software-as-a-Service Performance: A Relational View

The formation of clients’satisfaction in software-as-a-service (SaaS) remains unclear. Building on the relational view and outsourcing literature, this study develops a theoretical model to explain the relationships between SaaS satisfaction, relational value, and IS capabilities. Relational values are characterized as task-based value and governance-based value. IS capabilities include IS integration and IS coordination. The proposed model and hypotheses are supported by the empirical data from 255 firms. The results show that clients’satisfaction is influenced by both task-based value and governance-based value, which, in turn, are affected by IS capabilities. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings.
Effects of body mass on physiological and anatomical parameters of mature salmon: evidence against a universal heart rate scaling exponent

The influence of body mass (Mb) on the physiology of large, adult fish is poorly understood, in part because of the logistical difficulties of studying large individuals. For the first time, this study quantified the influence of Mb on the resting heart rate (fH), blood properties and organ masses of adults of a large-growing fish species, the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Surgically implanted biologgers measured fH and acceleration activity in sexually mature, male fish ranging in Mb from 2.7 to 16.8 kg while they roamed freely in a controlled water body at ∼8°C. Blood parameters (at surgery and at death) and body organ masses (at death) were measured to investigate interrelationships with Mb. The scaling exponents for both fH and acceleration activity were not significantly different from zero. The lack of scaling of fH with Mb contrasts with the situation for birds and mammals. All blood parameters were independent of Mb, while the masses of the compact myocardium, ventricle and spleen each scaled near-isometrically with Mb. These data raise the possibility that blood oxygen carrying capacity, mass-specific cardiac output and cardiac power output are maintained across Mb in adult Chinook salmon. Biologging and biotelemetry should advance investigations into the effects of Mb on the physiology and behaviour of large fish, where current knowledge lags far behind that of birds and mammals.
A new type of omnidirectional wheelchair robot for walking support and power assistance

Up to now, many robotic aids for the elderly's walking support or the disabled's walking rehabilitation are reported, and numerous electrical-powered wheelchairs are developed. In this paper, a new kind of omnidirectional wheelchair typed robot is developed. The robot not only can accomplish the walking support or walking rehabilitation as the elderly or the disabled walk, but also can realize the power assistance for a caregiver when he/she pushes the robot to move. The basic structure of the robot is described, and the omnidirectional mobility of the robot is analyzed. Further, an admittance based human-machine interaction controller is introduced for power assistance. Experiments are implemented, and the experimental results show that the pushing force can be reduced and well controlled arbitrarily as designed. The development purposes of the robot for walking support and power assistance are achieved.
Model Simulations Examining the Relationship of Lake-Effect Morphology to Lake Shape, Wind Direction, and Wind Speed

Abstract Idealized model simulations with an isolated elliptical lake and prescribed winter lake-effect environmental conditions were used to examine the influences of lake shape, wind speed, and wind direction on the mesoscale morphology. This study presents the first systematic examination of variations in lake shape and the interplay between these three parameters. The array of 21 model simulations produced cases containing each of the three classic lake-effect morphologies (i.e., vortices, shoreline bands, and widespread coverage), and, in some instances, the mesoscale circulations were composed of coexisting morphologies located over the lake, near the downwind shoreline, or inland from the downwind shore. As with lake-effect circulations simulated over circular lakes, the ratio of wind speed (U) to maximum fetch distance (L) was found to be a valuable parameter for determining the morphology of a lake-effect circulation when variations of lake shape, wind speed, and wind direction were introduced. F.
Differentiable Pooling for Hierarchical Feature Learning

We introduce a parametric form of pooling, based on a Gaussian, which can be optimized alongside the features in a single global objective function. By contrast, existing pooling schemes are based on heuristics (e.g. local maximum) and have no clear link to the cost function of the model. Furthermore, the variables of the Gaussian explicitly store location information, distinct from the appearance captured by the features, thus providing a what/where decomposition of the input signal. Although the differentiable pooling scheme can be incorporated in a wide range of hierarchical models, we demonstrate it in the context of a Deconvolutional Network model (Zeiler et al. ICCV 2011). We also explore a number of secondary issues within this model and present detailed experiments on MNIST digits.
Blind channel estimation for downlink CDMA systems

The problem of channel estimation in code division multiple access (CDMA) systems are considered. Using only the spreading code of the user of interest, a technique is proposed to identify the impulse response of the multipath channel from the received data sequence. While existing blind methods suffer from high computational complexity and sensitivity to accurate knowledge of the noise subspace rank, the proposed method overcomes both problems. In particular we estimate the noise subspace by a simple matrix power that is computationally efficient and requires no knowledge of the noise subspace rank. Once an estimate of the noise subspace is available the channel impulse response can be directly identified through a small size SVD or a least squares approach. Extensive simulations demonstrate similar performance of our method as compared to the existing schemes but a considerably lower computational cost.
Revisiting Wage, Earnings, and Hours Profiles

We document empirical life cycle profiles of wages, earnings, and hours of work for pay from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, following the same workers for up to four decades along the intensive margin of labor supply. For six of the eight cohorts we analyze the wage profile does not decline with age, while the earnings profile always does. The discrepancy is explained by a sharp drop of the hours profile beginning shortly after age 50, when many workers start a smooth transition into retirement by working progressively fewer hours. This pattern is not an artifact of staggered abrupt retirement, and is robust to attrition- and selection correction (i.e., to taking into account that the composition of our sample, for a given cohort, changes over time). We explore the nontrivial restrictions on dynamic models of the aggregate economy that this evidence suggests, and we provide numerical profiles that can be readily used in quantitative macroeconomic analysis.
Preparation and Characterization of Magnetic Toner Particles by Direct Polymerization Method

In this study a kind of black toner, containing polymer, magnetic iron oxide pigment, and several other additives, was prepared by a suspension polymerization method. The morphology, influence factor of particle size, and glass transition of prepared toner were discussed. SEM image showed that the produced micron-sized particles have a spherical surface and the various chemicals were mixed into monomers during manufacturing of the particles. Discussion about particle formation and stability concluded that the toner particle size related with stabilizer concentration, stirrer speed, and crosslinking agent concentration. The bigger particles, resulted from droplets coalescence during polymerization process, disappeared when enough PVA stabilizer was used in the aqueous medium. Increasing the stirrer speed corresponded to the decrease of the particles size. But any increase in stirrer speed t did not contribute to size reduction in small particles below 2μm. It was found that particle size decrease with the addition of crosslinking agent. The DSC result indicated the glass transition of polymerized toner could be effectively adjusted according to Fox equation through change the monomer ratio.
Treatment Outcome in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Evaluated with the GOSLON Yardstick: A Meta-Analysis of 1236 Patients

Background: The goal of this study was to assess determinants for treatment outcome in unilateral cleft lip and palate, evaluated according to the Great Ormond Street London and Oslo (GOSLON) Yardstick and 5-year-index ratings by means of a meta-analysis. Methods: Multiple databases were searched for publications in which patient groups were evaluated by GOSLON ranking or the GOSLON-like 5-year index. From the 15 selected publications, the following background variables could be extracted and were evaluated as determinants for treatment outcome in unilateral cleft lip and palate: year of birth, average age of the patient at the time of GOSLON classification, racial background, presence of Simonart’s band, infant orthopedics, palatal closure before the age of 3 versus palatal closure at a later age, bone graft, and number of surgeons. Results: The total number of patients included in the meta-analysis was 1236. Patients whose soft and hard palate were closed before the age of 3 presented significantly poorer (p = 0.003) GOSLON scores (mean score, 2.9; SD 0.4) than patients whose palate was closed at a later age (mean GOSLON score, 2.3; SD 0.2). Conclusions: Delayed palatal closure generally results in better dental arch relationships than early palatal closure. Well-designed, randomized clinical trials are required for further investigation of the optimal timing for palatal closure.
Some Moisture Relations of Colloids. I. A Comparative Study of the Rates of Evaporation of Water from Wool, Sand and Clay

The operation of drying is one of dominating importance in many branches of industry, among which may be mentioned the drying and seasoning of timber and textiles, the curing of tea and tobacco, the manufacture of photographic films, glue and gelatin, pottery, paper, paints and varnishes, toffees, macaroni, milk and other dried foods and fruits; and “air-processing,” as it is called in America, is, in itself, an industry of considerable magnitude. It is not surprising, therefore, that much attention has been given by chemical engineers to the design of drying-plant, and a considerable literature on this subject exists. The theoretical side of the subject, however, has not been so thoroughly developed, and there are many gaps in our knowledge of the factors underlying the process of the evaporation of water from colloid materials. There are two main groups of factors governing the rate of evaporation of water from any kind of material. The first group is fairly well understood, and comprises all those factors that are external to the material concerned, such as the temperature and humidity of the drying atmosphere, and the effective velocity of the air over the surface of the stock. These factors are known generally as the “drying conditions. ” The second group comprises what may be termed the internal factors, such as the chemical and physical properties of the material being dried and the changes that occur in these as the drying proceeds. These factors have not been so thoroughly investigated as the drying conditions, possibly on account of the difficulty of treating them from a purely physical and thermo-dynamic standpoint. They are, however, of no less importance industrially, while their study as a purely scientific problem is of much interest and may throw some light on the physical and physico-chemical nature of colloid materials. Moisture may exist in materials in at least two distinct forms: as free moisture adhering to the material and with a vapour pressure equal to that of water in bulk, and as “sorbed” moisture, the vapour pressure of which is always less than that of water in bulk. The rate of evaporation of water, under constant drying conditions, at any instant per unit of surface is proportional to the difference between the vapour pressure of the evaporating water and the pressure of the water-vapour in the adjacent atmosphere, i. e.
Differences in Circadian Pattern of Ambulatory Pulse Pressure Between Healthy and Complicated Pregnancies

With the use of ambulatory monitoring, a circadian blood pressure pattern has been shown to characterize normotensive as well as hypertensive pregnant women. However, the potential differences between healthy and complicated pregnancies in pulse pressure, an independent marker of cardiovascular risk in the general population, have not yet been investigated. We analyzed 2523 blood pressure series sampled for 48 hours once every 4 weeks from the first obstetric visit until delivery in 245 women with uncomplicated pregnancies, 140 with gestational hypertension, and 49 who developed preeclampsia. Compared with uncomplicated pregnancies, a statistically significant elevation in the 24-hour mean of pulse pressure is found in complicated pregnancies in all trimesters (P<0.001). Results further indicate similar 24-hour mean of pulse pressure between gestational hypertension and preeclampsia in the first trimester of pregnancy (P=0.158). The increase in pulse pressure among women who developed preeclampsia compared with women with gestational hypertension, although small, was statistically significant in the second trimester (1.4 mm Hg; P=0.010) and, to a larger extent, in the third trimester of pregnancy (1.8 mm Hg; P<0.001). The differences in pulse pressure between healthy and complicated pregnancies, observed already in the first trimester of gestation, are found when systolic and diastolic blood pressure for women with a later diagnosis of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia are within the accepted range of normotension. Moreover, ambulatory pulse pressure provides higher sensitivity than clinic measurements for the diagnosis of hypertension in pregnancy.
Cleavage by Caspase 8 and Mitochondrial Membrane Association Activate the BH3-only Protein Bid during TRAIL-induced Apoptosis*

The BH3-only protein Bid is known as a critical mediator of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis following death receptor activation. However, since full-length Bid possesses potent apoptotic activity, the role of a caspase-mediated Bid cleavage is not established in vivo. In addition, due to the fact that multiple caspases cleave Bid at the same site in vitro, the identity of the Bid-cleaving caspase during death receptor signaling remains uncertain. Moreover, as Bid maintains its overall structure following its cleavage by caspase 8, it remains unclear how Bid is activated upon cleavage. Here, Bid-deficient (Bid KO) colon cancer cells were generated by gene editing, and were reconstituted with wild-type or mutants of Bid. While the loss of Bid blocked apoptosis following treatment by TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), this blockade was relieved by re-introduction of the wild-type Bid. In contrast, the caspase-resistant mutant BidD60E and a BH3 defective mutant BidG94E failed to restore TRAIL-induced apoptosis. By generating Bid/Bax/Bak-deficient (TKO) cells, we demonstrated that Bid is primarily cleaved by caspase 8, not by effector caspases, to give rise to truncated Bid (tBid) upon TRAIL treatment. Importantly, despite the presence of an intact BH3 domain, a tBid mutant lacking the mitochondrial targeting helices (α6 and α7) showed diminished apoptotic activity. Together, these results for the first time establish that cleavage by caspase 8 and the subsequent association with the outer mitochondrial membrane are two critical events that activate Bid during death receptor-mediated apoptosis.
Real‐time 3D image registration for functional MRI

Subject head movements are one of the main practical difficulties with brain functional MRI. A fast, accurate method for rotating and shifting a three‐dimensional (3D) image using a shear factorization of the rotation matrix is described. Combined with gradient descent (repeated linearization) on a least squares objective function, 3D image realignment for small movements can be computed as rapidly as whole brain images can be acquired on current scanners. Magn Reson Med 42:1014–1018, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Conception of a Phosphene based Visual System - A Functionnal Approach

: This work falls within the broader framework of visual prostheses conception for blind people suffering from a retina photoreceptor cells degenerative disease. Studies on the issue of informational content of the prosthetic vision propose, in majority, a simple reduction in the resolution of greyscale images from a single camera. Our work proposes a novel approach based on functional vision. This functional vision is dedicated to specific needs in mobility, and is based on a simple analysis and less ambiguous representation of the scene layout. Emphasis is placed on the usefulness of providing access to 3D information combined with the use of an eye tracking device that should greatly improve spatial knowledge acquisition. This work presents extraction and proper formatting of data from optical sensors in order to establish a coherent vision based on the generation of a limited number of phosphenes.
Towards multi-level modeling of self-assembling intelligent micro-systems

We investigate and model the dynamics of two-dimensional stochastic self-assembly of intelligent micro-systems with minimal requirements in terms of sensing, actuation, and control. A microscopic agent-based model accounts for spatiality and serves as a baseline for assessing the accuracy of models at higher abstraction level. Spatiality is relaxed in Monte Carlo simulations, which still capture the binding energy of each individual aggregate. Finally, we introduce a macroscopic model that only keeps track of the average number of aggregates in each energy state. This model is able to quantitatively and qualitatively predict the dynamics observed at lower, more detailed modeling levels. Since we investigate an idealized system, thus making very few assumptions about the exact nature of the final target system, our framework is potentially applicable to a large body of self-assembling agents ranging from functional micro-robots endowed with simple sensors and actuators to elementary microfabricated parts. In particular, we show how our suite of models at different abstraction levels can be used for optimizing both the design of the building blocks and the control of the stochastic process.
Optimal Analytical Solution for a Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer System with One Transmitter and Two Receivers

Wireless power transfer from one transmitter to multiple receivers through inductive coupling is slowly entering the market. However, for certain applications, capacitive wireless power transfer (CWPT) using electric coupling might be preferable. In this work, we determine closed-form expressions for a CWPT system with one transmitter and two receivers. We determine the optimal solution for two design requirements: (i) maximum power transfer, and (ii) maximum system efficiency. We derive the optimal loads and provide the analytical expressions for the efficiency and power. We show that the optimal load conductances for the maximum power configuration are always larger than for the maximum efficiency configuration. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that if the receivers are coupled, this can be compensated for by introducing susceptances that have the same value for both configurations. Finally, we numerically verify our results. We illustrate the similarities to the inductive wireless power transfer (IWPT) solution and find that the same, but dual, expressions apply.
Silanizing Glassware

This unit presents a procedure to silanize (siliconize) glassware to prevent adsorption of solute to the glass surface or to increase its hydrophobicity. This is particularly important when dealing with low concentrations of particularly “sticky” solutes such as single‐stranded nucleic acids or proteins.
Electrical properties of polyamide/ polyaniline composite films

Surface conductive composites consisting of polyamide 6 (PA-6) polymer films and conductive polyaniline (PANI) particles were chemically elaborated by in situ polymerization of aniline inside the PA-6 matrix, at room temperature. The obtained composites were investigated regarding to their electrical properties. We have measured the frequency dependence of permittivity of these antistatic polymer films (ASPF). Surface conductivity was also characterized using potential decay technique. The enhanced surface conductivity was due to percolation of PANI phase in the surface layer of PA-6 films.
Digital assistance of nasogastric tube insertion in intubated patients under general anesthesia: A single-blinded prospective randomized study

Background: Nasogastric tube (NGT) insertion may pose a special problem in patients under general anesthesia with first attempt failure rates up to 50%. To increase insertion success rate and decreases related complications, several techniques have been developed. In this study, digital assistance technique is compared to the classic insertion technique in neck flexion. Materials and Methods: In this prospective randomized study, 160 patients were randomly allocated into two groups; control group (Group C, n = 80) where NGT tube will be inserted with the neck in flexion position and digital facilitation group (Group D, n = 80). Results: Overall success rate and first attempt success were statistically higher in Group D compared to Group C (94% vs. 81%, P= 0.02, 80% vs. 62%, P= 0.01 respectively) with significantly lower insertion time in Group D (13 ± 5 s. vs. 10 ± 3 s., P= 0.00). Conclusions: Digital assistance of NGT insertion in the anesthetized or unconscious patient is an effective, fast, and safe method that can be either used as a routine technique or as a rescue in case of failed other methods.