Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GAUGING THE DARK MATTER FRACTION IN AN L* S0 GALAXY AT z = 0.47 THROUGH GRAVITATIONAL LENSING FROM DEEP HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE/ADVANCED CAMERA FOR SURVEYS IMAGING

We analyze a new gravitational lens OAC–GL J1223–1239, serendipitously found in a deep I814-band image of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The lens is an L*, edge-on S0 galaxy at zl = 0.4656. The gravitational arc has a radius of 0. ″42 ≃ 1.74 h−1 kpc. We have determined the total mass and the dark matter (DM) fraction within the Einstein radius RE as a function of the lensed source redshift, which is presently unknown. For zs ∼ 1.3, which is in the middle of the redshift range plausible for the source according to some external constraints, we find the central velocity dispersion to be ∼180 km s−1. With this value, close to that obtained by means of the Faber–Jackson relation at the lens redshift, we compute a 30% DM fraction within RE (given the uncertainty in the source redshift, the allowed range for the DM fraction is 25%–35% in our lensing model). When compared with the galaxies in the local universe, the lensing galaxy OAC–GL J1223–1239 seems to fall in the transition regime between massive, DM-dominated galaxies and lower-mass, DM-deficient systems.
Wearable soft sensing suit for human gait measurement

Wearable robots based on soft materials will augment mobility and performance of the host without restricting natural kinematics. Such wearable robots will need soft sensors to monitor the movement of the wearer and robot outside the lab. Until now wearable soft sensors have not demonstrated significant mechanical robustness nor been systematically characterized for human motion studies of walking and running. Here, we present the design and systematic characterization of a soft sensing suit for monitoring hip, knee, and ankle sagittal plane joint angles. We used hyper-elastic strain sensors based on microchannels of liquid metal embedded within elastomer, but refined their design with the use of discretized stiffness gradients to improve mechanical durability. We found that these robust sensors could stretch up to 396% of their original lengths, would restrict the wearer by less than 0.17% of any given joint’s torque, had gauge factor sensitivities of greater than 2.2, and exhibited less than 2% change in electromechanical specifications through 1500 cycles of loading–unloading. We also evaluated the accuracy and variability of the soft sensing suit by comparing it with joint angle data obtained through optical motion capture. The sensing suit had root mean square (RMS) errors of less than 5° for a walking speed of 0.89 m/s and reached a maximum RMS error of 15° for a running speed of 2.7 m/s. Despite the deviation of absolute measure, the relative repeatability of the sensing suit’s joint angle measurements were statistically equivalent to that of optical motion capture at all speeds. We anticipate that wearable soft sensing will also have applications beyond wearable robotics, such as in medical diagnostics and in human–computer interaction.
The Importance of Vertical Production Networks and Intermediate Goods Trade in Asia : A Literature Review

The nature of trade and production in East Asia has undergone many changes over the past few decades. While a lot of researchers have examined the nature of these changes, there have been only few attempts at reviewing the existing results to ascertain the present state of research. The objective of this paper is to fill this important gap by linking the methodologies and results of most cited research in this area. This review underlines the rising importance of vertical production networks and intermediate goods trade in Asia. The main methodology used in literature to quantify this vertical specialization of trade is through an analysis of international input-output tables. Such an analysis of vertical specialization through input-output tables for East Asia shows that even though China takes the position as the main supplier in East Asia, there is high degree of import content in Chinese export to the world. This paper also identifies the scope for future research. This review finds that given the development of new and improved methodologies for quantifying vertical specialization and value added trade, there is a need to relook at many conventional approaches and indices of macroeconomics using value added exports data rather than the commonly used gross exports data. Secondly, the impact of value added trade on the different components of value added like labor incomes or capital incomes can also be developed for future research. Lastly, we find much of the existing literature on production networks look at trade from the perspective of parent country. There is need for more theoretical explanation on the benefits of joining production network from the view point of a host country.
Bargaining Power in Multilateral Negotiations on Intellectual Property Rules: Paradox of Weakness

This article critically analyses the effects of differing bargaining powers between developed and developing countries during international negotiations on intellectual property (IP) rights. While developed countries with stronger bargaining power have the capacity to shape the international IP law in accordance with their interests, developing states are not powerless. Developing countries can gain some concessions by forming coalitions. Additionally, they can achieve their goals by means of a “paradox of weakness”, a concept derived from international conflict resolution. The article elaborates how the paradox is applied in the context of adoption and implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1994.
Whole breast and excision cavity radiotherapy plan comparison: Conformal radiotherapy with sequential boost versus intensity-modulated radiation therapy with a simultaneously integrated boost

A comparative study was conducted comparing the difference between (1) conformal radiotherapy (CRT) to the whole breast with sequential boost excision cavity plans and (2) intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to the whole breast with simultaneously integrated boost to the excision cavity. The computed tomography (CT) data sets of 25 breast cancer patients were used and the results analysed to determine if either planning method produced superior plans.
Creditor protection and financial markets: empirical evidence and implications for Latin America

Although Latin American countries have made significant strides in reforming their financial markets, these markets remain shallow, implying a need for further reform. Stronger protection of creditor rights can improve the size and stability of credit markets and provide greater access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises that operate under greater financial strictures. ; In discussing creditor protection’s impact on the size of financial markets, the authors first document the state of Latin American creditor protection. They then discuss the effect of enhanced creditor rights on small and medium-sized firms and how the dynamics of financial markets are affected by the regulation of creditor rights. To examine the effects of adverse economic shocks on creditors, the authors study the credit cycle in various countries. ; In addition to increasing the size of financial markets and stimulating economic growth, reforms that strengthen creditor protection can affect credit allocation, the authors find. Their research suggests that the rules and regulations concerning the seizure of collateral need reforming and, more importantly, that the judicial system must become more agile to assure prompt, effective, and less expensive enforcement of creditor rights. The authors note that the successful introduction of these reforms may require convincing the citizenry that creditor protections benefit not only the financial sector but the economy overall.
The clinical aspects of mirror therapy in rehabilitation: a systematic review of the literature

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical aspects of mirror therapy (MT) interventions after stroke, phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome. A systematic literature search of the Cochrane Database of controlled trials, PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PEDro, RehabTrials and Rehadat, was made by two investigators independently (A.S.R. and M.J.). No restrictions were made regarding study design and type or localization of stroke, complex regional pain syndrome and amputation. Only studies that had MT given as a long-term treatment were included. Two authors (A.S.R. and S.M.B.) independently assessed studies for eligibility and risk of bias by using the Amsterdam–Maastricht Consensus List. Ten randomized trials, seven patient series and four single-case studies were included. The studies were heterogeneous regarding design, size, conditions studied and outcome measures. Methodological quality varied; only a few studies were of high quality. Important clinical aspects, such as assessment of possible side effects, were only insufficiently addressed. For stroke there is a moderate quality of evidence that MT as an additional intervention improves recovery of arm function, and a low quality of evidence regarding lower limb function and pain after stroke. The quality of evidence in patients with complex regional pain syndrome and phantom limb pain is also low. Firm conclusions could not be drawn. Little is known about which patients are likely to benefit most from MT, and how MT should preferably be applied. Future studies with clear descriptions of intervention protocols should focus on standardized outcome measures and systematically register adverse effects.
Protein Conformational Dynamics Probed by Single-Molecule Electron Transfer

Electron transfer is used as a probe for angstrom-scale structural changes in single protein molecules. In a flavin reductase, the fluorescence of flavin is quenched by a nearby tyrosine residue by means of photo-induced electron transfer. By probing the fluorescence lifetime of the single flavin on a photon-by-photon basis, we were able to observe the variation of flavin-tyrosine distance over time. We could then determine the potential of mean force between the flavin and the tyrosine, and a correlation analysis revealed conformational fluctuation at multiple time scales spanning from hundreds of microseconds to seconds. This phenomenon suggests the existence of multiple interconverting conformers related to the fluctuating catalytic reactivity.
AN LMI APPROACH TO ROBUST STABILIZATION OF NETWORKED CONTROL SYSTEMS

The problem of robust stabilization of discrete-time uncertain networked control systems (NCSs) in the presence of packet losses and transmission delays is studied. We model such systems as discrete-time nonlinear systems with delayed input. Sufficient conditions on the stabilization of the NCSs are presented. Stabilizing state feedback controllers can be constructed by using the feasible solution of some linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). One advantage of our method is that the maximum bound on the nonlinearity can be computed by solving a constrained convex optimization problem, another advantage is that the upper bound on the delayed input can be obtained by solving a quasi-convex optimization problem.Copyright c ©2005 IFAC
Supplier Financing and Earnings Quality

In this paper we investigate the effect of earnings quality on supplier credit in a sample of small and medium-sized firms. After controlling for other determinants of trade credit, we show that firms whose earnings present lower variability, higher smoothing and predictability, and higher accruals quality have access to more trade credit from suppliers. This association suggests that earnings attributes associated to lower volatility and higher precision with respect to cash flows facilitate access to trade credit.
The ENSO phenomenon: theory and mechanisms

Abstract. The variability in the equatorial Tropical Pacific is characterized by sea-surface temperature anomalies and associated changes in the atmospheric circulation. Through an enormous monitoring effort over the last decades, the relevant time scales and spatial patterns are fairly well-documented. In the meantime, a hierarchy of models has been developed to understand the physics of this phenomenon and to make predictions of future variability. In this short review, I try to summarize theories and mechanisms about variability in such a way that these are accessible to a diverse group of researchers, such as that present in Guayaquil (in May 2005) at the First International Alexander Von Humboldt Conference "The El Nino Phenomenon and its Global Impact".
Mechanisms Linking Early Experience and the Emergence of Emotions

Emotions are complex processes that are essential for survival and adaptation. Recent studies of children and animals are shedding light on how the developing brain learns to rapidly respond to signals in the environment, assess the emotional significance of this information, and in so doing adaptively regulate subsequent behavior. Here, I describe studies of children and nonhuman primates who are developing within emotionally aberrant environments. Examining these populations provides new insights on the ways in which social or interpersonal contexts influence development of the neural systems underlying emotional behavior.
Results of Pancreatic Blood Shunting into the Systemic Blood Flow in Insulin-Dependent Diabetics

A new surgical method of treating patients with unstable insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) has been developed-that of surgically shunting pancreatic blood into the systemic blood flow with the purpose of creating a more optimal interaction of subcutaneously administered insulin and pancreas-secreted glucagon. The long term results of the operation depend on the patency of a splenorenal anastomosis. This has been studied by following up 137 patients over periods from half a year to three years. Anastomotic patency was determined by renal and splenic venography and celiacy arteriography, which revealed a patent anastomosis in 114 patients, and an obliterated one in 23. Patients with patent anastomoses showed a lowering of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) from 13.3±0.03% to 9.3±0.6%, p<0.05, a decrease of the injected insulin dose from 0.97±0.04 to 0.72±0.03 U/ kg, p<0.05, disappearance or considerable abatement of pain in the lower extremities, and of hypoglycemia. Improvement of clinical status was accompanied by an increase of glucagon in the systemic blood stream from 60.8±10.1 to 91.5±9.4 pg/ml, p<0.05, a rise of tissue oxygen pressure, PO2, from 49.2±2.4 to 58.1±1.9 mm Hg, p<0.05. In patients with oblivious anastomoses postoperative HbAlc levels did not change from preoperative values: 12.9±0.4% and 12.8±0.7%, p<0.05, respectively; the insulin dose remained the same-0.91 ±0.07 U/kg and 0.85±0.07 U/kg, p<0.05, no rise of the systemic blood glucagon content was noted, and former complaints continued. The suggested method is not an alternative for insulin therapy, but considerably enhances its potential.
Novel drug development opportunity for relaxin in acute myocardial infarction: evidences from a swine model

The hormone relaxin has been shown to cause coronary vasodilation and to prevent ischemia/reperfusion‐induced cardiac injury in rodents. This study provides evidence that relaxin, used as an adjunctive drug to coronary reperfusion, reduces the functional, biochemical, and histopathological signs of myocardial injury in an in vivo swine model of heart ischemia/reperfusion, currently used to test cardiotropic drugs for myocardial infarction. Human recombinant relaxin, given at reperfusion at doses of 1.25, 2.5, and 5 µg/kg b.wt. after a 30‐min ischemia, caused a dose‐related reduction of key markers of myocardial damage (serum myoglobin, CK‐MB, troponin T) and cardiomyocyte apoptosis (caspase 3, TUNEL assay), as well as of cardiomyocyte contractile dysfunction (myofibril hypercontraction). Compared with the controls, relaxin also increased the uptake of the viability tracer 201Thallium and improved ventricular performance (cardiac index). Relaxin likely acts by reducing oxygen free radical‐induced myocardial injury (malondialdehyde, tissue calcium overload) and inflammatory leukocyte recruitment (myeloperoxidase). The present findings show that human relaxin, given as a drug to counteract reperfusion‐induced cardiac injury, affords a clear‐cut protection to the heart of swine with induced myocardial infarction. The findings also provide background to future clinical trials with relaxin as adjunctive therapy to catheter‐based coronary angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
The Kakimizu complex of a surface

The Kakimizu complex, named after Osamu Kakimizu, is usually defined in the context of knots. Several recent results describe the geometric structure of this complex. In particular, Johnson, Pelayo and Wilson showed that the Kakimizu complex of a knot is quasi-Euclidean (see [10]). Prior to this, Przytycki and the author extended the definition of the Kakimizu complex to the context of 3-manifolds and showed that, even in this broader context, the Kakimizu complex is contractible (see [9]). The goal of this paper is to adapt the definition of the Kakimizu complex to the setting of 2-manifolds in order to illustrate the techniques used in its study. The resulting complex is closely related to the homology curve complexes defined by Hatcher (see [5]) and Irmer (see [4]). Their work translates into a geometric picture of the Kakimizu complex of a 2-manifold and can be promoted to the setting of the Kakimizu complex of certain 3-manifolds via product constructions.
Informality and Monetary Policy in Japan: The Political Economy of Bank Performance

List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Part I. Theory: 2. The political economy and economic system of Japan: a survey of literature, conflict and confusion 3. Informal aspects of Japanese economic policy 4. Informality and monetary policy: an operational framework Part II. The Institutions and their Policies: 5. Informality, monetary authorities and monetary policy: the pre-1998 reform regime 6. Informality, banking crisis and financial reform: 1998 and beyond Part III. Empirical Evidence: 7. Amakudari in the private banking industry: an empirical investigation 8. Amakudari and the performance of Japanese banks 9. Conclusion: informality, monetary policy and bank performance - lessons from the Japanese experience Bibliography Index.
Phosphorylation of Membrane Type 1-Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) and Its Vesicle-associated Membrane Protein 7 (VAMP7)-dependent Trafficking Facilitate Cell Invasion and Migration*

Background: Intracellular trafficking of MT1-MMP is essential for its role in tumor cell invasion. Results: Mutation of Thr567 in MT1-MMP altered its internalization and recycling and associated biochemical signaling. Conclusion: Phosphorylation of MT1-MMP at Thr567 regulates its intracellular trafficking, which is coupled to integrin trafficking and ERK phosphorylation. Significance: Phosphorylation of MT1-MMP may be a regulatory point for control of tumor cell invasion. In multicellular organisms, uncontrolled movement of cells can contribute to pathological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and cancer. In highly aggressive tumors, the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is linked to the capacity of tumor cells to invade surrounding tissue and current research indicates that the membrane-anchored membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) has a central role in this process. Endocytosis and trafficking of MT1-MMP are essential for its proper function, and here we examine the phosphorylation, internalization, and recycling of this enzyme, and the associated biochemical signaling in HeLa and HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells. Activation of protein kinase C with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate resulted in phosphorylation of endogenous MT1-MMP at Thr567 in vivo. Mutation of Thr567 to alanine (to mimic non-phosphorylated MT1-MMP) reduced internalization of MT1-MMP, whereas mutation of Thr567 to glutamic acid (to mimic phosphorylation) resulted in decreased levels of MT1-MMP on the cell surface. The endosomal trafficking and recycling of MT1-MMP was found to be dependent upon Rab7 and VAMP7, and blocking the function of these proteins reduced cell migration and invasion. Intracellular trafficking of MT1-MMP was observed to be coupled to the trafficking of integrin α5 and phosphorylation of ERK that coincided with this was dependent on phosphorylation of MT1-MMP. Together, these results reveal important roles for MT1-MMP phosphorylation and trafficking in both cell signaling and cell invasion.
Socioeconomic and Nutritional Factors Account for the Association of Gastric Cancer with Amerindian Ancestry in a Latin American Admixed Population

Gastric cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer and its incidence varies worldwide, with the Andean region of South America showing high incidence rates. We evaluated the genetic structure of the population from Lima (Peru) and performed a case-control genetic association study to test the contribution of African, European, or Native American ancestry to risk for gastric cancer, controlling for the effect of non-genetic factors. A wide set of socioeconomic, dietary, and clinic information was collected for each participant in the study and ancestry was estimated based on 103 ancestry informative markers. Although the urban population from Lima is usually considered as mestizo (i.e., admixed from Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans), we observed a high fraction of Native American ancestry (78.4% for the cases and 74.6% for the controls) and a very low African ancestry (<5%). We determined that higher Native American individual ancestry is associated with gastric cancer, but socioeconomic factors associated both with gastric cancer and Native American ethnicity account for this association. Therefore, the high incidence of gastric cancer in Peru does not seem to be related to susceptibility alleles common in this population. Instead, our result suggests a predominant role for ethnic-associated socioeconomic factors and disparities in access to health services. Since Native Americans are a neglected group in genomic studies, we suggest that the population from Lima and other large cities from Western South America with high Native American ancestry background may be convenient targets for epidemiological studies focused on this ethnic group.
Tools for working with multiplier Hopf algebras

Let (A, ∆) be a multiplier Hopf algebra. In general, the underlying algebra A need not have an identity and the coproduct ∆ does not map A into A ⊗ A but rather into its multiplier algebra M (A ⊗ A). In this paper, we study some tools that are frequently used when dealing with such multiplier Hopf algebras and that are typical for working with algebras without identity in this context. The basic ingredient is a unital left A-module X, and the basic construction is that of extending the module by looking at linear maps ρ : A → X satisfying ρ(aa � )= aρ(a � ) where a, a � ∈ A. We write the module action as multiplication. Of course, when x ∈ X ,a nd when ρ(a )= ax, we get such a linear map. And if A has an identity, all linear maps ρ have this form for x = ρ(1). However, the point is that in the case of a non-unital algebra, the space of such maps is in general strictly bigger than X itself. We get an extended module, denoted by X (for reasons that will be explained in the paper). We study all sorts of more complicated situations where such extended modules occur and we illustrate all of this with several examples, from very simple ones to more complex ones where iterated extensions come into play. We refer to cases that appear in the literature. We use this basic idea of extending modules to explain, in a more rigorous way, the so-called covering technique, which is needed when using Sweedler’s notations for coproducts and coactions. Again, we give many examples and refer to the existing literature where this technique is applied.