Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High mortality due to cutaneous melanoma in Norway: a study of prognostic factors in a nationwide cancer registry

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine why Norway has the highest rate of mortality due to cutaneous melanoma (CM) in Europe. The Norwegian Malignant Melanoma Registry (NMMR) enables the study of clinical and histopathological characteristics of patients who die due to CM. Results The NMMR and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry provided data on the clinical and histopathological factors as well as the date and cause of death, through June 2015 for all first invasive CMs diagnosed in 2008–2012 (n=8087). Cox regression was used to estimate associations between clinical and pathological factors and CM-specific death. Multiple imputation was used to handle missing data. Results The CMs were equally distributed between men (49.9%) and women (50.1%), and the median follow-up was 4.0 years (range: 0.08–7.5 years). Trunk was the most common anatomic site (48%), superficial spreading melanoma was the dominant melanoma subtype (68.2%), median Breslow thickness was 1.0 mm, ulceration was present in 23% of CMs, and 91.8% of cases were in a local clinical stage at diagnosis. Compared to women, men were diagnosed at a higher age, with thicker and more-often-ulcerated tumor, and more often were in advanced clinical stages. During follow-up, 1015 patients died due to CM, representing 52.8% of all deaths. The nodular subtype made up the dominant proportion of fatal CM cases (55.3% in women, 64.6% in men). Sex, age, anatomic site (trunk), T-stage, ulceration, clinical stage, and having a second primary CM were associated with increased risk of CM-specific death. Conclusion Our data suggest that the high rate of mortality due to CM observed in Norway is attributable to the more advanced stage of the disease at diagnosis. Most high-risk cases occurred in male patients ≥70 years of age. Efforts to improve awareness and secondary prevention of CM, including warning signs of all melanoma subtypes, are required urgently and should be targeted toward men in particular.
Education and labour market transitions : a survival analysis using Portuguese data

In the recent past, there has been a generalized investment in education across several countries including Portugal; however the rising of educational driven by youths has been followed by an increase in unemployment rate, with especial incidence among youths. Using a duration analysis framework in continuous time and the Portuguese LFS from 1998 to 2009, we aim to evaluate the role of education in labour market. Namely, we want to access whether education prevents unemployment for those who have a job and whether if it helps unemployed finding a job. Our results show that more educated individuals, with a high school diploma or higher, have lower hazard of job loss. Among those who lost their job or are looking for their first job, we found evidence that college graduates have higher prospects of finding a job. Those results seem to suggest that employers prefer more skilled workers, in accordance with the idea that education increases the individual’s productivity.
Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology A new and e ﬃ cient culture method for porcine bone marrow-derived M1- and M2-polarized macrophages

Background: Macrophages play an important role in the innate immune system as part of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). They have a pro-in ﬂ ammatory signature (M1-polarized macrophages) or anti-in-ﬂ ammatory signature (M2-polarized macrophages) based on expression of surface receptors and secretion of cytokines. However, very little is known about the culture of macrophages from pigs and more speci ﬁ c about the M1 and M2 polarization in vitro . Methods: Porcine monocytes or mononuclear bone marrow cells were used to culture M1- and M2-polarized macrophages in the presence of GM-CSF and M-CSF, respectively. Surface receptor expression was measured with ﬂ ow cytometry and ELISA was used to quantify cytokine secretion in response to LPS and PAM 3 CSK 4 stimulation. Human monocyte-derived macrophages were used as control. Results: Porcine M1- and M2-polarized macrophages were cultured best using porcine GM-CSF and murine M-CSF, respectively. Cultures from bone marrow cells resulted in a higher yield M1- and M2-polarized macro- phages which were better comparable to human monocyte-derived macrophages than cultures from porcine monocytes. Porcine M1-polarized macrophages displayed the characteristic fried egg shape morphology, lower CD163 expression and low IL-10 production. Porcine M2-polarized macrophages contained the spindle-like morphology, higher CD163 expression and high IL-10 production. Conclusion: Porcine M1- and M2-polarized macrophages can be most e ﬃ ciently cultured from mononuclear bone marrow cells using porcine GM-CSF and murine M-CSF. The new culture method facilitates more re ﬁ ned studies of porcine macrophages in vitro, important for both porcine and human health since pigs are increasingly used as model for translational research.
Accelerating MPI _ Reduce with FPGAs in the Network Extended Abstract

MPI collective operations can often be performance killers in HPC applications, especially ones that require both heavy communication and computation such as MPI_Reduce. Using FPGAs, which provide the ability to couple communication and computation, we have designed a hardware accelerator to implement MPI_Reduce in the network. With our design, preliminary results show that we can achieve a 2.5× speedup for long messages and a 10× speedup for short messages over conventional clusters.
Beyond ‘Town and Gown’: The Role of the University in Small and Medium-Sized Cities

In recent years, universities have become more active in performing new activities that have been added to those regarded as ‘traditional’. This trend has led to a number of changes, among which is a transformation of the status of universities in urban and regional contexts and, in particular, an increase in their impact on the development of medium-sized university cities. From a methodological point of view the contribution of universities to urban development can be analysed from three different perspectives: knowledge and economic; relational; and cultural. Starting from these points of view, this paper analyses three cases of European medium-sized university cities (Oxford, Leuven and Pisa), in which the presence of one or more universities represents an important asset not only for the construction and evolution of knowledge spaces but also for urban development as a whole, by leaving tangible and intangible ‘traces’, reinforcing the relationship between academia and local community and contributing to the identity of knowledge cities.
Monetary and Fiscal Policies in EMU

Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is unlike any other case of monetary unification in history. Here, sovereign countries retain a large degree of fiscal autonomy while monetary policy is centralised and entrusted to an independent central bank - the European Central Bank - with a clear mandate to preserve price stability. By bringing together leading scholars and policy makers this comprehensive book examines and reviews the challenges that are facing economic policies in the EMU today. Blending theoretical and policy analyses, the chapters explore and examine the co-ordination of macroeconomic policies to EMU's fiscal policy rules in view of EU enlargement; the interplay between supply side reforms and stabilisation policy; the empirics of monetary and fiscal behaviour; policy making under uncertainty and the international dimension of policy spillovers. This fascinating book contributes to a deeper understanding of policy interactions in EMU, opening up new avenues for economic research and policy analysis.
Scientific Machine Learning A Neural Network-Based Estimator for Forward Uncertainty Quantification

Scientific machine learning is the study of applications of machine learning methods to problems in computational science and engineering. These problems typically involve modeling a physical system with a partial differential equation, the numerical solution of which can in general be very computationally expensive. Data-driven models such as those in machine learning offer the potential to reduce the cost of analyzing these systems and aid existing physical models to produce more accurate representations. In Forward Uncertainty Quantification, errors propagated through a model are estimated using a large number of queries, which magnifies computational cost. In this thesis, we outline a methodology for using artificial neural networks to construct more accurate estimators of these uncertainties with fewer required queries, and we demonstrate the success of this methodology as applied to uncertainty quantification in Poisson’s equation.
Live Demonstration: Real-Time Spoken Digit Recognition using the DeltaRNN Accelerator

This demonstration shows a real-time continuous speech recognition hardware system using our previously published DeltaRNN accelerator that enables low latency recurrent neural network (RNN) computation. The network is trained on augmented audio samples from the TIDIGITS dataset to achieve a label error rate (LER) of 2.31%. It is implemented on a Xilinx Zynq-7100 FPGA running at 1 MHz. The incremental RNN power consumption is 30 mW. Visitors interact with the system by speaking digits into a microphone connected to the FPGA system and the classification outputs of the network are continuously displayed on a laptop screen in real time.
Movement-Aware Relay Selection for Delay-Tolerant Information Dissemination in Wildlife Tracking and Monitoring Applications

As a promising use-case of the Internet of Things (IoT), wildlife tracking and monitoring applications greatly benefit the ecology-related research both commercially and scientifically. In literature, a forward-wait-deliver strategy has been researched to facilitate energy-efficient dissemination of delay-tolerant information, which penitentially contributes to long-term tracking and monitoring. However, this strategy is not directly applicable for wildlife tracking and monitoring applications, as the movement trajectory of animals cannot be precisely predicted for relay selection. To this end, further studies are required to utilize partially predictable mobility based on more generalized navigational information such as the movement direction. In this paper, the feasible exploitation of directional movement in path-unconstrained mobility is investigated for strategic forwarding. Our proposal is an advance to the state-of-the-art because the directional correlation of destination movement is considered to dynamically exploit the node mobility for the optimal selection of a stationary relay. Simulation results show that higher delivery utility can be achieved by the proposed fuzzy path model compared with a forwarding scheme without contact prediction or one based on linear trajectory model.
Monitoring Abnormality in Returns Around Credit Rating Announcements

A reliable credit rating provides creditworthiness and financial strength to a firm. Any revision to credit rating may provide signal to volatility in returns of that firm. We study the relationship between credit rating and its security return. Banks being the back bone to any economy, bonds rating provide information how much the banks are reliable and credit worthy to the investors. Using event study framework with E-Garch application, results suggest that credit rating does affect the volatility of stocks. And the effect during downgrade in credit rating is more than the effect during upgrade. Also, the banks with higher market share shows more positive returns than the banks with lower market share in case of credit rating upgrade, and vice versa trend follows in case of downgrade. This suggests that credit rating can give some abnormal returns in a specific window.
Relationship between Grain Crop Yield Potential and Nitrogen Response

The relationship between yield potential and N response in long-term cereal production is not well known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between yield potential (yield level) and N responsiveness in long-term winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) field experiments in Stillwater, OK (53 yr), Altus, OK (two trials, 45 yr each), Arlington, WI (49 yr), Shelton, NE (11 yr), Nashua, IA (32 yr), and Kanawha, IA (26 yr). Nitrogen responsiveness or the response index (RI) was determined by dividing the actual grain yield from high N rate plots by the yield from either the 0-N fertilizer check (RI 0-N) or medium N rate plots (RI mid-N). Linear relationships between maximum yield, RI 0-N, RI mid-N, and year were thus examined. For the seven long-term trials comprising 261 yr of site data, yield and N responsiveness were not related whether or not a medium N rate or the check plot (0-N) was used to determine RI. Because yield level and N responsiveness are independent, and both impact N demand, using both should assist in formulating more accurate fertilizer N recommendations.
Vertical and lateral soil moisture patterns on a Mediterranean karst hillslope

Abstract The need for a better understanding of factors controlling the variability of soil water content (θ) in space and time to adequately predict the movement of water in the soil and in the interphase soil-atmosphere is widely recognised. In this paper, we analyse how soil properties, surface cover and topography influence soil moisture (θ) over karstic lithology in a sub-humid Mediterranean mountain environment. For this analysis we have used 17 months of θ measurements with a high temporal resolution from different positions on a hillslope at the main recharge area of the Campo de Dalías aquifer, in Sierra de Gádor (Almería, SE Spain). Soil properties and surface cover vary depending on the position at the hillslope, and this variability has an important effect on θ. The higher clay content towards the lower position of the hillslope explains the increase of θ downslope at the subsurface horizon throughout the entire period studied. In the surface horizon (0-0.1 m), θ patterns coincide with those found at the subsurface horizon (0.1-0.35 m) during dry periods when the main control is also exerted by the higher percentage of clay that increases downslope and limits water depletion through evaporation. However, in wet periods, the wettest regime is found in the surface horizon at the upper position of the hillslope where plant cover, soil organic matter content, available water, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (Kunsat) and infiltration rates are higher than in the lower positions. The presence of rock outcrops upslope the θ sampling area, acts as runoff sources, and subsurface flow generation between surface and subsurface horizons also may increase the differences between the upper and the lower positions of the hillslope during wet periods. Both rock and soil cracks and fissures act disconnecting surface water fluxes and reducing run-on to the lower position of the hillslope and thus they affect θ pattern as well as groundwater recharge. Understanding how terrain attributes, ground cover and soil factors interact for controlling θ pattern on karst hillslope is crucial to understand water fluxes in the vadose zone and dominant percolation mechanisms which also contribute to estimate groundwater recharge rates. Therefore, understanding of soil moisture dynamics provides very valuable information for designing rational strategies for the use and management of water resources, which is especially urgent in regions where groundwater supports human consume or key economic activities.
A Major Children's Educational Art Exhibit: An Evaluative Case Study.

Results of a case study of an exhibit of art an_ artifacts designed for children are presented. The focus of the study was to apply the principles of instructional-message design to the evaluation of the exhibit. The exhibit, "Art Inside Out: Exploring Art and Culture through Time," was displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago. Textual elements, identification games, videos, art-related computer games, and contextual environments were studied through: observation of visitors; interviews with the curator, staff, and visitors; and analysis of the text and components that make up the exhibit. It is suggested that museum professionals have ignored fundamental human information-processing principles having to do with perception, framing, prerequisite knowledge, short-term memory, drawing inferences, and making meaning. Recommendations are made for improving the overall educational quality of exhibits. They are as follows: new exhibits should have broad general goals, with specific behavioral objectives; evaluation should be an integral part of the development process; and artifacts and works of art in the exhibit should be chosen for their ability to convey the objectives of the exhibit. (Contains 2 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. * *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION °Mc. ot EducabOnal RarCh and ImprOvenwant EDUCATIONALCE RESOURCESIN NTER (ERIC) 0 Tilts document nes bun roproducod aa reowyed lrom 114 pitmen or organization Of Qinating rt O Minor changes have been made to improve
Everybody Is Invited but not Everybody Will Come — The Influence of Personality Dispositions on Users’ Entry Decisions for Crowdsourcing Competitions

Crowdsourcing competitions have been introduced as powerful instruments to integrate users in new product development. While abundant research has investigated motives for participation, little research so far has addressed the reasons why users choose not to participate. We suggest that some potential solvers may refrain from participation from the outset on account of their personality dispositions. In our study, we complement existing knowledge about user motivation to engage in co-creation with findings from personality research. In particular, we investigate individual differences resulting from enduring personality dispositions that might affect potential solvers’ decisions whether or not to enter crowdsourcing competitions. The results of our study show that the likelihood that users will participate in a crowdsourcing competition increases when they score high on openness, extraversion and trait competitiveness. Dispositional trust was not, however, a discriminating factor between participants and non-participants.
Scalable online product recommendation engine based on implicit feature extraction domain

This article presents a scalable and optimized recommender system for e-commerce web sites to maintain a better customer relationship management and survive among its competitors. The proposed system analyses the clickstream data obtained from an ecommerce site and predicts the preference level of the customer for the products clicked but not purchased using efficient classifiers such as decision trees, artificial neural networks and extended trees. Collaborative filtering technique is used to recommend products in which similarity measures are used along with efficient rough set leader clustering algorithm which helps in making accurate and fast recommendations. To determine the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experimental evaluation has been done which clearly depicts the better performance of the system as compared to conventional approaches.
SENSE OF CLASSROOM COMMUNITY AND TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN ONLINE LEARNING

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between Turkish online learners’ sense of classroom community, perceptions of success in team development process and their preferences of studying in teams. A survey instrument included the Sense of Classroom Community Scale, Tuckman’s Teamwork Questionnaire and some other items were used to collect data. The study has shown that there is a medium level relationship between online learners’ sense of community and their perceptions of success in team development process. In other words, the study suggests that sense of classroom community can be used as a predictor of success in teamwork and vice versa. It was also observed that each stage of the team development process has an influence on the following one; thus, when a problem occurred in a stage, it usually continued in the following stages. Analyses, additionally, revealed that the majority of the problems occurred in the forming stage, the first stage of the team development process.
Independent validation test of the vote-counting strategy used to rank biomarkers from published studies.

AIM Vote counting is frequently used in meta-analyses to rank biomarker candidates, but to our knowledge, there have been no independent assessments of its validity. Here, we used predictions from a recent meta-analysis to determine how well number of supporting studies, combined sample size and mean fold change performed as vote-counting strategy criteria. MATERIALS & METHODS Fifty miRNAs previously ranked for their ability to distinguish lung cancer tissue from normal were assayed by RT-qPCR using 45 paired tumor-normal samples. RESULTS Number of supporting studies predicted biomarker performance (p = 0.0006; r = 0.44), but sample size and fold change did not (p > 0.2). CONCLUSION Despite limitations, counting the number supporting studies appears to be an effective criterion for ranking biomarkers. Predictions based on sample size and fold change provided little added value. External validation studies should be conducted to establish the performance characteristics of strategies used to rank biomarkers.
Commodity Price Fluctuations: A Century of Analysis

Commodity prices again! The twentieth century has only been the latest spectator to the impacts and importance of commodity price fluctuations. It is reasonably well known that commodity price records have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Earlier in the century, formal research began on the relationships between agricultural demand, supply and prices in a market context. This research not only evolved in sophistication but extended to mineral and energy commodities. Also at the beginning of the century, some of the earliest work took place on applying statistical methods to price series. The purpose of this paper is to review how this progress has contributed to analyzing commodity markets and prices and to solving price forecasting problems, concentrating on more recent advances in econometric modeling and time series analysis. Attention is also paid to spatial developments that have implications for regional price modeling.
Optimized yeast-based in vitro bioassay for determination of estrogenic and androgenic activity of hydroxylated / methoxylated metabolites of BDEs / CBs and related lipophilic organic pollutants

ABSTRACT Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are known to show endocrine disrupting (ED) activity, including interactions with hormone receptors. The aim of this work was to develop a bioassay applicable for evaluation of ED potency of highly lipophilic metabolites of POPs. To that end, a yeast-based bio-assay protocol was used. Estrogenic / androgenic activity of some native brominated biphenyl ethers (BDEs) / chlorinated biphenyls (CBs), and their hydroxylated / methoxylated metabolites was assessed. Since data (including potency compared to reference native hormones) obtained using different protocols vary, the possibility that yeast transforms POPs into some more potent compounds was first checked; it seems that no such transformation is important from the test applicability standpoint. The developed method was sensitive with EC50 values 6.5*10−11 M and 4.5*10−9 M calculated for E2 and DHT, respectively. Both CBs and BDEs show weak estrogenic activity negatively correlated with the degree of their halogenation, but their metabolites are significantly more potent xenohormones. 4-OH-2,2′,4′,6′-TeCB was the most potent estrogen receptor (ER) agonist among all tested compounds; its activity was only 1,000 times lower than that of native E2.