Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alternative Male Mating Tactics of the Substrate Brooding Cichlid Telmatochromis temporalis in Lake Tanganyika

Abstract Telmatochromis temporalis is a bi-parental substrate brooding cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Paired males were always larger than their mates and had territories around nests against con-specific males. However, males smaller than the paired females were found in 18% of the nests. Here we report a reproductive tactic of these small males. The small males had as heavy gonads as paired males, and the gonad somatic index (GSI) of the small males was much higher than that of the latter. The examinations of the paternity and maternity using microsatellite-DNA as a genetic marker revealed that the small males were not genetically related to the pair members, and sired some young in 3 of 5 nests. These small males did not guard the broods, suggesting that they are likely to perform reproductive parasitism as sneakers. Paired males could not enter their spawning nests due to their large size, which made it difficult to chase out sneakers once they entered the nest. Some males as small as the sneakers were found outside the territories of paired males, and their gonads were quite small. Circumstantial evidence suggests that small males have two alternative investment patterns: investing in gonad to be sneakers, and investing in growth to probably be territorial males.
An Improved Line-Separable Algorithm for Discrete Unit Disk Cover

Given a set ${\mathcal D}$ of m unit disks and a set ${\mathcal P}$ of n points in the plane, the discrete unit disk cover problem is to select a minimum cardinality subset ${\mathcal D}' \subseteq {\mathcal D}$ to cover ${\mathcal P}$. This problem is NP-hard [14] and the best previous practical solution is a 38-approximation algorithm by Carmi et al. [5]. We first consider the line-separable discrete unit disk cover problem (the set of disk centers can be separated from the set of points by a line) for which we present an O(n(log n + m))-time algorithm that finds an exact solution. Combining our line-separable algorithm with techniques from the algorithm of Carmi et al. [5] results in an O(m2n4) time 22-approximate solution to the discrete unit disk cover problem.
Development and validation of HPLC and CE methods for simultaneous determination of amlodipine and atorvastatin in the presence of their acidic degradation products in tablets

Abstract Two methods were developed for separation and quantitation of amlodipine (AML) and atorvastatin (ATV) in the presence of their acidic degradation products. The first method was a simple isocratic RP-HPLC method while the second was capillary electrophoresis (CE). Degradation products were obtained by acidic hydrolysis of the two drugs and their structures were elucidated for the first time by IR and MS spectra. Degradation products did not interfere with the determination of either drug and the assays were therefore stability-indicating. The linearity of the proposed methods was established over the ranges 1-50 μg mL-1 for AML and ATV in the HPLC method and in the range of 3-50 and 4-50 μg mL-1 for AML and ATV, respectively, in the CE method. The proposed methods were validated according to ICH guidelines. The methods were successfully applied to estimation of AML and ATV in combined tablets.
Regulation, Productivity and Growth: OECD Evidence

The authors look at differences in the scope and depth of pro-competitive regulatory reforms and privatization policies as a possible source of cross-country dispersion in growth outcomes. They suggest that, despite extensive liberalization and privatization in the OECD area, the cross-country variation of regulatory settings has increased in recent years, lining up with the increasing dispersion in growth. The authors then investigate empirically the regulation-growth link using data that cover a large set of manufacturing and service industries in OECD countries over the past two decades and focusing on multifactor productivity (MFP), which plays a crucial role in GDP growth and accounts for a significant share of its cross-country variance. Regressing MFP on both economywide indicators of regulation and privatization and industry-level indicators of entry liberalization, the authors find evidence that reforms promoting private governance and competition (where these are viable) tend to boost productivity. In manufacturing the gains to be expected from lower entry barriers are greater the further a given country is from the technology leader. So, regulation limiting entry may hinder the adoption of existing technologies, possibly by reducing competitive pressures, technology spillovers, or the entry of new high technology firms. At the same time, both privatization and entry liberalization are estimated to have a positive impact on productivity in all sectors. These results offer an interpretation to the observed recent differences in growth patterns across OECD countries, in particular between large continental European economies and the United States. Strict product market regulations-and lack of regulatory reforms-are likely to underlie the relatively poorer productivity performance of some European countries, especially in those industries where Europe has accumulated a technology gap (such as information and communication technology-related industries). These results also offer useful insights for non-OECD countries. In particular, they point to the potential benefits of regulatory reforms and privatization, especially in those countries with large technology gaps and strict regulatory settings that curb incentives to adopt new technologies.
p53 Represses the Oncogenic Sno-MiR-28 Derived from a SnoRNA

p53 is a master tumour repressor that participates in vast regulatory networks, including feedback loops involving microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate p53 and that themselves are direct p53 transcriptional targets. We show here that a group of polycistronic miRNA-like non-coding RNAs derived from small nucleolar RNAs (sno-miRNAs) are transcriptionally repressed by p53 through their host gene, SNHG1. The most abundant of these, sno-miR-28, directly targets the p53-stabilizing gene, TAF9B. Collectively, p53, SNHG1, sno-miR-28 and TAF9B form a regulatory loop which affects p53 stability and downstream p53-regulated pathways. In addition, SNHG1, SNORD28 and sno-miR-28 are all significantly upregulated in breast tumours and the overexpression of sno-miR-28 promotes breast epithelial cell proliferation. This research has broadened our knowledge of the crosstalk between small non-coding RNA pathways and roles of sno-miRNAs in p53 regulation.
Effectiveness and cost of a transitional care program for heart failure: a prospective study with concurrent controls.

BACKGROUND Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of nurse-led transitional care programs to reduce readmission rates for patients with heart failure; the effectiveness of these programs in real-world health care systems is less well understood. METHODS We performed a prospective study with concurrent controls to test an advanced practice nurse-led transitional care program for patients with heart failure who were 65 years or older and were discharged from Baylor Medical Center Garland (BMCG) from August 24, 2009, through April 30, 2010. We compared the effect of the program on 30-day (from discharge) all-cause readmission rate, length of stay, and 60-day (from admission) direct cost for BMCG with that of other hospitals within the Baylor Health Care System. We also performed a budget impact analysis using costs and reimbursement experience from the intervention. RESULTS The intervention significantly reduced adjusted 30-day readmission rates to BMCG by 48% during the postintervention period, which was better than the secular reductions seen at all other facilities in the system. The intervention had little effect on length of stay or total 60-day direct costs for BMCG. Under the current payment system, the intervention reduced the hospital financial contribution margin on average $227 for each Medicare patient with heart failure. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results suggest that transitional care programs reduce 30-day readmission rates for patients with heart failure. This underscores the potential of the intervention to be effective in a real-world setting, but payment reform may be required for the intervention to be financially sustainable by hospitals.
Quantitative Evaluation of Therapeutic Response by FDG-PET–CT in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Purpose To assess the therapeutic response for metastatic breast cancer with 18F-FDG position emission tomography (PET), this retrospective study aims to compare the performance of six different metabolic metrics with PERCIST, PERCIST with optimal thresholds, and an image-based parametric approach. Methods Thirty-six metastatic breast cancer patients underwent 128 PET scans and 123 lesions were identified. In a per-lesion and per-patient analysis, the performance of six metrics: maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), SUVpeak, standardized added metabolic activity (SAM), SUVmean, metabolic volume (MV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and a parametric approach (SULTAN) were determined and compared to the gold standard (defined by clinical assessment and biological and conventional imaging according RECIST 1.1). The evaluation was performed using PERCIST thresholds (for per-patient analysis only) and optimal thresholds (determined by the Youden criterion from the receiver operating characteristic curves). Results In the per-lesion analysis, 210 pairs of lesion evolutions were studied. Using the optimal thresholds, SUVmax, SUVpeak, SUVmean, SAM, and TLG were significantly correlated with the gold standard. SUVmax, SUVpeak, and SUVmean reached the best sensitivity (91, 88, and 83%, respectively), specificity (93, 95, and 97%, respectively), and negative predictive value (NPV, 90, 88, and 83%, respectively). For the per-patient analysis, 79 pairs of PET were studied. The optimal thresholds compared to the PERCIST threshold did not improve performance for SUVmax, SUVpeak, and SUVmean. Only SUVmax, SUVpeak, SUVmean, and TLG were correlated with the gold standard. SULTAN also performed equally: 83% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and NPV 86%. Conclusion This study showed that SUVmax and SUVpeak were the best parameters for PET evaluation of metastatic breast cancer lesions. Parametric imaging is helpful in evaluating serial studies.
Automated repair of binary and assembly programs for cooperating embedded devices

We present a method for automatically repairing arbitrary software defects in embedded systems, which have limited memory, disk and CPU capacities, but exist in great numbers. We extend evolutionary computation (EC) algorithms that search for valid repairs at the source code level to assembly and ELF format binaries, compensating for limited system resources with several algorithmic innovations. Our method does not require access to the source code or build toolchain of the software under repair, does not require program instrumentation, specialized execution environments, or virtual machines, or prior knowledge of the bug type. We repair defects in ARM and x86 assembly as well as ELF binaries, observing decreases of 86% in memory and 95% in disk requirements, with 62% decrease in repair time, compared to similar source-level techniques. These advances allow repairs previously possible only with C source code to be applied to any ARM or x86 assembly or ELF executable. Efficiency gains are achieved by introducing stochastic fault localization, with much lower overhead than comparable deterministic methods, and low-level program representations. When distributed over multiple devices, our algorithm finds repairs faster than predicted by naive parallelism. Four devices using our approach are five times more efficient than a single device because of our collaboration model. The algorithm is implemented on Nokia N900 smartphones, with inter-phone communication fitting in 900 bytes sent in 7 SMS text messages per device per repair on average.
On Effective Through-Silicon Via Repair for 3-D-Stacked ICs

3-D-stacked integrated circuits (ICs) that employ through-silicon vias (TSVs) to connect multiple dies vertically have gained wide-spread interest in the semiconductor industry. In order to be commercially viable, the assembly yield for 3-D-stacked ICs must be as high as possible, requiring TSVs to be reparable. Existing techniques typically assume TSV faults to be uniformly distributed and use neighboring TSVs to repair faulty ones, if any. In practice, however, clustered TSV faults are quite common due to the fact that the TSV bonding quality depends on surface roughness and cleanness of silicon dies, rendering prior TSV redundancy solutions less effective. Furthermore, existing techniques consume a lot of redundant TSVs that are still costly in the current TSV process. This inefficient TSV redundancy can limit the amount of TSVs that is allowed to use and may even become the obstacle to commercial production. To resolve this problem, we present a novel TSV repair framework, including a hardware redundancy architecture that enables faulty TSVs to be repaired by redundant TSVs that are farther apart, the corresponding repair algorithm and the redundancy architecture construction. By doing so, the manufacturing yield for 3-D-stacked ICs can be dramatically improved, as demonstrated in our experimental results.
The Intertransmembrane Region of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Modulator of Immune Recognition 2 Contributes to B7-2 Downregulation

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), a human tumor virus, encodes two homologous membrane-associated E3 ubiquitin ligases, modulator of immune recognition 1 (MIR1) and MIR2, to evade host immunity. Both MIR1 and MIR2 downregulate the surface expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules through ubiquitin-mediated endocytosis followed by lysosomal degradation. Since MIR2 additionally downregulates a costimulatory molecule (B7-2) and an integrin ligand (intercellular adhesion molecule 1 [ICAM-1]), MIR2 is thought to be a more important molecule for immune evasion than MIR1; however, the molecular basis of the MIR2 substrate specificity remains unclear. To address this issue, we determined which regions of B7-2 and MIR2 are required for MIR2-mediated B7-2 downregulation. Experiments with chimeras made by swapping domains between human B7-2 and CD8α, a non-MIR2 substrate, and between MIR1 and MIR2 demonstrated a significant contribution of the juxtamembrane (JM) region of B7-2 and the intertransmembrane (ITM) region of MIR2 to MIR2-mediated downregulation. Structure prediction and mutagenesis analyses indicate that Phe119 and Ser120 in the MIR2 ITM region and Asp244 in the B7-2 JM region contribute to the recognition of B7-2 by MIR2. This finding provides new insight into the molecular basis of substrate recognition by MIR family members.
Understanding the SNN Input Parameters and How They Affect the Clustering Results

Huge amounts of data are available for analysis in nowadays organizations, which are facing several challenges when trying to analyze the generated data with the aim of extracting useful information. This analytical capability needs to be enhanced with tools capable of dealing with big data sets without making the analytical process an arduous task. Clustering is usually used in the data analysis process, as this technique does not require any prior knowledge about the data. However, clustering algorithms usually require one or more input parameters that influence the clustering process and the results that can be obtained. This work analyses the relation between the three input parameters of the SNN Shared Nearest Neighbor clustering algorithm, providing a comprehensive understanding of the relationships that were identified between k, Eps and MinPts, the algorithm's input parameters. Moreover, this work also proposes specific guidelines for the definition of the appropriate input parameters, optimizing the processing time, as the number of trials needed to achieve appropriate results can be substantial reduced.
The scourge of EPS: have atypical antipsychotics solved the problem?

J Clin Psychiatry 61:12, December 2000 his ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS section of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry summarizes the highlights of a symposium entitled “Clear Vision—A Fresh Look at EPS,” held September 23, 1999, at the 12th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in London, England. This symposium was chaired by Rajiv Tandon, M.D., Director of the Hospital Services Division and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor. The other participants were Siegfried Kasper, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Chairman of the Department of General Psychiatry at the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; John Kane, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Chief of Staff at Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y. ; and Jorge Juncos, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Gerontology at the Emory University School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Movement Disorders Program at Emory and Director of the Neurology Unit at Wesley Woods Hospital, Atlanta, Ga. The symposium and these ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS were sponsored by an unrestricted grant from AstraZeneca. The Scourge of EPS: Have Atypical Antipsychotics Solved the Problem?
Sizing Maintenance Tasks for Web Applications

Web applications are fast becoming the new legacy systems of today. While there is considerable similarity between traditional software systems and Web-based systems, there are also significant differences between them. One area that illustrates this dual nature is cost and effort estimation. There exists a mature body of knowledge for performing such estimates on traditional software systems, but such methods may not appear to be directly applicable to Web applications. This paper presents an effort estimation technique for maintaining a large-scale Web application by measuring and tracking the size and complexity of the Web-based system. Specifically, a combination of function-points and static impact analysis is used, tracing the change requests to different components of the Web application, and then measuring their size and complexity to aid the cost estimation for that particular change request based on function point productivity measurements. To illustrate the use of this technique, a case study from a real-world industrial product is presented
Rossby Waves Mediate Impacts of Tropical Oceans on West Antarctic Atmospheric Circulation in Austral Winter

Recent studies link climate changearound Antarctica to the sea surface temperature of tropical oceans, with teleconnections from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans making different contributions to Antarctic climate. In this study, the impacts of each ocean basin on the wintertime Southern Hemisphere circulation are identified by comparing simulation results using a comprehensive atmospheric model, an idealized dynamical core model, and a theoretical Rossby wave model. The results herein show that tropical Atlantic Ocean warming, Indian Ocean warming, and eastern Pacific cooling are all able to deepen the Amundsen Sea low located adjacent to West Antarctica, while western Pacific warming increases the pressure to the west of the international date line, encompassing the Ross Sea and regions south of the Tasman Sea. In austral winter, these tropical ocean basins work together linearly to modulate the atmospheric circulation around West Antarctica. Further analyses indicate that these teleconnections critically depend on stationary Rossby wave dynamics and are thus sensitive to the background flow, particularly the subtropical/midlatitude jet.Nearthesejets, wind shearis amplified,which strengthens the generation of Rossby waves. On the other hand, near the edges of the jets the meridional gradient of the absolute vorticity is also enhanced. As a consequence of the Rossby wave dispersion relationship, the jet edge may reflect stationary Rossby wave trains, serving as a waveguide. The simulation results not only identify the relative roles of each of the tropical ocean basins in the tropical‐Antarctica teleconnection, but also suggest that a deeper understanding of teleconnections requires a better estimation of the atmospheric jet structures.
Computer Conferencing in Distance Education: status and trends

One of the most frequently raised issues in Distance Education is the subject offeedback and interaction between teacher and learner and betreen student and student. The communications function of small computers has made great advances in recent years and this probably represents one of the most exciting, and most di0ficult to implement, potential breakthroughs in Distance Education. It is what turns a one-way system of learning into a two-way process of interaction. Torstein Rekkedal and Morten Flate Paulsen are probably the most knowledgeable people in Europe on the subject of Computer-Mediated Conferencing Systems. They have not only made a study of existing facilities, most of them in the United States, but have also been involved in the design and implementation of their own Computer Mediated System (EKKO), a process which gives deep insight into the advantages, and disadvantages, of the medium. Both have high-level positions at NKI in Norway, one of the more advanced high-tech Distance Education delivery organisations in Europe, and both have worked with other professional and educational organisations. They gave several presentations on this topic at the recent World Conference on Distance Education in Oslo.
Evaluation of Selling Performance: A Study of Current Practices

AbstractPerformance evaluation of salespeople is particularly important in this era of escalating costs and concern with productivity. This study of 213 sales executives indicated that sales managers tended to rely on qualitative bases for evaluation, used only a narrow set of quantitative bases, and evaluated salespeople over only a narrow range of selling activities. Suggestions for improving performance evaluation are provided. Findings of the study indicate that salesforce evaluation procedures utilized in practice differ from those provided in the sales management literature.
A Qualitative Study Exploring Coping Strategies in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes

Adolescents diagnosed with a chronic illness such as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) face the typical physical and psychosocial challenges associated with adolescence, as well as the additional challenges of having to cope with the daily stressors of living with a chronic illness. In order to explore coping strategies in this population of adolescents, and to compare the constructs with those identified by the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), four focus groups were conducted with 13 adolescents with T1DM. The qualitative data was analysed using content analysis and grouped according to the ACS. Prevalent nonproductive coping strategies included Tension Reduction (the use of maladaptive techniques to reduce tension/stress), Ignore the Problem and Keep to Self. Prevalent productive coping strategies included Seek Social Support, Physical Recreation and Seek Relaxing Diversions. The qualitative data not only affirmed the conceptual areas of the ACS for use with adolescents with T1DM, but also highlighted the need to teach coping strategies to adolescents with T1DM to give them an additional skill set to help them better manage the challenges of diabetes.