Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymmetric Incentives in Peer-to-Peer Systems

In most application scenarios for Peer-to-Peer systems, in order to achieve an overall acceptable system performance an incentive scheme is required that motivates users to share as much as possible of their free resources Today most peers use connections of asymmetric links, such as A-DSL or cable modems. Therefore, users have significantly more download bandwidth than their available upload bandwidth. Applying this observation to incentive schemes suggests that one unit of upload bandwidth should be valued higher than one download unit. Using such an incentive scheme leads the economy of the system to inflation. The incentive scheme would finally collapse. However, by exhibiting the phenomenon of altruistic behavior altruistic peers would accumulate the waste amount of the incentive units. Thus, inflation might be avoided. Gathering the results of a detailed simulative approach, this paper shows how to balance asymmetric incentive schemes in order to avoid inflation.
Results and costs of intensive care in a tertiary university hospital from 1996–2000

Background: Costs of intensive care may be 20% of all hospital costs. Population aging likely increases the demand for intensive care services, while health care has financial limitations. Therefore data about outcome and costs of intensive care are needed. We studied changes in patient characteristics, outcome, intensity of care and costs of intensive care in a tertiary university hospital in Finland.
Improvements in the precision of in vivo bone lead measurements.

The measurement of Pb in bone by X-ray fluorescence using 109Cd gamma -ray to excite K-shell X-rays is considered. Improvements to the basic system performance were made by changing the design of the source collimator and by including data from the Pb K beta 1,3 photopeaks, having used pile-up rejection to reduce background in their region of the spectrum. The summed variances for eight sample measurements are given: two each of four plaster-of-Paris phantoms embedded in wax.
Efficiency Improvement of Nonuniformly Aged PV Arrays

The utilization of solar energy by photovoltaic (PV) systems has received much research and development attention across the globe. In the past decades, a large number of PV array have been installed. Since the installed PV arrays often operate in harsh environments, nonuniform aging can occur and impact adversely on the performance of PV systems, especially in the middle and late periods of their service life. Due to the high cost of replacing aged PV modules by new modules, it is appealing to improve energy efficiency of aged PV systems. For this purpose, this paper presents a PV module reconfiguration strategy to achieve the maximum power generation from nonuniformly aged PV arrays without significant investment. The proposed reconfiguration strategy is based on the cell-unit structure of PV modules, the operating voltage limit of grid-connected converter, and the resulted bucket effect of the maximum short-circuit current. The objectives are to analyze all the potential reorganization options of the PV modules, find the maximum power point, and express it in a proposition. This proposition is further developed into a novel implementable algorithm to calculate the maximum power generation and the corresponding reconfiguration of the PV modules. The immediate benefits from this reconfiguration are the increased total power output and maximum power point voltage information for global maximum power point tracking. A PV array simulation model is used to illustrate the proposed method under three different cases. Furthermore, an experimental rig is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method will open an effective approach for condition-based maintenance of emerging aging PV arrays.
Ketolide Antimicrobial Activity Persists after Disruption of Interactions with Domain II of 23S rRNA

ABSTRACT Ketolides are the latest derivatives developed from the macrolide erythromycin to improve antimicrobial activity. All macrolides and ketolides bind to the 50S ribosomal subunit, where they come into contact with adenosine 2058 (A2058) within domain V of the 23S rRNA and block protein synthesis. An additional interaction at nucleotide A752 in the rRNA domain II is made via the synthetic carbamate-alkyl-aryl substituent in the ketolides HMR3647 (telithromycin) and HMR3004, and this interaction contributes to their improved activities. Only a few macrolides, including tylosin, come into contact with domain II of the rRNA and do so via interactions with nucleotides G748 and A752. We have disrupted these macrolide-ketolide interaction sites in the rRNA to assess their relative importance for binding. Base substitutions at A752 were shown to confer low levels of resistance to telithromycin but not to HMR3004, while deletion of A752 confers low levels of resistance to both ketolides. Mutations at position 748 confer no resistance. Substitution of guanine at A2058 gives rise to the MLSB (macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B) phenotype, which confers resistance to all the drugs. However, resistance to ketolides was abolished when the mutation at position 2058 was combined with a mutation in domain II of the same rRNA. In contrast, the same dual mutations in rRNAs conferred enhanced resistance to tylosin. Our results show that the domain II interactions of telithromycin and HMR3004 differ from each other and from those of tylosin. The data provide no indication that mutations within domain II, either alone or in combination with an A2058 mutation, can confer significant levels of telithromycin resistance.
Generation of Expression Plasmids for Angiostatin, Endostatin and Timp-2 for Cancer Gene Therapy

Antiangiogenic therapy may represent a promising approach to cancer treatment. Indeed, the efficacy of endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors, including angiostatin, endostatin and TIMPs, has been demonstrated in many types of solid tumors in animal models. In view of the possible problems associated with long-term administration of inhibitors as recombinant proteins, we propose their delivery as nucleic acids through a gene therapy approach. To this end, eukaryotic expression constructs for murine angiostatin and endostatin as well as human TIMP-2 were generated, and characterized in vitro. All constructs carry the relevant cDNAs under the control of the strong HCMV promoter/enhancer, and cleavable leader signals to allow protein secretion. Expression of the angiogenesis inhibitors was detected by in vitro transcription/translation experiments as well as transfection of 293T cells, followed by Western blotting (WB) or radioimmunoprecipitation analysis of both cell lysates and supernatants (SNs). These constructs might be used for in vivo intramuscular delivery of plasmid DNA and as a set of reagents for the development of retroviral as well as adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors expressing angiogenesis inhibitors.
Impact of length of stay in emergency department on the outcome in patients with severe sepsis

Objective: The impact of emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) on outcome in critically ill patients is debatable. The factors that impact on mortality and the measures to improve survival have been widely studied. However, the association between EDLOS and outcome in the group of critically ill patients with severe sepsis requiring intensive care has not been investigated. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study over a 3-year period in a metropolitan 360-bed teaching hospital that has a 10-bed general intensive care unit (ICU). Adult patients presenting to emergency department during the study period with severe sepsis requiring ICU admission were included. The effect of EDLOS on in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit length of stay (ICULOS) and hospital length of stay (HLOS) was investigated. Results: During the study period 117 patients were admitted to ICU from the emergency department (ED) with severe sepsis. The mean age of the patients was 64.7 years and the sex ratio was comparable (51% male patients). The mean APACHE II score was 18.3. The median EDLOS was 8.3 hours. The median ICULOS and HLOS were 3 and 12 days respectively. The hospital mortality was 21.3%. There was no association between EDLOS and in-hospital mortality, ICULOS or HLOS. Conclusion: Our study revealed that in patients with severe sepsis, the duration of EDLOS had no effect on in-hospital mortality, ICULOS or HLOS. From Frankston Hospital, Frankston, Victoria, Australia (Kavi Haji, Darsim Haji, Ravindranath Tiruvoipati, Michael Bailey, Van Le Blanc, and John A. Botha). Address for correspondence:
Promotions and the Peter Principle

The best worker is not always the best candidate for manager. In these cases, do firms promote the best potential manager or the best worker in her current job? Using microdata on the performance of sales workers at 214 firms, we find evidence consistent with the “Peter Principle,” which predicts that firms prioritize current job performance in promotion decisions at the expense of other observable characteristics that better predict managerial performance. We estimate that the costs of promoting workers with lower managerial potential are high, suggesting either that firms are making inefficient promotion decisions or that the benefits of promotion-based incentives are great enough to justify the costs of managerial mismatch.
The impact of international air transport liberalisation : the case of Nigeria

The impact of air transport liberalisation suggested by economic theory and globalisation inspired Nigeria to adopt a more liberal policy towards its international Air Service Agreements (ASA). The policy involves implementing the Yamoussoukro Declaration with some African countries, an Open Skies Agreement with the US, and the easing of some market access regulations with several other countries. This study explores the extent to which international air transport liberalisation has impacted the Nigerian air transport market over the ten years (2001-10) since its commencement. The objectives of the study include, among others: to review the country’s ASAs and determine the level of liberalisation in those agreements, to study the performance of the ASA in terms of international air traffic demand in the market, to determine the impacts of liberalisation on passenger welfare in the market, and to evaluate the impact of further liberalising market access and carrier ownership. The study employed the use of secondary data relating to traffic volumes and socio-economic variables from the market. These were subjected to analytical methods commonly used in the study of liberalisation, including descriptive statistics, entropy and econometric modelling in order to establish relationships among the variables. Also, primary data were collected from a field survey and analysed to complement some of the findings. The empirical findings were able to fulfil the objectives of the study. It was discovered that most countries’ ASAs were not fully liberalised, but have some level of liberalisation. For a country to attain market access liberalisation, the ASA should grant fifth freedom rights, free pricing, multiple designations, and free determination of capacity and frequency. Another salient discovery was that liberalisation of market access and carrier ownership could spur traffic demand in all route markets, which could substantially increase total annual international traffic flows. The impact on traffic could trigger changes in air fares that would enhance consumer welfare. Nigeria’s airport infrastructure is found to be capable of accommodating the expected traffic increases as a result of the liberalisation. Although there were some adverse effects from the policy which include capital flight and the possible liquidation of home carriers, the thesis concludes that liberalisation could stimulate traffic demand in the market significantly, which could enhance revenue to the industry for sustainable development. The study concludes with recommendations and areas of further research.
Unsatisfiability Proofs for Parallel SAT Solver Portfolios with Clause Sharing and Inprocessing

State-of-the-art SAT solvers are highly tuned systematic-search procedures augmented with formula simplification techniques. They emit unsatisfiability proofs in the DRAT format to guarantee correctness of their answers. However, the DRAT format is inadequate to model some parallel SAT solvers such as the award-winning system Plingeling . In Plingeling , each solver in the portfolio applies clause addition and elimination techniques. Clause sharing is restricted to clauses that do not contain melted literals. In this paper, we develop a transition system that models the computation of such parallel portfolio solvers. The transition system allows us to formally reason about portfolio solvers, and we show that the formalism is sound and complete. Based on the formalism, we derive a new proof format, called parallel DRAT, which can be used to certify UNSAT answers.
A CREB-C/EBPβ cascade induces M2 macrophage-specific gene expression and promotes muscle injury repair

Macrophages play an essential role in the resolution of tissue damage through removal of necrotic cells, thus paving the way for tissue regeneration. Macrophages also directly support the formation of new tissue to replace the injury, through their acquisition of an anti-inflammatory, or M2, phenotype, characterized by a gene expression program that includes IL-10, the IL-13 receptor, and arginase 1. We report that deletion of two CREB-binding sites from the Cebpb promoter abrogates Cebpb induction upon macrophage activation. This blocks the downstream induction of M2-specific Msr1, Il10, II13ra, and Arg-1 genes, whereas the inflammatory (M1) genes Il1, Il6, Tnfa, and Il12 are not affected. Mice carrying the mutated Cebpb promoter (βΔCre) remove necrotic tissue from injured muscle, but exhibit severe defects in muscle fiber regeneration. Conditional deletion of the Cebpb gene in muscle cells does not affect regeneration, showing that the C/EBPβ cascade leading to muscle repair is muscle-extrinsic. While βΔCre macrophages efficiently infiltrate injured muscle they fail to upregulate Cebpb, leading to decreased Arg-1 expression. CREB-mediated induction of Cebpb expression is therefore required in infiltrating macrophages for upregulation of M2-specific genes and muscle regeneration, providing a direct genetic link between these two processes.
A model for guiding and measuring company performance towards achieving manufacturing excellence

In order to assist companies to achieve manufacturing excellence, this study develops an integrated model combining TQM, JIT and TPM, and provides guidelines for the implementation of the model and for measuring company performance. The model incorporates a series of WCM practices and performance measurement indicators. In order to validate the Integrated Model, hypotheses are developed and examined using data from a nationally-based mail survey. In addition, a case study is conducted covering five plants, to understand the contextual factors behind company practices. It is confirmed that plants implementing TQM, JIT and TPM concurrently outperform those which implement only one or two of the methods, and there is no difference in performance among plants using either one or two of the method s. Further investigation on the causes of difference in. performance reveals that, in addition to the simultaneous implementation of the three methods, the establishment of targets leads to better performance. However, there is insufficient evidence to claim that involving employees in target setting has an effect on performance. Better performance may result from greater extent of use of practices. It is confirmed that plants adopting TQM, JIT and TPM have higher application of practices than those which do not, and that there is positive correlation between the extent o f application of practices and the level of performance. This implies that the adoption of TQM, JIT and TPM leads to better performance only when it is accompanied by the application of practices. Moreover, synergy in concurrent use of practices is also confirmed: plants applying TQM, JIT and TPM practices outperform those which adequately apply one or two set(s) of the core practices, given adequate use of infrastructure practices. The findings of the case study indicate that the applicabil ity and efficacy of TQM, JIT and TPM, and some of the corresponding practices, are influenced by the contextual factors o f the company. Although these findings are more realistic, their power of generalisation is limited. Overall, it is concluded that, consistent with contextual factors, companies should implement the Integrated Model in its entirety in order to attain superior performance. i
Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism

Understanding quality in leisure and tourism the industry context, the consumer, the concept of quality in leisure and tourism, the experience, the role of the customer designing quality service characteristics in leisure and tourism, service design/process management, service standards, managing capacity achieving or delivering quality quality as a goal, quality management systems, tools and techniques human resource management, quality culture.
The Effects of Executive Compensation Contracts and Auditor Effort on Pro Forma Reporting Decisions

We investigate two potential deterrents of aggressive pro forma reporting. First, the design of compensation contracts can encourage managers to adopt either a short- or a long-term focus. While it is difficult to observe whether compensation contracts are tied directly to pro forma earnings numbers, we posit that managers with a short-term horizon are more likely to make aggressive pro forma exclusions than managers with a long-term focus. Second, auditor effort can discourage potentially misleading pro forma earnings adjustments. Consistent with our predictions, we find that when compensation contracts include a long-term performance plan, managers are less likely to make potentially misleading pro forma earnings adjustments. Similarly, we find some evidence of a negative association between auditor effort (as proxied by higher-than-normal audit fees) and potentially misleading earnings adjustments. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with the notion that the design of compensation contracts and auditor effort can significantly influence managers’ pro forma reporting decisions. The results also suggest that investors discount earnings information when opportunism is likely to motivate managers’ earnings adjustments. Moreover, when managers make aggressive earnings exclusions in the presence of safeguards that limit opportunistic behavior, investors appear to react even more negatively.
Technology Use and Sleep Quality in Preadolescence and Adolescence.

STUDY OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to analyze differences between preadolescents and adolescents on the use of technology and to test the contribution of using Internet and mobile phone, and circadian preference on sleep quality. METHODS We recruited a sample of 850 (364 males) preadolescents and adolescents. Self-report questionnaires about sleep schedule, sleep wake behavior problems, circadian preferences, and the use of technology (e.g., Internet and mobile phone) were administered. Students were asked to fill out the School Sleep Habits Survey, a self-report questionnaire on the use of technology, the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), and the Shorter Promis Questionnaire (SPQ). RESULTS Adolescents reported more sleep problems, a tendency toward eveningness, and an increase of Internet and phone activities, as well as social network activities, while preadolescents were more involved in gaming console and television viewing. The regression analysis performed separately in the two age groups showed that sleep quality was affected by the circadian preference (eveningness) in both groups. Adolescents' bad sleep quality was consistently associated with the mobile phone use and number of devices in the bedroom, while in preadolescents, with Internet use and turning-off time. CONCLUSIONS The evening circadian preference, mobile phone and Internet use, numbers of other activities after 21:00, late turning off time, and number of devices in the bedroom have different negative influence on sleep quality in preadolescents and adolescents.
Geographical clusters, alliance network structure, and innovation in the US biopharmaceutical industry

I examine the effects of firms' cluster membership on their alliance network structure, and how firms' absorptive capacity moderates the relationship between alliance network structure and innovation. Little is known regarding the inter-relationship between cluster membership, network structure and innovation. This study bridges this gap by first establishing the endogenous nature of network structure with respect to cluster membership and then by studying the moderating effect of absorptive capacity for the alliance network structure and innovation relationship. I contribute to the strategic management literature in several important ways. First, I clarify the implications of cluster membership on network structure by including two competing explanations: complementary and substitution mechanisms. Contrary to the popular belief that cluster membership does not matter, I find that it does matter in the study of the US biopharmaceutical industry. My findings show that firms' location within a cluster area does not substitute for their strategic choices specifically for their alliance strategies. Second, I theoretically argue and then empirically demonstrate that network structure is an endogenous phenomenon with respect to cluster membership. Third, I demonstrate that when controlled for endogeneity with respect to cluster membership, alliance network structure and innovation relationship is positively moderated by firms' absorptive capacity. In contrast to prior literature, I find that the main effect of firms' structural holes on innovation is not significant when controlled for endogeneity. This finding is important given the mixed findings for structural holes and innovation relationship in previous studies. Finally, to the best of my knowledge, in the strategic management literature this study is the first study to introduce an exponential regression model with Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) estimation that accounts for both the endogenous nature of independent variables and the count nature of dependent variable.
Novel Bisabolanoids In Rosa Rugosa Leaves

Bisaborosaol A (1), a novel sesquiterpene belonging to the bisabolane class, was isolated from Rosa rugosa leaves. The absolute configuration of 1 at C-4 was shown to be inverted in comparison with bisabolanoids from Compositae. Bisaborosaol A (1) and its corresponding carboxylic acid (2) may be biogenetically related to the carotanoids which constitute the major sesquiterpenes of R. rugosa leaves