Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Joint decisions on inventory replenishment and emission reduction investment under different emission regulations

Carbon emission regulation policies have emerged as mechanisms to control firms’ carbon emissions. To meet regulatory requirements, firms can make changes in their production planning decisions or invest in green technologies. In this study, we analyse a retailer’s joint decisions on inventory replenishment and carbon emission reduction investment under three carbon emission regulation policies. Particularly, we extend the economic order quantity model to consider carbon emissions reduction investment availability under carbon cap, tax and cap-and-trade policies. We analytically show that carbon emission reduction investment opportunities, additional to reducing emissions as per regulations, further reduce carbon emissions while reducing costs. We also provide an analytical comparison between various investment opportunities and compare different carbon emission regulation policies in terms of costs and emissions. We document the results of a numerical study to further illustrate the effects of investment availability and regulation parameters.
The Prevalence of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Korean Men Aged 40 Years or Older: A Population-Based Survey

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among Korean men aged ≥40 years. Methods We performed a population-based, cross-sectional door-to-door survey on a geographically stratified random sample of men aged ≥40 years. All respondents were asked about the presence of individual LUTS using a questionnaire based on 2002 International Continence Society definitions. For comparison, we also defined nocturia as two or more nocturnal micturitions per night. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) questionnaire was used to assess LUTS severity. Results Responses from 1,842 subjects were analyzed. The overall prevalence of LUTS was 83.4%. Storage LUTS (70.1%) were more prevalent than voiding (60.4%) or postmicturition LUTS (38.3%). When nocturia was defined as two or more nocturnal micturitions per night, voiding symptoms became most prevalent (storage, 39.7%; voiding, 60.4%; and postmicturition, 38.3%). More than 90% of our population described the severity of their urinary symptoms as moderate (8-19) or severe (20-35). The prevalence and severity of LUTS increased with age. Conclusions LUTS are highly prevalent among Korean men, and its prevalence increases with age. Increased public awareness and a larger number of treatment options are needed to appropriately manage symptoms and their consequences.
Design of multistage rectifiers with low-cost impedance matching for passive RFID tags

The paper presents analysis of the input impedance, as well as the input capacitance and output resistance of diode doublers and multistage rectifiers. Tradeoffs between device sizes and the number of rectification stages are presented with an emphasis on low cost impedance matching. As a result, it is possible to achieve higher efficiency in RF to DC conversion with low cost impedance matching by using just a strap inductor between the antenna and the rectifier IC. Four diode doublers and three multistage rectifiers have been designed and fabricated using a 0.13mum CMOS process with EEPROM. Measurement results are in agreement with the analysis
S-Layer Glycoproteins and Flagellins: Reporters of Archaeal Posttranslational Modifications

Many archaeal proteins undergo posttranslational modifications. S-layer proteins and flagellins have been used successfully to study a variety of these modifications, including N-linked glycosylation, signal peptide removal and lipid modification. Use of these well-characterized reporter proteins in the genetically tractable model organisms, Haloferax volcanii, Methanococcus voltae and Methanococcus maripaludis, has allowed dissection of the pathways and characterization of many of the enzymes responsible for these modifications. Such studies have identified archaeal-specific variations in signal peptidase activity not found in the other domains of life, as well as the enzymes responsible for assembly and biosynthesis of novel N-linked glycans. In vitro assays for some of these enzymes have already been developed. N-linked glycosylation is not essential for either Hfx. volcanii or the Methanococcus species, an observation that allowed researchers to analyze the role played by glycosylation in the function of both S-layers and flagellins, by generating mutants possessing these reporters with only partial attached glycans or lacking glycan altogether. In future studies, it will be possible to consider questions related to the heterogeneity associated with given modifications, such as differential or modulated glycosylation.
Simulated Classical Tests in the Multiperiod Multinomial Probit Model

This paper compares different versions of the simulated counterparts of the Wald test, the score test, and the likelihood ratio test in the multiperiod multinomial probit model. Monte Carlo experiments show that the simple form of the simulated likelihood ratio test delivers the most favorable test results in the five-period three-alternative probit model considered here. This result applies to the deviation of the frequency of type I errors from the given significance levels as well as to the frequency of type II errors. In contrast, the inclusion of the quasi maximum likelihood theory into the simulated likelihood ratio test leads to substantial computational problems. The combination of this theory with the simulated Wald test or the simulated score test also produces no general advantages over the other versions of these two simulated classical tests. Neither an increase in the number of observations nor a rise in the number of random draws in the considered GHK simulator systematically lead to a more precise conformity between the frequency of type I errors and the basic significance levels. An increase in the number of observations merely reduces the frequency of type II errors.
ANTIHYPERGLYCEMIC AND ANTIDYSLIPIDEMIC ACTIVITY IN ETHYL ACETATE FRACTION OF THE FRUITS OF XYLOCARPUS GRANATUM AND XYLOCARPUS MOLUCCENSIS

Objectives: Although various species of Xylocarpus i. e. Granatum, moluccensis are known for their medicinal properties. Yet, its anti-diabetic activity remains to be defined. So the aim of this study was to evaluate the antihyperglycemic and antidyslipidemic activity in ethyl acetate fraction of the fruits of X. granatum and X. moluccensis on validated animal models as well as in-vitro glucose uptake stimulatory effect and their cytotoxicity effect in L6 skeletal muscle cells. Methods: The ethyl acetate fraction of the fruits of X. granatum and X. moluccensis were administered to diabetic groups daily up to 10 days for prolonged study. Biochemical parameters notably glucose tolerance, insulin level, lipid profile were assessed. The ethyl acetate fraction of the fruits of X. granatum and X. moluccensis were also tested for glucose uptake effect by skeletal muscle cells in the concentration dependent manner. Results: The present study show that the ethyl acetate fraction of the fruits of X. granatum as well as X. moluccensis are effective in improving glucose tolerance, declining blood glucose as well as serum cholesterol and triglycerides levels in low dosed streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and dyslipidemic hamsters, respectively. These fractions were also found efficient in increasing glucose uptake by L6 skeletal muscle cells but did not show any effect on cell viability of L6 skeletal muscle cells. Conclusion: Based on the results, the present study revealed that ethyl acetate fraction of the fruits of X. granatum and X. moluccensis lowered blood glucose profile by increasing the glucose uptake by L-6 and this may be the possible mechanisms for the antidiabetic and antidyslipidemic action.
The Self-Threat of Unsolicited Social Comparison and Its Balance

People often encounter comparative information,actively or passively,to judge one's self-worth.The Selective Accessible Theory(SAT)(Mussweiler,2003) proposed that the similarity and dissimilarity test are the core mechanisms to determine the consequences of comparison on the basis of informational foci.This suggests that the information activated by the social context can actually determine the self-evaluation outcomes,displacing toward or away from the comparison target.However,little has done to explore the individual spontaneous choice toward different comparison target based on SAT and its influence on the self,especially in Chinese cultural context.Chinese people prefer upward comparison,i.e.,comparing with more capable target to find their competency gap.Downward comparison would be used only if they cannot find effective ways to eliminate the negative feelings accompanied with upward comparison.Such dissimilarity hypothesis has been found to result in lower self-evaluation,according to SAT.Thus,the self-threat of comparison appears.The present study explores the source of such threat of comparison and its balance through 3 experiments.In experiment 1,participants were required to write down the names of three potential comparison targets.Control group is also used as a basic level to examine the effect after comparison.As expected,the information of routine upward comparison target was activated and the threat of comparison to self has emerged.Experiment 2 extends this finding by introducing the task relevance(high/low) to explore its influencing factor.Performance feedback(contrastive/non-contrastive) was provided to simulate an implicit upward comparison target,which would increase the information intensity of upward comparison target.Results suggest that the interaction between task relevance and performance feedback significantly influenced self-evaluation.Specifically,regardless of the level of task relevance,the contrastive and the non-contrastive performance feedback both led to lowered self-evaluation,suggesting the generalized trend of the threat of comparison among Chinese people.However,the generalization of self-threat of comparison doesn't emerge in the emotional variable.Experiment 3 further explores the balancing strategy used by Chinese people to alleviate the threat of comparison.Results show that if people have the opportunity to affirm themselves,the threat of comparison would be attenuated,and knowledge foundation of the threat from upward comparison target would be inaccessible,yet the negative emotion was still there and exhibited a trend of generalization.Based on the results of these experiments,selective accessibility of dissimilar information exerts significant influence on the social comparison effect,and the Chinese people indeed show something different in this process.The implication and suggestions for future researches are discussed.
Measuring semantic nouns in Tibetan language

Making good use of semantics can help language understanding, thus can improve retrieve performance, getting more highly-ranked, relevant documents. Word families in Tibetan language can provide unexpected light on the Tibetan semantic world. We propose semantic categories between Tibetan nouns, which considered the relationship between the nouns and others. We propose an algorithm to calculate the semantic similarities of those nouns and to organize the meaning classes automatically from Tibetan-Chinese dictionary.
Trust , Reciprocity and Fairness in a Large Scale Pay What You Wish Experiment

Introduction What happens when customers are allowed to pick any price they want for a product they desire? Economic theory predicts that a rational, self-interested buyer will take the product and pay nothing (Miller, 1999). But numerous laboratory and field experiments show otherwise. A significant portion of buyers pay substantially higher prices than expected (see for example Regner and Barria 2010; Kim et al., 2010; and Gneezy et al., 2010).
Inhibition of DNA Methylation Impairs Synaptic Plasticity during an Early Time Window in Rats

Although the importance of DNA methylation-dependent gene expression to neuronal plasticity is well established, the dynamics of methylation and demethylation during the induction and expression of synaptic plasticity have not been explored. Here, we combined electrophysiological, pharmacological, molecular, and immunohistochemical approaches to examine the contribution of DNA methylation and the phosphorylation of Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) to synaptic plasticity. We found that, at twenty minutes after theta burst stimulation (TBS), the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5AZA) impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). Surprisingly, after two hours of TBS, when LTP had become a transcription-dependent process, 5AZA treatment had no effect. By comparing these results to those in naive slices, we found that, at two hours after TBS, an intergenic region of the RLN gene was hypomethylated and that the phosphorylation of residue S80 of MeCP2 was decreased, while the phosphorylation of residue S421 was increased. As expected, 5AZA affected only the methylation of the RLN gene and exerted no effect on MeCP2 phosphorylation patterns. In summary, our data suggest that tetanic stimulation induces critical changes in synaptic plasticity that affects both DNA methylation and the phosphorylation of MeCP2. These data also suggest that early alterations in DNA methylation are sufficient to impair the full expression of LTP.
Fast robust foreground-background segmentation based on variable rate codebook method in Bayesian framework for detecting objects of interest

In this paper, a reliable pixel-based foreground-background segmentation technique for detecting object(s) of interest (OOI) from video sequence captured by a fixed camera is proposed. OOIs, used for further tracking or positioning applications, should be detected accurately from those moving (or still) objects even under variable illumination and the corresponding background model need to update quickly. To cope with fast change of the scene, we present an adaptive variable rate codebook update algorithm based on the cache mechanism, which adjusts the time thresholds according to the number of current effective samples in codebook. Then Bayes rule is employed to make the final decision based on prebuilt OOIs' color model and the background model deduced from the codebook. The experiment results have proven the given method's effectiveness.
sing data-driven agent-based models for forecasting emerging nfectious diseases

Producing timely, well-informed and reliable forecasts for an ongoing epidemic of an emerging infectious disease is a huge challenge. Epidemiologists and policy makers have to deal with poor data quality, limited understanding of the disease dynamics, rapidly changing social environment and the uncertainty on effects of various interventions in place. Under this setting, detailed computational models provide a comprehensive framework for integrating diverse data sources into a well-defined model of disease dynamics and social behavior, potentially leading to better understanding and actions. In this paper, merging infectious diseases gent-based models imulation optimization ayesian calibration bola we describe one such agent-based model framework developed for forecasting the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in Liberia, and subsequently used during the Ebola forecasting challenge. We describe the various components of the model, the calibration process and summarize the forecast performance across scenarios of the challenge. We conclude by highlighting how such a data-driven approach can be refined and adapted for future epidemics, and share the lessons learned over the course of the challenge. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
A five-microphone method to measure the reflection coefficients of headsets

In binaural audio, particularly when using headphone for sound reproduction, the reflections from a headset to the ear canal can have a considerable compact on listeners’ subjective perception. They may affect the electroacoustic transfer function from the electrical input of headsets to the sound pressure at the eardrum. In order to characterize such effects, it is needed to measure the reflection coefficients from headsets to ears. A widely used measurement method is the transfer function method, which is described in ISO-105340-2. However, the frequency range above 10 kHz may not be accurately measured with only a single pair of measurement sensors. In this paper, a five-microphone method is proposed for measuring the reflection coefficients using an impedance tube with a standard pinna simulator that the headsets coupled. Comparisons are made between the new method and the one microphone technique for the experimental results. It is showed that the measured results agree well and the accuracy of the proposed method can be up to 16 kHz. This method can be expected to have applications in model the acoustic transfer functions of external ears as well as to headphone sound reproduction.
Interface-Based Automated Testing for Open Software Architecture

Open Software Architecture (OSA) has been a prevalent design principle for integrating large, complex software systems from components. In OSA, interface specifications provide standard representations of the exposed software functionalities and constraints. Using an industry OSA system, the paper investigates the potential to extract domain model from standard interface specifications and to automate testing following the model driven approach. It focuses on modeling of service external behavior from the syntax and semantics defined by OSA interface standards. The domain model can be translated into test cases, either encoded in XML or specific programming languages, by predefined mapping mechanisms. The generated test scripts can be further compiled with target interfaces and executed under control. In this way, the domain models and test cases can be reused throughout system integration and regression testing, and for testing diversified component implementations following the same interface standards.
Kruppel-Like Factor 15 Is Critical for the Development of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events and is often present in patients with hypertension. Treatment to reduce blood pressure and regress LVH is key to improving health outcomes, but currently available drugs have only modest cardioprotective effects. Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of LVH may lead to new therapeutic targets in the future. There is now compelling evidence that the transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) is an important negative regulator of cardiac hypertrophy in both experimental models and in man. Studies have reported that loss or suppression of KLF15 contributes to LVH, through lack of inhibition of pro-hypertrophic transcription factors and stimulation of trophic and fibrotic signaling pathways. This review provides a summary of the experimental and human studies that have investigated the role of KLF15 in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. It also discusses our recent paper that described the contribution of genetic variants in KLF15 to the development of LVH and heart failure in high-risk patients.
Evidence combination for incremental decision-making processes

The establishment of a medical diagnosis is an incremental process highly fraught with uncertainty. At each step of this painstaking process, it may be beneficial to be able to quantify the uncertainty linked to the diagnosis and steadily update the uncertainty estimation using available sources of information, for example user feedback, as they become available. Using the example of medical data in general and EEG data in particular, we show what types of evidence can affect discrete variables such as a medical diagnosis and build a simple and computationally efficient evidence combination model based on the Dempster-Shafer theory.
SOFT X-RAY PHOTOEMISSION STUDIES OF HF OXIDATION

Soft X-Ray Photoemission Spectroscopy using surface sensitive Synchrotron Radiation has been applied to accurately determine the binding energy shifts and the valence band offset of the HfO2 grown on Hf metal. Charging of oxide films under x-rays (or other irradiation) is circumvented by controlled and sequential in-situ oxidation. Photoemission results show the presence of metallic Hf (from the substrate) with the 4f7/2 binding energy of 14.22 eV, fully oxidized Hf (from HfO2) with the 4f7/2 binding energy of 18.16 eV, and at least one clear suboxide peak. The position of the valence band of HfO2 with respect to the Hf(m) Fermi level is determined as 4.05 eV.
INOVAÇÃO E A SUSTENTABILIDADE SOB A DIMENSÃO SOCIAL: DO DISCURSO À AÇÃO - UM ESTUDO EMPÍRICO EM UMA EMPRESA PAULISTA DO RAMO FRUTÍFERO

Este artigo faz parte de um projeto de pesquisa, desenvolvido com a subvencao de um fundo de pesquisa, e tem como objetivo central estudar como uma empresa do ramo frutifero implementa acoes de inovacao e de sustentabilidade. A pesquisa foi realizada no Grupo Fava, empresa brasileira, familiar, cultivadora e distribuidora de bananas, que possui instalacoes nos municipios de Jundiai - SP e Miracatu - SP, localizado no Vale do Ribeira. A natureza da pesquisa foi exploratoria com o emprego do metodo qualitativo. Para a realizacao da analise dos dados, utilizou-se a analise de conteudo. Para a coleta de dados, foram realizadas 12 entrevistas em que os entrevistados foram o proprietario do Grupo Fava, cinco gerentes, tres empregados e tres proprietarios de lojas da regiao do Vale do Ribeira. Com base em roteiros semiestruturados, essas entrevistas foram gravadas e, posteriormente, transcritas a fim de realizar as analises. Nos resultados obtidos, pode-se comprovar que o Grupo Fava apresenta acoes concretas, considerando que a empresa inova em seus processos produtivos de modo sustentavel, considerando as tres dimensoes da sustentabilidade.
The seven-level flying capacitor based ANPC converter for grid intergration of utility-scale PV systems

The installed capacity of grid connected PV plants has increased significantly over the past few years and is expected to continue its growth over the next decade due to the continuous demand for renewable energy and distributed generation systems. This paper presents a seven-level flying capacitor (FC) based active neutral point clamped (ANPC) converter for the connection of utility-scale PV system to the electricity grid. The multilevel voltage output of the topology provides high quality waveforms while maintaining the operational characteristics of NPC based converters for PV systems. The converter topology together with a method to regulate the FC voltages to their reference values and an optimal third harmonic injection for utilization of the DC-link voltage are presented. Simulation results for the operation of the grid connected converter under steady state and transient operation are provided in order to demonstrate the operation and performance of the topology in grid connected applications.
Homology prediction refinement and reconstruction of gene content and order of ancestral bacterial genomes

We present a systematical methodology to refine orthologs identification generated by 3rd party de novo prediction programs and reconstruction of ancestral bacteria genome with this information by a neighboring gene pairs (NGPs) based method. The refinement method combined phylogeny and local gene synteny to improve homology prediction and the reconstruction is focused on both gene content and conserved blocks. Despite the common believe that gene order are much less conserved in prokaryotes, we have applied this method to Rhizobiales, an order of alpha proteobacteria, and show that a reasonable number of large conserved syntenic blocks can still be reconstructed.