Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dynamics of Electron-Induced Formation of N-2 and N-3 Species from Condensed Ammonia

We have previously shown that low-energy (50 eV) electron-induced oligomerization of condensed carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) can produce species with six or more carbons [1]. In the study described herein, using post-irradiation temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments, we examine the electron-induced oligomerization of condensed ammonia to yield hydrazine (N2H4), diazene (N2H2), cyclotriazane/triazene (N3H3), and triazane (N3H5). To understand the dynamics of oligomerization, we have investigated the dependence of these reaction products’ yields on irradiation time, film thickness, electron energy, and incident electron flux. Our yield versus irradiation/film thickness results are consistent with the previously proposed bimolecular mechanisms of formation for hydrazine and diazene. In contrast, yield versus irradiation time results for triazane suggest that it is a tertiary radiolysis product. Furthermore, although triazane was produced in relatively large quantities at an incident electron energy of 1000 eV, none was produced at 500 eV for all explored variations of experimental parameters (film thickness, irradiation time, and electron flux). We attribute this high apparent threshold incident electron energy to the dose rate effect, which violates the Bunsen-Roscoe Law, according to which a photochemical effect is directly proportional to the total energy dose, irrespective of the time required to deliver that dose. We have investigated the dose rate effect observed in ammonia radiolysis by varying the irradiation flux while maintaining a constant fluence. These results provide a basis from which we can begin to understand not only the dose rate effect in electroninduced reactions but also the mechanisms by which more complex nitrogen-containing species are formed.
DP RIETI Discussion Paper Series 12E-002 Market Size and Entrepreneurship

In order to examine the impacts of market size on entrepreneurship, we estimate a monopolistic competition model that involves the workers' decisions to pursue entrepreneurship by using data on Japanese prefectures. Our results show that a larger market size in terms of population density leads to a higher incentive for individuals to become entrepreneurs. A 10% increase in the population density increases the share of people who wish to become entrepreneurs by approximately 1%. In contrast, such a positive effect on the self-employment rate is observed only for prefectures with very high or very low densities. The self-employment ratio is negatively associated with population density in prefectures with medium densities.
Is Political Risk Company-Specific? The Market Side of the Yukos Affair

The Yukos affair, a high-profile story of the state-led assault on a private Russian company, provides an excellent opportunity for an inquiry into the nature of company-specific political risks in emerging markets. News associated primarily with law enforcement agencies’ actions against company’s managers, not formally related to the company itself, caused significant negative abnormal returns for Yukos. The results are robust and not driven by a few major events, such as the arrests of Yukos’ top managers and shareholders. Stocks of less transparent private Russian companies have been more sensitive to Yukos-related events, especially employee-related charges by law enforcement agencies. The situation was different for less transparent government-owned companies such as the world-largest natural gas producer Gazprom: they appear to be significantly less sensitive to these events. Actions of regulatory agencies have had predominantly industry-wide impact, whereas law-enforcement agencies’ actions affected shares of large private companies, especially those privatized in the notorious loans-for-shares privatization auctions.
A Moderately Large Size Dataset to Learn Visual Affordances of Objects and Tools Using iCub Humanoid Robot

Affordances are defined as action opportunities that an environment offers to an agent: relations between visually perceived properties of an object, the possible actions afforded, and the effects of such actions. This notion can be generalized to the concept of tools: i.e. the visual appearance of a tool suggests what actions it affords to do on an object. Inspired by the amount of trials human babies need to learn these kinds of relations, we have gathered a relatively big dataset using iCub humanoid robot. The robot performs different actions using easy-to-rebuild tools on various objects selected from the YCB objects set and observes the results of the actions. The dataset can facilitate research in the areas of sensorimotor learning, active perception and cognitive developmental robotics.
Is there any relationship between the rates of interest and profit in the U.S. economy

This paper studies the empirical relationship between the Federal funds effective rate and the rate of profit or profit-to-capital ratio in the U.S. economy. The linkages between these two variables are studied: 1) at business-cycle frequencies using various filters and employing cross-correlation, regression and simulation analysis; and 2) using Vector Autoregressive models that unveil the dynamic interactions between the variables. The different empirical results reveal that positive shocks in the fed funds interest rate generate negative responses of the rate of profit, thus corroborating previous findings that show that a tight monetary policy is associated with lower aggregate profitability levels.
Beden Eğitimi Öğretmenlerinin Öğrenme Ortamını Bozan Davranışlara Karşı Geliştirdikleri Davranış Stratejileri (Bursa İli Örneği)

Gunumuzde, okullardaki ogretim uygulamalarinda, ogrenme ortamini bozan ogrenci davranislarinin onemli bir problem olarak ortaya ciktigi ve ogretimi aksattigi yonundeki ogretmen goruslerine siklikla rastlanmaktadir. Arastirmada, egitim uygulamalarinda ya da okulun sportif aktivite alanlarinda ogrencilerle sik sik iletisimde bulunan beden egitimi ogretmenlerinin, ogrenme ortamini bozan davranislarla ne siklikta karsilastigi, ogrenme ortamini bozan davranislarin nelerden kaynaklandigi konusundaki gorus- lerini ve duzeni bozan davranislarla karsilastiklarinda hangi davranis yontemini kullandiklarini ogrenerek, ogretmenlere bu konularda olumlu davranis onerileri sunma amaclanmistir. Bu amacla Bursa Buyuksehir Belediyesi sinirlari icinde yer alan 3 belediyede mevcut ozel ve devlet okullarindan rasgele ornekleme ile secilen 171 beden egitimi ogretmeni arastirmaya katildi. Yapilan anket uygulamasi verilerinin istatistiksel analizi SPSS 13.0 istatistik paket programinda yapilmistir. Arastirma sonuclarina gore, ogrencilerin ogretim ortamini bozan davranis- lari, izin istemeden konusmak, ders akisini bozacak davranislarda bulunmak ve asiri ve rahatsiz edici bicimde konusmak seklindedir. Bunlarin nedenlerini ise, aile ici problemler, televizyon ve diger kitle iletisim araclarinda sergilenen siddet olaylarinin etkisi, ailelerin cocuklarin egitimine olan ilgisizligi olarak belirtmislerdir. Beden egitimi ogretmenlerimiz, ogrenme ortamini bozan davranislarla karsilastiklarinda, samimi bir sinif ortami olusturma, bu tur davranis gosterenleri olumlu davranis gosteren ogrenciler ile diyalog kurmasini saglama, gozlerinin icine bakma seklinde davranislarla bu sorunu cozme yolunu benimsemektedirler. Beden egitimi ogretmenlerinin ogrenme ortamini bozan davranislara karsi kullandiklari temel yaklasim, etkilesimci yontem (2,43) olarak saptanmistir.
Reversible Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition and Acquired Resistance to Sunitinib in Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma: Evidence from a Xenograft Study

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) targeting angiogenesis via inhibition of the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway have changed the medical management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Although treatment with TKIs has shown clinical benefit, these drugs will eventually fail patients. The potential mechanisms of resistance to TKIs are poorly understood. To address this question, we obtained an excisional biopsy of a skin metastasis from a patient with clear cell renal carcinoma who initially had a response to sunitinib and eventually progressed with therapy. Tumor pieces were grafted s.c. in athymic nude mice. Established xenografts were treated with sunitinib. Tumor size, microvascular density, and pericyte coverage were determined. Plasma as well as tissue levels for sunitinib were assessed. A tumor-derived cell line was established and assessed in vitro for potential direct antitumor effects of sunitinib. To our surprise, xenografts from the patient who progressed on sunitinib regained sensitivity to the drug. At a dose of 40 mg/kg, sunitinib caused regression of the subcutaneous tumors. Histology showed a marked reduction in microvascular density and pericyte dysfunction. More interestingly, histologic examination of the original skin metastasis revealed evidence of epithelial to mesenchymal transition, whereas the xenografts showed reversion to the clear cell phenotype. In vitro studies showed no inhibitory effect on tumor cell growth at pharmacologically relevant concentrations. In conclusion, the histologic examination in this xenograft study suggests that reversible epithelial to mesenchymal transition may be associated with acquired tumor resistance to TKIs in patients with clear cell renal carcinoma. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(6); 1525–35. ©2010 AACR.
Deep convolutional neural networks as generic feature extractors

Recognizing objects in natural images is an intricate problem involving multiple conflicting objectives. Deep convolutional neural networks, trained on large datasets, achieve convincing results and are currently the state-of-the-art approach for this task. However, the long time needed to train such deep networks is a major drawback. We tackled this problem by reusing a previously trained network. For this purpose, we first trained a deep convolutional network on the ILSVRC-12 dataset. We then maintained the learned convolution kernels and only retrained the classification part on different datasets. Using this approach, we achieved an accuracy of 67.68% on CIFAR-100, compared to the previous state-of-the-art result of 65.43%. Furthermore, our findings indicate that convolutional networks are able to learn generic feature extractors that can be used for different tasks.
The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 and amyloid-β clearance in Alzheimer’s disease

Accumulation and aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in the brain trigger the development of progressive neurodegeneration and dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Perturbation in Aβ clearance, rather than Aβ production, is likely the cause of sporadic, late-onset AD, which accounts for the majority of AD cases. Since cellular uptake and subsequent degradation constitute a major Aβ clearance pathway, the receptor-mediated endocytosis of Aβ has been intensely investigated. Among Aβ receptors, the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) is one of the most studied receptors. LRP1 is a large endocytic receptor for more than 40 ligands, including apolipoprotein E, α2-macroglobulin and Aβ. Emerging in vitro and in vivo evidence demonstrates that LRP1 is critically involved in brain Aβ clearance. LRP1 is highly expressed in a variety of cell types in the brain including neurons, vascular cells and glial cells, where LRP1 functions to maintain brain homeostasis and control Aβ metabolism. LRP1-mediated endocytosis regulates cellular Aβ uptake by binding to Aβ either directly or indirectly through its co-receptors or ligands. Furthermore, LRP1 regulates several signaling pathways, which also likely influences Aβ endocytic pathways. In this review, we discuss how LRP1 regulates the brain Aβ clearance and how this unique endocytic receptor participates in AD pathogenesis. Understanding of the mechanisms underlying LRP1-mediated Aβ clearance should enable the rational design of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for AD.
Domain-Specific Knowledge Systems in the Brain: The Animate-Inanimate Distinction

We claim that the animate and inanimate conceptual categories represent evolutionarily adapted domain-specific knowledge systems that are subserved by distinct neural mechanisms, thereby allowing for their selective impairment in conditions of brain damage. On this view, (some of) the category-specific deficits that have recently been reported in the cognitive neuropsychological literaturefor example, the selective damage or sparing of knowledge about animalsare truly categorical effects. Here, we articulate and defend this thesis against the dominant, reductionist theory of category-specific deficits, which holds that the categorical nature of the deficits is the result of selective damage to noncategorically organized visual or functional semantic subsystems. On the latter view, the sensory/functional dimension provides the fundamental organizing principle of the semantic system. Since, according to the latter theory, sensory and functional properties are differentially important in determining the meaning of the members of different semantic categories, selective damage to the visual or the functional semantic subsystem will result in a category-like deficit. A review of the literature and the results of a new case of category-specific deficit will show that the domain-specific knowledge framework provides a better account of category-specific deficits than the sensory/functional dichotomy theory.
Concurrent FDG Avid Nasopharyngeal Lesion and Generalized Lymphadenopathy on PET-CT Imaging Is Indicative of Lymphoma in Patients with HIV Infection

Patients with HIV infection often have generalized lymphadenopathy and/or other lymphoid proliferation and are at significantly increased risk for lymphoma. This study retrospectively evaluated the diagnostic value of concurrent nasopharyngeal lesion and lymphadenopathy on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET-CT) imaging. The eligible cases were from patients with HIV infection and lymphadenopathy and referred for FDG PET-CT to evaluate lymphoma or other malignancies prior to pathological investigation. FDG PET-CT images and interpretation reports were correlated with clinical information and pathological diagnoses. Among 22 eligible patients, FDG avid nasopharyngeal lesions were incidentally noted in 7 on PET-CT imaging, and all had lymphomas diagnosed with subsequent biopsies (6 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and 1 Hodgkin's lymphoma). In the remaining 15 patients with adenopathy but no visible nasopharyngeal lesion or uptake on PET-CT imaging, 9 had biopsies and lymphomas were diagnosed in 4. The patients with FDG avid retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy had a greater possibility of lymphoma, compared to those with adenopathy localized only in the upper torso. Coexistent FDG avid nasopharyngeal lesion and generalized lymphadenoapthy on PET-CT imaging are indicative of a malignant lymphoma rather than benign lymphproliferative disease or nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
A complete and effective move set for simplified protein folding

We present new lowest energy configurations for several large benchmark problems for the two-dimensional hydrophobic-hydrophilic model. We found these solutions with a generic implementation of tabu search using an apparently novel set of transformations that we call pull moves. Our experiments show that our algorithm can find these best solutions in 3 to 14 hours, on average. Pull moves appear quite effective and may also be useful for other local search algorithms for the problem. Additionally, we prove that pull moves are complete; that is, any pair of valid configurations are mutually reachable through a sequence of pull moves. Our implementation was developed with the Human-Guided Search (HuGS) middleware, which allows rapid development of interactive optimization systems.
Minimizing area among Lagrangian surfaces: The mapping problem

This paper introduces a geometrically constrained variational problem for the area functional. We consider the area restricted to the langrangian surfaces of a Kaehler surface, or, more generally, a symplectic 4-manifold with suitable metric, and study its critical points and in particular its minimizers. We apply this study to the problem of finding canonical representatives of the lagrangian homology (that part of the homology generated by lagrangian cycles).
Long-term survival of patients with chest pain syndrome and angiographically normal or near-normal coronary arteries: the additional prognostic value of dipyridamole echocardiography test (DET).

AIMS Patients with normal coronary arteries have a heterogeneous prognosis. Aim of this study was to assess whether dipyridamole stress echocardiography positivity identifies a prognostically less benign subset. METHODS AND RESULTS We selected 457 patients (245 males; 56+/-10 years) who underwent stress high-dose dipyridamole echocardiography and had angiographically non-significant (<50% visually assessed) stenosis in any major vessel and preserved left ventricular function. All patients were followed up for a median of 7.1 years (first quartile 5 and third quartile 10.5). Dipyridamole echocardiography test (DET) positivity for regional dysfunction occurred in 43(9%) patients. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates showed a significant better outcome for those patients with negative dipyridamole echocardiography test compared with those with a positive test (90 vs. 75.7%, at 140 months of follow-up, P=0.0018). At multivariable analysis, mild or moderate irregularity on coronary arteriogram (HR=3.3, CI 95%=1.7-6.2), diabetes (HR=3.5, CI 95%=1.4-9.2), and wall motion score index at peak stress (HR=6.7, CI 95%=2.5-17.8) were independent predictors of all-cause death. CONCLUSION DET adds incremental value to the prognostic stratification achieved with clinical and angiographic data in the subset of patients with normal or near-normal coronary arteries.
Efficacy of carcinogenic embryonic antigen in differential diagnosis of diseases of pancreas and liver--a comparative study in a tertiary care hospital of Western Nepal.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our present study was to assess the efficacy of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for differentiating and diagnosis of pancreatic and liver diseases in Pokhara valley. MATERIALS AND METHODS A hospital based retrospective study was carried out using data retrieved from the register maintained in the Department of Biochemistry of the Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal between 1st January, 2011 and 31st October, 2011. Estimation of CEA was performed by ELISA reader for all cases. Approval for the study was obtained from the institutional research ethical committee. RESULTS Of the 771 subjects, 208 (27%), 60(7.8%), 240(31.1%), 54(7.0%) , 75(9.7%), 59(7.7%), 75(9.7%) cases were of active chronic hepatitis , cryptogenic cirrhosis, alcoholic cirrhosis, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatoma, acute or chronic pancreatitis, carcinoma of pancreas respectively. The majority of cases (104) of active chronic hepatitis had CEA levels <5 ng/ml(50%). CEA levels were found to be increased in cases of alcoholic cirrhosis with maximum number of cases (106) in range of 10 to 20 ng/ml (44%). There were no cases having more than 20 ng/ml of CEA in primary biliary cirrhosis and acute or chronic pancreatitis. In cases of pancreatic cancer, maximum number of cases (35) were having CEA >20 ng/ml(47%). CONCLUSION High levels of CEA are associated with advanced stage of disease. CEA can thus provide an important improvement in the diagnosis by differentiating pancreatic cancer especially from chronic pancreatitis when there is a high suspicion of malignancy. Increased CEA levels may also signify progression from benign to malignant transformation in the liver.
Antibiotics-Associated Hemorrhagic Colitis Caused by Klebsiella oxytoca: Two Case Reports

Nowadays, Klebsiella oxytoca is described as a causative organism for antibiotic-associated hemorrhagic colitis (AAHC). Here we report two cases of pediatric AAHC, from which K. oxytoca was cultured after starting amoxicillin-clavulanate or amoxicillin treatment. The patients developed severe abdominal pain and a large amount of bloody diarrhea. K. oxytoca was obtained in intestinal fluid culture of a boy through the colonoscopy. On the other hand, colonic tissue culture and intestinal fluid culture were negative of the other patient. K. oxytoca was detected in stool culture when he was admitted. These cases showed characteristic endoscopic findings of segmental hemorrhagic colitis, and both boys recovered spontaneously within 2–3 days after they stopped taking the antibiotics. Therefore, in children who develop relatively large amount of bloody diarrhea after antibiotic treatment, we should consider AAHC caused by K. oxytoca.
Feigning Amnesia Moderately Impairs Memory for a Mock Crime Video

Previous studies showed that feigning amnesia for a crime impairs actual memory for the target event. Lack of rehearsal has been proposed as an explanation for this memory-undermining effect of feigning. The aim of the present study was to replicate and extend previous research adopting a mock crime video instead of a narrative story. We showed participants a video of a violent crime. Next, they were requested to imagine that they had committed this offense and to either feign amnesia or confess the crime. A third condition was included: Participants in the delayed test-only control condition did not receive any instruction. On subsequent recall tests, participants in all three conditions were instructed to report as much information as possible about the offense. On the free recall test, feigning amnesia impaired memory for the video clip, but participants who were asked to feign crime-related amnesia outperformed controls. However, no differences between simulators and confessors were found on both correct cued recollection or on distortion and commission rates. We also explored whether inner speech might modulate memory for the crime. Inner speech traits were not found to be related to the simulating amnesia effect. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.
Discovery of a Culicoides imicola-free zone in South Africa: preliminary notes and potential significance.

In December 1993, a light-trap survey was made of the Culicoides found at eight horse stables and dairies in the sandy dune field west of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. While it was notable that Culicoides numbers were low (4749) and that the diversity was poor (15 species), the most remarkable fact to emerge, was that C. imicola, the only proven vector of the virus of African horse sickness (AHS), was entirely absent. Though not abundant, C. bolitinos, a sister species of C. imicola, was overwhelmingly dominant (91.7%). Its larvae and pupae develop exclusively in the dung of cattle, but it is a species that is not implicated in the transmission of animal viruses. Elsewhere in South Africa, a frost-free climate, good rainfall and a plentiful supply of livestock would normally lead to the development of large foci of C. imicola. That this is not the case in the Port Elizabeth (P.E.) area is most likely owing to the winds inhibiting adult flight and the sandy soils being nutrient-poor and too well-drained to sustain Culicoides larvae. Studies are needed to confirm that sandy soils cannot sustain C. imicola. If so, the sandy coastal areas hold promise for quarantining against AHS.