Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suppressing Noise for an HTS Amorphous Metal Core Transformer by Using Microperforated Panel Absorber

Noise pollution is an important issue in modern society. This paper is mainly concerned with noise suppressing of amorphous metal alloy core superconducting distribution transformers (AMSDTs). A microperforated sound absorption structure based on the electroacoustical equivalent circuit model was designed and installed in the inner sides of the box circumference. Up to now, there have been few investigations and reports of its application in superconducting transformer. In this paper, single and double microperforated panels (MPPs) were installed in the inner sides of the box circumference when the box was filled with air. To understand the reduction in vibration noise behaviors of AMSDTs installed with MPPs under normal operation, an AMSDT model was used as the test object, and a single MPP, double MPPs, and different backed cavities filled with the air experimentally and compared when rated voltages were applied to the AMSDT model. Tests were also carried out on the AMSDT model with different temperature air cavity and MPPs made with different materials. An attempt was made to find the largest amplitude and its corresponding frequency on the box surface using vibration sensors, which were arranged on the surface of the box. A data-acquisition platform was set up for signal measurement. The results validate the proposition that the MPP absorber effectively reduces the audible noise of the AMSDT, that the performance is improved by partitioning the backed cavity into differently sized sections, and that the performance is affected when the cavities are filled with air and overexcitation currents or voltages are applied to the AMSDT model. The test results are helpful for optimizing the design and reducing the noise of AMSDTs.
Monetary Policy in Deflation: The Liquidity Trap in History and Practice

The experience of the U.S. economy during the mid-1930s, when short-term nominal interest rates were continuously close to zero, is sometimes taken as evidence that monetary policy was ineffective and the economy was in a "liquidity trap. " Close examination of the historical policy record for the period indicates that the evidence does not support such assertions. The incomplete and erratic recovery from the Great Depression can be traced to a failure to pursue consistently expansionary policy resulting from an incorrect understanding of monetary policy in an environment of very low short-term nominal interest rates. Commonalities with the Japanese experience during the late 1990s and the inadequacy of short-term interest rates as indicators of the stance of monetary policy are discussed, and a robust operating procedure for implementing monetary policy in a low interest rate environment by adjusting the maturity of targeted interest rate instruments is described.
The Fed and Stock Market: A Proxy and Instrumental Variable Identification

Stock market fluctuations are likely to be an important determinant of monetary policy decisions because of their potential impact on macroeconomy. At the same time, innovations in fed fund rates affect stock prices as they change the expected future real interest rates. In this paper we apply a new identification procedure, based on proxy and IV variables, to estimate the contemporaneous relations between stock market and monetary policy without imposing any exclusion restrictions on the parameters of interest. Our empirical results indicate: first, that monetary policy responds in a positive fashion to contemporaneous changes in the stock market, but this relationship is not significant; second, that stock returns respond negatively to a positive monetary policy shock and that this response is significant at 1% level. This estimation analysis, while indicating that stock market participants react strongly and significantly to monetary policy innovations, seems to confirm the fact that in the past the Fed has not directly targeted asset prices in the conduct of monetary policy.
Important of Angiopoietic System in Evaluation of Endothelial Damage in Children with Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

Background: Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) causes endothelial activation and dysfunction by affecting the endothelium directly or indirectly. In maintaining the vascular integrity, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) and its receptor (VEGFR1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and its receptor (Tie-2) are very important mediators. For this reason, we aimed at studying the association of Ang-2 and VEGF and their receptors Tie-2 and VEGFR1 with CCHF infection. Methods: Thirty one CCHF patients and 31 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. CCHF patients were classified into 2 groups in terms of disease severity (severe and nonsevere). VEGF-A, VEGFR1, Ang-2 and Tie-2 levels were measured in all groups. Result: Serum levels of Tie-2, Ang-2, VEGF-A and VEGFR1 were significantly increased in CCHF patients compared with the HC. Furthermore, serum Tie-2, Ang-2, VEGF and VEGFR1 levels were found to be significantly higher in the severe group than in the nonsevere and HC groups (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively). Also, Tie-2, Ang-2, VEGF-A and VEGFR1 levels were significantly higher in the nonsevere group than in the HC group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Having statistically significant higher Ang-2, Tie-2, VEGF-A and VEGFR1 levels in the severe group when compared with the other groups suggested that VEGF-related Ang-2/Tie-2 system played a critical role in the pathogenesis of the disease, and these markers could be used as the severity criteria.
Managing Risk and Expected Financial Return from Selective Expansion of Operating Room Capacity: Mean-Variance Analysis of a Hospital’s Portfolio of Surgeons

Surgeons using the same amount of operating room (OR) time differ in their achieved hospital contribution margins (revenue minus variable costs) by >1000%. Thus, to improve the financial return from perioperative facilities, OR strategic decisions should selectively focus additional OR capacity and capital purchasing on a few surgeons or subspecialties. These decisions use estimates of each surgeon’s and/or subspecialty’s contribution margin per OR hour. The estimates are subject to uncertainty (e.g., from outliers). We account for the uncertainties by using mean-variance portfolio analysis (i.e., quadratic programming). This method characterizes the problem of selectively expanding OR capacity based on the expected financial return and risk of different portfolios of surgeons. The assessment reveals whether the choices, of which surgeons have their OR capacity expanded, are sensitive to the uncertainties in the surgeons’ contribution margins per OR hour. Thus, mean-variance analysis reduces the chance of making strategic decisions based on spurious information. We also assess the financial benefit of using mean-variance portfolio analysis when the planned expansion of OR capacity is well diversified over at least several surgeons or subspecialties. Our results show that, in such circumstances, there may be little benefit from further changing the portfolio to reduce its financial risk.
EPIDEMIOLOGY Do Community Characteristics Predict Alcohol-Related Crime?

Aims: Alcohol-related crime is a substantial community problem. There is evidence to suggest that certain geographic areas experience higher rates of alcohol-related crime and that both individual and community factors are associated with alcohol- related crime. There is limited research at the community level despite communities being the target of interventions designed to reduce alcohol-related harm. This study aims to determine whether there are differences in alcohol-related crime at the community level and examines whether certain community characteristics are associated with increased alcohol-related crime. Methods: Routinely collected police data from 20 rural communities in New South Wales, Australia were analysed. The ratio of alcohol to non-alcohol-related criminal incidents was used as a proxy for alcohol-related crime. Predictor variables were population-adjusted community characteristics, including demographic and resource variables. Results: Regression analyses suggest that there are differ- ences between communities in alcohol-related crime. Less socioeconomic disadvantage and more GPs and licensed premises (pubs and clubs) are associated with greater alcohol-related crime at the community level. Conclusions: Decreasing the socioeconomic well-being of a community is not appropriate; however, introducing additional taxes to increase the cost of alcohol may decrease consumption and therefore alcohol-related crime. Reducing or capping the number of licensed premises, specifically the number of pubs and clubs, may be an appropriate strategy to reduce alcohol-related crime in rural communities.
Persuasion factors influencing the decision to use sustainable household water treatment

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a sustainable water treatment method. With the help of the sun and plastic bottles, water is treated and illnesses prevented. This paper aims to identify the factors influencing SODIS uptake, that is, why someone may become a SODIS user. This uptake decision can be influenced by persuasion. From behaviour theory, variables are recognised which have been proven to influence intention and behaviour and simultaneously can be influenced by persuasion. A total of (n = 878) structured interviews were conducted in a field study in Zimbabwe. Linear and binary logistic regressions showed that several of the initially proposed persuasion variables have significant influence. Persuasion factors have a stronger influence on the uptake of SODIS use and on intention to use SODIS in the future than on the amount of SODIS water consumed. Ideas are presented for using the effective variables in future SODIS campaigns and campaigns in other fields.
Wage Drift in Collective Bargaining at the Firm Level: Evidence from Spain

We present a simple model of the determinants and economic effects of formal firm-level bargaining in a collective bargaining system with mandatory extension of sectoral collective agreements. We model the effects on agents' incentives to engage in relation-specific investments, and test the main predictions of the model using Spanish data which combine information from collective bargaining statistics and from firms' balance sheets. We find that: (i) controlling for an endogeneity bias, firms' size appears to increase the ability of workers to increase wages, (ii) surplus per employee is lower in firms with formal firm-level bargaining; (iii) controlling for average surplus, the number of employees and other variables, total payments to workers are higher and less correlated with the surplus variable in firms with formal bargaining, and (iv) larger firms are more likely to develop formal firm-level bargaining.
Bone marrow-derived mononuclear cell therapy for patients with ischemic heart disease and ischemic heart failure

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to assess whether bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) therapy may improve cardiac functional parameters in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) or ischemic heart failure (IHF). Methods: Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched from web databases. Weighted mean difference was calculated for changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes by using a random effects model. Results: 13 RCTs met inclusion criteria. Compared with controls, BMMNCs therapy improved LVEF by 3.83% (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.10 – 5.56%; p < 0.0001) in patients with ischemic heart conditions. Notably, in patients with IHF, a more severe clinical condition when compared with IHD, BMMNCs therapy appeared more effective in LVEF improvement. While LVEF increased by 5.67% (95% CI: 3.65 – 7.69%; p < 0.00001) in IHF patients, it only increased by 2.19% (95% CI: 0.37 – 4.00%; p = 0.02) in patients with IHD. Conclusions: BMMNCs therapy is associated with moderate but significant improvement over regular therapy in LVEF in patients with IHD and IHF. This observation, therefore, supports further RCTs conducting safety and efficiency of BMMNCs therapy with longer-term follow-up.
Sourcing Strategy, Supplier Relationships and Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation of UK Organizations

This article conceptualizes and empirically examines buyersupplier relationships in respect of supply sourcing strategies, relationship characteristics and firm performance. Two sourcing strategies available to organizations are examined, critical and leverage, which in turn, influence the approach to managing the supplier relationship (arms-length or collaborative). We argue that different relationship approaches are appropriate to achieving different performance outcomes. A structural equation model, using a sample of 142 manufacturing firms based in the United Kingdom, is used to test this hypothesized model. The results indicate that a critical sourcing strategy requires collaborative supplier relationships in order to achieve higher relationship and business outcomes, while leverage sourcing strategies have a direct impact on these same performance outcomes. In addition, a leverage strategy was associated with increased levels of supplier power, though this power was found not to have a significant effect on performance. Our study provides support for the importance of aligning sourcing strategies to particular supplier relationship approaches in order to improve firm performance. Managerial implications of these findings and future directions for research are then offered.
Substance P Augments Borrelia burgdorferi-Induced Prostaglandin E2 Production by Murine Microglia1

Substance P is a ubiquitous CNS neuropeptide and has recently been demonstrated to augment immune cell function during inflammatory events. Central to the ability of substance P to modulate immune cell function is the interaction of substance P with the substance P neurokinin-1 receptor expressed by a variety of immune cells, including microglia. CNS involvement during Lyme disease can occur when Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, gains access to the CNS. In the present study, we demonstrate that substance P augments B. burgdorferi-induced expression of mRNA encoding COX-2 and subsequent secretion of PGE2 by cultured, murine microglia. Furthermore, this effect is associated with the ability of substance P to enhance B. burgdorferi-induced NF-κB activation, as demonstrated by increased nuclear localization of the p65 (RelA) subunit of NF-κB in these cells. Interestingly, we demonstrate that substance P augments B. burgdorferi-induced expression of mRNA encoding two PGE2 receptors, E-prostanoid receptor subtypes 2 and 4, as well as each receptor protein. In addition, these effects are mediated via interactions between substance P and its high affinity receptor, as evidenced by the absence of augmented PGE2 synthesis in the presence of a specific neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist or in cells genetically deficient in the expression of these receptors. Taken together, the present demonstration that substance P can exacerbate B. burgdorferi-induced inflammatory responses in microglia in vitro may indicate a role for this neuropeptide in the development of CNS inflammation observed during human neuroborreliosis.
Oligopoly Experiments in the Current Millennium

We present a general overview of papers that employ laboratory experiments to study oligopoly markets. We focus on papers that have been published since 2000. We categorize studies into three broad classes: (1) oligopoly competition from a static perspective, (2) dynamics, convergence, and learning, and (3) collusion and policy.
Social media and SMS in the haiti earthquake

We describe some first results of an empirical study describing how social media and SMS were used in coordinating humanitarian relief after the Haiti Earthquake in January 2010. Current information systems for crisis management are increasingly incorporating information obtained from citizens transmitted via social media and SMS. This information proves particularly useful at the aggregate level. However it has led to some problems: information overload and processing difficulties, variable speed of information delivery, managing volunteer communities, and the high risk of receiving inaccurate or incorrect information.
Feedback and Incentives on Nonfinancial Value Drivers: Effects on Managerial Decision Making*

This paper examines how adding leading non-financial value drivers to a lagging summary financial measure affects managerial decision making in firms where either intangible assets (intangible assets firm) or tangible assets (tangible assets firm) are more important for future financial performance. Using an experiment, I compare a control performance evaluation system (PES) with feedback and incentives on only a summary financial measure to a PES with added feedback on non-financial measures and a PES with added feedback and incentives on non-financial measures. I find that managers increase their decision quality more in the intangible assets firm than in the tangible assets firm when both feedback and incentives on non-financial measures are added, but not when only feedback on non-financial measures is added. Early in the experiment, managers of the intangible assets firm do not make better decisions with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures, but do so with the further adding of incentives on non-financial measures. However, managers of the intangible assets firm improve their decisions over time with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures. On the other hand, managers of the tangible assets firm do not make better decisions with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures nor with the further adding of incentives on non-financial measures. The results suggest that the benefits of adding non-financial value drivers may vary based on a firm's dependency on tangible versus intangible assets, and on whether the non-financial value drivers are explicitly rewarded in the incentive contract.
UK Monetary Policy 1972-97: A Guide Using Taylor Rules

In the period from the floating of the exchange rate in 1972 to the granting of independence to the Bank of England in 1997, UK monetary policy went through several regimes, including: the early 1970s, when monetary policy was subordinate to incomes policy as the primary weapon against inflation; Sterling M3 targeting in the late 1970s and early 1980s; moves in the late 1980s toward greater exchange rate management, culminating in the UK’s membership of the ERM from 1990-92; and inflation targeting from October 1992. This Paper estimates simple interest rate reaction functions, or ‘Taylor rules’, for different UK monetary policy regimes. The inflation targeting regime that began in 1992 appears to be the only period that is characterized by the ‘Taylor principle’, namely a greater than one-for-one response of interest rates to fluctuations in inflation. In contrast to the US case, the early 1980s disinflation in the UK appears best characterized as an increase in the intercept of the authorities’ interest rate rule rather than by an increased systematic response of monetary policy to inflation.
The possession of technical aids among persons with a somatic chronic disease.

PURPOSE Previous research has highlighted disability as a determinant of the need for technical aids; surprisingly, disease as a potential determinant has been ignored. The goal of the present study was to determine whether the possession of technical aids is dependent on the type of chronic disease, illness duration, co-morbidity, disability, age, and several other factors. METHODS The study was performed in a representative sample of persons with a somatic chronic disease (n=2262). Type of chronic disease, time post-diagnosis and co-morbidity were assessed by the patient's general practitioner. Disability was assessed with the Sickness Impact Profile. The possession of technical aids and other characteristics were assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS Type of chronic disease (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and COPD), disability, age and gender were significantly and independently associated with the possession of technical aids. CONCLUSIONS Apart from disability, disease-, age-, and gender-related characteristics determine the possession of technical aids. A detailed assessment of these characteristics is required in order to ensure that technical aids meet personal needs.
The dynamics of carbon dioxide equilibration after alterations in the respiratory rate

Manual or automated control of mechanical ventilation can be realized as an open or closed-loop system for which the regulation of the ventilation parameters ideally is tuned to the dynamics and equilibration time of the biological system. We investigated the dynamic, transient state and equilibration time (teq) of the CO2 partial pressure (PCO2) after changes in the respiratory rate (ΔRR). In 17 anaesthetized patients without known history of lung disease, respiratory rate was alternately increased and decreased and end-tidal CO2 partial pressures (PetCO2) were measured. Linear relations were found between ΔRR and PetCO2 changes (ΔPetCO2 = 0.3 − 1.1 · ΔRR) and between ΔRR and teq for increasing and decreasing RR (teq(hypervent) = 0.5 · |ΔRR|, teq(hypovent) = 0.7 · |ΔRR|). Extrapolation of the transition between two PCO2 steady-states allowed for the prediction of the new PCO2 steady-state as early as 0.5 · teq with an error <4 mmHg. At bedside or in automated ventilation systems, the linear dependencies between ΔRR and ΔPCO2 and between ΔRR and teq as well as early steady-state prediction of PCO2 could be used as a guidance towards a timing and step size regulation of RR that is well adapted to the biological system.
Immunodetection of Helicobacter pylori-specific proteins in oral and gastric Candida yeasts.

BACKGROUND Human gastric epithelium and immunocytes have been recognized as the sole specialized eukaryotic cells that host Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The aim of this study was to provide further evidence for our previous proposal regarding the occurrence of H.pylori inside the yeast vacuole, verifying the viability of the intravacuolar H.pylori by western blotting. METHODS Light microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used for primary detection of nonculturable H.pylori in 11 Candida yeasts (six oral and five gastric). Boiling was used for extraction of proteins from yeasts and the control H.pylori. Western blot analysis was recruited to assess the occurrence of H.pylori-specific proteins in protein pool of yeasts, using IgY-Hp raised in hens and IgG1-Hp raised in mice. RESULTS The fast-moving bacterium-like bodies (BLBs) were identified as H.pylori by amplification of H.pylori 16S rRNA, ureAB, vacA s1, and ahpC genes from the whole DNA of yeasts. Analysis of the sequenced products of 16S rRNA gene amplified from the yeast and H.pylori isolates of patient #2 showed 100 % homology with the corresponding sequences of the reference H. pylori strains in GenBank. According to published data, it was plausible to assign the H.pylori-specific proteins, detected by western blot analysis, as thiol peroxidase (21 kDa), peroxiredoxin (AhpC) (26 kDa), urease-A subunit (UreA) (32 kDa), vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) small subunit (36 kDa), and VacA large subunit (56 kDa). CONCLUSION Results of this study show that inside yeast, H.pylori expresses proteins and is viable. These proteins appear to serve as powerful tools to help H.pylori to establish in the vacuole of yeast where it can reach nutrients and multiply. The intimate relationship between H.pylori and Candida yeast which began long time ago, could have led to the establishment of H.pylori inside the yeast vacuole before invading human cells.