Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining Differences In Efficiency: The Case Of Local Government Literature

One learns two main lessons from the efficiency literature on local governments. The first lesson regards the heterogeneity in the efficiency scores reported in primary papers. The second lesson is that there is no quantitative evidence on the role played by the features of each paper (i.e. estimation method, sample size, dimension, returns to scale) in explaining the differences in results. In order to fill this gap, we review the related empirical literature and perform a Meta Regression Analysis (MRA) by examining 360 efficiency scores retrieved from 54 papers published from 1993 to 2016. The meta-regression is based on a random effect model estimated with the Random Effects Maximum Likelihood (REML) technique, because it controls for within- and between-study heterogeneity. We also run a fixed effect unrestricted Weighted Least Squares (WLS) regression. Due to its main research focus, that is measuring the impact of potential sources of heterogeneity on local government efficiency, the paper contributes to the debate in two ways. One of this concerns the role of methodological choices made by researchers when performing an efficiency study. The second regards the role of deregulation in local government, which is a policy-issue in a number of countries. Results show that efficiency scores are highly heterogeneous. To be precise, significant differences in means are found when grouping efficiency by different criteria. The meta-regression estimates indicate that studies focusing on technical efficiency provide higher efficiency scores than works evaluating cost efficiency. Using panel data in primary studies allows researchers to obtain higher efficiency of local government than papers using cross-section data. Interestingly, FDH studies yield, on average, higher efficiency scores than DEA papers, thereby suggesting that in this literature the convexity hypothesis of the production set is a matter. Furthermore, we find that primary papers evaluating the efficiency of European municipalities provide lower efficiency scores than studies focusing on other countries (USA, Africa, Asia and Latina America). We also provide evidence that the estimated efficiency scores in primary papers focusing on the municipalities of a region are, one average, lower than those retrieved from studies addressing the efficiency of the national system of local government.
Experimental constraints on amphibole stability in primitive alkaline and calc-alkaline magmas

Equilibrium crystallization experiments were carried out on two primitive basaltic rocks (APR16: Na 2 O+K 2 O=4.40 wt.%; CM42: Na 2 O+K 2 O=2.59 wt.%) with the aim to investigate the amphibole stability in the differentiation processes at deep crustal level, of primitive alkaline (APR16) and calc-alkaline (CM42) magmas. The experiments were performed with different initial H 2 O contents (0-5 wt.%), at pressure of 800 MPa, in a temperatures range of 975-1225°C. For the explored conditions the amphibole crystallization is limited for both compositions, to H 2 O in the melt >7wt. %, while the temperature of amphibole occurrence is lower in the alkaline composition (< 1050°C in APR16 and ≥1050°C in CM42). Moreover, amphibole crystallization seems to be influenced by the Na 2 O/K 2 O ratio rather than the absolute Na 2 O content in the melt. This is evident when experimental results on the APR16 and CM42 are compared with experimental data obtained from a primitive ultrapotassic composition (leucite-basanite: Na 2 O+K 2 O=4.58 wt.%) and with thermodynamic modelling by the Rhyolite-MELTS algorithm. The comparison shows that amphibole doesn’t saturate the leucite-basanite in any of investigated/modelled conditions, also when an extended crystallization increases the Na 2 O of melts up to contents like those of calc-alkaline experimental glasses. We conclude that, at pressures of deep crust and hydrous conditions, only primitive liquids whose Na 2 O/K 2 O ratio is ≥0.9 are able to crystallize amphibole.
Semi-commutations and partial commutations

The aim of this paper is to show that a semi-commutation function can be expressed as the compound of a sequential transformation, a partial commutation function, and the reverse transformation. Moreover, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the image of a regular language to be computed by the compound of two sequential functions and a partial commutation function.
Experience from an optional dissection course in a clinically‐orientated concept to complement system‐based anatomy in a reformed curriculum

Profound anatomical knowledge is the basis for modern demands in medicine and surgery, but many countries worldwide including Australia and New Zealand have discontinued offering dissection courses to medical and dental students during the past decades. This educational project done in Australia aimed at enhancing basic and advanced anatomy teaching by engaging a sub‐group of second‐year undergraduate students of a compulsory prosection‐ and model‐based anatomy course (n = 54/170) in an optional multimodal course, which should easily articulate with a vertical curriculum. With topographical cadaver dissections as core, peer student‐teams prepared and peer‐assessed anatomy lectures based on clinical topics, which were rated highly by the peers and teachers. Anatomical knowledge was tested by quizzes and a multiple‐choice examination. Individual dissection skills were self‐ and teacher‐assessed. A final course grade was assigned based on these assessments. The grades in the system‐based compulsory course achieved by the attendees of the paralleling dissection course were compared with their peers attending other optional courses. After beginning of the semester, the students in the dissection course performed similar, significantly (P < 0.005) improved during the semester (78.5% vs. 69.9%, 70.1% vs. 64.1%), but in the integrated (including anatomy, biochemistry, physiology) final examination at the end of the year only tended to higher scores. As assessed through interviews and a voluntary questionnaire, all students of the optional dissection course liked these activities, which enhanced their learning experience. Thus, this concept elegantly integrates anatomical dissection with modern teaching demands and is feasible for implementation in modernized curricula. Anat Sci Educ 11: 32–43. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.
Standardization and Intellectual Property Rights: ETSI's controversial search for new IPR-procedures

During the early 1990s, several international standards development organizations including the IEEE re-approached how they deal with intellectual property rights. The search for new procedures by SDOs is a function of comprehensive institutional and market changes associated with the rapidly evolving ICT field. The changes affect both how formal standardization and how IPRs work in this field. In this note, the changing relationship between SDOs and IPRs will be approached in terms of the protracted controversy that has surrounded ETSI's attempt to depart from traditional IPR procedures in favor of more detailed ones. This case-study incorporates many of the forces marking the changing ICT-field that contribute to the 'new environment for standardization'. The study is based on interviews and a study of the theoretic and institutional literature.
Clinical performance of the levonorgestrel intra-uterine system in routine use by the UK Family Planning and Reproductive Health Research Network: 12-month report

Doctors working in general practice and at family planning clinics throughout the UK who collaborate in the UK Family Planning and Reproductive Health Research Network were responsible for the fitting of 692 Levonorgestrel Intra-uterine Systems (LNG IUS). This study was undertaken to determine the performance of the LNG IUS in British women in routine clinical use. The 12 months cumulative life-table event rates were: pregnancy 0.6, expulsion 4.5. The continuation rate was 70.6. Removals were also required for side effects, which may be due to absorbed levonorgestrel, the removal rate being 7.4. Positive effects include effective contraception and considerably reduced quantity of bleeding for most participants. A need was identified to counsel women about the early bleeding problems, including the possibility of oligomenorrhoea or amenorrhoea. This is considered to be very important as it will help women to persevere so that they can enjoy the longer-term benefits.
Multi-Residual Networks: Improving the Speed and Accuracy of Residual Networks

In this article, we take one step toward understanding the learning behavior of deep residual networks, and supporting the observation that deep residual networks behave like ensembles. We propose a new convolutional neural network architecture which builds upon the success of residual networks by explicitly exploiting the interpretation of very deep networks as an ensemble. The proposed multi-residual network increases the number of residual functions in the residual blocks. Our architecture generates models that are wider, rather than deeper, which significantly improves accuracy. We show that our model achieves an error rate of 3.73% and 19.45% on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 respectively, that outperforms almost all of the existing models. We also demonstrate that our model outperforms very deep residual networks by 0.22% (top-1 error) on the full ImageNet 2012 classification dataset. Additionally, inspired by the parallel structure of multi-residual networks, a model parallelism technique has been investigated. The model parallelism method distributes the computation of residual blocks among the processors, yielding up to 15% computational complexity improvement.
Changes to XML namespaces in XML schemas and their effects on associated XML documents under schema versioning

In XML databases, several works have dealt with changes of basic components of XML Schemas: element and attribute declarations, simple types, and complex type definitions. However, there is no work that has dealt with changes to advanced concepts of XML Schemas like XML namespaces, local/global qualified/unqualified declarations, and schema definition styles. In this paper, we deal with XML namespace evolution. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study such a topic (and in an environment that supports schema versioning). More precisely, we propose an approach for managing changes to XML namespaces defined in XML Schemas, and their effects on XML documents that are valid to these schemas, while keeping track of all XML schema and XML instance versions.
MAD Skills: New Analysis Practices for Big Data

As massive data acquisition and storage becomes increasingly affordable, a wide variety of enterprises are employing statisticians to engage in sophisticated data analysis. In this paper we highlight the emerging practice of Magnetic, Agile, Deep (MAD) data analysis as a radical departure from traditional Enterprise Data Warehouses and Business Intelligence. We present our design philosophy, techniques and experience providing MAD analytics for one of the world's largest advertising networks at Fox Audience Network, using the Greenplum parallel database system. We describe database design methodologies that support the agile working style of analysts in these settings. We present dataparallel algorithms for sophisticated statistical techniques, with a focus on density methods. Finally, we reflect on database system features that enable agile design and flexible algorithm development using both SQL and MapReduce interfaces over a variety of storage mechanisms.
Clinoform development and topset evolution in a mud‐rich delta – the Middle Triassic Kobbe Formation, Norwegian Barents Sea

Clinoform surfaces are routinely used to mark transitions from shallow waters to deep basins. This concept represents a valuable tool for screening potential reservoir intervals in frontier basins where limited data are available. Variations in the character of clinoform geometries and shoreline and shelf‐edge trajectories are indicators of a range of different factors, such as palaeobathymetry, changes in relative sea‐level and sediment supply. Applications of conceptual and generalized models might, however, lead to erroneous assumptions about the supply of coarse‐grained material to the delta front and basin when superficial similarities between clinoform geometries are not treated holistically. The present study examines the mudstone‐dominated Middle Triassic Kobbe Formation – a potential hydrocarbon reservoir interval in the Barents Sea, where prodeltaic to deltaic deposits can be examined in cores, well logs and two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional seismic data. Despite pronounced acoustic impedance contrast to the surrounding shale, channel belt networks are not observed close to the platform edge in seismic datasets, even at maximum regressive stages. However, sub‐seismic prodeltaic deposits observed on the shallow platform indicate that prodeltaic deposits were sourced directly from the delta plain. Clinoform surfaces with different geometries and scale are observed basinward of the palaeoplatform edge of underlying progradational sequences, correlative to mudstone‐dominated prodeltaic core sections. Results indicate that platform‐edge deltas developed at discrete sites in the basin due to normal regression, but the positions of these deltas are not directly relatable to variations in clinoform geometries. Transitions from third‐order to fourth‐order clinoform geometries record discrete transgressive–regressive cycles but are not necessarily good indicators of sandstone deposition. Because of prolonged periods with high accommodation, channel avulsions were frequent and only very fine‐grained sandstone was deposited in heterolithic units at the delta front. Sandstones with good reservoir properties are predominantly found along basin margins.
Feasibility of Routinely Using Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor to Decontaminate Rooms in a Busy United States Hospital

During a 22-month period at a 500-bed teaching hospital, 1,565 rooms that had housed patients infected with multidrug-resistant pathogens were decontaminated using hydrogen peroxide vapor. Hydrogen peroxide vapor decontamination required a mean time of 2 hours and 20 minutes, compared with 32 minutes for conventional cleaning. Despite the greater time required for decontamination, hydrogen peroxide vapor decontamination of selected patient rooms is feasible in a busy hospital with a mean occupancy rate of 94%.
Common regulatory networks in leaf and fruit patterning revealed by mutations in the Arabidopsis ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 gene

Carpels and leaves are evolutionarily related organs, as the former are thought to be modified leaves. Therefore, developmental pathways that play crucial roles in patterning both organs are presumably conserved. In leaf primordia of Arabidopsis thaliana, the ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (AS1) gene interacts with AS2 to repress the class I KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) genes BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP), KNAT2 and KNAT6, restricting the expression of these genes to the meristem. In this report, we describe how AS1, presumably in collaboration with AS2, patterns the Arabidopsis gynoecium by repressing BP, which is expressed in the replum and valve margin, interacts in the replum with REPLUMLESS (RPL), an essential gene for replum development, and positively regulates the expression of this gene. Misexpression of BP in the gynoecium causes an increase in replum size, while the valve width is slightly reduced, and enhances the effect of mutations in FRUITFULL (FUL), a gene with an important function in valve development. Altogether, these findings strongly suggest that BP plays a crucial role in replum development. We propose a model for pattern formation along the mediolateral axis of the ovary, whereby three domains (replum, valve margin and valve) are specified by the opposing gradients of two antagonistic factors, valve factors and replum factors, the class I KNOX genes working as the latter.
Subcellular Localization Directs Signaling Specificity of the Cryptococcus neoformans Ras1 Protein

ABSTRACT In the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, Ras signaling mediates sexual differentiation, morphogenesis, and pathogenesis. By studying Ras prenylation and palmitoylation in this organism, we have found that the subcellular localization of this protein dictates its downstream signaling specificity. Inhibiting C. neoformans Ras1 prenylation results in the defective general membrane targeting of this protein and the loss of all Ras function. In contrast, palmitoylation mediates localization of Ras1 to the plasma membrane and is required for normal morphogenesis and survival at high temperatures. However, palmitoylation and plasma membrane localization are not required for Ras-dependent sexual differentiation. Likely as a result of its effect on thermotolerance, Ras1 palmitoylation is also required for the pathogenesis of C. neoformans. These data support an emerging paradigm of compartmentalized Ras signaling. However, our studies also demonstrate fundamental differences between the Ras pathways in different organisms that emphasize the functional flexibility of conserved signaling cascades.
Log-Euclidean Metric Learning on Symmetric Positive Definite Manifold with Application to Image Set Classification

The manifold of Symmetric Positive Definite (SPD) matrices has been successfully used for data representation in image set classification. By endowing the SPD manifold with Log-Euclidean Metric, existing methods typically work on vector-forms of SPD matrix logarithms. This however not only inevitably distorts the geometrical structure of the space of SPD matrix logarithms but also brings low efficiency especially when the dimensionality of SPD matrix is high. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel metric learning approach to work directly on logarithms of SPD matrices. Specifically, our method aims to learn a tangent map that can directly transform the matrix logarithms from the original tangent space to a new tangent space of more discriminability. Under the tangent map framework, the novel metric learning can then be formulated as an optimization problem of seeking a Mahalanobis-like matrix, which can take the advantage of traditional metric learning techniques. Extensive evaluations on several image set classification tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed metric learning method.
MicroRNA‐377 is up‐regulated and can lead to increased fibronectin production in diabetic nephropathy

Intrinsic glomerular cells in a diabetic milieu have transcriptional activation of genes that influence the development of diabetic nephropathy. The cellular repertoire of microRNAs can regulate translation of these expressed genes into proteins. Fibronectin is a key matrix protein accumulated in excess in diabetic nephropathy. Here, we exposed cultured human and mouse mesangial cells to high glucose and transforming growth factor‐β to simulate the diabetic milieu. In these conditions in vitro, as well as in mouse diabetic nephropathy models in vivo, microRNA‐377 was consistently up‐regulated relative to controls. Through a combination of computational and biological approaches, we identified relevant miR‐377 target genes. Although fibronectin was induced by miR‐377, it was not a direct target of miR‐377. However, miR‐377 led to reduced expressions of p21‐activated kinase and superoxide dismutase, which enhanced fibronectin protein production. Thus, overexpression of miR‐377 in diabetic nephropathy indirectly leads to increased fibronectin protein production;as such, miR‐377 can have a critical role in the pathophysiology of this prevalent human disease. — Wang, Q. , Wang, Y. , Minto, A. W. , Wang, J., Shi, Q. , Li, X. , Quigg, R. J. MicroRNA‐377 is up‐regulated and can lead to increased fibronectin production in diabetic nephropathy. FASEB J. 22, 4126–4135 (2008)
Mind the gap - robotic grasping under incomplete observation

We consider the problem of grasp and manipulation planning when the state of the world is only partially observable. Specifically, we address the task of picking up unknown objects from a table top. The proposed approach to object shape prediction aims at closing the knowledge gaps in the robot's understanding of the world. A completed state estimate of the environment can then be provided to a simulator in which stable grasps and collision-free movements are planned.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES OF ASCITES TUMOR CELLS

Ascites tumor cells were chosen in our laboratory for early electron microscopic studies because they can be prepared relatively free of some of the gross preparative defects encountered i n pieces of solid tissue. Variations in degree of fixation, dehydration, and embedding in different areas of even very small pieces of solid tissue, as a result of the slow penetration of perosmic acid (the best fixative for both light and electron microscopy) and incomplete and uneven polymerization of plastic embedding (as introduced by Newinan, Borysko, and Swerdlow in 1949, the best embedding for ultrathin sectioning) cause cytological distortions that, although not obvious under the light microscope, are objectionable under the high magnification and resolution of the electron microscope. These may be avoided in working with free cell suspensions such as the ascites tumor cells, where all preparative solutions can be introduced directly into the suspending fluid (originally the ascitic fluid) bathing each cell. Thus the effects of preparative techniques are uniformly distributed among all the cells, and comparisons between various lixatives or embedding materials can be made with some confidence. As preparative techniques have improved each year, increasingly more information has been gained concerning the submicroscopic cytology of ascites tumor cells. This information has also been useful in providing a base line in the study of other cell types. I n what follor? is, the general method used in preparing ascites tumor cells for examination by electron microscopy will be outlined, the normal morphology of the ascites tumor cells will be descrihed as seen in high-magnification study of thin sections, and some changes in morphology during mitosis and during various types of cellular degeneration will be discussed. Cl&@? , NCEl YWk, N . I'.
Foreign language ictal speech automatisms in nondominant temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Foreign language ictal speech automatism (FLISA) is a rare ictal sign that has been hitherto reported in five unilingual patients, all right handed men with right temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), only one of whom has benefited from an intracerebral EEG investigation. Methods: We report three unilingual French patients who consistently presented English spoken ictal speech automatisms and were investigated with intracerebral EEG recordings. Results: All three patients were right-handed men with nondominant TLE originating in the right amygdala. However, FLISA only occurred when the ictal EEG discharge spread to the ipsilateral temporal neocortex or frontal operculum. In addition, FLISA were emotionally salient, referring to the patient’s parents or to the intensity of the ongoing seizure. Conclusion: Our findings, together with previously published data, suggest that foreign language ictal speech automatisms are more likely to occur in men with nondominant amygdala onset seizures, an observation that might reflect the sexual dimorphism observed in the right amygdala during emotional processing.