Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Aquila Digital Community The Aquila Digital Community Sustained Deposition of Contaminants From the Deepwater Sustained Deposition of Contaminants From the Deepwater Horizon Spill Horizon Spill

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in 1.6 – 2.6 × 10 10 grams of petrocarbon accumulation on the seafloor. Data from a deep sediment trap, deployed 7.4 km SW of the well between August 2010 and October 2011, disclose that the sinking of spill- associated substances, mediated by marine particles, especially phytoplankton, continued at least 5 mo following the capping of the well. In August/September 2010, an exceptionally large diatom bloom sedimentation event coincided with elevated sinking rates of oil-derived hydrocarbons, black carbon, and two key components of drilling mud, barium and olefins. Barium remained in the water column for months and even entered pelagic food webs. Both saturated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon source indica- tors corroborate a predominant contribution of crude oil to the sinking hydrocarbons. Cosedimentation with diatoms accumulated contaminants that were dispersed in the water column and transported them downward, where they were concentrated into the upper centimeters of the seafloor, potentially leading to sustained impact on benthic ecosystems.
REGULATION OF CLINICAL CHEMORESISTANCE BY bcl‐2 AND BAX ONCOPROTEINS IN B‐CELL CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKAEMIA

The bcl‐2 gene was first shown to be dysregulated in the majority of follicular lymphomas in which a t(14;18) chromosomal translocation is present, but is also over‐expressed in the absence of gene rearrangements in most cases of B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B‐CLL). The bcl‐2 oncoprotein is a regulator of apoptosis and the activity of this protein is opposed by bax, a homologous protein that accelerates the rate of cell death. B‐lymphocyte bcl‐2 and bax protein levels were found to be significantly altered in B‐CLL patients when compared to those of a normal control group. Increased bcl‐2/bax ratios were observed in both the treated and untreated patients when compared to those of normal controls. These alterations were particularly pronounced in those treated patients found to be clinically unresponsive to chemotherapy.
Selective parasympathectomy of automatic and conductile tissues of the canine heart.

From right thoracotomy (T4-T5), the canine heart was suspended in its pericardium to expose its major venous inputs. Vagal and sympathetic trunks were prepared for electrical stimulation (10-20 Hz, 5.0 ms, 3-5 V) before and after each separate denervation procedure. Vagal stimulation was instituted with and without concurrent atrial pacing. The following surgical interventions were performed. 1) The superior vena cava was cleared of connective and nervous tissues from the pericardial reflection caudally to the level of the right pulmonary artery. 2) The azygos vein was cleared, tied, and sectioned. 3) The right pulmonary veins were isolated and cleared intrapericardially. 4) The dorsal surface of the atria was dissected between the right and left pulmonary veins and painted with phenol. Each step in the procedure elicited successive stepwise deletion of parasympathetic influences on sinoatrial tissues of the canine heart with only minor ablation of sympathetic inputs. 5) Dissection of the triangular fat pad at the junction of the inferior vena cava and inferior left atrium eliminated the remaining parasympathetic efferent input to the heart with dramatic deletion of atrioventricular block during either left or right vagal stimulation, again with preservation of most of the sympathetic innervation. These experiments clearly demonstrate differential and selective inputs of parasympathetic pathways to sinoatrial (SAN) and atrioventricular (AVN) regions of the dog heart but relatively little interference with sympathetic distributions. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Demand for Crash Insurance and Stock Returns

We model the market for economic disaster insurance to examine the dynamic relation between the net demand by public investors and the disaster risk premium. In the model, when the probability of disasters rises, dealers become more constrained and averse to disaster risk, which reduces their risk sharing capacity, causing the equilibrium net public demand for disaster insurance to fall and the disaster risk premium to rise at the same time. Consistent with the model predictions, we nd that public demand for deep out-of-the-money put options on the market index has strong predictive power for future stock returns. Large net public buying of OTM puts is associated with low future returns, with an R 2 of 19% for the predictability regression of future 3-month returns. This predictive power of option demand is distinct from that of the standard predictive variables in the literature, is particularly strong during the recent nancial crisis, and it weakens as one moves to at-the-money and in-the-money options. We also provide evidence that low net public demand for disaster insurance is linked to deleveraging for security brokers and dealers.
Reliability Characterization of BEOL Vertical Natural Capacitor using Copper and Low-k SiCOH Dielectric for 65nm RF and Mixed-Signal Applications

Integration of low-cost and high performance passive capacitors into existing silicon CMOS technologies is essential for analog and radio frequency (RF) IC applications. Recently, BEOL vertical natural capacitors (VNCAP) with stacked via-comb structures have emerged as an attractive option due to their low-cost, high density, and highly symmetric configurations. In order to accurately predict low-k VNCAP reliability, in this study, both the time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) and capacitance stability (C-stability) of Cu/low-k SiCOH VNCAPs at 65nm technology node were thoroughly investigated. The TDDB performance of Cu/SiCOH VNCAP was found to be sensitive to device layouts and process. Capacitance stability was found to be sensitive to the presence of moisture in SiCOH low-k film during process. With the optimal device design and process, SiCOH VNCAP was found to exhibit robust TDDB performance, as well as absence of capacitance instability during high temperature stress (HTS)
Board Committee Monitoring and CEO Pay: Some New Evidence

We empirically investigate how and to what extent the monitoring capabilities of the three principal board committees (audit, compensation and nomination) relate to CEO pay (i.e., total pay, mix and incentives). We analyze a broad panel of S&P 1500 U.S. firms over the 1998-2010 period, finding that firms with independent board committee members who sit on multiple boards offer CEOs relatively high total pay and high equity-linked pay and show high pay-risk sensitivity (vega). However, we also find that firms with independent directors who serve on multiple committees on the board offer CEOs relatively low total pay and low equity-linked pay and show low pay-performance (delta) and pay-risk (vega) sensitivity. The effect of board committee monitoring intensity on CEO pay is both statistically and economically significant. Our results hold in alternative specifications and samples and for a variety of robustness tests. JEL classification: G14, G32, G34, J33, M52, M55
Discrete-time modeling of sampled-data control systems with direct feedthrough

Discrete-time models of sampled-data control systems are addressed when both a continuous-time plant and a discrete-time controller have a feedthrough. It is pointed out that in this case discrete-time models which can be found in most references should not be used in the closed-loop context. A new state-space model appropriate for the closed-loop modeling and formulas for calculating the related discrete-time pulse transfer functions are derived. Intersample phenomena are studied and the feasibility of that model to describe systems with parasitic dynamics is emphasized. Examples from the literature illustrate the relevance of the issue.
The regulation of DNA synthesis and mitosis in multinucleate frog eggs.

SUMMARY The timing of DNA synthesis and mitosis in normal eggs, in activated eggs, and in eggs containing several accessory nuclei has been studied in Xenopus. DNA synthesis was followed by injecting PHjthymidine into the egg and detecting its subsequent incorporation into DNA by autoradiography. It was found that the accessory nuclei which were introduced into the egg during different phases of the cell cycle incorporated label and entered mitosis in synchrony with the resident egg and sperm nuclei if the introduced nuclei were released from the intact sperm. In eggs activated by pricking, the egg nucleus had synthesized DNA at a time when it would have done so during normal fertilization.
Polysialic acid, a unique glycan that is developmentally regulated by two polysialyltransferases, PST and STX, in the central nervous system: From biosynthesis to function

Polysialic acid is a developmentally regulated carbohydrate composed of a linear homopolymer of a‐2,a‐linked sialic acid residues. This unique glycan is mainly attached to the neural cell adhesion molecule (N‐CAM) and implicated in many morphogenic events of the neural cells by modulating the adhesive property of N‐CAM. Recently, the cDNA that encodes polysialyltransferase, which is responsible for the polysialylation of N‐CAM, was successfully cloned from three mammalian species. This review focuses on the molecular cloning of human polysialyltransferase, designated PST. it then describes the number of enzymes actually required for the polysialylation of N‐CAM using an in vitro polysialyltransferase assay. Comparisons between PST and another polysialyltransferase, sialyltransferase X (STX), are made and it Is demonstrated that both enzymes can independently form polysiatic acid In vitro, but that during neural development they coordinately but distinctly synthesize polysialic acid on N‐CAM. The role of polysialic acid in the central nervous system is also discussed. Finally, evidence that the two polysialyltransferases, PST and STX, apparently have distinct roles in the development of neural cells is provided by using a neurite outgrowth assay.
Rigid and akinetic forms of Huntington's chorea.

William Osler39considered Huntington's27original description of chronic chorea a model of cogent observation and concise presentation. The classic paper set forth the characteristic movement disorder and mental changes and implied a dominant heredity which was ultimately proven correct by Entres18and others. In addition, hypotonia was soon added as a characteristic if not constant finding in this disorder which set it apart from the other heredodegenerative diseases of the basal ganglia. Davenport,12in 1916, noted individual and familial variations in the age of onset of the chorea, as well as the delayed onset or complete absence of dementia in some cases. His concept of different "biotypes" was more fully developed by the Continental neurologists to include a variety of hitherto unrelated neurologic and psychiatric phenomena into a broadened concept of "Huntington's disease. " One outgrowth of the biotype theory—an enhanced appreciation of the variations of tone
Feature Extraction based on Local Directional Pattern with SVM Decision-level Fusion for Facial Expression Recognition

Facial expression recognition, as one of the important topics in pattern recognition and computer vision, has broad applications in fields of human-computer interaction, psychological behavior analysis, image understanding. This paper presents a novel facial expression recognition method based on global and local features extraction and facial recognition using decision-level fusion. We first extract Local Directional Pattern (LDP) global features of the whole face which can guarantee basic expression difference and decrease the influence of no-facial region meanwhile, and then the Local Directional Pattern Variance (LDPv) descriptor is used to extract local features of regions of eyes and mouth to extrude their contribution on expression changes. After feature extraction, PCA technique is utilized to reduce dimension of input feature space. Finally, in order to avoid redundant feature repeat we don't use feature fusion with simple concatenation, a decision-level fusion for global LDP feature and local LDPv feature by Support Vector Machine (SVM) is selected to recognition respectively. Furthermore, we also research the optimal parameters for regions-dividing and weight of LDPv. The proposed method is investigated on two standard databases Cohn-Kanade and JAFFE, and extensive experimental results indicate the effectiveness.
Guidelines for Predicting Performance with Low Vision Aids

Purpose. To determine predictors of success in reading with low vision aids, in terms of reading acuity, optimum acuity reserve, and maximum reading speed, for observers with vision loss from various causes. Methods. One hundred people with vision loss affecting their daily lives participated. Clinical visual function measurements of distance acuity, contrast sensitivity, binocular threshold visual fields, and near reading performance with a MNRead chart at 40 cm were obtained. Reading performance aided by habitual low vision aids was also assessed with a MNRead chart. Results. Aided reading acuity was best predicted by clinical reading acuity and contrast sensitivity. For most observers, a 2:1 acuity reserve was sufficient to achieve near-maximum reading speed, but one-third of observers with aided reading acuity better than 1.2M required a higher acuity reserve. Aided maximum reading speed was best predicted by clinically assessed reading speed and by clinical reading acuity. Conclusions. People with vision impairment are likely to achieve 1M with a low vision aid if their clinically assessed reading acuity is better than 0.85 logMAR. If acuity is worse than this, but contrast sensitivity is better than 1.05 logCS, 1M is also likely to be achieved. A 2:1 acuity reserve is adequate for 75% of observers, but those with good aided reading acuity may require further magnification to achieve best reading speeds. Fluent reading (>80 words per minute) is likely to be achieved if an observer reads fluently with large print at a fixed working distance and if clinically assessed reading acuity is better than 1.0 logMAR.
The Effects of Anthropomorphic Agents on Advertising Effectiveness and the Mediating Role of Presence

ABSTRACT The purposes of this research were to contribute to advertising theory and practice. The theoretical contributions are to understanding and predicting the relationships between presence and advertising effectiveness employing an anthropomorphic agent in the Web advertisement. Knowledge of these relationships can also guide advertising practice, especially to prepare messages that communicate effectively. Results of an experiment indicate that an anthropomorphic agent on the Web site can increase a sense of social presence and telepresence to influence some of the advertising effectiveness measures to be more favorable. The study concludes with specific managerial implications and limitations.
Female Rats Are Protected against Oxidative Stress during Copper Deficiency

Background: Copper deficiency induces a dramatic decrease of superoxide dismutase activity and leads to alteration of antioxidant defense systems. Methods and Objective: Experiments were conducted in weanling male, intact and ovariectomized female rats, fed either a copper-adequate or copper-deficient diet for seven weeks, in order to determine whether endogenous estrogen could modulate oxidative stress and the severity of copper-deficiency. Results: Feeding male rats a copper-deficient diet induced typical signs of copper deficiency, such as decreased hepatic copper, growth retardation, anemia, heart hypertrophy, pancreas atrophy and hypercholesterolemia. Furthermore, copper deficiency increased the amount of lipid peroxidation products in the heart, liver and pancreas following in vitro iron induction. Although levels of hepatic copper in copper-deficient females were similar to those of their male counterparts, the females were partially protected from the adverse effects of the deficiency (no growth retardation, less severe anemia, lesser extent of lipid peroxidation). Thus, female rats are provided with a greater degree of protection against oxidative damage than males. However, females did not appear to be protected against pancreas atrophy, heart enlargement and hypercholesterolemia induced by copper deficiency. This observed partial protection of females was lost after ovariectomy as shown by decreased body weight and hematocrit, heart enlargement and higher tissue peroxidation in ovariectomized females compared to intact females. Conclusions: The results suggest that the partial protection of copper deficient females is related to the antioxidant properties of estrogens. The protective action of estrogen against oxidative stress is of particular importance when antioxidant defenses are decreased as shown in this experimental model.
Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Against People With Schizophrenia

ABSTRACT There is a growing awareness that responses to mental health disorders differ according to the label. Still, research on contact and prejudice against people with mental health disorders has generally focused on the broader label, “mental illness,” as though various disorders were interchangeable. The present research specifically investigated the relationship between intergroup contact and avoidance of people with schizophrenia—a particularly stigmatized and challenging group—as well as mediators of that relationship. In Study 1, 78 students completed measures of their prior contact with and prejudice against people with schizophrenia. Prior contact predicted less desired avoidance of people with schizophrenia, and this relationship was mediated by more favorable attitudes. Study 2 (N = 122) replicated the results of Study 1, and also found that less fear and less intergroup anxiety mediated the relationship between contact and avoidance. This suggests that contact may effectively reduce prejudice, even against this highly stigmatized group.
One-year open-label trial of thalidomide in ankylosing spondylitis.

OBJECTIVES To test in a large open study whether thalidomide is potentially useful in treating ankylosing spondylitis, and to see if thalidomide induces any change in expression of genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). METHODS Thirty male patients with treatment-refractory ankylosing spondylitis were recruited into a 12-month open study using thalidomide at a dosage of 200 mg/day. Seven indices were measured as primary outcome measures, and 6 other indices as secondary outcome measures. Transcripts in the PBMC of some of these patients were first screened with microarray, and then measured with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Twenty-six patients completed the study. Of these, 80% showed a >20% improvement in 4 of 7 primary indices. Sharp declines in several parameters were noticed at 3-6 months. Nine patients became pain-free. There was also a statistically significant decrease in tumor necrosis factor alpha transcripts in the PBMC. CONCLUSION Thalidomide is a reasonably promising drug in treatment-resistant ankylosing spondylitis.
Effectiveness of Intranasal Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine Against All-cause Acute Otitis Media in Children

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is a frequent complication of influenza in children, and influenza vaccination helps protect against influenza-associated AOM. A live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) approved for eligible children aged ≥2 years for the prevention of influenza also effectively reduces influenza-associated AOM. However, the annual effectiveness of LAIV against all-cause AOM is unknown. Methods: AOM rates in children aged 6–83 months from 6 randomized, placebo-controlled trials and 2 randomized, inactivated influenza vaccine-controlled trials were pooled and analyzed. To enable comparison with studies of AOM prevention by pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, 12-month effectiveness was calculated assuming that LAIV had no effect outside of influenza seasons. Results: During influenza seasons, LAIV efficacy compared with placebo against all-cause AOM in children aged 6–71 months (N = 9497) was 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0%, 21.6%) in year 1. In year 2, the efficacy in children aged 18–83 months (N = 4142) was 6.2% (95% CI: −12.4%, 21.7%). Compared with inactivated influenza vaccine, the efficacy of LAIV in children aged 6–71 months (N = 9901) against febrile all-cause AOM was 9.7% (95% CI: −2.1%, 20.1%). The estimated 12-month effectiveness of LAIV compared with placebo against all-cause AOM was 7.5% (95% CI: −2.4%, 16.2%). Conclusions: LAIV reduced the incidence of all-cause AOM compared with placebo in children. The estimated 12-month effectiveness of LAIV was comparable with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. The effects of the vaccines will overlap somewhat; however, because pneumococcal conjugate vaccines only prevent a fraction of all pneumococcal AOM and influenza-associated AOM can be caused by other pathogens, LAIV could further reduce the incidence of AOM in children.
The cost-effectiveness of ustekinumab for moderate-to-severe psoriasis

Given its chronicity and impact on quality of life, psoriasis is a costly disease. As new and better treatments are developed, the cost of treating psoriasis has risen. In this drug profile, the authors discuss ustekinumab, its pharmacokinetics, safety profile, and direct and indirect costs to determine its cost-efficacy. The authors searched PubMed with specific search phrases for clinical trials investigating this issue over 5 years. Eleven articles analyzed cost-effectiveness of ustekinumab, and the references of these articles were included. Studies limited to 12 weeks reported that ustekinumab may not be cost-effective as it has high cost per injection and is costly when loading doses are required. Studies that went beyond 12 weeks documented that, with ustekinumab’s infrequent dosing, it is cost-effective during the maintenance period.
Global brand communities across borders: the Warhammer case

Purpose – The “brand community” concept believes that the meaning of the brand transcends national boundaries. However, such an assumption presents challenges arising out of several reasons including co‐existence of sub‐tribes within a given brand community that allocate different meanings to a particular brand. This plurality of meanings seems exacerbated for global brands where meanings are shaped by tremendously varying cultures. Aims to address the issues.Design/methodology/approach – This text relies on a comparative study of the meanings attributed to one particular global brand, Warhammer, by the members of its brand community in France and the USA.Findings – Findings highlight the elements of homogeneity and heterogeneity that reside in the cross‐border meanings of the brand. The authors also discuss the marketplace relevance arising out of this plurality that should be taken into account by global marketers.Originality/value – The present text argues that community attached to a global brand cons.
Frequency Response from Wind Turbines

The frequency response that can be provided by Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIG) and Full Power Converters (FPC) based wind turbines during the first 30 sec after a frequency event was investigated. A simplified model, which can be used for frequency studies on a single bus equivalent of the power system, was developed. Studies were carried out on the present and projected 2020 Great Britain power systems. The frequency deviation of the GB system with and without the frequency response of the wind turbines was simulated. It was shown that variable speed wind turbines with suitable controls can make an important contribution to frequency response.