Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finding Bidder-Optimal Core Points Quickly

In complex combinatorial markets with complementary valuations, truthful auctions can yield low revenue. Core-selecting auctions attempt to boost revenue by setting prices so that no group of agents, including the auctioneer, can jointly improve their utilities by switching to a different allocation and payments. Among outcomes in the core, bidder-optimal core points have been the most widely studied due to their incentive properties, such as being implementable at equilibrium. Prior work in economics has studied heuristics and algorithms for computing approximate bidderoptimal core points given oracle access to the welfare optimization problem, but these solutions either lack performance guarantees or are based on prohibitively convex programs. Our main result is a combinatorial algorithm that finds an approximate bidder-optimal core point in a quasi-linear number of calls to the welfare maximization oracle. Our results have implication for the sale of space in online advertising. ∗hartline@eecs.northwestern. edu †nicimm@microsoft.com ‡brlucier@microsoft.com §rad@cs.cornell. edu 1 ar X iv :1 61 0. 03 56 4v 1 [ cs . G T ] 1 1 O ct 2 01 6
Seasonality in particle motion of microseisms

SUMMARY Microseisms are a continuous source of seismic signal which mainly consist of Rayleigh waves but are known to contain some other types of seismic waves. We developed a simple processing procedure for single-station three-component seismic data which allows us to select Rayleigh-wave dominated portions. Application of this procedure to data from Southern California led us to confirm that excitation of the secondary-peak microseisms (the predominant energy at about 0.15 Hz) occurs in coastal regions; the source directions, viewed at each station, do not change very much throughout the year. We also discovered that the ratio of the horizontal to vertical amplitudes in Rayleigh waves, termed H/Z in this paper, is shown to have seasonal variations. The H/Z estimates typically reach their maximum in winter and their minimum in summer. Seasonal variations are observed at most stations but peak-to-peak amplitudes of seasonal variations vary greatly from station to station, ranging between 0 and 40 per cent. Two hypotheses were examined to explain this phenomenon; the first hypothesis is that it is caused by seasonal changes in seismic velocities in a layer between the surface and the groundwater level. The second hypothesis is that it is caused by seasonal changes in relative excitation of higher modes compared to dominant fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves. The first hypothesis is not likely, because predicted amplitudes of seasonal variations in H/Z are too small to explain observed variations. The second hypothesis seems quite plausible if source regions move seasonally among regions with different ocean depths. The technique developed in this paper, however, is not sufficient to answer this question conclusively.
Construction of High-Density Genetic Map in Barley through Restriction-Site Associated DNA Sequencing

Genetic maps in barley are usually constructed from a limited number of molecular markers such as SSR (simple sequence repeat) and DarT (diversity arrays technology). These markers must be first developed before being used for genotyping. Here, we introduce a new strategy based on sequencing progeny of a doubled haploid population from Baudin × AC Metcalfe to construct a genetic map in barley. About 13,547 polymorphic SNP tags with >93% calling rate were selected to construct the genetic map. A total of 12,998 SNP tags were anchored to seven linkage groups which spanned a cumulative 967.6 cM genetic distance. The high-density genetic map can be used for QTL mapping and the assembly of WGS and BAC contigs. The genetic map was evaluated for its effectiveness and efficiency in QTL mapping and candidate gene identification. A major QTL for plant height was mapped at 105.5 cM on chromosome 3H. This QTL with LOD value of 13.01 explained 44.5% of phenotypic variation. This strategy will enable rapid and efficient establishment of high-density genetic maps in other species.
Expansion of Urease- and Uricase-Containing, Indole- and p-Cresol-Forming and Contraction of Short-Chain Fatty Acid-Producing Intestinal Microbiota in ESRD

Background: Intestinal microbiome constitutes a symbiotic ecosystem that is essential for health, and changes in its composition/function cause various illnesses. Biochemical milieu shapes the structure and function of the microbiome. Recently, we found marked differences in the abundance of numerous bacterial taxa between ESRD and healthy individuals. Influx of urea and uric acid and dietary restriction of fruits and vegetables to prevent hyperkalemia alter ESRD patients' intestinal milieu. We hypothesized that relative abundances of bacteria possessing urease, uricase, and p-cresol- and indole-producing enzymes is increased, while abundance of bacteria containing enzymes converting dietary fiber to short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) is reduced in ESRD. Methods: Reference sets of bacteria containing genes of interest were compiled to family, and sets of intestinal bacterial families showing differential abundances between 12 healthy and 24 ESRD individuals enrolled in our original study were compiled. Overlap between sets was assessed using hypergeometric distribution tests. Results: Among 19 microbial families that were dominant in ESRD patients, 12 possessed urease, 5 possessed uricase, and 4 possessed indole and p-cresol-forming enzymes. Among 4 microbial families that were diminished in ESRD patients, 2 possessed butyrate-forming enzymes. Probabilities of these overlapping distributions were <0.05. Conclusions: ESRD patients exhibited significant expansion of bacterial families possessing urease, uricase, and indole and p-cresol forming enzymes, and contraction of families possessing butyrate-forming enzymes. Given the deleterious effects of indoxyl sulfate, p-cresol sulfate, and urea-derived ammonia, and beneficial actions of SCFA, these changes in intestinal microbial metabolism contribute to uremic toxicity and inflammation.
A smartphone-based mobile incident response system for indoor and outdoor scenarios

This work describes the development of a mobile incident response system which can be used by public entities such as the police or municipality services to improve the assignment of response teams to reported incidents. It is also shown that the system can be easily integrated to augment current indoor air quality monitoring systems in future buildings. The system is based on the capability of smartphones to provide location based services. It comprises a server application and a report (i.e. client) application. A team assignment algorithm based on location was implemented. The team assignment algorithm was accurate 81% of the time with the right choice of response team to dispatch.
On hydrologic similarity: 3. A dimensionless flood frequency model using a generalized geomorphologic unit hydrograph and partial area runoff generation

One of the shortcomings of the original theory of the geomorphologic unit hydrograph (GUH) is that it assumes that runoff is generated uniformly from the entire catchment area. It is now recognized that in many catchments much of the runoff during storm events is produced on partial areas which usually form on narrow bands along the stream network. A storm response model that includes runoff generation on partial areas by both Hortonian and Dunne mechanisms was recently developed by the authors. In this paper a methodology for integrating this partial area runoff generation model with the GUH-based runoff routing model is presented; this leads to a generalized GUH. The generalized GUH and the storm response model are then used to estimate physically based flood frequency distributions. In most previous work the initial moisture state of the catchment had been assumed to be constant for all the storms. In this paper we relax this assumption and allow the initial moisture conditions to vary between storms. The resulting flood frequency distributions are cast in a scaled dimensionless framework where issues such as catchment scale and similarity can be conveniently addressed. A number of experiments are performed to study the sensitivity of the flood frequency response to some of the “similarity” parameters identified in this formulation. The results indicate that one of the most important components of the derived flood frequency model relates to the specification of processes within the runoff generation model; specifically the inclusion of both saturation excess (Dunne) and Horton infiltration excess runoff production mechanisms. The dominance of these mechanisms over different return periods of the flood frequency distribution can significantly affect the distributional shape and confidence limits about the distribution. Comparisons with observed flood distributions seem to indicate that such mixed runoff production mechanisms influence flood distribution shape. The sensitivity analysis also indicated that the incorporation of basin and rainfall storm scale also greatly influences the distributional shape of the flood frequency curve.
Slope and wind effects on fire propagation

The vectoring of wind and slope effects on a flame front is considered. Mathematical methods for vectoring are presented and compared to results of laboratory experiments. The concept of multiple standard fire spread directions is presented. The experimental laboratory study, included effects of variable wind velocity and direction on point source flame fronts on a 30° inclined fuel bed.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY , FIBER LENGTH AND CHEMICAL COMPONENTS OF CONOCARPUS ERECTUS AS AFFECTED BY TREE SPACING

Conocarpus erectus L. is a fast growing tree, drought resistant and it is widely planted throughout Saudi Arabia around parking lots and along the streets. It constitutes a renewable resource that could be used as a source of raw materials required for several uses. However, no data were available about its wood quality. This study was established to investigate the effect of plant spacing on some wood quality parameters of buttonwood i.e., specific gravity, fiber length and chemical components. In May 2003 the seedlings were planted at three different spacing of 0.7, 1.4 and 2.1 meter either between rows or between seedlings within row. After 3 years, trees were harvested and the chemical analysis of wood was determined. The results of the present study indicate that the variation of extractives, hemicellulose, lignin and ash contents among the plantation density levels were highly significant. Variation of cellulose content was not significant. The effect of spacing levels on specific gravity and fiber length was small, but significant. By increasing spacing from 0.7 to 2.1 m, specific gravity of Conocarpus was increased (0.63 to 0.66, respectively). Among the three spacing levels, no trend was obtained for fiber length. In general, this study recommended that wide space resulted in higher lignin content and the utilization of wood is recommended for furniture industry, however, narrow space yielded greater hemicellulose and ash contents and the produced wood is preferred for ethanol production as a biofuel.
The Effect of Tamoxifen Dose Increment in Patients With Impaired CYP2D6 Activity

Background: The effect of tamoxifen dose elevation on endoxifen serum concentration was investigated in patients with reduced CYP2D6 activity resulting from genetic variation and/or CYP2D6 inhibitor use. Additionally, baseline differences in endoxifen concentrations between the different CYP2D6 phenotypes were studied. Methods: Patients, treated with tamoxifen 20 mg once daily (QD) for at least 4 weeks, were classified as phenotypic extensive (EM), intermediate (IM), or poor (PM) metabolizer based on their genotype and comedication. In patients with an IM or PM phenotype, the tamoxifen dose was increased to 40 mg QD for 4 weeks. Tamoxifen, 4-OH-tamoxifen, N-desmethyltamoxifen, and endoxifen serum concentrations were measured at baseline and 4 weeks after the dose increment. Side effects of tamoxifen were assessed using the validated Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Endocrine Symptom subscale (FACT-ESS-19). Results: The median baseline endoxifen concentration differed between EMs (11.4 mcg/L: n = 19), IMs (8.3 mcg/L: n = 16), and PMs (4.0 mcg/L: n = 7), P = 0.040. Tamoxifen dose elevation significantly increased the median endoxifen concentrations in 12 IMs from 9.5 to 17.4 mcg/L (P < 0.001) and in 4 PMs from 3.8 to 7.8 mcg/L (P = 0.001), without influencing median FACT-ESS-19 scores. Conclusions: Raising the tamoxifen dose to 40 mg QD significantly increased endoxifen concentrations in IMs and PMs without increasing side effects. The tamoxifen dose increment in PMs was insufficient to reach endoxifen concentrations equal to those observed in EMs. Future studies will clarify the direct effect of endoxifen exposure on tamoxifen efficacy and may reveal a threshold endoxifen concentration that is critical for its efficacy.
Single versus multiple antenatal steroids in threatened preterm delivery: more benefit or harm?

The first demonstration that antenatal maternal glucocorticoid treatment reduced neonatal morbidity was reported by Liggins and Howie in 1972.1 In the following two decades antenatal corticosteroid prophylaxis gradually found its way into clinical practice and had become an accepted part of the standard care by the early 1990s.2 3 It clearly reduces overall neonatal mortality, the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and the need for respiratory support.4 It also decreases the risk of other complications of prematurity, including intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) and necrotising enterocolitis but not bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The current recommendation is to give two doses of 12 mg betamethasone, 24 h apart, to women who may deliver within 7 days and are less than 35 weeks pregnant.5–7 Most benefit is seen when delivery follows the second dose by more than 24 h; however, even an incomplete course reduces neonatal morbidity and mortality.8 There is a marked reduction in the apparent beneficial effects of antenatal steroids (ie, glucocorticoids) if the interval between administration and delivery exceeds 7 days.4 This led to the evaluation of multiple steroid treatments among women who remained at high risk of preterm birth.9 However, animal data and observational human studies demonstrated possible adverse effects of repeated doses of glucocorticoids. Moreover, evidence emerged of severe adverse effects of postnatal steroids, particularly on growth and neurodevelopmental outcome.10 This resulted in guidelines advising against routine use of repeat steroid courses except in clinical studies, in both the UK and the USA.5 11 In this paper, we discuss the data from a series of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of repeat steroids and the implications for care of women at sustained risk of preterm birth. The physiological consequences of repeated antenatal steroid exposure have been extensively studied in …
Nonlinearity analysis of the boosted bucket brigade device for high-speed charge-domain ADCs

The charge-domain analog-to-digital converter (ADC) based on boosted bucket-brigade devices (BBD) is an opamp-less pipelined ADC architecture, which can provide high conversion speed with very low power consumption compared with traditional pipelined ADC architectures. However, the charge transfer characteristics of the MOS BBD exhibits severe nonlinearity, which poses a hard limit on the linearity performances of the pipelined ADC. In this paper, the influences of the circuit parameters of the BBD on its linearity performance are analyzed theoretically and verified by simulation. The results of analysis and simulation show that the nonlinear response of boosting amplifier has the most serious impact on the linearity of the BBD. Based on the analysis results of the paper, relatively higher linearity of charge-domain ADCs can be obtained by choosing reasonable circuit parameters for the BBDs used in the ADC.
Suffering in silence: a qualitative study of second victims of adverse events

Introduction The term ‘second victim’ refers to the healthcare professional who experiences emotional distress following an adverse event. This distress has been shown to be similar to that of the patient—the ‘first victim’. The aim of this study was to investigate how healthcare professionals are affected by their involvement in adverse events with emphasis on the organisational support they need and how well the organisation meets those needs. Methods 21 healthcare professionals at a Swedish university hospital who each had experienced an adverse event were interviewed. Data from semi-structured interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis using QSR NVivo software for coding and categorisation. Results Our findings confirm earlier studies showing that emotional distress, often long-lasting, follows from adverse events. In addition, we report that the impact on the healthcare professional was related to the organisation’s response to the event. Most informants lacked organisational support or they received support that was unstructured and unsystematic. Further, the formal investigation seldom provided adequate and timely feedback to those involved. The insufficient support and lack of feedback made it more difficult to emotionally process the event and reach closure. Discussion This article addresses the gap between the second victim's need for organisational support and the organisational support provided. It also highlights the need for more transparency in the investigation of adverse events. Future research should address how advanced support structures can meet these needs and provide learning opportunities for the organisation. These issues are central for all hospital managers and policy makers who wish to prevent and manage adverse events and to promote a positive safety culture.
Simvastatin enhances the antihypertensive effect of ramipril in hypertensive hypercholesterolemic animals and patients. Possible role of nitric oxide, oxidative stress, and high sensitivity C‐reactive protein

In this study, the effects of simvastatin on the blood pressure and on the antihypertensive activity of ramipril in hypertensive hypercholesterolemic animals and patients were evaluated. In hypertensive hypercholesterolemic animals, repeated administration of simvastatin slightly but significantly decreased the systolic blood pressure, enhanced its progressive reductions induced by repeated administration of ramipril and corrected the compromised lipid profile. Concomitantly, repeated administration of simvastatin, ramipril or simvastatin in combination with ramipril to these animals, increased nitric oxide (NO) production and decreased the elevated serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and high sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP) levels. The effects of combined treatment were greater than those of simvastatin or ramipril alone. In hypertensive hypercholesterolemic patients, repeated administration of ramipril decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, increased NO production, and decreased the elevated serum MDA and hs‐CRP levels. Addition of simvastatin to ramipril therapy enhanced these effects and corrected the compromised lipid profile. Simvastatin but not ramipril inhibited the contractile responses of isolated aortic rings induced by angiotensin 11. l‐arginine and acetylcholine enhanced, while l‐NAME inhibited effects of simvastatin, and simvastatin in combination with ramipril on these contractile responses. These findings suggest that simvastatin exerts antihypertensive effect and enhances the antihypertensive effect of ramipril in hypertensive hypercholesterolemic animals and patients. In addition to its cholesterol‐lowering effect, the ability of simvastatin to ameliorate endothelial dysfunction through increasing NO bioavailability and through suppression of oxidative stress and vascular inflammation and its ability to enhance the effect of ramipril on these parameters may play a pivotal role in these effects.
Statins and Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy : Is There a Role for Combining these Therapeutic Modalities ?

Recent trials of postmenopausal hormone therapy have shown lack of cardiovascular benefit or possible harm among women with and without underlying cardiovascular disease [1-7] . Despite a favorable impact on several cardiovascular risk markers, hormone therapy is thus not recommended for the primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. [8] Although alternatives are available, hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for postmenopausal hot flashes and may be indicated for postmenopausal urogenital problems and for prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. [8]
Urotensin II accelerates cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy of rats induced by isoproterenol

AbstractAim:To study whether urotensin II (UII), a potent vasoconstrictive peptide, is involved in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrogenesis of rats induced by isoproterenol (ISO). Methods:Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. Group 1 was the healthy control group, group 2 was the ISO group, and group 3 was the ISO+UII group. In groups 2 and 3, ISO (5 mg·kg−1·d−1) was given (sc) once daily for 7 d. Group 3 was also given UII in the first day [3 nmol/kg (5 ug/kg), iv], followed by sc (1.5 ug/kg) twice daily. Group 1 received 0.9% saline. UII receptor (UT) mRNA expression was determined by RT-PCR. The contents of UII and angiotensin II (Ang II) were determined by radioimmunoassay. In vitro, the effects of UII on DNA/collagen synthesis of cardiac fibroblasts were determined by [3H]thymidine/[3H]proline incorporation.Results:The ratio of heart weight/body weight, plasma lactate dehydrogenase activity, myocardial malondialdehyde and hydroxyproline concentration increased significantly in the ISO group, as well as UT mRNA expression, plasma and cardiac UII and ventricular Ang II, compared with the control group (P<0.01). ISO induced significant myocardial fibrogenesis. Moreover, UII+ISO co-treatment significantly increased the changes of biochemical markers of injury and the degree of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. In vitro, 5×10−9-5×10−7mol/L UII stimulated [3H]thymidine/[3H] proline incorporation into cardiac fibroblasts in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.01). Conclusion:These results suggest that UII was involved in the development of cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy by synergistic effects with ISO.
Relationships between physical characteristics and polarimetric radar backscatter for Corsican pine stands in Thetford Forest, U.K.

Abstract Global monitoring of forest extent and changes of extent with time are vital not just to provide a continuous assessment of a renewable resource essential to mankind but also to give an input to models of the global carbon cycle and of climate change. Microwave remote sensing is a potential means to accomplish this objective. However, to determine the optimum characteristics of a satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for reliable forest monitoring it is first necessary to validate modelled microwave backscatter relationships in studies of relatively small areas using data from aircraft SAR systems and from detailed ground survey. The Maestro 1 Campaign provided fully polarimetric SAR data in three wavelengths together with a large set of ground data for Thetford Forest. Calibrated microwave responses were averaged for more than 300 stands, primarily of Corsican pine. A georefercnccd database for the test site was built up from these mean responses combined with information on planting date, sp.