Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
gro-beta, a -C-X-C- chemokine, is an angiogenesis inhibitor that suppresses the growth of Lewis lung carcinoma in mice

We have found that two chemokines, recombinant gro-alpha and gro-beta, specifically inhibit growth factor-stimulated proliferation of capillary endothelial cells in a dose-dependent manner, whereas gro- gamma has no inhibitory effect. In vivo, gro-beta inhibits blood vessel formation in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay. It is sufficiently potent to effectively suppress basic fibroblast growth factor-induced corneal neovascularization after systemic administration in mice. Further, gro-beta significantly inhibits the growth of murine Lewis lung carcinoma in syngeneic C57B16/J and immunodeficient nude mice without toxicity. In vitro, Lewis lung carcinoma cells are completely insensitive to recombinant gro-beta at high concentrations that significantly inhibit endothelial cell proliferation. This finding supports the conclusion that gro-beta inhibits Lewis lung tumor growth by suppression of tumor-induced neovascularization.
The Effect of Market Power in Emission Permit Markets

Emission permit markets are being actively implemented as a regulatory method to control various types of pollution in the United States because of the potential efficiency improvements they offer. In Canada, regulators have been more cautious, frequently citing concern that proposed Canadian markets are expected to be thin and/or dominated by a single firm. In these circumstances, such a firm could manipulate prices to reduce its own emission control costs while increasing the total cost of pollution control across the market. Such activity might also cause emission permit markets to be viewed as unviable on efficiency and equity grounds. This thesis investigates the potential problems such markets might experience if one firm (or a group of fIrms) has the ability to manipulate market prices to their advantage. Given the lack of empirical data, experimental economic methods are used in an attempt to determine whether it is reasonable to assume violations of the basic competitive market assumptions should be expected to seriously undermine the efficiency benefits emission permit markets offer in a controlled setting. The experiments reported here show that in double auction markets with one dominant fIrm and a number of fringe fIrms, strategic manipulation occurs repeatedly in the laboratory. The dominant firm uses emission permits in a socially inefficient manner in order to reduce its costs, increase its profIts and exclude rivals in downstream product markets. Far from finding increased market efficiency and decreased cost of pollution control, this study confIrms that implementing permit markets when there are fIrms with market power may decrease efficiency. The resultant loss in gains from trade could also reduce the political viability of emission trading programs.
Truth Discovery on Crowd Sensing of Correlated Entities

With the popular usage of mobile devices and smartphones, crowd sensing becomes pervasive in real life when human acts as sensors to report their observations about entities. For the same entity, users may report conflicting information, and thus it is important to identify the true information and the reliable users. This task, referred to as truth discovery, has recently attracted much attention. Existing work typically assumes independence among entities. However, correlations among entities are commonly observed in many applications. Such correlation information is crucial in the truth discovery task. When entities are not observed by enough reliable users, it is impossible to obtain true information. In such cases, it is important to propagate trustworthy information from correlated entities that have been observed by reliable users. We formulate the task of truth discovery on correlated entities as an optimization problem in which both truths and user reliability are modeled as variables. The correlation among entities adds to the difficulty of solving this problem. In light of the challenge, we propose both sequential and parallel solutions. In the sequential solution, we partition entities into disjoint independent sets and derive iterative approaches based on block coordinate descent. In the parallel solution, we adapt the solution to MapReduce programming model, which can be executed on Hadoop clusters. Experiments on real-world crowd sensing applications show the advantages of the proposed method on discovering truths from conflicting information reported on correlated entities.
Fast pseudorandom generators for normal and exponential variates

Fast algorithms for generating pseudorandom numbers from the unit-normal and unit-exponential distributions are described. The methods are unusual in that they do not rely on a source of uniform random numbers, but generate the target distributions directly by using their maximal-entropy properties. The algorithms are fast. The normal generator is faster than the commonly used Unix library uniform generator “random” when the latter is used to yield real values. Their statistical properties seem satisfactory, but only a limited suite of tests has been conducted. They are written in C and as written assume 32-bit integer arithmetic. The code is publicly available as C source and can easily be adopted for longer word lengths and/or vector processing.
Systematic review of rehabilitation programmes initiated within 90 days of a transient ischaemic attack or ‘minor’ stroke: a protocol

Introduction Transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) and strokes are highly prevalent conditions. Stroke killed 5.7 million people worldwide in 2005 and is estimated to cause 6.5 million deaths globally in 2015. Stroke survivors are often left with considerable disability. Many strokes are preceded by a TIA/‘minor’ stroke in the previous 90 days and therefore the immediate period after a TIA/minor’ stroke is a crucial time to intervene to tackle known vascular risk factors. Although rehabilitation following a TIA/minor stroke is widely recommended, there is a paucity of research that offers an evidence base on which the development or optimisation of interventions can be based, particularly for home-based approaches and non-pharmacological interventions in the acute period following the initial TIA/‘minor’ stroke. This systematic review will investigate the effect of rehabilitation programmes initiated within 90 days of the diagnosis of a TIA or ‘minor’ stroke aimed at reducing the subsequent risk of stroke. Methods/design This systematic review will be reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses(PRISMA) guidance. Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials of rehabilitation programmes initiated within 90 days of a TIA or ‘minor’ stroke will be included. Articles will be identified through a comprehensive search of the following databases, guided by a medical librarian: the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Two review authors will independently screen articles retrieved from the search for eligibility and extract relevant data on methodological issues. A narrative synthesis will be completed when there is insufficient data to permit a formal meta-analysis. Discussion This review will be of value to clinicians and healthcare professionals working in TIA and stroke services as well as to general practitioners/family physicians who care for these patients in the community and to researchers involved in designing and evaluating rehabilitation interventions. Trial registration number CRD42015016450.
Leadership in Education: Organizational Theory for the Practitioner

I. CLOSED SYSTEMS THEORY. 1. The Roots of Modern Organizational Theory. 2. Managing Tasks. 3. Supervising People. 4. Tasks Versus People. II. PRESCRIPTIVE OPEN SYSTEMS THEORY. 5. Motivation and Communication in Open Systems. 6. Prescriptions for Leadership. 7. Conflict. III. ANTI-POSITIVISTIC THEORY. 8. Decision Making, Learning, and Loose Coupling. 9. Evolution of Organizational Species: Schools as Professional Bureaucracies. 10. Schools as Cultures. 11. Morality and Organizational Control. 12. Pressures That Shape Organizations. 13. Complexity: Encouraging Innovation, and Building Fitness. 14. Changing Educational Organizations.
Vacuum polarization effects in the global monopole spacetime in the presence of the Wu–Yang magnetic monopole

In this paper, we consider the presence of the Wu–Yang magnetic monopole in the global monopole spacetime and their influence on the vacuum polarization effects around these two monopoles placed together. According to Wu and Yang (1976 Nucl. Phys. B 107 365) the solution of the Klein–Gordon equation in such an external field will not be an ordinary function but, instead, a section. Because of the peculiar radial symmetry of the global monopole spacetime, it is possible to cover its space section by two overlapping regions, needed to define the singularity-free vector potential, and to study the quantum effects due to a charged scalar field in this system. In order to develop this analysis, we construct the explicit Euclidean scalar Green section associated with a charged massless field in a global monopole spacetime in the presence of the Abelian Wu–Yang magnetic monopole. Using this Green section, it is possible to study the vacuum polarization effects. We explicitly calculate the renormalized vacuum expectation value Φ(x)*Φ(x)Ren. , associated with a charged scalar field operator and the respective energy–momentum tensor, Tμν(x)Ren. , which are expressed in terms of the parameter which codifies the presence of the global and magnetic monopoles.
Contribution of Hepatic and Extrahepatic Insulin Resistance to the Pathogenesis of Impaired Fasting Glucose

OBJECTIVE—To determine the contribution of hepatic insulin resistance to the pathogenesis of impaired fasting glucose (IFG). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Endogenous glucose production (EGP) and glucose disposal were measured in 31 subjects with IFG and 28 subjects with normal fasting glucose (NFG) after an overnight fast and during a clamp when endogenous secretion was inhibited with somatostatin and insulin infused at rates that approximated portal insulin concentrations present in IFG subjects after an overnight fast (∼80 pmol/l, “preprandial”) or within 30 min of eating (∼300 pmol/l, “prandial”). RESULTS—Despite higher (P < 0.001) insulin and C-peptide concentrations and visceral fat (P < 0.05), fasting EGP and glucose disposal did not differ between IFG and NFG subjects, implying hepatic and extrahepatic insulin resistance. This was confirmed during preprandial insulin infusion when glucose disposal was lower (P < 0.05) and EGP higher (P < 0.05) in IFG than in NFG subjects. Higher EGP was due to increased (P < 0.05) rates of gluconeogenesis in IFG. EGP was comparably suppressed in IFG and NFG groups during prandial insulin infusion, indicating that hepatic insulin resistance was mild. Glucose disposal remained lower (P < 0.01) in IFG than in NFG subjects. CONCLUSIONS—Hepatic and extrahepatic insulin resistance contribute to fasting hyperglycemia in IFG with the former being due at least in part to impaired insulin-induced suppression of gluconeogenesis. However, since hepatic insulin resistance is mild and near-maximal suppression of EGP occurs at portal insulin concentrations typically present in IFG subjects within 30 min of eating, extrahepatic (but not hepatic) insulin resistance coupled with accompanying defects in insulin secretion is the primary cause of postprandial hyperglycemia.
E-learning and Teaching Mathematical Models of Negotiation Analysis Preface

of Technology (HUT). It is partially funded by OR-World EU project in which material and techniques are developed and evaluated for web-based learning of management science. The results of the work produced by the OR-World project team at HUT are available at I wish to sincerely thank PROFESSOR HARRI EHTAMO, the instructor of this work, for patient guidance and valuable and critical feedback during the development of the material and this thesis. I am also grateful to my supervisor, PROFESSOR RAIMO P. HÄMÄLÄINEN, for great visions and for the possibility to work within the project. I appreciate whole OR-World team at HUT, especially MR. JAAKKO DIETRICH, for cooperation and fruitful exchange of thoughts. Finally, I wish to thank MAARIT, my wife and my co-worker, for supporting me at my roughest times and my parents, ANNI and PENTTI, who deserve special appreciation for giving me all their support throughout my life.
Die Internationale Integration Der Geldmärkte in Den Mittel- Und Osteuropäischen Beitrittsländern: Abweichungen Von Der Gedeckten Zinsparität, Kapitalverkehrskontrollen Und Ineffizienzen Des Finanzsektors

Based on the concept of covered interest parity it is shown that the money markets in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic meanwhile display a high degree of international integration with the euro area. Integration has strengthened continuously in the review period of 1999 to mid 2002. The segmentation that could still be observed stems from both restrictions on the short-term movement of capital and the limited development of the financial sectors in the four accession countries. While almost all capital controls have since been removed and will no longer play a role after accession to the EU, the implementation and transmission of the single monetary policy within the Eurosystem will possibly be impeded, if the financial sectors in CEE are then still underdeveloped.
'Caches in the air': disseminating tourist information in the GUIDE system

The paper describes work carried out as part of the GUIDE project at Lancaster University. The overall aim of the project is to develop a context-sensitive tourist guide for visitors to the city of Lancaster. Visitors are equipped with portable GUIDE units which in turn provide interactive services and dynamically tailored Web based information, reflecting the visitor's preferences and environmental context. In contrast to existing tourist systems, all information in GUIDE is obtained dynamically using a city-wide wireless network infrastructure. We focus on the design of the GUIDE information model. The model presented is novel by virtue of the fact that it enables both geographic and contextual information to be captured. The paper also describes our development of an efficient broadcast mechanism which enables visitors' requests for information to be serviced quickly despite the wireless communications infrastructure employed.
Correcting Suboptimal Metrics in Iterative Decoders

In this paper the issue of improving the performance of iterative decoders based on sub-optimal calculation of the messages exchanged during iterations (L-values) is addressed. It is well known in the literature that a simple-yet very effective-- way to improve the performance of suboptimal iterative decoders is based on applying a scaling factor to the L-values. In this paper, starting with a theoretical model based on the so-called consistency condition of a random variable, we propose a methodology for correcting the L-values that relies only on the distribution of the soft information exchanged in the iterative process. This methodology gives a clear explanation of why the well-known linear scaling factor provides a very good performance. Additionally, the proposed methodology allows us to avoid the exhaustive search required otherwise. Numerical simulations show that for turbo codes the scaling factors found closely follow the optimum values, which translates to a close-to-optimal BER performance. Moreover, for LDPC codes, the proposed methodology produces a better BER performance compared with the known method in the literature.
Curaxin CBL0137 eradicates drug resistant cancer stem cells and potentiates efficacy of gemcitabine in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) continues to be one of the deadliest cancers due to the absence of effective treatment. Curaxins are a class of small molecules with anti-cancer activity demonstrated in different models of cancer in mice. The lead curaxin compound, CBL0137, recently entered Phase I clinical trials. Curaxins modulate several important signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of PDA through inhibition of chromatin remodeling complex FACT. FACT is overexpressed in multiple types of tumor, with one of the highest rate of overexpression in PDA (59%). In this study, the efficacy of CBL0137 alone or in combination with current standard of care, gemcitabine, was tested against different models of PDA in vitro and in mouse models. It was found that CBL0137 alone is a potent inducer of apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines and is toxic not only for proliferating bulk tumor cells, but also for pancreatic cancer stem cells. In mice, CBL0137 was effective against several PDA models, including orthotopic gemcitabine resistant PANC-1 model and patient derived xenografts, in which CBL0137 anti-tumor effect correlated with overexpression of FACT. Moreover, we observed synergy of CBL0137 with gemcitabine which may be explained by the ability of CBL0137 to inhibit several transcriptional programs induced by gemcitabine, including NF-kappaB response and expression of ribonucleotide reductase, one of the targets of gemcitabine in cells. This data suggest testing of CBL0137 efficacy in Phase II trial in PDA patients alone and in combination with gemcitabine.
The partly preserved natural phases in the concatenative speech synthesis based on the harmonic/noise approach

This paper describes our advances in the development of the Czech TTS system achieved mainly in the field of speech signal generation. We achieved very high quality of the synthesized signal with our time-domain TTS system, but the speech unit database needs tens of megabytes. This is uncongenial, when we aspire to implement the high quality synthesis system at low-end embedded devices (handhelds, phones etc.). We found the approaches for speech representation based on sinusoidal coding [1] or harmonic plus noise modeling [2] respectively very promising for our goal. It is mainly due to high compression possibility of the spectral representation of the speech. The major inconvenience is the necessity of natural phase components to reach quality naturally sounding synthesis. Since there is no known method for suitable phase representation, the methods for its substitution must be searched. In our experiments, we observed the phase coherence to be more important (from the view of naturalness) then the necessity of the strict usage of the original phase component in all instants (frames). We proceed from this experience and here we propose our method where only the one phase vector is needed for each voiced segment (continuous sequence of voiced frames) in every speech unit. Key-Words: speech signal synthesis, harmonic/noise, phase components
Study on Web Service Matching and Composition Based on Ontology

Because web service function is continually strengthened, and web service quantity increases rapidly, it is urgent to solve the problem on automatic service matching and composition to meet service request. The service matching algorithm for bionic manufacturing domain-specific ontology is proposed in the paper. For this algorithm, the semantic similarity between two concepts is calculated according to the distance of two nodes corresponding to two words of service request and description. The revised index for matching the key word is considered to emphasize the key parameter among service description, and the matching accuracy is highly improved. The total matching degree of service is equal to the average of all semantic similarities between the service request and the service description. It can be accurately judged if the service matching is successful by the total matching degree. According to the dynamic hierarchical structure of domain-specific ontology model of bionic manufacturing, the service auto-link composition algorithm is proposed based on the recursive principle in the paper. The service is automatically and intelligently matched and reasoned by using the heuristic knowledge of knowledge base and the semantic information of ontology base of bionic manufacturing. The structure-well user objective IOPEs (Input, Output, Precondition, and Effect) is linked to get the abstract or concrete service-flow framework. The automatic service composition is implemented from single service to higher concept hierarchical service. Lastly, the system structure of semantic web service matching and composition is designed based on two described algorithms
PruDent: A Pruned and Confident Stacking Approach for Multi-Label Classification

Over the past decade or so, several research groups have addressed the problem of multi-label classification where each example can belong to more than one class at the same time. A common approach, called Binary Relevance (BR), addresses this problem by inducing a separate classifier for each class. Research has shown that this framework can be improved if mutual class dependence is exploited: an example that belongs to class X is likely to belong also to class Y ; conversely, belonging to X can make an example less likely to belong to Z. Several works sought to model this information by using the vector of class labels as additional example attributes. To fill the unknown values of these attributes during prediction, existing methods resort to using outputs of other classifiers, and this makes them prone to errors. This is where our paper wants to contribute. We identified two potential ways to prune unnecessary dependencies and to reduce error-propagation in our new classifier-stacking technique, which is named PruDent. Experimental results indicate that the classification performance of PruDent compares favorably with that of other state-of-the-art approaches over a broad range of testbeds. Moreover, its computational costs grow only linearly in the number of classes.