Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Network routing with path vector protocols: theory and applications

Path vector protocols are currently in the limelight, mainly because the inter-domain routing protocol of the Internet, BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), belongs to this class. In this paper, we cast the operation of path vector protocols into a broad algebraic framework and relate the convergence of the protocol, and the characteristics of the paths to which it converges, with the monotonicity and isotonicity properties of its path compositional operation. Here, monotonicity means that the weight of a path cannot decrease when it is extended, and isotonicity means that the relationship between the weights of any two paths with the same origin is preserved when both are extended to the same node. We show that path vector protocols can be made to converge for every network if and only if the algebra is monotone, and that the resulting paths selected by the nodes are optimal if and only if the algebra is isotone as well.Many practical conclusions can be drawn from instances of the generic algebra. For performance-oriented routing, typical in intra-domain routing, we conclude that path vector protocols can be made to converge to widest or widest-shortest paths, but that the composite metric of IGRP (Interior Gateway Protocol), for example, does not guarantee convergence to optimal paths. For policy-based routing, typical in inter-domain routing, we formulate existing guidelines as instances of the generic algebra and we propose new ones. We also show how a particular instance of the algebra yields a sufficient condition for signaling correctness of internal BGP.
Of Free Federations and World States: Kant’s Right and the Limits of International Justice

Immanuel Kant's position on international justice is beset by some troublesome inconsistencies, most notably a conflicted set of views on the status of federations as suitable alternatives to a world state. It is tempting for contemporary readers to interpret Kant's indecision as a lack of commitment or resoluteness. Closer inspection demonstrates that this problem involves deeper paradoxes, rooted in the concept of sovereignty. On this matter, Kant's Rechtslehre is the source of the difficulties found in the "popular" essays. Kant's vacillating position on the proper institutional end for international relations is attributable to the fundamentally "permissive" character of his concept of right. Rechtslehre doctrines entail a form of skepticism, from which a coherent cosmopolitan program cannot possibly be derived.
Executive Compensation and Incentives

Executive Overview The objective of a properly designed executive compensation package is to attract, retain, and motivate CEOs and senior management. The standard economic approach for understanding executive pay is the principal-agent model. This paper documents the changes in executive pay and incentives in U.S. firms between 1993 and 2003. We consider reasons for these transformations, including agency theory, changes in the managerial labor markets, shifts in firm strategy, and theories concerning managerial power. We show that boards and compensation committees have become more independent over time. In addition, we demonstrate that compensation committees containing affiliated directors do not set greater pay or fewer incentives.
The Upward Spirals in Team Processes: Examining Dynamic Positivity in Problem Solving Teams

Positivity at workplace has been heralded to produce individual, social and organizational benefits. Although we know more about how positivity “broadens” and “builds” within individuals, little research has explicitly studied how positivity naturally occur and dynamically unfolds in the flow of team interactions. This study aims to address these research gaps by integrating existing knowledge on team processes with the notions of emotional cycles and “energy-in-conversation. ” We observed meeting interactions of 43 self-managed frontline technician teams and analyzing a sample of 43,139 coded individual utterances from these teams. Using statistical discourse analysis (SDA) which incorporates multilevel models, we found that early positive and solution-focused interactions can send the teams down a path of eliciting more “upward spirals. ” We also found that speaker switches could add more positivity to team interactions directly, as well as by strengthening the positive effects of early positive and solut.
Thyroid hormones as modulators of immune activities at the cellular level.

BACKGROUND Increasing evidence suggests that thyroid hormones, L-thyroxine (T(4)) and 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T(3)), are modulators of the immune response. In monocytes, macrophages, leukocytes, natural killer cells, and lymphocytes, a wide range of immune functions such as chemotaxis, phagocytosis, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cytokine synthesis and release are altered under hypo- and hyperthyroid conditions. SUMMARY Hyperthyroidism decreases the proinflammatory activities of monocytes and macrophages, whereas enhancement of phagocytosis and increased levels of ROS may occur during hypothyroidism. The expression of proinflammatory molecules such as macrophage inflammatory protein-1α and interleukin-1β increases in hypothyroidism. However, in Kupffer cells, proinflammatory activities such as the respiratory burst, nitric oxide synthase activity, and tumor necrosis factor-α expression may result from increased T(3) levels. Thyroid hormones also affect natural killer cell activity and cell-mediated immune responses. Still, for many immune cells no clear correlation has been found so far between abnormally high or low T(3) or T(4) levels and the effects observed on the immune responses. CONCLUSIONS In this review we outline the contributions of thyroid hormones to different aspects of innate and adaptive immune responses. The relationship between thyroid hormones and immune cells is complex and T(3) and T(4) may modulate immune responses through both genomic and nongenomic mechanisms. Future studies of the molecular signaling mechanisms involved in this cross-talk between thyroid hormones and the immune system may support development of new strategies to improve clinical immune responses.
Relationship of ADP-Induced Fibrinogen Binding to Platelet Shape Change and Aggregation Elucidated by Use of Colchicine and Cytochalasin B

Summary ADP causes human, aspirin-treated, gel-filtered platelets to change from their native discoid shape to spiny spheres with pseudopods, bind 125I-labeled fibrinogen, and aggregate if shaken with sufficient fibrinogen. After destruction of the added ADP with the enzyme apyrase, the platelets revert to a disc shape and lose much of their bound fibrinogen. Colchicine (208 μM or 83 μg/ml) added to ADP-treated platelets before apyrase prevented restoration of the discoid shape but not the loss of bound fibrinogen. It did not inhibit ADP-induced shape change, aggregation, or fibrinogen binding. Cytochalasin B (0.02–0.2 μM or 0.01–0.10 μg/ml) prevented ADP-induced shape change but not ADP-induced fibrinogen binding or aggregation. Thus, these findings support earlier studies with thrombasthenic and EDTA-treated platelets and with normal platelets at low pH, or in the presence of EDTA to indicate that fibrinogen binding is associated with aggregability but not with platelet shape.
Remote mutual authentication and key agreement scheme based on elliptic curve cryptosystem

Remote mutual authentication is an important part of security, along with confidentiality and integrity, for systems that allow remote access over untrustworthy networks, like the Internet. In 2006, Shieh-Wang pointed out the weakness of Juang’s remote mutual authentication scheme using smart card and further proposed a novel remote user authentication scheme using smart card. However, this paper demonstrates that Shieh-Wang’s scheme still does not provide perfect forward secrecy and is vulnerable to a privileged insider’s attack. We also present an improved scheme based on the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman problem (ECDHP) and secure one-way hash function, in order to isolate such security problems.
Stress Appraisals and Training Performance on a Complex Laboratory Team Task

Stress appraisal research indicated that those who were challenged by a task outperform those who were threatened by a task. Potential effects of two levels of stress appraisal (Challange-Threat) on training performance were evaluated. Participants were trained on the Dynamic Distributed Decision-making (DDD) task, which models an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) team at a level that a college student can learn within 8 hours. Scenarios were developed for the DDD task that would allow the measurement of team helping behaviors. A significant main effect of stress appraisal was found for both mission outcome measures and for team process measures. These findings pave the way for scientists to increase understanding of stress appraisals and team training as well as for trainers to improve training.
A Longitudinal Study of a Business Model of On-line Shopping Behavior Using a Latent Growth Curve Approach

In spite of the fact that we are in a digital economy, online sales represent less than 2% of the overall retail business. Online retail sales are expected to grow significantly in the future. This presents a significant opportunity for businesses to increase their share of the online retail business and in the process contribute towards the digital economy. In this longitudinal study, we introduce and empirically test over a period of time a business model of online shopping behavior using multinational data. Our study is based on the premise that online shopping behavior may change over time and it is important to undertake a research study to ascertain as to which of these antecedents may remain significant over time. We believe this will allow businesses to come up with a better online shopping channel. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a longitudinal study has been conducted in this area to investigate the antecedents of online shopping behavior. Another contribution of this research is the introduction of a powerful structural equation modeling technique, the latent growth curve (LGC) approach, to the information systems literature. We used this approach to validate the on-line shopping model. Our results show that over time trust and economic condition play a significant and positive role in online shopper’s behavior.
Cardiomyocyte Formation by Skeletal Muscle-Derived Multi-Myogenic Stem Cells after Transplantation into Infarcted Myocardium

Background Cellular cardiomyoplasty for myocardial infarction has been developed using various cell types. However, complete differentiation and/or trans-differentiation into cardiomyocytes have never occurred in these transplant studies, whereas functional contributions were reported. Methods and Results Skeletal muscle interstitium-derived CD34+/CD45− (Sk-34) cells were purified from green fluorescent protein transgenic mice by flowcytometory. Cardiac differentiation of Sk-34 cells was examined by in vitro clonal culture and co-culture with embryonic cardiomyocytes, and in vivo transplantation into a nude rat myocardial infarction (MI) model (left ventricle). Lower relative expression of cardiomyogenic transcription factors, such as GATA-4, Nkx2-5, Isl-1, Mef2 and Hand2, was seen in clonal cell culture. However, vigorous expression of these factors was seen on co-culture with embryonic cardiomyocytes, together with formation of gap-junctions and synchronous contraction following sphere-like colony formation. At 4 weeks after transplantation of freshly isolated Sk-34 cells, donor cells exhibited typical cardiomyocyte structure with formation of gap-junctions, as well as intercalated discs and desmosomes, between donor and recipient and/or donor and donor cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis detecting the rat and mouse genomic DNA and immunoelectron microscopy using anti-GFP revealed donor-derived cells. Transplanted Sk-34 cells were incorporated into infarcted portions of recipient muscles and contributed to cardiac reconstitution. Significant improvement in left ventricular function, as evaluated by transthoracic echocardiography and micro-tip conductance catheter, was also observed. Conclusions and Significance Skeletal muscle-derived multipotent Sk-34 cells that can give rise to skeletal and smooth muscle cells as reported previously, also give rise to cardiac muscle cells as multi-myogenic stem cells, and thus are a potential source for practical cellular cardiomyoplasty.
Comparing Stochastic and Deterministic Computing

Technology scaling has raised the specter of myriads of cheap, but unreliable and/or stochastic devices that must be creatively combined to create a reliable computing system. This has renewed the interest in computing that exploits stochasticity-embracing, not combating the device physics. If a stochastic representation is used to implement a programmable general-purpose architecture akin to CPUs, GPUs, or FPGAs, the preponderance of evidence indicates that most of the system energy will be expended in communication and storage as opposed to computation. This paper presents an analytical treatment of the benefits and drawbacks of adopting a stochastic approach by examining the cost of representing a value. We show both scaling laws and costs for low precision representations. We also analyze the cost of multiplication implemented using stochastic versus deterministic approaches, since multiplication is the prototypical inexpensive stochastic operation. We show that the deterministic approach compares favorably to the stochastic approach when holding precision and reliability constant.
An Analysis on Crops Choice and Its Driving Factors in Agricultural Heritage Systems—A Case of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System (HHRTS) is one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites approved by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2010. In recent years, with the development of modern agriculture and tourism, cultivation practices for high yield and uniform variety cropping, has threatened the stability of the system of forest-village-paddy-rivers in the Hani terraces. From the viewpoint of farming behavior, we carried out our surveys to learn about the local rural households’ planting situations and the factors that influence their planting choices. A Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used for gaining information in Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province. Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) were used to test the theoretical result at the individual rural household level. Then, this paper summarized the status quo of crop cultivation structures and analyzed their driving factors in HHRTS. The results showed as follows: ① In the 41.23 hm 2 available farmland referred in survey, the crops grown, ordered by total cultivated area, are hybrid rice, corn, and fruit, which rank as the top three for all crops. As the regional traditional crop, the cultivated area of red rice is only 12.04% of total available farmland referred to in the survey. ② According to the actual plantation, the rural household is divided into two categories and marked as “the red-rice-plantation-oriented household (RR household)” and “the hybrid-rice-plantation-oriented household (HR household)”. The result of the SUR model showed that the driving factors to plant hybrid rice and red rice varied greatly with different categories of the rural household. ③ Consistent with the results of correlation analyses and factor analyses, significant driving factors of red rice planting included the ethnicity of the household, the average altitude of the farmland, and the labor productivity of red rice. Significant restraint factors included the total number of family members and the yield of red rice per unit area. Thereupon, in order to realize the dynamic protection of HHRTS, we established an encouragement mechanism for improving the proportion of red rice plantings in relation to aspects of the rural household, the community, and the local government.
Characterization of the heteromeric potassium channel formed by kv2.1 and the retinal subunit kv8.2 in Xenopus oocytes.

Kv8.2 (KCNV2) subunits do not form homotetrameric potassium channels, although they coassemble with Kv2.1 to constitute functional heteromers. High expression of Kv8.2 was reported in the human retina and its mutations were linked to the visual disorder "cone dystrophy with supernormal rod electroretinogram. " We detected abundant Kv8.2 expression in the photoreceptor layer of mouse retina, where Kv2.1 is also known to be present. When the two subunits were coexpressed in Xenopus oocytes in equal amounts, Kv8.2 abolished the current of Kv2.1. If the proportion of Kv8.2 was reduced then the current of heteromeric channels emerged. Kv8.2 shifted the steady-state activation of Kv2.1 to more negative potentials, without affecting the voltage dependence of inactivation. This gave rise to a window current within the -40 to -10 mV membrane potential range. Ba2+ inhibited the heteromeric channel and shifted its activation to more positive potentials. These electrophysiological and pharmacological properties resemble those of the voltage-gated K+ current (named I Kx) described in amphibian retinal rods. Furthermore, oocytes expressing Kv2.1/Kv8.2 developed transient hyperpolarizing overshoots in current-clamp experiments, whereas those expressing only Kv2.1 failed to do so. Similar overshoots are characteristic responses of photoreceptors to light flashes. We demonstrated that Kv8.2 G476D, analogous to a disease-causing human mutation, eliminated Kv2.1 current, if the subunits were coexpressed equally. However, Kv8.2 G476D did not form functional heteromers under any conditions. Therefore we suggest that the custom-tailored current of Kv2.1/Kv8.2 functionally contributes to photoreception, and this is the reason that mutations of Kv8.2 lead to a genetic visual disorder.
Endoscopic ultrasound in the diagnosis of mediastinal diseases

Abstract EUS is a useful tool for diagnosis of mediastinal diseases. EUS-FNA plays an important role in staging of lung cancer and in tissue acquisition in patients with mediastinal masses. In this review, the following issues will be addressed: EUS-FNA and EBUS-TBNA, metastatic mediastinal lymph nodes diagnosed by EUS, EUS in assessment of mediastinal lymph node status for staging of lung cancer, mediastinal lymphoma diagnosed by EUS, sarcoidosis and tuberculosis diagnosed by EUS.
Promoting the Quality of User Generated Ideas in Online Innovation Communities: A Knowledge Collaboration Perspective

Enabled by Internet-based technologies, users are increasingly participating and collaborating in idea generation in online innovation communities. However, with the limited understanding of the phenomenon, few studies have investigated what determines the quality of ideas. This study aims at addressing the knowledge gap. We find that idea experimentation effort, i.e., the effort associated with creating the idea, and idea review, i.e., comments by other users, influence idea quality. Further, idea recombination, i.e. peer users participating in wiki-based edits, have a positive influence on idea Quality, in case idea experimentation effort was low, and a negative influence in case of high idea experimentation effort. These results contribute to idea generation, knowledge collaboration, and user generated content literature by investigating the mechanisms through which collaboration influences the quality of the collaborative outcome (i.e., idea quality) in online contexts for the first time. Advice for organizations running online innovation communities is provided.
Risky Theories—The Effects of Variance on Foraging Decisions

SYNOPSIS This paper concerns the response of foraging animals to variability in rate of gain, or risk. Both the empirical and theoretical literatures relevant to this issue are reviewed. The methodology and results from fifty-nine studies in which animals are required to choose between foraging options differing in the variances in the rate of gain available are tabulated. We found that when risk is generated by variability in the amount of reward, animals are most frequently risk-averse and sometimes indifferent to risk, although in some studies preference depends on energy budget. In contrast, when variability is in delay to reward, animals are universally risk-prone. A range of functional, descriptive and mechanistic accounts for these findings is described, none of which alone is capable of accommodating all aspects of the data. Risk-sensitive foraging theory provides the only currently available explanation for why energy budget should affect preference. An information-processing model that incorporates Weber's law provides the only general explanation for why animals should be risk-averse with variability in amount and risk-prone with delay. A theory based on the mechanisms of associative learning explains quantitative aspects of risk-proneness for delay; specifically why the delay between choice and reward should have a stronger impact on preference than delays between the reward and subsequent choice. It also explains why animals should appear to commit the "fallacy of the average," maximising the expected ratio of amount of reward over delay to reward when computing rates rather than the ratio of expected amount over expected delay. We conclude that only a fusion of functional and mechanistic thinking will lead to progress in the understanding of animal decision making.
The Relation of Occupational Organic Solvent Exposure to Symptom Reporting in a Sample of White and Chinese Midlife Women

Objective: This study examined the relation of occupational solvent exposure to menopausal and other symptoms in midlife women. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 480 Chinese and 494 white women, aged 40–55 years, in Northern California. Levels of exposure to organic solvents (none, low, medium, or high) were assigned to each current job using a job-exposure matrix. Results: A lower proportion of women with low occupational organic solvent exposure reported hot flashes or night sweats than working women with no solvent exposure (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [APOR] = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.19–1.21). A greater proportion of women with high solvent exposure reported forgetfulness than women with no exposure (APOR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.12–5.63). Conclusions: Some symptom reporting in midlife women was related to their occupational organic solvent exposure.
Church-Sect Typology and Socio-Economic Status

* df=1. the 344 type II correlations, i.e., with the 44 type I correlations removed. Summary. The hypothesis of complementary needs asserts that spouses tend to select each other on the basis of complementary rather than similar need patterns. In accordance with this theory the signs of 388 interspousal correlations have been hypothesized. Five sets of ratings have been derived from three sets of data (two interviews and a projective test) on each of fifty spouses. Three of the distributions of correlations (those derived from the two analyses of the need-interview and from the final conference) support the theory of complementary needs in mate-selection. The other two distributions (based upon the case-history and the TAT) did not suport the theory. In view of the fact that the latter distributions clustered around zero, they did not support the contrary theory of homogamous mateselection. The bulk of the evidence, therefore, supports the hypothesis that mates tend to select each other on the basis of complementary needs.
Three decades since Prejudices and Antipathies : A study of changes in the library of congress subject headings

ABSTRACT The Library of Congress Subject Headings have been criticized for containing biased subject headings. One leading critic has been Sanford Berman, whose 1971 monograph Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People (PA a brief analysis of the remaining areas of bias is included.