Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iterative approach for clustering based on linkage strategies applied to gene expression analysis

In gene expression analysis, grouping co-regulated genes is a major step in discovering genes which are likely to have related biological functions. This critical step can be done using clustering. This paper formally presents three models for iterative clustering based on average, single and complete linkage strategies. Variation of relational clustering algorithms can be built based on these models. The number of clusters needs not to be known in advance. Unlike centroid and medoid-based algorithms the proposed approach avoids minimizing least squares type objective function instead it maximizes the average similarity between objects of the same cluster using a subset of the similarity matrix. Top k nearest, farthest or near average entries in each row of the similarity matrix need to be identified depending on the required linkage strategy. In order to reduce the computational complexity of this step randomized search or genetic technique can be used to approximate these elements; however, in our experimental studies, the exact k elements are computed. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated and compared to existing techniques on two standard gene expression datasets.
Can we replace CAPM and the Three-Factor model with Implied Cost of Capital?

Researchers criticize predominant expected return models for being imprecise and based on fundamentally flawed assumptions. This dissertation evaluates Implied Cost of Capital, CAPM and the Three-Factor model abilities to estimate returns. We study each models expected return association to realized return and test for abnormal returns. Our sample covers the period 2000 to 2012 and includes 2916 US firms. We find that Implied Cost of Capital has a stronger association with realized returns than CAPM and the Three-Factor model. Implied Cost of Capital also has lower abnormal returns not accounted for by expected returns. Our results suggest that we can replace CAPM and the Three-Factor model with Implied Cost of Capital.
Methanobacterium Dominates Biocathodic Archaeal Communities in Methanogenic Microbial Electrolysis Cells

Methane is the primary end product from cathodic current in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) in the absence of methanogenic inhibitors, but little is known about the archaeal communities that develop in these systems. MECs containing cathodes made from different materials (carbon brushes, or plain graphite blocks or blocks coated with carbon black and platinum, stainless steel, nickel, ferrihydrite, magnetite, iron sulfide, or molybdenum disulfide) were inoculated with anaerobic digester sludge and acclimated at a set potential of −600 mV (versus a standard hydrogen electrode). The archaeal communities on all cathodes, except those coated with platinum, were predominated by Methanobacterium (median 97% of archaea). Cathodes with platinum contained mainly archaea most similar to Methanobrevibacter. Neither of these methanogens were abundant (<0.1% of archaea) in the inoculum, and therefore their high abundance on the cathode resulted from selective enrichment. In contrast, bacterial communities on the c.
Can competitive advantage be predicted

Purpose – The fundamental problem of the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm is its lack of predictive ability and its inability to identify, ex ante, those resources and capabilities leading to competitive advantage and superior profitability. This paper aims to propose an extension of the RBV model that incorporates the demand‐based variables of customer needs and size of addressable market segment in the definition of the resources and capabilities that enable competitive advantage and superior profitability.Design/methodology/approach – The paper's approach is to use a literature review and two case studies.Findings – In this model a company has a competitive advantage if its resources and capabilities are valuable, rare, non‐imitable, organized, and if these resources and capabilities address unmet customer needs in market segments large enough to cover organizational fixed costs.Research limitations/implications – The proposed extension of the RBV is based on current literature and two qualitative.
Greening Data Centres: the Motivation, Expectancy and Ability Drivers

Data centres are the backbone of the digital economy and the widespread adoption of cloud services, business analytics and big data will continu to accelerate their demand. Because data centres consume a significant amount of energy, research efforts are needed to identify what facilitates actions to implement practices and technologies to either retrofit to or architect green data centres. This paper address this issu drawing from institutional, expectancy and motivation""ability theories and based on survey data collected from 96 data centres. The findings indicate that performance and effort expectancy form the strong order drivers and together with ability will lead to the implementation of practices and technologies that improve the energy efficiency of data centres. In addition, institutional isomorphic forces serve as first order influnces to shape expectations and trigger actions to develop skills and polices and to allocate financial resources that facilitate the implementation of greening practices. The paper further discusses a number of implications for research and practice.
The Structure of Growth in the Westen Cape Manufacturing Sector, 1970-1996

Abstract This paper examines growth patterns in the Western Cape over the 1970-1996 period by means of primal growth accounting decompositions. Evidence by magisterial district, by statistical region and by SIC 3-digit manufacturing sector is presented. We find that the Western Cape differs from national growth patterns. Manufacturing in the Western Cape has relied consistently on capital accumulation for growth, while labour has contributed more to manufacturing growth than nationally. TFP growth has not been an important contributor to growth in Western Cape manufacturing, with a relatively minor exception in the 1980's.
The last resort: child protection, the courts and the 1989 children act

Methodology who gets to court - a profile of the sample routes to the court - the legal and welfare triggering legal action sizing up the first gate - the operation of the threshold criteria gate two - establishing the need for an order the gatekeepers - decision-making processes in the local authority travelling together? - participation and representation where now? - concurrent jurisdiction and the transfer provisions (RE)-drawing the map - the investigative processes of the court controlling the pace road-blocks and diversions - the phenomenon of delay staging posts - interim orders journey's end - the substantive hearing moving on.
Systematic Exploration of Computational Music Structure Research

In this work we present a framework containing open source implementations of multiple music structural segmentation algorithms and employ it to explore the hyper parameters of features, algorithms, evaluation metrics, datasets, and annotations of this MIR task. Besides testing and discussing the relative importance of the moving parts of the computational music structure eco-system, we also shed light on its current major challenges. Additionally, a new dataset containing multiple structural annotations for tracks that are particularly ambiguous to analyze is introduced, and used to quantify the impact of speciﬁc anno-tators when assessing automatic approaches to this task. Results suggest that more than one annotation per track is necessary to fully address the problem of ambiguity in music structure research.
Spatial distribution and cluster analysis of a leishmaniasis outbreak in the south-western Madrid region, Spain, September 2009 to April 2013.

Since July 2009, there has been a community outbreak of leishmaniasis in south-west Madrid, Spain. The present study used the spatial distribution of cases to investigate the connection between the outbreak and a recently built peri-urban park. We included 157 cases of cutaneous (CL) and 90 cases of visceral (VL) leishmaniasis diagnosed at Fuenlabrada University Hospital between July 2009 and April 2013. CL and VL cases were geo-referenced and incidence rates by census tract were calculated. To identify high-risk areas, the spatial autocorrelation between individual cases was estimated. In a next step, areas where risk of disease was significantly increased were identified by cluster analysis. Higher incidence rates and the areas with highest intensity of CL and VL were located in the north-western part of the municipality. The most likely cluster of CL comprised three census tracks with relative risk (RR)? =? 11.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 9.2-13.6). Two additional significant VL clusters were detected, the most likely one with RR? =? 9.2 (95% CI: 7.3-11.1). In addition, we found one significant VL cluster in the immigrant population (RR? =? 12.8; 95% CI: 9.3-16.1). The spatial pattern of leishmaniasis transmission revealed a relation between the outbreak and the suspected risk area.
Case and Cause in Icelandic: Reconstructing Causal Networks of Cascaded Language Changes

Linguistic drift is a process that produces slow irreversible changes in the grammar and function of a language’s constructions. Importantly, changes in a part of a language can have trickle down effects, triggering changes elsewhere in that language. Although such causally triggered chains of changes have long been hypothesized by historical linguists, no explicit demonstration of the actual causality has been provided. In this study, we use cooccurrence statistics and machine learning to demonstrate that the functions of morphological cases experience a slow, irreversible drift along history, even in a language as conservative as is Icelandic. Crucially, we then move on to demonstrate ‐using the notion of Granger-causality‐ that there are explicit causal connections between the changes in the functions of the different cases, which are consistent with documented processes in the history of Icelandic. Our technique provides a means for the quantitative reconstruction of connected networks of subtle linguistic changes.
Detection, evaluation, and management of preoperative anaemia in the elective orthopaedic surgical patient: NATA guidelines

Previously undiagnosed anaemia is common in elective orthopaedic surgical patients and is associated with increased likelihood of blood transfusion and increased perioperative morbidity and mortality. A standardized approach for the detection, evaluation, and management of anaemia in this setting has been identified as an unmet medical need. A multidisciplinary panel of physicians was convened by the Network for Advancement of Transfusion Alternatives (NATA) with the aim of developing practice guidelines for the detection, evaluation, and management of preoperative anaemia in elective orthopaedic surgery. A systematic literature review and critical evaluation of the evidence was performed, and recommendations were formulated according to the method proposed by the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group. We recommend that elective orthopaedic surgical patients have a haemoglobin (Hb) level determination 28 days before the scheduled surgical procedure if possible (Grade 1C). We suggest that the patient's target Hb before elective surgery be within the normal range, according to the World Health Organization criteria (Grade 2C). We recommend further laboratory testing to evaluate anaemia for nutritional deficiencies, chronic renal insufficiency, and/or chronic inflammatory disease (Grade 1C). We recommend that nutritional deficiencies be treated (Grade 1C). We suggest that erythropoiesis-stimulating agents be used for anaemic patients in whom nutritional deficiencies have been ruled out, corrected, or both (Grade 2A). Anaemia should be viewed as a serious and treatable medical condition, rather than simply an abnormal laboratory value. Implementation of anaemia management in the elective orthopaedic surgery setting will improve patient outcomes.
Nucleophosmin Phosphorylation by v-Cyclin-CDK6 Controls KSHV Latency

Nucleophosmin (NPM) is a multifunctional nuclear phosphoprotein and a histone chaperone implicated in chromatin organization and transcription control. Oncogenic Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent of Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD). In the infected host cell KSHV displays two modes of infection, the latency and productive viral replication phases, involving extensive viral DNA replication and gene expression. A sustained balance between latency and reactivation to the productive infection state is essential for viral persistence and KSHV pathogenesis. Our study demonstrates that the KSHV v-cyclin and cellular CDK6 kinase phosphorylate NPM on threonine 199 (Thr199) in de novo and naturally KSHV-infected cells and that NPM is phosphorylated to the same site in primary KS tumors. Furthermore, v-cyclin-mediated phosphorylation of NPM engages the interaction between NPM and the latency-associated nuclear antigen LANA, a KSHV-encoded repressor of viral lytic replication. Strikingly, depletion of NPM in PEL cells leads to viral reactivation, and production of new infectious virus particles. Moreover, the phosphorylation of NPM negatively correlates with the level of spontaneous viral reactivation in PEL cells. This work demonstrates that NPM is a critical regulator of KSHV latency via functional interactions with v-cyclin and LANA.
A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON TARIFFS: THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

There is a widespread concern that tariffs have differential impacts across the Australian States and Territories. Public policy has tended to focus on the effects of tariff reductions on those regions where jobs will be lost. For a benefiting State, the gains will depend on its structural differences from the other States, and in particular the extent of its export orientation. This paper provides some measures of structural difference between Western Australia (WA) and the other States and provides two estimates of the impacts of tariffs on the WA economy. In the paper the burden of tariffs on WA (a major exporting State) is examined using a method previously employed by Clements and Sjaastad for Australia. The extent to which the benefits of a tariff reduction program are received by WA and how they are distributed are also investigated using a computable general equilibrium model of the State economy. It was found that substantial benefits accrue 10 the W A economy while the major industry sectors which benefit are mining, transport, wholesale and retail trade and entertainment, agriculture forestry and fishing, and finance and business services.
Using Maximum Entropy Models to Discriminate between Similar Languages and Varieties

DSLRAE is a hierarchical classifier for similar written languages and varieties based on maximum-entropy (maxent) classifiers. In the first level, the text is classified into a language group using a simple token-based maxent classifier. At the second level, a group-specific maxent classifier is applied to classify the text as one of the languages or varieties within the previously identified group. For each group of languages, the classifier uses a different kind and combination of knowledge-poor features: token or character n-grams and ‘white lists’ of tokens. Features were selected according to the results of applying ten-fold cross-validation over the training dataset. The system presented in this article1 has been ranked second in the Discriminating Similar Language (DSL) shared task co-located within the VarDial Workshop at COLING 2014 (Zampieri et al., 2014).
Correlates of Stillbirths at Nyeri Provincial General Hospital, Kenya, 2009-2013: A Retrospective Study

Background: Death of a baby in-utero is a very devastating event to the mother and the family. Most stillbirths occur during labor and birth with other deaths occurring during the antenatal period. Millions of families experience stillbirths, yet these deaths remain uncounted, and policies have not been clearly stipulated to address this issue. The aim of the study was to identify the possible causes of stillbirths as recorded in the medical records. Methods: A retrospective study looking at medical records of women who experienced stillbirths between 1st January 2009 and 31st December 2013 at Nyeri Provincial General Hospital, Kenya. The hospital records containing cases of stillbirths were retrieved and data abstraction forms were used to collect data and information. Results: Both fresh and macerated stillbirths were equally common. The stillbirth rate was 12.2 per 1,000 births. There was significant association between stillbirths and the clients who were referred and reason for referral, (p=0.029) and (p=0.005), respectively. The number of ANC visits during pregnancy was also significant (p=0.05). Mode of delivery and the reason for cesarean section were significantly associated with stillbirths, (p=0.003) and (p=0.032), respectively. The type of labor and delivery complications experienced was associated with stillbirths (p= 0.022). Conclusion and Global Health Implications: There were several factors associated with stillbirths thus efforts should be made to establish approaches aimed at prevention. Addressing the causes of stillbirths will contribute to reduction of perinatal mortality.
Replication and Clearance of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus from the Brains of Animals Vaccinated with Chimeric SIN/VEE Viruses

ABSTRACT Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an important, naturally emerging zoonotic pathogen. Recent outbreaks in Venezuela and Colombia in 1995, involving an estimated 100,000 human cases, indicate that VEEV still poses a serious public health threat. To develop a safe, efficient vaccine that protects against disease resulting from VEEV infection, we generated chimeric Sindbis (SIN) viruses expressing structural proteins of different strains of VEEV and analyzed their replication in vitro and in vivo, as well as the characteristics of the induced immune responses. None of the chimeric SIN/VEE viruses caused any detectable disease in adult mice after either intracerebral (i.c.) or subcutaneous (s.c.) inoculation, and all chimeras were more attenuated than the vaccine strain, VEEV TC83, in 6-day-old mice after i.c. infection. All vaccinated mice were protected against lethal encephalitis following i.c. , s.c. , or intranasal (i.n.) challenge with the virulent VEEV ZPC738 strain (ZPC738). In spite of the absence of clinical encephalitis in vaccinated mice challenged with ZPC738 via i.n. or i.c. route, we regularly detected high levels of infectious challenge virus in the central nervous system (CNS). However, infectious virus was undetectable in the brains of all immunized animals at 28 days after challenge. Hamsters vaccinated with chimeric SIN/VEE viruses were also protected against s.c. challenge with ZPC738. Taken together, our findings suggest that these chimeric SIN/VEE viruses are safe and efficacious in adult mice and hamsters and are potentially useful as VEEV vaccines. In addition, immunized animals provide a useful model for studying the mechanisms of the anti-VEEV neuroinflammatory response, leading to the reduction of viral titers in the CNS and survival of animals.
The Persistence of Insurers Profitability

Most of the academic researches have analyzed the persistence of profit for the manufacturing and (non-financial) services sector. These studies were mainly conducted in advance market economies. In order to shed some light on the issue of persistence in corporate rates of return, this research aims to examine the persistence of profitability of financial entities i.e. non-life insurance companies operating in an emerging market economy, Croatia. In order to determine persistence of insurers’ profitability, a Markov Chains stochastic process is applied on the profitability classes that were formulated based on the changes of insurers’ ROA (return on assets) indicator during the period from 2002 to 2011. The empirical results showed that profit persistence was more likely to occur within moderate profit classes/states.
The Israeli Economy, 1985–1998 : From Government Intervention to Market Economics

From 1973 to 1985, the Israeli economy suffered a deep crisis: the growth rate declined, foreign debt increased, and inflation soared to annual rates of a few hundred percent. This book analyzes the structural reforms initiated between 1985 and 1998 that transformed the Israeli economy from one of heavy government intervention to a market-oriented, open economy. The reforms introduced fiscal discipline, increased central bank independence, and reduced government intervention in capital, labor, and financial markets. Also, competition was fostered in monopoly-controlled markets. The results of these reforms include, among others: a decline from 77 percent to 55 percent in the government expenditure portion of the gross domestic product, a decline from 65 percent of credit volume to 5 percent in government involvement in directing credit, and almost complete elimination of the tight control of the foreign-exchange market. These reforms, together with the mass migration into Israel from the former Soviet Union and the peace process with Israel's neighbors, accelerated economic growth, particularly in the business sector. Topics discussed include the impact of macroeconomic policy and structural reforms on growth, employment, inflation, balance of payments, and the rapid expansion of high-tech industry. The book also examines the consequent increase in income inequality and related problems.
Common aspects of neuroplasticity, stress, mood disorders and mitochondrial functions

Neuroplasticity is a fundamental mechanism of neuronal adaptation to external and internal stimuli. There are evidences that chronic stress and mood disorders disrupt neuroplasticity, while antidepressant treatment can enhance neuroplasticity. Mitochondria strongly affect many intracellular processes coupled to plasticity and neuron survival. Mitochondrial dysfunctions are assuming an increasingly important role in hypotheses about mood disorders, bipolar disorder mainly. Here we provide an overview of basic mechanisms of neuroplasticity, molecular and cellular mechanisms accompanying chronic stress, mood disorders and mitochondrial functions. Better insight into common molecular mechanisms of stress, mood disorders, effects of antidepressants and mitochondrial functions is likely to lead to better understanding of pathophysiology of depression or interindividual variations in response to antidepressant treatment.
Joint learning of dependency parsing and semantic role labeling

When natural language processing tasks overlap in their linguistic input space, they can be technically merged. Applying machine learning algorithms to the new joint task and comparing the results of joint learning with disjoint learning of the original tasks may bring to light the linguistic relatedness of the two tasks. We present a joint learning experiment with dependency parsing and semantic role labeling of Catalan and Spanish. The developed systems are based on local memory-based classiers predicting constraints on the syntactic and semantic dependency relations in the resulting graph based on the same input features. In a second global phase, a constraint satisfaction inference procedure produces a dependency graph and semantic role label assignments for all predicates in a sentence. The comparison between joint and disjoint learning shows that dependency parsing is better learned in a disjoint setting, while semantic role labeling benets from joint learning. We explain the results by providing an analysis of the output of the systems.