Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delay management in delay‐tolerant networks

In delay‐tolerant networks (DTN), nodes explore various opportunities to connect and communicate with each other. A series of encounters of different nodes will create such opportunities and spread a message among many nodes and eventually deliver to the designated destination. We study one common DTN scenario where the message exchanges happen when nodes meet others at certain locations. In this situation, the success of message delivery and the quality of the delivery depend highly on the likeliness of nodes' encounters and time elapsed between encounters. We study two important qualities of service requirements: the probability of two nodes meeting each other (encounter probability) and the time it takes for two nodes to meet (encounter delay). The key considerations are how nodes pick their next locations (mobility patterns) and the features of the dwell time. In this paper, we will study several mobility patterns, including random movement, and activity agenda based movement. We also study an additional message delivery constraint, i.e., a message will be dropped if not delivered within a limited number of locations visited. We develop mathematical formulas using Markov chain as a main tool. Our work is presented as an illustration through case studies. The methodology applies to mobility models alike and is extendable to real trace analysis. We present numerical results when closed form formulas cannot be acquired. Our results help the management of message delivery for DTN, e.g., in selecting a proper time‐to‐live threshold for a message. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An l-MDAV microaggregation algorithm for sensitive attribute l-diversity

MDAV algorithm is a high efficient multivariate microaggregation algorithm. However, it does not consider the sensitive attribute diversity constraint, so the anonymity table yielded by the algorithm cannot resist homogeneity attack and background knowledge attack. To solve the problem, the paper proposes a microaggregation algorithm for sensitive attribute diversity - l-MDAV algorithm. The algorithm groups the nearest tuples to cluster center into one cluster, which has at least l distinct sensitive values, so the anonymity table yielded by the algorithm satisfies sensitive attribute l-diversity constraint and can resist homogeneity attack and background knowledge attack. Experimental results show that the algorithm can yield anonymity table satisfying l-diversity constraint efficiently.
[Homeless women with psychiatric disorders -- a field study].

AIM The aim of the study was to investigate the psychosocial situation of all homeless women in a southern German university town. METHOD The scope, structure and whereabouts of the target group were initially unknown. 17 of 22 homeless women identified agreed to participate in an extensive study including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SKID-I). RESULTS The prevalence of diagnosed psychiatric disorders was 71 %; the leading disorder was substance abuse/dependence (43 %), followed by anxiety disorders (35 %) and schizophrenia (12 %). Multiple diagnoses were made in 35 % of the women. DISCUSSION Striking features were the often early onset of homelessness and the reticence in seeking help. The flight from violence was a crucial precipitant of the loss of the home and should also be discussed in the context of the development of the psychiatric disorders. This study is the first involving women outside major cities. Precipitant situation, need for help and help-seeking pattern appear to deviate markedly from those of homeless men. The results should be verified in further gender-specific studies.
Are there differential effects of endotracheal suction on respiratory mechanics and gas exchange in patients with severe sepsis using pressureand volume-controlled ventilation?

The aim of the current study was to investigate the differential effects of endotracheal suction on respiratory mechanics and gas exchange in patients with severe sepsis using pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) and volume-controlled ventilation (VCV). We prospectively included 76 patients with severe sepsis receiving mechanical ventilation due to acute respiratory failure (ARF). The effects of endotracheal suction on respiratory mechanics and gas exchange during VCV and PCV were compared. PCV used an inspiratory pressure that caused the same tidal volume (VT) as that of VCV; a VT of 9 mL/kg predicted body weight and an 8.0 mm inner-diameter endotracheal tube were used. Patients underwent suction for 15 s using an open suction system with 12F catheters connected to a 150 mmHg vacuum. VT was decreased by 28.9% and 27.8% at 1 min and 10 min after suction compared with the baseline when using PCV, and compliance decreased by 31.4% and 30.3% (P 0.05). Endotracheal suction may impair gas exchange and respiratory mechanics in patients with severe sepsis under both PCV and VCV, but the effects on gas exchange recover quickly under VCV.
A self-powered wireless bolt for smart critical fastener

In this paper, we present the design of a smart bolt for high-end electro-mechanical systems. The bolt is equipped with temperature sensor, an RF chip and it is powered by a Thermoelectric generator (TEG). The work includes the design choices on the small size TEG, and characterizations of the TEGs and DC-DC converters suitable for ensuring reliability and energy neutral conditions. The characterization was done to determine the amount of power that can be generated from a TEG under different loads and at temperature gradients typical of mechanical environments. Performance demonstrate that the power generated at different temperature gradients extracted by means of a boost converter, is sufficient to guarantee continuous wireless monitoring service for high value critical fastener such as avionic, motorsport, and aerospace.
Political connections of new business ventures

The perceived capability of corporate organizations to influence politics, although fueling an ongoing public debate, features in literature as a source of probable benefits. According to the majority of the pertinent studies, these benefits, more often than not, materialize with important value-adding implications. In the U.S. context, whereby political money contributions constitute the prevalent way of establishing connections, this can result in a hefty return on a firm’s political investment. Our research posits that if political connections formed via monetary donations elevate the donor to a higher status, this should reflect in circumstances whereby a firm needs to assert its quality to other economic agents. This is the case for firms that are plagued by the market newness liability. Whether as a form of insurance from tail risk or entitlement to economic rents, proximity to politics offers legitimacy and a compelling way of introducing a new venture to the marketplace. To prove this conjecture, we mainly draw from IPOs for representing a setting of acute uncertainty. Our findings confirm that both lobbying and PAC (Political Action Committee) expenditure pays off on listing day as donors incur less underpricing; an effect which can be amplified with contribution size and strategic targeting of recipients. Donor IPOs also experience negative offer price revisions and lower aftermarket volatility. Collectively, these results offer new empirical grounding to uncertainty and signaling theories. Subsequently, we frame IPO pricing as an efficiency problem for prospective issuers and develop an approach of general application in finance, where relationships of influence are suspected. Rather than imposing a regression-based framework, we allow relationships to manifest themselves in a data-driven manner. Our analysis reveals nonlinearities between IPO pricing efficiency and the two contribution avenues (justifying the fully nonparametric treatment). We are able to uncover relationships separately according to business sector, which we interpret in terms of varied competitive environments. Broadening up our scope prior to and after the IPO event, we document that connected firms are associated with a longer time to venture or other equity capital financing, attesting to a greater financial autonomy. Additionally, they attain larger market shares and have a superior likelihood of survival in the public domain.
The Choice between Dividend and Share Repurchase

This paper examines the payout channel choice of listed firms in KLSE, paying particular attention to why some firms prefer to increase dividends while others prefer to repurchase only. The results indicate that higher prior income, more variability of prior income, and a higher level of retained earnings increase the likelihood that the firms will choose to pay out earnings through dividends. The analysis further indicates that some firms substitute repurchases for dividends.
The ribonuclease H activity of the reverse transcriptases of human immunodeficiency viruses type 1 and type 2 is affected by the thumb subdomain of the small protein subunits.

Retroviral reverse transcriptases (RTs) have both DNA polymerase and ribonuclease H (RNase H) activities. The RTs of HIV-1 and HIV-2 are heterodimers of p66/p51 and p68/p54 subunits, respectively. The smaller subunit lacks the C-terminal segment of the larger subunit (which is the RNase H domain). The structure of the DNA polymerase domain of HIV-1 RT resembles a right hand (with fingers, palm and thumb subdomains), linked to the RNase H domain via the connection subdomain. The RNase H activity of the Rod strain of HIV-2 RT is about tenfold lower than that of HIV-1 RT, while the DNA polymerase activity of these RTs is similar. A chimeric RT in which residues 227-427 (which constitute a small part of the palm and the entire thumb and connection subdomains) of the Rod strain of HIV-2 RT were replaced by the corresponding segment from HIV-1 RT, has an RNase H activity as high as HIV-1 RT (despite the fact that the RNase H domain is derived from HIV-2 RT). We analyzed the RNase H activity of wild-type HIV-2 RT from the D-194 strain and compared it with this activity of the RT from the Rod strain of HIV-2 and HIV-1 RT. The level of this activity of both HIV-2 RT strains was low; suggesting that low RNase H activity is a general property of HIV-2 isolates. The in vitro RNase H digestion pattern of the three wild-type RTs was indistinguishable, despite the difference in the level of RNase H activity. We constructed new chimeric HIV-1/HIV-2 RTs, in which protein segments and/or subunits were exchanged. The DNA polymerase activity of the parental HIV-1 and HIV-2 RTs was similar; as expected, the specific activity of the polymerases of all the hybrid RTs were also similar. However, the RNase H specific activity of the chimeric RTs was either high (like HIV-1 RT) or low (like HIV-2 RT). The origin of the thumb subdomain in the small subunit of the chimeric RTs (residues 244-322) determines the level of the RNase H activity. The strand-transfer activity of the chimeric RTs is also affected by the thumb subdomain of the small subunit; transfer was much more efficient if this subdomain was derived from HIV-1 RT. The data can be explained from the three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 RT. The thumb of the smaller subunit contacts the RNase H domain; it is through these contacts that the thumb affects the level of the RNase H activity of RT.
Complete Genome Sequence of Bordetella bronchiseptica S798, an Isolate from a Pig with Atrophic Rhinitis

ABSTRACT Bordetella bronchiseptica colonizes the respiratory tracts of a wide variety of mammals and causes a range of diseases, from lethal pneumonia to asymptomatic chronic infection. We report the complete genome sequence of Bordetella bronchiseptica strain S798, isolated from a pig with atrophic rhinitis in Japan.
Chemoattractant Receptor Cross-desensitization*

Leukocytes participate in host defense by accumulating at local sites in response to inflammatory mediators where they may engulf foreign material and/or release toxic products that can cause substantial tissue damage. Agents of diverse chemical nature (short peptides, proteins, and lipids) have been identified as chemoattractants and stimulate leukocytes through G-protein-coupled receptors (1). Responses of leukocytes can be mediated by chemoattractants alone or modulated by other agents. For example, leukocytes that are attached to adhesion molecules respond to chemoattractants to elicit far greater cytotoxic responses than non-adherent cells. Leukocyte chemoattractant receptors are also subject to desensitization. Given that multiple mediators are present at sites of inflammation and that leukocytes contain receptors for many of them, their responses are likely to be cross-regulated. Although much has been learned about cellular activation and regulation by single receptors, mechanisms of receptor cross-regulation leading to priming or desensitization are only beginning to be unraveled.
Thresholds of action potentials evoked by synapses on the dendrites of pyramidal cells in the rat hippocampus in vitro.

1. In this study we have measured the thresholds of action potentials and some properties of e.p.s.p.s (excitatory post‐synaptic potentials) produced by activation of distal and proximal dendritic synapses in CA1 pyramidal cells in rat hippocampal slices. 2. Simultaneous intracellular and extracellular electrophysiological recordings were made from pyramidal cells. The two recording electrodes were positioned very close together to provide an accurate measurement of the transmembrane potential by subtraction of the extracellular field from the intracellular potential. 3. Two pairs of stimulating electrodes were placed in the stratum radiatum of area CA1. The proximal and distal afferents were stimulated alternately within a 15 s cycle and at an intensity to produce action potentials in about 50% of the trials. 4. At this stimulus intensity there was a slight difference in the mean 10‐90% rise times of the e.p.s.p.s produced by stimulation of proximal and distal afferents. The ratio of the distal: proximal rise time was 1.27. 5. In those trials where the action potential failed there was also a significant difference in the time‐to‐peak of the e.p.s.p.s evoked from proximal or distal sites. The times‐to‐peak of the e.p.s.p.s from proximal stimulation were between 1.5 and 3.8 ms, whilst the times‐to‐peak from distal stimulation were longer (2.1‐7.2 ms). 6. In 16/18 cells included in this study the thresholds for action potentials evoked by distal stimulation were significantly lower than those following proximal activation. The mean threshold for distal activation was 12 mV compared with 16 mV for proximal activation. 7. The threshold of action potentials activated by depolarizing current pulses appeared to be close to that for action potentials evoked from proximal synapses. 8. Whilst the shape indices of the e.p.s.p.s were slightly different when comparing transmembrane with conventional intracellular recordings, the thresholds of the action potentials were not affected by this procedure. 9. Possible explanations for the low threshold for action potentials evoked from distal synapses are discussed, including an active dendritic membrane and differences in inhibition.
Quantitative Assessment of the Percent Fat in Domestic Animal Bone Marrow *

Abstract: Measurement of the amount of fat in femoral bone marrow can provide a quantitative assessment of the nutritional status of an individual animal. An analytical method is presented for quantitating the percent fat in bone marrow from three domestic species: bovine, canine, and equine. In this procedure, fat is extracted from bone marrow using pentane, and the percent fat recovered is determined gravimetrically. Based on analyses from adult animals (normal body condition scores), the average percentage of fat in the bone marrow was >80%. In cases in which animals have been diagnosed as emaciated or exhibit serous atrophy of fat (body scores of 1 or 2), the femoral bone marrow fat was less than 20%. In domestic animals, bone marrow fat analysis can be a useful, quantitative measure that, when used in conjunction with all other data available, can support a diagnosis of starvation or malnutrition.
Area-Delay-Energy Tradeoffs of Strain-Mediated Multiferroic Devices

Multiferroic devices hold profound promise for ultralow energy computing in beyond Moore's law era. The magnetization of a magnetostrictive shape-anisotropic single-domain nanomagnet strain-coupled with a piezoelectric layer in a multiferroic composite structure can be switched between its two stable states (separated by an energy barrier) with a tiny amount of voltage via converse magnetoelectric effect. With appropriate choice of materials, the magnetization can be switched with a few tens of millivolts of voltages in subnanosecond switching delay while spending a miniscule amount of energy of ~1 attojoule at room temperature. Here, we analyze the area-delay-energy tradeoffs of these multiferroic devices by solving the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation in the presence of room-temperature thermal fluctuations. We particularly put attention on scaling down the lateral area of the magnetostrictive nanomagnet that can increase the device density on a chip. We show that the vertical thickness of the nanomagnet can be increased while scaling down the lateral area and keeping the assumption of single-domain limit valid. This has important consequences, since it helps to some extent prevent the deterioration of the induced stress-anisotropy energy in the magnetostrictive nanomagnet, which is proportional to the nanomagnet's volume. The results show that if we scale down the lateral area, the switching delay increases while energy dissipation decreases. Avenues available for decreasing the switching delay while still reducing the energy dissipation are discussed.
Degree of diversity of hepatitis C virus quasispecies and progression of liver disease

We examined the quasispecies of the hepatitis C virus genome in 28 patients with liver disease of varying severity. Nucleotide sequences of the hepatitis C virus genome spanning the region from the core to envelope were used to calculate the nucleotide diversity: 0.58% ± 0.88% in 5 patients with acute hepatitis, 0.85% ± 0.62% in 5 patients with chronic persistent hepatitis, 1.79% ± 0.92% in 11 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 3.05% ± 1.26% in 4 patients with cirrhosis and 2.71% ± 1.47% in 3 patients with cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. Thus the intrapatient variation in nucleotides increased significantly with severity of liver disease (p < 0.01), except in those cases of cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. Multivariate analysis including the histology, duration of infection, age, sex, history of blood transfusion and serum level of ALT at diagnosis as variables showed that the histological finding was the strongest independent factor of the nucleotide diversity (p = 0.003). Serial analysis of the genome in three patients demonstrated that the intrapatient variation in nucleotides increased with the progression of liver disease. The magnitude of the intrapatient variation in nucleotides deduced from the observed changes in the patients was correlated with the mean serum levels of ALT. These findings suggest that the degree of diversity of HCV quasispecies is related to the progression of liver disease. (Hepatology 1994;20:1144–1151.
A butterfly eye's view of birds

The striking color patterns of butterflies and birds have long interested biologists. But how these animals see color is less well understood. Opsins are the protein components of the visual pigments of the eye. Color vision has evolved in butterflies through opsin gene duplications, through positive selection at individual opsin loci, and by the use of filtering pigments. By contrast, birds have retained the same opsin complement present in early‐jawed vertebrates, and their visual system has diversified primarily through tuning of the short‐wavelength‐sensitive photoreceptors, rather than by opsin duplication or the use of filtering elements. Butterflies and birds have evolved photoreceptors that might use some of the same amino acid sites for generating similar spectral phenotypes across ∼540 million years of evolution, when rhabdomeric and ciliary‐type opsins radiated during the early Cambrian period. Considering the similarities between the two taxa, it is surprising that the eyes of birds are not more diverse. Additional taxonomic sampling of birds may help clarify this mystery. BioEssays 30:1151–1162, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Insider Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from Bulgaria

By using panel data for a sample of Bulgarian manufacturing firms we investigate the impact of the privatization process. All sample firms started under state control and many were privatized during the study period. Our rich data enable us to use and estimate a number of specifications to rigorously analyze the impact of privatization, and in particular insider privatization. Contrary to mainstream theory (e.g., Boycko, 1996) and the findings of an influential empirical survey (Djankov & Murrell, 2002), our results show no difference on firm performance for insider versus other methods of privatization. As such our findings more nearly support those of other studies for Bulgaria (e.g., Miller & Lazorov, 2011; Jones, Rock, & Klinedinst, 1998) and selected studies for other transition countries (e.g., Jones & Mygind, 1999 for Estonia).
Clinical significance of galectin-7 in epithelial ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND Galectin-7 (GAL-7) has been highlighted as an important marker in many types of cancers by either inhibiting or promoting tumor growth. In this novel study, we assessed the association of GAL-7 with clinicopathological variables and survival outcomes in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and investigated the role of GAL-7 in proliferation of ovarian cancer cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expression of GAL-7 was determined in 63 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded EOC tissues using an immunohistochemical method and we compared various associated clinicopathological factors. To evaluate the role of GAL-7 in cell proliferation, we performed proliferation assays with GAL-7 siRNA using ovarian cancer cell lines, including A2780-PAR cells. RESULTS Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that GAL-7 expression was primarily detected in nuclei and occasionally in the nucleus and cytoplasm. High GAL-7 expression was associated with greater age (p=0.016), high mortality (p=0.025), and poor overall survival outcome (p=0.029). In addition, the residual tumor volume was larger in the high-expression group compared to the low-expression group, although the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.059). Down-regulation of GAL-7 using siRNA resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation of A2780-PAR cells. CONCLUSION We observed that high GAL-7 might be associated with poor survival outcome in patients with EOC, and may be functionally involved in cell proliferation.
An investigation into the personal values of small business owners in South Africa

The study investigated the personal values of small business owners in South Africa. In addition, the study examined if male and female small business owners exhibit significant differences in their personal values. The study employed the descriptive research design. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaire in a survey. The study used the Schwartz Portrait Value Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and the T-test were used for data analysis. The results indicated that self-direction, achievement, stimulation, power and security are the five most important personal values for small business owners. The results indicate that male small business owners give greater weight to self-direction, stimulation, achievement, hedonism and power. Female small business owners give greater weight to universalism, conformity, tradition, benevolence, and security.