Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
“Bulldozer” a new approach to mult ithreaded compute performance

This article consists of a collection of slides from the author's conference presentation on AMD's Bulldozer, the companuy's approach to multithreaded computer architecture. Some of the specific topics discussed include: the special features, system specifications, and system design for these products; system architectures; applications for use; platforms supported; processing capabilities; memory capabilities; and targeted markets.
Hormonal regulation of uterine secretion of prostaglandin F2 alpha during luteolysis in ruminants.

In recent years, considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the endocrine mechanisms that control the pattern and timing of uterine secretion of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) during luteolysis in ruminants. Oxytocin may be important in establishing a pulsatile pattern of secretion. Neurohypophyseal oxytocin appears to be released in a pulsatile fashion and may initiate each episode of PGF2 alpha secretion from the uterus. Uterine PGF2 alpha stimulates release of oxytocin from the corpus luteum. Luteal oxytocin further stimulates secretion of PGF2 alpha from the uterus and may induce a transient refractoriness of the uterus to subsequent stimulation with oxytocin. Uterine refractoriness subsides after approximately 6 h. A similar desensitization phenomenon occurs in response to PGF2 alpha at the level of the corpus luteum. Together, uterine and luteal refractoriness may account for the interval between pulses of PGF2 alpha observed during luteolysis. Uterine secretory responsiveness to oxytocin increases at luteolysis, when endogenous, pulsatile secretion of PGF2 alpha normally begins. Thus, the acquisition by the uterus of responsiveness to oxytocin may determine when endogenous secretion of PGF2 alpha occurs during the estrous cycle. Uterine secretory responsiveness to oxytocin develops slowly, in the presence of progesterone. Progesterone exerts two types of effects that contribute to the regulation of PGF2 alpha secretion. First, prolonged exposure to progesterone appears to promote uterine accumulation of arachidonic acid, prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase, and other substances needed for synthesis of PGF2 alpha. Second, progesterone exerts a suppressive effect on secretion, which wanes after prolonged exposure. Together, these effects of progesterone ensure that PGF2 alpha is secreted only at the appropriate time to induce luteolysis. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
User Validation of a mobile Tourism Service

ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a user trial of the CRUMPETsystem. CRUMPET has realized a personalized, location-awaretourism service, implemented as a multi-agent system, whichsupports seamless roaming, service mediation and interactionfacilitation. Prototypes of the system have been trialled byusers at four European trial sites. The user validation wasbased on a field test, a supplementary survey on informationneeds of tourists, a summative evaluation of the user-perceived qualities of the system. The trial results suggest theessential features and requirements of future mobile tourismservices. Keywords Mobile tourism service, user validation, CRUMPET 1. INTRODUCTION The vision of nomadic users having seamless, worldwideaccess to a range of tourist services seems within reach, withinonly a few years from now. Much of the underlying technologyis already available, such as public networks, GPS-positioning, agent technology, handheld devices (PDAs). Butthere are still challenges with respect to, both, technology andusability that need intelligent solutions, which then have tobe tested for viability and quality, including user-perceivedqualities. Whenever a prototype of a mobile tourism service isavailable for a field test, this is a valuable opportunity tovalidate user requirements and design concepts of such asystem. It is mainly by personal experience that users becomemore explicit and confident in what they expect from a noveltype of service.The goal of the European IST project CRUMPET has been the"Creation of User-friendly Mobile Services Personalised forTourism". CRUMPET has had two main objectives:
An Algorithm for Learning Abductive Rules

We propose an algorithm for learning abductive logic programs from examples. We consider the Abductive Concept Learning framework, an extension of the Inductive Logic Programming framework in which both the background and the target theories are abductive logic programs and the coverage of examples is replaced by abductive coverage. The two main bene ts of this integration are the increased expressive power of the background and target theories and the possibility of learning in presence of incomplete knowledge. We show that the algorithm is able to learn abductive rules and we present an application of the algorithm to a learning problem in which the background knowledge is incomplete.
Effectiveness of E-learning in Pharmacy Education

Over the past 2 decades, e-learning has evolved as a new pedagogy within pharmacy education. As learners and teachers increasingly seek e-learning opportunities for an array of educational and individual benefits, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. This systematic review of the literature examines the quality of e-learning effectiveness studies in pharmacy, describes effectiveness measures, and synthesizes the evidence for each measure. E-learning in pharmacy education effectively increases knowledge and is a highly acceptable instructional format for pharmacists and pharmacy students. However, there is limited evidence that e-learning effectively improves skills or professional practice. There is also no evidence that e-learning is effective at increasing knowledge long term; thus, long-term follow-up studies are required. Translational research is also needed to evaluate the benefits of e-learning at patient and organizational levels.
Upregulation and axonal transport of synaptotagmin‐IV in the direct‐pathway medium spiny neurons in hemi‐parkinsonian rats induced by dopamine D1 receptor stimulation

Synaptotagmin‐IV (Syt‐IV) may function as a regulator of Ca2+‐dependent synaptic transmission. In the hemi‐parkinsonian rats with unilateral lesions of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons Syt‐IV and substance‐P (SP) mRNAs could be upregulated within the dopaminergically hypersensitive striatum of the lesioned brain hemisphere via the stimulation of striatal dopamine D1 (D1‐R), but not D2 receptors. The hypersensitive D1‐R‐mediated transmission may be the culprit for the undesired expression of levodopa‐induced dyskinesia, implying the involvement of Syt‐IV and SP in the process. First, striatal cellular phenotypes expressing Syt‐IV were determined. It was found to be expressed in all striatal neurons and a small population of astrocytes. Then it was examined, if the D1‐R‐mediated upregulation of Syt‐IV mRNA may result in the upregulation of the translated protein. It was found that, after acute stimulation with a selective D1 agonist, (±)‐6‐chloro‐7,8‐dihydroxy‐3‐allyl‐1‐phenyl‐2,3,4,5‐tetrahydro‐1H‐3‐benzazepine hydrobromide (SKF‐82958), Syt‐IV was elevated within the SP‐expressing striatal neurons of the lesioned side. This was followed by the upregulation of Syt‐IV, but not of its mRNA, within the ipsilateral target nuclei of the direct‐pathway medium spiny neurons, indicating axonal transport of de novo synthesized protein to their SP‐positive synaptic terminals. However, despite the striatal upregulation of SP and Syt‐IV following a similar time‐course, their subcellular co‐localization within the axonal terminals was not found. It was therefore suggested that Syt‐IV may regulate the hypersensitive striatal synaptic transmission, although via a SP‐independent mechanism.
A Spatiotemporal Stochastic Process Model for Species Spread

Summary. We use a spatiotemporal Markov process to model the spread of an ecological population through its environment over time. Available habitat is divided into sites, and a parametric function of spatial variables is used to model the probability that one site is colonized from another. This allows us both to make predictions about the future spread of a population, and to determine which are the important factors governing colonizations. The model evolves in discrete time, allowing the population distribution to change seasonally in accordance with breeding patterns. Discrete time formulations are natural for ecological populations, but are problematic due to difficulties of fitting and predicting over irregular time intervals. The model described here can accommodate years of missing data and can therefore fit and predict at irregular intervals. Two methods of approximating the likelihood are described and applied to ornithological survey data for the woodlark, Lullula arborea, from Thetford Forest in the U.K.
Angr - The Next Generation of Binary Analysis

Software is becoming increasingly more complex, and vul-nerabilities more subtle Better approaches are required to effectively analyze modern binaries, efficiently identify deeply buried defects, and intelligently assist human analysts with specific software reversing tasks Tons of good techniques and approaches regarding binary analysis have recently emerged from both academia and industry, many of which are fairly applicable to real-world binary research tasks However, due to the lack of a flexible and approachable binary analysis platform, testing and applying these techniques becomes a difficult job. angr is the next-generation binary analysis platform devel-oped by the SecLab of University of California, Santa Barbara It is flexible, easy to work with, cross-platform and cross-architecture, and has many techniques from academia already implemented and embedded inside In this course, we will start about the fundamental underpinnings of angr, dynamic symbolic execution, and static binary analysis We will then demonstrate best practices in doing symbolic execution and data dependence tracking in angr In the end, we will show how angr can assist in bug hunting All demos will be performed on CTF challenges and real-world programs.
Expression of glnA in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 is initiated from a single nif-like promoter under various nitrogen conditions

The glnA mRNA, encoding glutamine synthetase, is differentially accumulated in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 in media containing different nitrogen sources. With the different nitrogen compounds, transcription of glnA initiated at a single site located -146 nucleotides upstream of the translation start site of the gene. A similarity of the nif-like promoter of the glnA gene of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 and a binding-site sequence for the Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 transcription regulator, NtcA, were found upstream of the transcription initiation site.
Measuring bank capital requirements through Dynamic Factor analysis

In this paper, using industry sector stock returns as proxies of firm asset values, we obtain bank capital requirements (through the cycle). This is achieved by Montecarlo simulation of a bank loan portfolio loss density. We depart from the Basel 2 analytical formula developed by Gordy (2003) for the computation of the economic capital by, first, allowing dynamic heterogeneity in the factor loadings, and, also, by accounting for stochastic dependent recoveries. Dynamic heterogeneity in the factor loadings is introduced by using dynamic forecast of a Dynamic Factor model fitted to a large dataset of macroeconomic credit drivers. The empirical findings show that there is a decrease in the degree of Portfolio Credit Risk, once we move from the Basel 2 analytic formula to the Dynamic Factor model specification.
Generation of a non‐leaky heat shock–inducible Cre line for conditional Cre/lox strategies in zebrafish

Cre‐mediated site‐specific recombination has emerged as an indispensable tool for the precise manipulation of the mammalian genome. Recently, we showed that Cre is also highly efficient in zebrafish and temporal control of recombination can be achieved by using the ligand‐inducible CreERT2. Previous attempts have been made to control recombination by using the temperature inducible hsp70l promoter to conditionally drive the expression of Cre or EGFP‐Cre, respectively. However, in this study we demonstrate that the hsp70l promoter possesses a basal leakiness resulting in Cre‐mediated recombination even at permissive temperatures. In order to prevent non‐conditional recombination, we combined the hsp70l promoter with a mCherry‐tagged ligand‐inducible CreERT2. At permissive temperatures and in the absence of the ligand tamoxifen (TAM), no non‐conditional recombination is observed indicating tight regulation of CreERT2. Instead, comprehensive site‐specific recombination is mediated following heat induction and administration of TAM. Developmental Dynamics, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Safety Culture in High-Risk Industries

This paper addresses the question of whether adopting safety culture improves hazard prevention in enterprises characterized by high primary risk. To answer this question, sample underground coal mines were examined to investigate the basic elements of the safety culture of employees. This paper presents the results of a diagnosis of the basic elements of the safety culture of supervisors (midlevel managers) and blue-collar workers in 3 underground coal mines. The study used 2 techniques: a Likert-type scale and a questionnaire. The results indicate the need to introduce changes in the safety culture of underground coal mine employees. This study also presents the conditions for improvement. Special attention was paid to (a) the conditions for improving safety culture and (b) a programme for modifying risky behaviours.
Physician Offered Prayer and Patient Satisfaction

Objective: While there is ongoing debate about the role of physician-offered prayer during the physician-patient encounter, many physicians feel inclined to include prayer in their practices. This randomized-controlled trial evaluated patients' acceptance of physician-offered prayer in a family practice setting, and the impact of physician-offered prayer on patient satisfaction with the physician-patient encounter. Method: Subjects were 137 patients in an urban, largely African American, Southeastern family medicine practice who were randomized to receive usual care plus an offer of physician-led prayer or usual care alone. Satisfaction surveys were administered following the clinical encounter. The outcomes of interest were the rate of acceptance of physician-offered prayer and the impact of the prayer offer on patient satisfaction. Personal characteristics and satisfaction scores for patients accepting prayer were compared to those for patients declining prayer. Results: Over 90% of patients accepted the offer of prayer. The offer of prayer had no significant impact on patient satisfaction scores. The number of patients declining prayer was too low to permit comparison of prayer decliners with acceptors. Conclusions: This small pilot trial demonstrated that patient responses to spiritual interventions by physicians can be evaluated using randomized study designs. A large majority of patients accepted an offer of physician-led prayer, but no significant short-term impact on patient satisfaction was detected. Future research with larger sample sizes and more diverse patient populations should evaluate the effects of physician-offered prayer on the physician-patient relationship. Difficulties in conducting such research are discussed.
Effective ECG beat classification using colliding bodies.

The proper functioning of the heart can be ascertained through ECG or Electro-Cardio-Gram. It is a form of signal that gives important information about the working of heart with respect to time and analysing ECG signals without manual intervention is an important application. Early detection of heart diseases or abnormalities is very important as it can help in prolonging life time and also to increase the quality of life. The ECG signals are captured by placing several electrode pads on the body at various positions. A better diagnosis of the heart disease can be achieved by using Multi-lead ECGs as it acquires signals simultaneously. This work focuses on the suggested Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) used in processing ECG recordings and also to extract certain attributes. The process of feature extraction and dimensionality reduction can be effectively performed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A population of knowledge structures is maintained in Genetic Algorithm (GA) called chromosomes. Each of these represents a candidate solution to the given problem. An algorithm having it basis on the governing laws of one dimensional collision between two bodies from physics was proposed and named as Colliding Bodies Optimization (CBO). This protocol is a modern populationbased stochastic optimization algorithm. Naive Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) classifiers are used. Through the outputs it is clear that the proposed method performs well when compared against other methods.
Corporate sustainability reporting : towards an understanding of reporting quality

Corporate sustainability reporting quality has been criticised as being unbalanced, presenting an overly positive view of the company or failing to address material issues. The purpose of this study is to provide an understanding of sustainability reporting, to observe the evolution of the quality of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reporting and to propose how reporting quality issues may be addressed in future. A theoretical framework is developed which combines the legitimacy and accountability perspectives using Akerlof’s (1970) Market for Lemons theory. Akerlof’s approach is extended by differentiating between three types of information in sustainability reports namely search, experience and credence with each type of information having a different quality. Using this typology, sustainability reports cannot be considered as being of uniform quality but are more likely to be a mixture of qualities. Results of the empirical study shows that GHG reporting quality remains low but steady and has not developed significantly between 1998 and 2010. The study also shows that quality does not evolve in the same way in each quality dimension. This is linked with the search, experience and credence information typology. Factors such as firm size, regulation and reporting according to international guidelines are found to be determinants of GHG reporting quality. While companies do not increase reporting quality in response to media pressure, companies highlighted in the media on the issue of climate change have a higher quantity of reporting. The results support the view that reporting is being used as a legitimising exercise by companies but that regulation of the entire sustainability report may not be necessary to improve quality. Stakeholder pressure and voluntary guidelines will be adequate to improve the quality of search and experience information while regulation or mandatory assurance of reports will be required to improve the quality of credence information.
Drosophila FoxO Regulates Organism Size and Stress Resistance through an Adenylate Cyclase

ABSTRACT Forkhead box class O (FoxO) transcription factors are a family of conserved proteins that regulate the cellular responses to various stimuli, such as energy deprivation, stress, and developmental cues. FoxO proteins are important mediators of the insulin signaling pathway, adjusting growth and metabolism to nutrient availability. Insulin signaling acts together with the glucagon-stimulated cAMP signaling pathway to orchestrate the organism response to various nutritional conditions. In this study, we demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster FoxO (dFoxO) regulates cAMP signaling by directly inducing the expression of an adenylate cyclase gene, ac76e. Interestingly, ac76e is expressed in a highly restricted pattern throughout fly development, limited to the corpus allatum (CA), gastric cecum, and malpighian tubules. dFoxO activation of AC76E in the CA increases starvation resistance and limits growth. Our results unravel a new role for dFoxO, integrating cAMP and insulin signaling to adapt organism growth to the existing nutritional conditions.
Should the IDC-9 Trauma Mortality Prediction Model become the new paradigm for benchmarking trauma outcomes?

BACKGROUND Optimum quantification of injury severity remains an imprecise science with a need for improvement. The accuracy of the criterion standard Injury Severity Score (ISS) worsens as a patient’s injury severity increases, especially among patients with penetrating trauma. The objective of this study was to comprehensively compare the mortality prediction ability of three anatomic injury severity indices: the ISS, the New ISS (NISS), and the DRG International Classification of Diseases—9th Rev.—Trauma Mortality Prediction Model (TMPM-ICD-9), a recently developed contemporary injury assessment model. METHODS Retrospective analysis of patients in the National Trauma Data Bank from 2007 to 2008. The TMPM-ICD-9 values were computed and compared with the ISS and NISS for each patient using in-hospital mortality after trauma as the outcome measure. Discrimination and calibration were compared using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve. Subgroup analysis was performed to compare each score across varying ranges of injury severity and across different types of injury. RESULTS A total of 533,898 patients were identified with a crude mortality rate of 4.7%. The ISS and NISS performed equally in the groups with minor (ISS, 1–8) and moderate (ISS, 9–15) injuries, regardless of the injury type. However, in the populations with severe (ISS, 16–24) and very severe (ISS, ≥25) injuries for all injury types, the NISS predicted mortality better than the ISS did. The TMPM-ICD-9 outperformed both the NISS and ISS almost consistently. CONCLUSION The NISS and TMPM-ICD-9 are both superior predictors of mortality as compared with the ISS. The immediate adoption of NISS for evaluating trauma outcomes using trauma registry data is recommended. The TMPM-ICD-9 may be an even better measure of human injury, and its use in administrative or nonregistry data is suggested. Further research on its attributes is recommended because it has the potential to become the basis for benchmarking trauma outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic study, level III.
Customer relationship management : creating competitive advantage through win-win relationship strategies

To develop the long-term relationships necessary to survive the intense global competition of the modern era, businesses must strive to meet customers needs as never before. This book is a result of an extensive research project that studied new ideas in marketing, and how these strategies are being applied throughout the US and Europe. The case studies provided demonstrate the ability of effective CRM programmes to refine customer relationships and increase their value.