Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An asymmetric duopoly investment decision-making model based on difference of option

Based on the asymmetric time-to-build, operating costs, investment costs and government subsidies, this paper uses an asymmetric duopoly real option game model to construct an investment decision-making model of duopoly where one firm has mothballing options and the other does not. The paper discusses and analyzes three types of investment equilibrium, namely simultaneous, sequential and preemptive investment equilibrium, provides some enterprise investment strategies in different equilibrium situations, and analyzes their influences. The analyses show that the mothballing option can improve the firm's investment value; the investment threshold of the firm not having a mothballing option has a positive relationship with operating costs, investment costs, time-to-build and price fluctuation of the product, and is negatively related to government subsidies; the investment threshold of the firm having a mothballing option has a positive relationship with operating costs and price fluctuation of the product, and is negatively related to government subsidies when the government subsidies are lower than the quota and is positively related when the government subsidies are higher than the quota, and has no obvious relationship with investment costs and time-to-build; the operating costs, government subsidies and price fluctuation have a greater influence on the follow investment threshold than on the lead investment threshold, and have a greater influence on the investment threshold of the firm that has no mothballing option than that of the firm that does. ©, 2015, Systems Engineering Society of China. All right reserved.
Dynamical models of tuberculosis and their applications.

The reemergence of tuberculosis (TB) from the 1980s to the early 1990s instigated extensive researches on the mechanisms behind the transmission dynamics of TB epidemics. This article provides a detailed review of the work on the dynamics and control of TB. The earliest mathematical models describing the TB dynamics appeared in the 1960s and focused on the prediction and control strategies using simulation approaches. Most recently developed models not only pay attention to simulations but also take care of dynamical analysis using modern knowledge of dynamical systems. Questions addressed by these models mainly concentrate on TB control strategies, optimal vaccination policies, approaches toward the elimination of TB in the U.S.A. , TB co-infection with HIV/AIDS, drug-resistant TB, responses of the immune system, impacts of demography, the role of public transportation systems, and the impact of contact patterns. Model formulations involve a variety of mathematical areas, such as ODEs (Ordinary Differential Equations) (both autonomous and non-autonomous systems), PDEs (Partial Differential Equations), system of difference equations, system of integro-differential equations, Markov chain model, and simulation models.
Adsorption of inorganic mercury from aqueous solutions onto dry biomass of Chlorella vulgaris: kinetic and isotherm study

ABSTRACT This study focused on kinetics and equilibrium isotherms of mercury biosorption from water using dry biomass of Chlorella vulgaris as biosorbent at pH 5.0. Biosorption tests were performed at 2.0 g/L biomass dosage varying initial Hg concentration from 11.0 to 90.6 mg/L. The Lagergren equation was found to best describe the process, with R2 of 0.984 and specific rate constant of 0.029 ± 0.004 min−1. Although equilibrium data were well fitted by the Dubinin and Radushkevich isotherm (R2 = 0.870; qDR = 16.6 mg/g), important insights on phenomenological events occurring at equilibrium were concurrently provided by the Lamgmuir one (R2 = 0.826; q0 = 32.6 mg/g; KL = 0.059 L/mg). FT-IR analysis confirmed that Hg biosorption took place via physisorption. Since C. vulgaris is a fresh-water microalga that can be easily cultivated anywhere, these promising results suggest its possible use as an effective, low-cost biosorbent to treat industrial effluents contaminated by this metal. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Factors affecting satisfaction with cancer information provided through the social networking services of the National Cancer Information Center in Korea

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify the characteristics of social networking service (SNS) users and to assess the relationship of those factors to user satisfaction with the SNSs of the National Cancer Information Center (NCIC) in South Korea. METHODS A Web-based survey was completed by 1,670 users of the NCIC SNSs, who provided data on the sources they consulted for information about cancer, determinants of SNS use, sources of NCIC SNS awareness, the time of day they used the SNS, and their satisfaction level. RESULTS Facebook users mainly became aware of the NCIC SNSs through an acquaintance’s recommendation, while Twitter was accessed through other SNSs or blogs. Users in their 30s were less satisfied with the NCIC SNSs than those in their teens and 20s. Browsing for cancer-related information on the Internet, prioritizing information quality, and engaging in active use were related to a high level of satisfaction with the NCIC SNSs. Individuals who were exposed to the NCIC SNSs through other SNSs or printed materials were less satisfied with their experience of the NCIC SNSs than those who received a recommendation from an acquaintance. CONCLUSIONS These findings may act as a catalyst to guide public health agencies to enhance their use of SNSs.
THE DETERMINANTS OF AEROSPACE PROFIT RATES 1951-1971*

There are a number of theoretical approaches which have been applied to the determination of profits in the American aerospace industry. Carroll [5, p. 545] views the government sector as essentially a bilateral monopoly, suggesting that the profit outcome will be determined by the relative bargaining strengths of the participants. Scherer [14, p. 371] describes the process of contract negotiations and asserts that the outcome "depends upon the relative bargaining power and skill the two parties bring into negotiations. " Agapos and Dunlap [1] assert that the bilateral monopoly framework is not appropriate. Their analysis suggests that the profit outcome will depend (all other things being equal) on: a) how anxious a contractor is to participate in a program relative to how anxious the government agency is to have the program executed,' and b) the relative qualities of the information available to each potential contractor and the government concerning the maximum concessions each party is willing to make. These approaches all suggest that the profit outcome is determined by the relative bargaining strengths (eagerness, informa-
Cytogenetic and Molecular Monitoring of Residual Disease in Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia

For patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, methods for monitoring response to treatment have changed considerably in recent years. In the 1980s, the principal approach was repeated examination of bone marrow metaphases for the presence of the Ph chromosome in patients treated by interferon-α (IFN-α) or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. The use of fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) techniques to detect the BCR-ABL fusion gene in Ph-positive leukaemia cells increased the sensitivity of cytogenetic studies to some degree. In the last 10 years, the reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has proved extremely valuable for assessing and monitoring minimal residual disease in patients who achieve Ph negativity after treatment with IFN-α or with the new Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate or after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Results are consistent with the notion that the majority of long-term survivors after allogeneic SCT are probably ‘cured’; for other patients monitored serially in complete cytogenetic remission, rising numbers of BCR-ABL transcripts detected by RT-PCR can indicate the need for further therapy.
Cloth Deformation Prediction Based on Human Motion

In the field of cloth animation, efficient and vivid simulation with deformation details especially small wrinkles has always been challenging. Animation with adaptive meshes is a typical way to improve the quality and efficiency simultaneously. Existing works mostly focus on how to model the adaptive mesh and work out the numerical solution while rarely highlight the problem of predicting deformation trend of cloths. In real as well as virtual scenes, cloth movements are usually driven by human body. Intuitively there is some strong relationship between human motion and cloth deformation. Therefore, it is significant to learn the relationship between them to support the research on mesh resolution adaption. In this paper, we describe and evaluate a new machine learning approach to predict deformation distribution. Firstly, we extract human posture feature from motion data and cloth deformation distribution feature from high resolution cloth animation examples. Then we build and train a neural network to predict deformation distribution on cloth based on human motion. The predicted result has high reliability and could be used in further dynamic adaption of cloth mesh in animation.
Older Breast Cancer Survivors' Views and Preferences for Physical Activity

Evidence suggests that physical activity improves quality of life and physical functioning among breast cancer patients and survivors. However, previous studies have tended to focus on younger patients, despite higher incidence and lower survival among older breast cancer survivors. In this study we explored physical activity preferences of older breast cancer survivors to inform the development of future targeted interventions. Twenty-nine female breast cancer survivors (1 to 5 years postdiagnosis) aged 59 to 86 (mean 66.54, SD 6.50) took part in either a semistructured interview or a focus group exploring physical activity patterns, motivators, facilitators, barriers, and preferences. The main factors influencing physical activity were body image, weight issues, vitality, mood, and the desire to carry on as normal. Preference was expressed for activities that were gentle, tailored to age and cancer-related abilities, holistic, involving other older breast cancer survivors, and with an instructor who was knowledgeable about both breast cancer and aging.
Low genetic diversity in a marine nature reserve: re-evaluating diversity criteria in reserve design

Little consideration has been given to the genetic composition of populations associated with marine reserves, as reserve designation is generally to protect specific species, communities or habitats. Nevertheless, it is important to conserve genetic diversity since it provides the raw material for the maintenance of species diversity over longer, evolutionary time-scales and may also confer the basis for adaptation to environmental change. Many current marine reserves are small in size and isolated to some degree (e.g. sea loughs and offshore islands). While such features enable easier management, they may have important implications for the genetic structure of protected populations, the ability of populations to recover from local catastrophes and the potential for marine reserves to act as sources of propagules for surrounding areas. Here, we present a case study demonstrating genetic differentiation, isolation, inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity in populations of the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus in Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve (an isolated sea lough in southern Ireland), compared with populations on the local adjacent open coast and populations in England, Wales and France. Our study demonstrates that this sea lough is isolated from open coast populations, and highlights that there may be long-term genetic consequences of selecting reserves on the basis of isolation and ease of protection.
Definition and classification of evaluation units for CASP10

For the 10th experiment on Critical Assessment of the techniques of protein Structure Prediction (CASP), the prediction target proteins were broken into independent evaluation units (EUs), which were then classified into template‐based modeling (TBM) or free modeling (FM) categories. We describe here how the EUs were defined and classified, what issues arose in the process, and how we resolved them. EUs are frequently not the whole target proteins but the constituting structural domains. However, the assessors from CASP7 on combined more than one domain into 1 EU for some targets, which implied that the assessment also included evaluation of the prediction of the relative position and orientation of these domains. In CASP10, we followed and expanded this notion by defining multidomain EUs for a number of targets. These included 3 EUs, each made of two domains of familiar fold but arranged in a novel manner and for which the focus of evaluation was the interdomain arrangement. An EU was classified to the TBM category if a template could be found by sequence similarity searches and to FM if a structural template could not be found by structural similarity searches. The EUs that did not fall cleanly in either of these cases were classified case‐by‐case, often including consideration of the overall quality and characteristics of the predictions. Proteins 2014; 82(Suppl 2):14–25. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nitroglycerin protects the endothelium from ischaemia and reperfusion: human mechanistic insight.

AIMS Nitroglycerin (GTN) modulates tissue damage induced by ischaemia and reperfusion (IR) in a mechanism that is similar to ischaemic preconditioning. We set out to study, using a human model of endothelial IR injury, whether GTN-induced endothelial preconditioning is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and/or opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores (mPTP). METHODS In two double-blind, randomized, parallel studies, a total of 66 volunteers underwent measurement of radial artery endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) before and after local IR. Subjects were treated, 24 h before IR, with different drugs in order to test the mechanism of GTN-induced endothelial protection. RESULTS Transdermal GTN (0.6 mg h(-1) for 2 h, administered 24 h before IR) significantly reduced the impairment of FMD caused by IR (placebo group: FMD after IR, 1.3 +/- 0.8%; GTN group: FMD after IR, 5.3 +/- 0.9%, P < 0.01 compared with placebo). This protective effect was lost when vitamin C (2 g i.v. at the time of GTN administration) or ciclosporin (an inhibitor of mPTP, 100 mg 2 h prior to GTN administration) were coadministered (FMD after IR: vit C + GTN group, 2.1 +/- 1.0%; ciclosporin + GTN group, 1.7 +/- 0.8%; both P < 0.05 compared with GTN alone). CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate that GTN protects the endothelium against IR-induced endothelial dysfunction, in an effect similar to delayed ischaemic preconditioning. Using a human model, we provide evidence supporting the concept that this protective effect is mediated by ROS release and mPTP opening upon GTN administration.
Peroxiredoxin III, a Mitochondrion-specific Peroxidase, Regulates Apoptotic Signaling by Mitochondria*

Various proapoptotic stimuli increase the production of superoxide and H2O2 by mitochondria. Whereas superoxide impairs mitochondrial function and is removed by Mn2+-dependent superoxide dismutase, the role and metabolism of mitochondrial H2O2 during apoptosis have remained unclear. The effects on apoptotic signaling of depletion of peroxiredoxin (Prx) III, a mitochondrion-specific H2O2-scavenging enzyme, have now been investigated by RNA interference in HeLa cells. Depletion of Prx III resulted in increased intracellular levels of H2O2 and sensitized cells to induction of apoptosis by staurosporine or TNF-α. The rates of mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, cytochrome c release, and caspase activation were increased in Prx III-depleted cells, and these effects were reversed by ectopic expression of Prx III or mitochondrion-targeted catalase. Depletion of Prx III also exacerbated damage to mitochondrial macromolecules induced by the proapoptotic stimuli. Our results suggest that Prx III is a critical regulator of the abundance of mitochondrial H2O2, which itself promotes apoptosis in cooperation with other mediators of apoptotic signaling.
Biphasic Effects of Isoflurane on the Cardiac Action Potential: An Ionic Basis for Anesthetic-induced Changes in Cardiac Electrophysiology

Background The mechanism underlying isoflurane modulation of cardiac electrophysiology is not well understood. In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of isoflurane on the cardiac action potential (AP) characteristics. The results were correlated to modulation of the L-type calcium (ICa,L), the delayed-rectifier potassium (IKdr), and the inward-rectifier potassium (IKir) currents. Methods Single ventricular myocytes were enzymatically isolated from guinea pig hearts. The current clamp and whole cell voltage clamp configurations of the patch clamp technique were used to monitor the cardiac AP and ionic currents, respectively. A dynamic AP voltage protocol that mimicked changes in membrane potential during an AP was used to monitor the ICa,L, IKdr, and IKir. Results Isoflurane produced a concentration-dependent, biphasic effect on the AP duration (APD). At 0.6 mm (1.26 vol%), isoflurane significantly increased APD50 and APD90 by 50.0 ± 7.6% and 48.9 ± 7.2%, respectively (P < 0.05; n = 6). At 1.0 mm (2.09 vol%), isoflurane had no significant effect on APD (n = 6). In contrast, at 1.8 mm (3.77 vol%), isoflurane decreased APD50 and APD90 by 38.3 ± 5.4% and 32.2 ± 5.5%, respectively (P < 0.05; n = 7). The inhibitory effects of isoflurane on IKdr chord conductance were greater than those on ICa,L (P < 0.05; n = 6/group). Both ICa,L inactivation and IKdr activation kinetics were accelerated by isoflurane. Isoflurane had no significant effects on IKir chord conductance (n = 6). Conclusion At the lower anesthetic concentration, the prolongation of the APD may be the result of the dominant inhibitory effects of isoflurane on IKdr. At the higher concentration, the shortening of the APD may be caused by the inhibitory effects on ICa,L combined with the isoflurane-induced acceleration of ICa,L inactivation kinetics. Because IKdr is significantly inhibited by isoflurane, IKir appears to be the major repolarizing current, which is minimally affected by isoflurane.
Convention Center Follies: Politics, Power, and Public Investment in American Cities

Heywood Sanders’ academic work examining convention center development goes back to at least 1991. This work includes dozens of papers and reports on the subject including a widely cited Brookings Institute report (Sanders, 2005) that got attention for its critical assessment of convention center development in the face of what he claimed were systemic overstatements about industry growth. His latest book entitled Convention Center Follies: Politics, Power, and Public Investment in American Cities, that was recently published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, is likely to garner similar attention. In many ways this book is a culmination of Sanders’ past works which have earned him a reputation as one of the most prolific scholars in the area of convention center development. Sanders body of work has also earned him a reputation as a critic of what he considers overzealous convention center development. Convention Center Follies is true to form. It is a detailed account that takes readers through example after example of overly optimistic convention center predictions and underperforming results. Convention Center Follies is a detailed 500-plus page account that is packed with data and statistics. This is both a strength and a weakness. The depth makes the book a great resource, but many readers will find it difficult to slog their way through example after example that is dense with disparate data sets that are presented in narrative form. There are times where this reviewer feels that the data discussed in the book could
The Governance Self- Assessment Checklist

This article describes the development and validation of the Governance Self-Assessment Checklist (GSAC). The GSAC was designed to assist boards of directors of nonprofit and public sector organizations to identify strengths and weaknesses in the governance of their organizations, educate board members about the essentials of good governance, and improve their governance practices. The instrument comprises 144 items organized into twelve subscales. The results of the study indicated that the subscales have excellent internal consistency reliability, exhibit good criterion-related validity, and are able to discriminate between stronger and weaker aspects of board functioning. The relative strengths and weaknesses in board effectiveness were identified, and the implications of the findings for the assessment of board effectiveness and field applications of the GSAC were discussed.
Distributionally Robust Collaborative Beamforming in D2D Relay Networks With Interference Constraints

In this paper, we consider a device-to-device (D2D) network underlying a cellular system wherein the densely deployed D2D user devices can act as wireless relays for a distant transceiver pair. We aim to devise a beamforming strategy for the relays that maximizes the data rate of the distant transceiver while satisfying interference constraints at the cellular receivers. Towards that end, we first formulate a beamforming problem whose solution is robust against the channel uncertainties in the relay-destination hop. Motivated by practical observations, we assume that the random channels in this hop follow unimodal distributions and propose a novel unimodal distributionally robust model to capture the channel uncertainties. Then, we extend the formulation so that it can also guard against the channel uncertainty in the source-relay hop under the worst case robust model. The resulting robust beamforming problem is generally non-convex and intractable. Therefore, we design an iterative algorithm, which is based on solving semidefinite programs, to find an approximate solution to it. Simulation results show that under mild conditions, our robust model significantly improves the throughput of D2D relay transmissions when compared with the conventional robust models that merely rely on the channels’ moment information. It also outperforms the Bernstein-type inequality-based convex approximation, which assumes that the channel follows a Gaussian distribution.
Query-Session-Based Term Suggestion for Interactive Web Search

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Digital Multiplierless Realization of Two-Coupled Biological Hindmarsh–Rose Neuron Model

The efficient modeling, simulation, and implementation of biological neural networks are key objectives of the neuromorphic research field, leading to potential applications, such as assisting the search for new solutions to cure brain diseases, improved performance of robots, and the fundamental study of neural network behavior. This brief proposes a modified biological Hindmarsh-Rose (HR) neuron model that is more suited for efficient implementation on digital platforms. Simulation results show that the model can reproduce the desired behaviors of the neuron. The proposed model is investigated, in terms of digital implementation feasibility and cost, targeting a low-cost hardware implementation. Hardware implementation on a field-programmable gate array shows that the modified model mimics the biological behavior of different types of neurons, with higher performance and considerably lower hardware overhead cost compared with the original HR model.