Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Industrial Adoption of Model Driven Engineering. Is your company ready for MDE

Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is an approach to software development where models play a central role in all software engineering processes. Conceived to provide significant gains in productivity, portability, maintainability and interoperability, MDE is now starting to be effectively used in industry. Thus, companies are beginning to evaluate their possibilities for adopting it. This paper examines the current state of MDE in industry, summarizes the current obstacles for adoption, and discusses the advantages that it should bring to businesses and its limitations. Finally, some ideas for a smoother transition towards a wider adoption of MDE are outlined.
Free amino acids profile and quantities of 'sırt', 'bohca' and 'sekerpare' pastirma, dry cured meat products.

BACKGROUND Pastirma is a dry-cured and semi-fermented meat product, produced from whole beef or water buffalo muscles. Sixteen to twenty different types of pastirma can be produced from a carcass, and each pastirma type has a different name, shape and quality characteristics. The objective of this study was to determine the free amino acid (FAA) composition, pH and moisture values of 'sırt', 'bohca' and 'sekerpare' pastirma. RESULTS Significant differences were determined among the pastirma types in glutamic acid (P<0.05), threonine (P<0.05), arginine (P<0.05), alanine (P<0.01), methionine (P<0.01), tryptophan (P<0.05), proline (P<0.01) and valine (P<0.01). Threonine, methionine and valine were higher in sırt pastirma than the others; glutamic acid, arginine and tryptophan were higher in sekerpare pastirma. The predominant FAA in the all pastirma samples was alanine, while the lowest was asparagine. The highest mean pH was in sırt pastirma, and the lowest mean pH in bohca pastirma. There was no significant difference in mean moisture values among pastirma types. CONCLUSION Significant differences were determined among pastirma types in some FAA. Analysis results indicated that quality and nutritional properties for different pastirma types are different. The most advantageous pastirma types in terms of FAA were bohca and sırt, which contain the highest quantity of threonine, methionine and valine.
Implementation of stereo visual odometry estimation for ground vehicles

Keeping track of vehicles location is a challenging aspect in recent days. Visual Odometry (VO) is the process of estimating the orientation and position of a vehicle or a robot by analyzing the associated camera's input. In this paper a stereo camera based visual odometry system is presented in which stereo cameras have been rigidly attached to the vehicle and motion of the vehicle is estimated using only the input coming from these stereo cameras. No other sensors are needed. The corner features are extracted in both left and right images using Harris corner detector algorithm, descriptor for each feature is extracted using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm, feature descriptors are matched between left and right images using K-nearest neighbor match. Those matched feature correspondences are triangulated to get 3-D points. Two sets of 3-D points are obtained at time steps ‘t’ and ‘t+1’. Then, the motion is estimated using least squares fitting of these two 3-D point sets.
Enabling personalized recommendation on the Web based on user interests and behaviors

The dramatic growth of the Web has brought about the rapid accumulation of data and the increasing possibility of information sharing. As the population on the Web grows, the analysis of user interests and behaviors will provide hints on how to improve the quality of service. We define user interests and behaviors based on the documents read by the user. A method for mining such user interests and behaviors is then presented. In this way, each user is associated with a set of interests and behaviors, which is stored in the user profile. In addition, we define six types of user profiles and a distance measure to classify users into clusters. Finally, three kinds of recommendation services using the clustered results are realized. For performance evaluation, we implement these services on the Web to make experiments on real data/users. The results show that the average acceptance rates of these services range from 71.5% to 94.6%.
A compile-time optimization framework for Ada rendezvous

Rendezvous is the basic synchronous communication mechanism used by tasks, which causes tasks blocked under some circumstances. Holding the semantics of the rendezvous, this paper uses semaphores to transform the entry call and accept statement pairs and makes tasks execute some statements during the blocked time because of waiting for the beginning or end of a rendezvous. Therefore, the parallelism between the client and the server is improved.
Plasma exchange in patients with fulminant hepatic failure.

Four patients with fulminant hepatic necrosis and coma were treated with daily 10-liter plasma exchanges for periods of 3 to 36 days. Three of the patients recovered. Two of the four patients developed acute pulmonary edema not attributable to volume overload on two and four occasions during or following exchange. One of the three surviving patients was in coma for 37 days. In 12 to 16 months of follow-up, all three patients showed evidence of further active hepatic disease. In two, this was a single mild episode at 70 and 56 days after plasma exchange. In the third patient, followed up for 27 months, there have been continuing episodes of mild, active hepatitis.
Global Outsourcing of Healthcare: A Medical Tourism Decision Model

Abstract The demand for global healthcare services is experiencing tremendous growth. US patients are seeking to reduce their expenditures on healthcare through obtaining treatment on an internationally competitive basis. This trend, known as medical tourism, is on the rise, and US legislators and policy makers must be aware of the issues facing American patients. This paper seeks to model factors that influence a patient’s decision to seek healthcare services abroad. We develop a two-stage model for medical tourism - the first stage being the evaluation of the foreign country and the second stage choosing the healthcare facility. We argue country-specific characteristics influence the country of choice - including economic conditions, political climate, and regulatory policies. We also argue that certain factors - including costs, hospital accreditation, quality of care, and physician training - impact the choice of healthcare facility. The model suggests that no one factor is dominant in the decision, but all play a crucial role in choosing healthcare on an international basis. Policy makers must use these factors to evaluate the impact medical tourism will continue to have on the US healthcare system in order to effectively compete in today’s global, consumer-driven healthcare market.
The Influence of Equity Markets on Firm Financial Performance

Purpose – This paper develops a discussion leading on from a paper relating the influence of capital markets combined with board structure/composition/committees and remuneration and corporate governance on the financial performance of a public listed corporation.Design/methodology/approach – This study entails common and codified law legal systems including; Australia, The United States of America and The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. The data collected is from 350 public listed corporations from 2000 – 2006 for the development of multivariate regression models for parametric data.These developed models are constructed to test relationships between dependant and independent variables in line with research questions and hypotheses.Findings – The findings found that there were a mixture of results in unitary board structures in common and dual board structures codified law legal systems.Originality/value – The paper will be of vital importance to other academics looking at this question, and to both public and private sector entities.
CONCENTRATION DEPENDENCY IN LEAD-INHIBITED STEROIDOGENESIS IN MA-10 MOUSE LEYDIG TUMOR CELLS

Lead acetate (Pb) decreases the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and the enzymatic activities of cytochrome P-450 side-chain cleavage (P450scc) and 3 g -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 g -HSD) in a concentration-dependent manner in Leydig cells at 2 h, the duration of submaximal inhibition. This study was undertaken at 3 h of Pb incubation to compare the effects at maximal metal inhibition of steroidogenesis. Quantitatively a 3-h Pb incubation with MA-10 cells resulted in higher decreases in human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-stimulated progesterone production, expression of StAR protein, and the activity of 3 g -HSD compared to 2 h. In contrast, lead inhibited dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP)-stimulated progesterone production but lacked this effect at 2 h. Surprisingly, Pb at 3 h of incubation did not affect P450scc enzyme activity, yet this enzymatic activity was inhibited at 2 h. Data indicate that incubation time is a factor in Pb-induced alterations in MA-10 cell steroidogenesis.
The Implementation of Business Process Reengineering

As more organizations undertake business process reengineering (BPR), issues in implementing BPR projects become a major concern. This field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success. Based on past theories and research related to the implementation of organizational change as well as field experience of reengineering experts, a comprehensive list of sixty-four BPR implementation problems was identified. The severity of each problem was then rated by those who have participated in reengineering in 105 organizations. Analysis of the results clearly demonstrates the central importance of change management in BPR implementation success. Resolutions of problems in other areas such as technological competence and project planning were also determined to be necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for reengineering success. Further, problems that are more directly related to the conduct of a project such as process delineation, project management, and tactical planning were perceived as less difficult, yet highly related to project success. This situation was also true for human resource problems such as training personnel for the redesigned process. These findings suggest that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors. To succeed, it is essential that change be managed and that balanced attention be paid to all identified factors, including those that are more contextual (e.g., management support and technological competence) as well as factors that pertain directly to the conduct of the project (e.g., project management and process delineation). As one of the first pieces of empirical evidence based on a field study, this research emphasizes the importance of addressing BPR implementation within the broader context of organizational change in a complex sociotechnical environment.
Power efficiency improvement of wireless power transfer using magnetic material

Efficiency improvement of wireless power transfer system is studied using ferrite bars with keeping distance of electric power transmission. Experiments are performed to decide better installation of ferrite bars for improving efficiency; there are many possibilities how and where to install them. We conducted several experiments and devised a method of installing ferrite bar with high effect on WPT. Each result is compared with the case of no ferrite bar system. The result of experiments shows using ferrite bars is practical and cost effective. Some suggestion is given to drive wireless power transfer system with lower frequency, which is also noteworthy about the limitation of available power source.
International HR Assignment in Recruiting and Selecting: Challenges, Failures and Best Practices

This study attempts to examine various issues pertaining to the complexities of international assignment, one of the major dimensions of International Human Resource Management (IHRM). It is our hope that by deep understanding of the uniqueness of international staffing policies, root causes of expatriate failure as well as the challenges encountered by expatriates; a more strategic IHRM approach can then be strategized by multinational corporations (MNCs) taking into consideration of some personalized best practices in effort to avoid or reduce the chances of international assignment failures in future.
Quantitative analysis of Bitcoin exchange rate and transactional network properties

The role of Bitcoin ‐ open source virtual peer-to-peer money ‐ in finance has become more important with the increasing acceptance by service providers. Nevertheless several financial institutes and governments explain their revulsion against Bitcoin, due to the unknown financial risks behind it which could have an impact on the global financial world. In this paper we examine the relationship between BTC/USD exchange rate and the network properties of the underlying transactional graph. The main goal of our research is to get a deeper understanding on the behavior of Bitcoin and ground further researches on exploring the financial risk. To characterize the transactional graph network analysis techniques, while to examine the relationship data mining and time series analysis techniques were used.
A Dynamic Housing Affordability Index

This paper outlines an approach to constructing a Dynamic Housing Affordability Index (DHAI) that reflects the anticipated cost of owner-occupied housing and performs well in tracking changes in the demand for homeownership and other aspects of the housing market. Our index is grounded in the user cost theory and influenced by variations in the price of housing, mortgage interest and property tax rates, property insurance, transaction costs, and depreciation and maintenance. It takes into account the benefits from U.S. income tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, and considers the role of expected house price inflation in reducing the cost of housing. We show that the DHAI is correlated with national and regional consumer sentiment which reflects the demand for owner-occupied housing, regional and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) homeownership rates, housing market characteristics including housing starts, and sales of new and existing housing. There is evidence that the DHAI performs better than other popular measures of affordability.
Biological, social, and behavioral factors associated with premenstrual syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of various biological, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors on premenstrual syndrome (PMS). DESIGN Random-digit dialing technique. Of 7900 calls from all area codes, exchanges, and 2 digits known to be open in Virginia, with a pair of random digits, 1700 women were eligible for telephone interviews. A total of 874 women completed interviews, for a response rate of 67%. SETTING State of Virginia. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS All women between the ages of 18 and 44 years and living in Virginia between August 1 and September 15, 1994, were eligible. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Scores on Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, biological variables, lifestyle behaviors, socioeconomic status, and menstrual and reproductive history. RESULTS Of the 874 women, 8.3% (95% confidence interval, 6.4%-10.2%) experienced PMS. Adjusted prevalence odds ratios for perceived stress and alcohol intake were 3.7 and 2.5, respectively, in women with PMS. Women with PMS were 2.9 times more likely to be physically active than women without PMS. Younger women, black women, and women with longer menses were more likely to have PMS. CONCLUSIONS Scores on the stress scale and alcohol intake support the concept that PMS is stress related; intervention strategies to cope with stress may be effective. Further study will be required to determine the influence of race on PMS and whether women with PMS exercise more regularly than women without PMS because they believe exercise is effective in attenuating their symptoms.
Meraih Keunggulan Kompetitif Berkelanjutan Melalui Pengintegrasian Fungsi Sumber Daya Manusia dalam Strategi Bisnis

To date, the business environment is more and more dynamic, turbulence, and increasingly competitive. Enterprises as business performer require the role of high quality and competence human resource or employee to response the development of business environment. The implementation of management and investment in human resource as one of competitive advantage sources are crucial. It may be due to human resource is subject or performer in the enterprise operational activity that use and manage other resources. Through human resource, entreprise can make business strategy and implement it to survive and to win the business competition. The business performer capability in managing and applying the competence based human resource is the key of enterprise success in winning the business competition.
Hedging Strategy and Electricity Contract Engineering

This thesis studies risk management in the electricity market in general and the interaction between physical production and electricity contracts in particular. From a risk management point of view, a power portfolio differs substantially from a traditional financial portfolio. Electricity is non-storable, which together with the marginal production cost characteristics creates jumps in the spot price. The return of a power portfolio is hence typically heavy-tailed, and a risk measure, such as CVaR, that captures this heavy-taildness is needed. To be able to compare production and contracts on a unified basis, we identify the set of contracts that corresponds to each power plant. These contracts build up a replicating portfolio of the power plant. This engineering of contracts allows us to risk manage these often complex contracts, through production. Further, a producing electricity company can through a simple absence of arbi¬ trage argument assess these contracts by studying the costs associated with the corresponding power plant. Flexible production units, such as a gas turbine, re¬ late to options whereas inflexible units, such as a nuclear plant, relate to futures. The electricity market is heavily incomplete, why perfect hedges are not achievable for a number of contracts. Hence we introduce the concept of best hedge. The best hedge is found through an optimization, where risk, measured as CVaR, is minimized subject to a constraint on the expected profit. It turns out that this problem can be solved with linear programming, allowing us to handle problems of substantial size. When a whole portfolio is considered we try to utilize our risk mandate at the best possible way. This leads us to the well-known problem in finance
Physicochemical properties and cell culture activity of self-assembled antisense / poly ( amidoamine ) dendrimer nanoparticles : the effect of dendrimer generation and charge ratio

Alireza Nomani1 Ismaeil haririan1 ebrahim Azizi2 shamileh Foladdel2 Rassoul Dinarvand1 Yadollah Omidi3 Tarane gazori1 1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Estimation of Benchmark Dose of Lifetime Cadmium Intake for Adverse Renal Effects Using Hybrid Approach in Inhabitants of an Environmentally Exposed River Basin in Japan

The aim of this study is to estimate the reference level of lifetime cadmium intake (LCd) as the benchmark doses (BMDs) and their 95% lower confidence limits (BMDLs) for various renal effects by applying a hybrid approach. The participants comprised 3,013 (1,362 men and 1,651 women) and 278 (129 men and 149 women) inhabitants of the Cd‐polluted and nonpolluted areas, respectively, in the environmentally exposed Kakehashi River basin. Glucose, protein, aminonitrogen, metallothionein, and β2‐microglobulin in urine were measured as indicators of renal dysfunction. The BMD and BMDL that corresponded to an additional risk of 5% were calculated with background risk at zero exposure set at 5%. The obtained BMDLs of LCd were 3.7 g (glucose), 3.2 g (protein), 3.7 g (aminonitrogen), 1.7 g (metallothionein), and 1.8 g (β2‐microglobulin) in men and 2.9 g (glucose), 2.5 g (protein), 2.0 g (aminonitrogen), 1.6 g (metallothionein), and 1.3 g (β2‐microglobulin) in women. The lowest BMDL was 1.7 g (metallothionein) and 1.3 g (β2‐microglobulin) in men and women, respectively. The lowest BMDL of LCd (1.3 g) was somewhat lower than the representative threshold LCd (2.0 g) calculated in the previous studies. The obtained BMDLs may contribute to further discussion on the health risk assessment of cadmium exposure.
Firewood supply and consumption in the context of agrarian change: the North Argentine Chaco from 1990 to 2010

Firewood is used as a common-pool resource to satisfy local energy demands. However, crops and pastures are replacing large areas of Chaco forest at a high rate. Production is destined to satisfy global demands of energy and food, which in turn threatens local livelihoods. In this work, we explore the evolution of regional consumption and supply of firewood highly influenced by new and globalized dynamics of the soy agribusiness. In so doing we analyse two decades (1990–2010) of deforestation and firewood consumption, considering regional data on poverty conditions. We also explore future trends based on territorial zoning. As a result, we propose a regional classification that shows four realities in which the forest plays a significant role as a safety net and thus sustaining local livelihoods. Finally, we explore future regional development patterns. We call them socio-forest transitions, going towards greater use of the territory by global players and increased restrictions on access to and use of common-pool resources by locals. Our results have implications in future policy making.
Cascade and intermittency model for turbulent compressible self-gravitating matter and self-binding phase-space density fluctuations.

A simple physical model which describes the dynamics of turbulence and the spectrum of density fluctuations in compressible, self-gravitating matter and self-binding, phase-space density fluctuations is presented. The two systems are analogous to each other in that each tends to self-organize into hierarchical structures via the mechanism of Jeans collapse. The model, the essential physical ingredient of which is a cascade constrained by the physical requirement of quasivirialization, is shown to exhibit interesting geometric properties such as intrinsic intermittency and anisotropy.
Colon cancer eradication after chemoimmunotherapy is associated with intratumoral emergence of proinflammatory myeloid cells

Interleukin-12 immune stimulation lacks efficacy in established solid tumor models. Disruption of tumor microenvironment homeostasis by low-dose cyclophosphamide prior to interleukin-12 gene therapy led to CD8+ T cell-driven established tumor rejection. This only takes place when inflammatory myeloid cells infiltrate the tumor bed, and is crucial for the latter antitumor response.
Metabolic Consequences of Exercise-Associated Autonomic Failure

Type I diabetes mellitus patients who tightly control blood glucose levels toward normal have increased frequency of hypoglycemia, a major barrier to physical activity. This article presents the hypothesis that dysfunctional autonomic regulation of metabolism after recent bouts of exercise or hypoglycemia contributes to exercise-induced hypoglycemia in these patients.