Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antecedents and Consequences of Internet Use in Procurement: An Empirical Investigation of U.S. Manufacturing Firms

This paper examines the antecedents and consequences of Internet use in the procurement process. Drawing upon the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the technology, organization, and environment framework, we develop an integrative model that examines the antecedents and consequences of Internet use in two stages---the search stage and the order initiation and completion (OIC) stage---of the procurement process. The model enables us to deconstruct both the usage and the performance aspects of information technology (IT) in business processes, and to provide insights into the enablers of use and business value. The model is estimated with survey data from 412 firms. Our results suggest that while some resources, such as procurement-process digitization, influence Internet use in both the procurement stages, other resources, such as the diversity of organizational procurement knowledge, impact Internet use in only one stage. We also find that Internet use in the OIC stage has a more significant impact on procurement-process performance than use in search. This study extends the digital capabilities and firm performance literature in the context of electronic procurement. This study also contributes to the small but emerging stream of literature that investigates antecedents, the extent, and implications of IT use holistically.
LeapArm-Facilitating Sensory Spaces for Mid-air Gestural Interaction

We present the LeapArm system, which combines a Leap Motion controller for mid-air gestural human-computer interaction with a robotic arm. LeapArm actuates in real-time the orientation of the controller towards a user's hand, dynamically expanding the sensory space for mid-air interaction. We describe several desktop use scenarios and rapid transitions between them, which are enabled by the LeapArm system and discuss how actuated 3D controllers change the design space for gestural interaction.
and Junichi Aging and Autophagy in the Heart

The incidence of cardiovascular disease progressively increases with age in both men (from 10 per 1000 people at 45–54 years of age to 74 per 1000 people at 85–94 years of age) and women (from 4 to 65 per 1000 for the comparable age groups). Despite recent progress in cardiovascular treatment, the total prevalence of age-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, is still increasing. High blood pressure, obesity, and metabolic syndrome increase with age, and these conditions facilitate the development of heart disease, which is a major cause of chronic disability, morbidity, and mortality in the elderly. Examination of the cell biology of the aging process has revealed that it is often associated with dysfunctional organelles, which trigger oxidative stress, protein misfolding, and cell death and induce precipitous declines in the maintenance of cellular quality control mechanisms. In particular, an important pathological feature of aging is the development of mitochondrial abnormalities, where reactive oxygen species (ROS) progressively accumulate during aging as a result of damage to mitochondrial proteins, an imbalance between oxidative stress and antioxidant mechanisms and increases in electron leakage from dysfunctional electron transport Review
Applying HTM to an OLTP System: No Free Lunch

Transactional memory is a promising way for implementing efficient synchronization mechanisms for multicore processors. Intel's introduction of hardware transactional memory (HTM) into their Haswell line of processors marks an important step toward mainstream availability of transactional memory. Transaction processing systems require execution of dozens of critical sections to insure isolation among threads, which makes them one of the target applications for exploiting HTM. In this study, we quantify the opportunities and limitations of directly applying HTM to an existing OLTP system that uses fine-grained synchronization. Our target is Shore-MT, a modern multithreaded transactional storage manager that uses a variety of fine-grained synchronization mechanisms to provide scalability on multicore processors. We find that HTM can improve performance of the TATP workload by 13--17% when applied judiciously. However, attempting to replace all synchronization reduces performance compared to the baseline case due to high percentage of aborts caused by the limitations of the current HTM implementation.
Species-Specific Inhibition of Cerebral Malaria in Mice Coinfected with Plasmodium spp

ABSTRACT Recent epidemiological observations suggest that clinical evolution of Plasmodium falciparum infections might be influenced by the concurrent presence of another Plasmodium species, and such mixed-species infections are now known to occur frequently in residents of most areas of endemicity. We used mice infected with P. berghei ANKA (PbA), a model for cerebral malaria (CM), to investigate the influence of experimental mixed-species infections on the expression of this pathology. Remarkably, the development of CM was completely inhibited by the simultaneous presence of P. yoelii yoelii but not that of P. vinckei or another line of P. berghei. In the protected coinfected mice, the accumulation of CD8+ T cells in the brain vasculature, a pivotal step in CM pathogenesis, was found to be abolished. Protection from CM was further found to be associated with species-specific suppression of PbA multiplication. These observations establish the concept of mixed Plasmodium species infections as potential modulators of pathology and open novel avenues to investigate mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of malaria.
Social interactions affecting caste development through physiological actions in termites

A colony of social insects is not only an aggregation of individuals but also a functional unit. To achieve adaptive social behavior in fluctuating environmental conditions, in addition to coordination of physiological status in each individual, the whole colony is coordinated by interactions among colony members. The study on the regulation of social-insect colonies is termed “social physiology. ” Termites, a major group of social insects, exhibit many interesting phenomena related to social physiology, such as mechanisms of caste regulation in a colony. In their colonies, there are different types of individuals, i.e., castes, which show distinctive phenotypes specialized in specific colony tasks. Termite castes comprise reproductives, soldiers and workers, and the caste composition can be altered depending on circumstances. For the regulation of caste compositions, interactions among individuals, i.e., social interactions, are thought to be important. In this article, we review previous studies on the adaptive meanings and those on the proximate mechanisms of the caste regulation in termites, and try to understand those comprehensively in terms of social physiology. Firstly, we summarize classical studies on the social interactions. Secondly, previous studies on the pheromone substances that mediate the caste regulatory mechanisms are overviewed. Then, we discuss the roles of a physiological factor, juvenile hormone (JH) in the regulation of caste differentiation. Finally, we introduce the achievements of molecular studies on the animal sociality (i.e., sociogenomics) in terms of social physiology. By comparing the proximate mechanisms of social physiology in termites with those in hymenopterans, we try to get insights into the general principles of social physiology in social animals.
Trends in Hitachi's MEMS Sensors for Automobiles

INTRODUCTION SINCE it began working on the development of semiconductor pressure sensors using bulk MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) fabrication technology for fabricating three-dimensional silicon substrates in 1970, Hitachi has been developing technologies such as MEMS fabrication technology and the integration of MEMS and signal processing circuits, while working to commercialize these technologies. At present, Hitachi is also focusing on the creation OVERVIEW: Computerized and electronic control technologies for automotive systems such as engine powertrain control, vehicle stability control, and brake control have been evolving year after year, making the establishment of the sensing technologies used to acquire the various types of information necessary to control these systems indispensable. MEMS is a core technology that supports this, and a wide variety of different MEMS sensors are currently being used on board automobiles. Ever since Hitachi first commercialized semiconductor pressure sensors in 1980, Hitachi has been working to apply MEMS technology to devices such as accelerometers, airflow sensors, and so on. Furthermore, in 2009, Hitachi developed a combined sensor that measures automobile acceleration along two axes (back and forth plus side to side) as well as rotation (angular rate), and is working to gradually begin applying this sensor to its vehicle electrical stability control system starting in 2011, as this system will become mandatory in North America and Europe.
Cornering the Fear Engram: Long-Term Synaptic Changes in the Lateral Nucleus of the Amygdala after Fear Conditioning

Use-dependent synaptic modifications in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) have been suggested to be the cellular analog of memory trace after pavlovian fear conditioning. However, whether neurophysiological changes in the LA are produced as a direct consequence of associative learning awaits additional proof. Using microstimulation of the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus as the conditioned stimulus (CS), we demonstrated that contingent pairings of the brain-stimulation CS and a footshock unconditioned stimulus lead to enhanced synaptic efficacy in the thalamic input to the LA, supporting the hypothesis that localized synaptic alterations underlie fear memory formation.
Fall Detection Using Single TriAxial Accelerometer

This paper describes a mobile phone based fall detection algorithm using the phone’s built-in accelerometer which can detect falls with a high degree of accuracy. The fall detection application developed for phone can then notify predefined guardians or emergency contacts along with sending the victim’s GPS coordinates displayed on a map, providing timely medical help for possible injury. The algorithm has been tested, and the results are also included in this paper. Keywords— accelerometer, mobile phone, fall detection
Continuous workload control order release revisited: an assessment by simulation

Order release is a key component of the Workload Control concept. Jobs do not enter the shop floor directly – they are retained in a pre-shop pool and released in time to meet due dates while keeping work-in-process within limits or norms. There are two important groups of release methods: continuous methods, for which the workload falling to a specified level can trigger a release at any moment in time; and, periodic release methods, for which releases take place at fixed intervals. Continuous release methods in general have been shown to outperform periodic release methods. Yet, there is incongruence in the results presented in the literature on the relative performance of the various continuous release methods. We use a job shop simulation model to examine the performance of continuous release methods from the literature and find that the contradictory results are explained by the different rules applied to sequence jobs in the pool – a factor neglected in previous work. Finally, a new breed of continuous release methods has recently emerged, but these have not been compared with prior approaches. Therefore, we also examine these methods and show that they significantly improve overall performance, although this is to the detriment of jobs with large processing times.
Osteomyelitis of the Long Bones

Long bone osteomyelitis presents a variety of challenges to the physician. The severity of the disease is staged depending upon the infection's particular features, including its etiology, pathogenesis, extent of bone involvement, duration, and host factors particular to the individual patient (infant, child, adult, or immunocompromised). Long bone osteomyelitis may be either hematogenous or caused by a contiguous spread of infection. A single pathogenic organism is almost always recovered from the bone in hematogenous osteomyelitis; Staphylococcus aureus is the most common organism isolated. A variety of multidrug-resistant organisms of bacteria continue to be a source of concern in arresting infection. The primary weapons to treat these infections are culture-specific antibiotics, aggressive debridement, muscle flaps, and bone grafts. This article offers a basic review of the classification, etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of long bone osteomyelitis.
Outage and Diversity of Cognitive Relaying Systems under Spectrum Sharing Environments in Nakagami-m Fading

In this letter, the outage performance of dualhop cooperative spectrum sharing systems with a direct link is investigated. A selection combining receiver is employed at the destination in order to combine the signals received from the decode-and-forward (DF) relay and from the source. Assuming independent non-identically distributed Nakagami-m fading channels, exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions are derived for the outage probability. Our results reveal that the diversity order of the considered system is solely determined by the fading severity parameters of the secondary network, being equal to min(m1, m2) + m0, where m0, m1, and m2 represent the fading severity parameters of the secondary nodes i.e., source→destination, source→relay, and relay→destination links, respectively.
Gravitino dark matter in R-parity breaking vacua

We show that in the case of small R-parity and lepton number breaking couplings, primordial nucleosynthesis, thermal leptogenesis and gravitino dark matter are naturally consistent for gravitino masses m3/25 GeV. We present a model where R-parity breaking is tied to B-L breaking, which predicts the needed small couplings. The metastable next-to-lightest superparticle has a decay length that is typically larger than a few centimeters, with characteristic signatures at the LHC. The photon flux produced by relic gravitino decays may be part of the apparent excess in the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray flux obtained from the EGRET data for a gravitino mass m3/2 ~ 10 GeV. In this case, a clear signal can be expected from GLAST in the near future.
H∞ filter design for discrete-time-delay T-S fuzzy systems

This paper deals with the problem of H∞ filtering for discrete time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems with time delay. By using a basis-dependent Lyapunov function, a delay-dependent result on the H∞ performance of the filtering error system is presented. A sufficient condition for the existence of the filter is provided. It is shown that the filter can be obtained by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A numerical example is given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.
Noninvasive Electrical Neuroimaging of the Human Brain during Mobile Tasks including Walking and Running

Abstract : Noninvasive brain imaging during mobile activities could have far-reaching scientific, clinical, and technological benefits. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the only mobile noninvasive sensing modality with sufficient temporal resolution to record brain activity on the time scale of natural motor behavior. In the past, EEG has been limited to stationary settings to prevent contamination by electromyographic and movement artifacts. I overcame this limitation by using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to parse electrocortical processes from artifact-contaminated EEG. Chapters 2 through 4 demonstrate the feasibility of measuring electrocortical activity during human locomotion. In Chapter 2, subjects performed a visual target discrimination and response task while standing, walking, and running. Cognitive event-related cortical potentials during walking and running were nearly identical to those during standing. Chapter 3 provided the first intra-stride measurements of brain activity during walking. Electrocortical sources in the anterior cingulate, posterior parietal, and sensorimotor cortex exhibited significant intra-stride changes in spectral power. A 264-channel electrode array was used in Chapters 2 and 3. By systematically reducing the number of channels used, Chapter 4 demonstrated that 35 channels were sufficient to record the most dominate electrocortical sources. In Chapters 5 and 6, I studied healthy subjects performing isometric and isotonic lower-limb muscle contractions while seated to better understand the relationship between electrocortical dynamics and lower limb muscle activity. This dissertation demonstrated that EEG-based brain imaging in dynamic environments is possible, and it expanded our understanding of cortical involvement in voluntary lower limb movement. It also provided direction for future developments of clinical neuro-monitoring, neuro-assessment, and neuro-rehabilitation technologies.
Notice of RetractionA Case Study on Improving Environment Management Efficiency through Stakeholder Relations Analysis and Optimization

Petroleum companies operating in Ecuador have been facing strict environmental regulation after the nationalist government was established. Greenland petroleum Ecuador Ltd is involved in a campaign performing strict environmental regulations and high environmental claim risks. In order to improve environment management efficiency, a comprehensive stakeholder identify, analysis and optimize method was adopted by the company to maximize environment management efficiency. This method is an effective management tool on environment risk objective management. Since the method was implemented, the company has been operating to date without environment incidents and acclaims.
Particle transport in a moving corner

This paper describes particle transport in Stokes flow in a two-dimensional corner whose walls oscillate, which is a simple model for particle transport in the pulmonary alveoli. Formally speaking, the wall motion produces a perturbation to the well-known Moffatt corner eddies. However, this ‘perturbation’ is dominant as the corner is approached. The motion of particles is regular near to the corner. Far from the corner, chaotic motion within the main part of the flow is restricted to very small regions. We deduce that there is competition between the far-field motion that generates eddies and the wall motion. The relative strengths of these two motions determines whether a given particle moves regularly or chaotically. Consequently, there is an intermediate region in which chaotic transport is maximized.
3-D Motion Estimation Using a Sequence of Noisy Stereo Images: Models, Estimation, and Uniqueness Results

A kinematic model-based approach for the estimation of 3-D motion parameters from a sequence of noisy stereo images is discussed. The approach is based on representing the constant acceleration translational motion and constant precession rotational motion in the form of a bilinear state-space model using standard rectilinear states for translation and quaternions for rotation. Closed-form solutions of the state transition equations are obtained to propagate the quaternions. The measurements are noisy perturbations of 3-D feature points represented in an inertial coordinate system. It is assumed that the 3-D feature points are extracted from the stereo images and matched over the frames. Owing to the nonlinearity in the state model, nonlinear filters are designed for the estimation of motion parameters. Simulation results are included. The Cramer-Rao performance bounds for motion parameter estimates are computed. A constructive proof for the uniqueness of motion parameters is given. It is shown that with uniform sampling in time, three noncollinear feature points in five consecutive binocular image pairs contain all the spatial and temporal information. Both nondegenerate and degenerate motions are analyzed. A deterministic algorithm to recover motion parameters from a stereo image sequence is summarized from the constructive proof. >
Reciprocal Listening with and from the Heart in the Electronic Classroom.

In a recent survey of 200 college freshmen, 97% said they learn best by listening. Electronics and technology are excellent instructional supplements, but when they become the means of instruction, the instructors lose heart in relationship listening. Research indicates that "perceived caring" on the part of the students in regard to the instructor enhances the students' attitudes toward the class and their perception of what they learn. The considerations of the classroom setting or context for relationship listening include: (1) lighting (so students can see the instructor); (2) distance/space ("personal space" for students); (3) levels (lecture classroom should be on a single level); (4) axis (directional relationships of instructor/students and student/students); and (5) artifacts (furniture, Projection screens and podiums should not clutter teaching space). and objects). The greatest advantage that a dynamic instructor in the classroom has over all other instructional media and methods is human interaction and reciprocal caring expressed through relationship listening. (Contains five notes; a sample interview survey is appended.) (CR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Reciprocal Listening with and from the Heart in The Electronic Classroom By Bob Bohiken, Ph.D. Communication and Theatre Arts Department Northwest Missouri State University Presented at the International Listening Association Nineteenth Annual Convention "Listening: The Heart of Humanity" Kansas City, MO March 19, 1998 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUC TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY