Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clustering spatial data streams for targeted alerting in disaster response

Natural calamities and man-made hazards can occur in an unexpected and unanticipated manner. They cause large-scale damage, create disruptions, and need instant reaction. In the event of sudden onset of a crisis, rapid formulation of a notification strategy, timely dispatch of alerts, and action on those alerts are important elements of early warning systems that can save lives. However, current methods of disaster alerting lack in the area of targeted communication of hazard information. Location data of the population available as a spatial data stream can allow dynamic identification of homogeneous clusters of people. Crisis notifications can then be targeted by personalizing information and instructions for each cluster. In this paper, we present an approach for dynamically partitioning a region into areas around a hazard using clustering of real-time streaming data to aid emergency response management. We lay down important requirements for the clustering technique from the perspective of our scenario and select an algorithm for our implementation after comparison with others. We employ a weighted distance measure and demonstrate the performance of our model in different settings through a series of experiments using a dataset of cell tower locations of users in Ivory Coast in Africa.
The Reorganization Decisions of Troubled Firms: Exit, Downscale or Relocate

Poorly performing firms need to improve their profitability through restructuring their operations. In many cases this means downsizing by means of collective layoff of employees. Based on a unique sample of Belgian firms reporting collective layoffs this paper analyzes whether a firm dismisses all employees (exit), a significant proportion of its employees (downscaling), or closes down part of its activities and moves production abroad (international relocation). It is argued and demonstrated that the choice of downsizing approach differs depending on the strategic options and characteristics of the firm. We find that firms that downscale are more sensitive to profit changes. Relocating firms are labor intensive and move production to lower wage countries to operate more capital-intensive in Belgium in line with the comparative advantage of the country. Exiting firms are typically small and young underscoring the theory on evolutionary learning.
First Isolation of Metallo-β-Lactamase-Producing Multiresistant Klebsiella pneumoniae from a Patient in Brazil

ABSTRACT A multiresistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate was taken from the blood of a 75-year-old patient with nosocomial pneumonia who developed septic shock and failed therapy with imipenem. The isolate presented an MIC of imipenem of 128 μg/ml, and the production of a metallo-β-lactamase was confirmed by phenotypic and genotypic techniques. We here report, for the first time, the detection of a metalloenzyme (IMP-1)-producing K. pneumoniae clinical strain in Latin America. The gene responsible for this phenotype was found to be blaIMP-1, carried in a class 1 integron.
Climate forcing by stratospheric aerosols

We illustrate how climate forcing by stratospheric aerosols depends on aerosol properties. The climate forcing is a function of aerosol size distribution, but the size dependence can be described well by a single parameter: the area-weighted mean radius, reff.If reff is greater than about 2 μm, the global average greenhouse effect of the aerosols exceeds the albedo effect, causing a surface heating. The aerosol climate forcing is less sensitive to other characteristics of the size distribution, the aerosol composition, and the altitude of the aerosols. Thus stratospheric aerosol forcing can be defined accurately from measurements of aerosol, extinction over a broad wavelength range.
Efficacy of salvage therapy containing ritonavir and saquinavir after failure of single protease inhibitor-containing regimens.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of salvage therapy containing ritonavir and saquinavir after failure of indinavir- or nelfinavir-containing regimens, and to determine correlates of success or failure. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING. The Moore Clinic - the HIV clinic of Johns Hopkins Hospital. PATIENTS Forty-one HIV-infected patients were identified through physician contacts, referrals from other providers, and review of a comprehensive clinical database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES To determine response to salvage therapy, HIV-1 viral RNA (absolute and log10-transformed) was measured using the Roche Amplicor quantitative HIV-1 RNA assay after initiation of the salvage regimen. Potential correlates of response included: viral RNA at the time of switch; viral RNA at the time of switch as a percentage of baseline viral RNA; magnitude of decline in viral RNA; and the interval between virologic failure of single protease inhibitor therapy and switch to the salvage regimen. RESULTS Thirteen (56.5%) of 23 patients failing indinavir responded to salvage therapy (HIV RNA < 400 copies/ml) with persistence throughout the follow-up period (median of 37 weeks; range 18-67 weeks). Mean absolute viral RNA at the time of switch was 20 238 copies/ml (median, 9281) compared with 42 953 copies/ml (median, 24 650) for the 10 non-responders. Mean log10 viral RNA at switch was 3.804 for responders versus 4.405 for non-responders (P = 0.040). Among four responders who had failed nelfinavir, mean viral RNA was 9634 copies/ml and mean log10 viral RNA was 3.749 at the time of switch. Two non-responders had a mean viral RNA of 21 551 and a mean log10 viral RNA of 4.037 at switch. CONCLUSIONS In contrast with previous reports, salvage regimens containing ritonavir and/or saquinavir can be effective and durable following the failure of combination regimens containing either indinavir or nelfinavir. Salvage therapy may be more likely to succeed when it is initiated early in failure at low viral loads.
The anti‐apoptotic factor Bcl‐2 can functionally substitute for the B cell survival but not for the marginal zone B cell differentiation activity of BAFF

The TNF family ligand B cell‐activating factor (BAFF, BLyS, TALL‐1) is an essential factor for B cell development. BAFF binds to three receptors, BAFF‐R, transmembrane activator and CAML interactor (TACI), and B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), but only BAFF‐R is required for successful survival and maturation of splenic B cells. To test whether the effect of BAFF is due to the up‐regulation of anti‐apoptotic factors, TACI‐Ig‐transgenic mice, in which BAFF function is inhibited, were crossed with transgenic mice expressing FLICE‐inhibitory protein (FLIP) or Bcl‐2 in the B cell compartment. FLIP expression did not rescue B cells, while enforced Bcl‐2 expression restored peripheral B cells and the ability to mount T‐dependent antibody responses. However, many B cells retained immaturity markers and failed to express normal amounts of CD21. Marginal zone B cells were not restored and the T‐independent IgG3, but not IgM, response was impaired in the TACI‐Ig×Bcl‐2 mice. These results suggest that BAFF is required not only to inhibit apoptosis of maturating B cells, but also to promote differentiation events, in particular those leading to the generation of marginal zone B cells.
A semi-synthetic dataset development tool for household energy consumption analysis

Home Energy Management System (HEMS) is acknowledged as a promised approach to explore household appliances dynamic energy usage. The availability of an appropriate dataset is indispensable to evaluate the performance of HEMS operations in the designing phase. In this paper, we develop a tool capable of generating long-term semi-synthetic data to avoid deficiency of available datasets particularly, the lack of the major appliances measurements and non-electric information. Accordingly, a simple household with primary appliances located in two-main zones is simulated. The paper utilizes a statistical analysis of real-world data to create probabilistic models of appliances and consequently, produce time-extended stochastic power profiles. Afterward, a simulation structure is developed to generate the power consumption profiles of major appliances consisting of Electrical Space Heaters (ESH) and Electrical Water Heaters (EWH). In order to achieve its ambition, this study executes a post-processing practice to create on/off power profiles of these appliances using their models. The results show that the proposed tool can be exploited for different HEMS scenarios.
Liver retransplantation for adult recipients

Living donor liver graft can be used for the first or second liver transplantation. The timing of retransplantation also should be stratified as 2 types according to the reoperation timing. Combination of these two classifications results in 6 types of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT)-associated retransplantation. However, late retransplantation to LDLT might have not been performed in most LDLT programs, thus other 4 types of LDLT-associated retransplantation can be taken into account. The most typical type of LDLT-associated retransplantation might be early living donor-to-deceased donor retransplantation. For early living donor-to-living donor retransplantation, its eligibility criteria might be similar to those of early living donor-to-deceased donor retransplantation. For early deceased donor-to-living donor retransplantation, its indications are exactly the same to those for aforementioned living donor-to-living donor retransplantation. Late deceased donor retransplantation after initial LDLT has the same indication for ordinary late deceased donor retransplantation.
A noncovalent complex vaccine prepared with detoxified Escherichia coli J5 (Rc chemotype) lipopolysaccharide and Neisseria meningitidis Group B outer membrane protein produces protective antibodies against gram-negative bacteremia.

Earlier studies showed that purified IgG from sera of rabbits immunized with a boiled Escherichia coli J5 (Rc chemotype) whole cell vaccine protected neutropenic rats against gram-negative bacterial sepsis. In the present study, de-O-acylated J5 lipopolysaccharide (J5 DLPS) as a noncovalent complex with Neisseria meningitidis group B outer membrane protein (GBOMP) elicited anti-J5 LPS antibodies in rabbits. IgG prepared from immune rabbit sera protected neutropenic rats against lethal challenge with Pseudomonas aeruginosa 12:4:4 (Fisher Devlin immunotype 6). Sixteen of 26 rats treated with the postimmune serum IgG were protected compared with none of 20 rats treated with the control rabbit serum IgG (P < .001). In vitro binding studies showed binding of anti-J5 IgG to several gram-negative bacteria. These results indicate that a subunit vaccine made of J5 DLPS as a noncovalent complex with GBOMP may protect against gram-negative bacteremia.
One condition for all: solution uniqueness and robustness of ℓ1-synthesis and ℓ1-analysis minimizations

The `1-synthesis and `1-analysis models recover structured signals from their undersampled measurements. The solution of the former model is often a sparse sum of dictionary atoms, and that of the latter model often makes sparse correlations with dictionary atoms. This paper addresses the question: when can we trust these models to recover specific signals? We answer the question with a necessary and sufficient condition that guarantees the recovery to be unique and exact and that also guarantees the recovery is robust in presence of measurement noise. The condition is one-for-all in the sense that it applies to both of the `1-synthesis and `1-analysis models, and to both of their constrained and unconstrained formulations. Furthermore, a convex infinity-norm program is introduced for numerically verifying the condition. The comparison with related existing conditions are included.
Examining factors that may influence accurate measurement of testosterone in sea turtles

Differences in reported testosterone concentrations in male sea turtle blood samples are common in the veterinary literature, but may be accounted for by differences in sample handling and processing prior to assay. Therefore, our study was performed to determine best practices for testosterone analysis in male sea turtles (Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas). Blood samples were collected into 5 collection tube types, and assay validation and measured testosterone concentrations were compared across different sample storage (fresh, refrigerated 1 week, or frozen), extraction (unextracted or ether-extracted), and processing treatment (untreated, homogenized, or dissociation reagent) conditions. Ether-extracted and dissociation reagent–treated samples validated in all conditions tested and are recommended for use, as unextracted samples validated only if assayed fresh. Dissociation reagent treatment was simpler to perform than ether extraction and resulted in total testosterone concentrations ~2.7–3.5 times greater than free testosterone measured in ether-extracted samples. Sample homogenization did not affect measured testosterone concentrations, and could be used to increase volume in gelled samples. An annual seasonal testosterone increase was observed in both species when ether extraction or dissociation reagent treatment was used. Annual deslorelin implant treatments in a Chelonia mydas male resulted in suppression of seasonal testosterone following the fourth treatment. Seasonal testosterone patterns resumed following discontinuation of deslorelin. Comparison of in-house and commercially available enzyme immunoassay kits revealed similar patterns of seasonal testosterone increases and deslorelin-induced suppression. Our study highlights the importance of methodological validation and provides laboratorians with best practices for testosterone enzyme immunoassay in sea turtles.
Macropinocytosis: searching for an endocytic identity and role in the uptake of cell penetrating peptides

• Introduction • Membrane ruffling and the formation of the macropinosome • Rabs and macropinocytosis • The fate of the macropinosome on the endocytic pathway • A role for nexins in macropinosome sorting • Cell penetrating peptides as vectors for drug delivery • The case for and against macropinocytosis • Conclusions
Secretion of Major Adrenal Androgens Following ACTH Administration in Obese Women with Different Body Fat Distribution

To investigate whether obese female subjects with abdominal obesity may have adrenal androgen hypersecretion, we examined two groups of women with abdominal (n = 12) and peripheral (n = 13) obesity (defined by body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio) and a group of seven healthy normal-weight women. All subjects underwent the following protocol study that included a) baseline determination of major adrenal androgens, b) an ACTH test, performed by administering two boli of ACTH (Synacthen, 0.2 microg/Kg BW, e.v.), at 90 min intervals, with blood samples taken for cortisol and androgens, c) an oral glucose tolerance test, performed by administering glucose (75 gr), with blood samples taken for glucose and insulin determination. Each woman also underwent a control saline study. We then investigated the relationships between basal and stimulated androgen levels, body weight and fat distribution and fasting and stimulated insulin levels. Although basal cortisol levels were similar, their increase (as AUC) after the ACTH test was higher in women with abdominal obesity than in the other groups. On the contrary, there were no significant differences in basal and stimulated serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione and 17-hydroxyprogesterone among the three groups. Fasting and stimulated (as AUC) insulin levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in women with abdominal obesity than in those with peripheral obesity and controls. No significant correlation was present between basal and stimulated androgen levels and body mass index, the waist-to-hip ratio or basal and stimulated cortisol values. Therefore, our data indicate that adrenal androgen secretion following low-dose ACTH administration in premenopausal women does not seem to be a function of body fat mass, fat distribution and insulin levels, nor does it correlate with the capacity of the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol in both basal and stimulated conditions.
NLP-based approaches for malware classification from API sequences

In the field of malware analysis, two basic types, which are static analysis and dynamic analysis, are involved in the process of understanding on how particular malware functions. By using dynamic analysis, malware researchers could collect API call sequences that are very valuable sources of information for identifying malware behavior. The proposed malware classification procedures introduced in this paper use API call sequences as inputs to classifiers. In addition, taking advantage of the development in Natural Language Processing field, we use some methods such as n-gram, doc2vec (or Paragraph vectors), TF-IDF to convert those API sequences to numeric vectors before feeding to the classifiers. Our proposed approaches are divided into 3 different methods to classify malware, that is TF-IDF, Paragraph Vector with Distributed Bag of Words and Paragraph Vector with Distributed Memory. Each of them provides us a very good accuracy.
A short introduction to probabilistic soft logic

Probabilistic soft logic (PSL) is a framework for collective, probabilistic reasoning in relational domains. PSL uses first order logic rules as a template language for graphical models over random variables with soft truth values from the interval [0, 1]. Inference in this setting is a continuous optimization task, which can be solved efficiently. This paper provides an overview of the PSL language and its techniques for inference and weight learning. An implementation of PSL is available at http://psl.umiacs. umd.edu/.
A model for variation in the chemistry of planktonic foraminifera due to secondary calcification and selective dissolution

A quantitative model for describing the within-population variation in planktonic foraminifer shell chemistry that results from secondary calcification and selective dissolution is presented. The objective is to construct a basis for inferring the chemistries of different shell components and estimating the extent of shell dissolution. Variation is modeled as mixtures of two kinds of shell calcite, a primary calcite that forms the chambers and a secondary calcite that forms crust. Bulk shell chemistries are intermediate between the chemistries of these calcites and lie on mixing lines between them. For two component systems, mass balance relationships can be reformulated as a linear regression and solved for the chemistries of the primary and secondary calcites and for the uncertainties associated with these estimates. To apply this model, one needs measurements of bulk shell chemistries and estimates of the relative proportions of secondary and primary calcites. For most planktonic foraminifer species the proportion of secondary calcite can be estimated from differences in the relationship between shell size and mass before and after crusting. Preliminary results are consistent with previous work showing that secondary calcites are added at depth. However, even deep-dwelling species appear to grow most of their primary shell in surface waters and some surface-dwelling species add secondary calcite in the deep ocean. In contrast to the model's simple description of secondary calcification, the variation in chemistry from selective dissolution is more complicated because undissolved shells are themselves mixtures of primary and secondary calcites and therefore present a wide range of initial shell compositions. Nevertheless, the model allows both the compositions of different components to be inferred and the amount of dissolution to be estimated. Preliminary results indicate that dissolution of planktonic foraminifera is apparent nearly 2 km above the foraminifer lysocline and even apparently well-preserved shells may be over 50% dissolved.
Effect Site Concentrations of Propofol for Dental Treatment under Deep Sedation in Intellectually Disabled Patients

Background: Propofol is the most commonly used anesthetic for sedation and target-controlled infusion (TCI) is useful for dental treatment. However, it is important to assess and maintain an adequate depth of sedation in patients with severe intellectual disabilities Therefore, in this study we aimed to evaluate the adequate propofol target concentration for dental treatment in severely intellectually disabled patients. Methods: We undertook retrospective review of the sedation records of severely intellectually disabled patients who underwent dental treatment under TCI propofol sedation from September 2011 to April 2012. We evaluated the initial target concentration, stabilized concentration of propofol and monitored vital signs, including BIS score using sedation records. Results: Total 20 patients (10 male and 10 female patients) were included in the study. Every participant was severely intellectually disabled. The mean sedation duration was 70 ± 16 (45-100) minutes. The initial propofol target concentration infusion amount was 2.7 ± 0.45 (2.0-3.0) mcg/ml. The propofol effect site concentration (Ce) was 2.6 ± 0.7 (1.0-4.0) mcg/ml. The average value of BIS was 52.6 ± 13 (28-81). During the treatment period, there were no severe complications. Conclusions: The average propofol Ce for deep sedation without any complications in intellectually disabled patients was 2.6 mcg/ml.
Willingness to pay for diabetes drug therapy in type 2 diabetes patients: based on LEAD clinical programme results

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the preferences of people with diabetes for liraglutide vs other glucose lowering drugs, based on outcomes of clinical trials. Methods: Willingness to pay (WTP) for diabetes drug treatment was assessed by combining results from a recent WTP study with analysis of results from the Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes (LEAD) programme. The LEAD programme included six randomised clinical trials with 3967 participants analysing efficacy and safety of liraglutide 1.2 mg (LEAD 1–6 trials), rosiglitazone (LEAD 1 trial), glimepiride (LEAD 2–3 trials), insulin glargine (LEAD 5 trial), and exenatide (LEAD 6 trial). The WTP survey used discrete choice experimental (DCE) methodology to evaluate the convenience and clinical effects of glucose lowering treatments. Results: People with type 2 diabetes were prepared to pay an extra €2.64/day for liraglutide compared with rosiglitazone, an extra €1.94/day compared with glimepiride, an extra €3.36/day compared with insulin glargine, and an extra €0.81/day compared with exenatide. Weight loss was the largest component of WTP for liraglutide compared with rosiglitazone, glimepiride, and insulin glargine. Differences in the administration of the two drugs was the largest component of WTP for liraglutide (once daily anytime) compared with exenatide (twice daily with meals). A limitation of the study was that it was based on six clinical trials where liraglutide was the test drug, but each trial had a different comparator, therefore the clinical effects of liraglutide were much better documented than the comparators. Conclusions: WTP analyses of the clinical results from the LEAD programme suggested that participants with type 2 diabetes were willing to pay appreciably more for liraglutide than other glucose lowering treatments. This was driven by the relative advantage of weight loss compared with rosiglitazone, glimepiride, and insulin glargine, and administration frequency compared with exenatide.