Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sirtuin activators

Background: Sirtuin 1 – 7 (SIRT1 – 7) are deacetylases that are dependent on NAD+ for their activity. SIRT1 down-regulates p53 activity, increasing lifespan, cell survival, and neuroprotection; it also deacetylates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ and its coactivator 1α, promoting fat mobilization, increasing mitochondrial size and number, and positively regulating insulin secretion. Sirtuins link nutrient availability and energy metabolism. Calorie restriction, which increases lifespan and is beneficial in age-related disorders, activates sirtuin. Major efforts are thus focused to developing sirtuin activators. Objective: After discussing the potential involvement of sirtuins in pathophysiological processes, this review looks at new, synthetic sirtuin activators. Conclusions: To date, resveratrol is the most potent natural compound able to activate SIRT1, mimicking the positive effect of calorie restriction. Resveratrol might help in the treatment or prevention of obesity and in preventing the aging-related decline in heart function and neuronal loss. As resveratrol has low bioavailability and interacts with multiple molecular targets, the development of new molecules with better bioavailability and targeting sirtuin at lower concentrations is a promising field of the medicinal chemistry. New SIRT1 activators that are up to 1000 times more effective than resveratrol have recently been identified. These improve the response to insulin and increase the number and activity of mitochondria in obese mice. Human trials with a formulation of resveratrol with improved bioavailability and with a synthetic SIRT1 activator are in progress.
CUDA Based Parallel Implementations of Space-Saving on a GPU

We present four CUDA based parallel implementations of the Space-Saving algorithm for determining frequent items on a GPU. The first variant exploits the open-source CUB library to simplify the implementation of a user's defined reduction, whilst the second is based on our own implementation of the parallel reduction. The third and the fourth, built on the previous variants, are meant to improve the performance by taking advantage of hardware based atomic instructions. In particular, we implement a warp based ballot mechanism to accelerate the Space-Saving updates. We show that our implementation of the parallel reduction, coupled with the ballot based update mechanism, is the fastest, and provides extensive experimental results regarding its performance.
Gender differences in low pay labour mobility and the national minimum wage

This paper examines gender differences in the duration of low pay employment spells prior to and after the introduction in the National Minimum Wage in 1999. The results suggest that the dynamics out of low pay differ by gender and that these differences change after 1999. These differences are driven by the differing impact of a number of covariates such as age and education on the baseline hazards. Overall, the effect of many covariates on expected duration is often less in absolute terms for women than men, although such differences frequently decline after 1999. At mean values, gender differences in expected duration of low pay effectively disappear and gender differences in the exit probability to high pay decline after 1999. However, for individuals with characteristics most associated with long periods of low pay, the high pay exit probability is substantially lower after 1999 for women than for men. Copyright 2009 , Oxford University Press.
Category breadth and hierarchical structure in personality: studies of asymmetries in judgments of trait implications.

Trait breadth and hierarchical organization are central structural principles in personality theory and research. We assume that personality traits serve as categories of behavioral events, and we define the breadth of traits as the diversity of their behavioral manifestations. We show that trait breadth can be measured reliably both by ratings and by direct comparisons within trait pairs. We assess the hierarchical relations between traits differing in breadth, using a task in which subjects select the most meaningful of two statements, such as "To be talkative is a way of being extroverted" versus "To be extroverted is a way of being talkative. " The extent of asymmetry in the choices of the subject sample provides an index of the degree of class inclusion. In four studies, we demonstrate that the size of the asymmetry effect is highly predictable from differences in trait breadth, even when the effects of social desirability, familiarity, and meaningfulness are controlled. Moreover, we replicate these findings in two cultural contexts, and even at the level of individual subjects. The availability of traits at different hierarchical levels requires personality psychologists to make an explicit choice about level of abstraction, especially when studying behavioral consistency. We discuss the prospect for identifying a generally preferred or "basic" level of personality description.
The role of self-help groups in empowering disabled women: a case study in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

The literature on self-help groups (SHGs) shows a mixed record on empowering women both economically and socially, while the literature on Women with Disabilities (WWDs) highlights the problems of isolation that exacerbate their disadvantages. This article, asking whether SHGs can empower WWDs, is based on a study conducted in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It concludes that being an SHG member is useful for gaining employment that leads to better recognition in the family and society. However, employment opportunities and organisational experiences mean that the benefits are not equally shared among all members.
A cryogenic current comparator bridge for resistance measurements at currents of up to 100 A

The use of cryogenic current comparators at NPL has been limited so far to currents of 100 mA. A new current comparator with a maximum current capacity of 100 A has been developed and will form the basis of a resistance ratio bridge for low value resistors with a relative uncertainty of 10/sup -7/ or better.
A study of the paravertebral anatomy for ultrasound-guided posterior lumbar plexus block.

IMPLICATIONS We investigated the feasibility of posterior paravertebral sonography as a basis for ultrasound-guided posterior lumbar plexus blockades. Posterior paravertebral sonography proved to be a reliable as well as accurate imaging procedure for visualization of the lumbar paravertebral region except the lumbar plexus.
The pro‐Th2 cytokine IL‐33 directly interacts with invariant NKT and NK cells to induce IFN‐γ production

IL‐33 has recently been identified as a cytokine endowed with pro‐Th2 functions, raising the question of its effect on invariant natural killer T cell (iNKT), which are potent IL‐4 producers. Here, we report a two‐fold increase of iNKT‐cell counts in spleen and liver after a 7‐day treatment of mice with IL‐33, which results from a direct effect, given that purified iNKT cells express the T1/ST2 receptor constitutively and respond to IL‐33 by in vitro expansion and functional activation. Conversely to the expected pro‐Th2 effect, IL‐33 induced a preferential increase in IFN‐γ rather than IL‐4 production upon TCR engagement that depended on endogenous IL‐12. Moreover, in combination with the pro‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐12, IL‐33 enhanced IFN‐γ production by both iNKT and NK cells. Taken together these data support the conclusion that IL‐33 can contribute as a co‐stimulatory factor to innate cellular immune responses.
Employment Adjustment at the Firm Level. A Theoretical Model and an Empirical Investigation for West German Manufacturing Firms

In this paper, employment adjustment at the firm level is estimated with a large panel of business survey data from West German manufacturing. The specification is based on a framework of monopolistic competition in the product market. Special emphasis is devoted to the analysis of the impact of demand uncertainty, capacity constraints, technological change and competition. The empirical results reveal that demand uncertainty and capacity constraints significantly affect employment adjustment. Innovative firms are more successful; they increase employment and exhibit a higher utilization of capacities. Employment adjustment also depends on competition. In monopolistic markets, the volatility of employment is higher.
Detection of Plagiarism in Programming Assignments

Laboratory work assignments are very important for computer science learning. Over the last 12 years many students have been involved in solving such assignments in the authors' department, having reached a figure of more than 400 students doing the same assignment in the same year. This number of students has required teachers to pay special attention to conceivable plagiarism cases. A plagiarism detection tool has been developed as part of a full toolset for helping in the management of the laboratory work assignments. This tool defines and uses four similarity criteria to measure how similar two assignment implementations are. The paper describes the plagiarism detection tool and the experience of using it over the last 12 years in four different programming assignments, from microprogramming a CPU to system programming in C.
Assessment and Management of Beach Camping Impacts within Fraser Island World Heritage Area, South-East Queensland

The article reports on a study undertaken in 1995 to assess camping impacts, campsite availability and usage along the eastern and northern coast of the Fraser Island World Heritage Area in South-East Queensland. Ground and air photo survey techniques were developed to provide an efficient and reliable means to monitor beach camping use and impacts along the more than 100 km of beach used for camping. Air photo surveys spanning 1974 to 1994 reveal a marked degradation of the coastal zone that can be attributed to camping use. Patterns of impact can be related to past and current patterns of visitor use. The results suggest that changes to current camping management strategies are required if the level of impact is to be reduced and World Heritage values maintained.
Fuzzy-Lyapunov based quadrotor controller design

Fuzzy control algorithms are frequently used in controlling highly nonlinear systems or systems whose mathematical model is difficult to describe. A quadrotor represents a class of flying objects with four rotors symmetrically attached on its construction. As highly nonlinear and unstable system quadrotor is suitable candidate for implementation of fuzzy control. In this paper, we present fuzzy control algorithm for position and orientation of quadrotor which is based only on basic physical assumptions of the system. Therefore, mathematical model is not necessary for control algorithm synthesis. Direct Lyapunov stability criterion and fuzzy arithmetic were used to prove stability of the control algorithms. Simulations were performed in Matlab to validate the control. Furthermore, control laws were tested on Gumstix microcomputer platform using AHRS sensor information.
Interrelationships among Locus of Control and Years in Management and Unemployment: Differences by Gender

This paper focuses on gender differences in the role played by locus of control within a model that predicts outcomes for men and women at two opposite poles of the labour market: high level managerial / leadership positions and unemployment. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we investigated the extent to which gender differences occur in the processes by which highly positive and negative labour market outcomes are determined and in the processes underlying the development of one particular aspect of personality, that is, locus of control. Overall gender differences were more pronounced in the results for years in managerial/ leadership positions than for locus of control. Negative labour market states were also marked by gender differences, but not to the same degree observed for positive states.
Cascading failure of interdependent networks with traffic: Using a redundancy design to protect influential nodes

With the rapid development of technology, several infrastructure networks are often coupled together and thus need to be modeled as interdependent networks. Because of potential overloads, interdependent networks are more fragile when suffering from attacks. Existing studies have primarily concentrated on the cascading failure process of interdependent networks without load, or the robustness of isolated network with traffic. Only limited research have been done on the cascading failure process caused by overload in interdependent networks. Redundancy is a primary design approach that can enhance the reliability and robustness of the system. In this paper, we propose a method that adds redundant design for the influential nodes in interdependent networks with traffic to suppress overloading. First, a detailed model with a redundant design and redundant level is introduced. Three strategies (Random, Degree and Betweenness) based on the potential knowledge of network centrality can be used to identify the influential nodes of networks. Then, two indicators are presented to evaluate the robustness of interdependent networks. Lastly, we analyze the common effects between the coupling strength and the redundancy on the invulnerability of interdependent networks. Experiments on two interdependent networks demonstrate that with a suitable coupling attributes (strength and preference) and a higher degree of redundancy, an interdependent network is more robust under random attacks. The results suggest that such a redundant design can permit construction of highly robust interactive networked systems.
Customer satisfaction modeling (CSM) in product planning according to quality function deployment (QFD) and Kano model

Service quality improvement and considering customers’ wants and requirements in designing and producing the products is one of the important business strategies in today’s competitive world. It is very important for maintaining the market, higher-quality activities and satisfying customers’ needs, since it can lead to increase in companies’ loyalty and success. Rapid changes in services and productions marketing requires companies to go beyond customers’ satisfaction making the conditions of their please and loyalty by forming innovation and presenting services beyond customers’ expectations. This paper tries to measure customers’ real needs, their satisfaction level and loyalty. Kano cooperative model and quality function deployment (QFD) were used in order to prevent any shortage in evaluating customers’ satisfaction which may exist in any usual method of evaluating customers’ satisfaction. First customers’ needs are analyzed by using Kano model and then the relationship between the values made for the customer and customers’ loyalty is investigated by combining Kano and QFD models. The results shows the importance of considering customers’ wants in designing the products before their manufacture and their considerable role in customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. Key words: Customers’ requirements, customers’ satisfaction, customers’ loyalty, product design.
Corporate performance evaluation: a multicriteria methodology and an application on the Athens Stock Exchange

In this article, we present a multicriteria methodology for supporting decisions that concern the evaluation of the overall corporate performance of firms, on the basis of financial analysis. The methodology’s key-characteristic is that the firms participate in the evaluation process are categorised in classes, with respect to their corresponding industry. In this way, the huge issue of competition between rival firms is fully taken into consideration, while unreasonable comparisons between them are excluded. Moreover, the crucial importance issue of accounting singularities between business sectors is also strongly taken into account. The evaluation of each class of firms is based on specialised criteria set which correspond to the specific accounting plan each company belongs in. The validity of the proposed methodology is tested through a large scale application on the Athens Stock Exchange. Finally, an elaborate review of the coherent research studies is also provided.
Impact of environmental regulations on innovation and performance in the UK industrial sector

Purpose – The role of environmental regulations in inducing innovation and improving performance has been studied in the literature. However, there have been no studies in the UK using statistical data. This paper aims to study the links among regulations, innovation and performance in the UK using sector level data.Design/methodology/approach – The paper used structural equation modelling to study the links among the three variables simultaneously.Findings – The analysis indicates that environmental regulations in the UK are significant in improving economic performance of the industrial sectors. They also find that, in the short run, environmental regulations negatively influence innovation, and innovation negatively influences economic performance in these sectors.Practical implications – The results have implications both for policy makers and firms in the UK industrial sector. For policy makers, environmental regulations have generally improved economic performance. For firms, the study shows that su.
Scintillation properties of LuYAP and LYSO crystals measured with MiniACCOS, an automatic crystal quality control system

The Crystal Clear Collaboration has built a small animal PET, the ClearPETtrade and is now working on a dedicated PET for mammography, the ClearPEMtrade. The gamma-ray detectors in these machines consist of matrices of small scintillation crystals coupled to photo detectors. In all the detectors for the ClearPEMtrade about 6000 LYSO (2times2times20 mm3) crystals are used while for the ClearPETtrade the number is around 5000 LYSO and the same amount of LuYAP crystals with a dimension of 2times2times10 mm3 in a phoswich combination. An automatic system to measure the light yield, decay time and energy resolution of those L(Y)SO and Lu(Y)AP pixels of different sizes on a fast basis (around 500 per day) was constructed at CERN, the MiniACCOS (mini automatic crystal quality control system). This paper offers a short description of the MiniACCOS system and presents first results of crystal measurements of about 10000 LYSO and LuYAP pixels and compares them to previously produced batches of LuYAP crystals produced by two different growth methods
Radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation between local tumor progression after ablation and ablative margin.

OBJECTIVE To identify the determinants of tumor progression, we examined the ablation zones and patterns of local progression of small single primary hepatocellular carcinomas after radiofrequency ablation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eighty-five patients with single primary hepatocellular carcinoma less than 3 cm in diameter underwent complete tumor ablation. Clinical and biochemical features, tumor characteristics, tumor location within 5 mm from intrahepatic vessels, needle biopsy before treatment, and presence of ablative margin of 5 mm or more were statistically analyzed as determinants of local tumor progression. The Kaplan-Meier method and a Cox model were used for the analyses. Patterns of local tumor progression were examined by image analysis. RESULTS During a median observation period of 30.3 months, 14 (16.5%) of the 85 patients had local tumor progression. The results of the log-rank test showed that the presence of vessels contiguous with the tumor (p = 0.0292) and the absence of an ablative margin of at least 5 mm (p = 0.019) significantly correlated with local tumor progression. Cox regression analysis showed that the absence of an ablative margin of at least 5 mm was an independent factor (p = 0.04). The most common pattern of local tumor progression was a single viable outgrowth from the side of the ablated area when the ablative margin was less than 5 mm. Multiple viable outgrowths were observed in one case despite the presence of an ablative margin greater than 5 mm. CONCLUSION An ablation zone with an ablative margin of 5 mm or greater was the most important factor for local control of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Communityâ€“based adaptation to climate change: A theoretical framework, overview of key issues and discussion of gender differentiated priorities and participation

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of communityâ€“based adaptation (CBA) efforts. To start, it develops and describes a framework on adaptation to climate change used as the basis for this research. The paper then defines the characteristics or principles of CBA and describes why it is an essential part of the adaptation process. Following this, it identifies the limitations of or constraints to CBA in practice, including the need to link CBA to the larger adaptation and development processes and discusses institutional arrangements for CBA.
Stoichiometry of Na+‐Ca2+ exchange in inside‐out patches excised from guinea‐pig ventricular myocytes

1 The stoichiometry (nx) of cardiac Na+‐Ca2+ exchange was examined by measuring the reversal potential of the Na+‐Ca2+ exchange current (INa‐Ca) in large inside‐out patches, ‘macro patches’, excised from intact guinea‐pig ventricular cells. 2 Cytoplasmic application of Na+ (Na+i) or Ca2+ (Ca2+i) induced INa‐Ca which showed properties similar to INa‐Ca in the giant membrane patch. The outward INa‐Ca was depressed by an exchanger inhibitory peptide, XIP. 3 The reversal potential of the XIP‐sensitive current indicated that nx was ≈4 (3·6‐4·2) at 9–40 mM Na+i, and nx tended to increase as Na+i was increased. Proteolysis by trypsin did not significantly affect the stoichiometry. Similar results were obtained from the reversal potential of INa‐Ca that was induced by application of both Na+i and Ca2+i. 4 At 0·1 μM Ca2+i, nx was ≈4 (3·7‐4·4) at 6–25 mM Na+i and tended to increase as Na+i was increased. When Ca2+i was changed from 0·1 to 1 and 1000 μM at constant 50 mM Na+i, the value was ≈4 (3·6‐4·4). 5 When the extracellular Na+ (Na+o) and Ca2+ (Ca2+o) concentrations were varied in the presence of 25 or 9 mM Na+i and 1 μM Ca2+i, nx was almost constant (≈4) over the range 0·3‐20 mM Ca2+o and 10–145 mM Na+o. 6 These results indicated that the stoichiometry of Na+‐Ca2+ exchange is different from generally accepted 3Na+:1Ca2+, and suggested that the stoichiometry is either 4Na+:1Ca2+ or variable depending on Na+i and Ca2+i.
The use of quality management systems, tools, and techniques in ISO 9001:2008 certified companies with multidimensional statistics: the Greek case

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of use of quality management systems (QMS) and quality tools/techniques in ISO 9001:2008 certified Greek companies. It also considers the differences between the extent of use of QMS, tools/techniques, the importance of critical success factors (CSFs) for the implementation of a QMS, and other demographic characteristics like size and years of certification. A research project was carried out in 146 Greek companies from all business sectors using the questionnaire technique. The selected companies have been implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001:2008 standard. Correspondence analysis, a method from the multidimensional statistics field, was mainly used. The findings showed that the use of standards and tools/techniques was low (compared with companies from other countries). On the contrary, the importance the quality assurance managers attributed to CSF was high enough in most of the items-elements. Differences were evident between all the above variables and certain demographics, like years of certification, size, and the implementation of more than one QMS.