Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Xenogenic Esophagus Scaffolds Fixed with Several Agents: Comparative In Vivo Study of Rejection and Inflammation

Most infants with long-gap esophageal atresia receive an esophageal replacement with tissue from stomach or colon, because the native esophagus is too short for true primary repair. Tissue-engineered esophageal conducts could present an attractive alternative. In this paper, circular decellularized porcine esophageal scaffold tissues were implanted subcutaneously into Sprague-Dawley rats. Depending on scaffold cross-linking with genipin, glutaraldehyde, and carbodiimide (untreated scaffolds : positive control; bovine pericardium : gold standard), the number of infiltrating fibroblasts, lymphocytes, macrophages, giant cells, and capillaries was determined to quantify the host response after 1, 9, and 30 days. Decellularized esophagus scaffolds were shown to maintain native matrix morphology and extracellular matrix composition. Typical inflammatory reactions were observed in all implants; however, the cellular infiltration was reduced in the genipin group. We conclude that genipin is the most efficient and best tolerated cross-linking agent to attenuate inflammation and to improve the integration of esophageal scaffolds into its surrounding tissue after implantation.
Equilibrium Model for Commodity Prices : Competitive and Monopolistic Markets ∗

In this article, we develop an equilibrium model for storable commodity prices. The model is formulated as a stochastic dynamic control problem and considers two state variables the exogenous supply and the inventory. The inventory is a fully controllable endogenous variable. We assume that the uncertainty arises from the supply, which evolves as a Ornstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic process. This model is developed under a general framework which provides two distinct forms for the alternative economic scenarios of perfect competition and monopolistic storage. Since an analytical solution to the problem is not possible, we obtain a numerical solution that provides an optimal storage policy and generates the price dynamics. We also compute and analyse the equilibrium forward curves that result from the steady state optimal storage policy. The results are consistent with the theory of storage: the presence of storage in both economies stabilizes the natural prices. We also show that this effect is greater when the storage is competitive. The resulting forward curves take two fundamental shapes. If the initial spot price is greater than the long-run natural price we observe backwardation; otherwise the market is in contango. Furthermore, the degree of contango is greater in the competitive market.
Unprecedented Degree of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Group M Genetic Diversity in the Democratic Republic of Congo Suggests that the HIV-1 Pandemic Originated in Central Africa

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to document the genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; formerly Zaire). A total of 247 HIV-1-positive samples, collected during an epidemiologic survey conducted in 1997 in three regions (Kinshasa [the capital], Bwamanda [in the north], and Mbuyi-Maya [in the south]), were genetically characterized in theenv V3-V5 region. All known subtypes were found to cocirculate, and for 6% of the samples the subtype could not be identified. Subtype A is predominant, with prevalences decreasing from north to south (69% in the north, 53% in the capital city, and 46% in the south). Subtype C, D, G, and H prevalences range from 7 to 9%, whereas subtype F, J, K, and CRF01-AE strains represent 2 to 4% of the samples; only one subtype B strain was identified. The highest prevalence (25%) of subtype C was in the south, and CRF01-AE was seen mainly in the north. The high intersubtype variability among the V3-V5 sequences is the most probable reason for the low (45%) efficiency of subtype A-specific PCR and HMA (heteroduplex mobility assay). Eighteen (29%) of 62 samples had discordant subtype designations betweenenv and gag. Sequence analysis of the entire envelope from 13 samples confirmed the high degree of diversity and complexity of HIV-1 strains in the DRC; 9 had a complex recombinant structure in gp160, involving fragments of known and unknown subtypes. Interestingly, the unknown fragments from the different strains did not cluster together. Overall, the high number of HIV-1 subtypes cocirculating, the high intrasubtype diversity, and the high numbers of possible recombinant viruses as well as different unclassified strains are all in agreement with an old and mature epidemic in the DRC, suggesting that this region is the epicenter of HIV-1 group M.
THE LOCUST OVIPOSITOR OPENER MUSCLE: PROCTOLINERGIC CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NEUROMODULATION IN A CENTRALLY DRIVEN MOTOR SYSTEM

The pentapeptide proctolin has multiple effects on the locust oviposition digging system. At the neuromuscular junction of the ventral opener muscle, it has a concentration-dependent range of modulatory effects. At low concentrations (10–10 mol l-1), proctolin causes an increase in the frequency of miniature excitatory junctional potentials, but has no apparent effects on the muscle membrane or contractile properties. In the middle range of concentrations (approximately 10–9 mol l- 1) proctolin increases neurally evoked twitch tension three- to fourfold with little change in the basal tension. At high concentrations (>10–8 mol l-1), proctolin causes a large increase in basal tension, upon which is occasionally superimposed a slow (approximately 0.3–0.5 Hz) myogenic rhythm. Stimulation of the ventral opener nerve at 30 Hz for 5 min releases approximately 8 % of the proctolin store of the muscle. In vitro ganglion-muscle preparations which are expressing the oviposition digging rhythm produced in the terminal abdominal ganglion release about 25 % of the store of endogenous proctolin during 5 min of superfusion. This declines to below the level of detectability over about 20 min of superfusion. Muscle contractions decline and then cease over the same period, although the patterned neural input and muscle electromyogram responses are still present. Superfusion of 10–9 mol l-1 proctolin restores the muscle contractions to their original magnitude. Superfusion of 10–8 mol l-1 proctolin over preparations in which the oviposition digging pattern has slowed results in the frequency of the rhythm being restored to its original levels. We suggest that, rather than having a facultative modulatory role in this neuromuscular system, proctolin is required for it to function normally. Furthermore, proctolin may maintain the functional integrity of the central systems driving oviposition digging.
The Tax Benefits of Hosting the Super Bowl and the MLB All-Star Game: The Houston Experience

This study adds to our knowledge of the effects of mega-events like Super Bowls and Major League Baseball All-Star games by looking specifically at a long time-series of monthly sales tax revenues to assess the impact of these events on the host city’s revenue. The analysis indicates that sales tax revenues in Houston may be statistically significantly higher as a result of the Super Bowl by as much as $5 million over the time of the game and its preceding festivities. The MLB All-Star game has a much smaller effect on revenues, though possibly as much as $1 million in extra sales tax revenues. Interestingly, there is no consistent evidence that these events raise the level of taxable sales activity, in total or in the retail or services sectors.
In vitro Endothelialization and Platelet Adhesion on Titaniferous Upgraded Polyether and Polycarbonate Polyurethanes

Polycarbonateurethanes (PCU) and polyetherurethanes (PEU) are used for medical devices, however their bio- and haemocompatibility is limited. In this study, the effect of titaniferous upgrading of different polyurethanes on the bio- and haemocompatibility was investigated by endothelial cell (EC) adhesion/proliferation and platelet adhesion (scanning electron microscopy), respectively. There was no EC adhesion/proliferation and only minor platelet adhesion on upgraded and pure PCU (Desmopan). PEUs (Texin 985, Tecothane 1085, Elastollan 1180A) differed in their cyto- and haemocompatibility. While EC adhesion depended on the type of PEU, any proliferative activity was inhibited. Additional titaniferous upgrading of PEU induced EC proliferation and increased metabolic activity. However, adherent ECs were significantly activated. While Texin was highly thrombotic, only small amounts of platelets adhered onto Tecothane and Elastollan. Additional titaniferous upgrading reduced thrombogenicity of Texin, preserved haemocompatibility of Elastollan, and increased platelet activation/aggregation on Tecothane. In conclusion, none of the PUs was cytocompatible; only titaniferous upgrading allowed EC proliferation and metabolism on PEUs. Haemocompatibility depended on the type of PU.
Time‐lapse imaging at Bullwinkle field, Green Canyon 65, offshore Gulf of Mexico

Two orthogonal preproduction seismic surveys and a regional seismic survey acquired after eight years of production from the Bullwinkle field (Green Canyon 65, Gulf of Mexico) reveal extraordinary seismic differences attributed to production‐induced changes in rock and fluid properties. Amplitude reduction (of up to 71%) occurs where production and log data show that water has replaced hydrocarbons as the oil–water contact moved upward. Separate normalizations of these surveys demonstrate that time‐lapse results are improved by using seismic surveys acquired in similar orientations; also, clearer difference images are obtained from comparing lower‐frequency data sets. Superior stratigraphic illumination in the dip‐oriented survey relative to the strike‐oriented surveys results in nongeological amplitude differences. This documents the danger of using dissimilar baseline and monitor surveys for time‐lapse studies.
Assessing the impacts of travel and tourism - measuring economic costs.

Eight approaches to estimating travel expenditures in an area are explained and evaluated. Sample surveys and respondent recall bias are discussed in detail. Simulation models of economic impact are presented, with the Travel Economic Impact Model evaluated by the criteria established in Chapter (preceding). Measuring secondary benefits is also discussed, including alternative techniques for estimating multipliers.
Feedforward Controller of Ill-Conditioned Hysteresis Using Singularity-Free Prandtl–Ishlinskii Model

Piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, and shape memory alloy actuators are gaining importance in high-frequency precision applications constrained by space. Their intrinsic hysteretic behavior makes control difficult. The Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) operator can model hysteresis well, albeit a major inadequacy: the inverse operator does not exist when the hysteretic curve gradient is not positive definite, i.e., ill condition occurs when slope is negative. An inevitable tradeoff between modeling accuracy and inversion stability exists. The hysteretic modeling improves with increasing number of play operators. But as the piecewise continuous interval of each operator reduces, the model tends to be ill-conditioned, especially at the turning points. Similar ill-conditioned situation arises when these actuators move heavy loads or operate at high frequency. This paper proposes an extended PI operator to map hysteresis to a domain where inversion is well behaved. The inverse weights are then evaluated to determine the inverse hysteresis model for the feedforward controller. For illustration purpose, a piezoelectric actuator is used.
Haemostasis in Thyroid Surgery: Collagen-Fibrinogen-Thrombin Patch versus Cellulose Gauze—Our Experience

Purpose. Postoperative hemorrhage is fortunately uncommon but potentially life-threatening complication of thyroid surgery that increases the postoperative morbidity and the hospital stay. In this study we compare the efficacy of collagen patch coated with human fibrinogen and human thrombin (CFTP) (group C) and oxidized regenerated cellulose gauze (group B) versus traditional hemostatic procedures (group A) in thyroid surgery. Methods. From January 2011 to December 2013, 226 were eligible for our prospective, nonrandomized, comparative study. Patients requiring a video-assisted thyroidectomy without drain, “near total,” or hemithyroidectomy were excluded. Other exclusion criteria were a diagnosis of malignancy, substernal goiter, disorders of hemostasis or coagulation, and Graves or hyperfunctioning thyroid diseases. Outcomes included duration of operation, drainage volume, and postoperative complications. Results. Our results show a significant reduction in drainage volume in group C in comparison with the other two groups. In group C there was no bleeding but the limited numbers do not make this result significant. There were no differences in terms of other complications, except for the incidence of seroma in group B. Conclusion. The use of CFTP reduces the drainage volume, potentially the bleeding complications, and the hospital stay. These findings confirm the efficacy of CFTP, encouraging its use in thyroid surgery.
A Systematic Review of Productivity Factors in Software Development

Analysing and improving productivity has been one of the main goals of software engineering research since its beginnings. A plethora of studies has been conducted on various factors that resulted in several models for analysis and prediction of productivity. However, productivity is still an issue in current software development and not all factors and their relationships are known. This paper reviews the large body of available literature in order to distill a list of the main factors influencing productivity investigated so far. The measure for importance here is the number of articles a factor is mentioned in. Special consideration is given to soft or human-related factors in software engineering that are often not analysed with equal detail as more technical factors. The resulting list can be used to guide further analysis and as basis for building productivity models.
Highly Predictive CoMFA and CoMSIA Models for Two Series of Stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) Inhibitors Elucidate S1' and S1-S2' Binding Modes

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship models have been derived using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) for two training sets of arylsulfonyl isoquinoline-based and thazine/thiazepine-based matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors (MMPIs). The crystal structure of stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) was used to pinpoint areas on the ligands and receptors where steric and electrostatic effects (for CoMFA) and steric, electrostatic, hydrogen-bond donor, hydrogen-bond acceptor, and hydrophobic effects (for CoMSIA) correlate with an increase or decrease in experimental biological activity. The most predictive CoMFA and CoMSIA models were obtained using training-series subsets that sampled a wide range of activities, together with docking and scoring, inertial alignment, investigation of various partial charge formalisms, and manual adjustment of each compound within the active site. The models developed in this study are in agreement with experimentally observed MMP-3 structure-activity relationship data and offer new insights into binding modes involving the partly solvent-exposed S1-S2' subpocket and certain zinc-chelating groups.
Large Capital Infusions, Investor Reactions, and the Return and Risk-Performance of Financial Institutions Over the Business Cycle

We examine investors’ reactions to announcements of large capital infusions by U.S. financial institutions (FIs) from 2000 to 2009. These infusions include private market infusions (seasoned equity offerings (SEOs)) as well as injections of government capital under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The sample period covers both business cycle expansions and contractions, and the recent financial crisis. We present evidence on the factors affecting FIs’ decisions to raise capital, the determinants of investor reactions, and post-infusion risk-taking of the recipients, as well as a sample of matching FIs. Investors reacted negatively to the news of private market SEOs by FIs, both in the immediate term (e.g., the two days surrounding the announcement) and over the subsequent year, but positively to TARP injections. Reactions differed depending on the characteristics of the FIs, and the stage of the business cycle. Smaller, more financially constrained non-bank institutions were more likely to have raised capital through private market offerings during the period prior to TARP, and firms receiving a TARP injection tended to be riskier and more levered. In the case of TARP recipients, they appeared to finance an increase in credit risk with more stable financing sources such as core deposits, which lowered their liquidity risk. However, we find no evidence that banks’ capital adequacy increased after the capital injections.
Markets of Dispossession: NGOs, Economic Development, and the State in Cairo

What happens when the market tries to help the poor? In many parts of the world today, neoliberal development programs are offering ordinary people the tools of free enterprise as the means to well-being and empowerment. Schemes to transform the poor into small-scale entrepreneurs promise them the benefits of the market and access to the rewards of globalization. Markets of Dispossession is a theoretically sophisticated and sobering account of the consequences of these initiatives. Julia Elyachar studied the efforts of bankers, social scientists, ngo members, development workers, and state officials to turn the craftsmen and unemployed youth of Cairo into the vanguard of a new market society based on microenterprise. She considers these efforts in relation to the alternative notions of economic success held by craftsmen in Cairo, in which short-term financial profit is not always highly valued. Through her careful ethnography of workshop life, Elyachar explains how the traditional market practices of craftsmen are among the most vibrant modes of market life in Egypt. Long condemned as backward, these existing market practices have been seized on by social scientists and development institutions as the raw materials for experiments in “free market” expansion. Elyachar argues that the new economic value accorded to the cultural resources and social networks of the poor has fueled a broader process leading to their economic, social, and cultural dispossession.
RECOGNIZING EMOTIONS IN SPONTANEOUS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

In this paper we present a method for classifying emotions in spon-taneous facial expressions of both active and inactive speakers in spoken dialogues. Evaluation and classiﬁcation was performed for emotion categories (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, neutral) and emotion space classes (3 classes for valence and activation, respectively). In addition, continuous values of the emotion space attributes were estimated. For feature extraction, a novel combination of multi-scale, multi-orientation Gabor ﬁltering and Principal Component Analysis was used. For classiﬁcation, an Artiﬁcial Neural Net was used, with a fuzzy logic extension for the estimation of the continuous-valued emotion space attributes. The maximum average recognition rate for emotion category and for emotion space classiﬁcation was 72.9% and 80.1%, respectively. The mean error for continuous-valued emotion primitives estimation was 0.3, when the range of values was [-1,+1]. A FACS-adapted extension was also introduced, deﬁning a two-stage description of expressive meta-features in the face, such as open eyes vs. closed eyes as a stage 1 meta-feature, and open mouth, smiling vs. open mouth, not smiling as a stage 2 meta feature. Using this 2-stage classiﬁcation method, an average recognition rate between 81.7% and 99.1% was achieved for the individual classi-ﬁcations. It was found that, although we were using spontaneous instead of posed facial expressions, our results almost achieved the recognition rates reported in the literature.
Pediatric palliative care for youth with HIV/AIDS: systematic review of the literature

Improvement in treatment has led to decreased death in youth with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in developed countries. Despite this, youth with HIV are still at risk for increased mortality and morbidity compared with their uninfected counterparts. In developing countries, high numbers of youth die from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related illnesses due to lack of access to consistent antiretroviral treatment. As a result, pediatric palliative care is a relevant topic for those providing care to youth with HIV. A systematic review was conducted to gather information regarding the status of the literature related to pediatric palliative care and medical decision-making for youth with HIV. The relevant literature published between January 2002 and June 2012 was identified through searches conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and PSYCInfo databases and a series of key words. Articles were reviewed by thematic analysis using the pillars of palliative care set out by the National Consensus Project. Twenty-one articles were retained after review and are summarized by theme. In general, few empirically based studies evaluating palliative care and medical decision-making in youth with HIV were identified. Articles identified focused primarily on physical aspects of care, with less attention paid to psychological, social, ethical, and cultural aspects of care. We recommend that future research focuses on broadening the evaluation of pediatric palliative care among youth with HIV by directly evaluating the psychological, social, ethical, and cultural aspects of care and investigating the needs of all involved stakeholders.
The Influence of Learning on Host Plant Preference in a Significant Phytopathogen Vector, Diaphorina citri

Although specialist herbivorous insects are guided by innate responses to host plant cues, host plant preference may be influenced by experience and is not dictated by instinct alone. The effect of learning on host plant preference was examined in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri; vector of the causal agent of citrus greening disease or huanglongbing. We investigated: a) whether development on specific host plant species influenced host plant preference in mature D. citri; and b) the extent of associative learning in D. citri in the form of simple and compound conditioning. Learning was measured by cue selection in a 2-choice behavioral assay and compared to naïve controls. Our results showed that learned responses in D. citri are complex and diverse. The developmental host plant species influenced adult host plant preference, with female psyllids preferring the species on which they were reared. However, such preferences were subject to change with the introduction of an alternative host plant within 24–48 hrs, indicating a large degree of experience-dependent response plasticity. Additionally, learning occurred for multiple sensory modalities where novel olfactory and visual environmental cues were associated with the host plant. However, males and females displayed differing discriminatory abilities. In compound conditioning tasks, males exhibited recognition of a compound stimulus alone while females were capable of learning the individual components. These findings suggest D. citri are dynamic animals that demonstrate host plant preference based on developmental and adult experience and can learn to recognize olfactory and visual host plant stimuli in ways that may be sex specific. These experience-based associations are likely used by adults to locate and select suitable host plants for feeding and reproduction and may suggest the need for more tailored lures and traps, which reflect region-specific cultivars or predominate Rutaceae in the area being monitored.