Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A parallel standard cell placement algorithm

We present a loosely coupled parallel algorithm for the placement of standard cell integrated circuits. Our algorithm is a derivative of simulated annealing. The implementation of our algorithm is targeted toward networks of Unix workstations. This is the very first reported parallel algorithm for standard cell placement which yields as good or better placement results than its serial version. In addition, it is the first parallel placement algorithm reported which offers nearly linear speed-up for small numbers of processors, in terms of the number of processors (workstations) used, over the serial version. Despite using the rather slow local area network as the only means of interprocessor communication, the processor utilization is quite high, up to 98% for two processors and 90% for six processors. The new parallel algorithm has yielded the best overall results ever reported for the set of MCNC standard cell benchmark circuits.
The effect of essential oil of Syzygium cumini on the development of granulomatous infl ammation in mice

The anti-inflammatory and apoptotic activity of the essential oil of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Myrtaceae, leaves was investigated in vivo. The antiinflammatory action and chronic granulomatous inflammation in BALB/c mice, intravenously infected with Mycobacterium bovis, BCG, (Bacillo Calmet Guerim), was judged by measuring and classifying the granulomas formed in the hepatic parenchyma. The degree of apoptosis in the inflammatory cells was also measured. A reduction in the granulomatous area and a change in the pattern of the granulomas were found. Anti-mycobacterial activity of the essential oil against M. bovis was detected in vitro by an interferometric method in liquid culture medium. The chemical constituents of the essential oil were determined by GC/MS. Higher yields of the essential oil of S. cumini leaves were obtained by extraction in a Clevenger apparatus when the fresh leaves were previously frozen as a pre-processing step. The essential oil obtained from this plant demonstrated a statistically significant and dramatic effect in the chosen model system.
The value added statement: does it add any value?

The value added statement has been voluntarily reported by South African companies for many years despite reservations about its usefulness. This article examines current literature on value added statements in two areas: the usefulness of the value added statement in South Africa and the relevance of social accounting theories in explaining its continued disclosure in South African listed companies’ annual reports. It also reports the results of a questionnaire survey addressed to preparers of value added statements.The research studies examined in the literature review indicate that legitimacy theory is more likely to provide an explanation for the disclosure of value added statements in annual reports in South Africa. The results of the empirical survey indicate that the majority of the respondents are of the opinion that it is desirable to prepare a value added statement, but that it is not used in the majority of companies. Furthermore, the reasons advanced by the preparers for the desirability of the value added statement provide some evidence that legitimacy theory may be behind the propensity of companies to publish a value added statement. The article recommends that the preparation of the value added statement should be standardised. However, the disclosure of an independently prepared value added report may be more useful to all users.
Postictal increase in T‐wave alternans after generalized tonic–clonic seizures

Purpose: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) occurs most frequently in people with chronic uncontrolled epilepsy. Tonic–clonic seizures are a well‐recognized risk factor for SUDEP. T‐wave alternans (TWA) is a novel independent marker of risk of sudden cardiac death and cardiovascular mortality. The aim of this study was to determine if the level of TWA in patients with epilepsy differed after complex‐partial and secondary generalized tonic–clonic seizures (sGTCS).
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE OF WOMEN WORKERS: ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS

The present study was designed to explore the issue of representation of legitimate interests of women workers in its entirety and make suggestions to help the policy makers to improve the quality of work life of women workers. The study was carried out in the services and manufacturing (public) sectors, more specifically in Banking, Insurance, PSUs and Hospitals. The study findings reveal that the level of satisfaction of women employees with QWL in their respective organisations was quite high in spite of the overall work life conditions as provided by the company /management being only average (as perceived by them). While the wider issues having implications for the entire workforce were taken care of in their negotiations by the existing union of which they were members the women specific issues were generally ignored (except for in hospitals where the dominant gender was female). Implications of the findings for employers, trade unions, the Government and the women themselves are also discussed.
The Value of Private Information in Investment Research: Do Company On-Site Visits Affect the Trading Patterns and Performance of Professional Investors?

This paper looks at relationships between managerial characteristics and actions on the performance, management fees, and systematic risk of US equity investment management firms during the period 2008 through 2011, focusing on the impact of company on-site visits. Company on-site visits significantly enhance performance, management fees, and portfolio turnover. On-site visits are also positively related to employee equity ownership while the latter is inversely related to portfolio turnover. This supports the agency hypothesis that managers with greater personal stakes in their companies invest more in collecting non-public information for longer-term commitments.
A prospective cohort study of patients with peripheral T‐cell lymphoma in the United States

Long‐term survival in patients with aggressive peripheral T‐cell lymphoma (PTCL) is generally poor, and there currently is no clear consensus regarding the initial therapy used for these diseases. Herein, the authors analyzed treatment patterns and outcomes in a prospectively collected cohort of patients with a new diagnosis of nodal PTCL in the United States.
Untitled Page

Little is known about the prevalence, typology, and natural course of non–drug-induced sexual dysfunction in patients with depression. Loss of libido has been reported in various studies to affect from 25% to 75% of patients with unipolar depression, and its prevalence appears to be correlated with the severity of depression. Disorders of arousal also appear to be relatively common in both men and women with major depression, of whom ~25% may experience problems with erection or lubrication. The scant available data regarding orgasmic difficulties in patients with depression who have not yet taken antidepressant medication suggest that they are more common than in the general population. The potential causes of sexual dysfunction in patients with depression are complex and little investigated, and future research must distinguish and explore the various biological, psychological, and psychosocial factors that are likely to be involved.
Running head : UNCERTAINTY AND IDENTIFICATION Uncertainty , Entitativity and Group Identification

Two studies examined the effects of self-uncertainty and ingroup entitativity on group identification. From uncertainty reduction theory (Hogg, 2000), it was hypothesized that people would identify most strongly with their group if they felt self-conceptually uncertain and the group was highly entitative. Study One was a field experiment (N = 114) in which the perceived entitativity of participants’ political party was measured, and self-uncertainty was primed (high vs. low). Study Two was a laboratory experiment (N = 89) with ad hoc non-interactive groups. Uncertainty was primed as in Study One, but perceived entitativity was manipulated. In both cases the dependent variable was a multiitem measure of group identification. The hypothesis was fully supported in both studies – participants identified more strongly when they were uncertain and the group was highly entitative. Implications of this research for the role of uncertainty and social identity in extremism, orthodoxy, and ideological belief systems are discussed.
Board Independence and Firm Financial Performance: Evidence from Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between board independence and firm financial performance, using data of varying sample size (ranging from 89 firms for regression to 205 firms for descriptive analysis) obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the period 1996 through 2004. The key results were that share ownership was highly concentrated inNigeria, and this structure tended to engender board structureswith close family affiliations in which the chief executive officers (CEOs) were activemembers of audit committees.While family affiliation of board members was found to support firm growth, we found evidence that audit committee membership of chief executives hurt firm performance. We also found that foreign chief executives performed better than their local counterparts. These results suggested the need for Nigerian firms to adopt better corporate governance mechanisms in order to make the boards of directors more independent, avoid unnecessary intervention of CEOs in important committees, and in that way aid financial performance.
Randomised clinical trial: low‐volume bowel preparation for colonoscopy ‐ a comparison between two different PEG‐based formulations

Low‐volume bowel preparations with polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been shown to provide an equivalent cleansing with improved tolerability as compared with standard PEG bowel preparation for colonoscopy. A new iso‐osmotic sulphate‐free formulation of PEG‐Citrate‐Simethicone (PEG‐CS) in combination with bisacodyl has been recently developed.
Understanding the Relationship of Trust and Risk in Online Shopping

This study explores the relationships between online shopping, perceived risk, and trust in an online vendor. Various models have been proposed and studied in previous literature. This study looked at three models: Through, Joint, and Plus to explain how these three constructs relate. An online study with 173 consumers was conducted and focused on perceived risk and consumer trust in the online vendor. Two types of trust, predictability and integrity, were included. A principal components factor analysis led to two four types of risk – privacy, time, social, and lost resource risk -all four were included in the analysis. Structural Equation Modeling was used to assess all four conceptual models. The results show that the Through Model, in which risk leads to trust and trust impacts shopping, is the best fit from an empirical perspective. An association was found between two types of risk – privacy and time – and predictability. Trust, more specifically predictability was found to positively impact purchase and browsing an online website. Conversely, integrity does not add to predictability in the context of online shopping.
CORRELATES OF CONTRACEPTIVE NON-USE AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN NIGERIA

ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION. 1 1.1. Background. 1 1.2. Problem Statement. 2 1.3 Research Question. 5 1.4. Research Objectives . 5 1.4. 1. General Objective . 5 1.4. 2. Specific Objectives. 6 1.5. Justification. 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW. 8 2.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT Integration of Team-Based Learning Strategies Into a Cardiovascular Module

Objectives. To integrate components of team-based learning (TBL) into a cardiovascular module to increase students’ responsibility for their own learning and actively engage students across 2 campuses in patient cases. Design. An existing cardiovascular course module was modified by replacing 8 hours of lectures with self-directed learning (SDL) assignments and transforming case discussion sessions using TBL methodologies. Case discussions were delivered using TBL methods to increase engagement of all students across both campuses while maintaining a low faculty-to-student ratio in the classrooms. Readiness assurance quizzes were performed with each SDL assignment and TBL case session. Assessment. Student and faculty satisfaction improved with the addition of SDL assignments and TBL cases without adverse effects on grades in the wake of the 14% decrease in lecture time. Total faculty time required increased primarily in the first year because of development of course materials. Conclusion. A modified TBL format was successfully integrated into a lecture-based cardiovascular module, resulting in improved student and faculty satisfaction with the course and no adverse effect on student performance.
Gastrointestinal protein and amino acid metabolism in growing animals 1

The tissues of the gastrointestinal tract play a major role in the metabolism of protein and amino acids in growing animals. Intestinal tissue has a high rate of protein metabolism, which is directly linked to the high rates of proliferation, protein secretion, cell death and desquamation of various epithelial and lymphoid cells within the mucosa. Because the small intestine is the first tissue exposed to the diet, it has a key regulatory role in the digestion, absorption, metabolism and availability of dietary protein and amino acids for growth. The major oxidative fuels for the intestine are glutamate, glutamine, aspartate and glucose; however, some essential amino acids are also oxidized, such as lysine, leucine and phenylalanine. Among the essential amino acids, threonine utilization is particularly high, and may be critical for normal intestinal function. Intestinal protein and amino acid metabolism is primarily regulated by the modality (enteral versus parenteral) and quantity of nutrient intake, and to a lesser extent by the composition of nutrients.
A Time Projection Chamber for continuous readout

A Time Projection Chamber (TPC) with its 3-dimensional tracking and particle identification capabilities is a very powerful detector for high multiplicity events. TPCs are used for tracking in several experiments such as ALICE, STAR and many others. A drawback of such devices is the restriction to trigger rates of the order of 1 kHz due to the necessity of a gating grid which prevents ions produced in the amplification region of MWPCs from entering the drift volume. A GEM-TPC has been built which is the GEM-TPC with the largest active volume up to date. The detector has been commissioned with cosmics and particle beams at the FOPI experiment at GSI, and was employed for a physics measurement with a pion beam.
Molecular Typing of Aspergillus terreus Isolates Collected in Houston, Texas, and Innsbruck, Austria: Evidence of Great Genetic Diversity

ABSTRACT Aspergillus terreus isolates collected from patients at The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, and at The University Hospital of Innsbruck, Austria, were analyzed using random amplification of polymorphic DNA-PCR with three different primers. No strain similarity in either institution was detected, indicating great genetic diversity of A. terreus.
Consumer perceptions of visible tattoos on service personnel

Purpose – It is proposed that visible tattoos on service personnel may be used as a clue by consumers in predicting service process and outcome. This paper aims to explore this general hypothesis by investigating consumer perceptions of tattooed service employees and whether they vary by type of service rendered, the age of the perceiver, and whether the perceiver has a tattoo or not.Design/methodology/approach – A quota sample of age‐grouped subjects reported their perceptions of the appropriateness of visible tattoos on service personnel in nine different occupations as well as their inferences about tattooed people on five personal traits.Findings – Overall, visible tattoos on white‐collar workers were deemed inappropriate while similar tattoos on blue‐collar workers were viewed as appropriate. Respondents (both young and old and tattooed versus non‐tattooed) believed financial services workers should not have visible tattoos. Older subjects held a more unfavorable view of tattooed people, in general, .
The Effect of Investor Sentiment on Gold Market Dynamics

This paper explores the effect of investor sentiment on the intraday dynamics in the gold market. Using a novel methodology to detect nonlinear causalities, we examine the effect of fear and excitement in the stock market on gold return and intraday volatility at alternative quantiles. While no significant sentiment effect is observed on daily gold returns, we find that sentiment drives intraday volatility in the gold market. Interestingly however, the sentiment effect is channeled via the discontinuous component of intraday volatility and more significantly at extreme quantiles, suggesting that extreme fear (excitement) contributes to positive (negative) volatility jumps in gold returns. The results suggest that measures of sentiment could be utilized to model volatility jumps in safe haven assets that are often hard to predict and have significant implications for risk management as well as the pricing of options.
Synergistic effects of operant knowledge resources

Purpose – Building on the service‐centered dominant logic, this paper aims to investigate the effects of firm knowledge (knowledge of customers, industry, and practices) and synergistic combinations of different types of employee knowledge as a foundation for competitive advantage in retail and service organizations. Specifically, it seeks to theorize that the firm's operant knowledge resources combine to develop the service‐based value proposition of enhanced ability to meet customer needs that results in greater performance.Design/methodology/approach – A survey methodology was used to test the hypotheses using a sample of 293 retail and service providers.Findings – Employees' knowledge of its customers and competitors allow the firm to enhance its ability to meet customer needs, whereas knowledge of firm practices, in isolation, does not enhance a firm's ability to meet customer needs. When looking at the synergistic combination of employees' knowledge (i.e. the two‐way interactions and the three‐way i.
Adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: side effects and quality of life.

In a trial of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy women with primary breast cancer and spread to one or more axillary nodes were randomised to receive a six-month course of either the single agent chlorambucil or the five-drug combination of chlorambucil, methotrexate, fluorouracil, vincristine, and adriamycin. On completing the treatment 47 patients were asked to fill in questionnaires at home on the side effects of treatment and its influence on the quality of their life. Side effects including nausea, vomiting, malaise, and alopecia had been severe enough to interfere with their lifestyle in 9 (42%) of the patients who had received the single agent and 19 (79%) of those who had received multiple-drug treatment. Various other side effects were reported by a few patients. Seven (29%) of the patients who had received the multiple-drug schedule voluntarily added that the treatment had been "unbearable" or "could never be gone though again. " The proportion of patients who had experienced severe side effects while receiving the treatment was considerable; hence such adjuvant chemotherapy is justifiable only if it will substantially improve a patient's prognosis.
Preventing Digital Music Piracy: The Carrot or the Stick?

The goal of this article is to ascertain the factors that govern consumers’ willingness to pirate a digital product, such as a digital music track. The authors assess the tendency to pirate with both indirect measures (e.g., willingness to pay for the legal alternative) and direct measures (e.g., piracy preference). Whether measured indirectly or directly, the tendency to pirate depends, to different extents, on three key factors: positive incentives (e.g., improved functionality of the legal Web site), negative incentives (e.g., perceived risk of piracy), and consumer characteristics. Based on three studies, the results suggest that negative incentives are a strong deterrent for certain consumers but can actually increase piracy tendencies for others. Conversely, positive incentives, such as improved functionality, can significantly reduce the tendency to pirate among all the consumer segments studied. The authors conclude by discussing prescriptive recommendations for the recording industry.
Diarrhea, CD4 counts and enteric infections in a community-based cohort of HIV-infected adults in Uganda.

OBJECTIVES To examine relationships between diarrhoea, CD4 cell counts and stool pathogens in a community-based cohort of HIV-infected adults in Uganda. PATIENTS AND METHODS Stool specimens, obtained between October 1995 and December 1997, were linked to patients' symptoms and laboratory results. The relationship between CD4 counts and symptoms was tested using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and those between organisms and diarrhoea using first a univariate Mantel-Haenszel analysis and then a logistic regression model adjusted for CD4 count and multiple organisms. RESULTS 1,213 HIV-infected individuals (70% women, median CD4 cell count at enrollment 215 cells/microl) were followed for 1,224 person years of observation (pyo). 484 stool samples were examined, 357 from patients with diarrhoea. The rate of diarrhoea was 661 episodes per 1,000 pyo. CD4 counts were significantly lower in individuals with diarrhoea than those without (P < 0.001, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). Forty-nine percent of diarrhoeal stools and 39% of stools from asymptomatic patients contained enteric pathogens. The most frequent isolates were helminths (29.5% of all stools), followed by bacteria (19.2%) and then protozoa (8.9%). Rates of isolation of diarrhoea-associated pathogens were 29% from diarrhoeal stools and 17% from asymptomatic stools (P = 0.01, chi(2) test). The association between diarrhoea and infection with bacteria or protozoa was weak and there was no association with helminths. Cryptosporidium parvum infection alone was associated with low CD4 counts. CONCLUSIONS Diarrhoea was common and most strongly associated with low CD4 counts. Bacteria were frequently found, even in stools from asymptomatic individuals. Over two-thirds of diarrhoeal episodes were undiagnosed, suggesting that unidentified agents or primary HIV enteropathy are important causes of diarrhoea in this population.
The Utility of the MMPI-2 Malingering Discriminant Function Index in the Detection of Malingering

This study examined the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2's (MMPI-2) malingering discriminant function index (M-DFI), recently developed by Bacchiochi and Bagby, in the detection of malingering in a forensic sample. Criminal defendants were divided into “malingering” and “not malingering” groups using the structured interview of reported symptoms (SIRS) criteria proposed by Rogers. Logistic regression analysis (LRA) revealed that the MMPI-2 infrequency (F) scale had the best predictive utility of the traditional infrequency scales. Although the M-DFI did significantly differentiate the malingering from the not malingering groups, it did not add significantly to the predictive utility of the MMPI-2 F scale. Receiver operating characteristics analyses demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity for the MMPI-2 F scale, but poor sensitivity for the M-DFI scale. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of the M-DFI in detecting malingering and problems of extending the findings of simulation studies to the forensic context.