Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The RatCAP conscious small animal PET tomography

The RatCAP is a small, head mounted PET tomograph designed and built to image the brain of an awake rat. It allows PET imaging studies to be carried out on laboratory rats without the use of anesthesia, which severely suppresses brain functions and affects many of the neurological activities that one would like to study using PET. The tomograph consists of a 4 cm diameter ring containing 12 block detectors, each of which is comprised of a 4 times 8 array of 2.2 times 2.2 times 5 mm3 LSO crystals read out with a matching APD array. The APDs are read out using a custom designed ASIC and VME readout system. We have successfully performed a system integration test with a partially instrumented tomograph ring. We present the recent progress towards a fully integrated system
Does violent crime scare tourists away? Panel data evidence from 32 mexican states

The scaling up of violent crime in Mexico is often characterized as detrimental to the Mexican tourism industry. However, no econometric study so far challenges this claim with data. This paper therefore empirically analyzes the impact of crime on the arrivals of tourists in Mexico for the period 1990 to 2010. Using a panel data set for the 31 Mexican federal states and Mexico City, I find a negative and significant effect of homicides on the number of tourists arriving. This finding is robust to alternative estimation techniques and samples. Furthermore, when disaggregating the tourist arrival data into local and international, I find that international tourists seem to be more intimidated from homicides than locals.
Pregnancy risk increases from 41 weeks of gestation

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mortality and morbidity of conservatively managed post‐term pregnancies (gestation 294 days and beyond). Materials and methods. This is a population‐based prospective study. The sample was comprised of all women (N=17 493) with a singleton pregnancy in one Norwegian county from 1989 to 1999, with a second‐trimester ultrasound examination and delivery after 37 completed gestational weeks. Results. One thousand three hundred and thirty‐six (7.6%) of the deliveries were post‐term. In this group, the increase in perinatal mortality reached borderline significance [relative risk (RR) 2.0; 95% confidence interval 0.9–4.6]. Perinatal morbidity expressed as Apgar score <7 at 5min (RR 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.2–3.3), and transferal to neonatal intensive care unit (RR 1.6; 95% confidence interval 1.3–2.0) were significantly more frequent. However, RR for perinatal death calculated per 1000 ongoing pregnancies increased significantly from 0.2 in week 37–3.7 in week 42, using perinatal mortality in gestational week 41 as a reference. Conclusions Our results indicate that expectant management of post‐term pregnancies allowing pregnancies to continue up to week 43 carries a risk for perinatal mortality and morbidity. The risk increases already from gestational week 41. The guidelines for management of post‐term pregnancies should be revised.
Prototypical model for tensional wrinkling in thin sheets

The buckling and wrinkling of thin films has recently seen a surge of interest among physicists, biologists, mathematicians, and engineers. This activity has been triggered by the growing interest in developing technologies at ever-decreasing scales and the resulting necessity to control the mechanics of tiny structures, as well as by the realization that morphogenetic processes, such as the tissue-shaping instabilities occurring in animal epithelia or plant leaves, often emerge from mechanical instabilities of cell sheets. Although the most basic buckling instability of uniaxially compressed plates was understood by Euler more than two centuries ago, recent experiments on nanometrically thin (ultrathin) films have shown significant deviations from predictions of standard buckling theory. Motivated by this puzzle, we introduce here a theoretical model that allows for a systematic analysis of wrinkling in sheets far from their instability threshold. We focus on the simplest extension of Euler buckling that exhibits wrinkles of finite length—a sheet under axisymmetric tensile loads. The first study of this geometry, which is attributed to Lamé, allows us to construct a phase diagram that demonstrates the dramatic variation of wrinkling patterns from near-threshold to far-from-threshold conditions. Theoretical arguments and comparison to experiments show that the thinner the sheet is, the smaller is the compressive load above which the far-from-threshold regime emerges. This observation emphasizes the relevance of our analysis for nanomechanics applications.
Gender and the Vote in Britain: Beyond the Gender Gap?

Book synopsis: The 2005 British general election witnessed unprecedented media interest in the parties' attempts to 'woo' women voters. There was much speculation about a fracturing relationship between women and Tony Blair, the term 'let-down woman' was used by the press to describe how the relationship had allegedly gone sour. Gender and Vote in Britain provides comprehensive analysis of the 1992-2005 British general elections and tests whether there were, in fact, sex differences in leadership evaluations, party of vote and political attitudes. The interactions between sex, age, class, race, and education are examined and gender effects are understood as tectonic plates that will shift and change according to the specific context of a given election. Thus, the argument of the book is that background or sociodemographic characteristics play an important role in electoral choice but that their impact is mitigated by other factors, such as issue salience. For example gender may impact upon political attitudes, so that more women than men prioritise spending on health or education, but this will only translate into voting behaviour if the political parties diverge on these issues.
Proteomic analysis of antioxidant strategies of Staphylococcus aureus: Diverse responses to different oxidants

The high resolution 2‐D protein gel electrophoresis technique combined with MALDI‐TOF MS and a recently developed fluorescence‐based thiol modification assay were used to investigate the cellular response of Staphylococcus aureus to oxidative stress. Addition of hydrogen peroxide, diamide, and the superoxide generating agent paraquat to exponentially growing cells revealed complex changes in the protein expression pattern. In particular, proteins involved in detoxification, repair systems, and intermediary metabolism were found to be up‐regulated. Interestingly, there is only a small overlap of proteins induced by all these stressors. Exposure to hydrogen peroxide mediated a significant increase of DNA repair enzymes, whereas treatment with diamide affected proteins involved in protein repair and degradation. The activity of proteins under oxidative stress conditions can be modulated by oxidation of thiol groups. In growing cells, protein thiols were found to be mainly present in the reduced state. Diamide mediated a strong increase of reversibly oxidized thiols in a variety of metabolic enzymes. By contrast, hydrogen peroxide resulted in the reversible oxidation especially of proteins with active site cysteines. Moreover, high levels of hydrogen peroxide influenced the pI of three proteins containing cysteines within their active sites (GapA1, AhpC, and HchA) indicating the generation of sulfinic or sulfonic acid by irreversible oxidation of thiols.
Monetary Policy and House Prices in the US: Evidence from Time-Varying VAR Model

This thesis examines the effects of monetary policy shocks on the housing market. To this end, TVP-VAR model with dynamic dimension selection and stochastic volatility is estimated using monthly data for the United States over the period 1999-2017. Moreover, the model features estimating the optimal value of the Bayesian shrinkage coefficient in a time-varying manner. Since the sample covers the Zero Lower Bound period, Wu-Xia shadow rate is employed to measure the stance of monetary policy. To assess the link between housing variables and monetary policy, impulse responses and forecast error variance decompositions are provided. However, due to the time-varying nature of the model, they are estimated only for selected time periods that correspond both to the events that most likely influenced the path of macroeconomic and financial variables and to periods of low economic uncertainty. The main results are threefold. First, the model suggests that monetary policy shocks can contribute to developments in house prices. Second, the stimulative monetary policy positively affects residential investment and negatively affects mortgage rates, however, the effects are not significant due to the large confidence bands of the impulse responses. Third, higher values of the shrinkage hyperparameter are crucial for obtaining reasonable impulse responses. Those results are fairly robust to various specifications of the model. JEL Classification C11, C51, E43, E47, R30
School-age spirometry in survivors of chronic lung disease of prematurity in the surfactant era.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether school-age spirometry and lung volume outcomes of preterm infants with history of moderate to severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), born in the surfactant era and treated with conventional mechanical ventilation (IMV) and discharged home with or without the diagnosis of BPD (chronic lung disease of prematurity), differ from those of term neonates (controls). PARTICIPANTS The study included 148 Caucasian school-aged children (38 preterm infants without BPD, 20 preterm infants with BPD and 90 term infants). All infants were born at the Department of Pathology of Pregnancy and Labor, Pomeranian Medical University Szczecin, Poland. METHODS Respiratory outcome in school-aged children was assessed using spirometry with the evaluation of flow and volume parameters, adjusted for age, weight and gender. The differences in spirometry were tested by the Wilcoxon or Mann-Whitney tests. Linear correlation and regression were also used. RESULTS No statistically significant differences between the spirometric parameters in preterm infants with and without BPD were found. All investigated parameters were significantly lower in both ventilated groups compared to term controls, with the exception of ERV%, which was significantly higher CONCLUSIONS The necessity to use assisted ventilation in preterm infants without neurological disorders most probably had an adverse effect on the lung function, assessed by spirometry at the age of 9-10 years, in the groups of children discharged home with or without BPD. Regardless of BPD, lung function parameters in prematurely born children with respiratory distress syndrome are always worse than in term controls.
Studies on the underexploited legumes, Indigofera linifolia and Sesbania bispinosa: nutrient composition and antinutritional factors.

The nutrient composition and antinutritional factors of two Indian tribal pulses, Indigofera linifolia (L.f)Retz. and Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.F. Wight, were determined. The mature seeds contained 296.6-321.2 g kg-1 crude protein, 47.2-64.2 g kg-1 crude lipid, 56.7-72 g kg-1 crude fiber, 27.6-31.9 g kg-1 ash and 531.3-550.6 g kg-1 carbohydrates. The seeds of Indigofera linifolia were rich in K, Ca, Mn and Cu, whereas Sesbania bispinosa were rich in P and Zn. While albumins and globulins constituted the major proportion of seed proteins in Indigofera linifolia, globulins and glutelins formed the major bulk of seed proteins in Sesbania bispinosa. Seed lipids of both legumes contained a large proportion of unsaturated fatty acids with linoleic acid as the predominant one. These two pulses contained adequate levels of all the essential amino acids except sulpho-amino acids in total seed proteins and globulin fraction of Sesbania bispinosa. The in vitro protein digestibility of the raw seeds of Indigofera linifolia and Sesbania bispinosa were found to be 74.15% and 66.71% and cooked seeds 81.4% and 76.8%, respectively. Antinutritional factors such as total free phenolics, tannins, phytic acid, hydrogen cyanide, trypsin inhibitor and phytohaemagglutinating activities were also analysed.
Spatial coherence of backscatter for the nonlinearly produced second harmonic for specific transmit apodizations

To be successful, correlation-based, phase-aberration correction requires a high correlation among backscattered signals. For harmonic imaging, the spatial coherence of backscatter for the second harmonic component is different than the spatial coherence of backscatter for the fundamental component. The purpose of this work was to determine the effect of changing the transmit apodization on the spatial coherence of backscatter for the nonlinearly generated second harmonic. Our approach was to determine the effective apodizations for the fundamental and second harmonic using both experimental measurements and simulations. Two-dimensional measurements of the transverse cross sections of the finite-amplitude ultrasonic fields generated by rectangular and circular apertures were acquired with a hydrophone. Three different one-dimensional transmit apodization functions were investigated: uniform, Riesz, and trapezoidal. An effective apodization was obtained for each transmit apodization by backpropagating the values measured from within the transmit focal zone using a linear angular spectrum approach. Predictions of the spatial coherence of backscatter were obtained using the pulse-echo Van Cittert-Zernike theorem. In all cases the effective apodization at 2f was narrower than the transmit apodization. We demonstrate that certain transmit apodizations result in a greater spatial coherence of backscatter at the second harmonic than at the fundamental.
Double-Blind Randomized 12-Month Soy Intervention Had No Effects on Breast MRI Fibroglandular Tissue Density or Mammographic Density

Soy supplementation by patients with breast cancer remains controversial. No controlled intervention studies have investigated the effects of soy supplementation on mammographic density in patients with breast cancer. We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled intervention study in previously treated patients with breast cancer (n = 66) and high-risk women (n = 29). We obtained digital mammograms and breast MRI scans at baseline and after 12 months of daily soy (50 mg isoflavones per day; n = 46) or placebo (n = 49) tablet supplementation. The total breast area (MA) and the area of mammographic density (MD) on the mammogram were measured using a validated computer-assisted method, and mammographic density percent (MD% = 100 × MD/MA) was determined. A well-tested computer algorithm was used to quantitatively measure the total breast volume (TBV) and fibroglandular tissue volume (FGV) on the breast MRI, and the FGV percent (FGV% = 100 × FGV/TBV) was calculated. On the basis of plasma soy isoflavone levels, compliance was excellent. Small decreases in MD% measured by the ratios of month 12 to baseline levels were seen in the soy (0.95) and the placebo (0.87) groups; these changes did not differ between the treatments (P = 0.38). Small decreases in FGV% were also found in both the soy (0.90) and the placebo (0.92) groups; these changes also did not differ between the treatments (P = 0.48). Results were comparable in patients with breast cancer and high-risk women. We found no evidence that soy supplementation would decrease mammographic density and that MRI might be more sensitive to changes in density than mammography. Cancer Prev Res; 8(10); 942–51. ©2015 AACR.
Male Sterile2 Encodes a Plastid-Localized Fatty Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase Required for Pollen Exine Development in Arabidopsis1[C][W][OA]

Male Sterile2 (MS2) is predicted to encode a fatty acid reductase required for pollen wall development in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Transient expression of MS2 in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves resulted in the accumulation of significant levels of C16 and C18 fatty alcohols. Expression of MS2 fused with green fluorescent protein revealed that an amino-terminal transit peptide targets the MS2 to plastids. The plastidial localization of MS2 is biologically important because genetic complementation of MS2 in ms2 homozygous plants was dependent on the presence of its amino-terminal transit peptide or that of the Rubisco small subunit protein amino-terminal transit peptide. In addition, two domains, NAD(P)H-binding domain and sterile domain, conserved in MS2 and its homologs were also shown to be essential for MS2 function in pollen exine development by genetic complementation testing. Direct biochemical analysis revealed that purified recombinant MS2 enzyme is able to convert palmitoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein to the corresponding C16:0 alcohol with NAD(P)H as the preferred electron donor. Using optimized reaction conditions (i.e. at pH 6.0 and 30°C), MS2 exhibits a Km for 16:0-Acyl Carrier Protein of 23.3 ± 4.0 μm, a Vmax of 38.3 ± 4.5 nmol mg−1 min−1, and a catalytic efficiency/Km of 1,873 m−1 s−1. Based on the high homology of MS2 to other characterized fatty acid reductases, it was surprising that MS2 showed no activity against palmitoyl- or other acyl-coenzyme A; however, this is consistent with its plastidial localization. In summary, genetic and biochemical evidence demonstrate an MS2-mediated conserved plastidial pathway for the production of fatty alcohols that are essential for pollen wall biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.
Clinical Usefulness of Proseal Laryngeal Mask Airway for Anesthesia during Dental Procedures in Children.

AIM Although the Proseal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) has been widely used in anesthesia, little is known about its clinical effectiveness during dental procedures. We describe the clinical feasibility of the PLMA for managing airways in the field of pediatric dentistry. STUDY DESIGN We reviewed the medical records of children who underwent airway management with the use of the PLMA from January 2011 to December 2012 at an outpatient facility at Seoul National Dental University Hospital. RESULTS During the study period, the airways of 19 children were managed with the PLMA for dental procedures. During its placement, blood pressure and heart rate were stably maintained. There were no interruptions of the dental procedures. None of the children experienced oxygen desaturation or ventilation difficulty. In one patient, the PLMA was dislodged for a short time, but the problem was easily solved with repositioning. After transferring to the post-anesthetic care unit, there were no incidences of oxygen desaturation or vomiting. All of the children were discharged from the hospital without complications. CONCLUSION The PLMA can be successfully used in airway management during dental treatment in children.
Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia: A Case-based Review

Abstract Retinoid therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is one of the major achievements of leukemia research in the last 15 years. Use of all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has changed the prognosis of APL from a fatal leukemia to a highly curable disease. This case-based review examines the available clinical and scientific data to form evidence-based decisions in the management of APL. The main aim of this review is to highlight recent progress made in the management of APL and address the role of maintenance therapy, prognostic factors for relapse and treatment of relapsed disease.
A Prognostic Yield Measure for Country Selection in the Medium Term Using Shiller’s PE

To reduce the complexities that advisors face in international equity investing, we have developed a measure that expresses the medium-term equity performance expectations of a country. This measure, the medium-term country yield forecast, is a simple yield forecast measure at the country level that builds on concepts that advisors already know from the widely popular cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio (CAPE or Shiller’s PE). We have formulated a country yield forecasting mechanism, which applies the cyclically adjusted country yield to derive the medium-term yield forecast on an inflation-adjusted (real) basis for any country outside the U.S. The cyclically adjusted country yield of any country, which feeds into the mechanism, is nothing but its Shiller’s PE (a price multiple) expressed in yield form. The mechanism departs significantly from most applications of Shiller’s PE found in investment literature from the recent past, where Shiller’s PE is used primarily as a tool to gauge expectations of a national stock market in the long run. In our application, we use Shiller’s PE to forecast expectations in the medium run, which for us is between three- to 10-years out in the future. Moreover, the model also augments the forecasting capabilities of Shiller’s PE by incorporating into it a country’s cyclically adjusted real exchange rate.
Allosterism in human complement component 5a (hC5a): a damper of C5a receptor (C5aR) signaling

The phenomena of allosterism continues to advance the field of drug discovery, by illuminating gainful insights for many key processes, related to the structure–function relationships in proteins and enzymes, including the transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), both in normal as well as in the disease states. However, allosterism is completely unexplored in the native protein ligands, especially when a small covalent change significantly modulates the pharmacology of the protein ligands toward the signaling axes of the GPCRs. One such example is the human C5a (hC5a), the potent cationic anaphylatoxin that engages C5aR and C5L2 to elicit numerous immunological and non-immunological responses in humans. From the recently available structure–function data, it is clear that unlike the mouse C5a (mC5a), the hC5a displays conformational heterogeneity. However, the molecular basis of such conformational heterogeneity, otherwise allosterism in hC5a and its precise contribution toward the overall C5aR signaling is not known. This study attempts to decipher the functional role of allosterism in hC5a, by exploring the inherent conformational dynamics in mC5a, hC5a and in its point mutants, including the proteolytic mutant des-Arg74-hC5a. Prima facie, the comparative molecular dynamics study, over total 500 ns, identifies Arg74-Tyr23 and Arg37-Phe51 “cation-π” pairs as the molecular “allosteric switches” on hC5a that potentially functions as a damper of C5aR signaling.
Estimating the Benefits of New Products

A major challenge facing statistical agencies is the problem of adjusting price and quantity indexes for changes in the availability of commodities. This problem arises in the scanner data context as products in a commodity stratum appear and disappear in retail outlets. Hicks suggested a reservation price methodology for dealing with this problem in the context of the economic approach to index number theory. Hausman used a linear approximation to the demand curve to compute the reservation price, while Feenstra used a reservation price of infinity for a CES demand curve, which will lead to higher gains. The present paper evaluates these approaches, comparing the CES gains to those obtained using a quadratic utility function using scanner data on frozen juice products. We find that the CES gains from new frozen juice products are about five times greater than those obtained using the quadratic utility function.
Fighting Fire with Gasoline: CoCos in Lieu of Equity

This paper studies the implication of contingent debt (CoCo) on banks' optimal investment policy. CoCo is found to mitigate the standard debt-overhang problem when used to finance investment. On the other hand, having contingent debt outstanding prior to investment leads to the delay of investment via two channels: increased debt-overhang owning to the fact that contingent debt is riskier than standard debt and dilution cost associated with the conversion of contingent debt. The paper argues that CoCo, as a new regulatory tool which is meant to increase banks' stability, can negatively affect banks' incentives to invest.