Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constraining the MSSM with universal gaugino masses and implication for searches at the LHC

Using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach, we find the allowed parameter space of a MSSM model with seven free parameters. In this model universality conditions at the GUT scale are imposed on the gaugino sector. We require in particular that the relic density of dark matter saturates the value extracted from cosmological measurements assuming a standard cosmological scenario. We characterize the parameter space of the model that satisfies experimental constraints and illustrate the complementarity of the LHC searches, B-physics observables and direct dark matter searches for further probing the parameter space of the model. We also explore the different decay chains expected for the coloured particles that would be produced at LHC.
Entropy, time-irreversibility and the Schrödinger equation in a primarily discrete spacetime

In this paper we show that the existence of a primarily discrete spacetime may be a fruitful assumption from which we may develop a new approach of statistical thermodynamics in pre-relativistic conditions. The discreteness of spacetime structure is determined by a condition that mimics the Heisenberg uncertainty relations, and the motion in this spacetime model is chosen as simple as possible. From these two assumptions we define a path entropy that measures the number of closed paths associated with a given energy of the system preparation. This entropy has a dynamical character and depends on the time interval on which we count the paths. We show that there exists a like-equilibrium condition for which the path entropy corresponds exactly to the usual thermodynamic entropy and, more generally, the usual statistical thermodynamics is reobtained. This result derived without using the Gibbs-ensemble method shows that the standard thermodynamics is consistent with a motion that is time irreversible at a microscopic level. From this change of paradigm it becomes easy to derive an H-theorem. A comparison with the traditional Boltzmann approach is presented. We also show how our approach can be implemented in order to describe reversible processes. By considering a process defined simultaneously by initial and final conditions, a well-defined stochastic process is introduced and we are able to derive a Schrodinger equation, an example of time-reversible equation.
Verifying ray tracing based CoMP-MIMO predictions with channel sounding measurements

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology is ready for deployment in commercial cellular networks in the very near future. Thus, the need of incorporating this technology into radio network planning and optimization rises dramatically for network operators. The main question to answer is how accurate MIMO channel models reflect the real MIMO channel. In this contribution we verify a detailed ray tracing channel simulator with channel sounding measurements in the 2.53 GHz range by comparing simulated and measured eigenvalue characteristics for various Single-User (SU) downlink scenarios in a Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) environment. From our comparison we can conclude that carefully performed Geometrical Optics based ray tracing simulations are an adequate prediction model to reflect main characteristics of SU-MIMO channels even in a CoMP scenario.
Comparative metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene in organ and cell cultures derived from rat tracheas.

Primary cultures from tracheal explants and a nontumorigenic tracheal epithelial cell line (2Cl), derived from 12- O -tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-exposed tracheal explants, metabolized benzo( a )pyrene to qualitatively similar organic solvent-soluble and water-soluble metabolites. Similar metabolites were formed by short-term organ cultures of tracheas. In contrast, a tumorigenic tracheal epithelial cell line (1000 W) did not metabolize benzo( a )pyrene to any significant extent. The major metabolites formed by these different tracheal systems were 9,10-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxybenzo( a )pyrene with smaller amounts, mainly as their glucuronide conjugates, of 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo( a )pyrene, 3-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene, and 9-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene. The higher formation of dihydrodiols, precursors of highly reactive diolepoxides, relative to monohydroxybenzo( a )pyrenes, together with low rates of detoxification of the dihydrodiols by conjugation, may in part explain the high susceptibility of the trachea to carcinogenesis. This study indicates that nontumorigenic respiratory epithelium at different levels of organization possesses similar activating and detoxifying enzymes. Since it is the balance of these oxidative and conjugating enzymes which determines how much of a metabolite is available for reaction with critical cellular macromolecules, these systems appear to be suitable for metabolic studies of factors affecting initiation and transformation of respiratory tract epithelium.
A simple model for the CaCO3 saturation state of the ocean: The “Strangelove,” the “Neritan,” and the “Cretan” Ocean

A simple model of the CaCO3 saturation state of the ocean is presented. It can be solved analytically and is intended to identify the fundamental controls on ocean carbonate ion concentration. It should also attract researchers unfamiliar with complex biogeochemical models. Despite its limitations, the model‐calculated CaCO3 saturation state of today's ocean agrees well with observations. In general, the model reveals three distinctly different modes of operation: The “Strangelove Ocean” of high supersaturation which is dominated by inorganic CaCO3 precipitation, (2) the “Neritan Ocean” of indefinite saturation dominated by biogenic shallow‐water CaCO3 precipitation, and (3) the “Cretan Ocean” of low saturation dominated by biogenic pelagic CaCO3 precipitation. In the latter mode, the deep ocean [CO32−] is remarkably stable, provided that the biogenic production of CaCO3 exceeds the riverine flux of Ca2+ and CO32−. This explains the overall constancy of the saturation state of the ocean documented over the last 100 Ma. The model is then used to address diverse questions. One important result is that the recovery of the oceanic carbonate chemistry from fossil fuel neutralization in the future will be accelerated due to expected reduced biogenic calcification.
New Work Practices in Italy. Adoption and Performance Effects ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

We use a data set constructed from a survey of Italian manufacturing firms to analyse the effects of new workplace practices on firm performance. We confirm the major results of studies carried out in other countries, namely: practices appear in clusters, have positive effects on productivity, are favoured by high skills. In particular we find that a flat hierarchical structure is a condition for some practices to be implemented and become productive although it is not sufficient for other practices to emerge; specifically the degree of autonomy of the team and consultation are productive only if the horizontal structure is accompanied by information sharing, selective hiring and training. Good industrial relations appear to be one of the complementary conditions for radical re-organisation leading to a flat structure and a consequent empowerment of human resources.
DNA Vaccination:  Transfection and Activation of Dendritic Cells as Key Events for Immunity

The mechanisms underlying initiation and maintenance of CD4 T cell responses after DNA vaccination were studied using a construct coding for nonsecreted fifth component of complement (C5) protein, thus restricting the availability of antigen. The only cell types to express C5 were keratinocytes at the site of DNA application and a small number of dendritic cells present in the draining lymph nodes. Antigen expression persisted for up to 12 wk in keratinocytes, but dendritic cells did not express C5 beyond 2 wk after vaccination. Cross-priming of dendritic cells by C5 expressed in keratinocytes did not occur unless keratinocyte death was induced by irradiation in vitro. CD4 T cells were activated in the draining lymph nodes only and subsequently migrated to the spleen, where memory T cells persisted for longer than 40 wk despite the absence of a source of persistent antigen. While DNA vaccination resulted in transfection of a small proportion of dendritic cells only, it led to general activation of all dendritic cells, thus providing optimal conditions for effective T cell activation and maintenance of memory.
The Effects of Market Reform on Trading Costs of Public Investors: Evidence from the London Stock Exchange

In October 1997, the London Stock Exchange removed the obligation of dealers to quote firm two-way prices for FTSE 100 index stocks, and allowed the public to compete directly with dealers in these stocks through the submission of limit orders. This article examines the effects of these market reforms on the trading costs of "public" investors, the targeted beneficiary of the reforms, and documents several interesting results. First, the duly signed average effective half-spread of public investors has decreased much more than the corresponding decrease in the absolute effective half-spread documented by Barclay et. al. (1998) for NASDAQ. This is because a sub-set of public investors trade through limit orders, and thereby earn the spread rather than pay it. Second, consistent with the change from obligatory to voluntary market making, there is a significant increase in the "positioning revenue" earned by dealers from a change in the price of a stock while they are carrying the stock in their inventory. As a result, the overall gain of public investors in terms of the realised half-spread is not significantly different from zero. Third, the cross-subsidisation across trade sizes has disappeared, leading to a significant decline in the average execution costs of small public trades and an increase for large public trades. Fourth, the market reforms have caused negative externalities for stocks not going through the new trading system. Finally, in the absence of the price stabilisation provided earlier by dealers, the inside half-spread has increased very sharply in the first hour of trading - a finding which highlights the need for special opening procedures for electronic order books.
Placing Coercive Control at the Center: What Are the Processes of Coercive Control and What Makes Control Coercive?

Objective: Coercive control has been studied in conjunction with physical violence, leaving unclear how coercive control itself operates and is abusive. Further, how the processes of control that are considered coercive differ from control dynamics that are part of all relationships remains uncertain. Thus, we used grounded theory methods to develop a theoretical explanation of the processes of control and what makes control coercive. Method: In-depth interviews with 22 divorced women were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding and constant comparative methods. Power and gender theories offered sensitizing frameworks. Results: “Felt or experienced constraint” was central to the process of control, but 2 distinct patterns produced this phenomenon. Constraint through commitment involved a process of being constrained by oneself or one’s partner to uphold cultural conventions of heterosexual marriage and parenting. Constraint through force involved a process of being controlled wholly in a targeted and systematic way by one’s partner. Conclusions: Findings contribute to understanding the processes of control, whether coercive or not or violent or not, and assist practitioners and policymakers in responding effectively. Findings also inform quantitative measurement of control and reaffirm feminist scholars’ call to consider how and why gender matters in all forms of abuse.
State variable decoupling and power flow control in PWM current-source rectifiers

Pulsewidth modulated (PWM) current-source rectifiers (CSR), among other alternatives, offer marked improvements over thyristor line-commutated rectifiers as a source of variable DC power. Advantages include reduced line current harmonic distortion and complete displacement power factor control, including unity displacement power factor operation. However, due to nonlinearities of the PWM-CSR model, their control has usually been carried out using direct line current control in a three-phase stationary frame (abc). This paper proposes the application of a nonlinear control technique that introduces more flexibility in the control of the rectifier and results in a more straightforward approach to controller design. The proposed technique is based on a nonlinear state variable feedback approach in the rotating frame (dq). The approach allows the independent control of the two components of the line current (active and reactive) with the same dynamic performance, regardless of the operating point. The control strategy also eliminates the need for input damping resistors and rejects the effect of supply voltage variations. Furthermore, a space vector modulation (SVM) technique is used to maximize the supply voltage utilization. This paper includes a complete formulation of the system equations and a controller design procedure. Experimental results on a 2 kVA digital-signal-processor-controlled prototype confirm the validity of theoretical considerations.
Age-Related Changes in Task Related Functional Network Connectivity

Aging has a multi-faceted impact on brain structure, brain function and cognitive task performance, but the interaction of these different age-related changes is largely unexplored. We hypothesize that age-related structural changes alter the functional connectivity within the brain, resulting in altered task performance during cognitive challenges. In this neuroimaging study, we used independent components analysis to identify spatial patterns of coordinated functional activity involved in the performance of a verbal delayed item recognition task from 75 healthy young and 37 healthy old adults. Strength of functional connectivity between spatial components was assessed for age group differences and related to speeded task performance. We then assessed whether age-related differences in global brain volume were associated with age-related differences in functional network connectivity. Both age groups used a series of spatial components during the verbal working memory task and the strength and distribution of functional network connectivity between these components differed across the age groups. Poorer task performance, i.e. slower speed with increasing memory load, in the old adults was associated with decreases in functional network connectivity between components comprised of the supplementary motor area and the middle cingulate and between the precuneus and the middle/superior frontal cortex. Advancing age also led to decreased brain volume; however, there was no evidence to support the hypothesis that age-related alterations in functional network connectivity were the result of global brain volume changes. These results suggest that age-related differences in the coordination of neural activity between brain regions partially underlie differences in cognitive performance.
Prior expectations shape subjective perceptual confidence

The notion that unconscious Bayesian inference underlies perception is gaining ground. Predictive coding approaches posit that the state of the world is inferred by integrating, at each level of the perceptual hierarchy, top-down prior beliefs about sensory causes and bottom-up prediction errors. In this framework, percepts correspond to a top-down stream of beliefs that best 'explain away' sensory signals. Although such frameworks are gathering empirical support, subjective facets of perception remain unexplained from these perspectives. This thesis combines behavioural, computational and neuroimaging methods to examine how subjective visual confidence can be accounted for in a predictive coding framework. Experiment one shows that, behaviourally, perceptual expectations about target presence or absence both liberalise confidence thresholds and increase metacognitive accuracy. These results are modelled in a signal detectiontheoretic framework as low-level priors shifting the posterior odds of being correct. Using EEG, experiment two reveals that influence of expectations on decision and confidence oscillates with the phase of pre-stimulus alpha oscillations. This means that prior to target onset, both objective and subjective decisions have been rhythmically biased by the periodic recruitment of expectations to visual areas. Using fMRI, experiment three shows that in the post-stimulus period, expectations and sensory signals are integrated into confidence judgements in right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG). Furthermore, this process recruits orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral frontal pole, which represent top-down influences, and occipital lobe, which represents bottom-up signals. Together, these results suggest that expectations shape subjective confidence by biasing the posterior probability of the perceptual belief.
Utilization of carotenoids in fancy carp (Cyprinus carpio): astaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene.

2 Abstract: The utilization of astaxanthin, lutein and -carotene were studied in fancy carp (Cyprinus carpio) at doses of 173.09 ± 19.00, 187.20 ± 14.79 and 172.54 ± 10.09 µg. Fish were received each carotenoids at dose per fish and feeding by a single oral administration of the corresponding dose. Serum concentration time curves for astaxanthin, lutein and -carotene were best fit to the one compartment pharmacokinetic model. The results showed that the maximum mean serum concentrations (C max) for astaxanthin, lutein and -carotene were 0.38 ± 0.06, 0.39 ± 0.04 and 0.13 ± 0.03 µg/ml at 6, 12 and 12 hr (T max), respectively. The distribution volume (Vd) for astaxanthin, lutein and -carotene was 286.11, 129.65 and 80.16 ml/kg, respectively. Measurements of the total body clearance (CL) and the area under the curve (AUC) for astaxanthin, lutein and -carotene was 9.62, 6.49 and 10.06 ml/hr/kg and 65.36, 64.71 and 21.67 µg-hr/ml, respectively. From these results, it can be concluded that astaxanthin was absorbed more readily than lutein and -carotene and fancy carp can convert lutein and s-carotene to astaxanthin. Therefore, it is recommended that, a carotenoid enhancing diet of fancy carp be formulated with sources rich in lutein or -carotene.
Low Fidelity Mutants in the O-Helix of Thermus aquaticus DNA Polymerase I*

We screened 67 mutants in the O-helix of Thermus aquaticus (Taq) DNA polymerase I (pol I) for altered fidelity of DNA synthesis. These mutants were obtained (Suzuki, M., Baskin, D., Hood, L., and Loeb, L. A. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 9670-9675) by substituting an oligonucleotide containing random sequences for codons 659-671, and selecting for complementation of a growth defect in Escherichia coli caused by temperature-sensitive host pol I. Thirteen mutants decreased fidelity in a screen that employed primer extension reactions lacking one of four complementary deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). Three mutants were purified and exhibited 29-68% of wild-type specific activity. Homogeneous polymerases A661E, A661P, and T664R extended primers further than the wild-type, synthesizing past template nucleotides for which the complementary dNTP was absent. The data indicate that both misinsertion of incorrect nucleotides and extension of mispaired primer termini were increased. In a lacZα forward mutation assay, A661E and T664R yielded mutation frequencies at least 7- and 25-fold greater, respectively, than that of the wild-type polymerase. These findings emphasize the importance of the O-helix in substrate recognition and are compatible with a role for pyrophosphate release in enhancing fidelity of DNA synthesis.
The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety: Comparing Vulnerability and Scar Model in the Italian Context

Abstract Background : The relationship between low self-esteem and depression and anxiety disorders has solicited a growing body of empirical research. The most important explanation models are two: the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and the scar model states that low self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause, of depression and anxiety. Method: In the present research we tested the two different models using a sample of Italian preadolescent, aged 11 to 14 years, recruited from an Italian secondary school. To test the models, the path analysis technique was used: one in which self-esteem predicted anxiety and depression (Model 1), and one in which anxiety and depression predicted self-esteem (Model 2). Gender and age were included in the models as covariate. Conclusions: our findings suggest that the both models had the same good fit, although the effects of self-esteem on depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly higher than the effects of anxiety and depression on self-esteem. In both models gender was positively associated with anxiety and self-esteem: girls tend to report higher levels of anxiety than boys. In the scar model age was positively related with depression; older preadolescents tend to report higher levels of depression than younger preadolescents. Keywords : self-esteem, anxiety, depression, early adolescence
A robust sensor fault tolerant control scheme implemented on a flexible joint

This paper presents a flexible joint system with a sensor fault tolerant control scheme applied to it. Sensor faults affect the system's performance in the closed loop when the faulty sensor readings are used to generate the control input. In this paper, the measured outputs are separated into potentially faulty and non-faulty components, and the latter are injected into a linear observer to reconstruct the faults. The reconstruction is subtracted from the faulty sensors to form a compensated 'virtual sensor' and this signal is then used to generate the control input. A design method for the observer is also presented in which the reconstruction signal is made as insensitive as possible to any uncertainties or nonlinearities present in the system. Several fault conditions were tested; step, ramp and total failure of the sensor. Excellent results have been obtained; the system performance is almost identical to the fault-free scenario.
Planning an Intergenerational Shared Site: Nursing-Home Staff Perspectives

ABSTRACT Nursing-home staff perspectives on the development of intergenerational shared sites involving nursing homes and child-care centers is lacking. We use a strengths-based and community capacity framework to learn of the perceived benefits and burdens for nursing-home staff within a nursing home planning to implement a shared-site intergenerational program. Forty-two nursing-home staff completed a survey. Almost three-quarters of the participants either indicated strong positive support or saw more pros than cons in opening the child-care center. Over 25% of participants indicated that it was very possible they would use this service if it were available. Quantitative and qualitative results indicated existing strengths and areas to build capacity around four themes: nursing-home residents; nursing-home staff; children attending the child-care center; and the buildings and grounds. Our research emphasizes the importance of ensuring that other stakeholders, such as nursing-home staff, are also fully informed, consulted, and engaged in the process of developing a new colocated intergenerational program to contribute to the success of these programs.