Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vision Based Hand Gesture Recognition Using Generative and Discriminative Stochastic Models

—Many approaches to pattern recognition are founded on probability theory, and can be broadly characterized as either generative or discriminative according to whether or not the distribution of the image features. Generative and discriminative models have very different characteristics, as well as complementary strengths and weaknesses. In this paper, we study these models to recognize the patterns of alphabet characters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9). To handle isolated pattern, generative model as Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and discriminative models like Conditional Random Field (CRF), Hidden Conditional Random Field (HCRF) and Latent-Dynamic Conditional Random Field (LDCRF) with different number of window size are applied on extracted pattern features. The gesture recognition rate is improved initially as the window size increase, but degrades as window size increase further. Experimental results show that the LDCRF is the best in terms of results than CRF, HCRF and HMM at window size equal 4. Additionally, our results show that; an overall recognition rates are 91.52%, 95.28%, 96.94% and 98.05% for CRF, HCRF, HMM and LDCRF respectively.
ULTRAPETALA trxG Genes Interact with KANADI Transcription Factor Genes to Regulate Arabidopsis Gynoecium Patterning[C][W][OPEN]

This study uncovers a link between the chromatin-modifying protein ULTRAPETALA1 (ULT1) and the transcription factor KANADI1 (KAN1) in the regulation of Arabidopsis organ patterning. These genes act oppositely to direct adaxial-abaxial axis formation in the developing fruit, whereas they work together with ULT2 and KAN2 to direct apical-basal axis formation by promoting basal identity. Organ formation relies upon precise patterns of gene expression that are under tight spatial and temporal regulation. Transcription patterns are specified by several cellular processes during development, including chromatin remodeling, but little is known about how chromatin-remodeling factors contribute to plant organogenesis. We demonstrate that the trithorax group (trxG) gene ULTRAPETALA1 (ULT1) and the GARP transcription factor gene KANADI1 (KAN1) organize the Arabidopsis thaliana gynoecium along two distinct polarity axes. We show that ULT1 activity is required for the kan1 adaxialized polarity defect, indicating that ULT1 and KAN1 act oppositely to regulate the adaxial-abaxial axis. Conversely, ULT1 and KAN1 together establish apical-basal polarity by promoting basal cell fate in the gynoecium, restricting the expression domain of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor gene SPATULA. Finally, we show that ult alleles display dose-dependent genetic interactions with kan alleles and that ULT and KAN proteins can associate physically. Our findings identify a dual role for plant trxG factors in organ patterning, with ULT1 and KAN1 acting antagonistically to pattern the adaxial-abaxial polarity axis but jointly to pattern the apical-basal axis. Our data indicate that the ULT proteins function to link chromatin-remodeling factors with DNA binding transcription factors to regulate target gene expression.
POLYMERIC CORE‐SHELL NANOPARTICLES FOR THERAPEUTICS

1 Nanobiotechnologies have recently attracted significant attention from chemists, biologists, engineers and pharmaceutical scientists. In particular, they have been widely applied to improve drug, protein/peptide and gene delivery. 2 This review presents recent advances in the field of drug, protein/peptide and gene delivery using natural and synthetic polymer nanoparticles and explains how polymeric nanoparticles are specifically designed to suit the needs for targeted delivery of small molecular drugs, proteins/peptides and genes. In addition, some of the challenges and prospects for these technologies are discussed.
Developing a framework for sustainable growth of flexible learning opportunities

ABSTRACT Flexible learning increases access to higher education, particularly for traditionally undeserved students. First-time entrants, who may lack the cultural capital to be successful, may also be more likely to participate in flexible learning than traditional students, and particularly in online and blended courses. We posit that success for all students enrolling in flexible forms of learning can be achieved through course design and responsive pedagogies. For these efforts to be successful, competency frameworks must be developed, and initial and ongoing training provided for teaching staff. This paper discusses a theory-based and practice-informed framework for the scalable expansion of flexible learning, which in our case, encompassed online learning, blended learning, competency-based education, and open educational resources. We provide a context for the framework, introduce the framework, discuss the steps for developing and implementing it, and share initial findings and implications.
GLOBAL PRODUCTION NETWORKS and KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER MECHANISIMS

This paper aims to examine existing knowledge transfer mechanisims in global production networks within the changing pattern of international trade and industrial upgrading process in several sectors from 1990s to present. East Asian countries constitute the essential interest field of the study. This paper discusses the role of Multinational Companies, advantages of attendance to GPNs, especially in terms of knowledge diffusion and its contributions to local capability creation and how can developing countries get far within these paradigms.Altough developments in the field of information and communication technologies has made access and transfer of information and data(mostly codified knowledge) fundamentally easier since 1990s, it remains limited for some knowledge types which involves a certain degree of tacitness.In this paper,different tacit knowledge types will also be discussed and GPN will be taken as an effective knowledge sharing platform where knowledge management practices of MNCs play a key role on knowledge diffusion
A Review of the Primary-Control Techniques for the Islanded Microgrids

The growing interest in sharing the renewable-energy resources in power microgrids presents major challenge from the perspective of reliable operation and control of the power systems. The issue of the microgrids autonomous control has received a considerable attention in the last decade. As the architecture of the power system control, a hierarchical control scheme can be implemented for the islanded microgrids. So far, various concepts for the hierarchical control of the microgrids have been developed. In this paper, the most up-to-date primary control techniques for an autonomous operation of the microgrids are presented and droop-based and non-droop-based power-sharing approaches are comprehensively compared. The simulation results are used to improve and support the concept of the droop-based primary control in an islanded mode. Finally, a brief summary and a critical assessments of the findings are given.
PENGARUH ISLAMIC STORE ATTRIBUTES TERHADAP PATRONAGE BEHAVIOR MELALUI COSTUMER SATISFACTION PADA ISLAMIC BASED STORE

Abstract This research aims to determine the effect of islamic store attributes (muslim products, islamic store atmosphere, humanistic, halal product sertification, and islamic values) to patronage behavior with customer satisfaction as intervening. The object is Tip Top Supermarket in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, with 100 respondents as sample, using validity test, reliability test, t test, coefficient of determination, and path analysis as research method. The result shows that only islamic values effects directly or indirectly (via customer satisfaction) to patronage behavior, while humanistic and halal product sertification effect only indirectly to patronage behavior via customer satisfaction. Keywords : islamic store attributes, patronage behavior, customer satisfaction Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh atribut toko Islam (produk muslim, suasana toko islami, humanistik, sertifikasi produk halal, dan nilai-nilai islam) untuk perilaku patronase dengan kepuasan pelanggan sebagai intervensi. Objek penelitian adalah Tip Top Supermarket di Rawamangun, Jakarta Timur, dengan 100 responden sebagai sampel, menggunakan uji validitas, uji reliabilitas, uji t, koefisien determinasi, dan analisis jalur sebagai metode penelitian. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hanya nilai-nilai islam yang berpengaruh langsung atau tidak langsung (melalui kepuasan pelanggan) terhadap perilaku patronase, sementara sertifikasi produk humanistik dan halal hanya berpengaruh secara tidak langsung terhadap perilaku patronase melalui kepuasan pelanggan. Kata kunci: atribut toko islami, perilaku patronase, kepuasan pelanggan
The effects of a 4-week static stretching programme on the individual muscles comprising the hamstrings

ABSTRACT The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of a 4-week intervention of static stretching (SS) on muscle hardness of the semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles. Shear elastic modulus was measured by using ultrasound shear wave elastography as the index of muscle hardness. Thirty healthy men (age 22.7 ± 2.2 years) volunteered for this study and were randomly assigned to the SS intervention group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 15). Participants in the SS intervention group received a 4-week stretch intervention for the hamstrings of their dominant leg. Shear elastic moduli of the hamstrings were measured at initial evaluation and after 4 weeks in both groups at a determined angle. In all muscles, the shear elastic modulus decreased significantly after SS intervention. The percentage change in the shear elastic modulus from the value at initial evaluation to after 4 weeks intervention was greatest in the SM. These results suggest that SS intervention has chronic effects on reducing hardness of the hamstring muscle components, especially the SM muscle.
Enteric nervous system patterning in the avian hindgut

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is principally derived from vagal and sacral neural crest cells that migrate throughout the gastrointestinal tract before differentiating into neurons and glia. These cells form two concentric rings of ganglia and regulate intestinal motility, absorption, and secretion. Abnormalities of ENS development can lead to disorders of intestinal function, including Hirschsprung's disease. These disorders are generally limited to the distal hindgut, suggesting unique features to development of this region. This study characterized the normal spatiotemporal development of the ENS within the avian hindgut. Neural crest cells begin to populate the hindgut at E8, with patterning of both plexuses complete by embryonic day 9. Crest‐derived cells arrive in the submucosal layer before the myenteric layer, as well as differentiate to a neuronal phenotype first. The cloaca demonstrates a unique pattern, characterized by a disorganized myenteric plexus and a flattened nerve of Remak. Detailed understanding of normal avian hindgut ENS development will allow better utilization of this model system to study abnormalities of the intestinal nervous system. Developmental Dynamics 229:708–712, 2004 © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bayesian Network with Decision Threshold for Heart Beat Classification

This work proposes a Dynamic Bayesian Network approach (BN) to support medical decision making in the problem of beat classification in electrocardiograms. The BN takes the uncertainty into consideration when making a decision every time new evidence is available. Moreover, the certainty related to the beat classification can be controlled through a threshold adjusted by the specialist. The performance of the BN based classifier is assessed through the MIT-BIH database, considering two beat classes: Premature Ventricular Beat (PVC class) and Other (gathering all other beat classes). The BN with probability threshold of 0.75 achieved scores of Sensitivity and Positive Predictive of 99% for the PVC beats. The results show that the BN framework is a promising tool for classifying cardiac arrhythmias.
Battle of the bulge: an analysis of the obesity prevention campaigns in the United States and Germany

Obesity is not a problem exclusive to the United States. The European Union Commission for Health and Consumer Protection admits that obesity is the major emerging threat to public health in Europe. As a recent survey suggested that the prevalence of obese men and women has approximately doubled in both countries within the last 20 years, this study compares the message elements and linguistic tactics used in either campaign of those two countries to highlight differences and similarities. The current US obesity prevention campaign is based on sound research and preparation and disseminates memorable and inspiring messages. The educational, help‐for‐self‐help focus on the individual disseminated through mass media is a trademark of this campaign. The German campaign attempts to interact extensively with the public, local government and the professions, and focuses on public participation in healthy behaviors, generally emphasizing call‐to‐action activities over educational media messages. This study maintains that obesity communication research should find ways to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness and success rate of efforts taking place in other areas and other countries. In addition, in order to facilitate active thought about health messages in the absence of a perceived need, introduced guidelines relating to presentation of content and linguistic variables that motivate cognitive effort should be considered.
Importance Of Corporate Social Responsibility In Strengthening Brand Equity

This study was conducted to explore the influence of corporate social responsibility on the formation of brand equity in the fast food industry. In past researches, only few scholars intended to inspect the linkages between corporate social responsibility and brand equity in Malaysian market. Thus, this paper is planned to contribute to the theoretical and empirical literature by examining the stated variables in Malaysian context. The data in this study were gathered from the visitors of fast food restaurants in Eastern part of Malaysia through a survey instrument and convenience sampling approach. AMOS 18 was employed for the analysis of obtained responses. Overall, the findings showed that corporate social responsibility has a significant positive influence on brand equity. Additionally, the results indicated that the effect of corporate social responsibility on the components of brand equity (brand image, brand preference, brand leadership, and brand loyalty) is positive and significant. These results show that the integration of corporate social responsibility in business strategies could enable firms to generate better brand equity and influence consumer behaviour.
Identification and Characterization of a Novel Line ofDrosophila Schneider S2 Cells That Respond to Wingless Signaling*

Wingless (Wg) treatment of Drosophilawing disc clone 8 cells leads to Armadillo (Arm) protein elevation, and this effect has been used as the basis of in vitro assays for Wg protein. Previously analyzed stocks of DrosophilaSchneider S2 cells could not respond to added Wg, because they lack the Wg receptor, Dfrizzled-2. However, we found that a line of S2 cells obtained from another source express Dfrizzled-2 and Dfrizzled-1. Thus, we designated this cell line as S2R+ (S2 receptor plus). S2R+ cells respond to addition of extracellular Wg by elevating Arm and DE-cadherin protein levels and by hyperphosphorylating Dsh, just as clone 8 cells do. Moreover, overexpression of Wg in S2R+, but not in S2 cells, induced the same changes in Dsh, Arm, and DE-cadherin proteins as induced in clone 8 cells, indicating that these events are common effects of Wg signaling, which occurs in cells expressing functional Wg receptors. In addition, unphosphorylated Dsh protein in S2 cells was phosphorylated as a consequence of expression of Dfrizzled-2 or mouse Frizzled-6, suggesting that basal structures common to various frizzled family proteins trigger this phosphorylation of Dsh. S2R+ cells are as sensitive to Wg as are clone 8 cells but can grow in simpler medium. Therefore, the S2R+ cell line is likely to prove highly useful for in vitro analyses of Wg signaling.
Tumour targeting: biological factors and formulation advances in injectable lipid nanoparticles

Cancer chemotherapeutic agents are often administered systemically. Following systemic administration, numerous biological factors associated with the tumours influence the delivery of the drugs to the tumours. These factors have been extensively studied for the last 2 decades. The influence of these biological factors has brought about a drastic change in the design of drug delivery systems to solid tumours. This review discusses the various biological factors influencing drug delivery to tumours and the subsequent development of injectable delivery systems (i.e., lipid‐based nanoparticles (SLNs)) for adequate delivery of drug to solid tumours.
Clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from adenomyosis mimicking leiomyoma: A case report

The incidence of cancer from adenomyosis is rare. Previously, only two cases of clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) arising from adenomyosis have been reported in English literature. Here, we report a case of CCA arising from adenomyosis. A 52-year-old postmenopausal Korean woman presented with complaints of vaginal bleeding and back pain. Endometrial biopsy revealed endometrial polyp with atrophic change and transvaginal ultrasonography showed myomas with cystic change. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic degenerative mass consistent with leiomyoma in the posterior portion of uterus body. And the serum level of CA-125 was 17.7 U/mL. Hysterectomy revealed a yellow-ten solid mass in the myometrium that was diagnosed as CCA arising from adenomyosis. The tumor was mainly located in the myometrium and transition between adenomyosis and CCA along with endometrial stromal cell was identifi ed. Malignant tumor arising from adenomyosis could be considered as a differential diagnosis when the patient with adenomyosis and intact endometrial surface complained of vaginal bleeding.
On the Importance of Easing Consumer Credit Frictions

The vast bulk of the government financial interventions during the Great Recession was directed at helping banks weather the financial crisis. The design of these programs was heavily influenced by the view that helping banks preserve their means of providing finance to firms was the most important ingredient in ensuring a quick recovery from the crisis. We argue that the cross-state patterns of employment, output and debt in the United States suggest that financial frictions that led to a tightening of credit to consumers were more important in accounting for the recession than those that led to a tightening of credit to firms. Our analysis implies that policies designed to ease consumer credit conditions would have been more effective at ensuring a rapid recovery than the policies actually adopted that focused on easing firm credit conditions.
PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LIPASE FROM BACTERIA

Lipases are industrially important enzymes and are produced by a variety of microorganisms. The purpose of this study was purification and characterization of lipase enzyme from lipase producing strains, LBCK and LBPC1. Both the strains showed positive results for lipase activity in different substrates i.e, Olive oil, Mustard oil and Tributryne. Quantitative assay was done using P-nitro phenyl acetic acid. The optimum pH of the enzyme was investigated at neutral pH. Although the bacterial optimum growth temperature is 30 0 C, lipase enzyme showed activity even at above temperatures also. Purification of lipase was done by column chromatography and purified protein bands were observed through PAGE electrophoresis. Further purification process can be allowed to get better enzyme activity. Also mass spectrometry can be used to identify amino acid sequence of enzyme after further purification.
Validity and Reliability of The Safety Climate Measurement in Malaysia

Organizations started giving attention to organizational and management impact on safety performance particularly the function of safety climate. Inconsistency concerning the appropriate elements that should be in safety climate scale has called for an assessment of the safety climate construct. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of attitudes and perceptions of safety that are related to safety climate in the workplace. The Safety Climate Assessment Scale (SCAS) was administered to 372 employees ranging from physician to support staff. Analysis of data was done using statistical analysis from the SPSS version twelve. Safety experts reviewed the content validity of the safety climate measurement. Construct validity was analyzed by the exploratory factor analysis, and concurrent validity was examined by correlations. Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure internal consistency reliability. The results revealed acceptable internal consistency reliability, content validity, construct validity and concurrent validity for the SCAS. The SCAS scores had acceptable overall internal consistency reliability (r = .950). The correlation analysis indicated that scores on the 10 dimension scales of safety climate were moderately dependable.
The Influence of Social Factors on Life Satisfaction in Old Age

Research question (RQ): What is the connection between social factors and life satisfaction in old age? Purpose: The purpose of this research was to establish the influence of social factors on life satisfaction in old age. Method: The quantitative research method was used, a causal non-experimental method. As sampling data technique we used the technique of a survey questionnaire in ten statistical regions. For the analysis of causal effects and conditional associations we used the advanced statistical propensity score methods (Rubin, 2006). From the statistical set a simple random sample was chosen, we decided on proportionate stratification. For measuring life satisfaction we used Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener), to which we added questions in order to study social factors. The research included 656 older adults aged 65 years and above, living in the home environment or in social care institutions. Results: Closely connected to life satisfaction in old age is the living conditions index (housing conditions, environment, financial situation, safety), whereas the lifestyle index (physical activity, nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption) is less closely connected. Discussion: Life satisfaction in old age is importantly influenced by social factors – suitable living conditions and less influenced by a healthy lifestyle, both of which allow for a quality life also in old age. Society: The research has an important influence on the society, as too little attention is being devoted to the phenomenon of ageing. By alerting the public we wish to contribute towards the detabuisation of ageing and ageism. For the stable healthcare system it is important that older adults remain healthy, independent and satisfied. Originality: The originality of the research is in the studying of social factor in the holistic model of satisfaction with life in the old age, which also includes physical, psychological and spiritual factors. Limitations/further research: The conducted research has its limitations in the chosen methodology and sample size. The results are the result of analysis, which was made on wellbalanced study plan, therefore the results can be generalized to the population of older adults (65 years and above). In the future it will be necessary to pay attention to the study of elements of respective social factors indexes, and their influence on life satisfaction.