Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Low-Power Digital DLL-Based Clock Generator in Open-Loop Mode

This paper presents a low-power digital DLL-based clock generator. Once the DLL is locked, it operates in open-loop mode to reduce deterministic clock jitter and the power dissipation caused by DLL dithering. To keep track of any potential phase error introduced by environmental variations, a compensation mechanism is employed. In addition, a robust DLL-based frequency multiplication technique is proposed. The DLL-based clock generator is designed and fabricated in a 90 nm CMOS process in two different versions. Utilizing the proposed technique, the output jitter caused by DLL dithering is reduced significantly. Furthermore, the measured total power savings in the open-loop mode in comparison with the conventional closed-loop operation is about 14%.
Leadership as an Organization-Wide Phenomena: Its Impact on School Performance

This article reports the results of a study guided by a conceptualization of leadership as an organizational quality. The study examines the relationship between the leadership exerted by principals, teachers, secretaries, and parents; four functions of effective organizations; and several measures of school effectiveness. The results of path analyses revealed the following: The total amount of leadership in schools was associated with two organizational functions, which in turn were associated with four measures of school performance. The leadership of principals and the leadership of groups of teachers were positively related to organizational latency, or commitment, which was positively associated with the perceived effectiveness of schools and negatively associated with teacher turnover. Finally, the leadership of parents was positively associated with student achievement, whereas the influence of secretaries was negatively associated with student achievement.
Sublingual immunotherapy to house dust mite in pediatric patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma: a retrospective analysis of clinical course over a 3-year follow-up period.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Specific allergen immunotherapy is believed to be the only treatment able to change the natural history of allergic airway diseases. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is especially preferred because of its easy application and safety. The aim of this study was to describe the effect of SLIT in pediatric patients who have allergic airway disease. METHODS Children with asthma and rhinitis who were allergic to house dust mite were evaluated. The effect on clinical course of 3 years of SLIT with 50% Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and 50% Dermatophagoides farinae in a standardized extract was assessed retrospectively. RESULTS The records of 39 patients (23 boys, 16 girls) were studied. The mean (+/- SD) age for starting SLIT was 8.8 +/- 2.3 years. The mean number of acute asthma attacks at the onset of the disease was 8.18 +/- 3.05. The mean number of attacks after 3 years of SLIT was 0.44 +/- 0.79. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of acute asthma attacks before and after therapy (P < .001). Complete clinical remission of asthma was recorded in 37 (95%) patients. Similarly, complete clinical remission of allergic rhinitis was recorded in 32 (82%) patients. CONCLUSION This retrospective study shows that SLIT is effective in children who have allergic airway disease which cannot be controlled effectively with allergen avoidance measures only.
A theoretical model of ageing hospital nurses' well-being at work.

AIM To describe the development process of a theoretical model of ageing hospital nurses' well-being at work and the subsequent testing of the model itself. BACKGROUND Factors evoking well-being at work need to be identified to promote nurses' well-being. METHOD Qualitative data (n = 21) from ageing hospital nurses, consisting of interviews, diaries and open data collection forms were collected and analysed using grounded theory method. Based on the finding, a survey was developed. Quantitative data (n = 328) were collected from hospital nurses born between the years 1948-1962. Explorative factor analysis was used to create the theoretical model. RESULTS The main concepts of the model were nurse-nurse interaction, nurse-patient interaction and patient-care centeredness. CONCLUSION According to the theoretical model, well-being at work can be described as nurses' experience of collaboration, cooperation and togetherness with other nurses in a supporting and caring work environment. The aim and possibility of high-quality patient care, in a spirit where nurses and nursing are appreciated, were also revealed. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT The importance of nurse-nurse interaction and nurse-patient interaction as well as ageing nurses' patient-care centeredness needs to be taken into account in nursing management and leadership.
The validity of memory complaints by elderly persons

Memory complaint and objective test performance were assessed in 20 elderly ‘memory complainers’, 11 elderly controls, 14 young students, and 19 mildly‐to‐moderately demented patients using an everyday memory questionnaire and clinical memory tasks. Consistent with earlier studies, memory complainers as a group reported more failures of everyday memory but did not differ from the controls on the clinical memory tasks. However, on further analysis, memory complaint and poor test performance were positively associated; first, in those elderly subjects who considered their memory impairment to be both worse than their peers' and recently acquired; and secondly, in individuals whose level of memory performance was lower than that expected on the basis of their ‘premorbid intelligence’. The latter finding indicates that a legitimate basis for memory complaint is more often present in complainers than non‐complainers.
Governing global value chains: an introduction

Abstract This introductory paper to the special issue on governing global value chains (GVCs) focuses on the concept of governance as the dimension of GVCs that has received the most theoretical and empirical attention to date. After a brief introduction of the GVC concept in relation to the literature on economic globalization, we review the three main interpretations of GVC governance that have been advanced: governance as driving, governance as coordination and governance as normalization. After summaries of the four subsequent papers (by Bair, Gibbon and Ponte, Milberg, and Palpacuer), the authors offer reflections on the current state of development of GVC analysis. The unevenness and theoretical eclecticism of the GVC literature to date, particularly but not only with regard to the understanding of governance, poses the question of whether it is possible to reconcile the different approaches within a unified paradigm. If not, then GVC analysis is better understood as a methodological approach that can be mobilized within various theoretical perspectives.
Tabulation based 4-universal hashing with applications to second moment estimation

We show that 4-universal hashing can be implemented efficiently using tabulated 4-universal hashing for characters, gaining a factor of 5 in speed over the fastest existing methods. We also consider generalization to k-universal hashing, and as a prime application, we consider the approximation of the second moment of a data stream.
Determination of Important Underlying Dimensions of E-Commerce Competencies in Hospitality Curricula from the Hotel Managers' Perspective

ABSTRACT With the growing significance of e-commerce and its impact on the hotel industry, it is crucial for hospitality programs to offer courses in this area. This study identifies thirty competencies and seven groupings of content that could be considered for hospitality e-commerce curricula. All seven groupings (E-Business Models, Electronic Information Sharing, Website Design and Management, E-Marketing, Intranet and Extranets, General Use of Technology, and Managing E-Commerce for Sales) are important content areas for the development of e-commerce in the hotel industry. Hospitality educators could use these groupings to form individual courses or to provide content modules in existing courses.
Towards A Systematic Approach To Reviewing The Strategic Alignment Literature

Doctoral dissertations within the IS domain presented at viva voce examinations, lack systematic and structured approaches towards the review of literature. This paper outlines a structured approach to undertaking a systematic qualitative review of the strategic alignment literature within the IS domain. The approach is guided by a six stage process and utilises a Strategy-as-Practice lens to analyse the literature. The analysis is undertaken by employing a framework constructed from a Strategy-asPractice typology, a classification scheme from the coding method of the constructivist approach to grounded theory, and the identification of practices as bundles of shared routines. This detailed analysis offers a range of unique perspectives that have not to-date been clearly articulated within the strategic alignment literature, thus enabling a highly novel written review as part of a doctoral dissertation.
Targeting neuronal nitric oxide synthase as a valuable strategy for the therapy of neurological disorders

The management of neurological disorders have huge and increasing human and economic costs. Despite this, there is a scarcity of effective therapeutics, and there is an extreme urgency for new and real treatments. In this short review we analyze some promising advancements in the search of new bioactive molecules targeting neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), an enzyme deputed to the biosynthesis of nitric oxide (NO). In different conditions of neuronal damages, this molecule is overproduced, contributing to the pathogenesis and progression of neuronal diseases. Two main approaches to modulate nNOS are discussed: a first one consisting in the direct inhibition of the enzyme by means of small organic molecules, which can be also active against other different targets involved in such diseases. A second section is dedicated to molecules able to prevent the formation of the ternary complex N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors, postsynaptic density-95 (PSD95) protein-nNOS, which is necessary to activate the latter for the biosynthesis of NO.
Discrete Trial Training in the Treatment of Autism

Discrete trial training (DTT) is a method for individualizing and simplifying instruction to enhance children's learning. For children with autism, DTT is especially useful for teaching new forms of behavior (e.g., speech sounds or motor movements that the child previously could not make) and new discriminations (e.g., responding correctly to different requests). DTT can also be used to teach more advanced skills and manage disruptive behavior. However, several cautions about DTT are noteworthy: First, the method must be combined with other interventions to enable children to initiate the use of their skills and display these skills across settings. Second, early in treatment, children with autism may require many hours of DTT per week, although controversy exists over precisely how much is appropriate. Third, to implement DTT effectively, teachers must have specialized training. Despite these limitations, DTT is one of the most important instructional methods for children with autism.
An immunohistochemical method that distinguishes free from complexed SNAP‐25

Soluble N‐ethylmaleimide‐sensitive fusion protein (NSF) attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complexes composed of target (t‐) SNAREs syntaxin and SNAP‐25 and vesicle SNARE synaptobrevin play an essential role in neurosecretion. It is hypothesized that a transient intermediate complex between the t‐SNAREs is formed during the assembly of the ternary complex. The existence of the t‐SNARE binary complexes in vivo, however, has not been demonstrated. By using an affinity absorption scheme with preformed syntaxin–SNAP‐25 complexes, we isolated antibodies capable of distinguishing free SNAP‐25 from those associated with syntaxin. By semiquantitative immunohistochemistry, we estimated that, in cultured cerebellar neurons, the majority of SNAP‐25 existed as complexes. Compared with the cultured neurons, PC12 cells expressed significantly less syntaxin, and we found that SNAP‐25 was primarily in free forms. In contrast, a PC12 line that stably expressed a recombinant syntaxin showed a marked increase in SNAP‐25 complexes. By using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) techniques, we observed FRET between cyan fluorescence protein–syntaxin and yellow fluorescence protein–SNAP‐25 fusion proteins expressed in COS‐7 and PC12 cells, suggesting a physiological interaction between syntaxin and SNAP‐25. Our results demonstrate that, unlike what was previously hypothesized, syntaxin and SNAP‐25 exist preferably as stable binary complexes in neurons. These findings offer novel insight into the mechanisms underlying the initiation and regulation of SNARE complex assembly. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2)

This article describes a revised Conflict Tactics Scales (the CTS2) to measure psychological and physical attacks on a partner in a marital, cohabiting, or dating relationship; and also use of negotiation. The CTS2 has (a) additional items to enhance content validity and reliability; (b) revised wording to increase clarity and specificity; (c) better differentiation between minor and severe levels of each scale; (d) new scales to measure sexual coercion and physical injury; and (e) a new format to simplify administration and reduce response sets. Reliability ranges from . 79 to . 95. There is preliminary evidence of construct validity.
Neuronal Synapse as a Memristor: Modeling Pair- and Triplet-Based STDP Rule

We propose a new memristive model for the neuronal synapse based on the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) protocol, considering both long-term and short-term plasticity in the synapse. Higher-order behavior is modeled by a memristor with adaptive thresholds, which realizes the well-established suppression principle of Froemke. We assume a mechanism of variable thresholds adapting to synaptic potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD), which reproduces the refractory time in the weight modification. The corresponding dynamical process is governed by a set of ordinary differential equations. Interestingly, the Froemke's model and our memristive model, based on two completely different mechanisms, are found to be quantitatively equivalent for the `pre-post-pre' case and `post-pre-post' case. A relation of the adaptive thresholds to short-term plasticity is addressed.
Sponge Microbiota Are a Reservoir of Functional Antibiotic Resistance Genes

Wide application of antibiotics has contributed to the evolution of multi-drug resistant human pathogens, resulting in poorer treatment outcomes for infections. In the marine environment, seawater samples have been investigated as a resistance reservoir; however, no studies have methodically examined sponges as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance. Sponges could be important in this respect because they often contain diverse microbial communities that have the capacity to produce bioactive metabolites. Here, we applied functional metagenomics to study the presence and diversity of functional resistance genes in the sponges Aplysina aerophoba, Petrosia ficiformis, and Corticium candelabrum. We obtained 37 insert sequences facilitating resistance to D-cycloserine (n = 6), gentamicin (n = 1), amikacin (n = 7), trimethoprim (n = 17), chloramphenicol (n = 1), rifampicin (n = 2) and ampicillin (n = 3). Fifteen of 37 inserts harbored resistance genes that shared <90% amino acid identity with known gene products, whereas on 13 inserts no resistance gene could be identified with high confidence, in which case we predicted resistance to be mainly mediated by antibiotic efflux. One marine-specific ampicillin-resistance-conferring β-lactamase was identified in the genus Pseudovibrio with 41% global amino acid identity to the closest β-lactamase with demonstrated functionality, and subsequently classified into a new family termed PSV. Taken together, our results show that sponge microbiota host diverse and novel resistance genes that may be harnessed by phylogenetically distinct bacteria.
Parental Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behavior in the Nigerian Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being

The objective of this study was to determine which parental mental disorders predict offspring suicidal behavior in a general adult population sample of a sub-Saharan African country. The World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview, version 3 was used to assess respondents' suicidal behaviors as well as psychopathology in their parents. The effects of parental disorders in predicting offspring suicide ideation and attempts were examined in a series of bivariate and multivariate models. Sections on suicidality were administered to the entire sample (n = 6752), but associations with parental psychopathology were examined in a subsample of respondents (n = 2143). Lifetime prevalence (95% confidence interval) of suicide ideation, plans, and attempts was 3.2% (1.4–6.5), 1.0% (0.4–7.5), and 0.7% (0.5–1.0) respectively. Parental panic disorder and substance abuse were associated with suicide ideation in offspring, but only parental panic disorder was linked to suicide attempts. Parental panic disorder predicted the onset and persistence of suicide ideation and attempts and also which persons with suicide ideation go on to make a suicide attempt. This study further affirms findings from previous studies of the role of disorders characterized by anxiety and impulse control in suicide attempts and as being a probable link in the transmission of suicidal behavior to offspring.
Overwhelming Preponderance as a Pacifying Condition Among Contiguous Asian Dyads, 1950–1969

It has been proposed that preponderance of power is favorable to the prevention of war, whereas relative equality of power is conducive to war. Here, the “preponderance promotes peace” proposition is applied to dyads. The author modifies this proposition by claiming that only overwhelming or ten-to-one preponderance substantially reduces the risk of war. Moreover, the “overwhelming preponderance promotes peace” proposition is placed in a wider theoretical framework that identifies dyadic and regional background conditions affecting the likelihood of hostilities. It is argued that more irreconcilable confliets of interest are found in conjunction with the absence of multilateral conflict neutralization among contiguous Asian nations than elsewhere during the fifties and sixties. These considerations determine where the peace by preponderance proposition is tested. By and large the data support the proposition, but only in conjunction with other explanatory variables is statistical significance achieved.
Análise de agrupamento incremental : segmentação de pontos de retalho

O presente artigo apresenta um estudo sobre a utilizacao do algoritmo incremental Two-Step para identificar grupos homogeneos de pontos de venda de um universo de pontos de retalho para produtos alimentares congelados. Com este trabalho pretende-se efectuar a segmentacao desse universo, de forma a suportar a tomada de decisao por parte dos gestores de marketing e vendas. Os grupos sao identificados utilizando informacao proveniente de um data warehouse que agrega dados sobre as caracteristicas de cada ponto de retalho e as vendas que origina. Os resultados obtidos permitiram a identificacao de 4 grupos, cujo perfil foi tracado e avaliado mediante o recurso a alguns testes de hipoteses.
Continuity versus boundedness of the spectral factorization mapping

This paper characterizes the Banach algebras of continuous functions on which the spectral factorization mapping S is continuous or bounded. It is shown that S is continuous if and only if the Riesz projection is bounded on the algebra, and that S is bounded only if the algebra is isomorphic to the algebra of continuous functions. Conse- quently, S can never be both continuous and bounded, on any algebra under consideration. 1. Introduction. The operation by which a functionf on the unit circle is written as f( ) = f+( )f+( ) for all 2 T :=fz2 C :jzj = 1g, with an outer functionf+, is known as spectral factorization. This operation arises in many dierent
Room-temperature direct bonding of graphene films by means of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) / vapor-assisted method

A room temperature direct bonding between graphene thin films was realized by using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) / vapor-assisted surface modification method at atmospheric pressure. In this paper, we examined the bonding between graphene mono layers and multi layers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that, in the ambient air, the graphene surfaces were easy to be oxidized, which resulted in the formation of CO2 (C-O 286.6eV) and organic hydrocarbons. Additionally, chlorine from the graphene production process was found on the outmost surface. For such oxidized and adsorbed surfaces, the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) treatment was found highly effective to modify the chemical binding condition. The VUV irradiation eliminated the oxide and contaminations, and changed the binding condition of carbon. For the monolayer graphene surface, the oxidized site was almost completely removed and C-C bond, which has the binding energy of 284.4 eV, became dominant. For the multilayer surface, although C-O bonds remained, the atomic weight percentage of carbon increased. Raman spectroscopy study results showed that the intensity of defect, which was indicated by D-band, decreased both on the monolayer and multilayer. Moreover, the intensity of 2D band, which was attributable to graphene formation, became stronger; the VUV irradiation turned out effective to modify the crystalline structure to create graphene outmost surface layer. After the VUV irradiation, the surfaces were exposed to the water vapor to make the surface hydrophilic, because molecular water can adsorbe on the hydrophilic carbon surfaces, create hydrogen bond between on the moment of contact, and make good adhesion between the surfaces. XPS observations indicated that the bridging layers including molecular layers, which were assigned as CHO (286.2eV) and/or COOH (288.2eV), were created by water exposure. Raman observations confirmed that the intensity ratio of D band and G band (ID/IG) decreased and the ratio of 2D band and G band (I2D/IG) increased apparently on the monolayer and multilayer, respectively. This inferred that the defect decreased and the disordered graphene layer was reduced on the outmost surface, and the quantitative quality of graphene was improved due to the water exposure. Similarly, the peak shifts showed that, both on the monolayer and multilayer, the crosslink between carbon and hydrogen became closer. Without using chemical process, the simple VUV irradiation combined with the water exposure turned out highly effective to make tight bond between graphene surfaces without degrading the quantitative quality.