Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymptotic Optimality of Likelihood Ratio Threshold Tests in Decentralized Detection

Two distributed systems are considered for discriminating between two finite-alphabet bivariate memoryless sources and for detecting a known signal in stationary bivariate additive Gaussian noise. Each system comprises two sensors, M-ary local quantizers and a fusion center which makes decisions based on quantized source observations. The problem of asymptotically optimal quantization is considered in detail for the binary (M=2) case. It is shown that optimality is achieved by quantizing a locally computed likelihood ratio wherein one distribution is in general different from the appropriate source marginal. For the problem of detection in Gaussian noise, it is further demonstrated that the optimal distributed system attains the same asymptotic performance as the optimal centralized system for appropriate choice of M.
A comparative study on young-adult decision-making behaviour in regions within Malaysia

Consumers constantly required making decision regarding choices, purchases and use of products and services. This decision is often difficult as various expect needs to be evaluated during the decision-making process to obtain a desirable outcome. Further to this, there is also evidence that shows the high failure rate of businesses was attributed to consumer. In the present study, the purpose is to evaluate the extent of young-adult consumers’ decision-making behaviour between the two chosen regions that varies, which impact on consumers’ buying behaviour. The required information was collected from 100 respondents who were randomly selected from two regions in Malaysia. The findings revealed that there are no statistical significant differences in these young-adult consumers’ buying behaviour between two regions in Malaysia.
Tolerance and growth: modeling the empirical relationship

We showed, in Berggren and Elinder (2012), that tolerance toward homosexuals is negatively and quite robustly related to economic growth. In a comment, Bornhoff and Lee (this issue) question this finding on model-specification grounds. By undertaking three changes, they purport to show that our main result does not hold. In this article, we demonstrate that one of these changes is inconsequential (replacing GDP per capita by its logarithm in controlling for conditional convergence) and argue that two of them are questionable. First, the removal of certain central control variable risks introducing omitted variable bias and inconsistent estimates. Second, regional dummy variables are added on arbitrary grounds. For example, by using regional dummy variables that are just as reasonable as the Baltic dummy used by Bornhoff and Lee, we find that significance for tolerance toward homosexuals reappears in our empirical model. In all, this implies that there are good grounds for considering the negative relationship between tolerance towards homosexuals and growth valid, Bornhoff and Lee’s claims notwithstanding.
Application of new FPGA-based top-performance digital control techniques to PWM power converters

In the field of PWM power converters, the newest low-cost FPGAs are investigated as alternative digital control devices. The paper would show how FPGAs allow for unprecedented performances. A comparative overview of DSP and FPGA is carried-out on loop dynamics vs PWM ripple and noise immunity. The FPGA-based top-performance solution is defined and applied, based on oversampling and parallel processing techniques. An FPGA-based development PCB has been designed and realized accordingly suited to control three different inverters and two H-bridge converters. The new control concepts are applied to coupled DC/DC H-bridge boost converters as the strongest test bench due to multiple PWM properties. Experimental performances are very satisfactory.
Erythromycin Modulates Eosinophil Chemotactic Cytokine Production by Human Lung Fibroblasts in Vitro

ABSTRACT Recent studies suggest that erythromycin can suppress the production of some cytokines and may be an effective treatment for asthma. Eosinophil chemotactic cytokines have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma by the recruitment of eosinophils. We hypothesized that erythromycin modulates eosinophil chemotactic cytokine production. To test the hypothesis, we evaluated the potential of erythromycin to modulate the release of eosinophil chemoattractants from the human lung fibroblast cell line HFL-1. HFL-1 released eotaxin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and regulated and normal T-cell expressed and presumably secreted (RANTES) in response to interleukin-1β or tumor necrosis factor alpha. Erythromycin attenuated the release of these cytokines and eosinophil chemotactic activity by the HFL-1. The suppressive effect on eotaxin was the most marked of these cytokines. Erythromycin therapy also suppressed eotaxin mRNA significantly. These results suggest a mechanism that may account for the apparent beneficial action of macrolide antibiotics in the treatment of allergic airway disorders.
Tacit Knowledge, Innovation and Economic Geography

The aim of this paper is to outline the importance of tacit knowledge in the innovation process and to highlight the way that geographical location not only influences the relationship between knowledge and innovative activity, but also affects the way that such interaction influences the geography of innovation and economic activity. After a discussion about the nature of knowledge, the paper explores the relationship that exists between knowledge and geography. The paper then reviews, using as an analytical lens, the growing body of literature on knowledge spillovers which affirm the importance of geography. However, the discussion then seeks to outline some crucial gaps that remain in our conceptualisation of the knowledge spillover and transfer process. The paper then highlights the neglected role of knowledge demand and consumption in a spatial context, before concluding with a review of areas for future research.
Global Gene Expression Profiling of Chemically Induced Rat Mammary Gland Carcinomas and Adenomas

Chemical carcinogens induce both benign and malignant mammary gland tumors in female Sprague-Dawley rats. To identify gene expression profiles associated with malignancy, cDNA microarray analysis was used to compare gene expression profiles in rat mammary gland carcinomas, adenomas, and normal mammary gland. Tumors were induced with various chemical carcinogens including 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5- f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 7-12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), N-nitrosomethylurea (NMU), and 4-aminobiphenyl. The global gene expression profiles in carcinomas and adenomas were distinguishable by hierarchical clustering and multi-dimensional scaling analyses. Permutation analysis revealed 110 clones statistically differentially expressed between benign and malignant tumors (p < 0.0005). Carcinomas showed relatively high expression of several genes associated with mammary epithelial cell growth and proliferation (e.g., cyclin D1, PDGFα) and relatively low expression of differentiation marker genes (e.g., β-casein, whey acidic protein, transferrin). Other categories of genes showing differential expression between carcinomas and adenomas were associated with protein homeostasis, cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix, and cell metabolism (fatty acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and glycolysis). Major gene families implicated in malignancy by over-expression in carcinomas included the annexins (annexin A1 and A4) and Stat family of transcription factors (Stat3 and Stat5a). The elevated expression of the prolactin receptor in carcinomas concomitant with several components of the mitogenic prolactin signaling pathway implicated prolactin/prolactin receptor/Stat5a/cyclin D1 in rat mammary gland malignancy.
Chapter 1 Production and Destruction of Platelets

Platelet counts in blood are controlled by the rates of their production by megakaryocytes and the kinetics of their removal. Alterations in either process can lead to thrombocytopenia (TCP) or thrombocytosis. Under conditions of TCP, the spleen and liver are the sites for accelerated platelet destruction, and in thrombocytosis, the spleen can become a supplemental breeding ground for megakaryocytes, in addition to the bone marrow space. Humans produce and remove 1011 platelets per day. Senile or damaged platelets are detected as such and are removed from blood. Platelets must also be removed locally at diverse sites where they have discovered vascular damage, attached and become activated to prevent blood leakage. The mechanism of this local removal in the blood vascular system is not well described or understood. The removal of platelets from flowing blood mandates a system that detects changes that accu‐ mulate in the platelet surface with age and that responds by binding and removing the platelets when changes reach a critical level. Surface changes must either increase the availability of clearance ligands or remove anti-clearance signals such as CD47 [1]. Changes in the platelet surface that signal for removal include phosphatidylserine upregulation, deglycosylation of membrane glycoproteins, in particular Gp1bα of the vWf receptor, and Ig binding. Diseases that accelerate removal arbitrate their impact at the platelet surface.
Validity and Limits of the Rebound Tonometer (ICare®): Clinical Study

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) using a new induction/impact rebound tonometer (ICare®) compared with Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT). We also aimed to quantify the systematic and random errors (bias) of the 2 methods, to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the ICare® tonometer in identifying patients with 21 mmHg or more measured with the GAT, and to study the influence of corneal thickness on IOP measurement with the 2 tonometers. Methods We compared the IOP values obtained with the 2 instruments in 97 patients. Results Analysis based on the Bland and Altman method revealed that the IOP values recorded with the ICare® tonometer were slightly higher than those obtained with the GAT. The estimated bias for right eye measurements was 0.78 mmHg with 95% limits of agreement ±3.55 mmHg. This overestimation, which is not clinically relevant, was confirmed when we used the IOP values corrected according to central corneal thickness for data analysis. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.90 and 0.95, respectively. Conclusions The ICare® tonometer proved to be comparable with other nonconventional tonometers and can be used by nonophthalmologists and paramedical personnel during screening tests of populations. In addition, the ICare® tonometer could be considered a valid alternative to GAT when GAT is not available.
Alice Pung's Growing up Asian in Australia: The Cultural Work of Anthologized Asian-Australian Narratives of Childhood

This paper examines the 2008 literary anthology Growing up Asian in Australia, edited by the young Australian writer and award-winning memoirist, Alice Pung. Featuring a collection of auto/biographically based prose, poetry, and comics by “Asian-Australian” authors, each short text within the anthology focuses on coming-of-age in modern-day Australia. Informed by auto/biography and Asian-Australian studies, this paper explores the cultural work that Pung's anthology aims to do. Through a reading of the anthology's paratexts as well as the short, individual childhood autobiographies, the discussion considers the strategies Pung employs in order to attract a broad readership, and how the anthology mobilizes life narratives of childhood to intervene in debates about Australian national, local, and personal identities at the start of the twenty-first century. I argue that Pung's text skillfully balances politics and populism, critiquing fundamental issues of national identity and self-representation while simultaneously appealing to a broad readership.
Hydrops fetalis – has there been a change in diagnostic spectrum and mortality?

Objective. To investigate the impact of medical progress on the diagnostic spectrum and outcome of infants with hydrops fetalis (HF). Study design. We reviewed the charts of all live-born HF infants (n = 70) over a 16-year period (1993–2009). Data were compared to two published case series (Wafelman LS, Pollock BH, Kreutzer J, Richards DS, Hutchison AA. Biol Neonate 1999;75:73–81, Gainesville, Florida 1983–1992, n = 62; Simpson JH, McDevitt H, Young D, Cameron AD. Fetal Diagn Ther 2006;21:380–382, Glasgow, UK 1990–2004, n = 30). Results. Only two cases were immune HF. The proportion of infants with unexplained HF (30%), lymphatic (24%), cardiac (17%), hematologcial (6%) or chromosomal anomalies (6%) did not differ from the published case series. There was also no difference in overall mortality (57% vs. 55% or 67%, respectively). Low gestational age (<34 weeks), low 5-min Apgar scores (<4), and heart failure were independently associated with fatality. Conclusion. The diagnostic spectrum and mortality of HF has changed little over the last 25 years. In the future, new techniques in mutational analysis will be needed to reduce the high rate of unexplained cases of HF.
Urinary Kallikrein in Normal Renin Essential Hypertension

The relationship between urinary kallikrein, urinary aldosterone, and plasma renin activity (PRA) was studied in hypertensive patients and normal subjects. Kallikrein was measured by a radiochemical esterolytic assay. Nine white males with normal renin, mild essential hypertension (25 ± 5 [SD] yr; blood pressure [BP] 143 ± 7 / 95 ± 5 mm Hg) and six white normal males (23 ± 3 yr; BP 115 ± 15 / 70 ± 6 mm Hg) were placed on a one-week diet consisting of 400 mEq Na +, 80 mEq K + diet and a one week diet of a 10 mEq Na +, 80 mEq K + diet. During salt restriction, PRA, urinary aldosterone, and urinary kallikrein progressively rose. (Urinary kallikrein on day 7: normals 18.3 ± 13.7 esterase units [EU] per 24 hr; hypertensives 22.7 ± 12.5 EU/24 hrs.) There were no significant differences between the normals and hypertensives in PRA, aldosterone, or kallikrein excretion. After sodium balance was achieved, during salt loading, the PRA, aldosterone and kallikrein values were similar in both normals and hypertensives. (Urinary kallikrein on day 7: normals 5.0 ± 5.2; hypertensives 7.9 ± 4.4 EU/24 hrs.) Abnormalities in urinary kallikrein in hypertensives were not found when young white males with normal renin essential hypertension were compared to age-matched white male normal subjects. PRA appears related to urinary kallikrein excretion in this ype of patient.
What Have We Learned About Earnings Management? Correcting Disinformation about Discontinuities*

Earnings distributions commonly exhibit statistically significant discontinuities at prominent performance benchmarks. Discontinuities at zero earnings are widely interpreted as evidence of earnings management to avoid a loss, and discontinuities at zero earnings change or zero earnings surprise as evidence of management to avoid an earnings decrease or negative earnings surprise, respectively. In contrast, two recent papers by Durtschi and Easton (2005, 2009, hereafter DE) assert that discontinuities are instead explained by some combination of prior researchers' choice(s) of sample selection and scaling as well as a systematic relation between the sign of earnings and market prices. Resolution of the conflicting interpretations of discontinuities is important because 1) it affects how investors, regulators, and scholars view earnings management and 2) it demonstrates the importance of a close linkage between theory and research design choices. We evaluate the three alternative explanations proposed by DE. We point out that DE provide no evidence that their explanations create discontinuities, but only evidence showing that their modified research designs eliminate discontinuities. We also demonstrate why the research designs used by DE eliminate evidence of discontinuities when alternative designs using the same data identify highly significant discontinuities. Finally, we outline the key characteristics of the extensive body of evidence documenting discontinuities in earnings distributions that are consistent with the theory that earnings are managed but are generally inconsistent with artifactual theories of discontinuities.
Mobile news use and participation in elections: A bridge for the democratic divide?

This study explores the role of mobile news in democracy by examining individual-level variations in mobile election news use based on demographics, socioeconomic indicators, and mobile media activity breadth, and, in turn, how mobile news use is associated with political participation. Nationally representative data from a random-sample survey of American adults (N = 2,250) in the 2010 general election were analyzed to better explain who mobile election news users are, how they compare to nonusers, and whether mobile news use was associated with voter turnout and mobile campaign donation. Findings underscore the significance of mobile media use and mobile news as phenomena of emerging importance in the election campaigns, and important differential patterns in the relationships of sociodemographics, mobile media, and electoral participation are discussed. By providing a nuanced accounting of the socioeconomic and demographic profile of mobile election news users and how those individuals differ from nonusers, this study enriches explanations of how societal privilege and the benefits of political engagement are related in complicated ways to individual-level variations in consuming and using mobile election news. Notably, for racial minorities, mobile media may provide a bridge across the digital-driven democratic divide and a more effective means of engaging with digital election information than other ICTs. Analysis also extends what is known about how citizens use mobile news to engage with increasingly personalized election campaigns. Results indicate that mobile election news use was a significant positive predictor of the odds of having voted and whether individuals used their mobile devices to make contributions during the campaign. These findings support arguments that the unique qualities of mobile devices are contributing to new and different pathways to political engagement while also retaining significance in relation to traditional forms of offline political participation.
Primary gastric Burkitt lymphoma in childhood: associated with Helicobacter pylori?

BACKGROUND This retrospective study was designed to estimate the incidence of primary gastric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in childhood and the possible association with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). PROCEDURE We reviewed and analyzed the charts of 135 patients with NHL that were diagnosed and treated in a single oncology unit during the last 20 years. RESULTS Only two patients, 5 and 12 years old, with primary gastric NHL were found. Upper gastroduodenal endoscopy detected an ulcer in the lesser curvature of the body of the stomach, in both cases. Endoscopy revealed a moderate chronic gastritis in the antrum of both patients that was H. pylori associated in one of them who also suffered from chronic gastritis. Biopsy specimens demonstrated infiltration by Burkitt lymphoma (BL). The two patients received chemotherapy for 6 months. Additionally, one of the two patients received a triple therapy regimen with bismuth, amoxicillin, and metronidazole for H. pylori. Fifteen and six years later they are in complete remission, free of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Primary gastric NHL in childhood is rare. It was found in fewer than 2% of our NHL patients. The temporal relationship between the H. pylori infection and BL suggest a causative link between these two events.
Cell cycle dysregulation by green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate.

Epidemiological, in vitro cell culture, and in vivo animal studies have shown that green tea or its constituent polyphenols, particularly its major polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may protect against many cancer types. In earlier studies, we showed that green tea polyphenol EGCG causes a G0/G1-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of human epidermoid carcinoma (A431) cells. We also demonstrated that these effects of EGCG may be mediated through the inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B that has been associated with cell cycle regulation and cancer. In this study, employing A431 cells, we provide evidence for the involvement of cyclin kinase inhibitor (cki)-cyclin-cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) machinery during cell cycle deregulation by EGCG. As shown by immunoblot analysis, EGCG treatment of the cells resulted in significant dose- and time-dependent (i) upregulation of the protein expression of WAF1/p21, KIP1/p27, p16 and p18, (ii) downmodulation of the protein expression of cyclin D1, cdk4 and cdk6, but not of cyclin E and cdk2, (iii) inhibition of the kinase activities associated with cyclin E, cyclin D1, cdk2, cdk4 and cdk6. Taken together, our study suggests that EGCG causes an induction of G1-phase ckis, which inhibit the cyclin-cdk complexes operative in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle thereby causing a G0/G1-phase arrest of the cell cycle, which is an irreversible process ultimately resulting in an apoptotic cell death. We suggest that the naturally occurring agents such as green tea polyphenols which may inhibit cell cycle progression could be developed as potent anticancer agents for the management of cancer.
An Isoform-Specific Mutant Reveals a Role of PDP1ε in the Circadian Oscillator

The Drosophila PAR domain protein 1 (Pdp1) gene encodes a transcription factor with multiple functions. One isoform, PDP1ε, was proposed to be an essential activator of the core clock gene, Clock (Clk). However, a central clock function for PDP1ε was recently disputed, and genetic analysis has been difficult due to developmental lethality of Pdp1-null mutants. Here we report the discovery of a mutation that specifically disrupts the Pdp1ε isoform. Homozygous Pdp1ε mutants are viable and exhibit arrhythmic circadian behavior in constant darkness and also in the presence of light:dark cycles. Importantly, the mutants show diminished expression of CLK and PERIOD (PER) in the central clock cells. In addition, expression of PDF (pigment-dispersing factor) is reduced in a subset of the central clock cells. Loss of Pdp1ε also alters the phosphorylation status of the CLK protein and disrupts cyclic expression of a per-luciferase reporter in peripheral clocks under free-running conditions. Transgenic expression of PDP1ε in clock neurons of Pdp1ε mutants can restore rhythmic circadian behavior. However, transgenic expression of CLK in these mutants rescues the expression of PER in the central clock, but fails to restore behavioral rhythms, suggesting that PDP1ε has effects outside the core molecular clock. Together, these data support a model in which PDP1ε functions in the central circadian oscillator as well as in the output pathway.