Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Adjustment for Socioeconomic Status on Comparisons of Cancer Incidence between Two European Countries

Background. Cancer incidence rates vary considerably between countries and by socioeconomic status (SES). We investigate the impact of SES upon the relative cancer risk in two neighbouring countries. Methods. Data on 229,824 cases for 16 cancers diagnosed in 1995–2007 were extracted from the cancer registries in Northern Ireland (NI) and Republic of Ireland (RoI). Cancers in the two countries were compared using incidence rate ratios (IRRs) adjusted for age and age plus area-based SES. Results. Adjusting for SES in addition to age had a considerable impact on NI/RoI comparisons for cancers strongly related to SES. Before SES adjustment, lung cancer incidence rates were 11% higher for males and 7% higher for females in NI, while after adjustment, the IRR was not statistically significant. Cervical cancer rates were lower in NI than in RoI after adjustment for age (IRR: 0.90 (0.84–0.97)), with this difference increasing after adjustment for SES (IRR: 0.85 (0.79–0.92)). For cancers with a weak or nonexistent relationship to SES, adjustment for SES made little difference to the IRR. Conclusion. Socioeconomic factors explain some international variations but also obscure other crucial differences; thus, adjustment for these factors should not become part of international comparisons.
Influence of supplemental aminooligosaccharides on in vitro disappearance of diets for dairy cattle and its effects on milk yield.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of supplemental aminooligosaccharides (AOS) on the disappearance and fermentation of diets for lactating cows, and its effects on milk yield and quality. In the first study, diets containing 0 or 0.2% AOS (dry matter basis) were incubated for 24, 48 and 72 h with ruminal fluid to evaluate the in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and fermentation characteristics. The addition of AOS improved IVDMD of diets, induced higher total bacterial and cellulolytic bacterial counts and decreased the number of bacteria that produce lactate compared to the control. At 24 h incubation, AOS increased volatile fatty acid concentrations and the molar proportion of propionate, though at 48 and 72 h incubation AOS did not affect the fermentation characteristics of the diets. In a further experiment, milk yield and milk quality were evaluated using 50 Holstein dairy cows (193 days in milk). Cows were randomly assigned to the diets tested in the in vitro study. Feed intake was not modified by AOS. Milk yield of cows fed AOS was significantly higher than that of cows not supplemented. Because AOS tended to decrease the percentage of fat in milk, fat and solid-corrected milk content were similar for the two treatments. Percentage and yield of non-fat solids, protein and lactose, and the somatic cell count in milk were not affected by AOS. The milk urea-N concentration of the cows fed AOS was lower than of those not supplemented. Supplementing AOS enhanced the disappearance and fermentation characteristics of the diet. Further studies with cows earlier in lactation are necessary to evaluate the effects of AOS on milk yield and milk components.
Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Blood Flow Velocity and Vessel Size

Abstract Interferential current electrical stimulation alters blood flow velocity and vessel size. We aimed to investigate the changes in the autonomic nervous system depending on electrical stimulation parameters. Forty-five healthy adult male and female subjects were studied. Bipolar adhesive pad electrodes were used to stimulate the autonomic nervous system at the thoracic vertebrae 1-4 levels for 20 min. Using Doppler ultrasonography, blood flow was measured to determine velocity and vessel size before, immediately after, and 30 min after electrical stimulation. Changes in blood flow velocity were significantly different immediately and 30 min after stimulation. The interaction between intervention periods and groups was significantly different between the exercise and pain stimulation groups immediately after stimulation (p<0.05). The vessel size was significantly different before and 30 min after stimulation (p<0.05). Imbalances in the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates balance throughout the body, may present with various symptoms. Therefore, in the clinical practice, the parameters of electrical stimulation should be selectively applied in accordance with various conditions and changes in form.
Accurate vertical sidewall measurement by a metrological tilting-AFM for reference metrology of line edge roughness

Line edge roughness (LER) measurement is one of the metrology challenges for 3D device structures, and LER reference metrology is important for reliable LER measurements. We developed an LER measurement technique, which is able to analyze LER distribution along height of a line pattern, with high accuracy, resolution, and reproducibility. Highly accurate atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of a vertical sidewall of a line pattern was obtained using a metrological tilting- AFM, which offers SI-traceable dimensional measurements. The tilting-tip was controlled with an inclined servo axis and scans the vertical sidewall along a line pattern with a high sampling density to enable an analysis of the LER height distribution at the sidewall. A horizontal cross-section of the sidewall shows sidewall roughness with sub-nm resolution. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis of the sidewall profile showed that the PSD noise in the high-frequency region was several orders of magnitude lower than the noise of typical scanning electron microscopy methods. AFM measurements were sequentially repeated three times to evaluate the reproducibility of the sidewall measurement and LER analysis; results indicated a high reproducibility of 0.07 nm evaluated as a standard deviation of LER at each height.
THE TAX AUTHORITY AND THE TAXPAYER An Exploratory Analysis

The issue of tax compliance has been dealt with in the literature almost exclusively by studying the behavior of taxpayers. But important insights on tax compliance can be gained by looking at how the tax authority deals with the taxpayers. Taxpayers’ willingness to pay their taxes, or tax morale, is supported, or even raised, when the tax officials treat them with respect. In contrast, when the tax officials consider taxpayers purely as ‘subjects’ who have to be forced to pay their dues, the taxpayers tend to respond by actively trying to avoid taxation. Using data for Swiss cantons and five different years from the period 1970 to 1995, we establish a systematic relationship between external intervention (in this case, how the tax officials deal with taxpayers) and intrinsic motivation (in this case, individuals’ tax morale).
Design of low-leakage and high writable proposed SRAM cell structure

The high demand of embedding more and more functionality in a single chip has enforced the use of scaling. As scaling drastically reduce the channel length the leakage current also increases significantly which increases the static power dissipation. A novel 8T-SRAM cell (Leakage Current Reduced SRAM cell) is proposed which reduces the leakage power dissipation significantly in comparison to the conventional 6T-SRAM cell. The cell is designed using GPDK-90 nm technology library and simulated under Cadence Virtuoso design environment. The proposed cell uses a lower voltage than Vdd during standby mode which leads to a reduction of leakage current and hence the static power consumption. The lower voltage is generated using an NMOS which creates a threshold voltage drop when transfer a high logic. The power consumption is found to be 25.02 % lesser than that of conventional six transistors SRAM cell. The stability and the write ability are measured using the N-Curve technique.
The Evolution of Symptoms in Institutionalized Hebephrenic/Catatonic Schizophrenics

Summary The charts of 52 hebephrenic/catatonic schizophrenics requiring long-term institutionalization were selected from the Iowa 500 study and reviewed. The presence or absence of 28 different symptoms was noted on a year by year basis over a span of 35 years. Symptoms usually classified as positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions, were found to have earlier onset and greater tendency to resolve over time than symptoms usually classified as negative such as flat affect, decreased social interaction and sensorium defects.
Synthesis of Pd@ZnO Core-shell Nanoparticles with Different Size and Their Gas Sensing Properties

Two different sizes of Pd@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) have been prepared by using two different sizes of Pd NPs (15 and 50 nm) as metal cores and applied for acetaldehyde gas sensing. Transmission electron microscopy images revealed that the overall size of two sensing materials such as Pd15@ZnO and Pd50@ZnO core-shell NPs are 80-100 nm and 100-120 nm, respectively. Xray-diffraction pattern revealed that the oxidation of Pd metal core was started from 300C. The spherical shape and size are maintained after the Pd@ZnO core-shell NPs was calcined at 500C for 2 h. PdO15@ZnO core-shell NPs showed higher response to acetaldehyde. The maximum response of PdO15@ZnO core-shell NPs to 100 ppm of acetaldehyde at 350 C was 75, whereas the maximum response of PdO50@ZnO core-shell NPs to 100 ppm of acetaldehyde was 28 as compared to the pure ZnO NPs (Rs=18). The high response of PdO15@ZnO coreshell NPs than PdO50@ZnO core-shell NPs is due to the smaller size of PdO core, which has more catalytic activity than 50 nm sized PdO core.
Mutations in the Drosophila ortholog of the vertebrate Golgi pH regulator (GPHR) protein disturb endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi organization and affect systemic growth

Summary Sorting of secretory cargo and retrieval of components of the biosynthetic pathway occur in organelles such as the Golgi apparatus, the endoplasmic reticulum and the endosomes. In order to perform their functions in protein sorting, these organelles require a weakly acidified lumen. In vitro data have shown that Golgi luminal pH is in part regulated by an anion channel called Golgi pH Regulator (GPHR). Mammalian cells carrying a mutated GPHR version present an increased luminal pH leading to delayed protein transport, impaired glycosylation and Golgi disorganization. Using Drosophila as a model system, we present here the first phenotypic consequences, at the organism level, of a complete lack of GPHR function. We show that, although all individuals carrying complete loss-of-function mutations in the dGPHR gene can go through embryonic development, most of them die at late larval stages. The dGPHR mutations are, however, sublethal and can therefore generate escapers that are smaller than controls. Using cellular and molecular readouts, we demonstrate that the effects of dGPHR mutation on larval growth are not due to Insulin signaling pathway impairment and can be rescued by providing dGPHR in only some of the larval tissues. We reveal that, although functionally exchangeable, the invertebrate and vertebrate GPHRs display not completely overlapping sub-cellular localization. Whereas the mammalian GPHR is a Golgi-only associated protein whose inactivation disturbs the Golgi apparatus, our data suggest that dGPHR is expressed in both the ER and the Golgi and that dGPHR mutant flies have defects in both organelles that lead to a defective secretory pathway.
Evaluation framework for service level management in federated service management context

Web Services are being adopted for integration, yet to enable a fullblown service-oriented architecture approach for federated service management, a comprehensive support infrastructure is required. Focusing on service level management in the service management arena, this paper describes a frame of reference and uses it to evaluate service level management –related support infrastructures in research projects from a service federations perspective. While all the projects surveyed provide useful insights, areas of research still remain.
EMERALD: Event Monitoring Enabling Responses to Anomalous Live Disturbances

The EMERALD (Event Monitoring Enabling Responses to Anomalous Live Disturbances) environment is a distributed scalable tool suite for tracking malicious activity through and across large networks. EMERALD introduces a highly distributed, building-block approach to network surveillance, attack isolation, and automated response. It combines models from research in distributed high-volume event-correlation methodologies with over a decade of intrusion detection research and engineering experience. The approach is novel in its use of highly distributed, independently tunable, surveillance and response monitors that are deployable polymorphically at various abstract layers in a large network. These monitors contribute to a streamlined event-analysis system that combines signature analysis with statistical profiling to provide localized real-time protection of the most widely used network services on the Internet. Equally important, EMERALD introduces a recursive framework for coordinating the dissemination of analyses from the distributed monitors to provide a global detection and response capability that can counter attacks occurring across an entire network enterprise. Further, EMERALD introduces a versatile application programmers' interface that enhances its ability to integrate with heterogeneous target hosts and provides a high degree of interoperability with third-party tool suites.
Microenvironmental heterogeneity of gut compartments drives bacterial community structure in wood‐ and humus‐feeding higher termites

ABSTRACT Symbiotic digestion of lignocellulose in higher termites (family Termitidae) is accomplished by an exclusively prokaryotic gut microbiota. By deep sequencing of amplified 16S rRNA genes, we had identified diet as the primary determinant of bacterial community structure in a broad selection of termites specialized on lignocellulose in different stages of humification. Here, we increased the resolution of our approach to account for the pronounced heterogeneity in microenvironmental conditions and microbial activities in the major hindgut compartments. The community structure of consecutive gut compartments in each species strongly differed, but that of homologous compartments clearly converged, even among unrelated termites. While the alkaline P1 compartments of all termites investigated contained specific lineages of Clostridiales, the posterior hindgut compartments (P3, P4) differed between feeding groups and were predominantly colonized by putatively fiber‐associated lineages of Spirochaetes, Fibrobacteres and the TG3 phylum (wood and grass feeders) or diverse assemblages of Clostridiales and Bacteroidetes (humus and soil feeders). The results underscore that bacterial community structure in termite guts is driven by microenvironmental factors, such as pH, available substrates and gradients of O2 and H2, and inspire investigations on the functional roles of specific bacterial taxa in lignocellulose and humus digestion. &NA; Graphical Abstract Figure. Microenvironmental differences shape the distribution and abundance of bacterial populations in the gut compartments of higher termites.
Effects of parenteral recombinant human macrophage colony-stimulating factor on monocyte number, phenotype, and antitumor cytotoxicity in nonhuman primates.

Recombinant human macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhM-CSF) was given to cynomolgus monkeys by continuous intravenous infusion or subcutaneous injection, at a dose of 50 to 100 micrograms/kg/d in repetitive 14-day cycles. Starting within 24 to 48 hours of initiation of rhM-CSF, there was a progressive increase in the number of circulating monocytes, from a baseline of 811 +/- 253 cells/microL to a peak of 3,495 +/- 712 cells/microL on day 5 to 7. Many of these cells were large, granular, and extensively vacuolated. The expanded cell population expressed HLA-DR, LFA3, CD11b (904), and CD14 (MY4), and was 77% CD16 (FcRIII) positive by two-color cytofluorometry. In functional assays, fresh monocytes showed little cytotoxicity against cultured human melanoma cells (SKMel-1), with or without prior rhM-CSF treatment. However, after 3 days of in vitro culture in rhM-CSF, monocytes from treated animals mediated efficient antibody-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC) against SKMel-1 using the murine monoclonal antibody 3F8 (IgG3, anti-ganglioside GD2). Under the same conditions, monocytes from control animals showed little ADCC (17% versus 82%, P less than .05). Antitumor cytotoxicity in the absence of antibody was less efficient and was not significantly different between the two groups. There was a mild decrease in platelet count during rhM-CSF treatment, without clinical symptoms. No abnormalities of serum biochemical parameters were seen. We conclude that parenteral rhM-CSF increases the number of circulating monocytes in nonhuman primates, and that these monocytes mediate increased antitumor ADCC after a brief period of in vitro differentiation. This study has implications for the design of possible future clinical trials combining antitumor monoclonal antibodies and rhM-CSF.
Fast and accurate cycle estimation through hybrid instruction set simulation for embedded systems

Execution time analysis is essential during the design of real-time embedded systems to verify all timing requirements are met. With rapid increase in complexity of modern hardware components, it becomes much more difficult to develop an accurate timing model for a target hardware, which serves as a basis for static timing analysis. Recently, simulation-based dynamic timing analysis techniques are becoming an attractive solution to predict the execution time of software in a fast and accurate manner. However, most of existing simulation-based timing analysis techniques are limited to simulate the temporal behavior of a processor without consideration of other peripheral devices such as storage and network, leading to less accuracy. In this paper, we propose an accurate cycle estimation framework which allows to use multiple instruction set simulators to simulate not only processors but also diverse peripheral devices. An instruction set simulator runs on a host machine to mimic functional behaviors of instructions running on a target hardware. It allows to estimate the execution time of software in a fast and accurate way and validate a system even when its target hardware does not yet exist or is not available.
Sensorless two-phase current control of a faulty three-phase salient-pole PMSM

This paper discusses the sensorless current control of a slowly rotating permanent-magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) in the condition of a fault during which the excitation of one phase is prevented. Assuming a zero leakage inductance, it is shown that auxiliary three-phase variables can be defined for which during faulty operation, the fault-free three-phase machine model is valid. Hence, by using these auxiliary variables, most sensorless methods developed for three-phase PMSMs can be applied to the aforementioned faulty PMSM drive.
Providing adaptive support for meta-cognitive skills to improve learning

We describe a computational framework designed to provide adaptive support for learning from problem solving activities that make worked-out examples available. This framework targets several meta-cognitive skills required to learn effectively in this type of instructional setting, including explanation-based-learning-ofcorrectness and min-analogy. The generated interventions are based on an assessment of a student’s knowledge and meta-cognitive skills provided by the framework’s student model, and thus are tailored to that stu-
Achieving energy-synchronized communication in energy-harvesting wireless sensor networks

With advances in energy-harvesting techniques, it is now feasible to build sustainable sensor networks to support long-term applications. Unlike battery-powered sensor networks, the objective of sustainable sensor networks is to effectively utilize a continuous stream of ambient energy. Instead of pushing the limits of energy conservation, we aim to design energy-synchronized schemes that keep energy supplies and demands in balance. Specifically, this work presents Energy-Synchronized Communication (ESC) as a transparent middleware between the network layer and MAC layer that controls the amount and timing of RF activity at receiving nodes. In this work, we first derive a delay model for cross-traffic at individual nodes, which reveals an interesting stair effect. This effect allows us to design a localized energy synchronization control with ℴ(d3) time complexity that shuffles or adjusts the working schedule of a node to optimize cross-traffic delays in the presence of changing duty cycle budgets, where d is the node degree in the network. Under different rates of energy fluctuations, shuffle-based and adjustment-based methods have different influences on logical connectivity and cross-traffic delay, due to the inconsistent views of working schedules among neighboring nodes before schedule updates. We study the trade-off between them and propose methods for updating working schedules efficiently. To evaluate our work, ESC is implemented on MicaZ nodes with two state-of-the-art routing protocols. Both testbed experiment and large-scale simulation results show significant performance improvements over randomized synchronization controls.
Data Stream Management and Digital Library Processes on Top of a Hyperdatabase and Grid Infrastructure

Digital libraries in healthcare are hosting an inherently large collection of digital information. Especially in medical digital libraries, this information needs to be analyzed and processed in a timely manner. Sensor data streams, for instance, providing continuous information on patients have to be processed on-line in order to detect critical situations. This is done by combining existing services and operators into streaming processes. Since the individual processing steps are quite complex, is is important to eciently make use of the resources in a distributed sys- tem by parallelizing operators and services. Grid infrastructures already support the ecient routing and distribution of service requests. In this paper, we present a novel information management infrastructure based on a hyperdatabase system that combines the process-based composition of services and operators needed for sensor data stream processing with advanced Grid features.
Dendritic cells pulsed with GST–EGFR fusion protein: Effect in antitumor immunity against head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is common in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Targeting EGFR is an effective approach to treat EGFR‐positive HNSCC. However, the clinical benefits of the present EGFR‐targeting agents are still limited in HNSCC patients.