Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fault parameters of the 1896 Sanriku Tsunami Earthquake estimated from Tsunami Numerical Modeling

The June 15, 1896 Sanriku earthquake generated devastating tsunamis with the maximum run-up of 25 m and caused the worst tsunami disaster in the history of Japan, despite its moderate surface wave magnitude (Ms=7.2) and weak seismic intensity. This is a typical tsunami earthquake, which generates anomalously larger tsunamis than expected from its seismic waves. Previously proposed mechanisms of tsunami earthquakes include submarine slumping and slow rupture in the accretionary wedge or in the subducted sediments. In this paper, we estimate the fault parameters of the 1896 tsunami earthquake by numerically computing the tsunami and comparing the waveforms with those recorded at three tide gauge stations in Japan. The result indicates that the tsunami source is very close to the Japan trench and the fault strike is parallel to the trench axis. The fault width is about 50 km, suggesting that the tsunami earthquake is a slow rupture in the subducted sediments beneath the accretionary wedge.
Reward Maximization Under Uncertainty: Leveraging Side-Observations on Networks

We study the stochastic multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem in the presence of side-observations across actions that occur as a result of an underlying network structure. In our model, a bipartite graph captures the relationship between actions and a common set of unknowns such that choosing an action reveals observations for the unknowns that it is connected to. This models a common scenario in online social networks where users respond to their friends' activity, thus providing side information about each other's preferences. Our contributions are as follows: 1) We derive an asymptotic lower bound (with respect to time) as a function of the bi-partite network structure on the regret of any uniformly good policy that achieves the maximum long-term average reward. 2) We propose two policies - a randomized policy; and a policy based on the well-known upper confidence bound (UCB) policies - both of which explore each action at a rate that is a function of its network position. We show, under mild assumptions, that these policies achieve the asymptotic lower bound on the regret up to a multiplicative factor, independent of the network structure. Finally, we use numerical examples on a real-world social network and a routing example network to demonstrate the benefits obtained by our policies over other existing policies.
Removal of small nonenveloped viruses by antibody‐enhanced nanofiltration during the manufacture of plasma derivatives

BACKGROUND: Filters with nominal pore sizes in the nanometer range are well‐established tools for enhancing the virus safety margins of plasma‐derived products, yet intrinsically less successful for smaller viruses such as hepatitis A virus (HAV) and human parvovirus B19 (B19V). The formation of virus‐antibody complexes increases the effective size of these smaller viruses and would thus improve their removal by nanofiltration. While the principle of virus removal by antibody‐dependent nanofiltration has been demonstrated with animal antisera and viruses spiked into human plasma product intermediates, the significance of these results remains unclear due to the potential contributions of xenoanti‐bodies and/or heteroagglutination in such heterologous systems.
Efficiency measurements in heterogeneous distributed computing systems: from theory to practice

This paper addresses the problem of the measurement of efficiency in heterogeneous distributed computing systems. After a discussion on the unsuitability of the traditional notion of efficiency for such systems, a new efficiency metric (generalized efficiency) is introduced by finding the analytical expression of the maximum speedup that can be achieved for a given problem in a heterogeneous system. Generalized efficiency takes into account the heterogeneity of computing resources and is consistent with the definition commonly used for homogeneous systems. The main characteristics of this metric are illustrated, and the problem of performing practical measurements is dealt with thoroughly. Four case studies exploring the whole spectrum of heterogeneous computing systems and of possible classes of applications are presented. Finally, the proposal is compared to related work, and the utility and the limits of generalized efficiency are discussed. 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of Exercise on Insulin, IGF Axis, Adipocytokines, and Inflammatory Markers in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Insulin, IGF axis, adiponectin, and inflammatory markers are associated with breast cancer. Given that physical activity improves prognosis of breast cancer survivors, we investigated the effects of exercise on these markers as potential mediators between physical activity and breast cancer. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and SportDiscus were searched up to December 3, 2015, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCT) that investigated the effect of exercise on insulin, IGF axis, and cytokines in breast cancer survivors. Weighted mean difference (WMD) was calculated using either fixed- or random-effects models on the basis of the heterogeneity of the studies. Results: A total of 18 studies involving 681 breast cancer survivors were included, and these numbers were reduced for individual biomarker analyses. We found that exercise significantly reduced fasting insulin levels [WMD, −3.46 μU/mL; 95% confidence interval (CI), −5.97 to −0.95; P = 0.007]. Furthermore, potentially meaningful but statistically nonsignificant changes were observed in insulin resistance (WMD, −0.73; 95% CI, −0.54 to 0.13; P = 0.23), adiponectin (WMD, 1.17 μg/mL; 95% CI, −0.87 to 3.20; P = 0.26), and C-reactive protein (WMD, −1.10 mg/L; 95% CI, −2.39 to 0.20; P = 0.10). Subgroup analyses showed that fasting insulin levels were significantly more impacted in studies in which intervention participants experienced a weight reduction (WMD, −7.10 μU/mL; 95% CI, −10.31 to −3.90; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Exercise reduces fasting insulin levels in breast cancer survivors. This may be due to exercise-induced reductions in body weight. Impact: Practitioners and clinicians may better help breast cancer prognosis be improved through exercise, anticipating physiological effects on cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(3); 355–65. ©2016 AACR.
CALIDADE, ORIENTACIÓN AO SERVIZO DOS EMPREGADOS E RATIO C/E: EFECTO DAS CARACTERÍSTICAS DOS HOTEIS

La calidad de servicio de las empresas hoteleras constituye un elemento clave de su exito, por lo que resulta de interes su conocimiento, asi como en que medida esta variable se asocia a diferentes caracteristicas de las empresas. Tambien tiene interes conocer el nivel de la orientacion al servicio de los empleados de contacto con los clientes y la ratio �habitacio-nes/empleados�, ya que estas variables tienen potencial para incidir en la calidad de servicio percibida. Este trabajo propone medir este conjunto de variables en los hoteles gallegos e identificar en que medida caracteristicas como el numero de estrellas, la localizacion y la afiliacion a una cadena tienen capacidad para diferenciarlas significativamente.
Role for MyD88-Independent, TRIF Pathway in Lipid A/TLR4-Induced Endotoxin Tolerance1

Repeated exposure to low doses of endotoxin results in progressive hyporesponsiveness to subsequent endotoxin challenge, a phenomenon known as endotoxin tolerance. In spite of its clinical significance in sepsis and characterization of the TLR4 signaling pathway as the principal endotoxin detection mechanism, the molecular determinants that induce tolerance remain obscure. We investigated the role of the TRIF/IFN-β pathway in TLR4-induced endotoxin tolerance. Lipid A-induced homotolerance was characterized by the down-regulation of MyD88-dependent proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and CCL3, but up-regulation of TRIF-dependent cytokine IFN-β. This correlated with a molecular phenotype of defective NF-κB activation but a functional TRIF-dependent STAT1 signaling. Tolerance-induced suppression of TNF-α and CCL3 expression was significantly relieved by TRIF and IFN regulatory factor 3 deficiency, suggesting the involvement of the TRIF pathway in tolerance. Alternatively, selective activation of TRIF by poly(I:C)-induced tolerance to lipid A. Furthermore, pretreatment with rIFN-β also induced tolerance, whereas addition of IFN-β-neutralizing Ab during the tolerization partially alleviated tolerance to lipid A but not TLR2-induced endotoxin homo- or heterotolerance. Furthermore, IFNAR1−/− murine embryonal fibroblast and bone-marrow derived macrophages failed to induce tolerance. Together, these observations constitute evidence for a role of the TRIF/IFN-β pathway in the regulation of lipid A/TLR4-mediated endotoxin homotolerance.
Automatic speed adjustment for travel through immersive virtual environments based on viewpoint quality

When traveling virtually through large scenes, long distances and different detail densities render fixed movement speeds impractical. However, to manually adjust the travel speed, users have to control an additional parameter, which may be uncomfortable and requires cognitive effort. Although automatic speed adjustment techniques exist, many of them can be problematic in indoor scenes. Therefore, we propose to automatically adjust travel speed based on viewpoint quality, originally a measure of the informativeness of a viewpoint. In a user study, we show that our technique is easy to use, allowing users to reach targets faster and use less cognitive resources than when choosing their speed manually.
Olcegepant blocks neurogenic and non‐neurogenic CGRPergic vasodepressor responses and facilitates noradrenergic vasopressor responses in pithed rats

Olcegepant (BIBN4096BS) is a selective non‐peptide CGRP receptor antagonist with acute antimigraine properties. Since systemic vascular tone is modulated by perivascular (primary sensory CGRPergic and sympathetic) nerves, this randomized study investigated in pithed rats the effect of acute i.v. treatment with olcegepant on the neurogenic and non‐neurogenic: (i) CGRPergic vasodepressor responses; and (ii) noradrenergic vasopressor responses. The pithed rat is an experimental model predictive of systemic (cardio) vascular side effects.
A 150MHz 3rd-order single Opamp continuous-time analog filter in 28nm CMOS technology

An improved Active-Gm-RC filter architecture is proposed in this paper. With respect to the biquad Active-Gm-RC cell, this architecture exploits the second pole of the Opamp to increase the filter order up to 3, while maintaining single Opamp topology. This reduces the required power per pole. A prototype of the low-pass filter has been designed in 28nm CMOS technology. The filter power consumption is 340μW with a 0.9V voltage supply, cut-off frequency is 150MHz achieving a Figure-of-Merit of 165dB.
Toward Universal Dependencies for Ainu

Ainu is a language spoken by the Ainu people, a minority ethnic group in Japan. The development of syntactic corpora for Ainu is crucial both for the advancement of linguistic theories and for language revitalization. To solve the situation, we experimentally annotated a short poem of AinuwithUniversal Dependencies version 2 scheme. In this paper, we report several language-specific suggestions for the UD annotation of Ainu, obtained through the experience of the initial experiments.
Open data development of countries: Global status and trends

Open data plays a key role for governments strategy to deal with challenges of the future. It has the potential to improve public sector's transparency, engagement of civil society, and economic growth. This paper contributes to answering the questions: Can open data have an impact on innovation? Under which condition is this the case? Which data can be used to assess the progress on a country level? Which countries are successful with open data? How successful are the government actions to support economic development through open data? The exploratory analysis investigates the relationship between open data readiness and measures on impact, and on changes in open data development level and the influence of the country's level of ICT development, transparency and freedom. This paper also takes a specific look at economic impact scores and their correlation with government initiatives for training and innovation on open data. It was found that success on open data at the country level is based on good levels of ICT development, freedom and in the interest of becoming more transparent. There are indications that countries with low ICT development do not profit from open data, but the evidence is limited, due to the small number of countries observed. There is a strong correlation between support for entrepreneurship & business readiness and economic impact. However, the relationship between the development of these indicators during the time of the study and the measured impact is unclear.
Temperature-sensitive Mutations of the CKA1 Gene Reveal a Role for Casein Kinase II in Maintenance of Cell Polarity inSaccharomyces cerevisiae *

Casein kinase II (CKII) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two distinct catalytic subunits, α and α′, that are encoded by the CKA1 and -2genes, respectively. We have constructed conditional alleles of theCKA1 gene. In contrast to cka1 cka2 ts strains, which exhibit a defect in both G1 and G2/M cell cycle progression,cka1 ts cka2 strains continue to divide for three cell cycles after a shift to restrictive temperature and then arrest as a mixture of budded and unbudded cells with a spherical morphology. Arrested cells exhibit continued growth, a nonpolarized actin cytoskeleton, delocalized chitin deposition, and a significant fraction of multinucleate cell bodies, confirming the presence of a cell polarity defect in cka1 tsstrains. The presence of budded as well as unbudded cells in the arrested population suggests that CKII is required for maintenance rather than establishment of cell polarity, although a role in both processes is also possible. The terminal phenotype ofcka1 ts strains bears a strong resemblance to that of orb5 strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which carry a temperature-sensitive CKII catalytic subunit mutation, but the underlying mechanism appears to be different in the two cases. These results establish a requirement for CKII in cell polarity in S. cerevisiae and provide the first evidence for functional specialization of CKA1 and-2.
Thalamo‐telencephalic pathways in the fire‐bellied toad Bombina orientalis

It was suggested that among extant vertebrates, anuran amphibians display a brain organization closest to the ancestral tetrapod condition, and recent research suggests that anuran brains share important similarities with the brains of amniotes. The thalamus is the major source of sensory input to the telencephalon in both amphibians and amniote vertebrates, and this sensory input is critical for higher brain functions. The present study investigated the thalamo‐telencephalic pathways in the fire‐bellied toad Bombina orientalis, a basal anuran, by using a combination of retrograde tract tracing and intracellular injections with the tracer biocytin. Intracellular labeling revealed that the majority of neurons in the anterior and central thalamic nuclei project to multiple brain targets involved in behavioral modulation either through axon collaterals or en passant varicosities. Single anterior thalamic neurons target multiple regions in the forebrain and midbrain. Of note, these neurons display abundant projections to the medial amygdala and a variety of pallial areas, predominantly the anterior medial pallium. In Bombina, telencephalic projections of central thalamic neurons are restricted to the dorsal striato‐pallidum. The bed nucleus of the pallial commissure/thalamic eminence similarly targets multiple brain regions including the ventral medial pallium, but this is accomplished through a higher variety of distinct neuron types. We propose that the amphibian diencephalon exerts widespread influence in brain regions involved in behavioral modulation and that a single dorsal thalamic neuron is in a position to integrate different sensory channels and distribute the resulting information to multiple brain regions. J. Comp. Neurol. 508:806–823, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Single-port laparoscopic stoma creation for fecal diversion - experience of ten consecutive patients].

PURPOSE In the present study, we aimed to describe the surgical results of single-port laparoscopic stoma creation in our institution. METHODS We examined the safety of the surgical procedure and short-term results in 10 consecutive patients who underwent single-port laparoscopic stoma creation at our hospital between April 2011 and July 2013. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 60.5 (range, 31-75) years. Five patients were men, and 5 were women. There were 5 cases of colorectal cancer, 2 each of extramammary Paget's disease and uterine cancer, and one of perineal neurofibroma. Eight surgeries were performed for bowel obstruction or stenosis, and two surgeries were performed for other reasons. The median operative time was 59.5 (range, 40-91) min, blood loss volume was 0 (range, 0-10) mL, postoperative duration before commencement of oral intake was 2.5 (range, 1-4) days, and duration of postoperative hospital stay was 11(range, 5-19) days. No short-term complications were noted after the surgery. CONCLUSION Single-port laparoscopic stoma creation appears to be feasible in terms of safety and short-term surgical results, and may improve the quality of life of patients requiring fecal diversion.
Multi-Agent Inference in Social Networks : A Finite Population Approach

When people in a society want to make inference about some parameter, each person would potentially want to use data collected by other people. Information (data) exchange in social contexts is usually costly, so to make sound statistical decisions, people need to compromise between benefits and costs of information acquisition. Conflicts of interests and coordination will arise. Classical statistics does not consider people’s interaction in the data collection process. To address this ignorance, this work explores multi-agent Bayesian inference problems with a game theoretic social network model. Bearing our interest in aggregate inference at the societal level, we propose a new concept finite population learning to address whether with high probability, a large fraction of people can make “good” inferences. Serving as a foundation, this concept enables us to study the long run trend of aggregate inference quality as population grows.
Study of urinary specific gravity by reagent strip method.

A newly developed reagent strip method for determination of urinary specific gravity is described. This reagent strip (Chemical S.G., Ames Co.) contains polyelectrolyte which is sensitive to the cation in solution. The urinary specific gravity is mainly decided by cation (Na+ and K+) concentrations in urine. As a result, the reagent strip gave measurements that corresponded to those measured by refractometry and gravimetry of NaC1 solution. Urea and glucose gave increased values by the refractometer, whereas the reagent strip did not cause changes. The values of urinary specific gravity obtained from reagent strip showed not only good correlations (r = 0.79-0.93) with the refractometry and gravimetry but also urinary osmolarity. This reagent strip method proved to be a most convenient tool for routine urinalysis because of the good reproducibility and accuracy considering its easy handling.
Obesity after childhood craniopharyngioma--German multicenter study on pre-operative risk factors and quality of life.

BACKGROUND Craniopharyngiomas are tumorous embryogenic malformations. As the survival rate after craniopharyngioma is high (92 %), prognosis and quality of life (QoL) in survivors mainly depend on adverse late effects such as obesity. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed 214 children and adolescents with craniopharyngioma. The records of 185 patients (86 %) were available for retrospective analysis of weight profiles and risk factors for obesity. Quality of life (QoL) was measured in 145 patients by the Fertigkeitenskala Münster/Heidelberg score (FMH) and in 77 patients by PEDQOL questionnaire. RESULTS Eighty-two of 185 patients (44 %) developed severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 3 SD). Obese patients were compared with 79 patients (43 %) who kept normal weight (BMI < 2 SD). No differences between obese and normal weight patients were found in terms of gender distribution, age at diagnosis and follow-up period. However, the BMI SDS at the time of diagnosis was higher (p < 0.0001) in patients who developed obesity than in those who did not. Furthermore, obese patients presented with bigger tumors (p < 0.05) and a higher rate of a hydrocephalus requiring a shunt (p < 0.05) and hypothalamic involvement (p < 0.05). The mothers of patients who developed severe obesity had a higher BMI (p < 0.001) at the time of diagnosis. Obese patients had a higher height-SDS at diagnosis (p < 0.05) and at the time of last follow-up (p < 0.05) when compared with normal weight patients. A prediction model for severe obesity after craniopharyngioma was calculated by logistic regression based on the risk factors: patient's BMI > 2 SD at diagnosis (p < 0.05; odds ratio: 16.4), hypothalamic involvement (p < 0.05; odds ratio: 3.4) and maternal BMI > 25 kg/m(2) (p < 0.05; odds ratio: 4.6). Significant increases in BMI (p < 0.001) occurred during the early post-operative period especially during the first three years after diagnosis. FMH percentiles correlated negatively with BMI SDS (Spearman r: - 0.37; p < 0.001). Children with craniopharyngioma rated their QoL more negative (p < 0.05) in regard to physical abilities, cognitive functioning and social functioning when compared with healthy children of the same age group. Severely obese patients with craniopharyngioma estimated their QoL lower (p < 0.05) for all domains except for autonomy, cognition and familial integration in comparison with non-obese patients. CONCLUSION Hypothalamic tumor involvement and familial disposition for obesity are risk factors for the development of severe obesity in patients with craniopharyngioma. As weight gain starts early after diagnosis and severe obesity causes a reduction in QoL, early therapeutic efforts should be considered in patients at risk. To confirm our results the prospective multicenter study Kraniopharyngeom 2000 on children and adolescents with craniopharyngioma was initiated (www.kraniopharyngeom.com).
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of CCCC RNA Reveals a Right-Handed Helix, and Revised Parameters for AMBER Force Field Torsions Improve Structural Predictions from Molecular Dynamics

The sequence dependence of RNA energetics is important for predicting RNA structure. Hairpins with Cn loops are consistently less stable than hairpins with other loops, which suggests the structure of Cn regions could be unusual in the “unfolded” state. For example, previous nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) evidence suggested that polycytidylic acid forms a left-handed helix. In this study, UV melting experiments show that the hairpin formed by r(5′GGACCCCCGUCC) is less stable than r(5′GGACUUUUGUCC). NMR spectra for single-stranded C4 oligonucleotide, mimicking the unfolded hairpin loop, are consistent with a right-handed A-form-like helix. Comparisons between NMR spectra and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that recent reparametrizations, parm99χ_YIL and parm99TOR, of the AMBER parm99 force field improve the agreement between structural features for C4 determined by NMR and predicted by MD. Evidently, the force field revisions to parm99 improve the modeling of RNA energetics and therefore structure.