Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role Discovery in Graphs Using Global Features: Algorithms, Applications and a Novel Evaluation Strategy

In social network analysis, the fundamental idea behind the notion of roles is to discover actors who have similar structural signatures. Actors performing the same role have similar behavioural and functional characteristics. Few examples of structural roles are bridge nodes, clique members and star centers. Role discovery involves partitioning the nodes in a network based on their structural characteristics. The notion of roles is complementary to the notion of community detection, which involves partitioning the network into cohesive subgroups. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm RID"Rs (Role Identification and Discovery using "-equitable Refinements): a graph partitioning approach for extracting soft roles in networks. RID"Rs discovers structural roles based on the global graph characteristics of a network. Evaluating the quality of roles discovered is nontrivial due to the lack of ground-truth role datasets, we present a novel framework for evaluating and comparing various role discovery approaches. We also demonstrate the e ectiveness of RID"Rs on diverse graph mining tasks: role identification/discovery and for finding top-k nodes that are most similar to a given node. Further, the empirical scalability analysis of our proposed algorithm on random power-law graphs shows that our approach is highly scalable.
Studying the core-cusp problem in cold dark matter halos using N-body simulations on GPU clusters

The discrepancy in the mass-density profile of dark matter halos between simulations and observations, the core-cusp problem, is a long-standing open question in the standard paradigm of cold dark matter cosmology. Here, we study the dynamical response of dark matter halos to oscillations of the galactic potential which are induced by a cycle of gas expansion and contraction in galaxies driven by supernova feedback. We developed a fast tree-code for PC clusters with GPU which displays high performance and high scalability. We perform large scale N-body simulations to follow the dynamical evolution of dark matter halos under the effect of oscillating gravitational potential. Furthermore, we compare the results of simulations with an analytical model of the resonance between particles and density waves to understand the physical mechanism of the cusp-core transition.
Non-clinical outcome measures in dentistry: publishing trends 1988-98.

OBJECTIVES To provide an overview of the use of non-clinical outcome measures in dentistry and to identify trends and strengths and weaknesses in existing research. METHODS Literature searches using medical and social sciences databases and stated inclusion and exclusion criteria. Categorisation and coding of accepted studies according to: concept of outcome, study design and standardisation of outcome measures used. Simple graphical and statistical analysis used to identify trends in outcome measurement and strengths and weaknesses. RESULTS There has been a steady growth in non-clinical outcome measurement research in dentistry over the last 10 years. Most studies have addressed dental knowledge, attitudes or behaviours (KAB), socio-dental indicators or anxiety. Two-thirds of all studies have used non-standardised outcome measures. Different concepts of outcome are associated with different study designs and standardisation status of outcome measures used. Studies addressing dental "satisfaction" and KAB are more likely than average to use non-validated measures. CONCLUSIONS There needs to be more focus on the development of methods to assess the validity of non-clinical outcome measures in dentistry. In addition more conceptual studies need to be undertaken on the theoretical links between the different concepts of outcome found in the current study.
Regulation of YKL‐40 expression during genotoxic or microenvironmental stress in human glioblastoma cells

YKL‐40 is a 40 kDa secreted glycoprotein belonging to the family of ‘mammalian chitinase‐like proteins’, but without chitinase activity. YKL‐40 has a proliferative effect on fibroblasts, chondrocytes and synoviocytes, and chemotactic effect on endothelium and vascular smooth muscle cells. Elevated YKL‐40 levels are found in serum of patients with diseases characterized by inflammation, fibrosis and tissue remodeling. Several studies have reported that high serum YKL‐40 levels in patients with cancer are associated with poor prognosis. YKL‐40 expression is strongly elevated in serum and biopsy material from glioblastomas patients. We investigated the expression of YKL‐40 in three human malignant glioma cell lines exposed to different types of stress. Whereas a polymerase chain reaction transcript was detectable in all three cell lines, only U87 produced measurable amounts of YKL‐40 protein. In U87, hypoxia and ionizing radiation induced a significant increase in YKL‐40 after 24–48 h. The hypoxic induction of YKL‐40 was independent of HIF1. Etoposide, ceramide, serum depletion and confluence all led to elevated YKL‐40. Inhibition of p53 augmented the YKL‐40 expression indicating that YKL‐40 is attenuated by p53. In contrast, both basic fibroblast growth factor and tumor necrosing factor‐α repressed YKL‐40. These are the first data on regulation of YKL‐40 in cancer cells. Diverse types of stress resulted in YKL‐40 elevation, which strongly supports an involvement of YKL‐40 in the malignant phenotype as a cellular survival factor in an adverse microenvironment. (Cancer Sci 2005; 96: 183–190)
Photocatalytic Degradation of an Organophosphorus Pesticide Phosalone in Aqueous Suspensions of Titanium Dioxide

Abstract The present work deals with photocatalytic degradation of an organophosphorus pesticide, phosalone, in water in the presence of TiO2 particles under UV light illumination (1000 W). The influence of the basic photocatalytic parameters such as pH of the solution, amount of TiO2, irradiation time, stirring rate, and distance from UV source, on the photodegradation efficiency of phosalone was investigated. The degradation rate of phosalone was not high when the photolysis was carried out in the absence of TiO2 and it was negligible in the absence of UV light. The half-life (DT50) of a 20 ppm aqueous solution of phosalone was 15 min in optimized conditions. The plot of lnC (phosalone) vs. time was linear, suggesting first order reaction (K = 0.0532 min−1). The half-life time of photomineralization in the concentration range of 7.5–20 ppm was 13.02 min. The efficiency of the method was also determined by measuring the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). During the mineralization under optimized conditions, COD decreased by more than 45% at irradiation time of 15 min. The photodegradation of phosalone was enhanced by addition of proper amount of hydrogen peroxide (150 ppm).
Transaction costs and the assessment of greenhouse policies in the transport energy sector

4 1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 5 2. THE TRANSACTION COSTS THEORY 5 3. CRITERIA FOR POLICY ASSESSMENT 6 4. METHODS FOR ESTIMATING TRANSACTION COSTS 8 5. CASE STUDIES 10 5.1 ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY FOR THE MOTOR VEHICLE INDUSTRY 10 5.2 TRADABLE PERMIT AND FEE SYSTEM 20 6. NEXT STEPS.DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 27 7. CONCLUSIONS 28 REFERENCES 29
No response to high‐dose muscarinic agonist therapy in Alzheimer's disease

Cholinergic deficiency is the most consistent transmitter system abnormality in Alzheimer's disease. To test the acute therapeutic efficacy of cholinergic replacement, seven patients with presenile onset of Alzheimer's type dementia received maximum tolerated doses (10 mg/d) of the selective muscarinic agonist, RS-86, in combination with a peripherally active anticholinergic glycopyrrolate (6 mg/d), in a double-blind placebo-controlled design. No consistent, clinically significant cognitive improvement could be discerned in these mild to moderately demented patients, despite attainment of central RS-86 levels approximating those that affect behavior in the experimental animal. Muscarinic agonist monotherapy may thus be inadequate to benefit Alzheimer's type dementia.
Occupational heat stress in Australian workplaces

ABSTRACT The aim of this review was to summarize the current state of knowledge on heat stress risk within typical Australian occupational settings. We assessed identified occupations (mining, agriculture, construction, emergency services) for heat production and heat loss potential, and resultant levels of physiological heat strain. A total of 29 reports were identified that assessed in-situ work settings in Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, that measured physiological responses and characterized the thermal environment. Despite workers across all industries being regularly exposed to high ambient temperatures (32–42°C) often coupled with high absolute humidity (max: 33 hPa), physiological strain is generally low in terms of core temperature (<38°C) and dehydration (<1 % reduction in mass) by virtue of the low energy demands of many tasks, and self-regulated pacing of work possible in most jobs. Heat stress risk is higher in specific jobs in agriculture (e.g. sheep shearing), deep underground mining, and emergency services (e.g., search/rescue and bushfire fighting). Heat strain was greatest in military-related activities, particularly externally-paced marching with carried loads which resulted in core temperatures often exceeding 39.5°C despite being carried out in cooler environments. The principal driver of core temperature elevations in most jobs is the rate of metabolic heat production. A standardized approach to evaluating the risk of occupational heat strain in Australian workplaces is recommended defining the individual parameters that alter human heat balance. Future research should also more closely examine female workers and occupational activities within the forestry and agriculture/horticulture sector.
Automatic synthesis of asynchronous circuits from high-level specifications

The authors construct a processor design approach that does not require the distribution of a clocking signal. To facilitate design of processors that use fully asynchronous components, the first step is to design hazard-free asynchronous interconnection circuits. To this end, a deterministic algorithm was developed to synthesize asynchronous interconnection circuits from high-level specifications. This approach systematically designs correct asynchronous interconnection circuits with the weakest possible constraints and minimal overhead. The authors are primarily concerned with the synthesis of nonmetastable circuits, even though the procedure is also valid of metastable circuit synthesis. The synthesized logic is hazard-free and guaranteed to have the fastest operation according to a behavioral specification. A high-level description is used to specify circuit behavior, not only for a simpler input format, but also as a basis for determining the final optimum designs. Automatic synthesis and the ability to localize the timing considerations reduce design effort when systems become complex. >
Corporate Governance and Earnings Management. Evidence from Europe

In response to the many corporate scandals, regulators developed laws and recommendations in order to improve the governance of firms. This paper studies the relation between different corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in a European context. Prior research focused mainly on U.S. firms. However, Europe is quite distinct from the U.S. in terms of country- and company-level characteristics. Our results show that better corporate governance is associated with less (income-increasing) earnings management by European firms. More specifically, we find that better shareholder rights, fewer anti- takeover mechanisms, and a good functioning board of directors and director committees lead to higher accounting quality. We also find that the extent of corporate governance recommendations issued at the country level influences the effectiveness of corporate governance practices in constraining earnings management. These relations are especially evident in code law countries, where the opportunities for earnings management are larger than in common law countries.
Shareholder Proposals on Executive Compensation

We examine 169 shareholder proposals on executive compensation filed against 106 firms by 74 sponsors over the period 1992-95. We find the probability of receiving a proposal is associated with the firm? s executive compensation policies, firm performance, and the composition of the shareholder base, but is unassociated with the existence of alternative monitoring mechanisms. Voting outcomes are associated with firm performance, the shareholder base, and the proposal sponsor, but are unassociated with the structure of executive compensation or the existence of alternative monitoring mechanisms. We find no evidence that proposals put to a vote trigger subsequent changes in executive compensation policies. However, 20% of proposals are withdrawn prior to a vote. Withdrawal occurs when the proposal sponsor and target firm reach an accomodation (IRRC 1996). A plurality (41%) of withdrawn proposals deal with the independence of the compensation committee. Additionally, two-thirds of the proposals on compensation committee independence are subsequently withdrawn. To the extent that shareholder proposals on executive compensation lead to changes in compensation policies, it is through the indirect mechanism of increased compensation committee independence.
Improvement of seminal parameters with Prelox®: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over trial

In a randomly allocated, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over design, 50 infertile patients were treated for 1 month with placebo or a combination of l‐arginine aspartate and Pycnogenol® (Prelox®). Semen samples were examined at 4 week intervals according to WHO criteria. Treatment with Prelox increased significantly the semen volume, concentration of spermatozoa, percentage of motile spermatozoa and percentage of spermatozoa with normal morphology compared with placebo. The placebo had no influence on the parameters of seminological analysis. Intake of Pycnogenol for 1 month improved the fertility index to normal values. After treatment, the fertility index decreased again to infertile status. No unwanted effects were reported. Prelox seems to be a promising alternative to treat patients with mild infertility. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modelling the Evolution of Credit Spreads in the United States

The authors use Jarrow and Turnbull's (1995) reduced-form methodology to model the evolution of the term structure of interest rates in the United States for different credit classes and different industries. The authors also estimate a liquidity function for each credit class and industry. Using data from individual firms, the authors estimate the probability of default under the natural measure and compare it with the estimated default frequencies produced by KMV.
Identification of sequential events and factors associated with microglial activation, migration, and cytotoxicity in retinal degeneration in rd mice.

PURPOSE To elucidate the role of activated microglia in the photoreceptor apoptosis of rd mice by identifying sequential events and factors associated with microglial activation, migration, and cytotoxicity during retinal degeneration. METHODS Photoreceptor apoptosis in rd mice at postnatal days (P)8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 was detected by terminal dUTP transferase nick end labeling (TUNEL). Retinal microglia were identified by CD11b antibody. Expression of chemokine mRNA, including monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, MCP-3, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha, MIP-1beta, regulated on activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), interferon-gamma-inducible 10-kDa protein (IP-10), and fractalkine in the retina were examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in the dystrophic retina was studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry analysis. Microglial expression of TNF-alpha was determined by double immunolabeling. RESULTS Whereas photoreceptor apoptosis in the rd mice started at P10 and reached a peak at P16, activation and migration of microglial cells were observed at P10 and peaked at P14. The expression of MCP-1, MCP-3, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES transcripts were noted at P8 and reached a peak at P12. Production of TNF-alpha was noted in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of the rd mice at P8 and reached a peak at P12. At the peak of microglial activity, TNF-alpha was predominantly expressed in the activated microglial cells in the ONL. CONCLUSIONS Activation of microglia, as well as expression of their signaling molecules (chemokines) and microglia-derived toxic factor (TNF-alpha), coincides with or precedes the occurrence of photoreceptor apoptosis, suggesting activated microglia play a major role in retinal degeneration in rd mice. The chemokines MCP-1, MCP-3, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES are involved in activation and recruitment of the microglia to the degenerating photoreceptor cell layer. TNF-alpha, produced by the activated microglia, may accentuate the photoreceptor cell death.
Formal validation of a multicast transport protocol

The past years have seen the emergence of cooperative applications that require the exchange of high volumes of data among remote cooperating parties. With the purpose of providing a scalable communication solution for this kind of applications, multicast transport protocols have been proposed in the literature, because point to point communications lead to wasting too much bandwidth, in particular if one wants to guarantee a certain level of reliability. In this paper, we study a multicast transport protocol, scalable probabilistic reliable multicast (SPRM), and show how a formal description technique, RT-LOTOS, has been successfully applied to identify some flaws in this complex multi-parties protocol. It is shown how the same approach may also be used for performance evaluation, and we compare our results with other models based on queuing theory.
Concept for printed ferroelectric sensors on coated metallic substrates

In this work we report on the integration of all-printed multi-layer ferroelectric sensor stacks into organic coatings on metallic surfaces like sheet steel. Manufacturing techniques for realizing thin film sensor layers on top of organic coatings using screen printing are presented. Results for the piezo/pyroelectric sensor layer with variable printing parameters are then analysed and compared.
Thrombosis: a major contributor to the global disease burden

Thrombosis is a common pathology underlying ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and venous thromboembolism (VTE). The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2010 documented that ischemic heart disease and stroke collectively caused one in four deaths worldwide. GBD 2010 did not report data for VTE as a cause of death and disability. We performed a systematic review of the literature on the global disease burden caused by VTE in low‐income, middle‐income and high‐income countries. Studies from western Europe, North America, Australia and southern Latin America (Argentina) yielded consistent results, with annual incidence rates ranging from 0.75 to 2.69 per 1000 individuals in the population. The incidence increased to between 2 and 7 per 1000 among those aged ≥ 70 years. Although the incidence is lower in individuals of Chinese and Korean ethnicity, their disease burden is not low, because of population aging. VTE associated with hospitalization was the leading cause of disability‐adjusted life‐years (DALYs) lost in low‐income and middle‐income countries, and the second most common cause in high‐income countries, being responsible for more DALYs lost than nosocomial pneumonia, catheter‐related bloodstream infections, and adverse drug events. VTE causes a major burden of disease across low‐income, middle‐income and high‐income countries. More detailed data on the global burden of VTE should be obtained to inform policy and resource allocation in health systems, and to evaluate whether improved utilization of preventive measures will reduce the burden.
Social insurance cost of standard discectomy and percutaneous nucleotomy. A retrospective study of 87 social insurance claim files of male blue collar workers.

A retrospective review of social insurance claim files of male blue collar workers was conducted to compare the social insurance costs of percutaneous lumbar nucleotomy with standard lumbar discectomy ; 29 percutaneous nucleotomy procedures were matched with 58 standard discectomies all carried out between January 1992 and December 1994. It was concluded that a standard discectomy procedure results in significantly higher costs during hospitalisation with respect to surgery, anaesthesia and hospital stay. A percutaneous nucleotomy leads to a significantly higher outpatient expenditure especially in radiology and medical devices. The relative proportion of outpatient practitioner's visits and hospital stay costs was significantly higher for the standard discectomy whereas medical devices had a relatively higher share in outpatient expenditure for the percutaneous nucleotomy. In this population of 87 compensation claimants, the average social insurance costs did not significantly differ between the percutaneous nucleotomy and the standard discectomy.
Hardware efficient seizure prediction algorithm

Epilepsy affects 2.5 million people in the USA, 15% of which cannot be treated with traditional methods. Effective treatments require reliable prediction of seizures to increase their effectiveness and quality-of-life. Phase synchronization phenomenon of two distant neuron populations for a short period of time just prior to a seizure episode is utilized for such prediction. This paper presents a hardware efficient prediction algorithm using phase-difference (PD) method instead of the commonly used phase-locking statistics (PLS). The dataset has been collected from publicly available “CHB-MIT Scalp EEG Database” that consists of scalp EEG recordings from 10 pediatric subjects with intractable seizures. The seizure channel is selected based on the maximum value of the standard deviation during seizure, while the reference channel has the minimum value of the standard deviation. Data from these two channels is conditioned with a band-pass (flc = 10Hz, fhc = 12.5Hz) 6th order Chebyshev Type II filter or a FIR filter. The analytical signals are derived using Hilbert Transform to allow phase extraction. PLS and PD are calculated from the mean of the phase-differences using an overlapping sliding-window technique. PD method demonstrates the same characteristics as PLS, while achieving 2.35 times faster computation rate in MATLAB than PLS. With 51 seizure episodes, prediction latency was between 51 seconds to 188 minutes with sensitivity of 88.2%. PD yields to lower hardware requirement and reduces computational complexity.