Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DIRTREL: Robust Trajectory Optimization with Ellipsoidal Disturbances and LQR Feedback

Many critical robotics applications require robustness to disturbances arising from unplanned forces, state uncertainty, and model errors. Motion planning algorithms that explicitly reason about robustness require a coupling of trajectory optimization and feedback design, where the system’s closedloop response to bounded disturbances is optimized. Due to the often-heavy computational demands of solving such problems, the practical application of robust trajectory optimization in robotics has so far been limited. We derive a tractable robust optimization algorithm that combines direct transcription with linear-quadratic control design to reason about closed-loop responses to disturbances. In the case of ellipsoidal disturbance sets, the state and input deviations along a nominal trajectory can be computed locally in closed form, thus allowing for fast evaluations of robust cost and constraint functions. The resulting algorithm, called DIRTREL, is an extension of classical direct transcription that demonstrably improves tracking performance over non-robust formulations while incurring only a modest increase in computational cost. We evaluate the algorithm in several simulated robot control tasks.
Discovering Niche Market: Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Organic Pork

With the concern for environmental quality and food safety, organic food products are becoming more important in the global market. In recent years the organic food industry has been expanding and sales of organic products have been increasing. Abundant studies have been done focusing on organic fruits and vegetables which focused on the shortage of organic live stocks. In this paper we focus our attention on organic pork products. Using a sample of 400 Thais consumers, this study proposes the contingent valuation (CV) technique to measure the willingness of individuals to pay a price premium for organic pork in Thailand. In order to obtain the mean ”willingness to pay” (WTP), a bivariate probit model was applied to provide information about the crucial variables that affect the WTP. The study revealed that variables that better approximate WTP are based on the lifestyle and knowledge about organic foods rather than the usual socioeconomic factors. The mean WTP on the premium price for organic pork is approximately 34.30 Bath per kg. In order to access the market potential this study shows that the suitable attributes of organic pork which is consistent with consumer preferences are composed of modernized and environmental packaging with special product details. Marketing this product to the buyer it should be set at a reasonable price. Stimulating the market should be done by doing sales promotion and public relations on a regularly basis. In addition, organic pork should be available in any places and convenient for customers to buy.
National Evidence on the Use of Shared Decision Making in Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening

PURPOSE Recent clinical practice guidelines on prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test (PSA screening) have recommended that clinicians practice shared decision making—a process involving clinician-patient discussion of the pros, cons, and uncertainties of screening. We undertook a study to determine the prevalence of shared decision making in both PSA screening and nonscreening, as well as patient characteristics associated with shared decision making. METHODS A nationally representative sample of 3,427 men aged 50 to 74 years participating in the 2010 National Health Interview Survey responded to questions on the extent of shared decision making (past physician-patient discussion of advantages, disadvantages, and scientific uncertainty associated with PSA screening), PSA screening intensity (tests in past 5 years), and sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. RESULTS Nearly two-thirds (64.3%) of men reported no past physician-patient discussion of advantages, disadvantages, or scientific uncertainty (no shared decision making); 27.8% reported discussion of 1 to 2 elements only (partial shared decision making); 8.0% reported discussion of all 3 elements (full shared decision making). Nearly one-half (44.2%) reported no PSA screening, 27.8% reported low-intensity (less-than-annual) screening, and 25.1% reported high-intensity (nearly annual) screening. Absence of shared decision making was more prevalent in men who were not screened; 88% (95% CI, 86.2%–90.1%) of nonscreened men reported no shared decision making compared with 39% (95% CI, 35.0%–43.3%) of men undergoing high-intensity screening. Extent of shared decision making was associated with black race, Hispanic ethnicity, higher education, health insurance, and physician recommendation. Screening intensity was associated with older age, higher education, usual source of medical care, and physician recommendation, as well as with partial vs no or full shared decision making. CONCLUSIONS Most US men report little shared decision making in PSA screening, and the lack of shared decision making is more prevalent in nonscreened than in screened men. Screening intensity is greatest with partial shared decision making, and different elements of shared decision making are associated with distinct patient characteristics. Shared decision making needs to be improved in decisions for and against PSA screening.
Anti–Human Neutrophil Antigen-3a Induced Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury in Mice by Direct Disturbance of Lung Endothelial Cells

Objective—Antibodies against human neutrophil antigen-3a (HNA-3a) located on choline transporter-like protein 2 induce severe transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). This study aims to identify the mechanism implicated in anti–HNA-3a-mediated TRALI. Approach and Results—Our analysis shows that anti–HNA-3a recognizes 2 choline transporter-like protein 2 isoforms (P1 and P2) on human microvascular endothelial cells from lung blood vessels but reacts only with the P1 isoform on neutrophils. Direct treatment of HNA-3a–positive endothelial cells with anti–HNA-3a, but not with anti–HNA-3b, leads to reactive oxygen species production, increased albumin influx, and decreased endothelial resistance associated with the formation of actin stress filaments and loosening of junctional vascular endothelium-cadherin. In a novel in vivo mouse model, TRALI was documented by significant increase in lung water content, albumin concentration, and neutrophil numbers in the bronchoalveolar lavage on injection of human anti–HNA-3a in lipopolysaccharides-treated, as well as nontreated mice. Interestingly, although neutrophil depletion alleviated severity of lung injury, it failed to prevent TRALI in this model. Infusion of anti–HNA-3a F(ab′)2 fragments caused moderate TRALI. Finally, mice lacking nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX2y/-) were protected from anti–HNA-3a-mediated TRALI. Conclusions—These data demonstrate the initiation of endothelial barrier dysfunction in vitro and in vivo by direct binding of anti–HNA-3a on endothelial cells. It seems, however, that the presence of neutrophils aggravates barrier dysfunction. This novel mechanism of TRALI primarily mediated by endothelial cell dysfunction via choline transporter-like protein 2 may help to define new treatment strategies to decrease TRALI-related mortality.
Visual scripting for handheld computers

This paper describes PDAGraph, an event-driven, component-based visual programming language for power users of handheld computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) who are not necessarily professional programmers. PDAGraph is intended to run on a PDA and will give power users the ability to create customized applications, taking advantage of existing PDA applications and hardware modules (such as springboard modules available for the Handspring Visor). The language is component-based and ensures that the user can create only syntactically correct programs by placing and linking components or component items. There are external, user interface and script components, all of which are reusable.
The Determinants of Pre- and Postpromotion Dips in Sales of Frequently Purchased Goods

The authors empirically study the relationships between pre- and post-promotion dips in weekly store data and Universal Product Code (UPC), category, and store trading-area customer characteristics. Drawing on recent advances in econometric modeling, they estimate 39,441 pre- and postpromotion dip elasticities in 83 stores in ten product categories. They relate these elasticities to 24 characteristics, such as UPC price and market share, category budget share and storability, and store trading-area demographics. The authors find that UPC, category, and store trading-area customer characteristics all explain significant variation in the elasticities. For example, both pre- and postpromotion dips are stronger for high-priced, frequently promoted, mature, high-market-share UPCs. They find that postpromotion dips are not significantly different for private labels but are more prominent for UPCs with less predictable promotion patterns. They also find that stores with trading areas that consist of older customers who live in larger households and own cars are particularly prone to postpromotion dips. The findings potentially deepen the understanding of stockpiling and deceleration and blend two trends in promotion response research: an increased focus on pre- and postpromotion effects and a greater emphasis on examination of cross-sectional differences in promotion response.
Walking the talk? Environmental responsibility from the perspective of small-business owners

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have generally been portrayed as failures in relation to environmental sustainability due to their low take-up rates of sustainable business practices. This judgment arises when frameworks and standards that have been developed in, and for, large firms are applied to SMEs. Such assessment can provide a misleading impression of the uptake of sustainable business practices, as SMEs do not operate simply as miniature large firms. The performance of SMEs should be assessed using benchmarks that fit the circumstances of small firms. Based on interviews with 50 small-business owners in New Zealand, we explore how environmental responsibility is understood and translated into practice. This paper contributes to the emerging stream of research that aims to build a theory of environmental responsibility that is grounded in the experiences of SME owner-managers, and takes into account the heterogeneity and characteristics of the SME sector. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
A fast simulation model of PMSG with asymmetric control during an asymmetric grid fault

This paper presents a fast simulation method of PMSG, which adopts positive and negative sequence current separate control strategy during an asymmetric grid fault. Based on analysis of fault characteristics, the asymmetric control strategy is developed in PSCAD, aiming to alleviate the adverse effects on converter and grid during an asymmetric grid fault. Separate positive and negative sequence current and lock the phase respectively with SPLL method, then control each component in a closed loop by means of feedback decoupling, thus restraining ripple of DC bus voltage and second harmonic are realized. Furthermore, a simplified method based on remaining control and principle of energy balance is proposed. Simulation shows the rapidity and validity of the method, providing theoretical support for equivalent modeling of large-scaled direct-drive wind farm.
Post-Processing Techniques for the Integration of Silicon Nanowires and MEMS

Three post-processing techniques key for the integration of nanostructures and MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) are presented. The objective is to develop a toolset for integrated NEMS (Nanoelectromechanical Systems) design and processing. More specifically, experimentation is focused on (1) local contact metallization, (2) global metallization for rapid system functionalization and (3) aqueous treatment of self-assembled and suspended silicon nanowires between two MEMS bridges. These techniques are evaluated for their effectiveness and compatibility with integrated NEMS. It is found that local contact metallization effectively alleviates inherent problems at the nano-to-micro contact, while the aqueous treatment confirms that nanoscale components of the system exhibit similar response as their microscale counterparts. Further, the global metallization process enables rapid functionalization as demonstrated in a hydrogen sensing experiment.
Enabling and inhibiting factors in adoption of Electronic-Reverse auctions: A longitudinal case study in grocery retailing

Abstract The paper aims to explore the factors that enable or inhibit the use of Electronic-Reverse Auctions (E-RAs) in the buying process of a large food retail organization, through a category management perspective. Using a case-study analysis based on in-depth interviews, examination of internal documents, simulation and direct observation of some E-RAs, we studied the experience of an Italian-based retailer conducting E-RAs during a two-year period. This approach enabled us to propose an E-RAs development model in retail buying groups, discussing enabling and inhibiting factors such as product, market, organizational and strategic factors. Propositions are developed to stimulate thought and provide guidance for future research.
Quality Provision in the Presence of a Biased Intermediary

In many industries, consumers rely on recommendations by an intermediary when choosing between competing products. In this paper, we look at how the existence of contracts between firms and intermediaries affects the quality of the advice received by consumers, and firms' incentives to invest in improving the quality of their products. We consider a model with one intermediary and two firms who decide how much to invest. Under a variety of contractual environments (vertical integration, ex post endorsement) we show that, even though the intermediary tends to endorse the best firm, contractual endorsement distorts firms' incentives to invest. Quality can then decrease or increase compared to an objective benchmark. We contrast our approach to a setup with fixed qualities and endogenous prices, under which contractual endorsement hurts consumers.
Ankle Sensorimotor Control and Eversion Strength after Acute Ankle Inversion Injuries

We performed this study to monitor changes in ankle eversion strength and sensorimotor control functions after acute ankle inversion injury. Forty-four patients with clinical grade II to III first-time ankle inversion sprains were tested for 1) pathologic talar tilt and anterior talar translation at 1 and 12 weeks after injury; 2) isometric eccentric ankle eversion strength and 3) peroneal reaction time to sudden ankle inversion at 3, 6, and 12 weeks after injury; and 4) accuracy of inversion position assessment 1, 3, 6, and 12 weeks after injury. Not all patients could perform all tests at the early follow-up visits. There was mechanical instability in 19 of 40 tested patients at 1 week and in 4 patients at 12 weeks after injury. Eversion strength was 88% of the contralateral side 3 weeks after injury, rising to 96% after 12 weeks. The magnitude of error of inversion position sense was 190% of the contralateral side 1 week after injury; this was still affected after 12 weeks, but fell to 133%. Patients with pathologic talar tilt or anterior talar translation, or both, at 1 week after injury did not show significantly greater error in position assessment or reduction in eversion strength when compared with patients with ankles that remained stable after injury.
Silver‐Rusell syndrome caused by epigenetic alteration in a child conceived by intrauterine insemination from donor sperm

Silver-Rusell Syndrome Caused by Epigenetic Alteration in a Child Conceived by Intrauterine Insemination From Donor Sperm Jos e Vicente Arcos-Machancoses, Purificacion Marin Reina, Francisco Martinez, Maria Jimenez Busselo, and Antonio Perez-Aytes* Hospital Universitari i Polit ecnic La Fe, Valencia, Spain Department of Pediatrics, Hospital General Universitario, Valencia, Spain Unidad de Genetica, Hospital Universitari i Polit ecnic La Fe, Valencia, Spain Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Universitari i Polt ecnic La Fe, Valencia, Spain Dismorfologia y Genetica Reproductiva, Grupo de Investigacion en Perinatologia, Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria Hospital Universitari i Polit ecnic La Fe, Valencia, Spain
Prevalence of an immunological LH β‐subunit variant in a UK population of healthy women and women with polycystic ovary syndrome

OBJECTIVE An Immunological LH β‐subunit variant has been described, which is undetectable using monoclonal antibodies directed to the intact LH molecule alone. Subjects have been found homozygous or heterozygous for nucleotide mutations within codons 8 and 15 in the LH β‐subunit gene. The prevalence of the variant LH β‐subunit has been estimated in a healthy UK population of women of reproductive age and in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The relationship of the variant molecule to the clinical and hormonal parameters of the subjects has been evaluated.
Does Managerial Overconfidence Affect the Timing of SEOs?

I analyze how managerial overconfidence affects management’s propensity to issue seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). I focus separately on Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), and further differentiate between Shelf offerings and Non-Shelf offerings. The main results suggest that overconfident managers are generally no less likely to perform an SEO than their moderately confident peers; however, they are less likely to time their SEOs alongside increased stock returns. Additionally, I find that SEO announcements made by overconfident managers are immediately followed by positive cumulative abnormal returns, and that these positive returns remain for the following two quarters after the offer. Ultimately, the results suggest that managerial overconfidence may diminish SEO market timing.
Differentiation-dependent redistribution of heparan sulfate in epithelial intestinal Caco-2 cells leads to basolateral entry of cytomegalovirus.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations in immunocompromised patients, including infection of the gastrointestinal tract. To investigate the role of epithelial cells in the gastrointestinal HCMV disease, we used the intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2, which is permissive for HCMV replication. In differentiated Caco-2 cells, we showed previously that HCMV infection proceeds preferentially from the basolateral membrane, suggesting that receptors for HCMV may be contained predominantly in the basolateral membrane (A. Esclatine et al., 2000, J. Virol. 74, 513-517). Therefore, we examined expression and localization in Caco-2 cells of heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan and annexin II, previously implicated in initial events of HCMV infection. We observed that annexin II is expressed in Caco-2 cells, but is not essential for entry of HCMV. We showed that, during the differentiation process, HS, initially present on the entire surface of the membrane of undifferentiated cells, ultimately became sequestered at the basolateral cell surface of fully differentiated cells. We established by biochemical assays that membrane-associated HS proteoglycan mediates both viral attachment to, and subsequent infection of, Caco-2 cells, regardless of the cell differentiation state. Thus, the redistribution of HS is implicated in the basolateral entry of HCMV into differentiated Caco-2 cells.
Impacts of business environment changes on global manufacturing outsourcing in China

Purpose – Rising production costs in coastal China have caused the popularity of the “China plus one” strategy, and the hike in oil prices favors near‐shore outsourcing to reduce transportation costs. Taking into consideration supply chain strategy, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of these major business environment changes on manufacturing outsourcing in China.Design/methodology/approach – Considering costs and lead times, a bi‐objective integer programming model is developed to determine optimal supply chain configuration decisions under various business environment scenarios. A case study with a family of footwear products is used to illustrate model application and present detailed analyses.Findings – Impacts of factors could be non‐intuitive. Partial relocation may be better than relocating all manufacturing steps to lower‐cost regions. Coastal China is still attractive for products with short order lead times, because of its formation of industrial clusters and efficient logistics service.
Sport Sponsorship: The Impact of Sponsor Image on Purchase Intention of Fans

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to investigate the growing importance of societal marketing, by identifying the key variables in the sport sponsorship relationship, and more specifically to examine the impact of sponsor image on one major behavioral outcome, fans' purchase intention. Furthermore, the role of sport activity involvement and team attachment was investigated, in enhancing sponsor's image between football fans. The findings supported that Sponsor Image has a significant effect on the purchase intention (R2 = 0,813, p < 0.001) regardless of the product fit. Sponsor image was weakly linked with sport involvement and team achievement.
MUSHROOMS AND TIMBER : MANAGING COMMERCIAL HARVESTING IN THE OREGON CASCADES

decline in timber harvesting from federal forests. The harvest of these products involves complex and interrelated social, economic, managerial, nd biological issues ( ee Savage 1995; Molina et al. 1997). Although timber typically exceeds nontimber forest products in value, opportunities xist o manage for both, to the benefit of different groups. Of nontimber products, the wild mushroom industry in the Pacific Northwest, estimated at $41.1 million in 1992, is second only to the $128.5 million harvest of floral greens (Schlosser and Blatner 1995). Excluding truffles, the American matsutake (•icholoma magnivelare) is the most valuable mushroom harvested in the Pacific Northwest because it is similar
Insights from the German Compassionate Use Program of Nintedanib for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Background: Nintedanib is approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and has been shown to slow disease progression by reducing annual lung function decline. Objective: To evaluate the results of a large cohort of IPF patients treated with nintedanib within a compassionate use program (CUP) in Germany (9 centers). Methods: Patients (≥40 years) were required to have a confirmed diagnosis of IPF, a forced vital capacity (FVC) ≥50% predicted (pred.) and a carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) 30-79% pred. and not to be eligible for pirfenidone treatment. Clinical data, pulmonary function tests and adverse events were recorded up to July 2015. Results: Sixty-two patients (48 male/14 female) with moderate IPF (FVC 64 ± 17% pred. and DLCO 40 ± 10% pred.) were treated with nintedanib. 77% of patients switched from pirfenidone (mean treatment duration 14 ± 2 months) mostly due to disease progression (mean decline in FVC 7.4 ± 3% pred. in the 6 months prior to nintedanib intake). Initiation of nintedanib treatment occurred 69 ± 29 months after IPF diagnosis, and mean treatment duration was 8 ± 4 months. Most patients (63%) stabilized 6 months after treatment start (mean FVC decline 3 ± 1 vs. -17 ± 2% in patients with disease progression; p < 0.01). The most common adverse events were diarrhea (63%) and weight loss (50%). Dose reduction occurred in 34% of cases and treatment discontinuation in 10%. Conclusion: Nintedanib treatment was generally well tolerated and was associated with FVC stabilization in the majority of IPF patients in this CUP setting where most patients were not treatment naïve. Our data are in agreement with the previously published data.