Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Political Appointees and Career Executives: The Democracy-Bureaucracy Nexus in the Third Century

The balance between presidential appointees and career executives in governing the United States is a fundamental question of who shall rule. ' But it is also a question of governmental and organizational mechanics. The democratic principle that the President along with political appointees ought to direct policy in the executive branch is not in question, but judgments about the most effective way to organize that political control have been changing. In recent years the balance has shifted toward using more political appointees to assure tighter White House control of administration. The western European democracies of France, Britain, and Germany allow only 100 or so new political appointees to each new administration to establish its control of the government.2 In contrast, a new administration in the United States fills thousands of political positions with its own appointees. Major reasons account for this. The United States has a separation of powers rather than a parliamentary form of government, and it does not have the party discipline in Congress that parliamentary systems often enjoy. Neither does it have the same governmental and administrative traditions that matured in Europe over the centuries. In the United States the spoils system developed to assure that a new president's programs were implemented by those sympathetic to his policies. This was done with the Jacksonian assumption that government jobs were so simple that virtually anybody could handle them. The legacy of the reform movement removed most federal government jobs from the spoilsmen by expanding appointment by merit (often by "blanketing in") but still left the top tier of positions to presidential discretion.3 After the high water mark of the merit system was reached in the 1940s, the pendulum reversed directions, and the proportion of political appointees began to increase again, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Though little danger exists that the scale of personnel spoils will be approached again, this article argues that the balance in the United States has shifted too far toward a greater number of political appointees. It argues that recent presidents have come to office with
Probiotics: current landscape and future horizons

In recent years there has been a rapid rise in interest for the application of probiotic supplements to act as mediators in health and disease. This appeal is predominantly due to ever-increasing evidence of the interaction of the microbiota and pathophysiological processes of disease within the human host. This narrative review considers the current landscape of the probiotic industry and its research, and discusses current pitfalls in the lack of translation from laboratory science to clinical application. Future considerations into how industry and academia must adapt probiotic research to maximize success are suggested, including more targeted application of probiotic strains dependent on individual capabilities as well as application of multiple advanced analytical technologies to further understand and accelerate microbiome science.
The Ability of Traditional and Modern Performance Indicators in Interpreting the Phenomenon of Earnings Management: Evidence Manufacturing Firms in Amman Stock Exchange

The study objects for investigating the ability of traditional and modern performance indicators in interpreting earnings management phenomena of listed manufacturing firms in the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), using adjusted Jones method for measuring earnings management. The study takes into considerations three traditional indicators, including; Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Sales (ROS), and Operating Cash Flow, while the Market Value Added (MVA), Tobin's-Q, and Economic Value Added (EVA) are used as modern indicators for financial performance. A sample consisted of 29 firms had been selected, and data covering the period 2006-2013 had been collected from these firms, where 232 observations were used in the analysis. The study found that the earnings management of listed manufacturing firms at (ASE) still practice the phenomenon of earnings management, at low level based on the measures followed by the study, and that there is a significant linear relationship between performance indicators (traditional and modern) and earnings management. The results indicate that there is a significant as well inverse relationship between (ROA) and earnings management. Also, the study found that modern performance indicators are able to interpret earnings management, where the results indicate that there is a significant as well as inverse relationship between (EVA), and (Tobin's-q) and earnings management. One important finding showed that (EVE) is effective and followed by (Tobin's-q) indicator in interpreting the earnings management phenomena. However, the study did not show a significant relationship between CFO, LEV Ratio, ROS, and MVA with earnings management. Based on these results, the study made many recommendations to the interested parties and the most important one is that companies must disclose the economic value added in the financial statements to enable investors and related parties to be aware of the amount of value-added that lead to increase the wealth of shareholders, and to help managers to consider all costs of capital. In addition, these indicators can be used with other indicators such as (ROA, ROE) to evaluate firm’s performance.
Touch-n-Paste: Direct texture transfer interaction in AR environments

Our Touch-n-Paste allows a user to touch one part of an object, copy and move its texture, and paste it onto another object, directly with his or her hand, in an augmented reality environment. To transfer texture appropriately from one part of an object to another, two texture images are generated by the Least Square Conformal Map (LSCM) technique. Two regions in the texture images corresponding to source and target areas of interest are then obtained using cross-boundary brushes. Target texel values are sampled from corresponding source texels by Moving Least Squares (MLS), and are finally mapped onto the target object.
Innexin7a forms junctions that stabilize the basal membrane during cellularization of the blastoderm in Tribolium castaneum

In insects, the fertilized egg undergoes a series of rapid nuclear divisions before the syncytial blastoderm starts to cellularize. Cellularization has been extensively studied in Drosophila melanogaster, but its thick columnar blastoderm is unusual among insects. We therefore set out to describe cellularization in the beetle Tribolium castaneum, the embryos of which exhibit a thin blastoderm of cuboidal cells, like most insects. Using immunohistochemistry, live imaging and transmission electron microscopy, we describe several striking differences to cellularization in Drosophila, including the formation of junctions between the forming basal membrane and the yolk plasmalemma. To identify the nature of this novel junction, we used the parental RNAi technique for a small-scale screen of junction proteins. We find that maternal knockdown of Tribolium innexin7a (Tc-inx7a), an ortholog of the Drosophila gap junction gene Innexin 7, leads to failure of cellularization. In Inx7a-depleted eggs, the invaginated plasma membrane retracts when basal cell closure normally begins. Furthermore, transiently expressed tagged Inx7a localizes to the nascent basal membrane of the forming cells in wild-type eggs. We propose that Inx7a forms the newly identified junctions that stabilize the forming basal membrane and enable basal cell closure. We put forward Tribolium as a model for studying a more ancestral mode of cellularization in insects. Highlighted article: Cellularization in the embryo of the beetle Tribolium requires the junction protein Innexin7a, which links the basal membrane to the yolk membrane. This mechanism is distinct from that in Drosophila.
Making literature review and manuscript writing tasks easier for novice researchers through Rec4LRW system

We demonstrate the recently built Rec4LRW system, meant for assisting researchers in three literature review and manuscript writing tasks. The system has been designed to be useful for all researchers, albeit the evaluation results show that it is more beneficial for research students and beginners. In this demonstration, we provide a walkthrough of the system by executing the tasks with sample research topics. The unique User-Interface (UI) and the task interconnectivity features are some of the highlighted aspects.
A preliminary study on a twisted strings-based elbow exoskeleton

This paper presents a new concept of a 1-DOF elbow exoskeleton driven by a twisted strings-based actuator. A novel joint actuation mechanism is proposed and its kinematic model is presented along with its experimental evaluation, and guidelines on how to choose the strings suitable for such an exoskeleton are given. We also proposed and experimentally verified a human intention detection method which takes advantage of intrinsic compliance of the mechanism. The study showed that the developed twisted strings-driven elbow exoskeleton is light, compact and have a high payload-to-weight ratio, which suggests that the device can be effectively used in a variety of haptics, teleoperation, and rehabilitation applications.
Minimal number of plasma exchanges needed to reduce immunoglobulin in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Plasma exchange (PE) in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) probably removes pathogenic antibodies. Results of a recent clinical study by the French Cooperative Group suggest that at least two sessions of PE are required. As an alternative procedure, we examined the effect of the number of PEs on the reduction of immunoglobulins in 11 patients. A significant immunoglobulin decrease was obtained in the first two sessions but not in subsequent ones. Based on the French trial results and our findings, we conclude that at least two PEs are needed for treating GBS.
Monetary Policy in Interdependent Economies: A Game-Theoretic Approach

Monetary Policy in Interdependent Economies provides the first comprehensive overview of the implications of using game theory to analyze interactions among national monetary policymakers. It synthesizes the pessimistic view of sovereign policymaking that results from the analysis of one-shot games with the optimistic view derived from the analysis of quid pro quo strategies in repeated games. Good outcomes, the authors conclude, require coordination among noncooperative policymakers, and that sometimes policymakers, must be forced to cooperate. They suggest two roles for supranational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund: the IMF can provide a forum where noncooperative policymakers, can work to achieve good outcomes, and it can police agreements among cooperative policymakers Canzoneri and Henderson take clear stands on controversial issues and make recent advances in game theory accessible by using a single unified framework to explain a wide range of concepts. They begin by analyzing one-shot interactions between two policymakers, In subsequent chapters they extend their analysis to allow for more policymakers, and coalitions, for repeated interactions among policymakers, and for the possibility of time inconsistency.
Multiplexing Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Massive MIMO Systems

This paper is concerned with spatial multiplexing analysis for millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive MIMO systems. For a single-user mmWave system employing distributed antenna subarray architectures in which the transmitter and receiver consist of Kt and Kr subarrays, respectively, an asymptotic multiplexing gain formula is firstly derived when the numbers of antennas at subarrays go to infinity. Specifically, assuming that all subchannels have the same number of propagation paths L, the formula states that by employing such distributed antenna-subarray architectures, an exact multiplexing gain of Ns can be achieved, where Ns (not larger than KrKtL) is the number of data streams. This result means that compared to the co-located antenna architecture, using the distributed antenna-subarray architecture can scale up the maximum multiplexing gain proportionally to KrKt. In order to further reveal the relation between diversity gain and multiplexing gain, a simple characterization of the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff is also given. The multiplexing gain analysis is then extended to the multiuser scenario. Moreover, simulation results obtained with the hybrid analog/digital processing corroborate the analysis results.
Price Discovery in European Energy Markets

We undertake the first examination of price discovery within the European markets for coal, natural gas and crude oil. Short-run return dynamics are analyzed using a regression approach similar to Fleming, Ostdiek and Whaley (1996), while the permanent contribution of securities to long-run price equilibrium is examined by calculating Hasbrouck’s (1995) information shares. Brent crude oil futures display greater price discovery than a proxy for the physical Brent market, while there is evidence that West Texas Intermediate futures still dominate price discovery globally. In natural gas markets, monthly expiry UK natural gas futures display greater price discovery, though weak links to the crude oil market remain. Due to a lack of liquidity and transparency it remains difficult to distinguish between coal securities.
Differentiation-dependent PTPIP51 Expression in Human Skeletal Muscle Cell Culture

Protein tyrosine phosphatase-interacting protein 51 (PTPIP51) expression was analyzed in proliferating and differentiating human myogenic cells cultured in vitro. Satellite cell cultures derived from four different individuals were used in this study. To analyze the expression of PTPIP51, myoblasts were cultured under conditions promoting either proliferation or differentiation. In addition, further differentiation of already-differentiated myobtubes was inhibited by resubmitting the cells to conditions promoting proliferation. PTPIP51 protein and mRNA were investigated in samples taken at defined time intervals by immunostaining, immunoblotting, in situ hybridization, and PCR. Image analyses of fluorescence immuno-stainings were used to quantify PTPIP51 in cultured myoblasts and myotubes. Myoblasts grown in the presence of epidermal and fibroblast growth factors (EGF and FGF), both promoting proliferation, expressed PTPIP51 on a basic level. Differentiation to multinuclear myotubes displayed a linear increase in PTPIP51 expression. The rise in PTPIP51 protein was paralleled by an augmented expression of muscle-specific proteins, namely, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase and myosin heavy-chain protein, both linked to a progressive state of myotubal differentiation. This differentiation-induced increase in PTPIP51 was partly reversible by resubmission of differentiated myotubes to conditions boosting proliferation. The results clearly point toward a strong association between PTPIP51 expression and differentiation in human muscle cells. (J Histochem Cytochem 57:425–435, 2009)
Decentralized and Passive Model Order Reduction of Linear Networks With Massive Ports

It is well known that model order reduction for circuits with many terminals remains a challenging problem. One reason is that existing approaches are based on a centralized framework, in which each input-output pair is implicitly assumed to be equally interacted and the matrix-valued transfer function is assumed to be fully populated. In this paper, we attempt to address this long-standing problem using a decentralized model order reduction scheme, in which a multi-input multi-output system is decoupled into a number of subsystems and each subsystem corresponds to one output and several dominant inputs. The decoupling process is based on the relative gain array, which measures the degree of interaction of each input-output pair. For each decoupled subsystem, passive reduction can be easily achieved using existing reduction techniques. The proposed method is suitable for resistance-dominant interconnects such as on-chip power grids, substrate planes where extremely compact models can be obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method compared to the existing approaches.
Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection: Noninvasive Methods Compared to Invasive Methods and Evaluation of two New Tests

OBJECTIVES:Current guidelines recommending Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment without performing endoscopy in certain patients highlight the importance of noninvasive tests. Our aim was to determine the accuracy of two new tests: the antigen stool test and Helicoblot 2.1 (an immunoblot used on serum) as well as the 13C urea breath test and ELISA serology in comparison to invasive tests for the pretreatment diagnosis of H. pylori infection.METHODS:Helicobacter pylori infection was diagnosed prospectively in 104 untreated patients using eight different tests. Invasive tests included culture, urease test (CLOtest), histology, and PCR; noninvasive tests included the 13C urea breath test, IgG serology (Pyloriset EIA-G), immunoblot (Helicoblot 2.1), and antigen stool detection (Premier Platinum HpSA). A predefined gold standard based on biopsy tests was used to define H. pylori status, as well as an empirical approach.RESULTS:There was no statistically significant difference between the different tests. The sensitivity of the noninvasive tests ranged between 88.9% and 95.6% (stool test: 88.9%, 95% CI: 82.7–95.1, and Helicoblot 2.1: 95.6%, 95% CI: 91.5–99.6) and the specificity ranged between 92.6 and 98.1% (stool test: 94.4%, 95% CI: 84.6–98.8, and Helicoblot 2.1: 92.6%, 95% CI: 91.5–96.2) when a predefined gold standard was used.CONCLUSIONS:Most tests had sensitivities, specificities, and predictive values >90%. The noninvasive tests are accurate for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Helicoblot 2.1 performed as well as the best ELISA kit. The HpSA is a promising direct noninvasive test that can be applied easily to evaluate H. pylori status.
A Voice Despite Exit

What explains varying levels of emigrant transnational engagement in home-country politics? The well-known difficulties in obtaining migrant profile data and restriction to a few destination countries have resulted in a lack of systematic empirical investigation of this question. We expand nascent efforts to fill this gap by offering a new theoretical framework and novel research design that stress the potential importance of destination characteristics. We argue that the experience and environment in emigration are critical factors for emigrants’ engagement with two major types of homeland-related political activities: electoral and community. Using Ukraine as a case of an average migrant-producer developing country and using count models on original survey data on Ukrainian extraterritorial voters in a diverse set of 15 countries, we show that assimilation, emigrant networks, and destination characteristics are consistently strong predictors of transnational political engagement among the emigrants who show at least a minimal concern for homeland politics.
Distributed Precoding with Local Power Negotiation for Coordinated Multi-Point Transmission

Coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission has recently received much attention due to its promise in effectively mitigating the inter-cell interference in a cellular network. In this paper, we compare two different architectures for CoMP transmission. The first architecture partitions all basestations in the network into disjoint clusters with signal transmissions within each cluster being coordinated independently of one another at a centralized location of each cluster. In the second architecture, the processing for coordinated transmission is distributed among overlapping clusters, each centered around one cell. For this architecture, we propose a simple method for computing linear multi-user precoders for all clusters in a distributed manner, where the precoders are chosen not only to maximize throughput to the served users but also to reduce interference with other users in overlapping clusters. A low-complexity iterative algorithm is proposed for negotiating transmit power levels among adjacent clusters to ensure the power constraints at all transmission points are satisfied. Through system simulations using practical channel models, we show that the distributed architecture substantially outperforms the cluster-wise centralized architecture in maximizing the user data throughputs in the network.
Everyday clinical practice in IgG4-related dacryoadenitis and/or sialadenitis: Results from the SMART database

Abstract Objective. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a new disease entity that has only been identified this century. Clinical information is thus lacking. We established the Sapporo Medical University and Related Institutes Database for Investigation and Best Treatments of IgG4-related Disease (SMART) to clarify the clinical features of IgG4-RD and provide useful information for clinicians. Methods. Participants comprised 122 patients with IgG4-related dacryoadenitis and/or sialadenitis (IgG4-DS), representing lacrimal and/or salivary lesions of IgG4-RD, followed-up in December 2013. We analyzed the sex ratio, mean age at onset, organ dysfunction, history or complications of malignancy, treatments, rate of clinical remission, and relapse. Results. The sex ratio was roughly equal. Mean age at diagnosis was 59.0 years. Positron emission tomography revealed that the ratio of other organ involvements was 61.4%. Complications of malignancy were observed in 7.4% of cases. Glucocorticoid was used to treat 92.1% of cases, and the mean maintenance dose of prednisolone was 4.8 mg/day. Rituximab was added in three cases, and showed good steroid-sparing effect. The clinical remission rate was 73.8%, and the annual relapse rate was 11.5%. Half of the cases experienced relapses within 7 years of initial treatment. Conclusion. We analyzed the clinical features and treatments of IgG4-DS using SMART, providing useful information for everyday clinical practice.
A quantitative and qualitative analysis of tensor decompositions on spatiotemporal data

With the recent explosion of systems capable of generating and storing large quantities of GPS data, there is an opportunity to develop novel techniques for analyzing and gaining meaningful insights into this spatiotemporal data. In this paper we examine the application of tensor decompositions, a high-dimensional data analysis technique, to georeferenced data sets. Guidance is provided on fitting spatiotemporal data into the tensor model and analyzing the results. We find that tensor decompositions provide insight and that future research into spatiotemporal tensor decompositions for pattern detection, clustering, and anomaly detection is warranted.