Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tests of the Ohlson Model in Thailand: A Fractional Cointegration Approach

This paper checks for validity of the residual income model of Ohlson (1995) for the companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand between 1992 and 2015. In particular, we test whether there is long-run relationship between market value, book value and residual incomes. Using standard cointegration, we find that on 30.61 percent of the sample firms have long-run relationship. Nevertheless, once fractional cointegration is applied, the evidence of long-run relationship increases to 79.59 percent of the sample firms. Therefore, our results support the Ohlson model in which book value and residual income could be used as the long-term fundamental variables that determined the equity market value. However, both book values and residual incomes are highly persistent and hence the adjustment process toward the long-run equilibrium is very slow.
Cigarette side-stream smoke lung and bladder carcinogenesis: inducing mutagenic acrolein-DNA adducts, inhibiting DNA repair and enhancing anchorage-independent-growth cell transformation

Second-hand smoke (SHS) is associated with 20–30% of cigarette-smoke related diseases, including cancer. Majority of SHS (>80%) originates from side-stream smoke (SSS). Compared to mainstream smoke, SSS contains more tumorigenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and acrolein (Acr). We assessed SSS-induced benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)- and cyclic propano-deoxyguanosine (PdG) adducts in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), lung, heart, liver, and bladder-mucosa from mice exposed to SSS for 16 weeks. In SSS exposed mice, Acr-dG adducts were the major type of PdG adducts formed in BAL (p < 0.001), lung (p < 0.05), and bladder mucosa (p < 0.001), with no significant accumulation of Acr-dG adducts in heart or liver. SSS exposure did not enhance BPDE-DNA adduct formation in any of these tissues. SSS exposure reduced nucleotide excision repair (p < 0.01) and base excision repair (p < 0.001) in lung tissue. The levels of DNA repair proteins, XPC and hOGG1, in lung tissues of exposed mice were significantly (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05) lower than the levels in lung tissues of control mice. We found that Acr can transform human bronchial epithelial and urothelial cells in vitro. We propose that induction of mutagenic Acr-DNA adducts, inhibition of DNA repair, and induction of cell transformation are three mechanisms by which SHS induces lung and bladder cancers.
Subcarrier weighting: a method for sidelobe suppression in OFDM systems

In this letter, a method for sidelobe suppression in OFDM systems is proposed and investigated. The proposed method is based on the multiplication of the used subcarriers with subcarrier weights. The subcarrier weights are determined in such a way that the sidelobes of the transmission signal are minimized according to an optimization algorithm which allows several optimization constraints. As a result, sidelobe suppression by subcarrier weighting reduces OFDM sidelobes by more than 10 dB in the average without requiring the transmission of any side information
Reversibly controlling preferential protein adsorption on bone implants by using an applied weak potential as a switch.

A facile method is needed to control the protein adsorption onto biomaterials, such as, bone implants. Herein we doped taurocholic acid (TCA), an amphiphilic biomolecule, into an array of 1D nano-architectured polypyrrole (NAPPy) on the implants. Doping TCA enabled the implant surface to show reversible wettability between 152° (superhydrophobic, switch-on state) and 55° (hydrophilic, switch-off state) in response to periodically switching two weak electrical potentials (+0.50 and -0.80 V as a switch-on and switch-off potential, respectively). The potential-switchable reversible wettability, arising from the potential-tunable orientation of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic face of TCA, led to potential-switchable preferential adsorption of proteins as well as cell adhesion and spreading. This potential-switchable strategy may open up a new avenue to control the biological activities on the implant surface.
Direct model predictive control for medium voltage modular multi-level STATCOM with and without energy storage

Static reactive power compensators or STATCOM devices are well known as equipment for controlling the power flow in transmission grids. However, the evolution of distribution grids is calling for similar function adapted to the distribution level. Besides handling the major differences between distribution and transmission systems, with the smart grid vision of the future distribution grids; flexibility, accessibility and open modular equipment are main features of future distribution STATCOMs. This paper proposes the direct model predictive control (D-MPC) as a tool for achieving all the above keywords. D-MPC is simple, easily upgradable and can be easily adapted to facilitate the integration of different active devices at the distribution level. In this paper, D-MPC is implemented for the internal and external control of distribution STATCOMs having modular multilevel designs. It is shown that it is possible to control both active (using energy storage) or reactive power flow at the grid with the same simple control approach in addition to balancing the DC voltage of all modules.
Trends in utilization of agro-industrial byproducts for production of bacteriocins and their biopreservative applications

Abstract Bacteriocins are proteinaceous, ribosomally synthesized bio-molecules having major roles in food preservation due to their antimicrobial action against food spoilage microorganisms. These have gained importance in the last decades because of increasing interest in natural products and their applications in the field of biopreservation, pharmaceutical, aquaculture, livestock, etc. Their production is quite expensive which includes the cost of synthetic media and downstream processing of which 30% of the total production cost relies on synthetic media and nutritional supplements used for growth of microorganisms. The low cost agro-industrial by-products, rich in nutritional supplements, can act as a good substitute for high valued synthetic media. This review provides comprehensive information on the use of cost effective, renewable agro-industrial by-products as substrates for the production of bacteriocins and their application in food as biopreservatives.
A Miniaturized Ground Edge Current Choke—Design, Measurement, and Applications

We propose a miniaturized microwave current choke for blocking the current flowing along the edge of a substrate's ground plane. The proposed current choke is composed of a printed inductor and a printed capacitor, which possesses a size much smaller than a conventional quarter-wavelength current choke. By introducing the choke at one side of the ground plane, an effective electrical open circuit is performed for reflecting the ground edge current. The size of the proposed ground edge current choke (GECC) is as small as around 0.06 wavelength in free space. Two applications of the GECC are presented in this paper. The first is the radiation pattern regulation of a printed monopole antenna with long ground plane. The GECC in this application reflects the induced traveling-wave current along the ground plane edge and changes it to a standing-wave one, thus regulating the tilted radiation pattern due to the traveling-wave current to a broadside pattern. The other application is the decoupling of two nearby monopole antennas. By placing the proposed compact GECC in between the antennas, it is found that the isolation between the antenna ports can be enhanced from 8 dB to 32 dB. The experimental results agree well with the simulation, which demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed GECC.
Design and Baseline Characteristics of an Observational Study in Japanese Patients with Hypertension: Japan Hypertension Evaluation with Angiotensin II Antagonist Losartan Therapy (J-HEALTH)

The Japan Hypertension Evaluation with Angiotensin II Antagonist Losartan Therapy (J-HEALTH) study is a nationwide, prospective, multicenter observational study that was designed to enroll hypertensive Japanese patients (>30,000 subjects). The patients in this study received treatment with open-label losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, for a maximum of 5 years. This report summarizes the study protocol and the baseline characteristics of the patients. Between June 2000 and May 2002, patients were screened in all 47 prefectures around Japan. Among the 31,515 patients screened, 31,048 patients were enrolled in this study and treated with losartan at a daily dose of 25–50 mg. These patients were 62.4±12.1 years old (mean±SD) and the mean clinic systolic/diastolic blood pressure (BP) values were 165.3±17.3/94.3±11.7 mmHg (mean±SD). The complications of hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease were also present in 38.5%, 13.1%, 8.0%, and 4.4% of patients, respectively. Regarding the World Health Organization classification, grade 2 hypertension was most frequent in this patient cohort. Nearly 10,000 patients agreed to perform home BP monitoring and report details regarding their lifestyles at baseline. Among the patients, 4.2% had white coat hypertension at the baseline. The J-HEALTH study is expected to provide valuable information about the significance of clinic and home BP control and home BP monitoring for the management of hypertension in Japanese patients.
Age-Related Difference in Melodic Pitch Perception Is Probably Mediated by Temporal Processing: Empirical and Computational Evidence

Objective: This study was designed to examine whether age-related differences in melodic pitch perception may be mediated by temporal processing. Temporal models of pitch suggest that performance will decline as the lowest component of a complex tone increases in frequency, regardless of age. In addition, if there are age-related deficits in temporal processing in older adults, this group may have reduced performance relative to younger adults even in the most favorable conditions. Design: Six younger adults and 10 older adults with clinically normal audiograms up to 8 kHz were tested in a melodic pitch perception task. In each trial, two consecutive four-note melodies were presented to the listener. Melodies were identical with the exception of one note in the second melody that was shifted in pitch. The listener was required to identify which note was shifted. All notes consisted of eight successive harmonic components, with the average lowest component manipulated to be the 4th, 8th, or 12th component of the harmonic series, with lower components being absent. Results: Age-related differences in melodic pitch perception were only apparent when stimulus parameters favored temporal processing of pitch. Furthermore, modeling a loss of periodicity coding yielded an outcome consistent with the observed behavioral results. Although younger adults generally outperformed older adults, about one-quarter of the older adults performed at levels that were equivalent to those of younger adults. The only follow-up tests that were able to differentiate these exceptional older adults were tests that would be sensitive to temporal processing: Fundamental frequency difference limens and 500 Hz pure-tone difference limens. In contrast, otoacoustic emissions and high-frequency pure-tone thresholds, which are more commonly associated with spectral processing deficits, were not able to differentiate older exceptional adults from older typical adults. Conclusion: Age-related declines in temporal processing contribute to deficits in melodic pitch perception. However, some exceptional older adults with normal audiograms preserve excellent temporal processing and continue to perform at levels that are typical of younger adults.
Throughput in the UCT Actuarial Science programme: a microcosm of the profession’s transformation challenge

We employ survival analysis to investigate throughput rates, and certain demographic and educational factors that exert a significant influence on them, in the Actuarial Science programme at the University of Cape Town. The results contextualise the huge transformation challenge facing the profession, and also point to some of the features of the educational landscape which have the power to overcome them.Keywords: Throughput; transformation; actuarial profession; higher education; University of Cape Town
Fossil Homo femur from Berg Aukas, northern Namibia.

The proximal half of a hominid femur was recovered from deep within a paleokarst feature at the Berg Aukas mine, northern Namibia. The femur is fully mineralized, but it is not possible to place it in geochronological context. It has a very large head, an exceptionally thick diaphyseal cortex, and a very low collodiaphyseal angle, which serve to differentiate it from Holocene homologues. The femur is not attributable to Australopithecus, Paranthropus, or early Homo (i.e., H. habilis sensu lato). Homo erectus femora have a relatively longer and AP flatter neck, and a shaft that exhibits less pilaster than the Berg Aukas specimen. Berg Aukas also differs from early modern femora in several features, including diaphyseal cortical thickness and the degree of subtrochanteric AP flattening. The massive diaphyseal cortex of Berg Aukas finds its closest similarity within archaic H. sapiens (e.g., Castel di Guido) and H. erectus (e.g., KNM-ER 736) samples. It has more cortical bone at midshaft than any other specimen, although relative cortical thickness and the asymmetry of its cross-sectional disposition at this level are comparable with those of other Pleistocene femora. The closest morphological comparisons with Berg Aukas are in archaic (i.e., Middle Pleistocene) H. sapiens and Neandertal samples.
The Haemophilus influenzae Hia autotransporter harbours two adhesive pockets that reside in the passenger domain and recognize the same host cell receptor

Haemophilus influenzae is a human‐specific pathogen and a major source of morbidity worldwide. Infection with this organism begins with colonization of the nasopharynx, a process that probably depends on adherence to respiratory epithelium. The Hia autotransporter protein is the major adhesin ex‐pressed by a subset of non‐typeable H. influenzae strains and promotes high‐level adherence to a variety of human epithelial cell lines. In the current study, we discovered that the Hia passenger domain contains two distinct binding pockets, including one at the C‐terminal end and a second at the N‐terminal end. Competition assays revealed that the two binding pockets interact with the same host cell receptor structure, although with differing affinities. Additional experiments demonstrated that both binding domains are required for full‐level bacterial adherence. These observations are reminiscent of eukaryotic cell adhesion molecules and highlight the first example of a bacterial adhesin with two domains that participate in a bivalent interaction with identical host cell receptors. Such an interaction increases avidity, thus stabilizing bacterial adherence to the epithelial surface, despite physical forces such as coughing, sneezing and mucociliary clearance.
Non-invasive assessment of equine bone: an update.

This paper summarizes traditional and current methods of non-invasive assessment of bone in the horse. The description and potential clinical utility of two non-invasive technologies with major development in the last decade are presented, namely, (1) serum biochemical markers for bone turnover and (2) quantitative ultrasound. Serum biochemical markers of bone formation valid in horses are osteocalcin, carboxy-terminal peptide of type I procollagen and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase. The cross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen c-telopeptides of type I collagen and total deoxypyridinoline are the serum markers for bone degradation. These markers respond more rapidly to skeletal changes than other bone assessment techniques, but ideally each horse needs to be compared with itself. Quantitative ultrasound is radiation free and is a well-tolerated technique for measuring bone properties in horses. This device allows bone speed of sound measurements at various sites using the axial transmission mode along the cortex and gives information about stiffness, architecture, porosity and bone mass.A combination of different non-invasive assessment techniques is recommended for the evaluation of bone biphasic modelling-remodelling activity and the mineral phase with its architecture. The potential clinical and research use of these techniques is considered.
Premature Terminal Differentiation Protects from Deregulated Lymphocyte Activation by ITK-Syk

The development of hematopoietic neoplasms is often associated with mutations, altered gene expression or chromosomal translocations. Recently, the t(5, 9)(q33;q22) translocation was found in a subset of peripheral T cell lymphomas and was shown to result in an IL-2–inducible kinase–spleen tyrosine kinase (ITK-Syk) fusion transcript. In this study, we show that T cell–specific expression of the ITK-Syk oncogene in mice leads to an early onset and aggressive polyclonal T cell lymphoproliferation with concomitant B cell expansion and systemic inflammation by 7–9 wk of age. Because this phenotype is strikingly different from previous work showing that ITK-Syk expression causes clonal T cell lymphoma by 20–27 wk of age, we investigated the underlying molecular mechanism in more detail. We show that the reason for the severe phenotype is the lack of B-lymphocyte–induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1) induction by low ITK-Syk expression. In contrast, high ITK-Syk oncogene expression induces terminal T cell differentiation in the thymus by activating Blimp-1, thereby leading to elimination of oncogene-expressing cells early in development. Our data suggest that terminal differentiation is an important mechanism to prevent oncogene-expressing cells from malignant transformation, as high ITK-Syk oncogene activity induces cell elimination. Accordingly, for transformation, a specific amount of oncogene is required, or alternatively, the induction of terminal differentiation is defective.
Social in, Social out: How the Brain Responds to Social Language with More Social Language

Social connection is a fundamental human need. As such, people's brains are sensitized to social cues, such as those carried by language, and to promoting social communication. The neural mechanisms of certain key building blocks in this process, such as receptivity to and reproduction of social language, however, are not known. We combined quantitative linguistic analysis and neuroimaging to connect neural activity in brain regions used to simulate the mental states of others with exposure to, and retransmission of, social language. Our results link findings on successful idea transmission from communication science, sociolinguistics, and cognitive neuroscience to prospectively predict the degree of social language that participants utilize when retransmitting ideas as a function of (1) initial language inputs and (2) neural activity during idea exposure.
Investigation of the cingulate cortex in idiopathic generalized epilepsy

Studies using quantitative neuroimaging have shown subtle abnormalities in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). These findings have several locations, but the midline parasagittal structures are most commonly implicated. The cingulate cortex is related and may be involved. The objective of the current investigation was to perform a comprehensive analysis of the cingulate cortex using multiple quantitative structural neuroimaging techniques.
Hepatic stellate cells uptake of retinol associated with retinol‐binding protein or with bovine serum albumin

Retinol is stored in liver, and the dynamic balance between its accumulation and mobilization is regulated by hepatic stellate cells (HSC). Representing less than 1% total liver protein, HSC can reach a very high intracellular retinoid (vitamin‐A and its metabolites) concentration, which elicits their conversion from the myofibroblast to the fat‐storing lipocyte phenotype. Circulating retinol is associated with plasma retinol‐binding protein (RBP) or bovine serum albumin (BSA). Here we have used the in vitro model of GRX cells to compare incorporation and metabolism of BSA versus RBP associated [3H]retinol in HSC. We have found that lipocytes, but not myofibroblasts, expressed a high‐affinity membrane receptor for RBP–retinol complex (KD = 4.93 nM), and both cell types expressed a low‐affinity one (KD = 234 nM). The RBP–retinol complex, but not the BSA‐delivered retinol, could be dislodged from membranes by treatments that specifically disturb protein–protein interactions (high RBP concentrations). Under both conditions, treatments that disturb the membrane lipid layer (detergent, cyclodextrin) released the membrane‐bound retinol. RBP‐delivered retinol was found in cytosol, microsomal fraction and, as retinyl esters, in lipid droplets, while albumin‐delivered retinol was mainly associated with membranes. Disturbing the clathrin‐mediated endocytosis did not interfere with retinol uptake. Retinol derived from the holo‐RBP complex was differentially incorporated in lipocytes and preferentially reached esterification sites close to lipid droplets through a specific intracellular traffic route. This direct influx pathway facilitates the retinol uptake into HSC against the concentration gradients, and possibly protects cell membranes from undesirable and potentially noxious high retinol concentrations. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Native AVP Control Method for Constant Output Impedance of DC Power Converters

A variety of different control methods have been reported to achieve adaptive voltage position (AVP). In this paper, a new control method NAVP (native adaptive voltage positioning) was proposed and implemented. It features good performances in phase-current sharing, transient response and DC output voltage regulation. Discussions about compensator design for this method is also included. Simulations results and silicon implementation of this control method verified the concept.
A Gain Boosting Array Technique for Weakly-Coupled Wireless Power Transfer

Wireless power transfer using near-field inductive coupling is the predominating technology to power up wireless devices such as radio frequency identification tags, sensors, and medical implants. Miniaturization is a new key requirement for the application in the internet of things and implantable medical devices. Realization of efficient RF power transfer using conventional techniques based on 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz is difficult, mainly due to the relatively large wavelength in these bands. On the other hand, conventional inductive coupling is very inefficient as the device becomes very small, limited by the small coupling factor and operating frequency. In this paper, we utilize a multicoil transmitting (Tx) array to power up very small receiving (Rx) devices in the near field by boosting the power gain to a much higher level. The power gain boosting is achieved by operating the array close to its self-resonance frequency and optimizing the phase relationship of the array elements. To validate the proposed technique, we implemented a prototype printed circuit board (PCB) to power a 1 cm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times$</tex-math></inline-formula> 1 cm small Rx coil at a distance of 20 cm. To demonstrate the improvement on power gain, we designed a 3 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times$</tex-math></inline-formula> 3 Tx coil array composed of nine 3 cm <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times$</tex-math></inline-formula> 3 cm elements, as well as an individual large Tx coil with the same dimension of the array for fair comparison. Measured results show that the transducer power gain can be increased by 16.4 dB with the proposed technique.