Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Putting electronic voting under the microscope

Electronic voting entered the political arena some years ago, with some countries advocating its use, some countries trialling and then abandoning it and yet others preferring to preserve the status quo of paper-and-pencil voting within a voting booth. In this paper we present the pros and cons of electronic voting and propose a set of characteristics we think electronic voting systems should exhibit. We then briefly review some pertinent concerns, issues and worries. We conclude by introducing the Handivote system, an electronic voting system that supports voting by means of SMS messaging, and explain how it measures up in terms of our own specified characteristics.
Building relationship with customers by using technological solutions in commercial banks of Latvia

Purpose – This paper aims to give a short overview on bank/customer relationship experience in the Latvian banking system and the impact of developing technology in banking. Without usage of technology commercial banks cannot provide customers with effective services, but short banking history increases the danger of such a reduced loyalty towards the services supplier.Design/methodology/approach – Literature studies, quantitative surveys combined with in‐depth interviews with bank customers and employees, and experts representing ITC sector.Findings – Satisfaction with services provided is not the only factor influencing customer loyalty level. Customers experiencing a short banking history can be loyal to the service provider due to the lack of financial literacy. A great impact on loyalty level is made by other factors, such as: image, prestige, word of mouth, etc.Research limitations/implications – The sample used for research did not include all 23 commercial banks of Latvia. Further research should .
Housing poverty and the role of urban governance in Korea

This paper describes how South Korea’s rapid economic growth failed to produce solutions to housing problems in urban areas. In 2000, nearly onequarter of all households lived in accommodation that did not meet minimum standards in terms of floor space and basic facilities. Many households live in single rooms in illegal or sub-standard lodgings, or in houses built of vinyl and thin wooden boards; most such accommodation lacks basic facilities. Very few housing options are available to low-income households in Seoul. This, combined with democratization and the increasing gap in housing conditions between the rich and the poor, has contributed to an increasingly vocal civil society, making the governance of settlements a major political issue over the last decade. The ineffectiveness of past and current government policies suggests the need for a conceptual change in government’s approach to improving housing conditions for lower-income groups. In the Korean context, since the late 1990s, the enabling approach has begun to be seen as more important than other approaches, in part because it conforms with, but also requires, democratic participation.
Synthesis of docosahexaenoic acid from eicosapentaenoic acid in retina neurons protects photoreceptors from oxidative stress

Oxidative stress is involved in activating photoreceptor death in several retinal degenerations. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in the retina, protects cultured retina photoreceptors from apoptosis induced by oxidative stress and promotes photoreceptor differentiation. Here, we investigated whether eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a metabolic precursor to DHA, had similar effects and whether retinal neurons could metabolize EPA to DHA. Adding EPA to rat retina neuronal cultures increased opsin expression and protected photoreceptors from apoptosis induced by the oxidants paraquat and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Palmitic, oleic, and arachidonic acids had no protective effect, showing the specificity for DHA. We found that EPA supplementation significantly increased DHA percentage in retinal neurons, but not EPA percentage. Photoreceptors and glial cells expressed Δ6 desaturase (FADS2), which introduces the last double bond in DHA biosynthetic pathway. Pre‐treatment of neuronal cultures with CP‐24879 hydrochloride, a Δ5/Δ6 desaturase inhibitor, prevented EPA‐induced increase in DHA percentage and completely blocked EPA protection and its effect on photoreceptor differentiation. These results suggest that EPA promoted photoreceptor differentiation and rescued photoreceptors from oxidative stress‐induced apoptosis through its elongation and desaturation to DHA. Our data show, for the first time, that isolated retinal neurons can synthesize DHA in culture.
List-Coloring Claw-Free Graphs with Δ-1 Colors

Let $\chi_{\ell}$ and $\chi_{OL}$ denote the list-chromatic number and online list-chromatic number. We prove that if $G$ is a quasi-line graph with maximum degree greater than clique number, i.e., $\Delta(G)>\omega(G)$, and $\Delta(G)\ge 69$, then its online list-chromatic number is less than its maximum degree, i.e., $\chi_{OL}(G)\le \Delta(G)-1$. Together with our previous work, this implies that if $G$ is a claw-free graph with $\Delta(G)>\omega(G)$ and $\Delta(G)\ge 69$, then its list-chromatic number is less than its maximum degree, i.e., $\chi_{\ell}(G)\le \Delta(G)-1$. This verifies the list-coloring analogue of a conjecture of Borodin and Kostochka for every claw-free graph $G$ with $\Delta(G)\ge 69$.
Animal models of NASH: Getting both pathology and metabolic context right

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of referral to liver clinics, and its progressive form, non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), can lead to cirrhosis and end‐stage liver disease. The main risk factors for NAFLD/NASH are the metabolic abnormalities commonly observed in metabolic syndrome: insulin resistance, visceral obesity, dyslipidemia and altered adipokine profile. At present, the causes of progression from NAFLD to NASH remain poorly defined, and research in this area has been limited by the availability of suitable animal models of this disease. In the past, the main models used to investigate the pathogenesis of steatohepatitis have either failed to reproduce the full spectrum of liver pathology that characterizes human NASH, or the liver pathology has developed in a metabolic context that is not representative of the human condition. In the last few years, a number of models have been described in which the full spectrum of liver pathology develops in an appropriate metabolic context. In general, the underlying cause of metabolic defects in these models is chronic caloric overconsumption, also known as overnutrition. Overnutrition has been achieved in a number of different ways, including forced feeding, administration of high‐fat diets, the use of genetically hyperphagic animals, or a combination of these approaches. The purpose of the present review is to critique the liver pathology and metabolic abnormalities present in currently available animal models of NASH, with particular focus on models described in approximately the last 5 years.
Farmers' Cooperatives in Europe: Social and Historical Determinants of Cooperative Membership in Agriculture

Membership rates of agricultural co-operatives vary widely across member states of the European Union. Inspired by various strands of literature (institutionalism, social capital theory, literature on transition countries and the software of the mind), we investigate historical and social determinants of those differences. We find that social capital and the legacy of communism are significantly correlated with the attractiveness of the co-operative sector for farmers, while the Hofstede indicators, measuring deeply rooted cultural values that otherwise are so robust and have correlations with many entrepreneurial and organizational aspects, are not. We describe our analysis and elaborate on the limits and implications of the data used and methodology applied.
Assembly of ovarian follicles in the caecilians Ichthyophis tricolor and Gegeneophis ramaswamii: light and transmission electron microscopic study

Summary Though much is known about various aspects of reproductive biology of amphibia, there is little information on the cellular and mechanistic basis of assembly of ovarian follicles in this group. This is especially true of the caecilians. Therefore, taking advantage of the abundant distribution of caecilians in the Western Ghats of India, two species of caecilians, Ichthyophis tricolor and Gegeneophis ramaswamii, were subjected to light and transmission electron microscopic analysis to trace the sequential changes during the assembly of ovarian follicles. The paired ovaries of these caecilians are elongated sac-like structures each including numerous vitellogenic follicles. The follicles are connected by a connective tissue stroma. This stroma contains nests of oogonia, primary oocytes and pregranulosa cells as spatially separated nests. During assembly of follicles the oocytes increase in size and enter the meiotic prophase when the number of nucleoli in the nucleus increases. The mitochondrial cloud or Balbiani vitelline body, initially localized at one pole of the nucleus, disperses through out the cytoplasm subsequently. Synaptonemal complexes are prominent in the pachytene stage oocytes. The pregranulosa cells migrate through the connective tissue fibrils of the stroma and arrive at the vicinity of the meiotic prophase oocytes. On contacting the oocyte, the pregranulosa cells become cuboidal in shape, wrap the diplotene stage oocyte as a discontinuous layer and increase the content of cytoplasmic organelles and inclusions. The oocytes increase in size and are arrested in diplotene when the granulosa cells become flat and form a continuous layer. Soon a perivitelline space appears between the oolemma and granulosa cells, completing the process of assembly of follicles. Thus, the events in the establishment of follicles in the caecilian ovary are described.
Sex matters, but to what clinical avail?

Despite substantial advances in mechanical circulatory support, cardiac transplantation remains the “gold standard” treatment option for eligible patients with American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology class D end-stage heart failure. Transplant survival rates have progressively improved at all time points, with 55% of recipients now surviving 10 years after transplantation, despite an increase in donor and recipient age and comorbidity and greater recipient urgency. Survival has improved with every 5- to 10-year era, but most of the mortality aversion is in the first 6 to 12 months.1,2 Article see p 401 In this issue of Circulation: Heart Failure , Weiss and colleagues3 from The Johns Hopkins University, evaluated United Network for Organ Sharing data on all first US adult heart transplantations from 1998 to 2007 (n=18,240). The authors show that female recipients had marginally ( P =0.06) worse 5-year survival than male recipients (absolute increase risk of 3.6%; 11% higher risk-adjusted mortality). However, the overall better survival in male recipients was present only in male recipients of a male donor; by using multivariable Cox modeling, they found that male recipients of a female donor (FD/MR) were 15% more likely to die than male recipients of a male donor (MD/MR). Moreover, after the addition of propensity adjustment for the likelihood of receiving a same-sex donor, the FD/MR group was 20% more likely to die than those male recipients who received a same-sex donor. The survivals of donor/recipient sex-matched female (FD/FR) and male (MD/MR) recipients were statistically indistinguishable after multivariable adjustment (with and without propensity adjustment), but when considered together, donor-recipient sex mismatches (FD/MR and MD/FR) were 14% ( P <0.001) more likely to have died at 5 years than the sex-matched group (MD/MR and FD/FR). However, among female recipients alone, the multivariable propensity-adjusted analysis revealed no increase in the risk of …
Global Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Among Children and Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance Prevalence estimates are essential to effectively prioritize, plan, and deliver health care to high-needs populations such as children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). However, most countries do not have population-level prevalence data for FASD. Objective To obtain prevalence estimates of FASD among children and youth in the general population by country, by World Health Organization (WHO) region, and globally. Data Sources MEDLINE, MEDLINE in process, EMBASE, Education Resource Information Center, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, PsychINFO, and Scopus were systematically searched for studies published from November 1, 1973, through June 30, 2015, without geographic or language restrictions. Study Selection Original quantitative studies that reported the prevalence of FASD among children and youth in the general population, used active case ascertainment or clinic-based methods, and specified the diagnostic guideline or case definition used were included. Data Extraction and Synthesis Individual study characteristics and prevalence of FASD were extracted. Country-specific random-effects meta-analyses were conducted. For countries with 1 or no empirical study on the prevalence of FASD, this indicator was estimated based on the proportion of women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy per 1 case of FASD. Finally, WHO regional and global mean prevalence of FASD weighted by the number of live births in each country was estimated. Main Outcomes and Measures Prevalence of FASD. Results A total of 24 unique studies including 1416 unique children and youth diagnosed with FASD (age range, 0-16.4 years) were retained for data extraction. The global prevalence of FASD among children and youth in the general population was estimated to be 7.7 per 1000 population (95% CI, 4.9-11.7 per 1000 population). The WHO European Region had the highest prevalence (19.8 per 1000 population; 95% CI, 14.1-28.0 per 1000 population), and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region had the lowest (0.1 per 1000 population; 95% CI, 0.1-0.5 per 1000 population). Of 187 countries, South Africa was estimated to have the highest prevalence of FASD at 111.1 per 1000 population (95% CI, 71.1-158.4 per 1000 population), followed by Croatia at 53.3 per 1000 population (95% CI, 30.9-81.2 per 1000 population) and Ireland at 47.5 per 1000 population (95% CI, 28.0-73.6 per 1000 population). Conclusions and Relevance Globally, FASD is a prevalent alcohol-related developmental disability that is largely preventable. The findings highlight the need to establish a universal public health message about the potential harm of prenatal alcohol exposure and a routine screening protocol. Brief interventions should be provided, where appropriate.
Faults in data prefetchers: Performance degradation and variability

High-performance microprocessors employ data prefetchers to mitigate the ever-growing gap between CPU computing rates and memory latency. Technology scaling along with low voltage operation exacerbates the likelihood and rate of hard (permanent) faults in technologies used by prefetchers such as SRAM and flip flop arrays. Faulty prefetch behavior does not affect correctness but can be detrimental to performance. Hard faults in data prefetchers (unlike their soft counterparts which are rare) can cause significant single-thread performance degradation and lead to large performance variability across otherwise identical cores. In this paper, we characterize in-depth both of these aspects in microprocessors suffering from multiple hard faults in their data prefetcher components. Our study reveals fault scenarios in the prefetcher table that can degrade IPC by more than 17%, while faults in the prefetch input and request queues can slow IPC up to 24% and 26%, respectively, compared to fault-free operation. Moreover, we find that a faulty data prefetcher can substantially increase the performance variability across identical cores: the standard deviation of IPC loss for different benchmarks can be more than 4.5%.
Imipenem pharmacokinetics and body fluid concentrations in patients receiving high-dose treatment for serious infections

Serum, urine, tissue, and body fluids were collected from 40 adult patients who were receiving imipenem/cilastatin treatment for serious infections. Thirty-two patients were given 1 g every 6 h (4 g/day), and eight received 500 mg (2 g/day). Mean peak concentrations in serum were 34.9 +/- 4.0 micrograms/ml for the 1-g dose and 26.6 +/- 2.5 micrograms/ml for the 500-mg dose. Trough levels were 3.1 and 1.0 micrograms/ml, respectively. No evidence of drug accumulation was found after comparing peaks measured early in the treatment with those measured late. Peak levels were only marginally increased when infusions were given over 30 versus 60 min. The mean serum half-life was 82.0 +/- 25.3 min, with a range of 50 to 138 min. The apparent volume of distribution was 0.35 +/- 0.13 liter/kg, and the mean total body clearance was 0.183 +/- 0.067 liter/kg per h. Creatinine clearance correlated directly with the plasma elimination rate and inversely with the serum half-life. Moreover, total body clearance fell as the age of the patient rose. The mean urinary recovery was 39.1 +/- 12.8% (range, 15.0 to 59.2%) and did not correlate with creatinine clearance until it was below 15 ml/min. Of 20 specimens of various gastrointestinal secretions, 13 had imipenem concentrations that were low, but above the MIC for most resident flora. Pus, sputum, and bone all had concentrations of the drug sufficient to inhibit the infecting organisms, and these levels reflected generally excellent clinical responses.
Movements of epithelial cell sheets in vitro.

Chick embryo epithelial cells, cultured in vitro on a plane glass surface, show ruffled membrane activity like that seen in fibroblasts. When similar epithelial cells come into contact, long-lasting adhesions form, which are associated with the cessation of membrane activity. Movement of epithelial cell sheets is correlated with adhesion to the substratum of some or all of the marginal cells. Such adhesion does not occur in the absence of membrane activity. Non-marginal cells ordinarily appear to be non-adherent to the substratum; occasionally, however, they become adherent when attachments to neighbouring cells in a sheet are broken. This behaviour is accompanied by marked membrane activity. Mobilization and orientation of marginal cells are the vital steps in movements of coherent cell sheets.
A local real-time controller to face the problem of power imbalance in a VED consisting of several DC Microgrids

The paper aims to face the problem of real time power imbalance within a Virtual Energy District, including several DC Microgrids, using a local real-time control based on DC Bus Signaling approach. The attention on DC distribution is increased, in the last years, according to the increase of DC loads and DC output type energy sources such as Photovoltaic and energy storage systems. The control strategy is realized in a distributed and decentralized way. Several numerical tests have been provided considering a Virtual Energy District consisting of three Microgrids representative of three municipality buildings in South Italy. The entire system has been modeled in Ansys Simplorer environment and the simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control approach.
Informed choice and decision-making in family planning counseling in Kenya.

This study analyzed client interviews and observations of interactions between female family planning (FP) clients and staff from clinic and community-based providers in Kenya. Audiotapes were made of 176 counseling sessions over a 9- to 15-day period in 1993 at 17 service delivery sites: 24 community-based distributors (CBDs) and 37 clinics. The authors identified four key processes that assure informed and knowledgeable decision-making about FP: understanding personal circumstances considering alternatives choosing the best option and implementing the decision. Specific client and provider behaviors were associated with each of the preceding four steps in decision-making. Findings were aggregated per counseling session. 88% of clients were aged 20-34 years. Providers had an average of 7 years of FP experience. 78% of providers were nurses and the rest were doctors and counselors. Data on contraceptive methods was available for 153 women of whom 59 left with pills and 41 left with injectables. The 25 remaining women were asked to return after completion of menses. New clients left more often with condoms or foaming tablets. Findings suggest that FP staff can play a more active role by relating contraceptive information to a womans personal circumstances and by assisting women in considering options. Information on reproductive and marital history was collected in only 60% of the counseling sessions. Only 55% of counseling sessions asked continuing users about side effects. Sessions included discussions about four methods with new clients and two methods with continuing clients.
EXPORT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NAMIBIA: A GRANGER CAUSALITY ANALYSIS

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causality between exports and GDP of Namibia and to evaluate the relationship of these variables for the period 1970 to 2005. Time-series econometric techniques (Granger causality and cointegration) are applied to test the hypothesis of a growth strategy led by exports. It tests whether export Granger causes GDP, or whether the causality runs from GDP to exports, or if there is bi-directional causality between exports and GDP. The results revealed that exports Granger cause GDP and GDP per capita. This suggests that the export-led growth strategy through various incentives has a positive influence on growth. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Economic Society of South Africa.
[Two new glycosides from Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz].

OBJECTIVE To study the chemical constituents from the upground part of Erigeron breviscapus. METHOD The compounds were separated and purified by column chromatography with silica gel, and identified by IR, MS, NMR and 2D-NMR. RESULT Two new compounds were isolated and identified as 5,4'-dihydroxy flavonod-7-O-beta-D-pyranglycuronate buthyl ester(VI) and 3,5-dimethoxy benzene carbonic acid-4-O-beta-D-pyranglucose(VII). CONCLUSION Compounds VI and VII were new compounds.
The Impact of the Threat of Bankruptcy on the Structure of Compensation

This article builds and tests a model of the impact of a firm's bank-ruptcy probability on its propensity to offer deferred compensation schemes. Using 1983 Current Population Survey data, we find that, ceteris paribus, lower failure rates raise the incidence of pensions for nonunion workers outside manufacturing. Further, we find some evidence that, among those workers with a pension, a higher industry failure rate steepens tenure-earnings profiles (jointly controlling for union-nonunion and pension-no pension selectivity). Such a result suggests that workers discount implicit promises of future earnings increases by the likelihood that the firm will not survive.
Equidad en el acceso a la Educación Superior en España : el caso de las personas con discapacidad

En este trabajo se analizan, mediante la especificación y estimación de modelos logit, los determinantes del acceso a los estudios universitarios para la cohorte de edad de 18 a 35 años de los individuos con alguna discapacidad. Para ello se utilizan los microdatos de la Encuesta sobre Discapacidades, Deficiencias y Estado de Salud (EDDES) de 1999 del INE y se encuentra, tras la estimación de una función de pseudo-verosimilitud, que existe un diferencial de acceso a estos estudios por niveles de renta. Asimismo, se detecta que existen fuertes barreras de acceso a la Universidad de los jóvenes discapacitados que son de carácter puramente cultural (nivel de estudios del sustentador principal y número de universitarios en la familia).