Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competencia entre instituciones microfinancieras en Perú, una medición con el indicador de Boone para el periodo 2003-2009

This paper analyzes the competition between Peruvian microfinance institutions (MFIs) using the Boone indicator, from 2003 to 2009. The findings suggest that microfinance has been developing in a more competitive environment that promotes financial inclusion and the development of efficient institutions. In turn, it places on the authorities’ agenda the responsibility for monitoring and preventing questionable practices in the provision of credit that can lead to over-indebtedness of clients with the deterioration of the loan portfolio of MFIs. For further research, it is suggested to extend the period of analysis and/or to study the relationship between competition, financial results of institutions and the level of indebtedness of customers.
Cement Plant Fan Efficiency Upgrades

The preheater induced draft (ID) fan, the raw mill fan, and the baghouse ID fan are all major consumers of electrical power in a cement plant. Given such a fierce, competitive marketplace, it is wise, if not imperative, to evaluate these fans and their draft systems to optimize operating efficiency to save input horsepower and, in turn, consumed electrical power. These power-reducing upgrades can also substantially reduce the emissions and the overall carbon footprint of the process. An opportunity arose at a cement plant while the rotor of one of the preheater ID fans was becoming a maintenance issue and reaching the end of its operational life. The foresight of plant personnel reasoned that if it had to be replaced, an upgrade of the rotor should be considered, particularly considering the fact that their electricity provider was offering rebates for power savings. This paper presents a case history including all the challenges along the way to replace the original, antiquated radial blade rotor design with a more efficient, properly selected, and modern backward curved design. The result of this commitment to modernization dramatically lowered the input electrical requirements creating considerable operational savings with an attractive rate on the return of investment.
Accelerated Immunodeficiency by Anti-CCR5 Treatment in HIV Infection

In 50% of progressing HIV-1 patients, CXCR4-tropic (X4) virus emerges late in infection, often overtaking CCR5-tropic (R5) virus as the dominant viral strain. This “phenotypic switch” is strongly associated with rapidly declining CD4+ T cell counts and AIDS onset, yet its causes remain unknown. Here, we analyze a mathematical model for the mechanism of X4 emergence in late-stage HIV infection and use this analysis to evaluate the utility of a promising new class of antiretroviral drugs—CCR5 inhibitors—in dual R5, X4 infection. The model shows that the R5-to-X4 switch occurs as CD4+ T cell activation levels increase above a threshold and as CD4+ T cell counts decrease below a threshold during late-stage HIV infection. Importantly, the model also shows that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can inhibit X4 emergence but that monotherapy with CCR5 blockers can accelerate X4 onset and immunodeficiency if X4 infection of memory CD4+ T cells occurs at a high rate. Fortunately, when CXCR4 blockers or HAART are used in conjunction with CCR5 blockers, this risk of accelerated immunodeficiency is eliminated. The results suggest that CCR5 blockers will be more effective when used in combination with CXCR4 blockers and caution against CCR5 blockers in the absence of an effective HAART regimen or during HAART failure.
CLASSIFY THE STUDENT WITH MISSING VALUE TO CALCULATE FUTURE SEMESTER RESULT FOR PLACEMENT RECORD USING KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

The classification problem is one of the main issues in data mining because it aims to extract a classifier which can be used to predict the classes of objects whose class table are unknown. In the case of classification with complete data, many algorithms have been presented in literature, In the case of classification with incomplete data very few algorithms are there in the literature The situation when information about the value of some features is unknown is not hypothetical In the first case, the lack of information is due to the impossibility of performing some tests when some data are missing some tests can be unnecessary when the classifier could make certain decisions without these test results. In industrial diagnosis, the classifier can work in the online process monitoring the failure of some measuring elements does not have to cause stopping the process if the values given by the rest of the measuring elements are enough to make a decision such that the process is performing properly. When available information is not sufficient then the classifier algorithm classifies the result wrongly. When this values or missed the other algorithm eliminate these database of record and formulate their result which might not have proper classification. To resolve this problem we introduce knowledge acquisition for classifying the incomplete data and missing data. Keywordsclassification, industrial diagnosis, classifier algorithm, knowledge acquisition
Neoliberalism and social work identity

ABSTRACT This article considers the relationship between the identity of social work and the neoliberal political project. Reference is made to a small but carefully structured quantitative research study in Auckland, New Zealand which examined the knowledge applied and produced in the practice of social work. This study found evidence consistent with Philp’s [(1979). Notes on the form of knowledge in social work. Sociological Review, 27(1), 83–111] theorisation of a specific ‘form of knowledge’ for social work which is produced and reproduced as a function of relational engagement between social workers and those who are constructed as ‘clients’ in an unequal society. This discourse casts the ‘failing subject’ as socially located and inherently redeemable in direct contrast to populist neoliberal constructions of personal responsibility and moral deficit. With reference to dialectical theory it is suggested that this resilient discourse, embedded in ‘every-day’ practice, is inevitably a source of resistance to the imposition of neoliberal practice and policy design. This resistance provides hope for the progressive voice of social work in the current contest of ideas in relation to the future development of social work.
Varieties of Participation in Public Services: The Who, When, and What of Coproduction

Despite an international resurgence of interest in coproduction, confusion about the concept remains. This article attempts to make sense of the disparate literature and clarify the concept of coproduction in public administration. Based on some definitional distinctions and considerations about who is involved in coproduction, when in the service cycle it occurs, and what is generated in the process, the article offers and develops a typology of coproduction that includes three levels (individual, group, collective) and four phases (commissioning, design, delivery, assessment). The levels, phases, and typology as a whole are illustrated with several examples. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for research and practice.
To buy or not to buy : why do people buy too much information?

Previous studies have shown that individuals acquire an excessive amount of private information if the action space is small and discrete. In this experiment we use a continuous action space to investigate information acquisition. Participants sequentially assess their subjective probability which state of the world occurred at the beginning of a game. They observe the probability assessment of their predecessor and can acquire additional private information at a fixed price. Participants interact with either human or computer simulated players. We find that individuals acquire too many signals and that behavior does not depend on the rationality of other players.
Modeling item selection and relevance for accurate recommendations: a bayesian approach

We propose a bayesian probabilistic model for explicit preference data. The model introduces a generative process, which takes into account both item selection and rating emission to gather into communities those users who experience the same items and tend to adopt the same rating pattern. Each user is modeled as a random mixture of topics, where each topic is characterized by a distribution modeling the popularity of items within the respective user-community and by a distribution over preference values for those items. The proposed model can be associated with a novel item-relevance ranking criterion, which is based both on item popularity and user's preferences. We show that the proposed model, equipped with the new ranking criterion, outperforms state-of-art approaches in terms of accuracy of the recommendation list provided to users on standard benchmark datasets.
Image equalization based on singular value decomposition

In this paper, a novel image equalization technique which is based on singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. The singular value matrix represents the intensity information of the given image and any change on the singular values change the intensity of the input image. The proposed technique converts the image into the SVD domain and after normalizing the singular value matrix it reconstructs the image in the spatial domain by using the updated singular value matrix. The technique is called the singular value equalization (SVE) and compared with the standard grayscale histogram equalization (GHE) method. The visual and quantitative results suggest that the proposed SVE method clearly outperforms the GHE method.
Three-dimensional numerical simulations of pulsatile blood flow in mouse aortic arch around atherosclerotic plaques

Atherosclerotic plaques develop at particular sites in the arterial tree, and this regional localisation depends largely on hemodynamic parameters (such as wall shear stress; WSS) as described in the literature. Plaque rupture can result in heart attack or stroke and hence understanding the development and vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaques is critically important. The purpose of this study is to characterise the hemodynamics of blood flow in the mouse aortic arch using numerical modelling. The geometries are digitalised from synchrotron imaging and realistic pulsatile blood flow is considered. In addition, this project seeks to validate a numerical approach that is adaptable to fluid structure interaction methods. Two cases are considered; arteries with and without plaque. The time-averaged WSS distribution in the absence of plaque is qualitatively similar to other results presented in the literature. The presence of plaque was shown to alter the blood flow and hence WSS distribution, with regions of localised high WSS on the wall of the brachiocephalic artery where luminal narrowing is most pronounced.
Create self-moving objects using hollow-face illusion

This paper presents a novel approach for creat- ing self-moving objects using hollow-face illusion. Given a clip of character animation, our approach generates a static object. Looking at the object at different views, a similar deformation can be observed. To accomplish this challeng- ing mission, we give qualitative and quantitative analysis of hollow-face illusion. Methodology in computer vision and human perception are utilized to design the algorithm. A static object is first generated to satisfy the relative mo- tion illusion constraints. The illusion is then strengthened by back projecting the object to the 3D face space. Consider- ing both "bottom-up" visual signal and "top-down" knowl- edge, the intended illusion can be generated. Experiments have shown the effectiveness of our algorithm. For example, expression varying illusion on an oil painting can be created
Co‐occurrence of Joubert syndrome and Jeune asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy

Ciliary disorders share typical features, such as polydactyly, renal and biliary cystic dysplasia, and retinitis pigmentosa, which often overlap across diagnostic entities. We report on two siblings of consanguineous parents and two unrelated children, both of unrelated parents, with co‐occurrence of Joubert syndrome and Jeune asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy, an association that adds to the observation of common final patterns of malformations in ciliary disorders. Using homozygosity mapping in the siblings, we were able to exclude all known genes/loci for both syndromes except for INVS, AHI1, and three genes from the previously described Jeune locus at 15q13. No pathogenic variants were found in these genes by direct sequencing. In the third child reported, sequencing of RPGRIP1L, ARL13B, AHI1, TMEM67, OFD1, CC2D2A, and deletion analysis of NPHP1 showed no mutations. Although this study failed to identify a mutation in the patients tested, the co‐occurrence of Joubert and Jeune syndromes is likely to represent a distinct entity caused by mutations in a yet to be discovered gene. The mechanisms by which certain organ systems are affected more than others in the spectrum of ciliary diseases remain largely unknown. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Quasi-Analytical Pricing Model for Arithmetic Asian Options: Numerical Evaluation

Sun et al (2008) developed a quasi-analytical pricing model for arithmetic Asian option bases on an approximate relationship between the geometric and arithmetic average of the log-normal random variable. We perform extensive numerical experiments to investigate the accuracy of the model. The numerical evidences show that the accuracy of the method depends on the number of dates at which the underlying asset prices are averaged given the maturity of the option, i.e. on the length of the interval between any two dates. The accuracy is desirable and the pricing errors are controllable when the number is sufficiently large or the interval is sufficiently short.
Efficient Random Number Generation and Application Using

Monte Carlo methods provide approximate numerical solutions to problems that would be difficult or impossible to solve exactly. The defining characteristic of Monte Carlo simulations is the use of multiple independent trials, each driven by some stochastic (random) process. The results of the independent trials are then combined to extract the average answer, relying on the Law of Large Numbers, which states that as more trials are combined, the average answer will converge on the true answer. The independent trials are inherently parallelizable, and they typically consist of dense numeric operations, so GPUs provide an almost ideal platform for Monte Carlo simulations.
Considerations on the Use of Exogenous Fibrolytic Enzymes to Improve Forage Utilization

Digestion of cell wall fractions of forage in the rumen is incomplete due to the complex links which limit their degradation. It is therefore necessary to find options to optimize the use of forages in ruminant production systems. One alternative is to use exogenous enzymes. Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes are of fungal or bacterial origin and increase nutrient availability from the cell wall, which consists of three fractions in different proportions depending on the species of forage: digestible, potentially digestible, and indigestible. The response to addition of exogenous enzymes varies with the type of forage; many researchers infer that there are enzyme-forage interactions but fail to explain the biological mechanism. We hypothesize that the response is related to the proportion of the potentially digestible fraction. The exogenous enzyme activity depends on several factors but if the general conditions for enzyme action are available, the potentially digestible fraction may determine the magnitude of the response. Results of experiments with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes in domestic ruminants are inconsistent. This, coupled with their high cost, has made their use unattractive to farmers. Development of cheaper products exploring other microorganisms with fibrolytic activity, such as Fomes fomentarius or Cellulomonas flavigena, is required.
Spontaneous preterm birth and small for gestational age infants in women who stop smoking early in pregnancy: prospective cohort study

Objectives To compare pregnancy outcomes between women who stopped smoking in early pregnancy and those who either did not smoke in pregnancy or continued to smoke. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Auckland, New Zealand and Adelaide, Australia. Participants 2504 nulliparous women participating in the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study grouped by maternal smoking status at 15 (±1) week’s gestation. Main outcome measures Spontaneous preterm birth and small for gestational age infants (birth weight <10th customised centile). We compared odds of these outcomes between stopped smokers and non-smokers, and between current smokers and stopped smokers, using logistic regression, adjusting for demographic and clinical risk factors. Results 80% (n=1992) of women were non-smokers, 10% (n=261) had stopped smoking, and 10% (n=251) were current smokers. We noted no differences in rates of spontaneous preterm birth (4%, n=88 v 4%, n=10; adjusted odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval l0.49 to 2.18; P=0.66) or small for gestational age infants (10%, n=195 v 10%, n=27; 1.06, 0.67 to 1.68; P=0.8) between non-smokers and stopped smokers. Current smokers had higher rates of spontaneous preterm birth (10%, n=25 v 4%, n=10; 3.21, 1.42 to 7.23; P=0.006) and small for gestational age infants (17%, n=42 v 10%, n=27; 1.76, 1.03 to 3.02; P=0.03) than stopped smokers. Conclusion In women who stopped smoking before 15 weeks’ gestation, rates of spontaneous preterm birth and small for gestational age infants did not differ from those in non-smokers, indicating that these severe adverse effects of smoking may be reversible if smoking is stopped early in pregnancy.
Wind generated by an attacking bat: anemometric measurements and detection by the praying mantis cercal system

SUMMARY The wind-sensitive cercal system, well-known for mediating terrestrial escape responses, may also mediate insect aerial bat-avoidance responses triggered by wind generated by the approaching bat. One crucial question is whether enough time exists between detection and capture for the insect to perform a successful evasive maneuver. A previous study estimated this time to be 16 ms, based on cockroach behavioral latencies and a prediction for the detection time derived from a simulated predator moving toward a simulated prey. However, the detection time may be underestimated since both the simulated predator and prey lacked certain characteristics present in the natural situation. In the present study, actual detection times are measured by recording from wind-sensitive interneurons of a tethered praying mantis that serves as the target for a flying, attacking bat. Furthermore, using hot-wire anemometry, we describe and quantify the wind generated by an attacking bat. Anemometer measurements revealed that the velocity of the bat-generated wind consistently peaks early with a high acceleration component (an important parameter for triggering wind-mediated terrestrial responses). The physiological recordings determined that the mantis cercal system detected an approaching bat 74 ms before contact, which would provide the insect with 36 ms to perform a maneuver before capture. This should be sufficient time for the mantis to respond. Although it probably would not have time for a full response that completely evades the bat, even a partial response might alter the mantid's trajectory enough to cause the bat to mishandle the insect, allowing it to escape.
A 500-MHz, 0.76-W/mm Power Density and 76.2% Power Efficiency, Fully Integrated Digital Buck Converter in 65-nm CMOS

In this paper, we propose a 500-MHz ON-chip digitally controlled buck converter in which active and passive components are fully integrated on a single CMOS chip. To achieve high-power density, a two-phase interleaving buck converter with negatively coupled inductors is adopted to reduce the silicon area for both inductors and output capacitors. In addition, the proposed ON-chip stacked L/C structure can achieve 20% area saving. Furthermore, to support a 500-Hz switching frequency, we present a low-power digital pulsewidth modulation (PWM) controller that includes a 9-bit time-based analog-to-digital converter and a 15%-90% wide-range digital pulsewidth modulator (DPWM), which occupies only 0.075 mm2 and dissipation of 3 mW. The prototype IC fabricated in 65-nm CMOS can convert a 2.2-V input to a 1.2-V output and achieve a peak power efficiency of 76.2% and maximum power density of 0.76 W/mm2. Simultaneously, it can deliver 0.84 W and occupy 1.1 mm2 of effective area that includes a pair of 1.54-nH ON-chip inductors and 2.63-nF ON-chip capacitors.
Dissolution Studies of Poorly Soluble Drug Nanosuspensions in Non-sink Conditions

Sink conditions used in dissolution tests lead to rapid dissolution rates for nanosuspensions, causing difficulties in discriminating dissolution profiles between different formulations. Here, non-sink conditions were studied for the dissolution testing of poorly water-soluble drug nanosuspensions. A mathematical model for polydispersed particles was established to clarify dissolution mechanisms. The dissolution of nanosuspensions with either a monomodal or bimodal size distribution was simulated. In the experimental part, three different particle sizes of indomethacin nanosuspensions were prepared by the wet milling technique. The effects of the dissolution medium pH and agitation speed on dissolution rate were investigated. The dissolution profiles in sink and non-sink conditions were obtained by changing the ratio of sample amount to the saturation solubility. The results of the simulations and experiments indicated that when the sample amount was increased to the saturation solubility of drug, the slowest dissolution rate and the best discriminating dissolution profiles were obtained. Using sink conditions or too high amount of the sample will increase the dissolution rate and weaken the discrimination between dissolution profiles. Furthermore, the low solubility by choosing a proper pH of the dissolution medium was helpful in getting discriminating dissolution profiles, whereas the agitation speed appeared to have little influence on the dissolution profiles. This discriminatory method is simple to perform and can be potentially used in any nanoproduct development and quality control studies.
A search for CO+ in planetary nebulae

We have carried out a systematic search for the molecular ion CO+ in a sample of eight protoplanetary and planetary nebulae in order to determine the origin of the unexpectedly strong HCO+ emission previously detected in these sources. An understanding of the HCO+ chemistry may provide direct clues for the physical and chemical evolution of planetary nebulae. We find that the integrated intensity of the CO+ line may be correlated with that of HCO+, suggesting that the reaction of CO+ with molecular hydrogen may be an important formation route for HCO+ in these planetary nebulae.
Securing Our Data Storage Infrastructures

The threats faced by data storage infrastructures can be broadly categorized into two classes – breakins and data loss. Unfortunately, defenses against breakins tend to increase the risk of data loss, and vice versa. We introduce configurations as a model for quantifying and managing the break-in and data loss risks faced by a secure data storage system. Configurations can also be used in making technology investment decisions within the Gordon-Loeb framework.