Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BPM to Go: Supporting Business Processes in a Mobile and Sensing World

The growing maturity of smart mobile devices has fostered their prevalence in a multitude of business areas. As a consequence, business process management (BPM) technologies need to be enhanced with sophisticated and configurable mobile task support. Along characteristic use cases from different application domains (e.g., healthcare and logistics), this chapter will give insights into the challenges, concepts and technologies relevant for integrating mobile task support with business processes. Amongst others, we will show how mobile task support can be enhanced with location-based data, sensor integration, and mobile task configuration support. The latter is based on a 3D model for configuring mobile tasks on smart mobile devices.
Supervisory control for optimal route guidance in intelligent vehicle highway systems based on hybrid network models

This paper is devoted to the problem of optimal route guidance in intelligent vehicle highway systems to provide travellers with information minimizing the travel time as a kind of advanced traveller information systems. In order to deal with this problem, we first introduce a hybrid network model by incorporating the high-level discrete event model with the low-level flow dynamics model. Based on it, two feasible control policies are proposed employing supervisory control theory and then followed by a comparative simulation study.
Effect of angiotensin on the response to noradrenaline and sympathetic nerve stimulation, and on 3H-noradrenaline uptake in cat mesenteric blood vessels.

The effect of angiotensin on the response to postganglionic sympathetic stimulation was studied in isolated and perfused cat mesenteric blood vessels. Angiotensin perfusion enhanced the vasoconstrictor response to sympathetic nerve stimulation and shifted to the left the dose–response curve of noradrenaline; this potentiating effect persisted even after a return to an angiotensin-free perfusion medium. In chronically denervated preparations, angiotensin increased the effect of noradrenaline, but no persistence of this effect was observed after a return to angiotensin-free medium. The effect of angiotensin was also studied on the uptake of 3H-noradrenaline by measuring the amount of radioactive amine disappearing from the perfusion medium during its passage through the mesenteric blood vessels or by assaying the accumulated radioactive amine in the tissue after perfusion. Angiotensin significantly inhibited the uptake of 3H-noradrenaline measured by these two methods. It is suggested that angiotensin incre.
Mechanisms for fiber-type specificity of skeletal muscle atrophy

Purpose of review There are a variety of pathophysiologic conditions that are known to induce skeletal muscle atrophy. However, muscle wasting can occur through multiple distinct signaling pathways with differential sensitivity between selective skeletal muscle fiber subtypes. This review summarizes some of the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for fiber-specific muscle mass regulation. Recent findings Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha protects slow-twitch oxidative fibers from denervation/immobilization (disuse)-induced muscle atrophies. Nutrient-related muscle atrophies, such as those induced by cancer cachexia, sepsis, chronic heart failure, or diabetes, are largely restricted to fast-twitch glycolytic fibers, of which the underlying mechanism is usually related to abnormality of protein degradation, including proteasomal and lysosomal pathways. In contrast, nuclear factor kappaB activation apparently serves a dual function by inducing both fast-twitch fiber atrophy and slow-twitch fiber degeneration. Summary Fast-twitch glycolytic fibers are more vulnerable than slow-twitch oxidative fibers under a variety of atrophic conditions related to signaling transduction of Forkhead box O family, autophagy inhibition, transforming growth factor beta family, and nuclear factor-kappaB. The resistance of oxidative fibers may result from the protection of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha.
Robotic navigation for catheter ablation: benefits and challenges

Manual radio frequency (RF) ablation to restore a normal cardiac rhythm requires significant skill, manual dexterity and experience. In response to this, ablation methods and technologies have evolved rapidly in the past decade, including the development of remote navigation technologies. Today, two principal methods of remote navigation are available. One utilizes magnetic field vectors to navigate proprietary catheters, the other maneuvers standard catheters robotically. The main advantages of remote navigation include improved catheter stability, reduced fluoroscopy times and decreased total radiation exposure to both the patient and the operator. The main limitations include cost and longer procedure times. Remote magnetic navigation appears to have the best safety profile; however, its efficacy in creating lesions may be lower, which has been attributed to the soft-tip catheter used. Remote robotic navigation on the other hand, which uses regular catheter tips, is associated with a slightly higher overall complication rate, but higher efficacy. This article reviews the pros and cons of remote navigation for ablation of both atrial and ventricular substrates. Finally, it attempts to predict the direction of this field in the coming years.
Agricultural Policy Reform and the Uruguay Round: Synergistic Linkage in a Two-Level Game?

Domestic agricultural subsidy policies in the United States and in the European Union (EU) underwent substantial liberal reforms between 1990 and 1996. In the United States in 1990, Congress reduced acreage on which farmers could receive income-support payments (deficiency payments) by 15 percent under a budget reconciliation act. In the EU in 1991–92, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was dramatically modified under a set of reforms (the MacSharry reforms) that reduced internal cereal price guarantees by 29 percent over three years and obliged larger EU farmers to leave 15 percent of their arable land idle as a further check on excess production. Then in 1995–96, the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act, a sweeping measure that eliminated for at least seven years all deficiency payments to farmers as well as all annual land-idling programs. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, asserted that this new law would “change agricultural policy [in the United States] more fundamentally than any law in sixty years. ”
Landing a Permanent Contract in Spain: Do Job Interruptions and Employer Diversification Matter?

A discrete-time multivariate hazard model is applied to investigate whether an individual’s employment history conditions her chances of eventually obtaining a permanent contract in the Spanish labour market. This study differentiates the incidence of lagged duration dependence from occurrence dependence and individual employment history conditions are not exclusively defined in terms of the number of temporary contracts and job interruptions experienced by the worker, but also by the diversity of her past employers. My analysis focuses on Spanish labour market entrants aged between 18 and 29 for the 1995-2006 period, and performs the estimation by three age cohort groups separately to control for heterogeneity in initial conditions. The results suggest that some workers may become “trapped” in the temporary employment bracket, since their chances of obtaining a permanent contract seem to drop after some months of accumulating several temporary contracts under the same employer between bouts of unemployment. By contrast, moving from one firm to another as a temporary worker might have a positive influence on exit rates to permanent employment. Hence, this paper highlight that it is important to take into account whether or not the worker remains in the same firm when accumulating temporary contracts to test for the stepping stone effect of temporary contracts.
Improved state-space model and analysis of islanding inverter-based microgrid

Based on the traditional modeling method of the inverter-based microgrid, this paper makes some improvement on the state-space model to describe the microgrid more precisely. The coupling item, variation of common rotating angle, in the state-matrix of inverters model introduced by the common rotating reference frame are considered, which isn't simplified as the inverters individual part as before. Stability analysis based on the eigenvalues of the microgrid improved statespace system model is made, which indicate the frequency and damping of oscillatory components in the transient response. The participation matrix is introduced to identify the relation between the eigenvalues and the state-variables and to find out the most valuable state-variables for certain eigenvalues, which will helpful to improve the microgrid system stability and reduce the order of the system. Simulation and experiment results are carried out based on a three 100 kW inverter based microgrid to verify the corresponding results obtained from the improved model.
Towards Better Understanding of Bitcoin Unreachable Peers

The bitcoin peer-to-peer network has drawn significant attention from researchers, but so far has mostly focused on publicly visible portions of the network, i.e., publicly reachable peers. This mostly ignores the hidden parts of the network: unreachable Bitcoin peers behind NATs and firewalls. In this paper, we characterize Bitcoin peers that might be behind NATs or firewalls from different perspectives. Using a special-purpose measurement tool we conduct a large scale measurement study of the Bitcoin network, and discover several previously unreported usage patterns: a small number of peers are involved in the propagation of 89% of all bitcoin transactions, public cloud services are being used for Bitcoin network probing and crawling, a large amount of transactions are generated from only two mobile applications. We also empirically evaluate a method that uses timing information to re-identify the peer that created a transaction against unreachable peers. We find this method very accurate for peers that use the latest version of the Bitcoin Core client.
The Economics of Education: Editors' Introduction

For some time, economists have tried to quantify the educational production function. Given the enormous relevance of human capital to economic wellbeing, this is hardly surprising. While the empirical study of human capital continues, economic research into the numerous aspects of the determination and the consequences of education has recently ballooned. Profound dissatisfaction with the current state of the education system in many countries, and new policies proposed and sometimes enacted in industrialized nations have no doubt motivated economists’ increased scrutiny of education. Moreover, in comparison with other areas of public economics, education was, up to a few years ago, relatively neglected. Whatever the causes, economists are increasingly analysing this topic and promoting the perspective on education that it is a market. And a fascinating market it is. Public providers typically dominate the supply side, but frequently face some competition from private suppliers. With public provision comes political decision making as well as a variety of finance and administrative policies. Private provision is shaped by the policy regime (while clearly in turn shaping it) and by the interests of private providers. Some private providers pursue profit, but many, such as sectarian institutions, have different goals. On the demand side, the investment value of education must be considered. With long-term and uncertain returns, moral hazards, and contracting problems, capital-market failures in financing education become significant. Buyers are likely to differ on what constitutes
Breaking through barriers to TQM effectiveness: Lack of commitment of upper-level management

Abstract This paper examines the importance of senior management commitment to successful implementation of TQM initiatives. Subsumed under the general heading of senior management commitment will be the issues of employee commitment and, in consequence, the TQM success. The interrelationship between CEO commitment, employee commitment and effectiveness of TQM programmes is usually a very close and linear one, not least because, if a TQM organization wishes to improve and achieve success it has no choice but to be committed fully from top to shop floor. As commitment of senior management and employees are not substitutable, it is difficult to study either issue in isolation. The paper opens with an attempt to offer a clear explanation of TQM practices, and goes on from this to outline the importance of a highly-committed CEO and his or her senior management team as a test of whether an organization considers TQM initiatives as a managerial panacea towards competitive advantage or just another management fad. The implications of management commitment for employee motivation and wider aspects of TQM success are discussed. The paper then examines the evidence that ‘mobility of management’ – Deming's fourth deadly disease – has a negative effect at both aggregate and company levels, and instances the ways in which world-class organizations utilize senior management commitment to act as a spur to the adoption and successful implementation of TQM programmes. The changes in CEOs or other top executives that have recently taken place are surveyed, and it is argued that the evidence indicates the centrality of ‘mobility of senior management’ to TQM failure. Following on from this, some potential problem areas in terms of current causes of low commitment of senior management and why CEO commitment dropped off so dramatically, are discussed, followed by a number of general organizational factors adduced to explain these barriers to TQM success. The paper concludes with some brief remarks about prospects for the highly-committed senior management of TQM organizations, and the need for further empirical research on the factors that impedes transition to a stable total quality (TQ) environment.
Brentuximab vedotin in relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma: the Italian experience and results of its use in daily clinical practice outside clinical trials

Clinical trial results indicate that brentuximab vedotin brings considerable promise for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A retrospective multicenter study was conducted on 65 heavily pretreated patients who underwent therapy through a Named Patient Program in Italy (non trial-setting). The primary study endpoint was the objective response rate; secondary endpoints were safety, overall survival and progression-free survival. The best overall response rate (70.7%), including 21.5% complete responses, was observed at the first restaging after the third cycle of treatment. After a median follow up of 13.2 months, the overall survival rate at 20 months was 73.8% while the progression-free survival rate at 20 months was 24.2%. Globally nine patients are in continuous complete response with a median follow up of 14 months (range, 10–19 months). Four patients proceeded to autotransplantation and nine to allotransplantation. The most frequent extra-hematologic toxicity was peripheral neuropathy, observed in 21.5% of cases (9 patients with grade 1/2 and 5 patients with grade 3/4); neurological toxicity led to discontinuation of treatment in three patients and to dose reduction in four. In general the treatment was well tolerated and toxicities, both hematologic and extra-hematologic, were manageable. This report indicates and confirms that brentuximab vedotin as a single agent is effective and safe also when used in standard, everyday clinical practice outside a clinical trial. Best overall responses were recorded after three or four cycles and showed that brentuximab vedotin provides an effective bridge to further therapeutic interventions.
A Transactional Culture Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Practices

Corporate sustainability (CS) can be defined as organizations’ commitment to profitability, environment, and social well-being. This study uses a transactional culture analysis of CS reporting practices to explain why some Indian organizations conform to voluntary CS reporting guidelines and others do not. The literature contains two different perspectives on culture, defined broadly as a set of values that guide people’s behavior at a given time. Most past studies typically use national culture to explain differences in CS practices across nations. This concept embeds corporate cultures within the larger national culture, neglecting intranation diversity. Conversely, according to the transactional culture approach (TCA) used in this study, cultures are plural and independent of geoethnic boundaries, and emerge through social transactions (i.e., patterned exchanges of material and immaterial items between individuals or groups). TCA encourages multilevel explorations of complex social phenomena. Since CS reporting preferences are the outcome of ongoing transactions among organizational stakeholders across different levels, TCA is more appropriate for this study. Since this application requires an understanding of social accountability (i.e., how individuals hold themselves accountable to others and vice versa), the authors use Mary Douglas’s Cultural Framework (DCF), a transactional framework of social accountability. A qualitative exploration of six Indian organizations using DCF reveals different dominant forms of social accountability in these organizations: either alone or as paired hybrids. Consequently, each organization prioritizes different stakeholders and reacts differently to voluntary CS reporting guidelines. Identifying the dominant form or forms of social accountability in their organizations and understanding their underlying reasons for resisting voluntary CS guidelines enables managers to secure better collaboration for their CS initiatives.
Perspectives on Corporate Governance: Rediscovering Board Expertise: Legal Implications of the Empirical Literature

This paper reviews and draws insights from recent empirical research in financial accounting on the value of director expertise for financial reporting quality. Among important consequences of Sarbanes-Oxley is an increase in the percentage of accounting experts on boards of directors, particularly on audit committees. The research reviewed here documents the value of this expertise in promoting financial reporting quality measured in terms of "accounting earnings management" (artificial bookkeeping manipulations). These findings contrast with well-known evidence showing little value arising from director independence. The research holds numerous implications and raises important questions, including the following: 1. It shows that accounting expertise is more valuable than other kinds of financial expertise, suggesting that the SEC should reconsider its definition of this concept. 2. Although accounting earnings management has declined since SOX, real earnings management (substantive business decisions taken to achieve accounting results, like delaying or accelerating investment in a new plant) may be rising. Do audit committee financial experts have a role to play in policing the latter? 3. What role do such experts have in determining the degree of conservatism that a firm uses in its financial reporting, demand for which may differ as among shareholders, bondholders, employees and others? 4. It is customary to see independence and expertise as trade offs. This may be correct when expertise arises from insider status, but incorrect when the expertise is substantive knowledge in a discipline, such as accounting. 5. Law has traditionally encouraged director independence and discouraged expertise but, this research suggests, that may be backwards and certainly requires reconsideration.
Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors in patients with or without ischaemic mitral regurgitation after acute myocardial infarction

Objective Little is known about the long-term effects of renin–angiotensin system inhibitors (RASI) on cardiovascular events in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with ischaemic mitral regurgitation (IMR). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of RASI with the incidence of adverse cardiac events in patients with or without IMR after AMI. Methods We reviewed charts of 1208 consecutive patients admitted with AMI who underwent emergency coronary angiography between 2000 and 2012. After excluding patients who died within 30 days, 551 patients were diagnosed to have mild or greater MR by transthoracic echocardiography (patients with IMR); the remaining 505 patients had no or trivial MR (non-IMR patients). Results Of the study patients, 395 (72%) patients with IMR and 403 (80%) non-IMR patients received RASI. Survival analysis showed that freedom from cardiac death and the composite of cardiac death and heart failure (HF) was significantly higher in patients with IMR receiving RASI than in those not receiving RASI (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, adjusted survival analysis using the inverse probability treatment weighting method showed a significant association of RASI therapy with reduced cardiac death (P=0.010) and the composite of cardiac death and HF (P=0.044) in patients with IMR. However, in non-IMR patients, there were no significant associations between RASI therapy and the outcome measures. Conclusions RASI therapy was associated with a lower incidence of adverse cardiac events in patients with IMR after AMI, but not in patients without IMR.
Of Tournaments and Temptations: An Analysis of Managerial Incentives in the Mutual Fund Industry

The authors test the hypothesis that, when their compensation is linked to relative performance, managers of investment portfolios likely to end up as 'losers' will manipulate fund risk differently than those managing portfolios likely to be 'winners. ' An empirical investigation of the performance of 334 growth-oriented mutual funds during 1976 to 1991 demonstrates that mid-year losers tend to increase fund volatility in the latter part of an annual assessment period to a greater extent than mid-year winners. Furthermore, the authors show that this effect became stronger as industry growth and investor awareness of fund performance increased over time. Copyright 1996 by American Finance Association.