Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Germline Duplication of SNORA18L5 Increases Risk for HBV-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Altering Localization of Ribosomal Proteins and Decreasing Levels of p53.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Single nucleotide polymorphisms could affect risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We performed a germline copy number variation (CNV)-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) in populations of Chinese ancestry to search for germline CNVs that increase risk of HCC. METHODS We conducted a CNV-based GWAS of 1583 HCC cases (persons with chronic HBV infection and HCC) and 1540 controls (persons with chronic HBV infection without HCC) in Chinese populations. Identified candidates were expressed in L-02, HepG2, or TP53-/- or wild-type HCT116 cells, and knocked down with short hairpin RNAs in HepG2, Bel-7402, and SMMC-7721 cells; proliferation, colony formation, and apoptosis were measured. Formation of xenograft tumors from cell lines was monitored in nude mice. Subcellular localization of ribosome proteins and levels or activity of p53 were investigated by co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, and immunoblot analyses. Levels of small nucleolar RNA H/ACA box 18-like 5 (SNORA18L5) were quantified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS We identified a low-frequency duplication at chromosome 15q13.3 strongly associated with risk of HBV-related HCC (overall P = 3.17 × 10-8; odds ratio, 12.02). Copy numbers of the 15q13.3 duplication correlated with the expression of SNORA18L5 in liver tissues. Overexpression of SNORA18L5 increased HCC cell proliferation and growth of xenograft tumors in mice; knockdown reduced HCC proliferation and tumor growth. SNORA18L5 overexpression in HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells inhibited p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Overexpression of SNORA18L5 led to hyperactive ribosome biogenesis, increasing levels of mature 18S and 28S ribosomal RNAs and causing the ribosomal proteins RPL5 and RPL11 to stay in the nucleolus, which kept them from binding to MDM2. This resulted in increased MDM2-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of p53. Levels of SNORA18L5 were increased in HCC tissues compared with nontumor liver tissues and associated with shorter survival times of patients. CONCLUSIONS In a CNV-based GWAS, we associated duplication at 15q13.3 with increased risk of HBV-related HCC. We found SNORA18L5 at this location to promote HCC cell proliferation and tumor growth in mice. SNORA18L5 increases ribosome biogenesis, facilitates ribosomal RNA maturation, and alters localization of RPL5 and RPL11, allowing for increased MDM2-mediated proteolysis of p53 and cell cycle arrest.
Optimized Base-Station Cache Allocation for Cloud Radio Access Network With Multicast Backhaul

The performance of cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is limited by the finite capacities of the backhaul links connecting the centralized processor (CP) with the base-stations (BSs), especially when the backhaul is implemented in a wireless medium. This paper proposes the use of wireless multicast together with BS caching, where the BSs pre-store the contents of popular files, to augment the backhaul of C-RAN. For a downlink C-RAN consisting of a single cluster of BSs and wireless backhaul, this paper studies the optimal cache size allocation strategy among the BSs and the optimal multicast beamforming transmission strategy at the CP such that the user’s requested messages are delivered from the CP to the BSs in the most efficient way. We first state a multicast backhaul rate expression based on a joint cache-channel coding scheme, which implies that larger cache sizes should be allocated to the BSs with weaker channels. We then formulate a two-timescale joint cache size allocation and beamforming design problem, where the cache is optimized offline based on the long-term channel statistical information, while the beamformer is designed during the file delivery phase based on the instantaneous channel state information. By leveraging the sample approximation method and the alternating direction method of multipliers, we develop efficient algorithms for optimizing the cache size allocation among the BSs, and quantify how much more caches should be allocated to the weaker BSs. We further consider the case with multiple files having different popularities and show that it is in general not optimal to entirely cache the most popular files first. Numerical results show considerable performance improvement of the optimized cache size allocation scheme over the uniform allocation and other heuristic schemes.
Development and validation of a computational simulator for pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome patients

This paper presents the adaptation of an advanced cardiorespiratory model of acute respiratory distress syndrome in adult patients to pediatric pathophysiology. We describe how model equations and parameters were revised to represent the physiological characteristics of pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients. The adapted model was matched to data from twelve mechanically ventilated patients diagnosed with Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (PARDS), and was shown to reproduce the available clinical data accurately for all patients. This new model constitutes the first detailed computational simulator specifically tailored to PARDS patients, and can be used as an investigational tool for developing and evaluating novel therapeutic strategies.
Testing the relationship between personality, computer self-efficacy and computer anxiety

This paper discusses research in progress that examines the relationship between personality, computer selfefficacy and computer anxiety. An extension of the model proposed by Thatcher and Perrewe (2002) is discussed. This extended model considers the role of personality in determining the antecedents of variables affecting computer anxiety and self-efficacy, and how in turn computer anxiety and computer self-efficacy influence task performance. The methodology for testing the model is also presented.
Managing the fuzzy front‐end: insights from process firms

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to inform researchers and practitioners about the fuzzy front‐end (FFE) of the innovation process in process firms.Design/methodology/approach – A multiple case study of four process firms was conducted, with a total of 64 semi‐structured interviews.Findings – The paper gives new insights into the FFE in non‐assembled product and process development in process firms. The FFE of non‐assembled product and process development is first conceptualized and key activities are identified. Further, how the strong relationship between product and process development can be managed in the FFE is discussed.Research limitations/implications – All four firms are from the mineral and metals industry, prompting caution when generalizing the results to other contexts. This research offers insights about the FFE in process firms. Theoretical implications are added to the existing literature on the FFE and general process development literature, and the paper increases our understanding of.
Laser Scribed Graphene Biosensor for Detection of Biogenic Amines in Food Samples Using Locally Sourced Materials

In foods, high levels of biogenic amines (BA) are the result of microbial metabolism that could be affected by temperatures and storage conditions. Thus, the level of BA is commonly used as an indicator of food safety and quality. This manuscript outlines the development of laser scribed graphene electrodes, with locally sourced materials, for reagent-free food safety biosensing. To fabricate the biosensors, the graphene surface was functionalized with copper microparticles and diamine oxidase, purchased from a local supermarket; and then compared to biosensors fabricated with analytical grade materials. The amperometric biosensor exhibits good electrochemical performance, with an average histamine sensitivity of 23.3 µA/mM, a lower detection limit of 11.6 µM, and a response time of 7.3 s, showing similar performance to biosensors constructed from analytical grade materials. We demonstrated the application of the biosensor by testing total BA concentration in fish paste samples subjected to fermentation with lactic acid bacteria. Biogenic amines concentrations prior to lactic acid fermentation were below the detection limit of the biosensor, while concentration after fermentation was 19.24 ± 8.21 mg histamine/kg, confirming that the sensor was selective in a complex food matrix. The low-cost, rapid, and accurate device is a promising tool for biogenic amine estimation in food samples, particularly in situations where standard laboratory techniques are unavailable, or are cost prohibitive. This biosensor can be used for screening food samples, potentially limiting food waste, while reducing chances of foodborne outbreaks.
Momentum strategy and institutional investing in Taiwan stock market

This study uses the sample with 539 individual stocks in Taiwan stock market from July 2002 to December 2007 for discussing and comparing the performances among these portfolios of institutional net buys/sells, Jegadeesh and Titman (JT) momentum strategy and George and Hwang (GH) momentum strategy. The empirical findings are as follows. First, this study examines short-term momentum with no waiting period; the findings indicate that the institutional portfolio is significantly more profitable than the others. Next, this study examines medium term momentum with 1-year waiting period; the results show institutional portfolio and JT strategies in strategy (6, ∼12, 6) begin appearing a reversal phenomenon. Although GH strategy earns positive return, the momentum phenomenon is not significant. Finally, this study examines long-term momentum with 2-year waiting periods; the results indicate GH momentum portfolio yields positive return significantly in strategy (6, ∼24, 12).
Poverty, Work and Social Networks: The Role of Social Capital for Aboriginal People in Urban Australian Locales

In this article, I present the key findings from a project entitled “The Social Context of Indigenous Poverty”. The research involved a series of interviews with Aboriginal people in urban SE Australia on issues of poverty, social capital and social exclusion. In the article I draw together Aboriginal perspectives on the meaning of poverty to reflect on the relevance of social capital concepts for understanding Aboriginal economic disadvantage and hence, the merits of policy framed in these terms.
Modeling Dependence between Loss Triangles

Abstract A critical problem in property and casualty insurance is forecasting incurred but as yet unpaid losses. Forecasts and risk margins are often based on individual loss triangles with each triangle corresponding to a different line of business. Different lines of business are often dependent, and overall risk margins must reflect this dependence. This article develops, implements, and applies a model for loss triangle dependence. The model facilitates the structuring and measurement of dependence. One possible structure is where payments in different triangles in the same calendar year are related. Dependence is modeled with a Gaussian copula, and it is moderated by quantities called communalities that measure the relative impact of cross-dependence in each triangle. Dependence can be structured in terms of factor models. Methods reduce to relatively simple calculations in the case of marginal normal distributions. Procedures are applied to U.S. loss triangle data. The impact of loss triangle dependence on risk margins is considered.
Mars Target Encyclopedia: Rock and Soil Composition Extracted From the Literature

We have constructed an information extraction system called the Mars Target Encyclopedia that takes in planetary science publications and extracts scientific knowledge about target compositions. The extracted knowledge is stored in a searchable database that can greatly accelerate the ability of scientists to compare new discoveries with what is already known. To date, we have applied this system to ~6000 documents and achieved 41-56% precision in the extracted information.
Challenges facing local NGOs in resource mobilization

Development organizations need resources to help them continue providing services to the community. Non Govermental Organizations (NGOs) for a long time have relied on the generosity of donors to support their project activities through grants and donations. However organizations have realized that such funding sources are often insufficient to meet needs and rising costs for project implementation. In Africa despite vast differences among the NGOs most share a common challenge of unlimited needs chasing limited resources. Local NGOs face difficulties securing enough funds because the projects undertaken require substantial amounts of resources, both financial and non-financial due to high poverty levels in most parts of the continent. Resource mobilization requires a lot of time and skills to seek resources from different sources and the pressure to mobilize resources may lead the organizations to use methods that compromise the values they are fighting for through their work.
How Much FBMC/OQAM Is Better than FBMC/QAM? A Tentative Response Using the POPS Paradigm

A major trend of the current research in 5G is to find well time and frequency localized waveforms, dedicated to non-orthogonal wireless multi-carrier systems. The ping-pong optimized pulse shaping (POPS) paradigm was proposed as a powerful technique to generate a family of waveforms, ensuring an optimal signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) at the receiver. In this paper, we derive, for the first time, the analytical expression of the SINR for FBMC/OQAM systems. We then adopt the POPS algorithm in the design of optimum transmit and receive waveforms for FBMC/OQAM, with respect to the SINR criterion. For relatively high dispersions, numerical results show that the optimized waveforms provide a gain of 7 dB, in terms of SINR, compared to the PHYDYAS waveform. They also show that the obtained waveforms offer better out-of-band (OOB) emissions with regard to those of the IOTA waveform. Furthermore, we notice that FBMC/OQAM systems present a gain of dB in SINR, compared to FBMC/QAM systems, when both operate at their time-frequency lattice critical densities. However, FBMC/QAM systems can guarantee, with a reduced computational complexity, a comparable performance to FBMC/OQAM systems, in terms of SINR, when their spectral efficiency is relatively reduced by less than 5%.
The Social Costs of Gun Ownership: Spurious Regression and Unfounded Public Policy Advocacy

In 2006, a study, published in the Journal of Public Economics, employing a panel regression of 200 U.S. counties across 20 years, found a significant elasticity of homicides with respect to firearms ownership. Based on this finding the authors made the public policy recommendation of taxing gun ownership. However that study fell prey to the ratio fallacy, a trap known since 1896. All the “explanatory power” (goodness-of-fit-wise and significance-wise) of the original analysis was due to regional and intertemporal differences and population being explained by itself. When the ratio fallacy is accounted for, all authors’ results can no longer be found. This is illustrated in this paper using a balanced panel from the data for 1980 to 2004. My findings are robust to (i) alternative specifications not subject to the ratio problem, (ii) using only data from 1980 to 1999 as in the original paper, (iii) using an unbalanced panel for 1980 to either 1999 or 2004, (iv) applying weighting as done by the original authors and (v) using data aggregated at the state level.
Climate-driven shifts in continental net primary production implicated as a driver of a recent abrupt increase in the land carbon sink

Abstract. The world's ocean and land ecosystems act as sinks for anthropogenic CO2, and over the last half century their combined sink strength grew steadily with increasing CO2 emissions. Recent analyses of the global carbon budget, however, have uncovered an abrupt, substantial ( ∼ 1 PgC yr−1) and sustained increase in the land sink in the late 1980s whose origin remains unclear. In the absence of this prominent shift in the land sink, increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations since the late 1980s would have been ∼ 30 % larger than observed (or ∼ 12 ppm above current levels). Global data analyses are limited in regards to attributing causes to changes in the land sink because different regions are likely responding to different drivers. Here, we address this challenge by using terrestrial biosphere models constrained by observations to determine if there is independent evidence for the abrupt strengthening of the land sink. We find that net primary production significantly increased in the late 1980s (more so than heterotrophic respiration), consistent with the inferred increase in the global land sink, and that large-scale climate anomalies are responsible for this shift. We identify two key regions in which climatic constraints on plant growth have eased: northern Eurasia experienced warming, and northern Africa received increased precipitation. Whether these changes in continental climates are connected is uncertain, but North Atlantic climate variability is important. Our findings suggest that improved understanding of climate variability in the North Atlantic may be essential for more credible projections of the land sink under climate change.
MENAKSIR VALUE AT RISK (VAR) PORTOFOLIO PADA INDEKS SAHAM DENGAN METODE PENDUGA VOLATILITAS GARCH

Value at Risk (VaR) is a concept which was used to measure a risk on risk management. VaR explained the worst amount of financial loss in a financial product with the horizon and certain degree of believe. In the calculation of VaR, it was needed a prediction in volality, volality from a series of time which can be homokedasticity (constant) or heterokedasticity (ever changed). Changed volality can be found on the stock and stock index. One of the method which was done in modeling of changed volality was GARCH. In this research, GARCH was used to estimate VaR’s Value from IHSG and LQ45 to be sold in Jakarta Stock Exchange on 4 January to 23 August 2012 (650 observations) VaR can be calculated with a periode of horizon, 1 day, 10 days, and 22 days with the degree of believe 95%
An overview of the mechanical properties of nickel–titanium endodontic instruments

Differences in mechanical properties between endodontic instruments might be related to the chemical composition, phase constitution, or fabrication process of nickel–titanium (NiTi) endodontic instruments. An awareness and knowledge of the mechanical properties of NiTi endodontic files and their association with the metallurgical properties is useful for clinicians to understand the behavior of NiTi instruments in root canals and help them to make decisions regarding which instruments are appropriate for root canal therapy under certain clinical conditions. This review article summarizes the mechanical properties of NiTi endodontic instruments including the flexibility, torsional resistance, flexural resistance, and cyclic fatigue of the conventional superelastic NiTi instruments and the most recently developed novel NiTi instruments with martensite and R-phase. The influence of the metallurgical properties and the thermomechanical processing on the mechanical properties are discussed.
Location strategy for competitiveness of special economic zones

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the firms located inside special economic zones (SEZs) in India and to assess the effect of location on competitiveness of the firm.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is done to identify the variables and intermediate variables including sub‐variables which affect the location competitiveness of the firm that leads to superior firm performance. Literature support for all the variables in the framework is discussed to establish a logical sequence.Findings – Hypotheses are formulated in a sequential framework to draw relationships between location of a firm in an SEZ as latent function, intermediate functions, and superior firm performance as a dependent function.Research limitations/implications – This developed framework is yet to be empirically tested. Such a paper can be applied in manufacturing industries located in an SEZ.Practical implications – Location competitiveness is an important strategic decision for industries.
Implementation of Sustainability Management and Company Size: A Knowledge‐Based View

Implementing corporate sustainability strategies requires knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. While much progress has been made in developing such tools in both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies, the literature claims company size positively affects application. However, the role of knowledge as a mediating factor has not yet been investigated. Using the knowledge-based view as a theoretical underpinning, this paper draws on empirical survey data from SMEs and large companies in Germany. It analyzes how company size affects the degree of knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. Even though the results reaffirm that SMEs know and apply significantly less tools, company size does not influence the share of tools applied once they are known. Thus, knowledge is identified as a key difference between SMEs and large companies as well as an important mediator to promote sustainability management. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Synthesis Process and Magnetic Characterization of the Novel Aurivillius Ferroelectric Material ${\hbox{Bi}}_{4}{\hbox{Gd}}_{2}{\hbox{Ti}}_{3}{\hbox{Fe}}_{2}{\hbox{O}}_{18}$

Comprehensive research of the synthesis process by high temperature solid-state reaction method, the crystal structure characterization, and the magnetic properties of the Aurivillius type Bi-layered perovskite-like structure Bi<sub>4</sub>Gd<sub>2</sub>Ti<sub>3</sub>Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>18</sub> was undertaken. Patterns of X-ray diffraction measurements and Rietveld analysis allow us to establish that this material crystallizes in a pseudo-orthorhombic structure which belongs to the I2cm (#46) space group. The crystal structure is characterized by Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> layers and complex perovskite-like structures, with quintuplets octahedra TiO<sub>6</sub>, and the Bi-cations occupying the A-site. The unit-cell parameters are given by a=5.5234(2) Å, b=5.5312(2) Å, and c=52.5642(2) Å, the angles are α = β = γ = 90.0<sup>°</sup>, and unit-cell volume V=1605.9(1) Å<sup>3</sup>. Magnetic properties found from the fit of Curie-Weiss law to the curves of magnetic susceptibility χ as a function of temperature show that the Bi-layered Aurivillius material Bi<sub>4</sub>Gd<sub>2</sub>Ti<sub>3</sub>Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>18</sub> behaves as a paramagnetic material with evidence of ferromagnetic contributions, and allows for determining the Curie constant, given by C=0.014 emuK/mol, effective magnetic moment of P<sub>eff</sub>μ<sub>B</sub>=7. 78μ<sub>B</sub>, and temperature independent susceptibility χ<sub>o</sub>=0.0064 emu/mol. Field dependence of magnetization proves strongly paramagnetic behavior of the Bi-layered Bi<sub>4</sub>Gd<sub>2</sub>Ti<sub>3</sub>Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>18</sub>.