Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technical Progress and Wage Dispersion in Italy : Evidence from Firms ’ Data

– In this paper we test for the effect of technological progress on the labour demand and relative earnings by skill in Italy from 1986 to 1990. We consider a large panel of firms, about 36,000: the data allow us to construct a proxy of the use of new technology by each firm. Our main conclusions are that: (i) wage dispersion in Italy did not increase by the same extent as in the US and UK; (ii) technological progress led to a remarkable increase in the employment of skilled (captured in our data by white-collars) vis-à-vis blue-collar workers. However relative earnings did not experience a similar rise. We suggest that both a shift in the supply of skills and the features of the Italian wage bargaining system counteracted the rise in earnings dispersion. Progr ès technique et dispersion des salaires en Italie : étude d’un panel d’entreprises RÉSUMÉ. – Dans ce Papier on examine les effets du progrès technologique sur la demande de travail et sur les rémunérations en Italie de 1986 à 1990 avec un ensemble considérable d’entreprises (quelque 36 000). Les conclusions principales sont les suivantes: (i) en Italie il n’y a pas eu la même croissance de la dispersion des salaires qu’on a enregistré dans les pays anglo-saxons; (ii) le progrès technologique a conduit à une très grande augmentation de l’emploi le plus qualifié et non pas à un développement du différentiel salarial entre les employés et les ouvriers. Notre hypothèse est que la croissance de la dispersion des salaires a été ralentie aussi bien par l’amélioration de la qualité de l’offre de travail que par le processus de négociation salariale. * P. CASAVOLA; A. GAVOSTO; P. SESTITO: Bank of Italy: We thank A. M. Stellati for her assistance, E. Romagnano for his contribution to constructing the data-set and the National Social Security Institute for providing us with the data. We wish to thank an anonymous referee for careful comments; we are also grateful to participants at the conference on “Microeconometrics of Human Resources” Paris, 7-9 December, 1994, and especially F. Kramarz, for useful suggestions. During this work, A. Gavosto enjoyed the hospitality of the National Bureau of Economic Research which he gratefully acknowledges. The views of this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the Bank of Italy.
VISIBILITY OF STRUCTURES OF RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS IN CHEST TOMOSYNTHESIS: INFLUENCE OF ANATOMICAL LOCATION AND OBSERVER EXPERIENCE

The aims of this study were to assess the visibility of pulmonary structures in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) in digital tomosynthesis (DTS) using computed tomography (CT) as reference and to investigate the dependency on anatomical location and observer experience. Anatomical structures in predefined regions of CT images from 21 patients were identified. Three observers with different levels of experience rated the visibility of the structures in DTS by performing a head-to-head comparison with visibility in CT. Visibility of the structures in DTS was reported as equal to CT in 34 %, inferior in 52 % and superior in 14 % of the ratings. Central and peripheral lateral structures received higher visibility ratings compared with peripheral structures anteriorly, posteriorly and surrounding the diaphragm (p ≤ 0.001). Reported visibility was significantly higher for the most experienced observer (p ≤ 0.01). The results indicate that minor pathology can be difficult to visualise with DTS depending on location and observer experience. Central and peripheral lateral structures are generally well depicted.
Amyloid β Induces the Morphological Neurodegenerative Triad of Spine Loss, Dendritic Simplification, and Neuritic Dystrophies through Calcineurin Activation

Amyloid β (Aβ)-containing plaques are surrounded by dystrophic neurites in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, but whether and how plaques induce these neuritic abnormalities remain unknown. We tested the hypothesis that soluble oligomeric assemblies of Aβ, which surround plaques, induce calcium-mediated secondary cascades that lead to dystrophic changes in local neurites. We show that soluble Aβ oligomers lead to activation of the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin (CaN) (PP2B), which in turn activates the transcriptional factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). Activation of these signaling pathways, even in the absence of Aβ, is sufficient to produce a virtual phenocopy of Aβ-induced dystrophic neurites, dendritic simplification, and dendritic spine loss in both neurons in culture and in the adult mouse brain. Importantly, the morphological deficits in the vicinity of Aβ deposits in a mouse model of AD are ameliorated by CaN inhibition, supporting the hypothesis that CaN–NFAT are aberrantly activated by Aβ and that CaN–NFAT activation is responsible for disruption of neuronal structure near plaques. In accord with this, we also detect increased levels of an active form of CaN and NFATc4 in the nuclear fraction from the cortex of patients with AD. Thus, Aβ appears to mediate the neurodegeneration of AD, at least in part, by activation of CaN and subsequent NFAT-mediated downstream cascades.
Space and personal contacts: Cross-group interaction between mainland and local university students in Hong Kong

Despite sharing physical space that supports contact with out-group members and institutional arrangements that encourage cross-group interaction, many university students still congregate within their own groups. To explain this phenomenon, this study examines the micro-level social processes that prevent or facilitate intergroup interaction. A qualitative study of Mainland Chinese and local university students in Hong Kong reveals that students lack opportunities for mutually engaging experiences across multiple points in time due to fragmented daily living space, defended interpersonal space, and politicized online space, which contribute to the absence of cross-group interactions. Cross-group friendships depend on external forces to remove inhibitions, which then allow emotional bonding. This study contributes to the understanding of cross-group interaction by pointing out the importance of daily routine activities and mutually engaging experiences in influencing cross-group interaction among students.
Calibration and Debugging of Multi-step Analog to Digital Converters

This paper reports a new approach for debugging of the analog to digital converters based on process monitoring and extended design-for-test implementation. The circuit is re-configured in such a way that all sub-blocks are analysed and tested for their full input range allowing full observability and controllability of the analog to digital converter. To set initial data, estimate the parameter update and to guide the test, dedicated monitors have been designed. Additionally, the second presented algorithm allow circuit calibration without explicit need for any dedicated test signal nor requires a part of the conversion time. It works continuously and with every signal applied to the ADC.
KCNQ/M‐currents contribute to the resting membrane potential in rat visceral sensory neurons

The M‐current is a slowly activating, non‐inactivating potassium current that has been shown to be present in numerous cell types. In this study, KCNQ2, Q3 and Q5, the molecular correlates of M‐current in neurons, were identified in the visceral sensory neurons of the nodose ganglia from rats through immunocytochemical studies. All neurons showed expression of each of the three proteins. In voltage clamp studies, the cognition‐enhancing drug linopirdine (1–50 μm) and its analogue, XE991 (10 μm), quickly and irreversibly blocked a small, slowly activating current that had kinetic properties similar to KCNQ/M‐currents. This current activated between −60 and −55 mV, had a voltage‐dependent activation time constant of 208 ± 12 ms at −20 mV, a deactivation time constant of 165 ± 24 ms at −50 mV and V1/2 of −24 ± 2 mV, values which are consistent with previous reports for endogenous M‐currents. In current clamp studies, these drugs also led to a depolarization of the resting membrane potential at values as negative as −60 mV. Flupirtine (10–20 μm), an M‐current activator, caused a 3–14 mV leftward shift in the current–voltage relationship and also led to a hyperpolarization of resting membrane potential. These data indicate that the M‐current is present in nodose neurons, is activated at resting membrane potential and that it is physiologically important in regulating excitability by maintaining cells at negative voltages.
Self-Adaptive and Online QoS Modeling for Cloud-Based Software Services

In the presence of scale, dynamism, uncertainty and elasticity, cloud software engineers faces several challenges when modeling Quality of Service (QoS) for cloud-based software services. These challenges can be best managed through self-adaptivity because engineers’ intervention is difficult, if not impossible, given the dynamic and uncertain QoS sensitivity to the environment and control knobs in the cloud. This is especially true for the shared infrastructure of cloud, where unexpected interference can be caused by co-located software services running on the same virtual machine; and co-hosted virtual machines within the same physical machine. In this paper, we describe the related challenges and present a fully dynamic, self-adaptive and online QoS modeling approach, which grounds on sound information theory and machine learning algorithms, to create QoS model that is capable to predict the QoS value as output over time by using the information on environmental conditions, control knobs and interference as inputs. In particular, we report on in-depth analysis on the correlations of selected inputs to the accuracy of QoS model in cloud. To dynamically selects inputs to the models at runtime and tune accuracy, we design self-adaptive hybrid dual-learners that partition the possible inputs space into two sub-spaces, each of which applies different symmetric uncertainty based selection techniques; the results of sub-spaces are then combined. Subsequently, we propose the use of adaptive multi-learners for building the model. These learners simultaneously allow several learning algorithms to model the QoS function, permitting the capability for dynamically selecting the best model for prediction on the fly. We experimentally evaluate our models in the cloud environment using RUBiS benchmark and realistic FIFA 98 workload. The results show that our approach is more accurate and effective than state-of-the-art modelings.
Cooperative ARQ Protocols in Slotted Radio Networks

In conventional (non-cooperative) automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocols for radio networks, the corrupted data frames that cannot be correctly decoded at the destination are retransmitted by the source. In cooperative ARQ protocols, data frame retransmissions may be performed by a neighboring node (the relay) that has successfully overheard the source’s frame transmission. One advantage of the latter group of ARQ protocols is the spatial diversity provided by the relay. The first delay model for cooperative ARQ protocols is presented in this paper. The model is analytically derived for a simple set of retransmission rules that make use of both uncoded and coded cooperative communications in slotted radio network. The model estimates the delay experienced by Poisson arriving frames, whose retransmissions (when required) are performed also by a single relay. Saturation throughput, frame latency and buffer occupancy at the source, and relay are quantified and compared against two non-cooperative ARQ protocols.
An Efficient Implementation of Reid's Multiple Hypothesis Tracking Algorithm and Its Evaluation for the Purpose of Visual Tracking

An efficient implementation of Reid's multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) algorithm is presented in which the k-best hypotheses are determined in polynomial time using an algorithm due to Murly (1968). The MHT algorithm is then applied to several motion sequences. The MHT capabilities of track initiation, termination, and continuation are demonstrated together with the latter's capability to provide low level support of temporary occlusion of tracks. Between 50 and 150 corner features are simultaneously tracked in the image plane over a sequence of up to 51 frames. Each corner is tracked using a simple linear Kalman filter and any data association uncertainty is resolved by the MHT. Kalman filter parameter estimation is discussed, and experimental results show that the algorithm is robust to errors in the motion model. An investigation of the performance of the algorithm as a function of look-ahead (tree depth) indicates that high accuracy can be obtained for tree depths as shallow as three. Experimental results suggest that a real-time MHT solution to the motion correspondence problem is possible for certain classes of scenes.
Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire (IHLQ): An Instrument for Measuring Health Literacy in Iran

Background: Promoting Health Literacy (HL) is considered as an important goal in strategic plans of many countries. In spite of the necessity for access to valid, reliable and native HL instruments, the number of such instruments in the Persian language is scarce. Moreover, there is no good estimation of HL status in Iran. Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide a valid, reliable and native instrument to measure and monitor community HL in Iran and also, to provide an estimation of HL status in two Iranian provinces. Patients and Methods: By applying the multistage cluster sampling, 1080 respondents (540 from each gender) were recruited from Kerman and Mazandaran provinces of Iran, from February to June 2014 to participate in this cross-sectional study. The development of the Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire (IHLQ) was initiated with a comprehensive review of the literature. Then, face, content and construct validity as well as reliability were determined. Results: Internal consistency and test-retest reliability (ICC) of the factors was in the range of 0.71 to 0.96 and 0.73 to 0.86, respectively. In order to construct validity, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) = 0.95 and Bartlett’s test result of 3.017 with P < 0.001) with varimax rotation was used. Optimal reduced solution, including 36 items and seven factors, was found in EFA. Five of the factors identified were reading/comprehension skills, individual empowerment, communication/decision-making skills, social empowerment and health knowledge. Conclusions: It was concluded that IHLQ might be a practical and useful tool for investigating HL for Persian language speakers around the world. Since HL is dynamic and its instruments should be regularly revised, further studies are recommended to assess HL with application of IHLQ to detect its potential imperfections.
Investigating Metaphorical Language in Sentiment Analysis: A Sense-to-Sentiment Perspective

Intuition dictates that figurative language and especially metaphorical expressions should convey sentiment. It is the aim of this work to validate this intuition by showing that figurative language (metaphors) appearing in a sentence drive the polarity of that sentence. Towards this target, the current article proposes an approach for sentiment analysis of sentences where figurative language plays a dominant role. This approach applies Word Sense Disambiguation aiming to assign polarity to word senses rather than tokens. Sentence polarity is determined using the individual polarities for metaphorical senses as well as other contextual information. Experimental evaluation shows that the proposed method achieves high scores in comparison with other state-of-the-art approaches tested on the same corpora. Finally, experimental results provide supportive evidence that this method is also well suited for corpora consisting of literal and figurative language sentences.
Gene Regulatory Network Inference of Immunoresponsive Gene 1 (IRG1) Identifies Interferon Regulatory Factor 1 (IRF1) as Its Transcriptional Regulator in Mammalian Macrophages

Immunoresponsive gene 1 (IRG1) is one of the highest induced genes in macrophages under pro-inflammatory conditions. Its function has been recently described: it codes for immune-responsive gene 1 protein/cis-aconitic acid decarboxylase (IRG1/CAD), an enzyme catalysing the production of itaconic acid from cis-aconitic acid, a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate. Itaconic acid possesses specific antimicrobial properties inhibiting isocitrate lyase, the first enzyme of the glyoxylate shunt, an anaplerotic pathway that bypasses the TCA cycle and enables bacteria to survive on limited carbon conditions. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying itaconic acid production through IRG1 induction in macrophages, we examined the transcriptional regulation of IRG1. To this end, we studied IRG1 expression in human immune cells under different inflammatory stimuli, such as TNFα and IFNγ, in addition to lipopolysaccharides. Under these conditions, as previously shown in mouse macrophages, IRG1/CAD accumulates in mitochondria. Furthermore, using literature information and transcription factor prediction models, we re-constructed raw gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for IRG1 in mouse and human macrophages. We further implemented a contextualization algorithm that relies on genome-wide gene expression data to infer putative cell type-specific gene regulatory interactions in mouse and human macrophages, which allowed us to predict potential transcriptional regulators of IRG1. Among the computationally identified regulators, siRNA-mediated gene silencing of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) in macrophages significantly decreased the expression of IRG1/CAD at the gene and protein level, which correlated with a reduced production of itaconic acid. Using a synergistic approach of both computational and experimental methods, we here shed more light on the transcriptional machinery of IRG1 expression and could pave the way to therapeutic approaches targeting itaconic acid levels.
Structures of the PutA peripheral membrane flavoenzyme reveal a dynamic substrate-channeling tunnel and the quinone-binding site

Significance Bifunctional enzymes catalyze two sequential reactions of a metabolic pathway using spatially separated and covalently connected active sites. Combining two enzymes into one protein chain creates efficiency because the product of the first reaction can be shuttled directly to the active site, catalyzing the second reaction in a process called substrate channeling. Here, we use X-ray crystallography to elucidate the three-dimensional structural basis of substrate channeling in the proline catabolic pathway. Structures of the bifunctional enzyme proline utilization A (PutA) reveal an elaborate and dynamic tunnel system featuring a 75-Å-long substrate-channeling path that links the two active sites. Furthermore, we have identified the elusive quinone-binding site of PutA, which provides insight into how PutAs interact with the membrane. Proline utilization A (PutA) proteins are bifunctional peripheral membrane flavoenzymes that catalyze the oxidation of l-proline to l-glutamate by the sequential activities of proline dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase domains. Located at the inner membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, PutAs play a major role in energy metabolism by coupling the oxidation of proline imported from the environment to the reduction of membrane-associated quinones. Here, we report seven crystal structures of the 1,004-residue PutA from Geobacter sulfurreducens, along with determination of the protein oligomeric state by small-angle X-ray scattering and kinetic characterization of substrate channeling and quinone reduction. The structures reveal an elaborate and dynamic tunnel system featuring a 75-Å-long tunnel that links the two active sites and six smaller tunnels that connect the main tunnel to the bulk medium. The locations of these tunnels and their responses to ligand binding and flavin reduction suggest hypotheses about how proline, water, and quinones enter the tunnel system and where l-glutamate exits. Kinetic measurements show that glutamate production from proline occurs without a lag phase, consistent with substrate channeling and implying that the observed tunnel is functionally relevant. Furthermore, the structure of reduced PutA complexed with menadione bisulfite reveals the elusive quinone-binding site. The benzoquinone binds within 4.0 Å of the flavin si face, consistent with direct electron transfer. The location of the quinone site implies that the concave surface of the PutA dimer approaches the membrane. Altogether, these results provide insight into how PutAs couple proline oxidation to quinone reduction.
Multi-touch out-focus: A realization of SLR-like narrow DOF in mobile camera

Most of the mobile cameras support digital zoom but not the optical zoom. As a result, capturing images at narrow depth-of-field (DOF) is not possible. SLR cameras can capture such images with the help of optical zoom using multiple lens assembly. In this paper, we propose a technique to create SLR-like narrow DOF images using multiple frames focused at different regions or depths. The proposed method identifies the regions or objects focused in different frames and do necessary blurring or sharpening to virtually reduce the DOF of the image. A wavelet transform based information measure has been used to separate focused and de-focused regions in a single frame and also to identify a frame which is best focused in a specific region. The proposed solution will allow the users to create narrow DOF at single or multiple user specified points in a single image.
Biological Relevance of Adduct Detection to the Chemoprevention of Cancer

Adducts arise from the chemical modification of bases in DNA or amino acids in proteins by toxic chemicals. Many chemicals known to be carcinogenic in humans have been shown to form adducts or to cause oxidative damage to genomic DNA in model systems. Biomarkers of carcinogenesis reflect biological events that take place between exposure to external or endogenous carcinogens and the subsequent development of cancer. Therapeutic intervention for the purpose of cancer chemoprevention may modify these biomarkers. In this article, the potential efficacy of DNA adducts as biomarkers of carcinogenesis and chemoprevention is discussed using criteria defined for phases of biomarker development. The sensitivity of adduct detection in histologically normal tissue offers opportunities for the early detection of carcinogenesis. Extensive evidence for aflatoxin B1 adducts as biomarkers of risk and progression of hepatic carcinogenesis and for oxidative DNA adducts as biomarkers of the development of prostate carcinogenesis is reviewed together with the clinical trials measuring these adducts as biomarkers of the efficacy of chemoprevention. Favorable modification of oxidative DNA adducts by dietary intervention and chemoprevention has been demonstrated in preclinical and clinical studies. Protein adducts and DNA adducts in blood constituents or urine may act as useful surrogates for the target organ. Additional information regarding reliability, reproducibility, specificity, and confounding variables are required at the clinical level to validate adducts as suitable biomarkers of chemoprevention. “We do not administer antihypertensive drugs to patients in clinical trials without checking their blood pressure, so why should we give antioxidants without checking that they have decreased oxidant status (B. Halliwell, Lancet 2000:355:1179–80)? ”