Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cloud Computing for parallel Scientific HPC Applications: Feasibility of Running Coupled Atmosphere-

Disclosed in the present invention is a process for modifying a polyamide polymer comprising contacting a reactive modifier with diamine/diacid salt and/or an amino-acid of a hydrolyzed lactam or lactam to form a modified polyamide. A second embodiment of the present invention is a process for modifying a polyamide polymer comprising contacting a reactive modifier with diamine then contacting the resulting modified diamine with diacid and/or lactam to form a modified polyamide.
Pyoderma gangrenosum after trauma in a dog

A 12-year-old male entire Miniature Pinscher presented with excoriations at various body sites, progressively forming ulcers and enlarging until arrested by treatment. Based on the clinical presentation and histopathological analyses, sterile neutrophilic dermatosis was suspected. Therefore, the dog was started on prednisolone. Marked improvement was achieved with prednisolone treatment, suggesting a diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). Transcription levels of cytokine mRNA in lesional skin before and after treatment from this dog were quantified by real-time RT-PCR. Transcription levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8 and IL-17A were higher in lesional skin before treatment than after treatment. Levels of various cytokines could be increased in lesional skin of dogs with PG as well as in human patients with PG.
Polynomials that are positive on an interval

This paper discusses representations of polynomials that are positive on intervals of the real line. An elementary and constructive proof of the following is given: If h(x), p(x) ∈ R[x] such that {α ∈ R | h(α) ≥ 0} = [−1, 1] and p(x) > 0 on [−1, 1], then there exist sums of squares s(x), t(x) ∈ R[x] such that p(x) = s(x) + t(x)h(x). Explicit degree bounds for s and t are given, in terms of the degrees of p and h and the location of the roots of p. This is a special case of Schmüdgen’s Theorem, and extends classical results on representations of polynomials positive on a compact interval. Polynomials positive on the non-compact interval [0,∞) are also considered.
Molecular analysis of T cell receptor (Ti) variable region (V) gene expression. Evidence that a single Ti beta V gene family can be used in formation of V domains on phenotypically and functionally diverse T cell populations

We examine the rules governing Ti beta variable (V) gene segment usage in the formation of T cell antigen-MHC receptors in diverse regulatory and effector T lymphoid subpopulations. To this end, a single Ti beta V gene family and its products were analyzed. A monoclonal antibody, termed anti-Ti3A, which was shown to be reactive with an epitope encoded by members of the REX cell line Ti beta V gene family, and which was expressed on 2% of human T lymphocytes was used in selection of clones from unprimed peripheral T lymphocytes. Both T4+, as well as T8+ T cell clones with inducer, suppressor, and/or cytotoxic function were defined. Southern analysis, isoelectric focusing and two- dimensional peptide mapping indicated that individual members of the REX V gene family were linked to different Ti beta diversity and/or joining and constant region segments. Moreover, the Ti alpha chains of such clones were distinct. These results imply that Ti beta V gene usage is not restricted to any functionally or phenotypically defined T cell subsets, and there is presumably little, if any, restriction on the mechanisms that generate combinational, junctional or chain association-mediated diversity.
Triple-negative breast cancer: multipronged approach, single-arm pilot phase II study

Anthracyclines (A) and taxanes (T) are standard first‐line chemotherapy agents for patients with advanced breast cancer. Platinum analogues have also shown activity in the triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) histology, but clinical data are limited. Here we report the long‐term follow‐up of a phase II study on TNBC treated with a combined modality therapy, including induction with AT, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5‐fluorouracil (CMF) with concurrent radiation therapy, and a dose‐dense consolidation chemotherapy (HDCT) with carboplatin (CBDCA), ifosfamide (IFX), etoposide (VP‐16). Patients' median age was 44 years, with 73% premenopausal. Epirubicin 75 mg/m2 and docetaxel 75 mg/m2 were administered to 70 patients with TNBC: as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy to 12 and 58 patients, respectively. Postoperative radiation therapy, 5000 cGy, was delivered, synchronous with triweekly CMF. After radiation therapy, two courses of HDCT with CBDCA, IFX, VP‐16, were given, with hematological growth factors. After a median follow‐up of 81 months, all patients were evaluable for toxicity and response. Most important toxicity were grade 3 skin reaction and grade 4 hematological in 3% and 31% of patients, respectively. Pathological complete response was observed in 25% of patients receiving preoperative chemotherapy. Treatment failures were as follows: eight visceral, four contralateral breast cancer, four locoregional, and one leukemia. Five‐year progression‐free survival and overall survival rate were 78% and 91%, respectively. Induction chemotherapy, followed by chemoradiation therapy and HDCT, provides a prolonged disease‐free period and a significant increase in overall survival in TNBC, with an acceptable toxicity profile.
Transfer Rates of Texas Hispanic Community College Students to 4-Year Institutions: Selected Institutional Factors.

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to determine how well selected institutional characteristics explain the variance in Hispanic community college students’ transfer rates to 4-year institutions. Due to the rapidly growing Texas Hispanic population, understanding challenges to their educational attainment has become critical. Hispanic community college enrollment in Texas continues to rise, yet these students are not transferring to 4-year institutions at the same rate as other groups. This study analyzed data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board of 50 Texas community colleges to determine how well the independent variables (Hispanic population of each community college campus locale, Hispanic community college student college readiness as indicated by Texas Success Indicator scores, and the percent of Hispanic faculty at each community college) accounted for the variance on the dependent variable (Hispanic community college student transfer rate). Multiple regression was used to determine the magnitude of the relationships between the dependent variable and the combination of all the independent variables. Commonality analysis was then utilized to identify proportions of variance in the dependent variable from combinations of the independent variables. The independent variables together generated a statistically significant regression model on the dependent variable, F(4, 64) = 3.067, p = . 023. The R2 coefficient between the independent variables on the dependent variable presented a positive relationship with 17.2% variance. The percent of Hispanic community college faculty was the largest contributor to the variance (62.09%), the strongest factor in accounting for the transfer rates of Hispanic community college students to 4-year universities. Hispanic population of each community college campus locale had the least effect on the dependent variable with a 1.47% variance. The findings of this study support the recent report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in favor of research and resources for Hispanic educator preparation programs.
Essays on Asset Pricing, Banking and the Macroeconomy

Defense date: 28/11/2011 Jury Members: Prof. Morten Ravn, University College London, Supervisor Prof. Ramon Marimon, EUI Prof. Alexander Michaelides, University of Cyprus Prof. Tommaso Monacelli, Universita Bocconi
Targeting the Lactate Transporter MCT1 in Endothelial Cells Inhibits Lactate-Induced HIF-1 Activation and Tumor Angiogenesis

Switching to a glycolytic metabolism is a rapid adaptation of tumor cells to hypoxia. Although this metabolic conversion may primarily represent a rescue pathway to meet the bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands of proliferating tumor cells, it also creates a gradient of lactate that mirrors the gradient of oxygen in tumors. More than a metabolic waste, the lactate anion is known to participate to cancer aggressiveness, in part through activation of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway in tumor cells. Whether lactate may also directly favor HIF-1 activation in endothelial cells (ECs) thereby offering a new druggable option to block angiogenesis is however an unanswered question. In this study, we therefore focused on the role in ECs of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) that we previously identified to be the main facilitator of lactate uptake in cancer cells. We found that blockade of lactate influx into ECs led to inhibition of HIF-1-dependent angiogenesis. Our demonstration is based on the unprecedented characterization of lactate-induced HIF-1 activation in normoxic ECs and the consecutive increase in vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression. Furthermore, using a variety of functional assays including endothelial cell migration and tubulogenesis together with in vivo imaging of tumor angiogenesis through intravital microscopy and immunohistochemistry, we documented that MCT1 blockers could act as bona fide HIF-1 inhibitors leading to anti-angiogenic effects. Together with the previous demonstration of MCT1 being a key regulator of lactate exchange between tumor cells, the current study identifies MCT1 inhibition as a therapeutic modality combining antimetabolic and anti-angiogenic activities.
Do elderly people fake in the assessment of their mental health?

Several studies show that both positive mental health in late adulthood and longevity are positively associated with indices of psychological well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, coping) and negatively associated with signs of depression. However, the self-assessment of mental health in the elderly may be biased by social desirability as they attempt to present themselves more positively in order to impress the interlocutor and preserve their social image. A primary aim of the current study was to explore whether social desirability influenced self-assessment of depression in a sample of cognitively healthy elderly people residing in Sardinia, an Italian isle characterized by higher longevity indexes. Moreover, it was investigated the relationship between perceived physical health and depression and whether this relationship was impacted by social desirability. Each participant was presented a battery of inventories including measures of metacognitive efficiency, subjective well-being, depression, socially desirability. Overall, An ANCOVA and a path analysis highlighted the role played by social desirability on participants' self-assessment of mental health. The implications of these findings with respect to current research trends and clinical practice will be discussed.
The Time Delay in the Gravitational Lens PKS 1830–211

We have measured a time delay of 26+ 4−5 days and a magnification ratio of 1.52±0.05 in the strong radio gravitational lens PKS 1830-211. Observations were made over the 18 month period from 1997 January to 1998 July with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 8.6 GHz, and they have shown that the source started a large flux density outburst around 1997 June.
The “Trojan Horse” Approach to Tumor Immunotherapy: Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment

Most anticancer therapies including immunotherapies are given systemically; yet therapies given directly into tumors may be more effective, particularly those that overcome natural suppressive factors in the tumor microenvironment. The “Trojan Horse” approach of intratumoural delivery aims to promote immune-mediated destruction by inducing microenvironmental changes within the tumour at the same time as avoiding the systemic toxicity that is often associated with more “full frontal” treatments such as transfer of large numbers of laboratory-expanded tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes or large intravenous doses of cytokine. Numerous studies have demonstrated that intratumoural therapy has the capacity to minimizing local suppression, inducing sufficient “dangerous” tumor cell death to cross-prime strong immune responses, and rending tumor blood vessels amenable to immune cell traffic to induce effector cell changes in secondary lymphoid organs. However, the key to its success is the design of a sound rational approach based on evidence. There is compelling preclinical data for local immunotherapy approaches in tumor immunology. This review summarises how immune events within a tumour can be modified by local approaches, how this can affect systemic antitumor immunity such that distal sites are attacked, and what approaches have been proven most successful so far in animals and patients.
Existence,regularity, and constrained suboptimality of competitive allocations when the asset market is incomplete

Let assets be denominated in an a priori specified numeraire. Whether or not the asset is complete, a competitive equilibrium exists as long as arbitrage is possible when assets are free. Generically, the set of competitive equilibria is finite, and the equilibrium prices and allocations in the commodity spot markets are uniquely determined by the asset allocation is generically constrained suboptimal: there exists an arbitrarily small reallocation of the existing assets, which leads to a Pareto improvement in welfare when prices and allocations in the commodity spot markets adjust to maintain equilibrium.
Latency Reduction of Global Traffic in Wormhole-Routed Meshes Using Hierarchical Rings for Global Routing

The mesh network-on-chip (NoC) topology has its drawbacks in the communication latency scalability, and the concentration of the traffic in the center of the mesh. We propose a topology where a traditional wormhole-routed mesh network is augmented by a hierarchical ring interconnect for routing global traffic. In addition to the topology, the routing strategies have a large impact on system performance. We compare the performance of a deterministic and adaptive routing strategy when applied to our augmented topology. A SystemC modeling platform was used to compare the traditional wormhole-routed mesh with the augmented architecture. The proposed architecture reduces the average latencies incurred by global traffic, while the application of a adaptive routing strategy can further increase performance.
Development of a Loss-Resilient Internet Speech Transmission Method

To my parents and my brother for their love, continued support, and encouragement To my aunt and my cousins for not treating me as a relative but as a family member To my grandfather and uncle Dung as the last kiss Acknowledgments First and foremost, I thank my family and my friends for their continued support, encouragement, and understanding that have made my education possible and my academic aspiration come true. I wish to thank Prof. Dr. Adam Wolisz and Dr. Mikhail Smirnov for giving me the fortunate opportunity to do this thesis at GMD Fokus 1. My very special thanks go to my thesis advisor, Henning Sanneck, who has spent many hours discussing with me, guiding me to conduct research, and carefully proofreading this thesis. I feel fortunate to have him as my thesis advisor. I also like to thank Yantorno, for providing me with the Enhanced Modified Bark Spectral Distortion (EMBSD) program to evaluate the efficiency of the speech property-based Forward Error Correction (SPB-FEC) scheme and compare it with other FEC schemes. Last but not least, I thank my family, my friends, and my colleagues for knowing when not to ask " How is your thesis going? ". Figure 1. RTP message 18 Figure 2. NeVoT's graphical user interface for audio parameter configuration 20 Figure 3. Program structure of NeVoT 21 Figure 4. Playout delay at the receiver 22 Figure 5. A segment of voice sound in the time domain 25 Figure 6. A segment of unvoice sound in the time domain 25 Figure 7. Overview of the AP/C scheme 27 Figure 8. AP/C packet 30 Figure 9. Concealment operation in the time domain 31 Figure 10. Concealment operation for extreme expansion/compression 32 Figure 11. Auto-correlation of a voiced segment 33 Figure 12. Auto-correlation of an unvoiced segment 34 Figure 13. Auto-correlation of a silent segment 36 Figure 14. Combination of AP/C and interleaving 37 Figure 15. Resynchronization time of the G.729 decoder after the loss of a number of frames 43 Figure 16. SNR the G.729's decoded speech signal after the loss of a number of frames 44 Figure 17. Decoded speech signals without and with frame loss at different position 46 Figure 18. Decoders's loss of synchronization during a packet loss 49 Figure 19. Structure of an audio tool with the speech property-based mechanism 50 Figure 20. Gilbert model 53 Figure 21. Simulation steps for the …
Splicing : A Fair Comparison Between Machine and Human on a Music Similarity Task

Considerable e ffort is spent optimizing computational techniques to simulate human perception of music. Most of these techniques take no account of time, but rathe r focus on global statistical distributions. In other words, machines listen in e ffect tosplicedaudio signals, i.e. signals which frames have been shu ffled randomly in time. Assessing the performance of such algorithms against that of humans on normal signals is an unfair compar ison. In this paper, we compare human and machine performance on spliced signals on a triadic similarity task, for both music and environmental sounds (soundscapes). First, we find th at splicing significantly degrades human similarity performance, both for music and soundsca pe , but significantly more so for music than soundscapes. Second, we observe that huma n simil rity performance on spliced music is no better, and sometimes even worse, than the perform ance of machines. This suggests fundamental di fferences in the cognitive processing of music and soundscapes. On the one hand, it appears that humans are capable of comparing sou ndscapes in a timeless, amorphous way which resists splicing. On the other hand, humans perfo rm very poorly on the kind of musical data we typically expect algorithms to succeed on in fact th ey’re even worse than machines. It follows that any computational technique based on an e ncoding of music that is invariant by splicing cannot reach human performance
Stratorotational instability in MHD Taylor-Couette flows

Aims. The stability of the dissipative Taylor-Couette flow with a stable axial density stratification and a prescribed azimuthal magnetic field is considered. Methods. Global nonaxisymmetric solutions of the linearized MHD equations with toroidal magnetic field, density stratification, and differential rotation are found for both insulating and conducting cylinders. Results. Hydrodynamic calculations for various gap widths show that flat rotation laws such as the Kepler rotation are always unstable against SRI. Quasigalactic rotation laws, however, are stable for wide gaps. The influence of a current-free toroidal magnetic field on SRI strongly depends on the magnetic Prandtl number Pm: SRI is supported by Pm > 1 and it is suppressed by Pm < 1. For rotation laws that are too flat, when the hydrodynamic SRI ceases, a smooth transition exists to the instability that the toroidal magnetic field produces in combination with the differential rotation. For the first time this nonaxisymmetric azimuthal magnetorotational instability (AMRI) has been computed in the presence of an axial density gradient. If the magnetic field between the cylinders is not current-free, then the Tayler instability occurs, too. The transition from the nonmagnetic centrifugal instability to the magnetic Tayler instability in the presence of differential rotation and density stratification proves to be complex. Most spectacular is the “ballooning” of the stability domain by the density stratification: already a small rotation stabilizes magnetic fields against the Tayler instability.
How to Improve the Early Diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection: Relationship between Validated Conventional Diagnosis and Quantitative DNA Amplification in Congenitally Infected Children

Background According to the Chagas congenital transmission guides, the diagnosis of infants, born to Trypanosoma cruzi infected mothers, relies on the detection of parasites by INP micromethod, and/or the persistence of T. cruzi specific antibody titers at 10–12 months of age. Methodology and Principal Findings Parasitemia levels were quantified by PCR in T. cruzi-infected children, grouped according to the results of one-year follow-up diagnosis: A) Neonates that were diagnosed in the first month after delivery by microscopic blood examination (INP micromethod) (n = 19) had a median parasitemia of 1,700 Pe/mL (equivalent amounts of parasite DNA per mL); B) Infants that required a second parasitological diagnosis at six months of age (n = 10) showed a median parasitemia of around 20 Pe/mL and 500 Pe/mL at 1 and 6 months old, respectively, and C) babies with undetectable parasitemia by three blood microscopic observations but diagnosed by specific anti - T. cruzi serology at around 1 year old, (n = 22), exhibited a parasitemia of around 5 Pe/mL, 800 Pe/mL and 20 Pe/mL 1, 6 and 12 month after delivery, respectively. T. cruzi parasites were isolated by hemoculture from 19 congenitally infected children, 18 of which were genotypified as DTU TcV, (former lineage TcIId) and only one as TcI. Significance This report is the first to quantify parasitemia levels in more than 50 children congenitally infected with T. cruzi, at three different diagnostic controls during one-year follow-up after delivery. Our results show that the parasite burden in some children (22 out of 51) is below the detection limit of the INP micromethod. As the current trypanocidal treatment proved to be very effective to cure T. cruzi - infected children, more sensitive parasitological methods should be developed to assure an early T. cruzi congenital diagnosis.
Azerbaijan: Recent Economic Developments and Policy Issues in Sustainability of Growth

The macro economic stabilisation in Azerbaijan has been successful. Following cessation of conflict with Armenia, and decline of GDP by 60 per cent from 1990 to 1995, the government in effect implemented a big-bang reform process in 1995.The inflation rate has now declined to the lowest rate of any transition country and important reforms in the monetary-fiscal mix have been undertaken.The second plank of first generation reforms, liberalisation, has also been successfully implemented with liberalisation of prices, the trade and foreign exchange regimes and virtual completion of small-scale privatisation, although the onset of the Russian crisis in 1998 has impacted negatively both internal and external balances.The paper presents the current economic picture for Azerbaijan and then assesses economic policy issues facing the country. Azerbaijan is well endowed with natural resources, particularly oil but also gas.The second part of the paper considers the question by focussing on policy issues related to the potential flow of oil-based monies into Azerbaijan.The possibility of the "Dutch Disease" syndrome impacting Azerbaijan through a rising real exchange rate on the non-oil sector is not considered to be a problem at present but is expected to become a policy concern in the medium- to long term.Structural reforms in public finance to deal with expected surpluses are lagging and are necessary in the next phase of the transition of Azerbaijan.Moreover, significant reforms are required in banking - privatisation, improvement in regulation and supervision and in the implementation of supporting legal rights, given the current lack of financial intermediation. Keywords: Azerbaijan, economic development, oil, Dutch Disease, transition economies