Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Branching Bisimilarity of Normed BPA Processes as a Rational Monoid

The paper presents an elaborated and simplified version of the structural result for branching bisimilarity on normed BPA (Basic Process Algebra) processes that was the crux of a conference paper by Czerwinski and Jancar (arxiv 7/2014 and LiCS 2015). That paper focused on the computational complexity, and a NEXPTIME-upper bound has been derived; the authors built on the ideas by Fu (ICALP 2013), and strengthened his decidability result. Later He and Huang announced the EXPTIME-completeness of this problem (arxiv 1/2015, and LiCS 2015), giving a technical proof for the EXPTIME membership. He and Huang indirectly acknowledge the decomposition ideas by Czerwinski and Jancar on which they also built, but it is difficult to separate their starting point from their new ideas. One aim here is to present the previous decomposition result of Czerwinski and Jancar in a technically new framework, noting that branching bisimulation equivalence on normed BPA processes corresponds to a rational monoid (in the sense of [Sakarovitch, 1987]); in particular it is shown that the mentioned equivalence can be decided by normal-form computing deterministic finite transducers. Another aim is to provide a complete description, including an informal overview, that should also make clear how Fu's ideas were used, and to give all proofs in a form that should be readable and easily verifiable.
THE COMPLEXITY OF THINKING ACROSS CULTURES: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CULTURE AND SITUATIONAL CONTEXT

How does culture impact individual’s cognitive complexity? This article reviews evidence suggesting that the relationship between culture and cognitive complexity depends upon the nature of the situation in which complexity is expressed. In addition, two new investigations are summarized. One study reveals that individuals from different cultures are differentially dogmatic on different domains of knowledge. The other study reveals that individuals from different cultures are differentially likely to form simplistic stereotypes within different social contexts. We conclude that it is typically misleading to suggest monolithic cross-cultural differences for complexity of thought. An interactionist approach appears more appropriate.
Height is an indicator of vascular maintenance capacity in older men

Bone‐derived circulating CD34‐positive cells are reported to play an important role in vascular maintenance. Additionally, height might influence age‐related hematopoietic bone marrow decline, as it positively correlates with total bone marrow volume. As hypertension should mask the beneficial effects of circulating CD34‐positive cells, hypertension status should account for this correlation. The present study aimed to clarify the clinical importance of height on vascular maintenance in older Japanese men.
Enhancing the performance of spectrum-sharing systems via collaborative distributed beamforming and AF relaying

In this paper, we use a distributed beamforming method in cognitive radio relay networks in an effort to enhance the spectrum efficiency and improve the performance of the cognitive (secondary) system. In particular, we consider a spectrum sharing system where a set of potential relays are employed to help a pair of secondary users in the presence of a licensed (primary) user. A selection relaying scenario in an amplify and forward (AF) scheme is investigated. In this context, we obtain the exact expressions for the cumulative distribution function (CDF) and the moment generating function (MGF) of the equivalent end-to-end SNR at the secondary destination. Then, to analyze the performance, we derive closed-form expressions for the outage probability and bit error rate (BER) over independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels. Numerical results demonstrate the efficacy of beamforming in improving the secondary system performance in addition to limiting the interference to the primary users.
Maternal Administration of Sildenafil Citrate Alters Fetal and Placental Growth and Fetal–Placental Vascular Resistance in the Growth-Restricted Ovine Fetus

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) causes short- and long-term morbidity. Reduced placental perfusion is an important pathogenic component of IUGR; substances that enhance vasodilation in the uterine circulation, such as sildenafil citrate (sildenafil), may improve placental blood flow and fetal growth. This study aimed to examine the effects of sildenafil in the growth-restricted ovine fetus. Ewes carrying singleton pregnancies underwent insertion of vascular catheters, and then, they were randomized to receive uterine artery embolization (IUGR) or to a control group. Ewes in the IUGR group received a daily infusion of sildenafil (IUGR+SC; n=10) or vehicle (IUGR+V; n=8) for 21 days. The control group received no treatment (n=9). Umbilical artery blood flow was measured using Doppler ultrasound and the resistive index (RI) calculated. Fetal weight, biometry, and placental weight were obtained at postmortem after treatment completion. Umbilical artery RI in IUGR+V fell less than in controls; the RI of IUGR+SC was intermediate to that of the other 2 groups (mean±SEM for control versus IUGR+V versus IUGR+SC: &Dgr;RI, 0.09±0.03 versus −0.01±0.02 versus 0.03±0.02; F(2, 22)=4.21; P=0.03). Compared with controls, lamb and placental weights were reduced in IUGR+V but not in IUGR+SC (control versus IUGR+V versus IUGR+SC: fetal weight, 4381±247 versus 3447±235 versus 3687±129 g; F(2, 24)=5.49; P=0.01 and placental weight: 559.7±35.0 versus 376.2±32.5 versus 475.2±42.5 g; F(2, 24)=4.64; P=0.01). Sildenafil may be a useful adjunct in the management of IUGR. An increase in placental weight and fall in fetal–placental resistance suggests that changes to growth are at least partly mediated by changes to placental growth rather than alterations in placental efficiency.
Novel mechanism of cytokine-induced disruption of epithelial barriers

The ductal epithelium plays a key role in physiological secretion of pancreatic enzymes into the digestive system. Loss of barrier properties of the pancreatic duct may contribute to the development of pancreatitis and metastatic dissemination of pancreatic tumors. Proinflammatory cytokines are essential mediators of pancreatic inflammation and tumor progression; however, their effects on the integrity and barrier properties of the ductal epithelium have not been previously addressed. In the present study, we investigate mechanisms of cytokine-induced disassembly of tight junctions (TJs) and adherens junctions (AJs) in a model pancreatic epithelium. Exposure of HPAF-II human pancreatic epithelial cell monolayers to interferon (IFN)γ disrupted integrity and function of apical junctions as manifested by increased epithelial permeability and cytosolic translocation of AJ and TJ proteins. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α potentiated the effects of IFNγ on pancreatic epithelial junctions. The cytokine-induced increase in epithelial permeability and AJ/TJ disassembly was attenuated by pharmacological inhibition of Janus kinase (JAK) and protein kinase D (PKD). Loss of apical junctions in IFNγ/TNFα-treated HPAF-II cells was accompanied by JAK and PKD dependent decrease in expression of AJ (E-cadherin, p120 catenin) and TJ (occludin, ZO-1) proteins. Depletion of E-cadherin or p120 catenin recapitulated the effects of cytokines on HPAF-II cell permeability and junctions. Our data suggests that proinflammatory cytokines disrupt pancreatic epithelial barrier via expressional downregulation of key structural components of AJs and TJs. This mechanism is likely to be important for pancreatic inflammatory injury and tumorigenesis.
Resource Scheduling Under Uncertainty in a Smart Grid With Renewables and Plug-in Vehicles

The power system and transportation sector are our planet's main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy sources (RESs), mainly wind and solar, can reduce emissions from the electric energy sector; however, they are very intermittent. Likewise, next generation plug-in vehicles, which include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid capability, referred to as gridable vehicles (GVs) by the authors, can reduce emissions from the transportation sector. GVs can be used as loads, energy sources (small portable power plants) and energy storage units in a smart grid integrated with renewable energy sources. However, uncertainty surrounds the controllability of GVs. Forecasted load is used in unit commitment (UC); however, the actual load usually differs from the forecasted one. Thus, UC with plug-in vehicles under uncertainty in a smart grid is very complex considering smart charging and discharging to and from various energy sources and loads to reduce both cost and emissions. A set of valid scenarios is considered for the uncertainties of wind and solar energy sources, load and GVs. In this paper, an optimization algorithm is used to minimize the expected cost and emissions of the UC schedule for the set of scenarios. Results are presented indicating that the smart grid has the potential to maximally utilize RESs and GVs to reduce cost and emissions from the power system and transportation sector.
Two new and two recharacterized species from a radiation of pristionchus (nematoda: diplogastridae) in europe.

Two new species of Pristionchus, P. lucani n. sp. and P. bulgaricus n. sp. , are described from France and Bulgaria, respectively. Additionally, new morphological and morphometric data are provided for two previously described species from Europe, P. brevicauda (Kotlán, 1928) Paramonov, 1952 and P. clavus (von Linstow, 1901) Sudhaus and Fürst von Lieven, 2003. A phylogeny including these four species was inferred from a dataset including 26 ribosomal protein-coding genes, sequences of which are original for P. bulgaricus n. sp. and P. clavus. Relationships support a radiation of all sequenced European Pristionchus species from a single, gonochoristic common ancestor, and current knowledge of species ranges supports "western" and "eastern" clades. Similar diagnostic morphologies reflect the close relationships among the new and recharacterized species, especially P. bulgaricus n. sp. , P. brevicauda, and P. clavus, although mating tests as well as genetic and phylogenetic separation support their identities as unique species. Our results show that Pristionchus species in Europe are more diverse than typological characters suggest, and thus biological and molecular profiling will be essential for future delimitation of Pristionchus species from the region.
The dynamics of statins: from event prevention to neuroprotection.

Working on new antibiotic candidates, Akira Endo found in 1976 that statins could strongly inhibit HMG-CoA reductase.1 It turned out that his discovery was the most important advance in cardiovascular prevention since aspirin and blood pressure–lowering. Contradicting most epidemiological studies which failed to find a link between cholesterol levels and stroke,2 statins strongly reduce stroke incidence. This prompted an investigation of the non–cholesterol-dependent effects of statins, so called pleiotropic effects, on biologic actions related to plaque instability, inflammation, endothelial function, fibrinolytic activity, platelet function,3 as well as cerebral blood flow and NO-enhancing pathways leading to neuroprotection. Since the publication of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S),4 the majority of statin trials found a significant reduction in stroke events in patients with coronary heart disease, or with a history of vascular disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. The meta-analysis of over 90 000 patients showed a significant 21% stroke reduction with no statistical heterogeneity between trials and no increase in hemorrhagic stroke.5 Indeed, from the meta-analysis, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) reduction could be related to 35% to 80% of the statin benefit.5 New results from randomized trials confirmed that LDL-lowering was associated with a decreased risk of stroke by 48% in diabetics with “normal” LDL cholesterol at baseline,6 and 25% in patients with coronary artery disease.7 In the Treat to New Target trial, the benefit was observed in patients with a mean LDL …
Psychiatric research in South Africa: a systematic review of Medline publications.

BACKGROUND There is debate about the future path that medical and psychiatric research in South Africa should take. In particular, there have been calls to make research more relevant to the needs of the population. There is, however, little systematically collected data on the nature, strengths, and flaws of past psychiatric research in this country. METHODS We undertook a MEDLINE search to gather all manuscripts that fell under the umbrella of psychiatric research and published by South Africa-based authors during the years 1966-1997. Several kinds of data were collated from each of the articles, including information about the authors and the journal, as well as information on the focus and type of article. RESULTS While publications from South Africa continue to grow in number, relatively few involve collaborative research groups and few authors write more than one paper. Many papers relevant to psychiatry were published in general medical journals and many were from general medical departments. While blacks and females have been included in research, a number of important areas have received little attention. CONCLUSIONS Psychiatry research in South Africa requires additional fostering, including additional resources for research training and arguably additional development of subspecialty focuses. Given the limited resources, and the nature of modern research, increased emphasis on collaboration seems advisable. A number of areas in psychiatry deserve particular attention from future researchers.
Energy Efficient Topology Control based on Sociological Cluster in Wireless Sensor Networks

The network topology for a wide area sensor network has to support connectivity and a prolonged lifetime for the many applications used within it. The concepts of structure and group in sociology are similar to the concept of cluster in wireless sensor networks. The clustering method is one of the preferred ways to produce a topology for reduced electrical energy consumption. We herein propose a cluster topology method based on sociological structures and concepts. The proposed sociological clustering topology (SOCT) is a method that forms a network in two phases. The first phase, which from a sociological perspective is similar to forming a state within a nation, involves using nodes with large transmission capacity to set up the global area for the cluster. The second phase, which is similar to forming a city inside the state, involves using nodes with small transmission capacity to create regional clusters inside the global cluster to provide connectivity within the network. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms other methods in terms of energy efficiency and network lifetime.
Imprint cytology improves accuracy of computed tomography-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether imprint cytology can improve the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-guided transthoracic core biopsy. Between October 1997 and June 2004, thoracic lesions in 622 patients underwent biopsy using 19-gauge coaxial guiding needles and 20-gauge biopsy needles under computed tomography guidance. Touch imprint cytology and histopathology were performed for all biopsy specimens. Of these lesions, 431 (74.1%) were diagnosed as malignant, 151 (25.9%) as benign and 40 (6%) as nondiagnostic. Imprint cytology plus histology shows an improved diagnostic accuracy of 96.4% compared with that of imprint cytology alone (92.3%) or histopathology alone (93.0%). Procedure-related complications requiring further treatment occurred in eight (1.4%) patients. In conclusion, imprint cytology combined with histopathology can improve the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-guided transthoracic needle biopsy.
Neyman-Pearson-Based Early Mode Decision for HEVC Encoding

The high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard has highly improved the coding efficiency by adopting hierarchical structures of coding unit (CU), prediction unit (PU), and transform unit (TU). However, enormous computational complexity is introduced due to the recursive rate-distortion optimization (RDO) process on all CUs, PUs and TUs. In this paper, we propose a fast and efficient mode decision algorithm based on the Neyman-Pearson rule, which consists of early SKIP mode decision and fast CU size decision. First, the early mode decision is modeled as a binary classification problem of SKIP/non-SKIP or split/unsplit. The Neyman-Pearson-based rule is employed to balance the rate-distortion (RD) performance loss and the complexity reduction by minimizing the missed detection with a constrained incorrect decision rate. A nonparametric density estimation scheme is also developed to calculate the likelihood function of the statistical parameters. Furthermore, an online training scheme is employed to periodically update the probability density distributions for different quantization parameters (QPs) and CU depth levels. The experimental results show that the proposed overall algorithm can save 65% and 58% computational complexity on average with a 1.29% and 1.08% Bjontegaard Delta bitrate (BDBR) increase for various test sequences under random access and low delay P conditions, respectively. The proposed overall scheme also has the advantage that it can make the trade-off between the RD performance and time saving by setting different values for the incorrect decision rate.
Overstretching solidarity? Trade unions' national perspectives on the European economic and social model

The development of a European economic and social model poses serious challenges for European trade unions. On the one hand, demand for a strengthening of the social dimension of the European integration project is growing and it is realised that this cannot be achieved by unilateral action at the national level. On the other hand, the identities and organisational capacities of trade unions are deeply embedded in national welfare state institutions, limiting the leeway for a common European social model. This article presents empirical evidence from over 100 interviews with trade union leaders and politicians from 17 EU Member States on trade unions' positions in various policy fields (economic, social and competition policies). The conclusion is that unions should reflect more critically on their embeddedness in national welfare state arrangements in order to move forward together towards the realisation of a Social Europe. Le développement d'un modèle économique et social européen pose de sérieux défis aux syndicats européens. D'une part, la demande d'un renforcement de la dimension sociale du projet d'intégration européen est en augmentation et on se rend compte qu'il est impossible de la réaliser par une action unilatérale au niveau national. D'autre part, les identités et les capacités organisationnelles des syndicats sont profondément ancrées dans les institutions nationales de l'État-providence, limitant par là la marge de manoeuvre d'un modèle social européen commun. Cet article présente des données empiriques basées sur plus de 100 entrevues avec des dirigeants syndicaux et des personnalités politiques de 17 Etats membres de l'UE sur les positions des syndicats dans divers domaines politiques (économiques, sociales et de concurrence). L'article conclut que les syndicats devraient réfléchir dans un esprit plus critique sur leur ancrage dans un système national d'État-providence afin d'avancer ensemble vers la réalisation d'une Europe sociale. Die Entwicklung eines europäischen Wirtschafts- und Sozialmodells stellt die europäischen Gewerkschaften vor schwierige Herausforderungen: Einerseits wächst die Erkenntnis, dass eine Stärkung der sozialen Dimension der europäischen Integration notwendig ist und dies nicht durch einseitige Aktionen auf nationaler Ebene erreicht werden kann. Andererseits sind die Identitäten und Organisationskapazitäten der Gewerkschaften tief in den nationalen Institutionen der Wohlfahrtsstaaten verankert, wodurch ihr Spielraum bei der Gestaltung eines gemeinsamen europäischen Sozialmodells eingeschränkt wird. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert empirische Ergebnisse aus mehr als 100 Gesprächen mit Gewerkschaftsführern und Politikern aus 17 EU-Mitgliedstaaten, die zu ihren Positionen in Bezug auf verschiedene Politikfelder (Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Wettbewerbspolitik) befragt wurden. Die Autoren gelangen zu dem Schluss, dass die Gewerkschaften kritischer über ihre Verankerung in den nationalen Systemen der Wohlfahrtsstaaten nachdenken müssen, um gemeinsam auf dem Weg zu einem sozialen Europa voranzuschreiten.
Authentic leadership theory and practice : origins, effects and development

Preface. (B.J. Avolio, W.L. Gardner, F.O. Walumbwa). Advancements to Authentic Leadership Development Theory. Veritable Authentic Leadership: Emergence, Functioning and Impacts. (A. Chan, S.T. Hannah, W.L. Gardner). Moral Leadership: Explicating the Moral Component of Authentic Leadership. (S.T. Hannah, P.B. Lester, G.R.Vogelgesang). Developing Transparent Relationships through Humor in the Authentic Leader-Follower Relationship. (L. Hughes). The Differential Effects of Socialized and Personalized Leadership on Group Social Capital. (P. Varella, M. Javidan, D. Waldman). Leader Political Skill and Authentic Leadership. (C. Douglas, G.R. Ferris, P.L. Perrewe). The Internal Theatre of the Authentic Leader: Integrating Cognitive, Affective, Conative and Spiritual Facets of Authentic Leadership. (K. Klenke). In Search of Authenticity: Spiritual Leadership Theory as a Source for Future Theory, Research, and Practice on Authentic Leadership. (L.W. (Jody) Fry, J.L. Whittington). Leadership Intervention Research. Where are We? The Status of Leadership Intervention Research: A Meta-analytic Summary. (R.J. Reichard, B.J. Avolio). Measuring Authentic Leadership. Authentic Leadership Measurement and Development: Challenges and Suggestions. (A. Chan). Perceptions of Authentic Leadership: Exploratory Studies. Leader Authenticity Markers: Findings from a Study of Perceptions of African-American Political Leaders. (T.L. Pittinsky, C.J. Tyson). Follower Emotional Reactions to Authentic and Inauthentic Leadership Influence. (M.T. Dasborough, N.M. Ashkanasy). Moving Forward. Resiliency Development of Organizations, Leaders and Employees: Multi-Level Theory Building for Sustained Performance. (C.M. Youssef, F. Luthans). Authentic Leadership in In Extremis Settings: A Concept for Extraordinary Leaders in Exceptional Situations. (T.A. Kolditz, D.M. Brazil). Authentic Development: Leadership Development Level and Executive Effectiveness. (K.M. Eigel, K.W. Kuhnert). Authentic Leadership Development: Emergent Themes and Future Directions. (W.L. Gardner, B.J. Avolio, F.O. Walumbwa).