Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stepwise‐refinement for performance: a methodology for many‐core programming

Many‐core hardware is targeted specifically at obtaining high performance, but reaching high performance is often challenging because hardware‐specific details have to be taken into account. Although there are many programming systems that try to alleviate many‐core programming, some providing a high‐level language, others providing a low‐level language for control, none of these systems have a clear and systematic methodology as a foundation. In this article, we propose stepwise‐refinement for performance: a novel, clear, and structured methodology for obtaining high performance on many‐cores. We present a system that supports this methodology, offers multiple levels of abstraction to provide programmers a trade‐off between high‐level and low‐level programming, and provides programmers detailed performance feedback. We evaluate our methodology with several widely varying compute kernels on two different many‐core architectures: a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) and the Xeon Phi. We show that our methodology gives insight in the performance, and that in almost all cases, we gain a substantial performance improvement using our methodology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Employee desire for unionisation in Britian and its implications for union organising

Summary: This paper considers the size of the market for unionisation in Britain and what unions can do to increase employees' desire for membership and representation. It identifies quite high levels of union satisfaction among members, but a sizeable minority of 10-14% of members who are discontented with their union who are most at risk of leaving the union. Successful retention depends upon unions identifying ways in which the union can better represent its members on a diverse set of issues, and ensuring union representation can bring benefits over and above those on offer through non-union collective representation. Over one-third of non-members in unionised workplaces say they would like to join a union if asked, but over half of non-members eligible to join the union at their workplace have never been asked to join. In-fill recruitment will improve where unions convince non-members that they are effective organisations capable of making a difference; where they can convince non-members that it is -people like you' who join unions; and where they can persuade non-members that membership is value for money. Although non-members in unorganised workplaces are less collectivist in outlook than employees in unionised workplaces, almost half say they would join a union if asked. In the absence of a union, desire for unionisation among non-members in unorganised workplaces turns on their general perceptions of unions in society, their image of unions, and expectations about what a union might do if it existed at their workplace.
Impacts of the Attributes of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and the Interrelationship among Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: A Study of Casual Dining Restaurants of Ranchi

The primary objective of this study is to identify the impact of the attributes service quality on customer satisfaction and to find out the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the casual dining restaurant of Ranchi, Jharkhand. In the restaurant sector of Jharkhand, there is a lack of focus in service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty marketing. The concept of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty is in primitive stage in this sector of Jharkhand. A review of literature was conducted to find out the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The review of the literature confirms this relationship. A survey was conducted among customers of the quality restaurants in Ranchi. A total of 220 questionnaires were distributed and 148 usable questionnaires were returned. The result indicates that there is a strong positive relationship between tangibles and customer satisfaction, between reliability and customer satisfaction, between assurance and customer satisfaction, between empathy and customer satisfaction and weak positive relationship between responsiveness and customer satisfaction in the casual dining restaurants of Ranchi. There is a strong positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the casual dining restaurants of Ranchi.
Stabilization of triple link inverted pendulum system based on LQR control technique

This paper first discusses the mathematical modeling of a dynamical system consists of triple link inverted pendulum (TLIP) on a moving cart using Lagrangian equation. This model is then used to design a controller based on the LQR method to maintain the TLIP vertically on the moving cart. The stability and controllability of the triple link inverted pendulum system are investigated and the choice of weights in LQR is also discussed. The system is simulated in MATLAB environment and the simulation results establish the satisfactory performance of the LQR controller in stabilizing the system.
The Value of Financial Designations: A Consumer Perspective

Throughout their lifetimes, consumers use financial service professionals (FSPs) to achieve important financial goals and ensure financial wellbeing, often turning to FSPs as their levels of income and investable assets necessitate professional guidance. This study evaluates the impact of consumer perceptions of advisors' financial designations/credentials on rate of compensation to the FSP when controlling for consumer age, income, and investable assets. It further evaluates the impact of consumer perceptions of advisors' financial designations/credentials on consumers' perceived value received when controlling for consumer age, income, and investable assets. Using data from Advisor Impact's 2014 "Economics of Loyalty Research" survey, this study finds that consumers who value designations, as well as those with higher incomes and investable assets, pay advisors more than those who do not. The study also finds that consumers in older age groups tend to pay less to their advisors than the youngest age group, possibly indicating less of a need for financial advice. As a potential explanation for why those who value designations tend to pay more to their FSPs, the results regarding the perception of value received suggest that consumers who value designations also perceive greater value in return for the fees paid to their FSP. For advisors, these results provide support for the acquisition of designations as a means for greater perceived value on behalf of the consumer, and ultimately, higher levels of compensation.
Permanent Effects of Neonatal Estrogen Exposure in Rats on Reproductive Hormone Levels, Sertoli Cell Number, and the Efficiency of Spermatogenesis in Adulthood1.

This study aimed to identify the mechanism(s) for impairment of spermatogenesis in adulthood in rats treated neonatally with estrogens. Rats were treated (days 2-12) with 10, 1, or 0.1 microg diethylstilbestrol (DES), 10 microg ethinyl estradiol (EE), 10 mg/kg of a GnRH antagonist (GnRHa), or vehicle and killed in adulthood. DES/EE caused dose-dependent reductions in testis weight, total germ cell volume per testis, and Sertoli cell volume per testis. Sertoli cell number at 18 days of age in DES-treated rats was reduced dose dependently. GnRHa treatment caused changes in these parameters similar to those in rats treated with 10 microg DES. Plasma FSH levels were elevated (P < 0.001) to similar levels in all treatment groups regardless of differences in Sertoli cell number and levels of inhibin B; the latter reflected Sertoli cell number, but levels were disproportionately reduced in animals treated with high doses of DES/EE. Neonatal estrogen treatment, but not GnRHa, caused dose-dependent reductions (40-80%) in plasma testosterone levels in adulthood, but did not alter LH levels. Preliminary evidence suggests that the decrease in testosterone levels in estrogen-treated rats is not due to reduced Leydig cell volume per testis. GnRHa-treated rats exhibited a significant increase in germ cell volume per Sertoli cell and a reduction in germ cell apoptosis, probably because of the raised FSH levels. Despite similar raised FSH levels, rats treated with DES (10 or 1 microg) or EE (10 microg) had reduced germ cell volume/Sertoli cell and increased germ cell apoptosis, especially when compared with GnRHa-treated animals. The latter changes were associated with an increase in lumen size per testis, indicative of impaired fluid resorption from the efferent ducts, resulting in fluid accumulation in the testis. Rats treated neonatally with 0.1 microg DES showed reduced germ cell apoptosis comparable to that in GnRHa-treated animals. The changes in apoptotic rate among treatment groups occurred across all stages of the spermatogenic cycle. It is concluded that 1) neonatal estrogen treatment results in dose-dependent alterations in Sertoli cell numbers, germ cell volume, efficiency of spermatogenesis, and germ cell apoptosis in adulthood; 2) the relatively poor spermatogenesis in estrogen-treated animals is most likely due to altered testis fluid dynamics and/or altered Sertoli cell function; 3) as indicated by FSH (LH) and testosterone levels, the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and Leydig cells are probably more sensitive than the Sertoli cells to reprogramming by estrogens neonatally; and 4) elevated FSH levels in adulthood may improve the efficiency of spermatogenesis.
Potential of surface-coil MRI for staging of esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of external surface-coil MRI as a new method of imaging the esophagus and esophageal cancer. CONCLUSION The results for the 10 patients investigated indicate that by using a high-resolution axial T2-weighted sequence (small field of view, thin section images), MRI provides detailed imaging of the anatomic layers of the esophageal wall and tumor. Three independent radiologists found good correlation in the morphologic appearance and extent of tumor between MRI and matched histology sections. This study illustrates the potential of the technique as an alternative form of local staging for esophageal cancer.
The Association of Homozygote T Allele of rs2943641 Polymorphism near of Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 Gene in the Susceptibility to Autism

Background: Autism disorder is a neuro-developmental disorder; it is heterogeneous with multiple genes defects that can lead to autism. The incidence has increased from 1980 to 1990, 5/10,000 to 37/10,000 respectively. The increase in the frequency has led to huge studies being carried out in this field. The main causes and the pathway of the disease is as yet unclear. However, several reports have been documented that indicate that CNVs and single genes disorders that are involved in multiple pathways have a role in the development of autism. The main genes that are associated with ASD are involved in mTOR/PI3K pathway. MTOR/PI3K pathway is responsible for the growth rate and pruning of cellular-synapse. Therefore, increase the activity of this pathway due to mutations in the upstream or downstream of the pathway it may cause ASD to develop. The aim of this dissertation is to present a new aspect by indicating the association of Homozygote T Allele of rs2943641 Polymorphism in IRS1 that is involved in the PI3K pathway and increase the susceptibility to ASD. The effect of homozygote T allele of rs2943641 has been previously reported as increasing the expression of IRS1. Increase in the expression leads to an increase in the phosphorylation of PI3K that may hyper-activate the pathway. Methods: An allelic discrimination assay was suggested to determine the most common allelic variation of rs2943641 in autistic patients in Saudi Arabia. Results and conclusion: If the result indicates an association between the T allele of rs2943641 and ASD, a new aspect in the genetic causes for autism will have been added
Main Achievements of the World Organisation for Animal Health/United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Network on Animal Influenza

Abstract The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)/United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) joint network of expertise on animal influenza (OFFLU) includes all ten OIE/FAO reference laboratories and collaborating centers for avian influenza, other diagnostic laboratories, research and academic institutions, and experts in the fields of virology, epidemiology, vaccinology, and molecular biology. OFFLU has made significant progress in improving its infrastructure, in identifying and addressing technical gaps, and in establishing associations among leading veterinary institutions. Interaction with the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Influenza Program is also critical, and mechanisms for permanent interaction are being developed. OFFLU played a key role in the WHO/OIE/FAO Joint Technical Consultation held in Verona (October 7–9, 2008), which provided an opportunity to highlight and share knowledge and identify potential gaps regarding issues at the human-animal interface for avian influenza. OFFLU experts also contributed to the working group for the Unified Nomenclature System for H5N1 influenza viruses based on hemagglutinin gene phylogeny (WHO/OIE/FAO, H5N1 Evolution Working Group, Towards a unified nomenclature system for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) in Emerging Infectious Diseases 14:e1, 2008). OFFLU technical activities, led by expert scientists from OIE/FAO reference institutions and coordinated by OIE and FAO focal points, have been prioritized to include commercial diagnostic kit evaluation, applied epidemiology, biosafety, vaccination, proficiency testing, development of standardized reference materials for sera and RNA, and issues at the human-animal interface. The progress to date and future plans for these groups will be presented. OFFLU is also involved in two national projects implemented by FAO in Indonesia and Egypt that seek to establish sustainable mechanisms for monitoring virus circulation, including viral characterization, and for streamlining the process to update poultry vaccines for avian influenza.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Determinants in European Salmonella Genomic Island 1-Positive Salmonella enterica Isolates from Different Origins

ABSTRACT Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) contains a multidrug resistance region conferring the ampicillin-chloramphenicol-streptomycin-sulfamethoxazole-tetracycline resistance phenotype encoded by bla PSE-1, floR, aadA2, sul1, and tet(G). Its increasing spread via interbacterial transfer and the emergence of new variants are important public health concerns. We investigated the molecular properties of SGI1-carrying Salmonella enterica serovars selected from a European strain collection. A total of 38 strains belonging to S. enterica serovar Agona, S. enterica serovar Albany, S. enterica serovar Derby, S. enterica serovar Kentucky, S. enterica serovar Newport, S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B dT+, and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, isolated between 2002 and 2006 in eight European countries from humans, animals, and food, were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, molecular typing methods (XbaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE], plasmid analysis, and multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis [MLVA]), as well as detection of resistance and virulence determinants (PCR/sequencing and DNA microarray analysis). Typing experiments revealed wide heterogeneity inside the strain collection and even within serovars. PFGE analysis distinguished a total of 26 different patterns. In contrast, the characterization of the phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance revealed serovar-specific features. Apart from the classical SGI1 organization found in 61% of the strains, seven different variants were identified with antimicrobial resistance properties associated with SGI1-A (S. Derby), SGI1-C (S. Derby), SGI1-F (S. Albany), SGI1-L (S. Newport), SGI1-K (S. Kentucky), SGI1-M (S. Typhimurium), and, eventually, a novel variant similar to SGI1-C with additional gentamicin resistance encoded by aadB. Only minor serovar-specific differences among virulence patterns were detected. In conclusion, the SGI1 carriers exhibited pathogenetic backgrounds comparable to the ones published for susceptible isolates. However, because of their multidrug resistance, they may be more relevant in clinical settings.
Kernel Combined Sparse Representation for Disease Recognition

Motivated by the idea that the correlation structure of the entire training set can disclose the relationship between the test sample and the training samples, we propose the combined sparse representation (CSR) classifier for disease recognition. The CSR classifier minimizes the correlation structure of the entire training set multiplied by its transposition and the sparse coefficient together for classification. Including the kernel concept, we propose the kernel combined sparse representation classifier utilizing the high-dimensional nonlinear information instead of the linear information in the CSR classifier. Furthermore, considering the information of the training samples and the class center, we then propose the center-based kernel combined sparse representation (CKCSR) classifier. CKCSR uses the center-based kernel matrix to increase the center-based information that is helpful for classification. The proposed classifiers have been evaluated by extensive experiments on several well-known databases including the EXACT09 database, Emphysema-CT database, mini-MIAS database, Wisconsin breast cancer database, and HD-PECTF database. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed classifiers achieve better recognition rates than the sparse representation-based classification, collaborative representation based classification, and several state-of-the-art methods.
The effect of manager gender on hedge fund risk and performance

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: This master's thesis examines among the hedge funds managed by a sole manager, whether differences in perfomance and risk between ones managed by female (female funds) and ones managed by male managers (male funds) exists. For simplicity, in this study such differences are refered as the ”gender effects” of hedge fund managers. I also explore whether the gender effect on perfomance can be explained by the gender effect on risk. DATA AND METHODOLOGY: The primary data is extracted from the Academic Lipper TASS database. The sample use in this study includes 5697 live hedge funds that began operation in the period January 1994 to December 2013. The excluded funds are the ones that was borned outside that period of time or the ones that have ceased functioning. Manually collected data regarding managers’ gender is used to complement the primary data. Other data including Fung-Hsieh factors and three month T-bill rate and are retrieved on David A. Hsieh’s data library website and DataStream database. Hedge funds managed by a sole female manager are matched with similar hedge funds managed by a sole male manager using Propensity Score Matching method. The variables used for matching are the size of the funds, management fee, incentive fee, leverage usage, and managers’ capital investment. The gender effects on perfomance and risk are calculated as the average differences between the paired funds in Fung-Hsieh 8-factor risk adjusted return and net volatility. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: There is a weak evidence that female funds overperform equivalent male funds by 0.17 percent monthly return over the period January 1994 to December 2013. However, during the two financial crises 1997 and 2008, female funds net excess return of about 0.16 and 0.31 monthly respectively compared to male funds, significant at 1 percent level. Volatility is not found to be significantly different for male and female funds. The gender effect on returns is not adequately exlplained by the gender effect on volatility, accounting for about 4 percent of the variance. I propose several explainations for the gender effect on perfomance based on the existing literature.
Estimation of the Size of Genetic Bottlenecks in Cell-to-Cell Movement of Soil-Borne Wheat Mosaic Virus and the Possible Role of the Bottlenecks in Speeding Up Selection of Variations in trans-Acting Genes or Elements

ABSTRACT Genetic bottlenecks facilitate the fixation and extinction of variants in populations, and viral populations are no exception to this theory. To examine the existence of genetic bottlenecks in cell-to-cell movement of plant RNA viruses, we prepared constructs for Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus RNA2 vectors carrying two different fluorescent proteins, yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) and cyan fluorescent protein (CFP). Coinoculation of host plant leaves with the two RNA2 vectors and the wild-type RNA1 showed separation of the two vector RNA2s, mostly within seven to nine cell-to-cell movements from individual initially coinfected cells. Our statistical analysis showed that the number of viral RNA genomes establishing infection in adjacent cells after the first cell-to-cell movement from an initially infected cell was 5.97 ± 0.22 on average and 5.02 ± 0.29 after the second cell-to-cell movement. These results indicate that plant RNA viruses may generally face narrow genetic bottlenecks in every cell-to-cell movement. Furthermore, our model suggests that, rather than suffering from fitness losses caused by the bottlenecks, the plant RNA viruses are utilizing the repeated genetic bottlenecks as an essential element of rapid selection of their adaptive variants in trans-acting genes or elements to respond to host shifting and changes in the growth conditions of the hosts.
Straight Talkers and Vague Talkers: The Effects of Managerial Style in Earnings Conference Calls

Managers conducting earnings conference calls display distinctive styles in their word choice. Some CEOs and CFOs are straight talkers. Others, by contrast, are vague talkers. Vague talkers routinely use qualifying words indicating uncertainty, such as “approximately”, “probably”, or “maybe”. Analysts and the stock market attend to the style of managerial talk. They find earnings news less informative when managers are vague; they respond less and more slowly as a result. Thus, quantitative information and straightforward contextual information prove to be complements. Vague communications have the potential benefit of tamping down over-optimistic analysts expectations.