pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Representative misconduct, voter perceptions and accountability: Evidence from the 2009 House of Commons expenses scandal

AbstractThis paper examines electoral accountability after the 2009–10 UK expenses scandal. Existing research shows that Members of Parliament (MPs) implicated in the scandal fared only marginally worse in the election than non-implicated colleagues. This lack of electoral accountability for misconduct could have arisen either because voters did not know about their representative's wrongdoing or because they chose not to electorally sanction them. We combine panel survey data with new measures of MP implication in the expenses scandal to test where electoral accountability failed. We find that MP implication influenced voter perceptions of wrongdoing more than expected. In contrast, constituents were only marginally less likely to vote for MPs who were implicated in the scandal. Electoral accountability may therefore be constrained even when information about representative misconduct is easily available and clearly influences voter perceptions
Can Hawking temperatures be negative?

AbstractIt has been widely believed that the Hawking temperature for a black hole is uniquely determined by its metric and positive. But, I argue that this might not be true in the recently discovered black holes which include the exotic black holes and the black holes in the three-dimensional higher curvature gravities. I argue that the Hawking temperatures, which are measured by the quantum fields in thermal equilibrium with the black holes, might not be the usual Hawking temperature but the new temperatures that have been proposed recently and can be negative. The associated new entropy formulae, which are defined by the first and second laws of thermodynamics, versus the black hole masses show some genuine effects of the black holes which do not occur in the spin systems. Some cosmological implications and physical origin of the discrepancy with the standard analysis are noted also
Automatic compile-time parallelization of logic programs for restricted, goal level, independent and parallelism

AbstractA framework for the automatic parallelization of (constraint) logic programs is proposed and proved correct. Intuitively, the parallelization process replaces conjunctions of literals with parallel expressions. Such expressions trigger at run-time the exploitation of restricted, goal-level, independent and parallelism. The parallelization process performs two steps. The first one builds a conditional dependency graph (which can be simplified using compile-time analysis information), while the second transforms the resulting graph into linear conditional expressions, the parallel expressions of the &-Prolog language. Several heuristic algorithms for the latter (“annotation”) process are proposed and proved correct. Algorithms are also given which determine if there is any loss of parallelism in the linearization process with respect to a proposed notion of maximal parallelism. Finally, a system is presented which implements the proposed approach. The performance of the different annotation algorithms is compared experimentally in this system by studying the time spent in parallelization and the effectiveness of the results in terms of speedups
Gaia Data Release 1. Open cluster astrometry: performance, limitations, and future prospects

Context. The first Gaia Data Release contains the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). This is a subset of about 2 million stars for which, besides the position and photometry, the proper motion and parallax are calculated using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 positions in 1991.25 as prior information. Aims. We investigate the scientific potential and limitations of the TGAS component by means of the astrometric data for open clusters. Methods. Mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are derived taking into account the error correlations within the astrometric solutions for individual stars, an estimate of the internal velocity dispersion in the cluster, and, where relevant, the effects of the depth of the cluster along the line of sight. Internal consistency of the TGAS data is assessed. Results. Values given for standard uncertainties are still inaccurate and may lead to unrealistic unit-weight standard deviations of least squares solutions for cluster parameters. Reconstructed mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are generally in very good agreement with earlier Hipparcos-based determination, although the Gaia mean parallax for the Pleiades is a significant exception. We have no current explanation for that discrepancy. Most clusters are observed to extend to nearly 15 pc from the cluster centre, and it will be up to future Gaia releases to establish whether those potential cluster-member stars are still dynamically bound to the clusters. Conclusions. The Gaia DR1 provides the means to examine open clusters far beyond their more easily visible cores, and can provide membership assessments based on proper motions and parallaxes. A combined HR diagram shows the same features as observed before using the Hipparcos data, with clearly increased luminosities for older A and F dwarfs.Peer-reviewedPublisher Versio
Contemporary analysis and numerical simulation of revisited long-term creep tests on reinforced concrete beams from the Sixties

The stresses and deformations in concrete change over time as a result
of the creep- and shrinkage deformations of concrete. Different material models
are available in literature in order to predict this time-dependent behaviour. These
material models mostly have been calibrated on large datasets of creep specimens.
In order to verify the accuracy of the contemporary material models with
respect to the prediction of the creep behaviour of reinforced concrete beams, a
cross-sectional calculation tool which employs the age-adjusted effective modulus
has been developed and used to analyse an original set of 4 year-long creep
data on reinforced beams from the 1960’s. Six commonly used material models
for the prediction of creep and shrinkage are considered in the current investigation:
CEB-FIP Model Code 1990–1999, fib Model Code 2010, the model of
EN1992-1-1, model B3, the Gardner Lockmann 2000 model, and ACI 209. The
data on reinforced beams relates to an experimental investigation in collaboration
with six major research institutes in Belgium. From 1967 until 1972 thirty-two
reinforced beams with different reinforcement ratios were subjected, up until 4.5
years, to different stress levels in a four point bending configuration with a span
of 2.8 m. In this paper a comparison between the measurements and the calculated
deflections and strains is reported. Further, the deflections were also predicted
using the contemporary creep models in combination with the nonlinear
creep correction factor provided in EN1992-1-1, since the maximum concrete
stresses in the beams were outside the service stress range of each of the models.
Correcting for the nonlinearity of the creep coefficient significantly improves the
calculated deflections. The most accurate predictions of the deflections at early
age were obtained by the model of fib Model Code 2010. The Gardner Lockmann
2000 model exhibits the highest accuracy with respect to deflections at the end of
loading and with respect to the creep rate
On super (a, 1)-edge-antimagic total labelings of regular graphs

A labeling of a graph is a mapping that carries some set of graph elements into numbers (usually positive integers). An (a,d)-edge-antimagic total labeling of a graph with p vertices and q edges is a one-to-one mapping that takes the vertices and edges onto the integers 1,2…,p+q, so that the sum of the labels on the edges and the labels of their end vertices forms an arithmetic progression starting at a and having difference d. Such a labeling is called super if the p smallest possible labels appear at the vertices.

In this paper we prove that every even regular graph and every odd regular graph with a 1-factor are super (a,1)-edge-antimagic total. We also introduce some constructions of non-regular super (a,1)-edge-antimagic total graphs
Measurement of the inelastic cross section in proton–lead collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The inelastic hadronic cross section in proton–lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV is measured with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of L=12.6±0.4 nb−1, has been collected with an unbiased trigger for inclusive particle production. The cross section is obtained from the measured number of proton–lead collisions with hadronic activity produced in the pseudorapidity ranges 3<η<5 and/or −5<η<−3, corrected for photon-induced contributions, experimental acceptance, and other instrumental effects. The inelastic cross section is measured to be σinel(pPb)=2061±3(stat)±34(syst)±72(lumi) mb. Various Monte Carlo generators, commonly used in heavy ion and cosmic ray physics, are found to reproduce the data within uncertainties. The value of σinel(pPb) is compatible with that expected from the proton–proton cross section at 5.02 TeV scaled up within a simple Glauber approach to account for multiple scatterings in the lead nucleus, indicating that further net nuclear corrections are small.The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, and Turkish Atomic Energy Authorit
The O-carbamoyl-transferase albis is responsible for the modification of albicidin

Albicidin is a potent antibiotic and phytotoxin produced by the sugarcane pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas albilineans which targets the plant and bacterial DNA gyrase.[1] The infection occurs through the xylem vessels of the plants where the pathogen induces chlorosis which is characterized by white-pencil streaks.[2] Albicidin is encoded in the alb gene cluster, a polyketide synthase non-ribosomal peptide synthetase hybrid (PKS-NRPS). In addition to the PKS-NRPS megasynthetase machinery their existing several tailoring and post-NRPS proteins, whose function in connection with the processing of albicidin is unclear.[3] We could characterize a new albicidin derivative with a combination of tandem mass spectrometry, in vitro and knockout experiments from cultures of a Xanthomonas overproducer which is carbamoylated at the N-terminal coumaric acid. The putative ATP-dependent O-carbamoyltransferase Alb15, present in the biosynthesis gene cluster of albicidin, is responsible for the derivatization. Cloning and Expression of Alb15 in Escherichia coli and in vitro reconstitution of the carbamoyltransferase activity confirmed albicidin as the target substrate. The chemical synthesis of carbamoyl-albicidin enabled us to carry out bioactivity assays by means of in vitro gyrase inhibition and antibacterial assays. Carbamoyl-albicidin showed a significantly higher inhibitory efficiency against bacterial gyrase (∼8 nM vs 49 nM) then albicidin, which identifies the carbamoyl group as an important structural feature of albicidin maturation.(Résumé d'auteur
A Flowchart Approach to Malaysia's Automobile Industry Cluster Policy

In this paper, we apply a flowchart approach to investigate Malaysia's automobile cluster policy. We investigate whether the industrial cluster policy has been successful or not, suggest policy prescriptions, and propose a way to prioritize policy measures. Our flowchart approach leads to the following three policy prescriptions: (1) Malaysian firms should establish sites for exporting compact cars with automatic transmissions; (2) actors in the public, semi-public and private sector should work to upgrade skilled labor; and (3) the central government should promote liberalization and deregulation to attract foreign firms into the supporting industries
Adjusting for unmeasured confounding in non-randomised longitudinal studies: a methodological review.

OBJECTIVE: Motivated by recent calls to use electronic health records for research, we reviewed the application and development of methods for addressing the bias from unmeasured confounding in longitudinal data. DESIGN: Methodological review of existing literature SETTING: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for articles addressing the threat to causal inference from unmeasured confounding in nonrandomised longitudinal health data through quasi-experimental analysis. RESULTS: Among the 121 studies included for review, 84 used instrumental variable analysis (IVA), of which 36 used lagged or historical instruments. Difference-in-differences (DiD) and fixed effects (FE) models were found in 29 studies. Five of these combined IVA with DiD or FE to try to mitigate for time-dependent confounding. Other less frequently used methods included prior event rate ratio adjustment, regression discontinuity nested within pre-post studies, propensity score calibration, perturbation analysis and negative control outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Well-established econometric methods such as DiD and IVA are commonly used to address unmeasured confounding in non-randomised, longitudinal studies, but researchers often fail to take full advantage of available longitudinal information. A range of promising new methods have been developed, but further studies are needed to understand their relative performance in different contexts before they can be recommended for widespread use
Higgsplosion : solving the hierarchy problem via rapid decays of heavy states into multiple Higgs bosons.

We introduce and discuss two inter-related mechanisms operative in the electroweak sector of the Standard Model at high energies. Higgsplosion, the first mechanism, occurs at some critical energy in the 25 to 103 TeV range, and leads to an exponentially growing decay rate of highly energetic particles into multiple Higgs bosons. We argue that this is a well-controlled non-perturbative phenomenon in the Higgs-sector which involves the final state Higgs multiplicities n   in the regime nλ≫1 where λ is the Higgs self-coupling. If this mechanism is realised in nature, the cross-sections for producing ultra-high multiplicities of Higgs bosons are likely to become observable and even dominant in this energy range. At the same time, however, the apparent exponential growth of these cross-sections at even higher energies will be tamed and automatically cut-off by a related Higgspersion mechanism. As a result, and in contrast to previous studies, multi-Higgs production does not violate perturbative unitarity. Building on this approach, we then argue that the effects of Higgsplosion alter quantum corrections from very heavy states to the Higgs boson mass. Above a certain energy, which is much smaller than their masses, these states would rapidly decay into multiple Higgs bosons. The heavy states become unrealised as they decay much faster than they are formed. The loop integrals contributing to the Higgs mass will be cut off not by the masses of the heavy states, but by the characteristic loop momenta where their decay widths become comparable to their masses. Hence, the cut-off scale would be many orders of magnitude lower than the heavy mass scales themselves, thus suppressing their quantum corrections to the Higgs boson mass
Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein and gut permeability responses to exercise.

PURPOSE: Intestinal cell damage due to physiological stressors (e.g. heat, oxidative, hypoperfusion/ischaemic) may contribute to increased intestinal permeability. The aim of this study was to assess changes in plasma intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) in response to exercise (with bovine colostrum supplementation, Col, positive control) and compare this to intestinal barrier integrity/permeability (5 h urinary lactulose/rhamnose ratio, L/R). METHODS: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 18 males completed two experimental arms (14 days of 20 g/day supplementation with Col or placebo, Plac). For each arm participants performed two baseline (resting) intestinal permeability assessments (L/R) pre-supplementation and one post-exercise following supplementation. Blood samples were collected pre- and post-exercise to determine I-FABP concentration. RESULTS: Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed an arm × time interaction for L/R and I-FABP (P < 0.001). Post hoc analyses showed urinary L/R increased post-exercise in Plac (273% of pre, P < 0.001) and Col (148% of pre, P < 0.001) with post-exercise values significantly lower with Col (P < 0.001). Plasma I-FABP increased post-exercise in Plac (191% of pre-exercise, P = 0.002) but not in the Col arm (107%, P = 0.862) with post-exercise values significantly lower with Col (P = 0.013). Correlations between the increase in I-FABP and L/R were evident for visit one (P = 0.044) but not visit two (P = 0.200) although overall plots/patterns do appear similar for each. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that exercise-induced intestinal cellular damage/injury is partly implicated in changes in permeability but other factors must also contribute
Recommendation-Based Conceptual Modeling and Ontology Evolution Framework (CMOE+)

Within an enterprise, various stakeholders create different conceptual models, such as process, data, and requirements models. These models are fundamentally based on similar underlying enterprise (domain) concepts, but they differ in focus, use different modeling languages, take different viewpoints, utilize different terminology, and are used to develop different enterprise artifacts; as such, they typically lack consistency and interoperability. This issue can be solved by enterprise-specific ontologies, which serve as a reference during the conceptual model creation. Using such a shared semantic repository makes conceptual models interoperable and facilitates model integration. The challenge to accomplish this is twofold: on the one hand, an up-to-date enterprise-specific ontology needs to be created and maintained, and on the other hand, different modelers also need to be supported in their use of the enterprise-specific ontology. The authors propose to tackle these challenges by means of a recommendation-based conceptual modeling and an ontology evolution framework, and we focus in particular on ontology-based modeling support. To this end, the authors present a framework for Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) as a conceptual modeling language, and focus on how modelers can be assisted during the modeling process and how this impacts the semantic quality of the resulting models. Subsequently, a first, large-scale explorative experiment is presented involving 140 business students to evaluate the BPMN instantiation of our framework. The experiments show promising results with regard to incurred overheads, intention of use and model interoperability
Mass spectrometry identification of age-associated proteins from the malaria mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles stephensi

This study investigated proteomic changes occurring in Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi during adult mosquito aging. These changes were evaluated using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and the identities of aging related proteins were determined using capillary high-pressure liquid chromatography (capHPLC) coupled with a linear ion-trap (LTQ)-Orbitrap XL hybrid mass spectrometry (MS). Here, we have described the techniques used to determine age associated proteomic changes occurring in heads and thoraces across three age groups; 1, 9 and 17 d old A. gambiae and 4 age groups; 1, 9, 17 and 34 d old A. stephensi. We have provided normalised spot volume raw data for all protein spots that were visible on 2D-DIGE images for both species and processed Orbitrap mass spectrometry data. For public access, mass spectrometry raw data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD002153. A detailed description of this study has been described elsewhere [1].Full Tex
Improving access to quality clinical nurse teaching - A partnership between Australia and Vietnam

Until recently, standards to guide nursing education and practice in Vietnam were nonexistent. This paper describes the development and implementation of a clinical teaching capacity building project piloted in Hanoi, Vietnam. The project was part of a multi-component capacity building program designed to improve nurse education in Vietnam. Objectives of the project were to develop a collaborative clinically-based teaching model that encourages evidence-based, student-centred clinical learning. The model incorporated strategies to promote development of nursing practice to meet national competency standards.

Thirty nurse teachers from two organisations in Hanoi participated in the program. These participants attended three workshops, and completed applied assessments, where participants implemented concepts from each workshop. The assessment tasks were planning, implementing and evaluating clinical teaching. On completion of the workshops, twenty participants undertook a study tour in Australia to refine the teaching model and develop an action plan for model implementation in both organisations, with an aim to disseminate the model across Vietnam.

Significant changes accredited to this project have been noted on an individual and organisational level. Dissemination of this clinical teaching model has commenced in Ho Chi Minh, with further plans for more in-depth dissemination to occur throughout the country.Full Tex
Long-term carbon sink in Borneo’s forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects

Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha−1 per year (95% CI 0.14–0.72, mean period 1988–2010) above-ground live biomass. These results closely match those from African and Amazonian plot networks, suggesting that the world’s remaining intact tropical forests are now en masse out-of-equilibrium. Although both pan-tropical and long-term, the sink in remaining intact forests appears vulnerable to climate and land use changes. Across Borneo the 1997–1998 El Niño drought temporarily halted the carbon sink by increasing tree mortality, while fragmentation persistently offset the sink and turned many edge-affected forests into a carbon source to the atmosphere
Path factors and parallel knock-out schemes of almost claw-free graphs.

An H1,{H2}-factor of a graph G is a spanning subgraph of G with exactly one component isomorphic to the graph H1 and all other components (if there are any) isomorphic to the graph H2. We completely characterise the class of connected almost claw-free graphs that have a P7,{P2}-factor, where P7 and P2 denote the paths on seven and two vertices, respectively. We apply this result to parallel knock-out schemes for almost claw-free graphs. These schemes proceed in rounds in each of which each surviving vertex eliminates one of its surviving neighbours. A graph is reducible if such a scheme eliminates every vertex in the graph. Using our characterisation, we are able to classify all reducible almost claw-free graphs, and we can show that every reducible almost claw-free graph is reducible in at most two rounds. This leads to a quadratic time algorithm for determining if an almost claw-free graph is reducible (which is a generalisation and improvement upon the previous strongest result that showed that there was a O(n5.376) time algorithm for claw-free graphs on n vertices)