Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Checking of Conformance to Requirement Boilerplates via Text Chunking: An Industrial Case Study

Context. Boilerplates have long been used in Requirements Engineering (RE) to increase the precision of natural language requirements and to avoid ambiguity problems caused by unrestricted natural language. When boilerplates are used, an important quality assurance task is to verify that the requirements indeed conform to the boilerplates. Objective. If done manually, checking conformance to boilerplates is laborious, presenting a particular challenge when the task has to be repeated multiple times in response to requirements changes. Our objective is to provide automation for checking conformance to boilerplates using a Natural Language Processing (NLP) technique, called Text Chunking, and to empirically validate the effectiveness of the automation. Method. We use an exploratory case study, conducted in an industrial setting, as the basis for our empirical investigation. Results. We present a generalizable and tool-supported approach for boilerplate conformance checking. We report on the application of our approach to the requirements document for a major software component in the satellite domain. We compare alternative text chunking solutions and argue about their effectiveness for boilerplate conformance checking. Conclusion. Our results indicate that: (1) text chunking provides a robust and accurate basis for checking conformance to boilerplates, and (2) the effectiveness of boilerplate conformance checking based on text chunking is not compromised even when the requirements glossary terms are unknown. This makes our work particularly relevant to practice, as many industrial requirements documents have incomplete glossaries.
Complications and Pitfalls in Rat Stroke Models for Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion: A Comparison Between the Suture and the Macrosphere Model Using Magnetic Resonance Angiography

Background and Purpose— Investigating focal cerebral ischemia requires animal models that are relevant to human stroke. Complications and side effects are common among these models. The present study describes potential pitfalls in 3 techniques for middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Methods— Rats were subjected to temporary MCAO for 90 minutes using the suture technique (group I; n=10) or to permanent MCAO using the suture technique (group II; n=10) or the macrosphere technique (group III; n=10). Clinical evaluation was performed after 3 hours and 24 hours. After 24 hours, animals underwent MRI and MRA to determine lesion size and the intracranial vascular status. Results— Hemispheric lesion volume was significantly smaller in group I (14.6%) compared with groups II (35.2%; P<0.01) and III (21.3%; P<0.05). Two animals (1 each in group II and III) did not demonstrate neurological deficits and had no lesion on MRI and a patent MCA main stem on MRA. Subarachnoid hemorrhage was detected in 2 animals (1 each in group I and II). MRA indicated a patent MCA main stem in 2 animals (group II), although both rats displayed neurological deficits. Hypothalamic infarction with subsequent pathological hyperthermia was detected in all animals in group II and in 1 rat in group III. Conclusions— Model failures occurred frequently in all groups. MRI and MRA helps to identify animals that need to be excluded from experimental stroke studies.
Cognitive, Affective Problems and Renal Cross Ectopy in a Patient with 48,XXYY/47,XYY Syndrome

Klinefelter syndrome is the most common sex chromosome abnormality (SCA) in infertile patients and 47,XXY genomic configuration constitutes most of the cases. However, additional Xs and/or Y such as 48,XXYY, 48,XXXY, and 47,XYY can occur less frequently than 47,XXY. Those configurations were considered as variants of Klinefelter syndrome. In this report, we present an infertile man with tall stature and decreased testicular volume. Semen analysis and hormonal evaluation supported the diagnosis of nonobstructive azoospermia. Genetic investigation demonstrated an abnormal male karyotype with two X chromosomes and two Y chromosomes consistent with 48,XXYY(17)/47,XYY (13). Additionally, the patient expressed cognitive and affective problems which were documented by psychomotor retardation and borderline intelligence measured by an IQ value between 70 and 80. Systemic evaluation also revealed cross ectopy and malrotation of the right kidney in the patient. The couple was referred to microtesticular sperm extraction (micro-TESE)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of combination of XYY and XXYY syndromes associated with cognitive, affective dysfunction and renal malrotation.
Understanding the Separation Thesis: Precision after the Decimal Point?: A Response to Joakim Sandberg

Sandberg documents with admirable precision nine rather diverging renderings of Freeman’s call for the rejection of the separation thesis (ST). A more careful consideration of the propriety of importing phrases such as “the rejection of ST” from more established academic disciplines so as to serve in the field of normative business ethics would seem to make that precision premature and maybe even superfluous. This may well be generalized to an observation concerning current working methods in normative business ethics.
Explaining Home Bias in Equities and Consumption

Domestic investors hold a substantially larger proportion of their welath portfolios in domestic assets than standard portfolio theory would suggest, a phenomenon called "equity home bias". In the absence of this bias, investors would optimally diversify domestic output risk using foreign equities. Therefore, consumption growth rates would tend to comove across countries even when output growth rates do not. Empirically, however, consumption growth rates tend to have a lower correlation across countries than do output growth rates, a phenomenon I call "consumption home bias". In this paper, I discuss these two biases and their potential relationship.
Fractal and Multifractal Analysis of Runoff Time Series and Stream Networks in Agricultural Watersheds

The usefulness of watershed hydrological process models is considerably increased when they can be extrapolated across spatial and temporal scales. This scale transfer problem, meaning the description and prediction of characteristics and processes at a scale different from the one at which observations and measurements are made, and has become the subject of much current research in hydrology and other areas. Quantitative description of fractal scaling behavior of runoff and stream network morphometry in agricultural watersheds has not been previously reported. In the present study, fractal and multifractal scaling of daily runoff rate in four experimental agricultural watersheds and their associated sub-watersheds (32 in total) were investigated. The time series of daily runoff rate were obtained from the database (comprising about 16,600 station years of rainfall and runoff data for small agricultural watersheds across the U.S.) developed by the Hydrological and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture (HRSL/ARS/USDA). Fractal scaling patterns of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM)extracted stream network morphometry for these four watersheds were also examined. The morphometry of stream networks of four watersheds were obtained by Geographic Information System (GIS) manipulation of digital elevation data downloaded from the most recent (July 2004) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Dataset (NED). Several threshold values of contribution area for stream initiation were used to extract stream networks for each of the four watersheds.
Inconsistency Robustness in Foundations: Mathematics self proves its own Consistency and Other Matters

Inconsistency Robustness is performance of information systems with pervasively inconsistent information. Inconsistency Robustness of the community of professional mathematicians is their performance repeatedly repairing contradictions over the centuries. In the Inconsistency Robustness paradigm, deriving contradictions have been a progressive development and not "game stoppers. " Contradictions can be helpful instead of being something to be "swept under the rug" by denying their existence, which has been repeatedly attempted by Establishment Philosophers (beginning with some Pythagoreans). Such denial has delayed mathematical development. This article reports how considerations of Inconsistency Robustness have recently influenced the foundations of mathematics for Computer Science continuing a tradition developing the sociological basis for foundations. The current common understanding is that G\"odel proved "Mathematics cannot prove its own consistency, if it is consistent. " However, the consistency of mathematics is proved by a simple argument in this article. Consequently, the current common understanding that G\"odel proved "Mathematics cannot prove its own consistency, if it is consistent" is inaccurate. Wittgenstein long ago showed that contradiction in mathematics results from the kind of "self-referential" sentence that G\"odel used in his argument that mathematics cannot prove its own consistency. However, using a typed grammar for mathematical sentences, it can be proved that the kind "self-referential" sentence that G\"odel used in his argument cannot be constructed because required the fixed point that G\"odel used to the construct the "self-referential" sentence does not exist. In this way, consistency of mathematics is preserved without giving up power.
A Model of Financial Crises in Emerging Markets

We develop a model in which financial crises in emerging markets may occur when domestic banks are internationally illiquid. Runs on domestic deposits may interact with foreign creditor panics, depending on the maturity of the foreign debt and the possibility of international default. Financial liberalization and increased inflows of foreign capital, especially if short term, can aggravate the illiquidity of banks and increase their vulnerability. The primary role of illiquidity is consistent with the existence of asset price booms and crashes and of government distortions.
Electricity generation from petrochemical wastewater using a membrane-less single chamber microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a new method for simultaneous wastewater treatment and biological electricity generation. In this study, petrochemical wastewater with 8000 mg/l of chemical oxygen demand was examined in a membrane-less single chamber MFC. Effects of wastewater concentration as substrate for microbial oxidation, and anode material (stainless steel or carbon brush) were investigated as designing parameters.
Planar Earthmover is not in L_1

We show that any L<sub>1</sub> embedding of the transportation cost (a.k.a. Earthmover) metric on probability measures supported on the grid {0,1,. , n}<sup>2</sup> sube Ropf<sup>2</sup> incurs distortion Omega(radic;(log n)). We also use Fourier analytic techniques to construct a simple L<sub>1</sub> embedding of this space which has distortion O(log n)
Effects of managed care on the health and health-care of the non-elderly with diabetes

EFFECTS OF MANAGED CARE ON THE HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE OF THE NONELDERLY WITH DIABETES by MEIHUA LU May 2011 Advisor: Dr. Allen C. Goodman Major: Economics Degree: Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation attempts to examine the quality effect of managed care plans (as compared with traditional fee-for-service plans, or FFS) on the health outcome and health care use of patients with diabetes. As the number of diabetics is growing rapidly with many of them are relying on managed care plans, knowing better the effects of different plans on health status and health care utilization is of great interest and significance to consumers, employers, and policymakers, especially at a time that universal health care is under being implemented. Using up-to-date data from MEPS, a nationally representative survey, I compared 484 HMO patients, 356 OMC patients, with 161 patients (who presented with diabetes) in terms of access to, satisfaction with, utilization of care (including diabetes care), and health status, to evaluate the quality of health care enrollees receive and their health outcome.
Influência da governança corporativa e da estrutura de capital no gerenciamento de resultados

The study examined the influence of corporate governance and capital structure in the earnings management of public companies listed on the BM&FBovespa. To this end, we carried out descriptive research with document analysis and quantitative approach to data covering the years 2010-2013, using sample of 261 companies. The results showed especially the managements of low proportions in the years 2010 and 2011 and a significant increase of managements of major proportions in 2012 and 2013. As the capital structure, the results showed that the levels of short term debt, long-term and total debt throughout investigated were higher in companies not listed on the Stock Index Corporate Governance (IGCX) of BM&FBovespa. The influence of corporate governance to reduce earnings management was observed only in the year 2010.
Presumed toxoplasmic central retinal artery occlusion and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing

Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing are rare in ocular toxoplasmosis. We report a case of toxoplasmic CRAO and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing. A healthy 83-year-old male developed left panuveitis. Funduscopic examination of the left eye showed a swollen optic disc and sheathing of the retinal artery with a dense vitreous haze and a white retinal lesion. Serum anti-toxoplasma antibodies were positive in a latex agglutination assay. Vitrectomy was performed to improve visualization of the retinal lesions and for examination of causative microorganisms. A postoperative fundus examination revealed CRAO with optic disc involvement and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing. Qualitative multiplex polymerase chain reaction detected the Toxoplasma gondii B1 gene in ocular fluid from both the aqueous and vitreous humor. The presumed diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis was made and treatment was started with prednisone and acetylspiramycin with subsequent improvement. Two months later, the patient developed active retinochoroiditis in the left eye. After 6 weeks of anti-toxoplasma therapy, the disease involuted. Retinal vascular occlusions and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing are rare in toxoplasmosis. This is the first case report of toxoplasmic CRAO and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing. The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis should be considered in patients with retinal artery occlusions and multifocal retinitis with perivascular sheathing associated with inflammation.
Holistic twig joins: optimal XML pattern matching

XML employs a tree-structured data model, and, naturally, XML queries specify patterns of selection predicates on multiple elements related by a tree structure. Finding all occurrences of such a twig pattern in an XML database is a core operation for XML query processing. Prior work has typically decomposed the twig pattern into binary structural (parent-child and ancestor-descendant) relationships, and twig matching is achieved by: (i) using structural join algorithms to match the binary relationships against the XML database, and (ii) stitching together these basic matches. A limitation of this approach for matching twig patterns is that intermediate result sizes can get large, even when the input and output sizes are more manageable.In this paper, we propose a novel holistic twig join algorithm, TwigStack, for matching an XML query twig pattern. Our technique uses a chain of linked stacks to compactly represent partial results to root-to-leaf query paths, which are then composed to obtain matches for the twig pattern. When the twig pattern uses only ancestor-descendant relationships between elements, TwigStack is I/O and CPU optimal among all sequential algorithms that read the entire input: it is linear in the sum of sizes of the input lists and the final result list, but independent of the sizes of intermediate results. We then show how to use (a modification of) B-trees, along with TwigStack, to match query twig patterns in sub-linear time. Finally, we complement our analysis with experimental results on a range of real and synthetic data, and query twig patterns.
Preliminary Results on the Evaluation of Factors Influencing Evapotranspiration Processes in Vineyards

The paper summarizes the preliminary results from the analysis of data collected during the 2008 and 2009 vegetative seasons in a northern Italy vineyard (Vitis vinifera L., Barbera variety) and the simulations carried out in the same period with the land surface model UTOPIA. The aim of the work is to study the influence of the meteorological factors on the plant conditions. We collected a set of standard and advanced meteorological, physiological and physical data and we investigated the performance of UTOPIA in describing the different components of the energy and hydrological processes (in particular the evapotranspiration), with a special focus on the vegetation and soil. The comparison between observed data and UTOPIA simulations showed satisfactory results for the soil variables (RRMSE ranging between 15% and 40%, and correlation coefficients of 0.9). Net radiation and sensible heat fluxes RRMSE (30% and 63% respectively) suggest that both the calibration of the vegetation parameters (including the influence of the grass among vine rows) and the availability of more specific measurements are very important.
Relationship Between COX-2 Specific Inhibitors and Hypertension

There is controversy whether cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) specific inhibitors are associated with elevations in blood pressure requiring treatment in typical clinical practice. We examined the risk of new onset hypertension in a retrospective case-control study involving 17 844 subjects aged ≥65 years from 2 US states. Multivariable logistic models were examined to assess the relative risk of new onset hypertension requiring treatment in patients who used celecoxib or rofecoxib compared with patients taking either the other COX-2 specific inhibitor, a nonspecific NSAID, or no NSAID. During the 1999 to 2000 study period, 3915 patients were diagnosed and began treatment for hypertension; 4 controls were selected for every case. In no model was celecoxib significantly associated with the development of hypertension. Rofecoxib users were at a significantly increased relative risk of new onset hypertension compared with patients taking celecoxib (odds ratio [OR] 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 2.1), taking a nonspecific NSAID (OR 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.9), or taking no NSAID (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.0). There were no clear dosage or duration effects. In patients with a history of chronic renal disease, liver disease, or congestive heart failure, the relative risk of new onset hypertension was twice as high in those taking rofecoxib compared with celecoxib (OR 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 4.3). In this retrospective case–control study of patients aged ≥65 years, rofecoxib use was associated with an increased relative risk of new onset hypertension; this was not seen in patients taking celecoxib.
Vitamin D is positively associated with sperm motility and increases intracellular calcium in human spermatozoa.

BACKGROUND The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed in human spermatozoa, and VDR-knockout mice and vitamin D (VD) deficiency in rodents results in impaired fertility, low sperm counts and a low number of motile spermatozoa. We investigated the role of activated VD (1,25(OH)(2)D(3)) in human spermatozoa and whether VD serum levels are associated with semen quality. METHODS Cross-sectional association study of semen quality and VD serum level in 300 men from the general population, and in vitro studies on spermatozoa from 40 men to investigate the effects of VD on intracellular calcium, sperm motility and acrosome reaction. All men delivered samples for routine semen analysis and blood for measurements of follicle stimulating hormone, Inhibin B, 25-hydroxy-VD, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH). RESULTS In the association study, 44% were VD insufficient (<50 nM), and VD was inversely correlated with PTH (P < 0.0005). VD serum levels correlated positively with sperm motility and progressive motility (P < 0.05), and men with VD deficiency (<25 nM) had a lower proportion of motile (P = 0.027), progressive motile (P = 0.035) and morphologically normal spermatozoa (P = 0.044) compared with men with high VD levels (>75 nM). 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) increased intracellular calcium concentration in human spermatozoa through VDR-mediated calcium release from an intracellular calcium storage, increased sperm motility and induced the acrosome reaction in vitro. CONCLUSIONS 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) increased intracellular calcium concentration, sperm motility and induced the acrosome reaction in mature spermatozoa, and VD serum levels were positively associated with sperm motility, suggesting a role for VD in human sperm function.
Mineral and Skeletal Homeostasis Influence the Manner of Bone Loss in Metabolic Osteoporosis due to Calcium-Deprived Diet in Different Sites of Rat Vertebra and Femur

Rats fed calcium-deprived diet develop osteoporosis due to enhanced bone resorption, secondary to parathyroid overactivity resulting from nutritional hypocalcemia. Therefore, rats provide a good experimental animal model for studying bone modelling alterations during biochemical osteoporosis. Three-month-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into 4 groups: (1) baseline, (2) normal diet for 4 weeks, (3) calcium-deprived diet for 4 weeks, and (4) calcium-deprived diet for 4 weeks and concomitant administration of PTH (1-34) 40 µg/Kg/day. Histomorphometrical analyses were made on cortical and trabecular bone of lumbar vertebral body as well as of mid-diaphysis and distal metaphysis of femur. In all rats fed calcium-deprived diet, despite the reduction of trabecular number (due to the maintenance of mineral homeostasis), an intense activity of bone deposition occurs on the surface of the few remaining trabeculae (in answering to mechanical stresses and, consequently, to maintain the skeletal homeostasis). Different responses were detected in different sites of cortical bone, depending on their main function in answering mineral or skeletal homeostasis. This study represents the starting point for work-in-progress researches, with the aim of defining in detail timing and manners of evolution and recovery of biochemical osteoporosis.