Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Students’ Assessment of Campus Sustainability at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Higher education institutions are major drivers of change in achieving environmental sustainability both within college campuses and beyond campuses in communities at large. However, achieving campus sustainability is not possible without the involvement of students as one of the major stakeholders of a university. Based on survey of 152 students of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, this study explores students’ assessment of campus sustainability components: curriculum and research; campus operations; and community involvement. The results show that even though the students indicate a great deal of awareness and concern about campus environmental sustainability, they lack interest and willingness to participate in initiatives towards achieving sustainability. Apart from some sustainable landscaping and waste recycling practices, there are few sustainability initiatives in transportation and energy and water conservation on the campus. Offered courses and student projects have also been reported to have modest focus on sustainability. The article concludes by highlighting the roles of incorporating sustainability into campus operations, and training university students in promoting environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
A LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT OF EDI USE IN THE U.S. MOTOR CARRIER INDUSTRY

Electronic data interchange (EDI), the direct computer-to-computer communication of business documents and information in machine-readable structured format, plays an important role in supply chain management. This study uses the same survey and sampling methodology used in the authors' earlier research to ascertain the key changes in EDI use and perceptions about EDI since 1990 and whether projections and expectations for EDI use made in 1990 have been realized. The primary focus of the article is on 35 motor carriers that answered the survey in both 1990 and 1996. However, because a sample size of 35 is not large enough to allow segmentation by nature of carrier operations or firm size, data from all respondents are utilized to allow longitudinal comparisons of truckload (TL), less-than-truckload (LTL), large, and small motor carriers.
The Impact of ICT Investments on the Relative Demand for High-, Medium-, and Low-Skilled Workers: Industry Versus Country Analysis

In this paper I analyze the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on compensation shares of high-, medium-, and low-skilled workers. Com- pared to other studies, I investigate this question using a considerably richer data set with respect to the length of time series, set of countries and industries, and information on ICT. Next to investigating the influence of ICT in 14 countries, I concentrate on the analysis in 23 separate industries. The results I find show that the skill-biased technological change hypothesis is rejected if single countries are analyzed with an industry panel, while I find that technological change is a cause of changes in the relative compensation shares in single industries. Here there is a positive influence of ICT on high-skilled workers' relative compensation for the time before 1995, while ICT investments drive the medium- and low-skilled com- pensation shares together for a substantial amount of industries, especially since 1995.
Following the Trend: Tracking GDP When Long-Run Growth is Uncertain

Using a dynamic factor model that allows for changes in both the long- run growth rate of output and the volatility of business cycles, we document a significant decline in long-run output growth in the United States. Our evidence supports the view that this slowdown started prior to the Great Recession. We show how to use the model to decompose changes in long-run growth into its underlying drivers. At low frequencies, variations in the growth rate of labor productivity appear to be the most important driver of changes in GDP growth for both the US and other advanced economies. When applied to real-time data, the proposed model is capable of detecting shifts in long-run growth in a timely and reliable manner.
Heterogeneity, risk sharing and the welfare costs of risk

How well do people share risk? Do non-market institutions – charity, progressive taxes, transfer payments – make up for the lack of complete insurance markets? Or is risk sharing far worse than what complete markets could achieve? Standard risk-sharing regressions assume that any variation in households’ risk preferences is uncorrelated with variation in income. I combine administrative and survey data with a simple model of imperfect insurance to show that this assumption fails; risk-tolerant workers sort into jobs where earnings carry more aggregate risk. The correlation makes previous risk-sharing regressions too pessimistic. I provide techniques that eliminate the bias, apply them to U.S. data, and find that the welfare losses from uninsured shocks are practically small and statistically difficult to distinguish from zero. In addition, because more risk-tolerant people bear more aggregate risk, the welfare costs of macroeconomic fluctuations are small even for arbitrarily risk-averse households. There is little room to improve households’ welfare by smoothing idiosyncratic or aggregate shocks unless smoothing shocks also raises mean output.
International activities of knowledge‐intensive small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises: The example of an open source software firm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that explains international activities of open source software (OSS) firms.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews relevant literature related to international operations of knowledge‐intensive firms, especially in the software industry. Theoretical development is based here on a combination of the network approach, international new venture theory and inward–outward internationalization.Findings – The findings in this study suggest that the international activities of OSS firms can be divided into project activities and business activities. Project activities include inward and outward linkages, and partner identification. Business activities include domestic and partner network activities that can lead to international business as well.Research implications – For scholars, the framework provides a new approach to explain many international activities of OSS firms by integrating three international business theories. In addition, it p.
Design Rationale for RuleML: A Markup Language for Semantic Web Rules

This paper lays out the design rationale of RuleML, a rule markup language for the Semantic Web. We give an overview of the RuleML Initiative as a Web ontology effort. Subsequently, the modular syntax and semantics of RuleML and the current RuleML 0.8 DTDs are presented (focusing on the Datalog and URI sublanguages). Then we discuss negation handling, priorities/evidences, as well as agents and RuleML. We next proceed to RuleML implementations via XSLT and rule engines. In our conclusions, we continue to explore the bigger picture of ontologies and discuss some requirements for a future RuleML. An appendix shows our Semantic Web scenario in the insurance industry.
High genetic diversity and clonal growth in relict populations of Olea europaea subsp. laperrinei (Oleaceae) from Hoggar, Algeria.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The Laperrine's olive (Olea europaea subsp. laperrinei) is an endemic tree from Saharan massifs. Its populations have substantially regressed since the Pleistocene and are presently distributed in a fragmented habitat. Long-term persistence of this taxon is uncertain and programmes of preservation have to be urgently implemented. To define a conservation strategy, the genetic diversity and breeding system of this tree have to be investigated. METHODS One hundred and eleven ramets were prospected in the laperrinei populations from the Tamanrasset region, southern Algeria. Genetic polymorphism was revealed at nuclear and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) microsatellite loci allowing a comparative assessment of the genetic diversity of laperrinei and Mediterranean populations based on bi-parental and maternal markers. Additionally, nuclear microsatellite markers enabled the genotypes to be identified unambiguously. KEY RESULTS Based on nuclear microsatellite data, the total diversity was high (Ht=0.61) in laperrinei populations and similar to that observed in western Mediterranean populations. A substantial cpDNA diversity (Ht=0.19) was also observed. Genetically identical ramets originated from the same stump (which can cover >80 m2) were identified in each population. Sixteen per cent of genets exhibited more than one ramet. In addition, several cases of somatic mutations were unambiguously revealed in distinct ramets stemming from the same stump. CONCLUSIONS These data show that highly isolated and small laperrinei populations are able to maintain a high genetic diversity. This supports the existence of relict trees persisting for a very long time (probably since the last humid transition, 3000 years ago). It is proposed that the very long persistence associated with an asexual multiplication of highly adapted trees could be a strategy of survival in extreme conditions avoiding a mutational meltdown due to reproduction in reduced populations.
Studying Autism Spectrum Disorder with Structural and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Survey

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities have emerged as powerful means that facilitate non-invasive clinical diagnostics of various diseases and abnormalities since their inception in the 1980s. Multiple MRI modalities, such as different types of the sMRI and DTI, have been employed to investigate facets of ASD in order to better understand this complex syndrome. This paper reviews recent applications of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to study autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Main reported findings are sometimes contradictory due to different age ranges, hardware protocols, population types, numbers of participants, and image analysis parameters. The primary anatomical structures, such as amygdalae, cerebrum, and cerebellum, associated with clinical-pathological correlates of ASD are highlighted through successive life stages, from infancy to adulthood. This survey demonstrates the absence of consistent pathology in the brains of autistic children and lack of research investigations in patients under 2 years of age in the literature. The known publications also emphasize advances in data acquisition and analysis, as well as significance of multimodal approaches that combine resting-state, task-evoked, and sMRI measures. Initial results obtained with the sMRI and DTI show good promise toward the early and non-invasive ASD diagnostics.
The effects of Lactobacillus pentosus strain b240 and appropriate physical training on salivary secretory IgA levels in elderly adults with low physical fitness: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus pentosus strain b240 (b240) intake and appropriate physical training on salivary secretory immunoglobulin A secretion in elderly adults with low physical fitness. Elderly adults with low physical fitness (daily step count below 3,500 steps) were divided into 2 groups: a b240 intake + exercise group (b240 group) and a placebo intake + exercise group (placebo group). Each subject continued intake of b240 or placebo and moderate-intensity resistance exercise for 12 weeks. Before and 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the start of intervention, each subject underwent saliva sampling. Before and after intervention, physical fitness tests and step count were measured. Our results showed that secretory immunoglobulin A secretion in 57 subjects during the b240/placebo intake period was significantly greater in the b240 group than in the placebo group (p<0.05). There were no significant changes in physical fitness tests before and after intervention in the 2 groups. The daily amount of walking increased significantly after intervention in both groups (p<0.05). These results suggest that in elderly adults with low physical activity and fitness, intake of b240 with appropriate physical exercise elevate salivary secretory immunoglobulin A secretion.
Exchange Rate Changes and the Operating Performance of Multinationals

Using a sample of 261 U.S. multinationals over the period 1984 to 2002, we examine the relation between exchange rate changes and the profitability of foreign operations. We find that the impact of exchange rate changes on foreign operations' profitability is not statistically significant in the majority of industries. Furthermore, according to our variance components analysis, exchange rate changes explain less than two percent of the variation in foreign operations' profitability for most industries. We also find that the impact of exchange rate changes on foreign operations' profitability is generally weak for non-U.S. multinationals from Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.K. Our evidence is consistent with the finding of prior studies that the impact of exchange rate changes on firm value is not significant for most multinationals.
Evaluating the Isolation Effect of Cache Partitioning on COTS Multicore Platforms

Tasks running on a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) multicore processor can suffer significant execution time variations due to inter-core interference in accessing shared hardware resources such as shared last-level cache (LLC). Page-coloring is a well-known OS technique, which can partition the LLC space among the cores, to improve isolation. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of page-coloring based cache partitioning on three COTS multicore platforms. On each platform, we use two carefully designed microbenchmarks and perform a set of experiments, which generate very high interference at the shared LLC, with and without cache partitioning. We made two interesting findings: (1) Without cachepartitioning, a task can suffer up to 103X slowdown due to interference at the shared LLC. (2) More surprisingly, we found that cache partitioning does not necessarily eliminate interference in accessing the LLC, even when the concerned task only accesses its dedicated cache partition (i.e., all memory accesses are cache hits); we observe up to 14X slowdown in such a configuration. We attribute this to contention in the Miss Status Holding Registers (MSHRs) of the LLC.
Differential analyses for RNA-seq: transcript-level estimates improve gene-level inferences

High-throughput sequencing of cDNA (RNA-seq) is used extensively to characterize the transcriptome of cells. Many transcriptomic studies aim at comparing either abundance levels or the transcriptome composition between given conditions, and as a first step, the sequencing reads must be used as the basis for abundance quantification of transcriptomic features of interest, such as genes or transcripts. Various quantification approaches have been proposed, ranging from simple counting of reads that overlap given genomic regions to more complex estimation of underlying transcript abundances. In this paper, we show that gene-level abundance estimates and statistical inference offer advantages over transcript-level analyses, in terms of performance and interpretability. We also illustrate that the presence of differential isoform usage can lead to inflated false discovery rates in differential gene expression analyses on simple count matrices but that this can be addressed by incorporating offsets derived from transcript-level abundance estimates. We also show that the problem is relatively minor in several real data sets. Finally, we provide an R package ( tximport) to help users integrate transcript-level abundance estimates from common quantification pipelines into count-based statistical inference engines.
What Effect Does the Size of the State-Owned Sector Have on Regional Growth in China?

This abstract will be reformatted upon submission. You don't need to format for line-breaks here! This paper tests the contributions of the size of state-owned enterprises as a determinant of China’s economic growth. The methodology is discussed in papers by Levine and Renelt (1992) and Sala-i-Martin (1997). We estimate regressions with growth of output and total factor productivity as the dependent variable and a variety of other factors, including measures of the size of the state-run sector, as regressors. We find that controlling for a variety of other factors, the greater the importance of state owned enterprises, as measured by the proportion of total industrial production they produce, the lower the provincial growth rate. The average estimate is that a decrease in the SOE share of industrial production by ten percentage points increases real GDP growth the following year by 1.14%. The average impacts of a reduction in the SOE share in employment are smaller in absolute magnitude and different for large provinces than they are for small ones. Large provinces actually have higher growth rates if this share rises, while smaller provinces have higher growth rates when it falls.
Treatment of patients with comorbid depression and diabetes with metformin and milnacipran

Depression is twice as frequent in patients with diabetes as in the general population, and has a negative impact on self-care, adherence to treatment, and the general prognosis of diabetes. This underscores the importance of screening all diabetic patients for depression and, if necessary, treating it with an effective antidepressant drug in parallel with standard diabetes treatment. In a recent study, a simple two-question screening tool was used to screen diabetic patients for comorbid depression. The effects of the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressant, milnacipran, on metabolic parameters and depressive symptoms in 64 diabetic patients with comorbid depression detected by this screen were studied. Patients received milnacipran for 6 months, in addition to standard diabetes treatment with metformin. At the end of the study, 72% of patients had responded to antidepressant treatment (≥50% reduction of baseline Beck Depression Score). The proportion of patients with <8% glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c (a common indication in diabetes of the need for intensive therapeutic intervention) had decreased significantly from 46.6% at baseline to 6.9%. HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, body mass index, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and serum triglyceride levels were all significantly decreased in patients with an antidepressant response, but not in patients whose depressive symptoms had not responded to milnacipran.
Does Improved Disclosure Lead to Higher Executive Compensation? Evidence from the Convergence to IFRS and the Dual-Class Share System in China

Exploiting an exogenous disclosure rule change and the unique dual-class share system in China, this study tests whether improved information disclosure leads to higher executive compensation. Consistent with the theoretical prediction in Hermalin and Weisbach (2012), we find that after China adopted a set of tightened accounting and auditing standards in 2007, executive compensation increased by about 15% relative to the control firms. Our results support the argument that, because the better monitoring allowed by increased disclosure tends to affect managers adversely, managerial compensation rises as a compensating differential.
Detection of phenothiazine derivatives in urine. An evaluation of 3 methods.

Findings of the present study agree with published results that showed an incidence of approximately 25% "false negative" results with the Forrest FPN test for phenothiazine derivatives in urine. A recently published modification purportedly decreased these "false negatives" to less than 5%. However, our control group of negative urine specimens omitted in Campbell's study, yielded 100% negative results with the FPN test and 81% positive results with the modified test. Phenistix (Ames) was evaluated for elimination of false negative readings but was found not to have any advantage for this purpose. Data are also presented indicating differing sensitivities of the Forrest FPN test to various phenothiazine derivatives.
Ethyl cellulose nanoparticles as a platform to decrease ulcerogenic potential of piroxicam: formulation and in vitro/in vivo evaluation

Nanoparticles (NPs) have long gained significant interest for their use in various drug formulations in order to increase bioavailability, prolong drug release, and decrease side effects of highly toxic drugs. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the potential of ethyl cellulose-based NPs (EC-NPs) to modulate the release and reduce ulcerogenicity of piroxicam (PX) after oral administration. PX-loaded EC-NPs were prepared by solvent evaporation technique using different stabilizers at three concentration levels. Morphological examination of selected formulas confirmed the formation of spherical NPs with slightly porous surface. Formulation containing poloxamer-stabilized EC-NPs (P188/0.2), having a particle size of 240.26±29.24 nm, polydispersity index of 0.562±0.030, entrapment efficiency of 85.29%±1.57%, and modulated release of PX (88% after 12 hours), was selected as the optimum formulation. Differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated the presence of PX in an amorphous form in the NPs. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the possible formation of hydrogen bond and the absence of chemical interaction. In vivo study, evaluation of pharmacokinetic parameters, evaluation of gastric irritation potential, and histological examination were conducted after administration of the selected formulation. Time to reach maximum plasma concentration, tmax, of poloxamer-stabilized EC-NPs was significantly higher than that of Feldene® 20 mg capsules (P≤0.001). Encapsulation of the acidic, gastric offender PX into NPs managed to significantly suppress gastric ulceration potential in rats (P≤0.05) as compared to that of PX suspension. A reduction of 66% in mean ulcer index was observed. In conclusion, poloxamer-stabilized EC-NPs (P188/0.2) had a significant potential of offsetting deleterious side effects common in PX use.
CURVATURE AND GLOBAL RIGIDITY IN FINSLER MANIFOLDS

We present some strong global rigidity results for reversible Finsler manifolds. Following ‡ Cartan's de‹nition (1926), a locally symmet- ric Finsler metric is one whose curvature is parallel. These spaces strictly contain the spaces such that the geodesic re›ections are local isometries and also constant curvature manifolds. In the case of negative curvature, we prove that the locally symmetric Finsler metrics on compact manifolds are Riemannian and this, therefore, extends A. Zadeh's rigidity result. Our ap- proach uses dynamical properties of the ›ag curvature. We also give a full generalization of the Ossermann Sarnak minoration of the metric entropy of the geodesic ›ow. In positive curvature, we just announce some partial results and remarks concerning Finsler metrics of curvature +1 on the 2- sphere. We show that in the reversible case the geodesic ›ow is conjugate to the standard one. We also observe that a condition of integral geometry (of Radon type) forces such a metric to be Riemannian. This indicates a deep link with (exotic) projective structures.