Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virtual Learning Environments in engineering and STEM education

This paper discusses an innovative approach to teach engineering concepts using Virtual Reality based Learning Environments (VLEs). New learning modules have been created using Virtual Reality technology and introduced in interdisciplinary senior level and graduate level courses targeting mechanical, industrial and electrical engineering students. These Virtual Reality based learning environments have been used to teach micro systems related topics as part of overall efforts to enhance the learning experiences of students. The learning outcomes including student performance are discussed. The process undertaken to design and develop these VLEs are elaborated along with the technologies used to develop such environments. A brief discussion of next generation Internet technologies which hold the potential to impact engineering and K-12 education is also provided.
Role of T cells in nonimmediate allergic drug reactions

Purpose of reviewThis review presents the current knowledge of the role of T cells in drug allergy manifesting as exanthematous, pustular and bullous skin diseases, collectively referred to as nonimmediate allergic drug reactions. Recent findingsBoth CD4+ and CD8+ T cells producing type 1 and type 2 cytokines and endowed with cytotoxic properties are involved in nonimmediate allergic drug reactions. Recent studies have confirmed that CD8+ T cells play a major role in the pathophysiology of nonimmediate allergic drug reactions, and have characterized new cytotoxic molecular pathways responsible for the severity of the bullous forms of nonimmediate allergic drug reactions. SummaryNonimmediate allergic drug reactions are mediated by T cells and mostly affect the skin. Nonimmediate allergic drug reactions comprise several diseases ranging from the frequent and benign maculo-papular exanthema to the severe and rare toxic epidermal necrolysis. Progress in the knowledge of the pathophysiology of nonimmediate allergic drug reactions comes from a better understanding of the mechanisms of drug recognition by T cells and from a careful analysis of the phenotype and functions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells infiltrating the skin lesions. Recent studies have confirmed that the different clinical forms of nonimmediate allergic drug reactions are associated with distinct types of T cell-mediated skin inflammation. However, CD8+ T cells appear as major effector T cells in most of the nonimmediate allergic drug reactions. Future studies to analyze the early cellular and molecular events leading to the development of the allergic skin reaction will be helpful in order to define diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Strategic bidding for multiple price-maker hydroelectric producers

In a market comprised of multiple price-maker firms, the payoff each firm receives depends not only on one’s own actions but also on the actions of the other firms. This is the defining characteristic of a non-cooperative economic game. In this article, we ask: What is the revenue-maximizing production schedule for multiple price-maker hydroelectric producers competing in a deregulated, bid-based market? In every time stage, we seek a set of bids such that, given all other price-maker producers’ bids, no price-maker can improve (increase) their revenue by changing their bid; i.e., a pure-strategy Nash–Cournot equilibrium. From a theoretical game theory perspective, the analysis on the underlying non-cooperative game is lacking. Specifically, existing approaches are not able to detect when multiple equilibria exist and consider any equilibrium found optimal. In our approach, we create interpolations for each price-maker’s best response function using mixed-integer linear programming formulations within a dynamic programming framework. In the presence of multiple Nash equilibria, when one exists, our approach finds the equilibrium that is Pareto optimal. If a Pareto-optimal Nash equilibrium does not exist, we use a tailored bargaining algorithm to determine a unique solution. To illustrate some of the finer details of our method, we present three examples and a case study on an electricity market in Honduras.
The complete mitochondrial genome of the Oedaleus infernalis sauss (Orthoptera: Oedipodidae)

Abstract The Oedaleus infernalis sauss (Orthoptera: Oedipodidae) is one of the main pests at the rice production area in China, and they mainly feed on leaves and grain of rice. The mitogenome was 15 898 bp long and composed of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and one putative control region. Most protein-coding genes started with a traditional ATN codon, and terminated with the mitochondria stop codon (TAA/TAG) or a single T–– base. The average A + T content of the O. infernalis sauss mitochondrial genome protein-coding sequence, rRNA, tRNA gene, and A + T-rich region was corresponding well to the A + T bias generally observed in insect mitochondrial genomes. Using the 12 protein-coding genes of O. infernalis sauss in this study, together with 15 other closely species, a preliminary phylogenetic analysis has been carried out.
The Primary Care Anxiety and Depression (PCAD) Scale: a culture‐oriented screening scale

The construction of a screening scale for states of anxiety and depression among primary health care (PHC) patients is described. Most of the scale items were selected from a pool of items chosen from two international screening scales which were validated locally, namely the Self‐Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ‐20) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale. A validity study of a new sample of PHC patients indicated that the scale provided a valid measure of anxiety and depressive states, and was closely correlated with the psychiatrist's clinical judgement. The scale correlated more strongly with the psychiatrist's clinical judgement than the general practitioners' assessments. Two cut‐off points were established, one of which is more appropriate for clinical use and the other for prevalence estimation. The former threshold of the scale could be used to alert the busy general practitioner to the possibility that clinically significant anxiety or depression may be present.
Fractional integration in total factor productivity: evidence from US data

This study examines the stochastic properties of different measures of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in the USA and their components using fractional integration. The results show that its structure is more complicated than expected, formed by the interaction of various seasonal and non-seasonal unit (or fractional) processes. Thus, output (measured in terms of the GDP or the business sector value added) may be modelled as a unit root; the order of integration of capital is much higher than 1 and it may be specified even as an I(2) process, while labour contains a seasonal unit root. However, in all these cases, fractional degrees of integration may be even better characterizations for these series. As a result, the TFP series appear to be seasonally fractionally integrated, with d constrained between 0.5 and 1. A deeper investigation of the orders of integration at each of the frequencies shows that the order of integration at zero plays a much more important role that the seasonal frequencies, a result that is explained by the different stochastic nature of the components underlying the TFP.
A grid-connected system based on a real time PV emulator: Design and experimental set-up

This paper presents a grid-connected PV system where the PV source is replaced by a real time emulator. The PV emulator is based on a DC/DC converter controlled by the pole placement technique according to PV current-voltage characteristics. These characteristics are obtained by an analytical model whose parameters are identified on the basis of an actual PV installation. In the proposed plant the power conditioning system is given by a boost converter whose control is based on a fuzzified PI regulator. The DC bus is connected to the grid by a three phase voltage oriented controlled (VOC) active rectifier. The use of the emulator allows to accurately investigate the whole PV system behavior, in every potential working condition, without the use of a real outdoor installation, thus reducing the time and the cost of the experiments. The design and the experimental set-up of the proposed PV system is described in details. Finally experimental test results are given.
Bootstrap tests for time varying cointegration

ABSTRACT This article proposes wild and the independent and identically distibuted (i.i.d.) parametric bootstrap implementations of the time-varying cointegration test of Bierens and Martins (2010). The bootstrap statistics and the original likelihood ratio test share the same first-order asymptotic null distribution. Monte Carlo results suggest that the bootstrap approximation to the finite-sample distribution is very accurate, in particular for the wild bootstrap case. The tests are applied to study the purchasing power parity hypothesis for twelve Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and we only find evidence of a constant long-term equilibrium for the U.S.–U.K. relationship.
Beyond instrumentalisation: NGO monitoring coalitions in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia

This article investigates a particular form of civil society mobilisation in the EU accession process. Despite widely varying models of civil society inclusion across the Western Balkans, monitoring coalitions focused on rule of law issues have emerged in a majority of countries. Comparing the cases of Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, the article suggests that this phenomenon cannot be explained by external EU incentives alone, but is significantly shaped by the dynamics of transnational diffusion. The findings offer a fuller picture of the forces shaping civil society mobilisation in accession countries and hold important lessons for the EU's involvement in strengthening non-governmental organisations on the ground.
Investigation of single-phase multilevel inverter based on series/parallel-connected H-bridges

This paper investigates a multilevel inverter composed of series/parallel-connected H-bridges. The presented structure can be used for applications in which is intended to use semiconductor switches with low voltage and low current rating. A comprehensive system model to control the circulating current, an overall control strategy to adjust the output voltage with constant magnitude and frequency, and a level-shifted PWM (LS-PWM) strategy based on a voltage vectors unidimensional and plane analysis are presented. The LS-PWM is capable of mitigating the low-frequency circulating current, thus generating multilevel voltage signal with low harmonic distortion, maximum number of levels, and low dv/dt. In addition, considering a wide range of values of voltages and currents and any power levels, the total converter losses are reduced compared with conventional multilevel converters. Two multilevel conventional inverters with same number of semiconductor switches are used for comparison. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the studied converter.
Strategic HRM and business performance in the Hilton Group

Profiles the Hilton Group plc and some of the human resources issues that arise from operating an international portfolio of 500 hotels, with more than 60,000 employees in 50 countries. Expansion in 1999 triggered an extensive market research exercise to determine customer expectations of the Hilton hotel brand. This led to the development of Hilton’s worldwide quality initiative, “Equilibrium”. The aim here is to ensure that individual guest needs are met, and because service quality is central to this, a human resource policy initiative called “Esprit” has been developed to embrace the key principles of employee recognition, respect and reward. What then are the strategic linkages between these initiatives? The article draws on practitioner perspectives to explain the relationship between the strategic human resource management and business performance challenges for the business.
The Egyptian Stabilization Experience: An Analytical Retrospective

This paper analyzes the successful Egyptian stabilization experience during the 1990s, focusing on its distinctive features and contrasting them with the recent experiences of other developing countries. The key policy elements were a large fiscal adjustment, use of an exchange rate anchor that has endured for over six years, supported by prudent monetary policies, and early moves to liberalize interest and exchange markets. The outcomes included the avoidance of an output collapse despite the magnitude of fiscal adjustment; avoidance of stresses on the financial system; reversal of endemic dollarization; financial deepening at the expense of the banking system; and maintenance of external viability despite a lackluster export performance.
Election, Implementation, and Social Capital in SchoolBased Management: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on the COGES Project in Burkina Faso

In this paper, we investigate the role of School Management Committees (COGES) in Burkina Faso. These committees include elected members of each community, and are tasked with setting and implementing annual school plans. The study adopted a hybrid evaluation method incorporating a randomized controlled trial and a large-scale artefactual field experiment a la Levitt and List (2007) on public goods with monetary rewards, to closely examine unexplored issues impacting on the sustainability of community-driven projects, and to identify at least partially the mechanisms of this sustainability. We found that the COGES project significantly increased social capital in the form of voluntary contributions to public goods, especially by linking those that people can be connected to vertically. On average, the direct increase in voluntary contributions to public goods from the implementation of the COGES project was between 8.0 and 10.2%. For groups composed of school principals, teachers, and parents, the average contribution increased by between 12.7 and 24.1% through the democratic election of school management committee members, and by between 11.0 and 17.2% through the implementation of the COGES project. These results suggest that community management projects can improve local cost recovery by increasing local contributions of public goods, potentially leading to better fiscal sustainability in community-driven projects. Moreover, the results based on our hybrid experiments are largely in line with real-world decisions observed in the schools under our investigation. As a byproduct, our findings are supportive of models of other-regarding preferences.
The Effects of Eligibility Restrictions and Party Activity on Absentee Voting and Overall Turnout

Theory: The effects of party activity and permissive absentee eligibility on levels of absentee voting and overall turnout are explored. Hypotheses: Liberalizing absentee eligibility reduces the "costs" of voting while giving political interests a new way of mobilizing supporters and stimulating overall turnout. Methods: Data from the 1992 Current Population Survey and from the author's survey of state party organizations are analyzed using a logistic regression. Results: A state-by-state comparison demonstrates that levels of absentee voting are not solely a function of restrictive state laws but reflect other influences, including the efforts of state parties to send out absentee ballot applications. Controlling for the influences of state registration laws, the data indicate that overall turnout is increased only when liberalization of absentee voter eligibility is combined with party mobilization efforts. The implications of this change for American electoral politics are discussed.
Phylogenetic Analysis of the Small Hydrophobic (SH) Gene of Mumps Virus in Korea: Identification of a New Genotype

Viral RNAs extracted from fifteen mumps virus isolated from throat swab, saliva, blood, urine or CSF during mumps epidemics between 1997–1998 in Korea were amplified by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and compared by nucleotide sequencing of the small hydrophobic (SH) gene. The deduced amino acid sequences of the SH gene were aligned with the published sequences of mumps virus isolated in different geographic areas. A comparison of the SH gene of mumps viruses in Korea indicated 96.2–100% and 91.2–100% similarity at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis, using the neighbor‐joining method, showed that Korean mumps virus strains formed a genetically distinct monophyletic group from previously reported genotypes based on the 315‐bp length nucleotide and 57 deduced amino acid sequences of the SH gene, and possibly be designated as a new genotype (I).
Globalization and Corporate Social Responsibility

First, we will explain the concept of globalization. We will describe its conceptual variants and point to some of the phenomena that are associated with this process. Next we will describe the traditional paradigm of CSR where the responsibilities of businesses are discussed vis-a-vis a more or less properly working nation state system and a homogenous moral (cultural) community. We will argue that both these assumptions become problematic in the current 'post-national constellation' (Habermas 2001). We describe the new situation with regulatory gaps in global regulation, an erosion of national governance (loss of national sovereignty and the exterritorial application of national law), and a loss in moral and cultural homogeneity in the corporate environment. We discuss the consequences of the post-national constellation with the help of two recent observations of business firms' behavior which call for a fresh view on the concept of CSR. We describe the necessary paradigm shifts toward a new politically enlarged concept of CSR in a globalized world.
Precisely controlled cavitation during the perfluorocarbon nanodroplets assisted HIFU surgery

The previous study has demonstrated that pulsed HIFU with tens of microseconds pulse duration and 10kHz pulse repetition frequency is effective for cavitation generation. With the assistance of perfluorocarbon (PFC) nano-droplets, cavitation can be further enhanced. But despite higher efficiency, we also need precisely controlled cavitation for sake of therapeutic safety. In this work, we propose a combinatorial ultrasound wave sequence to realize precisely controlled cavitation in PFC nano-droplets assisted HIFU ablation. The applied combinatorial wave sequence was composed of a preconditioned continuous wave sustained for several seconds, then a pause and eventually the pulsed waves. We employed sonoluminescence (SL) to visualize the cavitation active spots. The luminous area and mean light intensity were measured to represent cavitation area and intensity, respectively. High-speed photography was utilized to record the thermal ablation development process. The results showed that cavitation distribution space became more confined and less stretched when sonicated by the combinatorial sequence. The SL area decreased about 60%. Meanwhile, no obvious change in the mean intensity. Higher efficient and better-controlled cavitation and ablation were achieved through applying the combinatorial ultrasound wave sequence.
Fiscal policy and growth through endogenous cycles

We explore the role of fiscal policy in the Matsuyama model (1999, Econometrica) of growth through cycles alternating perpetually between two phases featuring neoclassical investment and neo-Schumpeterian innovation respectively. Subsidies to R&D investment or to the purchase of newly invented intermediate goods can arbitrarily reduce the threshold level of capital per type of intermediate good, beyond which the economy moves from the investment phase to the innovation phase. More importantly, such subsidies can mitigate and eventually eliminate the cycles for significant welfare gains that can be equivalent to as much as 15% rises in consumption at all times.
Green Regulations in California and Sweden

Abstract California and Sweden are both leaders in green regulations and actions. In both there is a substantial political base for environmental regulation, yet the path to regulation in these two political entities is quite different. California emphasizes command and control regulations while Sweden makes heavy use of taxes. We show that both underlying economic factors and the constraints of the larger systems in which these economies are embedded contribute to their choice of control methods.
Low-dose cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil in renal allograft recipients with suboptimal renal function.

BACKGROUND Cyclosporine (CsA) nephrotoxicity can be identified by functional changes and chronic renal damage. CsA-associated renal fibrosis has been related to the overproduction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, a fibrogenic cytokine. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) may allow CsA dose reduction without increasing the risk of rejection. METHODS We studied the impact of CsA dose reduction in association with MMF on renal function and TGF-beta1, production in 16 long-term renal allograft recipients with suspected CsA nephrotoxicity. Two grams/day of MMF were introduced, and CsA dose was reduced to reach whole-blood levels between 40 and 60 ng/ml within 1 month. CsA dose and levels, renal function parameters, and platelet-poor plasma TGF-beta1 levels were evaluated before and 6 months thereafter. RESULTS MMF allowed a decrease in both the mean dose of CsA (3.8+/-1.35 vs. 2.2+/-0.73 mg/kg/day; P<0.01) and CsA levels (148+/-36 vs. 53+/-19 ng/ml; P<0.001). The reduction of CsA was associated with a decrement of serum creatinine levels (210+/-46 vs. 172+/-41 micromol/L; P<0.001) and an increase in both the glomerular filtration rate (32.9+/-12 vs. 39.1+/-14 ml/min/1.73 m2; P<0.02) and renal plasma flow (195+/-79 to 218.6+/-74.02 ml/min/1.73 m2; P<0.02). There was a reduction in plasma TGF-beta1 levels (4.6+/-4.2 vs. 2.0+/-1.4 ng/ml; P=0.003) and CsA levels correlated with TGF-beta1 (r=0.536, P=0.002). No rejection episodes occurred, and an improvement in both systolic (149+/-13 vs. 137+/-12 mmHg; P<0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (89+/-14 vs. 83+/-10 mmHg; P<0.04) were observed. CONCLUSIONS These short-term results show that MMF introduction allows a CsA dose reduction, which improves renal function, reduces TGF-beta1 production, and improves the control of hypertension, without increasing the incidence of acute rejection.
Communities, Rules and Institutions : a Cross-country Investigation

Research on the institutional foundations of economic development is sharply divided between those who emphasize rule-bound systems of exchange (‘society’), and those who stress the importance of informal or voluntary bonds between individuals or small groups (‘community’). This paper reports an exploratory effort to operationalize the concepts of community and society and test how they impact different types of institutions, across fifty-eight countries. The results are encouraging and suggest several avenues for more refined research. We find that both community and society are important determinants across all institutional domains, and are in many cases mutually reinforcing.