Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Roles in Information Systems: A Survey

Role-based approaches are emerging technologies in information system design and implementation. Roles have been acknowledged and applied in many fields for many years. Considering their increasing importance and applications in the development of various information systems, this paper intends to: 1) survey the literature relevant to role mechanisms and role-based systems in different fields and point out their motivations and contributions; 2) classify roles in such different contexts as modeling, designing, management, and collaboration; 3) identify the commonalities and differences among roles in different fields; and 4) point out the challenges, benefits, and future research areas of role-based systems.
Micropower high current‐drive class AB CMOS current‐feedback operational amplifier

A novel CMOS current‐feedback operational amplifier (CFOA) aimed to low‐power applications is proposed. The use of a compact class AB implementation allows high current‐drive capability and simultaneously very low quiescent power consumption. Measurement results of a fabricated prototype show for an inverting configuration a closed‐loop bandwidth of 1 MHz independent of gain setting, and a slew rate of 2V/µs for a load capacitance of 30 pF and a quiescent power consumption of 264µW. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The c-jun N-terminal kinase plays a key role in ocular degenerative changes in a mouse model of Alzheimer disease suggesting a correlation between ocular and brain pathologies

Recently a range of ocular manifestations such as retinal and lens amyloid-beta accumulation and retinal nerve fiber layer loss have been proposed as potential biomarkers in Alzheimer disease (AD). The TgCRND8 mouse model of AD exhibits age-dependent amyloid β (Aβ) oligomers accumulation and cognitive defects, amyloid plaques and hyperphosphorylated Tau deposition and inflammation. We proved the correlation between ocular pathologies and AD, observing increased levels of p-APP and p-Tau, accumulation of Aβ oligomers in the retina, eye, and optic nerve. The accumulation of amyloid markers was significantly stronger in the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer, suggesting that RGC might be more susceptible to degeneration. We detected a thinning of the RGC layer as well as RGC death in the retina of TgCRND8 mice, by using a combination of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting techniques. We proved for the first time the key role of C-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) in the ocular degeneration. In support of this, the administration of the JNK inhibitor, D-JNKI1, was able to counteract the Aβ and p-Tau accumulation in the retina of TgCRND8 mice, and consequently reduce RGCs loss. These results confirm that degenerative changes in the retina/eye of AD mouse model mirrors the events observed in the brain parenchyma. Ocular changes can be detected by non-invasive imaging techniques, such as OCT, to study and test different therapeutic strategies against degenerative events associated to AD.
Correlates of pay satisfaction in higher education

Despite numerous studies of pay comparisons and pay satisfaction among public and private sector workers, little is known about correlates of employee satisfaction with pay. Investigates the correlates of pay satisfaction among UK academics. Using a questionnaire methodology, the study found that over 50 per cent of the respondents expressly stated that they were dissatisfied with their pay. The results of a three‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that female academics are more satisfied with their pay when compared with their male colleagues. When rank was examined in relation to pay, senior lecturers were most satisfied, followed by professors, lecturers and readers in that order. The differences in satisfaction levels with rank and gender are statistically significant. However, there are no statistical differences with respect to age variations relating to satisfaction with pay. Explores the implications of these results.
Bayesian analysis of genetic differentiation between populations.

We introduce a Bayesian method for estimating hidden population substructure using multilocus molecular markers and geographical information provided by the sampling design. The joint posterior distribution of the substructure and allele frequencies of the respective populations is available in an analytical form when the number of populations is small, whereas an approximation based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation approach can be obtained for a moderate or large number of populations. Using the joint posterior distribution, posteriors can also be derived for any evolutionary population parameters, such as the traditional fixation indices. A major advantage compared to most earlier methods is that the number of populations is treated here as an unknown parameter. What is traditionally considered as two genetically distinct populations, either recently founded or connected by considerable gene flow, is here considered as one panmictic population with a certain probability based on marker data and prior information. Analyses of previously published data on the Moroccan argan tree (Argania spinosa) and of simulated data sets suggest that our method is capable of estimating a population substructure, while not artificially enforcing a substructure when it does not exist. The software (BAPS) used for the computations is freely available from http://www.rni. helsinki.fi/~mjs.
Regional Externalities in the Dynamic System of Three Regions

This study presents theoretical models of the role of externalities across two and three dimensional regional economy. Two decades ago Krugman (1981) developed a model of uneven regional development. He showed that initial discrepancy in capital-labour ratios of the two adjacent, competing regions will cumulate over time, and will inevitably lead to the division into the capital-rich and capital-poor regions. Kubo (1995) presented an extension to Krugman? s model by incorporating not only scale economies within the regions but also regional externalities across regions. His model provided an explanation for different regional development patterns: uneven, joint and the mix of these two. In this study Kubo? s analysis is extended to study the dynamic properties of the development of the three regions instead of two regions. We characterise dynamics and the stability of steady states in the three-region model. In particular, we show under what conditions steady state is unique, and if there can be multiple steady states. We show that condition for even regional development in Kubo? s model, i.e. regional externalities are stronger than scale economies in each regions, is necessary, but not a sufficient condition for even regional development in a case of three region. Our study sheds light on e.g. the regional development in Northern Finland. A few years ago the idea of the regional network of Northern Finland was launched. That idea was meant to spread the economic growth of the city of Oulu - technologically advanced core region - to smaller peripheral areas. Models of this study offer potentially interesting frameworks to analyse different regional development patterns. Furthermore, our model can be used to analyse, how the domination of core region affects the growth of peripheral regions and what kind of regional policy should be implemented to promote economic growth in the periphery. Keywords: Scale economies, regional externalities, regional development JEL classification: C61, R12
Elimination of False-Positive Results in a Luminex Assay for Pneumococcal Antibodies

ABSTRACT In our 14-valent Luminex assay for pneumococcal antibodies, we identified two groups of sera that caused false-positive results. The first group bound nonspecifically to the Luminex microspheres. The second group reacted specifically with bovine serum albumin (BSA). We describe here methods that eliminated the false-positive reactivity of both groups.
The Importance of Psychology in Economic Activity: Evidence from Terrorist Attacks

Terrorist attacks influence economic growth and individual psychology. However, identifying the direct effect of terrorism on economics and psychology is difficult because institutions also change in response to terrorist attacks. This paper controls for institutional responses to terrorist attacks by studying people who live beyond the institutions' borders, but are exposed to the attacks. I find that terrorism leads to declines in trust, subjective well-being, and the importance of creativity and freedom. However, at the macro-level, terrorism leads to increases in economic output and household income. These results are consistent with a growing literature that finds counterintuitive responses to trauma.
Bounded-Degree Minimum-Radius Spanning Trees for Fast Data Collection in Sensor Networks

We study the effect of routing topologies on maximizing the aggregated data collection rate and minimizing the maximum packet delay in TDMA-based sensor networks. We propose a bi-criteria formulation to the optimal routing tree construction problem, and show that a tree with bounded node degree and minimum radius can achieve the best trade-off between the data collection rate and packet delays.
Sequential Activation of Human Oculomotor Centers During Planning of Visually-Guided Eye Movements: A Combined fMRI-MEG Study

We used magneto-encephalography (MEG) to measure visually evoked activity in healthy volunteers performing saccadic eye movements to visual targets. The neuromagnetic activity was analyzed from regions of cortical activation identified in separate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. The latency of visual responses significantly increased from the Middle Temporal region (MT+) to the Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS) to the Frontal Eye Field (FEF), and their amplitude was greater in the hemisphere contralateral to the visual target. Trial-to-trial variability of oculomotor reaction times correlated with visual response latency across cortical areas. These results support a feedforward recruitment of oculomotor cortical centers by visual information, and a model in which behavioral variability depends on variability at different neural stages of processing.
Decentralized controllers design for performance: Equivalent Subsystems Method

A Nyquist-based frequency domain decentralized controller (DC) design technique for stability and guaranteed performance is proposed applicable for continuous-time systems described transfer function matrices. To guarantee stability and a required performance, interactions are included in individual designs using one selected characteristic locus of the matrix of interactions, further used to reshape frequency responses of decoupled subsystems and produce so-called equivalent subsystems [3]. Local controllers of equivalent subsystems independently tuned for stability and specified feasible performance constitute the resulting decentralized controller that guarantees specified performance of the full system. The developed frequency domain design procedure entitled Equivalent Subsystems Method is graphical, interactive and insightful. Theoretical conclusions are supported by simple examples illustrating step-by-step the DC design procedure.
Relation of periaqueductal gray matter to stomach and bladder motility

THE PERIAQUEDUCTAL gray matter is related to the hypothalamus. The dorsal longitudinal fasciculus of Schutz, containing fibers that probably arise throughout the hypothalamusespecially in its posterior part-travels through this region.1-B Marburg' stated that the fibers of this system are related to the nuclei of the periaqueductal gray matter. Bucher and Biirgis described 3 fiber systems associated with the periaqueductal gray matter, 2 of which established connections with the hypothalamus-a fasciculus perifornicalis rising from the gray matter and going to the perifornical region and another system of fibers traceable to the ventromediocaudal parts of the massa intermedia and to the posterior hypothalamus. Conversely, Bucher and Biirgi also demonstrated that lesions in the posterior hypothalamus caused degeneration of similar, but descending, fibers which appeared to distribute to the periaqueductal gray matter at various levels, sometimes as far back as the midbrain isthmus. Investigations were undertaken in an effort to determine whether or not functional, descending, autonomic pathways could be delineated within the periaqueductal gray matter. The results of 2 of these investigations are presented-those dealing with the effect of stimulation and ablation of the gray matter on stomach and bladder motility. The influence of the central nervous system on bladder and gastrointestinal functions has been investigated for some time. Only those articles which appeared pertinent to the present experimental work are presented. In 1932, Beattie? using the direct approach, demonstrated increased gastric peristalsis resulting from stimulation of the walls of the third ventricle in the region of the lateral margins of the infundibulum. Later, Beattie and
Are Cultural and Economic Conservatism Positively Correlated? A Large-Scale Cross-National Test

The right–left dimension is ubiquitous in politics, but prior perspectives provide conflicting accounts of whether cultural and economic attitudes are typically aligned on this dimension within mass publics around the world. Using survey data from ninety-nine nations, this study finds not only that right–left attitude organization is uncommon, but that it is more common for culturally and economically right-wing attitudes to correlate negatively with each other, an attitude structure reflecting a contrast between desires for cultural and economic protection vs. freedom. This article examines where, among whom and why protection–freedom attitude organization outweighs right–left attitude organization, and discusses the implications for the psychological bases of ideology, quality of democratic representation and the rise of extreme right politics in the West.
Interleukin-33 amplifies IgE synthesis and triggers mast cell degranulation via interleukin-4 in naïve mice1

The regulation and function of IgE in healthy individuals and in antigen‐naïve animals is not well understood. IL‐33 administration increases serum IgE in mice with unknown mechanism. We tested the hypothesis that IL‐33 provides an antigen‐independent stimulus for IgE production and mast cell degranulation.
Does Variety Among Activities Increase Happiness

Does variety increase happiness? Eight studies examine how the variety among the activities that fill people’s day-to-day lives affects subsequent happiness. The studies demonstrate that whether variety increases or decreases happiness depends on the perceived duration of the time within which the activities occur. For longer time periods (like a day), variety does increase happiness. However, for shorter time periods (like an hour), variety instead decreases happiness. This reversal stems from people’s sense of stimulation and productivity during that time. Whereas filling longer time periods with more varied activities makes the time feel more stimulating (which increases happiness), filling shorter time periods with more varied activities makes the time feel less productive (which decreases happiness). These effects are robust across actual and perceived variety, actual and perceived time duration, and multiple types of activities (work and leisure, self-selected and imposed, social and solo). Together the findings confirm that “variety is the spice of life”—but not of an hour.
Can one detect small-scale turbulence from standard meteorological radiosondes?

It has been recently proposed by Clayson and Kantha (2008) to evaluate the climatology of atmospheric turbulence through the detection of overturns in the free at mosphere by applying a Thorpe analysis on relatively lowy vertical resolution (LR) profiles from standard radiosoundings. Since then, several studies based on this idea have been published. However, the impact of instrumental noise on the detection of turbulent layers was completely ig- nored in these works. The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of overturns detection from radiosoundings. For this purpose, we analyzed data of two field campaigns dur- ing which high-resolution (HR) soundings (10-20 cm) were performed simultaneously with standard LR soundings. We used the raw data of standard meteorological radiosondes, the vertical resolution ranging from 5 to 9 m. A Thorpe analysis was applied to both LR and HR po- tential temperature profiles. A denoising procedure was first applied in order to reduce the probability of occurrence of artificial overturns, i.e. potential temperature inversions due to instrumental noise only. We then compared the empirical probability density functions (pdf) of the sizes of the selected overturns from LR and HR profiles. From HR profiles measured in the troposphere, the sizes of the detected overturns range from 4 to ∼1000 m. The shape of the size pdf of overturns is found to sharply decrease with increasing scales. From LR profiles, the smallest size of de- tected overturns is ∼32 m, a similar decrease in the shape of the pdf of sizes being observed. These results suggest that overturns, resulting either from small-scale turbulence or from instabilities, can indeed be detected from meteoro- logical radiosonde measurements in the troposphere and in the stratosphere as well. However they are rather rare as they belong to the tail of the size distribution of overturns: they only represent the 7 % largest events in the troposphere, and 4 % in the stratosphere.
The Origins of Anthropometric History

I knew nothing of anthropometry—not even the meaning of the word—when, in 1977, Robert Fogel invited me to give a seminar at Harvard. Over lunch after quite a grueling occasion, he asked me if I would be interested in taking part in a project to investigate the long-term decline in mortality in the United States. As he pointed out, the vast majority of migrants to the American colonies and the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries came from Great Britain and Ireland; it was important, in explaining their subsequent mortality experience, to be able to assess their state of health before they arrived in North America. Their heights and those of the British population as a whole might, he suggested, provide evidence for such an assessment. I was flattered to be asked to work with one of the leaders of the economic history profession, intrigued by the project—if initially skeptical about the use of height data—and, by the end of a long lunch, enthusiastic about working with Fogel and his collaborator, Stan Engerman, whom I had known for some years.
CSF TNFα Has Not Been Shown to be Elevated in Headache Patients

In a paper by Rozen and Swidan entitled “Elevation of CSF Tumor Necrosis Factor α Levels in New Daily Persistent Headache and Treatment Refractory Chronic Migraine” published in this journal in 2007, the authors reported that subjects with various forms of headaches all had elevated levels of cerebrospinal fluid tumor necrosis factor-alpha (CSF TNFα). Those results have never been reproduced. That study has been often cited relating evidence for the role of TNFα in headaches with a total of 14 citations according to PubMed. However, the statements in the Rozen and Swidan paper to the effect that the level of CSF TNFα is increased in headache patients are not accurate. On reading the paper, I was surprised to find the following statement in the Methods section. CSF and serum TNF α levels less than 8.2 pg/mL are recognized as normal by ARUP laboratories. ARUP laboratories established and validated normal reference ranges for TNF α levels after screening 36 healthy volunteers. (personal communication with ARUP laboratories) To have identical reference ranges for CSF and serum would be remarkable. Furthermore, one would need a series of CSF fluids from normal subjects in order to define such a CSF range. Therefore, I checked with ARUP laboratories (Thomas Martins, Senior Scientist, ARUP Institute for Clinical Research) and was informed that while there had been a plasma and serum TNFα reference range of less than 8.2 pg/mL, there had been no reference range for CSF. Currently, ARUP laboratories is using a different methodology of measuring TNFα (reference range below 22 pg/mL), but even today they do not have a reference range for CSF TNFα. Thus, the Rozen and Swiden paper does not establish that CSF TNFα is elevated in subjects with headaches as there was not reference value on which to base such a statement. Indeed, the levels measured may be depressed, “normal,” or elevated depending on expected (but unknown) values that are for normal subjects. Thus, the question as to the relative level of TNFα in CSF of subjects with various types of headache remains to be determined.
Successful second transplantation with non‐myeloablative conditioning using haploidentical donors for young patients after graft failure following double umbilical cord cell transplantation

Liu H, Wang X, Geng L, Tang B, Tong J, Yao W, Wang Z, Sun Z. Successful second transplantation with non‐myeloablative conditioning using haploidentical donors for young patients after graft failure following double umbilical cord cell transplantation. Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14:465–470. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Exotic Preferences for Macroeconomists

We provide a user's guide to exotic preferences: nonlinear time aggregators, departures from expected utility, preferences over time with known and unknown probabilities, risk-sensitive and robust control, hyperbolic discounting, and preferences over sets (temptations). We apply each to a number of classic problems in macroeconomics and finance, including consumption and saving, portfolio choice, asset pricing, and Pareto optimal allocations.
Discourse Devices Used to Establish Community, Increase Coherence, and Negotiate Agreement in an Online University Course

Much has been written about the promise of online learning environments for higher education, and there is a rapidly growing body of research examining the nature of learning and interaction in such courses. This article presents a discourse analysis of an interactive, text-based, online, graduate education course, designed and taught according to constructivist principles. Qualitative analysis was used to describe the discourse devices and strategies that participants used in order to establish and maintain community, to create coherent academic discussions, and to negotiate agreements and disagreements over the length of the course. The results have implications for our understanding of how topical and social cohesion are established in online discussion, and demonstrate how participants use patterns of agreement and disagreement rhetorically to persuade and learn from others while also protecting the trust and inclusiveness of the online community.