Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Use of Virtual Reality on Professional Robotics Education

This work consists of the study of techniques of robotics and virtual reality to develop a simulator that can be used in robotics schools, having an adequate visualization and a simple and intuitive way of interaction. For this, a 3D virtual environment for robotics was developed. Virtual reality resources have been incorporated to improve the visualization and to facilitate the user interaction with the environment. In order to evaluate the effectivity of the environment, user experiments were carried out on four different hardware configurations. During the simulations, the users had to create trajectories while implicitly defining reference points. From these experiments, automatic reports for the quantitative questions were generated, and questionnaires were filled for the qualitative questions. The results have shown that the use of virtual reality do helps the users in task execution, improving the visualization, reducing the time spent for the tasks and increasing the precision.
How Do Investment Banks Price Initial Public Offerings? An Empirical Analysis of Emerging Market

This study investigates that how investment banks select alternative valuation models to price Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and examine the value-relevance of each valuation model using the data of 88 IPOs listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) during 2000–2016. This study investigates that investment banks used Dividend Discount Model (DDM), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and comparable multiples valuation models on the basis of firm-specific characteristics, aggregate stock market returns and volatility before the IPOs. In this study, a binary logit regression model is used to estimate the cross-sectional determinants of the choice of valuation models by investment banks. The results reveal that underwriters are more likely to use DDM to value firms that have dividends payout trail. The investment banks select DCF when valuing the younger firms, that have more assets-in-tangible, firms that have negative sales growth and positive market returns before the IPO; while comparable multiples are used for mature firms and firms that have less assets-in-tangible. Furthermore, this study also used OLS regressions to examine the value-relevance of each valuation model and Wald-test to examine the predictive power of cross-sectional variation in the market values. The findings unveil that P/B ratio has highest but DCF has lowest predictive power to market values. The Wald-test results depict that none of the valuation methods produces an unbiased estimate of market values.
[Value of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis of brucellar spondylitis].

OBJECTIVE To study characteristic presentations of Brucellar spondylitis on MRI in order to improve the diagnostic level. METHODS From October 2009 to December 2010,15 patients with Brucellar spondylitis were evaluated by MRI. They included 11 males and 4 females ranging in age from 31 to 64 (mean 49) years. The major clinical manifestations were different degrees of fatigue,fever and low back pain. All patients underwent MRI and treated with antibiotic drugs. RESULTS Brucellar spondylitis was mostly localized at the lumbar spine with obvious bony hyperostosis in the vertebral periphery. Most foci were in the edge, anterior and middle parts of the vertebral body, with low signals on T1WI and mixed low signals on T2WI, and high signals on T2 fat suppression, mostly without significant changes in intervertebral space. Paraspinal abscess was observed in 5 cases. Thirteen cases involved the lumbar vertebrae, 1 case involved the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, and 1 case involved the lumbar and sacral vertebrae. Two vertebrae were affected in 14 cases, and 3 vertebrae were affected in 1 case. CONCLUSION MRI can provide imaging clues for diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Brucellar spondylitis, and has a high clinical value.
Endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia is associated with polyps and frequently has metaplastic change

Aims: Endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN) is a monoclonal precursor to endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma characterized by a geographic cluster of crowded glands with epithelial cytology altered relative to the background. It may demonstrate epithelial metaplastic changes, or arise within polyps, but the frequencies of these features as encountered in practice is unknown. The aim was to report the epithelial differentiation state and polyp context of 83 sequential EIN lesions diagnosed over a 2‐year period.
Bad Jobs in a Troubled Economy: The Impact of the Great Recession in America’s Major Metropolitan Areas

Abstract Using a sample of 214 US metropolitan areas, we examine the connection between the Great Recession and bad jobs, taking into consideration the macro-level determinants of the troubled economy. Our measure of bad jobs is derived from Kalleberg, Reskin, and Hudson’s (2000) conceptualization as those that have low pay, lack health insurance, and lack pension plans. We find that the Great Recession increased the prevalence of bad jobs, consistently for men and selectively for women. Among the macro-level processes, the decline of the manufacturing base, union membership, and public sector employment are sources of increasing bad jobs, especially for men. Those macro-level processes which are growing in influence such as casualization, globalization and financialization show no signs of reversing the negative trends in bad jobs. Human capital variables in the labor market such as educational and age variability consistently suggest more adverse effects on bad jobs for men than women. Our findings contribute to the further understanding of the nature of precarious work in a troubled economy.
Long‐term culture of organotypic multicellular glioma spheroids: a good culture model for studying gliomas

Gliomas. as well as other solid tumours. contain tumour stroma composed of connective tissue, macrophages, capillaries and other non‐cellular constituents. Therefore, a homogeneous culture of tumour cells alone, as is often used as a culture model for gliomas, is not ideal to study all aspects of gliomas. In the present study we describe an alternative culture model, i.e. organotypic multicellular spheroids (OMS), that histologically closely resembles the tumour in vivo. Glioma explants. obtained at surgery from five patients, were cultured on agarose to form OMS, which were cultured for up to 16 weeks. At regular intervals. OMS were fured and histological and immunocytochemical analyses were carried out. The histology as well as the immunocytochemical characteristics of the OMS proved to be almost unchanged after a culture period of 16 weeks. In contrast to monolayer cultures, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in the OMS is preserved after 16 weeks of culture. However, in OMS from three out of five patients, small GFAP‐negative cells appeared in the outer cell layers between 1 and 2 weeks of culture. Furthermore, after about 6 weeks of culture, the capillaries disappeared from the OMS. After prolonged culture, tumour cell heterogeneity, the cellular composition, and the histology of the OMS still closely resembled the tumour in vivo It is suggested that OMS provide a good long‐term culture model for the study of gliomas.
Studies of the presence of verocytotoxic Escherichia coli O157 in bovine faeces submitted for diagnostic purposes in England and Wales and on beef carcases in abattoirs in the United Kingdom

A survey of beef carcases in abattoirs in the UK was carried out in order to estimate the prevalence of contamination with verocytotoxin – producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) serogroup O157. Contamination with verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) O157 was confirmed in 0·47% of the 4067 (95% confidence limits 0·22–1·00%) of neck muscle samples. A significant tendency for carcases present in the same abattoir on the same day to have similar results was found, thus suggesting cross contamination. VTEC O157 was found in 0·83% of 6495 bovine faeces samples routinely submitted for diagnostic purposes to Veterinary Investigation Centres in England and Wales. Of the samples from cattle less than 6 months old, 3·7% of 68 samples from animals without gastrointestinal disease were positive for E. coli O157, in contrast to 0·75% of 2321 samples from cases of gastrointestinal disease. No association with season or herd type (beef or dairy) was found.
Molecular Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Carcinosarcoma as Determined by Microdissection-Based Allelotyping

Pulmonary carcinosarcoma is a rare, biphasic tumor composed of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal elements. Its histogenesis is controversial in light of the presence of divergent cell lineages and the clonal nature of malignancy. To address these issues, we performed an extensive comparative genotypic analysis using microdissection to secure representative mesenchymal and epithelial components from each of six cases of pulmonary carcinosarcoma. Loss of heterozygosity was analyzed with a panel of 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers designed to indicate allelic loss and situated in proximity to known tumor suppressor genes located on 1p, 3p, 5q, 9p, 10q, and 17p. In accordance with the relatively greater biologic aggressiveness of this tumor type, both the epithelial and mesenchymal components showed extensive allelic loss, most notably for 3p, 5q, and 17p. More importantly, we found overall equivalent patterns of acquired allelic loss between the two components on an individual case basis, strongly supporting the monoclonal origin of these neoplasms. Minor differences in the allelic fingerprint between the two cell lineages could be explained by progressive accumulation of allelic loss alterations that appear to occur more frequently in the mesenchymal component of the tumor. The data support the efficacy of microdissection-based allelic fingerprinting to delineate the relationship between different morphologic components of a single neoplasm.
TESTING THE FACTOR PROPORTIONS MODEL FOR CROATIA

The factor proportions model is one of the main models in international trade theory. It was developed by Swedish economists Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin in the early 1920’s. Based on the merchandise trade data between Croatia and the countries of the European Union and the world and the relative availability of key factors of production, the factor proportions model was tested in the case of Croatia. The sign test was used for this purpose. It compares the expected sign according to the factor proportions model with the sign of the revealed comparative advantages index (RCA). The results of the analysis showed that the factor proportions model does not apply in the case of Croatia. According to the factor proportions model, Croatia does not use its comparative advantages effectively due to the lack of specialization in the production of products which intensively use the country’s relatively abundant factor of production. Limitations of the model are reflected in the fact that some of the assumptions of the factor proportions model are not satisfied.Keywords: Factor proportions model, Croatia, SITC, sign test
Sprint Running Performance and Technique Changes in Athletes During Periodized Training: An Elite Training Group Case Study.

PURPOSE To understand how training periodization influences sprint performance and key step characteristics over an extended training period in an elite sprint training group. METHODS Four sprinters were studied during 5 mo of training. Step velocities, step lengths, and step frequencies were measured from video of the maximum velocity phase of training sprints. Bootstrapped mean values were calculated for each athlete for each session, and 139 within-athlete, between-sessions comparisons were made with a repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS As training progressed, a link in the changes in velocity and step frequency was maintained. There were 71 between-sessions comparisons with a change in step velocity yielding at least a large effect size (>1.2), of which 73% had a correspondingly large change in step frequency in the same direction. Within-athlete mean session step length remained relatively constant throughout. Reductions in step velocity and frequency occurred during training phases of high-volume lifting and running, with subsequent increases in step velocity and frequency happening during phases of low-volume lifting and high-intensity sprint work. CONCLUSIONS The importance of step frequency over step length to the changes in performance within a training year was clearly evident for the sprinters studied. Understanding the magnitudes and timings of these changes in relation to the training program is important for coaches and athletes. The underpinning neuromuscular mechanisms require further investigation but are likely explained by an increase in force-producing capability followed by an increase in the ability to produce that force rapidly.
Increased Gut Microbial Translocation in HIV-infected Children Persists in Virologic Responders and Virologic Failures After Antiretroviral Therapy

Background: Gut microbial translocation (MT) is considered a major cause of immune activation (IA) and failure of immune reconstitution in HIV infection. This study investigated the relationship of virus replication, IA, CD4 counts and MT in HIV-infected children. Methods: Lipopolysaccharide, bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (16SrDNA) and soluble CD14 (sCD14) levels were determined in prospectively collected, stored plasma samples from the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol P338, a 48-week study initiated in 1997 to compare efficacy of dual nucleosides with a ritonavir-containing regimen. Results of MT were correlated with study data for T cell IA, plasma viral load and CD4 counts in 85 HIV-infected children (ages 2–17 years) designated as virologic responders or virologic failures (VF) at week 44 based on a cutoff of 400 HIV RNA copies/mL. Results: Levels of plasma lipopolysaccharide, 16SrDNA and sCD14 were increased in comparison with HIV-uninfected controls and did not decrease at week 44 even in virologic responders. T cell IA was correlated with viral load and sCD14 at entry and with 16SrDNA and sCD14 at week 44 in total patients and in the VF group. Changes in 16SrDNA correlated with changes in IA and negatively with changes in CD4 counts. 16SrDNA was correlated with sCD14 but not with lipopolysaccharide. Conclusions: MT persists after 44 weeks of antiretroviral therapy in VS and VF patients. In VF, 16SrDNA exhibited relationships to monocyte and T cell IA and CD4 counts but not with viral load, suggesting a dominant role for MT in disease pathogenesis in HIV-infected children.
The Role of NELL-1, a Growth Factor Associated with Craniosynostosis, in Promoting Bone Regeneration

Efforts to enhance bone regeneration in orthopedic and dental cases have grown steadily for the past decade, in line with increasingly sophisticated regenerative medicine. To meet the unprecedented demand for novel osteospecific growth factors with fewer adverse effects compared with those of existing adjuncts such as BMPs, our group has identified a craniosynostosis-associated secreted molecule, NELL-1, which is a potent growth factor that is highly specific to the osteochondral lineage, and has demonstrated robust induction of bone in multiple in vivo models from rodents to pre-clinical large animals. NELL-1 is preferentially expressed in osteoblasts under direct transcriptional control of Runx2, and is well-regulated during skeletal development. NELL-1/Nell-1 can promote orthotopic bone regeneration via either intramembranous or endochondral ossification, both within and outside of the craniofacial complex. Unlike BMP-2, Nell-1 cannot initiate ectopic bone formation in muscle, but can induce bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) to form bone in a mouse muscle pouch model, exhibiting specificity that BMPs lack. In addition, synergistic osteogenic effects of Nell-1 and BMP combotherapy have been observed, and are likely due to distinct differences in their signaling pathways. NELL-1’s unique role as a novel osteoinductive growth factor makes it an attractive alternative with promise for future clinical applications. [Note: NELL-1 and NELL-1 indicate the human gene and protein, respectively; Nell-1 and Nell-1 indicate the mouse gene and protein, respectively. ]
Household Coping Behavior and its Contribution to Resilience to Global Macroeconomic Shocks in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands

This paper examines the resilience of households in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands—two small island developing states in Melanesia renowned for their vulnerabilities—to the adverse effects of global macroeconomic shocks. The focus is on the spike in international food and fuel prices in 2008 and the subsequent shock to global demand, known as the Global Economic Crisis (GEC). Using a unique retrospective cross‐section survey, the results show that experience of these shocks was widespread across urban and rural areas. Households with more education, access to income‐generating activities—particularly in the informal sector—and greater wealth were best placed to withstand a deterioration in their well‐being, measured as a fall in self‐reported disposable income. Households also employed a variety of coping strategies in response to the shocks. Local food gardens and informal insurance are seen as key safety nets in times of stress, yet neither provided full insurance from the shocks. Some households, particularly in urban areas, employed harmful coping strategies, such as reducing spending on health, education, and food. While potentially effective in withstanding a temporary fall in disposable income, these responses are likely to weaken overall resilience and leave households vulnerable to future shocks.
The Resource Curse, Commodity Prices and Economic Growth∗

The direction of trend in relative commodity prices has implications for many developing country growth rates. To assess causal underpinnings we create ultralong aggregate series shaped by common factors. Tests show that series present a downward trend over the entire sample which can be broken into 4 regimes of predominantly increasing decline: 1650-1820, 1821-1872, 1873-1946 and 19472010. We argue factors like technology are commensurate with this structure. Finally, we suggest the trend in economic activity is a proxy for such factors and show a negative relationship between trends in commodity prices and World GDP that helps explain the resource curse.
Psychometrically matched tasks evaluating differential fMRI activation during form and motion processing.

OBJECTIVE Deficits in visual perception and working memory are commonly observed in neuropsychiatric disorders and have been investigated using functional MRI (fMRI). However, interpretation of differences in brain activation may be confounded with differences in task performance between groups. Differences in task difficulty across conditions may also pose interpretative issues in studies of visual processing in healthy subjects. METHOD To address these concerns, the present study characterized brain activation in tasks that were psychometrically matched for difficulty; fMRI was used to assess brain activation in 10 healthy subjects during discrimination and working memory judgments for static and moving stimuli. For all task conditions, performance accuracy was matched at 70.7%. RESULTS Areas associated with V2 and V5 in the dorsal stream were activated during motion processing tasks and V4 in the ventral stream were activated during form processing tasks. Frontoparietal areas associated with working memory were also statistically significant during the working memory tasks. CONCLUSIONS Application of psychophysical methods to equate task demands provides a practical method to equate performance levels across conditions in fMRI studies and to compare healthy and cognitively impaired groups at comparable levels of effort. These psychometrically matched tasks can be applied to patients with a variety of cognitive disorders to investigate dysfunction of multiple a priori defined brain regions. Measuring the changes in typical activation patterns in patients with these diseases can be useful for monitoring disease progression, evaluating new drug treatments, and possibly for developing methods for early diagnosis.
Respiratory health effects of occupational exposure to charcoal dust in Namibia

Background: Charcoal processing activities can increase the risk of adverse respiratory outcomes. Objective: To determine dose–response relationships between occupational exposure to charcoal dust, respiratory symptoms and lung function among charcoal-processing workers in Namibia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 307 workers from charcoal factories in Namibia. All respondents completed interviewer-administered questionnaires. Spirometry was performed, ambient and respirable dust levels were assessed in different work sections. Multiple logistic regression analysis estimated the overall effect of charcoal dust exposure on respiratory outcomes, while linear regression estimated the exposure-related effect on lung function. Workers were stratified according to cumulative dust exposure category. Results: Exposure to respirable charcoal dust levels was above occupational exposure limits in most sectors, with packing and weighing having the highest dust exposure levels (median 27.7 mg/m3, range: 0.2–33.0 for the 8-h time-weighted average). The high cumulative dust exposure category was significantly associated with usual cough (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.1–4.0), usual phlegm (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.1–4.1), episodes of phlegm and cough (OR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.1–6.1), and shortness of breath. A non-statistically significant lower adjusted mean-predicted % FEV1 was observed (98.1% for male and 95.5% for female) among workers with greater exposure. Conclusions: Charcoal dust levels exceeded the US OSHA recommended limit of 3.5 mg/m3 for carbon-black-containing material and study participants presented with exposure-related adverse respiratory outcomes in a dose–response manner. Our findings suggest that the Namibian Ministry of Labour introduce stronger enforcement strategies of existing national health and safety regulations within the industry.
Endogenous Memory CD8 T Cells Are Activated Within Cardiac Allografts Without Mediating Rejection

Endogenous memory CD8 T cells infiltrate MHC‐mismatched cardiac allografts within 12–24 h posttransplant in mice and are activated to proliferate and produce IFN‐γ. To more accurately assess the graft injury directly imposed by these endogenous memory CD8 T cells, we took advantage of the ability of anti‐LFA‐1 mAb given to allograft recipients on days 3 and 4 posttransplant to inhibit the generation of primary effector T cells. When compared to grafts from IgG‐treated recipients on day 7 posttransplant, allografts from anti‐LFA‐1 mAb‐treated recipients had increased numbers of CD8 T cells but these grafts had marked decreases in expression levels of mRNA encoding effector mediators associated with graft injury and decreases in donor‐reactive CD8 T cells producing IFN‐γ. Despite this decreased activity within the allograft, CD8 T cells in allografts from recipients treated with anti‐LFA‐1 mAb continued to proliferate up to day 7 posttransplant and did not upregulate expression of the exhaustion marker LAG‐3 but did have decreased expression of ICOS. These results indicate that endogenous memory CD8 T cells infiltrate and proliferate in cardiac allografts in mice but do not express sufficient levels of functions to mediate overt graft injury and acute rejection.