Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mexican manufacturing markups: procyclical behavior and the impact of trade liberalization

This paper estimates the markup for the Mexican manufacturing sector to detect the impact of trade liberalization on market power. Using Hall’s proposal that states that a procyclical Solow residual is an indication of market power, this research estimates the markup for different periods to detect the change in market power after trade liberalization was implemented. We account for the potential cyclical behavior of the markup by including procyclical variables that affect the markup. The data shows a markup that moves counter-cyclically. The evidence is consistent with theoretical arguments advanced by Rotemberg and Saloner (1986). We pool four-digit industries and obtain estimates of the markup for the whole manufacturing sector. For the entire manufacturing sector, we find that trade liberalization acts as a market disciplining device that reduces the degree of market power. At the sector level, we find a significant reduction in market power in those sectors that experienced a strong liberalization process after the GATT negotiations. Also, those sectors that show a reduction in market power after the NAFTA implementation, show a liberalization process in which protection is eliminated at a faster pace than the average for the whole economy.
Routine Access to Millisecond Time Scale Events with Accelerated Molecular Dynamics

In this work, we critically assess the ability of the all-atom enhanced sampling method accelerated molecular dynamics (aMD) to investigate conformational changes in proteins that typically occur on the millisecond time scale. We combine aMD with the inherent power of graphics processor units (GPUs) and apply the implementation to the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). A 500 ns aMD simulation is compared to a previous millisecond unbiased brute force MD simulation carried out on BPTI, showing that the same conformational space is sampled by both approaches. To our knowledge, this represents the first implementation of aMD on GPUs and also the longest aMD simulation of a biomolecule run to date. Our implementation is available to the community in the latest release of the Amber software suite (v12), providing routine access to millisecond events sampled from dynamics simulations using off the shelf hardware.
Analysis and Design of Vehicular Networks

Advances in computing and wireless communication technologies have increased interest in "smart" vehicles---vehicles equipped with significant computing, communication and sensing capabilities to provide services to travelers. Smart vehicles can be exploited to improve driving safety and comfort as well as optimize surface transportation systems. Wireless communications among vehicles and between vehicles and roadside infrastructures represent an important class of vehicle communications. One can envision creating an integrated radio network leveraging various wireless technologies that work together in a seamless fashion. Based on cost-performance tradeoffs, different network configurations may be appropriate for different environments. An understanding of the properties of different vehicular network architectures is absolutely necessary before services can be successfully deployed. Based on this understanding, efficient data services (e.g., data dissemination services) can be designed to accommodate application requirements. This thesis examines several research topics concerning both the evaluation and design of vehicular networks. We explore the properties of vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) communications. We study the spatial propagation of information along the road using v2v communications. Our analysis identifies the vehicle traffic characteristics that significantly affect information propagation. We also evaluate the feasibility of propagating information along a highway. Several design alternatives exist to build infrastructure-based vehicular networks. Their characteristics have been evaluated in a realistic vehicular environment. Based on these evaluations, we have developed some insights into the design of future broadband vehicular networks capable of adapting to varying vehicle traffic conditions. Based on the above analysis, opportunistic forwarding that exploit vehicle mobility to overcome vehicular network partitioning appears to be a viable approach for data dissemination using v2v communications for applications that can tolerate some data loss and delay. We introduce a methodology to design enhanced opportunistic forwarding algorithms. Practical algorithms derived from this methodology have exhibited different performance/overhead tradeoffs. An in-depth understanding of wireless communication performance in a vehicular environment is necessary to provide the groundwork for realizing reliable mobile communication services. We have conducted an extensive set of field experiments to uncover the performance of short-range communications between vehicles and between vehicles and roadside stations in a specific highway scenario.
Bayesian re-analysis of the Gliese 581 exoplanet system

A re-analysis of Gliese 581 HARPS and HIRES precision radial velocity data was carried out with a Bayesian multiplanet Kepler periodogram (from one to six planets) based on a fusion Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. In all cases, the analysis included an unknown parametrized stellar jitter noise term. For the HARPS data set, the most probable number of planetary signals detected is five with a Bayesian false alarm probability of 0.01. These include the 3.1498 ± 0.0005, 5.3687 ± 0.0002, 12.927+0.006− 0.004 and 66.9 ± 0.2 d periods reported previously plus a 399+14− 16 d period. Their orbital eccentricities are 0.0+0.2− 0.0, 0.00+0.02− 0.00, 0.10+0.06− 0.10, 0.33+0.09− 0.10 and 0.02+0.30− 0.01, respectively. The semimajor-axis and M sin i of the five planets are (0.0285 ± 0.0006 au, 1.9 ± 0.3 M⊕), (0.0406 ± 0.0009 au, 15.7 ± 0.7 M⊕), (0.073 ± 0.002 au, 5.3 ± 0.4 M⊕), (0.218 ± 0.005 au, 6.7 ± 0.8 M⊕) and (0.7 ± 0.2 au, 6.6+2.0− 2.7 M⊕), respectively. The analysis of the HIRES data set yielded a reliable detection of only the strongest 5.37 and 12.9 d periods. The analysis of the combined HIRES/HARPS data again only reliably detected the 5.37 and 12.9 d periods. The detection of four planetary signals with the periods of 3.15, 5.37, 12.9 and 66.9 d was only achieved by including an additional unknown but parametrized Gaussian error term added in quadrature to the HIRES quoted errors. The marginal distribution for the σ of this additional error term has a well-defined peak at 1.8 ± 0.4 m s−1. It is possible that this additional error arises from unidentified systematic effects. We did not find clear evidence for a fifth planetary signal in the combined HIRES/HARPS data set. Based on the available data, our analysis does not support the claimed detection of a sixth planet Gliese 581g.
The Chemokine SDF‐1/CXCL12 Contributes to T Lymphocyte Recruitment in Human Pre‐ovulatory Follicles and Coordinates with Lymphocytes to Increase Granulosa Cell Survival and Embryo Quality

We investigated the production and the role of the chemokine stromal cell‐derived factor‐1 (SDF‐1/CXCL12) in pre‐ovulatory follicles of women undergoing in vitro fertilization. We detected CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 by flow cytometry, western blotting and RT‐PCR. We tested cell migration in Transwell experiments. We measured apoptosis using ΔΨm‐sensitive fluorescent probe DiOC6(3) and we screened apoptosis‐related gene expression with macro‐arrays. Granulosa cells from follicular aspirates produce CXCL12 that contributes to T lymphocytes recruitment. CXCL12 reduces early apoptosis of granulosa cells. This effect is accompanied by a shift of bcl2/bax ratio, and decreased expression of p53‐targeted genes (pig7, pig8, p21, gadd45). Removal of lymphocytes disables CXCL12‐mediated anti‐apoptotic effect on granulosa cells. Anti‐apoptotic activity of CXCL12 is positively correlated to high quality of embryos. In conclusion, CXCL12 is locally produced by luteinizing granulosa cells. It specifically contributes to T lymphocytes recruitment and coordinates with local lymphocytes to increase granulosa cell survival and embryo quality.
Postnatal changes in somatic γ‐aminobutyric acid signalling in the rat hippocampus

During postnatal development of the rat hippocampus, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) switches its action on CA3 pyramidal cells from excitatory to inhibitory. To characterize the underlying changes in the GABA reversal potential, we used somatic cell‐attached recordings of GABA(A) and N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate channels to monitor the GABA driving force and resting membrane potential, respectively. We found that the GABA driving force is strongly depolarizing during the first postnatal week. The strength of this depolarization rapidly declines with age, although GABA remains slightly depolarizing, by a few millivolts, even in adult neurons. Reduction in the depolarizing GABA driving force was due to a progressive negative shift of the reversal potential of GABA currents. Similar postnatal changes in GABA signalling were also observed using the superfused hippocampus preparation in vivo, and in the hippocampal interneurons in vitro. We also found that in adult pyramidal cells, somatic GABA reversal potential is maintained at a slightly depolarizing level by bicarbonate conductance, chloride‐extrusion and chloride‐loading systems. Thus, the postnatal excitatory‐to‐inhibitory switch in somatic GABA signalling is associated with a negative shift of the GABA reversal potential but without a hyperpolarizing switch in the polarity of GABA responses. These results also suggest that in adult CA3 pyramidal cells, somatic GABAergic inhibition takes place essentially through shunting rather than hyperpolarization. Apparent hyperpolarizing GABA responses previously reported in the soma of CA3 pyramidal cells are probably due to cell depolarization during intracellular or whole‐cell recordings.
Pathophysiology of Hypertension COX-1-derived PGE 2 and PGE 2 type 1 receptors are vital for angiotensin II-induced formation of reactive oxygen species and Ca 2 influx in the subfornical organ

Gang Wang, Pallabi Sarkar, Jeffrey R. Peterson, Josef Anrather, Joseph P. Pierce, Jamie M. Moore, Ji Feng, Ping Zhou, Teresa A. Milner, Virginia M. Pickel, Costantino Iadecola, and Robin L. Davisson The Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York; and Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Microinjection Molding of Enhanced Thermoplastics

Injection molding is, nowadays, a well known and wildly used manufacturing process to produce both thermoplastic and thermosetting polymeric material components, in a large scale, with accuracy and at low prices. Even though the electronics industry provides an economy of scale for the silicon industry, polymer devices can be produced in huge volumes maintaining the requested features and quality, with a great variety of material characteristics, a fact that has considerably open the market to injection molding of microcomponents.
Early amniotomy and early oxytocin for prevention of, or therapy for, delay in first stage spontaneous labour compared with routine care.

BACKGROUND Caesarean section rates are over 20% in many developed countries. The main diagnosis contributing to the high rate in nulliparae is dystocia or prolonged labour. The present review assesses the effects of a policy of early amniotomy with early oxytocin administration for the prevention of, or the therapy for, delay in labour progress. OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of early augmentation with amniotomy and oxytocin for prevention of, or therapy for, delay in labour progress on the caesarean birth rate and on indicators of maternal and neonatal morbidity. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (15 February 2012), MEDLINE (1966 to 15 February 2012), EMBASE (1980 to 15 February 2012), CINAHL (1982 to 15 February 2012), MIDIRS (1985 to February 2012) and contacted authors for data from unpublished trials. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials that compared oxytocin and amniotomy with expectant management. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Three review authors extracted data independently. We stratified the analyses into 'Prevention Trials' and 'Therapy Trials' according to the status of the woman at the time of randomization. Participants in the 'Prevention Trials' were unselected women, without slow progress in labour, who were randomized to a policy of early augmentation or to routine care. In 'Treatment Trials' women were eligible if they had an established delay in labour progress. MAIN RESULTS For this update, we have included a further two new clinical trials. This updated review includes 14 trials, randomizing a total of 8033 women. The unstratified analysis found early intervention with amniotomy and oxytocin to be associated with a modest reduction in the risk of caesarean section; however, the confidence interval (CI) included the null effect (risk ratio (RR) 0.89; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.01; 14 trials; 8033 women). In prevention trials, early augmentation was associated with a modest reduction in the number of caesarean births (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.77 to 0.99; 11 trials; 7753). A policy of early amniotomy and early oxytocin was associated with a shortened duration of labour (average mean difference (MD) - 1.28 hours; 95% CI -1.97 to -0.59; eight trials; 4816 women). Sensitivity analyses excluding four trials with a full package of active management did not substantially affect the point estimate for risk of caesarean section (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.73 to 1.05; 10 trials; 5165 women). We found no other significant effects for the other indicators of maternal or neonatal morbidity. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS In prevention trials, early intervention with amniotomy and oxytocin appears to be associated with a modest reduction in the rate of caesarean section over standard care.
Telomere length variation in normal and malignant human tissues

Tissue and tumor specific length variation of telomere (TTAGGG)n repeats was studied in DNAs from various normal and malignant tissues. DNA was isolated from bone marrow and blood cells, malignant tissues, and established tumor cell lines. Nonisotopic Southern hybridization revealed a reduction of telomere repeat arrays in 14 of the 35 tumors analyzed. However, other cases (60%) showed no reduction, or even an increase, in telomeric length. Our finding of elongated telomere stretches in several tumors of different origin compared with normal tissue is in contrast to previous reports describing a general shortening of terminal repeat length in colorectal cancer and neuroblastoma. We tentatively conclude that there is no general tendency to telomere reduction in malignant tissues.
Multiplex PCR for Identification of Seven Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes Targeted by a 7-Valent Conjugate Vaccine

ABSTRACT Here we describe a Streptococcus pneumoniae one-step multiplex PCR assay which identifies by amplicon size the seven capsular polysaccharide serotypes targeted by the 7-valent conjugate vaccine. The multiplex PCR assay was used to blindly assay clinical isolates recovered during 1999 in the Republic of Ireland from cases of invasive disease whose serotypes were previously determined by classical methods.
Comparing Cervical Spine Motion With Different Halo Devices in a Cadaveric Cervical Instability Model

Study Design. Biomechanical evaluation of conventional and noninvasive halos in cadaveric C1–C2 and C5–C6 instability models. Objective. To compare the ability of a conventional halo and noninvasive halo (NIH) to immobilize the unstable cervical spine at the C1–C2 and C5–C6 levels. Summary of Background Data. Many successful outcomes have been reported in cervical spine injury treatment with the conventional halo (CH); however, complications related to pin sites have been reported. The NIH was designed to overcome these complications. To date, no investigation has compared the biomechanical efficacy of the NIH with that of the CH in restricting three-dimensional cervical spine motion. Methods. A global instability was created at the C1–C2 level in 4 cadavers and at C5–C6 in 4 others. Relative motion was measured between the superior and inferior vertebrae during the donning process, execution of the log roll technique, and during the process of sitting up. This testing sequence was followed for all treatment conditions. Results. During the application of the orthoses there was a significant increase in motion at C1–C2 instability and a trend toward increased motion at the C5–C6 instability with CH compared with NIH. In the log roll maneuver, the CH and NIH restrict motion to a similar degree at the C1–C2 instability level, except in frontal plane translation, where CH immobilizes the segment to a greater extent. For the C5–C6 instability the CH provides significantly better immobilization for lateral bending and axial translation. No significant differences were found between the NIH and CH for the sit-up maneuver at either of the levels. Conclusion. Donning of the NIH generates significantly less cervical spine motion than application of the CH. The CH provides superior immobilization for a C5–C6 instability during the log roll maneuver and a C1–C2 instability in the frontal plane during the log-roll maneuver. The CH and NIH immobilize the C1–C2 and C5–C6 instability to a similar degree during the sit-up maneuver.
Endothelial antigen presentation: stimulation of previously activated but not naïve TCR-transgenic mouse T cells.

In vitro experiments have shown that endothelial cells can function as antigen-presenting cells to CD4(+) T lymphocytes. The studies presented here address the question of whether naïve versus previously activated CD4(+) helper T cells differ in their responses to endothelial antigen presentation. TCR-transgenic mice were used as a source of naive T cells of defined antigen specificity. These cells were stimulated in vitro with antigen and splenic antigen-presenting cells to generate populations of T lymphocytes with a previously activated/memory phenotype. Two different types of mouse endothelial cells were used as antigen-presenting cells, including the SVEC4-10 line derived from lymph node endothelium and primary murine pulmonary microvascular endothelium. Monolayer cultures of both types of endothelium were capable of antigen-dependent stimulation of previously activated TCR-transgenic CD4(+) cells. In contrast, neither endothelial type could activate naïve CD4(+) T cells. When costimulatory signals were provided in trans by the addition of MHC-mismatched mouse spleen cells, activation of naïve T cells by endothelial antigen presentation could be demonstrated. The expression of ICAM-1 or VCAM-1 on the endothelial cells was not sufficient to activate naïve T cells. Furthermore, the mouse lung endothelium constitutively expresses B7-1, and therefore, the inability of endothelium to stimulate naïve T cells could not be attributed to a lack of CD28-ligands. These studies suggest that the potential role of endothelial antigen presentation in immune responses is restricted to promoting responses by T cells which have previously encountered antigen presented by other antigen-presenting cells.
40Ar/39Ar age constraints on deformation and metamorphism in the main central thrust zone and Tibetan slab, eastern Nepal Himalaya

In eastern Nepal, structural and petrologic observations suggest that movement on the Main Central Thrust (MCT), the development of an inverted metamorphic sequence, and leucogranite plutonism were genetically related. Samples from across the MCT zone and its hanging wall, the Tibetan Slab, were collected from four locations in the Everest region for 40Ar/39Ar studies: (1) the MCT zone, (2) the lower Tibetan Slab, (3) the upper Tibetan Slab away from intrusive rocks, and (4) the upper Tibetan Slab adjacent to and including leucogranitic material. Within the MCT zone, muscovite and hornblende yield cooling ages of 12.0±0.2 Ma and 20.9±0.2 Ma, respectively. K-feldspar gives a minimum age of 8.0±0.2 Ma (closure temperature (TC) =220±15°C). In the lower Tibetan Slab a sample from a sheared pegmatite yields muscovite and biotite isochron ages of 7.7±0.4 Ma and 7.5±0.6 Ma and a K-feldspar minimum age of 6.4±0.8 Ma (TC = 225±20°C). An adjacent gneiss yields a 9.1±0.2 Ma biotite isochron and a K-feldspar minimum age of 3.6±0.2 Ma (TC = 210±50°C). In the upper Tibetan Slab, samples collected >200 m from visible intrusives yield a biotite isochron age of 20.2±0.2 Ma and a complex hornblende age spectrum suggestive of excess argon. At the fourth location an augen gneiss, a pegmatite, and a tourmaline-bearing leucogranite, all in mutual contact, yield indistinguishable mineral ages. The average biotite and muscovite isochron ages for these samples are 17.0±1.4 and 16.6±0.2 Ma, respectively. The minimum age for K-feldspar from the leucogranite is 15.5±1.8 Ma. As thermobarometric data from the MCT zone in this area suggest synmetamorphic deformation at temperatures of ∼500°–550°C, the MCT hornblende (TC = ∼500°C) dates this event at ∼21 Ma. Diffusion experiments on hornblendes from the MCT zone provide data which support a maximum duration of peak metamorphic temperatures of ≤2 Ma. Biotite ages as old as ∼20 Ma from the upper Tibetan Slab near leucogranites indicate that leucogranite intrusion was essentially coeval with deformation and metamorphism in the MCT zone. Very young ages in a ductile shear zone in the lower Tibetan Slab suggest that there has been deformation within the Tibetan Slab that postdates major movement on the MCT.
Heat shock proteins in human cancer

The heat shock proteins (hsp) are ubiquitous molecules induced in cells exposed to sublethal heat shock, present in all living cells, and highly conserved during evolution. Their function is to protect cells from environmental stress damage by binding to partially denatured proteins, dissociating protein aggregates, to regulate the correct folding, and to cooperate in transporting newly synthesized polypeptides to the target organelles. The molecular chaperones are involved in numerous diseases, including cancer, revealing changes of expression. In this review, we mainly describe the relationship of hsp expression with human cancer, and discuss what is known about their post‐translational modifications according to malignancies.
Unsupervised dependency parsing without training†

Abstract Usually unsupervised dependency parsers try to optimize the probability of a corpus by revising the dependency model that is assumed to have generated the corpus. In this paper we explore a different view in which a dependency structure is, among other things, a partial order on the nodes in terms of centrality or saliency. Under this assumption we directly model centrality and derive dependency trees from the ordering of words. The result is an approach to unsupervised dependency parsing that is very different from standard ones in that it requires no training data. The input words are ordered by centrality, and a parse is derived from the ranking using a simple deterministic parsing algorithm, relying on the universal dependency rules defined by Naseem et al. (Naseem, T., Chen, H., Barzilay, R., Johnson, M. 2010. Using universal linguistic knowledge to guide grammar induction. In Proceedings of Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, Boston, MA, USA, pp. 1234–44.). Our approach is evaluated on data from twelve different languages and is remarkably competitive.