Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems ( MCIS ) 2009 The Impact Of Virtual Communities On E-loyalty . A Conceptual Framework

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) adoption is both a relevant research topic in academia and a challenge for practitioners. We understand CRM as a complex concept that includes technology, strategy and philosophy. In this research, we propose an analysis of CRM organisational dynamic capabilities. The main goal is to apply a dynamic capabilities perspective to analyse how companies can improve their CRM initiatives. In order to achieve this purpose, a qualitative, interpretative, case-based research strategy was implemented. We conducted a case study in a Portuguese telecommunication enterprise for one year. The case study was based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis. We used qualitative techniques to analyse the collected data and ground our interpretation in a dynamic capabilities theoretical approach. We propose a theoretical framework related to CRM dynamic capability that is corroborated with empirical evidence. We believe that because organisations which adopt a CRM strategy are in a competitive environment, a dynamic model needs to be used to analyse and explain how they can improve their CRM strategy in order to achieve success.
Assessment of Femoral Antetorsion With MRI: Comparison of Oblique Measurements to Standard Transverse Measurements.

OBJECTIVE Abnormal femoral antetorsion is associated with the development of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Anatomically correct antetorsion measurements are performed on transverse MR images over the proximal and distal femur, but some authors use alternative measurements on oblique images parallel to the femoral neck axis. We set out to assess the relationship between these two measurement methods and to obtain reference values for oblique measurements in patients with FAI and healthy control subjects. We also evaluated whether the oblique measurements could be used to predict the standard transverse measurements. SUBJECTS AND METHODS MRI data of 126 individuals, 63 asymptomatic volunteers and 63 patients with FAI (age 20-50 years), were included in this prospective study. Two readers independently assessed antetorsion with oblique measurements and standard transverse measurements. Differences between subgroups were compared with the unpaired t test. Trigonometric calculations were used to predict standard antetorsion measurements on the basis of oblique measurements. Interobserver agreement and Bland-Altman plots were calculated. RESULTS Reference values for assessing femoral antetorsion with the oblique method were established, with mean (± SD) values of 9.4° ± 7.9° (reader 1) and 9.8° ± 8.4° (reader 2) for patients and 9.2° ± 8.4° (reader 1) and 9.6° ± 9.1° (reader 2) for asymptomatic volunteers. The oblique method generated smaller antetorsion values than the standard transverse method (p < 0.001), with an average difference of 3.5° ± 3.2° for reader 1 and 3.6° ± 3.5° for reader 2. Differences between predicted antetorsion values based on oblique measurements and standard measurements were minimal: 0.1° ± 2.9° (p = 0.62) for reader 1 and 0.3° ± 3.3° (p = 0.29) for reader 2. Interobserver agreement was high for all antetorsion measurements (intra-class correlation coefficient, 0.945-0.977). CONCLUSION Oblique measurements of femoral antetorsion were smaller than standard transverse measurements, but they can be used to accurately predict standard measurements.
Subspace learning for face verification

Face verification has been widely studied due to its importance in surveillance and forensics applications. In this paper, our goal is to verify identity of a pairwies sample, where each sample contains two heterogeneous facial images captured under different scenarios (e.g., low-resolution vs. high-resolution, or occluded facial image vs. non-occluded one). In oder to address the appearance difference between these two images, a example-based verification framework is proposed. We adopt principal component analysis (PCA) approach to learn subspaces in order to capture the apperance correlation between pairwise images. Futhermore, a feature selection process is included to select eignvectors that maximize the identity discrimination between two images. Experiments on variety face verification tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed learning framework.
Outcomes Associated With Common and Immigrant-Group-Specific Responses to Intimate Terrorism

The research for this article used available qualitative data from separate studies of South Asian-, Vietnamese-, and Hispanic-origin women victimized by intimate terrorism. Regardless of country of origin, period, or U.S. community, women used similar ways to cope. Consistent with perpetrators’ misogynistic attitudes and aim of enforcing patriarchal expectations, many women responded to abuse from positions of powerlessness and fear. Instrumental help from family and friends and, depending on the group, advocacy agencies or counseling services assisted women in leaving men or stopping the abuse. Women used multiple coping strategies, often adding new approaches when those used initially failed.
A segmentation system based on clustering method for pediatric DTI images

A system is presented for the segmentation of white matter fiber tracts in pediatric diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) images. DTI is an in vivo method to delineate the connectivity of white matter fiber tracts in human brain by fiber tractography. Fiber tractography is a promising method to visualize the whole bundles of fiber tracts. Fiber tractography is unable to provide a quantitative analysis and description of specific white matter fiber tracts. Obviously, segmenting and clustering the fiber tracts into anatomical bundles play an important role in fiber tracts analysis. Traditional manual segmentation method requires neuroanatomical expertise and significant time. It can not be a standardized and widely used method for segmentation of complicated fiber tracts in pediatric DTI images. Hence, an image segmentation system with an adaptive mean shift (AMS) clustering method is proposed to cluster fiber tracts into bundles automatically in this article. In the image segmentation system, fiber similarity measure based on Euclidean distance is used in the clustering method. Since the increase of children's mental illness in recent years, segmentation of pediatric DTI images by clustering methods is focused in our research. The effectiveness and robustness of adaptive mean shift clustering algorithm for segmentation of fiber tracts are also evaluated by error analysis experiments. In addition, the experiment results show that adaptive mean shift method used in our system is more efficient and effective than K‐means and Fuzzy C‐means (FCM) clustering methods for the segmentation of fiber tracts in real pediatric DTI images. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 25, 102–113, 2015
Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Children and Adolescents in Sweden

Summary: The incidence and prevalence of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children was established during 1984 and 1985 in a prospective study in Sweden. The patients with IBD were classified as having ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD), probable Crohn's disease (PCD), and indeterminate colitis (IC) according to defined histopathologic, endoscopic, and radiologic criteria. The study covered 1.51 million children <16 years of age (93% of all children in Sweden). The incidence of IBD was 5.0 and 4.5 and the prevalence was 17.6 and 18.2 per 100,000 children during the 2 years, respectively. The mean prevalence of UC was 7.5 per 100,000 and of CD + PCD was 6.2 per 100,000. The prevalence of IC was 4.2 per 100,000, which corresponds to 23% of the children with IBD.
A mathematical model for evaluating scoring systems with specific reference to tennis.

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to examine the feasibility of using mathematical probability models to evaluate scoring systems; and (b) to actually examine, by use of the model, the relative merits of various tennis scoring systems. The hypothesized model was a Markov chain with stationary transition probabilities, the total chain being divided into an initial process and a random walk. By assessing a constant probability p that player A would win a point against his opponent B, and applying probability theory to the initial Markov process and the random walks, the probability that A would win the match was calculated. This was done for each of the various scoring systems. Under the assumption that the “best” player was the one with the highest probability of winning a point, the scoring method which would most frequently result in this best player being declared the winner was ascertained. Further analysis yielded the expected number of points that would be played in a match,.
A content-aware packets priority ordering and marking scheme for H.264 video over diffserv network

Video transmission over Internet can greatly benefit from adapting video content to diffserv network parameters, to better support the application requirements. In this paper, a novel content-aware packet priority ordering and marking scheme is presented for streaming H.264 coded video over differentiated services enabled networks. The scheme takes advantage of flexible macroblock ordering (FMO) coding scheme to group the macroblocks by estimating their contribution to current frame. Then for each video packet, a relative priority index at macroblock level (MB-RPI) is calculated and packets are pre-marked according to the MB-RPI. Consequently, video packets are treated differently when transmitting in a diffserv network. Simulation results shows that our scheme can achieve better video quality comparing to the legacy scheme.
Output Disturbance Observer Structure Applied to Run-to-Run Control for Semiconductor Manufacturing

Among the run-to-run (RtR) controllers, the EWMA controller, the double EWMA controller, and the predictor corrector controller are widely adopted in the semiconductor industry. This paper presents a unified framework for these controllers, which is called the output disturbance observer (ODOB) structure. The advantages of applying the ODOB structure are that the process output will be forced to the process target and the actual plant to the nominal plant while the process disturbance and the measurement noise are rejected. The relations of the tuned parameters of the above-mentioned controllers and the ODOB controller are discussed. Furthermore, based on the unified framework, the RtR controller with model mismatch and metrology delay can be analyzed systematically. In this paper, we analyze the robust stable conditions for the ODOB controller taking the model mismatch and metrology delay into consideration and provide a method to tune the controller.
Use of procalcitonin to shorten antibiotic treatment duration in septic patients: a randomized trial.

RATIONALE The duration of antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients with sepsis can result in antibiotic overuse, increasing the risk of developing bacterial resistance. OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that an algorithm based on serial measurements of procalcitonin (PCT) allows reduction in the duration of antibiotic therapy compared with empirical rules, and does not result in more adverse outcomes in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. METHODS In patients randomly assigned to the intervention group, antibiotics were stopped when PCT levels had decreased 90% or more from the initial value (if clinicians agreed) but not before Day 3 (if baseline PCT levels were <1 microg/L) or Day 5 (if baseline PCT levels were >/=1 microg/L). In control patients, clinicians decided on the duration of antibiotic therapy based on empirical rules. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Patients assigned to the PCT group had 3.5-day shorter median duration of antibiotic therapy for the first episode of infection than control subjects (intention-to-treat, n = 79, P = 0.15). In patients in whom a decision could be taken based on serial PCT measurements, PCT guidance resulted in a 4-day reduction in the duration of antibiotic therapy (per protocol, n = 68, P = 0.003) and a smaller overall antibiotic exposure (P = 0.0002). A similar mortality and recurrence of the primary infection were observed in PCT and control groups. A 2-day shorter intensive care unit stay was also observed in patients assigned to the PCT group (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that a protocol based on serial PCT measurement allows reducing antibiotic treatment duration and exposure in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock without apparent harm.
Alcaligenes eutrophus hydrogenase genes (Hox)

Mutants of Alcaligenes eutrophus H16 lacking catalytically active soluble hydrogenase (Hos-) grew very slowly lithoautotrophically with hydrogen. Mutants devoid of particulate hydrogenase activity (Hop-) were not affected in growth with hydrogen. The use of Hos- and Hop- mutants as donors of hydrogen-oxidizing ability in crosses with plasmid-free recipients impaired in both hydrogenases (Hox-) resulted in transconjugants which had inherited the plasmid and the phenotype of the donor. This indicates that the structural genes which code for the hydrogenases reside on plasmid pHG1. The Hox function of one class of Hox- mutants could not be restored by conjugation. These mutants exhibited a pleiotropic phenotype since they were unable to grow with hydrogen and also failed to grow heterotrophically with nitrate (Hox- Nit-). Nitrate was scarcely utilized as electron acceptor or as nitrogen source. Hox- Nit- mutants did not act as recipients but could act as donors of the Hox character. Transconjugants derived from those crosses were Hox+ Nit+, indicating that the mutation which leads to the Hox- Nit- phenotype maps on the chromosome. Apparently, the product of a chromosomal gene is involved in the expression of plasmid-encoded Hox genes. We observed that the elimination of plasmid pHG1 coincided with the occurrence of multiple resistances to various antibiotics. Since Hox+ transconjugate retained the antibiotic-resistant phenotype, we conclude that this property is not directly plasmid associated.
Towards recommending configurable offerings

Configuration technologies provide a solid basis for the implementation of a mass customisation strategy. A side-effect of this strategy is that the offering of highly variant products and services triggers the phenomenon of mass confusion, i.e., customers are overwhelmed by the size and complexity of the offered assortments. In this context, recommendation technologies can provide help by supporting users in the identification of products and services fitting their wishes and needs. Recommendation technologies have been intensively exploited for the recommendation of simple products such as books or movies but have (with a few exceptions) not been applied to the recommendation of complex products and services such as computers or financial services. In this paper, we provide an overview of existing approaches to the integration of configuration and recommendation technologies, propose extensions and indicate directions of future work.
Intrinsic firing properties of developing rat superficial dorsal horn neurons

Neonatal superficial dorsal horn neurons exhibit distinct firing properties in response to nociceptive and tactile inputs, but it is not known whether the intrinsic membrane excitability of these neurons changes during the early postnatal period. We have investigated the evoked firing properties of dorsal horn cells in rat spinal cord slices at different postnatal ages (P3, P10 and P21) and found no significant differences in mean firing frequency, spike frequency adaptation, regularity of action potential discharge or rheobase current levels between age groups. These results demonstrate that the intrinsic excitability of superficial dorsal horn neurons remains stable during early postnatal development and suggest that alterations in the synaptic inputs to these cells explain the changes in response to peripheral stimulation.
A Genomewide Search for Ribozymes Reveals an HDV-Like Sequence in the Human CPEB3 Gene

Ribozymes are thought to have played a pivotal role in the early evolution of life, but relatively few have been identified in modern organisms. We performed an in vitro selection aimed at isolating self-cleaving RNAs from the human genome. The selection yielded several ribozymes, one of which is a conserved mammalian sequence that resides in an intron of the CPEB3 gene, which belongs to a family of genes regulating messenger RNA polyadenylation. The CPEB3 ribozyme is structurally and biochemically related to the human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) ribozymes. The occurrence of this ribozyme exclusively in mammals suggests that it may have evolved as recently as 200 million years ago. We postulate that HDV arose from the human transcriptome.
Histone deacetylase inhibitor activates the WAF1/Cip1 gene promoter through the Sp1 sites.

Treatment of cultured cells with trichostatin A (TSA), a specific histone deacetylase inhibitor, induces the histone hyperacetylation and modulates expression of some mammalian genes. We examined the effects of TSA on cell growth arrest, and its relation to expression of the WAF1/Cip1 gene, a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases, in a p53-mutated human osteosarcoma cell line MG63. TSA at 500 ng/ml induced growth arrest at both G1 and G2/M phases, and the expressions of the WAF1/Cip1 mRNA and protein. We also examined the changes of acetylated isoforms of histone H4. Dose-response and kinetic analysis suggest a close correlation between the level of histone acetylation and the induction of the WAF1/Cip1 expressions. Using several mutant WAF1/Cip1 promoter fragments, we found that the TSA responsive elements are two Sp1 sites at -82 and -69 relative to the transcription start site. These findings indicate that TSA induces the WAF1/Cip1 promoter through the typical Sp1 sites, in a p53-independent fashion. Furthermore, the Sp1-luc plasmid, containing SV40 promoter-derived three consensus Sp1 binding sites, was markedly activated by TSA, compared to the mutant Sp1-luc plasmid. These results demonstrate that transcriptional activation through the Sp1 sites of the WAF1/Cip1 promoter by TSA coincides with induced hyperacetylation of histone H4.
Targeting Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Cancer Stem Cells in Ovarian Cancer

Aldehyde dehydrogenase-1A1 (ALDH1A1) expression characterizes a subpopulation of cells with tumor-initiating or cancer stem cell properties in several malignancies. Our goal was to characterize the phenotype of ALDH1A1-positive ovarian cancer cells and examine the biological effects of ALDH1A1 gene silencing. In our analysis of multiple ovarian cancer cell lines, we found that ALDH1A1 expression and activity was significantly higher in taxane- and platinum-resistant cell lines. In patient samples, 72.9% of ovarian cancers had ALDH1A1 expression in which the percentage of ALDH1A1-positive cells correlated negatively with progression-free survival (6.05 vs. 13.81 months; P < 0.035). Subpopulations of A2780cp20 cells with ALDH1A1 activity were isolated for orthotopic tumor–initiating studies, where tumorigenicity was approximately 50-fold higher with ALDH1A1-positive cells. Interestingly, tumors derived from ALDH1A1-positive cells gave rise to both ALDH1A1-positive and ALDH1A1-negative populations, but ALDH1A1-negative cells could not generate ALDH1A1-positive cells. In an in vivo orthotopic mouse model of ovarian cancer, ALDH1A1 silencing using nanoliposomal siRNA sensitized both taxane- and platinum-resistant cell lines to chemotherapy, significantly reducing tumor growth in mice compared with chemotherapy alone (a 74%–90% reduction; P < 0.015). These data show that the ALDH1A1 subpopulation is associated with chemoresistance and outcome in ovarian cancer patients, and targeting ALDH1A1 sensitizes resistant cells to chemotherapy. ALDH1A1-positive cells have enhanced, but not absolute, tumorigenicity but do have differentiation capacity lacking in ALDH1A1-negative cells. This enzyme may be important for identification and targeting of chemoresistant cell populations in ovarian cancer. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(12); 3186–99. ©2010 AACR.
Surface disinfection properties of the combination of an antimicrobial peptide, ranalexin, with an endopeptidase, lysostaphin, against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Aims: To characterize the antibacterial synergy of the antimicrobial peptide, ranalexin, used in combination with the anti‐staphylococcal endopeptidase, lysostaphin, against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and to assess the combination’s potential as a topical disinfectant or decolonizing agent for MRSA. MRSA causes potentially lethal infections, and pre‐operative patients colonized with MRSA are often treated with chlorhexidine digluconate and mupirocin cream to eradicate carriage. However, chlorhexidine is unsuitable for some patients, and mupirocin resistance is increasingly encountered, indicating new agents are required.