Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the stabilization of nonlinear discrete‐time systems with output feedback

This paper considers output‐feedback control of nonlinear discrete‐time systems using a nonlinear state‐feedback controller combined with a nonlinear observer. Under suitable assumptions, either asymptotic stability or exponential stability of the closed‐loop system are established. These results have a general validity and are essential in many advanced nonlinear control techniques, such as model predictive control of nonlinear discrete‐time systems, where many algorithms for the solution of the state‐feedback control problem have been proposed in recent years. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Role of Partial Nephrectomy without Arterial Embolization in Giant Renal Angiomyolipoma

Angiomyolipoma is a benign neoplasm composed of varying admixtures of blood vessels, smooth muscle cells, and adipose tissue. Because of an increased risk of spontaneous haemorrhage, surgical approach is needed greater than 4–8 cm size. We here report our partial nephrectomy experience in the 24 cm size giant angiomyolipoma. 26-year-old woman referred to our clinic with a 24 cm size angiomyolipoma in her lower pole of right kidney. The inferior vena cava was deviated to the left by the mass. All the blood tests were normal and we offered her the choices of partial nephrectomy or nephrectomy. Right subcostal approach was used. The patient underwent resection of the mass with a safety region of 1 cm. Frozen section evaluation was consistent with angiomyolipoma and free for surgical margin. Warm ischemia time was 35 min. and intraoperative bleeding volume was 200 cc. Postoperative 2nd day the drain was taken and hospital stay was 4 days. In literature we observed very rare angiomyolipoma cases with such a large dimension treated by partial nephrectomy without arterial embolization. If technically suitable partial nephrectomy is the main chioce in this kind of benign lesions in young patients.
The Estimation of Prewar Gnp Volatility, 1869-1938

New evidence is provided to assess the recent controversy regarding the volatility of real economic activity before 1929 relative to the period since World War II. Some recent work claims that the longstanding stylized fact of greater prewar volatility is "spurious". In contrast, this paper reconfirms the greater amplitude of business fluctuations prior to the Great Depression. The basic technique is the regression method, which estimates equations for real GNP during 1909-38, with one or more explanatory variables for components of GNP, and then uses the estimated coefficients to "backcast" real GNP or the period 1869-1908. The paper contains an extensive examination of the sensitivity of these regression indexes to alternative dependent variables, sample periods, detrending methods, and the inclusion of alternative explanatory variables. Particular attention is paid to the conflicting evidence regarding the amplitude of cycles in construction activity between 1870 and 1890. The resulting prewar/postwar volatility ratios, for 1869-1928 as compared to 1950-1980, range from 1.43 to 2.16. The paper concludes by suggesting that this range of volatility ratios is more likely to understate than overstate the prewar/postwar volatility ratio.
Density of α4β2* nAChR on the surface of neurons is modulated by chronic antagonist exposure

The expression of high‐affinity α4β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) increases following chronic exposure to nicotinic agonists. While, nAChR antagonists can also produce upregulation, these changes are often less pronounced than achieved with agonists. It is unknown if nAChR agonists and antagonists induce receptor upregulation by the same mechanisms. In this study, primary neuronal cultures prepared from cerebral cortex, hippocampus, diencephalon, and midbrain/hindbrain of C57BL/6J mouse embryos were treated chronically with nicotine (agonist), mecamylamine (noncompetitive antagonist) or dihydro‐β‐erythroidine (competitive antagonist) or the combination of nicotine with each antagonist. The distribution of intracellular and surface [125I]epibatidine‐binding sites were subsequently measured. Treatment with 1 μmol/L nicotine upregulated intracellular and cell surface [125I]epibatidine binding after 96 h. Chronic dihydro‐β‐erythroidine (10 μmol/L) treatment also increased [125I]epibatidine binding on the cell surface; however, mecamylamine was ineffective in upregulating receptors by itself. The combination of 1 μmol/L nicotine plus 10 μmol/L mecamylamine elicited a significantly higher upregulation than that achieved by treatment with nicotine alone due to an increase of [125I]epibatidine binding on the cell surface. This synergistic effect of mecamylamine and nicotine was found in neuronal cultures from all four brain regions. Chronic treatment with nicotine concentrations as low as 10 nmol/L produced upregulation of [125I]epibatidine binding. However, the effect of mecamylamine was observed only after coincubation with nicotine concentrations equal to or greater than 100 nmol/L. Vesicular trafficking was required for both nicotine and nicotine plus mecamylamine‐induced upregulation. Results presented here support the idea of multiple mechanisms for nAChR upregulation.
Research on weak signal detection technique for electromagnetic ultrasonic inspection system

Electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are very sensitive to surrounding noise while their transduction efficiency is rather poor. Consequently, ultrasonic signals received by EMATs are often contaminated by strong noise. To extract information of the received signals, a weak signal detection technique based on moving average, cross-correlation and self-correlation methods has been proposed. Crack signals obtained by an electromagnetic ultrasonic inspection system are processed by this cross-and-self-correlation detection technique. Feasibility and efficiency of the proposed technique are verified by experiment results with high reproducibility. By combining cross-correlation and self-correlation detection methods, this technique possesses a much stronger capability of weak signal detection than applying them individually.
A Novel p53 Phosphorylation Site within the MDM2 Ubiquitination Signal

p53 is a thermodynamically unstable protein containing a conformationally flexible multiprotein docking site within the DNA-binding domain. A combinatorial peptide chip used to identify the novel kinase consensus site RXSΦ(K/D) led to the discovery of a homologous phosphorylation site in the S10 β-strand of p53 at Ser269. Overlapping peptide libraries confirmed that Ser269 was a phosphoacceptor site in vitro, and immunochemical approaches evaluated whether p53 is phosphorylated in vivo at Ser269. Mutation or phosphorylation of p53 at Ser269 attenuates binding of the p53-specific monoclonal antibody DO-12, identifying an assay for measuring Ser269 phosphorylation of p53 in vivo. The mAb DO-12 epitope of p53 is masked via phosphorylation in a range of human tumor cells with WT p53 status, as defined by increased mAb DO-12 binding to endogenous p53 after phosphatase treatment. Phospho-Ser269-specific monoclonal antibodies were generated and used to demonstrate that p53 phosphorylation is induced at Ser269 after irradiation with kinetics similar to those of p53 protein induction. Phosphomimetic mutation at Ser269 inactivated the transcription activation function and clonogenic suppressor activity of p53. These data suggest that the dynamic equilibrium between native and unfolded states of WT p53 can be modulated by phosphorylation of the conformationally flexible multiprotein binding site in the p53 DNA-binding domain.
Gravitational lenses and lens candidates identified from the COSMOS field

A complete manual search has been carried out of the list of 285423 objects, nearly all of them galaxies, identified in the COSMOS field that are brighter than I = 25. Two certain and one highly probable new gravitational lenses are found, in addition to the lenses and candidate lens systems previously found by Faure et al. (2008). A further list of 112 candidate lens systems is presented. Few of these are likely to be true gravitational lens systems, most being star-forming rings or pairs of companion galaxies. It is possible to examine of order 10 6 objects by eye in a reasonable time, although reliable detection of lenses by such methods is likely to be possible only with high-resolution data. The loss of completeness involved in a rapid search is estimated as up to a factor of 2, depending on the morphology of the lens candidate.
Looking at the bag is not enough to find the bomb: an evasion of structural methods for malicious PDF files detection

PDF files have proved to be excellent malicious-code bearing vectors. Thanks to their flexible logical structure, an attack can be hidden in several ways, and easily deceive protection mechanisms based on file-type filtering. Recent work showed that malicious PDF files can be accurately detected by analyzing their logical structure, with excellent results. In this paper, we present and practically demonstrate a novel evasion technique, called reverse mimicry, that can easily defeat such kind of analysis. We implement it using real samples and validate our approach by testing it against various PDF malware detectors proposed so far. Finally, we highlight the importance of developing systems robust to adversarial attacks and propose a framework to strengthen PDF malware detection against evasion.
Towards using modern data assimilation and weather forecasting methods in solar physics

We discuss how data assimilation and forecasting methods developed in Earth's weather prediction models could be used to improve our capability to anticipate solar dynamical phenomena and assimilate the huge amount of data that new solar satellites, such as SDO or Hinode, will provide in the coming years. We illustrate with some simple examples such as the solar magnetic activity cycle, the eruption of CMEs, the real potential of such methods for solar physics. We believe that we now need to jointly develop solar forecasting models, whose purpose are to assimilate observational data in order to improve our predictability power, with “first principle” solar models, whose purpose is to understand the underpinning physical processes behind the solar dynamics. These two complementary approaches should lead to the development of a solar equivalent of Earth's general circulation model. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Malaria Epidemiology in Mersin Province, Turkey from 2002 to 2011

Background Malaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium spp. with high morbidity and mortality in human in tropical and subtropical regions. In recent years, number of malaria cases has been significantly reduced because of fight with the disease in Turkey. This study intended to investigate the malaria epidemiology in Mersin Province from 2002 to 2011 using data from the provincial Public Health Directorate. Methods Over ten years, 303573 blood samples were taken from the people by active and passive surveillance methods and blood smears were prepared. Smears were stained with Giemsa and examined under the microscope. Results Totally, 73 people including 44 male and 29 female were positive in terms of Plasmodium spp. It was determined that P. vivax observed in 67 cases while P. falciparum in 6 cases. Cases were mainly observed in 15 to 44 years old range, showed an increase between June-September periods and a significant decrease after 2006. Out of the 73 malaria cases, 54 cases were from Mersin Province and 13 cases were imported from another province of Turkey. Six cases were transmitted from abroad. Conclusion These results provide information about malaria epidemiology in an endemic area in Turkey and contribute its prevention in Mersin Province.
Health Perceptions, Self and Body Image, Physical Activity and Nutrition among Undergraduate Students in Israel

Purpose This study examines health perceptions, self and body image, physical exercise and nutrition among undergraduate students. Methods A structured, self-reported questionnaire was administered to more than 1500 students at a large academic institute in Israel. The study population was heterogenic in both gender and fields of academic study. Results High correlations between health perceptions, appropriate nutrition, and positive self and body image were found. The relationships between these variables differed between the subpopulation in the sample and the different genders. Engagement in physical exercise contributed to positive body image and positive health perceptions more than engagement in healthy nutrition. Nutrition students reported higher frequencies of positive health perceptions, positive self and body image and higher engagement in physical exercise in comparison to all other students in the sample. Conclusions This study suggests, as have many before, that successful health promotion policy should reflect a collectivist rather than an individualist ethos by providing health prerequisites through a public policy of health-promotion, where the academic settings support a healthy lifestyle policy, by increasing availability of a healthy, nutritious and varied menu in the cafeterias, and offering students various activities that enhance healthy eating and exercise. Implications and contribution This study examined health perceptions, self-image, physical exercise and nutrition among undergraduate students and found high correlations between these topics. Nutrition students reported higher frequencies of positive health perceptions, and positive self and body image and engaged more in physical exercise when compared with all other students in the sample.
Income Smoothing in Family‐Controlled Companies: Evidence from Italy

Manuscript Type: Empirical.Research Question/Issue: This paper focuses on the relationship between one of the main corporate governance dimensions – ownership structure – and income smoothing. The paper investigates whether family‐controlled companies differ from non‐family‐controlled companies with respect to income smoothing. Due to different incentives of management and owner investment horizons, we hypothesize that income smoothing is less likely among family‐controlled companies than among non‐family‐controlled companies. Additionally, we hypothesize that among family‐controlled firms income smoothing is less likely when CEO and Board Chairman are members of the controlling family. Various definitions of “family control” are applied. A sample of Italian listed companies is used for the empirical analysis.Research Findings/Insights: We find evidence that income smoothing is less likely among family‐controlled companies than non‐family‐controlled companies. Moreover, among family‐controlled companies, income smoothing is less likely for firms whose CEO and Board Chairman are members of the controlling family.Theoretical/Academic Implications: This paper fills a gap in the literature, suggesting that not only the level of ownership concentration or insider ownership but also the nature of the dominant shareholder (family versus non‐family) should be considered when addressing the motivations for income smoothing. Furthermore, our findings indicate that agency theory and stewardship theory are complementary in explaining the role played by family control in income smoothing decisions. While in non‐family‐controlled companies the traditional owner‐manager agency problems tend to prevail and motivate income smoothing, in family‐controlled companies such agency issues become less relevant and a stewardship attitude emerges, rendering income smoothing less likely.Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study is of interest to financial statement users, including analysts and investors, as it shows that different company types (e.g., family versus non‐family) have a different attitude towards income smoothing. In particular, these results aid users in interpreting the company's reported profitability and its potential variability. The conclusions also are of interest to auditors when evaluating the reliability of the reported income of companies characterized by various ownership structures.
What Drives Forward Premia in Indian Forex Market

This paper explores the behaviour of the forward premia for US$ vis-A -vis INR during the five-year period of September 2000 to September 2005. Indian forex market experienced a peculiar phenomenon in the years 2003 and 2004 where the forward premia on US$ spot (cash) vis-A -vis Indian rupee became negative. This phenomenon was somewhat uncommon to Indian forex market wherein Indian rupee was always at discount to US$ in the past. The paper tests hypothesis of uncovered interest rate parity in the context of Indian market. [RBI Occasional Papers, 2006]
Insulin Degrading Enzyme Induces a Conformational Change in Varicella-Zoster Virus gE, and Enhances Virus Infectivity and Stability

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein E (gE) is essential for virus infectivity and binds to a cellular receptor, insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), through its unique amino terminal extracellular domain. Previous work has shown IDE plays an important role in VZV infection and virus cell-to-cell spread, which is the sole route for VZV spread in vitro. Here we report that a recombinant soluble IDE (rIDE) enhances VZV infectivity at an early step of infection associated with an increase in virus internalization, and increases cell-to-cell spread. VZV mutants lacking the IDE binding domain of gE were impaired for syncytia formation and membrane fusion. Pre-treatment of cell-free VZV with rIDE markedly enhanced the stability of the virus over a range of conditions. rIDE interacted with gE to elicit a conformational change in gE and rendered it more susceptible to proteolysis. Co-incubation of rIDE with gE modified the size of gE. We propose that the conformational change in gE elicited by IDE enhances infectivity and stability of the virus and leads to increased fusogenicity during VZV infection. The ability of rIDE to enhance infectivity of cell-free VZV over a wide range of incubation times and temperatures suggests that rIDE may be useful for increasing the stability of varicella or zoster vaccines.
Populating Stellar Orbits inside a Rotating, Gaseous Bar

In an effort to understand better the formation and evolution of barred galaxies, we have examined the properties of equatorial orbits in the effective potential of one specific model of a rapidly rotating, steady state gasdynamical bar that has been constructed via a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation. At a given value of the Jacobi constant, roughly half of all test particles (stars) that are injected into the equatorial plane of this potential follow quasi-ergodic orbits; most regular prograde orbits have an overall "bow tie" shape; and some trace out trajectories that resemble the x4 family of regular, retrograde orbits. The bow tie orbits appear to be related to the 4/1 orbit family discussed by Contopoulous in 1988, but particles moving along a bow tie orbit pass very close to the center of the bar twice each orbit. Unlike the barlike configurations that previously have been constructed using dissipationless, N-body simulation techniques, the effective potential of our gasdynamical bar is very shallow and generally does not support the x1 family of orbits. If primordial galaxies evolve to a rapidly rotating barlike configuration before a significant amount of star formation has taken place and then stars form from the gas that makes up the bar, the initial stellar distribution function should consist of orbits that are (1) supported by the gaseous barlike potential and (2) restricted to have initial conditions dictated by the gasdynamics of the bar. With this "restriction hypothesis" in mind, we propose that stellar dynamical systems that form from gaseous bars will have characteristics that differ significantly from systems that form from a bisymmetric instability in an initially axisymmetric stellar system. Since bow tie orbits are preferred over x1 orbits, for example, such systems should have a more boxy or peanut shape when seen face-on; there will be a mechanism for funneling material more directly into the center of the galaxy; and, near the galaxy center, stars may appear to move along retrograde trajectories.
Novel Hybrid Method for Gene Selection and Cancer Prediction

Microarray data profiles gene expression on a whole genome scale, therefore, it provides a good way to study associations between gene expression and occurrence or progression of cancer. More and more researchers realized that microarray data is helpful to predict cancer sample. However, the high dimension of gene expressions is much larger than the sample size, which makes this task very difficult. Therefore, how to identify the significant genes causing cancer becomes emergency and also a hot and hard research topic. Many feature selection algorithms have been proposed in the past focusing on improving cancer predictive accuracy at the expense of ignoring the correlations between the features. In this work, a novel framework (named by SGS) is presented for stable gene selection and efficient cancer prediction . The proposed framework first performs clustering algorithm to find the gene groups where genes in each group have higher correlation coefficient, and then selects the significant genes in each group with Bayesian Lasso and important gene groups with group Lasso, and finally builds prediction model based on the shrinkage gene space with efficient classification algorithm (such as, SVM, 1NN, Regression and etc.). Experiment results on real world data show that the proposed framework often outperforms the existing feature selection and prediction methods, say SAM, IG and Lasso-type prediction model. Keywords—Gene Selection, Cancer Prediction, Lasso, Clustering, Classification.