Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhaled fluticasone furoate/vilanterol does not affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in adolescent and adult asthma: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Fluticasone furoate (FF) is a novel inhaled corticosteroid with 24‐h activity. FF is in development as a once‐daily treatment for asthma as monotherapy and in combination with vilanterol (VI), a long‐acting β2 agonist. Corticosteroids can have systemic effects on hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis function, potentially resulting in cortisol suppression.
Borrelia burgdorferi Escape Mutants That Survive in the Presence of Antiserum to the OspA Vaccine Are Killed When Complement Is Also Present

ABSTRACT As an initial attempt to investigate the possible role of outer surface protein A (OspA) escape mutants of Borrelia burgdorferi in decreasing the efficacy of the OspA vaccine, mutants of the HB19 strain of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto were selected in vitro from an uncloned, low-passage-number isolate. The antiserum used for selection was obtained from rhesus monkeys that had been given a vaccine of the same formulation and dose, and by the same route of administration, as that given to humans in several trials. All of the mutants selected in liquid medium and subsequently cloned twice in solid medium expressed a single abundant protein of 28 to 34 kDa instead of both OspA and OspB. Depending on the mutant, this protein reacted strongly, weakly, or not detectably with the anti-OspA antibody used for selection. Analysis of the ospAB locus of each of four representatives from these three groups of mutants by PCR with oligonucleotide primers that hybridize to flanking regions of theospAB operon, and of the corresponding phenotype with monoclonal antibodies that bind to the amino or carboxyl terminus of the OspA or OspB polypeptide, indicated that in all cases a deletion within the operon had occurred. Spirochetes from the four mutant strains chosen for further analysis could be killed in antibody-dependent, complement-mediated killing assays with the selecting anti-OspA antibody, despite their resistance to killing with this antibody in the absence of complement. Complement-mediated killing occurred at an antibody concentration higher than that required to kill wild-type spirochetes. If anti-OspA antibody acts only within the tick, where complement is probably ineffective due to tick-derived decomplementing factors, then OspA escape mutants, if infectious, could seriously diminish the efficacy of OspA vaccines. On the other hand, if the killing of B. burgdorferi with anti-OspA antibody also takes place within the human host, then our results indicate that chimeric/deletion escape mutants will be killed as well.
Experimental Study and Steady State Stability Analysis of CLL-T Series Parallel Resonant Converter with Fuzzy Controller using State Space Analysis

This paper presents a Closed Loop control of CLL-T (Capacitor Inductor Inductor). Series Parallel Resonant Converter (SPRC) has been simulated and the performance is analysised. A three element CLL-T SPRC working under load independent operation (voltage type and current type load) is presented in this paper. The Steady State Stability Analysis of CLL-T SPRC has been developed using State Space Technique and the regulation of output voltage is done by using Fuzzy controller. The simulation study indicates the superiority of fuzzy control over the conventional control methods. The proposed approach is expected to provide better voltage regulation for dynamic load conditions. A prototype 300 W, 100 kHz converter is designed and built to experimentally demonstrate, dynamic and steady state performance for the CLL-T SPRC are compared from the simulation studies.
Steiner type formulae and weighted measures of singularities for semi-convex functions

For a given convex (semi-convex) function u, defined on a nonempty open convex set Ω ⊂ Rn, we establish a local Steiner type formula, the coefficients of which are nonnegative (signed) Borel measures. We also determine explicit integral representations for these coefficient measures, which are similar to the integral representations for the curvature measures of convex bodies (and, more generally, of sets with positive reach). We prove that, for r ∈ {0, . , n}, the r-th coefficient measure of the local Steiner formula for u, restricted to the set of r-singular points of u, is absolutely continuous with respect to the r-dimensional Hausdorff measure, and that its density is the (n − r)-dimensional Hausdorff measure of the subgradient of u. As an application, under the assumptions that u is convex and Lipschitz, and Ω is bounded, we get sharp estimates for certain weighted Hausdorff measures of the sets of r-singular points of u. Such estimates depend on the Lipschitz constant of u and on the quermassintegrals of the topological closure of Ω.
Toward Some Fundamentals of Fundamental Causality: Socioeconomic Status and Health in the Routine Clinic Visit for Diabetes1

The concept of “fundamental causality” has gained increasing attention as a way of understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health outcomes. Using enthnographic data from a comparative study of two diabetes clinics, the authors further develop the fundamental cause concept in three ways. First, they provide an exposition of the constituent claims implied by an assertion of fundamental causality. Second, they show how ethnographic data can be used to explicate such claims by showing some of the mechanisms that might operate to preserve the fundamental relationship in diabetes treatment regimens. Finally, they offer elaborations and refinements of the fundamental cause concept.
Technology at the service of natural performance: cross analysis of the Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya cases

Abstract Drawing from the pragmatic sociology initiated by Boltanski and Thévenot, this study bears on the moments of tension between nature’s dispositions and technology’s possibilities in sporting events. It is based on the premise that the deep meaning of sport competitions and their staging are best perceived when strange or foreign forces (an overly ‘bouncing’ prosthesis, an overly masculine body) comes and undermines the reality tests which constitute the events. Through a cross-analysis [in the sense lent to this term by Passeron and Revel], of two athletes whose sporting achievements generated debates – Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya – we will underline the fundamental role of technology, which consists in instituting, in secret, reality that is always more significant from a sporting standpoint.
Design and validation of a cardiorespiratory capacity test for preschool children

This study aimed to validate the 10x20m test for children aged 3 to 6 years in order to analyse cardiorespiratory capacity. 298 children, 159 boys (age=57.84±10.25 months) and 139 girls (age=56.68±11.00 months), that were randomly selected from three schools in the southeast of Spain participated in this study. The 10x20m test was designed to evaluate aerobic endurance. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) was selected and used for convergent validity. The analysis of reliability using a test-retest found no significant differences (p≥0.05). As for convergent validity between the 10x20m test and 6MWT, a Pearson correlation coefficient of r= -0.657, (p<0.001) was found. The linear regression analysis yielded a R 2 =0.432. Regarding gender and age influences, no significant differences (p≥0.05) for any variable according to gender were found, while significant differences were found (p<0.001) in the 10x20m test between age sub-groups. The results showed that the 10x20m test obtained adequate parameters of reliability and validity in healthy children aged 3 to 6 years. Therefore, to assess cardiorespiratory endurance in preschool children this test is valid, reliable and easy-to-perform. Key words: Cardiorespiratory endurance; Physical fitness; Preschool assessment; Validation.
Effects of management control systems and cognitive orientation on misreporting: an experiment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the simultaneous effect of management control system (MCS) designs (belief vs boundary) and cognitive orientations (individualism vs collectivism) on performance misreporting by combining accounting and psychology literature. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a laboratory experiment with 67 postgraduate students. Findings Results show that an individualist cognitive orientation increased performance misreporting. The results also showed that a boundary design of MCS intensified the relationship between individualist orientation and performance misreporting. Research limitations/implications This paper shed some light about the role of non-pecuniary control system for reducing managerial performance misreporting. The findings support that the tendency of individuals to avoid misreporting depends not only on the MCS design but also on the match between it and individual’s cognitive orientations. Practical implications Managers in organizations should consider the predominant cognitive orientation of individuals when they design MCS. They should consider that control systems, which impose coercive constraints to individuals, may encourage feelings of psychological reactance and then increase performance misreporting. Originality/value This study is among the first to combine psychology and accounting literature to analyze how the design of MCS influences individuals’ motivation to misreport their performance. It provided evidence about the effect of non-monetary control systems on individual’s behavior in organizations.
Distinctive Features of Surface-Anchored Proteins of Streptococcus agalactiae Strains from Zimbabwe Revealed by PCR and Dot Blotting

ABSTRACT The distribution of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) types and subtypes (serovariants) among 121 group B streptococcus (GBS) strains from Zimbabwe was examined. PCR was used for the detection of both CPS types and the surface-anchored and strain-variable proteins Cα, Cβ, Alp1, Alp2, Alp3, R4/Rib, and Alp4. The R3 protein was detected by an antibody-based method using monoclonal anti-R3 antibody in dot blotting. The CPS types detected, Ia (15.7% of strains), Ib (11.6%), II (8.3%), III (38.8%), V (24.0%), and nontypeable (1.7%), were essentially as expected on the basis of data from Western countries. The type V strains showed distinctive features with respect to protein markers in that Alp3 was detected in only 6.9% of the isolates while R3 occurred in 75.9% and R4/Rib occurred in 37.9% of the isolates. R3 occurred nearly always in combination with one of the alpha-like (Alp) proteins, and it was the third most common of the proteins studied. These results show that type V GBS strains from Zimbabwe differed from type V strains from other geographical areas and also emphasize the importance of the R3 protein in GBS serotyping and its potential importance in the immunobiology of GBS, including a potential role in a future GBS vaccine.
Mechanics of Epidermal Electronics

Epidermal electronic system (EES) is a class of integrated electronic systems that are ultrathin, soft, and lightweight, such that it could be mounted to the epidermis based on van der Waals interactions alone, yet provides robust, intimate contact to the skin. Recent advances on this technology will enable many medical applications such as to monitor brain or heart activities, to monitor premature babies, to enhance the control of prosthetics, or to realize human-machine interface. In particular, the contact between EES and the skin is key to high-performance functioning of the above applications and is studied in this paper. The mechanics concepts that lead to successful designs of EES are also discussed. The results, validated by finite element analysis and experimental observations, provide simple, analytical guidelines for design and optimization of EES with various possible functionalities. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4005963]
SpecNet: A Spatial Network Algorithm that Generates a Wide Range of Specific Structures

Network measures are used to predict the behavior of different systems. To be able to investigate how various structures behave and interact we need a wide range of theoretical networks to explore. Both spatial and non-spatial methods exist for generating networks but they are limited in the ability of producing wide range of network structures. We extend an earlier version of a spatial spectral network algorithm to generate a large variety of networks across almost all the theoretical spectra of the following network measures: average clustering coefficient, degree assortativity, fragmentation index, and mean degree. We compare this extended spatial spectral network-generating algorithm with a non-spatial algorithm regarding their ability to create networks with different structures and network measures. The spatial spectral network-generating algorithm can generate networks over a much broader scale than the non-spatial and other known network algorithms. To exemplify the ability to regenerate real networks, we regenerate networks with structures similar to two real Swedish swine transport networks. Results show that the spatial algorithm is an appropriate model with correlation coefficients at 0.99. This novel algorithm can even create negative assortativity and managed to achieve assortativity values that spans over almost the entire theoretical range.
Relating Two Metric Semantics for Parallel Rewriting of Multisets

In this paper we employ the mathematical methodology of metric semantics in defining and relating a denotational and an operational semantics for an abstract concurrent language embodying the following features: parallel composition is based on maximal parallelism, and computations are specified by means of multiset rewriting rules. We relate these semantics, and compare them in terms of this combination of concepts. The semantic models are designed by using continuations for concurrency.
Dealing with systematics in cosmic shear studies: New results from the VIRMOS-Descart survey

We present a reanalysis of the VIRMOS-Descart weak lensing data, with a particular focus on different corrections for the variation of the point spread function anisotropy (PSF) across the CCDs. We show that the small scale systematics can be minimised, and eventually suppressed, using the B mode (curled shear component) measured in the corrected stars and galaxies. Updated cosmological constraints are obtained, free of systematics caused by PSF anisotropy. To facilitate general use of our results, we provide the two-points statistics data points with their covariance matrices up to a scale of one degree. For the normalisation of the mass power spectrum we obtain σ8 = (0.83 ± 0.07) (ΩM/0.3) −0.49 . The shape parameter Γ was marginalised over Γ ∈ (0.1, 0.3) and the mean source redshift zs over (0.8, 1.0). The latter is consistent with recent photometric redshifts obtained for the VIRMOS data and the preliminary spectroscopic redshifts from the VIRMOS-VVDS survey. The quoted 68% contour level includes all identified sources of error. We discuss the possible sources of residual contamination in this result: the effect of the non-linear mass power spectrum and remaining issues concerning the PSF correction. Our result is compared with the first release of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data. It is found that Cold Dark Matter models with a power law primordial power spectrum and high matter density ΩM > 0.5 are excluded at 3-σ.
Non-Markovian effects in strong-field pair creation

We analyze a quantum kinetic equation describing both boson and fermion pair production and explore analytically and numerically the solution of the non-Markovian kinetic equation. In the Markovian limit of the kinetic equation we find an analytical solution for the single particle distribution function of bosons and fermions. The numerical investigation for a homogeneous, constant electric field shows an enhancement (bosons) or a suppression (fermions) of the pair creation rate according to the symmetry character of the produced particles. For strong fields non-Markovian effects are important while they disappear for weak fields. Hence it is sufficient to apply the low density limit for weak fields but necessary to take into account memory effects for strong fields.
Kinematic Constraints on Evolutionary Scenarios for Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies. I. Neutral Gas Dynamics

We present the results of high spatial resolution, H I synthesis observations of six blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies. Optically, the selected galaxies have smooth, symmetric isophotes and thus are the most likely of the BCD class to fade into an object morphologically similar to a dwarf elliptical when the current starburst ends. The neutral gas in all six galaxies appears to be rotationally supported, however, indicating that true morphological transformation from a BCD to a dE will require significant loss of angular momentum. Based on the observed neutral gas dynamics of these and other BCDs, it is unlikely that present-day BCDs will evolve directly into dwarf ellipticals after a starburst phase. We discuss alternative evolutionary scenarios for BCDs and place them within the larger context of galaxy formation and evolution models. In general, BCDs appear to have steeper rotation curves than similar luminosity, low surface brightness dwarf galaxies. BCDs have centrally concentrated mass distributions (stars, gas, and dark matter) and have lower specific angular momenta. Based on disk instability analyses, steeply rising rotation curves result in higher threshold densities for the onset of star formation. These results suggest that angular momentum may play a crucial role in the morphological evolution of low-mass galaxies: galaxies with low angular momenta will be able to collapse into small, compact galaxies, while galaxies with high angular momenta will be more diffuse systems. Furthermore, because the star formation threshold density is higher in low angular momenta systems, star formation will be delayed until an extremely high surface density is reached. Thus, angular momentum may be the fundamental parameter that determines whether a low-mass galaxy will have centrally concentrated stellar and gaseous distributions and be more susceptible to a burst mode of star formation.
Does Diffusion Make an Institutionally Contested Practice Legitimate? Shareholder Responses to Downsizing in Japan, 1973–2005

Despite predictions to the contrary, institutionally contested practices are sometimes disseminated broadly. Does diffusion indicate they have achieved legitimacy in the eyes of key constituents? The conventional view regards diffusion as a process of legitimization and suggests that unconventional practices gain legitimacy following diffusion. Building on recent studies that view diffusion as an outcome of political struggle, we instead argue that political contestation ramps up as controversial practices are disseminated, making it difficult for them to gain wide acceptance. Their diffusion threatens the stability of preexisting institutional arrangements, and constituents who remain supportive of the status quo react negatively. We test our argument by examining shareholders’ response to downsizing in Japan, a practice that is highly controversial given the deeply entrenched norm of lifetime employment. Our analysis of panel data on 1,791 Japanese firms between 1973 and 2005 shows that neither domestic financial institutions nor foreign investors responded positively to downsizing as it became broadly disseminated. Domestic financial institutions actually responded in increasingly negative ways in the 1990s, while they did not in the 1970s when downsizing was conducted within the framework of the long-term relationship between Japanese firms and their main banks. These results suggest that the relationship between diffusion and legitimacy can be contingent, in that the diffusion of institutionally contested practices can trigger reactions that differ from those of institutionally supported practices.
Phosphorylation of neurofilament proteins and chromatolysis following transection of rat sciatic nerve

States of phosphorylation of neurofilament proteins were examined in the perikarya of rat sensory and motor neurons between 3 and 28 d following either a distal transection [6–7 cm from the L4-L5 dorsal root ganglia (DRG)] or a proximal transection (1–2 cm from the L4-L5 DRG) of the sciatic nerve. Paraffin sections of the right (experimental) and left (control) L4 and L5 DRG from animals with unilateral transection of the right distal sciatic nerve were stained immunocytochemically with monoclonal antibodies to phosphorylation- dependent (NF-P), dephosphorylation-dependent (NF-dP), or phosphorylation-independent (NF-ind) epitopes on the largest (NF200), mid-sized (NF150), or smallest (NF68) neurofilament protein subunits. Increased immunoreactivity to NF-P on NF200 and NF150 was detected in experimental DRC at 10 d, peaking by 20 d, and declining to near control levels by 28 d. Conversely, immunoreactivity to NF-dP declined in experimental DRG beginning at 6 d, reaching a maximum decline at 10– 16 d, and returning to near control levels by 28 d. Immunocytochemical changes were confirmed with biochemical studies on tissue homogenates that demonstrated an increase of immunoreactivity to NF-P and a decrease of reactivity to NF-dP in the experimental DRG. Changes in immunoreactivities to NF-P and NF-dP were observed only in the perikarya of large neurons and were closely associated with chromatolytic changes in these neurons. Marked enhancement of chromatolysis, as well as the immunoreactivities to NF-P and NF-dP, occurred following a proximal (left side) versus distal (right side) transection in the same animal. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effect of Applying Social Networking to Mathematics Course for Junior High School Students

Taiwan is going to start 12-year compulsory education in 2014, so education strategies once again become an important issue for research and discussion. The current study used the web-based cooperative learning with Windows Live as a teaching strategy to teach Mathematics course in a junior high school in Taiwan. The subjects, 3 classes of first-year students, were divided into experimental group and control group based on the average scores of their previous tests. For 12 weeks, the experimental group received experimental instruction with Windows Live, while the control group was taught with traditional teaching method. Pre-test and post-test of learning achievement were conducted on both groups, and an additional questionnaire was answered by the experimental group. The data from this study, analyzed by ANCOVA, showed that the group receiving Windows Live web-based cooperative learning obtained significantly higher achievement than the group learning with traditional teaching method. The research result thus indicates that Windows Live web-based cooperative learning is an effective teaching strategy in enhancing students' achievement.
Financial Institutions Center Parametric and Nonparametric Volatility Measurement

The Wharton Financial Institutions Center provides a multidisciplinary research approach to the problems and opportunities facing the financial services industry in its search for competitive excellence. The Center's research focuses on the issues related to managing risk at the firm level as well as ways to improve productivity and performance. The Center fosters the development of a community of faculty, visiting scholars and Ph.D. candidates whose research interests complement and support the mission of the Center. The Center works closely with industry executives and practitioners to ensure that its research is informed by the operating realities and competitive demands facing industry participants as they pursue competitive excellence. Copies of the working papers summarized here are available from the Center. If you would like to learn more about the Center or become a member of our research community, please let us know of your interest.