Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Market Reforms and Consumption Puzzles in China

China exhibits above average savings and below average consumption as shares of total economic activity when compared with other countries. At the same time, to create more balanced growth at home and rebalance key bilateral trade and capital flow relationships, China’s leadership is trying to increase domestic demand. To complement studies that investigate the high rate of savings in China, this study focuses on the variation in consumption as a share of GDP across provinces between 1979 and 2004. Drawing on well-established consumption theories and work done on savings behavior in China, this paper develops an empirical investigation of the variables hypothesized to influence the pattern of consumption across regions. We find that the normal, economic variables have a small explanatory power if significant at all, while the key variables influencing the macro consumption share are structural, and mostly related to government behavior. For example, local government expenditure on health and education is significant and has a relatively large effect on consumption. Consistent with this we also find a positive relationship between consumption shares and the size of the state sector and the share of tax revenue in GDP. We also find some evidence that financial development has a positive effect on consumption shares. Our results suggest that in order for domestic consumption to be increased in the future, new public and private options to replace the declining security and responsibility of the prior state-dominated system will be needed. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank International Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau for supplying demographic data for this paper, Carsten Holz and Yinghua Jin for their help with data definitions, Xiao Huang, Haizheng Li and Mary Beth Walker for discussions on estimation techniques, Xuepeng Liu for his comments at the Federal Reserve of Atlanta workshop, an anonymous referee for his/her comments, Alexander Garver and Chunying Xie for research assistance, and Agnes Scott College for financial support.
Cholesky-Like Factorization of Symmetric Indefinite Matrices and Orthogonalization with Respect to Bilinear Forms

It is well known that orthogonalization of column vectors in a rectangular matrix $B$ with respect to the bilinear form induced by a nonsingular symmetric indefinite matrix $A$ can be eventually seen as its factorization $B=QR$ that is equivalent to the Cholesky-like factorization in the form $B^TAB=R^T \Omega R$, where $R$ is upper triangular and $\Omega$ is a signature matrix. Under the assumption of nonzero principal minors of the matrix $M=B^T A B$ we give bounds for the conditioning of the triangular factor $R$ in terms of extremal singular values of $M$ and of only those principal submatrices of $M$ where there is a change of sign in $\Omega$. Using these results we study the numerical behavior of two types of orthogonalization schemes and we give the worst-case bounds for quantities computed in finite precision arithmetic. In particular, we analyze the implementation based on the Cholesky-like factorization of $M$ and the Gram--Schmidt process with respect to the bilinear form induced by the matrix.
Healing of Venous Ulcers of Long Duration with a Bilayered Living Skin Substitute: Results from a General Surgery and Dermatology Department

BACKGROUND A laboratory-grown bilayered living skin substitute (LSS) has been shown to accelerate the healing of venous ulcers. However, issues related to optimal wound bed preparation prior to the application of LSS have not been addressed. OBJECTIVE When combined with standard compression therapy and near elimination of wound exudate, bioengineered skin can achieve complete closure of venous ulcers which have been present for more than a year and which are difficult to heal. METHODS In the general surgery (center A) and dermatology (center B) departments at two separate medical centers, LSS was used to treat venous ulcers of more than 1 year's duration and which had been unresponsive to conventional therapy. Wound bed preparation at both centers had as common goals the removal of necrotic tissue, optimal formation of granulation tissue, and elimination of wound exudate. RESULTS There was great comparability between the two centers in the patients being treated, wound size and duration, and number of LSS applications. Both centers achieved a frequency of complete wound closure of greater than 70% within 6 months. CONCLUSION At two separate clinical and specialty sites having a common goal of optimal wound preparation, treatment with LSS was associated with a high rate of complete closure of hard to heal venous ulcers.
A Novel Bromodomain Inhibitor Reverses HIV-1 Latency through Specific Binding with BRD4 to Promote Tat and P-TEFb Association

While combinatory antiretroviral therapy (cART) can effectively reduce HIV-1 viremia, it cannot eliminate HIV-1 infection. In the presence of cART, viral reservoirs remain latent, impeding the cure of HIV-1/AIDS. Recently, latency-reversing agents (LRAs) have been developed with the intent of purging latent HIV-1, providing an intriguing strategy for the eradication of the residual viral reservoirs. Our earlier studies show that the first-generation, methyl-triazolo bromodomain, and extra-terminal domain inhibitor (BETi), JQ1, facilitates the reversal of HIV-1 latency. BETis have emerged as a new class of compounds that are promising for this HIV-1 “shock and kill” eradication approach. However, when used as a single drug, JQ1 only modestly reverses HIV-1 latency, which complicates studying the underlining mechanisms. Meanwhile, it has been widely discussed that the induction of latent proviruses is stochastic (Ho et al., 2013). Thus, new BETis are currently under active development with focus on improving potency, ease of synthesis and structural diversity. Using fluorous-tagged multicomponent reactions, we developed a novel second-generation, 3,5-dimethylisoxazole BETi based on an imidazo[1,2-a] pyrazine scaffold, UMB-32. Furthermore, we screened 37 UMB-32 derivatives and identified that one, UMB-136, reactivates HIV-1 in multiple cell models of HIV-1 latency with better efficiency than either JQ1 or UMB-32. UMB-136 enhances HIV-1 transcription and increases viral production through the release of P-TEFb. Importantly, UMB-136 enhances the latency-reversing effects of PKC agonists (prostratin, bryostatin-1) in CD8-depleted PBMCs containing latent viral reservoirs. Our results illustrate that structurally improved BETis, such as UMB-136, may be useful as promising LRAs for HIV-1 eradication.
Interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: A study of growth and innovation rates i

This paper investigates the relationship between intercorporate technology alliances and firm performance. It argues that alliances are access relationships, and therefore that the advantages which a focal firm derives from a portfolio of strategic coalitions depend upon the resource profiles of its alliance partners. In particular, large firms and those that possess leading-edge technological resources are posited to be the most valuable associates. The paper also argues that alliances are both pathways for the exchange of resources and signals that convey social status and recognition. Particularly when one of the firms in an alliance is a young or small organization or, more generally, an organization of equivocal quality, alliances can act as endorsements: they build public confidence in the value of an organization's products and services and thereby facilitate the firm's efforts to attract customers and other corporate partners. The findings from models of sales growth and innovation rates in a large sample of semiconductor producers confirm that organizations with large and innovative alliance partners perform better than otherwise comparable firms that lack such partners. Consistent with the status-transfer arguments, the findings also demonstrate that young and small firms benefit more from large and innovative strategic alliance partners than do old and large organizations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI for independent prediction of lymph node malignancy: a logistic regression model.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether use of lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI can improve the ability to characterize lymph nodes as benign or malignant beyond size criteria alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS The cases of 42 consecutively registered patients with a known primary malignant tumor of the genitourinary tract who underwent both lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI and CT-guided biopsy of a lymph node at our institution from 2000 to 2005 were retrospectively identified. Lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI included T2(*)-weighted gradient-recalled echo imaging before and 24-36 hours after i.v. administration of lymphotropic iron oxide nanoparticles. Two positivity criteria for lymph node malignancy were evaluated independently: lack of nanoparticle uptake at lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI and short-axis length of 1 cm or greater. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each criterion with biopsy results as the standard of reference. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association (odds ratio) between lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI findings and the presence of lymph node malignancy when controlling for short-axis length. RESULTS Metastatic lesions were detected at histologic examination in 67% (28/42) of nodes. According to the lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI criterion, sensitivity for malignancy was 100% (28/28 nodes), and specificity was 64% (9/14 nodes). According to the short-axis criterion, sensitivity was 79% (22/28 nodes), and specificity was 21% (3/14 nodes). In multivariate analysis, when controlling for short-axis length, the finding of malignancy at lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI was an independent predictor of the presence of malignancy (odds ratio, 61.0; 95% CI, 8.0 to infinity; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Use of lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI may improve ability to characterize lymph nodes beyond size criteria alone. Our results emphasize the need to further assess lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI in prospective large-scale studies with wider variation in the distribution of lymph node sizes and primary malignancies.
Telling truth from lie in individual subjects with fast event‐related fMRI

Deception is a clinically important behavior with poorly understood neurobiological correlates. Published functional MRI (fMRI) data on the brain activity during deception indicates that, on a multisubject group level, lie is distinguished from truth by increased prefrontal and parietal activity. These findings are theoretically important; however, their applied value will be determined by the accuracy of the discrimination between single deceptive and truthful responses in individual subjects. This study presents the first quantitative estimate of the accuracy of fMRI in conjunction with a formal forced‐choice paradigm in detecting deception in individual subjects. We used a paradigm balancing the salience of the target cues to elicit deceptive and truthful responses and determined the accuracy of this model in the classification of single lie and truth events. The relative salience of the task cues affected the net activation associated with lie in the superior medial and inferolateral prefrontal cortices. Lie was discriminated from truth on a single‐event level with an accuracy of 78%, while the predictive ability expressed as the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was 85%. Our findings confirm that fMRI, in conjunction with a carefully controlled query procedure, could be used to detect deception in individual subjects. Salience of the task cues is a potential confounding factor in the fMRI pattern attributed to deception in forced choice deception paradigms. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Short-block variable-rate trellis quantization

We present two methods for variable-rate trellis quantization. Both methods utilize trellis codes based on linear congruential (LC) recursions. LC code trellises have good pseudo-random properties and are easily adapted to serve reconstruction alphabets of different sizes. The first method finds an entropy-constrained code only by optimizing over a scale factor. The scale factor modifies an initial reproducer alphabet in order to skew the associated set of codeword lengths. Using a Lagrangian formulation and the maximum a posteriori (MAP) heuristic, we also develop an entropy-constrained trellis quantizer suitable for short blocks of data. Here the tailbiting BCJR algorithm is used to find the MAP path in the trellis. Simulation results for the Gaussian and Laplacian distributions show that the proposed method is competitive with the best in the literature.
The neural basis of self-face recognition after self-concept threat and comparison with important others

The implicit positive association (IPA) theory attributed self-face advantage to the IPA with self-concept. Previous behavioral study has found that self-concept threat (SCT) could eliminate the self-advantage in face recognition over familiar-face, without taking levels of facial familiarity into account. The current event-related potential study aimed to investigate whether SCT could eliminate the self-face advantage over stranger-face. Fifteen participants completed a “self-friend” comparison task in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and friend-face after SCT and non-self-concept threat (NSCT) priming, and a “self-stranger” comparison task was also completed in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and stranger-face after SCT and NSCT priming. The results showed that the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing friend-face than self-face after NSCT priming, but there was no significant difference between them after SCT priming. Moreover, the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing stranger-face than self-face both after SCT priming and after NSCT priming. Furthermore, SCT manipulated the N2 amplitudes of friend-face rather than self-face. Overall, the present study made a supplementary to the current IPA theory and further indicated that SCT would only eliminate this self-face recognition advantage when comparing with important others.
PREDICTING STUDENT SUCCESS ON THE THIRD GRADE READING ACHIEVEMENT ASSESSMENT IN OHIO

Patrick Pauken, Advisor Since the passage of the first Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, increasing reading achievement for all students has been a focus for our nation. Unfortunately, our country still has over 30 million citizens who are illiterate (Mukherjee, 2007). One of the challenges for schools is to accurately identify students in need of early intervention in an efficient and effective manner before students participate in high stakes reading assessments. This study aimed to assist school leaders in identifying which diagnostic reading measures will best identify students at risk of not passing the Ohio Third Grade Reading Achievement Assessment. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of students’ performance on five district diagnostic reading measurement tools – (1) KRA-L; (2) AIMS probes from second grade administration; (3) DRA literacy assessment; (4) STAR Reading Assessment from second grade; (5) standards based report card indicators – and their performance on the October administration of the Ohio Third Grade Reading Achievement
Pertussis toxin inhibits endothelium‐dependent relaxations to certain agonists in porcine coronary arteries.

1. Pertussis toxin inactivates Gi‐protein, which mediates the inhibitory effects of receptors on adenylate cyclase. The effects of the toxin on endothelium‐dependent and independent relaxations were determined in porcine coronary arteries. 2. Arterial rings (with and without endothelium) were suspended for isometric tension recording in organ chambers filled with modified Krebs‐Ringer bicarbonate solution (maintained at 37 degrees C, gassed with 95% O2 and 5% CO2). 3. Incubation of the tissues with pertussis toxin (100 ng/ml for 60 min) virtually abolished the endothelium‐dependent relaxations produced by the alpha 2‐adrenergic agonist, UK 14304, and by 5‐hydroxytryptamine. Endothelium‐dependent relaxations to thrombin and to aggregating platelets were markedly reduced, whereas those produced by bradykinin were only minimally affected. Endothelium‐dependent responses produced by the calcium ionophore (A23187) and by adenosine diphosphate were not altered by pertussis toxin. 4. Pertussis toxin did not affect the direct, endothelium‐independent relaxations produced by nitric oxide, or by adenosine diphosphate. 5. These experiments demonstrate that pertussis toxin interferes with the release of endothelium‐derived relaxing factor(s) evoked by certain, but not all, endothelial activators. The release of endothelium‐derived relaxing factor(s) may occur through different pathways involving Gi‐protein‐dependent and independent mechanisms.
Optimal treatment scheduling of ionizing radiation and sunitinib improves the antitumor activity and allows dose reduction

The combination of radiotherapy with sunitinib is clinically hampered by rare but severe side effects and varying results with respect to clinical benefit. We studied different scheduling regimes and dose reduction in sunitinib and radiotherapy in preclinical tumor models to improve potential outcome of this combination treatment strategy. The chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) was used as an angiogenesis in vivo model and as a xenograft model with human tumor cells (HT29 colorectal adenocarcinoma, OE19 esophageal adenocarcinoma). Treatment consisted of ionizing radiation (IR) and sunitinib as single therapy or in combination, using different dose‐scheduling regimes. Sunitinib potentiated the inhibitory effect of IR (4 Gy) on angiogenesis. In addition, IR (4 Gy) and sunitinib (4 days of 32.5 mg/kg per day) inhibited tumor growth. Ionizing radiation induced tumor cell apoptosis and reduced proliferation, whereas sunitinib decreased tumor angiogenesis and reduced tumor cell proliferation. When IR was applied before sunitinib, this almost completely inhibited tumor growth, whereas concurrent IR was less effective and IR after sunitinib had no additional effect on tumor growth. Moreover, optimal scheduling allowed a 50% dose reduction in sunitinib while maintaining comparable antitumor effects. This study shows that the therapeutic efficacy of combination therapy improves when proper dose‐scheduling is applied. More importantly, optimal treatment regimes permit dose reductions in the angiogenesis inhibitor, which will likely reduce the side effects of combination therapy in the clinical setting. Our study provides important leads to optimize combination treatment in the clinical setting.
Change in glycated haemoglobin levels after initiating second‐line therapy in type 2 diabetes: a primary care database study

The aim of the present study was to compare the absolute reduction in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels at 6 months after initiating second‐line glucose‐lowering therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin monotherapy in general practices. A total of 7009 patients were identified (Disease Analyser Germany: January 2004 to December 2014). The patients' mean ± standard deviation (s.d.) age was 63 ± 11 years, 55.5% were male and their mean ± s.d. HbA1c level was 8.0 ± 1.6%. The initiated second‐line therapies included: dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitors (38.7%); sulphonylureas (36.3%); insulin (13.3%); glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RAs; 2.5%); thiazolidinediones (5%); and other agents (glinides, aldose‐reductase inhibitors; 4.1%). The mean absolute HbA1c change from baseline was −0.9% (DPP‐4 inhibitors, −0.9%; sulphonylureas, −0.9%; insulin, −1.1%; GLP‐1RAs, −0.7%; thiazolidinediones, −0.9%; and other, −0.7%; all p < 0.001). Overall, 58% of patients reached the HbA1c target of <7% (DPP‐4 inhibitors, 61.7%; sulphonylureas, 56.7%; insulin, 45.6%; GLP‐1RAs, 62.2%; thiazolidinediones, 69.7%; and other, 57.5%). Compared with sulphonlyureas, DPP‐4 inhibitors, GLP‐1RAs and thiazolidinediones were associated with an increased odds of reaching HbA1c <7% [odds ratio (OR) 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.40; OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.01–2.04; and OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.30–2.23, respectively], whereas insulin was related to a lower odds (0.66, 95% CI 0.55–0.78). In conclusion, in patients with type 2 diabetes very similar reductions in HbA1c after 6 months of second‐line therapy were achieved regardless of the type of therapy.
Experimental analysis of BRDF models

The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) describes the appearance of a material by its interaction with light at a surface point. A variety of analytical models have been proposed to represent BRDFs. However, analysis of these models has been scarce due to the lack of high-resolution measured data. In this work we evaluate several well-known analytical models in terms of their ability to fit measured BRDFs. We use an existing high-resolution data set of a hundred isotropic materials and compute the best approximation for each analytical model. Furthermore, we have built a new setup for efficient acquisition of anisotropic BRDFs, which allows us to acquire anisotropic materials at high resolution. We have measured four samples of anisotropic materials (brushed aluminum, velvet, and two satins). Based on the numerical errors, function plots, and rendered images we provide insights into the performance of the various models. We conclude that for most isotropic materials physically-based analytic reflectance models can represent their appearance quite well. We illustrate the important difference between the two common ways of defining the specular lobe: around the mirror direction and with respect to the half-vector. Our evaluation shows that the latter gives a more accurate shape for the reflection lobe. Our analysis of anisotropic materials indicates current parametric reflectance models cannot represent their appearances faithfully in many cases. We show that using a sampled microfacet distribution computed from measurements improves the fit and qualitatively reproduces the measurements.
Study on genetic diversity of Pseudomonas tolaasii and Pseudomonas reactans bacteria associated with mushroom brown blotch disease employing ERIC and BOX-PCR techniques*

To distinguish the pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas tolaasii and saprophytic strains P. reactans, many mushroom cultivation centers in Iran were surveyed and samples were taken from compost, soil cover and button caps with or without visible symptoms preferably from flush two and three. Fifty five bacteria were isolated on the basis of colony morphology, pathogenicity test on excised tissue blocks of the fresh Agaricus bisporus, white line test, soft rot on potato tuber slices, erythrocytes hemolysis and certain biochemical and molecular characteristics. A unique PCR product with a molecular weight of 270bp was obtained using specific primer set, PTOF/PTOR of ITS1 region of P. tolaasii strains. To confirm the identification of P. reactans strains, two strains of this group (A2 and A6) were subjected to RNA polymerase beta-subunit gene (rpoB) amplification analysis using primer sets of long amplicon primers LAPS and LAPS27. The polymerase chain reaction products of these strains were sequenced and recorded in NCBI GenBank. In total, 16 isolates of P. reactans and 15 isolates of P. tolaasii were identified and compared with standard isolates. Subsequently, genetic diversity of the isolates of each species was determined separately with general primers ERIC 1R, ERIC2 and BOX AIR and clusters were drawn. This is for the first time the genetic diversity bacterial pathogen of brown blotch P. tolaasii and the saprophyte P. reactans was studied in Iran.