Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Achievement of LDL-C goals depends on baseline LDL-C and choice and dose of statin: An analysis from the VOYAGER database

Background Reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels decreases cardiovascular risk in direct proportion to the decrease in LDL-C. Design The aim of this study was to assess the importance of baseline LDL-C and choice and dose of statin in achievement of LDL-C goals of 100 and 70 mg/dl, using a novel statistical model. The analysis included 30,102 patient exposures to rosuvastatin 10–40 mg or atorvastatin 10–80 mg from 31 direct comparative trials in the VOYAGER database. Methods For each statin dose, percentage goal achievement was plotted for 20 equally large subgroups defined by baseline LDL-C. Logistic regression analysis was then performed for each statin dose to estimate the percentage of patients reaching target. Best-fit logistic regression curves were plotted ‘pair-wise’, comparing each rosuvastatin dose with equal or higher doses of atorvastatin. Results LDL-C <100 mg/dl was achieved by 53.7–85.5% of patients on rosuvastatin 10–40 mg and 43.3–80.0% of those on atorvastatin 10–80 mg, whereas LDL-C <70 mg/dl was achieved by 4.5–44.0% of rosuvastatin-treated patients and 6.5–41.4% of those on atorvastatin. Similar differences in efficacy favouring rosuvastatin over equal or double doses of atorvastatin were observed across the range of baseline LDL-C levels for both LDL-C goals, being more pronounced at higher baseline values. Conclusions Baseline LDL-C and choice and dose of statin are important for LDL-C goal achievement. The present analysis may allow prediction of individual patient response to different statins at different doses.
Asymmetric Timeliness and the Resolution of Investor Disagreement and Uncertainty at Earnings Announcements

This study finds that greater asymmetric timeliness of earnings in reflecting good and bad news is associated with slower resolution of investor disagreement and uncertainty at earnings announcements. These findings indicate that a potential cost of asymmetric timeliness is added complexity from requiring investors to disaggregate earnings into good and bad news components to assess the implications of the earnings announcement for their investment decisions. Such a disaggregation impedes the speed with which investor disagreement and uncertainty resolve. The findings indicate that asymmetric timeliness also delays price discovery at earnings announcements. We also find a positive relation between asymmetric timeliness and stock returns during the earnings announcement period after the initial price reaction to the announcement, which is consistent with resolution of valuation uncertainty. However, we do not find clear evidence of more net stock purchases during this period by insiders of firms with greater asymmetric timeliness. JEL Classifications: M41; G14.
Distributed Greedy Signal Recovery for Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging

Distributed radar networks for through-the-wall radar imaging (TWRI) have the advantage of flexibility, high accuracy, and fault tolerance. We propose a modified distributed orthogonal matching pursuit (MDOMP) algorithm with an efficient communication scheme for the sparse scene reconstruction in TWRI applications. The communication costs, computational complexity, and reconstruction performance are analyzed for the proposed algorithm and compared with existing distributed sparse reconstruction methods. Simulated and experimental data are used to demonstrate that the MDOMP provides desirable performance at moderate communication and computation costs.
Less label, more free: Approaches in label‐free quantitative mass spectrometry

In this review we examine techniques, software, and statistical analyses used in label‐free quantitative proteomics studies for area under the curve and spectral counting approaches. Recent advances in the field are discussed in an order that reflects a logical workflow design. Examples of studies that follow this design are presented to highlight the requirement for statistical assessment and further experiments to validate results from label‐free quantitation. Limitations of label‐free approaches are considered, label‐free approaches are compared with labelling techniques, and forward‐looking applications for label‐free quantitative data are presented. We conclude that label‐free quantitative proteomics is a reliable, versatile, and cost‐effective alternative to labelled quantitation.
A multidimensional service-value scale based on Holbrook’s typology of customer value: Bridging the gap between the concept and its measurement

Purpose In the fertile line of research on consumer value from the services literature, a gap exists between theoretical and empirical knowledge, in particular regarding Holbrook’s conceptual value framework. The purpose of this paper is to find construct validity for a multidimensional value scale based on Holbrook’s proposal. Design/methodology/approach Based on a literature review, a qualitative phase, and consultation with an expert, eight value scales (efficiency, service quality, play, aesthetics, status, esteem, ethics, and escapism as an adaptation of spirituality) are tested on a sample of 585 hotel customers and are further analyzed with simple and partial correlations, multiple regressions, and structural modeling. Findings Following the literature on the merits of Holbrook’s value typology, results are presented in three concatenated phases: validation of Holbrook’s eight value scales corresponding to his eight value types; interrelationships between these value types showing a predominance of the extrinsic-intrinsic and self-other dimensions; and construction of six indices based on the 2×2×2 matrix (self, other, extrinsic, intrinsic, active, and reactive) and a value index as a higher-order representation. The results support Holbrook’s typology, thereby supporting construct validity for the multidimensional scales. Research limitations/implications Implications for further conceptual research on value are presented. Meanwhile, the empirical study is context-specific, i.e. related to a hospitality experience. Originality/value Although Holbrook’s typology has gained widespread attention, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has tested all eight value types simultaneously in the same empirical work.
Secure Decentralised Storage Networks

In recent years, cloud-based computing and storage have become increasingly popular,as they remove the need for users and developers to buy or rent expensive dedicated hardware on an ongoing basis. This has led to the increasing centralisation of both services and storage, where users are reliant upon a small number of cloud-based providers to hold their data, and provide them with services they use. Recent events have shown that security breaches of centralised data stores can lead to significant quantities of personal data being revealed. This centralisation can also result in inconvenience in the event of the failure of the service provider, resulting in potential data loss or a loss of utility of the service. In contrast, a decentralised service and storage architecture removes the single point of failure from a network, and allows users to remove their dependency on a single company or service provider. In addition, by preventing storage providers from having access to user data, as is inherently needed in a decentralised network to preserve confidentiality,it is possible for users to protect their data from theft or unauthorised access,giving rise to data security and privacy benefits. This thesis explores the the challenges encountered in implementing a secure decentralised network, based around storage, and presents solutions to some of these problems. A security analysis of the MaidSafe network is firstly given, setting the context of the work, and investigating the state-of-the-art. Potential uses for decentralised services are considered, including for use on mobile devices. The importance of client device security is also considered, and a number of vulnerabilities affecting the security of client-based software are identified and explored. A practical design of decentralised architecture for preserving user privacy when discovering users is also contributed, to illustrate how decentralised service design can be used to enhance privacy of existing systems, and solve otherwise unsolved problems. A review and analysis of the privacy policies of popular web-based services then shows the extent to which user privacy is at risk from centralised web services. Finally, the concepts of identity and authentication within decentralised networks are considered, with a novel smartcard-based approach to securing user credentials within a decentralised network demonstrated.
Young Adult Sarawakian Purchase Intention On Junk Food Based On Packaging Design Elements

An effective proactive product promotion is much needed to compete in the today’s competitive global market. Together, the product packaging has come to play an important role to influence consumers’ purchasing intention. The purpose of this study is to examine consumers’ perceptions towards packaging design elements and to determine the most influential factors on their purchase intention. A survey was conducted using self-administered structured questionnaires from 385 young adult respondents in Kota Samarahan and Kuching, Sarawak. Two junk food packaging with different package designs and attributes were used in this study. Major results show that the packaging colour, graphic, size, shape, material, and information have significant relationship with purchase intention. The finding could provide important insights to marketers and food manufacturers to adopt an appropriate packaging strategy for junk food to attract more sales from this particular group of consumers.
Control of flue gas emissions based on models derived from historical plant operation data

Although the last decade there is a remarkable trend towards green energy, thermal power plants still cover most of the energy production and will continue to do so in the near future. Consequently, it is important to apply methods reducing the gas emissions. Towards this goal, an innovative software application that improves the regulation of combustion parameters is presented in this paper. Data mining techniques are used to process historical data and extract models on which regulation rules are based, rather on the thermodynamic theory. Multi Agent Systems are adopted to represent the various tasks that constitute the control operation procedure. The statistical analysis suggest that a reduction of NOx and CO emissions should be expected.
Turbo equalizer for OFDM signals in multipath and multi-Doppler environment

In OFDM transmission, a loss of subcarrier orthogonality due to the Doppler-spread of the channel leads to inter-carrier interference (ICI), especially under a mobile environment. ICI causes a significant degradation of bit error rate (BER) characteristics and this influence becomes larger as the carrier frequency or the velocity of the mobile receiver increases. A method is proposed to reduce ICI caused by the residual carrier frequency offsets and multiple Doppler-spreads of the channel. Simulation results show that the proposed 'turbo scheme' provides better BER performance than a conventional receiver, or a receiver employing a decision feedback equalizer (DFE), especially at higher signal-to-noise ratios.
Conformation‐specific Display of 4E10 and 2F5 Epitopes on Self‐assembling Protein Nanoparticles as a Potential HIV Vaccine

The self‐assembling protein nanoparticle (SAPN) is an antigen‐presenting system that has been shown to be suitable for use as a vaccine platform. The SAPN scaffold is based on the principles of icosahedral symmetry, beginning from a monomeric chain that self‐assembles into an ordered oligomeric state. The monomeric chain contains two covalently linked α‐helical coiled‐coil domains, an N‐terminal de novo‐designed pentameric tryptophan zipper and a C‐terminal de novo‐designed trimeric leucine zipper, which assemble along the internal symmetry axes of an icosahedron. In this study, we incorporated the membrane proximal external region (MPER) of HIV‐1 gp41 from HXB2 into the N‐terminal pentamer, referred to as MPER‐SAPN, attempting to reproduce the α‐helical state of the 4E10 epitope while maintaining a structurally less‐constrained 2F5 epitope. Sprague–Dawley rats were immunized with MPER‐SAPNs, and their sera were analyzed for induced humoral anti‐HIV‐1 responses. We show that high membrane proximal external region‐specific titers can be raised via the repetitive antigen display of MPER on the SAPN without the need for adjuvant. However, none of the sera displayed a detectable neutralizing activity against HIV‐1. Thus, 4E10‐ and 2F5‐like neutralizing antibodies could not be elicited by MPER conformationally restrained in the SAPN context.
A simple and robust UPLC-SRM/MS method to quantify urinary eicosanoids

Eicosanoids are key mediators and regulators of inflammation and oxidative stress often used as biomarkers for diseases and pathological conditions such as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and cancer. Analytically, comprehensive and robust quantification of different eicosanoid species in a multi-method approach is problematic because most of these compounds are relatively unstable and may differ in their chemical properties. Here we describe a novel ultra-performance liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring mass spectroscopy (UPLC-SRM/MS) method for simultaneous quantification of key urinary eicosanoids, including the prostaglandins (PG) tetranor PGE-M, 8-iso-, and 2,3-dinor-8-iso-PGF2α; the thromboxanes (TXs) 11-dehydro- and 2,3-dinor-TXB2; leukotriene E4; and 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. In contrast to previous methods, which used time-consuming and complex solid phase extraction, we prepared samples with a simple liquid/liquid extraction procedure. Because collision-induced dissociation produced characteristic product ions for all analytes, no derivatization step for SRM/MS analysis was necessary. Analytes were separated with a short UPLC reversed-phase column (1.7 µm particles), allowing shorter run times than conventional HPLC columns. The method was validated and applied to human urine samples showing excellent precision, accuracy, detection limits, and robustness. In summary, the developed method allows robust and sensitive profiling of urinary eicosanoid species, making it a useful and valuable tool for biomarker profiling in clinical/toxicological studies.
Proposed mechanism for a novel insertion/deletion frameshift mutation (I414G415ATCG→CCA) in the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha (HNF‐1α) gene which causes maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (MODY)

Maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a monogenic subgroup of non‐insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) characterized by an early age of diagnosis (usually < 25 years) and an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Mutations in the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha (HNF‐1α) [MODY3] gene represent the most common cause of MODY in the UK and a common cause of MODY in many other populations. Sixty‐three different mutations have been described in a total of 112 families worldwide. This report describes two families, not known to be related, who carry a novel insertion/deletion mutation (I414G415ATCG→CCA) and a 6bp intronic deletion of the HNF‐1α gene in cis. We propose that the insertion/deletion mutation has arisen by formation of a hairpin loop due to the presence of a quasi‐palindromic sequence, followed by insertion of CC and deletion of TCG resulting in the increased stability of the hairpin loop. Hum Mutat 16:273, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Millimeter-wave Tunable Filter Using MEMS Varactors

A mm-wave tunable 3-pole filter was developed using high-Q MEMS varactors on a quartz substrate using a coplanar-waveguide (CPW) implementation. The measured tuning range was 23.8 GHz (0 V) to 22.6 GHz (15 V) with an associated insertion loss of ¿2.8 dB to ¿3.8 dB, and a return loss better than ¿12 dB over the entire tuning range. The measured 1-dB bandwidth was 8.4% at 23.8 GHz and 6.6% at 22.6 GHz. The extracted capacitance change in the analog MEMS varactors is 1.20. These numbers represent the best results achieved to-date for tunable filters. A larger tuning range can be obtained with the new of high-capacitance ratio varactors (2:1).
Promoting Quality Assurance Practices for ODL Programmes in West African Higher Education Institutions: The Role of RETRIDAL

The growth of open and distance learning (ODL) in higher education institutions in West Africa has generated concern about comparability of standards and recognition accorded products of ODL institutions. There is also concern about adherence of newly established ODL institutions to prescribed quality criteria hence public skepticism about ODL. To address this challenge, the foremost single-mode higher institution in Nigeria, the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) was chosen to host the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL) that was established by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) to build capacity in West African higher institutions in ODL. This paper reviewed the role of RETRIDAL at improvement of quality in NOUN and other ODL institutions in West Africa along a Framework involving quality policy and plan, identifying critical function, specification of standards, involvement of users, documentation, training and staff development, monitoring and cost. RETRIDAL organizes training workshops for single and dual mode higher institutions in West Africa. Research and Development activities of RETRIDAL include programme evaluation on various functional areas of distance education for systems development and improvement. The institutional, national and international training programmes with the help of RETRIDAL-NOUN resource persons and instructional delivery media facilities available at NOUN have continued to improve the quality of instruction for distance learners, aiming at ensuring zero-defects in ODL programmes, enhancing fitness for purpose.
Nondeterministic Quantum Query and Communication Complexities

We study nondeterministic quantum algorithms for Boolean functions f. Such algorithms have positive acceptance probability on input x iff f(x)=1. In the setting of query complexity, we show that the nondeterministic quantum complexity of a Boolean function is equal to its "nondeterministic polynomial" degree. We also prove a quantum-vs.-classical gap of 1 vs. n for nondeterministic query complexity for a total function. In the setting of communication complexity, we show that the nondeterministic quantum complexity of a two-party function is equal to the logarithm of the rank of a nondeterministic version of the communication matrix. This implies that the quantum communication complexities of the equality and disjointness functions are n+1 if we do not allow any error probability. We also exhibit a total function in which the nondeterministic quantum communication complexity is exponentially smaller than its classical counterpart.
Community-acquired pneumonia

Purpose of review Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and expenditure of resources. When followed, guidelines for CAP management have been demonstrated to improve clinical outcomes; however, several issues are still open. This review summarizes the recent advances in this field and the priority needs for future research. Recent findings Recently identified clinical and biochemical tools promise to improve the assessment of CAP severity; however, definition of the most accurate and feasible rule(s) for clinical practice is now necessary. Some empirical antimicrobial regimens are still being debated, such as the need for atypical pathogen coverage in home-treated and nonsevere hospitalized patients and the inclusion of respiratory fluoroquinolones among first-choice molecules. New drugs such as tigecycline and cethromycin appear promising. Pharmacokinetically enhanced amoxicillin/clavulanate is highly effective, even for treating CAP caused by multiple-drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Other aspects recently clarified include the inappropriateness of rigid time-to-first-antibiotic-dose rules, the advantages of shorter antibiotic treatments for nonsevere patients and the need of special clinical attention for acute myocardial infarction among patients with severe CAP or clinical failure. Summary Recent developments have significantly contributed to refine the management of CAP patients. However, various hot topics remain undefined as yet and urgently require ad-hoc research in order to optimize the outcomes and the costs of this highly social-impacting disease.
High-Integrity Multitasking in SPARK: Static Detection of Data Races and Locking Cycles

SPARK is a subset of Ada designed to enable formal verification. A new release of SPARK 2014, based on the Ada 2012 standard, incorporates support for multitasking, based on the Ravenscar Profile, which subsets the full Ada tasking model to a relatively static, single-level tasking model. This paper describes the safety requirements relating to multitasking in this version of SPARK, and the corresponding static checks performed by the SPARK 2014 toolset.
Capital structure determinants and adjustment speed: An empirical analysis of Dutch SMEs

This paper presents empirical evidence of both the determinants and the adjustment speed of capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands. Using an administrative panel data set of the period 2000-2014, containing 153,923 fi rms, we estimate a partial adjustment model through system GMM. The results show that firm size and pro tability reduce debt to assets ratios, while tangible assets, depreciation, and marginal taxes increase them. Growth of assets is either statistically or economically insigni cant. The estimated adjustment speed parameter is 0.748, indicating that the adjustment process is particularly slow in the Netherlands.
The Conceptualization of Integrated Consumer Health Informatics Utilization Framework

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrat d consumer health informatics utilization framework t hat can be used to gauge the online health information needs and us age patterns among Malaysian women. The proposed framework was d eveloped based on four different theories/models: Use and Gr atification Theory, Technology Acceptance 3 Model, Health Belie f Model, and Multi-level Model of Information Seeking. The relev ant constructs and research hypotheses are also presented in this paper. The framework will be tested in order for it to be used successfully to identify Malaysian women’s preferences of online he alth information resources and health information seeking activities . Keywords—Consumer Health Informatics, Consumer Preferences, Information Needs and Usage Patterns, O line Health Information, Women Studies
Negative Perceptions of Urban Tourism Community in Beijing: Based on Online Comments

: The development of urban tourism community (UTC) will bring new vigor and vitality into the urban sustainable development. There are abundant tourists’ comments about personal experience in UTC in online travel communities, which provide good access to the knowledge of negative perceptions of urban tourism community. Based on online comments, this paper used content analysis method to research tourists’ negative perceptions about five typical tourism communities in Beijing, whereby the common problems and special problems of UTC were identified. According to the research results, the authors made suggestions to the sustainable development of UTC in Beijing.