Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incremental Deductive Verification for Relational Model Transformations

In contract-based development of model transformations, continuous deductive verification may help the transformation developer in early bug detection. However, because of the execution performance of current verification systems, re-verifying from scratch after a change has been made would introduce impractical delays. We address this problem by proposing an incremental verification approach for the ATL model-transformation language. Our approach is based on decomposing each OCL contract into sub-goals, and caching the sub-goal verification results. At each change we exploit the semantics of relational model transformation to determine whether a cached verification result may be impacted. Consequently, less postconditions/sub-goals need to be re-verified. When a change forces the re-verification of a postcondition, we use the cached verification results of sub-goals to construct a simplified version of the postcondition to verify. We prove the soundness of our approach and show its effectiveness by mutation analysis. Our case study presents an approximate 50% reuse of verification results for postconditions, and 70% reuse of verification results for sub-goals. The user perceives about 56% reduction of verification time for postconditions, and 51% for sub-goals.
Analysing NGOS' Accounting and Cultural Praxis : A first Cross-National Reading of Medecins Sans Frontieres's Reporting

This paper, referring to the NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres, analyses its system of reporting by comparing direct reports produced by the international headquarters with some reports of the national branches in Europe. This work tries to assess the readability from an international and transnational perspective. It aims to see if the report is readable by all donors and highlights the transnational connections construed between the individual national offices. The paper tries to verify whether the social values of single European nations are reflected in the national reports of MSF and produce some differences in the ways the annual reports are written and presented.
Risk-reducing Salpingo-Oophorectomy in Women at Higher Risk of Ovarian and Breast Cancer: A Single Institution Prospective Series.

BACKGROUND/AIM Occult cancers' reported rates vary from 2-12% and serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs) have been identified in 3-12% of the prophylactically removed tubes of women carrying a BRCA mutation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of tubal minor epithelial atypia (STIL), STIC, and occult invasive cancer and to evaluate the cancer-specific mortality in a prospective series of women at higher risk of ovarian and breast cancer undergoing risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) n a tertiary cancer center. PATIENTS AND METHODS A series of RRSO specimens (including endometrial biopsy) from women carrying a BRCA mutation, BRCA-unknown and BRCA-negative were collected between January 1998 and April 2016 at the Division of Gynecology at the European Institute of Oncology. Inclusion criteria were: asymptomatic women who had a negative gynecologic screening within 3 months prior to RRSO. Exclusion criteria were: women with ovarian/tubal cancer prior to RRSO. RESULTS A total of 411 women underwent RRSO. Median age at RRSO was 47.0 years (range=32-70 years); 75.2% had a history of breast cancer. Fifteen women were diagnosed with an occult cancer (7 STIC, 4 invasive cancers, 2 breast cancers metastatic to the adnexa, 2 endometrial cancer) (3.6%). Sixteen showed a STIL (3.9%). When excluding cases with preoperative positive markers, the occult invasive cancer rate drops to 1.5%. CONCLUSION Our study, covering an 18-year period, shows a substantial low risk of occult cancer among a high-risk population of women undergoing RRSO. Our data still support the indication for RRSO in higher-risk patients. An endometrial biopsy should also be routinely obtained as it raises the chances of detecting occult endometrial cancers that may be otherwise missed.
Presenilin 1 interaction in the brain with a novel member of the Armadillo family

ONE approach to understanding the function of presenilin 1 (PS1), is to discover those proteins with which it interacts. Evidence for a function in developmental patterning came from C. elegans, in which a PS homologue was identified by screening for suppressors of a mutation in Notch/lin-12, a gene which specifies cell fate. However, this genetic experiment cannot determine which proteins directly interact with PS1. Therefore, we utilized the two hybrid system and confirmatory co-immunoprecipitations to identify a novel catenin, termed β-catenin, which interacts with PS1 and is principally expressed in brain. The catenins are a gene family related to the Armadillo gene in Drosophila, some of which appear to have dual roles – they are components of cell-cell adherens junctions, and may serve as intermediates in the Wingless (Wg) signaling pathway, which, like Notch/lin-12, is also responsible for a variety of inductive signaling events. In the non-neuronal 293 cell line, PS1 interacted with β-catenin, the family member with the greatest homology to Armadillo. Wg and Notch interactions are mediated by the Dishevelled gene, which may form a signaling complex with PS1 and Wg pathway intermediates to regulate the function of the Notch/lin-12 gene.
Cognitive Development in Benign Focal Epilepsies of Childhood

Benign focal epilepsy of childhood (BFEC) is the most common form of epilepsy, in children from 3 to 12 years. Its prognosis is always favourable as far as the epilepsy is concerned. Nevertheless, recent clinical data suggest that children affected by BFEC are more likely to show learning difficulties and behavioural disturbances than their peers. We report here the preliminary findings of a prospective study of 22 children affected with BFEC. Electroclinical and neuropsychological changes observed during the first 18 months of the follow-up strengthen the conclusion of recent neuropsychological studies stressing the correlation between epilepsy and cognitive performances. The cognitive deficits affecting mainly non-verbal functions were significantly correlated with the frequency of seizures and spike-wave discharges and to the lateralization of the epileptic focus in the right hemisphere, whereas frontal functions like attention control, response organization and fine motor speed, were impaired in the presence of active BFEC independently of the lateralization of the epileptic focus. Our results indicate that maturing cognitive functions subserved by a cortical area distant from the epileptic focus are susceptible to interference with epilepsy.
Solving Business Problems Together. Case: A Master´s Degree Programme in Finland

This descriptive, single, intrinsic case study seeks to answer the following questions: Why should business practitioners and educators work together in solving business problems? How are the business problems of companies handled in a master’s degree programme in Finland? The case study is based on multiple sources of documents collected and developed during the ten years of the programme. It demonstrates that solving authentic business problems in a learning community of business practitioners, i.e. students, as well as educators, i.e. teachers and thesis advisors, leads to solutions that satisfy practitioners, educators, and the business community. This case is an example of how solving business problems together contributes to the better performance of businesses and a better society in Finland.
Consumption Behaviour in Zambia: The Link to Poverty Alleviation?

In order to be able to suggest viable solutions to the overwhelming problem of poverty on the African continent, it is first necessary to know exactly what is causing that poverty. It is the intention of this paper to measure welfare in Zambia, via an estimated consumption function, and then to compare this estimated consumption to the levels of poverty, or subsistence level consumption expenditure, in Zambia. The objective is to understand the underlying determinants and depth of poverty in Zambia, by analysing the root of the problem Ð why people canOt afford to consume. Aggregate real PCE is estimated in Zambia for the years 1970 to 2001, and it is found that the Zambian economy suffers from a very high MPC. The results also show that the average Zambian is regarded as being extremely poor, spending approximately US$17 on consumption per month, as calculated using the estimated PCE function.
Analysis of fractal-shaped equilateral triangular patch resonator

Equilateral triangular patch resonator with fractal-shaped defection is developed, and its resonant performance is calculated and analyzed, and single patch fractal bandpass filter is designed as well. With the assistance of fractal and a higher substrate permittivity, the equilateral triangular resonator can be miniaturization and has advantage of harmonic suppression, and resonance of the resonator higher order modes are enhanced, simultaneously, filter performance is greatly improved.
The Cerebral Pharmacokinetics of Meperidine and Alfentanil in Conscious Sheep

Background: Different opioids have different delays (hysteresis) between their concentrations in blood and their cerebral effects. Possible mechanisms include differences in their rate of penetration into the brain and differences in their distribution volume in the brain. There have been few in vivo studies of the cerebral kinetics of opioids to differentiate these mechanisms. Methods: The cerebral kinetics of meperidine and alfentanil were examined using conscious sheep that were fitted with long‐term monitoring equipment to measure relative changes in cerebral blood flow and opioid concentration gradients across the brain through frequent sampling of arterial and sagittal sinus blood. The data were compared using hybrid physiologic modeling with membrane‐limited (consistent with mechanism 1) and flow‐limited (consistent with mechanism 2) models of cerebral kinetics. Results: Alfentanil had a variable effect on relative cerebral blood flow, whereas meperidine induced a transient increase. The arteriovenous concentration gradients were small after alfentanil but large after meperidine. The flow‐limited model gave acceptable descriptions of observed sagittal sinus concentrations for alfentanil and meperidine, whereas the membrane‐limited model collapsed to a flow‐limited model. The half‐lives of equilibrium between blood and brain were 6.3 and 0.8 min for meperidine and alfentanil, respectively. Conclusions: The rate of penetration of both opioids into the brain was rapid and not rate‐limiting. Large differences in the cerebral distribution volume of meperidine and alfentanil accounted for the respective delays in their peak brain concentration relative to blood.
The Ghent Effect for Whom? Mapping the Variations of the Ghent Effect Across Different Trade Unions in Denmark

The presence of an unemployment insurance system based on voluntary membership in unemployment insurance funds (known as the ‘Ghent system’) and a high union density has long been known and well documented, and even referred to as a special ‘Ghent effect’. However the Ghent system, especially in the three classic Ghent countries, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, has come under significant pressure in recent years, and many researchers are referring to an erosion of the Ghent system as a recruiting mechanism for trade unions. But prior research aimed at documenting the Ghent effect seems to disregard variations in how strongly trade unions benefit from the Ghent system as a recruiting mechanism. Hence, this article sets out to investigate whether all trade unions equally benefit from a Ghent effect across different sectors and occupations by studying the Danish case. Unique survey data made it possible to map Danish wage earners' reasons for joining or leaving unemployment insurance funds and trade unions. The article finds that there are great variations among Danish trade unions in terms of how strongly they are dependent on a Ghent effect as a recruiting mechanism. We may expect the same variations in the two other Ghent countries, Sweden and Finland, because the organisation of the Ghent system is similar in the three Nordic countries. In addition, the article shows that this variation might help explain why some trade unions are on the rise to the detriment of others.
Political bases of macroeconomic adjustment: evidence from the Italian experience

This article tests political explanations of policy adjustment to macroeconomic imbalances against the Italian experience since the late 1970s. After describing Italian governments' attempts to implement macroeconomic policy adjustment, I evaluate four possible causes of policy changes: political instability, a 'tying hands' strategy of entangling the state in international commitments, analysis of the aggregate costs of pursuing macroeconomic policies that diverge from the policies of other important states, and the preferences of domestic groups. I evaluate the utility of each explanation according to its ability to answer two empirical questions: Why was adjustment delayed in Italy until about 1988? And why has the form of macroeconomic policy adjustment-monetary or fiscal-changed over time? The evidence indicates that answering these questions requires specifying how the costs of various macroeconomic policy mixes fall on domestic groups, and then determining which of these groups have the most politi.
Construction Matters: Comparing Environmental Impacts of Building Modular and Conventional Homes in the United States

Modular construction practices are used in many countries as an alternative to conventional on‐site construction for residential homes. While modular home construction has certain advantages in terms of material and time efficiency, it requires a different infrastructure than conventional home construction, and the overall environmental trade‐offs between the two methods have been unclear. This study uses life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impacts of constructing a typical residential home using the two methods, based on data from several modular construction companies and conventional homebuilders. The study includes impacts from material production and transport, off‐site and on‐site energy use, worker transport, and waste management. For all categories considered, the average impacts of building the home are less for modular construction than for conventional construction, although these averages obscure significant variation among the individual projects and companies.
Macaque Model for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

ABSTRACT Rhesus and cynomolgus macaques were challenged with 107 PFU of a clinical isolate of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus. Some of the animals developed a mild self-limited respiratory infection very different from that observed in humans with SARS. The macaque model as it currently exists will have limited utility in the study of SARS and the evaluation of therapies.
The Analysis of the Impact of a Mild, Low-iodine, Lotion Soap on the Reduction of Nosocomial Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: A New Opportunity for Surveillance by Objectives

Abstract A significant unremitting increase in the incidence of nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in a 500-bed acute care community teaching hospital prompted reevaluation of the efficacy of the infection control measures used. A well-accepted, low-iodine, antimicrobial soap was used to replace a liquid natural handsoap in two areas with the highest incidence of MRSA—the intensive care unit, and a medical division. Over a two-year period, an analysis was made of the effect of soap replacement on nosocomial infections and pathogens. Soap changeover occurred at the midpoint of the two-year period. From year to year, the nosocomial MRSA rate decreased 80% (t test, P=0.005). Other pathogens that demonstrated a dramatic decrease included methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), infections where no pathogens were isolated, and various gram-negative infections. Categories of nosocomial infections that decreased included surgical wound infections, primary bacteremias, and respiratory tract infections. The overall nosocomial infection rate of the two combined areas decreased 21.5%, representing a year-to-year savings of $109,500. As a result, the decision was made to install the low-iodine hand-soap permanently at all sinks within the hospital.
Tactical Voting in Great Britain in 1983 and 1987: An Alternative Approach

The analyses presented in this note have extended earlier work on tactical voting in Great Britain by looking at variations between constituencies in the flow-of-the-vote matrix that are consistent with hypotheses of tactical voting. They have suggested that about 4 per cent of the British electorate voted tactically in 1983, as did nearly 6 per cent in 1987. The volume of tactical voting was greater in Conservative-held than in Labour-held seats, and in both was greater the more marginal the seat. In general, the opposition party with the greatest chance of unseating the incumbent, as suggested by the result of the previous election, gained from the tactical voting process, and there is evidence that greater campaign effort, as indexed by constituency spending, helped them in this.
Working time policy and paid leave arrangements : the Danish experience in the 1990s

With regard to the long-run increase in unemployment, trends in Denmark differ little from those in other European and OECD countries. In the last three to four years, however, Denmark has seen a very clear drop in unemployment from a peak of 12.4 per cent in 1994 to 7.7 per cent in 1997. The factors influencing this development have included stronger economic growth, a labour market reform conducted in 1994 and the increasing popularity of a range of programmes for early retirement or paid-leave arrangements. In this contribution, the author outlines the most important steps in working time developments in Denmark, concentrating above all on a description of the paid-leave arrangements which may be regarded as the most innovative component of Danish labour market policy in the 1990s. Paid-leave arrangements are programmes offering financial incentives to workers to take career breaks for purposes of childcare, further training or sabbaticals, etc. They are intended to encourage both employees and unemployed workers to leave the labour market for good or to take a career break. They are linked with the fixed-term recruitment of unemployed workers to the posts vacated. The article contains empirical findings concerning the assessment, take-up rates and employment effects of such paid-leave arrangements.
Class size effects on student achievement: heterogeneity across abilities and fields

In this paper, we analyze class size effects on college students exploiting data from a project offering special remedial courses in mathematics and language skills to freshmen enrolled at an Italian medium-sized public university. To estimate the effects of class size, we exploit the fact that students and teachers are virtually randomly assigned to teaching classes of different sizes. From our analysis, it emerges that controlling for a number of individual characteristics, larger classes determine a significant and sizeable negative effect on student performance in mathematics. Importantly, this negative effect is significantly larger for low-ability students and negligible for high-ability ones. On the other hand, class size effects do not appear to be relevant for student achievement in language skills.
Immigrant Language Proficiency, Earnings, and Language Policies

This paper addresses two questions: 1) what are the impacts of language proficiency on the earnings of Canadian adult immigrants; 2) what are the current policy responses. Using a five-level scale of English/French language use, our analysis of Public Use Microdata File for the 2001 census confirms the positive association between proficiency in Canada’s charter language(s) and immigrant earnings. Compared to permanent residents who are highly proficient in English and/or French, those with lower levels of proficiency have lower weekly earnings. Quantile regressions reveal that the relative advantage of English/French language proficiency is higher for those in the top quarter of the earnings distribution; conversely, greater penalties exist for immigrants with low levels of language proficiency at the upper end of the earnings distribution. The likely impacts of federal policies on increasing English/French language proficiency of immigrant workers are discussed, focusing on two federal government initiatives for language training and two recent immigration policy changes.
On the Economic Identification of Social Classes

charts the reform movement from 1830 to 1940, and manages to pack in more than Fogelson's recent much longer Big-Cit Police (which covers similar ground). My one quarrel with it is his erection of an Aunt Sally of vulgar Marxism, to which he attributes the view that the police are automatically agents of 'dominant economic groups'. Against this, he points to the frequent unreliability of local police as strikebreakers in the nineteenth century, and the consequent resort of capitalists to private agencies like Pinkerton's. But as his own account shows, this 'problem' was one of the motives for the development of State police forces and the 'professionalizationS movement, intended to sever policemenss local loyalties. Levi's account of the growth of police militancy, based largely on case-studies of New York, Detroit and Atlanta, follows similar books by Juris and Feuille, RuchelmanS FIalpern and others. It is, however, by far the best work on the subject, not only for its wealth of detail? but also for the sophistication of its theoretical framework, drawing largely on O'Connor's analysis of the fiscal crisis of the State and Piven, Gurr, Hobsbawm and the Tillys on the development of protest movements. It avoids the managerial bias of most earlier works and sees the growth of police unionism as potentially an agent of radical change. However, it seems to underplay the reactionary character of police demands, demonstrated clearly in her own account of the often racist opposition by the Atlanta Fraternal Order of Police to Chief Herbert Jenkins' liberal reforms. Police unionization illustrate the contradictory class position of policemen as both salaried employees and upholders of the status quo. This presents analytic and political difficulties which Levi recognizes but does not fully explicate in her otherwise excellent study. Robert Reiner University of Bristol