Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
WeChat as a remote research tool using WeChat to understand banking with Chinese consumers

This paper describes the development and refinement of an existing chat application, China's WeChat, as a remote diary tool, which researchers can employ to acquire a deeper understanding on their consumers whilst overcoming major geographical and time zone constraints. This research was part of a project to understand the experiences of Chinese consumers related to finance and banking. A diary study was conducted through WeChat and phone interviews to understand how consumers conduct their everyday financial transactions. The research illustrated the need to adapt approaches to diary participants to elicit richer data, and demonstrated the utility of a feedback loop, which reassured and reminded participants to post regularly, in turn encouraging posts with more depth. The relationships built over the course of the diary study were also imperative to the success of follow-up semi-structured phone interviews, as trust and familiarity between researchers and participants enabled more intimate conversations. Novel use of the application worked well in gaining a deeper appreciation of the experiences of selected consumers. The paper adds to the growing literature on the use and adaptation of chat applications as a substitute for conventional mobile diary tools, and concludes with a list of key considerations for further applications in a similar research context.
Towards high-power all-fiber 2–5 μm supercontinuum generation in step-index chalcogenide fiber

Fiber-based mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) sources benefit from their flexible structure and good beam quality that are suitable for spectroscopy and metrology. Chalcogenide fibers are good candidates for MIR SC generation because they exhibit high nonlinear refractive indices and wide transmission range. Due to the lack of robust MIR pump lasers, most of the current chalcogenide fibers based SCs have to adopt free-space complex and expensive optical parametric amplifiers as the pump light, with the sacrifice of the robustness and compactness. In this paper, an all-fiber based spectrally-flat 2–5 pm SC laser with high-power is reported in cascaded fluoride and chalcogenide step-index fibers. An all-fiber fluoride fiber based SC laser which spans from 2–4.2 pm is used as the pump light, which is then pumped into a step-index As2S3 fiber with core diameter of 7 pm to generate the final SC laser with spectrum beyond 5 pm. The pump coupling to the As2S3 fiber is realized with two methods separately. With the setup of aspheric lens coupling, the obtained SC laser has a 10 dB spectral bandwidth of 3000 nm spanning from 2050 to 5050 nm, corresponding to an average power of 57.6 mW. While with the all-fiber mechanical splicing, the 10 dB spectral bandwidth of the SC laser shrinks slightly, spanning from 2140 to 4980 nm range, and the average output power is further scaled up to 97.1 mW. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that a real high-power all-fiber chalcogenide-based MIR SC laser is present with flat spectrum beyond 5 pm. It offers a practical solution for high-power robust and reliable 2–5 pm broadband fiber laser.
Discrimination of Amount of Spinal Flexion for Movements Made with and without Vision after Lumbar Disc Replacement

Discrimination of differences between small lumbar flexion movements made when standing may differ depending on whether vision is available. Dependence on general vision during trunk movements may be increased following surgery, in which an intervertebral disc is replaced with a prosthetic disc. This study investigated whether the availability of vision changed discrimination of small differences in lumbar forward flexion movement when standing for patients with lumbar disc replacement and healthy peers. 20 volunteers without a history of back pain and 20 with disc replacement undertook a 100-trial sequence of forward flexion movements to a set of physical stops, making an absolute judgement as to the position after each movement. General (nontarget) vision during the movement was available or removed randomly trial by trial. Availability of vision did not affect discrimination of flexion movements of the lumbar spine either in normal healthy individuals or those with disc replacement.
Structural test coverage criteria for lustre programs

We present structural test coverage criteria for LUSTRE programs. LUSTRE is a synchronous data-flow declarative language widely used for safety-critical applications (avionics, energy, transport). Many coverage criteria are defined for sequential languages and are widely used in the software industry (for instance, statement or branch coverage). They are defined on the program control-flow graph and, hence, do not apply to LUSTRE programs, represented by data-flow diagrams. We have defined several criteria to measure the coverage achieved after the execution of a test set, based on symbolic computation of path activation conditions. The coverage assessment is non-intrusive (there is no code instrumentation). These criteria provide the user with meaningful automatically computed measures of the thoroughness of a given test set.
Low Cost Time Synchronization Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network

A time synchronization protocol for WSN is required to compensate time discrepancy. Time discrepancy among sensor nodes inevitably happens in WSN due to several internal and external factors. In order to make WSN's own job done effectively, a time synchronization protocol should be designed to achieve low execution time and low network traffic as well as accurate synchronization. Several synchronization protocols have been proposed to provide accurate time synchronization but do not consider execution time and network traffic for time synchronization. This paper proposes MNTP; it provides rapid and accurate time synchronization in multi-hop communication range. It presents a new broadcast scheme and time stamping mechanism to achieve low execution time and low network traffic along with accurate synchronization. Evaluation results show that MNTP improves synchronization accuracy up to 22% in single-hop and 51% in multi-hop respectively. MNTP also has 67 times and 58 times lower execution time and network traffic when 300 nodes are deployed in 20 × 20m2 sensor field.
Sources of auditory brainstem responses revisited: Contribution by magnetoencephalography

Auditory brainstem responses provide diagnostic value in pathologies involving the early parts of the auditory pathway. Despite that, the neural generators underlying the various components of these responses have remained unclear. Direct electrical recordings in humans are possible only in limited time periods during surgery and from small regions of the diseased brains. The evidence of the generator sites is therefore fragmented and indirect, based strongly on lesion studies and animal models. Source modeling of EEG has been limited to grand averages across multiple subjects. Here, we employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to shed more light on the neural origins of the auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and to test whether such deep brain structures are accessible by MEG. We show that the magnetic counterparts of the electric ABRs can be measured in 30 min and that they allow localization of some of the underlying neural sources in individual subjects. Many of the electric ABR components were present in our MEG data; however, the morphologies of the magnetic and electric responses were different, indicating that the MEG signals carry information complementary to the EEG data. The locations of the neural sources corresponding to the magnetic ABR deflections ranged from the auditory nerve to the inferior colliculus. The earliest cortical responses were detectable at the latency of 13 ms. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
British Thoracic Society Paediatric Pneumonia Audit: a review of 3 years of data

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines for the management of community-acquired pneumonia in children are used as the audit standard for the annual BTS Paediatric Pneumonia Audit. This report examines 3 years of data from this national audit, highlighting trends in clinical practice and the impact of the 2011 revisions to the BTS guidelines. The findings suggest an over-reliance on investigations to diagnose pneumonia and underuse of oral antibiotics, particularly amoxicillin. There is inappropriate use of chest physiotherapy, outpatient appointments and repeat chest x-rays. Increasing adherence to the BTS guidelines would improve care and also preserve valuable secondary care resources.
Working Paper 09-27 Departamento de Economía Economic Series ( 17 )

We study the problem of a firm that faces asymmetric information about the productivity of its potential workers. In our framework, a worker’s productivity is either assigned by nature at birth, or determined by an unobservable initial action of the worker that has persistent effects over time. We provide a characterization of the optimal dynamic compensation scheme that attracts only high productivity workers: consumption –regardless of time period– is ranked according to likelihood ratios of output histories, and the inverse of the marginal utility of consumption satisfies the martingale property derived in Rogerson (1985). However, in the case of i.i. d. output and square root utility we show that, contrary to the features of the optimal contract for a repeated moral hazard problem, the level and the variance of consumption are negatively correlated, due to the influence of early luck into future compensation. Moreover, in this example long-term inequality is lower under persistent private information. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D80, D82.
Preparation of 3‐deacetyl cephalosporins by Aspergillus niger lipase

Lipase from Aspergillus niger was used for the selective hydrolysis of the 3‐O‐acetate of cephalosporin C to give an intermediate useful for further chemical elaborations. This lipase was purified to homogeneity and its properties compared with previously published data that present some discrepancies. The lipase proved to be very effective in catalyzing 3‐O‐acetate hydrolysis and versatile toward substitution on the β‐lactamic ring. In fact, as an example, two other cephalosporinic derivatives, cephalotin and cefotaxime, were efficiently deacetylated. The lipase was immobilized on Eupergit C and employed continuously in either a column or a batch reactor for 2 months without appreciable loss of activity. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Sensitive silver staining of protein in sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gels using an azo dye, calconcarboxylic acid, as a silver‐ion sensitizer

A highly sensitive silver staining method for detecting proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) was developed. It is based on the silver nitrate staining method but also employs an azo dye, calconcarboxylic acid (NN), as a silver‐ion sensitizer. It increases silver binding on protein bands or spots by the formation of a silver‐dye complex and also increases the reducing power of silver ions to metallic silver by NN itself with formaldehyde. After a 2 h gel fixing step, the protocol including sensitization, silver‐ion impregnation, and reduction steps can be completed in 1 h. The sensitivity is superior to that of silver stain with glutardialdehyde as a silver‐ion sensitizer. The detection limit of NN‐silver stain is 0.05–0.2 ng protein. Considering the high sensitivity without using glutardialdehyde, the NN‐silver stain would be useful for routine silver staining of proteins.
Variability and accuracy of different software packages for dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging for distinguishing glioblastoma progression from pseudoprogression

Abstract. Determining whether glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is progressing despite treatment is challenging due to the pseudoprogression phenomenon seen on conventional MRIs, but relative cerebral blood volume (CBV) has been shown to be helpful. As CBV’s calculation from perfusion-weighted images is not standardized, we investigated whether there were differences between three FDA-cleared software packages in their CBV output values and subsequent performance regarding predicting survival/progression. Forty-five postradiation therapy GBM cases were retrospectively identified as having indeterminate MRI findings of progression versus pseudoprogression. The dynamic susceptibility contrast MR images were processed with different software and three different relative CBV metrics based on the abnormally enhancing regions were computed. The intersoftware intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.8 and below, depending on the metric used. No statistically significant difference in progression determination performance was found between the software packages, but performance was better for the cohort imaged at 3.0 T versus those imaged at 1.5 T for many relative CBV metric and classification criteria combinations. The results revealed clinically significant variation in relative CBV measures based on the software used, but minimal interoperator variation. We recommend against using specific relative CBV measurement thresholds for GBM progression determination unless the same software or processing algorithm is used.
Protective role of the leukotriene B4 receptor BLT2 in murine inflammatory colitis

BLT2 is a low‐affinity leukotriene B4 (LTB4) receptor that is activated by 12(S)‐hydroxyhep‐tadeca‐5Z,8E,10E‐trienoic acid (12‐HHT) and LTB4. Despite the well‐defined proinflammatory roles of BLT1, the in vivo functions of BLT2 remain elusive. To clarify the role of BLT receptors in intestinal inflammation, we assessed susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)‐induced colitis in mice lacking either BLT1 or BLT2. BLT2–/– mice exhibited increased sensitivity to DSS as compared to wild‐type and BLT1_/_ mice, with more severe body weight loss and inflammation. Expression of inflammatory cytokines such as interferon (IFN)‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐1β, and IL‐6, chemokines such as CXC chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL9) and C‐C motif chemokine 19 (CCL19), and metalloproteinases was highly up‐regulated in the colons of DSS‐treated BLT2–/– mice, and there was an enhanced accumulation of activated macrophages. Phosphorylation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was also markedly accelerated in the crypts of DSS‐treated BLT2_/_ mice. Madin‐Darby canine kidney II (MDCKII) cells transfected with BLT2 exhibited enhanced barrier function as measured by transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and FITC‐dextran leakage through MDCK monolayers. Thus, BLT2 is expressed in colon cryptic cells and appears to protect against DSS‐induced colitis, possibly by enhancing barrier function in epithelial cells of the colon. These novel results suggest a direct anti‐inflammatory role of BLT2 that is distinct from the proinflammatory roles of BLT1. —Iizuka, Y. , Okuno, T. , Saeki, K. , Uozaki, H. , Okada, S. , Misaka, T. , Sato, T. , Toh, H. , Fukayama, M. , Takeda, N. , Kita, Y. , Shimizu, T. , Nakamura, M. , Yokomizo, T. Protective role of the leukotriene B4 receptor BLT2 in murine inflammatory colitis. FASEB J. 24, 4678–4690 (2010). www.fasebj. org
INTERVENTION OF PHARMACOGENETIC PROFILING IN THERAPEUTICS OF KASHMIRI POPULATION, A LESSON LEARNED FROM CYP3A5*3 VARIANT

Human Cytochrome P 450 3A, a variant of Cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases is a major drug metabolizing enzyme. CYP3A has evolved to catalyze the biotransformation of its substrate. A great dea l of inter-individual variation in expression levels exi sts for CYP3A5 gene. The common polymorphism in CYP3A5 that induces a cryptic splice site has been shown to cause a significant reduction in its expre ssion. Variation in CYP3A enzyme activity contributes greatly to variation in systemic clearance of CYP3A substrates and its oral bioavailability. The presen t study was designed to study the CYP3A5*3 polymorphism in the Kashmiri population. CYP3A5*3 genotypic status of 400 unrelated individuals of the Kashmiri population wasevaluated by PCR-RFLP method. The frequency of CYP3A5 variant in Kashmiri population was found similar to Caucasian but highe r than that in Chinese and Japanese population. Our finding suggest that approximately 89.5% of study p opulation carry CYP3A5*3 genotype and thus might be at an increased risk. So, detection of CYP3A5 varia nt alleles and knowledge about their allelic freque ncy in ethnic Kashmiris might play a key player in improve d therapeutic intervention in Kashmiri population.
Segmentation of Lung Tumor in CT Scan Images using FA-FCM Algorithms

Lung Cancer is dangerous disease that cause most human to death at early age and it is an uncontrolled cell growth in tissues on the lung. Many algorithms and technologies are introduced for identifying the lung tumors and it does not provide efficient accuracy. Our proposed system introduces a new identification process for Lung tumor. Here, we introduced a novel algorithm named FA-FCM which is a combination of firefly algorithm and Fuzzy C-means clustering. The segmented output image is compared with expert segmented image in terms of Jaccard and Dice similarity values. Our proposed method produced better result on all the tested images compared with the gold/expert segmented images.
Time for Climate Change: Leadership, IT Climate, and their Impact on Organizational Performance

Information systems (IS) have become essential for operating firms successfully. How to align business and information technology (IT) executives to increase organizational output has been widely discussed in literature. This research focusses on prerequisites and consequences of a positive IT climate in organizations where the need for deep IT and business knowledge is constantly increasing. We shed light on how organizational leaders, both from business and IT, influence a positive organizational IT climate by IT leadership and subsequently, how an organizational IT climate affects strategic alignment and firm performance. By applying a two steps approach, this study evaluates the results of a survey among 322 IT decision makers in the U.S. working in knowledge-intensive and less-knowledge intensive industries. Our findings illustrate that IT leadership and IT climate differ between the two groups, and can confirm organization wide firm IS knowledge as a strategically important resource to achieve organizational performance.
Broadband (600–1350 nm) Time-Resolved Diffuse Optical Spectrometer for Clinical Use

We report on the design, development, and performance assessment of a portable time-resolved system measuring absorption and scattering spectra of highly diffusive media over the 600-1350 nm range. In view of clinical use, two strategies were implemented; the first one equips the system with high responsivity in key tissue absorbing regions, whereas the second one makes the system immune to time drift. The MEDPHOT protocol was used for the performance assessment of the instrument. Finally, the system was enrolled into its first in vivo trial phase, measuring the broadband absorption and scattering spectra of human manubrium, abdomen fat tissues, and forehead for the in vivo quantification of key tissue constituents.
BATTERY-POWERED, ELECTRIC-DRIVE VEHICLES PROVIDING BUFFER STORAGE FOR PV CAPACITY VALUE

The use of batteries to provide storage for photovoltaic (PV) power has been evaluated in various contexts. In grid-connected applications, batteries can serve to provide firm peak-shaving for distributed PV installations. To date, however, the use of batteries from parked electric-drive vehicles (EDV) to provide buffer storage for PV capacity value has not been analyzed. The emerging vehicle to grid (V2G) concept suggests that battery-powered EDVs can provide power to the grid to serve various markets. This paper evaluates the use of battery-powered EDVs to provide buffer storage for grid-connected PV installations, assuming a V2G infrastructure. The approach could serve to provide capacity value for PV installations, thus enhancing their value as distributed, demand-side resources.
Solid‐phase glycan isolation for glycomics analysis

Glycosylation is one of the most significant protein PTMs. The biological activities of proteins are dramatically changed by the glycans associated with them. Thus, structural analysis of the glycans of glycoproteins in complex biological or clinical samples is critical in correlation with the functions of glycans with diseases. Profiling of glycans by HPLC‐MS is a commonly used technique in analyzing glycan structures and quantifying their relative abundance in different biological systems. Methods relied on MS require isolation of glycans from negligible salts and other contaminant ions since salts and ions may interfere with the glycans, resulting in poor glycan ionization. To accomplish those objectives, glycan isolation and clean‐up methods including SPE, liquid‐phase extraction, chromatography, and electrophoresis have been developed. Traditionally, glycans are isolated from proteins or peptides using a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic columns: proteins and peptides remain on hydrophobic absorbent while glycans, salts, and other hydrophilic reagents are collected as flowthrough. The glycans in the flowthrough are then purified through graphite‐activated carbon column by hydrophilic interaction LC. Yet, the drawback in these affinity‐based approaches is nonspecific binding. As a result, chemical methods by hydrazide or oxime have been developed for solid‐phase isolation of glycans with high specificity and yield. Combined with high‐resolution MS, specific glycan isolation techniques provide tremendous potentials as useful tools for glycomics analysis.
Time Domain Modeling of Lossy and Dispersive Thin Layers

In this letter, a new algorithm for surface boundary condition of thin layer is proposed to incorporate the effect of lossy and dispersive media. The 1-D wave equation inside the layer is recast as a Sturm-Lioville problem; the Green's function is analytically computed and used to relate tangential electric and magnetic fields. The knowledge of poles and residues allows one to obtain a state space realization, suitable for time domain implementation in finite-difference time-domain methods
Comparison of different procedures for serotyping aquatic birnavirus

The current classification of aquatic birnaviruses is based on seroneutralization assays with polyclonal antibodies. In this study a comparison of several procedures used for serotyping aquatic birnaviruses was made with 10 virus strains (4 reference strains from salmonids and 6 birnaviruses isolated from turbot [Scophthalmus maximus]). The relationships among the birnavirus strains were studied by seroneutralization assay with polyclonal antibodies and by immunodot assay with both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. The results were compared with a presumptive classification obtained from analysis of restriction enzyme patterns of cDNA products obtained by PCR amplification. No correlation was found among the results obtained by the different procedures. The seroneutralization and the immunodot assays with polyclonal antibodies were not useful in classifying these birnaviruses strains; however, patterns of reaction with monoclonal antibodies emphasized the individuality of the strains, particularly in the case of two strains (231 and 460) whose patterns did not correspond to established serotypes. The application of PCR and restriction enzyme analysis is a promising system for approaching the classification of this viral group on the basis of genomic differences and similarities. The variable results obtained in this comparison lead us to think that the current classification of aquatic birnavirus may not be the most accurate and there is a need for modification incorporating recent isolates, not only from salmonid species but also from marine fish.