Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing Availability of Various Rack Power Redundancy Configurations White Paper # 48

Transfer switches and dual-path power distribution to IT equipment are used to enhance the availability of computing systems. Statistical availability analysis techniques suggest large differences in availability are expected between the various methods commonly employed. This paper examines various electrical architectures for redundancy that are implemented in today’s mission-critical environments. The availability analyses of these various scenarios are then performed and the results are presented. The analysis identifies which approach provides the best overall performance, and how alternatives compare in performance and value. Executive summary >
Title Design principles for an enterprise systems chartering method

Our research follows a design science approach to develop a method that supports the initialization of ES implementation projects – the chartering phase. This project phase is highly relevant for implementation success, but is understudied in IS research. In this paper, we derive design principles for a chartering method based on a systematic review of ES implementation literature and semi-structured expert interviews. Our analysis identifies differences in the importance of certain success factors depending on the system type. The proposed design principles are built on these factors and are linked to chartering key activities. We specifically consider system-type-specific chartering aspects for process-centric Business Intelligence & Analytics (BI&A) systems, which are an emerging class of systems at the intersection of BI&A and business process management. In summary, this paper proposes design principles for a chartering method – considering specifics of process-centric BI&A.
The role of executive function in social competence and behavioral problems in the last year of preschool

Título: El rol de las funciones ejecutivas en la competencia social y en los problemas de conducta en educación infantil. Resumen: Diversos estudios han encontrado relaciones entre las funciones ejecutivas, los problemas de conducta y la competencia social. Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, hay pocos estudios que hayan investigado el papel de los distintos componentes ejecutivos en la competencia social y los problemas de conducta más frecuentes en Educación Infantil. Por esta razón, el principal objetivo de este artículo es analizar la relación entre las funciones ejecutivas, los problemas de conducta y la competencia social en la etapa infantil. En el estudio participaron 260 alumnos/as en su último año de Educación Infantil. Los resultados del path analysis mostraron que todos los componentes de las funciones ejecutivas predecían, al menos, un factor de los problemas de conducta. Sin embargo, solo los déficits en flexibilidad y en memoria de trabajo predijeron la adaptabilidad y las habilidades sociales. En conclusión, los resultados del estudio muestran que, de las variables de funciones ejecutivas analizadas, son los déficits en inhibición los que se relacionan con un mayor número de problemas de conducta, mientras que la flexibilidad cognitiva es la que tiene una relación más elevada con la adaptabilidad y las habilidades sociales. Palabras clave: funciones ejecutivas; problemas de conducta; competencia social; educación infantil; path analysis. Abstract: Diverse studies have found a relationship between executive function, behavioral problems and social competence. However, until this moment, few studies have investigated the role of the distinct components of executive function in social competence, or in the most frequently encountered behavioral problems in childhood education. For this reason, the principal objective of this article is to evaluate the relation of the executive functions with behavioral problems and social competence in infancy. The study included 260 students in their last year of preschool. The results of path analysis showed that all components of executive functions predict, at least, a behavioral problem. However, only deficits in flexibility and working memory predicted adaptability and social abilities. In conclusion, the results of the study showed that of the variables of executive function analyzed, it is deficits in inhibition that relate to the greatest number of behavioral problems; whilst cognitive flexibility is the variable which has the strongest relationship with adaptability and social skills.
Energy Limits in Second Generation High-pitch Dual Source CT - Comparison in an Upper Abdominal Phantom

Objectives: The aim of our study was to find out how much energy is applicable in second-generation dual source high-pitch computed tomography (CT) in imaging of the abdomen. Materials and Methods: We examined an upper abdominal phantom using a Somatom Definition Flash CT-Scanner (Siemens, Forchheim, Germany). The study protocol consisted of a scan-series at 100 kV and 120 kV. In each scan series we started with a pitch of 3.2 and reduced it in steps of 0.2, until a pitch of 1.6 was reached. The current was adjusted to the maximum the scanner could achieve. Energy values, image noise, image quality, and radiation exposure were evaluated. Results: For a pitch of 3.2 the maximum applicable current was 142 mAs at 120 kV and in 100 kV the maximum applicable current was 114 mAs. For conventional abdominal imaging, current levels of 200 to 260 mAs are generally used. To achieve similar current levels, we had to decrease the pitch to 1.8 at 100 kV - at this pitch we could perform our imaging at 204 mAs. At a pitch of 2.2 in 120 kV we could apply a current of 206 mAs. Conclusion: We conclude our study by stating that if there is a need for a higher current, we have to reduce the pitch. In a high-pitch dual source CT, we always have to remember where our main focus is, so we can adjust the pitch to the energy we need in the area of the body that has to be imaged, to find answers to the clinical question being raised.
Immune Algorithm for Solving Large-Scale Job-Shop Scheduling Problems

DOI: 10.21276/sjet.2017. 5.12. 7 Abstract: Job-shop scheduling is a combination explosion problem. Complexity of solving such problems grows exponentially with the increase of problem scope. Based on the ideology of human immune system, an algorithm suitable for solving larger-scale jobshop scheduling problem (JSSP) is designed by selecting operators using hyper-mutation antibody clonal selection algorithm. The test result shows that the algorithm exhibits high efficiency and favorable universality.
Identifying When Effect Restoration Will Improve Estimates of Causal Effect

Several methods have been developed that combine multiple models learned on diﬀerent data sets and then use that combination to reach conclusions that would not have been possible with any one of the models alone. We examine one such method— eﬀect restoration —which was originally developed to mitigate the eﬀects of poorly measured confounding variables in a causal model. We show how eﬀect restoration can be used to combine results from diﬀerent machine learning models and how the combined model can be used to estimate causal eﬀects that are not identiﬁable from either of the original studies alone. We characterize the performance of eﬀect restoration by using both theoretical analysis and simulation studies. Specifically, we show how conditional independence tests and common assumptions can help distinguish when eﬀect restoration should and should not be applied, and we use empirical analysis to show the limited range of conditions under which eﬀect restoration should be applied in practical situations.
University of Groningen Accelerated Gossip Algorithms for Distributed Computation

We introduce a technique for accelerating the gossip algorithm of Boyd et. al. (INFOCOM 2005) for distributed averaging in a network. By employing memory in the form of a small shift-register in the computation at each node, we can speed up the algorithm’s convergence by a factor of 10. Our accelerated algorithm is inspired by the observation that the original gossip algorithm is analogous to the power method in Numerical Analysis, which can be accelerated by a shift-register based recurrence.
Current Status of Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Practice in Thailand

Thyroid carcinoma is one of the leading malignancies in Thailand increasingly prevalent in the female population. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is a widely used diagnostic tool for evaluation of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Thyroid FNA is a routine procedure universally performed in Thai hospitals by a variety of clinical specialists. Manual guidance is the first-line choice complemented by ultrasound assistance in selected cases. Despite national guidelines recommendations, the diagnostic criteria and terminology of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) was slowly adopted in the local settings. Currently, the Bethesda system is actively promoted by the local professional societies as a uniform reporting system. Experience with thyroid FNA has been rarely reported to date—only a handful of publications are available in local journals. Our review, in addition to presenting various aspects of thyroid FNA in Thailand, established for the first time national references for a certain statistical outputs of TBSRTC based on the original multi-institutional cohort. The risk of malignancy in 2,017 operated thyroid nodules collected from three tertiary thyroid cancer centers was 21.7%, 14.7%, 35.9%, 44.4%, 76.7%, and 92.6% for categories I to VI, respectively. The malignancy risk in several diagnostic categories (II to IV) was higher than the risk estimated by TBSRTC and recent meta-analysis studies. We endorse the use of uniform terminology of the Bethesda system in Thailand, which will help facilitate communication among diverse medical professionals involved in the management of patients with thyroid nodules, to share local experience with the international audience.
Depth Data Error Modeling of the ZED 3D Vision Sensor from Stereolabs

The ZED camera is binocular vision system that can be used to provide a 3D perception of the world. It can be applied in autonomous robot navigation, virtual reality, tracking, motion analysis and so on. This paper proposes a mathematical error model for depth data estimated by the ZED camera with its several resolutions of operation. For doing that, the ZED is attached to a Nvidia Jetson TK1 board providing an embedded system that is used for processing raw data acquired by ZED from a 3D checkerboard. Corners are extracted from the checkerboard using RGB data, and a 3D reconstruction is done for these points using disparity data calculated from the ZED camera, coming up with a partially ordered, and regularly distributed (in 3D space) point cloud of corners with given coordinates, which are computed by the device software. These corners also have their ideal world (3D) positions known with respect to the coordinate frame origin that is empirically set in the pattern. Both given (computed) coordinates from the camera’s data and known (ideal) coordinates of a corner can, thus, be compared for estimating the error between the given and ideal point locations of the detected corner cloud. Subsequently, using a curve fitting technique, we obtain the equations that model the RMS (Root Mean Square) error. This procedure is repeated for several resolutions of the ZED sensor, and at several distances. Results showed its best effectiveness with a maximum distance of approximately sixteen meters, in real time, which allows its use in robotic or other online applications.
SUSCEPTIBILITY OF K-CASEIN COMPONENTS TO VARIOUS PROTEASES

In order to clarify the function of the carbohydrate moiety of bovine K-casein, K-casein components having different carbohydrate contents were prepared by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Five adsorbed fractions so obtained had an identical peptide chain and contained carbohydrate moieties of increasing size in the order of components P-2, P-3, P-4, P-5 and P-6. The susceptibility of K-casein components, having different carbohydrate contents, to various proteases was examined. K-Casein components were subjected to calf rennin
Diff RGB : A Novel Constant Intensity Color Space

A novel color space, Diff RGB, is compared with popular normalized RGB. It keeps similar intensity in spite of intensity variation as like the normalized RGB. However, its transformation is much faster than the normalization, and it does not have any exceptional case in its transformation. Two applications of Diff RGB, landmark detection and skin color detection, are briefly explained. Keywords— Color Space, Normalized RGB, Diff RGB
Alpha-Particle-Induced Increases in the Radioresistance of Normal Human Bystander Cells

Abstract Iyer, R. and Lehnert, B. E. Alpha-Particle-Induced Increases in the Radioresistance of Normal Human Bystander Cells. Radiat. Res. 157, 3–7 (2002). Numerous investigators have reported that direct exposure of cells to a low dose of ionizing radiation can induce a condition of enhanced radioresistance, i.e. a “radioadaptive” response. In this report, we investigated the hypothesis that a radioadaptive bystander effect may be induced in unirradiated cells by a transmissible factor(s) present in the supernatants of cells exposed to a low dose of α particles. Normal human lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) were irradiated with 1 cGy of α particles and their supernatants were transferred to unirradiated HFL-1 cells as a bystander cell model. Compared to directly irradiated cells that were not treated with supernatants from HFL-1 cells exposed to low-dose radiation, such treatment resulted in increased clonogenic survival after subsequent exposure to 10 and 19 cGy of α particles. Increases in protein levels of AP-endonuclease, a redox and DNA base excision repair protein, were found in the bystander cells, but not in directly irradiated cells. Supernatants from α-particle-irradiated cells were also found to increase the clonogenicity of unirradiated cells. These results, in conjunction with our earlier findings that supernatants from cells exposed to a low dose of α particles contain growth-promoting activity, suggest that this new bystander effect may be related to an increase in DNA repair and cell growth/cell cycle regulation.
The Risk of Cataract among Users of Inhaled Steroids

Prolonged exposure to inhaled corticosteroids among adults over 49 years old has been reported to increase cataract risk. Small-scale studies of inhaled steroid users suggest that no increased risk for children and young adults exists. To describe cataract risk among people with asthma who use inhaled corticosteroids relative to patients with asthma with no history of corticosteroid use, we conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of patients identified from the United Kingdom–based General Practice Database with a nested case-control analysis. Relative to patients who do not use corticosteroids, all inhaled corticosteroid users were at a marginally increased risk of cataract (RR = 1.3). Among individuals 40 years of age or older, the risk ratio increased with use of increasing numbers of inhaled corticosteroid prescriptions after controlling for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and smoking history. This trend was not evident in those under age 40.
Tryptophan catabolites regulate mucosal sensitization to ovalbumin in respiratory airways

Background: Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), the rate‐limiting enzyme in tryptophan catabolism, is important in generating tolerance at the foetal–maternal interface. Studies using 1‐methyl‐tryptophan (1‐MT), the specific inhibitor of IDO, showed that this enzyme is important in interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ)‐dependent inhibition of allergic inflammation in the respiratory airway during immunotherapy.
Lexical diversity and omission errors as predictors of language ability in the narratives of sequential Spanish-English bilinguals: a cross-language comparison.

PURPOSE This study explored the utility of language sample analysis for evaluating language ability in school-age Spanish-English sequential bilingual children. Specifically, the relative potential of lexical diversity and word/morpheme omission as predictors of typical or atypical language status was evaluated. METHOD Narrative samples were obtained from 48 bilingual children in both of their languages using the suggested narrative retell protocol and coding conventions as per Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT; Miller & Iglesias, 2008) software. An additional lexical diversity measure, VocD, was also calculated. A series of logistical hierarchical regressions explored the utility of the number of different words, VocD statistic, and word and morpheme omissions in each language for predicting language status. RESULTS Omission errors turned out to be the best predictors of bilingual language impairment at all ages, and this held true across languages. Although lexical diversity measures did not predict typical or atypical language status, the measures were significantly related to oral language proficiency in English and Spanish. CONCLUSION The results underscore the significance of omission errors in bilingual language impairment while simultaneously revealing the limitations of lexical diversity measures as indicators of impairment. The relationship between lexical diversity and oral language proficiency highlights the importance of considering relative language proficiency in bilingual assessment.
Trends in the Bias of Primary Satellite Ocean-Color Products at a Coastal Site

Trends in the difference between primary satellite ocean-color products and in situ reference data at a coastal site are analyzed and presented. Investigated products are the normalized water-leaving radiance LWN and aerosol optical thickness τa from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer onboard the Aqua and Terra platforms (MODIS-A and MODIS-T, respectively). In situ reference data are from the Ocean-Color component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET-OC). Restricting the period of investigation to May 2002-April 2010 for SeaWiFS and MODIS-T and July 2002-June 2008 for MODIS-A, results do not indicate any statistically significant trend in the bias of LWN. Biases, determined at around the middle of the considered period, exhibit values from -0.4% to +7.7% for SeaWiFS and from -1.9% to +4.6% for MODIS-T in the 412-555-nm spectral interval. Higher and systematically negative biases from -15.4% to -6.2% are observed for MODIS-A in the same spectral interval. Statistically appreciable trends are observed for τa from SeaWiFS at 443 and 490 nm (approximately +1% per year) and from MODIS-A at 667 nm (+4.7% per year). The biases are very high for both MODIS-A and MODIS-T τa products in the 412-555-nm spectral interval (on average, +21% and +16%, respectively) when compared to SeaWiFS (exhibiting values between +1% and +4%).
Effects of Dielectric Parameters of Human Body on Radiation Characteristics of Ingestible Wireless Device at Operating Frequency of 430 MHz

In order to assess the sensitivities of the radiation characteristics and the compliance of ingestible wireless device (IWD) in human body due to the uncertainty and intersubject variability of dielectric properties of human body tissues, the specific absorption rate (SAR) and radiation characteristics of the IWD in two realistic human body models with changed and unchanged dielectric values are quantitatively compared using the finite-difference time-domain method. Simulations are carried out in 13 scenarios where the IWD is placed in the center positions of abdomens in the two body models at the operating frequency of 430 MHz with three orientations. Results show that the variation of radiation intensity near the surface of abdomen is around 2.5 dB within 20% variation of dielectric values. The maximum SAR values increase with the increase in conductivities of human body tissues and decrease with the increase in relative permittivities of human body tissues. A variation of up to 20% in conductivities and relative permittivities, alone or simultaneously, always causes a variation of SAR to be less than 10%. As far as the compliance of safety is concerned, the maxima of 1-g-averaged and 10-g-averaged SARs can reach 3.16 and 0.89 W/kg at the input power of 25 mW.
Classification and Characterization of Heterotrophic Microbial Communities on the Basis of Patterns of Community-Level Sole-Carbon-Source Utilization

The BLOLOG redox technology based on tetrazolium dye reduction as an indicator of sole-carbon-source utilization was evaluated as a rapid, community-level method to characterize and classify heterotrophic microbial communities. Direct incubation of whole environmental samples (aquatic, soil, and rhizosphere) in BIOLOG plates containing 95 separate carbon sources produced community-dependent patterns of sole-carbon-source utilization. Principal-component analysis of color responses quantified from digitized images of plates revealed distinctive patterns among microbial habitats and spatial gradients within soil and estuarine sites. Correlation of the original carbon source variables to the principal components gives a functional basis to distinctions among communities. Intensive spatial and temporal analysis of microbial communities with this technique can produce ecologically relevant classifications of heterotrophic microbial communities.
No child left behind: Enrolling children and adults simultaneously in critical care randomized trials*

Objective:Randomized clinical trials of novel critical care interventions are currently tested in children only after documenting their safety in adults. Although this practice may protect children from research risks, it may paradoxically threaten children’s well-being by depriving them of evidence to guide their care. We sought to evaluate the ethical, methodologic, and practical arguments for and against studying critical care interventions in adults and children simultaneously rather than sequentially. Data Source:Empirical studies and conceptual arguments germane to the objective were reviewed. Data Extraction and Synthesis:Children are traditionally viewed as “participants of last resort” due to their vulnerability and decisional incapacity. However, critically ill adults commonly share similar features. Thus, structured risk assessments used by Institutional Review Boards to determine the adequacy of research protections for critically ill adults can also help protect children. From a methodologic perspective, interventions may be tested simultaneously in children and adults by enrolling children as a prespecified subgroup within a larger adult randomized clinical trial or by enrolling children in a separate trial conducted in parallel. Both approaches raise practical and analytical challenges that can frequently be met. For example, investigators might choose outcome measures that are appropriate for both adults and children. Additionally, using Bayesian approaches to link the estimates of treatment effects in children to the values observed in adults may enhance the statistical power to detect pediatric-specific effects. Finally, centralized Institutional Review Boards and data monitoring centers may alleviate practical concerns with conducting trials among adults and children simultaneously. Conclusions:The current standard of testing critical care interventions in adults before children rests on tenuous ethical arguments and is entrenched by the methodologic and logistic barriers encountered with alternative approaches. However, these barriers will frequently be surmountable. We therefore propose that the default paradigm be changed such that interventions are examined routinely in critically ill children and adults simultaneously unless unique reasons exist to the contrary.