Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Memory Networks for Question Answering

Dynamic Memory Networks (DMNs) have shown recent success in question answering. They have achieved state-of-the-art results of the Facebook bAbI dataset and performed well on sentiment analysis and visual question answering [1] [6]. In this project, we implement our own DMN in tensorflow and verify its performance quantitatively and qualitatively. We achieve very similar results to those achieved in Kumar et al. and Xiong et al. [1] [6]. In addition, we build a demo to visualize the attention placed on different input sentences in the episodic memory module, and show that the model places it’s attention on the correct sentences for a variety of different tasks even without any explicit attention feedback during training. Last, we experiment with training a model to accomplish more than one babi task at the same time. We show that DMNs can successfully complete multiple babi tasks with the same model including one step reasoning, two step reasoning and yes/no questions. In addition, we illustrate through the demo that the combined model places the attention on the correct sentences when performing the different tasks.
Trade Logistics in Developing Countries: The Case of the Middle East and North Africa

This paper presents an analysis of obstacles facing exporting firms in developing countries by diagnosing the efficiency of trade logistics in the Middle East and North Africa region (MNA). Using logistics chain analysis for six export commodities, it presents evidence that transport and non-transport logistics costs for export commodities from the MNA region are quite substantial, ranging from 7-25 per cent of landed product prices. Underlying these costs are key bottlenecks identified as: inefficient trucking and transport services, low export volume leading to long shipping times and the need for costly inventory accumulation, aggressive, obstructive customs authorities and procedures, low and inconsistent product quality, an underdeveloped transport intermediary sector, inefficient cross-border transit procedures and others. Recommended actions to address developing a national transport policy, overhauling the regulatory regime for the trucking sector, export promotion measures, increasing competition in port and air freight services, reorienting customs authorities towards trade facilitation and developing cross-border transit procedures similar to the TIR Carnets model. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005.
Don't Shoot the Messenger

Perhaps the greatest problem with forecasts is that they are treated as a parlor game. Competing numbers are often presented in news reports without any supporting assumptions. Rather than try to sort out the confusion, many operators simply ignore them. Even when they do pay attention, operators dislike forecasts because they worry that optimistic predictions will attract competitors and negative outlooks will chase away financing and potential franchise customers. The way to construct a forecast is to build a statistically reliable database of information that can be analyzed against new economic and financial information. Those numbers can further be used to develop a short-term outlook for the industry as a whole or various geographic and market segments. Regardless of how reliable the base data are, however, long-term predictions-longer than 6 or 12 months-are just educated guesses.
EFFECT OF LIFESTYLE CHANGES ON GLUCOSE TOLERANCE AND INSULIN SENSITIVITY

It is being increasingly acknowledged by physicians that lifestyle factors have a great bearing on many body functions, and hence also on their disorders. While the epidemiological studies of the last three decades linking cardiovascular disease to certain lifestyle habits have contributed in no small measure to making a ’science’ of non-pharmacological interventions, it should also be realized that the domain of lifestyle influences extends beyond just hypertension and coronary heart diseases (CHD). Disorders of glucoregulation are no exception to the growing list of diseases that involve lifestyle as a pathophysiologic entity. The prevalence of non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM or type 2), which accounts for over 85% of diabetes worldwide, is closely linked to industrialization, affluence and increased life expectancy, a combination of factors that has allowed the problem to grow at a frightening rate during the past few decades with the possibility of an increasing incidence in the foreseeable future (1). Perhaps this trend bears out on what the ancient Indian physician Charaka had said many centuries ago on the type of lifestyles associated with diabetes. A free translation of some verses in his treatise reads: “As birds are attracted towards trees where lie their nests, so also does ’Prameha’ (diabetes) affect people who are voracious eaters and have aversion to personal hygiene and physical exercises. Death immediately comes in the form of ’Prameha’ to those who are less enthusiastic, overcorpulent, overunctuous and gluttonous. The individual who takes such diets and resorts to such a regimen which brings normal state of the elements in the body, leads a happy life” (Charaka Samhita). The celebrated William Osler wrote of diabetes: “While hereditary influences play an important role, the combination of over-indulgence in food and drink, with sedentary life, seems particularly prone to induce the disease” (2). There is no dearth for more recent evidence on the association between diabetes and lifestyle factors like diet, exercise and psychosocial stress, which we will examine subsequently. Against this backdrop, it appears logical to expect suitable lifestyle changes to have a beneficial effect on this disease. The practice of certain yogic disciplines could help bring about these changes. Further, in this thesis we will discuss the effects of lifestyle change not only on glucose tolerance but also specifically on one of the important factors regulating it, called insulin sensitivity. This assumes greater significance in the light of recent opinion holding impaired insulin sensitivity responsible not only for type 2 diabetes, but also for other diseases like hypertension and CHD. Many studies on Indians settled abroad have suggested a higher prevalence of insulin resistance in them. Recently, there have been prevention trials of type 2 diabetes by changes in lifestyle, and one of such study shows that type 2 diabetes can be prevented by
Food Addiction, Binge Eating Disorder, and Obesity: Is There a Relationship?

Existing research suggests that there is an overlap between binge eating disorder (BED) and the construct of ‘food addiction’ (FA). The objective of this study was to determine the overlapping features of BED and FA through a comparison of the individual scales of commonly used tools including the Binge Eating Scale (BES) and the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) in a sample of Australian adults. Adults (>18 years of age) were invited to complete an anonymous online survey on FA. Binge eating was assessed through the BES and addictive eating behaviours were assessed through the YFAS (n = 1344). The prevalence and severity of both FA and binge eating increased across weight categories. The overall correlation between the total score from the BES and FA symptoms was r = 0.76, p < 0.001; for females it was r = 0.77, p < 0.001, and for males it was r = 0.65, p < 0.001. Total BES score and the BES emotion factor were most often associated with FA symptoms, as was demonstrated to produce stronger correlations with FA symptoms. In contrast, the BES behaviour factor was less strongly associated to FA with the majority of correlations <0.6. This study demonstrates the overlap between BED and FA, and highlights the possible unique differences between the forms of disordered eating.
Hospitality Employees' Unemployment Risk: Panel Evidence from Norway

To varying degrees everyone in the labour market faces the risk of becoming unemployed. Using longitudinal data the present study examines how a number of human capital and socio‐demographic variables affect Norwegian hospitality employees' risk or probability of becoming unemployed in the 1995–2001 period. Among several findings, the results show that education, age, marriage and ethnicity have the expected effects on unemployment risk. However, the results also demonstrate that for a number of the independent variables considered, the effects on unemployment risk differ according to gender. By and large these results are in keeping with prior research.
Corruption and Bilateral Aid

Corruption in developing states reduces the effectiveness of foreign aid that is allocated to them, because government officials in corrupt countries use this money for private rather than public purposes. Despite this, existing studies do not find different aid policies from donor governments toward corrupt and less corrupt recipients. However, most of these studies have not taken account of variation among donor states. This is an important omission, because donor states behave differently. This article argues that the responsiveness of donor states to corruption in recipient states depends on their own level of corruption: less corrupt donor states allocate more aid to less corrupt recipient states than to corrupt recipients, whereas corrupt donor states do not make such a clear distinction. This proposition is tested by both pooled ordinary least squares and fixed effects estimations. The data support the argument that corruption levels in donor states determine their reaction to corruption in recipient states.
Real‐Time Quantification of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase mRNA in the Plasma of Patients with Prostate Cancer

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential diagnostic value of quantitative analysis of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA in plasma for noninvasive diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). Expression levels of hTERT were analyzed by real‐time quantitative RT‐PCR in 68 patients showing elevated prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels and a control group of 44 healthy volunteers. Sensitivity and specificity were determined and compared to the corresponding PSA values. Median values for hTERT gene expression in the PCa patients (0.72 ng; range 0.01–12.86) were statistically significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in the control group (0.13 ng; 0.02–0.35). Patients with clinically confirmed prostatitis showed lower plasma hTERT expression than PCa patients (0.29; 0.01–66.07). At a cutoff value of 0.35 sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of PCa were 81% and 60%, respectively. We suggest that hTERT mRNA in plasma is a very specific and sensitive method that may aid to differentiate between malignant and nonmalignant prostate tissue and may be a useful marker (in combination with PSA) for early PCa diagnosis.
Comparison of Biophysical and Biologic Properties of α‐Helical Enantiomeric Antimicrobial Peptides

In our previous study (Chen et al. J Biol Chem 2005, 280:12316–12329), we utilized an α‐helical antimicrobial peptide V681 as the framework to study the effects of peptide hydrophobicity, amphipathicity, and helicity on biologic activities where we obtained several V681 analogs with dramatic improvement in peptide therapeutic indices against gram‐negative and gram‐positive bacteria. In the present study, the d‐enantiomers of three peptides – V681, V13AD and V13KL were synthesized to compare biophysical and biologic properties with their enantiomeric isomers. Each d‐enantiomer was shown by circular dichroism spectroscopy to be a mirror image of the corresponding l‐isomer in benign conditions and in the presence of 50% trifluoroethanol. l‐ and d‐enantiomers exhibited equivalent antimicrobial activities against a diverse group of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates, various gram‐negative and gram‐positive bacteria and a fungus. In addition, l‐ and d‐enantiomeric peptides were equally active in their ability to lyse human red blood cells. The similar activity of l‐ and d‐enantiomeric peptides on prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell membranes suggests that there are no chiral receptors and the cell membrane is the sole target for these peptides. Peptide d‐V13KD showed significant improvements in the therapeutic indices compared with the parent peptide V681 by 53‐fold against P. aeruginosa strains, 80‐fold against gram‐negative bacteria, 69‐fold against gram‐positive bacteria, and 33‐fold against Candida albicans. The excellent stability of d‐enantiomers to trypsin digestion (no proteolysis by trypsin) compared with the rapid breakdown of the l‐enantiomers highlights the advantage of the d‐enantiomers and their potential as clinical therapeutics.
Signaling mechanisms in skeletal muscle: Acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise

Physical activity elicits physiological responses in skeletal muscle that result in a number of health benefits, in particular in disease states, such as type 2 diabetes. An acute bout of exercise/muscle contraction improves glucose homeostasis by increasing skeletal muscle glucose uptake, while chronic exercise training induces alterations in the expression of metabolic genes, such as those involved in muscle fiber type, mitochondrial biogenesis, or glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein levels. A primary goal of exercise research is to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate these important metabolic and transcriptional events in skeletal muscle. In this review, we briefly summarize the current literature describing the molecular signals underlying skeletal muscle responses to acute and chronic exercise. The search for possible exercise/contraction‐stimulated signaling proteins involved in glucose transport, muscle fiber type, and mitochondrial biogenesis is ongoing. Further research is needed because full elucidation of exercise‐mediated signaling pathways would represent a significant step toward the development of new pharmacological targets for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. © 2008 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 60(3): 145–153, 2008
The utility of prostate-specific antigen for detecting prostate cancer.

To the Editor. —In their study of the validity of PSA in detecting prostate cancer, Dr Gann and colleagues 1 provide valuable information reducing spectrum bias by doing a nested case-control study from a cohort of men followed for at least 10 years and stratifying the results by aggressive and nonaggressive tumors. Unfortunately, the authors report their results as sensitivity and specificity, necessitating dichotomous results, or odds ratios at several levels of PSA. The validity of diagnostic or screening tests are better determined by likelihood ratios (LRs), which allow clinicians to ascertain whether the probability of prostate cancer is revised downward (if the LR is 1.0), with the magnitude of the revision determined by the numerical value of the LR. 2 Using the method of Peirce and Cornell, 3 I calculated the LRs for PSA in detecting aggressive cancers based on the seven
Britain’s‘5 Percent’ Local Government Revolution: The faltering Impact of New Labour’s Modernization Agenda

Tony Blair’s New Labour Party came to power in 1997 committed to ‘modernizing’ and rejuvenating a local government system that it considered had been weakened and emasculated by the Thatcher and Major Conservative governments. Written immediately following Labour’s overwhelming re-election in June 2001, this article is an interim review of some of the key policies in the government’s modernization agenda for local government. The first sections deal with the indisputably radical political management reforms imposed on local councils and the attempt to introduce, for the first time in UK local government, directly elected executive mayors. Later sections focus on the replacement of compulsory competitive tendering with a ‘best value’ service regime, and the government’s more hesitant approach to finance reform. The overall conclusion of the review is that in all three policy spheres, though in differing ways, the government has so far fallen short of its ambitious and radical rhetoric. The idea of elected mayors is enthusing neither the public nor elected councillors. Best value is seen as excessively bureaucratic, prescriptive and centralist. And modest reform proposals leave largely unaddressed the most serious financial weaknesses of UK local authorities.
THE DETERMINANTS OF STATE MANUFACTURING GROWTH RATES: A TWO‐DIGIT‐LEVEL ANALYSIS

This paper analyzes 1954–1987 state manufacturing employment growth in 19 two-digit industries. Markets were found to be the strongest influence in 18 industries. Labor was the second strongest, followed by a threshold variable. Weaker influences were resources, taxes, and amenities. Regional values for the market, labor, and threshold variables corresponded well with regional employment change in the Manufacturing Belt and all other regions of the U.S.
Blue light induced A2E oxidation in rat eyes — experimental animal model of dry AMD

Previous studies have shown that short-wavelength blue visible light induces retinal injury and may be a risk factor for age related macular degeneration. A2E is a blue light absorbing retinal chromophore that accumulates with age. Our previous in vitro studies have determined that, although A2E itself has a low phototoxic efficiency, the oxidation products of A2E that are formed in the presence of visible light can contribute to observed retinal pigment epithelial photodamage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blue light on retinal phototoxicity and its relationship to A2E, oxidized A2E and its isomers. Sprague-Dawley albino rats were dark adapted for 24 h. Control rats remained in the dark while experimental rats were exposed to blue light ( λ = 450 nm, 3.1 mW cm^−2) for 6 h. Isolated retinas were homogenized in Folch extraction mixture and then in chloroform. The dried extracts were reconstituted and divided for determination of organic soluble compound. Esters of fatty acids were determined with GC-MS, A2E and other chromophores using HPLC, and A2E oxidation products with LC-MS. Exposure of rat eyes to blue light did not significantly change the fatty acid composition of the retina. The A2E concentration (normalized to fatty acid content) in blue light exposed animals was found to be lower than the A2E concentration in control rats. The concentrations of all- trans -retinal-ethanolamine adduct and iso -A2E a precursor and an isomer of A2E respectively, were also lower after blue-light exposure than in the retinas of rats housed in the dark. On the other hand, the amount of oxidized forms of A2E was higher in the animals exposed to blue light. We conclude that in the rat eye, blue-light exposure promotes oxidation of A2E and iso -A2E to the products that are toxic to retinal tissue. Although high concentrations of A2E may be cytotoxic to the retina, the phototoxicity associated with blue light damage to the retina is in part a result of the formation of toxic A2E oxides. This effect may partially explain the association between blue light induced retinal injury and macular degeneration.
Mapping and characterization of multiple chromosomal factors involved in methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Chromosomal factors, termed fem or aux factors, are needed for the expression of methicillin resistance in methicillin-resistant (Mcr) Staphylococcus aureus; also needed is the mec-encoded low-affinity penicillin-binding protein PBP 2'. These factors make up part of the normal set of genes present in susceptible and resistant strains of S. aureus and can be identified by Tn551-mediated insertional inactivation of the methicillin resistance. In this study, we characterized different Tn551 inserts and mapped them into four distinct loci on the SmaI chromosomal map of S. aureus NCTC 8325, thereby identifying two new loci which code for fem factors. The largest fragment, SmaI-A, carries three loci, two coding for both closely linked factors femA and femB and a novel third locus (femC) that is not linked to the other two. An additional, fourth, locus, femD, was identified in fragment SmaI-I. femA and femB inactivation reduced overall methicillin resistance, whereby femB had less of an influence on the resistance level. femC and femD inactivation reduced mainly the basal resistance level in heterogeneously Mcr strains and had less of an impact on the subpopulation with high-level resistance. Inactivation of either of these factors was shown to have no influence on the production of PBP 2', the main factor mediating methicillin resistance. In addition, no changes were observed in the banding patterns of the major autolysins in whole-cell extracts of the fem mutants, suggesting that the reduced cell wall turnover and autolysis observed in some of the insertionally inactivated strains were due to changes either of the substrate or in the autolysin control.
Chemotherapy of leishmaniasis: present challenges

SUMMARY Cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis are amongst the most devastating infectious diseases of our time, affecting millions of people worldwide. The treatment of these serious diseases rely on a few chemotherapeutic agents, most of which are of parenteral use and induce severe side-effects. Furthermore, rates of treatment failure are high and have been linked to drug resistance in some areas. Here, we reviewed data on current chemotherapy practice in leishmaniasis. Drug resistance and mechanisms of resistance are described as well as the prospects for applying drug combinations for leishmaniasis chemotherapy. It is clear that efforts for discovering new drugs applicable to leishmaniasis chemotherapy are essential. The main aspects on the various steps of drug discovery in the field are discussed.
Outcomes of Collaborative Water Policy Making: Applying Complexity Thinking to Evaluation

Collaborative policy making has become increasingly significant in environmental management, but it is often evaluated by whether or not agreement is reached and implemented. The most important outcomes of such policy dialogues are often invisible or undervalued when seen through the lens of a traditional, modernist paradigm of government and accountability. These dialogues represent a new paradigm of governance that can be best understood in the light of a complex adaptive system model of society. From this perspective collaborative policy making is a way of making a system more flexible, adaptive and intelligent. The authors document such outcomes in three cases of water policy making in California, including the San Francisco Estuary Project, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program and the Sacramento Area Water Forum. The outcomes include social and political capital, agreed-on information, the end of stalemates, high-quality agreements, learning and change, innovation and new practices involving networks and flexibility.
Networking inside the organization: a case study on knowledge sharing

Purpose – This paper illustrates, on the basis of a case study of a multinational corporation, the positive impact of intra‐organizational networking on the capacity to sustain competitive advantage in a highly volatile environment. It aims to provide researchers, consultants and managers with insights on how to design an organization leveraging internal resources and capabilities.Design/methodology/approach – One original case is presented, along with a series of analytical points drawn from this study. The research design is based on action research methods (one author participated in designing and implementing the “networking attitude” project) as well as primary (interviews) and secondary data (internal documents). The paper makes several basic points on the relationship between inter‐unit knowledge sharing and renewing competitive advantage in multinational corporations.Findings – The critical findings relate to the importance of creating effective inter‐personal networks for enhancing knowledge shar.