Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Ultra-Low-Power Analog-Digital Hybrid CNN Face Recognition Processor Integrated with a CIS for Always-on Mobile Devices

An ultra-low-power analog-digital hybrid always-on face recognition (FR) processor integrated with a CMOS image sensor (CIS) is proposed for the wearable mobile devices applications such as user authentication. The proposed processor is the first IC with full process of FR in a single chip. The processor adopts analog-digital hybrid convolution operation for efficient integration of CNN processor with CIS. The analog convolution processor is proposed for the computation of the 1st layer of CNN and the quantization operation without an ADC that can achieve 15.7% power reduction with 1.3% minimal accuracy loss. In addition, the analog weighted-sum unit with low power (< 20μW) and high efficiency (> 5.18TOPS/W) is proposed with switched-drain regulation (SDR) current mirror which can achieve less than 6% mirroring error. The processor is simulated in 65-nm CMOS technology, 15.84mm2 area with 2.5V and 1.2V for analog domain and 0.77–1.1V for digital domain. It consumes 0.6198mW to evaluate one face at 1 fps and achieves 96.18% FR accuracy in LFW dataset.
Is Greece Heading For a Recovery

With the anti-austerity Syriza party continuing to lead in polls ahead of Greece's election on January 25, what is the outlook for restoring growth and increasing employment following six years of deep recession? Despite some timid signs of recovery, notably in the tourism sector, recent short-term indicators still show a decline for 2014. Our analysis shows that the speed of a market-driven recovery would be insufficient to address the urgent problems of poverty and unemployment. And the protracted austerity required to service Greece's sovereign debt would merely ensure the continuation of a national crisis, with spillover effects to the rest of the eurozone--especially now, when the region is vulnerable to another recession and a prolonged period of Japanese-style price deflation. Using the Levy Institute's macroeconometric model for Greece, we evaluate the impact of policy alternatives aimed at stimulating the country's economy without endangering its current account, including capital transfers from the European Union, suspension of interest payments on public debt and use of these resources to boost demand and employment, and a New Deal plan using public funds to target investment in production growth and finance a direct job creation program.
Liver growth factor treatment reverses vascular and plasmatic oxidative stress in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Background: Liver growth factor (LGF) is an albumin–bilirubin complex with antioxidant actions in vitro. In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), short LGF treatment exerts antihypertensive and antifibrotic effects. Method: We aimed to determine if LGF treatment (4 i.p. injections, 4.5 &mgr;g/rat over 12 days) reduces oxidative stress in SHRs using Wistar–Kyoto (WKY) as control strain. We assessed the following: plasma oxidative stress biomarkers [protein-bound malondialdehyde (MDA); protein carbonyls and advanced glycation end products (AGEs)]; superoxide anion basal production in carotid artery-derived vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) detected by dihydroethidium and confocal microscopy; and expression (western blot) and activities (spectroscopic methods) of NADPH and xanthine oxidases, CuZn, Mn and extracellular superoxide dismutases (SODs) and catalase in carotid arteries. Results: LGF treatment had the following effects: reversed the increase in plasma MDA and protein carbonyls and VSMC superoxide anion levels observed in SHRs, without any effect on WKY strain; reversed the alterations in SHR vascular p22phox expression as well as NADPH oxidase, xanthine oxidase and catalase activities; had no effect on vascular CuZn-SOD and Mn-SOD expression or total SOD activity; and reversed the elevation in SHR vascular glycated/free extracellular-SOD expression ratio and plasma glucose without changes in plasma AGEs. Conclusion: LGF treatment of SHRs normalizes the level of plasma oxidative stress biomarkers through a reduction of vascular superoxide anion produced by NADPH and xanthine oxidases. These effects might be linked to the cardiovascular regenerative actions of LGF.
Persistent versus transient tree encroachment of temperate peat bogs: effects of climate warming and drought events

Peatlands store approximately 30% of global soil carbon, most in moss‐dominated bogs. Future climatic changes, such as changes in precipitation patterns and warming, are expected to affect peat bog vegetation composition and thereby its long‐term carbon sequestration capacity. Theoretical work suggests that an episode of rapid environmental change is more likely to trigger transitions to alternative ecosystem states than a gradual, but equally large, change in conditions. We used a dynamic vegetation model to explore the impacts of drought events and increased temperature on vegetation composition of temperate peat bogs. We analyzed the consequences of six patterns of summer drought events combined with five temperature scenarios to test whether an open peat bog dominated by moss (Sphagnum) could shift to a tree‐dominated state. Unexpectedly, neither a gradual decrease in the amount of summer precipitation nor the occurrence of a number of extremely dry summers in a row could shift the moss‐dominated peat bog permanently into a tree‐dominated peat bog. The increase in tree biomass during drought events was unable to trigger positive feedbacks that keep the ecosystem in a tree‐dominated state after a return to previous ‘normal’ rainfall conditions. In contrast, temperature increases from 1 °C onward already shifted peat bogs into tree‐dominated ecosystems. In our simulations, drought events facilitated tree establishment, but temperature determined how much tree biomass could develop. Our results suggest that under current climatic conditions, peat bog vegetation is rather resilient to drought events, but very sensitive to temperature increases, indicating that future warming is likely to trigger persistent vegetation shifts.
Dominant frequency analysis of EEG reveals brain's response during injury and recovery

A new method of monitoring and analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals during brain injury is presented, EEG signals are modeled using the autoregressive (AR) technique to obtain the frequencies where there are peaks in the spectrum. The powers at these dominant frequencies are analyzed to reveal the state of brain injury during an experimental study involving progressive hypoxia, asphyxia, and recovery. Neonatal piglets (n=8) were exposed to a sequence of 30 min of hypoxia (10% oxygen), 5 min of room air, and 7 min of asphyxia. They then received cardiopulmonary resuscitation and were subsequently monitored for 4 h. An optimal AR model order of 6 was obtained for these data, resulting in 3 dominant frequencies. These dominant frequencies, referred to as the low, medium, and high frequency components, fell in the bands 1.0-5.5 Hz, 9.0-14.0 Hz, and 18.0-21.0 Hz, respectively. A remarkable feature of the authors' data is the spectral dispersion, or diverging trends in the 3 frequency bands. During hypoxia, the relative powers of the medium and high-frequency components of EEG increased up to 160% and 176%, from their respective baseline values. During the first minute of asphyxia the medium- and high-frequency powers (relative to baseline) increased by 280-400%. The power in all 3 frequency components went down to nearly zero within 40-80 s of asphyxia. During recovery, the phenomenon of burst-suppression was clearly exhibited in the low-frequency component. A new index, called mean normalized separation, representing the degree of disproportionality in the recovery of powers of the 3 dominant components relative to their mean recovered power, is presented as a possible single indicator of electrical function recovery. In conclusion, dominant frequency analysis helps reveal the brain's graded electrical response to injury and recovery.
Variations in the management of primary care: effect on cost in an HMO network.

OBJECTIVE To determine the relation to cost of different aspects of the management of primary care among group practices within a health maintenance organization network. MEASURES A cross-sectional survey study of medical practices conducted with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, St Paul. The subjects were group practices accepting financial and administrative responsibility for primary care services in the managed care plans of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. One hundred twelve primary care practices and 153397 enrollees were included in this analysis. The principal resource use measure in this study was nonhospital cost per member per year estimated from payments to providers plus subscriber-eligible liability. RESULTS The medical directors' responses revealed considerable variability in the management of primary care in these 112 practices. Group practice characteristics consistently associated with lower nonhospital cost were patient identification of a primary care physician, cost of care profiling, more frequent physician profiling, more patients per hour in the clinic, a higher proportion of primary care physicians in the specialty of family or general practice, and a greater number of physicians in the group practice. CONCLUSIONS Results of this study demonstrate substantial variation in the management of primary care among group practices participating in a health maintenance organization network. These differences are associated with significant variation in the nonhospital cost of care for enrollees.
Oil Price And Real Exchange Rate: The Case Of India

This paper studies the effect of oil price change on the real exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar. For that, a model is developed which is based on a monetary model of exchange rate which incorporates the real GDP, real money balances, and the interest rates of both the home and foreign country and the real price of the crude oil. Quarterly time series data from 1996 to 2012 is used. Before estimating the model, the time series properties of the data are diagnosed in order to ensure the stationarity of the data. The data series are found to be integrated of order one and the null hypothesis of no cointegration is rejected. Therefore an error correction model is developed and estimated. The estimated results suggest that there is no detectable effect of oil price change on the real exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar.
Should Dopamine Agonists be Given Early or Late in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease?

ABSTRACT The long term consequences of the use of a dopamine agonist, bromocriptine, in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease are reported. In a first study in 82 patients showing late side effects of levodopa, bromocriptine permitted a significant decrease of the gastro-intestinal adverse effects. In contrast, no significant improvement of end of dose deterioration from levodopa was noted. In cases where levodopa had ceased to be active, bromocriptine produced an improvement in the clinical state. The drug was ineffective in the very advanced stages of the disease or in the cases of dyskinesias without “on-off” effects. Bromocriptine did not significantly improve freezing or “on-off” effects, but reduced other side effects of levodopa, in particular dystonia. In a second group of 29 patients who had never received levodopa treatment, bromocriptine was shown to be very effective as a first treatment of the disease. The most important finding was the absence of long term side effects similar to those usually observed under levodopa: in this group and in comparison with 38 patients taking levodopa, dyskinesia, dystonia, oscillations in performance and especially “on-off” effects were not noted. However, a partial loss of efficacy of bromocriptine was observed in 27% of cases. In a third group of 10 patients, bromocriptine introduced according to a low and slow protocol was found to be active in a limited number of patients only.
Tetrahydrobiopterin shows chaperone activity for tyrosine hydroxylase

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate‐limiting enzyme in the synthesis of catecholamine neurotransmitters. Primary inherited defects in TH have been associated with l‐DOPA responsive and non‐responsive dystonia and infantile parkinsonism. In this study, we show that both the cofactor (6R)‐l‐erythro‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) and the feedback inhibitor and catecholamine product dopamine increase the kinetic stability of human TH isoform 1 in vitro. Activity measurements and synthesis of the enzyme by in vitro transcription–translation revealed a complex regulation by the cofactor including both enzyme inactivation and conformational stabilization. Oral BH4 supplementation to mice increased TH activity and protein levels in brain extracts, while the Th‐mRNA level was not affected. All together our results indicate that the molecular mechanisms for the stabilization are a primary folding‐aid effect of BH4 and a secondary effect by increased synthesis and binding of catecholamine ligands. Our results also establish that orally administered BH4 crosses the blood–brain barrier and therapeutic regimes based on BH4 supplementation should thus consider the effect on TH. Furthermore, BH4 supplementation arises as a putative therapeutic agent in the treatment of brain disorders associated with TH misfolding, such as for the human TH isoform 1 mutation L205P.
Financial Statement Comparability and Debt Contracting: Evidence from the Syndicated Loan Market

SYNOPSIS: In this study, we examine whether and how borrowing firms' financial statement comparability affects the contracting features of syndicated loans. Using a sample of loans issued by U.S. public firms in the syndicated loan market over the period 1992–2008, we find strong and robust evidence that financial statement comparability is negatively associated with loan spread and the likelihood of pledging collateral, and positively associated with loan maturity and the likelihood of including performance pricing provisions in loan contracts. We also find that borrowing firms with greater financial statement comparability are able to complete the loan syndication process more swiftly, form loan syndicates enabling the lead lenders to retain smaller percentages of loan shares, and attract a greater number of lenders and, particularly, a greater number of uninformed participating lenders. Altogether, these findings are consistent with the view that financial statement comparability plays an important rol.
Overexpression of MYC and BCL2 Predicts Poor Prognosis in Patients with Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma, Nasal Type

Background: Recently double-hit lymphoma or double protein expressor lymphoma has been identified as a distinct group of diffuse large B cell lymphoma with poor prognosis. However, the expression status, clinical and prognostic effect of combined overexpression of MYC and BCL2 in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL) are not known. Materials and methods: Paraffin-embedded lymphoma samples from 53 patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL were studied using immunohistochemistry for MYC and BCL2, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for MYC and BCL2 were done on 5 tissue sections with highest percentages of both MYC and BCL2 positive lymphoma cells. Results: The median percentage of MYC-positive lymphoma cells and BCL2-positive lymphoma cells were 20% (range, 5%-45%) and 70% (10%-95%), respectively. Using median scores as cutoffs, we assigned each patient an IHC double-hit score (DHS) that ranged from 0 to 2. Using this DHS, 15 patients (28.3%) had a DHS of 0, 24 patients (45.3%) had a DHS of 1, and the remaining 14 patients (26.4%) had a DHS of 2. FISH analysis was performed on 5 tissue sections with DHS of 2, and none of them had MYC or BCL2 rearrangement. The DHS was not associated with patients' age, gender, disease stage, LDH level, B symptoms, performance status, or local tumor invasiveness. However, patients with tumor localized in extranasal sites seemed to have higher expression of BCL2 and higher DHS than nasal lesions (p=0.014 and 0.042, respectively). In univariate survival analysis, either high expression of MYC or BCL2 was significantly correlated with inferior PFS and OS (p<0.05). According to the DHS, patients with ENKTL could be divided into three significantly different risk groups for PFS and OS (3-year PFS rate for DHS of 0, 1, and 2 was 60%, 41%, and 21%, respectively, p=0.008; 3-year OS rate for DHS of 0, 1, and 2 was 79%, 49%, and 33%, respectively, p=0.015). In multivariate survival analysis, it was found that DHS was an independent prognostic factor for both PFS and OS (p=0.006 and 0.011, respectively). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that DHS can help identify patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL who are at a high risk for a poor clinical outcome, which needs to be validated in prospective clinical trials with patients treated uniformly.
The topological orientation of N,N'-diacetylchitobiosylpyrophosphoryldolichol in artificial and natural membranes.

Purified N,N'-diacetylchitobiosylpyrophosphoryldolichol (chitobiosyl-lipid) in the presence of detergent was shown to act as a substrate for the soluble enzyme galactosyltransferase. The nature of this transfer reaction and the galactose-containing trisaccharide-lipid product have been partially characterized. Using galactosyltransferase as a probe, the topolical arrangement of chitobiosyl-lipid in both artificial and natural membranes has been examined. When incorporated into unilamellar liposomes made from phosphatidylcholine, the disaccharide residue of chitogiosyl-lipid adopts a random transbilayer orientation. Furthermore, no significant mobility in the transverse plane of the membrane (i.e. flip-flop) is detectable. Using both sealed total microsomes or isolated rough microsomes from hen oviduct, the topology of chitobiosyl-lipid after its biosynthesis in the membrane has been determined. The results suggest that, once formed, chitobiosyl-lipid is a relatively static component of the membrane and is oriented with its disaccharide residue facing the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum.
GaN Membrane Supported SAW Pressure Sensors With Embedded Temperature Sensing Capability

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of a GHz operating surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based pressure sensor on a 1.2-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-thin GaN membrane. Two types of interdigitated transducers are manufactured using electron beam nanolithography to obtain finger and interdigit spacing widths, one with 170 nm and the other 200-nm-half pitch. Micromachining techniques are used to obtain the 1.2-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-thin membrane. The resonance frequency shift of the SAW, the pressure sensitivity, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s_{p}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, as well as the pressure coefficient of frequency (PCF), were experimentally determined and analyzed, both for the Rayleigh as well as for the symmetrical Lamb propagation mode, in the 1 to 7 Bar pressure range. Record values for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$s_{p}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (up to 6 MHz/Bar) and PCF (up to 537 ppm/Bar) have been obtained, especially for the symmetrical Lamb propagation mode also due to the very high frequency operation (5–11.5 GHz). The effect of different orientations of the SAW device (in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\textrm {[1}\bar {\textrm {1}} \textrm {00]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\textrm {[11}\bar {\textrm {2}} \textrm {0]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> directions) on the frequency response and sensitivity is also analyzed. The possibility to determine simultaneously the pressure and the temperature with the same SAW structure operating as a dual sensor has been demonstrated.
Exporting the Greenhouse: Foreign Capital Penetration and CO? Emissions 19801996

This research examines the impact of foreign investment dependence on carbon dioxide emissions between 1980 and 1996. In a cross-national panel regression analysis of 66 less developed countries, we find that foreign capital penetration in 1980 has a significant positive effect on the growth of C0 2 emissions between 1980 and 1996. Domestic investment, however, has no systematic effect. We suggest several reasons for these findings. Foreign investment is more concentrated in those industries that require more energy. Second, transnational corporations may relocate highly polluting industries to countries with fewer environmental controls. Third, the movement of inputs and outputs resulting from the global dispersion of production over the past 30 years is likely to be more energy-expensive in countries with poorer infrastructure. Finally, power generation in the countries receiving foreign investment is considerably less efficient than within the countries of the core.
Histidine Decarboxylase Expression as a New Sensitive and Specific Marker for Small Cell Lung Carcinoma

Histidine decarboxylase is one of the enzymes of the amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation system and is known to be distributed in mast cells and enterochromaffin-like cells. With the hypothesis that histidine decarboxylase expression is a marker for neuroendocrine differentiation, we studied the immunoreactivity of histidine decarboxylase in neuroendocrine cells and tumors of the thyroid gland, adrenal medulla, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. Formalin-fixed paraffin sections were subjected to immunohistochemistry using anti-histidine decarboxylase antibody, and the sensitivity and specificity were compared with those of conventional neuroendocrine markers (CD56, chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and neuron-specific enolase). Enterochromaffin or enterochromaffin-like cells, adrenal chromaffin cells, and thyroid C-cells were positive for histidine decarboxylase, and related tumors (carcinoid tumor, pheochromocytoma, medullary carcinoma) showed a high percentage of positive staining. Furthermore, we used the antibody to distinguish small cell lung carcinoma from non-neuroendocrine lung carcinoma and also to detect neuroendocrine differentiation in large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and gastrointestinal small-cell carcinoma. The anti-histidine decarboxylase antibody stained most small cell lung carcinoma (18 of 23, sensitivity 0.78), and was rarely reactive with non-neuroendocrine lung tumors (2 of 44; specificity, 0.95). These values were close to those obtained from CD56 staining (sensitivity/specificity, 0.87/0.98). Histidine decarboxylase was also positive for 6 of 12 large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas and 4 of 7 gastrointestinal small cell carcinomas. In conclusion, we demonstrated that histidine decarboxylase is useful to distinguish between small cell lung carcinoma and non-neuroendocrine carcinoma and to demonstrate neuroendocrine differentiation.