Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
National register study of operating time and outcome in hernia repair.

OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between operating time and reoperation for recurrence and other complications in groin hernia repairs. DESIGN Observational population-based register study. SETTING Data from the nationwide Swedish Hernia Register, which prospectively collects data from almost all groin hernia repairs performed in Sweden. PATIENTS There were 123,917 primary groin hernia repairs recorded in the Swedish Hernia Register from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2007. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Relative risk of reoperation for recurrence and odds ratios for postoperative complications in 4 operating time groups. RESULTS The relative risk of reoperation for recurrence of all patients operated on in less than 36 minutes was 26% higher than that of all patients with an operating time of more than 66 minutes (1.26; 95% CI, 1.11-1.43). Because the Lichtenstein procedure is the standard procedure in Sweden today, its results were also analyzed separately. In this homogeneous group, the difference was even more striking with an increased relative risk of 45% (1.45; 95% CI, 1.21-1.75). The odds ratio for infection and other postoperative complications increased with increasing operating time. CONCLUSION A significant decrease in reoperation for recurrence with increasing operating time exhorts the hernia surgeon to avoid speed and to maintain thoroughness throughout the procedure.
Strict convexity of the feasible log-SIR region

The feasible log-SIR region is defined as a set of all signal-to-interference ratios (SIR) expressed in logarithmic scale that can be supported in a wireless network by means of power control and with all users being active concurrently. Recently, the feasible log-SIR region was shown to be a convex set, which is a key ingredient in the development of some power control strategies for wireless systems. In this paper, under the assumption of a noiseless channel, we strengthen these results by proving a necessary and sufficient condition for the feasible log-SIR region to be a strictly convex set. The strict convexity property is of interest since it is closely related to the problem of the existence and uniqueness of a so-called log-SIR fair power vector.
A spatial approach to transformational change: Strategic alignment of the spatial and cultural environment

Purpose: This paper explores how strategic alignment of the corporations’ real estate with the organisational strategy may be used to facilitate change within an organisation’s collaborative culture. The focus is on the interconnectedness between, spatial and behavioural artefacts in the transition process to a new workplace concept. Design/methodology/approach: The discussion builds on observational studies and semi-structured interviews with 65 employees in a Norwegian organisation. Findings: The findings indicate that the physical change, when supported by behavioural artefacts as change management actions, paved way for a cultural change towards increased collaboration. However, misalignments between the new workplace concept and existing behavioural artefacts and cultural constructs also restricted the organisation in fully achieving the intended ends. Originality/value: When new workplace concepts are implemented with the aim of effecting organisational change they require support of a focused change management process where both spatial and behavioural artefacts are designed to support employee adaptation to the new concept. By conducting the change as a continuous iterative process, extending beyond the moving process itself, the CREM may add to the success by guiding and steering the organisation in the right direction. Research implications: Applying a socio-material perspective with explicit focus on issues such as management and culture in workplace studies is important to develop better models for strategic use of an corporations real estate.
Getting “Game”: Pregaming Changes During the First Weeks of College

Abstract Objective: Many students pregame (ie, drink before drinking), but there are scant data evaluating changes following college entry. The authors examined pregaming across the fall quarter and identified predictors of change and initiation in college. Participants: Freshmen (N = 708; 53% female, 100% drinkers) were recruited during university orientation (baseline). Methods: Self-report data were collected at baseline and end of fall quarter for 3 cohorts (the 2008–2010 academic years) and included demographics, alcohol use, problems, pregaming, personality, and expectancies. Results: Pregaming increased from 61.7% (baseline) to 79.9% (follow-up), with students pregaming twice as often and attaining higher blood alcohol concentration at follow-up. Many (54%) baseline non-pregamers initiated by follow-up. Initiation was associated with increased overall drinking (including heavy episodic drinking), positive expectancies, and greater behavioral activation sensitivity. Conclusions: Pregaming rapidly escalates upon college entry and students who initiate in college may be at higher risk for alcohol-related problems. Campus prevention and intervention efforts should consider including pregaming in their prevention programming.
Reactions of keratinocytes to in vitro millimeter wave exposure

The effects of millimeter waves (MW) on human keratinocytes were studied in vitro using the HaCaT keratinocyte cell line. MW‐induced modulation of keratinocyte function was studied in proliferation, adhesion, chemotaxis, and interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) production assays. Spontaneous proliferation, adhesion to tissue culture plate, random migration, and IL‐8‐ and RANTES induced chemotaxis were not affected by exposure of cells to millimeter waves under the following conditions: frequency, 61.22 GHz; SAR, 770 W/kg; duration of exposure, 15–30 min. However, MW irradiation resulted in a modest but statistically significant increase in the intracellular level of IL‐1β. These data suggest that exposure of human skin (with keratinocytes being the major component of epidermis) to MW can cause activation of basal keratinocytes resulting in an elevated level of IL‐1β production. Bioelectromagnetics 22:358–364, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
PhageDisplay Selectionof PeptidesThatAffect ProstateCarcinomaCellsAttachment and Invasion

BACKGROUND. Prostate cancer-speci®c proteins must be identi®ed to serve as diagnostic and prognostic markers. Cell surface proteins are especially important, because they have potential utility as diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. Identi®cation of ligands for these proteins will allow use of these ligands as diagnostic and therapeutic tools and permit the investigation of receptor function. We performed a search for peptide ligands to prostate cancer cell-speci®c receptors. METHODS. Peptide phage display library was used to isolate speci®c ligands to LNCaP prostate carcinoma cells receptors. Selected phage and cognate peptides were investigated for their cancer-related functions, such as the ability to interfere with cell adhesion, spreading, motility, and invasion. RESULTS. Phage designated pg35, blocked spreading of LNCaP cells and their derivatives C4±2 and C4±2b. Cognate peptide did not inhibit spreading, but incubation of C4±2 and C4±2b cells with cognate peptide increased their af®nity for endothelial cells and invasiveness. In addition, the peptide activates matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and 9 in C4±2 and C4±2b cells. CONCLUSIONS. These results indicate that identi®ed ligands may play a role in tumorigenicity and metastatic transformation of prostate cancer. To our knowledge, this is the ®rst identi®cation of a functional cancer-speci®c peptide ligand using the phage display approach. Prostate 47:239±251, 2001. # 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Africa connections : New – Pb / Lu – Hf zircon data of a complete plate tectonic cycle in the ahomey belt of the West Gondwana Orogen in Togo and Benin

The Dahomey belt in Togo and Benin is an important segment of the larger West Gondwana Orogen. Here, we review the geodynamic evolution of the Dahomey belt and discuss new U–Pb and Lu–Hf zircon data in light of similar data previously acquired on the geologically related Northern Borborema Province, in NE Brazil. Eighteen samples from different tectonic settings and regions within the belt were collected for zircon isotopic investigation. Passive margin deposits of the Atacora Structural Unit and lower units of the Volta Basin have detrital zircon signatures compatible with the flanking West Africa Craton. The arcrelated magmatism resulted from the east-dipping subduction of the Goiás-Pharusian oceanic lithosphere and is represented by a variety of granitoids emplaced in the Benino-Nigerian Shield between 670 and 610 Ma. These granitoids were mainly sourced from crustal reservoirs with subordinate juvenile input. Detrital zircon ages from syn-orogenic deposits in Benino-Nigerian Shield suggest that arc development could have started as early as 780 Ma. The main period of melting in the internal part of the belt, the Benino-Nigerian Shield, is related to crustal thickening and occurs only ca. 30 m.y. after initiation of the continental collision, marked by the ca. 610 Ma ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism recorded at Lato Hills. Foreland development represented by the upper units of the Volta basin developed soon after continental collision and persisted with the development of the west-verging thrust front synchronously with the main period of crustal melting due to collision at ca. 580 Ma. The subvertical Transbrasiliano Lineament in South America, that corresponds to the Kandi Lineament in Africa, provides a present-day fit between NW Africa and NE Brazil. Restoration of the movement of the Transbrasiliano-Kandi Lineament (strike-slip plate boundary) places the Dahomey belt and Borborema Province (NE Brazil) along the same section of the West Gondwana Orogen. This configuration would explain some of the misfits previously discussed in the literature and aligns the UHP eclogites in Togo and NE Brazil. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Let High-level Graph Queries Be Parallel Efficient: An Approach Over Structural Recursion On Pregel

Graphs play an important role today in managing big data. Supporting declarative graph queries is one of the most crucial parts for efficiently manipulating graph databases. Structural recursion has been studied for graph querying and graph transformations. However, most of the previous studies about graph structural recursion do not exploit in practical the power of parallel computing. The bulk semantics, which is used for parallel evaluation of structural recursion, still impose many constraints that limit the performance of querying in parallel. In this paper, we propose a framework that systematically generates structural recursive functions from high-level declarative graph queries, then the generated functions are evaluated efficiently on our framework on top of the Pregel model. Therefore, the complexity in developing efficient structural recursive functions is relaxed by our solution.
Real Coded Genetic Algorithm Based Neural Network Model for Odia Numerals Recognition

Character recognition has great importance in present scenario. It has many application areas in the field of business, postal system, banking, library, form processing, document processing etc. A highly efficient character recognition system is required for such type of applications. Various authors have used different classifiers, mainly based on neural networks for this purpose. As BackPropagation (BP) algorithm is a derivative based algorithm, the chances of the results to falling to local minima is there. To alleviate problem in this paper we have proposed a hybrid system for recognition of Odia numerals by using multi layer neural Network (MLNN) and real coded genetics algorithm (RCGA). As RCGA is a derivative free algorithm it will overcome the problem of trapping the results into local minima. And as we are using the real coded GA (Genetics Algorithm) it will be advantageous over the binary coded GA, as we do not have to do the conversion from binary to real each time which saves the training time. Real coded chromosomes are used by GA to determine the weights of Neural Network (NN). Before recognition, preprocessing, feature extraction and feature reduction steps are carried out. For feature extraction Gradient based approach is used. The gradient of the images are calculated by applying Robert’s filter and the feature vector is generated. After the generation of feature vector PCA (Principal Component Analysis) is applied to reduce the size of features. The proposed system is applied on the standard dataset taken from ISI Calcutta containing 1200 samples of Odia handwritten numerals. From experimental result it is observed that the proposed system has achieved 98.33% accuracy on test dataset.
The Upregulation of Integrin αDβ2 (CD11d/CD18) on Inflammatory Macrophages Promotes Macrophage Retention in Vascular Lesions and Development of Atherosclerosis

Macrophage accumulation is a critical step during development of chronic inflammation, initiating progression of many devastating diseases. Leukocyte-specific integrin αDβ2 (CD11d/CD18) is dramatically upregulated on macrophages at inflammatory sites. Previously we found that CD11d overexpression on cell surfaces inhibits in vitro cell migration due to excessive adhesion. In this study, we have investigated how inflammation-mediated CD11d upregulation contributes to macrophage retention at inflammatory sites during atherogenesis. Atherosclerosis was evaluated in CD11d−/−/ApoE−/− mice after 16 wk on a Western diet. CD11d deficiency led to a marked reduction in lipid deposition in aortas and isolated macrophages. Macrophage numbers in aortic sinuses of CD11d−/− mice were reduced without affecting their apoptosis and proliferation. Adoptive transfer of fluorescently labeled wild-type and CD11d−/− monocytes into ApoE−/− mice demonstrated similar recruitment from circulation, but reduced accumulation of CD11d−/− macrophages within the aortas. Furthermore, CD11d expression was significantly upregulated on macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions and M1 macrophages in vitro. Interestingly, expression of the related ligand-sharing integrin CD11b was not altered. This difference defines their distinct roles in the regulation of macrophage migration. CD11d-deficient M1 macrophages demonstrated improved migration in a three-dimensional fibrin matrix and during resolution of peritoneal inflammation, whereas migration of CD11b−/− M1 macrophages was not affected. These results prove the contribution of high densities of CD11d to macrophage arrest during atherogenesis. Because high expression of CD11d was detected in several inflammation-dependent diseases, we suggest that CD11d/CD18 upregulation on proinflammatory macrophages may represent a common mechanism for macrophage retention at inflammatory sites, thereby promoting chronic inflammation and disease development.
Minimizing gap of utility between consumer and producer in a duopoly market considering outsourcing decision, price, and product tolerance

ABSTRACT This study comes up with a new insight into the area of pricing strategy to include consumer perspective under duopolistic competition. Two firms with vertically differentiated products are investigated to compete against price and quality. The implication of outsourcing decisions as one operational strategy carried out by a firm that offers a product with lower price and quality is examined. We consider several components of cost, namely in-house production, quality loss, and outsourcing costs. Market share is calculated using the concept of consumer utility and marginal valuation. Since both firms compete in terms of product prices, the optimal prices must be determined to obtain the equilibrium condition. In addition to profit maximization, this model also aims to minimize the gap between consumer and firm utilities. By optimizing the model sequentially, we obtain the optimal solution regarding product prices, dimensional tolerances, and outsource proportion.
Structural and Functional Insights into Intramolecular Fructosyl Transfer by Inulin Fructotransferase*

Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase), a member of glycoside hydrolase family 91, catalyzes depolymerization of β-2,1-fructans inulin by successively removing the terminal difructosaccharide units as cyclic anhydrides via intramolecular fructosyl transfer. The crystal structures of IFTase and its substrate-bound complex reveal that IFTase is a trimeric enzyme, and each monomer folds into a right-handed parallel β-helix. Despite variation in the number and conformation of its β-strands, the IFTase β-helix has a structure that is largely reminiscent of other β-helix structures but is unprecedented in that trimerization is a prerequisite for catalytic activity, and the active site is located at the monomer-monomer interface. Results from crystallographic studies and site-directed mutagenesis provide a structural basis for the exolytic-type activity of IFTase and a functional resemblance to inverting-type glycosyltransferases.
Listing Delays and Innovation: Evidence from Chinese IPOs

Regulators have suspended IPOs in China on numerous occasions, exposing firms already approved to IPO to indeterminate listing delay. These disruptions curtail firms’ timely access to risk capital and increase uncertainty. After firms ultimately list, suspension-induced delay substantially reduces their innovation activity, measured using patent quantity and quality. These effects begin during the delay and endure for years after listing, while impacts on other firm outcomes are short-lived. The corporate innovation process, like an individual’s accumulation of human capital, has a cumulative dimension. Interrupting it can be detrimental in the long term, highlighting the importance of well-functioning IPO markets. Lin William Cong Booth School of Business University of Chicago 5807 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 will.cong@chicagobooth.edu Sabrina T. Howell NYU Stern School of Business KMC 9-93 44 West 4th Street New York, NY 10012 and NBER showell@stern.nyu. edu
On Chi-Square Difference and z Tests in Mean and Covariance Structure Analysis when the Base Model is Misspecified

In mean and covariance structure analysis, the chi-square difference test is often applied to evaluate the number of factors, cross-group constraints, and other nested model comparisons. Let model M a be the base model within which model M b is nested. In practice, this test is commonly used to justify M b even when M a is misspecified. The authors study the behavior of the chi-square difference test in such a circumstance. Monte Carlo results indicate that a nonsignificant chi-square difference cannot be used to justify the constraints in M b. They also show that when the base model is misspecified, the z test for the statistical significance of a parameter estimate can also be misleading. For specific models, the analysis further shows that the intercept and slope parameters in growth curve models can be estimated consistently even when the covariance structure is misspecified, but only in linear growth models. Similarly, with misspecified covariance structures, the mean parameters in multiple group models can be estimated consistently under null conditions.
Effectiveness of two evidence‐based programs in participants with arthritis: Findings from the active for life initiative

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the US. Strong evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) is beneficial to those with arthritis. This study examined whether changes in PA and PA‐related outcomes from two general evidence‐based PA programs (Active Choices [AC] and Active Living Every Day [ALED]) differed in participants with and without arthritis.
Restoration of domain folding and interdomain assembly by second‐site suppressors of the ΔF508 mutation in CFTR

Deletion of PHE508 (ΔF508) from the first nucleotide‐binding domain (NBD1) of CFTR, which causes most cystic fibrosis, disrupts the folding and assembly of the protein. Although the folding pathways and yield of isolated NBD1 are altered, its global structure is not, and details of the changes in the rest of the protein remain unclear. To gain further insight into how the whole mutant protein is altered, we have determined the influence of known second‐site suppressor mutations in NBD1 on the conformation of this domain and key interfaces between domains. We found that the suppressors restored maturation of only those processing mutations located in NBD1, but not in other domains, including those in the C‐terminal cytoplasmic loop of the second membrane‐spanning domain, which forms an interface with the NBD1 surface. Nevertheless, the suppressors promoted the formation of this interface and others in the absence of F508. The suppressors restored maturation in a ΔF508 construct from which NBD2 was absent but to a lesser extent than in the full‐length, indicating that ΔF508 disrupts interactions involving NBD2, as well as other domains. Rescue of ΔF508‐CFTR by suppressors required the biosynthesis of the entire full‐length protein in continuity, as it did not occur when N‐ and C‐terminal “halves” were coexpressed. Simultaneous with these interdomain perturbations, ΔF508 resulted in suppressor reversed alterations in accessibility of residues both in the F508‐containing NBD1 surface loop and in the Q loop within the domain core. Thus, in the context of the full‐length protein, ΔF508 mutation causes detectable changes in NBD1 conformation, as well as interdomain interactions. —He, L. , Aleksandrov, L. A. , Cui, L. , Jensen, T. J., Nesbitt, K. L. , Riordan, J. R. Restoration of domain folding and interdomain assembly by second‐site suppressors of the ΔF508 mutation in CFTR. FASEB J. 24, 3103–3112 (2010). www.fasebj. org
Specialized Auditors in Strategic Alliances

We investigate the impact on strategic alliance value when auditors have greater knowledge and experience in auditing contractual alliances. Although common and economically significant, contractual alliances often fail due to uncertainty, lack of trust, and poor culture matches between alliance partners. We hypothesize that auditors with more extensive alliance expertise can help partner firms reduce information uncertainty and hold-up problems endemic in alliance relationships, resulting in higher quality alliances. Our measures of auditor expertise capture three aspects of auditor knowledge, including general alliance, alliance type (e.g. technology alliances), and deal-specific (both alliance partners share the same auditor) expertise. Primary findings document that announcement date abnormal returns are higher among alliance partners served by an alliance expert auditor, after controlling for Big N and auditor industry expertise. Effects are more pronounced among alliance partners where uncertainty and trust are more problematic – when bankruptcy risk is greater, boards are not independent, managers are more entrenched, and corporate culture environments are of poor quality. Overall, our evidence suggests that auditors with alliance expertise help firms increase value in strategic alliance arrangements.
Consumer Satisfaction, Trust and Seller Loyalty in C2C Marketplace: The Moderator of Involvement

Customer satisfaction, trust, loyalty and their relationship have been considered extensively. However, Consumers' loyalty to market seller has not well understood in consumer to consumer electronic marketplace. This paper focuses on purchase involvement, consumers' transaction satisfaction, trust and loyalty to seller in marketplace. It was found that customers transaction satisfaction influence trust, trust influence loyalty, Trust is the mediate of satisfaction and loyalty, while purchase involvement moderate the relationship of transaction satisfaction and seller's trust.