Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Debt and Inflation During a Period of Financial Repression

The current debt-to-GDP ratios of many advanced economies are at historically high levels, raising questions about how they are going to be reduced. I assess whether domestic debt can be inflated away by looking at the experience of 12 countries after the end of World War II, when debt levels were also high. The countries in the sample are mainly advanced economies with histories of relatively low inflation. I find that inflation played an important role in reducing government debt, generating average revenues for the government of between two and three percent of GDP. The incidence of the effect is primarily explained by the presence of financial repression keeping interest rates at low levels, rather than unanticipated inflation or changes in the market value of debt. I also examine how financial repression affected the relative returns of financial assets over this period. The results suggest that some of the equity premium during this period, which was over eight percentage points, can be explained by the abnormally low returns in the market for government bonds.
A Scalable High Throughput Firewall in FPGA

High end network security applications demand high speed operation and large rule set support. Packet classification is the core functionality that demands high throughput in such applications. This paper proposes a packet classification architecture to meet such high throughput. We have implemented a Firewall with this architecture in reconflgurable hardware. We propose an extension to Distributed Crossproducting of Field Labels (DCFL) technique to achieve scalable and high performance architecture. The implemented Firewall takes advantage of inherent structure and redundancy of rule set by using our DCFL Extended (DCFLE) algorithm. The use of DCFLE algorithm results in both speed and area improvement when it is implemented in hardware. Although we restrict ourselves to standard 5-tuple matching, the architecture supports additional fields. High throughput classification invariably uses Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) for prefix matching, though TCAM fares poorly in terms of area and power efficiency. Use of TCAM for port range matching is expensive, as the range to prefix conversion results in large number of prefixes leading to storage inefficiency. Extended TCAM (ETCAM) is fast and the most storage efficient solution for range matching. We present for the first time a reconfigurable hardware implementation of ETCAM. We have implemented our Firewall as an embedded system on Virtex-II Pro FPGA based platform, running Linux with the packet classification in hardware. The Firewall was tested in real time with 1 Gbps Ethernet link and 128 sample rules. The packet classification hardware uses a quarter of logic resources and slightly over one third of memory resources of XC2VP30 FPGA. It achieves a maximum classification throughput of 50 million packet/s corresponding to 16 Gbps link rate for the worst case packet size. The Firewall rule update involves only memory re-initialization in software without any hardware change.
Microdilution Susceptibility Testing of Amphotericin B, Itraconazole, and Voriconazole against Clinical Isolates of Aspergillus and FusariumSpecies

ABSTRACT We compared the activities of amphotericin B, itraconazole, and voriconazole against clinical Aspergillus(n = 82) and Fusarium (n= 22) isolates by a microdilution method adopted from the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS-M27A). RPMI 1640 (RPMI), RPMI 1640 supplemented to 2% glucose (RPMI-2), and antibiotic medium 3 supplemented to 2% glucose (AM3) were used as test media. MICs were determined after 24, 48, and 72 h. A narrow range of amphotericin B MICs was observed for Aspergillus isolates, with minor variations among species. MICs for Fusariumisolates were higher than those for Aspergillus isolates. MICs of itraconazole were prominently high for two previously defined itraconazole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates andFusarium solani. Voriconazole showed good in vitro activity against itraconazole-resistant isolates, but the MICs of voriconazole for F. solani were high. RPMI was the most efficient medium for detection of itraconazole-resistant isolates, followed by RPMI-2. While the significance remains unclear, AM3 lowered the MICs, particularly those of amphotericin B.
Injection scheme for intravitreal bevacizumab therapy for macular oedema due to central retinal vein occlusion: results of a multicenter study

Editor, W e congratulate Bolivar et al. (2015) for their study entitled ‘Effect of topical prostaglandin analogues on corneal hysteresis’. The authors investigated the effect of the prostaglandin (PG) analogues on the corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal biomechanical behaviour. The authors found that topical PG analogues increase the CH and this increase is not related to the amount of the decrease in the intra-ocular pressure measured by Goldmann applanation tonometry. As mentioned in the study, PG analogues lead a change in central corneal thickness (CCT), increase in keratocyte density in the corneal stroma and induce extracellular matrix remodelling. How much each of this factors contributes to the PG analogue-induced CH change is unknown. In literature, there are several papers reporting CCT decrease in the human cornea after PG analogue use (Viestenz et al. 2004; Maruyama et al. 2014). Rosa et al. (2014) investigated the relationship between CH and ocular parameters, and they reported that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between CH and CCT. In other words, PG analogues seem to make a minimal decrease in CH due to slightly decrease in CCT. In the study, authors stated that CCT was measured before enrolment of the study, but there is no information for the measurement of CCT at the end of the study. We want to ask kindly to the authors if available, is there a statistically significant change in CCT and is there a significant correlation between change in CH and CCT?
Sealant versus Fluoride in Primary Molars of Kindergarten Children Regularly Receiving Fluoride Varnish: One-Year Randomized Clinical Trial Follow-Up

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to measure the caries preventive effect of sealants applied to occlusal surfaces of primary molars compared to fluoride varnish applications, and to assess the retention rate of sealants after 1 year. Methods: 147 first-grade pupils from two kindergarten schools in Kuwait, whose parents gave their written consent, were included. The children were examined by one dentist using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System. After the examination, sealants and fluoride varnish were applied on the selected occlusal surfaces of primary molars by another dentist. The jaw quadrant for intervention was selected randomly; molars on the contralateral side of the mouth received the contralateral intervention. Examinations and intervention were provided on the school premises in the mobile dental unit with a portable spotlight. Moisture was controlled by cotton rolls, suction and air drying. The follow-up examinations were conducted after 1 year. All children received fluoride varnish before and 6 months after the intervention. Results: From 267 matched pairs of occlusal surfaces of primary molars, varnished surfaces were significantly more likely to develop new caries lesions than the sealed ones (odds ratio = 2.92; 95% confidence interval = 1.82-4.71) during the 1-year follow-up. The majority (73.0%) of the sealants were completely retained and 15.1% partially. Conclusions: Sealing fissures seems to be better in preventing occlusal caries lesions in primary molars than applying only fluoride varnish. After 1 year, the majority of sealants were retained sound.
AKAP150 Contributes to Enhanced Vascular Tone by Facilitating Large-Conductance Ca2+-Activated K+ Channel Remodeling in Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus

Rationale: Increased contractility of arterial myocytes and enhanced vascular tone during hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus may arise from impaired large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channel function. The scaffolding protein A-kinase anchoring protein 150 (AKAP150) is a key regulator of calcineurin (CaN), a phosphatase known to modulate the expression of the regulatory BKCa &bgr;1 subunit. Whether AKAP150 mediates BKCa channel suppression during hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus is unknown. Objective: To test the hypothesis that AKAP150-dependent CaN signaling mediates BKCa &bgr;1 downregulation and impaired vascular BKCa channel function during hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus. Methods and Results: We found that AKAP150 is an important determinant of BKCa channel remodeling, CaN/nuclear factor of activated T-cells c3 (NFATc3) activation, and resistance artery constriction in hyperglycemic animals on high-fat diet. Genetic ablation of AKAP150 protected against these alterations, including augmented vasoconstriction. D-glucose–dependent suppression of BKCa channel &bgr;1 subunits required Ca2+ influx via voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channels and mobilization of a CaN/NFATc3 signaling pathway. Remarkably, high-fat diet mice expressing a mutant AKAP150 unable to anchor CaN resisted activation of NFATc3 and downregulation of BKCa &bgr;1 subunits and attenuated high-fat diet–induced elevation in arterial blood pressure. Conclusions: Our results support a model whereby subcellular anchoring of CaN by AKAP150 is a key molecular determinant of vascular BKCa channel remodeling, which contributes to vasoconstriction during diabetes mellitus.
Cloning, bioinformatics analysis, and expression of the dust mite allergen Der f 5 of Dermatophagoides farinae

Crude extracts of house dust mites are used clinically for diagnosis and immunotherapy of allergic diseases, including bronchial asthma, perennial rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. However, crude extracts are complexes with non-allergenic antigens and lack effective concentrations of important allergens, resulting in several side effects. Dermatophagoides farinae (Hughes; Acari: Pyroglyphidae) is one of the predominant sources of dust mite allergens, which has more than 30 groups of allergen. The cDNA coding for the group 5 allergen of D. farinae from China was cloned, sequenced and expressed. According to alignment using the VECTOR NTI 9.0 software, there were eight mismatched nucleotides in five cDNA clones resulting in seven incompatible amino acid residues, suggesting that the Der f 5 allergen might have sequence polymorphism. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the matured Der f 5 allergen has a molecular mass of 13604.03 Da, a theoretical pI of 5.43 and is probably hydrophobic and cytoplasmic. Similarities in amino acid sequences between Der f 5 and allergens of other domestic mite species, viz. Der p 5, Blo t 5, Sui m 5, and Lep d 5, were 79, 48, 53, and 37%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Der f 5 and Der p 5 clustered together. Blo t 5 and Ale o 5 also clustered together, although Blomia tropicalis and Aleuroglyphus ovatus belong to different mite families, viz. Echimyopodidae and Acaridae, respectively.
The Relationship between Habit and Intention in Post-adoptive IS Acceptance

Although habit and intention have both been used to explain post-adoptive behaviors in IS acceptance research, their relationship remains unclear. The present paper provides definitions for the two constructs, identifies their differences and similarities, and hypothesizes that the correlation between the two constructs is stronger for non-reflective behaviors than for reflective ones. The results of a meta-analysis provide preliminary support for this hypothesis.
A Fast Hyperplane-Based Minimum-Volume Enclosing Simplex Algorithm for Blind Hyperspectral Unmixing

Hyperspectral unmixing (HU) is a crucial signal processing procedure to identify the underlying materials (or endmembers) and their corresponding proportions (or abundances) from an observed hyperspectral scene. A well-known blind HU criterion, advocated by Craig during the early 1990s, considers the vertices of the minimum-volume enclosing simplex of the data cloud as good endmember estimates, and it has been empirically and theoretically found effective even in the scenario of no pure pixels. However, such kinds of algorithms may suffer from heavy simplex volume computations in numerical optimization, etc. In this paper, without involving any simplex volume computations, by exploiting a convex geometry fact that a simplest simplex of N vertices can be defined by N associated hyperplanes, we propose a fast blind HU algorithm, for which each of the N hyperplanes associated with the Craig's simplex of N vertices is constructed from N-1 affinely independent data pixels, together with an endmember identifiability analysis for its performance support. Without resorting to numerical optimization, the devised algorithm searches for the N(N-1) active data pixels via simple linear algebraic computations, accounting for its computational efficiency. Monte Carlo simulations and real data experiments are provided to demonstrate its superior efficacy over some benchmark Craig-criterion-based algorithms in both computational efficiency and estimation accuracy.
A Novel KLF4/LDHA Signaling Pathway Regulates Aerobic Glycolysis in and Progression of Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose: Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a transcription factor and putative tumor suppressor. However, little is known about its effect on aerobic glycolysis in pancreatic tumors. Therefore, we investigated the clinical significance, biologic effects, and mechanisms of dysregulated KLF4 signaling in aerobic glycolysis in pancreatic cancer cells. Experimental Design: Expression of KLF4 and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) in 70 primary pancreatic tumors and 10 normal pancreatic tissue specimens was measured. Also, the underlying mechanisms of altered KLF4 expression and its impact on aerobic glycolysis in pancreatic cancer cells were investigated. Results: We found a negative correlation between KLF4 and LDHA expression in pancreatic cancer cells and tissues and that their expression was associated with clinicopathologic features of pancreatic cancer. KLF4 underexpression and LDHA overexpression were correlated with disease stage and tumor differentiation. Experimentally, KLF4 overexpression significantly attenuated the aerobic glycolysis in and growth of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in orthotopic mouse models, whereas knockdown of KLF4 expression had the opposite effect. Enforced KLF4 expression decreased LDHA expression, whereas small interfering RNA–mediated knockdown of KLF4 expression had the opposite effect. Mechanistically, KLF4 bound directly to the promoter regions of the LDHA gene and negatively regulated its transcription activity. Conclusions: Dysregulated signaling in this novel KLF4/LDHA pathway significantly impacts aerobic glycolysis in and development and progression of pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 20(16); 4370–80. ©2014 AACR.
Performance evaluation and cross-reactivity from insulin analogs with the ARCHITECT insulin assay.

BACKGROUND Insulin measurement is used for the diagnosis of hypoglycemia and for insulin pharmacokinetic evaluations. We assessed the analytical and clinical performance of the ARCHITECT insulin assay, a chemiluminescent immunoassay recently introduced for the ARCHITECT i2000 fully automated immunoassay analyzer (Abbott Laboratories). We also tested whether major insulin analogs cross-reacted with the immunoassay reagents. METHODS We used Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute protocols to assess the analytical performance of the ARCHITECT insulin assay and compared its accuracy with that of the E-test TOSOH II (IRI) from TOSOH Corporation. We used 3 recombinant insulin analogs (lispro, aspart, and glargine) to evaluate the cross-reactivity of insulin analogs with the ARCHITECT immunoassay reagent. RESULTS The total CV for the ARCHITECT assay was < 5%. Correlation between the ARCHITECT insulin assay and the E-test TOSOH II (IRI) was satisfactory in the measured range, but we detected a slope deviation between the assays. The ARCHITECT insulin assay showed low cross-reactivity to the insulin analog aspart, whereas it detected the other insulin analogs, lispro and glargine, in concentrations as high as the theoretical concentrations. CONCLUSIONS The ARCHITECT insulin assay showed favorable basic performance, including reproducibility, dilution linearity, detection limit, and effects of interfering substances. When interpreting results, clinicians and laboratory pathologists should be aware of the cross-reactivity of the ARCHITECT and other immunoassays to specific insulin analogs prescribed to diabetes patients.
A Network Calculus Model for SpaceWire Networks

Space Wire is a wormhole network standard scheduled to be used as the sole on-board network for future satellites by the ESA. As the network will be shared by real-time and non real-time traffic, network designers require a tool to check that temporal constraints are verified for all the urgent messages. Previously, we proposed a model for a best-effort worm-hole network based on Network Calculus theory. This model is based on new network element that we call the Wormhole Section. Here, we show how to combine Wormhole Section elements to compute the end-to-end service curve offered to a flow and illustrate its use on a industrial case study.
Reception of Slit requires only the chondroitin–sulphate-modified extracellular domain of Syndecan at the target cell surface

Syndecan (Sdc) is a conserved transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) bearing additional chondroitin sulfate (CS) modifications on its extracellular domain. In vertebrates, this extracellular domain of Sdc is shed and acts as a soluble effector of cellular communication events, and its cytoplasmic domain participates in intracellular signaling needed to maintain epithelial integrity. In Drosophila, Sdc has been shown to be necessary for Slit signaling-dependent axon and myotube guidance during CNS development and muscle pattern formation. We report that Sdc acts in a cell-autonomous manner in Slit-receiving cells and that its membrane-anchored extracellular domain is sufficient to mediate Slit signaling. Sdc activity can be replaced by the human homolog hsdc2. However, the HSPG Dally-like protein (Dlp), which lacks CS modifications at its extracellular domain, can only partially substitute for Sdc function, and its activity is not restricted to the Slit target cells. Our results suggest that Sdc and Dlp act in a cooperative but nonredundant fashion in axon and myotube guidance. We propose that Dlp, which lacks CS modifications, participates in the transfer of Slit from its site of expression to the target cells, where CS-modified Sdc concentrates and presents the ligand.
Membrane Cholesterol Content Accounts for Developmental Differences in Surface B Cell Receptor Compartmentalization and Signaling*

Recent studies argue for an important role for cholesterol in maintaining plasma membrane heterogeneity and influencing a variety of cellular processes, including signaling, adhesion, and permeability. Here, we document that tolerance-sensitive transitional immature B cells maintain significantly lower membrane unesterified cholesterol levels than mature-stage splenic B cells. In addition, the relatively low level of cholesterol in transitional immature B cells impairs compartmentalization of their B cell receptor (BCR) into cholesterol-enriched domains following BCR aggregation and reduces their ability to sustain certain aspects of BCR signaling as compared with mature B cells. These studies establish an unexpected difference in the lipid composition of peripheral transitional immature and mature B cells and point to a determining role for development-associated differences in cholesterol content for the differential responses of these B cells to BCR engagement.
Chronic denervation of rat hemidiaphragm: maintenance of fiber heterogeneity with associated increasing uniformity of myosin isoforms

During several months of denervation, rat mixed muscles lose slow myosin, though with variability among animals. Immunocytochemical studies showed that all the denervated fibers of the hemidiaphragm reacted with anti-fast myosin, while many reacted with anti-slow myosin as well. This has left open the question as to whether multiple forms of myosin co-exist within individual fibers or a unique, possibly embryonic, myosin is present, which shares epitopes with fast and slow myosins. Furthermore, one can ask if the reappearance of embryonic myosin in chronically denervated muscle is related both to its re- expression in the pre-existing fibers and to cell regeneration. To answer these questions we studied the myosin heavy chains from individual fibers of the denervated hemidiaphragm by SDS PAGE and morphologically searched for regenerative events in the long term denervated muscle. 3 mo after denervation the severely atrophic fibers of the hemidiaphragm showed either fast or a mixture of fast and slow myosin heavy chains. Structural analysis of proteins sequentially extracted from muscle cryostat sections showed that slow myosin was still present 16 mo after denervation, in spite of the loss of the selective distribution of fast and slow features. Therefore muscle fibers can express adult fast myosin not only when denervated during their differentiation but also after the slow program has been expressed for a long time. Light and electron microscopy showed that the long-term denervated muscle maintained a steady-state atrophy for the rat's life span. Some of the morphological features indicate that aneural regeneration events continuously occur and significantly contribute to the increasing uniformity of the myosin gene expression in long-term denervated diaphragm.
Effects of racial and ethnic group and health literacy on responses to genomic risk information in a medically underserved population.

OBJECTIVE Few studies have examined how individuals respond to genomic risk information for common, chronic diseases. This randomized study examined differences in responses by type of genomic information (genetic test/family history) and disease condition (diabetes/heart disease), and by race/ethnicity in a medically underserved population. METHODS 1,057 English-speaking adults completed a survey containing 1 of 4 vignettes (2-by-2 randomized design). Differences in dependent variables (i.e., interest in receiving genomic assessment, discussing with doctor or family, changing health habits) by experimental condition and race/ethnicity were examined using chi-squared tests and multivariable regression analysis. RESULTS No significant differences were found in dependent variables by type of genomic information or disease condition. In multivariable models, Hispanics were more interested in receiving a genomic assessment than Whites (OR = 1.93; p < .0001); respondents with marginal (OR = 1.54; p = .005) or limited (OR = 1.85; p = .009) health literacy had greater interest than those with adequate health literacy. Blacks (OR = 1.78; p = .001) and Hispanics (OR = 1.85; p = .001) had greater interest in discussing information with family than Whites. Non-Hispanic Blacks (OR = 1.45; p = .04) had greater interest in discussing genomic information with a doctor than Whites. Blacks (β = -0.41; p < .001) and Hispanics (β = -0.25; p = .033) intended to change fewer health habits than Whites; health literacy was negatively associated with number of health habits participants intended to change. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that race/ethnicity may affect responses to genomic risk information. Additional research could examine how cognitive representations of this information differ across racial/ethnic groups. Health literacy is also critical to consider in developing approaches to communicating genomic information.