Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Managerial cost mitigation tactics in offshore IT projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding of managerial decision‐making process regarding offshore sourcing of information technology (IT) projects. The study explored the relationship between transaction cost economics and maturity levels of a firm's offshore sourcing activities. Transactions costs theory and firms' offshore sourcing maturity levels provided the framework for studying the decision process.Design/methodology/approach – The present study is a qualitative empirical investigation of the underlying decision process to offshore IT projects. The study is based on interviews of executives in fifteen large to medium size companies.Findings – The data suggest that transaction cost mitigation approaches used by a firm vary based on the size of the company as well as the maturity level of the firm's offshore sourcing activities.Research limitations/implications – The present study is based on interviews of IT executives in fifteen firms. Case studies and confirmatory studie.
Umbelliprenin Mediates Its Apoptotic Effect by Hormesis: A Commentary

Despite common dose–response curves, a compound may have the opposite effect in small doses as in large doses. This phenomenon is named hormesis. Calabrese et al have reported that many toxic substances, environmental hormones, inorganic compounds, and even irradiation induce hormesis. They modulate the growth of cultured cells in a biphasic fashion, either stimulating or inhibiting the growth of cultured cells at low and high concentrations, respectively. There are 2 hormetic models: overcompensation stimulation and direct stimulation. Overcompensation stimulation is based on observations that the hormetic stimulatory response in the low-dose zone (ie, below the traditional toxic threshold) can result from an overcompensation following an initial disruption in homeostasis. With respect to the time component of this model, the dose response is a series of time-based snapshots. Contrary to overcompensation stimulation, direct stimulation model employs multiple doses with only 1 time point. It can happen by 2 mechanisms: receptor-mediated or cellsignaling-mediated. In several studies, researchers identified an essential cell-signaling pathway as well as the receptor. Umbelliprenin (umb) is a naturally sesquiterpene coumarin, which is synthesized by ferula species. Apoptosis induction is one of the umb effects. Ziai et al investigated the properties of this effect. Based on our previous findings, part of our previous data will be reanalyzed with respect to hormetic dose–response relationship.
Reliability, return periods, and risk under nonstationarity

Water resources design has widely used the average return period as a concept to inform management and communication of the risk of experiencing an exceedance event within a planning horizon. Even though nonstationarity is often apparent, in practice hydrologic design often mistakenly assumes that the probability of exceedance, p, is constant from year to year which leads to an average return period To equal to 1/p; this expression is far more complex under nonstationarity. Even for stationary processes, the common application of an average return period is problematic: it does not account for planning horizon, is an average value that may not be representative of the time to the next flood, and is generally not applied in other areas of water planning. We combine existing theoretical and empirical results from the literature to provide the first general, comprehensive description of the probabilistic behavior of the return period and reliability under nonstationarity. We show that under nonstationarity, the underlying distribution of the return period exhibits a more complex shape than the exponential distribution under stationary conditions. Using a nonstationary lognormal model, we document the increased complexity and challenges associated with planning for future flood events over a planning horizon. We compare application of the average return period with the more common concept of reliability and recommend replacing the average return period with reliability as a more practical way to communicate event likelihood in both stationary and nonstationary contexts.
Genetic and Biological Analysis of Colombian Phthorimaea operculella Granulovirus Isolated from Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

ABSTRACT Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an invasive potato pest of the north of South America that recently colonized zones where Phthorimaea operculella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a taxonomically related insect, was established. Nowadays, both species can be found in most areas in different proportions. The Phthorimaea operculella granulovirus (PhopGV) was found to efficiently control P. operculella and was used as a biopesticide in storage conditions. However, no appropriate biological control methods exist for T. solanivora, and the use of granulovirus isolates would provide a solution. The Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (CORPOICA) carried out several T. solanivora larva samplings in Colombia with the aim of finding potential isolates. Five geographical granulovirus isolates from T. solanivora (VG001, VG002, VG003, VG004, and VG005) were found, and molecular analysis by REN profiles shows three different genotypic variants in Colombia. Analysis of their genomes revealed their relatedness to PhopGV. Two isolates exhibited submolar bands in their REN patterns, suggesting a mixture of viral genotypes. These data were confirmed by PCR amplification and sequencing of particular regions of the viral genomes. Their biological activity was assayed on both hosts, T. solanivora and P. operculella. A significantly higher pathogenicity in both hosts was observed with isolates VG001 and VG005 than with isolate VG003 or a Peruvian isolate (from P. operculella) used as a reference in the bioassay. Based on their molecular and biological activity characteristics, VG001 and VG005 isolates should be selected for further analysis in order to establish their potential as biological control agents.
Occupation exposures and sperm morphology: a case-referent analysis of a multi-centre study

Objective We examined occupational exposures and sperm morphology to establish whether exposures implicated differed from those affecting motile sperm concentration. Methods Computer aided sperm morphometric assessment was undertaken on morphology slides obtained as part of a multi-centre study in 1999–2002 of occupational factors in male infertility. Men attending 14 fertility clinics across the UK were recruited and gave a semen sample. Before results of the semen analysis were known, the men completed detailed questionnaires about their employment and lifestyle. Occupational exposures were assessed by occupational hygienists. Data were analysed using an unmatched case-referent design, allowing for clustering and for confounders. Three case definitions were used: poor morphology (normal morphology <4%), low motile sperm count (MSC) (<4.8×106) and either condition. Results Morphology results were available for 1861/2011 men employed at the time of recruitment. Of these 1861, 296 (15.9%) had poor morphology; of the 2011with sperm count, 453 (22.5%) had low MSC; 654/1981 (33.0%) had either condition. Poor morphology, adjusted for confounding, was related to self-reported lifetime exposure to lead (OR=1.33; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.75). Low MSC was also related to self-reported lead and to hygienist-assessed glycol ether exposure. Self-reported use of paint stripper (OR=1.47; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.03) and lead, but not glycol ether, were significantly related to the combined case definition. Conclusions While this study did not identify any occupational exposure uniquely related to sperm morphology, the capacity of the study to detect risk was increased by including morphology with sperm concentration and motility.
Musical Information Extraction from the Singing Voice

Music information retrieval is currently an active research area that addresses the extraction of musically important information from audio signals, and the applications of such information. The extracted information can be used for search and retrieval of music in recommendation systems, or to aid musicological studies or even in music learning. Sophisticated signal processing techniques are applied to convert low-level acoustic signal properties to musical attributes which are further embedded in a rulebased or statistical classification framework to link with high-level descriptions such as melody, genre, mood and artist type. Vocal music comprises a large and interesting category of music where the lead instrument is the singing voice. The singing voice is more versatile than many musical instruments and therefore poses interesting challenges to information retrieval systems. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of research in vocal music processing followed by a description of related work at IIT Bombay leading to the development of an interface for melody detection of singing voice in polyphony.
Estudio de los elementos implicados en el acoplamiento estímulo-secreción en la célula cromafín humana

Establecer las bases de la fisiologia de la celula cromafin de la glandula adrenal humana en relacion a los principales elementos que subyacen en el acoplamiento estimulo-secrecion de una respuesta rapida ante una situacion de estres. OBJETIVOS CONCRETOS: Objetivo 1. Establecer un protocolo de actuacion para la obtencion regular de glandulas adrenales humanas. Objetivo 2. Estudio del potencial de membrana, las corrientes ionicas y la secrecion generadas por pulsos cortos y largos de acetilcolina (ACh). Objetivo 3. Caracterizacion de los canales de calcio dependientes de voltaje empleando la tecnica de ? patch clamp? en su configuracion de parche perforado. Objetivo 4. Caracterizacion electrofisiologica y farmacologica de la expresion funcional del subtipo [alfa] 7 de receptor nicotinico neuronal para la ACh (nAChR)
TarSeqQC: Quality control on targeted sequencing experiments in R

Targeted sequencing (TS) is growing as a screening methodology used in research and medical genetics to identify genomic alterations causing human diseases. In general, a list of possible genomic variants is derived from mapped reads through a variant calling step. This processing step is usually based on variant coverage, although it may be affected by several factors. Therefore, undercovered relevant clinical variants may not be reported, affecting pathology diagnosis or treatment. Thus, a prior quality control of the experiment is critical to determine variant detection accuracy and to avoid erroneous medical conclusions. There are several quality control tools, but they are focused on issues related to whole‐genome sequencing. However, in TS, quality control should assess experiment, gene, and genomic region performances based on achieved coverages. Here, we propose TarSeqQC R package for quality control in TS experiments. The tool is freely available at Bioconductor repository. TarSeqQC was used to analyze two datasets; low‐performance primer pools and features were detected, enhancing the quality of experiment results. Read count profiles were also explored, showing TarSeqQC's effectiveness as an exploration tool. Our proposal may be a valuable bioinformatic tool for routinely TS experiments in both research and medical genetics.
HER-2/neu gene amplification in gastric adenocarcinoma and its relationship with clinical and pathological findings.

Background Amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene influences the progression of gastric cancer, its prognosis, and therapy. A precise examination of HER-2/neu-amplified tumor tissue is essential for managing disease and prescribing the appropriate treatment. This study aimed to investigate the status of HER-2/neu gene in the gastric cancer samples and its relationship with clinical and pathological information. Methods In this study on 80 paraffin-embedded tissue samples from patients with gastric adenocarcinoma [2006-2011], DNA was extracted to quantify the gene expression levels of HER-2 using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Data were statistically analyzed by chi-square test using SPSS16.0 software. Results PCR results indicated that HER-2/neu gene amplifications occurred in 58 of the 80 samples (72.5%). HER-2/neu gene expression was not significantly related to age and sex, but the larger tumor size and the more advanced stage were significantly associated with HER-2/neu overexpression. Conclusions The data show the HER-2/neu gene is more amplified in stage 4 of gastric cancer with a larger size of mass. Older age and male sex also appear to be more associated with HER-2/neu gene expression.
The Ultracapacitor-Based Regenerative Controlled Electric Drives With Power-Smoothing Capability

Modern controlled electric drive applications, such as lifts, port rubber tyred gantry cranes, and tooling machines, are characterized by high ratio of the peak to average power. Moreover, such applications have a need for braking at rated power. In ordinary drives, the braking energy, which represents 30%-40% of the consumed energy, is dissipated on a brake resistor. Apart from this “energetic” issue, the mains interruption, the input current quality, and the mains peak power are additional issues to be addressed. A novel ultracapacitor-based controlled regenerative electric drive with peak power-smoothing function is presented in this paper. The ultracapacitor with an interconnection dc-dc converter is used to store and recover the braking energy. In addition, the dc-dc converter controls and smooths the rectifier input power. In comparison to state-of-the-art solutions, the new solution has better performance regarding size, cost, and efficiency. The presented solution is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. The results are presented and discussed.
Nuevos enfoques en la teoría de la evolución

New approaches to the theory of evolution Although in a metaphoric way, we can approach the explanation of the body of biological evolution by resorting to the dimensions used in physics to locate bodies in space. Thus, a point in space is well located when one has a necessary and sufficient set of orthogonal dimensions. Such dimensions, which in evolutionary biology we will call “parameters”, are usually associated to certain theories of biological evolution. According to the classical (and extended classical) theory, three parameters provide an adequate description of the body of evolution, i.e., mutation, natural selection, and chance. New findings, or old ones re-interpreted upon a new foundation, intend to provide new parameters for understanding the body of evolution. There are even some approaches that go as far as to state that selection is not a fundamental parameter to account for the generation of the living world. Demonstrating that this thesis is not correct, that the new parameters are irrelevant to explain the living world, or that they are reducible to the three mentioned above, represents nowadays one of the core theoretical debates on the theory of evolution. Among the new approaches to evolution, it is worth mentioning those related to evolutionary computing, in vitro building of simple phenotypes or ancestral genes, or the restraints that development places on the morphology of individuals. All of them debate the relative role that natural selection plays in evolution, and some of them, according to the degree of verification of the hypotheses, sustain that explaining the body of evolution requires new dimensions or parameters.
Assessment of ambient noise levels in the urban residential streets of Eastern Alexandria, Egypt.

BACKGROUND Street of Alexandria have numerous unplanned, mixed, and noisy activities that may interfere with public health and comfort. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess A-weighted ambient noise levels in urban residential streets of Eastern Alexandria, Egypt, from September 2010 to January 2011, with the objective of recommending corrective actions to minimize high noise levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, in which A-weighted ambient noise levels were measured on the basis of 24-h periods, using Ono sokki la-5120--precision integrating sound level meter, from September 2010 to January 2011. The measurements were taken on three streets, which were selected using stratified random sampling. Seven measurement sites, along the three streets under study, were selected by site visits according to predetermined criteria. RESULTS A-weighted ambient noise levels (LAeq) were the highest [70.7 (24.2) dB] on high-traffic-density and high-human-activity streets followed by streets with moderate and low traffic density and human activity [67.5 (31.3) and 62.8 (38.2) dB], respectively. It varied significantly depending on means of transportation (road traffic, train, and/or tram) and human activities (parking lots, shops, and/or street merchants). CONCLUSION The A-weighted ambient noise levels on urban residential streets of Eastern Alexandria, Egypt, exceeded the Egyptian National Standards during the three periods of the day (daytime, evening, and night), except in some relatively quiet locations during the night. Consequently, remedial actions to reduce noise levels were recommended.
Low frequency drain current flicker noise model for pocket implanted nano scale n-MOSFET

This paper presents an analytical drain current flicker noise model for pocket implanted nano scale n-MOSFET. The model is developed by using two linear pocket profiles at the source and drain edges. Thus the channel is divided into three regions at source, drain and central part of the channel region. Then the number of channel charges are found for these three regions and are incorporated it in the unified flicker noise model developed by Hung et al. for the conventional metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. The simulation results show that the derived drain current flicker noise model has a simple compact form.
FAILURE ANALYSIS OF A POWER TRANSFORMER USING DISSOLVED GAS ANALYSIS - A CASE STUDY

Reliable and continued performance of power Transformer is the key to profitable generation and transmission of electric power. Failure of a large power transformer not only results in the loss of very expensive equipment, but it can cause significant guarantied damage as well. Replacement of that transformer can take up to a year if the failure is not disastrous and can result in tremendous revenue losses and fines. A Power Transformer in operation is subjected to various stresses like thermal stress and electrical stress, resulting in liberation of gases from the hydrocarbon mineral oil which is used as insulant and coolant. Dissolved Gas Analysis is a technique used to assess incipient faults of the transformer by analyzing specific dissolved gas concentrations arising from the deterioration of the transformer. DGA is used not only as a diagnostic tool but also to track apparatus failure. In this case study the fault and defects that occurred in 400kV/220kV/132kV/66kV Sub Station can be found by DGA.
Cladding pumped large-mode-area Nd-doped holey fiber laser.

A large Nd-doped core placed in a microstructure cladding (holey fiber) was pumped with a low-brightness diode laser. The area ratio of the pump radiation on the fiber to the core was larger than 30. The fiber length was 38 cm. Butt coupled mirrors formed the laser cavity. The emitted radiation at ? = 1060 nm was single transverse mode, the output power amounted to about 10 mW.
Soil management shapes ecosystem service provision and trade-offs in agricultural landscapes

Agroecosystems are principally managed to maximize food provisioning even if they receive a large array of supporting and regulating ecosystem services (ESs). Hence, comprehensive studies investigating the effects of local management and landscape composition on the provision of and trade-offs between multiple ESs are urgently needed. We explored the effects of conservation tillage, nitrogen fertilization and landscape composition on six ESs (crop production, disease control, soil fertility, water quality regulation, weed and pest control) in winter cereals. Conservation tillage enhanced soil fertility and pest control, decreased water quality regulation and weed control, without affecting crop production and disease control. Fertilization only influenced crop production by increasing grain yield. Landscape intensification reduced the provision of disease and pest control. We also found tillage and landscape composition to interactively affect water quality regulation and weed control. Under N fertilization, conventional tillage resulted in more trade-offs between ESs than conservation tillage. Our results demonstrate that soil management and landscape composition affect the provision of several ESs and that soil management potentially shapes the trade-offs between them.
Clinical Utility of Color–form Naming in Alzheimer's Disease: Preliminary Evidence

Performances on Alzheimer's Quick Test color–form naming and Mini-Mental State Examination were compared for 38 adults with Alzheimer's disease and 38 age- and sex-matched normal controls. Group means differed significantly and indicated longer naming times by adults with Alzheimer's disease. The specificity for AQT color–form naming was 97% and sensitivity 97%, i.e., 3% false negatives. The specificity for Mini-Mental State Examination was 100% and sensitivity 84%, i.e., 16% false negatives. These findings, while supporting AQT color–form naming as a screening test for reductions in cognitive speed associated with Alzheimer's disease, are preliminary given the relatively small sample.
INVESTIGATION OF THE MACHINABILITY OF NON-CONDUCTIVE ZrO2 WITH DIFFERENT TOOL ELECTRODES IN EDM

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a non-conventional process where complex and difficult-to-cut materials can be machined. Adhesive copper foil as an assisting electrode (AE) is used to cover the zirconia (ZrO2) surface to start the primary spark between the tool electrode and workpiece. Kerosene is dissociated and produces a carbon layer on the workpiece surface when machining of the initial copper foil is completed. Thus machining continues although ZrO2 is a non-conductive material. In this study, the EDM of ZrO2 is investigated with graphite, copper and brass tool electrodes. Material removal rate (MRR) and surface characteristics are analysed. Experiments are performed by varying the parameters peak current and pulse-on time with different tool electrodes. From the experiments, MRR on ZrO2 has been compared for three different tool electrodes. It is found that the graphite tool electrode performs the highest MRR for EDM of ZrO2. The least MRR is obtained by the brass tool electrode. However, better surface quality is observed with the copper tool electrode than EDM with brass or graphite electrodes. This investigation with varying machining parameters and different tool electrodes can be helpful in finding an effective use of the EDM process.