Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weight loss and calcium intake influence calcium absorption in overweight postmenopausal women 1 – 3

Background: Weight loss (WL) reduces bone mass and increases fracture risk. Mechanisms regulating calcium metabolism during WL are unclear. Objective: The objective was to assess the effect of 6 wk of WL at 2 different amounts of calcium intake [normal (NlCa): 1 g/d; high (HiCa): 1.8 g/d] on true fractional calcium absorption (TFCA), bone turnover, and bone-regulating hormones in overweight postmenopausal women. Design: Seventy-three women (body mass index, 26.9 1.9 kg/m) were recruited either to consume a moderately energy-restricted diet (WL group) or to maintain their body weight [weight-maintenance (WM) group] and were randomly assigned to either the HiCa or the NlCa group in a double-blind manner. Subjects underwent weekly diet counseling, and measurements were taken at baseline and after 6 wk. Results: Fifty-seven women completed the study and had a baseline TFCA of 24.9 7.4%. Energy restriction significantly decreased the total calcium absorbed (P 0.05) in the WL group (n 32) compared with the WM group (n 25; analysis of covariance). Regression analysis showed that a greater rate of weight loss suppressed TFCA and the total calcium absorbed (P 0.05) in the HiCa group. The women in the NlCa WL group absorbed inadequate amounts of calcium (195 49 mg/d), whereas the women in the HiCa WL group absorbed adequate amounts (348 118 mg/d). Parathyroid hormone explained 22% of the variance in calcium absorbed in the NlCa group only. Conclusions: We suggest that WL is associated with elevated calcium requirements that, if not met, could activate the calciumparathyroid hormone axis to absorb more calcium. Normal intakes of calcium during energy restriction result in inadequate total calcium absorption and could ultimately compromise calcium balance and bone mass. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:123–30.
An Advocate's Process Outline . for Policy Analysis-

Acceptable policy outcomes are not, in the author’s view, automatically obtained by reliance on existing political and economic markets. This paper is a conscious attempt to consider the policy process as an iterative series of nine steps, from goal determination through enactment and subsequent adjustment of policy. It is eclectic, descriptive, and chronological, providing a framework in which numerous techniques, disciplines, and viewpoints can be complementary rather than conflicting. Policy outcomes, it is believed, would be improved by the adoption of such a system. ,
Complete mitochondrial genomes of Tuatara endemic to different islands of New Zealand

Abstract Tuatara are the sister taxon to the Squamata (including lizards and snakes) and are regarded as the most distinctive surviving reptilian genus. They are currently inhabits on offshore islands around New Zealand and have been recognized as a species in need of active conservation management. In this study, we report a total number of five nearly complete mitochondrial genomes, which were sequenced by Sanger and Next Generation DNA sequencing methods. Our phylogenomic analysis revealed distinct clustering of tuatara populations from the north and south islands of New Zealand.
EXPLORING THE LIMITS OF THE TECHNOLOGY S‐CURVE. PART II: ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGIES

This is the second of two papers in which I use information from the technological history of the disk drive industry to examine the usefulness of the S‐curve framework for managers at the firm level in planning for new technology development. In this article I show that it is in architectural, rather than component innovation, that entrant firms exhibit an attacker's advantage. A conventionally drawn sequence of intersecting S‐curves is a misleading conceptualization of the substitution process for new architectural technologies, because it characterizes architectural innovations strictly in technical terms. Innovations in architectural technologies frequently redefine the functionality of products and address product performance needs in new or remote markets, rather than mainstream ones. Such innovations in architectural technologies entail market innovation as much as technology development, and it is in their ability to aggressively enter emerging or remote markets that entrant firms exhibit an attacker's advantage. I propose a different S‐curve framework for processes of architectural technology change that comprehends both its technological and market aspects.
Managers in Governance Networks: How to Reach Good Outcomes?

ABSTRACT There is a large amount of literature and research on network management activities. This article explores the role of network managers in governance networks. It fits into the discussion of managerial activities and their outcome. This article discusses and analyses the results of a survey that was conducted in 2006–2007 among those involved in environmental projects in the Netherlands (323 respondents, 111 of whom were managers of these projects). The respondents were asked questions about their background, trust, project characteristics, network management activities, and outcomes (both process and content outcomes). This article uses the data collected on network managers to study some of their background characteristics, the management activities they use, and project outcomes. The research shows that more experienced managers achieve good outcomes (trust and substantive outcome). However, the most important insight gained from this research is that network managers who employ a large number of management activities in the management of their network achieve good outcomes.
Management of mobile ad hoc networks: information model and probe‐based architecture

The increasing need for mobility in networks and computing leads to the deployment of wireless networks without fixed infrastructure, called ad hoc networks. These networks raise new challenges towards monitoring and managing them to provide optimal performance. We propose in this paper a management framework to assess the operational state and the behaviour of mobile ad hoc networks. After presenting the management requirements, we define an information model to manage these networks. Simulations provide an overview of how this model can be used. Finally, we describe a probe‐based architecture with an implementation prototype, to use and populate the information model in a realistic environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Earnings Management to Exceed Thresholds: Evidence from Singapore and Thailand

Earnings play a vital role in portraying a company's economic health. Hence, executives have incentives to manage earnings. Motivated by Degeorge et al. [Degeorge, F. , Patel, J., Zeckhauser, R. , 1999. Earnings management to exceed thresholds. Journal of Business 72, 1-33] and Burgstahler and Dichev [Burgstahler, D. , Dichev, I. , 1997. Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses. Journal of Accounting and Economics 24, 99-126], this study applies the behavioral framework developed by Degeorge et al. [Degeorge, F. , Patel, J., Zeckhauser, R. , 1999. Earnings management to exceed thresholds. Journal of Business 72, 1-33] to investigate earnings management to exceed thresholds in Singapore and Thailand. The empirical evidence reveals that earnings management exists in Singapore and Thailand to avoid reporting losses and negative earnings growth. This earnings management practice, however, varies between financial and non-financial firms, between Singaporean and Thai firms, and between before and after the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Moreover, corporate governance structure is found to impact the extent of earnings management to exceed thresholds in Singapore.
Serine Palmitoyltransferase Regulates de NovoCeramide Generation during Etoposide-induced Apoptosis*

The de novo pathway of sphingolipid synthesis has been identified recently as a novel means of generating ceramide during apoptosis. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the activation of dihydroceramide synthase is responsible for increased ceramide production through this pathway. In this study, accumulation of ceramide mass in Molt-4 human leukemia cells by the chemotherapy agent etoposide was found to occur primarily due to activation of thede novo pathway. However, when the cells were labeled with a substrate for dihydroceramide synthase in the presence of etoposide, there was no corresponding increase in labeled ceramide. Further investigation using a labeled substrate for serine palmitoyltransferase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the pathway, resulted in an accumulation of label in ceramide upon etoposide treatment. This result suggests that the activation of serine palmitoyltransferase is the event responsible for increased ceramide generation during de novo synthesis initiated by etoposide. Importantly, the ceramide generated from de novo synthesis appears to have a distinct function from that induced by sphingomyelinase action in that it is not involved in caspase-induced poly (ADP-ribose)polymerase proteolysis but does play a role in disrupting membrane integrity in this model system. These results implicate serine palmitoyltransferase as the enzyme controlling de novo ceramide synthesis during apoptosis and begin to define a unique function of ceramide generated from this pathway.
A Fully Convolutional Network for Semantic Labeling of 3D Point Clouds

When classifying point clouds, a large amount of time is devoted to the process of engineering a reliable set of features which are then passed to a classifier of choice. Generally, such features - usually derived from the 3D-covariance matrix - are computed using the surrounding neighborhood of points. While these features capture local information, the process is usually time-consuming, and requires the application at multiple scales combined with contextual methods in order to adequately describe the diversity of objects within a scene. In this paper we present a 1D-fully convolutional network that consumes terrain-normalized points directly with the corresponding spectral data,if available, to generate point-wise labeling while implicitly learning contextual features in an end-to-end fashion. Our method uses only the 3D-coordinates and three corresponding spectral features for each point. Spectral features may either be extracted from 2D-georeferenced images, as shown here for Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds, or extracted directly for passive-derived point clouds,i.e. from muliple-view imagery. We train our network by splitting the data into square regions, and use a pooling layer that respects the permutation-invariance of the input points. Evaluated using the ISPRS 3D Semantic Labeling Contest, our method scored second place with an overall accuracy of 81.6%. We ranked third place with a mean F1-score of 63.32%, surpassing the F1-score of the method with highest accuracy by 1.69%. In addition to labeling 3D-point clouds, we also show that our method can be easily extended to 2D-semantic segmentation tasks, with promising initial results.
Interaction of Drugs

Small-intestinal Mucosa: Dr. C. A. Loehry and Dr. B. Creamer show that this can be studied in specimens obtained at necropsy (p. 827). Assessment of Thyroid Function: Dr. A. S. Abraham and his colleagues assess the value of ankle-jerk timing (p. 830). Peripheral Neuropathy: Dr. B. A. Stoll and Dr. J. T. Andrews, from Melbourne, Australia, report damage to peripheral nerves after radiotherapy for breast cancer (p. 834).
Fault-tolerant operation of DFIG-WT with four-switch three-phase grid-side converter by applying a simplified SVPWM technique

This paper aims to improve the fault-tolerant ability of doubly-fed induction generator based wind turbines (DFIG-WTs) by applying a four-switch three-phase (FSTP) topology based grid side converter (GSC). Once a switch breaks down in the three-phase GSC, the corresponding phase is connected to the midpoint of the DC bus to make the wind turbine (WT) continue working properly. The operation of the GSC is explained in different operation modes of the DFIG-WT. In addition, a simplified space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique is applied to control the remaining healthy switches, and it is firstly used for DFIG-WTs. Besides, the difference between the voltages on DC-link capacitors is suppressed by adjusting the control strategy. The DC bus voltage, three-phase grid currents and power factor are analyzed to verify the technique by simulation results in Matlab/Simulink under different conditions of the wind speed. Apart from an acceptable performance of the FSTP GSC derived in DFIG-WT, the results demonstrate that the proposed fault-tolerant topology has better adaptability than the common one when wind speed changes.
Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 115th Congress (2017-2018) as of January 4, 2017. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.
Attitudes and Work Motivation of Subgroups of Seasonal Hotel Workers

Labour turnover is a strong feature of of hotels in the UK, especially in the seasonal seaside sector. However, the link between job mobility and job satisfaction is complex and cannot be adequately explained by ‘traditional’ theories of motivation. In an attempt to account for the impact of individual worker differences on job attitudes, Hackman and Oldham's [1974, 1980] job diagnostic survey was distributed to 163 hotel workers. The results suggest that hotel workers can be divided into subgroups, characterised by both residential status and work preference. Furthermore, these additional dimensions explain work attitudes and motivation more effectively than Hackman and Oldham's original ‘growth need strength’ dimension.
Does Capital Structure Affect the Behavior of Non-Financial Stakeholders? An Empirical Investigation into Leverage and Union Strikes

We use contract negotiation data to study how leverage affects the interaction between firms and an important non-financial stakeholder, labor unions. Consistent with the idea that leverage diminishes the bargaining position of labor, we find that unions are less likely to strike when a firm has high leverage or increases leverage prior to a contract negotiation. We also find large leverage increases after a strike, consistent with the idea that firms intentionally use leverage to improve their bargaining position. This post-strike increase in leverage particularly pronounced when the union wins the strike. Moreover, we do not find any clear indication that such increases in leverage are linked to changes in investments. In addition, firms that experience a strike subsequently invest more internationally and in right-to-work states where union are afforded fewer legal protections, and they increase their disposal of production units that are located in states where strikes have occurred.
Effects of Warm-up on Peak Torque, Rate of Torque Development, and Electromyographic and Mechanomyographic Signals

Abstract Altamirano, KM, Coburn, JW, Brown, LE, and Judelson, DA. Effects of warm-up on peak torque, rate of torque development, and electromyographic and mechanomyographic signals. J Strength Cond Res 26(5): 1296–1301, 2012—The purpose of this study was to determine if an active warm-up affects peak torque (PT), rate of torque development (RTD), and the electromyographic (EMG) and mechanomyographic (MMG) signals. Twenty-one men (mean age ± SD: 24.0 ± 2.7 years) visited the exercise physiology laboratory on 2 occasions. During the first visit, they either performed an active warm-up (10 minutes of stationary cycling at 70% of predicted maximum heart rate) or sat quietly (no warm-up). Participants were then tested for isometric and isokinetic (60°, 180°, and 300°·s−1) PT, and RTD (measured as S-gradient) on an isokinetic dynamometer. Electromyographic and MMG sensors were placed over the vastus lateralis muscle to monitor the electrical and mechanical aspects of muscle contractions, respectively. The testing protocol used for the first visit was repeated for the second visit, but the preexercise treatment (warm-up, no warm-up) not given during the first visit was administered. The results indicated that an active warm-up did not affect PT, RTD, or measures of muscle activation as reflected by EMG amplitude, EMG frequency, or MMG frequency (p > 0.05). However, MMG amplitude at 180°·s−1 was significantly greater in the warm-up condition compared with the no warm-up condition. The isolated increase in MMG amplitude suggested that warm-up may have affected the mechanical properties of muscle by reducing muscular stiffness or decreasing intramuscular fluid pressure, but that it was not sufficient to influence performance.
Functional reach: a new clinical measure of balance.

A new clinically accessible measure of balance, functional reach (FR), is the difference between arm's length and maximal forward reach, using a fixed base of support. The purposes of this study were to (a) establish FR as a measure of the margin of stability versus the laboratory measure, center of pressure excursion (COPE); (b) test reliability and precision, and (c) determine factors that influence FR, including age and anthropometrics. We evaluated FR in 128 volunteers (age 21-87 years). FR was determined with a precise electronic device and a simple clinical apparatus (yardstick). FR correlates with COPE (Pearson r = .71) and is precise (coefficient of variation = 2.5%) and stable (intraclass correlation coefficient across days = .81). Age and height influence FR. FR is portable, inexpensive, reliable, precise, and a reasonable clinical approximator of the margin of stability. FR may be useful for detecting balance impairment, change in balance performance over time, and in the design of modified environments for impaired older persons.
Funding Liquidity and Market Liquidity in Government Bonds

This study investigates market illiquidity and flow-price dynamics, with particular attention to central banks, using a comprehensive dataset for Indian government bonds. While, theoretically, liquidity provision by central banks should promote market depth and stability, some argue that overly active interventions may actually have the opposite effect. We find that bond market liquidity improves with greater funding liquidity provision by the central bank. The small magnitude of this effect challenges theories implying a tight link between funding liquidity and market liquidity but alleviates concerns that large interventions in either direction - like quantitative easing or its reversal - may be destabilizing.
Accelerating technical design of business applications: a knowledge-based approach

Technical design of a business application is an involved process which needs an experienced designer to describe an implementation of the application functionality using a set of hardware and software infrastructure elements such that the non-functional requirements are satisfied. The process is extremely knowledge intensive. For instance, it demands the designer to thoroughly understand various architecture styles, a set of technical capabilities available, how different COTS products can realize these capabilities, and how the functional modules can make use of these capabilities. In reality, such experienced designers are hard to come by. Furthermore, to optimize the budget, the project team often involves inexperienced designers to create the technical design. In order to assist an inexperienced designer to create the technical design, we have built a knowledge-based design assistant tool, called Technical Design Assistant Tool (TDAT). In this paper we describe the ontology knowledge model that describes the underlying technical design knowledge. The ontology models the notion of a architecture style, various technical capabilities, a COTS component, and capability features. We have conducted a few experiments to evaluate the usefulness of the ontology and the tool and found encouraging responses. As a part of the project we are populating the knowledge base for the popular open source and commercial software products.
Trend Analysis of Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions in New Orleans From 2000–2012: A Population-Based Comparison Pre- and Post-Hurricane Katrina

ABSTRACT Background: Substance abuse treatment following a natural disaster is often met with challenges. If treatment is available, facilities may be unequipped to service an influx of patients or provide specialized care for unique populations. Objectives: This paper seeks to evaluate trends in substance abuse treatment over time and assess changes pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina. Methods: Substance abuse treatment admission data (N = 42,678) from New Orleans, Louisiana, for years 2000 through 2012 were obtained from the Treatment Episode Data Set. Admissions were examined to evaluate demographic, socioeconomic, psychiatric, and criminality trends in substance abuse treatment and assess changes following Hurricane Katrina. Results: Treatment admissions have decreased from 2000 to 2012. About one in five admissions had a psychiatric illness in addition to a substance abuse problem. A staggering 76% of admissions with a psychiatric illness were referred by the criminal justice system post-Katrina as compared to pre-Katrina. Rates of alcohol and marijuana admissions have remained stable from 2000 to 2012. Cocaine/crack admissions have declined and admissions who abused heroin have increased over time. Conclusions: Treatment admissions stabilized following Hurricane Katrina; however, since 2009, they have begun to decline. Targeted exploration of factors affecting admission to treatment in New Orleans with populations such as the homeless, those with a psychiatric illness in addition to a substance abuse problem, and those referred by the criminal justice system is essential. The results of this study assist in identifying variations in substance abuse treatment characteristics for those admitted to treatment in New Orleans.
Bold Corridor Project Confronts Political Reality

CONSERVATION BIOLOGYEL NARANJO, THE PETAN, GUATEMALA-- To preserve biodiversity, seven Central American countries and Mexico have launched an ambitious effort to link protected areas with strips of wildlife-friendly land. Critics worry, however, that the conservation goals are being diluted, noting that politicians have turned the original scientific concept into a catch-all for rural development projects, which they feel now overshadow conservation. But even skeptics say the corridor will serve as a test case for saving biodiversity in other places where walling off more forest isn't an option.
Prior knowledge, bisociative mode of thinking and entrepreneurial opportunity identification

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among prior knowledge, bisociative thinking mode and entrepreneurial opportunity identification in a sample of 197 technology-based entrepreneurs. Results indicate that bisociative thinking mode of an entrepreneur mediates the relationship between prior knowledge and entrepreneurial opportunity identification. In addition, the relationship between prior knowledge and entrepreneurial opportunity identification is stronger for high-technology entrepreneurs. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.