Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Models and Measures for Correlation in Cyber-Insurance

High correlation in failure of information systems due to worms and viruses has been cited as major impediment to cyber-insurance. However, of the many cyber-risk classes that influence failure of information systems, not all exhibit similar correlation properties. In this paper, we introduce a new classification of correlation properties of cyber-risks based on a twin-tier approach. At the first tier, is the correlation of cyber-risks within a firm i.e. correlated failure of multiple systems on its internal network. At second tier, is the correlation in risk at a global level i.e. correlation across independent firms in an insurer’s portfolio. Various classes of cyber-risks exhibit dierent level of correlation at two tiers, for instance, insider attacks exhibit high internal but low global correlation. While internal risk correlation within a firm influences its decision to seek insurance, the global correlation influences insurers’ decision in setting the premium. Citing real data we study the combined dynamics of the two-step risk arrival process to determine conditions conducive to the existence of cyber-insurance market. We address technical, managerial and policy choices influencing the correlation at both steps and the business implications thereof.
Enhanced Distal Nephron Sodium Reabsorption in Chronic Angiotensin II–Infused Mice

Chronic angiotensin II (Ang II) infusions enhance urinary excretion of angiotensinogen, suggesting augmentation of distal nephron sodium reabsorption. To assess whether chronic Ang II infusions (15 ng/min for 2 weeks) enhance distal nephron sodium reabsorption, we compared sodium excretion before and after blockade of the 2 main distal nephron sodium transporters by IV amiloride (5 mg/kg of body weight) plus bendroflumethiazide (12 mg/kg of body weight) in male C57/BL6 anesthetized control mice (n=10) and in chronic Ang II–infused mice (n=8). Chronic Ang II infusions increased systolic blood pressure to 141±6 mm Hg compared with 106±4 mm Hg in control mice. After anesthesia, mean arterial pressure averaged 97±4 mm Hg in chronic Ang II–infused mice compared with 94±3 mm Hg in control mice, allowing comparison of renal function at similar arterial pressures. Ang II–infused mice had lower urinary sodium excretion (0.16±0.04 versus 0.30±0.05 &mgr;Eq/min; P<0.05), higher distal sodium reabsorption (1.74±0.18 versus 1.12±0.18 &mgr;Eq/min; P<0.05), and higher fractional reabsorption of distal sodium delivery (91.1±1.8% versus 77.9±4.3%; P<0.05) than control mice. Urinary Ang II concentrations, measured during distal blockade, were greater in Ang II–infused mice (1235.0±277.2 versus 468.9±146.9 fmol/mL; P<0.05). In chronic Ang II–infused mice treated with spironolactone (n=5), fractional reabsorption of distal sodium delivery was similarly augmented as in chronic Ang II–infused mice (94.6±1.7%; P<0.01). These data provide in vivo evidence that there is enhanced distal sodium reabsorption dependent on sodium channel and Na+-Cl− cotransporter activity and increased urinary Ang II concentrations in mice infused chronically with Ang II.
The $25,000,000,000 Eigenvector: The Linear Algebra behind Google

Google's success derives in large part from its PageRank algorithm, which ranks the importance of web pages according to an eigenvector of a weighted link matrix. Analysis of the PageRank formula provides a wonderful applied topic for a linear algebra course. Instructors may assign this article as a project to more advanced students or spend one or two lectures presenting the material with assigned homework from the exercises. This material also complements the discussion of Markov chains in matrix algebra. Maple and Mathematica files supporting this material can be found at www.rose-hulman.edu/~bryan.
Homo Zappiens and the Need for New Education Systems

Introduction Future students in higher education belong to a generation that has grown up with a PC mouse in their hands, a TV remote control, a mobile phone, an i-Pod, a PDA, and other electronic devices for communication and entertainment. Technology has changed dramatically the way nowadays’ children live, computer games, the Internet, MSN, wiki’s, and blogs being an integral part of their lives. Today, the average college students in the USA have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours of playing games, not to mention the 20,000 hours of watching TV (Prensky, 2001). But the use of mass media is declining in favour of being online communicating with peers, searching for information, and using the net for fun (Wijngaards, 2006). In a country such as the Netherlands (16 million inhabitants) 87 percent of the kids between nine and fifteen years is online on a daily basis. Six million kids send more than 25 million messages a day through MSN (Microsoft, 2005), and children are exposed to around 8.000 brand images and icons a day (Lindstrom, 2003). They influence their parents what to buy or not to buy on the basis of what they have learnt on the net. It seems we could speak of a special generation, or even more than that, a Homo Zappiens. Surveys of kids’ behaviour tend to say that children learn much from computer games and from communicating intensively online. But parents and educational institutions complain about this generation and many think that all these technology gadgets and software is a waste of time, damages health and leads to social isolation. In addition, many state that these kids know far less than parents ever learnt at school. This article takes a positive view towards this Homo Zappiens and tries to explore the socio-cultural, technological and economic backgrounds that underpin the up rise of this new generation. It also describes the consequences for our education system that seems no longer to meet the needs of Homo Zappiens or that of the future knowledge intensive society.
How M = EC2 in healthcare

One after another more and more e-"somethings" are constantly appearing. The newest sensation though, is not an e-"something" rather the mobile Internet, m-commerce or the mobile version of e-commerce. Mobile commerce is now being embraced across most industries to a greater or lesser extent. In fact, its impact is being felt in the healthcare industry. Our paper serves to outline the benefits of adopting mobile commerce within the healthcare industry. In particular, it discusses an appropriate mobile solution to enable hospitals operate effectively and efficiently in today's competitive and costly healthcare environment as well as meet the necessary regulatory requirements.
Long-term effects of prostaglandin analogues on the anterior chamber depth of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma

Objective: To evaluate the effect of long-term application of bimatoprost and latanoprost on the anterior chamber depth of primary open-angle glaucoma patients. Methods: The anterior chamber depth (ACD) and axial length (AL) of patients using prostaglandin analogues for open-angle glaucoma (group I) and an age- and gender-adjusted control group (group II) were measured by ultrasonography. Patients using bimatoprost and those using latanoprost were also compared in terms of ACD and AL. Results: The mean ACD of group I (27 eyes of 27 subjects) was significantly lower than that of group II (30 eyes of 30 subjects) (p = .012). Similarly, the ratio of ACD to AL was significantly lower in group I compared with group II (p = .001). The ACDs of patients using bimatoprost or latanoprost and the control group were not significantly different by Kruskal-Wallis test (p = .056), but the differences of these 3 groups in ACD/AL ratios were significant (p = .004). When the Mann Whitney U test was used for pairwise comparison, there was a significant difference between the control group and the patients using latanoprost or bimatoprost in terms of the ACD/AL ratio (p = .008 for each). There was no difference between the patients using latanoprost and those using bimatoprost in terms of the ACD/AL ratio (p = .4). Conclusion: The ACD of patients on prolonged therapy with prostaglandin analogues seems to be lower than than that of the control group. However, prospective long-term studies on large number of subjects are needed to evaluate the effect of each type of prostaglandin on ocular structures.
A Self-Triggered Pulsed-Mode Flyback Converter for Electric-Field Energy Harvesting

Electric-field energy harvesting (EFEH) from medium-voltage (MV) power lines is an emerging technology to energize the low-cost distributed electronic measurement systems that are needed to monitor vital line parameters for smart grid systems. The challenge with EFEH is to extract energy without requiring a direct connection to the power line conductor. This severely constrains the amount of continuous energy that can be obtained because of the weak capacitive coupling between the power line and the energy harvesting system. This paper addresses this challenge, by using a self-triggered discontinuously operating flyback converter to transform a high-voltage dc bus rectified from the weakly coupled ac supply down to useful low-voltage levels. The results show that over 20 mW of continuous power can be extracted from a 12.7-kV MV line using this approach. Detailed circuit analysis and matching experimental results are presented to validate the concept.
Increasing Burden and Risk Factors for Bronchiolitis-Related Medical Visits in Infants Enrolled in a State Health Care Insurance Plan

OBJECTIVES. The goals were to estimate the year-round burden of health care visits attributable to bronchiolitis and to identify risk factors for bronchiolitis in term healthy infants. METHODS. We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of 103 670 term, non–low birth weight infants enrolled in Tennessee Medicaid in 1995–2003. We monitored infants through the first year of life. Risk factors for bronchiolitis during infancy and rates of inpatient, emergency department, and outpatient visits during the study period were calculated by using claims data. RESULTS. Over the 9 study years, rates of bronchiolitis visits were 238 outpatient visits per 1000 infant-years, 77 emergency department visits per 1000 infant-years, and 71 hospitalizations per 1000 infant-years. Average annual rates of bronchiolitis visits increased 41%, from 188 visits per 1000 infant-years to 265 visits per 1000 infant-years, from 1996–1997 to 2002–2003. Analysis of the linear trend in 500-g increments demonstrated a negative association between increasing birth weight and bronchiolitis diagnosis. There was a significant negative trend between maternal age and infant bronchiolitis diagnosis. Compared with infants of mothers 20 to 29 years of age, infants of mothers 15 to 19 years of age had a small increase in risk of having a bronchiolitis visit, whereas infants of older mothers (30–39 or 40–44 years of age) were less likely to have a visit. CONCLUSIONS. The disease burden of bronchiolitis is substantial, with increasing rates of all types of visits among term, otherwise-healthy infants enrolled in Tennessee Medicaid between 1995 and 2003. Protective factors in this cohort of term infants included higher birth weight and older maternal age.
“We Don’t Get Into All That”: An Analysis of How Teachers Uphold Heteronormative Sex and Relationship Education

Legislation that applies to UK SRE currently advocates inclusive provision. Given the nonstatutory status of SRE, however, it is unclear how teachers incorporate sexual inclusivity, especially as research has shown that teachers’ discursive practices can promote a heteronormative SRE climate (Renn, 2010). Using a discursive psychological approach to analyze interview data, this study examined how teachers account for their provision as inclusive. It was revealed that even when promoting their inclusivity, teachers’ SRE provision upholds heteronormativity. In doing this, they positioned LGB and same-sex practices outside of the classroom, potentially leaving these young people without a sufficient sex education.
Interaction Effect of Seed Size, Growing Media and Period of Sampling on Growth Characters of Pinus brutia Ten. Seedling at Grdarasha /Erbil

This investigation was conducted during (25/9/2014 to 25/9/ 2015) at Grdarashafield/ Salahaddin University, Erbil/College of Agriculture with GPS reading ofelevation 419 m. Longitude 36.109 N Latitude 44.018 E. The interaction of seedsize, growing media and period of sampling on growth character of Pinus brutiaTen. seedling was investigated by using poly bag pots. The studied factorsincluded three seed sizes (large, medium and small), five growth media (control(field soil), control+ loamy soil, control+ compost, control+ peat moss, control+loamy soil + compost+ peat moss) and three periods (25th of March, 25th of Juneand September, 2015 ) and their interactions on germination and seedlingperformance of Pinus brutia Ten. using factorial experiment based on CRD designwith three replications. The results indicated that the seed size affected significantlyon the studied characters. The highest values of shoot diameter, shoot fresh weight,root fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and Quality index were (2.74,2.69, 1.73, 0.94, 0.54, and 0.25) recorded from large seed size respectively. Whilein general the period of sampling affected significantly on the seedling characters(shoot diameter, shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, root fresh weight,shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and Quality index). The highest values of themwere (3.13, 17.18, 68.93, 4.16, 1.98, 1.49, 0.76, and 0.29) recorded from thirdperiod respectively.On the other hand, the growth media affected significantly on most of the studiedseedling characters. The highest values of (shoot diameter, shoot fresh weight, rootfresh weight, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight) were (3.12, 16.83, 4.69, 2.26,1.55, and 0.74) recorded from media 3 respectively. Combination treatmentsamong seed size, growth media and period were also affected significantly on mostof the studied characters. The highest values of (shoot diameter, shoot length, shootfresh weight, root fresh weight, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight) were (4.11,26.50, 10.71, 4.25, 3.88, and 1.84) which recorded from combination treatment ofthird period, large seed size and media 3 respectively.
The intramontane Orava Basin – evidence of large-scale Miocene to Quaternary sinistral wrenching in the Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian area

The Carpathian Orava Basin is a tectonic structure filled with Neogene and Quaternary deposits superimposed on the collision zone between the ALCAPA and European plates. Tectonic features of the south-eastern margin of the Orava Basin and the adjoining part of the fore-arc Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin were studied. Field observations of mesoscopic structures, analyses of digital elevation models and geological maps, supplemented with electrical resistivity tomography surveys were performed. Particular attention was paid to joint network analysis. The NE-SW-trending Krowiarki and Hrustinka-Biela Orava sinistral fault zones were recognized as key tectonic features that influenced the Orava Basin development. They constitute the north-eastern part of a larger Mur-Murz-Žilina fault system that separates the Western Carpathians from the Eastern Alps. The interaction of these sinistral fault zones with the older tectonic structures of the collision zone caused the initiation and further development of the Orava Basin as a strike-slip-related basin. The Krowiarki Fault Zone subdivides areas with a different deformation pattern within the sediments of the Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin and was active at least from the time of cessation of its sedimentation in the early Miocene. Comparison of structural data with the recent tectonic stress field, earthquake focal mechanisms and GPS measurements allows us to conclude that the Krowiarki Fault Zone shows a stable general pattern of tectonic activity for more than the last 20 myr and is presently still active.
Ordered Weighted (cid:96) 1 Regularized Regression with Strongly Correlated Covariates: Theoretical Aspects

This paper studies the ordered weighted (cid:96) 1 (OWL) family of regularizers for sparse linear regression with strongly correlated covariates. We prove sufﬁcient conditions for clustering correlated covariates, extending and qualitatively strengthening previous results for a particular member of the OWL family: OSCAR ( oc-tagonal shrinkage and clustering algorithm for regression ). We derive error bounds for OWL with correlated Gaussian covariates: for cases in which clusters of covariates are strongly (even perfectly) correlated, but covariates in different clusters are uncorrelated, we show that if the true p -dimensional signal involves only s clusters, then O ( s log p ) samples sufﬁce to accurately estimate it, regardless of the number of coefﬁ-cients within the clusters. Since the estimation of s -sparse signals with completely independent co-variates also requires O ( s log p ) measurements, this shows that by using OWL regularization, we pay no price (in the number of measurements) for the presence of strongly correlated covariates.
Contribution of Phosphates and Adenine to the Potency of Adenophostins at the IP3 Receptor: Synthesis of All Possible Bisphosphates of Adenophostin A

Although adenophostin A (AdA), the most potent agonist of d-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3R), is thought to mimic IP3, the relative roles of the different phosphate groups and the adenosine motif have not been established. We synthesized all three possible bisphosphate analogues of AdA and glucose 3,4-bisphosphate (7, AdA lacking the 2′-AMP). 2′-Dephospho-AdA (6) was prepared via a novel regioselective dephosphorylation strategy. Assessment of the abilities of these bisphosphates to stimulate intracellular Ca2+ release using recombinant rat type 1 IP3R (IP3R1) revealed that 6, a mimic of Ins(4,5)P2, is only 4-fold less potent than IP3, while 7 is some 400-fold weaker and even 3″-dephospho-AdA (5) is measurably active, despite missing one of the vicinal bisphosphate groups normally thought to be crucial for IP3-like activity. Compound 6 is the most potent bisphosphate yet discovered with activity at IP3R. Thus, adenosine has a direct role independent of the 2′-phosphate group in contributing toward the potency of adenophostins, the vicinal bisphosphate motif is not essential for activity at the IP3R, as always thought, and it is possible to design potent agonists with just two of the three phosphates. A model with a possible adenine–R504 interaction supports the activity of 5 and 6 and also allows a reappraisal of the unexpected activity previously reported for the AdA regioisomer 2″-phospho-3″-dephospho-AdA 40.
The Immunosuppressant Rapamycin Represses Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication

ABSTRACT The immunosuppressive macrolide rapamycin is used in humans to prevent graft rejection. This drug acts by selectively repressing the translation of proteins that are encoded by an mRNA bearing a 5′-polypyrimidine tract (e.g., ribosomal proteins, elongation factors). The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) carries a polypyrimidine motif that is located within the tat exon 2. Treatment of human T lymphoid cells with rapamycin resulted in a marked diminution of HIV-1 transcription when infection was performed with luciferase reporter T-tropic and macrophage-tropic viruses. Replication of fully infectious HIV-1 particles was abolished by rapamycin treatment. The rapamycin-mediated inhibitory effect on HIV-1 production was reversed by FK506. The anti-HIV-1 effect of rapamycin was also seen in primary human cells (i.e., peripheral blood lymphocytes) from different healthy donors. Rapamycin was shown to diminish basal HIV-1 long terminal repeat gene expression, and the observed effect of rapamycin on HIV-1 replication seems to be independent of the virus-specific transactivating Tat protein. A constitutive β-actin promoter-based reporter gene vector was unaffected by rapamycin treatment. Kinetic virus infection studies and exposure to reporter viruses pseudotyped with heterologous envelope proteins (i.e., amphotropic murine leukemia virus and vesicular stomatitis virus G) suggested that rapamycin is primarily affecting the life cycle of HIV-1 at a transcriptional level. Northern blot analysis confirmed that this compound is selectively targeting HIV-1 mRNA synthesis.
Fast and accurate timing characterization using functionalinformation

In deep submicrometer integrated circuit design, there is a growing need to quickly and accurately characterize the timing of large circuit blocks. Accurate timing characterization requires making available as much timing information as possible at each step of the design process. Conventional fast characterization methods typically employ topological analysis, which can be inaccurate because of its inability to eliminate false paths. To address this problem, a new method for creating accurate timing models of circuit blocks by making efficient use of their functionality is introduced. The proposed mode-dependent characterization (ModeChar) method is based on calculating a distinct timing model for each mode of circuit operation and reflects the way practical circuits function. ModeChar produces a mode-dependent timing model that contains delay information for a given set of circuit modes. It is shown that circuit delays are never underestimated by the mode-dependent models. The concept of mode dependency is taken further by extending it to sequential circuits. Given a sequential circuit, a compact set of constraints is derived for each circuit mode that captures all the timing constraints that must be satisfied for correct operation of the circuit. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of ModeChar in eliminating many false paths that would otherwise result in performance penalties. In addition, our experiments indicate that delays can vary considerably among circuit modes, making conventional topological analysis overly pessimistic. To make the mode-dependent models more compact, an efficient algorithm far coalescing delay information is also introduced.
Kurt Geppert Michael Happich Andreas Stephan Regional Disparities in the European Union : Convergence and Agglomeration Discussion Papers

Economic disparities between the regions of the European Union are of constant concern both for policy and economic research. In this paper we examine whether there are overlapping trends of regional development in the EU: overall convergence on the one hand and persistent or even increasing spatial concentration (agglomeration) on the other. Kernel density estimation, Markov chain analysis and cross-sectional regressions provide evidence that convergence of regional per-capita income in the EU15 has become considerably stronger in the 1990s. The reduction of income disparities, however, is a phenomenon between nations but not between regions within the EU countries. European integration (and possibly European regional policy) foster the catching-up of lagging countries but at the same time forces for agglomeration of economic activities tend to increase disparities within the EU member states. Obviously, the productive advantages of spatial proximity do not vanish in the knowledge economy. JEL classification: C14, R11, R12