Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parental infertility and sexual maturation in children.

BACKGROUND The reproductive health of children born of infertile couples may be affected by infertility treatment or factors associated with infertility. We examined sexual maturation in children of parents with infertility. METHODS We used data from a follow-up of 3382 girls and 2810 boys born between 1984 and 1987 in the Aalborg-Odense Birth Cohort. We had mothers' report of time to pregnancy (TTP) and infertility treatment (at the time, mostly hormonal) from the pregnancy questionnaire administered in 1984-1987, and the children's report of their own sexual maturation from the follow-up questionnaire administered in 2005, when they were between 18 and 21 years old. Many reported age only in year when they had the events related to sexual maturation, and for each event, we imputed the month based on the median month at each year of age among those reporting both years and months. RESULTS In girls, the mean age at menarche was 13.3 years and, in boys, the mean age at appearance of acne, voice break, regular shaving and first nocturnal emission were 14.5, 14.5, 17.2 and 14.7 years, respectively. We saw no significant differences in age at these events among children born of either fertile (with TTP of 0-12 months and no treatment), untreated infertile (with TTP of more than 12 months and no treatment) or treated infertile couples (with a history of examination or treatment for infertility). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest no significant association between parental infertility or hormonal treatment and timing of sexual maturation in the offspring.
The New Institutional Analysis of Politics

Here I consider those aspects of the new institutional analysis of politics that are based on the theory of rational choice and are strongly informed by the new institutional economics of organization. I regard this analysis as the single most important recent development in political science and public choice. My comments on this work, therefore, are less in the nature of criticisms and more in the way of open questions and challenges for future research. I discuss four general aspects of this field. First, I ask whether there is something distinctively "new" about it and in doing so compare it to the new institutional economics. Second, I attend to the problem of specifying a null hypothesis to compare allocative and distributive consequences of choices made under different institutions or the supposed absence of institutions. Third, I explore the robustness of these models in a frankly Austrian perspective that emphasizes political entrepreneurship. Finally, I note a discontinuity between the neoclassical model and the new institutional analysis of politics; the discontinuity lies in the distinction between partial and general equilibrium models.
Detection of spatially extended objects in clutter

Range-spread Doppler-spread signals in interference are readily discernable via the application of classical algorithms and architectures presented by Van Trees [1], and more recently by Kay [2] and others. However, when these returns emanate from stationary objects, the Generalized Inner Product (GIP) offers a unique tool for detection and discrimination processing. This paper offers insight into how the GIP may be applied to optimize the detection of spatially extended fixed objects in clutter.
Corporate Social Responsibility: An Aid to Going Concern Concept in Corporate Organizations in Nigeria

Corporate Organizations as legal entities are expected to impact their environment in a move to alleviate the various social evils that can threaten the communities where they exist. Corporate social responsibility is a concept that contributes to the enhancement of social amenities, reduction of unemployment, empowerment of citizenry, caring for economically and socially disadvantaged members of the society. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility in the continual existence of corporate organisations in Nigeria. In the analysis of data 600 questionnaire were administered on various communities and organizations in the south-western Nigeria, South-South Nigeria, Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria. Data were analyzed using chi-square statistical technique, also annual reports of some sampled organizations spanning 2010-2012 were examined. The findings show that the attentions to corporate social responsibility are not adequate. The study recommends that the government should make social responsibility a legal obligation in order to complement government efforts in the development of the communities. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Going Concern Concept, Corporate Organizations, Empowerment of Citizenry.
Science and Engineering Education Abroad: An Overview.

W H E N C O R N ELL University was founded in 1865 as the land-grant institution of New York State, major changes were taking place in American education. Four principal elements characterized these changes: (1) a rejection of the dominance of classical and theological studies; (2) a championship of the sciences; (3) an insistence on attention to agriculture and the mechanic arts; and (4) a demand for greater democracy in education. These principles were a response to the emerging needs of nineteenth-century society, which was dramatically transforming itself as a result of the industrial revolution. '
Rapid Acoustic Survey for Biodiversity Appraisal

Biodiversity assessment remains one of the most difficult challenges encountered by ecologists and conservation biologists. This task is becoming even more urgent with the current increase of habitat loss. Many methods–from rapid biodiversity assessments (RBA) to all-taxa biodiversity inventories (ATBI)–have been developed for decades to estimate local species richness. However, these methods are costly and invasive. Several animals–birds, mammals, amphibians, fishes and arthropods–produce sounds when moving, communicating or sensing their environment. Here we propose a new concept and method to describe biodiversity. We suggest to forego species or morphospecies identification used by ATBI and RBA respectively but rather to tackle the problem at another evolutionary unit, the community level. We also propose that a part of diversity can be estimated and compared through a rapid acoustic analysis of the sound produced by animal communities. We produced α and β diversity indexes that we first tested with 540 simulated acoustic communities. The α index, which measures acoustic entropy, shows a logarithmic correlation with the number of species within the acoustic community. The β index, which estimates both temporal and spectral dissimilarities, is linearly linked to the number of unshared species between acoustic communities. We then applied both indexes to two closely spaced Tanzanian dry lowland coastal forests. Indexes reveal for this small sample a lower acoustic diversity for the most disturbed forest and acoustic dissimilarities between the two forests suggest that degradation could have significantly decreased and modified community composition. Our results demonstrate for the first time that an indicator of biological diversity can be reliably obtained in a non-invasive way and with a limited sampling effort. This new approach may facilitate the appraisal of animal diversity at large spatial and temporal scales.
Immunopathology and molecular diagnosis of autoimmune bullous diseases

• Introduction • Pemphigus diseases ‐ Pemphigus vulgaris ‐ Pemphigus foliaceus • Pemphigus variants ‐ Pemphigus herpetiformis ‐ Pemphigus erythematosus ‐ Drug‐induced pemphigus ‐ Paraneoplastic pemphigus ‐ IgA pemphigus • Pemphigoid diseases ‐ Bullous pemphigoid ‐ Pemphigoid gestationis ‐ Linear IgA disease ‐ Mucous membrane pemphigoid • Anti‐p200 pemphigoid • Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita • Dermatitis herpetiformis Duhring
Interest Rate Markets: A Practical Approach to Fixed Income

Acknowledgments. Introduction. Chapter 1: Tools of the Trade. Basic Statistics. Regression The Fundamentals. Regression How Good a Fit? Principal Components Analysis. Scaling Through Time. Backtesting Strategies. Summary. Chapter 2: Introduction to Bonds. Basics of Bonds. Risks Embedded in Fixed Income Instruments. Discounting. Bond Pricing. Yield Curve. Duration. Convexity. Repo Markets. Bid Offer. Calculating Profit/Loss (P/L) of a Bond. Carry and Forward Rates. Forward Rates. Rolldown/Slide. Curves and Spreads. Butterflies and Condors. Summary. Chapter 3: Overview of Fixed Income Markets. Federal Reserve. Treasuries. STRIPS. TIPS. Mortgages. Agency Debt. Corporate Bonds. Municipal Bonds. Summary. Chapter 4: Introduction to Futures Markets. Basics of Futures Transactions. Eurodollar Futures. Convexity Bias (or Financing Bias). Creating Longer Dated Assets Using Eurodollar Futures. Treasury Futures. Fed Funds Futures. Futures Positioning Data. Summary. Chapter 5: Introduction to Swaps. Duration and Convexity. Uses of Swaps. Other Types of Swaps. Summary. Chapter 6: Understanding Drivers of Interest Rates. Supply and Demand for Borrowing. Flight to Quality. Components of Fixed Income Supply and Demand. Treasury Supply. Other Sources of Fixed Income Supply. Fixed Income Demand. Foreigner Holdings. Households. Federal Reserve. Mutual Funds. Banks. Pension Funds. Short Term Yield Drivers. Summary. Chapter 7: Carry and Relative Value Trades. Carry Trades. Carry Trade Set up and Evaluation. Pitfalls of the Carry Trade. Carry Efficient Directional Trades. Relative Value Trades. Setting Up Relative Value Trades. Treasury Bond Relative Value Par Curve. Other Treasury Relative Value Trades. Summary. Chapter 8: Hedging Risks in Interest Rate Products. Principles of Hedging. Choices of Instruments for Hedging. Calculating Hedge Ratios. Yield Betas. Convexity Hedging. Summary. Chapter 9: Trading Swap Spreads. How Swap Spreads Work. Why Trade Swap Spreads? Directionality of Swap Spreads to Yields. Futures Asset Swaps. Spread Curve Trades. Summary. Chapter 10: Interest Rate Options and Trading Volatility. Option Pricing and Fundamentals. Modifications for the Interest Rate Markets. Quoting Volatility. Measuring Risks in Option Positions. Put call parity. Implied and Realized Volatility. Skew. Delta Hedging. Interest Rate Options. Embedded Options and Hedging. More Exotic Structures. Yield Curve Spread Options (YCSOs). Forward Volatility. Volatility Trading. Interest Rate Skew. Volatility Spread Trades. Caps versus Swaptions. Summary. Chapter 11: Treasury futures basis and rolls. The Bond Basis. Calculating the Delivery Option Value. Option Adjusted and Empirical Duration. Treasury Futures Rolls. Summary. Chapter 12: Conditional Trades. Conditional Curve Trades. Conditional Spread Trades. Summary. References. About the Author. About the Website. Index.
Multi-scale driving behavior modeling using hierarchical PWARX model

This paper presents a hierarchical modeling strategy of the driving behavior based on the multiple levels of abstraction of the underlying dynamics. In order to realize this idea, a new mathematical model, Hierarchical PieceWise ARX model (Hi-PWARX model) is proposed. The identification scheme for the Hi-PWARX model is developed by synthesizing the ideas of a feature vector definition revealing the dynamical characteristics and an unsupervised clustering technique. By applying the Hi-PWARX model to the observed driving data, a consistent hierarchical behavior model is obtained without any prior knowledge. The usefulness of the proposed modeling is demonstrated by the analysis of the driving behavior on the express way.
Aphelion water‐ice cloud mapping and property retrieval using the OMEGA imaging spectrometer onboard Mars Express

Mapping of the aphelion clouds over Tharsis and retrieval of their particle size and visible opacity are made possible by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer aboard Mars Express. Observations cover the period from MY26 Ls=330{degree sign} to MY29 Ls=180{degree sign} and are acquired at various local times, ranging from 8AM to 6PM. Cloud maps of the Tharsis region constructed using the 3. 1µm ice absorption band reveal the seasonal and diurnal evolution of aphelion clouds. Four distinct types of clouds are identified: morning hazes, topographically controlled hazes, cumulus clouds and thick hazes. The location and time of occurrence of these clouds are analyzed and their respective formation process is discussed. An inverse method for retrieving cloud particle size and opacity is then developed and can only be applied to thick hazes. The relative error of these measurements is less than 30% for cloud particle size and 20% for opacity. Two groups of particles can be distinguished. The first group is found over flat plains and is composed of relatively small particles, ranging in size from 2 to 3. 5µm. The second group is characterized by particle sizes of ~5µm which appear to be quite constant over Ls and local time. It is found west of Ascraeus and Pavonis Mons, and near Lunae Planum. These regions are preferentially exposed to anabatic winds, which may control the formation of these particles and explain their distinct properties. The water ice column is equal to 2.9pr. µm on average, and can reach 5.2pr. µm in the thickest clouds of Tharsis.
A Serious Game for Learning Sustainable Design and LEED Concepts

With the growth of the population worldwide and the increased demand on resources, there has been a growing emphasis on sustainability and awareness of green and responsible use of resources. In response to the need for a sustainable built environment, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which includes a set of metrics for defining and measuring “green buildings”. Construction professionals and designers are recognized as LEED AP (Accredited Professionals) if they can demonstrate, via the LEED exam, knowledge and understanding of the LEED rating system. In this paper we describe a serious game for learning Green Building design principles and LEED concepts. The game is aimed at undergraduate students enrolled in Civil Engineering, Architecture and Building Construction Management programs, and professionals who are interested in becoming familiar with the LEED system. The game includes five levels that focus on the environmental categories of the LEED rating system for ‘New Construction and Major Renovations’ 2009 version.
Resistance-Associated NS5A Variants of Hepatitis C Virus Are Susceptible to Interferon-Based Therapy

Background & Aims The presence of resistance-associated variants (RAVs) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) attenuates the efficacy of direct acting antivirals (DAAs). The objective of this study was to characterize the susceptibility of RAVs to interferon-based therapy. Methods Direct and deep sequencing were performed to detect Y93H RAV in the NS5A region. Twenty nine genotype 1b patients with detectable RAV at baseline were treated by a combination of simeprevir, pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The longitudinal changes in the proportion of Y93H RAV during therapy and at breakthrough or relapse were determined. Results By direct sequencing, Y93H RAV became undetectable or decreased in proportion at an early time point during therapy (within 7 days) in 57% of patients with both the Y93H variant and wild type virus at baseline when HCV RNA was still detectable. By deep sequencing, the proportion of Y93H RAV against Y93 wild type was 52.7% (5.8%– 97.4%) at baseline which significantly decreased to 29.7% (0.16%- 98.3%) within 7 days of initiation of treatment (p = 0.023). The proportion of Y93H RAV was reduced in 21 of 29 cases (72.4%) and a marked reduction of more than 10% was observed in 14 cases (48.7%). HCV RNA reduction was significantly greater for Y93H RAV (-3.65±1.3 logIU/mL/day) than the Y93 wild type (-3.35±1.0 logIU/mL/day) (p<0.001). Conclusion Y93H RAV is more susceptible to interferon-based therapy than the Y93 wild type.
Exploring the Return on Investment of a Liberal Arts Degree: Perceived Connections Between Education and Work

The value of a liberal arts degree has been placed under scrutiny (Pyle, 2013; Smith, 2012) due to the lower average earnings (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2012) and higher unemployment rates (Flaherty, 2012) experienced by liberal arts graduates. The current study explored student and hiring professionals’ perceptions about the return on investment, both financial and non-financial, of a liberal arts degree. Interviews were conducted with 17 liberal arts students and 14 hiring professionals about their perceptions of the return on investment of a liberal arts degree, and 79 liberal arts students completed a survey with four open-ended questions about their college attendance and major selection. Interview transcripts and survey responses were analyzed using the process of open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008; Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). Students viewed four aspects of the return on investment of their liberal arts degree: the credential of a college degree, the expectation of financial security, the expectation of (career) success, and the college experience itself. Students viewed their liberal arts major as preparation for a particular career field, while hiring professionals described a student’s major as playing a minor role in their organization’s hiring decisions. Hiring professionals described college graduates as prepared with workplace skills and the motivation to succeed, and emphasized the importance of work and leadership experience. Student accounts provide evidence for a master narrative of college, which described college attendance as their expected next step and that college leads to a meaningful career. However, results demonstrated that neither students nor hiring professionals reported important differences between a liberal arts degree and other college degrees. Many respondents portrayed a college degree as a gateway to professional work as a whole rather than emphasizing specific characteristics of a liberal arts degree.
On Multicast Rearrangeable 3-stage Clos Networks Without First-Stage Fan-Out

For the multicast rearrangeable 3-stage Clos networks where input crossbars do not have fan-out capability, Kirkpatrick, Klawe, and Pippenger gave a sufficient condition and also a necessary condition which differs from the sufficient condition by a factor of 2. In this paper, we first tighten their conditions. Then we propose a new necessary condition based on the affine plane such that the necessary condition matches the sufficient condition for an infinite class of 3-stage Clos networks.
Exploiting the Bene ts of Multiple-Path Network in DSM Systems: Architectural Alternatives and Performance Evaluation

| Modern high performance networks being used for scalable distributed shared memory (DSM) systems support multiple paths to increase bandwidth and/or reduce contention. Such networks violate the constraint of pairwise in-order message delivery implicitly required by many existing directory-based cache coherence protocols. To solve this problem, two alternative strategies are currently used by computer architects. The rst strategy, used in the SGI Origin series, is to employ an intelligent cache coherence protocol which detects and resolves all race conditions caused by out-of-order (OoO) events. The second strategy, used in the HAL Mercury series, is to use a sophisticated network interface (NI) which detects and remedies every OoO event before the messages are fed to the cache coherence controllers. Both strategies involve complicated hardware logic, either at the cache coherence controller level or at the NI level. In this paper, we propose a new strategy that uses block correlated FIFO channels. This new strategy detects all potential race conditions and prevents them from occurring. It allows the use of a simple cache coherence protocol and an inexpensive NI. We also present an eecient implementation of this strategy based on current technology. Detailed simulations are performed using benchmark applications to evaluate the performance of our new strategy. The results indicate that compared to the existing strategies, our new strategy always provides either the best or close to the best overall performance. This study also provides valuable insights into the design tradeoos in incorporating modern networks into DSM systems.
Intrusion Detection in Pervasive Networks Based on a Chi-Square Statistic Test

In our previous work we proposed a service-oriented and user-centric intrusion detection system (SUIDS) for pervasive/ubiquitous computing. SUIDS meets the special requirements of pervasive computing by adopting a flexible system architecture and user-centric auditing mechanism. In this paper we present the detection methods and experiment results of SUIDS. Specifically, the paper shows how a smoothing constant is used in a user profile to represent the user's short-term behavior in real-time; and how the deviations between a user's short-term and long-term behaviors are measured by using a chi-square statistic test. As a result, SUIDS effectively achieved real-time intrusion detection in pervasive computing, with a lightweight, adaptive and heterogeneous system design
Bubblesort star graphs: a new interconnection network

In this paper, we propose and analyze a new interconnection network called bubblesort star graph, which is the merger of the bubblesort graph and the star graph. We present the deadlock-free wormhole routing algorithm for the proposed network. We also develop the method to embed a mesh into a bubblesort star graph with dilation two and expansion one. Besides, we use the recursive scheme to embed the multiple disjoint copies of the hypercube into a bubblesort star graph with all faults recovery capacity as well as constant expansion and dilation one or two. This reflects the fact that the embeddability of the bubblesort star graph is much better than that of the star graph.