Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Características diferenciales de la financiación entre las PYME y las grandes empresas españolas: Asimetrías informativas, restricciones financieras y plazos de endeudamiento

En contraste con el teorema de la separabilidad de MM, cuando se asumen imperfecciones en los mercados, las restricciones financieras condicionan las decisiones de inversion de las empresas. Las imperfecciones de mercado derivadas de las asimetrias informativas, la seleccion adversa y el riesgo moral en el ambito de los contratos financieros que vinculan a los intermediarios financieros con las empresas, inciden en mayor medida en las decisiones financieras de las PYME. Mediante la estimacion de diversos modelos de regresion lineal con un pool de datos de empresas industriales espanolas para el periodo 1993-1998, proporcionado por la ESEE, se analizan empiricamente los efectos dei tamano de la empresa en su estructura financiera y el coste de su financiacion, y se detecta que las PYME padecen mayores restricciones financieras. Asimismo, se analizan los efectos temporales y de pertenencia a un sector determinado en esas decisiones financieras. Ademas, se estudian otros factores que condicionan las decisiones de financiacion de las empresas como la existencia de garantias o colaterales, la edad de la empresa, la pertenencia a un grupo empresarial, la participacion de capital extranjero en la propiedad de las empresas y su grado de solvencia y riesgo financiero.
Capillary Blood Cell Velocity in Full-Term Infants as Determined in Skin by Videophotometric Microscopy

ABSTRACT: In order to study the neonatal microcirculation, the capillary hemodynamics in skin was investigated in 43 full-term infants 2–7 days after birth. The nailfold capillaries of the thumb were visualized by means of television microscopy and the capillary blood cell velocity (CBV) was videophotometrically quantified in 107 microvessels. The skin temperature, mean arterial blood pressure, and heel puncture hematocrit were measured simultaneously to evaluate any relation with the CBV. The mean CBV in all infants was 0.38 ± 0.21 mm/s, with a range of 0.04 to 1.2 mm/s in individual capillaries. There was no correlation between CBV and skin temperature (27–33° C), mean arterial blood pressure (44–68 mm Hg), or postnatal age. However, a significant correlation was found between the log CBV and the skin prick hematocrit (r = −0.64, p < 0.001). It is concluded that the mean CBV during the 1st wk of life is not significantly different from the capillary velocity reported in adults. Normal variations in skin temperature and mean arterial blood pressure, as well as age differences 2–7 days after birth, do not significantly influence the neonatal skin capillary blood flow. However, the hematocrit is of major importance for skin capillary perfusion in the newborn infant.
A Formal Theory of Selection for Schizophrenia

A simple formal model of the selection of schizophrenics into social classes is developed, based on stochastic models of the process of occupational mobility. The model is estimated with data from England. Two predictions of the model are tested with data: the magnitude of the class differential in rate of schizophrenia at equilibrium, and the pattern of rates for classes in advantaged and disadvantaged ethnic groups. The model approximates the data in both tests. The major conclusion is that selection and drift together form a sufficient explanation for the class differential in rate of schizophrenia.
Evaluation of miR-711 as Novel Biomarker in Prostate Cancer Progression

Objective: MicroRNAs (miRs) are class of small non-coding regulatory RNA aberrantly expressed in various types of malignancies including prostate cancer and serves as potential targets to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In this quiet we investigated miRNAs expression profile in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa) tissue samples and correlated their expression with clinicopathological parameters. Methodology: The miRNAs expression profile as well as their validation has been done by using Microarray and RT-PCR, respectively. Additionally, we also tried to speculate microRNA-mRNA regulatory module through computational target predictions by using Targetscan, Miranda and MirWalk and obtained results were analysed through DAVID software. Result: We observed that miR-711 is significantly deregulated in BPH and PCa, compared to controls. The lower expression of miR-711 was found to be significantly associated with high Gleason score and metastatic disease. Furthermore, the computational target prediction analysis explored miR-711 association to various cancer cells signalling cascade key molecules associated with cancer cell survival. Conclusion: From our observations we suggest that miR-711 may play a critical role in PCa progression, regulation of various cancer cell survival signalling cascades and that it may be a valuable biomarker for prediction of metastatic disease and poor prognosis in PCa.
Effect of pathogenic mis-sense mutations in lamin A on its interaction with emerin in vivo

Mutations in lamin A/C can cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) or a related cardiomyopathy (CMD1A). Using transfection of lamin-A/C-deficient fibroblasts, we have studied the effects of nine pathogenic mutations on the ability of lamin A to assemble normally and to localize emerin normally at the nuclear rim. Five mutations in the rod domain (L85R, N195K, E358K, M371K and R386K) affected the assembly of the lamina. With the exception of mutant L85R, all rod domain mutants induced the formation of large nucleoplasmic foci in about 10% of all nuclei. The presence of emerin in these foci suggests that the interaction of lamin A with emerin is not directly affected by the rod domain mutations. Three mutations in the tail region, R453W, W520S and R527P, might directly affect emerin binding by disrupting the structure of the putative emerin-binding site, because mutant lamin A localized normally to the nuclear rim but its ability to trap emerin was impaired. Nucleoplasmic foci rarely formed in these three cases (<2%) but, when they did so, emerin was absent, consistent with a direct effect of the mutations on emerin binding. The lipodystrophy mutation R482Q, which causes a different phenotype and is believed to act through an emerin-independent mechanism, was indistinguishable from wild-type in its localization and its ability to trap emerin at the nuclear rim. The novel hypothesis suggested by the data is that EDMD/CMD1A mutations in the tail domain of lamin A/C work by direct impairment of emerin interaction, whereas mutations in the rod region cause defective lamina assembly that might or might not impair emerin capture at the nuclear rim. Subtle effects on the function of the lamina-emerin complex in EDMD/CMD1A patients might be responsible for the skeletal and/or cardiac muscle phenotype.
Accurate Segmentation of Dermoscopic Images by Image Thresholding Based on Type-2 Fuzzy Logic

A novel thresholding-based segmentation approach for accurate segmentation of pigmented skin lesion images regarding malignant melanoma diagnosis has been proposed. The presented approach utilizes type-2 fuzzy logic techniques for automatic threshold determination. The method is applied on various clinically obtained lesion images, and the results are compared with those obtained with two other popular methods from the literature. It is observed that the presented method exhibits superior performance over competing methods and is very successful at handling the uncertainty encountered in determining the border between the lesion and the skin.
Composite Systems Reliability Evaluation Based on Monte Carlo Simulation and Cross-Entropy Methods

This paper proposes a new approach to evaluate loss of load indices in composite generation and transmission systems. The main idea is to combine a Cross-Entropy (CE)-based optimization process and nonsequential Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to obtain an auxiliary sampling distribution, which can minimize the variance of the reliability index estimators. This auxiliary sampling distribution will properly modify the original unavailabilities of both generation and transmission equipment, so that important failure events are sampled more often. As a result, the MCS algorithm can reach convergence faster and with fewer samples, leading to significant gains in computational performance, especially when dealing with very reliable system configurations. The proposed method is tested using several composite power systems, including the IEEE RTS 79, IEEE RTS 96, and a configuration of the Brazilian system.
Perceptual changes in schizophrenia: a questionnaire survey

Synopsis Questionnaires were completed by 73 volunteers with a history of probable schizophrenia, and by 67 patients admitted to the accident wards of a general hospital. A high incidence of sensory distortions was recorded in the schizophrenic group compared with the controls, distortions of brightness contrast being the most common. Many schizophrenic patients reported that such distortions were reduced or removed early in treatment. Patients who reported visual distortions also tended to report visual hallucinations. The results are discussed with reference to the hypothesis that perceptual malfunction may underlie some other schizophrenic disorders such as delusions or catatonia.
COMPARISON OF POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIC EFFECT OF INTRATHECAL KETAMINE AND FENTANYL ADDED TO BUPIVACAINE IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING CESAREAN SECTION: A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY.

OBJECTIVES To compare the analgesic efficacy of intrathecal Ketamine and fentanyl added to bupivacaine in patients undergoing cesarean section. METHODS Ninety patients 18-40 years old were recruited in a prospective double-blinded, randomized way. Spinal anesthesia was performed in the three groups by using bupivacaine 10mg combined with 0.1mg/kg ketamine in group K, bupivacaine 10mg combined with 25 µg fentanyl in group F and bupivacaine 10mg combined 0.5 ml distilled water in group P. The time to first analgesic request, analgesic requirement in the first 24 hours after surgery, sensory and motor blockade onset time, duration of sensory and motor blockade, the incidence of adverse effects were recorded. RESULTS The mean time to first analgesic request was longer in group K (296.80 ± 32.46) compared to group F (277.87 ± 94.25) and group P (235.43 ± 22.35). The difference between group K and F (P = 0.504) was not significant but the difference between group K and group P (P <0.001) and group F and group P (P = 0.042) was significant. CONCLUSION Addition of ketamine or fentanyl to spinal bupivacaine were equally effective in pain control after cesarean section and therefore, based on the specific conditions of patients, ketamine at concentrations mentioned earlier, could be a proper alternative to achieve postoperative analgesia
Smoking and bronchial responsiveness in nonatopic and atopic young adults. Spanish Group of the European Study of Asthma.

BACKGROUND: Smoking may influence the response of the lungs to other inhaled substances. A study was undertaken to assess the effect of the interaction between smoking and the immunoresponse to common aeroallergens (atopy) on bronchial responsiveness. METHODS: A random sample was selected from the general population census of five areas of Spain (Albacete, Barcelona, Galdakao, Huelva, and Oviedo). A total of 1169 (35%) subjects completed a face-to-face respiratory questionnaire, a methacholine bronchial responsiveness challenge, and underwent measurements of total and specific serum IgE levels to mites, pets and moulds. A survival model (Weibull) was used to examine the methacholine dose-response relation, adjusting for bronchial obstruction. RESULTS: Smokers showed greater bronchial responsiveness than never smokers (p < 0.05) at any dose of methacholine, but only among non-atopic individuals. Atopy had a large effect on responsiveness at low levels of methacholine, but smoking did not increase responsiveness in atopic subjects. There were no differences in intensity or cessation of smoking between atopic and non-atopic subjects, suggesting that smoking self-selection does not fully explain these results. CONCLUSIONS: The association between smoking and bronchial responsiveness varies with atopy, which may be explained by different immunological and/or inflammatory effects of smoking on atopy.
UNBALANCED GLOBIN CHAIN SYNTHESIS IN ALPHA‐THALASSEMIA HETEROZYGOTES *

The four major clinical syndromes associated with a-thalassemia are hydrops fetalis, hemoglobin H disease, a-thalassemia trait, and the “silent carrier” state. In hydrops fetalis due to homozygous a-thalassemia, a-chain is present only in trace amounts. ’ In H b H disease, there is decreased production of a-chain relative to @-chain,’ resulting in the presence of variable amounts of H b H (beta 4) . Each of the parents of an infant with hydrops fetalis due to homozygous a-thalassemia has a-thalassemia trait, a disorder with microcytosis, mild hypochrornia, and little if any anemia. The patient with H b H disease usually has one parent with athalassemia trait, whereas the other parent appears to be normal. The latter is called the “silent carrier” of a-thalassemia. The purpose of this study was to measure a-chain production relative to pchain production in a-thalassemia trait and the silent carrier state, and to compare these with Hb H disease and normal controls.
Test of interconnection opens considering coupling signals

In this work, a strategy to improve the detectability of interconnection open defects applying proper logic levels at the coupled lines is proposed. A framework called OPVEG which uses layout information and a commercial ATPG under the stuck-at model has been developed. Those signal values at the coupled lines which favor the detection of the opens using a Boolean based test are attempted to be generated. The strategy is applied to four ISCAS'85 benchmark circuits. It has been found that a significant number of considered coupled signals can be forced to a proper logic value. Hence, the likelihood of detection of interconnection opens is increased. Furthermore, those lines difficult to test are identified.
Ubiquitin-Binding Motifs in REV1 Protein Are Required for Its Role in the Tolerance of DNA Damage

ABSTRACT REV1 protein is a eukaryotic member of the Y family of DNA polymerases involved in the tolerance of DNA damage by replicative bypass. The precise role(s) of REV1 in this process is not known. Here we show, by using the yeast two-hybrid assay and the glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay, that mouse REV1 can physically interact with ubiquitin. The association of REV1 with ubiquitin requires the ubiquitin-binding motifs (UBMs) located at the C terminus of REV1. The UBMs also mediate the enhanced association between monoubiquitylated PCNA and REV1. In cells exposed to UV radiation, the association of REV1 with replication foci is dependent on functional UBMs. The UBMs of REV1 are shown to contribute to DNA damage tolerance and damage-induced mutagenesis in vivo.
Advances in Brief Adenovirus-mediated Gene Delivery of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases-3 Inhibits Invasion and Induces Apoptosis in Melanoma Cells 1

We have used adenovirus-mediated gene delivery of tissue inhibitor of mvtalloproteina.se (TIMP)-l, -2, and -3 to examine their effect on the invasion capacity of metastatic melanoma cell lines SK-Mel-5 and A2058. Infection of melanoma cells with recombinant replication-deficient adenoviruses coding for TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3 resulted in marked secretion of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 to culture medium and accumulation of TIMP-3 to matrix. Overexpression of TIMP-3 inhibited invasion of SKMel-5 and A205S cells through reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) even more potently than TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. In addition, over production of TIMP-3 reduced attachment of melanoma cells to type I and IV collagen and fibronectin and resulted in apoptosis in both SK-Mel-5 and A2058 cells. These results propose a novel role for TIMP-3 in regu lation of invasion and survival of malignant cells and suggest potential use for TIMP-3 in adenovirus-mediated gene therapy of malignant melanoma.
Different energy management strategies of Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) using batteries and supercapacitors for vehicular applications

The energy storage is a key issue for traction applications like Electric Vehicles (EVs) or Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). Indeed, it needs a higher power and energy density, a right size, a long lifetime and a low cost. A Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) using batteries and supercapacitors seems to be an appropriate device to fulfill these constraints. The objective of the paper is to propose different energy management strategies of HESS using batteries and supercapacitors. Four elaborated control strategies are proposed. Different strategies are compared on different criteria: electric consumption, sizing, and the expected lifetime of the batteries.
Combination of normal light and fluorescence microscopy for authentication of five Lonicera species flower buds

The flower buds of five Lonicera species, Lonicera japonica Thunb. , L. macranthoides Hand. ‐Mazz. , L. hypoglauca Miq. , L. confusa DC. and L. fulvotomentosa Hsu et S.C. Cheng are confusable and usually utilized under the same name “Jinyinhua” in different areas for morphological similarity. Studies found that these five species possess extreme differences in chemical compounds, correspondingly showing different pharmacological activities and clinical applications. To ensure efficacy and safety of these herbal medicines and prevent unknown adverse effect, in this work, a simple, rapid and effective method combining normal light and fluorescence microscopy was developed for authentication. Surface slides and transverse sections of these buds were investigated to reveal their differences. As a routine technique, normal light microscopy which gives detailed microscopic features such as glandular hairs and nonglandular hairs, can easily distinguish four species except L. confusa. Fluorescence technique, which could present different distribution of fluorescence materials, is further employed to identify three species including L. confusa successfully. It is the first report to identify these five Lonicera species by combining normal light and fluorescence microscopy. This work indicated combining normal light and fluorescence microscopy could be a powerful method in authentication of confused species. Microsc. Res. Tech.74:133–141, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Enhanced enstrophy generation for turbulent convection in low-Prandtl-number fluids

Significance Low-Prandtl-number thermal convection flows in liquid metals for which the temperature diffusivity is much larger than the fluid viscosity have been studied much less frequently than convective flows in air or water, despite many important applications reaching from astrophysics to energy conversion. Currently, the turbulence in low-Prandtl-number flows is fully accessible only by three-dimensional simulations. Our numerical studies reveal why the small-scale turbulence is much more vigorous compared with convection in air. We also find that the generation of small-scale vorticity in the bulk of convection follows the same mechanisms and statistics as in idealized isotropic turbulence, especially for the low-Prandtl-number flow. This opens new perspectives for necessary turbulence parameterizations in applications. Turbulent convection is often present in liquids with a kinematic viscosity much smaller than the diffusivity of the temperature. Here we reveal why these convection flows obey a much stronger level of fluid turbulence than those in which kinematic viscosity and thermal diffusivity are the same; i.e., the Prandtl number Pr is unity. We compare turbulent convection in air at Pr=0.7 and in liquid mercury at Pr=0.021. In this comparison the Prandtl number at constant Grashof number Gr is varied, rather than at constant Rayleigh number Ra as usually done. Our simulations demonstrate that the turbulent Kolmogorov-like cascade is extended both at the large- and small-scale ends with decreasing Pr. The kinetic energy injection into the flow takes place over the whole cascade range. In contrast to convection in air, the kinetic energy injection rate is particularly enhanced for liquid mercury for all scales larger than the characteristic width of thermal plumes. As a consequence, mean values and fluctuations of the local strain rates are increased, which in turn results in significantly enhanced enstrophy production by vortex stretching. The normalized distributions of enstrophy production in the bulk and the ratio of the principal strain rates are found to agree for both Prs. Despite the different energy injection mechanisms, the principal strain rates also agree with those in homogeneous isotropic turbulence conducted at the same Reynolds numbers as for the convection flows. Our results have thus interesting implications for small-scale turbulence modeling of liquid metal convection in astrophysical and technological applications.
Approximate Inference in Graphical Models

Graphical models have become a central paradigm for knowledge representation and rea- soning over models with large numbers of variables. Any useful application of these models involves inference, or reasoning about the state of the underlying variables and quantify- ing the models’ uncertainty about any assignment to them. Unfortunately, exact inference in graphical models is fundamentally intractable, which has led to significant interest in approximate inference algorithms.In this thesis we address several aspects of approximate inference that affect its quality. First, combining the ideas from variational inference and message passing on graphical models, we study how the regions over which the approximation is formed can be selected more effectively using a content-based scoring function that computes a local measure of the improvement to the upper bound to log partition function. We then extend this framework to use the available memory more efficiently, and show that this leads to better approximations. We propose different memory allocation strategies and empirically show how they can improve the quality of the approximation to the upper bound. Finally, we address the optimization algorithms used in approximate inference tasks. Focusing on maximum a posteriori (MAP) inference and linear programming (LP), we show how the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) technique can provide an elegant algorithm for finding the saddle point of the augmented Lagrangian of the approximation, and present an ADMM-based algorithm to solve the primal form of the MAP-LP whose closed form updates are based on a linear approximation technique.
Nationwide Surveillance for Staphylococcus aureus with Reduced Susceptibility to Vancomycin in Korea

ABSTRACT Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) accounts for more than 70% of S. aureus isolates from tertiary hospitals in Korea. Clinical isolates of S. aureus were collected from eight provincial, university-affiliated hospitals during the period from June 1999 to January 2001 for nationwide surveillance. All isolates were screened for reduced susceptibility to vancomycin by using brain heart infusion agar containing 4 μg of vancomycin per milliliter. Population analysis and the determination of the MIC of vancomycin were done for the isolates which grew on the screening agar plates. Of 682 total isolates, MRSA accounted for 64% (439 of 682). Of 27 (4%) isolates that grew on the screening agar plates, none showed the heteroresistance phenotype. No strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin were identified.