Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LPTENS 13 / 23 5 D partition functions , q-Virasoro systems and integrable spin-chains

We analyze N = 1 theories on S5 and S4×S1, showing how their partition functions can be written in terms of a set of fundamental 5d holomorphic blocks. We demonstrate that, when the 5d mass parameters are analytically continued to suitable values, the S5 and S4×S1 partition functions degenerate to those for S3 and S2×S1. We explain this mechanism via the recently proposed correspondence between 5d partition functions and correlators with underlying q-Virasoro symmetry. From the q-Virasoro 3-point functions, we axiomatically derive a set of associated reflection coefficients, and show that they can be geometrically interpreted in terms of Harish-Chandra c-functions for quantum symmetric spaces. We link these particular c-functions to the types appearing in the Jost functions encoding the asymptotics of the scattering in integrable spinchains, obtained taking different limits of the XYZ model to XXZ-type. Unité Mixte du CNRS et de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure associée à l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie 6, UMR 8549. 1 ar X iv :1 31 2. 12 94 v2 [ he pth ] 1 1 A pr 2 01 4
PR ] 3 0 N ov 2 01 7 On long term investment optimality

We study the problem of optimal long term investment with a view to beat a benchmark for a diffusion model of asset prices. Two kinds of objectives are considered. One criterion concerns the probability of outperforming the benchmark and seeks either to minimise the decay rate of the probability that a portfolio exceeds the benchmark or to maximise the decay rate that the portfolio falls short. The other criterion concerns the growth rate of the risk–sensitive utility of wealth which has to be either minimised, for a risk–averse investor, or maximised, for a risk–seeking investor. It is assumed that the mean returns and volatilities of the securities are affected by an economic factor, possibly, in a nonlinear fashion. The economic factor and the benchmark are modelled with general Itô differential equations. The results identify optimal portfolios and produce the decay, or growth, rates. The portfolios have the form of time–homogeneous functions of the economic factor. Furthermore, a uniform treatment is given to the out– and under– performance probability optimisation as well as to the risk–averse and risk– seeking portfolio optimisation. It is shown that there exists a portfolio that optimises the decay rates of both the outperformance probability and the underperformance probability. While earlier research on the subject has relied, for the most part, on the techniques of stochastic optimal control and dynamic programming, in this contribution the quantities of interest are studied directly by employing the methods of the large deviation theory. The key to the analysis is to recognise the setup in question as a case of coupled diffusions with time scale separation, with the economic factor representing ”the fast motion”.
Antistatic valved holding chambers do not necessarily offer similar aerosol delivery performance

RATIONALE: Adoption of materials to mitigate medication losses due to electrostatic charge accumulation on VHCs has been associated with improved reliability of output. We investigated if this change has resulted in similar in vitro performance, simulating poor coordination of inhalation with inhaler actuation, for which VHCs are prescribed. METHODS: Each VHC (n=5 devices/group) tested out-of-package. 5-actuations of fluticasone propionate (125 µg FP/actuation; Flovent®-HFA, GSK plc) was delivered at 30-s intervals to the VHC on test, sampling via a cascade impactor (CI) after 2, 5 and 10-s delay intervals, using a proprietary “delay” apparatus. FP was recovered from the CI and assayed by HPLC-spectrophotometry. Fine particle mass <4.7 µm aerodynamic diameter ( FPM<4.7µm ) provided a measure of the therapeutically beneficial medication capable of reaching the lungs. RESULTS: Values of FPM4.7 µm (µg FP; mean ± SD) are summarized in the Table. FPM4.7 µm for the pMDI alone (no delay) was 46.2 ± 2.1 µg. View this table: Fine Particle Mass (µg/actuation) after Various Delay Intervals Following Inhaler Actuation CONCLUSIONS: Although antistatic materials enable VHCs to be used without pre-washing, there are still large differences in output. Regardless of delay length, the AeroChamber Plus® VHC most closely matched the benchmark FPM4.7 µm for the pMDI without VHC.
Design of a Computer-based Approach for Analyzing Consumer Demands Method in Electronic Word of Mouth

Consumer opinions are one of the most valuable assets that enterprises have, and many consumers share their appraisals of products or services through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Since these consumer appraisals usually reflect consumer needs, and thus their demands, collecting and analyzing eWOM data has become a key task for many businesses. In order to effectively collect and analyze eWOM data, this study proposes a computer-based approach for analyzing consumer demands. It is anticipated that companies will be able to improve their products and services through the application of this computer-based approach, thus enhancing their competitiveness.
MANAGING SWEDISH GENDER EQUALITY   POLICIES IN SHANGHAI-A STUDY ON HOW SWEDISH BASED CORPORATIONS MANAGE SWEDISH GENDER EQUALITY POLICIES IN SHANGHAI

Despite policy efforts by the Chinese state to eradicate gender inequality, statistics show that the issue of gender discrimination in the work domain has become increasingly acute in modern day China. The prevailing gender inequality derives from China’s deeply rooted masculine oriented cultural and societal structure, and traditional norms and values towards women in the work domain are fighting the policies against gender inequality that the Chinese state has implemented. Studies show that foreign affiliations have the ability to transplant corporate culture internationally, which also infers a transplantation of certain policies. One of the many western countries that have seen its corporations establish offices in China is Sweden a country which puts a lot of focus and emphasis on promoting gender equality. Chinese and Swedish cultural and societal structure differs a lot, and so does the focus on gender equality. The theory suggests that gender equality is highly prioritized in Sweden, while it is less prioritized in China. This constitutes an interesting phenomena regarding how managers at Swedish based corporations, established in Shanghai, manage Swedish gender equality policies cross-culturally. The purpose of this study is to describe and explore how Swedish based corporations that are established in Shanghai, China, manage gender equality policies cross-culturally. In order to answer our research question, we performed four face to face semi-structured interviews together with four suitable Swedish based corporations at their offices in Shanghai. The results from this study concluded that the Swedish based corporations transfer the vast majority of their policy framework to their offices in Shanghai, particularly gender equality policies. The gender equality policies were often included in the corporations Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) framework. The study could conclude that even though no adaption was done to the policy documents per se, the Swedish corporations did adapt modestly to how they manage the policies in practice in Shanghai. This followed as a consequence of a wish to respectfully adapt to Chinese legal and cultural prerequisites. Due to China's legal prerequisites, some policies, such as parental leave, could not be fully implemented at the Shanghai offices. In other words, in those instances, the policy documents were trumped by legal employment regulations. Cultural prerequisites affected how the managers in the shanghai offices dealt with the policy documents in practice. Our study could found that policy management was closely connected to the corporate culture in the Shanghai offices. Our study could thus conclude that the Swedish based corporations adapt the policy management in practice to the meet Chinese culture, without compromising the Swedish corporate culture and values.
Solid lipid nanoparticles in cancer therapy

The use of solid lipid nanoparticles in medicine and more specifically drug delivery is set to spread rapidly. Currently many substances are under investigation for drug delivery and more specifically for cancer therapy technology is the latest trend in the cancer therapy. It helps the pharmacist to formulate the product with maximum therapeutic value and minimum or negligible range side effects. Cancer is a class of disorders characterized by abnormal growth of cells that proliferate in an uncontrolled way and a major disadvantage of anticancer drugs is their lack of selectivity for tumor tissue, which causes severe side effects and results in low cure rates. Thus, it is very hard to target the abnormal cells by the conventional method of the drug delivery system. In harmony with these approaches, this review’s basic approach is that the defining features of solid lipid nanoparticles are embedded in their breakthrough potential for patient care. This review article describes the possible way to exploit solid lipid nanoparticle technology to targeted drug therapy in cancer. We looked at the usefulness of solid lipid nanoparticles as a tool for cancer therapy. Keywords: Cancer therapy; Solid lipid nanoparticles; Quantum dots.
Fast Median Filtering by Use of Fast Localization of Median Value

We propose a fast median filtering algorithm for signal smoothing in image processing. The median filter is the wellknown method in image processing because it preserves edges effectively while reducing the impulsive noise. However, it has a problem that execution speed is slow because it uses a sorting algorithm to obtain the median value. So, fast median filtering algorithms have been discussed. In this paper, we analyze and compare several fast median filtering algorithm performances. We propose an algorithm to quickly access median value with a starting point in a histogram based on Huang's algorithm. Experiments were performed to measure and compare the performance of existing algorithms and our algorithm. The results of the experiment show the effective of the proposed algorithm.
Structural Relationships of Organizational Identity and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Malaysian Hotel Employees

The main objective of this study is to investigate the structural relationships between organizational identity (OI) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among Malaysian hotel employees. The aim is to identify the perception of employees concerning the OI and OCB that they have perceived at their workplace. The data have been collected through sets of questionnare answered by 624 respondents who are hotel employees in Malaysia. The result of this study reveals that OI and OCB are perceived as valid constructs. Findings also show that there is a relationship between OI and OCB, and is confirmed through Structural Equation Modeling. Respondents perceive that the more they possess OI, the more they react in OCB manners. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
Biopolymer Drill-in Fluid Performance for Different Rheological Models using Statistical Characterisation

Appropriate selection of rheological models is important for hydraulic calculations of pressure loss prediction and hole cleaning efficiency of drilling fluids. Power law, Bingham-Plastic and Herschel-Bulkley models are the conventional fluid models used in the oilfield. However, there are other models that have been proposed in literature which are under/or not utilized in the petroleum industry. The primary objective of this paper is to recommend a rheological model that best-fits the rheological behaviour of xanthan gum-based biopolymer drill-in fluids for hydraulic evaluations. Ten rheological models were evaluated in this study. These rheological models have been posed deterministically and due to the unrealistic nature have been replaced by statistical models, by adding an error (disturbance) term and making suitable assumptions about them. Rheological model parameters were estimated by least-square regression method. Models like Sisko and modified Sisko which are not conventional models in oil industry gave a good fit. Modified Sisko model which is a four parameter rheological model was selected as the best-fit model since it produced the least residual mean square of 0.61 Ibf2/100ft4. There is 95% certainty that the true best-fit curve lies within the confidence band of this function of interest. Keywords: Biopolymer; Least-Square Regression; Residual Mean Squares; Rheologram
Combined Modelling and Experimental Analysis of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

The proper distribution of reactant species and removal of excess heat and reaction products are fundamental to the success of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack technology. Experimental advances are limited due to the time and expense of varying the parameters over a range of designs and operating conditions. Modelling of SOFCs at the stack scale, as opposed to at the cell scale, has generally been confined to studies of the fluid distribution, neglecting any coupled effects associated with electrochemistry and/or species transport. The present work considers results from an original computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and compares them with experimentally gathered data obtained for the Jülich Mark F stack design. The model couples the equations of momentum, heat and species transport with electrochemical reactions for large SOFC stacks with internal and external manifolds, with calculations being performed in reasonably short computation times. To validate the model, comparisons with voltage and temperature data from an 18-cell stack operating in a test furnace are made. Good agreement is obtained between the model and experiment results, confirming the validity of the methodology for stack design.
The use of vibration in public hospitals in Australia

Vibration is the fine oscillatory movement combined with rib compression during the expiratory movement of the chest wall. Vibration is used by physiotherapists for treatment of patients with respiratory disorders. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of and the rationale for the use of vibration by physiotherapists in public hospitals in Australia. Questionnaires were distributed to physiotherapists who treated respiratory patients in 95 randomly selected hospitals throughout Australia from March to October, 2001. The response rate to the questionnaire was 81%. Most (96%) of the respondents used vibration, and 54% of the respondents used vibration within the week prior to filling in the questionnaire. Most of the respondents used vibration to assist with the clearance of secretion in patients who had excessive secretions, difficulty clearing secretions, or were intubated and ventilated. The respondents proposed that vibration clears secretions by mechanical loosening of secretions and increasing expiratory flow rates. A large proportion of the respondents combined the use of vibration with postural drainage and percussion. Even though the effectiveness of vibration is not known, vibration is used extensively and frequently by physiotherapists in public hospitals throughout Australia.
Evaluating Centrality Metrics in Real-World Networks on GPU

GPGPU has received a lot of attention recently as a cost effective solution for high performance computing. In this paper we present a parallel algorithm for computing Betweenness centrality (BC) using CUDA. BC is an important metric in small world network analysis which is expensive to compute. While there are existing parallel implementations, ours is the first implementation on commodity hardware. Our algorithm exploits parallelism at multiple levels of granularity to achieve good performance. We conduct several experiments to show that the algorithm gives considerable speedup over sequential algorithms. We also provide a detailed analysis of the performance of the algorithm.
Validation and perception of a key feature problem examination in neurology

Objective To validate a newly-developed Key Feature Problem Examination (KFPE) in neurology, and to examine how it is perceived by students. Methods We have developed a formative KFPE containing 12 key feature problems and 44 key feature items. The key feature problems covered four typical clinical situations. The items were presented in short- and long-menu question formats. Third- and fourth-year medical students undergoing the Neurology Course at our department participated in this study. The students' perception of the KFPE was assessed via a questionnaire. Students also had to pass a summative multiple-choice question examination (MCQE) containing 39 Type-A questions. All key feature and multiple-choice questions were classified using a modified Bloom’s taxonomy. Results The results from 81 KFPE participants were analyzed. The average score was 6.7/12 points. Cronbach’s alpha for the 12 key-feature problems was 0.53. Item difficulty level scores were between 0.39 and 0.77, and item-total correlations between 0.05 and 0.36. Thirty-two key feature items of the KFPE were categorized as testers of comprehension, application and problem-solving, and 12 questions as testers of knowledge (MCQE: 15 comprehension and 24 knowledge, respectively). Overall correlations between the KFPE and the MCQE were intermediate. The KFPE was perceived well by the students. Conclusions Adherence to previously-established principles enables the creation of a valid KFPE in the field of Neurology.
Peptidic Antifreeze Materials: Prospects and Challenges

Necessitated by the subzero temperatures and seasonal exposure to ice, various organisms have developed a remarkably effective means to survive the harsh climate of their natural habitats. Their ice-binding (glyco)proteins keep the nucleation and growth of ice crystals in check by recognizing and binding to specific ice crystal faces, which arrests further ice growth and inhibits ice recrystallization (IRI). Inspired by the success of this adaptive strategy, various approaches have been proposed over the past decades to engineer materials that harness these cryoprotective features. In this review we discuss the prospects and challenges associated with these advances focusing in particular on peptidic antifreeze materials both identical and akin to natural ice-binding proteins (IBPs). We address the latest advances in their design, synthesis, characterization and application in preservation of biologics and foods. Particular attention is devoted to insights in structure-activity relations culminating in the synthesis of de novo peptide analogues. These are sequences that resemble but are not identical to naturally occurring IBPs. We also draw attention to impactful developments in solid-phase peptide synthesis and ‘greener’ synthesis routes, which may aid to overcome one of the major bottlenecks in the translation of this technology: unavailability of large quantities of low-cost antifreeze materials with excellent IRI activity at (sub)micromolar concentrations.
Large-scale death of retinal astrocytes during normal development is non-apoptotic and implemented by microglia

Naturally occurring cell death is a fundamental developmental mechanism for regulating cell numbers and sculpting developing organs. This is particularly true in the nervous system, where large numbers of neurons and oligodendrocytes are eliminated via apoptosis during normal development. Given the profound impact of death upon these two major cell populations, it is surprising that developmental death of another major cell type—the astrocyte—has rarely been studied. It is presently unclear whether astrocytes are subject to significant developmental death, and if so, how it occurs. Here, we address these questions using mouse retinal astrocytes as our model system. We show that the total number of retinal astrocytes declines by over 3-fold during a death period spanning postnatal days 5–14. Surprisingly, these astrocytes do not die by apoptosis, the canonical mechanism underlying the vast majority of developmental cell death. Instead, we find that microglia engulf astrocytes during the death period to promote their developmental removal. Genetic ablation of microglia inhibits astrocyte death, leading to a larger astrocyte population size at the end of the death period. However, astrocyte death is not completely blocked in the absence of microglia, apparently due to the ability of astrocytes to engulf each other. Nevertheless, mice lacking microglia showed significant anatomical changes to the retinal astrocyte network, with functional consequences for the astrocyte-associated vasculature leading to retinal hemorrhage. These results establish a novel modality for naturally occurring cell death and demonstrate its importance for the formation and integrity of the retinal gliovascular network.
Modulating Immune Response with Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles

Nano-objects made of nucleic acids are becoming promising materials in the biomedical field. This is, in part, due to DNA and RNA self-assembly properties that can be accurately computed to fabricate various complex nanoarchitectures of 2D and 3D shapes. The nanoparticles can be assembled from DNA, RNA, and chemically modified oligonucleotide mixtures which, in turn, influence their chemical and biophysical properties. Solid-phase synthesis allows large-scale production of individual oligonucleotide strands with batch-to-batch consistency and exceptional purity. All of these advantageous characteristics of nucleic-acid-based nanoparticles were known to be exceptionally useful as a nanoplatform for drug delivery purposes. Recently, several important discoveries have been achieved, demonstrating that nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) can also be used to modulate the immune response of host cells. The purpose of this review is to briefly overview studies demonstrating architectural design principles of NANPs, as well as the ability of NANPs to control immune responses.
LEF1 supports metastatic brain colonization by regulating glutathione metabolism and increasing ROS resistance in breast cancer

More than half of all brain metastases show infiltrating rather than displacing growth at the macro‐metastasis/organ parenchyma interface (MMPI), a finding associated with shorter survival. The lymphoid enhancer‐binding factor‐1 (LEF1) is an epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) transcription factor that is commonly overexpressed in brain‐colonizing cancer cells. Here, we overexpressed LEF1 in an in vivo breast cancer brain colonization model. It shortened survival, albeit without engaging EMT at the MMPI. By differential proteome analysis, we identified a novel function of LEF1 as a regulator of the glutathione (GSH) system, the principal cellular redox buffer. LEF1 overexpression also conferred resistance against therapeutic GSH depletion during brain colonization and improved management of intracellular ROS. We conclude that besides EMT, LEF1 facilitates metastasis by improving the antioxidative capacity of epithelial breast cancer cells, in particular during colonization of the brain parenchyma.