Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hospitalization is not Necessary for Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter Insertion

No scientific data exist to support inpatient peritoneal dialysis catheter insertion (PDCI). There is also no evidence to support that regular flushing of PDCs prior to PD training decreases the incidence of malfunction. Literature on these subjects is lacking. A brief, informal telephone survey that we performed across Canadian tertiary-care university hospitals prior to initiation of this study suggested that surgical PDCI in this country is generally performed as an inpatient procedure, and that there is no consensus on whether or on how often peritoneal catheter flushing is necessary prior to daily use. As in most Canadian hospital centers, at our institution, hospital bed resources have become increasingly scarce, and in August 1999, the hospital administration demanded that PDCI be performed on an outpatient basis because the three hospital beds traditionally reserved for inpatient PDCI could no longer be secured. This study was therefore performed to compare the outcomes of inpatient versus outpatient PDCI. The Moncrief PDC (1–3), which is generally inserted several months before use, does not get flushed prior to exteriorization and yet is reported to be highly functional. We therefore hypothesized that regular catheter flushing may not be necessary and this practice, previously performed weekly, was abandoned in August 1999, with initiation of outpatient PDCI.
First year performance of a 20 MWac PV power plant

After one year of continuous operation in Ontario, Canada, the actual performance of the Sarnia 20MWac power plant can be compared to both the long-term energy prediction and the expected energy for the operating year 2010. The long-term prediction uses satellite meteorological data and loss assumptions and the PVSYST system simulation tool to estimate the behavior of the power plant over a "typical" year. Typical meteorological input from satellite data is discretized on a monthly basis; therefore the monthly Performance Ratio (PR) is an appropriate metric for comparison. Our comparison shows that the prediction data is in line with the actual power plant PR during normal operation. However, energy lost due to snowfall remains one major prediction difficulty. Based on the first year's data at the Enbridge's Sarnia 20 MWac power plant, the power plant is operating within 2.1% of the long-term prediction. Using the one year of on-site meteorological data, the expected energy of the site for 2010 can be found by rerunning the prediction with hourly measured data. At this time-step, specific measurement points within the power plant can be assessed by simply comparing measured to expected values, including the DC and AC energy at the inverters as well as the module temperature and inverter efficiency. The estimation of the modeling error at each of these measurement points shows that there is no single driver of the overall modeling error during normal operation, but also shows that improvements are possible. Actual energy from the Sarnia 20 MWac power plant was 0.6% more than expected based on the expected energy for the 2010 operating year.
Changing Market Perceptions of Who is ‘Too Big to Fail’ During the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008

The government support of financial firms through direct assistance and programs to improve market liquidity during the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008 is unprecedented since the Great Depression. Whether a given firm is ex-ante ‘Too Big To Fail’ in the mind of government agents is not the principal issue for moral hazard, however. It is investor perception of ‘Too Big To Fail’ that drives the economically inefficient reduced funding cost for the firm. This work examines the U.S. government’s crisis actions as well as two international bank bailouts in a series of event studies employing both debt and equity returns. Other than in the case of private mortgage insurer, Radian, in response to explicit support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I conclude that only the largest of the banks and the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, already perceived to be recipients of explicit or implicit government guarantees, experienced any ‘Too Big To Fail’ premiums in their debt securities. There is no evidence that these premiums extended to other large financial firms such as broker dealers, non-mortgage insurers or surety firms, in spite of the bailout of Bear Stearns. There is no evidence that letting Lehman Brothers fail was a surprise to investors. In addition, there is no evidence that AIG’s large derivative exposures and their associated losses prior to and during the crisis led investors to infer it would be rescued. Federal Reserve programs to improve liquidity and extend lending to non-banks did not lead to ‘Too Big To Fail’ premiums for firms.
A simple waveguide OMT designed for millimeter wave applications

In this paper, a simple orthomode transducer (OMT) operating at 45GHz band is presented. The proposed design avoids the use of septum, irises, pins, or small features. The OMT has few steps, low loss and good isolation, which showed both in the simulated and measured results.
MONITORING HUMAN RADIATION EXPOSURE BY GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING: POSSIBILITIES AND PITFALLS

Abstract— Advances in high throughput analysis of mRNA expression have made it possible to establish gene expression profiles for different cells, tissues, diseases and exposure states. For instance, recent studies have demonstrated the utility of such an approach to classify sub-types of cancers with more detail than was previously possible. In addition, gene expression studies of ionizing radiation exposure both in vitro and in vivo are affording insight into the molecular mechanisms of mammalian radiation response. We have demonstrated that radiation expression profiles are a good predictor of p53 function in cell lines, and such profiles also indicate a major role for p53-regulated genes in the in vivo radiation response. Gene expression can be a sensitive indicator of radiation response as we have shown linear dose-responses for induction of several genes down to doses as low as 2 cGy. As profiles are established from radiation studies, it is hoped that they may be useful for identifying individuals with specific exposures or predisposition to negative outcome of exposure. Although this technology holds great promise, some obstacles remain to be overcome before it can be successfully applied to population studies.
A role for Z-DNA binding in vaccinia virus pathogenesis

The N-terminal domain of the E3L protein of vaccinia virus has sequence similarity to a family of Z-DNA binding proteins of defined three-dimensional structure and it is necessary for pathogenicity in mice. When other Z-DNA-binding domains are substituted for the similar E3L domain, the virus retains its lethality after intracranial inoculation. Mutations decreasing Z-DNA binding in the chimera correlate with decreases in viral pathogenicity, as do analogous mutations in wild-type E3L. A chimeric virus incorporating a related protein that does not bind Z-DNA is not pathogenic, but a mutation that creates Z-DNA binding makes a lethal virus. The ability to bind the Z conformation is thus essential to E3L activity. This finding may allow the design of a class of antiviral agents, including agents against variola (smallpox), which has an almost identical E3L.
Cash Distributions and Returns

Discounted cash flow analysis suggests that high cash-flow-to-price ratios should predict high future stock return, low future cash flow growth, or both. Existing studies on the predictive power of the dividend-price ratio, however, produce evidence largely inconsistent with this prediction. In this paper, we address this issue by focusing on the total cash distributions that include both dividends and share repurchases net of seasoned equity offerings. Utilizing a long time series of the total-cash-distributions-to-price (tp) ratio constructed from CRSP data since 1927, we establish strong and persistent evidence of stock return predictability at the annual horizon. Based on a wide variety of evaluation methods, the tp ratio is both statistically and economically significant in predicting future stock market returns, and serves as a pervasive state proxy.
Quality Managers and the Successful Management of Quality: An Insight

The importance of the quality manager in an organization has recently shown a significant increase. There are, however, very few comprehensive studies directed toward the functioning of these managers. Specifically, nom was found dealing with the factors that enhanced or inhibited a quality manager's ability to succeed. Therefore, the goal of this study is to identify those factors that would inhibit or enhance the ability of a quality manager to succeed in managing the quality function. Data collected from 193 firms in the United States are used to shed light on the issues of interest. Appropriate tests were conducted to ensure the reliability and validity of the scales. The mean and standard deviation were utilized to determine the perceptions of the quality managers concerning the effect of the following factors on their success: career path, education, product diversity, organizational structure, tools and techniques utilized, program orientation, and ASQ affiliation. The findings of this study are expected to provide researchers and practitioners with additional insight on the management of quality in general and provide practicing managers with a better understanding of the factors that may enhance or inhibit their career.
Murine junctional adhesion molecules JAM-B and JAM-C mediate endothelial and stellate cell interactions during hepatic fibrosis

ABSTRACT Classical junctional adhesion molecules JAM-A, JAM-B and JAM-C influence vascular permeability, cell polarity as well as leukocyte recruitment and immigration into inflamed tissue. As the vasculature becomes remodelled in chronically injured, fibrotic livers we aimed to determine distribution and role of junctional adhesion molecules during this pathological process. Therefore, livers of naïve or carbon tetrachloride-treated mice were analyzed by immunohistochemistry to localize all 3 classical junctional adhesion molecules. Hepatic stellate cells and endothelial cells were isolated and subjected to immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry to determine localization and functionality of JAM-B and JAM-C. Cells were further used to perform contractility and migration assays and to study endothelial tubulogenesis and pericytic coverage by hepatic stellate cells. We found that in healthy tissue, JAM-A was ubiquitously expressed whereas JAM-B and JAM-C were restricted to the vasculature. During fibrosis, JAM-B and JAM-C levels increased in endothelial cells and JAM-C was de novo generated in myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells. Soluble JAM-C blocked contractility but increased motility in hepatic stellate cells. Furthermore, soluble JAM-C reduced endothelial tubulogenesis and endothelial cell/stellate cell interaction. Thus, during liver fibrogenesis, JAM-B and JAM-C expression increase on the vascular endothelium. More importantly, JAM-C appears on myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells linking them as pericytes to JAM-B positive endothelial cells. This JAM-B/JAM-C mediated interaction between endothelial cells and stellate cells stabilizes vessel walls and may control the sinusoidal diameter. Increased hepatic stellate cell contraction mediated by JAM-C/JAM-C interaction may cause intrahepatic vasoconstriction, which is a major complication in liver cirrhosis.
The effect of exceptions in business processes

Business process models can be used to describe the way in which work is done in an organization. Typically, business process models (implicitly) distinguish between the normal flow of work through the organization and exceptions to the normal flow that are expected to occur incidentally. However, business processes often present an idealized view. When looking at the way in which the work is actually performed, unexpected exceptions to the normal flow of work - exceptions that are not modelled in the business process model - also occur. This paper studies the effect that exceptions have on the operational performance of an organization and in particular on the throughput time of a process. The results show that exceptions are related to worse operational performance in terms of a longer throughput time and that unexpected exceptions lead to a stronger increase in throughput time than expected exceptions. The results also show that there are different types of exceptions, which have different effects on operational performance. These results have important implications on the policies that should be followed with respect to allowing for different types of exceptions in practice.
The Likelihood and Extent of Bank Participation in Derivatives Activities

Based on annual U.S. bank data covering the period from 1991 through 1994, we use a variant of Cragg's model to investigate empirically both the decision of whether to participate in derivatives activities and, for banks involved in derivatives, the extent of their participation. The results reveal major differences between the determinants of banks' participation in derivatives activities and the factors influencing the extent of their participation. In particular, while not influencing significantly the decision of whether to use derivatives, capitalization is found to enhance the extent of derivatives participation. This finding supports the view that capital regulation effectively ties the extent of derivatives participation to capital adequacy.
Are Bank Loan Ratings Relevant?

We analyze the relatively new phenomenon of ratings on syndicated loans. We examine whether credit ratings on these loans convey information to the capital markets. Our event study results show that while initial ratings and upgrades do not inform the market, downgrades do. The market anticipates loan downgrades to some extent, however. We also examine whether a set of observable variables reflecting the default characteristics of the borrower can explain the cross-sectional variation in syndicated loan ratings and find that ratings are only partially predictable. Our evidence also suggests that the loan and bond rating processes differ. Finally, we estimate a credit spread model incorporating bank loan ratings and other factors reflecting default risk, information asymmetry, and agency problems. We find that ratings are related to loan rates, given the impact of other influences on yields, suggesting that the rating agencies provide information not reflected in financial information. In particular, ratings may capture information about recovery rates in default. Our results also reveal that the borrower's equity volatility affects loan ratings and the credit spread, the latter result confirming the findings of Campbell and Taksler (2003) for the bond market.
A novel SRAM — STT-MRAM hybrid cache implementation improving cache performance

Memories are currently a real bottleneck to design high speed and energy-efficient systems-on-chip. A significant increase of the performance gap between processors and memories is observed. On the other hand, an important proportion of total power is spent on memory systems due to the increasing trend of embedding volatile memory into systems-on-chip. For these reasons, STT-MRAM (Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetic Random Access Memory) is seen as a promising alternative solution to traditional SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) thanks to its negligible leakage current, high density, and non-volatility. Nevertheless, the strategy of the same footprint replacement is constrained by the high write energy/latency of STT-MRAM. This paper performs a fine-grained evaluation of the cache organization to propose a hybrid cache memory architecture including both SRAM and STT-MRAM technologies.
Emergent Behaviour of Trajectory Based Operations Under Very High En-route Traffic Demand

Effective collaboration between planning controller, tactical controller and pilots in handling various uncertainties and hazards is the result of decades of evolutionary development. The forthcoming paradigm shift to Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) requires a similarly effective collaboration between the TBO layer and a tactical layer. Through agent-based modelling and simulation the authors have recently shown that in a pure airborne self-separation environment these two layers together can yield remarkably positive emergent behaviour in managing uncertainties and hazards, as a result of which very high en-route traffic demands can safely be accommodated. The current paper addresses the question if similarly good emergent behaviour is feasible with a ground based TBO design. The key findings are twofold. A negative finding is that ground-based TBO is not providing the remarkably positive emergent behaviours of pure airborne TBO. Though a positive finding is that ground-based TBO has the potential to safely accommodate high en route traffic demands.
SimPass: Quantifying the Impact of Password Behaviours and Policy Directives on an Organisation's Systems

Users are often considered the weakest link in the security chain because of their natural propensity for choosing convenience over safe practice. One area with a vast amount of evidence related to poor user behaviour is that of password management. For example, when hackers gain unauthorised access to public websites, subsequent analysis generally confirms that compromised passwords are to blame. We have a pretty good idea of the extent to which careless behaviour impacts on the individual user's personal security. However, we don't fully understand the impact on the organisation as a whole when such laxity is aggregated across a large number of employees, nor do we know how best to intervene so as to improve the level of protection of critical systems. Current wisdom mandates the use of increasingly draconian policies to curb insecure behaviours but it is clear that this approach has limited effectiveness. Unfortunately, no one really understands how the individual directives contained in these policies impact on the security of the systems in an organisation. Sometimes a mandated tightening of policy can have unexpected side-effects which are not easily anticipated and may indeed prove entirely counterproductive. It would be very difficult to investigate these issues in a real-life environment so here we describe a simulation model, which seeks to replicate a typical organisation, with employee agents using a number of systems over an extended period. The model is configurable, allowing adjustment of particular input parameters in order to reflect different policy dictats so as to determine their impact on the security of the simulated organisation's IT infrastructure. This tool will support security specialists developing policies within their organisations by quantifying the longitudinal impacts of particular rules
A novel trellis coded overlapping amplitude and pulse position modulation scheme for gamma-gamma channel free-space optical communication

A novel trellis coded-4×8 overlapping amplitude and pulse position modulation (TC-4×8AOPPM) scheme is proposed to enhance bit error rate (BER) performance of free-space optical communication (FSO) system. In addition, an uncoded AOPPM referential scheme is also designed. The schemes manage to decrease BER by designing gamma-gamma (GG) channel applicable decoding and demodulation methods. Simulation results of 8, 16 and 64-state TC-4×8AOPPM show 2.5-3.3 dB SNR gain against traditional TC-4×8AOPPM scheme respectively. Thus significant BER performance improvement is achieved and the reliability of the FSO system is also enhanced.
Service Quality Perceptions of Foreign Direct Investors

ABSTRACT In this article, the potential disparity between foreign direct investment (FDI) clients' service quality expectations and the actual service experienced (Gap 5) and how these impacts FDI inflows are investigated. Methodological triangulation encompassing quan-titative and qualitative methods is used. Contrary to the quantitative findings, the qualitative findings indicate that Gap 5 exists among the FDI clients. This is the first time the service quality model (performance-based construct) has been used to study FDI issues. Rather than applying the predominant “inside-out” mindset, the model adopts an “outside-in” mindset that uses perceived (actual) service as a reference point for clients' evaluation of service quality.
Integrated business development

Business Development traditionally has an incorporated focus on marketing and marketing models as well as marketing competencies among business development managers. However, the discussed case studies results and trends in business and market behaviour point to the fact that in the future only an integrated model of business development (including logistics, supply and quality management models and activities, respectively personnel) can provide significant competitive advantages especially to global companies. This is described in detail in the following paper and put together as an integrated business development model in order to enhance practical efficiency efforts and results in day to day business development.
Protein identification with deep learning: from abc to xyz

Proteins are the main workhorses of biological functions in a cell, a tissue, or an organism. Identification and quantification of proteins in a given sample, e.g. a cell type under normal/disease conditions, are fundamental tasks for the understanding of human health and disease. In this paper, we present DeepNovo, a deep learning-based tool to address the problem of protein identification from tandem mass spectrometry data. The idea was first proposed in the context of de novo peptide sequencing [1] in which convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks were applied to predict the amino acid sequence of a peptide from its spectrum, a similar task to generating a caption from an image. We further develop DeepNovo to perform sequence database search, the main technique for peptide identification that greatly benefits from numerous existing protein databases. We combine two modules de novo sequencing and database search into a single deep learning framework for peptide identification, and integrate de Bruijn graph assembly technique to offer a complete solution to reconstruct protein sequences from tandem mass spectrometry data. This paper describes a comprehensive protocol of DeepNovo for protein identification, including training neural network models, dynamic programming search, database querying, estimation of false discovery rate, and de Bruijn graph assembly. Training and testing data, model implementations, and comprehensive tutorials in form of IPython notebooks are available in our GitHub repository (this https URL).
Neural network hyperspectral unmixing with spectral information divergence objective

Hyperspectral unmixing is a challenging inverse problem that involves determining the fractional abundances of the representive material (endmembers) in each pixel. In this paper, we develop a neural network autoencoder, that dynamically exploits the sparsity of the abundances and enforces the abundance sum constraint (ASC) for hyperspectral unmixing. Instead of using the conventional mean square error (MSE) objective function, we use the spectral information divergence (SID) measure. Experiments are performed using a real hyperspectral dataset and we compare results obtained using both MSE and SID. It is demonstrated by qualitative inspection that using SID gives significantly better results than using MSE.