Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards leaner healthcare facility: application of simulation modelling and value stream mapping

Recently, the application of lean thinking in healthcare has grown significantly in response to rising demand caused by population growth, ageing and high expectations of service quality. However, insufficient justifications and lack of quantifiable evidence are the main obstacles to convince healthcare executives to adopt lean. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology that integrates lean tools with simulation to enhance the quality of patient care in healthcare facilities. This enables healthcare organisations to dedicate more time and effort to patient care without extra cost to the organisation or to the patient. Value stream mapping is used to identify value-added and non-value-added activities. Then, a comprehensive simulation model is developed to account for the variability and complexity of healthcare processes and to assess the gains of proposed improvement strategies. An extensive analysis of results is provided and presented to managers to illustrate the potential benefits of adapting lean practices.
Blind Median Filtering Detection Using Auto-Regressive Model and Markov Chain

Establishing the processing history of an image is important for robot vision. In this paper, an improved method for median filtering detection is proposed. That is, detect whether an image has been processed by median filtering. First, we analyze the statistical properties of median filtering residual and find that it is suitable for exposing fingerprints of median filtering. Then, the new feature set on median filtering residual is constructed by incorporating transition probability matrices of Markov chain with coefficients of auto-regressive model. A dimensionality reduction method is developed to lower the feature dimensionality. The final feature set is fed into support vector machines to construct a detector. Due to the distinction property of median filtering residual as well as compensated effect between transition probability and auto-regressive model, experimental results on large image database demonstrate that the proposed method is effectively in median filtering detection, even for images with heavy JPEG compression or at a low resolution. The performance of proposed detector outperforms prior arts. Additionally, the proposed method demonstrates good generalization ability.
Accurate Rotational Rest Frequencies for Ammonium Ion Isotopologues

We report rest frequencies for rotational transitions of the deuterated ammonium isotopologues NH3D+, NH2D2+, and NHD3+, measured in a cryogenic ion trap machine. For the symmetric tops NH3D+ and NHD3+, one and three transitions are detected, respectively, and five transitions are detected for the asymmetric top NH2D2+. While the lowest frequency transition of NH3D+ was already known in the laboratory and space, this work enables the future radio astronomical detection of the two other isotopologues.
All change in the House? The profile of candidates and MPs in the 2015 British general election

Drawing on data from the Parliamentary Candidates UK project, we profile the socio-demographic characteristics of parliamentary candidates standing in 2015 and compare elected MPs to previous cohorts since 1979. We argue that the 2015 cohort of candidates largely resembles the archetypal candidate identified by Durose et al. (2013, Parliamentary Affairs, 66, 246–267). Despite smaller parties’ campaign rhetoric of a ‘new kind of politics’, parties across the spectrum offer up very similar candidate profiles. We find a narrowing of occupational backgrounds, with fewer candidates and MPs from manual occupations, and an increasing percentage of candidates and MPs with a university education. Competition across the parties, particularly in terms of the selection of women and black and minority ethnic (BME) candidates, has positive consequences for the representativeness of Parliament. However, despite a record number of women and BME MPs elected, Parliament remains disproportionately white and male.
Dropwise condensation detection in a single image

The detection of dropwise condensation in the camera field is a complex problem that requires an interdisciplinary approach in order to build an accurate model for image formation. In the current work, the effect of dropwise condensation at the microscopic level was analyzed using geometrical optics and optical simulation. The results showed that pixels from a region within the foggy image area will tend to move toward the center of this patch in the RGB space. The results also showed a loss in high frequencies of the image patch. Based on these findings, a method was developed to detect condensation from a single image using local gradient magnitude as a texture feature combined with the dispersion of pixel color information in the RGB space. This approach segments the image into clear and foggy regions using a clustering algorithm (Expectation Maximization). The misclassified patches are corrected in a second pass using the probability of neighboring patches to be foggy. The algorithm was successful using data collected by a Fog-Lab that was designed and built to capture images in a controlled environment at different condensation levels. This work is presumed to be the first that addresses condensation detection from a single image at early stages.
The influence of educational type (virtual and non-virtual) and gender on the executive functions (mental flexibility and selective attention) of students

The main Purpose of the study was to investigate the interaction between education and gender on the mental flexibility and selective attention in groups of virtual and non-virtual students. The population of the study includes the total population of industry engineering students of the virtual and non-virtual Tehran University of Science and Technology.The study was carried out in 2013. A random-cluster method was applied to select the sample. In total, 150 virtual and 148 non-virtual students were involved in this study. The sample group completed the Wisconsin and Stroop tests. The ANOVA variance analysis test was also applied in order to analyze the related data. Results: showed that the interaction between education and gender did not have an influence on selective attention and mental flexibility. However, it was found that only gender had an influence on mental flexibility. Specifically, boys had better function in this respect in comparison to girls. In addition, the virtual students had better function in terms of mental flexibility in comparison with the non-virtual students.
Caveat Emptor: Does Bitcoin Improve Portfolio Diversification?

Bitcoin is an unregulated digital currency originally introduced in 2008 without legal tender status. Based on a decentralized peer-to-peer network to confirm transactions and generate a limited amount of new bitcoins, it functions without the backing of a central bank or any other monitoring authority. In recent years, Bitcoin has seen increasing media coverage and trading volume, as well as major capital gains and losses in a high volatility environment. Interestingly, an analysis of Bitcoin returns shows remarkably low correlations with traditional investment assets such as other currencies, stocks, bonds or commodities such as gold or oil. In this paper, we shed light on the impact an investment in Bitcoin can have on an already well-diversified investment portfolio. Due to the non-normal nature of Bitcoin returns, we do not propose the classic mean-variance approach, but adopt at Conditional Value-at-Risk framework that does not require asset returns to be normally distributed. Our results indicate that Bitcoin should be included in optimal portfolios. Even though an investment in Bitcoin increases the CVaR of a portfolio, this additional risk is overcompensated by high returns leading to better risk-return ratios.
Simultaneous elastic shape optimization for a domain splitting in bone tissue engineering

This paper deals with the simultaneous optimization of a subset O0 of some domain Ω and its complement O1=Ω∖O0¯ both considered as separate elastic objects subject to a set of loading scenarios. If one asks for a configuration which minimizes the maximal elastic cost functional both phases compete for space since elastic shapes usually get mechanically more stable when being enlarged. Such a problem arises in biomechanics where a bioresorbable polymer scaffold is implanted in place of lost bone tissue and in a regeneration phase, new bone tissue grows in the scaffold complement via osteogenesis. In fact, the polymer scaffold should be mechanically stable to bear loading in the early stage regeneration phase and at the same time, the new bone tissue grown in the complement of this scaffold should as well bear the loading. Here, this optimal subdomain splitting problem with appropriate elastic cost functionals is introduced and the existence of optimal two-phase configurations is established for a regularized formulation. Furthermore, based on a phase-field approximation, a finite-element discretization is derived. Numerical experiments are presented for the design of optimal periodic scaffold microstructure.
TNF‐α‐induced expression of cytosolic phospholipase A2 in human synovial fibroblast of rheumatoid arthritis

The mechanisms underlying TNF‐α‐induced cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) expression in human fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLS) which contributes to inflammatory responses in rheumatoid arthritis were largely unknown. Here, Western blotting and RT‐PCR analyses showed that TNF‐α induced cPLA2 protein and mRNA expression as well as phosphorylation of p42/p44 MAPK, p38 MAPK, and JNK which was attenuated by the inhibitors of MEK1/2 (U0126), p38 MAPK (SB202190), and JNK (SP600125), and transfection with dominant negative mutants of MEK1/2, p38, and JNK, respectively. Furthermore, TNF‐α‐induced cPLA2 expression was inhibited by a selective NF‐κB inhibitor (helenalin) and transfection with dominant negative mutants of NF‐κB inducing kinase (NIK), IκB kinase (IKK)‐α, and IKK‐β, consistent with that TNF‐α stimulated both IκB‐α degradation and NF‐κB translocation into nucleus in these cells. NF‐κB translocation was blocked by helenalin, but not by U0126, SB202190, and SP600125. These results suggest that in FLS, TNF‐α‐induced cPLA2 expression was independently mediated through phosphorylation of MAPKs and NF‐κB pathways.
Examination of the Effect of Preheating Process on Microtensile Bond Strength in the Cementation of Indirect Restorations

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of preheating of inlay and onlay restorations prepared from composite materials and using a CAD/CAM device on microtensile bond strength in different structures. Methodology: In this study, 90 impacted human third molar teeth unaffected by the mouth environment were used. These teeth were divided into 3 groups. MOD inlay cavity preparation was performed on all samples according to the parameters specified. For the first group, restorations were prepared using a CAD/CAM device. For the second group, a fiber-reinforced composite (EverX Posterior, GC, Tokyo, Japan) was used on the bottom of the cavity to simulate dentin structure. Restoration was then completed using the laboratory composite system (Gradia, GC, Tokyo, Japan). For the third group, restorations were completed using the laboratory composite system (Gradia, GC, Tokyo, Japan) alone. Er,Cr:YSGG laser (Fotona Laser AT Fidelis Plus III, Slovenia) was administered on all prepared restorations for surface roughening. In the cementation of the restorations, resin cement was administered with and without preheating. The prepared samples were placed in a microtensile tester, and the sticks were broken off by setting the loading speed at 1 mm/min. The prepared samples were tested for microtensile bond strength (Microtensile Tester, Bisco, Schaumburg, IL, USA). The results obtained in Newtons were divided into the surface area and converted to MPa. The results were recorded as microtensile bond strength values. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the statistical evaluation of the microtensile bond strengths of the samples in which the adhesive cement was pre-heated (P) and not pre-heated (N) during the cementations (p>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in terms of the microtensile bond strength values between the groups in which the adhesive cement was pre-heated during the cementation of restorations. Conclusion: It was observed that exposure of the adhesive cement to preheating in the cementation of the EverX Posterior-based inlays adversely affects the bond strength. It was observed that the preheating process statistically significantly increased the bond strength in the inlays made using the Gradia composite. Preheating of the cement in the cementation of Cerasmart composite inlays produced using the CAD/CAM system did not affect the microtensile bond strength.
Different Worlds: Looking Deeply at Context in the Sustainability of PD for Collaborative Problem-Solving Mathematics.

In this paper, I look at multiple layers of context to explore the figured world of mathematics teaching in primary schools in Chile. I collected data from 15 teachers during 18 months after their participation in professional development for collaborative problemsolving mathematics. I found constraints to impact on the teachers’ implementation of new pedagogy at personal, local, institutional, national, and global levels. Whilst these constraints acted directly to constrain practice, they also acted to produce the imagined realities for teachers of mathematics in their particular world.
THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN MARKET MAVENSIM USING BIG FIVE MODEL

Personality research has approached a salient consensus step due to widespread use of individual differences, converging on five big model factors with marketing concept. This paper clarifies a market mavenism psychology concept and relates market mavens with big five factor model. Market Mavens are consumer which have tendency to become especially involved in the marketplace. The purpose of this research is to contribute to identify prominent personality traits of market maven through big five model and attempts an in- depth investigation to provide guidance for manager so that they can more effectively appeal to consumers who possess this tendency. 146 questionnaires were distributed and have analyzed. Multiple linear regression is used to analyze the effects of five big model traits on market mavens dependent variable. As a result, Extraversion and Openness and Conscientiousness are the three significant characteristic which highlights in their personality traits. Theoretically, these findings enrich the knowledge of the psychology of market mavens by suggesting important factors of their personality from big five perspective. Our finding provide the impetus for additional research aimed at further delineating the relationship shared between these two constructs( market mavenism and psychological traits).
Cwtch: Privacy Preserving Infrastructure for Asynchronous, Decentralized, Multi-Party and Metadata Resistant Applications

Communications metadata is known to be exploited by various adversaries to undermine the security of systems, to track victims, and to conduct large scale social network analysis to feed mass surveillance. Metadata resistant tools are in their infancy and research into the construction and user experience of such tools is lacking. In this paper we present Cwtch, an extension of the metadata resistant protocol Ricochet to support asynchronous, multi-peer communications through the use of discardable, untrusted, anonymous infrastructure. Additionally, we present a threat model for evaluating metadata resistant systems, and discuss the current limitations and future work required to fully realize usable metadata resistance tools.
A CONCURRENT ENGINEERING INFORMATION MODEL BASED ON THE STEP STANDARD AND THE THEORY OF DOMAINS

An information model that is capturing product and manufacturing system design, as well as the idea of concurrent engineering, is emphasized in this paper. First, a case product is decomposed along with its manufacturing system, according to the Theory of Domains. Here, the manufacturing system is regarded as a technical system that is equivalent to a product. Thereafter, the generalization of the case study is conducted by creation of an UML (Unified Modeling Language) information model. The UML-model is containing some general couplings between products and manufacturing systems. This formalized map of the area of product and manufacturing systems development is also harmonized with the international STEP AP214 standard.
Composites Based on Polypropylene and Talc: Processing Procedure and Prediction Behavior by Using Mathematical Models

iPP/Talc composites were produced, with different methods of filler addition in iPP matrix. Two different grades of Talc were used for comparison. The tensile tests results showed that talc particles promoted an improvement in composite rigidity, indicating the reinforcing effect of the talc particles in the iPP matrix. However, PP/talc-based composites that were prepared from a masterbatch and with talc grade with smaller particle size showed a better efficiency on dispersion/distribution of particle filler on the thermoplastic matrix, resulting in an improvement in Young’s modulus property, even with higher filler contents. SEM analyses evaluated the composite morphologies and different mathematical models were used as a tool on prediction of mechanical behaviour of the materials. It was observed that the results of Young’s modulus of the composites can be adjusted by different models, depending on the talc characteristics and the mixing procedure used.
Can fishing tourism improve sustainability of fishing chain

One environmental event verified during the last years in the Mediterranean sea is that the presence of tropical fishes is causing death of the original fauna. This has attracted the attention of not only the fishermen, but also that of the European Community and all of the associations (public and private) which work to preserve the environment. There are several initiatives to preserve the environment, and the “fermo biologico” is one of these. It tries to solve the Mediterranean fish’s depopulation problem, restricting the fishing in some period of the year. As known, the management of the biological resources is addressed to guarantee the environmental sustainability. This sustainability can be guaranteed by those who work in the fish sector, through new leisure activities, able to answer the increasing touristic demand. The objective of this study has been that to investigate whether leisure activity like fishing tourism can preserve the Mediterranean ecosystem and at the same time guarantee an additional income to the fishermen. This income could possibly balance for the obligation days stop, imposed them by the biological stop measure. The study has been conducted in the summer 2009 and has involved fishermen that practise fishing tourism in the Southern part of Sardinia.
Anti-Bacterial Activities of Crude Cell Free Supernants of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Wara (Nigerian Soft Cheese).

Crude cell free supernant (CFSs) of lactic acid bacteria from wara were isolated and tested for their invitro antibacterial activities against selected clinical pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella sp, Staphylococcus sp, Bacillus sp, E.coli and Klebsiella sp. Wara samples were collected from hawkers in sterile container and grown on the surface of nutrient agar and MRS agar at 370C for 24 hours. The CFSs were obtained by centrifugation. The antibacterial activity of the CFS was carried out using agar well diffusion assay. The zones of inhibitions were 0.6±0.1, 1.5±0.03, 0.0±0.0, 0.0±0.0 and 0.8±0.0 respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was the most susceptible with the diameter of inhibition zone range between 1.5±0.03mm followed by Klebsiella sp 0.8±0.0mm/ml, Salmonella sp 0.6±0.1mm. CFSs showed no activity against E-coli and Bacillus sp. These data suggest that the CFSs could be used as a good source of nutraceutical.
Minimum variance beamformers for coherent plane-wave compounding

In this paper we present and analyse a technique for applying minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamforming to a coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC) acquisition system. In the past, this has been done using a spatial smoothing approach that reduces the eﬀective size of the receive aperture and degrades the image resolution. In this paper, we apply the MVDR algorithms in a novel way to the acquired data from the individual transducer elements, before any summation or other compounding. This enables us to propose a new approach for estimation of the covariance matrix that decorrelates the coherence among the components at all the diﬀerent acquisition angles. This results in a new approach to receive beamforming for CPWC acquisition. The new beamformer is demonstrated on imaging data acquired with a research scanner. We find the new beamformer oﬀers substantial improvements over the DAS method. It also significantly outperforms the previously published MVDR/CPWC beamformer on phantom studies where the signal from the main target is dominated by noise and interference. These improvements motivate further study in this new approach for enhancing image quality.
The Fundamentals of Unimodal Palmprint Authentication based on a Biometric System: A Review

Biometric system can be defined as the automated method of identifying or authenticating the identity of a living person based on physiological or behavioral traits. Palmprint biometric-based authentication has gained considerable attention in recent years. Globally, enterprises have been exploring biometric authorization for some time, for the purpose of security, payment processing, law enforcement CCTV systems, and even access to offices, buildings, and gyms via the entry doors. Palmprint biometric system can be divided into unimodal and multimodal. This paper will investigate the biometric system and provide a detailed overview of the palmprint technology with existing recognition approaches. Finally, we introduce a review of previous works based on a unimodal palmprint system using different databases.
The embedded star clusters in the nebulae vdB-RN 92 and Gy 3-7 in Canis Majoris R1

We employed $J, H$ and $ K_{\rm s}$ photometry from the 2MASS Point Source Catalogue to study the embedded star clusters in the nebulae vdB-RN 92 and Gy 3–7, which are located in the molecular cloud Canis Majoris R1. We employed colour-colour and colour-magnitudes diagrams together with theoretical pre-main sequence isochrones to derive their fundamental parameters. Ages are based on the fraction of stars with anomalous colours, supposedly of types Herbig AeBe and T Tauri. The vdB-RN 92 cluster has an age of 5–7 Myr and the Gy 3–7 cluster ≈ 2 Myr. The average reddening values are A V =4.4 and $ A_V=6.3$, respectively for vdB-RN 92 and Gy 3–7. The distance found for vdB-RN 92 was 1.5 kpc which is, within uncertainties, compatible with previous estimates for the complex. Gy 3–7 also appears to be related to the CMaR1 complex. We conclude that CMaR1 is a very active star-forming site, now with four star clusters in early evolutionary stages.