Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of LMPs' Sensitivity Under Payment Cost Minimization and Offer Cost Minimization Mechanisms

There are different choices for auction and settlement mechanisms in electricity markets; however, selecting the appropriate mechanisms is too hard. Traditionally, the offer cost minimization (OCM) mechanism that minimizes the total offer cost is used as the clearing mechanism, and payments are calculated based on locational marginal prices (LMPs). Under this setup, the clearing and settlement mechanisms are inconsistent, since the minimized cost is different from the total payment cost. Some recent studies have proposed the payment cost minimization (PCM) mechanism. However, the discussion is still open, and different aspects of these mechanisms are yet needed to be analyzed. This paper focuses on the LMPs' behavior under these two mechanisms and particularly takes the system uncertainties into account to compare the sensitivity of the LMPs under these two mechanisms. The system uncertainties are reflected in uncertainties in different system variables through system physical and economical relationships. The proposed algorithm linearizes the market clearing equations and uses Gram-Charlier type-A series to find the probability density function of marginal prices under PCM and OCM mechanisms. Then, some measures are defined to compare the LMPs' sensitivity under these two mechanisms. The proposed method is applied to the IEEE Reliability Test System, and the results are discussed.
The effects of acute alcohol intoxication on women's perception of and responses to high risk dating and social situations

This study examined how alcohol intoxication, vict imization history, and sexual attitudes affect women’s perception of and response s to high risk dating and social situations. One hundred and seventeen college wome n were randomly assigned to an alcohol or control (no-alcohol) condition. Partici pants read 15 vignettes describing high risk dating and social situations, rated the degree of victimization risk in each situation, and indicated how likely they would be to respond t o each situation in a passive, acquiescent, assertive, and aggressive way. Result s revealed that, regardless of condition, women with more liberal sexual attitudes made lower risk ratings than women with less liberal sexual attitudes. In addition, women in th e alcohol condition reported that they would respond in a more acquiescent way to the situ ations than women in the control group. Women with a more severe victimization hist ory in the alcohol condition reported they were more likely to respond acquiescently than women in the control group. Surprisingly, women with more liberal sexual attitu des assigned to the alcohol condition reported that they would respond in a less passive way to the situations than women in
Wilson loops in strongly coupled noncommutative gauge theories

We discuss Wilson loop averages in 4-dimensional noncommutative super Yang-Mills theory using the dual supergravity description. We postulate that the Wilson loops are located at the minimum length scale R in the fifth radial coordinate. We find that they exhibit a crossover from Coulomb type of behavior for large loops, for which noncommutativity is unimportant, to area law for small loops, for which noncommutativity effects are large. The string tension, which can be read off from the area law, is controlled by the noncommutativity scale. The crossover itself, however, appears to involve loops of a size of order R which is much larger than the noncommutativity scale. The existence of the area law in noncommutative super Yang-Mills theory which persists up to a large crossover length scale provides further evidence for a connection to an underlying string theory.
Education, gender, and anxiety

Introduction: The Unconscious Curriculum Education, Feminism and Sociology: Themes, Perspectives and Object Relations Anxiety and Defence Mechanisms: The Key to Gender in Education? Parenting and Teaching: Being Emotionally "In Loco Parentis" The Unconscious Meanings of Reading Curricula and Transitional Objects Choice, Identity and Polarisation Who's Afraid of Single Sex Schools: Fears, Fantasies and Divisions Conclusion.
La socialisation organisationnelle du client dans les entreprises de service: concept et dimensions

Cet article traite du concept de Socialisation Organisationnelle du Client (SOC). Il souligne son intérêt pour envisager de manière nouvelle la relation entre les entreprises de service et leurs clients. L'objectif de l'étude empirique exploratoire est de faire émerger les dimensions du concept. Cette étude s'appuie sur des entretiens de clients et de membres du personnel d'IKEA. Trois dimensions sont identifiées: 1) la connaissance et la maîtrise de son rôle par le client; 2) le degré d'intégration sociale et 3) la connaissance de l'organisation. Ces dimensions permettent de dresser un cadre d'actions à entreprendre pour améliorer la relation de service. D'un point de vue stratégique l'article propose l'engagement de l'entreprise dans un processus d'apprentissage avec ses clients.
A Prospective Randomized Study of Lichtenstein Open Tension-free Versus Laparoscopic Totally Extraperitoneal Techniques for Inguinal Hernia Repair

Abstract Ideal technique for effective inguinal hernia repair is still controversial. Although open tension free mesh techniques of inguinal hernia repair offers good results but the superiority of laparoscopic technique was reported for postoperative pain, discomfort and earlier return back to work. A prospective, randomized study was conducted to compare Lichtenstein open tension free mesh technique with the laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal technique. 62 male patients with Lichtenstein open tension free mesh technique and 61 male patients with totally extraperitoneal technique were operated and compared postoperatively. The patients were followed-up for 24 months with a median of 18 months. In terms of recurrence, postoperative pain, analgesic requirement, complications, hospital stay lenght, duration of limitation of normal daily activities there were no significant differences between the two groups. Operating time for totally extraperitoneal hernia repair was 16 minutes longer than Lichtenstein open tension free technique. The totally extraperitoneal technique was considerably expensive than Lichtenstein technique, however the duration of returning back to work was shorter in patients repaired with totally extraperitoneal technique. In conclusion in primary inguinal hernia repair Lichtenstein technique should be preferred and the totally extraperito neal technique should be considered for recurrent and bilateral hernias.
Discovery of a Distinct Superfamily of Kunitz-Type Toxin (KTT) from Tarantulas

Background Kuntiz-type toxins (KTTs) have been found in the venom of animals such as snake, cone snail and sea anemone. The main ancestral function of Kunitz-type proteins was the inhibition of a diverse array of serine proteases, while toxic activities (such as ion-channel blocking) were developed under a variety of Darwinian selection pressures. How new functions were grafted onto an old protein scaffold and what effect Darwinian selection pressures had on KTT evolution remains a puzzle. Principal Findings Here we report the presence of a new superfamily of KTTs in spiders (Tarantulas: Ornithoctonus huwena and Ornithoctonus hainana), which share low sequence similarity to known KTTs and is clustered in a distinct clade in the phylogenetic tree of KTT evolution. The representative molecule of spider KTTs, HWTX-XI, purified from the venom of O. huwena, is a bi-functional protein which is a very potent trypsin inhibitor (about 30-fold more strong than BPTI) as well as a weak Kv1.1 potassium channel blocker. Structural analysis of HWTX-XI in 3-D by NMR together with comparative function analysis of 18 expressed mutants of this toxin revealed two separate sites, corresponding to these two activities, located on the two ends of the cone-shape molecule of HWTX-XI. Comparison of non-synonymous/synonymous mutation ratios (ω) for each site in spider and snake KTTs, as well as PBTI like body Kunitz proteins revealed high Darwinian selection pressure on the binding sites for Kv channels and serine proteases in snake, while only on the proteases in spider and none detected in body proteins, suggesting different rates and patterns of evolution among them. The results also revealed a series of key events in the history of spider KTT evolution, including the formation of a novel KTT family (named sub-Kuntiz-type toxins) derived from the ancestral native KTTs with the loss of the second disulfide bridge accompanied by several dramatic sequence modifications. Conclusions/Significance These finding illustrate that the two activity sites of Kunitz-type toxins are functionally and evolutionally independent and provide new insights into effects of Darwinian selection pressures on KTT evolution, and mechanisms by which new functions can be grafted onto old protein scaffolds.
FGF-2 induces the proliferation of human periodontal ligament cells and modulates their osteoblastic phenotype by affecting Runx2 expression in the presence and absence of osteogenic inducers

The exact phenotype of human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) remains a controversial area. Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) exhibits various functions and its effect on hPDLCs is also controversial. Therefore, the present study examined the effect of FGF-2 on the growth and osteoblastic phenotype of hPDLCs with or without osteogenic inducers (dexamethasone and β-glycerophosphate). FGF-2 was added to defined growth culture medium and osteogenic inductive culture medium. Cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization were measured. The selected differentiation markers, Runx2, collagen type I, α1 (Col1a1), osteocalcin (OCN) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), were investigated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Runx2 and OCN protein expression was measured by western blotting. FGF-2 significantly increased the proliferation of hPDLCs, but did not affect alkaline phosphatase activity. RT-qPCR analysis revealed enhanced mRNA expression of Runx2, OCN and EGFR, but suppressed Col1a1 gene expression in the absence of osteogenic inducers, whereas all these gene levels had no clear trend in their presence. The Runx2 protein expression was clearly increased, but the OCN protein level showed no evident trend. The mineralization assay demonstrated that FGF-2 inhibited mineralized matrix deposition with osteogenic inducers. These results suggested that FGF-2 induces the growth of immature hPDLCs, which is a competitive inhibitor of epithelial downgrowth, and suppresses their differentiation into mineralized tissue by affecting Runx2 expression. Therefore, this may lead to the acceleration of periodontal regeneration.
PENGARUH PENDIDIKAN DAN PELATIHAN (DIKLAT) TERHADAP KINERJA KARYAWAN PADA PT PLN (PERSERO) WILAYAH SULUTTENGO

Sumber daya manusia di dalam perusahaan atau organisasi merupakan bagian penting yang perlu mendapat perhatian. Sumber daya manusia yaitu tenaga kerja atau karyawan, memegang peranan yang sangat penting bagi peningkatan kinerja atau kemajuan suatu perusahaan. Setiap perusahaan atau organisasi pada umumnya selalu berusaha meningkatkan kinerja para karyawan, termasuk dengan cara memberi pendidikan dan pelatihan (diklat). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh pendidikan dan pelatihan (diklat) terhadap kinerja karyawan pada PT. PLN (Persero) wilayah Suluttenggo. Populasi dalam Penelitian ini berjumlah 168 orang dan sampel berjumlah 70 orang. Metode analisis menggunakan analisis regresi linear berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa tingkat pendidikan dan pelatihan (diklat) berpengaruh positif dan signifikan baik secara simultan maupun parsial terhadap kinerja karyawan, sehingga hipotesis yang diajukan dapat diterima. Pimpinan PT. PLN (Persero) wilayah Suluttenggo dalam upaya meningkatkan kinerja karyawan sebaiknya memperhatikan faktor–faktor yang mempengaruhi kinerja karyawan seperti tingkat pendidikan dan pelatihan, sehingga diharapkan dapat meningkatkan kinerja dari para karyawan. Kata kunci: pendidikan, pelatihan, kinerja karyawan.
HiPP: A Novel Hierarchical Point Placement Strategy and its Application to the Exploration of Document Collections

Point placement strategies aim at mapping data points represented in higher dimensions to bi-dimensional spaces and are frequently used to visualize relationships amongst data instances. They have been valuable tools for analysis and exploration of data sets of various kinds. Many conventional techniques, however, do not behave well when the number of dimensions is high, such as in the case of documents collections. Later approaches handle that shortcoming, but may cause too much clutter to allow flexible exploration to take place. In this work we present a novel hierarchical point placement technique that is capable of dealing with these problems. While good grouping and separation of data with high similarity is maintained without increasing computation cost, its hierarchical structure lends itself both to exploration in various levels of detail and to handling data in subsets, improving analysis capability and also allowing manipulation of larger data sets.
Evaluation of 8-methoxypsoralen and Solar Ultraviolet Light (puvasol) in Psoriasis.

Thirty three patients suffering from psoriasis took part in PUVASOL treatment study. All the patients were exposed to sunrays 4 times a week between 11-30 a.m. and 1-30 p.m. two hours after ingesting 8-MOP. The initial exposure was for 15 minutes. Exposure time was gradually increased upto a maximum of 90 minutes. 17 out of 27 patients had grade 3-4 'unprovement, 8 patients had grade 1-2 improvement, while 2 patients did not show any improvement. The results obtained were corn arable to thos.
Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Publisher Summary Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor of hepatocytes arising in the setting of liver disease and cirrhosis. The three major risk factors for the development of HCC are cirrhosis resulting from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, chronic hepatitis B virus infection, and alcoholism. The increase in incidence and mortality because of HCC is a result of the increased number of patients with cirrhosis because of HCV. A definitive diagnosis of HCC is made by finding the characteristic histologic changes of HCC in a pathologic specimen from a patient. A tentative diagnosis can be made in the absence of a tissue specimen by the use of radiologic imaging techniques. The curative therapies available for HCC attempt to remove or ablate the HCC, while leaving enough functional hepatic mass to prevent hepatic failure. These include hepatic resection, orthotopic liver transplantation, ethanol injection, and radiofrequency ablation. There are few randomized studies comparing different strategies for the treatment of HCC. Most studies contain heterogeneous populations of patients with varying levels of tumor aggressiveness and hepatic reserve. This makes it difficult to compare the outcomes of patients within or among studies. Palliative therapies are used that include chemoembolization, systemic chemotherapy, and a variety of experimental modifications of established procedures.
Acute hepatitis B virus infection: relation of age to the clinical expression of disease and subsequent development of the carrier state.

Yupik Eskimos of southwestern Alaska have the highest known prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection of any general population in the United States. Prospective serological surveys of 1,280 seronegative Yupik Eskimos, performed between 1971 and 1976, identified 189 (14.8%) who developed serological evidence of hepatitis B virus infection. Twenty-six (13.8%) developed clinical hepatitis during the interval when seroconversion occurred. The proportion of patients with clinically apparent hepatitis increased with age (P less than .01), ranging from 9.5% of infections in patients who were four years of age or less to 33.3% of infections in patients who were 30 years of age or older. Twenty-five (13.3%) of the 188 individuals who were studied became chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen. The risk of becoming a carrier was inversely related to the age of the patient at the time of infection (P = .02). Among patients who were four years of age or less when infected, 28.8% became chronic carriers of hepatitis B, as compared with 7.7% of those who were 30 years of age or older.
Effects of extraction versus non-extraction treatment on oropharyngeal airway volume.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of extraction vs nonextraction orthodontic treatments on oropharyngeal airway volume. MATERIALS AND METHODS An existing patient database was screened for pretreatment (T0) and posttreatment (T1) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans and complete medical histories. Twenty patients treated with removal of four premolars (ExtG) and 20 controls (NExtG), were matched for age, gender, ethnicity, height, weight, body mass index, and oropharyngeal (OP) volumes, among other variables. Constructed lateral cephalograms (three skeletal and four dental variables) and OP volumes were measured at T0 and T1 using Dolphin Imaging 11.0. Independent sample t-tests were used to compare the groups at T0 and the outcome variables at T1. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare the mean changes from T0 to T1. Statistical significance was set at P < or = . 05. RESULTS Changes from T0 to T1 were found to be significant in both groups for CoA, CoGn, U1-FH, and IMPA. In the ExtG alone, U1-Na Perp and L1-Na Perp were also significantly different from T0 to T1. Despite the observed differences, no significant differences were found at the end of treatment between the mean OP volumes for either group (12,675.6 +/- 4483.6 for ExtG; 12,002.7 +/- 2857.0 for NExtG, P > .05). Similarly, the mean changes in OP volume (1082.6 mm(3) and 1701.1 mm(3) for ExtG and NExtG, respectively) and increase in mean minimal constricted axial areas (17.4 mm(2) and 1.9 mm(2) for ExtG and NExtG, respectively, P > . 05) from T0 to T1 were not significant for the two groups. CONCLUSION Extraction of four premolars with retraction of incisors does not affect OP airway volume.
Rigorous Electromagnetic/Circuit-Level Analysis of Time-Modulated Linear Arrays

The paper demonstrates for the first time an integrated circuit-level/electromagnetic approach to the analysis of time-modulated linear arrays. We developed a multi-domain CAD platform combining rigorous Harmonic Balance-based analysis of the nonlinear switches with the electromagnetic characterization of the radiating elements. This allows a full-wave computation of the radiated far field envelope which is used to display the array behavior. The resulting simulation tool allows a rigorous evaluation of some nonlinear performance aspects of the radiating system such as the power-handling capabilities and the switch modulation frequency limit. Several examples with different switch modulation patterns are presented in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool. Simplifying assumptions typical of previous approaches are overcome in this way, while keeping computational time at levels suitable for nonlinear optimization.
REST–Mediated Recruitment of Polycomb Repressor Complexes in Mammalian Cells

Polycomb Repressive Complex (PRC) 1 and PRC2 regulate genes involved in differentiation and development. However, the mechanism for how PRC1 and PRC2 are recruited to genes in mammalian cells is unclear. Here we present evidence for an interaction between the transcription factor REST, PRC1, and PRC2 and show that RNF2 and REST co-regulate a number of neuronal genes in human teratocarcinoma cells (NT2-D1). Using NT2-D1 cells as a model of neuronal differentiation, we furthermore showed that retinoic-acid stimulation led to displacement of PRC1 at REST binding sites, reduced H3K27Me3, and increased gene expression. Genome-wide analysis of Polycomb binding in Rest−/− and Eed−/− mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells showed that Rest was required for PRC1 recruitment to a subset of Polycomb regulated neuronal genes. Furthermore, we found that PRC1 can be recruited to Rest binding sites independently of CpG islands and the H3K27Me3 mark. Surprisingly, PRC2 was frequently increased around Rest binding sites located in CpG-rich regions in the Rest−/− mES cells, indicating a more complex interplay where Rest also can limit PRC2 recruitment. Therefore, we propose that Rest has context-dependent functions for PRC1- and PRC2- recruitment, which allows this transcription factor to act both as a recruiter of Polycomb as well as a limiting factor for PRC2 recruitment at CpG islands.
Associated anomalies among infants with oral clefts at birth and during a 1‐year follow‐up

Reports of birth defects rates may focus on defects observed in the newborn period or include defects diagnosed at older ages. However, little information is available on the rates of additional anomalies detected after birth or on the ages at which such anomalies are diagnosed. The aims of this work were to describe the initial diagnoses of oral clefts, isolated or associated with other defects, in newborn infants ascertained in hospitals of the ECLAMC network, and diagnostic changes that occurred due to detection of additional defects during a 1‐year follow‐up period. Seven hundred ten liveborn infants with cleft lip only (CLO), cleft lip with cleft palate (CLP), or cleft palate (CP) were ascertained between 2003 and 2005. Prevalence estimates of isolated and associated (ASO) clefts, diagnoses in infants with associated clefts, and the percentage of isolated clefts that were reclassified as associated were established. Birth prevalence estimates (per 1,000) were as follows: Total: 1.7; CLP: 0.94 (ASO = 23.5%); CP: 0.46 (ASO = 42.3%); CLO: 0.28 (ASO = 7.6%). Initial diagnoses in infants with associated clefts included 38 infants with chromosomal abnormalities, 33 with non‐chromosomal syndromes, 16 with malformation sequences, and 98 with multiple anomalies of unknown etiology. Seven percent of newborns initially classified as isolated were later reclassified as associated. Ten infants without associated defects or clinically suspected syndromes were diagnosed as syndromic only through laboratory findings or family history, illustrating the difference between the terms associated versus isolated, which refers to presence or absence of associated anomalies, and syndromic versus non‐syndromic, which refers to etiology. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
1.05-GHz CMOS oscillator based on lateral- field-excited piezoelectric AlN contour- mode MEMS resonators

This paper reports on the first demonstration of a 1.05-GHz microelectromechanical (MEMS) oscillator based on lateral-field-excited (LFE) piezoelectric AlN contourmode resonators. The oscillator shows a phase noise level of -81 dBc/Hz at 1-kHz offset frequency and a phase noise floor of -146 dBc/Hz, which satisfies the global system for mobile communications (GSM) requirements for ultra-high frequency (UHF) local oscillators (LO). The circuit was fabricated in the AMI semiconductor (AMIS) 0.5-¿m complementary metaloxide- semiconductor (CMOS) process, with the oscillator core consuming only 3.5 mW DC power. The device overall performance has the best figure-of-merit (FoM) when compared with other gigahertz oscillators that are based on film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR), surface acoustic wave (SAW), and CMOS on-chip inductor and capacitor (CMOS LC) technologies. A simple 2-mask process was used to fabricate the LFE AlN resonators operating between 843 MHz and 1.64 GHz with simultaneously high Q (up to 2,200) and kt 2 (up to 1.2%). This process further relaxes manufacturing tolerances and improves yield. All these advantages make these devices suitable for post-CMOS integrated on-chip direct gigahertz frequency synthesis in reconfigurable multiband wireless communications.