Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robot-assisted cognitive exercise in mild cognitive impairment patients: The RAPP approach

Medical advances have increased life expectancy to the point where senior citizens comprise a larger than ever percentage of the general population. The RAPP project introduces socially interactive robots that will not only physically assist, but also serve as a companion to senior citizens. In this paper, a novel system is presented, designed as part of the RAPP project that aims to assist senior citizens with mild cognitive impairment in performing cognitive tests as a means of exercise, while also keeping track of their performance. Our goal is to provide an interactive and intriguing user friendly alternative to the classic cognitive tests that will keep the patient interested and thus increase compliance. Tracking the patient's performance in the cognitive tests can prove invaluable as the data can be further associated with medical treatment or lifestyle changes and conclusively lead to better understanding of the nature of cognitive decline.
Premature coronary artery disease and early stage chronic kidney disease

Summary A 30 year old asymptomatic male with stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) secondary to Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis was found to have features of CKD associated cardiomyopathy including left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and focal sub-endocardial scarring on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. There was also a significantly raised CT coronary calcium score and evidence of non-flow limiting coronary artery disease (CAD) on a CT coronary angiogram. Early stage CKD is a major risk factor for cardiovascular risk causing myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis and coronary artery atheroma. Cardiovascular risk begins to increase from an eGFR of around 75ml/min/1.73m2. The pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease in CKD is under investigation but to date, treatment options are limited. Blood pressure control and statins have the strongest supportive evidence.
Método para prevenção e correção de erros de planejamento e programação da produção em ambiente MRP

The current situation of the market, the complexity of the manufactures, the variation of the mix of production and the unstable behavior of the demand are pressuring the manufacture industries to search necessary and efficient solutions to carry through the Production Planning and Control (PCP). Benefited for the growth of the capacity of processing of the computers, systems MRPII appeared in years 80 and had widely started to be used in the manufacturing industry. These systems carried through the programming of the production considering the infinite capacity of the resources, what already was a great problem for the management of the PCP. The instability of the demand in the industries and the complexity in the use of the resources generates the necessity of identifying the capacity restrictions to program the production. The greatest challenges of software house specialized and of the departments of planning of the production of the industries is to create really efficient solutions that carry through the finite planning of capacity, becoming the production plan viable, preventing the constant alterations of the production orders during the operation, practical frequent in the users of systems MRP. This work aims to present a model for the solution of the problem through the development of a method of prevention and correction of the errors of planning and programming of the production in environments MRP, that it searches to make the planning of the production considering the restrictions of capacity of the shop floor. The method executes the Rough Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP) in level of Master Production Scheduling (MPS) and the Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) in level of Materials Requirements Planning (MRP). The method complete the task of analyzes of capacity with the identification of overload situations and other breakings called exception messages. The reprogramming of these situations is assisted by a routine of data scanning that identifies the origin of the demand of each order called “DNA of the Order”. This mechanism facilitates the work of reprogramming of the planner. Words Key: Production Planning and Control, MRP, finite capacity, pegging, DNA of the Order and reprogramming of the production.
A CMOS image sensor with nearly unity-gain source follower and optimized column amplifier

This paper presents a CMOS image sensor with in-pixel nearly unity-gain pMOS transistor based source followers and optimized column-parallel amplifiers. The prototype sensor has been fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. By eliminating the body effect of the source follower transistor, the voltage gain for the pixel-level readout circuitry approaches unity. The use of a single-ended common-source cascode amplifier with ground rail regulation improves the PSRR of the column-parallel analog front-end circuitry and further the noise performance. Electrical characterization results show that the proposed pixel improves the conversion gain after the in-pixel source follower by 42% compared to that of the conventional structure. The prototype sensor with proposed readout architecture reaches a 1.1e− input-referred temporal noise with a column-level ×16 analog gain.
Focusing on knowledge management implementationin the hospitality industry

In the recent past, most practitioners and researchers in the hospitality field have focused on the development of programs and practices for preventing employees leaving a job. The purpose of this paper is to examine an alternative focus, which is the possibility of sharing and retaining the knowledge which resides in employees’ heads before they leave the job. The operational practices of this focus would not only add value for internal and external customers, but also benefit the overall organizational effectiveness in today’s knowledge era. These outcomes are justified in this paper.
Public Policy and Innovation in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry

Public policy can impact innovation, eitherencouraging or inhibiting the creation of innovative technologies.Howfive public policies have impacted continued innovation within the U.S.pharmaceutical industry is examined.At issue are the 1962 Kefauver-HarrisAmendment; the 1992 Prescription Drug User Fee Act; Medicare; Medicaid; and the1984 Hatch-Waxman Act. The policies set forth in each act are described, as are their effects oninnovation in the industry.Using a theoretical approach, the impactthat the speed and the ease of pharmaceutical imitation has upon pharmaceuticalinnovation is analyzed, with the belief that it impedes the rapidity ofinnovation within the industry.This theory is assessed, noting that theresearch on the impact of rapid imitation is mixed. The predicted impact of President Clinton's proposed 1993 health care reformpolicies is evaluated by studying the impact of the policies upon the marketvalue of pharmaceutical corporations and upon R&D investment. The findingsindicate that the proposed health care reform policies of the ClintonAdministration threatened the pharmaceutical industry, resulting in a reductionin the growth rate of R&D expenditure. (AKP)
Customer Interruption Cost Assessment of Domestic Residential Customer Using Customer Survey

In this paper, the survey results of the interruption on domestic residential customer with primary focus on the cost are presented. General method utilized in quantifying the benefit of reliability on power system is to estimate the Customer Interruption Cost(CIC) associated with the electric service interruption. According to change the circumstance of electricity market by the deregulation and the introduction of new technology, reliable and accurate CIC is required for estimate the applied plan and technology under the circumstance. This paper presents the residential customer interruption cost is estimated by the survey conducted by KEPCO in 2009. To collect the customer interruption data for calculation of CIC, the survey is conducted. The survey targeting residential customer around the branch-offices under twelve regional headquarters of KEPCO was carried out.
Tourism in Bangladesh: Present Status and Future Prospects

Bangladesh is full of natural beauty. Rivers, coasts and beaches, archaeological sites, religious places, hills, forests, waterfalls, tea gardens surround it. The Sundarban, Historic Mosque in city of Bagerhat, Ruins of the Buddihist Vihara at Paharpur are the three world heritage sites in Bangladesh among 1007. To observe the beauty of nature, huge amount of domestic and foreign tourists visit the country and its tourist attraction sites. In 2012, around six-lakh (6 hundred thousand) tourists came Bangladesh to visit and enjoy its beauty. The total contribution of tourism to GDP was 4.4%, 3.8% to employment and 1.5% to investment in 2013. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) looks after the tourism sector in Bangladesh under the ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Due to some limitations, Bangladesh has failed to introduce itself as a tourist destination country. The paper tries to focus on the attractive tourist spots of Bangladesh and the contribution of tourism in the Bangladesh economy. The major concern of the writer is to highlight the factors by which Bangladesh can be one of the major tourist attractive country in the world in near future.
HID lamp acoustic resonance detection: A simple current-based method using sample-hold circuits

Acoustic resonance phenomenon influences the functioning of high intensity discharge lamps driven by electronic ballasts since it causes fluctuation in plasma temperature and pressure so distorting the arc discharge. To avoid acoustic resonance several solutions have been proposed and most of them monitor the electrical parameters of the lamp. In this paper the authors propose a simple method using a sample-hold circuit to identify the occurrences of the acoustic resonance sensing the variation in the lamp current. The results of the laboratory tests on a 400W Metal Halide HID lamp confirm the effectiveness of the proposed current-based method.
Sulfite Sensitivity

As a consequence of these reported adverse reactions, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted in 1986 to prohibit the use of sulphites on fruits and vegetables that were to be served raw or presented as fresh to the public. For foods and drinks in which the use of sulphite was permitted, sulphite concentrations 410 p.p.m. had to be declared on the label. Despite the introduction of these regulations, there continued to be sporadic reports of serious adverse effects following unintended ingestion of sulphites. (Vally, Misso et al. 2009)
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management

Ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) is a new direction for fishery management, essentially reversing the order of management priorities so that management starts with the ecosystem rather than a target species. EBFM aims to sustain healthy marine ecosystems and the fisheries they support. Pikitch et al . describe the potential benefits of implementation of EBFM that, in their view, far outweigh the difficulties of making the transition from a management system based on maximizing individual species.
Debt Holding and Burden by Family Structure in 1989-2007

Financial deregulation starting in the 1980s provided families both economic opportunities and risks. Rapidly increased mortgage, credit card and other debts are out of control among many families, which arguably caused the recent great recession. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns and trends of debts held by American families through analyzing data from 1989-2007 Surveys of Consumer Finances. Eight family structure types were formed in terms of marital status, gender, and child status. Holding patterns and trends of five types of debts (mortgage, credit card, vehicle, education, and purchase loan) and three debt burden measures were examined. For all family types, the holding rate of credit card debt increased but that of the purchase loan decreased in the last two decades. Compared with the average, married with children families were more likely to hold mortgage, credit card, and vehicle loans. In terms of debt burdens, married with children families had the highest debt payment to income ratio, cohabiting couples with children and single females with children had the highest rate of heavy debt to income ratio (over 40%) and of debt delinquency.
A Comparison of Noninvasive Techniques to Survey Carnivore Communities in Northeastern North America

Abstract Carnivores are difficult to survey due, in large part, to their relative rarity across the landscape and wariness toward humans. Several noninvasive methods may aid in overcoming these difficulties, but there has been little discussion of the relative merits and biases of these techniques. We assess the value of 5 noninvasive techniques based on results from 2 multiyear studies of carnivores (including members of Carnivora and Didelphidae) in New York forests. Two metrics were particularly valuable in assessing the species-specific value of any particular survey technique: latency to initial detection (LTD) and probability of detection (POD). We found differences in the value of techniques in detecting different species. For midsized species (raccoon [Procyon lotor], fisher [Martes pennanti], opossum [Didelphis virginiana], and domestic cat [Felis catus]), camera traps and track-plates were approximately equivalent in detection efficiency, but the potential for wariness toward the survey apparatus resulted in higher LTD for track-plates than for cameras. On the other hand, track-plates detected small carnivores (marten [M. americana] and weasels [Mustela spp.]) more often than cameras and had higher PODs for small and midsized species than did cameras. Cameras were efficient mechanisms for surveying bears (Ursus americanus; low LTD, high POD) but functioned poorly for discerning presence of coyotes (Canis latrans; high LTD, low POD). Scat surveys and snowtracking were the best methods for coyotes, which avoided camera traps and artificial tracking surfaces. Our analysis of fecal DNA revealed that trail-based fecal surveys were inefficient at detecting species other than coyotes, with the possible exception of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Genetic analyses of feces and snowtracking revealed the presence of foxes at sites where other techniques failed to discern these species, suggesting that cameras and track-plates are inefficient for surveying small canids in this region. The LTD of coyotes by camera traps was not correlated with their abundance as indexed by scat counts, but for other species this metric may offer an opportunity to assess relative abundance across sites. Snowtracking surveys were particularly robust (high POD) for detecting species active in winter and may be more effective than both cameras and track-plates where conditions are suitable. We recommend that survey efforts targeting multiple members of the carnivore community use multiple independent techniques and incorporate mechanisms to truth their relative value.
Acute Effects of Decaffeinated Coffee and the Major Coffee Components Chlorogenic Acid and Trigonelline on Glucose Tolerance

OBJECTIVE Coffee consumption has been associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes. We evaluated the acute effects of decaffeinated coffee and the major coffee components chlorogenic acid and trigonelline on glucose tolerance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a randomized crossover trial of the effects of 12 g decaffeinated coffee, 1 g chlorogenic acid, 500 mg trigonelline, and placebo (1 g mannitol) on glucose and insulin concentrations during a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in 15 overweight men. RESULTS Chlorogenic acid and trigonelline ingestion significantly reduced glucose (−0.7 mmol/l, P = 0.007, and −0.5 mmol/l, P = 0.024, respectively) and insulin (−73 pmol/l, P = 0.038, and −117 pmol/l, P = 0.007) concentrations 15 min following an OGTT compared with placebo. None of the treatments affected insulin or glucose area under the curve values during the OGTT compared with placebo. CONCLUSIONS Chlorogenic acid and trigonelline reduced early glucose and insulin responses during an OGTT.
Financing Capacity Investment Under Demand Uncertainty

This paper studies the interplay between the operational and financial facets of capacity investment. We consider the capacity choice problem of a firm with limited liquidity and whose access to external capital markets is hampered by moral hazard. The firm must therefore not only calibrate its capacity investment and the corresponding funding needs, but also optimize its sourcing of funds. Importantly, the set of available sources of funds is derived endogenously and includes standard financial claims (debt, equity, etc.). We find that when higher demand realizations are more indicative of high effort, debt financing is optimal for any given capacity level. In this case, the optimal capacity is never below the efficient capacity level but sometimes strictly above that level. Further, the optimal capacity level increases with the moral hazard problem's severity and decreases with the firm's internal funds. This runs counter to the newsvendor logic and to the common intuition that by raising the cost of external capital and hence the unit capacity cost, financial market frictions should lower the optimal capacity level. We trace the value of increasing capacity beyond the efficient level to a bonus effect and a demand elicitation effect. Both stem from the risk of unmet demand, which is characteristic of capacity decisions under uncertainty.
Quantitative assessment of the knockdown efficiency of morpholino antisense oligonucleotides in zebrafish embryos using a luciferase assay

Despite the broad use of morpholino antisense oligonucleotides (MO) to knockdown gene function in zebrafish embryos, the efficiency of this method has not been successfully assessed, particularly in the cases of translation‐blocking MOs. In our current study, we describe a luciferase assay‐based system that can monitor the MO knockdown levels in zebrafish by the use of a fusion reporter construct containing the 5′‐mRNA sequence of the gene of interest and the luciferase coding sequence. The decrease in luciferase activity in zebrafish embryos that have been coinjected with this reporter RNA construct and a MO that targets the gene of interest correlated well with the level of inhibition of the corresponding endogenous protein synthesis, and also with the appearance of a knockdown phenotype. This indicates the usefulness of our method. We have also found that MOs can exert considerable knockdown effects upon unintended gene targets if 15 bases or longer of contiguous homology exists between these genes and the 25‐base MO in question. Our quantitative assessment method also reveals, however, that an effective and specific knockdown can be achieved when employing a strategy that takes advantage of the synergistic effect of double MOs used at low levels. genesis 46:1–7, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysis of asynchronous longitudinal data with partially linear models

: We study partially linear models for asynchronous longitudinal data to incorporate nonlinear time trend eﬀects. Local and global estimating equations are developed for estimating the parametric and nonpara- metric eﬀects. We show that with a proper choice of the kernel bandwidth parameter, one can obtain consistent and asymptotically normal parame- ter estimates for the linear eﬀects. Asymptotic properties of the estimated nonlinear eﬀects are established. Extensive simulation studies provide nu- merical support for the theoretical ﬁndings. Data from an HIV study are used to illustrate our methodology.
Using Engagement to Negate Vigilance Decrements in the NextGen Environment

The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which increasing engagement would negate vigilance decrements in monitoring during a realistic air traffic control monitoring task. Technological advances in aircraft and navigation may change the controller's job from directing air traffic to more of a monitoring role with supervisory control. Research shows that humans are not effective monitors and can be subject to vigilance decrements. Even though vigilance decrements have been demonstrated in some settings, it is still not known if they are likely in a future ATC monitoring role. Sixteen undergraduates from the Georgia Institute of Technology trained for 6 weeks on NextSim, a medium fidelity ATC research simulator of the NextGen environment. They then performed 4 weeks of scenarios that required monitoring of flow corridors for failures of conflict evading technology. Two levels of engagement and two levels of attentional focus while monitoring were analyzed. Participants showed a significant vigilance decrement except after extended practice in the engaged condition. The findings of this study suggest that engaging the operator may alleviate the vigilance decrement, however only after practice.
Genetic Diversity of Old Chicken Breeds Kept in Poland

The aim of this study was to compare the genetic variation of five local chicken breeds reared in Poland. Twenty-seven microsatellite markers were investigated in 138 birds belonging to five breeds: Miniature Cochin (MCO), Gold Italian (GI), Green Legged Partridge (GLP), Silver Italian (SI) and White Leghorn (WL). One hundred eighty five alleles were detected in the overall population, with a mean number of 6.85 ± 3.32 alleles per locus. For the local breeds, the observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from a minimum of 0.287 to a maximum of 0.458 and from 0.397 to 0.499 for the GI and SI breeds, respectively. The overall population heterozygote deficiency was 0.430, the average Wright’s inbreeding coefficient (FIS) was 0.061 and the heterozygote deficiency due to breed subdivision was 0.393. Wright’s fixation index was slightly positive for all breeds excluding MCO (FIS = -0.476) and the estimated molecular inbreeding (fij) within breed ranged from 0.296 (GLP and SI) to 0.361 (WL) evidencing limited coancestry. Mean allelic richness, obtained with rarefaction method based on sixteen observations, was 2.12 being the WL the less variable (1.79). Tomiuk and Loeschcke’s DTL genetic distance values were used to draw a neighbornet network which separated the cluster made of MCO and GLP from the cluster of GI, WL and SI. The results arising from our microsatellites analysis represent a starting point for the valorization of these local Polish chicken breeds for monitoring and preserving their genetic variability.
New therapeutic approaches to acute myeloid leukemia

Background: The heterogeneity of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been established by many new insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of patients with AML. Understanding the basic cellular and molecular pathogenesis of leukemic cells is vital to the development of new treatment approaches. Objective/methods: To review progress until now with agents that are showing promise in the treatment of AML, we summarize the published preclinical and clinical trials that have been completed. Results: Based on recent progress of investigations, more specifically targeted agents have been developed for the treatment of AML such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, epigenetic agents, antiangiogenic agents, and farnesyl transferase inhibitors. Conclusion: In the future, in addition to performing therapeutic trials of these agents, it will be important to identify other highly specific therapeutic agents based on our evolving understanding of the biology of AML.