Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality Grading of United Kingdom Meeting Venues

This article examines the introduction of a quality grading scheme for meeting venues in the United Kingdom. It explores potential challenges drawing lessons from hotel and meeting venue grading schemes from other countries. Through appraisal of schemes in the United Kingdom and selected countries, this paper suggests that a nationwide scheme is feasible, and argues that its successful implementation is dependent on how venues and planners view its usefulness. It also posits that a nationwide scheme would ultimately thrive on cooperation among industry and the various tourist boards. The article concludes that further research on service quality is required.
Experimental investigation of delivery and spectral broadening of nanosecond laser pulses in Bragg fiber with silica core

Different types of optical fibers have been studied for delivery of high optical powers. Silica and plastic fibers are used for the VIS and NIR spectral ranges, while sapphire, hollow-core, Bragg, or photonic crystal fibers can be used also in the mid-IR range. Bragg fibers with silica cores and large fundamental-mode area could be an attractive solution for the high laser power delivery at 1064 nm. In this paper we present results of the experimental investigation of nanosecond laser pulse propagation through a laboratory-fabricated Bragg fiber with a silica core similar to fiber used in but with higher refractive index contrast. Our Bragg fiber consists of a silica core with the diameter of ~30 μm surrounded by three circular bilayers composed of one layer with a high and one layer with a low refractive index with a contrast up to 0.035. For the high power delivery experiments a laboratory-designed passively Q-switched quasi-continuously pumped Nd:YAG laser in a bounce geometry was used as a radiation source. The single pulses with the duration of 9 ns and the energy up to 1 mJ at 1.06 μm in nearly fundamental transversal mode were coupled into the fiber using a single lens L1. The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1.
New Species of Rhynchobdellid Leech (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae): A Parasite of Turtles from Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract A new species of rhynchobdellid leech, Placobdella ringueleti n. sp. , is described based on the examination of 25 specimens. Leeches were collected from body appendages of freshwater turtles (Kinosternon leucostomum, Dermatemys mawii, and Staurotypus triporcatus) from Chiapas, Mexico. The new species resembles other members of the genus in the ocular morphology, bilobated ovaries, and presence of 1 pair of elongated mycetomes, but it is distinguished from them by the dorsal papillar pattern, by having a continuous longitudinal mid-dorsal stripe along the dorsal surface and papillae on the dorsal surface of the posterior sucker. Placobdella ringueleti represents the third species of the genus in Mexico. The type locality of the new species is part of the “El Ocote” Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico.
Stakeholder Marketing 2.0

As more companies pursue “open innovation” and adopt social networking and Web 2.0 tools, there is an emerging opportunity for them to connect with a diverse body of stakeholders and incorporate their interests and ideas. However, this also introduces many new challenges. The author identifies key properties that such networking mechanisms must satisfy if they are to succeed. He introduces a simple framework based on two dimensions of choices for designing such mechanisms: how the stakeholders are motivated to participate and how the company uses their inputs and makes decisions. For any choice, there are trade-offs to be considered. The author concludes by identifying the design that is most likely to succeed in fundamentally advancing the state-of-the-art of stakeholder marketing. Examples of many pioneering companies, such as Starbucks, Dell, Staples, Muji, and several others, are included in the discussion to illustrate the key propositions presented.
Rationing housing to the homeless applicant

Abstract Local authority housing departments have rationing systems where demand for public housing outstrips supply and the homelessness legislation, Housing Act 1985 Part III, is the formal method of rationing housing to the homeless applicant. Little has been noted about the ways in which housing may be rationed to the homeless although the issue of access to housing through homelessness has been brought to the forefront of debate by the DOE consultation document. This paper considers formal and informal methods of rationing housing to the homeless applicant. Rationing by eligibility rules, withholding information, deterrence, delay and dilution are discussed together with the use of discretion in the rationing process.
Physics of active jamming during collective cellular motion in a monolayer

Significance Collective cell motion is very important in many biological processes such as wound healing, embryogenesis, or cancer progression. Nevertheless, it is not clear which parameters control the transition from freely moving single cells to collective jammed motion. In this article, we uncover complex dynamics as a cell monolayer ages, where cell motion is shown to gradually slow down with time, while the distance over which cell displacements are correlated first increases drastically and then decreases. This change of behavior is not controlled by cell density but rather by a maturation of the cell−cell and cell−substrate contacts. By comparing experiments, analytic model, and detailed particle-based simulations, we shed light on this biological amorphous solidification process. Although collective cell motion plays an important role, for example during wound healing, embryogenesis, or cancer progression, the fundamental rules governing this motion are still not well understood, in particular at high cell density. We study here the motion of human bronchial epithelial cells within a monolayer, over long times. We observe that, as the monolayer ages, the cells slow down monotonously, while the velocity correlation length first increases as the cells slow down but eventually decreases at the slowest motions. By comparing experiments, analytic model, and detailed particle-based simulations, we shed light on this biological amorphous solidification process, demonstrating that the observed dynamics can be explained as a consequence of the combined maturation and strengthening of cell−cell and cell−substrate adhesions. Surprisingly, the increase of cell surface density due to proliferation is only secondary in this process. This analysis is confirmed with two other cell types. The very general relations between the mean cell velocity and velocity correlation lengths, which apply for aggregates of self-propelled particles, as well as motile cells, can possibly be used to discriminate between various parameter changes in vivo, from noninvasive microscopy data.
Forecasting with adaptive extended exponential smoothing

Much of product level forecasting is based upon time series techniques. However, traditional time series forecasting techniques have offered either smoothing constant adaptability or consideration of various time series components, but not both. The purpose of this paper is to present a time series technique newly developed by the author that combines both the inclusion of leve, trend, and seasonality and smoothing constant adaptability. Testing of this technique, managerial and research implications, and guidelines for use are also presented.
The Prevalence and Characteristics of Emergency Medicine Patient Use of New Media

Background Little is known about “new media” use, defined as media content created or consumed on demand on an electronic device, by patients in emergency department (ED) settings. The application of this technology has the potential to enhance health care beyond the index visit. Objective The objectives are to determine the prevalence and characteristics of ED patients’ use of new media and to then define and identify the potential of new media to transcend health care barriers and improve the public’s health. Methods Face-to-face, cross-sectional surveys in Spanish and English were given to 5,994 patients who were sequentially enrolled from July 12 to August 30, 2012. Data were collected from across a Southern Connecticut health care system’s 3 high-volume EDs for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 weeks. The EDs were part of an urban academic teaching hospital, an urban community hospital, and an academic affiliate hospital. Results A total of 5,994 (89% response rate) ED patients reported identical ownership of cell phones (85%, P<.001) and smartphones (51%, P<.001) that were used for calling (99%, P<.001). The older the patient, however, the less likely it was that the patient used the phone for texting (96% vs 16%, P<.001). Income was positively associated with smartphone ownership (P<.001) and the use of health apps (P>.05) and personal health records (P<.001). Ownership of iPhones compared to Android phones were similar (44% vs 45%, P<.05). Race and ethnicity played a significant role in texting and smartphone ownership, with Hispanics reporting the highest rates of 79% and 56%, respectively, followed by black non-Hispanics at 77% and 54%, respectively, and white non-Hispanics at 65% and 42%, respectively (P<.05). Conclusions There is a critical mass of ED patients who use new media. Older persons are less comfortable texting and using smartphone apps. Income status has a positive relationship with smartphone ownership and use of smartphone apps. Regardless of income, however, texting and ownership of smartphones was highest for Latinos and black non-Latinos. These findings have implications for expanding health care beyond the ED visit through the use of cell phones, smartphones, texting, the Internet, and health care apps to improve the health of the public.
The effect of context and the level of decision maker training on the perception of a property's probable sale price

This paper explores how property market participants engage in the process of making value judgements. More specifically it investigates how being exposed to a residential property impacts the perception of the probable selling price of an unrelated subsequent property and the influence of decision makers' level of training on these value judgements. Property literature suggests that the use of heuristics (or cognitive short cuts), in particular the effect of anchoring and adjustment, may affect value judgements of a subsequent property. The marketing literature provides evidence of the direction of these adjustments by way of assimilation and contrast effects. The effects of the amount of market knowledge and experience have also been shown to affect the use of heuristics but the level of training has not previously been isolated. This paper consists of an experiment comprising 225 Undergraduate Property students from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The results indicate that the context and the use of heuristics do affect value judgements. More specifically they suggest that contrast or assimilation effects may result depending on the level of prior training of the decision maker, the comparability of the properties being examined and the level of uncertainty surrounding the estimation of the perceived sales price.
Prospects for Poor Neighborhoods in the Broadband Era

This research explores the role of place in Internet use at work, investigating the role that neighborhood context may play in opportunities to gain technology skills and access to relatively better paying jobs. Examining both individual and neighborhood attributes, the authors carry out a comprehensive survey of individuals within three distinct cities in Northeast Ohio combined with a methodology that allows generation of location-specific contextual information. Together, these data are modeled in a series of logistic regressions that compare the importance of both individual and contextual attributes. The findings demonstrate that individual characteristics, especially job type, education, and income, are strongly related to workplace Internet use and that neighborhood unemployment is associated with lower probabilities of technology use at work.
Autonomous Vehicle Control: A Nonconvex Approach for Obstacle Avoidance

This paper develops a two-stage nonlinear nonconvex control approach for autonomous vehicle driving during highway cruise conditions. The goal of the controller is to track the centerline of the roadway while avoiding obstacles. An outer-loop nonlinear model predictive control is adopted for generating the collision-free trajectory with the resultant input based on a simplified vehicle model. The optimization is solved through the generalized minimal residual method augmented with a continuation method. A sufficient condition to overcome limitations associated with continuation methods is introduced. The inner loop is a simple linear feedback controller based on an optimal preview distance. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the approach. These are bolstered by scaled-vehicle experimental results.
Noninvasive Autoregulation Monitoring with and without Intracranial Pressure in the Naïve Piglet Brain

BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular autoregulation monitoring is often desirable for critically ill patients in whom intracranial pressure (ICP) is not measured directly. Without ICP, arterial blood pressure (ABP) is a substitute for cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) to gauge the constraint of cerebral blood flow across pressure changes. We compared the use of ABP versus CPP to measure autoregulation in a piglet model of arterial hypotension. METHODS: Our database of neonatal piglet (5–7 days old) experiments was queried for animals with naïve ICP that were made lethally hypotensive to determine the lower limit of autoregulation (LLA). Twenty-five piglets were identified, each with continuous recordings of ICP, regional cerebral oximetry (rSO2), and cortical red cell flux (laser Doppler). Autoregulation was assessed with the cerebral oximetry index (COx) in 2 ways: linear correlation between ABP and rSO2 (COxABP) and between CPP and rSO2 (COxCPP). The lower limits of autoregulation were determined from plots of red cell flux versus ABP. Averaged values of COxABP and COxCPP from 5 mm Hg ABP bins were used to show receiver operating characteristics for the 2 methods. RESULTS: COxABP and COxCPP yielded identical receiver operating characteristic curve areas of 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88–0.95) for determining the LLA. However, the thresholds for the 2 methods differed: a threshold COxABP of 0.5 was 89% sensitive (95% CI, 81%–94%) and 81% specific (95% CI, 73%–88%) for detecting ABP below the LLA. A threshold COxCPP of 0.42 gave the same 89% sensitivity (95% CI, 81%–94%) with 77% specificity (95% CI, 69%–84%). CONCLUSIONS: The use of ABP instead of CPP for autoregulation monitoring in the naïve brain with COx results in a higher threshold value to discriminate ABP above from ABP below the LLA. However, accuracy was similar with the 2 methods. These findings support and refine the use of near-infrared spectroscopy to monitor autoregulation in patients without ICP monitors.
Blogging as ‘therapy’? Exploring personal technologies for smoking cessation

This article presents some early, design-oriented research findings from a study that introduced mobile blogging technologies to four people who wished to make a health-related life change — giving up smoking. We wanted to establish the nature of the relationship between blogging and quitting smoking (if any), inspired by some earlier work in the domain showing that social technologies may help with the quit process. We present an account of three participants, documenting details of how blogging technologies fitted into their (changing) lives and examples of digital content they produced. We describe, using examples from participant blogs, instances of self-expression, replacement and self-awareness. We suggest, despite all participants failing in their quit attempts, that there are possible provisional, therapeutic characteristics to such social technologies. Finally, we suggest this therapeutic process can be understood better through a concept of personal translucence.
Fascia lliaca Block for Analgesia After Hip Arthroplasty: A Randomized Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

Background and Objectives Fascia iliaca block (FIB) is often used to treat pain after total hip arthroplasty (THA), despite a lack of randomized trials to evaluate its efficacy for this indication. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic benefit of FIB after THA. Our primary hypothesis was administration of FIB decreases the intensity of postoperative pain (numeric rating scale [NRS-11] score) compared with sham block (SB) in patients after THA. Methods After institutional review board approval and informed consent, 32 eligible patients having THA were recruited. In the postoperative care unit, although all patients received intravenous morphine sulfate patient-controlled analgesia, patients reporting pain of 3 or greater on the NRS-11 scale were randomized to receive ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca (30 mL 0.5% ropivacaine) or SB (30 mL 0.9% NaCl) using identical technique, below fascia iliaca. The primary outcome was pain intensity (NRS-11) after FIB. Results Thirty-two patients (16 in each group) completed the study; all patients received an FIB. There was no difference in pain intensity (NRS-11 = 5.0 ± 0.6 vs 4.7 ± 0.6, respectively) after FIB versus SB or in opioid consumption (8.97 ± 1.6 vs 5.7 ± 1.6 mg morphine, respectively) between the groups at 1 hour. The morphine consumption after 24 hours was similar in both groups (49.0 ± 29.9 vs 50.4 ± 34.5 mg, P = 0.88, respectively). Conclusions The evidence in these data suggests that the difference in average pain intensity after FIB versus SB was not significant (95% confidence interval, −2.2–1.4 NRS units).
Update on Diabetes Diagnosis: A Historical Review of the Dilemma of the Diagnostic Utility of Glycohemoglobin A1c and a Proposal for a Combined Glucose-A1c Diagnostic Method

The role of glycohemoglobin A1c (A1c) for the diagnosis of diabetes has been debated for over three decades. Recently, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has recommended adding A1c as an additional criterion for diabetes diagnosis. In view of the continued debate about the diagnostic utility of A1c, and in view of the unabated burden of undiagnosed diabetes, the search for alternative diagnostic methods is discussed. A historical literature review is provided, in view of the new ADA diagnostic guidelines, and a proposal is provided for combining A1c and a glucose measurement as a diagnostic alternative/adjunct to the use of a single criterion. This proposal is based on the non-overlapping of the advantages and disadvantages of these individual tests. The cost-effectiveness of this method remains to be tested.
Volumetric bone mineral density and bone structure in childhood chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased fracture risk and skeletal deformities. The impact of CKD on volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and cortical dimensions during growth is unknown. Tibia quantitative computed tomographic scans were obtained in 156 children with CKD [69 stages 2 to 3, 51 stages 4 to 5, and 36 stage 5D (dialysis)] and 831 healthy participants aged 5 to 21 years. Sex‐, race‐, and age‐ or tibia length–specific Z‐scores were generated for trabecular BMD (TrabBMD), cortical BMD (CortBMD), cortical area (CortArea) and endosteal circumference (EndoC). Greater CKD severity was associated with a higher TrabBMD Z‐score in younger participants (p < .001) compared with healthy children; this association was attenuated in older participants (interaction p < .001). Mean CortArea Z‐score was lower (p < .01) in CKD 4–5 [−0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.80, −0.18)] and CKD 5D (−0.49, 95% CI −0.83, −0.15) compared with healthy children. Among CKD participants, parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were positively associated with TrabBMD Z‐score (p < .01), and this association was significantly attenuated in older participants (interaction p < .05). Higher levels of PTH and biomarkers of bone formation (bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase) and resorption (serum C‐terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen) were associated with lower CortBMD and CortArea Z‐scores and greater EndoC Z‐score (r = 0.18–0.36, all p ≤ .02). CortBMD Z‐score was significantly lower in CKD participants with PTH levels above versus below the upper limit of the Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (KDOQI) CKD stage‐specific target range: −0.46 ± 1.29 versus 0.12 ± 1.14 (p < .01). In summary, childhood CKD and secondary hyperparathyroidism were associated with significant reductions in cortical area and CortBMD and greater TrabBMD in younger children. Future studies are needed to establish the fracture implications of these alterations and to determine if cortical and trabecular abnormalities are reversible. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
BER-Aware ADC-Based 2 $\,\times\,$1 MIMO Blind Receiver for High Speed Broadband Communication Links

An analog-to-digital-converter (ADC)-based bit-error rate (BER)-aware blind receiver is presented to maximize the BER performance under a given low ADC resolution. The adaptation engine simultaneously adjusts the equalizer coefficients to compensate for the channel dispersion and calibrates the reference levels of the ADC to maximize the BER performance of the receiver. BER-aware adaptation is achieved through selective updates using the steepest-descent least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm. A time-interleaved 2 ×-oversampling ADC followed by a 2 × 1 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) equalizer improves the BER performance without sampling phase dependency. Simulation results reveal that the proposed design achieves a 4 dB performance improvement at a BER of 1 ×10-5 over conventional designs in a 27” backplane channel at a data rate of 28 Gb/s.
Tariff Protection in Industrial Countries: An Evaluation

V INER expressed the opinion in 1950 that "there is no way in which the 'height' of a tariff as an index of its restrictive effect can be even approximately measured, or, for that matter, even defined with any degree of significant precision. "2 Undaunted by Viner's and others' critical remarks, a long line of investigators, using more or less ingenious methods, have made attempts to compare the height of tariff levels in industrial countries.3 More recently, these inquiries have been given added impetus by the establishment of the European Common Market4 and tariff negotiations undertaken in the framework of the Kennedy round.5 Estimates of the height of national tariff levels are designed to give expression to the restrictive effect of duties on trade flows.6 In a general equilibrium framework, the restrictive effect of a country's tariff can be indicated by the difference between potential and actual trade, when the former refers to trade flows that would take place under ceteris paribus assumptions if the country in question eliminated all of its duties. Tariffs affect the pattern of production and consumption and generally reduce imports and exports under full employment conditions as changes in relative prices associated with the imposition of tariffs lead to resource shifts from export industries to import-competing industries. 1 Data collection and calculations have been carried out within the framework of the Atlantic Trade Project, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and directed by the present author. He is indebted to G. Basevi, R. N. Cooper, and W. M. Corden for comments on an earlier draft. Special thanks are due to Harry G. Johnson, whose advice and suggestions have been of great help in improving the argument of the paper.