Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparison of Parallel Sorting Algorithms on Different Architectures

In this paper, we present a comparative performance evaluation of three different parallel sorting algorithms: bitonic sort, sample sort, and parallel radix sort. In order to study the interaction between the algorithms and the architecture, we implemented all the algorithms on three different architectures: a MasPar MP1202, a mesh-connected computer with 2048 processing elements; an nCUBE 2, a message-passing hypercube with 32 processors; and a Sequent Balance, a distributed shared-memory machine with 10 processors. For each machine, we found that the choice of algorithm depends upon the number of elements to be sorted. In addition, as expected, our results show that the relative performance of the algorithms differed on the various machines. It is our hope that our results can be extrapolated to help select appropriate candidates for implementation on machines with architectures similar to those that we have studied. As evidence for this, our findings on the nCUBE 2, a 32 node hypercube, are in accordance with the results obtained by Blelloch {\em et al.} \cite{blmpsz91} on the CM-2, a hypercube with 1024 processors. In addition, preliminary results we have obtained on the SGI Power Challenge, a distributed shared-memory machine, are in accordance with our findings on the Sequent Balance.
An approach to analog mitigation of RFI

Among all noise sources present in wireline transmission systems we focus on one special type: narrowband radio frequency interference generated by radio amateurs (RAM) and broadcast radio stations. This disturbance, characterized by high power and narrow bandwidth, has the potential of overloading the receiver's analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Once the ADC is in saturation, any countermeasure taken in digital domain will fail. A viable way to face this problem is cancellation using the common-mode signal as a reference. This paper describes in detail an adaptive, mixed-signal, narrowband interference canceller employing a modified recursive least-squares algorithm, which is split into an analog and a digital part. The mixed-signal approach enables the circuit to generate an interference-cancelling signal of several MHz while operating the adaptive algorithm at some kilohertz. Simulation as well as measurement results show a steady-state disturbance suppression of about 35 dB. The convergence speed is high enough to protect the ADC from overloading due to time-variant HAM interference.
Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 2 regulates cellular metastasis-associated behavior in gastric cancer

Aberrant glycosylation of cell surface glycoprotein due to specific alterations of glycosyltransferase activity is usually associated with invasion and metastasis of cancer, particularly of gastric carcinomas. Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 2 (ppGalNAc-T2), which catalyzes initiation of mucin-type O-glycosylation, is also involved in tumor migration and invasion. However, a comprehensive understanding of how ppGalNAc-T2 correlates with the metastasic potential of human gastric cancer is not currently available. In the present study, ppGalNAc-T2 was detected in a variety of human poorly differentiated tumor cells, and expression appeared to be higher in SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. In addition, we investigated the potential effects of ppGalNAc-T2 on growth and metastasis-associated behavior in SGC7901 cells after stable transfection with ppGalNAc-T2 sense and antisense vectors. We found that cell proliferation, adhesion and invasion were decreased in ppGalNAc-T2 overexpressed cells but increased in ppGalNAc-T2 downregulated cells. Therefore, we attempted to clarify the mechanisms underlying the anti-metastatic activities of ppGalNAc-T2. Further investigation indicated that overexpression of ppGalNAc-T2 is involved in the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 expression at both the protein and mRNA levels, which may be associated with ppGalNAc-T2 suppressing the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. However, it did not exhibit any apparent correlation with MMP-14 expression levels. Our data show the effect of ppGalNAc-T2 on proliferation, adhesion or invasion of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells, suggesting that ppGalNAc-T2 may exert anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic activity through the decrease of MMP-2 and TGF-β1. These results indicate that ppGalNAc-T2 may be used as a novel therapeutic target for human gastric cancer treatment.
Repeated evolution of net venation and fleshy fruits among monocots in shaded habitats confirms a priori predictions: evidence from an ndhF phylogeny

We present a well-resolved, highly inclusive phylogeny for monocots, based on ndhF sequence variation, and use it to test a priori hypotheses that net venation and vertebrate-dispersed fleshy fruits should undergo concerted convergence, representing independent but often concurrent adaptations to shaded conditions. Our data demonstrate that net venation arose at least 26 times and was lost eight times over the past 90 million years; fleshy fruits arose at least 21 times and disappeared 11 times. Both traits show a highly significant pattern of concerted convergence (p<10−9), arising 16 times and disappearing four times in tandem. This phenomenon appears driven by even stronger tendencies for both traits to evolve in shade and be lost in open habitats (p<10−13–10−29). These patterns are among the strongest ever demonstrated for evolutionary convergence in individual traits and the predictability of evolution, and the strongest evidence yet uncovered for concerted convergence. The rate of adaptive shifts per taxon has declined exponentially over the past 90 million years, as expected when large-scale radiations fill adaptive zones.
Geographical differences in vitamin D status, with particular reference to European countries

Vitamin D is produced endogenously when the skin is exposed to sunlight and can be obtained exogenously from a few natural food sources, from food fortification and from supplements. Generally, vitamin D intake is low ≤2–3 μg/d in Europe. Casual exposure to sunlight is thought to provide most of the vitamin D requirement of the human population. However, skin synthesis of vitamin D may not compensate for the low nutritional intake in Europe, even in countries with high supplies from food fortification and supplements. For assessment of vitamin D nutritional status the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in serum is considered to be an accurate integrative measure reflecting an individual's dietary intake and cutaneous production. A substantial percentage of the elderly and adolescents in Europe have a low concentration of 25(OH)D; in the elderly this percentage ranges from approximately 10 in the Nordic countries to approximately 40 in France. Low vitamin D status seems to be aggravated by disease and immobility, and by a low frequency of supplement use.
Exports from Ukraine to the European Union: macro-, micro- and political economy determinants

This thesis deals with the exporting performance of Ukraine. Focusing on the reorientation of merchandise exports, both in terms of geography – from East to West – and in terms of commodity composition, it explores the multi-level determinants of the observed picture. While until 2003-2004 reorientation from East to West appeared to be a steady trend, in 2005 this trend reversed and CIS re-emerged as a leading destination market for Ukraine’s exports. The commodity composition in trade with the EU has also hardly improved, and was more positive in trade with the CIS. Marginal improvements were observed on a more disaggregated level. These findings were confirmed in the macro-level analysis – Ukraine tends to under-trade with the external trade blocs – EU-15 and the then CEFTA, and over trade with the internal trade bloc of CIS. On a micro-level, the analysis has not revealed that trade with the EU has been associated with firm-level industrial upgrading, although FDI does increase the likelihood to export to the EU. Trade with the CIS has been associated with higher commodity diversification, which in turn is known to be associated with higher growth potential. On the level of policy lobbying, on the other hand, business elites have shown an increasing interest in the Western vector of integration.
A Data Mining Approach to Determine Sepsis Guideline Impact on Inpatient Mortality and Complications

Sepsis incidents have doubled from 2000 through 2008, and hospitalizations for these diagnoses have increased by 70%. The use of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guidelines can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment; however, the effectiveness of the SSC guidelines in preventing complications for this population is unclear. The overall purpose of this study was to apply SSC guideline recommendations to EHR data for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock and determine guideline compliance as well as its impact on inpatient mortality and sepsis complications. Propensity Score Matching in conjuction with Bootstrap Simulation were used to match patients with and without exposure to the SSC recommendations. Findings showed that EHR data could be used to estimate compliance with SSC recommendations as well as the effect of compliance on outcomes. Compliance with guideline recommendations ranged from 9% to 100%. For individual recommendations with sufficient data, association with outcomes varied. Checking lactate influenced four outcomes; however, two were negative and two positive. Use of a ventilator for patients with respiratory distress had a positive association with three outcomes.
A Theoretical Framework Explaining the Mechanisms of Nudging

In this paper we develop a theoretical model to clarify the underlying mechanisms that drive individual decision making and responses to behavioral interventions, such as nudges. The contribution of the paper is three-fold: First, the model provides a theoretical framework that comprehensively structures the individual decision-making process applicable to a wide range of choice situations. Second, we reduce the confusion regarding what should be called a nudge by oﬀering a clear classiﬁcation of behavioral interventions. We distinguish among what we label as pure nudges, preference nudges, and other behavioral interventions. Third, we identify the mechanisms behind the eﬀectiveness of behavioral interventions based on the structured decision-making process. Hence, the model can be used to predict under which circumstances, and in which choice situations, a nudge is likely to be eﬀective.
Regional Competitiveness, Economic Growth and Stages of Development

This paper positions the concept of regional competitiveness within theories concerning regional economic growth and stages of economic development. It examines the sources of regional competitiveness encompassing an analysis based on the particular stage of economic development that the nations within which regions are situated have reached. As a means to achieve this, the paper undertakes an empirical analysis of data stemming from the World Competitiveness Index of Regions, and identifies regional competitiveness as a dual concept that explains relative differences in rates of economic development across regions, as well as an understanding of the future economic growth trajectories of regions at a similar stage of economic development. As with endogenous growth and development theory, the notion of regional competitiveness presented here places knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship at the forefront of conceptualisations of regional economic differentiation.
Extraversion and anterior vs. posterior DMN activity during self-referential thoughts

Recent studies show that fronto-posterior electroencephalogram (EEG) spectral power distribution is associated with personality. Specifically, extraversion is associated with an increase of spectral power in posterior cortical regions that overlap with the posterior default mode network (DMN) hub and a decrease of spectral power in anterior regions that overlap with the anterior DMN hub. Although there is evidence that dopaminergic neurotransmission may be involved, psychological processes that underlie these associations remain unclear. I hypothesize that these processes may have something to do with spontaneous self-referential thoughts. Specifically, I hypothesize that in extraverts self-referential thoughts may be associated with an increase of spectral power in the posterior DMN hub, whereas in introverts they may be associated with an increase of spectral power in the anterior DMN hub. After spontaneous EEG registration, participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire describing their thoughts during the registration. An item describing self-referential positive expectations (SRPE) was used to measure individual differences in the intensity of these processes. Source localization and independent component analyses were applied to EEG data to reveal oscillatory activity associated with the anterior and the posterior DMN hubs. Hierarchical regression analysis showed a significant interaction between extraversion scores and anterior vs. posterior DMN alpha activity in predicting individual differences in SRPE scores. In extraverts, high SRPE scores were associated with an increase of alpha power in the posterior DMN hub, whereas in introverts they were associated with an increase of alpha power in the anterior DMN hub. Results are discussed in terms of differential involvement of the two DMN hubs in self-related reward processes in extraverts and introverts.
The intrinsic shapes of dwarf irregular galaxies

We use the measured B band axial ratios of galaxies from an updated catalog of Local Volume galaxies to determine the intrinsic shape of dwarf irregula r galaxies (de Vacouleurs’ morphological types 8, 9 and 10). We find that the shapes change syste matically with luminosity, with fainter galaxies being thicker. In particular, we divide ou r sample into sub-samples and find that the most luminous dwarfs ( 19.6 < MB < 14.8) have thin discs (thickness � 0.2), with the disc being slightly elliptical (axial ratio � 0.8). At intermediate luminosity, viz. 14.8 < MB < 12.6, the galaxies are still characterized by elliptical discs ( axial ratio � 0.7), but the discs are somewhat thicker (thickness � 0.4). The faintest dwarfs, viz. those with 12.6 < MB < 6.7 are well described as being oblate spheroids with an axial ra tio � 0.5. The increasing thickness of the stellar discs of dwarf irre gulars with decreasing luminosity is compatible with the increasing ratio of velocity d ispersion to rotational velocity with decreasing galaxy size.
Patterns and Possible Roles of LINE-1 Methylation Changes in Smoke-Exposed Epithelia

Tobacco smoking and reduced methylation of long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1) are crucial in oral carcinogenesis. 5′UTR of human LINE-1 sequence contains several CpG dinucleotides which are methylated in various proportions (0–100%). Methylation levels of many LINE-1s in cancer were reduced, hypomethylated. The hypomethylation of each LINE-1 locus can promote instability of genome and repress expression of a gene located on that same chromosome. This study investigated if cigarette smoking influences LINE-1 methylation of oral mucosal cells. The methylation of human LINE-1 in clinically normal oral mucosa of current smokers was compared to non-smokers. By using the combined bisulphite restriction analysis, each LINE-1 sequence was categorised into 4 patterns depending on the methylation status and location of the two 18-bp successive CpG from 5′ to 3′ including mCmC, uCuC, mCuC and uCmC. Of these, mC and uC represent methylated and unmethylated CpG, respectively. The DNA bisulphite sequence demonstrated that most CpGs of mCmC and uCuC were methylated and unmethylated, respectively. Nevertheless, some CpGs of each mCuC or uCmC allele were methylated. Imaging of the digestion products was used to generate %methylation value. No significant difference in the overall LINE-1 methylation level but the differences in percentages of some methylation patterns were discovered. The %mCmC and %uCuC increased, while the %mCuC decreased in current smokers (p = 0.002, 0.015, and <0.0001, respectively). Additionally, the lower %mCuC still persisted in persons who had stopped smoking for over 1 year (p = 0.001). The %mCuC also decreased in the higher pack-year smokers (p = 0.028). Smoking possibly altered mCuC to mCmC and uCuC forms, and changes uCmC to uCuC forms. In conclusion, smoking changes methylation levels of partial methylated LINE-1s and increased the number of hypo- and hypermethylated loci. These hypomethylated LINE-1s may possess carcinogenesis potential. Moreover, LINE-1 methylation patterns may be useful for monitoring oral carcinogenesis in smokers.
Maintaining Packet Order in Reservation-Based Shared-Memory Optical Packet Switch

Shared-memory optical packet (SMOP) switch architecture is very promising for significantly reducing the amount of required optical memory, which is typically constructed from fiber delay lines (FDLs). The current reservation-based scheduling algorithms for SMOP switches can effectively utilize the FDLs and achieve a low packet loss rate by simply reserving the departure time for each arrival packet. It is notable, however, that such a simple scheduling scheme may introduce a significant packets out of order problem. In this paper, we first identify the two main sources of packets out of order in the current reservation-based SMOP switches. We then show that by introducing a "last-timestamp " variable and modifying the corresponding FDLs arrangement as well as the scheduling process in the current reservation-based SMOP switches, it is possible to keep packets in-sequence while still maintaining a similar delay and packet loss performance as the previous design.
Entrepreneurship Dynamics, Market Size and Fiscal Policy

The current recession has highlighted the potentially severe impact of shrinkages in demand and fiscal austerity upon firm entry and survival. Using data covering broad manufacturing and service sectors in 17 countries this paper investigates how changes in fiscal policy and market size affect rates of firm entry and exit. We find that reductions in fiscal expenditure are associated with higher rates of entrepreneurship and that there are differences between more disaggregated policy factors such as government consumption, investment and taxation. Quantitatively more important is market size. In the immediate aftermath of a 5 percent reduction in market size the rate of entry falls by approximately 0.25 percentage points while the exit rate rises by a similar amount. Although small in comparison with average rates of entry and exit this corresponds to a loss of 17,500 firms in the United States. Changes in fiscal expenditure are estimated to have a slightly smaller effect.
Low Occupational Prestige and Internal Migration in Germany

This paper assesses a recent prediction of the theoretical migration literature, according to which migration may be driven by a desire to avoid social humiliation rising from occupational stigma. To this end, we study the residential mobility of workers in occupations with relatively low prestige using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). In order to capture low occupational prestige, we relate the prestige of a worker's current occupation to the average prestige of the occupations associated with the worker's vocational training. Our estimation results suggest a negative relationship between the incidence of low occupational prestige and the probability of internal migration in Germany and thus reject our working hypothesis. We discuss the role of specific migration costs and occupational cultures as possible explanations of this result. The absolute prestige level of a worker's occupation does not turn out to be a significant predictor of his propensity to migrate, whereas his absolute income level - but not his relative income level - is significantly positively related to this propensity.
Modelling the Influence of CEO Values and Leadership Styles on Financial Decision Making

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for examining the influence of CEO values on financial decision making. Design/methodology/approach The approach used in this paper involves an examination of the literature and in particular: constructs such as the values that act as lenses, or filters to determine the amount and type of information that leaders process, as well as the personal values of CEOs and how they influence leader characteristics, and the leadership style adopted by CEOs. Originality/value The model identifies the importance of each of these components and the relationship they have to financial decision making in the context of an organization. This has implications for the selection and retention of leaders in the organization, ultimately impacting the teaching of leadership in business schools.
Adaptive Feedback Control in Deep Brain Stimulation: A Simulation Study

Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective electric therapy to treat movement disorders associated with chronical neural diseases like essential tremor, dystonia and Parkinson's disease. In spite of a long clinical experience, the cellular effects of the DBS are still partially unknown because of the lack of information about the target sites. Recent studies, however, have proposed the local field potentials (LFPs) in the targets as a useful tool to study the behavior before and after stimulation [Priori et al., 2006]. Our work investigates the relationship between DBS settings and LFPs in a detailed simulator of the electric activity in the Vim (one of the preferred surgical targets) under tremor conditions. A least-square approach is adopted to identify a functional, input-output ARX model structure for the Vim and evaluate the effects of the stimulation on its electric patterns. Based on it, an adaptive minimum variance control scheme is then proposed to restore the spectral features of the Vim's LFPs to reference values, i.e., as in subjects not affected by movement disorders. Results indicate good performances in tracking the reference spectral features through selective changes in the low (2-7 Hz), α (7-13 Hz) and β (13-35 Hz) ranges.
Reducing the Dimensionality of Bag-of-Words Text Representation Used by Learning Algorithms

The attribute-value representation of documents used in Text Mining provides a natural framework for classifying or clustering documents based on their content. Supervised learning algorithms can be applied whenever the documents have labels preassigned or unsupervised learning for unlabeled documents. The attribute-value representation of documents is characterized by very high dimensional data since every word in the document may be treated as an attribute. However, the representation of documents has a crucial influence on how well some supervised learning algorithm can generalize. This work presents a way to efficiently decomposing text into words (stems) using the bagof-words approach as well as reducing the dimensionality of its representation, making text accessible to most Machine Learning algorithms that require each example be described by a vector of fixed dimensionality. A computational tool we have implemented is used on a real case in order to illustrate our proposal as well as several of the facilities implemented in the tool which allow to improve the accuracy of classifiers through the reduction of the dimensionality of text representation.