Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rituximab plus liposomal doxorubicin in HIV-infected patients with KSHV-associated multicentric Castleman disease.

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) herpesvirus-associated multicentric Castleman disease (KSHV-MCD) is a lymphoproliferative disorder, most commonly seen in HIV-infected patients, that has a high mortality if untreated. Concurrent KS is common. Although rituximab has reported activity in KSHV-MCD, its use is often associated with KS progression. Within a natural history study of KSHV-MCD, we prospectively evaluated rituximab 375 mg/m(2) combined with liposomal doxorubicin 20 mg/m(2) (R-Dox) every 3 weeks in 17 patients. Patients received a median of 4 cycles (range 3-9). All received antiretroviral therapy, 11 received consolidation interferon-α, and 6 received consolidation high-dose zidovudine with valganciclovir. Using NCI KSHV-MCD response criteria, major clinical and biochemical responses were attained in 94% and 88% of patients, respectively. With a median 58 months' potential follow-up, 3-year event-free survival was 69% and 3-year overall survival was 81%. During R-Dox therapy, cutaneous KS developed in 1 patient, whereas 5 of 6 patients with it had clinical improvement. R-Dox was associated with significant improvement in anemia and hypoalbuminemia. KSHV viral load, KSHV viral interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, human interleukin-6, and serum immunoglobulin free light chains decreased with therapy. R-Dox is effective in symptomatic KSHV-MCD and may be useful in patients with concurrent KS. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT00092222.
Research on the Relationship between Corporate Philanthropy and Audit Fee

As a response to the increased corporate philanthropy and the consequent corporate philanthropy discourse among researchers, practitioners and policymakers, we study the consequence of corporate philanthropy in an alternative way by the view of auditors. We seek to understand how auditors, the risk-sensitive group, would interpreter the corporate philanthropy behavior from the firms in industry with strong social concerns for harmful pollutants. Using a panel date from Chinese listed company in the chemical industry from 2009 to 2013, this paper finds that despite corporate philanthropy may involve more audit work, it tends to decrease the audit fee. Our paper fills a gap in extant research by building a link between corporate philanthropy and auditor’s behavior and can be of interest to firms adopting a strategic corporate philanthropy policy and their stakeholders.
Real Coded Genetic Algorithm for the Design of Digital Differentiator

Digital Differentiator (DD) play a very important role to find out and approximate the first, second, or higher-order derivative of a digital signals. In this paper real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) is proposed for the design of finite impulse response (FIR) digital differentiator. The intent of this paper is to apply a real-coded genetic algorithm with arithmetic-average-bound-blend (AABBX) crossover and wavelet mutation operator for the design of digital differentiator. The values of the filter coefficients are optimized with RCGA approach to satisfying prescribed specifications. The proposed method is, not only accurate and robust but also optimal in the least-squares sense.
The effect of sample drying conditions on estimates of condensed tannin and ® bre content , dry matter digestibility , nitrogen digestibility and PEG binding of Calliandra calothyrsus

Leaf samples of the browse shrub Calliandra calothyrsus were used to study the effect of temperature of drying (25, 45, 65, 85 and 1058C), and method of drying, either in dry air (aerobic) or in dry nitrogen (anaerobic), on estimates of ®bre, condensed tannin (CT), digestibility and PEG binding. These estimates were also made on freeze-dried samples. Correlations were made between these variables. In general, there was much less change with increasing temperature for samples dried anaerobically than for samples dried aerobically for all measures. For the condensed tannin measures (using the butanol±HCl with tannins isolated from C. calothyrsus as a standard), there was an interaction of method temperature of drying p < 0:01 to p < 0:0001. At higher temperatures there was more bound tannin (proteinand ®bre-bound) with aerobic drying. Free tannin under anaerobic conditions increased slightly with increasing temperature whereas there was a large linear decrease under aerobic drying. A similar response was obtained by the protein precipitation method though the mean level of free tannin using this method was much lower than by the butanol±HCl method (11% vs 21%). Total CT (TCT) increased slightly with temperature under anaerobic drying, but decreased by a similar magnitude (about 10%) with aerobic drying. The freeze-dried samples had values similar to samples dried at the lower temperatures (25 and 458C) for all measures. The mean TCT for C. calothyrsus in this study of 29% is far higher than those reported in other studies using unrelated tannin standards. Acid detergent ®bre (ADF) was higher for the aerobically dried samples, and levels for both drying methods increased slightly with temperature. For neutral detergent ®bre (NDF), levels rose at temperatures above 458C; the rise with aerobic drying was much greater and gave a signi®cant interaction p < 0:01. Both the N% in NDF and the total N in NDF were higher in the aerobically Animal Feed Science and Technology
Improved Fast Initial Response Features for Exponentially Weighted Moving Average and Cumulative Sum Control Charts

Exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts have found extensive applications in industry. The sensitivity of these quality control schemes can be increased by using fast initial response (FIR) features. In this paper, we introduce some improved FIR features for EWMA and CUSUM control charts and evaluate their performance in terms of average run length. We compare the proposed FIR‐based EWMA and CUSUM control schemes with some existing control schemes, that is, EWMA, FIR‐EWMA, CUSUM, and FIR‐CUSUM. It is noteworthy that the proposed control schemes are uniformly better than the other schemes considered here. An illustrative example is also given to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed control schemes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fingerprint Sub-Classification and Singular Point Detection

This paper presents a novel approach to fingerprint singular point detection. Singular points (cores and deltas) are used for fingerprint classification, sub-classification and registration. This method exploits the stability of the directional field pattern extracted from singular point regions at different resolution levels. The procedure is invariant to translations, scaling and small rotations. A fingerprint sub-classification procedure was built based on the proposed singular point detection method. Two kinds of tests were conducted on a subset consisting of 955 NIST-14 fingerprint images. First, automatic and forensic expert sub-classifications were compared. Second, the consistency of the proposed method was measured comparing automatic sub-classification for two different rolls of the same fingerprint.
A compact crossover using NRI-TL metamaterial lines

A compact NRI-TL metamaterial branch-line crossover is presented that has an area of λ/36 × λ/12, and is a factor of 81 times smaller than its analogous transmission-line counterpart. Circuit simulations reveal that it exhibits a 34% -10 dB |S11| bandwidth, good isolation below -10 dB over a 22% bandwidth, and less than 0.5 dB insertion loss over a 15% bandwidth. Furthermore, the bandwidth of the device can be increased by incorporating additional branch-line sections into the structure.
Beyond Manhattan: Localized competition and organizational failure in urban hotel markets throughout the United States, 2000–2014

Research summary: I conducted a nationwide replication of Baum and Mezias' (1992) pioneering single-market study of localized competition by pooling the populations of 90 urban U.S. hotel markets. Consistent with Baum and Mezias' three hypotheses, I demonstrate a negative market-level effect on survival duration of size-based, geographic-based, and price-based localized competition. When analyzing submarket 'windows,' I found support for size-based and geographic-based localized competition. In contrast, Baum and Mezias find support for only size-based localized competition at the market level, but for all three forms of localized competition when analyzing submarket windows. I extend their analysis by (1) using standardized measures of localized competition, and (2) showing separate results for key subpopulations. I conclude that there are indeed firm-level benefits of avoiding localized competition. Managerial summary: This paper demonstrates that-at a broad level of analysis such as a city-hotels are more likely to survive if there are fewer other properties (1) in their geographical vicinity, (2) of similar size, and (3) at their price point. Thus, prospective owners should be leery of location in the more crowded niches even if these may be plausibly more lucrative for some. Sparsely populated niches appear to be less risky on average. When we study this phenomenon within a narrower geographic scope such as a part of the city, the least crowded niches in terms of geography, price or size no longer appear to provide benefits in terms of survival. Thus, it is possible that only the most sparsely populated niches citywide improve a hotel's likelihood of survival. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Back to basics.

The basic strength of the AMCA family is the wide range of expertise and "can do" attitude of its diverse membership. The AMCA is currently experiencing problems with federal legislation and fiscal stability because we have not fully utilized member strengths to reevaluate the association's direction and set new goals to address change. However, the AMCA Board of Directors and many committee chairpersons met, reevaluated direction and clarified goals, and initiated major changes to meet the challenges facing the association and its members. Members of the AMCA are encouraged to contribute their individual talents to ensure that the association prosper and serve the needs of the mosquito and vector control family.
Detecting Mouse Movement with Repeated Visit Patterns for Retrieving Noticed Knowledge Components on Web Pages

Educational websites contain rich knowledge components on a web page. Detecting student attention on web pages fulfills the recommendation of adequate knowledge components to students based on students' current interests. Previous studies have shown the application of learner attention in intelligent learning systems. This study proposes a methodology to analyze student on-line mouse movement patterns that indicate student attentions. The methodology can be combined with learning systems that implement pedagogical models such as inquiry-based learning and problem-solving learning activities. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology have been evaluated by student mouse movements in problem-solving scenarios.
Balance Sheet Positions in OECD and Post-Soviet Countries Since the 1990s

In this paper, we construct a new disaggregated net financial wealth data set for the OECD and some emerging markets countries. We find that since the beginning of 1990s, the net wealth positions of countries have developed differently. First, for a group of central and northern European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, improvements in private sector net financial wealth have resulted in improvements in net national financial wealth despite worsening public sector net wealth positions. Second, in the crisis-ridden countries of Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Spain, private sector net wealth position improvements have not compensated for deteriorating public sector situations. Third, the net financial wealth of post-communist transition economies decreased over the sample period due to worsening private sector positions, public sector positions, or both. However, this pattern has recently changed in most post-communist states.
Medical Nutrition Therapy for Pediatric Kidney Stone Prevention, Part Two.

Intended Audience: Pediatric Patients, Nephrology Outpatient Clinic Patients, Pediatric Kidney Stone Clinic Patients THEARTICLETHAT follows represents the second in a three-part series of handouts intended to provide a comprehensive nutrition education tool for the prevention of pediatric nephrolithiasis. The dietary recommendations presented in the handouts are described in the following along with the evidence-based rational and application in the clinical setting.
Where boards fall short

The article looks at the role and performance of corporate boards of directors. It presents information from surveys of corporate directors and high-level executives on questions including how well directors understand the firm's strategy and whether directors or managers are more responsible for the emphasis on short-term financial results versus long-term performance. It offers recommendations for strengthening boards in areas including the selection of directors, relationships with institutional investors, and directors' compensation
Reassessing the Productivity Gains from Trade Liberalization

This paper reassesses the impact of trade liberalization on productivity. We build a new, unique database of effective tariff rates at the country-industry level for a broad range of countries over the past two decades. We then explore both the direct effect of liberalization in the sector considered, as well as its indirect impact in downstream industries via input linkages. Our findings point to a dominant role of the indirect input market channel in fostering productivity gains. A 1 percentage point decline in input tariffs is estimated to increase total factor productivity by about 2 percent in the sector considered. For advanced economies, the implied potential productivity gains from fully eliminating remaining tariffs are estimated at around 1 percent, on average, which do not factor in the presumably larger gains from removing existing non-tariff barriers. Finally, we find strong evidence of complementarities between trade and FDI liberalization in boosting productivity. This calls for a broad liberalization agenda that cuts across different areas.
Antecedents of Business Travelers’ Satisfaction

Abstract The concept of business travelers’ satisfaction is acknowledged as the most important component to the success of hoteliers around the globe. Yet, the extant literature is largely focused on the context of Western countries. A better awareness of business travelers’ satisfaction in non-Western countries could help scholars and hoteliers to understand the full picture of business travelers’ satisfaction. This study, therefore, investigates and discusses the antecedents of business traveler’s satisfaction in Latin America, specifically Panama. A total of 216 business travelers’ reviews and feedback on the TripAdvisor website were reviewed and content analyzed. The findings suggest that physical hotel facilities, bedroom attributes, hotel facilities, staff attributes, restaurant attributes, hotel location, and price factors are responsible for generating business travelers’ satisfaction in the Panamanian context. Limitations of this study and the avenues for future study are also discussed.
Explicit channel conductance: can it be computed?

In the next article of this issue, readers will find the results of what the authors report is the first explicit computation of the conductance of a large membrane channel based on its crystal structure. Aksimentiev and Schulten, the authors of the article, chose the well-known α-hemolysin as a proving ground for their all-atom molecular dynamics approach.
Product Market Liberalization and Productivity: Evidence from India ⁄

In this paper, we use a detailed plant-level dataset to study the efiect of two reforms aimed at increasing product market competition in India { liberalization of foreign direct investment (FDI) and reduction in tarifi rates. First, we examine the efiect of the liberalization policies on mean plant-level productivity in the liberalized industries. We flnd a 23% increase in productivity level following the FDI liberalization and a 33% increase following tarifi liberalization (comparing mean value added log productivity levels in 1994-95 to the pre-reform 1987-90 period). We check the robustness of these results to: (a) using alternative measures of productivity; (b) using alternative deflnitions of the liberalization variable; and (c) inclusion of controls to address bias from non-random selection of liberalized industries. The tarifi liberalization efiect is generally robust; the FDI liberalization efiect is 14%-16% when controlling for non-random selection. Next, we examine aggregate productivity growth in liberalized industries; we flnd a 16% (15.6%) increase following FDI (tarifi) liberalization. This increase appears to be driven largely by improvement in intra-plant productivity growth, with a small role for re-allocation. Finally, we examine who benefltted from the productivity gains; we flnd that the major beneflciaries were consumers (in the form of relatively lower wholesale output prices in the liberalized sectors).
The first intracellular loop of GLUT4 contains a retention motif

ABSTRACT Glucose transporter GLUT4 (also known as SLC2A4) plays a major role in glucose homeostasis and is efficiently retained intracellularly in adipocytes and myocytes. To simplify the analysis of its retention, here, various intracellular GLUT4 domains were fused individually to reporter molecules. Of the four short cytoplasmic loops of GLUT4, only the first nine-residue-long loop conferred intracellular retention of truncated forms of the transferrin receptor and CD4 in adipocytes. In contrast, the same loop of GLUT1 was without effect. The reporter molecules to which the first loop of GLUT4 was fused localized, unlike GLUT4, to the trans-Golgi network (TGN), possibly explaining why these molecules did not respond to insulin. The retention induced by the GLUT4 loop was specific to adipocytes as it did not induce retention in preadipocytes. Of the SQWLGRKRA sequence that constitutes this loop, mutation of either the tryptophan or lysine residue abrogated reporter retention. Mutation of these residues individually into alanine residues in the full-length GLUT4 molecule resulted in a decreased retention for GLUT4-W105A. We conclude that the first intracellular loop of GLUT4 contains the retention motif WLGRK, in which W105 plays a prominent role. Summary: GLUT4, a key player in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, is efficiently retained intracellularly, away from the cell surface. Here, we report the identification of a new retention motif.
Power system dynamic scheduling with high penetration of renewable sources

In this paper, we present a model predictive control (MPC) based method for dynamic economic power scheduling in power grids. The proposed method is first applied to the power systems with relatively low penetration of renewable generation sources. The proposed MPC-based optimization method is then extended to the case, where a high penetration of renewable sources is expected. In the latter case, instead of considering power generated from renewable sources as a negative load, the system operator (SO) takes these sources into account as dispatchable in solving the scheduling problem. Various constraints pertinent to power systems including transmission congestion and generators' capacity are also considered in the optimization process. Consequently, we will show that the use of storage devices will be an effective way to reduce the cost of generation in the future generation of power systems. The effectiveness of the proposed power scheduling methods will be demonstrated using an IEEE 14-bus system combined with the California ISO data.
Accounting for Uncertainty in Social Network Analysis through Replication.

KOBAN, DONALD DANIEL. Accounting for Uncertainty in Social Network Analysis through Replication. (Under the direction of Dr. Thom Hodgson). Over the past decade, the US military has primarily been focused on counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and as a result has markedly improved its understanding of irregular warfare. One of the most significant changes in the way the military understands irregular warfare is captured in the 2013 Army Strategic Planning Guidance which states, “success depends as much on understanding the social and political fabric of the situation as it does on the ability to physically dominate it”. As a result, the Army has placed great emphasis on the use of social network analysis (SNA) as a tool to aid leaders in understanding the organizational dynamics of an insurgency. The methods presented in the following paper provide a technique to quantify the certainty of SNA outputs in an environment where the structure of a social network is uncertain. Social network analysis is based on the axiom that an individual’s position in a network determines in part the opportunities and constraints he or she encounters. Using network structure as the foundation for network analysis, it follows that an individual’s importance in a network is dependent upon how an analyst models the structure of a network. When networks are built from a collection of reliable data, calculating centrality measures is a fairly simple process that produces useful, quantitative measures for determining critical members in a network. However, when the accuracy of network data is uncertain, there is a high probability that an analyst’s representation of a network will be flawed. When centrality measures are based on an imperfect representation of a network, it becomes difficult to express the uncertainty of SNA measurements. Current SNA techniques are limited because they do not adequately account for the uncertainty of information and they do not quantify the uncertainty associated with SNA outputs. Basing targeting recommendations on a single representation of a network with unknown structure causes SNA outputs to be heavily dependent on how accurately an analyst identifies the true network. Replication improves upon existing SNA techniques because of its ability to account for numerous possible representations of a network while placing proportionally greater emphasis on the most reliable information. Furthermore, replication enables an analyst to express the uncertainty associated with centrality-based targeting recommendations by generating a distribution of rankings for each individual. © Copyright 2014 by Donald Daniel Koban