Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unregistered Face Discrimination by the Face Orientation and Size Recognition

Emulating the parietal cortex, a "rotation and size spreading associative neural network" (RS-SAN net) was developed. Using the RS-SAN net, a new personal authentication method was proposed which was not influenced by the coplanar rotation and size changes of the input faces. The recognition characteristics of the RS-SAN net for both learned (familiar) and un-learned (unfamiliar) face images were investigated. The RS-SAN net had fairly good orientation and size recognition characteristics only for learned faces, but not for unlearned faces. The recognized orientation and size for unlearned faces were heavily dispersed from those of input face although the orientation and size for learned faces were concentrated around learned one. By using the unique characteristics of orientation and size recognition, new recognition method with the imposter detection using recognized orientation and size was developed. The experimental result obtained by new recognition method indicated the false acceptance rate drastically decreased. The imposter rejection method using recognized orientation and size provided the effective improvement of face recognition performance.
The versatility of free rectus femoris muscle flap: An alternative flap

In the 10‐year period from June 1985 to December 1994, 54 free rectus femoris muscle or musculocutaneous flaps were performed at our hospital. It has been one of the most frequently used free muscle flaps in our institution and forms 2% of all free tissue transfers (total, 2,769 cases). In 26 patients, it was used for large wound coverage following debridement or tumor ablation, and in 27 patients, as a functioning free muscle transplantation for brachial plexus palsy or traumatic muscle loss. In one patient the components of the deep aponeurosis, muscle, and overlying skin were used for reconstruction of an abdominal wall defect after neurilemmoma excision. There were two complete failures, one due to diabetic foot infection and one due to venous occlusion. Four had superficial marginal skin necrosis. No significant disability of the donor limb was encountered. Easy approach, rapid harvest, large and reliable overlying skin flap, a single dominant neurovascular pedicle (with large vessel diameter and long motor nerve), easy primary closure of the donor site, and minimal donor site morbidity all make the rectus femoris flap a good alternative flap for free tissue transfer, in addition to the gracilis, rectus abdominis, and latissimus dorsi muscle flap. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Arabidopsis Tail-Anchored Protein PEROXISOMAL AND MITOCHONDRIAL DIVISION FACTOR1 Is Involved in the Morphogenesis and Proliferation of Peroxisomes and Mitochondria[C][W]

PMD1 was identified as a novel plant-specific coiled-coil protein that is tail anchored to the membrane of peroxisomes and mitochondria, capable of inducing the proliferation of both organelles. Its homolog, PMD2, exclusively targets to mitochondria and is involved in the morphogenesis of mitochondria. Peroxisomes and mitochondria are multifunctional eukaryotic organelles that are not only interconnected metabolically but also share proteins in division. Two evolutionarily conserved division factors, dynamin-related protein (DRP) and its organelle anchor FISSION1 (FIS1), mediate the fission of both peroxisomes and mitochondria. Here, we identified and characterized a plant-specific protein shared by these two types of organelles. The Arabidopsis thaliana PEROXISOMAL and MITOCHONDRIAL DIVISION FACTOR1 (PMD1) is a coiled-coil protein tethered to the membranes of peroxisomes and mitochondria by its C terminus. Null mutants of PMD1 contain enlarged peroxisomes and elongated mitochondria, and plants overexpressing PMD1 have an increased number of these organelles that are smaller in size and often aggregated. PMD1 lacks physical interaction with the known division proteins DRP3 and FIS1; it is also not required for DRP3’s organelle targeting. Affinity purifications pulled down PMD1’s homolog, PMD2, which exclusively targets to mitochondria and plays a specific role in mitochondrial morphogenesis. PMD1 and PMD2 can form homo- and heterocomplexes. Organelle targeting signals reside in the C termini of these proteins. Our results suggest that PMD1 facilitates peroxisomal and mitochondrial proliferation in a FIS1/DRP3-independent manner and that the homologous proteins PMD1 and PMD2 perform nonredundant functions in organelle morphogenesis.
The Entrepreneurial State: The German Entrepreneurial Regions’ Programme as an Attenuator for the Financial Crisis

The financial crisis encourages governments to identify innovation programmes that had proven successful in contributing to regional resilience. In this context, the federal programme Innovative, Regional Growth Core (Innovative Regional Growth Core, IRGC) developed under the umbrella of the Entrepreneurial Regions Programme Portfolio (ERP) (Based on a formative evaluation of the BMBF programme “IRGC” in the context of the ERP and 18 clusters in different funding stages (ex post funding stage after 3 years, funded and cluster in the proposal stage) running from 2003 to 2005. See Gebhardt et al. 2005, Endbericht der Evaluation des BMBF—“Innovative Regionale Wachstumskerne” 2003–2005. Report to the BMBF. ) of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) deserves new consideration for its contribution to regional robustness. IRGC was designed as a crisis recovery tool to jump start East German economy after reunification. Since 2001, the programme has continuously generated a moderate number of new firms, spin-offs from universities and enhanced employment as well as private investments in the politically induced clusters, which have also shown a relatively stable development even in the economic downturn of the recent financial crisis. As a new programmatic feature, the BMBF demands a well-grounded market-oriented strategy from the regional consortia aiming at developing innovative and economically successful products from science. The German innovation programme IRGC illustrates the shift in innovation policy from passive funder to active entrepreneur. Through this strategic approach, government plays an important role in inducing, encouraging and organizing knowledge-based economic development. We discuss how these policies can add to the viability and resilience of innovative clusters by encouraging them to build up management competences.
Market Timing Around the World

This article challenges existing studies of mutual fund market timing that have found little evidence to support timing ability. Using a sample of daily returns for 35 countries, Vidal, Vidal-Garcia, and Boubaker find that more than a third of mutual funds show significantly positive market timing ability across all countries. The authors demonstrate that using daily returns rather than monthly returns increases the number of significant estimates of timing ability, indicating that observation frequency is relevant when examining fund performance. They also find evidence for market timing in recessions and document that the effect of the business cycle on market timing is much stronger for extremely successful fund managers. Using a set of synthetic fund returns to control for spurious results, they show that the measured market timing is not a spurious statistical result.
The surface of articular cartilage contains a progenitor cell population

It is becoming increasingly apparent that articular cartilage growth is achieved by apposition from the articular surface. For such a mechanism to occur, a population of stem/progenitor cells must reside within the articular cartilage to provide transit amplifying progeny for growth. Here, we report on the isolation of an articular cartilage progenitor cell from the surface zone of articular cartilage using differential adhesion to fibronectin. This population of cells exhibits high affinity for fibronectin, possesses a high colony-forming efficiency and expresses the cell fate selector gene Notch 1. Inhibition of Notch signalling abolishes colony forming ability whilst activated Notch rescues this inhibition. The progenitor population also exhibits phenotypic plasticity in its differentiation pathway in an embryonic chick tracking system, such that chondroprogenitors can engraft into a variety of connective tissue types including bone, tendon and perimysium. The identification of a chondrocyte subpopulation with progenitor-like characteristics will allow for advances in our understanding of both cartilage growth and maintenance as well as provide novel solutions to articular cartilage repair.
Cyclical Adjustment in Fiscal Rules: Some Evidence on Real-Time Bias for Eu-15 Countries

Most EU member states will adopt fiscal rules that refer to cyclically-adjusted borrowing limits. Under the standard cyclical adjustment procedure, trend increases in public debt based on cyclical components are prevented if the real-time output gaps used to calculate cyclical components balance over time. We analyse real-time output gaps for EU-15 countries over the 1996-2011 period as estimated by the EU, the IMF and the OECD. Compared to each institution's final estimate, we find that real-time output gaps in our sample period are negatively biased. This bias is observed (i) irrespective of the source of the data, (ii) in all real-time vintages, (iii) basically across the entire cross-section of countries. The magnitude of the bias is considerable: on average, real-time cyclical components as a percentage of GDP are biased downwards by about 0.5 percentage point per year. Our results suggest that fiscal rules should incorporate ex-post checks of the unbiasedness of the cyclical components used within the rule. Potential biases would then decrease or increase future borrowing limits.
Trade, Law and Product Complexity

How does the quality of national institutions that enforce the rule of law influence international trade? Anderson and Marcouiller argue that bad institutions located in the importer's country deter international trade because they enable economic predators to steal and extort rents at the importer's border. We complement this research and show how good institutions located in the exporter's country enhance international trade, in particular, trade in complex products whose characteristics are difficult to fully specify in a contract. We argue that both exporter and importer institutions affect international as well as domestic transaction costs in complex and simple product markets. International transaction costs are a part of the costs of trade. Domestic transaction costs affect complex and simple products differently, thereby changing a country's comparative advantage in producing such goods.We find ample empirical evidence for these predictions: countries that have good institutions tend to export more complex products and import more simple products. Furthermore, institutions have a stronger influence on trade via production costs (comparative advantage) than through international transactions costs. International institutions seem to operate as substitutes for domestic institutions, because good domestic institutions are less important for promoting exports in those countries that have signed the New York Convention. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Owner‐Management, Firm Age, and Productivity in Italian Family Firms

Using total factor productivity as a measure of corporate performance, we find that Italian family‐run firms are less productive than firms run by outside managers and the result is robust to potential endogeneity of management regime. This difference tends to vanish when the age of the firms is taken into account. Also, when considering family‐owned firms only, there is no difference in performance between outside managers and family managers.
Nonlinear Effects of Debt on Investment: Evidence from Dutch Listed Firms

Abstract Nonlinear effects of debt on investment are investigated using an unbalanced panel of 94 Dutch listed nonfinancial firms during the period 1985–2000. Evidence shows that the nonlinear relation between debt and investment can be represented by a U curve, which contradicts the financial constraints theory. One possible explanation of the U curve relation between debt and investment may be the debt capital gain in the presence of inflation.
The hepato-protective potentials of Moringa oleifera leaf extract on alcohol-induced hepato-toxicity in wistar rat

Alcohol (ethanol) is presently reputed to the most cause of disease development in humans. The liver is the human organ that is most frequently challenged in alcohol abuse by oral route in a process that involves generation of reactive oxygen species. In this study we evaluated the liver histology, liver oxidative stress and the activities of liver biomarker enzymes to investigate the capabilities of polyphenolic antioxidant-rich Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract to ameliorate liver derangement caused by alcohol. Three groups of Wistar rats were constructed for the study; A control group that received peanut oil (the vehicle) 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally, for 56 days, after saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight daily, orally for 56 days. The Moringa oleifera--alone group that received physiological saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by Moringa oleifera leaf extract 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally for another 56 days. The alcohol-alone group was given alcohol 5 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily per oral for another 56 days. Finally, the alcohol plus Moringa oleifera group which were similarly given alcohol, but had Moringa oleifera 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral after alcohol for another 56 days. Our results demonstrated that post-treatment with Moringa oleifera leaf extract attenuated the liver morphological, functional and oxidative status changes mediated by alcohol ingestion.
Bank liquidity providing in a real synergy management under a cap-based valuation

Since banks often lend via commitments, their lending and deposit-taking may be two manifestations of one primitive function: the provision of liquidity on demand. We explore this function under a cap-based valuation. We find that (i) the strike price of the cap-based valuation increases the bank's liquid asset holdings by increasing its loan rate and loan commitment rate (with the strategic rate-adjustment complements) and decreases the bank's external finance need by increasing its deposit rate, when the bank realizes a less risky state of the world and (ii) the number of caplet days decreases the bank's liquid asset holdings by decreasing its loan rate and loan commitment rate (with the strategic rate-adjustment complements and the strategic timing substitutes) and increases the bank's external finance need by decreasing its deposit rate (with the strategic timing substitutes), when the bank realizes a more risky state. Our findings provide alternative explanations concerning the bank's liquidity function under the cap-based optimization.
Antiendomysium antibodies and coeliac disease: solved and unsolved questions. An Italian multicentre study

A total of 3783 subjects were enrolled to compare IgA and IgG gliadin antibodies (AGA) with IgA endomysium antibodies (EMA) in coeliac disease (CD). Among 688 children with untreated CD EM A were positive in 93.8%, IgA AGA in 84.9% and IgG AGA in 90.2%. AGA, but not EMA, sensitivity decreased with age. EMA were present in 3.8% of control subjects, IgA AGA in 14.9% and IgG AGA in 34.3%. Follow‐up of 5 of 39 EMA‐positive controls showed flat mucosa. Combined determination of EMA and AGA showed an increased predictive value: if EMA and AGA were both positive, the mucosa was flat in 99.1%, if both were negative, the mucosa was normal in 99.1%. After a gluten‐free diet (GFD), IgA‐AGA disappeared first. Among 21 patients not on a strict GFD and in 194 coeliac patients after challenge, EMA, but not AGA, were always positive. Among 67 first‐degree relatives of coeliacs, the positive predictive value of EMA was 90.6%, IgA AGA 74.3% and IgG AGA 44.6%. In conclusion, EMA screening is an excellent test for the diagnosis and follow‐up of CD, and for identification of its silent and latent forms.Antiendomysium antibodies, coeliac disease
An evolutionary computation approach to cognitive states classification

The study of human brain functions has dramatically increased in recent years greatly due to the advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging. This paper presents a genetic programming approach to the problem of classifying the instantaneous cognitive state of a person based on his/her functional magnetic resonance imaging data. The problem provides a very interesting case study of training classifiers with extremely high dimensional, sparse and noisy data. We apply genetic programming for both feature selection and classifier training. We present a successful case study of induced classifiers which accurately discriminate between cognitive states produced by listening to different auditory stimuli.
Measuring Export Competitiveness: A View on the Portuguese Effective Exchange Rate Weights

An Effective Exchange Rate (EER) measure is an indicator that aggregates several bilateral exchange rates of a specific currency, and its computation is widely used in the evaluation of the price-competitiveness of economies. The indices usually published by central banks and international institutions are synthetic indicators, measuring simultaneously the competitiveness of domestic firms against foreign producers both in the domestic and external markets. Moreover, a number of assumptions are usually made in order to allow for a quick update of the indicator, in particular when it is necessary to obtain information on prices to compute the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER). This article addresses the competition faced by Portuguese exporters as a particular motivation to compute an effective exchange rate, discussing some important implications of the simplifying assumptions usually made regarding the selection of competitors and the differences in product specialisation. The way the effective exchange rate is computed, namely the weights chosen for each country, is a crucial factor to evaluate exports competitiveness. Since the adoption of the euro, a higher weight for the euro area will decrease the variability of the effective exchange rate, reducing therefore the competitiveness effects on Portuguese exports associated with the fluctuation of the euro exchange rate. Furthermore, a higher exposure to countries that are recently increasing their presence in the world market (such as some Asian and Eastern European countries) may explain some competitiveness problems in Portuguese exports that are not accounted for by the usual methods used to compute the EERs. This paper is organised as follows. Section 2 briefly presents the standard methodology used to compute the EERs, considering in particular the double weighted scheme to account for competitors from third economies in export markets. Section 3 extends this double weighted approach. Firstly, the selection of competitors is not constrained to the countries initially chosen according to their share in exports. Secondly, competition in third markets is evaluated in order to account for the different product specialization of each country. Section 4 presents the major results for Portugal and for the average of the euro area countries, emphasizing the effects of not imposing the simplifying assumptions mentioned above.
Unemployment Durations and Extended Unemployment Benefits in Local Labor Markets

Many empirical studies have confirmed the theoretical prediction that longer-term Unemployment Insurance (UI) entitlement leads to longer unemployment duration. Most of those studies have examined special programs that provide extra weeks of unemployment benefits when unemployment rates in the region are higher. Hence, they must distinguish if the longer unemployment duration among UI claimants observed in these cases is due to the extended benefits or to the adverse labor market conditions that trigger those extensions. In contrast, this paper measures the effect of identical entitlement extensions across two labor markets facing very different demand conditions—Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, over the years 1980–85. The results confirm findings of the existing literature and indicate that the adverse effect of longer entitlement changes relatively little in response to variation in demand conditions.
Une approche comportementale de l'évaluation contingente

Public economics proposed various models that intend to determine the optimal provision of public goods based on individual preferences. To provide decision makers with empirical recommendations, economists thus need to elicit individual preferences, and more precisely the marginal rate of substitution between private and public goods. Contingent valuation has proved a useful, and successful, tool to gather information on individual preferences. However, contingent valuation has been proved sensitive to various biases. In other words, variables that are not expected to have any influence do so in practice. In this paper, we propose a methodology, based on social psychology, which allows the identification of individuals that are proved immune to biases. This allows designing more powerfull, bias free, estimation of individual preferences. Two distinct applications are provided.
Free-Space Focusing at C-Band Using a Flat Fully Printed Multilayer Metamaterial Lens

A volumetric metamaterial lens exhibiting a negative refractive index (NRI) at C-band is designed and its free-space focusing properties are experimentally verified. The designed lens employs a multilayer geometry and its unit cells are loaded using metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and dual-arm spiral inductors in a biplanar configuration. These elements, although fully printed and without vias, provide strong reactive loading that enables a unit cell size of λo/11$ and allows the metamaterial's dispersion properties to be accurately modeled in the effective-medium regime using an equivalent-circuit approach. It is also conducive to implementation at high frequencies, where surface-mount components are unusable. The focusing properties of the fabricated lens are confirmed for a band of frequencies around 5.0 GHz in an anechoic chamber using a free-space field probing system consisting of electrically small shielded-loop antennas affixed to a computer-controlled scanner.