Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A LOCAL BASELINE OF THE BLACK HOLE MASS SCALING RELATIONS FOR ACTIVE GALAXIES. II. MEASURING STELLAR VELOCITY DISPERSION IN ACTIVE GALAXIES

We derive spatially resolved stellar kinematics for a sample of 84 out of 104 observed local (0.02 < z < 0.09) galaxies hosting type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), based on long-slit spectra obtained at the 10 m W. M. Keck-1 Telescope. In addition to providing central stellar velocity dispersions, we measure major axis rotation curves and velocity dispersion profiles using three separate wavelength regions, including the prominent Ca H&K, Mg Ib, and Ca ii NIR stellar features. In this paper, we compare kinematic measurements of stellar velocity dispersion obtained for different apertures, wavelength regions, and signal-to-noise ratios, and provide recipes to cross-calibrate the measurements reducing systematic effects to the level of a few percent. We also provide simple recipes based on readily observable quantities such as global colors and Ca H&K equivalent width that will allow observers of high-redshift AGN hosts to increase the probability of obtaining reliable stellar kinematic measurements from unresolved spectra in the region surrounding the Ca H&K lines. In subsequent papers in this series, we will combine this unprecedented spectroscopic data set with surface photometry and black hole mass measurements to study in detail the scaling relations between host galaxy properties and black hole mass.
Positional games on random graphs

We introduce and study Maker/Breaker‐type positional games on random graphs. Our main concern is to determine the threshold probability pℱ for the existence of Maker's strategy to claim a member of ℱ in the unbiased game played on the edges of random graph G(n, p), for various target families ℱ of winning sets. More generally, for each probability above this threshold we study the smallest bias b such that Maker wins the (1 : b) biased game. We investigate these functions for a number of basic games, like the connectivity game, the perfect matching game, the clique game and the Hamiltonian cycle game. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 2005
Vascular effects of lipopolysaccharide are enhanced in interleukin-10-deficient mice.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The role in blood vessels of interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine, is not known. Using mice with targeted deletion of the gene for IL-10 (IL-10(-/-)), we examined the hypothesis that IL-10 is a major modulator of the vascular effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods-We examined in vitro responses of carotid arteries obtained from wild-type (129/SvEv or C57BL/6; IL-10(+/+)) and IL-10-deficient mice 6 hours after injection of a relatively low dose of LPS (10 microgram). RESULTS Contraction of the carotid artery in response to U46619 was impaired in IL-10-deficient mice treated with LPS compared with LPS-treated controls. After LPS, U46619 (0.03 and 0.1 microgram/mL) contracted the carotid artery by 0.11+/-0.02 (mean+/-SEM) and 0.38+/-0.03 g in wild-type (n=10) and 0.03+/-0.01 and 0.19+/-0.03 g in IL-10-deficient (n=8) mice (P<0.05 versus control). Aminoguanidine, an inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), had no significant effect on contraction of the carotid artery from LPS-treated control mice but restored contraction of the carotid artery in response to U46619 in IL-10-deficient mice to levels seen in wild-type mice. Similar findings were obtained when phenylephrine was used as a vasoconstricting agent. These findings indicate that LPS produces much greater impairment of contractile responses of the carotid artery in IL-10-deficient mice than in control mice. Impaired contractile function was eliminated by aminoguanidine, suggesting that expression of iNOS is enhanced in arteries from IL-10-deficient mice. In carotid arteries from animals injected with LPS, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products for iNOS were found more frequently in IL-10-deficient mice than in wild-type mice. RT-PCR products for iNOS were not present in arteries from vehicle-treated animals (IL-10-deficient or wild-type mice). CONCLUSIONS This is the first evidence that endogenous IL-10 is a major determinant of the effects of LPS on vascular tone. The results suggest that impaired constrictor responses of the carotid artery after LPS in IL-10-deficient mice are mediated by enhanced expression of iNOS.
The Investment Cash Flow Relationship: Does National Culture Matter?

We investigate the effect of national culture on corporate investment-cash flow sensitivity. The extant literature on corporate investment explains investment-cash flow sensitivity using agency and asymmetric information theories. In this paper we argue that culture affects perceptions of, and reactions to, agency and information asymmetry. Hence, we expect investment-cash flow sensitivity to be determined not only by objective assessment of the severity of agency and information asymmetry problems in firms, but also by the subjective perceptions of managers, shareholders, and corporate outsiders with regard to these problems. Using Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions (collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity) we find that uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity have a positive effect on investment-cash flow sensitivity, whereas collectivism has a negative effect for a sample of 109,807 firm-years from 24 OECD countries between 1990 and 2011. Our results hold even after accounting for alternative statistical approaches, sample compositions, and measures of cultural dimensions.
Influence of APOA 5 ( rs 662799 and rs 3135506 ) gene polymorphism in acute myocardial infarction patients and its association with basic coronary artery disease risk factors

Article history: Received on: 02/04/2015 Revised on: 11/05/2015 Accepted on: 29/05/2015 Available online: 27/06/2015 The aim of this study was to examine the allele and genotype of APOA5 -1131T/C (rs662799) and APOA5-56C/G (rs3135506) gene in acute myocardial (AMI) case and control subjects. 304 case and 304 controls were enrolled in this study. DNA was extracted using salting out method followed by polymerase chain reaction amplification and restriction endonuclease digestion (using MseI for -1131T/C and Taq1 for -56C/G). Digested PCR products were identified using agarose gel electrophoresis and stained with ethidium bromide. There was a strong association between APOA5 -1131T/C (TC vs. TT, OR= 1.58 and CC vs. TT OR= 2.43) and APOA5 -56C/G (CG vs. CC, OR= 1.64 and GG vs. CC, OR= 2.44) polymorphisms with AMI. Out of the six potential risk factors for coronary artery disease, only smoking, diabetes and hypertension were found to be associated with APOA5 gene and increased the risk of AMI. Smoking was the most prominent risk factor for both the genes. Other risk factors like history of dyslipidemia, obesity and family history of coronary artery disease did not reveal any potential association with the candidate gene. Our data demonstrate that both the SNPs in the APOA5 gene (-1131T/C, and -56C/G) were strongly associated with AMI in north Indian population.
Convicted but Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy

Foreword - Simon Dinitz Introduction With Apologies to the Prisoner Causes Celebres How Could This Have Happened? The Causes and Prevalence of Wrongful Conviction What Did They Really See? The Problems of Eyewitness Identification False Confessions, Miranda Notwithstanding Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy What Can Be Done?
Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Hyperacute Cerebral Hypoglycemia

In this interesting experiment, the authors set out to determine if acute hypoglycemia induces diffusion-weighted imaging–visible changes. Ten patients undergoing insulin stress testing were continuously imaged with DWI until their blood glucose levels were less than 2.0 mmol/L (lower limit of normal: 3.9 mmol/L). The authors found no DWI alterations in the brains of these patients, thus concluding acute hypoglycemia does not result in visible changes. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral hypoglycemia can result in reversible metabolic brain insults and can be associated with impaired diffusion disturbances. Our aim was to evaluate possible changes in DWI of the human brain during hyperacute short-term severe hypoglycemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten individuals scheduled for a clinical IST were examined with DWI while the test was performed. Venous blood glucose was continuously measured, and sequential DWI sequences were performed without interruption. Hypoglycemia was terminated with intravenous glucose administration when glucose levels were at ≤2.0 mmol/L. RESULTS: Blood glucose levels were lowered to a mean nadir of 1.75 ± 0.38 mmol/L. No alterations of cerebral diffusion could be observed in any individuals on DWI. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperacute short-term severe hypoglycemia does not induce visible changes in DWI of the human brain.
Recovery from Polyglutamine-Induced Neurodegeneration in Conditional SCA1 Transgenic Mice

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is an autosomal dominant, polyglutamine-induced neurodegenerative disorder that results in loss of motor coordination caused primarily by a disruption of cerebellar Purkinje cell function. In this study, we developed a conditional SCA1 mouse model to examine whether stopping expression of mutant ataxin-1 alters the disease phenotype. After cessation of SCA1[82Q] transgene expression, mutant ataxin-1, including that in nuclear inclusions, was cleared rapidly from Purkinje cells. At an early stage of disease, Purkinje cell pathology and motor dysfunction were completely reversible. After halting SCA1 expression at later stages of disease, only a partial recovery was seen. Interestingly, restoration of the ability to perform a complex motor task, the accelerating Rotarod, correlated with localization of mGluR1α to the Purkinje cell-parallel fiber synapse. These results show that the progression of SCA1 pathogenesis is dependent on the continuous expression of mutant ataxin-1. Of note, even at a late stage of disease, Purkinje cells retain at least some ability to repair the damage caused by mutant ataxin-1.
Evolutionary Change in Continuous Reaction Norms

Understanding the evolution of reaction norms remains a major challenge in ecology and evolution. Investigating evolutionary divergence in reaction norm shapes between populations and closely related species is one approach to providing insights. Here we use a meta-analytic approach to compare divergence in reaction norms of closely related species or populations of animals and plants across types of traits and environments. We quantified mean-standardized differences in overall trait means (Offset) and reaction norm shape (including both Slope and Curvature). These analyses revealed that differences in shape (Slope and Curvature together) were generally greater than differences in Offset. Additionally, differences in Curvature were generally greater than differences in Slope. The type of taxon contrast (species vs. population), trait, organism, and the type and novelty of environments all contributed to the best-fitting models, especially for Offset, Curvature, and the total differences (Total) between reaction norms. Congeneric species had greater differences in reaction norms than populations, and novel environmental conditions increased the differences in reaction norms between populations or species. These results show that evolutionary divergence of curvature is common and should be considered an important aspect of plasticity, together with slope. Biological details about traits and environments, including cryptic variation expressed in novel environmental conditions, may be critical to understanding how reaction norms evolve in novel and rapidly changing environments.
Incisura Morphology as a Risk Factor for Syndesmotic Malreduction

Background: The goal of this study was to objectively assess if rotational or translational syndesmotic malreduction is associated with certain syndesmotic morphologies. Prior studies based on subjective assessment of syndesmotic morphology and reduction have not shown any difference between groups. Methods: Thirty-five prospectively recruited patients with operatively treated syndesmotic injuries were recruited at an Urban Level I Trauma Center. Patients underwent postoperative bilateral computed tomographic (CT) scans of the ankle to assess incisura depth and syndesmotic reduction. The uninjured extremity was used as a control. Side-to-side differences of syndesmotic reduction were measured at several anatomic points and compared to the incisura depth. Results: There was a significant correlation between more shallow syndesmoses and increased anterior translation of the fibula in the incisura (r = −0.63, P ≤ .001). Six of 8 patients with “shallow” (≤2.5 mm) incisura were anteriorly malreduced greater than or equal to 1.5 mm compared to the contralateral ankle. The anterior malreduction rate in those with a shallow incisura was significantly greater than in the “non-shallow” patients (P < .001). There were 9 patients with incisurae greater than or equal to 4.5 mm deep. Five of the “deep” patients had posterior malreductions greater than or equal to 1.5 mm. The posterior malreduction rate in the “deep” group was significantly greater than the “non-deep” patients (P = .02). There was a significant correlation between increasing syndesmotic depth and increased malrotation (r = .46, P = .01). Conclusion: Syndesmotic morphology was found to be associated with specific malreduction patterns. Shallow syndesmoses were correlated with anterior fibular malreduction, and were less likely to be malrotated. Conversely, deep syndesmoses predisposed to posterior sagittal plane and rotational malalignment. Preoperative CT scans that assess the syndesmosis morphology may allow surgeons to alter reduction strategies to avoid syndesmotic malreduction. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective cohort study.
Valuation in Over-the-Counter Markets

We provide the impact on asset prices of search-and-bargaining frictions in over-the-counter markets. Under certain conditions, illiquidity discounts are higher when counterparties are harder to find, when sellers have less bargaining power, when the fraction of qualified owners is smaller, or when risk aversion, volatility, or hedging demand are larger. Supply shocks cause prices to jump, and then 'recover' over time, with a time signature that is exaggerated by search frictions. We discuss a variety of empirical implications.
Investigations into the effects of neuromodulations on the BOLD-fMRI signal

The blood oxygen level dependent functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI) signal is an indirect measure of the neuronal activity that most BOLD studies are interested in. This thesis uses generative embedding algorithms to investigate some of the challenges and opportunities that this presents for BOLD imaging. It is standard practice to analyse BOLD signals using general linear models (GLMs) that assume fixed neurovascular coupling. However, this assumption may cause false positive or negative neural activations to be detected if the biological manifestations of brain diseases, disorders and pharmaceutical drugs (termed "neuromodulations") alter this coupling. Generative embedding can help overcome this problem by identifying when a neuromodulation confounds the standard GLM. When applied to anaesthetic neuromodulations found in preclinical imaging data, Fentanyl has the smallest confounding effect and Pentobarbital has the largest, causing extremely significant neural activations to go undetected. Half of the anaesthetics tested caused overestimation of the neuronal activity but the other half caused underestimation. The variability in biological action between anaesthetic modulations in identical brain regions of genetically similar animals highlights the complexity required to comprehensively account for factors confounding neurovascular coupling in GLMs generally. Generative embedding has the potential to augment established algorithms used to compensate for these variations in GLMs without complicating the standard (ANOVA) way of reporting BOLD results. Neuromodulation of neurovascular coupling can also present opportunities, such as improved diagnosis, monitoring and understanding of brain diseases accompanied by neurovascular uncoupling. Information theory is used to show that the discriminabilities of neurodegenerative-diseased and healthy generative posterior parameter spaces make generative embedding a viable tool for these commercial applications, boasting sensitivity to neurovascular coupling nonlinearities and biological interpretability. The value of hybrid neuroimaging systems over separate neuroimaging technologies is found to be greatest for early-stage neurodegenerative disease.
Adaptive Neural Tracking Control for a Class of Nonstrict-Feedback Stochastic Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Backlash-Like Hysteresis

This paper considers the problem of adaptive neural control of stochastic nonlinear systems in nonstrict-feedback form with unknown backlash-like hysteresis nonlinearities. To overcome the design difficulty of nonstrict-feedback structure, variable separation technique is used to decompose the unknown functions of all state variables into a sum of smooth functions of each error dynamic. By combining radial basis function neural networks' universal approximation capability with an adaptive backstepping technique, an adaptive neural control algorithm is proposed. It is shown that the proposed controller guarantees that all the signals in the closed-loop system are four-moment semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error eventually converges to a small neighborhood of the origin in the sense of mean quartic value. Simulation results further show the effectiveness of the presented control scheme.
Origin of the p-process radionuclides 92Nb and 146Sm in the early solar system and inferences on the birth of the Sun

Significance Radioactive nuclei with half-lives of the order of millions of years were present in the solar system at its birth and can be used as clocks to measure the events that predated the birth of the Sun. Two of these nuclei are heavy and rich in protons and can be produced only by particular chains of nuclear reactions during some supernova explosions. We have used their abundances to derive that at least 10 million years passed between the last of these explosions and the birth of the Sun. This means that the region where the Sun was born must have lived at least as long, which is possible only if it was very massive. The abundances of 92Nb and 146Sm in the early solar system are determined from meteoritic analysis, and their stellar production is attributed to the p process. We investigate if their origin from thermonuclear supernovae deriving from the explosion of white dwarfs with mass above the Chandrasekhar limit is in agreement with the abundance of 53Mn, another radionuclide present in the early solar system and produced in the same events. A consistent solution for 92Nb and 53Mn cannot be found within the current uncertainties and requires the 92Nb/92Mo ratio in the early solar system to be at least 50% lower than the current nominal value, which is outside its present error bars. A different solution is to invoke another production site for 92Nb, which we find in the α-rich freezeout during core-collapse supernovae from massive stars. Whichever scenario we consider, we find that a relatively long time interval of at least ∼10 My must have elapsed from when the star-forming region where the Sun was born was isolated from the interstellar medium and the birth of the Sun. This is in agreement with results obtained from radionuclides heavier than iron produced by neutron captures and lends further support to the idea that the Sun was born in a massive star-forming region together with many thousands of stellar siblings.
A climatology of surface ozone in the extra tropics: cluster analysis of observations and model results

Important aspects of the seasonal variations of surface ozone are discussed. The underlying analysis is based on the long-term (1990-2004) ozone records of the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP) and the World Data Centre of Greenhouse Gases, which provide data mostly for the Northern Hemisphere. Seasonal variations are pronounced at most of the 114 lo- cations at all times of the day. A seasonal-diurnal varia- tions classification using hierarchical agglomeration cluster- ing reveals 6 distinct clusters: clean background, rural, semi- polluted non-elevated, semi-polluted semi-elevated, elevated and polar/remote marine. For the "clean background" clus- ter the seasonal maximum is observed in March-April, both for night and day. For those sites with a double maximum or a wide spring-summer maximum, the spring maximum ap- pears both for day and night, while the summer maximum is more pronounced for daytime and hence can be attributed to photochemical processes. The spring maximum is more likely caused by dynamical/transport processes than by pho- tochemistry as it is observed in spring for all times of the day. We compare the identified clusters with correspond- ing data from the 3-D atmospheric chemistry general cir- culation model ECHAM5/MESSy1 covering the period of 1998-2005. For the model output as for the measurements 6 clusters are considered. The simulation shows at most of the sites a spring seasonal maximum or a broad spring-summer maximum (with higher summer mixing ratios). For southern hemispheric and polar remote locations the seasonal maxi- mum in the simulation is shifted to spring, while the absolute mixing ratios are in good agreement with the measurements. The seasonality in the model cluster covering background locations is characterized by a pronounced spring (April- May) maximum. For the model clusters which cover rural and semi-polluted sites the role of the photochemical pro- duction/destruction seems to be overestimated. Taking into consideration the differences in the data sampling procedure, the comparison demonstrates the ability of the model to re- produce the main regimes of surface ozone variations quite well.
Knowledge and the future of the curriculum : international studies in social realism

1. Introduction: Knowledge and the Future of the Curriculum Elizabeth Rata and Brian Barrett 2. Social Realism and the Problem of the Problem of Knowledge in the Sociology of Education Rob Moore 3. On the Powers of Powerful Knowledge Michael Young and Johan Muller 4. Powerful Knowledge, Esoteric Knowledge, Curriculum Knowledge John Beck 5. Knowledge and Democracy: The Strife of the Dialectic Elizabeth Rata 6. Risky Business: The Marginalisation of Knowledge in American Education Reform since A Nation at Risk Brian Barrett 7. The Missing 'Voice' of Knowledge in Knowledge and Skills Chris Corbel 8. Pathways to Powerful Knowledge: A Case for Music's 'Voice' Graham McPhail 9. 'Neither Existence nor Future': The Social Realist Challenge to School Geography John Morgan 10. Powerful Knowledge in History: Disciplinary Strength or Weakened Episteme? Barbara Ormond 11. Sequencing Rules as a Condition of Knowledge Structure Jeanne Gamble 12. Building Knowledge: The Significance of Semantic Waves Karl Maton 13. Practical Knowledge of Teaching: What Counts? Yael Shalem and Lynn Slonimsky
Impact of transport infrastructure on regional mobility: Application of social equity approach

The present article has for objective to study the relation between the distribution of transport infrastructures and the question of the social equity. The paper shows the impacts of transport infrastructures on the interregional migrations of the individuals in Tunisia by the application of model of gravity, and demonstrates that the attractiveness of a region is dependent on its accessibility and on the level of its endowment in transport infrastructures.