Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Success criteria for systems led transformation: Managerial implications for global operations management

Purpose: organisational transformation has been a major research theme over the last few decades. The main emphasis focuses on how successful organisations are using information systems and technology (IS/IT) to transform business operations. This paper aims to summarize and evaluate the key perspectives and concepts of change management. These perspectives and concepts are used to conduct an overview of the transformation of a major UK telecommunications company is using IS as a driver. Design/methodology/approach: this paper focuses on trying to understand the whole range of systems-related problems that may confront an organisation during the introduction of new operational systems as part of organisational change and transformation. The primary objective is to identify best practice. A case study focusing on a large organisation is the approach used to try and elicit learning. Findings: the view emerging from the case study is that there are generic problems that need to be addressed especially related to how system changes, processes and the customer are managed. Even with an increasing caseload of examples where large firms are unsuccessfully with major organisational transformations-companies are still willing to undergo this risky change process. Research limitations/implications: it is intended that this best practice framework will be used in other organisational environments. Originality/value: the paper contributes to widening studies on systems introduction as part of organisational change
University of Groningen Structural and Functional Insights from the Metagenome of an Acidic Hot Spring Microbial Planktonic Community in the Colombian Andes

A taxonomic and annotated functional description of microbial life was deduced from 53 Mb of metagenomic sequence retrieved from a planktonic fraction of the Neotropical high Andean (3,973 meters above sea level) acidic hot spring El Coquito (EC). A classification of unassembled metagenomic reads using different databases showed a high proportion of Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria (in total read affiliation), and through taxonomic affiliation of 16S rRNA gene fragments we observed the presence of Proteobacteria, micro-algae chloroplast and Firmicutes. Reads mapped against the genomes Acidiphilium cryptum JF-5, Legionella pneumophila str. Corby and Acidithiobacillus caldus revealed the presence of transposase-like sequences, potentially involved in horizontal gene transfer. Functional annotation and hierarchical comparison with different datasets obtained by pyrosequencing in different ecosystems showed that the microbial community also contained extensive DNA repair systems, possibly to cope with ultraviolet radiation at such high altitudes. Analysis of genes involved in the nitrogen cycle indicated the presence of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to N2 (narGHI, nirS, norBCDQ and nosZ), associated with Proteobacteria-like sequences. Genes involved in the sulfur cycle (cysDN, cysNC and aprA) indicated adenylsulfate and sulfite production that were affiliated to several bacterial species. In summary, metagenomic sequence data provided insight regarding the structure and possible functions of this hot spring microbial community, describing some groups potentially involved in the nitrogen and sulfur cycling in this environment. Citation: Jiménez DJ, Andreote FD, Chaves D, Montaña JS, Osorio-Forero C, et al. (2012) Structural and Functional Insights from the Metagenome of an Acidic Hot Spring Microbial Planktonic Community in the Colombian Andes. PLoS ONE 7(12): e52069. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0052069 Editor: Jonathan H. Badger, J. Craig Venter Institute, United States of America Received July 6, 2012; Accepted November 15, 2012; Published December 14, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Jiménez et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This research was supported by COLCIENCIAS – SENA (project number 6570-392-19990). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: djimenez1909@gmail.com
Adaptive internet services through performance and availability control

Cluster-based multi-tier systems provide a means for building scalable Internet services. Building adaptive Internet services that are able to apply appropriate system sizing and configuration is a challenging objective for nowadays system administrators. This paper addresses two issues for building adaptive Internet services: (i) the control of service cost, performance and availability, three antagonist and primary aspects of Internet services, and (ii) an adaptive control of Internet services that does not shift the complexity of system administration from the Internet service to its controller. This paper presents the design and implementation of MoKa - a middleware for controling performance and availability of cluster-based multi-tier systems. The contribution of the paper is multifold. First, we improve an analytic model to predict the performance, availability and cost of cluster-based multi-tier applications. Second, we define a utility function and use it to build a capacity planning algorithm that calculates the optimal application configuration which guarantees performance and availability objectives while minimizing functioning cost. Finally, we propose a novel approach for dynamic provisioning of multi-tier applications that removes the burden of manual (re-)configuration of the controller itself. Our experiments on the TPC-W multi-tier online bookstore show that MoKa provides significant benefits on application performance and availability.
Intoxicated eyewitnesses: prevalence and procedures according to England’s police officers

ABSTRACT Despite the apparent role alcohol plays in criminal offences, there is at present no evidence available as to the extent of the problem of intoxicated witnesses within England. To address this lack of research, police officers from seven constabularies completed an online survey addressing issues such as the prevalence of intoxicated witnesses, how officers determine intoxication, the procedures employed and their effectiveness. Officers indicated that intoxicated witnesses were a common, to very common, occurrence with most officers determining intoxication through physical symptoms and the witness’s own admission. In terms of interviewing witnesses, the majority of officers indicated that initial details were taken whilst witnesses were intoxicated, but the evidential interview was taken when sober. Officers also indicated that if the witness was intoxicated then the case was less likely to proceed to court and that officers viewed the witness as less accurate. These findings are considered from a criminal justice perspective and discussed in relation to future research.
Assessment of functional capacity in clinical and research settings: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Committee on Exercise, Rehabilitation, and Prevention of the Council on Clinical Cardiology and the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing.

The assessment of functional capacity reflects the ability to perform activities of daily living that require sustained aerobic metabolism. The integrated efforts and health of the pulmonary, cardiovascular, and skeletal muscle systems dictate an individual’s functional capacity. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that the assessment of functional capacity provides important diagnostic and prognostic information in a wide variety of clinical and research settings. This scientific statement, an update of the previously published American Heart Association (AHA) document,1 highlights the major clinical and research applications of functional capacity assessment. For a comprehensive review of exercise testing, the reader is referred to the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/AHA Guidelines for Exercise Testing.2,3 Functional capacity is the ability of an individual to perform aerobic work as defined by the maximal oxygen uptake (Vo2max), that is, the product of cardiac output and arteriovenous oxygen (a−Vo2) difference at physical exhaustion, as shown in the following equation: ! [Formula][1] Where HR indicates heart rate and SV indicates stroke volume. Because Vo2max typically is achieved by exercise that involves only about half of the total body musculature, it is generally believed that Vo2max is limited by maximal cardiac output rather than peripheral factors.4 Although Vo2max is measured in liters of oxygen per minute, it usually is expressed in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute to facilitate intersubject comparisons. In addition, functional capacity, particularly when estimated from the work rate achieved rather than directly measured Vo, is frequently expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs), with 1 MET representing the resting energy expenditure (≈3.5 mL O2 · kg−1 · min−1). In this instance, functional capacity is commonly expressed clinically as a multiple of the resting metabolic rate. Vo2max … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
DNA damage and susceptibility to oxidative damage in lymphocytes: effects of carotenoids in vitro and in vivo

Reports on the effects of carotenoids are conflicting. The present paper examines similarities and differences from contiguous studies in vitro and in vivo. Single-cell gel electrophoresis was used to measure the frequency of single-strand breaks (SSB) in the cell line MOLT-17 (as a model system) and human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). MOLT-17 cells were supplemented with β-carotene, lutein or lycopene at a range of concentrations (0·00–8·00 μmol/l) using a liposome delivery method. Uptake was dose-dependent. β-Carotene concentration in the media had no effect on SSB in control cells, but incubation with lycopene or lutein (>2·00 μmol/l) increased the numbers of SSB in control cells. MOLT-17 DNA was less susceptible to oxidative damage (100 μmol H2O2/l, 5 min, 4 °C) following incubation with carotenoids between 0·50 and 1·00 μmol/l; at >1·00 μmol/l the effects were ambiguous. Apparently healthy male volunteers supplemented their habitual diets with lutein, β-carotene or lycopene (natural isolate capsules, 15 mg/d, 4 weeks) in three independent studies, raising plasma concentrations to different extents. Lycopene and lutein had no effect on SSB in control PBL or following oxidative challenge. However, increased plasma β-carotene was associated with more SSB in control cells whilst PBL DNA resistance to oxidative damage ex vivo was unaffected. These results suggest that the carotenoids are capable of exerting two overlapping but distinct effects: antioxidant protection by scavenging DNA-damaging free radicals and modulation of DNA repair mechanisms.
Potencial biotecnológico dos fungos endofíticos do guaraná (Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis) no controle biológico da antracnose

A Amazonia possui numa imensa diversidade biologica, a qual e pouco conhecida e por consequencia pouco explorada, principalmente com relacao aos microrganismos e as suas interacoes com as plantas da regiao. Dentre os microrganismos de interesse estao as bacterias (incluindo os actinomicetos) e os fungos (incluindo as leveduras) que habitam o interior e a superficie das plantas hospedeiras (microrganismos endofiticos e epifiticos, respectivamente). Muitos destes microrganismos tem potencialmente caracteristicas relevantes como a producao de antibioticos, aromas, corantes, hormonios de crescimento vegetal e enzimas uteis, entre outras. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi isolar, selecionar, caracterizar e identificar microrganismos endofiticos presentes nas folhas, ramos e rizosfera do guarana (Paullinia cupana) como possiveis agentes de biocontrole da antracnose do guaranazeiro, causada por Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Para esta pesquisa, Isolados de Colletotrichum gloeosporioides foram identificados morfologica e molecularmente e comprovados serem agentes causais da antracnose por meio do teste de patogenicidade. Em seguida, o confronto direto de 522 fungos endofiticos contra o patogeno C. gloeosporioides resultaram na selecao dos seguintes isolados que apresentaram indices de antagonismo significativos: Penicillium verruculosum, Penicillium pinophilum, Geotrichum sp. , Schizophyllum commune e Aspergillus flavus. Foram realizados dois experimentos in vivo, na casa de vegetacao: para o primeiro experimento, foram usados os cinco isolados no teste in vivo contra Colletottrichum gloeosporioides em que os fungos P. verruculosum, P. pinophilum, Geotrichum sp. , A. flavus e S. commune apresentaram efeito antagonista significativo quanto ao fungo C. gloeosporioides e nenhum deles demonstrou patogenicidade contra P. cupana. O segundo experimento usou dois isolados de C. gloeosporioides, um no qual a ocorrencia de bandas RNA fita dupla (dsRNA) foi observada e o outro isolado, sem o RNA fita dupla. Para esse experimento, constatou-se que, as lesoes foliares apresentaram-se menores nas folhas em que foi inoculado o isolado com o RNA fita dupla, constatando, assim, uma caracteristica hipovirulenta do isolado. Em ambos os experimentos, observam-se que os fungos endofiticos possuem potencial para o controle de fitopatogenos em P. cupana, sendo promissores para o uso no biocontrole de doencas dessa planta.
A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Overt Letter Verbal Fluency Using a Clustered Acquisition Sequence: Greater Anterior Cingulate Activation with Increased Task Demand

Regional cerebral activation during a cognitive task can vary with task demand and task performance. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined the effect of manipulating task demand on activation during verbal fluency by using "easy" and "hard" letters. A "clustered" image acquisition sequence allowed overt verbal responses to be made in the absence of scanner noise which facilitated "on-line" measurement of task performance. Eleven right-handed, healthy male volunteers participated. Twice as many errors were produced with hard as with easy letters (20.8 +/- 13.6 and 10.1 +/- 10.7% errors, respectively). For both conditions, the distribution of regional activation was comparable to that reported in studies of covert verbal fluency, but with greater engagement of subcortical areas. The hard condition was associated with greater dorsal anterior cingulate activation than the easy condition. This may reflect the greater demands of the former, particularly in terms of arousal responses with increased task difficulty and the monitoring of potential response errors.
Optimal tradeoff of secure PUF-based authentication

We consider a problem of secure PUF-based authentication under a privacy constraint on the PUF responses. Given a randomly chosen challenge, an adversary who has access to the (publicly) stored helper data and side information correlated with the challenge-response pairs may try to mimic the corresponding PUF response in order to get authenticated. We characterize the optimal tradeoff between rate of the compressed helper data, information leakage rate of the PUF response at the adversary, and the adversary's maximum false acceptance probability exponent. The result captures a tradeoff between authentication performance and security aspects of PUF-based authentication such as authentication security and unpredictability of PUF when used in authentication applications.
On Dataless Hierarchical Text Classification

In this paper, we systematically study the problem of dataless hierarchical text classification. Unlike standard text classification schemes that rely on supervised training, dataless classification depends on understanding the labels of the sought after categories and requires no labeled data. Given a collection of text documents and a set of labels, we show that understanding the labels can be used to accurately categorize the documents. This is done by embedding both labels and documents in a semantic space that allows one to compute meaningful semantic similarity between a document and a potential label. We show that this scheme can be used to support accurate multiclass classification without any supervision. We study several semantic representations and show how to improve the classification using bootstrapping. Our results show that bootstrapped dataless classification is competitive with supervised classification with thousands of labeled examples.
The effects of a nonlinear pedagogy training program in the technical-tactical behaviour of youth futsal players

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of an intervention program, based on nonlinear pedagogy, on the decision-making and execution of different actions in futsal. The intervention program consisted of 12 training sessions. A quasi-experimental study was developed with eight male futsal players (M = 15.375, SD = 0.517). The GPET instrument was used to analyse the decision-making and execution of 3442 actions measured during competitive matches (pass, dribbling and shooting). Both variables were analysed with regard to the three tactical principles of attack: keep the ball possession, progression towards the goal and shooting at goal with the lowest level of opposition. With respect to the pass, results showed significantly higher values in decision-making and execution in the first and second principles, but not in the third one. In the dribbling action, results showed significantly higher values in decision-making in the second and third principle, but not in the first one. However, no significant differences were found in the shooting actions. These findings suggest that coaches should take into account in the task design, the tactical principles of play to develop tactical behaviour of youth futsal players.
Spectroscopic and photometric evidence of two stellar populations in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6121 (M 4)

Aims. We present abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of 105 isolated red giant branch (RGB) stars in the Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 6121 (M 4). Our aim is to study its star population in the context of the multi-population phenomenon recently discovered to affect some Globular Clusters. Methods. The data have been collected with FLAMES+UVES, the multi-fiber high resolution facility at the ESO/VLT@UT2 telescope. Analysis was performed under LTE approximation for the following elements: O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Ba, and NLTE corrections were applied to those (Na, Mg) strongly affected by departure from LTE. Spectroscopic data were coupled with high-precision wide-field UBVIC photometry from WFI@2.2 m telescope and infrared JHK photometry from 2MASS. Results. We derived an average [Fe/H] = −1.07 ± 0.01 (internal error), and an α enhancement of [α/Fe] =+ 0.39 ± 0.05 dex (internal error). We confirm the presence of an extended Na-O anticorrelation, and find two distinct groups of stars with significantly different Na and O content. We find no evidence of a Mg-Al anticorrelation. By coupling our results with previous studies on the CN band strength, we find that the CN strong stars have higher Na and Al content and are more O depleted than the CN weak ones. The two groups of Na-rich, CN-strong and Na-poor, CN-weak stars populate two different regions along the RGB. The Na-rich group defines a narrow sequence on the red side of the RGB, while the Na-poor sample populate a bluer, more spread portion of the RGB. In the U vs. U − B color magnitude diagram the RGB spread is present from the base of the RGB to the RGB-tip. Apparently, both spectroscopic and photometric results imply the presence of two stellar populations in M 4. We briefly discuss the possible origin of these populations.
Evaluation of a meridian-based intervention, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), for reducing specific phobias of small animals.

This study explored whether a meridian-based procedure, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), can reduce specific phobias of small animals under laboratory-controlled conditions. Randomly assigned participants were treated individually for 30 min with EFT (n = 18) or a comparison condition, diaphragmatic breathing (DB) (n = 17). ANOVAS revealed that EFT produced significantly greater improvement than did DB behaviorally and on three self-report measures, but not on pulse rate. The greater improvement for EFT was maintained, and possibly enhanced, at six- to nine-months follow-up on the behavioral measure. These findings suggest that a single treatment session using EFT to reduce specific phobias can produce valid behavioral and subjective effects. Some limitations of the study also are noted and clarifying research suggested.
Greening Residential Wi-Fi Networks under Centralized Control

Residential broadband gateways (comprising modem, router, and Wi-Fi access point), though individually consuming only 5-10 Watts of power, are significant contributors to overall network energy consumption due to large deployment numbers. Moreover, home gateways are typically always on, so as to provide continuous online presence to household devices for VoIP, smart metering, security surveillance, medical monitoring, etc. A natural solution for reducing the energy consumption of home gateways is to leverage the overlap of Wi-Fi networks common in urban environments and aggregate user traffic on to fewer gateways, thus putting the remaining to sleep. In this paper we propose, evaluate, and prototype an architecture that overcomes significant challenges in making this solution feasible at large-scale. We advocate a centralized approach, whereby a single authority co-ordinates the home gateways to maximize energy savings in a fair manner. Our solution can be implemented across heterogeneous ISPs, avoids client-side modifications (thus encompassing arbitrary user devices and operating systems), and permits explicit control of session migrations. We apply our solution to Wi-Fi traces collected in a building with 30 access points and 25,000 client connections, and evaluate via simulation the tradeoffs between energy savings, session disruptions, and fairness. We then prototype our system on commodity Wi-Fi access points, test it in a two-storey building emulating 6 residences, and demonstrate radio energy reduction of over 60 percent with little impact on user experience.
A Generic Software Framework For Distributed Coordination And Control In Multiagent Systems

This paper addresses the problem of design- ing a generic framework for distributed coordination and control in multiagent systems. Communication between agents increase their effectiveness, which is why this is the cornerstone of the software framework. Generic aspects are secured by making all layers of the software framework exchangeable, which secures compatibility with different wireless topologies, protocols and applications. A protocol for multiagent systems and an application regarding dis- tributed household cleaning is designed. The parts of the design concerning task assignment and peripheral units is implemented on the designed software framework. The results show that it is possible to implement applications on the designed software framework. The designed task assignment algorithm is able to distribute tasks between multiple agents in a hierarchical manner by means of the protocol. Furthermore it is possible to interact with peripheral units in the form of a Ubisense localisation system and an automated door from Besam. The tests of the protocol show that optimizations regarding collision avoidance are needed in order to make the protocol usable. The designed algorithm for cooperative completion of tasks is verified by means of UPPAAL. From this it is concluded that all states of the algorithm are reachable and it contains no deadlocks.