Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arterial endothelial function in a porcine model of early stage atherosclerotic vascular disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and is projected to become the leading cause of mortality in the world. Atherosclerosis is the most important single factor contributing to this disease burden. In this study, we characterize relationships between endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease in an animal model of diet‐induced, early‐stage atherosclerotic vascular disease. We tested the hypothesis that hypercholesterolaemia induces vascular disease and impairs endothelium‐dependent relaxation (EDR) in conduit arteries of adult male Yucatan pigs. Pigs were fed a normal fat (NF) or high fat cholesterol (HFC) diet for 20–24 weeks. Results indicate that, while the HFC diet did not alter EDR in femoral or brachial arteries, EDR was significantly decreased in both carotid and coronary arteries. Sudanophilic fatty streaks were significantly present in the abdominal aorta and common carotid artery. Histopathology revealed increased intima‐media thickness (IMT) and foam cell accumulation in Stary Stage I–III lesions in the abdominal aorta, common carotid artery and femoral arteries. In the coronary arteries, the accumulation of foam cells in Stary Stage I and II lesions resulted in a trend for increased IMT. There was no evidence of vascular disease in the brachial arteries. These results indicate that early stages of CVD (Stary Stage I–III) precede decreases in EDR induced by HFC diet, because femoral arteries exhibited foam cell accumulation and an increased IMT but no change in endothelial function.
The Role of Ancillarity in Inference for Non-stationary Variables

Some examples of the regression method are compared with likelihood-based inference. It is shown that, although the asymptotic theory is distinctly different for ergodic and nonergodic processes, the likelihood methods lead to the result that asymptotic inference can be conducted in the same way for the two cases by appealing to classical conditioning arguments from statistics using the notion of S-ancillarity or strong exogeneity. It is pointed out that the Fisher information can be considered a measure of the conditional variance of the maximum likelihood estimator given the available information in the sample. Copyright 1995 by Royal Economic Society.
Expression of Stem Cell-associated Marker HES77 in Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors.

BACKGROUND Expression of novel stem cell-associated marker human embryonic stem cell 77 (HES77) was studied in rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), which comprise 10 to 15% of gastroenteropancreatic NETs, some with metastatic potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS WHO 2010 classification was applied, and immunohistochemical positivity for HES77 was assessed in 72 primary tumors and 6 metastases. Correlations were calculated between HES77 expression, metastasis and patient survival. RESULTS Expression of HES77 strongly positively correlated with metastatic potential and poorer prognosis. The proliferative index determined in the metastasis did not correlate with patient survival. CONCLUSION Novel stem cell-associated marker HES77 has a strong prognostic value in patients with rectal NETs and may be useful in selecting those who are at-risk for developing metastatic disease, and who may benefit from intensive adjuvant therapy. Proliferative index in the metastasis did not predict for outcome. Characterization of the HES77 epitope would certainly enhance the interest in the antibody.
A novel algorithm of space vector pulse width without sector calculation

Motor drive technology is the key to the development of electric vehicles, Voltage space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method has been widely used due to its characteristics of convenient implementation and easy manipulation. Traditional space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) must calculation the sector, then deal with the complex calculations about the trigonometric function and irrational number, so the real-time control precision has been affected seriously. In this paper, through the thoroughly analyze of the principle of Voltage space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM), a novel algorithm without sector calculation based on three vector synthesis has been proposed. By the synthesis of the two-axis components of the space vector in the two-phase stationary coordinate, it eliminates the sector and trigonometric calculations, makes the digital implementation easer and improves the accuracy of real-time control. The simulation shows the validity and feasibility of the algorithm.
Two methods for antialiased wireframe drawing with hidden line removal

Two novel and robust techniques for wireframe drawing are proposed. Neither suffer from the well-known artifacts associated with the standard two pass, offset based techniques for wireframe drawing. Both methods draw prefiltered lines and produce high-quality antialiased results without super-sampling. The first method is a single pass technique well suited for convex N-gons for small N (in particular quadrilaterals or triangles). It is demonstrated that this method is more efficient than the standard techniques and ideally suited for implementation using geometry shaders. The second method is completely general and suited for arbitrary N-gons which need not be convex. Lastly, it is described how our methods can easily be extended to support various line styles.
Utilization of fNIRS signals as feedback for sensory decoding

Recently researchers have started working in the field of sensory decoding for amputees. They have used either the visual feedback or the response from the subject as their feedback. Many researchers, however, believe that sensory decoding can become more precise if the neuronal changes that occur in the process of stimulations can be isolated and measured. In this study, we have used lab-developed multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to discriminate between hemodynamic responses (HRs) of two different touch stimulations (handshake and ball grasp) applied to the right hand of five healthy male subjects. For all the stimulations, we measured HRs from the left somatosensory cortex. For each stimulation, the activated areas in the brain are analyzed by the t-value comparison between the measured data and the desired hemodynamic response function. The results showed that the corresponding primary somatosensory cortex area is activated for each type of stimulation. Linear discriminant analysis is utilized to classify the acquired data into two classes based on the features (mean and peak values) attained from the HbO signals. Our results indicate the potential of fNIRS to be used as an objective measure to discriminate between different tactile stimulations in the somatosensory cortex of brain.
Immersive Virtual Environments for Emotional Engineering: Description and Preliminary Results

This work aims to identify the arousal and presence level during an emotional engineering study. During the experimental sessions, a high-immersion Virtual Reality (VR) system, a CAVE-like configuration, will be used. Thirty-six volunteers will navigate through virtual houses that can be customized and that have been designed for emotional induction. Emotional induction will be obtained by stimulating the senses of sight, hearing and smell. For this purpose, the ambient lighting, music and smell will be controlled by the researcher, who will create a comfortable environment for the subject. Several physiological variables - Electrocardiogram (ECG), Respiratory signal and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) - will be recorded during the sessions. The obtained results will help furniture companies identify the senses that have more influence on emotions and will be the basis for new studies about user needs in the sector of furniture and interior decoration.
Can Market Incompleteness Resolve Asset Pricing Puzzles?

This paper shows that the presence of persistent uninsurable risk concentrated in economic depressions has the potential to resolve two well-known asset pricing puzzles. It is also shown that the presence of such risk in more normal economic expansions and recessions is likely to be much less relevant in determining equilibrium asset prices. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004.
Managing query execution for an advanced database programming language

A method for efficiently managing the execution of a query for an advanced database programming language is demonstrated. It is shown that the mechanism gracefully and efficiently manages control flow in both single-processor and multiprocessor environments. A prototype demonstrating the feasibility of this approach is operational on both single-processor and small-scale multiprocessor systems. <<ETX>>
Evaluation of antenna architectures for angle estimation of endo-clutter targets in airborne adaptive radars

Adaptive beamforming techniques such as space-time adaptive processing (STAP) combine spatial and temporal degrees of freedom to detect slow moving targets in strong clutter backgrounds. Many techniques exist for choosing the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom. In general these techniques are typically evaluated based on their ability to provide good target detection performance using performance metrics such as signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). Since adaptive radars must also provide target location information it is important to also consider how the choice of spatial degrees of freedom will impact direction-of-arrival estimation performance. This paper will investigate the DoA estimation performance of various airborne array architectures including elements and fixed beams (beamspace). It will be shown that in some interference scenarios the spatial degrees of freedom required for good detection performance differ from those required for good DoA estimation performance.
Adaptively Tiled Image Mosaics Utilizing Measures of Color and Region Entropy

Image mosaicing involves splitting an input image into a set of tiles, then replacing each tile with another image from a large dataset so that, when viewed from a distance, the resulting image resembles the original. We present a new approach for generating image mosaics using variable sized tiles made up from patches taken from photographs, paintings and texture images. This is different from previous work, where either simple regular tiling or adaptive tiling based on variations of RGB color was used. We propose an adaptive tiling theme by means of region entropy. In order to avoid the mismatch in roughness between the sub-image in the tile region of the input image and tile images in the dataset that may arise in the previous RGB color based image descriptors, we introduce the region entropy into the image descriptor to achieve better matching in both color and roughness. We also propose a new metric to measure the quality of the image mosaic which takes both the similarity and the mutual information between the generated mosaics and input images into account. The final mosaic images in this work are obtained by optimizing an objective function based on this metric.
Corporate social responsibility: An exploratory study of the quality and extent of social disclosures by Lebanese commercial banks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to identify the type and quality of social information disclosed by Lebanese commercial banks and to report on the extent of these disclosures and their relationship with size, financial performance, and other chosen variables. Design/methodology/approach – Deductive in nature, this paper uses content analysis of annual report social disclosures of 24 Lebanese commercial banks to test six hypotheses related to the nature of social disclosures and their association with selected variables. Findings – The findings provide evidence of the widespread use of this phenomenon by these banks as a means to communicate with their stakeholders. Moreover, results reveal that these banks attribute a greater importance to human resource and product and customers disclosures, whereas the availability and extent of environmental disclosure is still weak. In addition, a strong association is found between these disclosures and size and financial performance variables, whereas the relationship with the bank age is found to be a weak one. Finally, findings suggest no difference in social disclosure behavior between listed banks and banks with an overseas presence, and non‐listed banks and those operating only in Lebanon. Research limitations/implications – Further longitudinal and causal analyzes would shed more light on the importance and determinants of this phenomenon in small and developing economies. One obstacle to overcome in this endeavor is the non‐availability of social and environmental databases similar to the ones used by researchers in developed countries. On the research front, this paper adds to the relatively small number of studies addressing issues related to corporate social disclosure practices by banks. Practical implications – At the practical level, the paper attempts to inform corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices of Lebanese banks which would result in more socially and ethically oriented banking activities in Lebanon. Originality/value – Studies of CSR have generally been conducted in relatively large economies with active financial and stock markets. This paper tests and applies relevant accounting theories to a developing small economy and shows that even small family‐owned banks with high public visibility can exhibit strong social and ethical awareness.
Comparative quantitative fatty acid analysis of triacylglycerols using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography.

Quantitative analyses of fatty acids from five triacylglycerol products, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, lard and cocoa butter, were carried out using two analytical methods: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) and gas chromatography (GC), in an effort to validate the application of MALDI-TOFMS in quantitative fatty acid analysis. For the GC analysis, transmethylated products were used, whereas, for the MALDI-TOF analysis, saponified products were used. Under MALDI-TOF conditions, the acids were detected as sodiated sodium carboxylates [RCOONa + Na](+) consistent with the mode of ionization that was previously reported. Thus, the MALDI-TOF mass spectrum of saponified coconut oil showed the presence of sodiated sodium salts of caprylic acid (7.5 +/- 0.67, m/z 189), capric acid (6.9 +/- 0.83, m/z 217), lauric acid (47.8 +/- 0.67, m/z 245), myristic acid (20.4 +/- 0.51, m/z 273), palmitic acid (9.8 +/- 0.47, m/z 301), linoleic acid (0.9 +/- 0.07, m/z 325), oleic acid (4.8 +/- 0.42, m/z 327) and stearic acid (2.0 +/- 0.13, m/z 329). Saponified palm kernel oil had a fatty acid profile that included caprylic acid (3.5 +/- 0.59), capric acid (4.7 +/- 0.82), lauric acid (58.6 +/- 2.3), myristic acid (20.9 +/- 1.5), palmitic acid (7.2 +/- 1.1), oleic acid (3.8 +/- 0.62) and stearic acid (1.2 +/- 0.15). Saponified palm oil gave myristic acid (0.83 +/- 0.18), palmitic acid (55.8 +/- 1.7), linoleic acid (4.2 +/- 0.51), oleic acid (34.5 +/- 1.5), stearic acid (3.8 +/- 0.26) and arachidic acid (0.80 +/- 0.22). Saponified lard showed the presence of myristic acid (1.5 +/- 0.24), palmitic acid (28.9 +/- 1.3), linoleic acid (13.7 +/- 0.67), oleic acid (38.7 +/- 1.4), stearic acid (12.8 +/- 0.64) and arachidic acid (2.4 +/- 0.35). Finally, for saponified cocoa butter, the fatty acid distribution was: palmitic acid (32.3 +/- 1.0), linoleic acid (2.6 +/- 0.35), oleic acid (34.9 +/- 1.7) and stearic acid (30.3 +/- 1.6). Quantitative gas chromatographic analysis of the corresponding methyl esters from these triacylglycerol products yielded data that were mostly in agreement with the MALDI-TOFMS data. The MALDI-TOF experiment, however, proved to be superior to the GC experiment, particularly with regard to baseline resolution of unsaturated acids. Furthermore, the ability of MALDI-TOFMS to detect low concentrations of fatty acids rendered it more sensitive than the GC methodology.
Do people plan ahead?

A crucial basic assumption of economic theories of dynamic behaviour is that people plan ahead. This paper reports on an extremely simple experimental test of this fundamental principle. Indeed the experiment is so simple and so straightforward that it is difficult to believe that anyone would not plan ahead. However subjects are found who do not. What are they doing?
Highly sensitive and unbiased approach for elucidating antibody repertoires

Significance Antibodies are generated by B cells of the adaptive immune system to eliminate various pathogens. A somatic gene rearrangement process, termed V(D)J recombination, assembles antibody gene segments to form sequences encoding the antigen-binding regions of antibodies. Each of the multitude of newly generated B cells produces a different antibody with a unique antigen-binding sequence, which collectively form the primary antibody repertoire of an individual. Given the utility of specific antibodies for treating various human diseases, approaches to elucidate primary antibody repertoires are of great importance. Here, we describe a new method for high-coverage analysis of antibody repertoires termed high-throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing-adapted repertoire sequencing (HTGTS-Rep-seq). We discuss the potential merits of this approach, which is both unbiased and highly sensitive. Developing B lymphocytes undergo V(D)J recombination to assemble germ-line V, D, and J gene segments into exons that encode the antigen-binding variable region of Ig heavy (H) and light (L) chains. IgH and IgL chains associate to form the B-cell receptor (BCR), which, upon antigen binding, activates B cells to secrete BCR as an antibody. Each of the huge number of clonally independent B cells expresses a unique set of IgH and IgL variable regions. The ability of V(D)J recombination to generate vast primary B-cell repertoires results from a combinatorial assortment of large numbers of different V, D, and J segments, coupled with diversification of the junctions between them to generate the complementary determining region 3 (CDR3) for antigen contact. Approaches to evaluate in depth the content of primary antibody repertoires and, ultimately, to study how they are further molded by secondary mutation and affinity maturation processes are of great importance to the B-cell development, vaccine, and antibody fields. We now describe an unbiased, sensitive, and readily accessible assay, referred to as high-throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing-adapted repertoire sequencing (HTGTS-Rep-seq), to quantify antibody repertoires. HTGTS-Rep-seq quantitatively identifies the vast majority of IgH and IgL V(D)J exons, including their unique CDR3 sequences, from progenitor and mature mouse B lineage cells via the use of specific J primers. HTGTS-Rep-seq also accurately quantifies DJH intermediates and V(D)J exons in either productive or nonproductive configurations. HTGTS-Rep-seq should be useful for studies of human samples, including clonal B-cell expansions, and also for following antibody affinity maturation processes.
The Asymmetric Effects of Official Interest Rate Changes on China’s Stock Market During Different Market Regimes

ABSTRACT We investigate the effects of China’s official interest rate changes on its stock market. We first prove there is a negative relationship between official rate changes and stock returns, as measured by cumulative abnormal returns (CARs). Then, we divide the Chinese stock market into three regimes (bull, medium, and bear) and indicate that official rate changes have asymmetric effects on CARs during different market regimes, although these effects differ from the effects of interest rate changes on the U.S. market. Specifically, official rate changes have the largest negative effects during bear markets and the smallest effects during medium markets.
Coexistence between DVB-S/S2 and DAB systems - a special coexistence scenario

This paper deals with a study of a special coexistence scenario that can occur between Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite (DVB-S/S2) systems in a common radio frequency (RF) band. In this situation, the DAB is an interferer system, whereas the DVB-S/S2 is a victim system. An experimental workspace was realized to emulate and explore such a scenario. To evaluate a performance of the affected DVB-S/S2 signal, a bit and modulation error ratios (BER and MER) are used, respectively. Results of measurements, dependencies of these error values on a frequency shift between central carriers of both systems, and on a signal level difference of both RF signals are presented. Finally, results are analyzed and discussed in details.
Governance Structures and Management Efficiency in Japanese Companies

This study uses panel data from companies from FY 2001 to 2004 to analyze the effects of banks, share owning, and directors on the management efficiency of companies, with consideration given to the attributes of managers, the presence of labor unions, and the existence of an education and training system. The results showed that the impacts of bank dependence and labor unions on management efficiency differ depending on the origins and attributes of the managers. We confirm that Japanese companies that have high dependence on banks and weak pressure from the capital markets, with labor unions in place and managers that are promoted internally within the company—in other words typical Japanese-style companies—tend to have lower management efficiency as compared with Japanese companies that do not share these attributes. Underlying all this is the difficulty involved in making employment adjustments in non-founder-managed companies, particularly in companies where managers are promoted internally.
Current account and relative prices: Are there any cointegration relationships in the presence of structural breaks in emerging economies?

The aim of this study is to examine the long-run relationship between the current account and relative prices, such as terms of trade (TOT) and real exchange rate, for the emerging economies. These variables have been exposed to large fluctuations for more than two decades in all emerging economies; therefore, structural breaks have to be taken into account in all estimations. In this article, various methodological techniques have been used to examine this long-run relationship (with and without the structural breaks). Two important results have emerged, first; when the structural changes are excluded there is a strong evidence for long-run relationship between current account and relative prices. Second; when the structural breaks are included, variables are found to be stationary. Hence, depending on the stability of the variables, the validity of the cointegration relationship has been seriously questioned. This study illustrates that the test results proving non-stationary of the series and the presence of cointegration may be spurious if there is any possibility of instability.
Effects of Sleep Disorders and Sleep Restriction on Adherence to Cardiovascular and Other Disease Treatment Regimens: Research Needs

1. Research is needed on multiple approaches to adherence measurement, and on the relationships among adherence measures. Models of adherence should be data driven and based on reliable and valid measures. Objective measures of adherence are needed to enhance the accuracy of adherence studies. Information technologies (e.g., personal organizers; web-based reporting; interactive voice recording) should be studied for their reliability and validity in assessing adherence, and for their potential impact on improving adherence. The usefulness of objective technologies for measuring