Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A periodic review, production planning model with uncertain capacity and uncertain demand—optimality of extended myopic policies

Increasing product complexity, manufacturing environment complexity and an increased emphasis on product quality are all factors leading to uncertainties in production processes. These uncertainties are in the form of unplanned machine maintenance, varying production yields and rework, among others. In planning for production, an adequate model must incorporate these uncertainties into the representation of the production process. This paper treats the aggregate planning problem for a single product with random demand and random capacity. In the single-period problem, random capacity does not affect the optimal policy but results in a unimodal, nonconvex cost function. In the multiple-period and infinite-horizon settings order-up-to policies that are dependent on the distribution of capacity are shown to be optimal in spite of a nonconvex cost. In the infinite-horizon setting an intuitive description of the situation leads to the notion of a class of extended myopic policies, requiring the consideration of review periods of uncertain length.
A qualitative examination of factors influencing assistant principal motivation to pursue a principalship in an era of accountability

The purpose of this study was to examine assistant principals with five or more years of experience and investigate the factors that influence their decision to pursue a school principal position. The study examined Self-Determined Motivation Theory and identified components that influence assistant principal motivation. The study found that assistant principals have a high level of self-efficacy and believe in their ability to positively impact educational organizations. The study also found that accountability pressures of Achieve NJ and No Child Left Behind influence the perception of the school principal role and limit the attractiveness of the position among career assistant principals. The study also found that assistant principals enjoy the role of implementation regarding school programs and vision. Assistant principals appreciate the ability to remain in close contact with students and all components of school leadership and see the school principal position as limiting what they find to be most enjoyable as school administrators. This study included ten assistant principals with five or more years experience from all grade spans, socioeconomic status, and demographic groups but was limited to Middlesex County, New Jersey. ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL MOTIVATION TO PURSUE A PRINCIPALSHIP iii
Hydrogen peroxide mediates hyperglycemia-induced invasive activity via ERK and p38 MAPK in human pancreatic cancer

Diabetes mellitus and pancreatic cancer are intimately related, as approximately 85% of pancreatic cancer patients suffer from glucose intolerance or even diabetes. In this study, we evaluate the underlying mechanism by which hyperglycemia modulates the invasive potential of cancer cells and contributes to their enhanced metastatic behavior. Here we show that hyperglycemia increases the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration through up-regulation of manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) expression, which further activates the ERK and p38 MAPK pathways, as well as the transcription factors NF-κB and AP-1, in a time-dependent manner. The invasion of pancreatic cancer cells resulting from the activation of the H2O2/MAPK axis under high glucose conditions is effectively inhibited by PD 98059 (ERK inhibitor), SB 203580 (p38 MAPK inhibitor), polyethylene glycol-conjugated catalase (PEG-CAT), or the siRNA specific to SOD2. In addition, streptozotocin-treated diabetic nude mice exhibit a stronger tumor invasive ability in renal capsule xenografts which could be suppressed by PEG-CAT treatment. Furthermore, the integrated optical density (IOD) of SOD2 and uPA stainings is higher in the tumor tissues of pancreatic cancer patients with diabetes compared with pancreatic cancer patients with euglycemia. Taken together, our results demonstrate that hyperglycemia enhances cell invasive ability through the SOD2/H2O2/MAPK axis in human pancreatic cancer. Thus, SOD2/H2O2/MAPK axis may represent a promising therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer patients combined with diabetes mellitus.
On the Use of the Moment-Matching Technique for Pricing and Hedging Multi-Asset Spread Options

The aim of this paper is to show the benefit of applying a moment matching technique to the short leg component in order to price and hedge multi-asset spread options: in particular, we approximate the real dynamics of the short leg component by taking a log-normal proxy, whose equivalent volatility can be computed by performing a two-moment matching approximation. The pricing of the option is then performed once the equivalent correlation parameter between the long leg underlying and the proxy short leg component has been calculated. The main advantage associated with the moment matching approach proposed in this paper is a reduction of the dimension of the pricing problem: we can, indeed, continue using all the option formulas available in the literature for two-legged spread options, i.e. spread options written on two underlyings. Besides it, the combined use of an option formula for two-legged spread options and the moment matching technique applied to the short leg component provides a good approximation to the Monte Carlo simulation. It is well-known that the Monte Carlo price and Greeks can be considered as the benchmark since no exact formula is available for the pricing and hedging of multi-asset spread options. The accuracy of our approach is even comparable to the one provided by using closed form approximation formulas based on three underlyings, where each underlying entering into the short leg component is treated separately.
Clostridium difficile Has Two Parallel and Essential Sec Secretion Systems*

Protein translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane is an essential process in all bacteria. The Sec system, comprising at its core an ATPase, SecA, and a membrane channel, SecYEG, is responsible for the majority of this protein transport. Recently, a second parallel Sec system has been described in a number of Gram-positive species. This accessory Sec system is characterized by the presence of a second copy of the energizing ATPase, SecA2; where it has been studied, SecA2 is responsible for the translocation of a subset of Sec substrates. In common with many pathogenic Gram-positive species, Clostridium difficile possesses two copies of SecA. Here, we describe the first characterization of the C. difficile accessory Sec system and the identification of its major substrates. Using inducible antisense RNA expression and dominant-negative alleles of secA1 and secA2, we demonstrate that export of the S-layer proteins (SLPs) and an additional cell wall protein (CwpV) is dependent on SecA2. Accumulation of the cytoplasmic precursor of the SLPs SlpA and other cell wall proteins was observed in cells expressing dominant-negative secA1 or secA2 alleles, concomitant with a decrease in the levels of mature SLPs in the cell wall. Furthermore, expression of either dominant-negative allele or antisense RNA knockdown of SecA1 or SecA2 dramatically impaired growth, indicating that both Sec systems are essential in C. difficile.
Occupational risk factors associated with work-exacerbated asthma in Quebec

Background There is limited information regarding the occupational exposures of subjects with a diagnosis of work-exacerbated asthma (WEA). Objectives To: (1) identify potential specific occupational, chemical, biological and physical agents associated with incident cases of WEA and (2) compare these agents with occupational exposures of occupational asthma (OA) and non-work-related asthma (NWRA) cases. Methods Subjects were workers with work-related asthma (WRA) or NWRA referred between 2005 and 2008 to two Quebec clinics specialised in the field of WRA. Specific inhalation challenges were performed to differentiate OA from WEA. Work exposures were assessed using a detailed occupational questionnaire. Exposures to 41 chemical and biological agents were coded in a semiquantitative way according to a combination of indices for concentration in workplace air, frequency and confidence of exposure by an occupational hygienist expert in occupational exposure coding. This expert was blind to the medical status of WEA, OA or NWRA. Five physical agents were coded on a yes/no scale. Results 153 subjects were enrolled (53 WEA, 67 OA and 33 NWRA). WEA cases were significantly more exposed to ammonia, engine exhaust fumes, silica, mineral fibres, aerosol propellants and solvents, and significantly less exposed to animal derived dust and enzymes than were OA cases. Exposure to physical conditions did not differ between WEA and OA. Conclusions Exposures associated with WEA differ from those associated with OA in this study. A proportion of subjects with WEA may suffer from low-dose irritant asthma, which remains a hypothesis to be tested.
Three Themes About Democratic Enterprises: Capital Structure, Education, and Spin-Offs

The purpose of this paper is to delve into three side-arguments or themes about democratic enterprises (as opposed to considering first principles). Approach: 1) The first theme is the question of capital structure where labor-managed firms are often pictured as having "horizon problem. " Yet this is only a minor technical problem which is solved by the system of internal capital accounts as in the Mondragon cooperatives. 2) The second theme concerns the attempt to implement participative management and the related ideas of active learning in educational theory in the workplace. The point is that the democratic firm is the natural setting to implement these ideas, not the conventional firm where the staff have the legal role of "employees" rented by the company. 3) The third theme is the old canard the cooperatives are incompatible with entrepreneurship. My rethinking of the issue was inspired by the analysis of the late Jane Jacobs who emphasized that the primary means of growing economic "biomass" is through economic offspring (e.g., spin-offs) — in analogy with the biological principle of plentitude. Yet the conventional form of ownership operates as a fetter on this process since the ownership and management wants to expand its empire and maintain "ownership" of any potential offspring. But that constraint against spin-offs is absent in democratic firms, and the Mondragon complex has indeed illustrated how to catalyze this process of growth through offspring. Social implications: A public policy to encourage all companies to grow by affiliated and perhaps democratic spin-offs would create more jobs (through filling extra niches) and more stability (through the agility of separate companies).
H∞ model reduction for T-S fuzzy systems with finite frequency specifications

This paper investigates the problem of the H∞ model reduction in Finite Frequency (FF) domain for continuous-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. Our aim is to propose a new design with new sufficient condition via LMI formulations. The method used here provides extra degree of freedom in optimization of the H∞ performance when frequency ranges of noises are known beforehand. The fuzzy model reduction in designed to deal with noises in Low Frequency (LF) domain. An example about a tunnel diode circuit is given to illustrate its effectiveness.
Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View

Corporate governance has become a major issue in business over the last decade. Adrian Cadbury has played a central role in developing policies, good practice, and our understanding of the complex issues involved. In 1992 he chaired the committee, sponsored by the Bank of England, whose Report on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (commonly known as the 'Cadbury Report') put issues of corporate governance on the map. Ten years on, Cadbury now reflects on issues of corporate governance and chairmanship drawing on his own business and policy-making experience. In the book, he discusses and explains the central issuse of corporate governance; provides practical advice to chairmen and directors on their roles and responsibilities; and surveys the major codes of practice that have been developed in the last decade. He also considers the implications of the current review of company law and speculates on the implications of electronic developments for shareholders' voice and voting, the extent of a company's social responsibility, and the changing relationship between boards, managers, and investors. This book is both an informed commentary and a practical guide. Cadbury's insights will prove essential reading for anybody taking on senior roles in companies and other public organizations, and will provide well-grounded analysis for management academics, students, and advisers.
Central bank intervention, sterilization and monetary independence: the case of Pakistan

This paper analyzes the response of the State bank of Pakistan—the central bank, to foreign exchange inflows for the period of 2001:1 to 2006:8. In this context, we estimated sterilization and offset coefficients using vector autoregression (VAR) model to account for the issue of endogeneity of domestic credit with the foreign exchange interventions. In addition, the paper also analyzes the role of foreign and domestic interest rate differentials in pulling in or pushing out of these foreign exchange flows. We found that the offset coefficient is very small and insignificant (0.16) implying that changes in credit resulted in very minimal offsetting reserve flows. The study found out that for the sample period, SBP only partially sterilized the inflows with magnitude of coefficient at (0.50) confirming the stylized facts. Results also indicate that inflows were neither pulled into the country due to high domestic interest rates due to some domestic policy nor they are pushed into Pakistan owing to low interest rates abroad.
Pilot placement for power-efficient uplink positioning in 5G vehicular networks

This paper studies the pilot placement for power-efficient uplink positioning within future fifth generation (5G) enhanced vehicle to everything (eV2X) networks. The optimal pilot allocation of multicarrier signals may help to fulfil the stringent requirements, in terms of vehicle position accuracy and latency, within vehicular applications, such as autonomous driving. Contiguous and non-contiguous pilot placements in the frequency domain are assessed, by considering the tradeoff between minimum Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) and peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), among other pilot design criteria. Contiguous placement of pilots with a high separation between subcarriers is a candidate pattern to fulfil the design criteria within future vehicular networks.
Computer-Assisted Microaneurysm Turnover in the Early Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose: To assess the reliability of microaneurysm turnover, computed from color fundus photographs, in evaluating diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes and nonproliferative retinopathy. Methods: A new method (MA-Tracker) was developed to count microaneurysms by mapping their locations through image co-registration. To compute the reliability of microaneurysm turnover, 3 different graders were asked to earmark microaneurysms on the same set of color fundus photographs. Results: The total numbers of microaneurysms earmarked in each of 5 visits suggest that microaneurysms remain stable over time (p ≥ 0.138). However, an analysis of each microaneurysm showed that only 29.4% remained at the same location. By computing the formation and disappearance rates of microaneurysms (2.3 and 1.7 microaneurysms/year, respectively), a significant turnover of microaneurysms was found. Conclusions: The formation and disappearance rates of microaneurysms obtained from color fundus photographs using MA-Tracker show very good agreement between different graders, and can be used as indicators of microaneurysm turnover in the initial stages of diabetic retinopathy.
Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use Among Urban African American Adolescents Considered High-Risk

ABSTRACT This exploratory study examined the relative contribution of academic achievement, peer drug use, and neighborhood attachment on alcohol and marijuana use among African American adolescents considered high-risk. Participants were 291 urban African American adolescents (ages 11 to 18 years) who were identified as at-risk. Youth were administered measures of the constructs of interest. Consistent with previous findings, regression findings revealed that academic achievement and peer drug use were significant predictors of alcohol and marijuana use among high-risk African American youth. However, neighborhood attachment was not significant. Our findings warrant further investigation into the different aspects of neighborhood contexts that may be protective or risk factors for substance use among African American youth considered high risk.
Industrial ecology and eco‐industrial development: A potential paradigm for local and regional development?

Gibbs, D. , Deutz, P. and Proctor, A. (2005) Industrial ecology and eco‐industrial development: a potential paradigm for local and regional development? , Regional Studies 39 , 171–183. Increasingly, concepts such as sustainable development and ecological modernization have entered into local and regional economic policies and strategies. However, integrating environmental and economic aims has proved difficult, despite arguments that sustainability enables ‘win‐win‐win’ solutions. Eco‐industrial development is a recent policy initiative that attempts to integrate economic, social and environmental aims in a concrete form. Derived from concepts of industrial ecology, eco‐industrial developments seek to increase business competitiveness, reduce waste and pollution, create jobs, and improve working conditions. While these initiatives are said to offer a new basis for local and regional development, there has been little critical evaluation of eco‐industrial development.
High Secretion of Interferons by Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells upon Recognition of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

ABSTRACT The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in 2012 as the causative agent of a severe respiratory disease with a fatality rate of approximately 30%. The high virulence and mortality rate prompted us to analyze aspects of MERS-CoV pathogenesis, especially its interaction with innate immune cells such as antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Particularly, we analyzed secretion of type I and type III interferons (IFNs) by APCs, i.e., B cells, macrophages, monocyte-derived/myeloid dendritic cells (MDDCs/mDCs), and by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) of human and murine origin after inoculation with MERS-CoV. Production of large amounts of type I and III IFNs was induced exclusively in human pDCs, which were significantly higher than IFN induction by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV. Of note, IFNs were secreted in the absence of productive replication. However, receptor binding, endosomal uptake, and probably signaling via Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) were critical for sensing of MERS-CoV by pDCs. Furthermore, active transcription of MERS-CoV N RNA and subsequent N protein expression were evident in infected pDCs, indicating abortive infection. Taken together, our results point toward dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4)-dependent endosomal uptake and subsequent infection of human pDCs by MERS-CoV. However, the replication cycle is stopped after early gene expression. In parallel, human pDCs are potent IFN-producing cells upon MERS-CoV infection. Knowledge of such IFN responses supports our understanding of MERS-CoV pathogenesis and is critical for the choice of treatment options. IMPORTANCE MERS-CoV causes a severe respiratory disease with high fatality rates in human patients. Recently, confirmed human cases have increased dramatically in both number and geographic distribution. Understanding the pathogenesis of this highly pathogenic CoV is crucial for developing successful treatment strategies. This study elucidates the interaction of MERS-CoV with APCs and pDCs, particularly the induction of type I and III IFN secretion. Human pDCs are the immune cell population sensing MERS-CoV but secrete significantly larger amounts of IFNs, especially IFN-α, than in response to SARS-CoV. A model for molecular virus-host interactions is presented outlining IFN induction in pDCs. The massive IFN secretion upon contact suggests a critical role of this mechanism for the high degree of immune activation observed during MERS-CoV infection.
Power Allocation for Full-Duplex Relay Networks: Secure Energy Efficiency Optimization

In this paper, an energy-efficient power allocation problem is studied for a secure full-duplex (FD) relay network. The problem is formulated as a nonconvex optimization program to achieve the maximum of secure energy efficiency with power constraints and a preset secure quality-of-service (QoS). By analyzing the structure of the objective function, we found that the problem can be solved by leveraging DC-based optimization and fractional programming. As a result, a successively convex approximation algorithm is proposed for handling the nonconvex problem. Numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Analytic, Preanalytic, and Clinical Validation of p53 IHC for Detection of TP53 Missense Mutation in Prostate Cancer

Purpose: TP53 missense mutations may help to identify prostate cancer with lethal potential. Here, we preanalytically, analytically, and clinically validated a robust IHC assay to detect subclonal and focal TP53 missense mutations in prostate cancer. Experimental Design: The p53 IHC assay was performed in a CLIA-accredited laboratory on the Ventana Benchmark immunostaining system. p53 protein nuclear accumulation was defined as any p53 nuclear labeling in >10% of tumor cells. Fifty-four formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) cell lines from the NCI-60 panel and 103 FFPE prostate cancer tissues (88 primary adenocarcinomas, 15 metastases) with known TP53 mutation status were studied. DU145 and VCaP xenografts were subjected to varying fixation conditions to investigate the effects of preanalytic variables. Clinical validation was performed in two partially overlapping radical prostatectomy cohorts. Results: p53 nuclear accumulation by IHC was 100% sensitive for detection of TP53 missense mutations in the NCI-60 panel (25/25 missense mutations correctly identified). Lack of p53 nuclear accumulation was 86% (25/29) specific for absence of TP53 missense mutation. In FFPE prostate tumors, the positive predictive value of p53 nuclear accumulation for underlying missense mutation was 84% (38/45), whereas the negative predictive value was 97% (56/58). In a cohort of men who experienced biochemical recurrence after RP, the multivariable HR for metastasis among cases with p53 nuclear accumulation compared with those without was 2.55 (95% confidence interval, 1.1–5.91). Conclusions: IHC is widely available method to assess for the presence of deleterious and heterogeneous TP53 missense mutations in clinical prostate cancer specimens. Clin Cancer Res; 23(16); 4693–703. ©2017 AACR.