Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of HPGe detectors timing using pulse shape analysis

This work aims to investigate the improvement the HPGe detector time resolution using signal shape analysis techniques. For this purpose a measurement using a coaxial HPGe detector, a LaBr3 scintillator and 60Co gamma source was taken. The RS Pulse Shape Analysis algorithm was then applied to the experimental signals for extracting time information and the results obtained were compared with those obtained using a standard CFD. The results show a 50% improvement in time resolution (4 ns FWHM) when the RS algorithm is used instead of a standard CFD (8 ns FWHM) algorithm.
Consensus over weighted digraphs: A robustness perspective

The present paper investigates the robustness of the consensus protocol over weighted directed graphs using the Nyquist criterion. The limit to which a single weight can vary, while consensus among the agents can be achieved, is explicitly derived. It is shown that even with a negative weight on one of the edges, consensus may be achieved. The result obtained in this paper is applied to a directed acyclic graph and to the directed cycle graph. Graph theoretic interpretations of the limits are provided for the two cases. Simulations support the theoretical results.
Limited influence of loyalty program membership on relational outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer loyalty program membership effects from a multi‐faceted relational outcome perspective.Design/methodology/approach – A model was developed to assess hypothesized loyalty program effects on a series of linkages between relationship commitment and a variety of relational outcomes. The study's hypotheses are tested with customer survey data from an upscale department store chain. Structural model multi‐group analysis is used to test the hypotheses between members (n=1,239) and non‐members (n=743) of the department store's customer loyalty program.Findings – The findings display the surprisingly limited impact of loyalty program membership on the tested relational outcomes. Loyalty program membership favorably influences customers' desires to increase their purchases and provide complaint feedback to the firm. However, loyalty program membership fails to favorably impact four key advocacy outcomes; namely, customers' willingness to provide persona.
Risk, trust and regulation: the case of pensions

1 SUMMARY This paper discusses four issues: the principal ways in which individuals can attempt to ensure that they have sufficient income in their retirement, the risks for the individual associated with each of the different options available to them, how, if at all those risks are addressed, and what reforms could be made. The paper identifies twelve different types and sources of both risk and uncertainty for consumers and analyses how these are presently managed. These are: • Public policy risk
Modeling spatiotemporal pattern of agriculture‐feasible land in China

This study applies a spatial fuzzy multi‐criteria evaluation model to determine agricultural feasibility in China based on physical variables (accumulated temperature, sunshine, precipitation, hydrology, elevation and soil properties). The resulting agricultural feasibility index layer is combined with nightlight images (1992‐2013) to determine the spatiotemporal variation of urban encroachment on feasible agriculture land. It reveals the severity of agricultural land losses to urbanization.
Professional, generational, and gender differences in perception of organisational values among Israeli physicians and nurses: Implications for retention

ABSTRACT The global health workforce today is more age diverse than ever before and spans three generations: baby boomers, X and Y generations. Each generation has a distinct set of characteristics, values, and beliefs. This diversity can lead to increased creativity and a greater richness of values and skills, but at the same time it can also lead to value clashes, disrespect, and conflicts. This study aimed to examine professional, generational, and gender differences in the perception of the importance of organisational values among nurses and physicians working in both hospitals and outpatient clinics in Israel. Data were collected from a large sample of nurses and physicians (N = 603) from 11 hospitals and community services across Israel. The participants completed a self-administered questionnaire rating the perceived importance of 20 organisational values, such as leadership, risk-taking, competition, power, and collaboration. The five values ranked most important were performance quality, cooperation, commitment, effectiveness, and efficiency. The five values ranked least important were competition, marketing, power, risk-taking, and assertiveness. Significant value differences were found by profession, generation, and gender. Nurses scored efficiency, assertiveness, risk-taking, power, and marketing higher than physicians did. The Y generation scored power higher and marketing lower than the two older generations. Women ranked the values of cooperation, commitment, innovativeness, vision, and marketing significantly higher than men did. Understanding differences between professions, generations, and gender is a useful first step in improving employees’ job satisfaction, productivity, and retention.
Admission systolic blood pressure and outcomes in large vessel occlusion strokes treated with endovascular treatment

Background and purpose High admission blood pressure (BP) levels have been associated with lower recanalization rates after endovascular treatment (EVT) for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO). We sought to evaluate the association of admission BP with early outcomes in patients with ELVO treated with EVT. Methods Consecutive patients with AIS presenting with ELVO in a tertiary stroke center during a 4-year period were prospectively evaluated. Admission systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured using automated cuff recordings. A blinded neuroradiologist calculated the final infarct volume (FIV) using standardized ABC/2 methodology. A favorable functional outcome (FFO) at 3 months was defined as modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2. Results Our study population consisted of 116 patients with AIS (mean age 63±13 years, median NIH Stroke Scale score 17 points (IQR 14–21), median FIV 30 cm3 (IQR 8–94)). Higher admission SBP correlated with higher FIV (r +0.225; p=0.020). Patients with FFO had lower admission SBP (151±24 mm Hg vs 165±28 mm Hg; p=0.010), while admission SBP levels were higher in patients who died during hospitalization (169±34 mm Hg vs 156±24 mm Hg; p=0.043). A 10 mm Hg increment in admission SBP was independently (p=0.010) associated with an increase of 12 cm3 in FIV (95% CI 3 to 21) in multiple linear regression models adjusting for potential confounders. A 10 mm Hg increment in admission SBP was independently (p=0.012) associated with a lower likelihood of FFO at 3 months (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.91) in multiple logistic regression models adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions Higher admission SBP is an independent predictor of increased FIV and lower likelihood of 3-month FFO in patients with ELVO treated with EVT.
A risk factor for relapse in Hodgkin's disease: Female gender?

A retrospective study of 163 patients with Hodgkin's disease treated between 1969 and 1987 was performed to identify adverse prognostic factors. One hundred and thirty‐five patients (83 per cent) attained a complete remission and 42 (31 per cent) of these have relapsed (median follow‐up—43 months). Using multivariate analysis, no independent factors predicted for the event of relapse. However, analysis of disease‐free survival revealed that females fared significantly worse than males (p <0.05) and this was independent of other prognostic variables. Female sex has not been recognized as an independent prognostic factor predictive of inferior survival and inferior disease‐free survival.
A Novel Vehicle Classification Model for Urban Traffic Surveillance Using the Deep Neural Network Model

The vehicle detection is the backbone of the urban surveillance systems, which is used to obtain and identify the various statistics of the urban vehicular mobility. Also the urban surveillance systems are used for the vehicle tracking or vehicular object classification. The proposed model has been designed for the purpose of the urban surveillance and vehicular modelling of the traffic. The proposed model has been designed for the vehicle position identification as well as the vehicle type classification using the deep neural network. The proposed model has been tested with a standard dataset image for the result evaluation. The experimental results has been shown the effectiveness of the proposed model, where the proposed model has been found successful in detection and classification of all of the vehicles in the given image.
ECOLOGICAL CAUSES OF SEXUAL DIMORPHISM

:! f= [~:Sm + h/Sf ]l2, (3b) (2) (1) ofthe trait measurable in both males and females and assume that within each sex the trait is normally distributed with means, m and f, and variances Vm and V.f Assume also that the trait is determined additively by several autosomal loci with an independent environmental component. Let Gm and Gf be the additive genetic components and Em and Ef be the environmental components of the variances in males and females. The heritabilities of the traits in males and females are given by
PATTERNS OF ABDOMINAL INJURY IN FRONTAL AUTOMOTIVE CRASHES

The Hybrid III, which is the only universally used frontal crash anthropomorphic test device, lacks a biofidelic abdomen that can be used for different loading surfaces and loading rates. The Frangible Abdomen, developed by General Motors in 1989, is the only commercially available, dynamically tuned insert. While the Frangible Abdomen has biofidelity under belt loading conditions, it has neither the loading rate sensitivity nor the appropriate mechanical response (biofidelity) for assessing injury from non-belt impacts (e.g., airbags or steering wheels). A loading rate sensitive abdomen that is also capable of assessing injury is currently under development by the General Motors Safety Research Department. In order to develop such a device, it is important to identify the frequency and severity of injury to the various regions and organs in the abdomen to prioritize their instrumentation with the appropriate sensors. In this study, crash data collected between 1988 and 1994, contained in the database of the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS), were analyzed to identify the frequency and severity of injury to the abdominal organs in frontal crashes. Results are summarized and compared with previously published studies. For the covering abstract see IRRD E102514.
Formulation and In vitro Evaluation of Fluconazole Topical Gels

Aims: Topical drug delivery of fluconazole, an antifungal drug, in gel form was formulatedto avoid the side effect of the oral route. Study Design: In this study I prepare different formulation from different polymers and select the best formulation to undergo further antifungal and stability studies. Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, Assiut University, between May 2010 and July 2011. Methodology: Different polymers; Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, Sodium alginate, Carbopol 934P, Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, Pluronic F-127 and hydroxypropyl cellulose, were used. The compatibility of fluconazole and different gelling polymer was assessed through differential scanning calorimetry and infrared absorption spectroscopy. The influence of polymer type and concentration on fluconazole release from the prepared gels were studied. The prepared gel formulations were evaluated for pH, drug content, rheology, spreadability and in vitro drug release Results: The rheological behavior of all the prepared gels showed a pseudoplastic flow (shear thinning) which is a good characteristic in the pharmaceutical gels. With the increase of the polymer concentration in the formulation, viscosity increased and in vitro release of fluconazole decreased. Among all the prepared formulations, 0.5% Carbopol 934P gel showed desired properties and exhibited the best fluconazole in vitro release that reaches 77% over a 3-hr period. This gel showed a good inhibition to the fungal growth against Candida albicans and Trichophyton mentagrophyte using cup plate method and also, showed good stability. Conclusion: 0.5% Carbopol 934P / Fluconazole gel is a promising dosage form for the treatment of superficial fungal infections and could be used for further clinical studies.
The Scope of Alliances

We develop the notion that the choice of alliance scope materially affects the character of benefits that alliance participants receive, and thereby affects a range of issues having to do with the initiation, evolution, and termination of the alliance. Indeed, while under-emphasized by academics, determining alliance scope ranks among the most important tasks undert aken by practitioners of alliances. Restricting ourselves to alliances where mutual learning is the primary raison d'etre, we first define private benefits as those that accrue to subsets of participants in an alliance, and common benefits as those that accrue collectively to all participants. We demonstrate how the choice of alliance scope affects the mix of private and common benefits, and draw on earlier work to show how this, in turn, affects alliance partners' incentives to invest in learning. As illustrations of the utility of the framework of private and common benefits, we consider two applications. A simple model illustrates the relationship between the choice of alliance scope, the realization of private and common benefits, and the stability, or lack thereof, of the alliance. A second application sheds light on alliance evolution. It examines factors affecting both (a) how a particular alliance evolves, and (b) how firms manage sequences of alliances. Two broader theoretical points also emerge from this discussion of alliance scope. First, we argue that an analytical focus solely on the individual alliance may be inappropriate for studying a wide range of issues. Of the multiple sources of benefits that accrue to alliance participants, there are some whose realization depends on activities in which the firm is engaged, but that may have little to do with the alliance in question. Second, in contrast to much of the literature on alliances, our analysis is based upon the primitives of benefit streams, rather than on transaction cost reasoning. This complementary perspective is better suited to the task of highlighting how activities not governed by an alliance might nonetheless affect multiple aspects of the alliance.
Development of an ultrahigh speed robot FALCON using wire drive system

High speed robots are an important component of modern assembly operations. In this paper, we describe the development of an ultrahigh speed robot named FALCON (Fast Load Conveyance), based on a wire driven parallel manipulation system. It achieves peak accelerations of up to 43G and maximum velocities of 13 m/s, even if considerably small DC motors (60W) are used. Due to the use of wires in actuation, the problem of vibration arises. We employ internal force control among wires to reduce the vibration by utilizing nonlinear elasticity from the wire mechanism. Experimental results on point to point control using the prototype system are presented under linear PD feedback, to illustrate the effectiveness of the system.
Developing Recreational Trails: Motivations for Recreational Walking

This paper seeks to explore the motivations and preferences of recreational walkers in near-urban areas and the implications for trail development. A qualitative focus group method was employed in order to generate open discussion amongst recreational walkers from a range of backgrounds and levels of interest, participation and experience, drawing out motivations to walk, and potential issues relating to trail development. The research highlighted the variety of walkers' needs to consider when planning a recreational trail. They relate to different types of walking: functional and recreational; and across a spectrum of serious and casual walkers. Of particular interest were the attitudes of walkers regarding transport to locations for walking.
Effect of Probiotic Inclusion in the Diet of Broiler Chickens on Performance, Feed Efficiency and Carcass Quality

An experiment was conducted with three hundred and twenty broiler chickens to evaluate the influence of supplementation of probiotic on growth, microbiological status and carcass quality of chickens. The probiotic contained similar proportions of six strains of variable organisms namely Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Aspergillus oryzae, Streptococcus faecium and Torulopsis sps and was fed at 100 mg/kg diet. The body weight and feed conversion of probiotic fed groups were superior (p<0.05) compared to the control group in the 4 th , 5 th and 6 th weeks. The chickens fed the diet with probiotic had lower (p<0.05) numbers of coliforms and Campylobacter than chickens fed the control diet. All chickens' carcasses on the control diet were positive for Salmonella while only 16 of the 40 carcasses were positive from chickens fed diets containing probiotic. The leg and breast meat of probiotic fed chickens were higher (p<0.05) in moisture, protein and ash, and lower in fat as compared to the leg and breast meat of control chickens. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2005. Vol 18, No. 8 : 1153-1156)
Is bisphenol A an environmental obesogen?

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor with an oestrogenic activity that is widely produced for the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic, epoxy resin, and thermal paper. Its ubiquitous presence in the environment contributes to broad and continuous human exposure, which has been associated with deleterious health effects. Despite numerous controversial discussions and a lack of consensus about BPA's safety, growing evidence indicates that BPA exposure positively correlates with an increased risk of developing obesity. An updated analysis of the epidemiological, in vivo, and in vitro studies indicates that BPA should be considered an obesogenic environmental compound. Precisely, BPA exposure during all life stages correlates with increased body weight and/or body mass index. Developmental periods that include prenatal, infancy, and childhood appear to be critical windows with increased sensitivity to BPA effects. Finally, blood analysis and in vitro data clearly demonstrate that BPA promotes adipogenesis, lipid and glucose dysregulation, and adipose tissue inflammation, thus contributing to the pathophysiology of obesity. Future prevention efforts should now be employed to avoid BPA exposure, and more research to determine in depth the critical time windows, doses, and impact of long‐term exposure of BPA is warranted in order to clarify its risk assessment.
A Highly Integrated Antenna-Triplexer With Simultaneous Three-Port Isolations Based on Multi-Mode Excitation

In this communication, a novel highly integrated antenna-triplexer on a two-layer printed circuit board is proposed for multiband communication systems. This integrated three-port component operated at triple frequency bands (0.85, 1.65 and 2.45 GHz) simultaneously utilizes a single slot antenna and its rectangular loop as the radiating elements. Good three-port isolations are achieved by the multi-mode excitations including even, odd and bi-directional modes. These modes are intrinsically orthogonal and therefore the isolations are guaranteed. Compared with the conventional counterparts that use additional bandpass filters to assure the port isolations, the proposed antenna-triplexer preserves the simplicity and compactness of the antenna itself, and it is suitable for the practical portable applications. To demonstrate the significance of this new antenna-triplexer, a prototype measured with compact size is implemented and the experimental results show the good agreements with the simulations. The antenna gains of 0.85, 4.00 and 4.23 dBi are obtained and an average isolation in three ports is as good as 22.7 dB at operating frequencies.
Genetic modifiers of Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that directly affects more than 1 in 10,000 persons in Western societies but, as a family disorder with a long, costly, debilitating course, it has an indirect impact on a far greater proportion of the population. Although some palliative treatments are used, no effective treatment exists for preventing clinical onset of the disorder or for delaying its inevitable progression toward premature death, approximately 15 years after diagnosis. Huntington's disease involves a movement disorder characterized by chorea, as well as a variety of psychiatric disturbances and intellectual decline, with a gradual loss of independence. A dire need exists for effective HD therapies to alleviate the suffering and costs to the individual, family, and health care system. In past decades, genetics, the study of DNA sequence variation and its consequences, provided the tools to map the HD gene to chromosome 4 and ultimately to identify its mutation as an expanded CAG trinucleotide repeat in the coding sequence of a large protein, dubbed huntingtin. Now, advances in genetic technology offer an unbiased route to the identification of genetic factors that are disease‐modifying agents in human patients. Such genetic modifiers are expected to highlight processes capable of altering the course of HD and therefore to provide new, human‐validated targets for traditional drug development, with the goal of developing rational treatments to delay or prevent onset of HD clinical signs. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
The “Deal-Prone” Consumer

Deal proneness is a function of both the consumer's buying behavior and the frequency with which a given brand is sold on a deal basis. A method is developed for combining these factors in a statistical measure of deal proneness for an individual consumer. Through regression analysis four consumer variables are identified as having a significant influence on the Deal Proneness Index, but these variables explain only a small percentage of total variation in the Index. The findings raise some doubt about the ability of consumer deals to accomplish the manufacturer's promotional objectives.
Measurement of the Vitamin E Metabolites, Carboxyethyl Hydroxychromans (CEHCs), in Biological Samples

Metabolites of α‐ and γ‐tocopherol, 2,5,7,8‐tetramethyl‐2‐(2′‐carboxyethyl)‐6‐hydroxychroman (α‐CEHC) and 2,7,8‐trimethyl‐2‐(β‐carboxyethyl)‐6‐hydroxychroman (γ‐CEHC), respectively, are produced in the liver and have been measured in biological fluids and tissue. Compared to α‐tocopherol concentrations, metabolite concentrations are as much as a factor of a thousand lower, requiring extremely sensitive methodology to attain accurate measurements. This unit presents a protocol for CEHC extraction from biological samples, and describes very specific and sensitive HPLC/MS analysis.
Estimation and propagation of error in measurements of river channel movement from aerial imagery

Rates of river channel migration or widening are only valid if it can be demonstrated that the amount of change in the measured parameters exceeds the measurement errors. However, it is still uncommon to see estimates of errors presented alongside rates of river channel change measured from aerial photography. Here, detailed methods are presented for the estimation of errors in quantifying channel migration rates that can be easily applied to GIS‐based analysis of planform change. In addition, the impact of relaxing assumptions regarding error independence between image dates and systematic registration errors is presented and discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.