Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Productivity Consequences of Workforce Aging : Stagnation or Horndal Effect?

Data linking the production of value-added at the plant level to the individual employees provide an opportunity to deepen the understanding of how the labor force composition relates to productivity performance. In view of the anticipated aging of the workforce in industrialised economies a body of research has emerged that indicate that individual productivity has a more pronounced hump-shape than the wage profile. This paper studies these issues by examining the composition of the workforce at the plant level in relation to the productivity performance of the plants. Our data cover the Swedish mining and manufacturing industries 1985-1996. The fact that older workers selectively work with older capital may have biased results found in the literature. Endogeneity of workforce composition poses serious estimation problems, but our attempts to cope with these problems tend to indicate that biases in general go in the direction that productivity of the young is overestimated and the productivity of the old is underestimated.
Automatic Synchronization between Lyrics and Music CD Recordings Based on Viterbi Alignment of Segregated Vocal Signals

This paper describes a system that can automatically synchronize between polyphonic musical audio signals and corresponding lyrics. Although there were methods that can synchronize between monophonic speech signals and corresponding text transcriptions by using Viterbi alignment techniques, they cannot be applied to vocals in CD recordings because accompaniment sounds often overlap with vocals. To align lyrics with such vocals, we therefore developed three methods: a method for segregating vocals from polyphonic sound mixtures, a method for detecting vocal sections, and a method for adapting a speech-recognizer phone model to segregated vocal signals. Experimental results for 10 Japanese popular-music songs showed that our system can synchronize between music and lyrics with satisfactory accuracy for 8 songs
Referral Criteria for Outpatient Palliative Cancer Care: A Systematic Review

Outpatient clinics are increasingly being recognized for their critical role in facilitating early palliative care access. This systematic review highlighted the lack of consensus in the literature on which patients should be referred in the ambulatory setting. Cancer diagnosis, prognosis, physical symptoms, performance status, psychosocial distress, and end-of-life care planning needs may be taken into consideration when appropriate candidates are being identified.
, Ischemic Limb Tissues Derived Stem Cells in − Myoendothelial Differentiation of Human Umbilical Cord Blood

Human umbilical cord blood (UCB) contains high numbers of endothelial progenitors cells (EPCs) characterized by coexpression of CD34 and CD133 markers. Prior studies have shown that CD34 /CD133 EPCs from the cord or peripheral blood (PB) can give rise to endothelial cells and induce angiogenesis in ischemic tissues. In the present study, it is shown that freshly isolated human cord blood CD34 cells injected into ischemic adductor muscles gave rise to endothelial and, unexpectedly, to skeletal muscle cells in mice. In fact, the treated limbs exhibited enhanced arteriole length density and regenerating muscle fiber density. Under similar experimental conditions, CD34 cells did not enhance the formation of new arterioles and regenerating muscle fibers. In nonischemic limbs CD34 cells increased arteriole length density but did not promote formation of new muscle fibers. Endothelial and myogenic differentiation ability was maintained in CD34 cells after ex vivo expansion. Myogenic conversion of human cord blood CD34 cells was also observed in vitro by coculture onto mouse myoblasts. These results show that human cord blood CD34 cells differentiate into endothelial and skeletal muscle cells, thus providing an indication of human EPCs plasticity. The full text of this article is available online at http://www.circresaha. org. (Circ Res. 2003;93:e51-e62.)
Exploring the effect of transformational leadership on individual creativity in e-learning: a perspective of social exchange theory

ABSTRACT Individual creativity (IC) is regarded as the core driver of innovation in higher education. Information and communication technology supports the opportunity to study IC in the online environment. In addition, we believe that the role of transformational leadership (TL) has changed compared to the offline environment. In this research, we employ social exchange theory as our theory foundation and test the moderating effect of TL on knowledge sharing (KS), which is an important antecedent of IC in online circumstances. We designed this study in an eight-week course where teams were required to complete a project online. Two rounds of survey were performed to collect data. The results show that KS has a positive effect on IC, and TL has a significant moderate effect on the relationship between economic reward and KS. Implications for theory and practice, and limitations are also given.
Accuracy of the relativistic Cowling approximation in slowly rotating stars

We have calculated the non-radial oscillation in slowly rotating relativistic stars with the Cowling approximation. The frequencies are compared with those based on the complete linearized equations of general relativity. It is found that the results with the approximation differ by less than about $20 %$ for typical relativistic stellar models. The approximation is more accurate for higher-order modes as in the Newtonian case.
Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To examine the effect of a comprehensive warm-up programme designed to reduce the risk of injuries in female youth football. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial with clubs as the unit of randomisation. Setting 125 football clubs from the south, east, and middle of Norway (65 clusters in the intervention group; 60 in the control group) followed for one league season (eight months). Participants 1892 female players aged 13-17 (1055 players in the intervention group; 837 players in the control group). Intervention A comprehensive warm-up programme to improve strength, awareness, and neuromuscular control during static and dynamic movements. Main outcome measure Injuries to the lower extremity (foot, ankle, lower leg, knee, thigh, groin, and hip). Results During one season, 264 players had relevant injuries: 121 players in the intervention group and 143 in the control group (rate ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.49 to 1.03). In the intervention group there was a significantly lower risk of injuries overall (0.68, 0.48 to 0.98), overuse injuries (0.47, 0.26 to 0.85), and severe injuries (0.55, 0.36 to 0.83). Conclusion Though the primary outcome of reduction in lower extremity injury did not reach significance, the risk of severe injuries, overuse injuries, and injuries overall was reduced. This indicates that a structured warm-up programme can prevent injuries in young female football players. Trial registration ISRCTN10306290.
Lysozyme Resistance in Streptococcus suis Is Highly Variable and Multifactorial

Background Streptococcus suis is an important infectious agent for pigs and occasionally for humans. The host innate immune system plays a key role in preventing and eliminating S. suis infections. One important constituent of the innate immune system is the protein lysozyme, which is present in a variety of body fluids and immune cells. Lysozyme acts as a peptidoglycan degrading enzyme causing bacterial lysis. Several pathogens have developed mechanisms to evade lysozyme-mediated killing. In the present study we compared the lysozyme sensitivity of various S. suis isolates and investigated the molecular basis of lysozyme resistance for this pathogen. Results The lysozyme minimal inhibitory concentrations of a wide panel of S. suis isolates varied between 0.3 to 10 mg/ml. By inactivating the oatA gene in a serotype 2 and a serotype 9 strain, we showed that OatA-mediated peptidoglycan modification partly contributes to lysozyme resistance. Furthermore, inactivation of the murMN operon provided evidence that additional peptidoglycan crosslinking is not involved in lysozyme resistance in S. suis. Besides a targeted approach, we also used an unbiased approach for identifying factors involved in lysozyme resistance. Based on whole genome comparisons of a lysozyme sensitive strain and selected lysozyme resistant derivatives, we detected several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were correlated with the lysozyme resistance trait. Two SNPs caused defects in protein expression of an autolysin and a capsule sugar transferase. Analysis of specific isogenic mutants, confirmed the involvement of autolysin activity and capsule structures in lysozyme resistance of S. suis. Conclusions This study shows that lysozyme resistance levels are highly variable among S. suis isolates and serotypes. Furthermore, the results show that lysozyme resistance in S. suis can involve different mechanisms including OatA-mediated peptidolycan modification, autolysin activity and capsule production.
Comparative Effect of Massage Therapy versus Kangaroo Mother Care on Body Weight and Length of Hospital Stay in Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants

Background. Massage therapy (MT) and kangaroo mother care (KMC) are both effective in increasing the weight and reducing length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm infants but they have not been compared. Aim. Comparison of effectiveness of MT and KMC on body weight and length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm (LBWPT) infants. Method. 30 LBWPT infants using convenience sampling from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, V.S. hospital, were randomly divided into 2 equal groups. Group 1 received MT and Group 2 received KMC for 15 minutes, thrice daily for 5 days. Medically stable babies with gestational age < 37 weeks and birth weight < 2500 g were included. Those on ventilators and with congenital, orthopedic, or genetic abnormality were excluded. Outcome measures, body weight and length of hospital stay, were taken before intervention day 1 and after intervention day 5. Level of significance was 5%. Result. Data was analyzed using SPSS16. Both MT and KMC were found to be effective in improving body weight (P = 0.001, P = 0.001). Both were found to be equally effective for improving body weight (P = 0.328) and reducing length of hospital stay (P = 0.868). Conclusion. MT and KMC were found to be equally effective in improving body weight and reducing length of hospital stay. Limitation. Long term follow-up was not taken.
Understanding test-takers’ perceptions of difficulty in EAP vocabulary tests: The role of experiential factors

This study, conducted by two researchers who were also multiple-choice question (MCQ) test item writers at a private English-medium university in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context, was designed to shed light on the factors that influence test-takers’ perceptions of difficulty in English for academic purposes (EAP) vocabulary, with the aim of improving test writers’ judgments on difficulty. The research consisted of a survey of 588 test-takers, followed by a focus group interview, aimed at investigating the relative influences of test-taker factors and word factors on difficulty perceptions. Results reveal a complex interaction of factors influencing perceived difficulty dominated by the educational, and particularly, the social context. Factors traditionally associated with vocabulary difficulty, such as abstractness and word length, appeared to have little influence. The researchers concluded that rather than basing their intuitions regarding vocabulary difficulty on language-lesson input or surface features of words, EAP vocabulary test writers need a clear understanding of test-takers’ difficulty perceptions, and how these emerge from interactions between academic, social and linguistic factors. As a basis for EAP vocabulary item writer training, four main implications are drawn, related to test-takers’ social and educational background, field of study, the features of academic words, and the test itself.
Using Liposomes as Carriers for Polyphenolic Compounds: The Case of Trans-Resveratrol

Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a polyphenol found in various plants, especially in the skin of red grapes. The effect of resveratrol on human health is the topic of numerous studies. In fact this molecule has shown anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, blood-sugar-lowering ability and beneficial cardiovascular effects. However, for many polyphenol compounds of natural origin bioavailability is limited by low solubility in biological fluids, as well as by rapid metabolization in vivo. Therefore, appropriate carriers are required to obtain efficient therapeutics along with low administration doses. Liposomes are excellent candidates for drug delivery purposes, due to their biocompatibility, wide choice of physico-chemical properties and easy preparation. In this paper liposome formulations made by a saturated phosphatidyl-choline (DPPC) and cholesterol (or its positively charged derivative DC-CHOL) were chosen to optimize the loading of a rigid hydrophobic molecule such as resveratrol. Plain and resveratrol loaded liposomes were characterized for size, surface charge and structural details by complementary techniques, i.e. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Zeta potential and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS). Nuclear and Electron Spin magnetic resonances (NMR and ESR, respectively) were also used to gain information at the molecular scale. The obtained results allowed to give an account of loaded liposomes in which resveratrol interacted with the bilayer, being more deeply inserted in cationic liposomes than in zwitterionic liposomes. Relevant properties such as the mean size and the presence of oligolamellar structures were influenced by the loading of RESV guest molecules. The toxicity of all these systems was tested on stabilized cell lines (mouse fibroblast NIH-3T3 and human astrocytes U373-MG), showing that cell viability was not affected by the administration of liposomial resveratrol.
The Evolving Strategy of Policing

Policing, like all professions, learns from experience. It follows, then, that as modem police executives search for more effective strategies of policing, they will be guided by the lessons of police history. The difficulty is that police history is incoherent, its lessons hard to read. After all, that history was produced by thousands of local departments pursuing their own visions and responding to local conditions. Although that varied experience is potentially a rich source of lessons, departments have left few records that reveal the trends shaping modem policing. Interpretation is necessary.
Hepatic arterial administration of ginsenoside Rg3 and transcatheter arterial embolization for the treatment of VX2 liver carcinomas

Ginsenoside Rg3 has been demonstrated to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis. However, its effect on liver tumors when administered via the hepatic artery has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of hepatic artery administration of Rg3 combined with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in the treatment of liver tumors. A total of 48 rabbits with VX2 liver tumors were randomly divided into four groups: Group 1, Rg3; Group 2, TAE; Group 3, Rg3 and TAE; and Group 4, control. Abdominal contrast computed tomography (CT) scans were performed 2 weeks before and after intervention to assess tumor growth. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of the angiogenesis biomarkers CD31 and VEGF, and the cell apoptosis marker caspase-3. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting were employed to detect the expression of the caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2 apoptosis-related genes and proteins. In addition, HepG2 cells were treated with Rg3 at different concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/l) in vitro. An MTT assay and western blot analysis were used to analyze the cell proliferation and VEGF expression. Compared with the other experimental groups, the Rg3 and TAE group expressed significantly lower levels of CD31 and VEGF (P<0.05), significantly increased levels of the pro-apoptotic genes caspase-3 and Bax (P<0.05), and significantly reduced levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 at the mRNA and protein levels (P<0.05). In vitro, Rg3 inhibited HepG2 cell proliferation and downregulated VEGF expression significantly. These results indicated that ginsenoside Rg3 combined with TAE may effectively inhibit tumor growth by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and inducing cancer cell apoptosis.
Heavy-tailed distribution of parallel I/O system response time

Estimating I/O time of applications is critical for computing system research and developments, such as performance tuning and job scheduling. Parallel I/O systems on large-scale HPC systems typically use several I/O servers attached to a number of hard disk drives to read and write data concurrently. As a result, the response time of individual I/O servers affects the overall I/O performance and modeling the response time distribution holds the key to estimate I/O time. Existing studies have generally considered that the response time follows a Uniform or a Normal distribution. However, none of these studies considered supercomputing environments that are actively used by a number of users to verify the existence of Uniform or Normal distributions. In this study, we collected ≈ 2,500,000 measurements on two peta-scale class supercomputers that are actively used by ≈5000 users. These two systems, Hopper and Edison at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), typically support hundreds of concurrent jobs. Our performance measurements include the overheads introduced by the entire parallel I/O stack (I/O library, network, parallel file system software, cache and hardware). Our study shows that the response time of parallel I/O system follows a heavy-tailed property, in contrary to the widely accepted Normal or Uniform distributions. In exploring for new models, we identify that a mix of Power Law and Normal distributions is a good fit for the response time of parallel I/O systems that are actively used by hundreds of jobs concurrently.
ORTHO-H2 AND THE AGE OF INTERSTELLAR DARK CLOUDS

Interstellar dark clouds are the sites of star formation. Their main component, dihydrogen, exists under two states, ortho and para. H2 is supposed to form in the ortho:para ratio (OPR) of 3:1 and to subsequently decay to almost pure para-H2 (OPR ⩽ 0.001). Only if the H2 OPR is low enough, will deuteration enrichment, as observed in the cores of these clouds, be efficient. The second condition for strong deuteration enrichment is the local disappearance of CO, which freezes out onto grains in the core formation process. We show that this latter condition does not apply to DCO+, which, therefore, should be present all over the cloud. We find that an OPR ⩾ 0.1 is necessary to prevent DCO+ large-scale apparition. We conclude that the inevitable decay of ortho-H2 sets an upper limit of ∼6 million years to the age of starless molecular clouds under usual conditions.
Genetic Polymorphisms in MicroRNA-Related Genes as Predictors of Clinical Outcomes in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Patients

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in microRNA-related genes on clinical outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) receiving first-line fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. Experimental Design: Forty-one SNPs in 26 microRNA-related genes were genotyped in 1,097 patients with CRC recruited at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX). Patients were enrolled between 1990 and 2008 and last follow-up was in 2010. The associations between genotypes and recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) stratified by clinical stage were analyzed in 741 newly diagnosed patients (diagnosed within 1 year) and replicated the findings in an additional 356 patients. Results: In patients with stage III disease, mir608: rs4919510 was associated with increased risk for both recurrence [HR, 2.72; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.38–5.33] and death (HR, 3.53; 95%CI, 1.42–8.73). The associations were confirmed in the replication set, and the combined HRs for training and replication sets were 1.65 (95% CI, 1.13–2.41) for recurrence and 1.96 (95% CI, 1.19–3.21) for death, respectively. The mir219-1:rs213210 showed consistent association with death in the training set (HR, 3.86; 95% CI, 1.33–11.22), the replication set (HR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.39–7.98), and combined data set (HR, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.70–6.10). In combined analysis of these two SNPs, patients carrying the variant genotypes at both sites exhibited a 5.6-fold increased risk of death. Conclusion: Genetic polymorphisms in the microRNA pathway may predict prognosis in patients with stage III CRC treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. Clin Cancer Res; 18(14); 3982–91. ©2012 AACR.
Resistance to activated protein C in patients with venous leg ulcers.

Resistance to activated protein C (APC) Deep-vein thrombosis Postthrombotic syndrome Venous leg ulcer Jürg Hafner, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, CH–8091 Zurich (Switzerland), Tel. +41 1 255 11 11, Fax +41 1 255 44 03 Resistance to activated protein C (APC) is the most frequent cause of inherited thrombophilia [1]. The Leiden Thrombophilia Study detected resistance to APC in 21% of 301 unselected consecutive patients with a first episode of objectively confirmed diagnosis of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) [2]. Among a matched control group, the incidence of resistance to APC was 5%. This represents a 7-fold increase in the risk of DVT in persons with resistance to APC (odds ratio 6.6, 95% confidence interval 3.6to 12-fold). In contrast, a study from the University Hospital of Geneva detected resistance to APC in only 5.5% of 146 unselected patients with pulmonary embolism, compared to 4.0% of patients with suspicion of pulmonary embolism, in whom the diagnosis could not be confirmed (statistically no difference, p < O.66) [3]. The striking difference might be explained in part by patient selection. Since resistance to APC has practical consequences for the particular individual, it is necessary to identify subgroups of persons in whom systematic screening for resistance to APC would be justified. Patients with venous leg ulcers might represent a subgroup with a high prevalence of resistance to APC. Munkvad and jørgensen [4] reported resistance to APC to be prevalent in 26% of 47 consecutive patients with venous leg ulceration (95% confidence interval 14-41%). To date we could confirm resistance to APC in several patients with venous leg ulcers, especially in those with a positive family history for leg ulcers. Assuming that about two thirds of the patients with venous leg ulceration do have postthrombotic damage of their deep-veins and as a consequence postthrombotic syndrome [5], resistance to APC might be especially prevalent among patients with postthrombotic leg ulceration. This led us to perform a pilot study and to examine 20 consecutive patients presenting for venous leg ulceration. The diagnosis of venous leg ulceration was based on clinical criteria and Doppler ultrasound examination [5]. At the time of blood sampling, none of the patients received heparin or oral anticoagulants. Six patients had a personal history of prior DVT. None of the patients had a family history of thrombophilia. Blood was collected in citrated glass tubes (sodium citrate, 0.11 mol/l), and plasma was prepared by centrifugation (3,000 g for 10 min) and stored at -80 °C. The APC sensitivity ratio was measured with the Coatest APC resistance kit (Cbromogenix,