Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cash Flow Multipliers and Optimal Investment Decisions

By postulating a simple stochastic process for the firm's cash flows in which the drift and the variance of the process depend on the investment policy of the firm, we develop a theoretical model, determine the optimal investment policy and, given this policy, calculate the ratio of the current value of the firm and the current cash flow which we call the "cash flow multiplier''. The main contribution of the paper, however, is empirical. Using a very extensive data set comprised of more than 13,000 fims over 44 years we examine the determinants of the cash flow multiplier using as explanatory variables macro and firm specific variables suggested by the theoretical model. We find strong support for the variables suggested by the model. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the paper is the formulation of a parsimonious empirical asset pricing model, based on the fundamental discounted cash flow approach but using current macroeconomic variables and firm specific variables easily observable for its implementation. We obtain valuation equations that could potentially form part of a new valuation framework which does not require estimating future cash flows nor risk adjusted discount rates.
Membrane-Based Inverse Transition Cycling: An Improved Means for Purifying Plant-Derived Recombinant Protein-Elastin-Like Polypeptide Fusions

Elastin-like peptide (ELP) was fused to two different avian flu H5N1 antigens and expressed in transgenic tobacco plants. The presence of the ELP tag enhanced the accumulation of the heterologous proteins in the tobacco leaves. An effective membrane-based Inverse Transition Cycling was developed to recover the ELPylated antigens and antibodies from plant material. The functionality of both the ELPylated neuraminidase and an ELPylated nanobody was demonstrated.
Does the use of low-level laser influence wound healing in chronic venous leg ulcers?

OBJECTIVE Venous leg ulcer treatment often requires months or years of regular wound care by trained staff. It has been suggested that low-level laser irradiation has a biostimulative and wound healing effect, but this has not been clinically verified by controlled studies. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of low-level laser irradiation with that of a placebo 'light source'. METHOD Forty-four patients were assigned to two treatment groups (laser and placebo) or a third group (standardised treatment only) to quantify the effect of the laser therapy. Patients in all three groups received standardised wound care (disinfection, a hydrofibre dressing and compression bandaging). Ulcer size was measured at baseline (day 1), at the end of therapy (day 28) and then two months later (day 90). The relative difference in wound size was evaluated. RESULTS The difference in the reduction in wound size was not statistically significant in all three groups. A positive effect of using the non-laser device (placebo effect) was demonstrated in some patients. CONCLUSION These study results suggest that low-level laser does not stimulate wound healing in venous leg ulcers. Further controlled studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of low-level laser treatment as a wound-healing stimulant.
TED, an Autonomous and Rare Maize Transposon of the Mutator Superfamily with a High Gametophytic Excision Frequency[W]

This work identifies TED, an autonomous maize transposable element related to the well-studied MuDR Mutator elements, but with some differences, including low copy number and a strong tendency to excise during the mitotic divisions of the gametophyte. Mutator (Mu) elements, one of the most diverse superfamilies of DNA transposons, are found in all eukaryotic kingdoms, but are particularly numerous in plants. Most of the present knowledge on the transposition behavior of this superfamily comes from studies of the maize (Zea mays) Mu elements, whose transposition is mediated by the autonomous Mutator-Don Robertson (MuDR) element. Here, we describe the maize element TED (for Transposon Ellen Dempsey), an autonomous cousin that differs significantly from MuDR. Element excision and reinsertion appear to require both proteins encoded by MuDR, but only the single protein encoded by TED. Germinal excisions, rare with MuDR, are common with TED, but arise in one of the mitotic divisions of the gametophyte, rather than at meiosis. Instead, transposition-deficient elements arise at meiosis, suggesting that the double-strand breaks produced by element excision are repaired differently in mitosis and meiosis. Unlike MuDR, TED is a very low-copy transposon whose number and activity do not undergo dramatic changes upon inbreeding or outcrossing. Like MuDR, TED transposes mostly to unlinked sites and can form circular transposition products. Sequences closer to TED than to MuDR were detected only in the grasses, suggesting a rather recent evolutionary split from a common ancestor.
Thermal Response and Ablation Characteristics of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite with Novel Silicon Containing Polymer MSP

Polymer composites are widely used for high temperature thermal protection (TPS)materials for spacecraft heat shields, and nozzle liners for solid propellant rocket motors. Newly developed silicon containing polymer, abbreviated MSP (Mitsui Silicon Containing Polymer), possesses high decomposition temperature (500 C), and high char yield (>94% at 1000 C)after pyrolysis. Therefore, the MSP polymer has potential as matrix resin of high performance ablative composites compared with conventional phenolic resins. In this study, thermal performance and ablation characteristics of a carbon composite with the MSP polymer (CF/MSP) were investigated under supersonic plasma air stream. The cold wall heat fluxes ranged from 1.2 to 11.0MW/m2. Conventional carbon fiber phenolic (CF/PR) composite was tested at the similar conditions for direct comparison. The mass loss of the CF/MSP composite was far less than that of the CF/PR composite, which is due to higher char yield and consequent high density of char layer. On the other hand, higher internal temperature was measured in the CF/MSP composite.
Does Early Life Exposure to Cigarette Smoke Permanently Harm Childhood Welfare? Evidence from Cigarette Tax Hikes

Evidence suggests that excise taxes on tobacco improve fetal health. It remains unknown if smoke exposure causes lasting harm to children. I find that a one dollar increase in the state cigarette excise tax while in-utero causes a 10% decrease in sick days from school, and a 4.5% decrease in the likelihood of having two or more doctor visits in the past 12 months. I find suggestive evidence for decreases in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and asthma. This supports the hypothesis that exposure to smoking in utero and the first months of life carries significant medium-term costs. My results also suggest that excise tax policy can lead to lasting intergenerational improvements in wellbeing.
Brain–Immune Interaction Accompanying Odor-Evoked Autobiographic Memory

The phenomenon in which a certain smell evokes a specific memory is known as the Proust phenomenon. Odor-evoked autobiographic memories are more emotional than those elicited by other sensory stimuli. The results of our previous study indicated that odor-evoked autobiographic memory accompanied by positive emotions has remarkable effects on various psychological and physiological activities, including the secretion of cytokines, which are immune-signaling molecules that modulate systemic inflammation. In this study, we aimed to clarify the neural substrates associated with the interaction between odor-evoked autobiographic memory and peripheral circulating cytokines. We recruited healthy male and female volunteers and investigated the association between brain responses and the concentration of several cytokines in the plasma by using positron emission tomography (PET) recordings when an autographic memory was evoked in participants by asking them to smell an odor that was nostalgic to them. Participants experienced positive emotions and autobiographic memories when nostalgic odors were presented to them. The levels of peripheral proinflammatory cytokines, such as the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), were significantly reduced after experiencing odor-evoked autobiographic memory. Subtraction analysis of PET images indicated that the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) were significantly activated during experiences of odor-evoked autobiographic memory. Furthermore, a correlation analysis indicated that activities of the mOFC and precuneus/PCC were negatively correlated with IFN-γ concentration. These results indicate that the neural networks including the precuneus/PCC and mOFC might regulate the secretion of peripheral proinflammatory cytokines during the experience of odor-evoked autobiographic memories accompanied with positive emotions.
Thar She Bursts: Reducing Confusion Reduces Bubbles

To explore why bubbles frequently emerge in the experimental asset market model of Smith, Suchanek, and Williams (1988), we vary the fundamental value process (constant or declining) and the cash-to-asset value ratio (constant or increasing). We observe high mispricing in treatments with a declining fundamental value, while overvaluation emerges when coupled with an increasing C/A ratio. A questionnaire reveals that the declining fundamental value process confuses subjects, as they expect the fundamental value to stay constant. Running the experiment with a different context ("stocks of a depletable gold mine" instead of "stocks") significantly reduces mispricing and overvaluation as it reduces confusion. (JEL C91, D14, G11, G12)
Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 gene amplification is associated with poor survival in patients with resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

To investigate the frequency and the prognostic impact of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) gene amplification in 526 curatively resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Using fluorescent in situ hybridization, high amplification was defined by an FGFR1/centromer 8 ratio is ≥ 2.0, or average number of FGFR1 signals/tumor cell nucleus ≥ 6.0, or percentage of tumor cells containing ≥ 15 FGFR1 signals or large cluster in ≥ 10%. Low amplification was defined by ≥ 5 FGFR1 signals in ≥ 50%. FGFR2 and FGFR3 mutations were assessed by direct sequencing in 388 cases and no mutation was detected. High and low amplification were detected in 8.6% and 1.1%, respectively. High FGFR1 amplification had significantly shorter disease-free survival (34.0 vs 158.5 months P=0.019) and overall survival (52.2 vs not reached P=0.022) than low/no amplification group. After adjusting for sex, smoking, stage, histology, and adjuvant treatment, high FGFR1 amplification had a greater risk of recurrence (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.6; P=0.029) and death (AHR, 1.53; P=0.050). High amplification was significantly higher in current smokers than former and never-smokers (Ptrend<0.001) and increased proportional to smoking dosage. High FGFR1 amplification is a frequent oncogenic alteration and an independent poor prognostic factor in resected ESCC.
A transportable methane stabilized He-Ne laser

A transportable methane stabilized He-Ne laser system has been built for a wavelength-optical frequency standard according to the operating conditions of the Comité Consultatif pour la Definition du Meter (CCDM) recommendation. For estimation of the stabilized laser system, an offset-locked laser system has also been developed by means of a phase comparison technique. The frequency stability and the resettability of the stabilized laser system is estimated to be 2.5 × 10<sup>−12</sup>τ <sup>−1/2</sup> and 1 × 10<sup>−11</sup>, respectively.
Pervasive Defaunation of Forest Remnants in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot

Tropical deforestation and forest fragmentation are among the most important biodiversity conservation issues worldwide, yet local extinctions of millions of animal and plant populations stranded in unprotected forest remnants remain poorly explained. Here, we report unprecedented rates of local extinctions of medium to large-bodied mammals in one of the world's most important tropical biodiversity hotspots. We scrutinized 8,846 person-years of local knowledge to derive patch occupancy data for 18 mammal species within 196 forest patches across a 252,669-km2 study region of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We uncovered a staggering rate of local extinctions in the mammal fauna, with only 767 from a possible 3,528 populations still persisting. On average, forest patches retained 3.9 out of 18 potential species occupancies, and geographic ranges had contracted to 0–14.4% of their former distributions, including five large-bodied species that had been extirpated at a regional scale. Forest fragments were highly accessible to hunters and exposed to edge effects and fires, thereby severely diminishing the predictive power of species-area relationships, with the power model explaining only ∼9% of the variation in species richness per patch. Hence, conventional species-area curves provided over-optimistic estimates of species persistence in that most forest fragments had lost species at a much faster rate than predicted by habitat loss alone.
Chlamydia trachomatis Cellular Exit Alters Interactions with Host Dendritic Cells

ABSTRACT The strategies utilized by pathogens to exit host cells are an area of pathogenesis which has received surprisingly little attention, considering the necessity of this step for infections to propagate. Even less is known about how exit through these pathways affects downstream host-pathogen interactions and the generation of an immune response. Chlamydia trachomatis exits host epithelial cells through two equally active mechanisms: lysis and extrusion. Studies have characterized the outcome of interactions between host innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, and free, extracellular Chlamydia bacteria, such as those resulting from lysis. Exit via extrusion generates a distinct, host-membrane-bound compartment of Chlamydia separate from the original infected cell. In this study, we assessed the effect of containment within extrusions upon the interaction between Chlamydia and host dendritic cells. Extrusion dramatically affected the outcome of Chlamydia-dendritic cell interactions for both the bacterium and the host cell. Dendritic cells rapidly underwent apoptosis in response to engulfment of an extrusion, while uptake of an equivalent dose of free Chlamydia had no such effect. Containment within an extrusion also prolonged bacterial survival within dendritic cells and altered the initial innate immune signaling by the dendritic cell.
General “2S2P1D” Model and Relation Between the Linear Viscoelastic Behaviours of Bituminous Binders and Mixes

ABSTRACT A research including a large experimental campaign on the characterization of the viscoelastic behavior of different bituminous materials was developed. The aim is to establish the links between the viscoelastic properties (which are observed in the small strain domain) of binders and those of bituminous mixes. The viscoelastic behavior of bituminous binders and mixes has been studied by performing complex modulus tests at different temperatures and frequencies. A unique rheological model has been developed for the modeling of linear viscoelastic properties of both bituminous binders and mixes. This model consists of a generalization of the Huet-Sayegh analogical model. Analyses on test data for nine different binders and four mixes, with one mix design, show that the introduced model fits quite well the measurements. Finally, from our first results, a transformation that is independent of the introduced model allows to predict easily and efficiently the mix complex modulus from the binder one.
Event queries on correlated probabilistic streams

A major problem in detecting events in streams of data is that the data can be imprecise (e.g. RFID data). However, current state-ofthe-art event detection systems such as Cayuga [14], SASE [46] or SnoopIB[1], assume the data is precise. Noise in the data can be captured using techniques such as hidden Markov models. Inference on these models creates streams of probabilistic events which cannot be directly queried by existing systems. To address this challenge we propose Lahar1, an event processing system for probabilistic event streams. By exploiting the probabilistic nature of the data, Lahar yields a much higher recall and precision than deterministic techniques operating over only the most probable tuples. By using a novel static analysis and novel algorithms, Lahar processes data orders of magnitude more efficiently than a naïve approach based on sampling. In this paper, we present Lahar's static analysis and core algorithms. We demonstrate the quality and performance of our approach through experiments with our prototype implementation and comparisons with alternate methods.
Leptin Deficiency and Its Effects on Tibial and Vertebral Bone Mechanical Properties in Mature Genetically Lean and Obese JCR:LA-Corpulent Rats

Leptin signaling deficient rodents have emerged as models of obesity/insulin resistance syndrome. Altered leptin signaling, however, can affect axial and appendicular bone geometrical properties differently, and, thus, we hypothesized that leptin-deficiency would differentially influence mechanical properties of vertebrae and tibiae compared to lean rats. Mature (9 mo) leptin receptor deficient obese (cp/cp; n = 8) and lean (+/? ; n = 7) male JCR:LA-corpulent rats were used to test that hypothesis. Tibiae and the sixth lumbar vertebrae (L6) were scanned with micro-CT and were broken in three point-bending (tibiae) or axial loading (L6). Supporting the hypothesis, vertebrae and tibiae were differentially affected by leptin signaling deficiency. Tibiae, but not vertebrae, were significantly shorter in obese rats and achieved a significantly greater load (>18%), displacement (>15%), and stress (>18%) at the proportional limit, relative to the lean rats. Conversely, L6 in obese rats had significantly reduced displacement (>25%) and strain (>32%) at proportional limit, relative to the lean rats. Those combined results suggest that the etiology and duration of obesity may be important determinants of bone mechanical properties, and axial and appendicular bones may be affected differently.
Progressive Vascular Functional and Structural Damage in a Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Model in Preterm Rabbits Exposed to Hyperoxia

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is caused by preterm neonatal lung injury and results in oxygen dependency and pulmonary hypertension. Current clinical management fails to reduce the incidence of BPD, which calls for novel therapies. Fetal rabbits have a lung development that mimics humans and can be used as a translational model to test novel treatment options. In preterm rabbits, exposure to hyperoxia leads to parenchymal changes, yet vascular damage has not been studied in this model. In this study we document the early functional and structural changes of the lung vasculature in preterm rabbits that are induced by hyperoxia after birth. Pulmonary artery Doppler measurements, micro-CT barium angiograms and media thickness of peripheral pulmonary arteries were affected after seven days of hyperoxia when compared to controls. The parenchyma was also affected both at the functional and structural level. Lung function testing showed higher tissue resistance and elastance, with a decreased lung compliance and lung capacity. Histologically hyperoxia leads to fewer and larger alveoli with thicker walls, less developed distal airways and more inflammation than normoxia. In conclusion, we show that the rabbit model develops pulmonary hypertension and developmental lung arrest after preterm lung injury, which parallel the early changes in human BPD. Thus it enables the testing of pharmaceutical agents that target the cardiovascular compartment of the lung for further translation towards the clinic.
Decoupled vector architectures

The purpose of this paper is to show that using decoupling techniques in a vector processor, the performance of vector programs can be greatly improved. Using a trace driven approach, we simulate a selection of the Perfect Club programs and compare their execution time on a conventional vector architecture and on a decoupled vector architecture. Decoupling provides a performance advantage of more than a factor of two for realistic memory latencies, and even with an ideal memory system with no latency, there is still a speedup of as much as 50%. A bypassing technique between the load/store queues is introduced and we show how it can give up to an extra speedup of 22% while also reducing total memory traffic by an average of 20%. An important part of this paper is devoted to study the tradeoffs involved in choosing an adequate size for the different queues of the architecture, so that the hardware cost of the queues can be minimized while still retaining most of the performance advantages of decoupling.
Predictive Association Control for Frequent Handover Avoidance in Femtocell Networks

Appropriate base station association decisions in dense femtocell networks help to improve throughput while reducing frequent handovers of mobile stations. We consider the association control problem of mobile stations as an optimal control problem and obtain a rolling-out suboptimal control policy which is based on the predictive mobility of mobile stations. In addition, we derive a simple and lightweight online association control policy for each mobile station. The simulation results show that the proposed method provides large gain in both handover frequency and throughput over the current methods.
Process synthesis of laser forming by genetic algorithm

Significant progress has been made in analyzing and predicting laser forming (LF) processes of sheet metal. Process synthesis in laser forming, on the other hand, is concerned with determination of laser scanning paths and heat condition given a target shape to form. This paper reports the development of a process synthesis methodology for laser forming of a class of shapes based on genetic algorithm(GA). The effects of GA control param eters on the synthesis process are discussed. The effects of fitness function types on achieving multiple objectives are also investigated. The synthesis process is experimentally validated through several cases under diverse conditions including one that involves close to thirty decision variables. # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effect of Head Shape Variations Among Individuals on the EEG/MEG Forward and Inverse Problems

We study the effect of the head shape variations on the EEG/magnetoencephalography (MEG) forward and inverse problems. We build a random head model such that each sample represents the head shape of a different individual and solve the forward problem assuming this random head model, using a polynomial chaos expansion. The random solution of the forward problem is then used to quantify the effect of the geometry when the inverse problem is solved with a standard head model. The results derived with this approach are valid for a continuous family of head models, rather than just for a set of cases. The random model consists of three random surfaces that define layers of different electric conductivity, and we built an example based on a set of 30 deterministic models from adults. Our results show that for a dipolar source model, the effect of the head shape variations on the EEG/MEG inverse problem due to the random head model is slightly larger than the effect of the electronic noise present in the sensors. The variations in the EEG inverse problem solutions are due to the variations in the shape of the volume conductor, while the variations in the MEG inverse problem solutions, larger than the EEG ones, are caused mainly by the variations of the absolute position of the sources in a coordinate system based on anatomical landmarks, in which the magnetometers have a fixed position.