Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality Implications of Warranties in a Supply Chain

We examine a supply chain in which the final product consists of components made by a buyer and a supplier. In the single moral-hazard case, the buyer's quality is observable, whereas in the double moral-hazard case, the buyer's quality is not observable. The supplier's quality is not observable in both the single and double moral-hazard cases. In each case, we examine a warranty/penalty contract between the buyer and the supplier based on information from incoming inspection and external failures. When the warranty contract is based on information from external failures in the single moral-hazard case, the first-best quality is achieved, whereas in the double moral-hazard case, the first-best quality is achieved if the supplier is not held responsible for the buyer's defects. When the warranty contract is based on information from incoming inspection, the first-best is achieved in both the single and double moral-hazard cases, even when the incoming inspection does not identify all of the supplier's defectives. An analysis of whether the penalty on the supplier in each case meets a fairness criterion-that is, the penalty does not exceed the manufacturer's external failure cost-indicates that the fairness criterion is met by the warranty contract based on information from incoming inspection when the first-best incoming inspection is sufficiently high. However, if the first-best incoming inspection is low and the precision of pinpointing the supplier's responsibility for external failure is sufficiently high, the warranty contract based on external failures could satisfy the fairness criterion.
Health care providers' judgments in chronic pain: the influence of gender and trustworthiness

Abstract Estimates of patients' pain, and judgments of their pain expression, are affected by characteristics of the observer and of the patient. In this study, we investigated the impact of high or low trustworthiness, a rapid and automatic decision made about another, and of gender and depression history on judgments made by pain clinicians and by medical students. Judges viewed a video of a patient in pain presented with a brief history and rated his or her pain, and the likelihood that it was being exaggerated, minimized, or hidden. Judges also recommended various medical and treatment options. Contrary to expectations, trustworthiness had no main effect on pain estimates or judgments, but interacted with gender producing pervasive bias. Women, particularly those rated of low trustworthiness, were estimated to have less pain and to be more likely to exaggerate it. Unexpectedly, judgments of exaggeration and pain estimates were independent. Consistent with those judgments, men were more likely to be recommended analgesics, and women to be recommended psychological treatment. Effects of depression history were inconsistent and hard to interpret. Contrary to expectations, clinicians' pain estimates were higher than medical students', and indicated less scepticism. Empathy was unrelated to these judgments. Trustworthiness merits further exploration in healthcare providers' judgments of pain authenticity and how it interacts with other characteristics of patients. Furthermore, systematic disadvantage to women showing pain is of serious concern in healthcare settings.
CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE PERFORMANCE OF SOUND SOURCE DETECTION WITH TIME DELAY OF ARRIVAL ALGORITHM

of thesis CONSTANT FALSE ALARM RATE PERFORMANCE OF SOUND SOURCE DETECTION WITH TIME DELAY OF ARRIVAL ALGORITHM Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) based algorithms and Steered Response Power (SRP) based algorithms are two most commonly used methods for sound source detection and localization. SRP is more robust under high reverberation and multi-target conditions, while TDOA is less computationally intensive. This thesis introduces a modified TDOA algorithm, TDOA delay table search (TDOA-DTS), that has more stable performance than the original TDOA, and requires only 4% of the SRP computation load for a 3-dimensional space of a typical room. A 2-step adaptive thresholding procedure based on a Weibull noise peak distributions for the cross-correlations and a binomial distribution for combing potential peaks over all microphone pairs for the final detection. The first threshold limits the potential target peaks in the microphone pair cross-correlations with a user-defined false-alarm (FA) rates. The initial false-positive peak rate can be set to a higher level than desired for the final FA target rate so that high accuracy is not required of the probability distribution model (where model errors do not impact FA rates as they work for threshold set deep into the tail of the curve). The final FA rate can be lowered to the actual desired value using an M out of N (MON) rule on significant correlation peaks from different microphone pairs associated is a point in the space of interest. The algorithm is tested with simulated and real recorded data to verify resulting FA rates are consistent with the user-defined rates down to 10-6.
Heat shock protein 90 as a critical factor in maintaining glucocorticosteroid receptor in a nonfunctional state.

Previous work demonstrated that the ligand binding domain (LBD) was required to determine the formation of the cytosolic, untransformed, inactive, 8 S, heterooligomeric form of the human glucocorticosteroid receptor (hGR) which includes the 90-kDa heat shock protein (hsp90) (Pratt, W.B., Jolly, D.J., Pratt, D.V., Hollenberg, S.M., Giguère, V., Cadepond, F.M., Schweizer-Groyer, G., Catelli, M.G., Evans, R.M., and Baulieu, E.E. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 267-273). Truncations of hGR deleting all or almost all of the LBD give GR derivatives in the non-hsp90-interacting 4 S form able to stimulate transcription in a hormone-independent manner. To identify the LBD subregion(s) involved in 8 S formation, we analyzed the sedimentation behavior of hGR mutants with various LBD internal deletions and/or truncations transiently expressed in cells that contain hsp90 but very low levels of endogenous GR, and we correlated the results with their transcriptional activity. LBD has been divided into three subregions: two of them, LBD1 (between amino acids 551 and 626) and LBD2 (between amino acids 627 and 696), include amino acid sequences highly conserved in the steroid receptor superfamily, and LBD3 consists of the carboxyl-terminal part of the molecule (amino acids 697-777). Each of these subregions can be deleted without impeding 8 S heterooligomer formation, and the corresponding receptors do not have transcriptional activity in the absence as well as in the presence of hormone. When linked to hGR mutants truncated after amino acids 532 or 550, each subregion does separately promote 8 S heterooligomeric complex formation and repress the intrinsic constitutive transcriptional activity of the truncated receptors. These 8 S complexes contain hsp90. In a control experiment, the linkage of 1,017 amino acids of beta-galactosidase to the carboxyl-terminal of 1-532 hGR gave a hybrid receptor still constitutively transcriptionally active which did not bind hsp90. These results provide evidence that there is a strong correlation between the association with hsp90 and the loss of GR functional properties and that hsp90 may play a critical role in maintaining the receptor in a nonfunctional state.
Management of adenocarcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas.

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the resectability, operative morbidity mortality, and survival of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma of the body and tail compared with lesions in the head. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Adenocarcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas is characteristically thought of as a disease that presents late and rarely is operable or resectable. METHODS In an 11-year period, 1981 patients were admitted and entered into a prospective database at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with a diagnosis of peripancreatic cancer, 1363 of whom had adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, 75% with lesions in the head and 25% with lesions in the body and tail. RESULTS Of 271 patients resected, 237 (23%) had lesions in the head and 34 (10%) had body and tail lesions. Perioperative mortality was 4% for patients with pancreatic lesions in the head and 0% for patients with pancreatic lesions in the body and tail. Five-year actuarial survival for body and tail lesions was projected at 14% for 5 years. Actual survival was 19%, with three patients alive for more than 5 years. CONCLUSIONS Adenocarcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas, although less likely to be resectable at presentation than lesions in the pancreatic head, have similar postresection survival.
Receptor Sites for the Primary Care Function: Reaction to the Paper by Karen Davis, PhD, and Kristof Stremikis, MPP

home. For participants in this 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), this emphasis on the centrality of reformed primary care to meet the health care needs of Americans is a call to the “supper table of mom and apple pie. ” The call resonates with family physicians’ hunger for acknowledgment and with the fullness of knowledge that systems based on primary care have higher quality, healthier people, less inequality in health care and health, and lower costs. 2
Genetic Variability of Immunomodulatory Genes in Ectromelia Virus Isolates Detected by Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

ABSTRACT The genetic variability of nine genes in 12 isolates and strains of ectromelia virus, which causes a smallpox-like disease (mousepox) in mice, was determined and allows for classification of ectromelia viruses. The low genetic variability suggests that evolutionary pressure maintains the activity of immunomodulatory genes in natural poxvirus infections.
Application of a modified loop‐mediated isothermal amplification kit for detecting Norovirus genogroups I and II

Norovirus is a major etiologic agent in worldwide outbreaks of gastroenteritis associated with food as well as person‐to‐person transmission. The ubiquitous nature of Norovirus necessitates simple and rapid detection methods with high accuracy and sensitivity. To this end, several investigators have evaluated the usefulness of commercial reverse‐transcription loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (RT‐LAMP) kits for detecting Norovirus genogroups I (GI) and II (GII). In previous studies, the conventional Loopamp kit for Norovirus GII showed a relatively high detection rate, while that for Norovirus GI showed a relatively low detection rate. In the present study, clinical Norovirus specimens were used to compare the detection rate of a modified Loopamp kit for Norovirus GI with the rates of the conventional Loopamp kit for Norovirus GI and an “in‐house” RT‐LAMP GI primer set, methods which had a high detection rate. Results from the present study showed that the modified Loopamp kit for Norovirus GI had a higher detection rate for two viral genotypes (GI.3, GI.11). On comparison with an “in‐house” GII primer set using genotype GII.4 viruses circulating recently, the detection rate by the Loopamp kit for Norovirus GII was found to be higher, with a 98% detection rate. These results indicate the applicability of the modified LAMP kit for GI and the conventional LAMP kit for GII for detection of Noroviruses in clinical samples. J. Med. Virol. 81:2072–2078, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prolonging Cell‐Free Protein Synthesis by Selective Reagent Additions

Factors causing the early cessation of protein synthesis have been studied in a cell‐free system from Escherichia coli. We discovered that phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP), the secondary energy source for ATP regeneration, and several amino acids are rapidly degraded during the cell‐free protein synthesis reaction. The degradation of such compounds takes place even in the absence of protein synthesis. This degradation severely reduces the capacity for protein synthesis. The lost potency was completely recovered when the reaction mixture was supplied with additional PEP and amino acids. Of the 20 amino acids, only arginine, cysteine, and tryptophan were required to restore system activity. Through repeated additions of PEP, arginine, cysteine,and tryptophan, the duration of protein synthesis was greatly extended. In this fed‐batch reaction, after a 2 h incubation, the level of cell‐free synthesized chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reached 350 μg/mL, which is 3.5 times the yield of the batch reaction. Addition of fresh magnesium further extended the protein synthesis. As a result, through coordinated additions of PEP, arginine, cysteine, tryptophan, and magnesium, the final concentration of cell‐free synthesized CAT increased more than 4‐fold compared to a batch reaction. SDS‐PAGE analysis of such a fed‐batch reaction produced an obvious band of CAT upon Coomassie Blue staining.
Mltistage bilateral noise filtering and edge detection for color image enhancement

Removing noise while preserving and enhancing edges is one of the most fundamental operations of image/video processing. When taking pictures with digital cameras, it is frequently found that the color images are corrupted by miscellaneous noise and, hence, noise filtering is necessary. The difficulty is that usually the filtering will reduce the sharpness of the image. On the other hand, optical lens imperfections are usually equivalent to spatial low pass filters and tend to result in blurred images. It is customary to apply edge enhancement algorithm on the image in order to improve the sharpness, but this process usually increase the noise level as a by-product. In this paper, we present a new integrated approach to address these issues. The proposed approach combines color edge detection, bilateral noise filter, and edge enhancement based on suitable color spaces. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can effectively reduce the noise while preserving and enhancing edges.
Clinical Variability of Primary Congenital Glaucoma in a Spanish Family With Cyp1b1 Gene Mutations

Background:Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) is a rare disease. In around a third of Spanish patients, the disease is attributed to mutations in the CYP1B1 gene inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Such mutations are the main known genetic cause of PCG. Case Report:We describe the case of a family with 3 of 7 siblings diagnosed with PCG. In a genetic study of the CYP1B1 gene, 2 null mutations were identified in the affected siblings (R355fsX69/T404fsX38). Two of the 4 healthy siblings were heterozygous for mutation R355fsX69 and the remaining 2 had no mutations. The healthy parents were found to be heterozygous for mutations T404fsX38 (mother) and R355fsX69 (father). High variation in the expression of PCG was observed, especially in terms of disease onset and severity: Patient 1 in the eldest affected sibling, PCG was diagnosed at 8 years of age and is presently stable after 60 months of medical treatment; patient 2 the second affected child underwent surgery at 7 days of age. Today, at 104 months, she has undergone 2 operations on the right eye and 3 on the left eye; patient 3 the youngest sibling, the disease also manifested at birth and the boy underwent surgery at 4 days. Currently he is 84 months old, he has required 7 operations for glaucoma, 3 in the right eye and 4 in the left. Conclusions:This clinical case reveals the etiological relationship between CYP1B1 mutations and PCG. In addition, it indicates a highly variable clinical picture associated with a single disease genotype mainly affecting disease onset and progression.
Platelet-Derived Microparticles and Platelet Function Profile in Children With Congenital Heart Disease

Platelet microparticles (PMPs) and function profile in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have not been widely explored. We investigated platelet aggregation, flow cytometric platelet surface receptors (P-selectin and glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa) and PMPs in 23 children with cyanotic CHD (CCHD), 30 children with acyanotic CHD (ACHD) and 30 healthy controls correlating these variables to hematological and coagulation parameters including von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF Ag) as a marker of endothelial dysfunction. Hemoglobin, hematocrit (HCT), d-dimer, and vWF Ag were significantly higher in CCHD than ACHD group. Platelet MPs and P-selectin expression were increased in patients than controls, particularly in CCHD and positively correlated to HCT, d-dimer, and vWF Ag while platelet count, aggregation, and GP IIb/IIIa expression were decreased in CCHD compared with ACHD group and negatively correlated to HCT. The overproduction of PMPs and platelet activation with suppressed aggregation may be implicated in the pathogenesis of coagulation/hemostatic abnormalities in children with CCHD.
Corticotectal and corticostriatal projections from the frontal eye fields of the cat: an anatomical examination using WGA-HRP.

Corticofugal projections from the frontal eye fields (FEF) are believed to access the superior colliculus (SC) directly (i.e., monosynaptically) and indirectly (i.e., multisynaptically) through the basal ganglia. The present results suggest that these two pathways are derived from largely segregated populations of corticofugal neurons. Furthermore, while the different subregions of the FEF from which these pathways originate have different termination patterns in the basal ganglia (i.e., striatum, ST), they share a common termination pattern in the SC. Injections of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) into the two major subdivisions of the FEF (presylvian and cruciate sulci) resulted in dense label in both the ST (bilaterally) and the SC (ipsilaterally). Corticostriatal labeling was found in the caudal part of the head of the caudate nucleus (heaviest ipsilaterally), with labeling from cruciate injections located ventromedial to that produced by presylvian injections. Only presylvian injections resulted in labeling in the putamen. Retrograde tracing experiments demonstrated that both presylvian and cruciate corticostriatal projections originated from neurons in lamina III and the upper aspects of lamina V. An additional but small group of presylvian corticostriatal projections was found in lamina VI. Corticotectal terminal labeling was restricted to the deep laminae of the SC and was derived exclusively from lamina V neurons in cortex. They differed from their corticostriatal counterparts in laminar/sub-laminar location and in soma sizes.
Default Reasoning about Conditional , Non-Local and Disjunctive Effect Actions

Recently, Baumann et al. [2010] provided a comprehensive framework for default reasoning about actions. Alas, the approach was only defined for a very basic class of domains where all actions have mere unconditional, local effects. In this paper, we show that the framework can be substantially extended to domains with action effects that are conditional (i.e. are context-sensitive to the state in which they are applied), non-local (i.e. the range of effects is not pre-determined by the action arguments) and even disjunctive (thus nondeterministic). Notably, these features can be carefully added without sacrificing important nice properties of the basic framework, such as modularity of domain specifications or existence of extensions.
A preliminary report on the effect of laser therapy on the healing of cutaneous surgical wounds as a consequence of an inversely proportional relationship between wavelength and intensity: histological study in rats.

OBJECTIVE The objective of the present investigation was to assess the histological effects of different wavelengths and intensities on the healing process of cutaneous wounds. BACKGROUND DATA Tissue repair is a dynamic interactive process which involves mediators, cells and extra-cellular matrix. Several reports on the use of laser therapy have shown that the healing process is positively affected when the correct parameters are used. METHODS Eighteen standardized wounds were surgically created on the dorsum of male and female Wistar rats, which were subsequently divided into two experimental groups according to wavelength used lambda.670 or lambda685 nm) for lasertherapy (LLLT). Each group was divided into three subgroups of three animals according to the intensity of the applied irradiation (2, 15, or 25 mW). Twelve animals were used as untreated controls and were not irradiated. The irradiation was carried out during seven consecutive days. The animals were sacrificed eight days after surgery. The specimens were removed, kept in 4% formaldehyde for 24 h, routinely prepared to wax, stained with H&E, and analyzed under light microscopy. RESULTS For both groups, light microscopy showed a substitution repair process; however, when LLLT was used, a positive biomodulatory effect was detectable, chiefly associated with shorter wavelength and low intensity. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study indicate that LLLT improved cutaneous wound repair and that the effect is a result of an inversely proportional relationship between wavelength and intensity, with treatment more effective when combining higher intensity with short wavelength or lower intensity with higher wavelength.
Synergistic effect in an Au-Ag alloy nanocatalyst: CO oxidation.

Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles supported on mesoporous aluminosilicate have been prepared by one-pot synthesis using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) both as a stabilizing agent for nanoparticles and as a template for the formation of mesoporous structure. The formation of Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Although the Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles have a larger particle size than the monometallic gold particles, they exhibited exceptionally high activity in catalysis for low-temperature CO oxidation. Even at a low temperature of 250 K, the reaction rate can reach 8.7 x 10(-6) mol.g(cat.)(-1). s(-1) at an Au/Ag molar ratio of 3/1. While neither monometallic Au@MCM-41 nor Ag@MCM-41 shows activity at this temperature, the Au-Ag alloy system shows a strongly synergistic effect in high catalytic activity. In this alloy system, the size effect is no longer a critical factor, whereas Ag is believed to play a key role in the activation of oxygen.
The Impact of New Pension Disclosure Rules on Perceptions of Debt

Statement No. 87 (SFAS 87) requires companies to report a pension liability when the accumulated benefit obligations exceed the fair value of the pension plan assets. A concern that led the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to issue SFAS 87 was that "[f]ootnote disclosure is not an adequate substitution for [balance sheet] recognition" [1985, para. 116]. In addition, the FASB concluded that while footnote disclosure may be adequate for some sophisticated users, it is not for most users. Opponents of SFAS 87 were concerned that balance sheet disclosure of a pension liability might negatively affect a user's perception of the financial condition of a particular company.1 This paper examines two views: (1) users do not treat pension information included in a footnote as they would a balance sheet liability; and (2) the difference in treatment will be more pronounced for less sophisticated users. Experimental results are consistent with the former view only. The remainder of this paper describes the research design and discusses the results of the experiment.