Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intelligence and Crime: A novel evidence for software piracy

The aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis that software piracy rats are lower in more intelligent nations. Thus, we econometrically estimate the effect of national IQ on software piracy rates, using data for 102 nations for the year 2011. Our findings offer strong support for the assertion that intelligence is inversely related to the software piracy rates. After controlling for the potential effect of outlier nations in the sample, software piracy rate declines by about 5.3 percentage points if national IQ increases by 10 points.
Analyses and Tests of Handwritten Digit Recognition Algorithms

This report is a masters thesis written at the Department of Mathematics, Linköping University. Two different classification algorithms for handwritten digit recognition have been thoroughly analysed. The first algorithm uses Higher Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD) of the training digits. The second algorithm relies on a specific distance measure, which is invariant to different transformations, called Tangent Distance (TD). This algorithm was modified in the implementation part by the use of numerical derivatives and an approximation of the blurring operator. Two more classification algorithms were constructed by combining the first two algorithms. All constructed algorithms have been tested with good performance for some of them. The best results were achieved by the Tangent Distance classifier with an error rate of 3 %. Finally the results of a few other classifiers are presented and compared with the test results obtained in this report.
Lansoprazole prevents experimental gastric injury induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs through a reduction of mucosal oxidative damage.

AIM This study investigated the mechanisms of protection afforded by the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole against gastric injury induced by different non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in rats. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally treated with indomethacin (100 micromol/kg), diclofenac (60 micromol/kg), piroxicam (150 micromol/kg) or ketoprofen (150 micromol/kg). Thirty minutes before NSAIDs, animals were orally treated with lansoprazole 18 or 90 micromol/kg. Four hours after the end of treatments, the following parameters were assessed: gastric mucosal PGE2, malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) or non-proteic sulfhydryl compounds (GSH) levels; reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of mucosal COX-2 mRNA; gastric acid secretion in pylorus-ligated animals; in vitro effects of lansoprazole (1-300 micromol/L) on the oxidation of low density lipoproteins (LDLs) induced by copper sulphate. RESULTS All NSAIDs elicited mucosal necrotic lesions which were associated with neutrophil infiltration and reduction of PGE2 levels. Increments of MPO and MDA contents, as well as a decrease in GSH levels were detected in the gastric mucosa of indomethacin- or piroxicam-treated animals. Indomethacin enhanced mucosal cyclooxygenase-2 expression, while not affecting cyclooxygenase-1. At the oral dose of 18 micromol/kg lansoprazole partly counteracted diclofenac-induced mucosal damage, whereas at 90 micromol/kg it markedly prevented injuries evoked by all test NSAIDs. Lansoprazole at 90 micromol/kg reversed also the effects of NSAIDs on MPO, MDA and GSH mucosal contents, without interfering with the decrease in PGE2 levels or indomethacin-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression. However, both lansoprazole doses markedly inhibited acid secretion in pylorus-ligated rats. Lansoprazole concentration-dependently reduced the oxidation of LDLs in vitro. CONCLUSION These results suggest that, besides the inhibition of acid secretion, lansoprazole protection against NSAID-induced gastric damage depends on a reduction in mucosal oxidative injury, which is also responsible for an increment of sulfhydryl radical bioavailability. It is also suggested that lansoprazole does not influence the down-regulation of gastric prostaglandin production associated with NSAID treatment.
Nutritional Assessment of Patients with Neuromuscular Diseases

Pessolano FA, Súarez AA, Monteiro SG, Mesa L, Dubrovsky A, Roncoroni AJ, De Vito EL: Nutritional assessment of patients with neuromuscular diseases. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2003;82:182–185. Objective To study the nutritional status of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Design A total of 34 Duchenne muscular dystrophy and seven amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients were studied. Body mass index, patient’s body weight for zero muscle mass as a percentage of the theoretical weight for zero muscle mass, and creatinine-height index were calculated. Results Substantial differences were found between body mass index and percentage of expected weight for zero muscle mass. No amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients were classified as overweight by body mass index, whereas five were overweight by the percentage of expected weight for zero muscle mass method. Five Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients were classified as overweight by body mass index, and 30 were overweight by the percentage of expected weight for zero muscle mass. According to the creatinine-height index, no patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Duchenne muscular dystrophy showed normal body muscle mass. No correlation was found between creatinine-height index, percentage of expected weight for zero muscle mass, and body mass index. Conclusions The body mass index should be used with caution for the evaluation of the nutritional status of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Indices that incorporate the assessment of the compartmental distribution of muscle and fat are more sensitive.
A proportional-plus-integral boundary control design for an unstable heat conduction system

This paper presents a simple proportional-plus-integral (PI) boundary controller for an unstable parabolic systems. For an infinite-dimensional system, the characteristics of minimum-phase is not easily observed from those governing equation and boundary conditions. In this paper the method of infinite product expansion is firstly employed to identify exact locations of system zeros/poles. Furthermore, if the system parameters are given, the Nyquist plot can be used for minimum-phase check. Once the minimum-phase condition is satisfied, a simple PI output feedback boundary controller can achieve stabilizing even if there are multiple unstable modes.
The importance of physiotherapy in the sexuality of patients with rheumatic diseases

The sexuality of patients with rheumatic diseases is a significant interdisciplinary problem, requiring intensified action not only of rheumatologists, sexologists, and psychologists but also physiotherapists. The sexuality problems and motor disability in chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis, as well as other rheumatic diseases, are generally still taboo subjects, rarely discussed by physicians and physiotherapists. Lack of mobility, hormonal imbalance, fatigue, and accompanying decreased quality of life have an impact on sexual dysfunction. Meanwhile sex, as an integral part of human personality, is an essential element of human life.
The Economics of Organized Crime and Optimal Law Enforcement

This paper extends the optimal law enforcement literature to organized crime. We model the criminal organization as a vertical structure where the principal extracts some rents from the agents through extortion. Depending on the principal's information set, threats may or may not be credible. As long as threats are credible, the principal is able to fully extract rents. In that case, the results obtained by applying standard theory of optimal law enforcement are robust: we argue for a tougher policy. However, when threats are not credible, the principal is not able to fully extract rents and there is violence. Moreover, we show that it is not necessarily true that a tougher law enforcement policy should be chosen when in presence of organized crime.
Modeling of hemoglobin response to Erythropoietin therapy through constrained optimization

Hemoglobin response modeling is critical for accurately predicting the hemoglobin level of anemic patients and it is the foundation of optimal control based Erythropoietin (EPO) therapy. In this paper, a novel Hemoglobin response modeling method is proposed. This method was inspired from a study on the physiological model of hemoglobin response to Erythropoietin. Insights on the effect of EPO is first gained from the physiological model and then transformed into an auto-regressive with exogenous input (ARX) model parameter pattern. The ARX model parameter estimation problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem. Tests on simulated data using the physiological model and the real clinical data both show that the proposed modeling method has superior performance while also being less complex than the physiological model.
FAMILY INTERVIEW FOR STRESS AND COPING IN MENTAL RETARDATION (FISC-MR) : A TOOL TO STUDY STRESS AND COPING IN FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

Stress and coping in the families caring for their member with mental retardation has recently received worldwide research attention. There is no comprehensive instrument to study these issues in India. This study reports on development and standardization of a new instrument to fill this lacuna. Family Interview for Stress and Coping in Mental Retardation (FISC - MR), a semi-structured interview schedule, was developed as a part of two years prospective study of efficacy of brief family intervention for 157 children with mental retardation (funded by ICMR). The tool consists of 2 sections - one measuring stress (daily care, emotional, social and financial) and the other measuring mediators of stress or coping strategies (awareness, attitudes, expectations, rearing practices and social support). Results indicate moderate to high reliability (internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability) and validity (factorial, criterion and construct) of the instrument. It is concluded that FISC -MR is a useful, reliable and valid instrument for both clinical and research purposes.
The Carboxy-Terminal Region of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protein Rev Has Multiple Roles in Mediating CRM1-Related Rev Functions

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) regulatory protein, Rev, mediates the nuclear export of unspliced and singly spliced viral mRNAs by bridging viral RNA and export receptor human CRM1 (hCRM1). Ribonucleoprotein complex formation, including the oligomerization of Rev proteins on viral RNA, must occur to allow export. We show here that Rev-Rev interactions, which are a basis of complex formation, can be initiated without cellular factors and are subsequently enhanced by hCRM1-Ran-GTP. Furthermore, we reveal functions for the Rev carboxy-terminal (C-terminal) region, which is well conserved among many HIV-1 strains, and for which no function has been reported. This region is required for the efficient binding of Rev to hCRM1 and consequently for nuclear export, Rev-Rev dimerization, and full Rev transactivator activity. Consistent with these results, a HIV-1 proviral plasmid that expresses a C-terminally truncated Rev mutant protein produces smaller amounts of the p24 antigen than does a plasmid that possesses an intact rev gene. These results indicate the functional importance of the C-terminal region for full Rev activity, which leads to efficient HIV-1 replication.
Effect of pressure ulcers on the survival of long-term care residents.

BACKGROUND Past studies have emphasized that patients with pressure ulcers are at high risk of dying. However, it remains unclear whether this increased risk is related to the ulcer or to coexisting conditions. In this study we examined the independent effect of pressure ulcers on the survival of long-term care residents. METHODS We evaluated all 19,981 long-term care residents institutionalized in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) long-term care facilities as of April 1, 1993. Baseline resident characteristics and survival status were obtained by merging data from five existing VA data bases. Survival experience over a 6-month period was described using a proportional hazards model. RESULTS Pressure ulcers were present in 1,539 (7.7%) long-term care residents. Residents with pressure ulcers had a relative risk of 2.37 (95% CI = 2.13, 2.64) for dying as compared to those without ulcers. After adjusting for 16 other measures of clinical and functional status, the relative risk associated with pressure ulcers decreased to 1.45 (95% CI = 1.30, 1.65). No increased risk of death was noted for residents with deeper ulcers. CONCLUSIONS Pressure ulcers are a significant marker for long-term care residents at risk of dying. After adjusting for clinical and functional status, however, the independent risk associated with pressure ulcers declines considerably. The fact that larger ulcers are not associated with greater risk suggests that other unmeasured clinical conditions may also be contributing to the increased mortality associated with pressure ulcers.
Stochastic Convex Optimization: Faster Local Growth Implies Faster Global Convergence

In this paper, a new theory is developed for firstorder stochastic convex optimization, showing that the global convergence rate is sufficiently quantified by a local growth rate of the objective function in a neighborhood of the optimal solutions. In particular, if the objective function F (w) in the -sublevel set grows as fast as ‖w − w∗‖ 2 , where w∗ represents the closest optimal solution to w and θ ∈ (0, 1] quantifies the local growth rate, the iteration complexity of first-order stochastic optimization for achieving an -optimal solution can be Õ(1/ 2(1−θ)), which is optimal at most up to a logarithmic factor. To achieve the faster global convergence, we develop two different accelerated stochastic subgradient methods by iteratively solving the original problem approximately in a local region around a historical solution with the size of the local region gradually decreasing as the solution approaches the optimal set. Besides the theoretical improvements, this work also include new contributions towards making the proposed algorithms practical: (i) we present practical variants of accelerated stochastic subgradient methods that can run without the knowledge of multiplicative growth constant and even the growth rate θ; (ii) we consider a broad family of problems in machine learning to demonstrate that the proposed algorithms enjoy faster convergence than traditional stochastic subgradient method. For example, when applied to the `1 regularized empirical polyhedral loss minimization (e.g., hinge loss, absolute loss), the proposed stochastic methods have a logarithmic iteration complexity. Department of Computer Science, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA Department of Management Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Correspondence to: Tianbao Yang <tianbao-yang@uiowa.edu>. Proceedings of the 34 th International Conference on Machine Learning, Sydney, Australia, PMLR 70, 2017. Copyright 2017 by the author(s).
Feeding Effect of an Anabolic Steroid, Nandrolone, on the Male Rat Testis*

Nandrolone, 19-nortestosterone, is a synthetic androgenic-anabolic steroid promoting muscle growth. Nandrolone is also present in pig meat and sera at non-negligible levels. A number of scientific reports have suggested a positive relationship between incidence of infertility and increased meat consumption in humans. The present study was designed to determine out the effect of feeding nandrolone on the testis of the male reproductive tract. Mixtures of food and nandrolone at different concentrations (0.005 ppm and 0.5 ppm) were supplied to pubertal male rats for 6 weeks. Body weight was recorded every week during the entire experimental period. At the end of the treatment, the testis, epididymis, and epididymal fat were collected and weighted. Sperm numbers in the caudal epididymis were counted. Differential gene or protein expression of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental groups was determined by semi-quantitative real-time PCR or western blotting analysis, respectively. Histological changes of the testis induced by nandrolone treatment were examined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunohistochemical analysis was employed to detect changes in the localization of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental animals. There were no significant changes on body, testis, epididymis, and epididymal fat weights among experimental groups. A significant increase of caudal sperm number was found in the 0.5 ppm nandrolone-treated group. Histological examination of the testes noted a high frequency of germ cell sloughing in seminiferous tubules of 0.5 ppm nandrolone-treated rats. Even though transcript levels of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) I, 17β-HSD4, and 17α-hydroxylase were influenced by nandrolone treatments, protein levels of all molecules examined in the present study were not significantly affected. Immunohistochemical analysis showed no visible changes in the localization of steroidogenic enzymes in the testes among experimental groups. The current study showed that oral intake of nandrolone in male rats for 6 weeks did not cause significant damage to the testis. It is considered that a feeding effect of nandrolone on male fertility would not be remarkable.
Evaluating Nurses' Satisfaction With Two Nursing Information Systems

Evaluating user satisfaction is one of the methods to ensure the usability of information systems. Considering the importance of nursing information systems in patient health, the objective of this study is to evaluate nurses' satisfaction with two widely used nursing information systems (Peyvand Dadeh and Tirazhe) in Iran. This descriptive-analytical study was done on 230 nurses in all teaching hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Data were collected using an augmented version of a questionnaire developed by IBM. Data were analyzed by SPSS.16 using descriptive and analytical statistical methods including t test, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean of overall satisfaction with the two systems was 61 ± 2.2 and 74 ± 2.4, respectively. The mean of satisfaction with different systems dimensions, that is, ease of use, information quality, and interface quality, was, respectively, 24 ± 1.9, 26 ± 9.7, and 12 ± 4.7 for Tirazhe and 29 ± 1.1, 39 ± 1.04 and 13 ± 5.3 for Peyvand Dadeh system. Nurses’ satisfaction with both systems was at a medium level. The majority of nurses were relatively satisfied with the information quality and user interface quality of these systems. The results suggest that designing nursing information systems in accordance with their users’ need improves usability. Hence, policy and decision makers of healthcare institutions should invest on usability when purchasing such systems.
Journal of Multivariate Analysis

The canonical correlation (CANCOR) method for dimension reduction in a regression setting is based on the classical estimates of the first and second moments of the data, and therefore sensitive to outliers. In this paper, we study a weighted canonical correlation (WCANCOR) method, which captures a subspace of the central dimension reduction subspace, as well as its asymptotic properties. In the proposed WCANCOR method, each observation is weighted based on its Mahalanobis distance to the location of the predictor distribution. Robust estimates of the location and scatter, such as the minimum covariance determinant (MCD) estimator of Rousseeuw [P.J. Rousseeuw, Multivariate estimation with high breakdown point, Mathematical Statistics and Applications B (1985) 283–297], can be used to compute the Mahalanobis distance. To determine the number of significant dimensions in WCANCOR, a weighted permutation test is considered. A comparison of SIR, CANCOR and WCANCOR is also made through simulation studies to show the robustness of WCANCOR to outlying observations. As an example, the Boston housing data is analyzed using the proposed WCANCOR method.
A Male Sex Pheromone in a Parasitic Wasp and Control of the Olfactory Response by the Female Mating Status

Male insects may increase their chance of successful reproduction by releasing pheromones that attract females or elicit sexual acceptance. In parasitic wasps, male pheromones have been suggested for a few species but nothing was known about the involved chemicals so far. Here we report the first identification of a male sex pheromone in parasitic Hymenoptera. In male abdomens of the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) we found a mixture of (4R,5R)and (4R,5S)-5hydroxy-4-decanolide (HDL) which was released intermittently and attracted virgin females but no males in an olfactometer bioassay. However, only a few minutes after copulation mated females avoided the male-derived chemical signal. A neutral response was shown by mated females after 24 h and still after they had been allowed to oviposit for 6 d. N. vitripennis females normally mate only once. Thus, their variable response to the sex attractant depending on the mating status makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, since it increases the chance of insemination of virgins and decreases the probability for mated females to be disturbed by courting males when searching for new oviposition sites.
Avaliação dos hábitos alimentares e dos dados antropométricos de dependentes químicos

A dependencia quimica nos dias atuais coloca-se como um grave problema de saude publica com consequencias sociais amplas, afetando sobremaneira a ingestao de alimentos. Com o intuito de contribuir nos estudos do tema este trabalho objetivou avaliar o estado nutricional (IMC) e os habitos alimentares dos dependentes quimicos em tratamento num estabelecimento de recuperacao em Maringa/Pr. Foram realizadas: (a) avaliacao antropometrica (peso, altura e relacao cintura/ quadril); (b) aplicacao de questionario e, (c) avaliacao da frequencia alimentar. Avaliaram-se 52 dependentes quimicos do sexo masculino, destes 42,31% tinham menos de 22 anos. De acordo com o IMC, 76,92% eram eutrofi cos, 1,92% individuo desnutrido, 1,92% obeso morbido e o restante, 19,23%, apresentou sobrepeso. O nivel de escolaridade foi muito baixo; 40,38% tinham somente o 1o grau completo e 7,69% possuiam o 3o grau incompleto. As drogas mais consumidas foram: alcool, maconha, cocaina, solventes, crack e anfetaminas. Para 98,08% dos entrevistados os habitos alimentares foram afetados pelo uso das drogas. Quando nao estavam sob seus efeitos, a grande maioria fazia de 2-3 refeicoes diarias, principalmente, almoco, jantar e cafe da manha. Cerca de 80,00% dos entrevistados demonstrou desconhecimento sobre conceitos basicos de nutricao. Os alimentos mais consumidos diariamente foram: arroz, cafe, feijao, paes. Legumes crus e cozidos, frutas, peixe, frango, carnes suina e bovina, leite, queijos, ovos e frituras, foram consumidos menos frequentemente. Concluindo, alem da alteracao no apetite causada pela droga, os alimentos consumidos eram pobres em vitaminas, minerais, lipidios e proteinas, podendo levar a desnutricao ou subnutricao dos dependentes de droga.