Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rational Inattention and Portfolio Selection

Costly information acquisition makes it rational for investors to obtain important economic news with only limited frequency or limited accuracy. We show that this rational inattention to important news may make investors over- or underinvest. In addition, the optimal trading strategy is "myopic" with respect to future news frequency and accuracy. We find that the optimal news frequency is nonmonotonic in news accuracy and investment horizon. Furthermore, when both news frequency and news accuracy are endogenized, an investor with a higher risk aversion or a longer investment horizon chooses less frequent but more accurate periodic news updates. Copyright 2007 by The American Finance Association.
Constraints on planet X/Nemesis from Solar System's inner dynamics

We use the corrections Δ to the standard Newtonian/Einsteinian perihelion precessions of the inner planets of the Solar system, recently estimated by E.V. Pitjeva by fitting a huge planetary data set with the dynamical models of the EPM ephemerides, to put constraints on the position of a putative, yet undiscovered large body X of mass M x , not modelled in the EPM software. The direct action of X on the inner planets can be approximated by a elastic Hooke-type radial acceleration plus a term of comparable magnitude having a fixed direction in space pointing towards X. The perihelion precessions induced by them can be analytically worked out only for some particular positions of X in the sky; in general, numerical calculations are used. We show that the indirect effects of X on the inner planets through its action on the outer ones can be neglected, given the present-day level of accuracy in knowing Δ. As a result, we find that Mars yields the tightest constraints, with the tidal parameter K X = GM X /r 3 X ≤ 3 x 10 ―24 s ―2 . To constrain r x we consider the case of a rock-ice planet with the mass of Mars and the Earth, a giant planet with the mass of Jupiter, a brown dwarf with M X = 80m Jupiter , a red dwarf with M = 0.5 M ⊙ and a Sun-mass body. For each of them we plot r min X as a function of the heliocentric latitude β and longitude λ. We also determine the forbidden spatial region for X by plotting its boundary surface in the three-dimensional space; it shows significant departures from spherical symmetry. A Mars-sized body can be found at not less than 70-85 au: such bounds are 147-175 au, 1006-1200 au, 4334-5170 au, 8113-9524 au and 10 222-12 000 au for a body with a mass equal to that of the Earth, Jupiter, a brown dwarf, red dwarf and the Sun, respectively.
Even symmetric parallel linear deterministic interference channels are inseparable

It is well known that parallel interference channels (ICs) are in general inseparable. Existing results illustrate the benefit of joint encoding across sub-channels by exploiting the asymmetry within the individual sub-channels. In this paper, we show, perhaps surprisingly, that symmetric parallel ICs are also inseparable. To this end, a class of parallel ICs is considered in which each individual sub-channel is a symmetric linear deterministic IC (LDIC). The capacity region of this class of parallel ICs is characterized. As a consequence, we find the necessary and sufficient conditions for inseparability of this class of parallel ICs.
Examining the effectiveness of using CSR communication in apology statements after bad publicity

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding the effects of framing apology statements with corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications after a company has suffered negative publicity. Specifically, this study examined the role of CSR fit on consumers’ skepticism toward the apology statement and attitude toward the company compared to a no-CSR message condition. In addition, the study also analyzed the interaction effects between CSR fit and history on skepticism toward the apology statement and attitude toward the company. ,A 2 (CSR fit: high or low) × 2 (CSR history: long or short) between-subject design was employed to examine the hypotheses. In addition, a no-CSR message group without any mention of CSR activities was included. To test the hypothesized constructs of main interest (i.e. CSR fit and CSR history) and incremental validity in the same set of model equations, this study used a hierarchical regression approach. ,The high CSR fit condition led to less skepticism toward the apology statement and a more positive attitude toward the company than the no-CSR message condition did. The low CSR fit condition, in contrast, led to more skepticism toward the apology statement and a less positive attitude toward the company than the no-CSR message condition did. In addition, the results showed that the interaction effects between CSR fit and history will predict skepticism toward the apology statement and attitude toward the company. ,There is little research on the effectiveness of high (congruent) and low (incongruent) CSR fit compared to a no-CSR message condition. To address this gap, this paper compared the effectiveness of the two conditions to a no-CSR condition.
Serum KIBRA mRNA and Protein Expression and Cognitive Functions in Depression

Background Genes participating in synaptic signalling or plasticity in brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the hippocampus have been implicated in cognition. Recently, a new gene (KIBRA, WWC1) has been added to this group due to its impact on memory performance. Recurrent depressive disorder (rDD) is a multifactorial disease, that one of the typical features is cognitive impairment. The main objective of this study was to perform an analysis of the KIBRA gene on both mRNA and protein levels in patients suffering from rDD and to investigate the relationship between KIBRA expression and cognitive performance. Material/Methods The study comprised 236 subjects: patients with rDD (n=131) and healthy subjects (n=105, HS). Cognitive function assessment was based on: Trail Making Test, The Stroop Test, Verbal Fluency Test and Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Results Both mRNA and protein expression levels of KIBRA gene were significantly higher in healthy subjects when compared to rDD. The presented relationship is clear even after taking age, education and sex of the examined subjects into consideration. No statistically significant relationship was found in the experiments between any of the conducted tests and KIBRA gene expression on mRNA level for both the rDD and HS groups. The presented study has limitations related to the fact that patients were being treated with antidepressant. This is relevant due to the fact that some antidepressants may affect mRNA expression. Number of patients and healthy subjects may result in the lack of statistical significance in some cases. Conclusions 1. The results of our study show decreased expression of the KIBRA gene on both mRNA and protein levels in depression. 2. We did not find any significant relationship between KIBRA gene expression and cognitive functions in case of both the healthy subjects and the patients affected by rDD.
Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Increases Bad Phosphorylation and Protects Neurons Against Damage

Despite the characterization of neuroprotection by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), the signaling pathway mediating its protective effect is unclear. Bad is a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family and is inactivated on phosphorylation via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). This study attempted to address whether MAPK signaling and Bad phosphorylation were influenced by TGF-β1 and, furthermore, whether these two events were involved in the antiapoptotic effect of TGF-β1. We found a gradual activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) and MAPK-activated protein kinase-1 (also called Rsk1) and a concomitant increase in Bad phosphorylation at Ser112 in mouse brains after adenovirus-mediated TGF-β1 transduction under nonischemic and ischemic conditions induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Consistent with these effects, the ischemia-induced increase in Bad protein level and caspase-3 activation were suppressed in TGF-β1-transduced brain. Consequently, DNA fragmentation, ischemic lesions, and neurological deficiency were significantly reduced. In cultured rat hippocampal cells, TGF-β1 inhibited the increase in Bad expression caused by staurosporine. TGF-β1 concentration- and time-dependently activated Erk1/2 and Rsk1 accompanied by an increase in Bad phosphorylation. These effects were blocked by U0126, a mitogen-activated protein kinase/Erk kinase 1/2 inhibitor, suggesting an association between Bad phosphorylation and MAPK activation. Notably, U0126 and a Rsk1 inhibitor (Ro318220) abolished the neuroprotective activity of TGF-β1 in staurosporine-induced apoptosis, indicating that activation of MAPK is necessary for the antiapoptotic effect of TGF-β1 in cultured hippocampal cells. Together, we demonstrate that TGF-β1 suppresses Bad expression under lesion conditions, increases Bad phosphorylation, and activates the MAPK/Erk pathway, which may contribute to its neuroprotective activity.
A Close Look at Star Formation around Active Galactic Nuclei

We analyze star formation in the nuclei of nine Seyfert galaxies at spatial resolutions down to 0.085″, corresponding to length scales of order 10 pc in most objects. Our data were taken mostly with the near-infrared adaptive optics integral field spectrograph SINFONI. The stellar light profiles typically have size scales of a few tens of parsecs. In two cases there is unambiguous kinematic evidence for stellar disks on these scales. In the nuclear regions there appear to have been recent, but no longer active, starbursts in the last 10-300 Myr. The stellar luminosity is less than a few percent of the AGN in the central 10 pc, whereas on kiloparsec scales the luminosities are comparable. The surface stellar luminosity density follows a similar trend in all the objects, increasing steadily at smaller radii up to ~1013 L☉ kpc−2 in the central few parsecs, where the mass surface density exceeds 104 M☉ pc−2. The intense starbursts were probably Eddington limited and hence inevitably short lived, implying that the starbursts occur in multiple short bursts. The data hint at a delay of 50-100 Myr between the onset of star formation and subsequent fueling of the black hole. We discuss whether this may be a consequence of the role that stellar ejecta could play in fueling the black hole. While a significant mass is ejected by OB winds and supernovae, their high velocity means that very little of it can be accreted. On the other hand, winds from AGB stars ultimately dominate the total mass loss, and they can also be accreted very efficiently because of their slow speeds.
The &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase is critical for skeletal and heart muscle function in zebrafish

Summary The Na+/K+-ATPase generates ion gradients across the plasma membrane, essential for multiple cellular functions. In mammals, four different Na+/K+-ATPase &agr;-subunit isoforms are associated with characteristic cell-type expression profiles and kinetics. We found the zebrafish &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase associated with striated muscles and that knockdown causes a significant depolarization of the resting membrane potential in slow-twitch fibers of skeletal muscles. Abrupt mechanosensory responses were observed in &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase-deficient embryos, possibly linked to a postsynaptic defect. The &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase deficiency reduced the heart rate and caused a loss of left-right asymmetry in the heart tube. Similar phenotypes from knockdown of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger indicated a role for the interplay between these two proteins in the observed phenotypes. Furthermore, proteomics identified up- and downregulation of specific phenotype-related proteins, such as parvalbumin, CaM, GFAP and multiple kinases, thus highlighting a potential proteome change associated with the dynamics of &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase. Taken together, our findings show that zebrafish &agr;2Na+/K+-ATPase is important for skeletal and heart muscle functions.
Automatic discovery of botnet communities on large-scale communication networks

Botnets are networks of compromised computers infected with malicious code that can be controlled remotely under a common command and control (C&C) channel. Recognized as one the most serious security threats on current Internet infrastructure, advanced botnets are hidden not only in existing well known network applications (e.g. IRC, HTTP, or Peer-to-Peer) but also in some unknown or novel (creative) applications, which makes the botnet detection a challenging problem. Most current attempts for detecting botnets are to examine traffic content for bot signatures on selected network links or by setting up honeypots. In this paper, we propose a new hierarchical framework to automatically discover botnets on a large-scale WiFi ISP network, in which we first classify the network traffic into different application communities by using payload signatures and a novel cross-association clustering algorithm, and then on each obtained application community, we analyze the temporal-frequent characteristics of flows that lead to the differentiation of malicious channels created by bots from normal traffic generated by human beings. We evaluate our approach with about 100 million flows collected over three consecutive days on a large-scale WiFi ISP network and results show the proposed approach successfully detects two types of botnet application flows (i.e. Blackenergy HTTP bot and Kaiten IRC bot) from about 100 million flows with a high detection rate and an acceptable low false alarm rate.
Decode-and-Forward Relaying With Quantized Channel State Feedback: An Outage Exponent Analysis

The problem of resource allocation to maximize the outage exponent over a fading relay channel using the decode-and-forward protocol with quantized channel state feedback (CSF) is studied. Three different scenarios are considered: relay-to-source, destination-to-relay, and destination-to-source-and-relay CSF. In the relay-to-source CSF scenario, it is found that using merely one bit of CSF to control the source transmit power is sufficient to achieve the multiantenna upper bound in a range of multiplexing gains. In the destination-to-relay CSF scenario, the systems slightly outperform dynamic decode-and-forward (DDF) at high multiplexing gains, even with only one bit of feedback. Finally, in the destination-to-source-and-relay CSF scenario, if the source-relay channel gain is unknown to the feedback quantizer at the destination, the diversity gain only grows linearly in the number of feedback levels, in sharp contrast to an exponential growth for multiantenna channels. In this last scenario, a simple scheme is shown to perform close to the corresponding upper bound.
High-LET radiation-induced aberrations in prematurely condensed G2 chromosomes of human fibroblasts.

PURPOSE To determine the number of initial chromatid breaks induced by low- or high-LET irradiations, and to compare the kinetics of chromatid break rejoining for radiations of different quality. MATERIAL AND METHODS Exponentially growing human fibroblast cells AG1522 were irradiated with gamma-rays, energetic carbon (290MeV/u), silicon (490MeV/u) and iron (200 and 600 MeV/u). Chromosomes were prematurely condensed using calyculin A. Chromatid breaks and exchanges in G2 cells were scored. PCC were collected after several post-irradiation incubation times, ranging from 5 to 600 min. RESULTS The kinetics of chromatid break rejoining following low- or high-LET irradiation consisted of two exponential components representing a rapid and a slow time constant. Chromatid breaks decreased rapidly during the first 10min after exposure, then continued to decrease at a slower rate. The rejoining kinetics were similar for exposure to each type of radiation. Chromatid exchanges were also formed quickly. Compared to low-LET radiation, isochromatid breaks were produced more frequently and the proportion of unrejoined breaks was higher for high-LET radiation. CONCLUSIONS Compared with gamma-rays, isochromatid breaks were observed more frequently in high-LET irradiated samples, suggesting that an increase in isochromatid breaks is a signature of high-LET radiation exposure.
Combining Residual Networks with LSTMs for Lipreading

We propose an end-to-end deep learning architecture for word-level visual speech recognition. The system is a combination of spatiotemporal convolutional, residual and bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory networks. We train and evaluate it on the Lipreading In-The-Wild benchmark, a challenging database of 500-size target-words consisting of 1.28sec video excerpts from BBC TV broadcasts. The proposed network attains word accuracy equal to 83.0, yielding 6.8 absolute improvement over the current state-of-the-art, without using information about word boundaries during training or testing.
Effects of Macrophage Depletion on Sleep in Mice

The reciprocal interaction between the immune system and sleep regulation has been widely acknowledged but the cellular mechanisms that underpin this interaction are not completely understood. In the present study, we investigated the role of macrophages in sleep loss- and cold exposure-induced sleep and body temperature responses. Macrophage apoptosis was induced in mice by systemic injection of clodronate-containing liposomes (CCL). We report that CCL treatment induced an immediate and transient increase in non-rapid-eye movement sleep (NREMS) and fever accompanied by decrease in rapid-eye movement sleep, motor activity and NREMS delta power. Chronically macrophage-depleted mice had attenuated NREMS rebound after sleep deprivation compared to normal mice. Cold-induced increase in wakefulness and decrease in NREMS, rapid-eye movement sleep and body temperature were significantly enhanced in macrophage-depleted mice indicating increased cold sensitivity. These findings provide further evidence for the reciprocal interaction among the immune system, sleep and metabolism, and identify macrophages as one of the key cellular elements in this interplay.
A Novel Analog Reasoning Paradigm: New Insights in Intellectually Disabled Patients

Background Intellectual Disability (ID) is characterized by deficits in intellectual functions such as reasoning, problem-solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, and learning. As new avenues are emerging for treatment of genetically determined ID (such as Down’s syndrome or Fragile X syndrome), it is necessary to identify objective reliable and sensitive outcome measures for use in clinical trials. Objective We developed a novel visual analogical reasoning paradigm, inspired by the Progressive Raven’s Matrices, but appropriate for Intellectually Disabled patients. This new paradigm assesses reasoning and inhibition abilities in ID patients. Methods We performed behavioural analyses for this task (with a reaction time and error rate analysis, Study 1) in 96 healthy controls (adults and typically developed children older than 4) and 41 genetically determined ID patients (Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome and ARX mutated patients). In order to establish and quantify the cognitive strategies used to solve the task, we also performed an eye-tracking analysis (Study 2). Results Down syndrome, ARX and Fragile X patients were significantly slower and made significantly more errors than chronological age-matched healthy controls. The effect of inhibition on error rate was greater than the matrix complexity effect in ID patients, opposite to findings in adult healthy controls. Interestingly, ID patients were more impaired by inhibition than mental age-matched healthy controls, but not by the matrix complexity. Eye-tracking analysis made it possible to identify the strategy used by the participants to solve the task. Adult healthy controls used a matrix-based strategy, whereas ID patients used a response-based strategy. Furthermore, etiologic-specific reasoning differences were evidenced between ID patients groups. Conclusion We suggest that this paradigm, appropriate for ID patients and developmental populations as well as adult healthy controls, provides an objective and quantitative assessment of visual analogical reasoning and cognitive inhibition, enabling testing for the effect of pharmacological or behavioural intervention in these specific populations.
Irradiation of rat tubule epithelial cells alters the expression of gene products associated with the synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix.

PURPOSE To determine the ability of radiation to modulate kidney tubule epithelial cell expression of various molecules involved in regulating extracellular matrix accumulation (collagen types I and III, fibronectin, plasminogen activator-inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), TGF-beta and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2)) and degradation (plasminogen activators u-PA or t-PA, MMP-2 and MMP-9). MATERIALS AND METHODS NRK52E rat tubule epithelial cells were placed in serum-free medium 24 h prior to irradiation with single doses of 1.0-10.0 Gy 137Cs gamma-rays. After irradiation, cells were maintained in serum-free medium for up to 48 h. RESULTS Irradiation of NRK52E cells was associated with significant dose-dependent increases in collagen I (p<0.05) and PAI-1 (p< or =0.002) mRNA. Collagen III mRNA levels also exhibited a dose-dependent increase; however, this increase failed to reach levels that were statistically significant. Fibronectin mRNA levels were unaltered following irradiation. Radiation also led to an isoform-specific alteration in TGF-beta expression; TGF-beta1 mRNA increased, TGF-beta3 mRNA decreased. The amount of TGF-beta protein secreted into the medium was unchanged following irradiation; however, there was a fivefold increase in the relative amount of active TGF-beta. Irradiation was also associated with differential changes in MMP expression: active MMP-2 levels increased, while MMP-9 levels were unaltered; PA secretion into the medium was unchanged following irradiation. CONCLUSIONS Irradiation of rat kidney tubule epithelial cells leads to altered production of various molecules associated with extracellular matrix accumulation and degradation.
Ethanol‐induced increase in portal hepatic blood flow: Interference by anesthetic agents

While a number of studies show that acute oral administration of ethanol results in increases in liver blood flow, a large body of evidence has also been presented in which such an effect is not observed. To shed light on this discrepancy, we have studied in rats, a number of variables that might modulate or inhibit the effect of ethanol. These included the use of three anesthetic agents studied at two different times after anesthetic administration and the effect of animal age, gender, batches and seasonal variation.
RF-induced heating comparison between in-vivo and in-phantom for 1.5T MRI

The RF-induced heating is one of the main problems in diagnostic MRI. The standard way to assess the RF-induced heating is to perform experimental or computational phantom studies. Due to the inherent differences in geometry and electrical parameters between the phantom and the human body, the induced RF-induced heating assessed in the phantom is typically not be the same as in human body. In this study, we investigate the difference in RF-induced heating between in-vivo and in-phantom assessment for an orthopedic femur and a humerus plate systems at 1.5T (64 MHz). We found that for this particular device the RF-induced heating for the in-phantom simulations is always higher than for the in-vivo simulations. However, to accurately predict the maximum in-vivo heating it is necessary to perform computational modeling using anatomically correct computer models and accurate computer models of the implant.