Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Insulin Resistance on the Balance between Carbohydrate and Fat Utilization at Rest and in progressive Intensity Exercise

Methods: Twelve sedentary male subjects were divided into two groups (>RI and <RI) according with their insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Using indirect calorimetry were analyzed: carbohydrate and fat utilization at rest, the crossover point, the exercise intensity that elicits a maximal fat oxidation (Fatmax), carbohydrate and fat utilization at Fatmax. All variables were compared using the MANNWHITNEY test.
Microcrystalline silicon solar cells: effect of substrate temperature on cracks and their role in post‐oxidation

Microcrystalline silicon (µc‐Si:H) cells can reach efficiencies up to typically 10% and are usually incorporated in tandem micromorph devices. When cells are grown on rough substrates, “cracks” can appear in the µc‐Si:H layers. Previous works have demonstrated that these cracks have mainly detrimental effects on the fill factor and open‐circuit voltage, and act as bad diodes with a high reverse saturation current. In this paper, we clarify the nature of the cracks, their role in post‐oxidation processes, and indicate how their density can be reduced. Regular secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and local nano‐SIMS measurements show that these cracks are prone to local post‐oxidation and lead to apparent high oxygen content in the layer. Usually the number of cracks can be decreased with an appropriate modification of the substrate surface morphology, but then, the required light scattering effect is reduced due to a lower roughness. This study presents an alternative/complementary way to decrease the crack density by increasing the substrate temperature during deposition. These results, also obtained when performing numerical simulation of the growth process, are attributed to the enhanced surface diffusion of the adatoms at higher deposition temperature. We evaluate the cracks density by introducing a fast method to count cracks with good statistics over approximately 4000 µm of sample cross‐section. This method is proven to be useful to quickly visualize the impact of substrate morphology on the density of cracks in microcrystalline and in micromorph devices, which is an important issue in the manufacturing process of modules. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
De la paraphrase à la recherche d'information

Dans cet article, nous voulons montrer la reformulation sous deux aspects complementaires. Le premier est lie a la paraphrase, aussi bien dans l'approche traditionnelle que linguistique. La methode 3AD (Aide a l'Analyse Automatique du Discours), inspiree des travaux de Harris, en est un modele dans l'approche linguistique. Sa fonction originale est de combiner des outils linguistiques et metriques pour extraire d'un corpus, des classes d'enonces consideres en paraphrase. Le deuxieme aspect est employe en recherche d'information, il s'agit de la reformulation de requetes abordee comme une application de la generation en LN (langue naturelle). Le point federateur, au moins ici dans cet article, de ces deux aspects de la reformulation est le systeme 3AD, grâce a ses fonctionnalites multiples. En effet, considere comme un outil de classification a posteriori (confrontation de phrases pour extraction de paraphrases) fonde sur le premier aspect, 3AD peut etre converti en un outil de classification a priori (confrontation de requetes et documents pour recherche d'information) et utiliser le second aspect en liaison avec un generateur en LN. Le but de cet article est de presenter d'abord un apercu sur la typologie du premier aspect et la methode 3AD adoptee. Ensuite, nous donnons un apercu sur la typologie du deuxieme aspect et la methode de generation adoptee. Nous terminons enfin, en montrant le champs de cooperation entre les deux modeles (analyseur du discours et generateur de requetes), a des fins de performance mutuelle.
Essays on Preference Programs in Government Procurement

In public-sector procurement, governments frequently offer programs that give preferential treatment to certain groups of firms. My dissertation examines how these programs affect procurement outcomes. I study two types of preference programs: subcontracting requirements, where the government requires that a particular percentage share of a contract be completed by preferred subcontractors, and bid discounts, where the government lowers the bids of preferred firms for comparison purposes and pays the full price to the firm with the lowest bid. My dissertation has two chapters. My first chapter addresses subcontracting requirements applied under New Mexico's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. This program uses subcontracting requirements to support firms considered disadvantaged in federal procurement, which are small firms owned and controlled by minorities or women. Theoretically, I find that subcontracting requirements need not substantially increase the final cost of procurement, even when preferred firms are relatively more costly. The intuition behind this result is that, by restricting the pool of subcontractors, firms know more about their competitors' costs, which causes firms to reduce their markups. Using an empirical version of the theoretical model estimated on New Mexico's federal procurement data, I find that subcontracting requirements only increased procurement costs by 0.3 percent yet led to a 12.7 percent increase in the amount of money awarded to preferred subcontractors. My second chapter investigates bid discounts awarded to resident firms under New Mexico's Resident Preference Program. Unlike other papers in the bid discounting literature, my methodology accounts for potentially affiliated project costs -which is likely to arise in these procurement settings since firms typically share subcontractors and suppliers. Using an empirical auction model estimated on data from New Mexico's Resident Preference Program, I find that offering preference to resident bidders led to a 1.2 percent increase in procurement costs; however, procurement costs are 2.9 percent higher than would be predicted if the model did not account for project-cost affiliation. This chapter highlights the importance of accounting for affiliation in the evaluation of bid preference programs. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Economics First Advisor Hanming Fang
The Reaction of Russian Public Companies’ Stock Prices to Sanctions Against Russia

The imposition of sanctions by foreign countries against Russia since 2014 and their prolongation for the following several years resulted in significant changes in Russian economics. In the first instance, economic sanctions were aimed towards the weakening of companies by banning exports and imports of certain goods, closeout or suspension of joint venture projects, as well as limiting the provision of financing. However, one can postulate that these sanctions influenced the companies to different extents. This research offers an analysis of the changes in share prices of Russian public companies of the MICEX index in response to sanctions against Russia in 2014–2016. The research methodology is based on the event study approach, which allows estimation of a short-term response of the shares’ prices to information release. The results of this paper confirm that imposition and prolongation of sanctions resulted in a significant fall in share prices. With an average daily return on shares of the Russian stock market companies of 0.1%, a fall in return of 0.17% points per day as a result of the imposition of sanctions by the USA is economically significant. Apart from that, the sanctions influenced financially dependent companies to a greater extent. Contrary to theoretical assumptions of a greater influence of sanctions imposed by the countries with which a more close economic cooperation had been established, it transpired that the imposition of sanctions by the USA resulted in the greatest fall in prices for shares. Also, an important result indicated in this paper is the fact that imposition of targeted sanctions against certain companies has not entailed a greater impact of the sanctions on such companies. This is indicative of the ineffectiveness of targeted sanctions imposed on Russia. The influence of the government share in ownership of companies and the differences of response of the shares’ prices depending on the company industry sector have not been confirmed.
Association analysis for NMDA receptor subunit 2B (GRIN2B) genetic variants and psychopathology and clozapine response in schizophrenia

It is known that a syndrome resembling schizophrenia is produced by the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists. It has also been demonstrated that the level of an ionotropic N-methyl-d-aspartate 2B subunit (GRIN2B) of the glutamate receptor tends to increase after subchronic administration of clozapine, suggesting that GRIN2B may play an active role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and the function of clozapine medication. We studied 100 schizophrenic patients, investigating the associations for the GRIN2B genetic variants, and psychiatric symptoms and clozapine response. No significant differences were demonstrated comparing these three groups in terms of the baseline Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score (P = 0.441). The percentage of patients scoring within 20% of baseline BPRS after clozapine treatment was similar for the three genotype groups (P = 0.132). A marginally higher mean clozapine dosage was revealed, however, for patients bearing the 2664C/C genotype (P = 0.013). Although replication of this research is required to confirm the results, an association for the GRIN2B C2664T polymorphism and clozapine treatment is suggested from our findings, which may assist in the prediction of optimal dosage for schizophrenic patients.
Amylase Secretion from Dispersed Human Pancreatic Acini: Neither Cholecystokinin A Nor Cholecystokinin B Receptors Mediate Amylase Secretion In Vitro

Introduction In humans, cholecystokinin (CCK) stimulates pancreatic secretion, and CCK-A receptor antagonists prevent it in vivo. However, the human pancreas has been reported to express mainly CCK-B receptors. Aim To elucidate this discrepancy. Methodology We prepared dispersed acini from human pancreas and examined whether various doses of CCK stimulated the release of amylase, in comparison with the effects of neuromedin C, carbamylcholine, and secretin. Results Human pancreatic acini did not respond to any dose of CCK or secretin. Amylase release was stimulated by carbamylcholine and neuromedin C dose-dependently and was inhibited by respective antagonists. The localizations of CCK receptors in the human duodenum were determined. High concentrations of CCK-A receptors were detected in the mucosa as well as in smooth muscle of the duodenum by microautoradiography. Conclusion In conclusion, human pancreatic acinar cells are responsible for carbamylcholine and neuromedin C but not for secretin. Neither CCK-A nor CCK-B receptor mediates amylase release from human pancreatic acini in vitro. Pancreatic secretion in humans in vivo may be regulated indirectly by CCK (via CCK-A receptors).
Fresh meat quality of pigs fed diets with different fatty acid profiles and supplemented with red wine solids

Three groups of pigs were fed three different diets, namely a diet rich in saturated fatty acids (palm oil-based, PO), a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich diet (corn oil-based, CO), and a PUFA-rich diet (corn oil-based) supplemented with red wine solids (RWS), which was added to the diet (CO+RWS) in order to assess the protective effect on the oxidative status of the pork meat. The addition of corn oil favourably modulates the FAs profile of the backfat, and to a lesser extent of the intramuscular fat of semimembranosus muscle, without causing adverse effects on the meat quality or on its oxidative stability. Moreover, these parameters were not affected by the addition of the RWS in the CO+RWS diet.
VEGF-A 165 augments erythropoietic development from human embryonic stem cells

Combinations of hematopoietic cytokines and the ventral mesoderm inducer BMP-4 have recently been shown to augment hematopoietic cell fate of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during embryoid body (EB) development. However, factors capable of regulating lineage commitment of hESC-derived hematopoiesis have yet to be reported. Here we show that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A165) selectively promotes erythropoietic development from hESCs. Effects of VEGF-A165 were dependent on the presence of hematopoietic cytokines and BMP-4, and could be augmented by addition of erythropoietin (EPO). Treatment of human EBs with VEGF-A165 increased the frequency of cells coexpressing CD34 and the VEGF-A165 receptor KDR, as well as cells expressing erythroid markers. Although fetal/adult globins were unaffected, VEGF-A165 induced the expression of embryonic zeta ( ) and epsilon ( ) globins, and was accompanied by expression of the hematopoietic transcription factor SCL/Tal-1. In addition to promoting erythropoietic differentiation from hESCs, the presence of VEGF-A165 enhanced the in vitro self-renewal potential of primitive hematopoietic cells capable of erythroid progenitor capacity. Our study demonstrates a role for VEGF-A165 during erythropoiesis of differentiating hESCs, thereby providing the first evidence for a factor capable of regulating hematopoietic lineage development of hESCs. (Blood. 2004;103:2504-2512)
The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System

As a contribution to the ongoing discussion of the genesis of the Germanic language, this book investigates the strong verbs of Proto-Germanic using a new approach that combines historical and typological morphology with quantitative etymology. It reveals that the morphological peculiarities and the etymological problems of the strong verbs have been considerably underestimated. The first part of the bookexplains how drastically the inherited verb system was transformed when it was uniformized and simplified around a functionalized verbal ablaut. In particular, it is shown that the systemic position of ablaut is typologically different from that in the verb morphology of the Indo-European parent language. Moreover, the origin of the lengthened grade preterits and other well-known morphological problems of the strong verbs are discussed. After developing a methodological framework, the second part of the book presents a quantitative analysis of the etymological situation of the strong verbs. It demonstrates that the etymological relations of the strong verbs are significantly less clear than commonly assumed, as almost half of them have no accepted etymology. A comparative quantification of the primary verbs of Sanskrit and Ancient Greek, both of which possess much better etymological connections within the Indo-European language family, underlines the significance of the Germanic data and the validity of the analytical framework. Taken together, the investigations presented in this book put the Germanic strong verbs in a new and markedly different light. Their largely obscure etymological situation in combination with their far-reaching morphological restructuring has telling implications for the prehistory of the Germanic languages and suggests new pathways for future research.
Extensive clonality and strong differentiation in the insular pacific tree Santalum insulare: implications for its conservation.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The impact of evolutionary forces on insular systems is particularly exacerbated by the remoteness of islands, strong founder effects, small population size and the influence of biotic and abiotic factors. Patterns of molecular diversity were analysed in an island system with Santalum insulare, a sandalwood species endemic to eastern Polynesia. The aims were to evaluate clonality and to study the genetic diversity and structure of this species, in order to understand the evolutionary process and to define a conservation strategy. METHODS Eight nuclear microsatellites were used to investigate clonality, genetic variation and structure of the French Polynesian sandalwood populations found on ten islands distributed over three archipelagos. KEY RESULTS It was found that 58 % of the 384 trees analysed were clones. The real size of the populations is thus dramatically reduced, with sometimes only one genet producing ramets by root suckering. The diversity parameters were low for islands (n(A) = 1.5-5.0; H(E) = 0.28-0.49). No departure from Hardy-Weinberg proportion was observed except within Tahiti island, where a significant excess of homozygotes was noted in the highland population. Genetic structure was characterized by high levels of differentiation between archipelagos (27 % of the total variation) and islands (F(ST) = 0.50). The neighbour-joining tree did not discriminate the three archipelagos but separated the Society archipelago from the other two. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that clonality is a frequent phenomenon in S. insulare. The genetic diversity within populations is lower than the values assessed in species distributed on the mainland, as a consequence of insularity. But this can also be explained by the overexploitation of sandalwood. The differentiation between archipelagos and islands within archipelagos is very high because of the limited gene flow due to oceanic barriers. Delineation of evolutionary significant units and principles for population management are proposed based on this molecular analysis.
Identifying mothers in administrative data

"Administrative data of the Federal Employment Agency provide an important data base for labour market research. However, the Federal Employment Agency's tasks define what kind of information is recorded. Therefore, some information is missing that is relevant for various research purposes. One example is information on childbirth, which is necessary to analyse female employment biographies. It is still mainly mothers who interrupt their employment to care for their children. These employment interruptions could have different effects on the career of mothers, e.g. wage reductions, reduced career opportunities or an increase in part-time employment. In this FDZ-Methodenreport we present one way to identify family-related breaks using indirect identifiers in the administrative data. We use official statistics on births to validate our identification strategy. We make our program code available as an appendix for the research community. Users can adapt when necessary. " (Authors abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Stata do-file Excel sheet with the comparison of official statistics on childbirth by age of mother and childbirth by age of mother generated with the SIAB 7514
A Practitioner-Centered Assessment of a User-Experience Framework

In this article we outline a relational approach to experience which we have used to develop a practitioner-oriented framework for analysing user experience. The framework depicts experience as compositional, emotional, spatio-temporal, and sensual, and as intimately bound up with a number of processes that allow us to make sense of experience. It was developed and assessed as part of a participative action research project involving interested practitioners. We report how these practitioners used the framework, what aspects of experience they felt that it missed, and how useful they found it as a tool for evaluating Internet shopping experiences. A thematic content analysis of participantsâ€™ reflections on their use of the framework to evaluate Internet shopping experiences revealed some strengths and some weaknesses. For example, certain features of the framework led participants to reflect on aspects of experience that they might not otherwise have considered, such as, the central role of anticipation in experience. The framework also captured aspects of experience that relate to both the sequential structure of the activity and its subjective aspects. However, it seemed to miss out on the intensity of some experiences, and participants sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between some of the sense-making processes, for example, interpreting and reflecting. These results have helped to refine our approach to deploying the framework and have inspired an ongoing programme of research on experience-centred design.
Un environnement générique et ouvert pour le traitement des expressions polylexicales : de l'acquisition aux applications

Cette these presente un environnement ouvert et souple pour l'acquisition automatique d'expressions multimots (MWE) a partir de corpus textuels monolingues. Cette recherche est motivee par l'importance des MWE pour les applications du TALN. Apres avoir brievement presente les modules de l'environnement, le memoire presente des resultats d'evaluation intrinseque en utilisant deux applications: la lexicographie assistee par ordinateur et la traduction automatique statistique. Ces deux applications peuvent beneficier de l'acquisition automatique de MWE, et les expressions acquises automatiquement a partir de corpus peuvent a la fois les accelerer et ameliorer leur qualite. Les resultats prometteurs de nos experiences nous encouragent a mener des recherches ulterieures sur la facon optimale d'integrer le traitement des MWE dans ces applications et dans bien d'autres
Origin of the threshold voltage instability in SiO2/HfO2 dual layer gate dielectrics

The magnitude of the V/sub T/ instability in conventional MOSFETs and MOS capacitors with SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ dual-layer gate dielectrics is shown to depend strongly on the details of the measurement sequence used. By applying time-resolved measurements (capacitance-time traces and charge-pumping measurements), it is demonstrated that this behavior is caused by the fast charging and discharging of preexisting defects near the SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ interface and in the bulk of the HfO/sub 2/ layer. Based on these results, a simple defect model is proposed that can explain the complex behavior of the V/sub T/ instability in terms of structural defects as follows. 1) A defect band in the HfO/sub 2/ layer is located in energy above the Si conduction band edge. 2) The defect band shifts rapidly in energy with respect to the Fermi level in the Si substrate as the gate bias is varied. 3) The rapid energy shifts allows for efficient charging and discharging of the defects near the SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ interface by tunneling.
EARLY [18F]FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY–BASED RESPONSE EVALUATION AFTER TREATMENT WITH GEMCITABINE AND VINORELBINE FOR REFRACTORY HODGKIN DISEASE: A CHILDREN’S ONCOLOGY GROUP REPORT

The International Harmonization Project defined complete response (CR) after treatment for Hodgkin disease (HD) by absence of fluorodeoxyglucose avidity, regardless of the size of residual masses. Residual avidity after initial treatment is known to predict inferior survival. In the setting of retrieval therapy, early positron emission tomography (PET) scans may improve assessment of treatment efficacy. Retrospective analysis after 2 cycles of gemcitabine and vinorelbine for refractory HD revealed 6 CR among 13 patients by PET and 1 CR in 13 by computed tomography (CT). No relationship between PET response and event-free or overall survival could be discerned, presumably because of the heterogeneity of subsequent therapies.