Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ETF performance measurement — Data Envelopment Analysis

In this paper we apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of IShare World exchange-traded funds (ETFs) including major countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and some emerging markets from 2006 to 2009. We investigate how the recent financial crisis affects the economies of different countries by looking into particular country indices relative to S&P 500 and Sharpe Ratio. Contrary to other DEA studies that rely on CCR and BCC models, an advanced model — range directional measure (RDM) — is employed in our work to measure ETF performance with an aim to overcoming the problem of negative-valued data. Another innovative approach is that we separate the total risk commonly measured by standard deviation into two components: upside potential and downside deviation. Finally, Spearman correlation coefficient is calculated to test whether the performances of ETFs are persistent over two consecutive time periods. The results indicate that DEA is able to provide a more comprehensive picture of ETF performance appraisal and hence a viable complement to traditional risk-adjusted index.
School-based Intervention to Promote Healthy Lifestyles in Sousse, Tunisia

Background: Integrated actions against selected risk factors (i.e. smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet) can lead to the reduction of major chronic diseases. Objective: To implement and evaluate a school-based intervention program to prevent cardiovascular risk factors among children. Materials and Methods: Design: Pre- test post-test quasi experimental design with a control group. Setting: Four secondary schools in Sousse, Tunisia. Intervention: The overall intervention program lasted for a school year and incorporated educative actions concerning tobacco use, physical activity, and healthy diet. Results: Globally, knowledge, behaviors, and intentions concerning smoking improved in both groups between baseline and the end of the study, particularly in the intervention group. Nutrition knowledge, behaviors, and intentions improved in both groups between baseline and final stage, particularly in the intervention group. At the final stage, there was an increase in the proportion of children walking to and from school in the intervention group. There was also an increase in the percentage of children with intention of practicing sport in the future particularly in the intervention group. There were no significant differences in BMI after the intervention neither in intervention nor in control groups. At the end of the study, the incidence of overweight and obesity was similar to that at baseline. Conclusions: This pilot study has demonstrated the potential of school as a suitable setting for the promotion of healthy lifestyles in children. The study resulted in substantial improvements concerning knowledge, behaviors, and intentions in the intervention group.
Linkage analysis of early-onset breast and ovarian cancer families, with markers on the long arm of chromosome 17.

We have conducted linkage analysis in 16 breast cancer families, 13 of which are classified as site-specific breast cancer families and 3 of which are classified as breast-ovary families. Linkage analysis has largely focused on a single extended breast-ovary family. Analysis of all families combined shows significant evidence for linkage to 17q (LOD = 3.63 at theta = .0, for linkage to NME1), confirming the observations of Hall et al. and Narod et al. Many families were consistent with linkage, but their limited size and informativeness precluded confirmation of linkage. A putative recombinant in a breast-ovary family suggests that BRCA1 is distal to D17S250.
Amelioration of anti-tuberculosis drug induced oxidative stress in kidneys by Spirulina fusiformis in a rat model

Abstract Nephrotoxicity is a rare complication caused by anti-tuberculosis therapy-induced oxidative stress. The Cyanobacterium Spirulina fusiformis Voronikhin belonging to Oscillatoriaceae family is used traditionally as a source of antioxidants against oxidative stress. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of S. fusiformis in modifying isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF)-induced changes in Wistar rat kidneys. Animals were divided into six groups: normal control rats; toxic control (INH & RIF—50 mg/kg b.w./d each; p.o.); INH & RIF + S. fusiformis (400 mg/kg b.w./d); INH & RIF + S. fusiformis (800 mg/kg b.w./d); S. fusiformis (800 mg/kg b.w./d) alone-treated rats; INH & RIF + silymarin (25 mg/kg b.w./d). Study duration was 28 d after which blood and kidneys were analyzed. We also studied the binding and interactions of the transcription factors Liver X Receptor (LXR) and Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) with INH, RIF, and representative active compounds of S. fusiformis by in silico methods. INH & RIF treatment caused significant (p< 0.05) decrease in antioxidant levels and significant (p< 0.05) increase in the levels of creatinine, urea, and uric acid showing impaired kidney function. Spirulina fusiformis ameliorated these effects in a dose dependent manner. Histological examination of kidneys supported these findings. Results of the in silico analyses showed that selected active components of S. fusiformis interact with LXR and FXR and could be a possible mechanism of action. S. fusiformis rendered protection against anti-tuberculosis drugs-induced oxidative stress in kidney tissues of rats.
Blind Domain Adaptation With Augmented Extreme Learning Machine Features

In practical applications, the test data often have different distribution from the training data leading to suboptimal visual classification performance. Domain adaptation (DA) addresses this problem by designing classifiers that are robust to mismatched distributions. Existing DA algorithms use the unlabeled test data from target domain during training time in addition to the source domain data. However, target domain data may not always be available for training. We propose a blind DA algorithm that does not require target domain samples for training. For this purpose, we learn a global nonlinear extreme learning machine (ELM) model from the source domain data in an unsupervised fashion. The global ELM model is then used to initialize and learn class specific ELM models from the source domain data. During testing, the target domain features are augmented with the reconstructed features from the global ELM model. The resulting enriched features are then classified using the class specific ELM models based on minimum reconstruction error. Extensive experiments on 16 standard datasets show that despite blind learning, our method outperforms six existing state-of-the-art methods in cross domain visual recognition.
Diabetes Mellitus and Difficult Laryngoscopy in Renal and Pancreatic Transplant Patients

Limited mobility of the cervical spine or temperomandibular joint may contribute to increased difficulty of laryngoscopy in patients who have severe diabetes mellitus.The frequency of difficult laryngoscopy in diabetics undergoing renal and/or pancreatic transplants has been reported to be as high as 32%. We retrospectively reviewed the anesthetic records of all adult patients who underwent renal and/or pancreatic transplant and endotracheal intubation from January 1, 1985 to October 31, 1995. Characteristics specifically reviewed included the presence of diabetes mellitus, type of organ donor, age, gender, body mass index, previous difficult laryngoscopy, known characteristics potentially related to difficult laryngoscopy, and degree of difficulty with laryngoscopy. Laryngoscopy was graded as easy, minimally to moderately difficult, and moderately to extremely difficult to perform. Factors associated with any degree of difficult intubation were univariately assessed by using Fisher's exact test. Of 725 patients, 15 (2.1%) were identified as having difficult laryngoscopies, although all underwent successful endotracheal intubations. Factors associated with difficult laryngoscopy were diabetes mellitus (P = 0.002) and characteristics known to be related to difficult laryngoscopy (P = 0.02). These findings confirm an increase in the frequency of difficult laryngoscopy in diabetic patients undergoing renal and/or pancreatic transplant, although no laryngoscopies were rated as moderately to extremely difficult. We conclude that the frequency of difficult laryngoscopy in these diabetic patients is much lower than previous reports have suggested. Implications: Previous studies have suggested that airway management of many diabetic patients may be difficult. Our medical record review of patients with severe diabetes undergoing organ transplants showed that extraordinary techniques were not required to successfully manage their airways. (Anesth Analg 1998;86:516-9)
Knowledge and attitudes about human papillomaviruses and immunization among Turkish pediatricians.

BACKGROUND Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infectious agents, and the effectiveness of vaccine delivery programs will depend largely upon whether providers recommend vaccines. The objectives of this study were to examine pediatrician characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes associated with HPV and HPV immunization. MATERIALS AND METHODS Attendees of the national pediatric meeting in 2011, were asked to complete a questionnaire that, aside from demographic information, elicited level of agreement with statements regarding HPV, its related diseases, and HPV vaccination. It also documented attitudes and beliefs about HPV vaccination. RESULTS Of the 480 attendees, 226 (47%) filled in the questionnaire. The level of pediatrician HPV-related knowledge varied. The majority (78%) were aware that HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection, while 51% were unaware that a condom is ineffective protection against HPV infection. Between 60-80% of respondents were aware of the effectiveness of HPV vaccination for women. On the other hand, only 10% were aware of reasons why men should be vaccinated against HPV. The majority (75%) of Turkish pediatricians were likely to recommend HPV vaccination to their daughter, if they had one. Seventy percent of pediatricians agreed that the HPV vaccination should be added to the National Immunization Program (NIP) in Turkey. However, the respondents documented concerns about the cost of the vaccination. CONCLUSIONS Increasing pediatricians' knowledge and awareness of HPV and HPV vaccination may assist with the implementation of an effective NIP.
Quality of working life and organizational performance--two sides of the same coin?

OBJECTIVE This discussion paper presents the debate on the theoretical and practical claim that a simultaneous improvement in the quality of working life and organizational performance can be achieved by workplace development. METHODS We discuss theories that support this claim or could provide additional support, and mention six "programs" on workplace development or social innovation in European countries. We present the results of evaluation studies in Finland, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. RESULTS A correlation of 0.50 was found between the quality of working life and organizational performance. All evaluations showed that the simultaneous improvement in the quality of working life and performance was achieved in a number of, but not all, projects. The percentage of successful projects is not always clear and depends on which aspects of quality of working life and performance were taken into account. Our estimation would be 25-50%. Which factors are important for success? With the exception of the commitment of top management and employee participation, other determinants were difficult to distinguish due to differences in research designs and programs. CONCLUSIONS Important issues for discussion remain with respect to theory, research and practical approaches. Research should be more concerned with patterns of independent variables and how organizations deal with dilemmas. The most important pitfall appears to be taking a top-down as opposed to participatory approach involving employees and their supervisors in projects. National programs seem to be more effective than the initiatives of separate stakeholders groups.
Molecular Cloning, Characterization, and Regulation of the Human Mitochondrial Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase Gene*

The human mitochondrial serine hydroxymethyltransferase (mSHMT) gene was isolated, sequenced, and characterized. The 4.5-kilobase gene contains 10 introns and 11 exons, with all splice junctions conforming to the GT/AG rule. The 5′ promoter region contains consensus motifs for several regulatory proteins including PEA-3, Sp-1, AP-2, and a CCCTCCC motif common to many genes expressed in liver. Consensus TATA or CAAT sequence motifs are not present, and primer extension and 5′-rapid amplification of cDNA ends studies suggest that transcription initiation occurs at multiple sites. The mitochondrial leader sequence region of the deduced mRNA contains two potential ATG start sites, which are encoded by separate exons. The intervening 891-base pair intron contains consensus promoter elements suggesting that mSHMT may be transcribed from alternate promoters. 5′-Rapid amplification of cDNA ends analysis demonstrated that the first ATG is transcribed in human MCF-7 cells. However, transfection of Chinese hamster ovary cells deficient in mSHMT activity with the human mSHMT gene lacking exon 1 overcame the cell's glycine auxotrophy and restored intracellular glycine concentrations to that observed in wild-type cells, showing that exon 1 is not essential for mSHMT localization or activity and that translation initiation from the second ATG is sufficient for mSHMT import into the mitochondria. Mitochondrial SHMT mRNA levels in MCF-7 cells did not vary during the cell cycle and were not affected by the absence of glycine, serine, folate, thymidylate, or purines from the media.
Generalized Decoupled Polynomial Chaos for Nonlinear Circuits With Many Random Parameters

This letter proposes a general and effective decoupled technique for the stochastic simulation of nonlinear circuits via polynomial chaos. According to the standard framework, stochastic circuit waveforms are still expressed as expansions of orthonormal polynomials. However, by using a point-matching approach instead of the traditional stochastic Galerkin method, a transformation is introduced that renders the polynomial chaos coefficients decoupled and therefore obtainable via repeated non-intrusive simulations and an inverse linear transformation. As discussed throughout the letter, the proposed technique overcomes several limitations of state-of-the-art methods. In particular, the scalability is hugely improved and tens of random parameters can be simultaneously treated within the polynomial chaos framework. Validating application examples are provided that concern the statistical analysis of microwave amplifiers with up to 25 random parameters.
Electromagnetic solution for dielectric objects with multilevel fast multipole algorithm and singular value decomposition

The efficient calculation of the electromagnetic interactions with dielectric objects is always a challenge to CEM (Computational Electromagnetics). Among the numerical exact methods, the method of moment (MoM) is considered to be more preferable than finite element method (FEM) and finite difference method (FDTD) for its high precision and discretization on the geometry model instead of the field space. However, MoM generates a dense matrix, which handicaps its applications in electrically large problems. One way to improve the efficiency of MoM is to speed up the matrix-vector multiplication and reduce the memory requirement. For this purpose, a number of effective fast algorithms had been developed, such as the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) [1], the fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques [2], and the adaptive integral method (AIM) [3], etc.
Micromagnetometer Calibration for Accurate Orientation Estimation

Micromagnetometers, together with inertial sensors, are widely used for attitude estimation for a wide variety of applications. However, appropriate sensor calibration, which is essential to the accuracy of attitude reconstruction, must be performed in advance. Thus far, many different magnetometer calibration methods have been proposed to compensate for errors such as scale, offset, and nonorthogonality. They have also been used for obviate magnetic errors due to soft and hard iron. However, in order to combine the magnetometer with inertial sensor for attitude reconstruction, alignment difference between the magnetometer and the axes of the inertial sensor must be determined as well. This paper proposes a practical means of sensor error correction by simultaneous consideration of sensor errors, magnetic errors, and alignment difference. We take the summation of the offset and hard iron error as the combined bias and then amalgamate the alignment difference and all the other errors as a transformation matrix. A two-step approach is presented to determine the combined bias and transformation matrix separately. In the first step, the combined bias is determined by finding an optimal ellipsoid that can best fit the sensor readings. In the second step, the intrinsic relationships of the raw sensor readings are explored to estimate the transformation matrix as a homogeneous linear least-squares problem. Singular value decomposition is then applied to estimate both the transformation matrix and magnetic vector. The proposed method is then applied to calibrate our sensor node. Although there is no ground truth for the combined bias and transformation matrix for our node, the consistency of calibration results among different trials and less than $3^\circ$ root mean square error for orientation estimation have been achieved, which illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed sensor calibration method for practical applications.
Improved Sexual and Urinary Function in Women with Sacral Nerve Stimulation

Objectives: Urinary and sexual function improve following sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) for refractory overactive bladder. No significant associations between these changes have been found. Whether improvements in sexual function are independent of or secondary to improvements in urinary function remains unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze changes in urinary and sexual function in a homogeneous sample of patients undergoing SNS for urge urinary incontinence and subsequently identify associations between the two.
All-Optical Wavelength-Selective Switch Consisting of Asymmetric X-Junction Couplers and Raman Amplifiers for Wide Wavelength Range

In this paper, we propose an all-optical integrated-optic switch to be used in wide wavelength range. Two architectures of the switch are described. One architecture is formed with two cascaded interferometers consisting of three asymmetric X-junction couplers, two Raman amplifiers, and an attenuator. The other is formed with three cascaded interferometers consisting of four asymmetric X-junction couplers and three Raman amplifiers. In both architectures, multiple signals at different wavelengths can be wavelength-selectively switched by pumping light in the waveguide-type Raman amplifiers. The wavelength range is found to be as wide as about 400 nm, which is ten times as wide as the range usable in the previously reported switch. The switching operation in the wide wavelength range is verified numerically. As a result, switching extinction ratio of larger than 20 dB is obtained for wavelength range from 1350 to 1750 nm.
Magnesium(II) and zinc(II)-protoporphyrin IX's stabilize the lowest oxygen affinity state of human hemoglobin even more strongly than deoxyheme.

Studies of oxygen equilibrium properties of Mg(II)-Fe(II) and Zn(II)-Fe(II) hybrid hemoglobins (i.e. alpha2(Fe)beta2(M) and alpha2(M)beta2(Fe); M=Mg(II), Zn(II) (neither of these closed-shell metal ions binds oxygen or carbon monoxide)) are reported along with the X-ray crystal structures of alpha2(Fe)beta2(Mg) with and without CO bound. We found that Mg(II)-Fe(II) hybrids resemble Zn(II)-Fe(II) hybrids very closely in oxygen equilibrium properties. The Fe(II)-subunits in these hybrids bind oxygen with very low affinities, and the effect of allosteric effectors, such as proton and/or inositol hexaphosphate, is relatively small. We also found a striking similarity in spectrophotometric properties between Mg(II)-Fe(II) and Zn(II)-Fe(II) hybrids, particularly, the large spectral changes that occur specifically in the metal-containing beta subunits upon the R-T transition of the hybrids. In crystals, both alpha2(Fe)beta2(Mg) and alpha2(Fe-CO)beta2(Mg) adopt the quaternary structure of deoxyhemoglobin. These results, combined with the re-evaluation of the oxygen equilibrium properties of normal hemoglobin, low-affinity mutants, and metal substituted hybrids, point to a general tendency of human hemoglobin that when the association equilibrium constant of hemoglobin for the first binding oxygen molecule (K1) approaches 0.004 mmHg(-1), the cooperativity as well as the effect of allosteric effectors is virtually abolished. This is indicative of the existence of a distinct thermodynamic state which determines the lowest oxygen affinity of human hemoglobin. Moreover, excellent agreement between the reported oxygen affinity of deoxyhemoglobin in crystals and the lowest affinity in solution leads us to propose that the classical T structure of deoxyhemoglobin in the crystals represents the lowest affinity state in solution. We also survey the oxygen equilibrium properties of various metal-substituted hybrid hemoglobins studied over the past 20 years in our laboratory. The bulk of these data are consistent with the Perutz's trigger mechanism, in that the affinity of a metal hybrid is determined by the ionic radius of the metal, and also by the steric effect of the distal ligand, if present. However, there remains a fundamental contradiction among the oxygen equilibrium properties of the beta substituted hybrid hemoglobins.
Co‐localization of Rab3B and oxytocin to electron dense granules of the sheep corpus luteum during the estrous cycle

Oxytocin and its carrier protein, neurophysin, are both associated with luteal secretory granules which migrate from the paranuclear region to the cell membrane where exocytosis takes place. Rab3 proteins are thought to be associated with membrane vesicles or granules undergoing exocytotic fusion with the plasma membrane. The objective of this study was to determine whether Rab3B is co‐localized with oxytocin within the same secretory granules of large luteal cells obtained from corpora lutea of 16 Merino cross ewes at day 3, 7, 12 or 15 of the estrous cycle using immunocytochemistry.