Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of risk scores for risk stratification of acute coronary syndromes in the Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) database

To compare the discriminative performance of the PURSUIT, GUSTO-1, GRACE, SRI and EMMACE risk models, assess their performance among risk supergroups and evaluate the EMMACE risk model over the wider spectrum of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Design: Observational study of a national registry. Setting: All acute hospitals in England and Wales. Patients: 100 686 cases of ACS between 2003 and 2005. Main outcome measures: Model performance (C-index) in predicting the likelihood of death over the time period for which they were designed. The C-index, or area under the receiver-operating curve, range 0–1, is a measure of the discriminative performance of a model. Results: The C-indexes were: PURSUIT C-index 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.78 to 0.80); GUSTO-1 0.80 (0.79 to 0.81); GRACE in-hospital 0.80 (0.80 to 0.81); GRACE 6-month 0.80 (0.79 to 0.80); SRI 0.79 (0.78 to 0.80); and EMMACE 0.78 (0.77 to 0.78). EMMACE maintained its ability to discriminate 30-day mortality throughout different ACS diagnoses. Recalibration of the model offered no notable improvement in performance over the original risk equation. For all models the discriminative performance was reduced in patients with diabetes, chronic renal failure or angina. Conclusion: The five ACS risk models maintained their discriminative performance in a large unselected English and Welsh ACS population, but performed less well in higher-risk supergroups. Simpler risk models had comparable performance to more complex risk models. The EMMACE risk score performed well across the wider spectrum of ACS diagnoses.
Highly Sensitive Mass Detection Using Optically Levitated Microdisks

We propose a mass sensor using optically trapped and cooled dielectric microdisks. The center-of-mass motion of a trapped particle in vacuum can experience extremely low dissipation resulting in robust decoupling from the heat bath. It leads to a long heating time thus the measurement can be accomplished before a jump in the phonon number without the optomechanical cooling. This method can lead to milli-dalton mass sensitivity which approximates to the mass of one electron.
The psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by periods of remission and recurrent flares, which have been associated with stress. Despite the significance of stress in this disease, the Perceived Stress Scale-10 has yet to be psychometrically evaluated in patients with SLE. Methods Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the structural validity of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 among patients with SLE (N = 138) receiving medical care at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used to examine internal consistency reliability, and Pearson product-moment correlations were used to examine convergent validity with measures of anxiety, depression, helplessness, and disease activity. Results Exploratory factor analysis provided support for a two-factor structure (comparative fit index = .95; standardized root mean residual = .04; root mean square error of approximation = .08). Internal consistency reliability was good for both factors (α = .84 and .86). Convergent validity was evidenced via significant correlations with measures of anxiety, depression, and helplessness. There were no significant correlations with the measure of disease activity. Conclusion The Perceived Stress Scale-10 can be used to examine perceived stress among patients with SLE.
The impact of antecedents supporting organizational innovation on employees psychological empowerment: An empirical study of Saudi and Jordanian industrial corporations

Various antecedents support the adoption of organizational innovation. Despite the extensive research on innovations, research focusing on how these antecedents affect psychological empowerment has remained thin. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of six antecedents supporting organizational innovation (employee participation, training and development, organizational culture, incentives, leadership pattern, and teamwork) on the four constructs of psychological empowerment (meaningfulness, competence, self-determination, and impact). Based on prior research, the study develops a number of testable hypotheses. It examines how employee participation, training and development, organizational culture, incentives, leadership pattern, and teamwork influence employees' psychological empowerment. The paper uses multiple regressions analyses and empirically tests these hypotheses using a sample of 249 employees working at Jordanian and Saudi industrial corporations. The result shows that all six antecedents of organizational innovation are positively related to psychological empowerment. In addition, 67.2% of the variation in employees’ psychological empowerment is explained by the six antecedents of organizational innovation. This empirical study reflects the need to strengthen different organizational innovation's antecedents’ capabilities to achieve an adequate level of employees' psychological empowerment and thus improve performance and foster innovation. Key words: Organizational innovation, physiological empowerment, industrial corporations, Jordan, Saudi Arabia.
Statistical Inference about the Variance of Fuzzy Random Variables

The variance of a fuzzy random variable plays an important role as a measure of central tendency. Some of the main contributions in this topic are consolidated and discussed in this paper. In case of the hypothesis testing problem, bootstrap techniques (Efron and Tibshirani, 1993) have empirically been shown to be efficient and powerful. Algorithms to apply these techniques in practice and some illustrative examples are provided. We also describe a bootstrap method for estimating the variance that is designed for the testing of hypotheses problem for fuzzy data based on the L2 metric. AMS (2000) subject classification. Primary 60A86.
Cytochrome P-450 isozyme selectivity in the oxidation of acetaminophen.

Highly purified isozymes of cytochrome P-450 catalyzed the formation of 3-glutathion-S-ylacetaminophen (GS-APAP) and 3-hydroxyacetaminophen (3-OH-APAP) from acetaminophen (APAP). A major isozyme from untreated male rats (P-450UT-A) catalyzed the formation of ca. 2.0 nmol/nmol of P-450/10 min of 3-OH-APAP and approximately 7.2 nmol of GS-APAP/nmol of P-450/10 min. Antibodies specific for cytochrome P-450UT-A caused a decrease in the amounts of both metabolites produced in microsomal incubations. In contrast to these results, two other constitutive P-450 isozymes from rat liver, cytochrome P-450UT-F and the female specific isozyme P-450UT-I, produced less of both oxidative metabolites. Moreover, they produced significantly more of the catechol metabolite than the glutathione conjugate. These results are in accord with the observation that male rats are more susceptible to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity than female rats. Isozymes induced by phenobarbital also produced more of the catechol than the glutathione conjugate. Conversely, the major isozyme induced by beta-naphthoflavone, cytochrome P-450 beta NF-B, produced a significantly greater amount of GS-APAP than 3-OH-APAP. When comparison was made to a major phenobarbital inducible form (cytochrome P-450PB-B) a definite isozyme specificity for the formation of the two metabolites was seen. The catechol was formed at rates of 2.21 and 0.53 nmol/nmol of P-450/10 min by cytochromes P-450PB-B and P-450 beta NF-B, respectively. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lifting Euro Area Growth: Priorities for Structural Reforms and Governance

To live up to its growth potential and secure its inclusive social model, the euro area must make better use of its available labor. In the aftermath of the crisis, boosting growth is essential to prevent unemployment from becoming a long-term problem and to facilitate the return to fiscal sustainability. Labor utilization in the euro area has been lagging considerably behind its best performing peers. While fewer hours worked may, to some extent, reflect a social choice, higher unemployment rates and lower participation rates, on the other hand, cannot easily be attributed to individual preferences. Here, policies and institutions matter more. And there is little excuse for relatively low labor productivity, a particular bane in southern Europe and an increasing challenge everywhere. Kick-starting growth requires a comprehensive approach to labor and service market reforms. Different circumstances call for different approaches across countries. Countries in southern Europe need to focus on regaining competitiveness, while some in the core should promote higher labor force participation or more open service sector markets. Improving access to the labor market should be high on the priority list everywhere—including through some harmonization of key features of the labor market, which will help deal with intra-euro area imbalances. Differences in labor taxation, unemployment benefit systems, and employment protection will need to be reduced. Improving regulation and reforming taxes and social benefits will be essential to make inroads. For the longer term, focus should be on innovation, education, and on continuing financial sector reforms.
A customized and cost-efficient backup scheme in software-defined networks

Among the schemes proposed for failure recovery in software-defined networks, installing backup paths in advance is considered to be an effective approach to reduce the recovery latency. However, the pre-installation poses undue storage overheads on flow tables. In this paper, we propose a customized and cost-efficient backup scheme, which achieves fast recovery from any single-link failure. We introduce an improved breadth first search algorithm to construct the customized backup paths of flows to accommodate their diverse routing demands. By analyzing the path characteristics carefully, we observe that non-conflicted backup paths can be aggregated with each other to reduce the number of backup rules. We formulate this backup path aggregation as an optimization problem. The challenge is how to aggregate the backup paths without causing routing ambiguity. To this end, we design a two-stage aggregation (2SA) algorithm. At its core, 2SA leverages conflict matrixes to guarantee the correctness of aggregation. We evaluate our scheme comprehensively with both the real-world topologies and generated topologies. Simulation results show that our scheme can pre-install the customized backup paths with much fewer, typically one order of magnitude, backup rules compared to the traditional flow-based protection without aggregation.
Danio rerio αE-catenin Is a Monomeric F-actin Binding Protein with Distinct Properties from Mus musculus αE-catenin*

Background: Mammalian αE-catenin is an allosterically regulated F-actin binding protein that inhibits the Arp2/3 complex. Results: D. rerio αE-catenin is a monomer that binds β-catenin and F-actin simultaneously but does not inhibit the Arp2/3 complex. Conclusion: D. rerio αE-catenin directly links the cadherin-catenin complex to F-actin. Significance: Core functions but not regulatory properties are conserved between α-catenin orthologs. It is unknown whether homologs of the cadherin·catenin complex have conserved structures and functions across the Metazoa. Mammalian αE-catenin is an allosterically regulated actin-binding protein that binds the cadherin·β-catenin complex as a monomer and whose dimerization potentiates F-actin association. We tested whether these functional properties are conserved in another vertebrate, the zebrafish Danio rerio. Here we show, despite 90% sequence identity, that Danio rerio and Mus musculus αE-catenin have striking functional differences. We demonstrate that D. rerio αE-catenin is monomeric by size exclusion chromatography, native PAGE, and small angle x-ray scattering. D. rerio αE-catenin binds F-actin in cosedimentation assays as a monomer and as an α/β-catenin heterodimer complex. D. rerio αE-catenin also bundles F-actin, as shown by negative stained transmission electron microscopy, and does not inhibit Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin nucleation in bulk polymerization assays. Thus, core properties of α-catenin function, F-actin and β-catenin binding, are conserved between mouse and zebrafish. We speculate that unique regulatory properties have evolved to match specific developmental requirements.
The family of ubiquitin‐conjugating enzymes (E2s): deciding between life and death of proteins

The family of ubiquitin‐conjugating (E2) enzymes is characterized by the presence of a highly conserved ubiquitin‐conjugating (UBC) domain. These domains accommodate the ATP‐activated ubiquitin (Ub) or ubiquitin‐like (UBL) protein via a covalently linked thioester onto its active‐site residue. E2 enzymes act via selective protein‐protein interactions with the E1 αnd E3 enzymes and connect activation to covalent modification. By doing so, E2s differentiate effects on downstream substrates, either with a single Ub/UBL molecule or as a chain. While E3s are involved in substrate selection, E2s are the main determinants for selection of the lysine to construct ubiquitin chains, which thereby directly control the cellular fate of the substrate. In humans, 35 active E2 enzymes have been identified so far, while other eukaryotic genomes harbor 16 to 35 E2 family members. Some E2s possess Nand/or C‐terminal extensions that mediate E2‐specific processes. During the past two decades, strong support has led to the control of E2 enzymes in decisions concerning the life or death of a protein. Here, we summarize current knowledge and recent developments on E2 enzymes with respect to structural characteristics and functions. From this we propose a shelllike model to rationalize the selectivity of these key enzymes in directing Ub/UBL‐conjugation pathways. — Van Wijk, S. J. L. , Timmers, H. T. M. The family of ubiquitin‐conjugating enzymes (E2s): deciding between life and death of proteins. FASEB J. 24, 981–993 (2010). www.fasebj. org
Applying the simulation process

The purpose of this tutorial is to explain the steps required in conducting an entire simulation project. We first explain the twelve steps we consider necessary to accomplish a thorough simulation study. Then we describe three projects that the authors have completed. We discuss the systems, model assumptions, and input data for these projects. During the tutorial, we illustrate how the twelve steps pertain to the three simulation studies.
Chapter 13. Emotions and Personality in Adaptive e-Learning Systems: an Affective Computing Perspective

This chapter reports how affective computing (in terms of detection methods and intervention approaches) is considered in e-learning systems. The goal behind is to enrich the personalized support provided in online educational settings by taking into account the influence that emotions and personality have in the learning process. The main contents of the chapter consist in the review of 26 works that present current research trends regarding the detection of the learners’ affective states and the delivery of the appropriate affective support in diverse educational settings. In addition, the chapter discusses open issues regarding affective computing in the educational domain.
The Choice of Raising Capital Under Strengthened Capital Regulation

This study investigates the determinants and outcomes of raising capital ratios upon the introduction of Basel II and III regulations. The evidence indicates that a bank is more likely to raise its capital base as its capital ratio is lowered. Although equity issuing is rarely used to raise the capital base/ratio, a lower ratio increases the likelihood of raising capital. Additionally, the results suggest that raising the capital base, except for equity issuing, alleviated asset contraction. Furthermore, the results provide supportive evidence for the penalty-aversion hypothesis that bank managers are averse to capital shortfall. Upon the introduction of Basel II and III, Japanese bank managers have incentive to avoid the costs of restrictions on policies and actions when banks fail the regulatory requirements now and in the future.
Perspectives on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Overview of Present and Future Therapies

Abstract Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a major public health epidemic. Pharmacologic therapies for this condition are scarce, but multiple agents with novel mechanisms of action are in development. Here we review the pathophysiology and natural history of NALFD, diagnostic testing and data for currently available treatment strategies. We then turn our attention to promising developmental drugs and their respective trials. As the prevalence of fatty liver disease increases, clinicians will have more tools at hand for management of this condition. We conclude the horizon is bright for patients and doctors who deal with NAFLD.
An Improved Algorithm for Identifying Objects in Code

The identification of abstractions within existing software systems is an important problem to be solved to facilitate program comprehension and the construction of a set of reusable artifacts. In particular, of interest is the identification of object‐like features in procedural programs. Existing techniques and algorithms achieve some level of success but do not, in general, always precisely identify a coherent set of objects. The identified objects tend to contain spurious methods that are only tenuously related to the object and require a great deal of human effort and understanding to unravel. This paper presents an improved algorithm that overcomes these drawbacks and enables the precise identification of objects with less human intervention and understanding by exploiting simple statistical techniques. The algorithm is applied to several sample programs and the results are compared with existing algorithms. Finally, the application of the algorithm to a real medium‐size system is described and discussed. The algorithm was developed as part of the RE2 project in which the identification of object‐like features in existing systems is the basis for a re‐engineering process aimed at populating a repository of reusable assets.
Fundamentals of Mobility-Aware Performance Characterization of Cellular Networks: A Tutorial

This paper provides a tutorial on mobility-aware performance analysis of cellular networks considering both the spatially random [where base stations (BSs) are deployed according to a homogeneous point process] and deterministic grid-based network deployment topologies. We first provide a summary of users’ mobility models with no spatiotemporal correlations (e.g., random walk, random way point, and random direction), with spatial correlations (e.g., pursue mobility and column mobility), and with temporal correlations (e.g., Gauss–Markov and Levy flight). The differences among various mobility models, their statistical properties, and their pros and cons are presented. We then describe two primary approaches (referred to as trajectory-based and association-based approaches) for mobility-aware performance analysis of both random and deterministic cellular networks. For the first approach (which is more general but less tractable than the other approach), we describe a general methodology and present several case studies for different cellular network tessellations, such as square lattice, hexagon lattice, single-tier, and multi-tier models in which BSs follow a homogeneous Poisson point process (PPP). For the second approach, we also outline the general methodology and highlight some limitations/imperfections of the existing techniques and provide corrections to these imperfections. For both of these approaches, we present selected numerical and simulation results to calibrate the achievable handoff rate and coverage probability in various network settings. Finally, we point out specific emerging fifth generation (5G) cellular wireless applications where the impact of mobility would be significant and outline the challenges associated with mobility-aware analysis of those network applications.
Single exposure of mice to Borrelia burgdorferi elicits immunoglobulin G antibodies characteristic of secondary immune response without production of interleukin-4 by immune T cells

Borrelia burgdorferi antigen can elicit immunoglobulins (Igs) characteristic of the primary and secondary immune responses without the contribution of an interleukin-4-producing helper T-cell population. Single exposure of mice to soluble B. burgdorferi antigen elicited both Th1-type and Th2-type antispirochete antibodies. Production of the Ig classes showed different patterns with increasing time postinjection (IgM levels decreased; IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 levels increased; IgE was not detected), and Ig patterns were similar to those produced in infected mice. Upon infectious challenge, immunized mice achieved maximal titers of all antispirochete IgG subclasses more quickly than unimmunized mice did. In contrast to the antibody responses which showed both Th1- and Th2-type patterns, T-cell immune response to either immunization or infection was characterized by interleukin-2 and gamma interferon production; interleukin-4 and interleukin-5 were undetectable. Injection with whole spirochetes induced a pattern of antibodies and cytokine production similar to those obtained by injection with soluble antigen. In addition, mouse strains of different major histocompatibility complex backgrounds produced similar patterns of Ig in response to immunization. None of the various parameters of immunization tested resulted in detectable interleukin-4 production by primary or secondary immune T cells. The production of both IgM and IgG1 at early times following a single exposure to spirochete antigen clearly differs from immune responses to haptens or model protein antigens. Production of similar Ig classes in infected and immune mice implies that antigen-specific antibody is responsible for passive immunizing activity found in immune sera.