Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybridizing Nested Dissection and Halo Approximate Minimum Degree for Efficient Sparse Matrix Ordering

Minimum degree and nested dissection are the two most popular reordering schemes used to reduce fill-in and operation count when factoring and solving sparse matrices. Most of the state-of-the-art ordering packages hybridize these methods by performing incomplete nested dissection and ordering by minimum degree the subgraphs associated with the leaves of the separation tree, but most often only loose couplings have been achieved, resulting in poorer performance than could have been expected. This paper presents a tight coupling of the nested dissection and halo approximate minimum degree algorithms, which allows the minimum degree algorithm to use exact degrees on the boundaries of the subgraphs passed to it and to yield back not only the ordering of the nodes of the subgraph, but also the amalgamated assembly subtrees, for efficient block computations. Experimental results show the performance improvement of this hybridization, both in terms of fill-in reduction and increase of concurrency on a parallel sparse block symmetric solver. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
HGF/c-Met Signaling Mediated Mesenchymal Stem Cell-induced Liver Recovery in Intestinal Ischemia Reperfusion Model

Purpose: Liver injury triggered by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IIR) usually presage multiorgan dysfunction and death in patients. Recent studies suggest mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess a protective potential against organ damage. Since relative evidence is insufficient and the mechanism is not well understood, we investigated the effect of hepatocyte growth factor c-Met signaling (HGF/c-Met) on recruitment of MSCs and subsequent protection against liver injury triggered by IIR in a rat model. Methods: IIR models were built as rats were subjected to 75 min of superior mesenteric artery occlusion and subsequent 4 h reperfusion. Either of pure MSCs and MSCs pretreated with HGF or SU11274 (c-Met inhibitor) were injected into rat models. Biochemical and pathologic alterations of liver in IIR model were measured to evaluate the therapeutic effect of MSCs and drug treatment. Concurrently, the effect of HGF and SU11274 on c-Met and phosphorylated Met expression in MSCs and MSCs migration were assessed in in vitro experiment. Results: IIR-induced liver injury was manifested by significant increase in serum ALT, AST and HGF levels as well as pathological change. MSCs with highly c-Met expression ameliorated the increase of serum transaminase levels and hepatic histopathological change, while SU11274 weaken these effects. HGF upregulated c-Met and phosphorylated Met expression in MSCs and enhanced its liver protection effect. Transwell assays demonstrated HGF promoted MSCs migration, which was blocked by SU11274. Conclusions: HGF/c-Met signaling pathway plays an essential role in the homing of MSCs towards injured liver triggered by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion, and then mediates MSC-induced liver repair.
Integrated approach to choosing suitable areas for the realization of productive wells in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract Comprehensive geological, hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical investigations were carried out in the south of Hodh El Chargui (southeast Mauritania). Obtaining a hydrogeological conceptual model is crucial for groundwater resources development and management. This is especially true in developing countries and in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The chosen areas are represented by lithologies referring to a long geological time frame, dating from the Upper Neoproterozoic to the Quaternary age. We developed a methodology in order to identify sites that were suitable for the realization of productive, protected and correct wells to supply safe water to the rural community. A multicriteria approach to studying hydrogeology was used in the project area. In order to identify some main areas in which to carry out pilot interventions, criteria relating to water accessibility and availability, and to hydrogeological and water quality, were considered. Moreover, during the project, it was possible to transfer know-how and hand over responsibilities to the local population and bodies. Citation Ghiglieri, G. & Carletti, A. (2010) Integrated approach to choosing suitable areas for the realization of productive wells in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(8), 1357–1370.
Short overlap of humans and megafauna in Pleistocene Australia

Reappraisal of the reliability of numerical dating results for Australian extinct megafauna and archaeology reveals that many still-quoted ages are incorrect and should be eliminated from databases and discussions. We estimate that the megafauna-human overlap period on mainland Australia was about 3900 years (95% confidence interval 3158 to 4642 years) centred ~44,000 calendar years ago. Our results rule out climatic and environmental changes associated with the Last Glacial Maximum as contributing factors in Australian late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions, whereas the short overlap suggests instead that anthropogenic factors are likely to be dominant.
Personal, professional and financial satisfaction among American women urologists.

PURPOSE Although nearly half of American medical school classes are comprised of women, less than 5% of female medical students enter the surgical subspecialties compared to nearly 20% of male students. Many women are concerned that a career in a surgical field will limit their personal choices. In an effort to evaluate if urology is conducive to a satisfying lifestyle, we surveyed all 365 board certified women urologists in the United States in 2007 to find out how satisfied they are with their choice of urology. MATERIALS AND METHODS A 114 item anonymous survey was mailed to all 365 American Board Certified female urologists in 2007. Results were analyzed. RESULTS Of the 244 women (69%) who responded, 86.8% (211) reported being satisfied with their decision to enter urology. Given the choice to repeat the decision, 81% (198) said that they would remain in medicine and 91.4% (222) would choose a surgical subspecialty again. The majority of respondents who stated they would choose a career outside of medicine also stated their family life had been significantly compromised by their career. Those who did not think their family life was compromised reported they would remain in medicine. There was a positive correlation between the level of satisfaction with the work itself and with income level (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Despite the small number of women who choose a career in urology, the number of satisfied women indicates urology is a career conducive to having a balanced and fulfilling life; professionally, personally and financially.
Workplace stressors experienced by physiotherapists working in regional public hospitals.

OBJECTIVE To identify and measure the effects of workplace stressors experienced by Victorian regional physiotherapists. DESIGN Survey questionnaire. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A questionnaire was distributed to three Victorian regional public physiotherapy departments and data were collected from 80 physiotherapists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The type and frequency of workplace stressors, the nature and frequency of common signs and symptoms of stress and the amount of leave taken as a result of stress were measured. RESULTS Caseload quantity, complexity of patients, constant excessive workload, covering staff on leave and staff shortages, were reported as key workplace stressors. Physiotherapists aged between 20 and 29 years were significantly more likely to report a higher number of workplace stressors (F = 4.173, n = 80, P = 0.009). Inpatient rehabilitation physiotherapists were significantly more likely to report stress at a higher frequency than physiotherapists working in other areas (chi(2) = 14.359, n = 73, P = 0.002). Eleven per cent of all respondents reported taking leave from work as a result of stress with no significant difference identified between those who took leave and those who did not. There was, however, a trend identified with senior staff (Z = 1.792, n = 80, P = 0.073) and those who work in inpatient rehabilitation (chi(2) = 6.926, n = 80, P = 0.074) being more likely to take leave as a result of stress. Many of these physiotherapists did not make their employers aware of the reasons for the leave (77%, n = 9). CONCLUSIONS High caseloads, periods of increased activity and staff shortages are some of the factors that contribute to stress in regional physiotherapists. Younger therapists were more likely to identify stressors with greater frequency. Strategies to monitor, prevent and manage stress should be implemented to minimise burnout in regional physiotherapists.
Hydrogeochemical Response of a Forested Watershed to Storms: Effects of Preferential Flow Along Shallow and Deep Pathways

Hydrology and solute chemistry were monitored during four storms in a forested watershed in karst terrain in eastern Tennessee at spatial scales ranging from a 0.5-ha upper hillslope subcatchment to a 38.4-ha watershed drained by a first-order stream. Storm flow was generated from large portions of the watershed as a result of subsurface preferential flow initiated by zones of perched saturation in the soil profile. For most storms, runoff per unit area increased with increasing catchment size, indicating that preferential flow was primarily vertical along relatively deep pathways that emerged in the lower portions of the watershed. However, when antecedent soil moisture was high and rainfall was large, runoff was similar across catchment sizes, indicating that preferential flow was largely lateral along shallow paths (<2.5 m deep). Concentrations of some solutes differed for shallow and deep flow paths because dominant sources and sinks are stratified vertically in the watershed. Runoff generated by preferential flow along shallow flow paths resulted in higher exports of Cl, Al, SO4, and dissolved organic carbon and lower exports of alkalinity, Ca, Mg, and soluble reactive phosphorus than an equivalent amount of runoff generated by preferential flow via deeper flow paths.
A lemma in the theory of structural stability of differential equations

The object of this note is to answer this question in the affirmative when F(x) is of class C2. (It can be mentioned that, even if F(x) is analytic, there need not exist such a map R of class C' with nonvanishing Jacobian; [2]. ) The mapping (1.3) to be obtained below maps solution paths of (1.1) into those of (1.4) preserving parametrizations. The first part of the paper concerns the linearization of a local homeomorphism of a Euclidean space into another of the same dimension. The second part concerns (1.1) or rather the "group" of homeomorphisms associated with (1.4). The reduction of the problem to mappings is suggested by Sternberg [3 ].
Costs and Benefits Associated With Transradial Versus Transfemoral Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in China

Background Transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been increasingly adopted in clinical practice, given its potential advantages over transfemoral intervention; however, the impact of different access strategies on costs and clinical outcomes remains poorly defined, especially in the developing world. Methods and Results Using data from a consecutive cohort of 5306 patients undergoing PCI in China in 2010, we compared total hospital costs and in‐hospital outcomes for transradial intervention (TRI) and transfemoral intervention. Patients receiving TRI (n=4696, 88.5%) were slightly younger (mean age 57.4 versus 59.5 years), less often women (21.6% versus 33.1%), more likely to undergo PCI for single‐vessel disease, and less likely to undergo PCI for triple‐vessel or left main diseases. The unadjusted total hospital costs were 57 900 Chinese yuan (¥57 900; equivalent to 9190 US dollars [$9190]) for TRI and ¥67 418 ($10,701) for transfemoral intervention. After adjusting for all observed patient and procedural characteristics using the propensity score inverse probability weighting method, TRI was associated with a lower total cost (adjusted difference ¥8081 [$1283]). More than 80% of the cost difference was related to lower PCI‐related costs (adjusted difference −¥5162 [−$819]), which were likely driven by exclusive use of vascular closure devices in transfemoral intervention, and lower hospitalization costs (−¥1399 [−$222]). Patients receiving TRI had shorter length of stay and were less likely to experience major adverse cardiac events or post‐PCI bleeding. These differences were consistent among clinically relevant subgroups with acute myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, and stable angina. Conclusions Among patients undergoing PCI, TRI was associated with lower cost and favorable clinical outcomes compared with transfemoral intervention.
Radiation for Awakening the Dormant Immune System, a Promising Challenge to be Explored

Recent advances that have been made in our understanding of cancer biology and immunology show that infiltrated immune cells and cytokines in the tumor microenvironment may play different functions that appear tightly related to clinical outcomes. Strategies aimed at interfering with the cross-talk between microenvironment tumor cells and their cellular partners have been considered for the development of new immunotherapies. These novel therapies target different cell components of the tumor microenvironment and importantly, they may be coupled and boosted with classical treatments, such as radiotherapy. In this work, we try to summarize recent data on the microenvironment impact of radiation therapy, from pre-clinical research to the clinic, while taking into account that this new knowledge will probably translate into indication and objective of radiation therapy changes in the next future.
A high speed and low power phase-frequency detector and charge-pump

In this paper, we introduce a high-speed and low power Phase-Frequency Detector (PFD) that is designed using modified TSPC (True Single-Phase Clock) positive edge triggered D flip-flop. This PFD has a simpler structure with using only 19 transistors. The operation range of this PFD is over 1.2 GHz without additional prescaler circuits. Furthermore, the PFD has a dead zone less than 0.01 ns in the phase characteristics and has low phase sensitivity errors. The phase and frequency error detection range is not limited as in the case of the pt-type and nc-type PFDs. Also, the PFD is independent from the duty cycle of input signals. A new charge-pump circuit is presented that is designed using a charge-amplifier. A stand-by current enhances the speed of charge-pump and removes the charge-sharing which causes a phase noise in the charge-pump PLL. Also, the effects of clock feed-through are reduced by separating the output stage from UP and down signal. The simulation results base on a third-order PLL are presented to verify the lock-in process with the proposed PFD and charge-pump circuits. The PFD and charge-pump circuits are designed using 0.8 /spl mu/m CMOS technology with 5 V supply voltage.
COLD ISCHEMIA TIME: AN INDEPENDENT PREDICTOR OF INCREASED HLA CLASS I ANTIBODY PRODUCTION AFTER REJECTION OF A PRIMARY CADAVERIC RENAL ALLOGRAFT1

Background. Cadaveric kidneys experiencing longer cold ischemia time (CIT) are associated with higher levels of delayed graft function, acute rejection, and early graft loss. One mechanism to explain these results is that ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury makes the allograft more immunogenic by upregulating molecules involved in the immune response (e.g., HLA Class I/II). Methods. We evaluated the influence of CIT on the production of HLA Class I antibody level, measured by an antihuman globulin panel reactive antibody (AHG PRA) level, in 90 unsensitized recipients of primary cadaveric renal transplants (from a total of 1442 between 1985 and 1997) who rejected their kidneys. Results. By multivariate analysis, a CIT of 15 hr or more (vs.<15 hr) independently increased the risk of the AHG Class I PRA level being ≥20% after unsensitized patients rejected their first kidneys (relative risk=3.57; 95% confidence interval=1.26 to 10.14;P =0.01), despite the same degree of Class I/II mismatch between the two CIT groups. The overall mean peak PRA level after primary kidney rejection was significantly lower for the CIT<15 hr group (25.9%±33.9; n=24) compared with the CIT≥15 hr group (46.3%±36.5; n=66) (P <0.001). Conclusion. Longer CIT induces a humorally more immunogenic kidney.
Female bushcrickets fuel their metabolism with male nuptial gifts

In many arthropods, such as bushcrickets, males donate protein-rich nuptial gifts—so-called spermatophores—to females, which females ingest while the sperm enter the female's reproductive tract. Previously, it was shown that females route spermatophore nutrients over the course of hours and days to egg production or body synthesis. We investigated whether female bushcrickets fuel their metabolism with spermatophores immediately after consumption. We fed two male groups diets that were either enriched or depleted in 13C, and then tracked the isotopic changes in exhaled breath in female bushcrickets after spermatophore consumption. Within 3 hours, the stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) of female breath converged on the ratio of the male donor of the nuptial gift. This supports the idea that females quickly routed nutrients to metabolism, receiving immediate benefits from spermatophore feeding.
Retrograde Versus Antegrade Nailing of Femoral Shaft Fractures

Objectives: To compare union rates and complications of retrograde intramedullary nailing of femoral shaft fractures with those of antegrade intramedullary nailing. Design: Retrospective. Setting: Level I trauma center. Patients: Two hundred eighty-three consecutive adult patients with 293 fractures of the femoral shaft who underwent stabilization with antegrade or retrograde inserted femoral nails were studied. There were 140 retrograde nails and 153 antegrade nails. Twelve fractures in twelve patients were excluded (three in patients who died early in the postoperative period, three in patients because of early amputation, four in patients who were paraplegic, and two in patients who fractured through abnormal bone owing to metastatic carcinoma), leaving 134 fractures treated with retrograde nails and 147 treated with antegrade nails. One hundred four femurs treated with retrograde nails (Group R) and ninety-four femurs treated with antegrade nails (Group A) had sufficient follow-up and served as the two study groups. The average clinical follow-up was twenty-three months (range 6 to 66 months) for Group R and twenty-three months (range 5 to 64 months) for Group A. Both groups were comparable with regard to age, gender, number of open fractures, degree of comminution, mode of interlocking (i.e., static or dynamic), and nail diameter (P > 0.05). Intervention: Retrograde intramedullary nails were inserted through the intercondylar notch of the knee, and antegrade nails were inserted through the pirformis fossa using standard techniques. Main Outcome Measures: Union, delayed union, nonunion, malunion, and complication rates. Results: After the index procedure there were no significant differences in healing or incidence of malunion between Group R and Group A (P > 0.05). Healing after the index procedure occurred in ninety-one (88 percent) of the femurs in Group R and in eighty-four (89 percent) of the femurs in Group A. In Group R, there were seven delayed unions (7 percent) and six nonunions (6 percent). In Group A, there were four delayed unions (4 percent) and six nonunions (6 percent). Healing ultimately occurred in 100 (96 percent) femurs from Group R and in ninety-three (99 percent) femurs from Group A. In Group R, there were eleven malunions (11 percent), and in Group A, there were twelve malunions (13 percent). When patients with ipsilateral knee injuries were excluded, the incidence of knee pain was significantly greater for Group R patients (36 percent) than for Group A patients (9 percent) (P < 0.001). When patients with ipsilateral hip injuries were excluded, the incidence of hip pain was significantly greater for Group A patients (10 percent) than for Group R patients (4 percent) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Retrograde and antegrade nailing techniques provided similar results in union and malunion rates. There were more complications related to the knee after retrograde nailing and more complications related to the hip after antegrade nailing.
Processes controlling the advance and retreat of sea ice in the Sea of Okhotsk

Using Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) sea-ice data and meteorological data, we investigate processes controlling the advance and retreat of sea ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. For this investigation we apply a new algorithm to the SSM/I data, which is capable of calculating ice concentration and distinguishing sea-ice types; this algorithm is confirmed by comparison with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) imagery. Our investigations show that there exists a locality for the areas of new-ice formation, and the ice formation near the ice edge always occurs as a recovery after sea ice has retreated suddenly. We also reveal that the speed of ice-edge advance fairly coincides with that predicted by 2% of the geostrophic wind. Furthermore, there exists a good correspondence between the times when the overall advance and retreat of ice cover begin and the decrease and increase of air temperature begin. We conclude that the advance of the ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk occurs primarily through ice advection by wind and that the interannual variation in the maximum sea-ice extent can be interpreted by that in wind and air temperature conditions.
When ideology matters: Moral conviction and the association between ideology and policy preferences in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Do people's policy preferences toward outgroups in intractable conflict consistently correspond with political ideology? To what extent are policy-related cleavages between the political right and left in such contexts fueled by moral conviction and emotions? Analyses of a survey of Jewish-Israelis (N = 119) conducted immediately after a war between Israelis and Palestinians revealed little to no ideological differences in acceptance of “collateral damage,” support for retribution, or support for compromise when positions about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict were devoid of moral fervor. Those on the left and right endorsed polarized policy preferences only when their positions about the conflict were held with moral conviction. Presence or absence of guilt about harm to Palestinians mediated the effects of moral conviction on policy preferences in this context. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.