Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular epidemiology of rabies virus in South Africa: evidence for two distinct virus groups.

In order to derive phylogenetic relationships between rabies virus isolates from different geographical locations and host species in South Africa, two genome regions of the virus, viz. the cytoplasmic domain of the glycoprotein and the G-L intergenic region (pseudogene), were sequenced. A high level of nucleic acid sequence conservation indicated a close phylogenetic relationship between virus isolates from domestic dogs, jackals and bat-eared foxes, i.e. Canidae. These isolates appeared to be distinct from but closely related to European strains of rabies virus. However, a phylogenetically distinguishable and distant group, which contained isolates from mongooses (i.e. Viverridae) was identifiable. The latter group appears to be distantly related to European and vaccine strains of rabies virus and may have evolved uniquely on the central plateau of South Africa. Our data also indicate that spillover from mongooses (or other viverrids) to canid hosts occurs occasionally.
Case Study on a Process of Industrial MDA Realization -- Determinants of Effectiveness

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) initiative gains a considerable and growing amount of interest in both academia and industry with the Unified Modeling Language (UML) placed in the center of MDA. A successful MDA realization in industry is determined by certain factors. In this paper, we identify key factors for the efficient accomplishment of the MDA by means of an industrial case study. The case study is performed in a context of a large IT company with distributed development units developing complex systems. The factors identified are grouped into two categories - associated with usage and development of an MDA-based framework. The factors stem from different activities performed during the process of MDA realization. We studied the process of MDA realization at the company and we discuss the factors in the context of the process. In addition to the identified process and factors, there was a need to investigate the importance of different elements in the process and assess their perception in the team. The results of a prioritization experiment performed in the course of the study show that language customization plays a central role in MDA even though the customization was initially perceived as a background activity by framework constructors.
Optimal Regulation of Financial Intermediaries

I characterize the optimal financial regulation policy in an economy where financial intermediaries trade capital assets on behalf of households, but must retain an equity stake to align incentives. Financial regulation is necessary because intermediaries cannot be excluded from privately trading in capital markets. They don’t internalize that high asset prices force everyone to bear more risk. The socially optimal allocation can be implemented with a tax on asset holdings. I derive a sufficient statistic for the externality and use market data on leverage and volatility of intermediaries’ equity to measure it. (JEL D82, G01, G12, G20, G31, H25)
Resource Allocation using Adaptive Characterization of Online, Data-Intensive Workloads

Cloud resource providers balance maximizing utilization under a power cap with meeting workload Service Level Agreements (SLA). As the amount of data used by workloads increases, so do the pressures on compute capacity in the cloud. Even if the resources assigned meet an interactive workload’s need for low latency, the data that interactive workload processes with allocated resources may not be sufficient to achieve a standard of answer quality. Increasing the resources allocated to a specific workload to meet its answer quality standard reduces the overall profit a cloud provider can make on interactive workloads. However, if a workload’s answer quality standard is not met, the interactive workload may seek another placement. Cloud instances can be purchased by the minute, and multiple opportunities for placement exist. Because of this, cloud providers need to put their clients’ interests first or lose revenue. To best serve their own and their clients interest, cloud providers need data which reflects resource usage, answer quality, and service level. If a cloud provider knows the amount of power used by each workload scheduled, it can better fulfill its power cap requirements without penalty. If a cloud provider knows the current latency and answer quality of scheduled workloads, it can decide when to reallocate resources. However, this is difficult because any collection of data online imposes overheads. While cloud providers generally
The social dynamics of smart grids : On households, information flows & sustainable energy transitions

In international climate and energy policy the development of smart grids features as a critical new step in the transition towards a sustainable energy future. Smart grids enable two-way energy and information exchange between households and energy providers. Drawing on social practice theories, transition theories and informational governance, this thesis seeks to shed light on the changes that are taking place at the level of households: How do householders understand, handle and use new information flows? How can we conceptualise the interplay between households and smart energy systems? And what does this mean for householder participation in smart energy transitions? The thesis suggests that the key to understanding and governing the social dynamics of smart grids lies in the ‘Home Energy Management-practices’ (HEM-practices) that are emerging at the interface between households and wider energy systems.
Hardware primitives for packet flow processing architectures

As communication networks move towards 40/100G transmission capacities, wire-speed packet processing is becoming much critical to implement. Most commercial solutions for the high-speed telecom market are based on either ASIC designs and/or network processors (NPs), while enterprise solutions can eventually make use of general purpose processors (GPPs) to deal with much slower processing requirements. As Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology continues to evolve, its use for packet processing tasks in network devices is expected to grow. Meanwhile, per-flow processing techniques that scale better than per-packet ones are becoming more widespread in network design. Packet flow processing aims at grouping packets that require similar processing tasks in order to perform them efficiently. This paper proposes the definition of hardware primitives that can be assembled and reused to build packet flow processing architectures. These primitives are described and discussed as well as their interconnection strategy. To illustrate the concept, a case study of an implementation of a packet switch architecture is finally presented.
A data-driven approach for benchmarking energy efficiency of warehouse buildings

 Abstract — This study proposes a data-driven approach for benchmarking energy efficiency of warehouse buildings. Our proposed approach provides an alternative to the limitation of existing benchmarking approaches where a theoretical energy-efficient warehouse was used as a reference. Our approach starts by defining the questions needed to capture the characteristics of warehouses relating to energy consumption. Using an existing data set of warehouse building containing various attributes, we first cluster them into groups by their characteristics. The warehouses characteristics derived from the cluster assignments along with their past annual energy consumption are subsequently used to train a decision tree model. The decision tree provides a classification of what factors contribute to different levels of energy consumption. Finally, we showed how a linear regression method is used to predict the energy consumption based on relationships between strongly correlated variables, such as climate zone, number of working hours, and floor area. With our proposed data-driven approach, decision makers can analyze and benchmark their warehouse building data, adopt best practices from existing solutions and make better decisions when recommending high-impact energy reduction solutions for their
An ultra-fast SiC phase-leg module in modified hybrid packaging structure

This paper presents the development of an ultra-fast SiC phase-leg module built in modified hybrid structure. Being a three-dimensional (3D) packaging technology, the hybrid structure achieves the same footprint as and similar parasitics to the planar packaging, but requires no double-sided solderability on the bare dice, which is not available on current SiC devices. Compared to its previous generation, the modified hybrid structure also simplifies the fabrication significantly, and allows much more complicated module design. A compact 1200 V, 10 A SiC MOSFET phase-leg module is designed and built in the proposed structure. Through proper layout design, ultra-low switching loop inductances can be realized, and experiments verify that the switching speed of the SiC MOSFET can be pushed to its very limit without excessive parasitic ringing.
Internal accounting communication - How do managers frame financial information towards employees?

Background and problem: Communicating and using financial information internally is something which all companies do. To be able use financial data employees have to understand it, and it is the corporate managers whose task it is to communicate this to the employees. Previous literature discusses different reasons why employees do not understand financial information. Previous research provides suggestions on how to increase the understandability. One aspect, which is not enough investigated in the previous accounting literature is how managers use framing in their internal accounting communication towards employees. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how the financial information is communicated within an organization. The purpose is further to see how the communication is framed to address employees. Research question: How is the communication of financial information framed by managers towards employees? Research method: To study internal accounting communication we perform a case study of SCA, based on a combination of interviews and document review. Interviews with corporate managers and employees are complemented by internal document review. In such combination, information framing performed by the managers towards employees is observed. Findings: Different patterns/measures of framing are found in the internal communication of the studied organization. Framing is performed by managers via both written and verbal communication channels. The study reveals that they use verbal channels the most, and written channels mostly as a compliment to the verbal. Additionally, the study reveals that managers not only frame information towards employees, but also employees towards information. They frame employees by holding internal seminars, in which they teach employees how to read and understand accounting numbers that they present. Implications: This study theoretically contributes with knowledge on how framing can be used by managers towards employees. This study practically contributes by providing examples of how the organization is trying to affect the employee's “frame in thought”, by helping them to interpret the manager's framed messages. This study further contributes by showing that regulations, such as laws, function as a source of both priming and framing when it comes to the communication of accounting information within the organization.
Paracrine Factors from Human Placental Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Protect Endothelium from Oxidative Injury via STAT3 and Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Activation1

Reactive oxygen species may cause oxidative damage in the placenta, yet some mechanisms must exist to reduce or prevent such damage. We investigated whether oxidative injury to placental endothelial cells is inhibited by activation of antioxidant enzymes by paracrine factors secreted by human placental multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hPMSC). hPMSC-conditioned medium and umbilical endothelial cells were assayed for cytokines and cytokine receptor expression by immunoassay and real-time PCR. Endothelial cell survival was evaluated by MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt] assay and caspase 3 activity assay. tert-Butyl hydroperoxide was used to induce oxidative injury in endothelial cells, with fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry used to detect intracellular peroxides and cell apoptosis. Western blot, real-time PCR, STAT3 DNA-binding activity assay, and STAT3 siRNA were used to assess endothelial cell antioxidant enzymes. hPMSC-conditioned medium supported endothelial cell survival and reduced endothelial cell intracellular peroxides and apoptosis. hPMSCs expressed the transcripts of the interleukin (IL) 6 cytokine family, including IL6 and leukemia-inhibitory factor. hPMSC-conditioned medium activated STAT3 expression in endothelial cells, which was inhibited by neutralizing antibody to interleukin 6 signal transducer (IL6ST) but not to IL6 or leukemia-inhibitory factor. STAT3 siRNA or manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) siRNA transfected into endothelial cells inhibited the antiapoptotic effect of conditioned medium. SOD2 was significantly upregulated in endothelial cells by conditioned medium via STAT3 activation that, in turn, was inhibited by IL6ST-neutralizing antibody or STAT3 siRNA. Paracrine factors secreted by hPMSCs support endothelial cell survival. STAT3 activation and SOD2 production protect against oxidative stress-induced endothelial cell damage.
Communicating the Changes to Cervical Cancer Screening in England: The Choice to have an HPV Test

Scientific understanding of the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical cancer increased dramatically through the 1990s. The last 7 years have seen the introduction of HPV vaccination for young women in many developed countries. In parallel, the potential for HPV testing to improve current cervical screening practices is being explored. Pri-mary HPV testing in the cervical screening context involves testing the cervical sample for the presence of HPV DNA. Many stud-ies have shown that compared with cytology, HPV testing has improved sensitivity for detecting high-grade disease
ANovel Biologically Inspired AttentionMechanism for a Social Robot

In biological vision systems, the attention mechanism is responsible for selecting the relevant information from the sensed field of view. In robotics, this ability is specially useful because of the restrictions in computational resources which are necessary to simultaneously perform different tasks. An emerging area in robotics is developing social robots which are capable to navigate and to interact with humans and with their environment by perceiving the real world in a similar way that people do. In this proposal, we focus on the development of an object-based attention mechanism for a social robot. It consists of three main modules. The first one (preattentive stage) implements a concept of saliency based on “proto-objects. ” In the second stage (semiattentive), significant items according to the tasks to accomplish are identified and tracked. Finally, the attentive stage fixes the field of attention to the most salient object depending on the current task.
Voluntary and Mandatory Disclosures: Do Managers View Them as Substitutes?

Abstract We examine the relation between firms' voluntary guidance and mandatory 8K filings. We find a negative relation between guidance and 8Ks, which strengthens following the 2004 expansion of mandatory 8K requirements, consistent with firms using the disclosures as substitutes. Increases in 8Ks coincide with declines in firms’ profits, but this negative relation weakens after the 2004 regulation, consistent with firms broadening the scope of information conveyed through 8Ks. Together, our findings suggest firms became more reliant on 8Ks to convey general types of information after the 2004 regulation, rather than primarily negative news, which reduces their incentives to issue guidance.
A Protein from a Parasitic Microorganism, Rickettsia prowazekii, Can Cleave the Signal Sequences of Proteins Targeting Mitochondria

ABSTRACT The obligate intracellular parasitic bacteria rickettsiae are more closely related to mitochondria than any other microbes investigated to date. A rickettsial putative peptidase (RPP) was found to resemble the α and β subunits of mitochondrial processing peptidase (MPP), which cleaves the transport signal sequences of mitochondrial preproteins. RPP showed completely conserved zinc-binding and catalytic residues compared with β-MPP but barely contained any of the glycine-rich loop region characteristic of α-MPP. When the biochemical activity of RPP purified from a recombinant source was analyzed, RPP specifically hydrolyzed basic peptides and presequence peptides with frequent cleavage at their MPP-processing sites. Moreover, RPP appeared to activate yeast β-MPP so that it processed preproteins with shorter presequences. Thus, RPP behaves as a bifunctional protein that could act as a basic peptide peptidase and a somewhat regulatory protein for other protein activities in rickettsiae. These are the first biological and enzymological studies to report that a protein from a parasitic microorganism can cleave the signal sequences of proteins targeted to mitochondria.
Executive Compensation, Corporate Governance and Earnings Management in an Emerging Market

We examine how compensation of chief executive officer (CEO) and corporate governance practices affect earnings management behavior in an emerging economy, Pakistan. Using 1836 firm-year observations from 260 firms listed in KSE for period 2005 to 2012, we do not find that CEO compensation has significant influence on earnings management behavior however weak evidence is found that CEOs in small firms do manage earnings to increase their compensation. Further, we find that CEO duality is related to improved earnings quality. However, larger boards appear to be related to higher earnings. Thus, larger boards reduce the quality of reported financial information. Furthermore, we find that concentrated ownership is related to higher earnings management. Sub-sample analysis shows that both concentrated and family ownerships are related to income decreasing earnings management. Overall, as policy implications, our findings suggest that earnings management behavior is likely to be conditioned to the contextual settings of the economy under examination.
Symmetrical Encoder for Surveillance of Ring Optical Networks

Optical coding has been extensively investigated for monitoring fiber-to-the-X point-to-multipoint passive optical networks. In this letter, we propose to extend this type of coding for ring based metropolitan networks. We show that this new application requires a novel design for the optical coding devices, which we call symmetrical encoders. We propose one implementation of this encoder and examine its suitability to monitor faults in each segment of the ring and also to detect faulty nodes. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the system in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and network recovery time.
Impulse Noise Exposures: Characterization and Effects on Fetal Sheep in Utero

Abstract : Twenty fetal sheep were exposed to impulses with peak levels of 169 dB SPL (pSPL). Auditory evoked potentials and behavioral state were recorded from the fetuses before and after impulse exposures. In the uterus of pregnant sheep, the pSPL varied as a function of fetal head location. When the fetal head was against the abdominal wall, peak levels were within 3.7 dB of airborne levels. When the fetal head was deep within the uterus, the peak amplitude decreased by 18.5 dB. Data from ten fetuses exposed at 117 days gestational age (dGA) and from 10 fetuses exposed at 127 dGA revealed significant elevations in post-exposure auditory brainstem response thresholds for low-frequency eliciting stimuli. Scanning electron microscopy revealed damage to inner and outer hair cells located in the middle and apical turns of the cochlea. Cochleae of fetuses exposed at 117 dGOA showed similar amounts of damage when compared to cochleae of fetuses exposed at 127 dGA. Recordings of behavioral state indicated disruption of normal cycling during and shortly after the exposure. Significant changes occurred for fetal heart rate, and spectral power in the electrocorticogram for Alpha, Delta and Theta bands. The major finding was that exposure to 20 impulses at 169 dB peak sound pressure level produced significant damage to primarily the inner row of hair cells located in the apical region of the cochlea in fetal sheep.
Design and Analysis of an Integral Sliding Mode Fault-Tolerant Control Scheme

A novel scheme for fault-tolerant control is proposed in this paper, in which integral sliding mode ideas are incorporated with control allocation to cope with the total failure of certain actuators, under the assumption that redundancy is available in the system. The proposed scheme uses the effectiveness level of the actuators to redistribute the control signals to healthy actuators without reconfiguring the controller. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme against faults or failures is tested in simulation based on a large transport aircraft model.
Aplikace procesního řízení nákladů v podmínkách českých organizací

The dissertation work deals with Activity-Based Cost Management theory and practice, e.g. Activity-Based Costing and Activity-Based Management methods. Describes and deepen the theoretical knowledge in this area and on this fundaments restates the methodology of the implementation of these methods in enterprise's standard practice. The work confronts this ABC/M costing system with the traditional costing methods and points at shortcomings of the traditional model and advantages of process approach to the cost management in global business. Work in its exploratory phase analyses present status of the cost management in the Czech enterprises and investigate the experiences of enterprises, which implemented the ABC/M. Work comes from process management, which is determined as the source of successful method implementation.
Diverse Roles of Corporate Board: Review of Various Corporate Governance Theories

The board of directors (i.e. board) has generally been perceived as the backbone of corporate governance. Board is one of the most important internal corporate governance mechanisms used by the shareholders to monitor management. Board has diverse functions and roles such as the control role; the strategic role; the service or resource provision role and the advice and counsel role. There are many theories of corporate governance to explain such diverse roles of corporate boards. Any single corporate governance theory cannot fully explain the complexity and heterogeneity of the board functions in a corporate business. Hence, this research study reviews some of the corporate governance theories with a view to understand how board functions as well as board compositions are related to firm performance. This study looked at four main theories such as the agency theory, stewardship theory, resource dependency theory, and resource based view (RBV) theory that have influenced corporate governance development related to board functions.