Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analytical supply chains: Are they more resilient? A model’s proposition

Understanding that disruptions can be devastating, the ability of supply chains to return, as quickly as possible, to their normal state, after disruptions, has been considered as important as optimizing their flows. According to the literature, companies must develop capabilities and invest in risk management to improve their supply chain resilience, however almost nothing has been investigated about the role of the analytical orientation for those purposes. Assuming that analytical orientation is essential for supply chains to recover from interruptions, this theoretical essay aimed at proposing its inclusion in an initial supply chain resilience model, based on literature review. As a contribution, this paper aims at presenting a model that will enlarge the discussion about this theme, which can be empirically tested in a future research.
β-Cell Antigen–Specific Lysis of Macrophages by CD4 T-Cell Clones From Newly Diagnosed IDDM Patient: A Putative Mechanism of T-Cell–Mediated Autoimmune Islet Cell Destruction

Immunophenotyping of the early lesion in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans demonstrates a predominance of CD4+ lymphocytes, which may be preceded by an increase in islet macrophages. This observation implies that both types of cells may be involved in autoimmune-mediated β-cell destruction leading to IDDM. In an attempt to attribute a role to β-cell antigen-specific CD4-expressing T-cell clones recently isolated from a newly diagnosed IDDM patient, we investigated whether such CD4 T-cells may be pathogenic in an in vitro cytotoxicity assay with HLA-DR-matched antigen-presenting macrophages as target. We report herein that, indeed, β-cell antigen-specific CD4+ T-cells are capable of lysing macrophages in an antigen-specific fashion. This cytotoxicity is HLA-DR restricted, T-cell receptor complex mediated, and CD4 dependent. These observations imply that both helper T-cells and macrophages may be involved in the disease process via interaction between T-cells and macrophages pulsed with β-cell antigen.
Acute stress and dexamethasone rapidly increase hippocampal somatostatin synthesis and release from the dentate gyrus hilus

Somatostatin is a neuropeptide whose facilitatory action in the generation of long‐term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus has been associated with memory processes. Since stress and memory seem to share some neural pathways, we studied somatostatin release from dentate gyrus hilar cells of the hippocampus in unanesthetized free‐moving rats subjected to stress or dexamethasone treatments. In parallel, the number of dentate gyrus hilar cells expressing somatostatin mRNA was quantified by nonradioactive in situ hybridization in these two experimental conditions.
Differential activation of mononuclear phagocytes in cerebellar malformation associated with Walker–Warburg syndrome

Walker–Warburg syndrome (WWS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with alterations affecting the CNS that are characteristic of type‐II lissencephaly and dysplasia/hypoplasia of the cerebellum. Other than these features, WWS is typically also accompanied by muscular dystrophy and abnormalities affecting the eyes. There is at present little information on the state of microglial and mononuclear phagocytic cell responses within the brain in WWS. In this case report, we present evidence for focal and differential activation of mononuclear phagocytes specifically confined to the dysplastic cerebellum of an infant at 5 months of age, diagnosed with WWS.
Subband coding of cyclostationary signals with static bit allocation

We consider the optimal orthonormal subband coding of zero mean wide sense cyclostationary signals (WSCS), with N-periodic second order statistics. An M-channel uniform filter bank, with N-periodic analysis and synthesis filters, is used as the subband coder. A static bit allocation scheme is used. An average variance condition is used to measure the output distortion. The conditions for maximizing the coding gain parallel those for the case when the signals are wide sense stationary (WSS) and the analysis and synthesis filters and the bit allocation time invariant, in that the subband signals must be mutually decorrelated, and the sum of the power spectral densities of the blocked suband signal in different channels must obey an ordering. This contrasts to the recently studied 2-channel WSCS case, involving a dynamic, periodically varying bit allocation scheme where even the blocked subband signals of the same channel must be mutually decorrelated.
The Development of Insurance Agent Performance Management System: The Great Eastern Context

This report discusses the research done on the chosen topic, which is Insurance Agent Performance Management System. This project shows that Performance Management System (PMS) is very important in any organizations to measure employees performance. In this context, PMS will be measure and focus in insurance industry as a general. The Insurance Agent Performance Management System will be developed for Great Eastern insurance branch, Sunder & Associates in Bangi, Selangor. As a well-known insurance company, managing insurance agents are very important and challenging to achieve some level of target. Due to that, PMS plays a vital role to helps insurance company to measure and evaluate insurance agent’s performance. This report will define what is insurance and what is performance management system as a whole. Futhermore, it will described the cycle need to be done in order to manage PMS. The research methodology was done through interviews and brainstorming with the manager of S&A Associates. Through the interviews and analysis, it will define the system needs by the insurance branch.
Quantum transport through a quantum dot: Combining the scattering-states numerical renormalization group with nonequilibrium Green functions

Scattering states fulfill the correct boundary conditions of a current carrying open quantum system. Discretizing the energy continuum of these states allows for employing Wilson's numerical renormalization group approach without violating the boundary conditions by using a finite size system. We evolve the analytically known steady-state density operator for a non-interacting quantum-system at finite bias to the full interacting problem by the time-dependent numerical renormalization group after switching on the local charging energy. Using a newly developed algorithm for steady-state nonequilibrium Green functions, we can calculate the current I as function of bias voltage V for arbitrary temperature and magnetic field. A comparison with second-order and GW Kadanoff-Baym-Keldysh results shows excellent agreement for weak interaction strength U.
A FALSE COLOR FUSION STRATEGY FOR DRUSEN AND GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY VISUALIZATION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES

Purpose: To display drusen and geographic atrophy (GA) in a single projection image from three-dimensional spectral domain optical coherence tomography images based on a novel false color fusion strategy. Methods: We present a false color fusion strategy to combine drusen and GA projection images. The drusen projection image is generated with a restricted summed-voxel projection (axial sum of the reflectivity values in a spectral domain optical coherence tomography cube, limited to the region where drusen is present). The GA projection image is generated by incorporating two GA characteristics: bright choroid and thin retina pigment epithelium. The false color fusion method was evaluated in 82 three-dimensional optical coherence tomography data sets obtained from 7 patients, for which 2 readers independently identified drusen and GA as the gold standard. The mean drusen and GA overlap ratio was used as the metric to determine accuracy of visualization of the proposed method when compared with the conventional summed-voxel projection, (axial sum of the reflectivity values in the complete spectral domain optical coherence tomography cube) technique and color fundus photographs. Results: Comparative results demonstrate that the false color image is more effective in displaying drusen and GA than summed-voxel projection and CFP. The mean drusen/GA overlap ratios based on the conventional summed-voxel projection method, color fundus photographs, and the false color fusion method were 6.4%/100%, 64.1%/66.7%, and 85.6%/100%, respectively. Conclusion: The false color fusion method was more effective for simultaneous visualization of drusen and GA than the conventional summed-voxel projection method and color fundus photographs, and it seems promising as an alternative method for visualizing drusen and GA in the retinal fundus, which commonly occur together and can be confusing to differentiate without methods such as this proposed one.
Funciones de correlación en la correspondencia Ads/CFT

La dualidad entre teorias de gravedad y teorias de campos de gauge es una de las ideas que mas ha influido en el desarrollo de la fisica teorica de altas energias en la ultima decada. Hoy en dia, esta se ha convertido en una poderosa herramienta en el estudio de sistemas fuertemente interactuantes. Sin embargo, la correspondencia AdS/CFT no ha sido probada completamente y aun se encuentra al nivel de conjetura. En este trabajo pretendemos chequear la correspondencia en algunos casos simples. Concretamente, calculamos funciones de correlacion de tres y cuatro puntos en teoria de supercuerdas sobre AdS3 X S3 X T4 a nivel arbol para operadores primarios quirales y mostramos que estas coinciden perfectamente con los correladores esperados en la teoria de campos dual. Ademas sugerimos una interesante conexion entre funciones de correlacion de n puntos de operadores con numero de torcimiento (twist) igual a dos y espin muy grande y valores de expectacion de loops de Wilson poligonales con lados nulos en teoria de Super-Yang-Mills con cuatro super-simetrias. Justificamos esta conexion a traves de la comparacion de las divergencias ultravioletas de ambos objetos en acoplamiento fuerte y presentamos algunas consideraciones perturbativas a este respecto en teoria de campos.
Understanding the causes of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is one of our most important public health problems. It is a common, tragic, and devastating mental illness that typically strikes young people just when they are maturing into adulthood. Once it strikes, morbidity is high (60 percent of patients are receiving disability benefits within the first year after onset),1 as is mortality (the suicide rate is 10 percent). 2 Despite the fact that people with schizophrenia are all around us (the lifetime prevalence is 1 percent worldwide),2 this illness is often misunderstood, and people with schizophrenia are stigmatized by both the medical profession and the public. Our understanding of .
Efficacy of Bilateral Bronchoalveolar Lavage for Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

ABSTRACT Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common nosocomial infection causing significant morbidity and mortality. The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of bilateral versus unilateral bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for the detection of the causative bacterial agents of VAP. We retrospectively studied the quantitative bacterial cultures of 399 BAL sample pairs collected from 287 mechanically ventilated patients over a 5-year period at a U.S. tertiary-care teaching hospital. Trauma was the underlying illness in 69% of patients. No evidence of bacterial infection was found in 226 BAL pairs (56.6%). Among 173 positive BAL sample pairs, significant bacterial counts were detected exclusively in 6.4% of left-lung and 12.1% of right-lung samples. In contrast, 81.5% of positive sample pairs had significant bacterial counts in both lungs. All bacteria recovered at significant concentrations from bilateral samples would have been detected in a unilateral right-lung sample in 89% of positive sample pairs. Unilateral sampling would have failed to recover one or more significant isolates in 11% of positive pairs had only the right lung been sampled and in 16.7% had only the left lung been sampled. Our study shows that preferential sampling of the right lung improves the diagnostic efficacy of unilateral BAL for the detection of the etiologic agents of VAP. If bilateral sampling is performed, our results also indicate that pooling left- and right-lung samples for a single quantitative culture is comparable to processing samples individually.
Are Invisible Hands Good Hands? Moral Hazard, Competition, and the Second Best in Health Care Markets

The nature, and normative properties, of competition in health care markets has long been the subject of much debate. In particular, policymakers have exhibited a great deal of reservation toward competition in health care markets, as demonstrated by the plethora of regulations governing the health care sector. Currently, as consolidation rapidly occurs in health care markets, concern about reduced competition has arisen. This concern, however, cannot be properly evaluated without a normative standard. In this paper we consider what the optimal benchmark is in the presence of moral hazard effects on consumption due to health insurance. Moral hazard is widely recognized as one of the most important distortions in health care markets. Moral hazard due to health insurance leads to excess consumption, therefore it is not obvious that competition is second best optimal given this distortion. Intuitively, it seems that imperfect competition in the health care market may constrain this moral hazard by increasing prices. We show that this intuition cannot be correct if insurance markets are competitive. A competitive insurance market will always produce a contract that leaves consumers at least as well off under lower prices as under higher prices. Thus, imperfect competition in health care markets can not have efficiency enhancing effects if the only distortion is due to moral hazard.
Clustering and Product Innovativeness: A Literature Review of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya

The effect of clustering on product innovativeness in manufacturing SME sector has been analyzed in this study. The cooperation of firms at national level and on a global scale is becoming more and more important as a tool of economic development. SMEs tend to work together in order to share their competencies, reduce various costs, consolidate limited resources, and hereby increase their productivity, product innovativeness, and profitability. Clusters create the environment for innovation and technological advancement. Therefore, SMEs may gain additional benefits that include know-how, cost-saving options, and innovative products to fulfill unmet customer needs. The study has concluded that the clustering of manufacturing SMEs is closely related to product innovativeness and hence their competitiveness at the local and regional level.
Symbolic synthesis with average performance guarantees

We consider a general quantitative controller synthesis framework to synthesize controllers that not only enforce a desired input-output behavior on the closed-loop, but additionally minimize a certain average cost function, which is used to assess the closed loop behavior. We follow the usual symbolic synthesis approach, based on so-called discrete abstractions (also known as symbolic models) and propose a modification of the well-known system relations which enables the reasoning about the closed loop performance across related systems. We show how to construct symbolic models in terms of the newly introduced system relations for sampled-data, switched, nonlinear systems. A small numerical example is provided, to illustrate some of the theoretical results.
On the spectral correlation measurement of nonstationary stochastic processes

In this paper, the problem of the single sample-path based spectral correlation measurement for a new class of nonstationary stochastic processes is addressed. Processes belonging to this class, referred to as spectrally correlated processes, exhibit a Loeve bifrequency spectrum with spectral masses concentrated on a countable set of support curves in the bifrequency plane and include, as a special case, the almost-cyclostationary processes. The amount of spectral correlation existing between separate spectral components is characterized by the bifrequency spectral correlation density function which is the density of the Loeve bifrequency spectrum along its support curves. It is shown that, in general, when the location of the spectral masses is unknown, a reliable single sample-path based estimate of the bifrequency spectral correlation density function is given by the time-smoothed periodogram, provided that the departure of the nonstationarity from the almost-cyclostationarity is not too big and a sufficiently large smoothing product is considered. Moreover, in general, the estimate performance cannot be improved as wished by increasing the sample size and the spectral resolution.
Microfinance, poverty alleviation & women entrepreneurs in the Bangladeshi community : rhetoric and realities

The subject of this study developed from a personal interest in the financial crisis of developing countries. The study develops, extends and contributes to the existing knowledge about microfinance in general and Bangladesh in particular, and raises ethical considerations for the industry. The objective of this thesis is to critically investigate and evaluate the realities of micro lending in Bangladesh. In particular it appraises the costs and benefits from the perspective of a) the user b) the lender and c) the government. The thesis also sheds some light on UK based Bangladeshi small-scale entrepreneurs and their microfinance-based ventures. This investigation utilises quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, including focus groups, semi- structured interviews and questionnaires. Since the 1970s microfinance has developed into a mainstream approach to poverty alleviation in the developing world. It has developed its credentials in the academic field, has been utilised as strategy by banks and has been given the backing of world institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. The approach has become widespread as an acceptable approach and set of tools to address the issue of poverty amongst the poor. However, this thesis argues that despite the rhetoric and hype surrounding microfinance as a novel system of lending to alleviate poverty and enhance opportunity for the poor, it fails to meet its objectives. The research finds that the reality of micro credit, contrary to its stated purposes, was to lock small-scale entrepreneurs into greater debt. Furthermore, the field research found that women were the primary recipients and users of microfinance. The thesis does not take issue with the theoretical models and normative objectives of micro finance which are, arguably, necessary, desirable and possible. This research concludes, however, that the reality and practice is not only at odds with theory but is contrary to the normative objectives of the rhetoric of microfinance. For instance, while people in extreme poverty in Bangladesh can gain access to microfinance to deal with emergency situations, it does not necessarily advance entrepreneurial activity.
Measurement of Paint Coating Thickness by Thermal Transient Method

This paper is concerned with the accurate laminary determination of the thickness of coatings on metallic surfaces. The development goal was to devise a system that allows for highly spatially resolved full-frame 2-D scans that conventional systems are not able to provide. Furthermore, it is able to allow for a sufficiently large physical separation between the measuring head and the inspected surface to accommodate industrial environments that provide a high operating velocity and is able to detect quality problems of square millimeter in size. The system consists of a heat source that introduces a thermal transient to the surface layer of the specimen, a thermal imaging system to acquire the time-dependent cooling behavior, and an image processing system to determine thermal parameters indicative of surface quality and/or coating thickness. The results clearly show that a thickness resolution of better than 50 mum can reliably be obtained at a scanning velocity of 0.37 m/s, covering a field of view (FOV) of approximately 200 times 140 mm2.
Resistance to new technology and its effects on nuclear power, information technology and biotechnology

The word ‘resistance’ has become unsuitable for use in the context of new technology. The allegation is that it serves mainly to blame those who resist; talking about resistance implies a managerial and technocratic bias. However, in developing the idea for this conference, I was confident that ‘resistance’ would prove ambiguous in meaning and rich in connotations, particularly in the European context. Historians of technology recently rediscovered ‘resistance’ as a ‘force’ that shapes technology which requires an adequate analysis (Mokyr 1990, 1992). For the economist resistance is basically the vested interests of old capital in ideas, skills and machinery. In addition, in the light of the critique of the ‘Whiggish’ historiography of technology (Staudenmaier 1985), it seems reasonable to lift ‘resistance’ from the dustbin of history. Artefacts such as machines, power stations, computers, telephones, broadcasts and genetically engineered tomatoes, and the practice of their production, handling, marketing and use – in other words, technological innovations – are not the only factors of historical change. Technological determinism seems an inadequate account of our history. Various social activities give form to processes and products, facilitate their diffusion and mitigate their consequences. However, technology is not neutral. It creates opportunities and simultaneously constrains human activity. We experience the latter as being paced by ‘machines’ rather than controlling them. The selection of options is not neutral; it is likely to be contested and in need of legitimation.
Hearing Impairment and Tinnitus in the Elderly

Jaakko Salonen HEARING IMPAIRMENT AND TINNITUS IN THE ELDERLY From Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Turku, Turku, Finland Annales Universitatis Turkuensis SER. D TOM.1055, Painosalama Oy,Turku, Finland 2013 ISBN 978-951-29-5297-7 (PRINT), ISBN 978-951-29-5298-4 (PDF), ISSN 0355-9483 The purpose of this study was to gather information on hearing impairment and related factors among elderly people. The HHIE-S questionnaire (Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly-Screening) and a single hearing question (”Do you feel you have a hearing loss”) were compared to audiometric hearing thresholds (N=164). HHIE-S was reliable for detecting moderate or worse hearing impairment. The single question was equally sensitive and more specific in identifying mild hearing impairment. The prevalence of hearing impairment was evaluated in four age cohorts (70, 75, 80 and 85 years, N=4067) in Turku, Finland. The HHIE-S cut-off score >8 as an indicator of at least mild hearing impairment yielded prevalence values of 37.7% 54.1%, and a score >18 (moderate or more severe hearing impairment) was 21.1% 38.9%. The single question test was positive in 25.5% 46.2%. Hearing aid compliance and problems experienced by hearing aid users were recorded as informed by the participants in a mailed interview (N=249/4067). The hearing aids were used daily by 55.4%, and never by 10.7%. Use sank with advancing age. The disturbance caused by tinnitus among 583 subjects was compared to their level of alexithymia (TAS-20) and depressiveness (BDI). Depressiveness was weakly associated with annoying tinnitus, but not alexithymia. The prevalence of hearing impairment can be measured by enquiry. Hearing aid compliance should be improved by technical means and better counseling. The factors affecting the distress experienced by tinnitus patients need further study.