Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Virtues and Vices of Equilibrium and the Future of Financial Economics

The use of equilibrium models in economics springs from the desire for parsimonious models of economic phenomena that take human reasoning into account. This approach has been the cornerstone of modern economic theory. We explain why this is so, extolling the virtues of equilibrium theory; then we present a critique and describe why this approach is inherently limited, and why economics needs to move in new directions if it is to continue to make progress. We stress that this shouldn't be a question of dogma, but should be resolved empirically. There are situations where equilibrium models provide useful predictions and there are situations where they can never provide useful predictions. There are also many situations where the jury is still out, i.e., where so far they fail to provide a good description of the world, but where proper extensions might change this. Our goal is to convince the skeptics that equilibrium models can be useful, but also to make traditional economists more aware of the limitations of equilibrium models. We sketch some alternative approaches and discuss why they should play an important role in future research in economics.
The downregulation of putative anticancer target BORIS/CTCFL in an addicted myeloid cancer cell line modulates the expression of multiple protein coding and ncRNA genes

The BORIS/CTCFL gene, is a testis-specific CTCF paralog frequently erroneously activated in cancer, although its exact role in cancer remains unclear. BORIS is both a transcription factor and an architectural chromatin protein. BORIS’ normal role is to establish a germline-like gene expression and remodel the epigenetic landscape in testis; it similarly remodels chromatin when activated in human cancer. Critically, at least one cancer cell line, K562, is dependent on BORIS for its self-renewal and survival. Here, we downregulate BORIS expression in the K562 cancer cell line to investigate downstream pathways regulated by BORIS. RNA-seq analyses of both mRNA and small ncRNAs, including miRNA and piRNA, in the knock-down cells revealed a set of differentially expressed genes and pathways, including both testis-specific and general proliferation factors, as well as proteins involved in transcription regulation and cell physiology. The differentially expressed genes included important transcriptional regulators such as SOX6 and LIN28A. Data indicate that both direct binding of BORIS to promoter regions and locus-control activity via long-distance chromatin domain regulation are involved. The sum of findings suggests that BORIS activation in leukemia does not just recapitulate the germline, but creates a unique regulatory network.
FTIR Studies of Silicon Carbide 1D-Nanostructures

Stable 1D silicon carbide nanostructures (nanowires) have been obtained via combustion synthesis route. Infrared absorption and reflection spectra for as-obtained and purified SiC nanowires were compared with the spectra of commercially available SiC nanomaterials. Principal vibrational modes have been identified. Reflectivity spectrum has been reconstructed by modeling of the dielectric function
On adaptive resampling strategies for sequential Monte Carlo methods

Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods are a general class of techniques to sample approximately from any sequence of probability distributions. These distributions are approximated by a cloud of weighted samples which are propagated over time using a combination of importance sampling and resampling steps. This article is concerned with the convergence analysis of a class of SMC methods where the times at which resampling occurs are computed on-line using criteria such as the effective sample size. This is a popular approach amongst practitioners but there are very few convergence results available for these methods. It is shown here that these SMC algorithms correspond to a particle approximation of a Feynman-Kac flow of measures on adaptive excursion spaces. By combining a non-linear distribution flow analysis to an original coupling technique, we obtain functional central limit theorems and uniform exponential concentration estimates for these algorithms. The original exponential concentration theorems presented in this study significantly improve previous concentration estimates obtained for SMC algorithms.
Increased Energy Expenditure, Ucp1 Expression, and Resistance to Diet-induced Obesity in Mice Lacking Nuclear Factor-Erythroid-2-related Transcription Factor-2 (Nrf2)*

The NRF2 (also known as NFE2L2) transcription factor is a critical regulator of genes involved in defense against oxidative stress. Previous studies suggest that Nrf2 plays a role in adipogenesis in vitro, and deletion of the Nrf2 gene protects against diet-induced obesity in mice. Here, we demonstrate that resistance to diet-induced obesity in Nrf2−/− mice is associated with a 20–30% increase in energy expenditure. Analysis of bioenergetics revealed that Nrf2−/− white adipose tissues exhibit greater oxygen consumption. White adipose tissue showed a >2-fold increase in Ucp1 gene expression. Oxygen consumption is also increased nearly 2.5-fold in Nrf2-deficient fibroblasts. Oxidative stress induced by glucose oxidase resulted in increased Ucp1 expression. Conversely, antioxidant chemicals (such as N-acetylcysteine and Mn(III)tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin chloride) and SB203580 (a known suppressor of Ucp1 expression) decreased Ucp1 and oxygen consumption in Nrf2-deficient fibroblasts. These findings suggest that increasing oxidative stress by limiting Nrf2 function in white adipocytes may be a novel means to modulate energy balance as a treatment of obesity and related clinical disorders.
Fat Replacement of Paraspinal Muscles with Aging in Healthy Adults

Purpose The aims of this study were to investigate the age-related changes in fatty replacement and cross-sectional area (CSA) of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar paraspinal muscles versus leg muscles in healthy adults and to test for association between muscle fat fraction and lifestyle factors. Methods Fifty-three healthy adults (24–76 yr) were included. Dixon magnetic resonance imaging technique was used to determine CSA and to quantify the fat fraction of paraspinal and leg muscles. Muscle CSA and fat fractions were tested for association with age and muscle strength. The fat fractions were also tested for association with sex, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and lower back pain. Results Both paraspinal and leg fat fractions correlated directly with age (P < 0.0001). At all ages, fat fraction was higher in paraspinal than leg muscles. The age-related increase in fat fraction was higher in paraspinal muscles than leg muscles (P < 0.0001). The CSA of the muscles did not correlate with age. Knee extension strength correlated with fat fraction (P < 0.05), and the muscle strength of hip muscles, thigh muscles, and anterior calf muscles correlated with CSA (P < 0.05). Sex was associated with lumbar paraspinal fat fraction (P < 0.05) and BMI with thigh fat fraction (P < 0.001). There was no association between fat fraction and physical activity or lower back pain. Conclusion The paraspinal muscles were more susceptible to age-related changes than leg muscles. Further, men had significantly lower fat fractions in lumbar paraspinal muscles, and BMI was positively associated with thigh, but not paraspinal, fat fraction.
Systematic misperceptions of 3-D motion explained by Bayesian inference

People make surprising but reliable perceptual errors. Here, we provide a unified explanation for errors in the perception of three-dimensional (3D) motion. To do so, we characterized the retinal motion signals produced by objects moving with arbitrary trajectories through arbitrary locations in 3D. Next, we developed a Bayesian model, treating 3D motion perception as optimal inference given sensory noise and the geometry of 3D viewing. The model predicts a wide array of systematic perceptual errors, that depend on stimulus distance, contrast, and eccentricity. We then used a virtual reality (VR) headset as well as a standard 3D display to test these predictions in both traditional psychophysical and more naturalistic settings. We found evidence that people make many of the predicted errors, including a lateral bias in the perception of motion trajectories, a dependency of this bias on stimulus contrast, viewing distance, and eccentricity, and a surprising tendency to misreport approaching motion as receding and vice versa. In sum, we developed a quantitative model that provides a parsimonious account for a range of systematic misperceptions of motion in naturalistic environments.
Reduced oocyte activation and first cleavage rate after ICSI with spermatozoa from a sterile mouse chromosome mutant.

BACKGROUND Male mice, heterozygous for two semi-identical reciprocal translocations T(1;13)70H and T(1;13)1Wa are usually sterile. We have investigated this oligoasthenoteratozoospermic mouse model using ICSI. METHODS B6D2F1 oocytes were injected with epididymal or testicular sperm from fertile or sterile translocation carriers and from chromosomally normal fertile controls. ICSI efficiency was determined by pronucleus formation and first cleavage rates. For arrested zygotes, cell cycle progression was evaluated by BrdU incorporation and incubation with okadaic acid. RESULTS Epididymal sperm from infertile translocation carriers showed a slightly lower fertilization rate (70% vs. 92%, 95% and 95% for fertile translocation carriers and two groups of normal fertile control males, respectively) and a severely reduced cleavage rate (33% vs. 87%, 96% and 89% for the same control groups). However, the use of testicular sperm significantly improved the cleavage rate (62% vs. 83% for normal fertile controls). Development of arrested zygotes was delayed or blocked during S- and G2-phase. CONCLUSIONS Whereas control testicular and epididymal sperm performed equally well, the use of testicular sperm from oligospermic T/T' males significantly increased first cleavage rates when compared to the low rates with epididymal sperm. Epididymal storage in oligospermics may negatively influence zygote division.
When repetitive mental sets increase cognitive flexibility in adolescent obsessive–compulsive disorder

BACKGROUND A major facet of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is cognitive inflexibility. However, sometimes, cognitive flexibility can be needed to reuse recently abandoned mental sets. Therefore, cognitive flexibility can in certain cases be useful to reinstate some form of rigid, repetitive behavior characterizing OCD. We test the counterintuitive hypothesis that under such circumstances, cognitive flexibility is better in OCD patients than controls. METHODS We examined N = 20 adolescent OCD patients and N = 22 controls in a backward inhibition (BI) paradigm. This was combined with event-related potential (ERP) recordings and source localization. The BI effect describes the cost of overcoming the inhibition of a recently abandoned mental set that is relevant again. Therefore, a strong BI effect is disadvantageous for cognitive flexibility. RESULTS Compared to controls, OCD patients revealed a smaller backward inhibition effect. The EEG data revealed larger P1 amplitudes in backward inhibition trials in the OCD group, which was due to activation differences in the inferior frontal gyrus (BA47). The severity of clinical symptoms predicted these neurophysiological modulations. The power of the observed effects was about 95%. CONCLUSIONS The study shows that cognitive flexibility can be better in OCD than controls. This may be the case in situations where superior abilities in the reactivation of repeating mental sets and difficulties to process new ones coincide. This may be accomplished by intensified inhibitory control mechanisms. The results challenge the view on OCD, since OCD is not generally associated with cognitive inflexibility.
915 TM 018 046

Researchers and program evaluators would often like to use a particular instrument, but do not because it is too long or would require too much testing time. Having a validated set of objective procedures for reducing the size of an instrument could improve many research and evaluation efforts. This paper reports the results of test reduction or shortening procedures devised and used in the development of parallel short forms of the Crandall Social Desirability Test for Children (CSDTC), a 48-item scale that measures a person's tendency to give socially desirable answers to questions rather than the subject's true views or feelings. The first procedure was to draw four random samples of 12 items (25% of the CSDTC) to produce parallel short forms based on a rationale from sampling theory. These samples were assessed through responses of 356 fifth and sixth graders in a Boston (Massachusetts) middle school to the full ale and shortened versions. A factor analytic approach was also used to make parallel short forms by taking the four items that loaded most highly on each of the three major factors from the ,! 1111 scale administration. Cross validation with 181 sixth and eighth graders; a test-retest reliability study with 55 seventh graders; and a validity study with 254 seventh, eighth, and ninth graders supported the short form derived through factor analysis. Results demonstrate empirically that long instruments can be effectively reduced, and that factor analytic strategies are superior to sampling strategies for this purpose. Six tables present form items and results from the validity studies. Four referonces are listed. (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Parallel Short Forms of the Crandall Social Desirability Test for Children: Shortening Instruments for Research Purposes James Carifio University of Massachusetts at Lowell
2016 CASPASE-12 , Rheumatoid Arthritis , and the Dog That Didn ’ t Bark

CASPASE-12 (CASP12) has an anti-inflammatory function during infection. To determine and if CASP12 could protect against inflammatory disease, we investigated the distribution of CASP12 alleles in African-Americans (AA) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). CASP12 homozygous patients had lower baseline joint narrowing and total disease scores. However, there was no significant difference for distribution of CASP12 genotypes between AA controls and patients with RA, or any other clinical criteria for this disease. CASP12 homozygosity appears to be, at best a subtle protective factor for some aspects of RA in AA patients. This raises an intriguing issue as to how this protein would not have a more significant role in an inflammatory disease process.
Supervised classification using deformation-based features for Alzheimer's disease detection on the OASIS cross-sectional database

In the last 10 years, detection of Alzheimer's disease based on brain T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been a highly sought goal in the neuroscienti c community. However, the methods were assessed on di erent datasets and not always publicly available ones making reproducibility and validation impossible. Here, we evaluated ve deformation-based features (Jacobian determinant and trace, modulated grey matter (GM), deformation vector norm and geodesic anisotropy) and three feature selection processes (Pearson correlation, Bhattacharyya distance and Welch's t-test) using the 416 subjects (316 controls and 100 patients) from the OASIS database. Our objective was to correctly discriminate between controls (CN) and Alzheimer's disease patients (AD). For this task we used a fully and non-fully independent strati ed 10-fold cross-validation and linear SVM. Our best mean detection result was 79.43% of precision, 96.67% of sensitivity and 97.37 of area under the ROC curve. We also show discriminant voxel site locations found with each measure.
Tennis Ball Tracking: 3D Trajectory Estimation using Smartphone Videos

—In this project, we present a system which processes recorded stereo smartphone videos to estimate the 3D trajectory of a tennis ball as it moves during play. Given recorded video footage collected by two smartphones mounted on tripods, our system combines various image processing techniques to interpret the video frames and reconstruct the ball trajectory. To do this, our system locates point correspondences of the court in image space, determines the camera locations relative to a globally-deﬁned origin, and estimates the ball location using multiple-view geometry and state estimation ﬁltering. To this end, we employ image processing concepts including image segmentation, morphological image processing, the Hough transform, moments analysis, blob analysis, camera calibration, and multiple-view geometry.
Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) change their activity patterns in response to frugivory

The most important environmental factor explaining interspecies variation in ecology and sociality of the great apes is likely to be variation in resource availability. Relatively little is known about the activity patterns of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which inhabit a dramatically different environment from the well‐studied mountain gorillas (G. beringei beringei). This study aims to provide a detailed quantification of western lowland gorillas' activity budgets using direct observations on one habituated group in Bai Hokou, Central African Republic. We examined how activity patterns of both sexes are shaped by seasonal frugivory. Activity was recorded with 5‐min instantaneous sampling between December 2004 and December 2005. During the high‐frugivory period the gorillas spent less time feeding and more time traveling than during the low‐frugivory period. The silverback spent less time feeding but more time resting than both females and immatures, which likely results from a combination of social and physiological factors. When compared with mountain gorillas, western lowland gorillas spend more time feeding (67 vs. 55%) and traveling (12 vs. 6.5%), but less time resting (21 vs. 34%) and engaging in social/other activities (0.5 vs. 3.6%). This disparity in activity budgets of western lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas may be explained by the more frugivorous diet and the greater dispersion of food resources experienced by western lowland gorillas. Like other apes, western lowland gorillas change their activity patterns in response to changes in the diet. Am. J. Primatol. 71:91–100, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
RED: RFID-based Eccentricity Detection for High-speed Rotating Machinery

Eccentricity detection is a crucial issue for highspeed rotating machinery, which concerns the stability and safety of the machinery. Conventional techniques in industry for eccentricity detection are mainly based on measuring certain physical indicators, which are costly and hard to deploy. In this paper, we propose RED, a non-intrusive, low-cost, and realtime RFID-based eccentricity detection approach. Differing from the existing RFID-based sensing approaches, RED utilizes the temporal and phase distributions of tag readings as effective features for eccentricity detection. RED includes a Markov chain based model called RUM, which only needs a few sample readings from the tag to make a highly accurate and precise judgement. We implement RED with commercial-of-the-shelf RFID reader and tags, and evaluate its performance across various scenarios. The overall accuracy is 93.59% and the detection latency is 0.68 seconds in average.
Fiber-coupled ultra-high-Q microresonators for nonlinear and quantum optics

The ability to confine optical energy in small volumes for long periods of time is desirable for a number of applications, ranging from photonics and nonlinear optics, to fundamental studies in quantum electrodynamics. Whispering-gallery-mode microresonators are a promising cavity to study, due to the ability to obtain quality factors exceeding 100 million in micron-scale volumes. This thesis investigates the suitability of ultra-high-quality factor silica microresonators (both silica microspheres and silica toroidal microresonators) for nonlinear and quantum optics. Crucial to the actual use of these structures is the ability to efficiently excite and extract optical energy. The first part of this thesis investigates the ability to achieve near lossless coupling between a fiber-taper waveguide and a silica microresonator. It is shown that a coupling ideality (which is the fraction of energy coupled into the desired fiber mode) in excess of 99.97% is possible, meaning that optical energy can be coupled both to and from the optical resonator with near perfect efficiency. Using tapered fibers, low threshold stimulated Raman scattering is observed in both silica microspheres and silica microtoroids at record low incident pump powers below 100 microwatts, much lower than previous devices. High conversion efficiencies (>35%) are also realized. Furthermore, the conditions for optimized performance of both stimulated Raman scattering and parametric oscillation in a microcavity are described. Lastly, the suitability of toroidal microcavities for strong coupling cavity quantum electrodynamics is investigated. Numerical modeling of the optical modes demonstrates a significant reduction of modal volume with respect to spherical cavities, while retaining high quality factors. The extra degree of freedom of toroid microcavities can be used to achieve improved strong-coupling characteristics, and numerical results for atom-cavity coupling strength, critical atom number and critical photon numbers for cesium are calculated and shown to exceed values currently possible using Fabry-Perot cavities. Modeling predicts atom-cavity coupling rates exceeding 700 MHz and critical atom numbers approaching 10^{-7}.
Molecular MALDI imaging: An emerging technology for neuroscience studies

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an essential tool for the detection, identification, and characterization of the molecular components of biological processes, such as those responsible for the dynamic properties of the nervous system. Generally, the application of these powerful techniques requires the destruction of the specimen under study, but recent technological advances have made it possible to apply the matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) MS technique directly to tissue sections. The major advantage of direct MALDI analysis is that it enables the acquisition of local molecular expression profiles, while maintaining the topographic integrity of the tissue and avoiding time‐consuming extraction, purification, and separation steps, which have the potential for introducing artifacts. With automation and the ability to display complex spectral data using imaging software, it is now possible to create multiple 2D maps of selected biomolecules in register with tissue sections, a method now known as MALDI Imaging, or MSI (for Mass Spectrometry Imaging). This creates, for example, an opportunity to correlate functional states, determined a priori with live recording or imaging, with the corresponding molecular maps obtained at the time the tissue is frozen and analyzed with MSI. We review the increasing application of MALDI Imaging to the analysis of molecular distributions of proteins and peptides in nervous tissues of both vertebrates and invertebrates, focusing in particular on recent studies of neurodegenerative diseases and early efforts to implement assays of neuronal development. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2008
Effect of severity of urinary incontinence on quality of life in women

While the effect of different types of incontinence on the quality of life (QoL) has been clearly documented, the information about the impact of incontinence severity on QoL in women is lacking. Therefore, we investigated whether increasingly severe degrees of incontinence were linearly correlated with poorer QoL.