Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temididiscussione del Servizio Studi Tax reforms to influence corporate financial policy : the case of the Italian business tax reform of 1997

In this paper company-level panel data are used to explore the role of tax changes on corporate financial policy. A panel model for the years 1993-98 is estimated confirming the explanatory power of the tax variable. The estimation also shows that firms reduced leverage in the last three years (1996-98) as a reaction to important tax changes: the reduction in 1996 was the effect of the temporary investment tax credit of the previous year, while the one in 1997-98 was the result of the business tax reform started in 1997. The reform, by modifying the system for taxing profits, termed Dual income Tax (DIT), and introducing a new regional tax on business activity (IRAP), reduced the bias against equity finance that was present in the previous tax system. Focusing on the reform, a Logit model is estimated to highlight the characteristics of firms that used the DIT tax system in the first two years. The probability of using the DIT increases with profitability, productivity and investment. The significance of the latter variable suggests that the DIT system was used by firms to reduce the cost of financing new investments after the temporary investment tax credit of 1995. JEL classification: H25, H32.
Eph–ephrin A system regulates murine blastocyst attachment and spreading

Although numerous adhesion molecules are expressed on mammalian endometrial epithelial cells, there have not been any studies of a mechanism to prevent premature attachment of the embryo. In this study, we examined the possible involvement of Eph–ephrin interaction, which can induce repulsive forces. In mice, Eph A1, A2, and A4 were expressed on endometrial epithelial cells and ephrin A1–4 on blastocysts. Reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction showed that mRNA expression of ephrin A1–4 on embryos transiently decreased around the implantation period. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the expression of Eph A1 on endometrial epithelial cells and ephrin A1 and A3 expression on embryos decreased at implantation sites. Recombinant Eph A1 reacted with cell the surface of ephrin A‐bearing trophectoderm cells. Attachment assays using Eph A1‐coated dishes showed that blastocyst attachment was reversibly inhibited by Eph A1. These findings suggest an important role of the Eph–ephrin A system in regulating the initial embryo–maternal contact during the cross‐talk period that precedes embryo implantation. Developmental Dynamics 235:3250–3258, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
LPS- or Pseudomonas aeruginosa-mediated activation of the macrophage TLR4 signaling cascade depends on membrane lipid composition

It is well known that PUFA impede the LPS-mediated activation of the transcription factor NFkappaB. However, the underlying mode of action has not been clarified yet. To address this issue in a comprehensive approach, we used the monocyte/macrophage cell line RAW264.7 to investigate the consequences of a PUFA supplementation on the TLR4 pathway with a focus on (i) the gene expression of TLR4 itself as well as of its downstream mediators, (ii) the membrane microdomain localization of TLR4 and CD14, (iii) the stimulation-induced interaction of TLR4 and CD14. Our data indicate that the impairment of the TLR4-mediated cell activation by PUFA supplementation is not due to changes in gene expression of mediator proteins of the signaling cascade. Rather, our data provide evidence that the PUFA enrichment of macrophages affects the TLR4 pathway at the membrane level. PUFA incorporation into membrane lipids induces a reordering of membrane microdomains thereby affecting cellular signal transduction. It is important to note that this remodeling of macrophage rafts has no adverse effect on cell viability. Hence, microdomain disruption via macrophage PUFA supplementation has a potential as non-toxic strategy to attenuate inflammatory signaling.
Meta-Analysis of Public Microarray Datasets Reveals Voltage-Gated Calcium Gene Signatures in Clinical Cancer Patients

Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are well documented to play roles in cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis; however, whether VGCCs regulate the onset and progression of cancer is still under investigation. The VGCC family consists of five members, which are L-type, N-type, T-type, R-type and P/Q type. To date, no holistic approach has been used to screen VGCC family genes in different types of cancer. We analyzed the transcript expression of VGCCs in clinical cancer tissue samples by accessing ONCOMINE (www.oncomine.org), a web-based microarray database, to perform a systematic analysis. Every member of the VGCCs was examined across 21 different types of cancer by comparing mRNA expression in cancer to that in normal tissue. A previous study showed that altered expression of mRNA in cancer tissue may play an oncogenic role and promote tumor development; therefore, in the present findings, we focus only on the overexpression of VGCCs in different types of cancer. This bioinformatics analysis revealed that different subtypes of VGCCs (CACNA1C, CACNA1D, CACNA1B, CACNA1G, and CACNA1I) are implicated in the development and progression of diverse types of cancer and show dramatic up-regulation in breast cancer. CACNA1F only showed high expression in testis cancer, whereas CACNA1A, CACNA1C, and CACNA1D were highly expressed in most types of cancer. The current analysis revealed that specific VGCCs likely play essential roles in specific types of cancer. Collectively, we identified several VGCC targets and classified them according to different cancer subtypes for prospective studies on the underlying carcinogenic mechanisms. The present findings suggest that VGCCs are possible targets for prospective investigation in cancer treatment.
Environmental adaptation in an asexual invasive insect

Abstract Parthenogenetic reproduction is generally associated with low genetic variance and therefore reduced ability for environmental adaptation, and this could limit the potential invasiveness of introduced species that reproduce asexually. However, the hemlock woolly adelgid is an asexual invasive insect that has spread across a large geographic temperature gradient in its introduced range. Consequently, this insect has shown significant variation in cold hardiness among populations. We hypothesized that the increased cold hardiness of northern populations represents an adaptation to the colder temperatures. To test this, we collected individual adelgid from populations spanning their invaded range and inoculated them into a common thermal environment. We then experimentally sampled the supercooling point of the progeny of these adelgids and compared these results with tests of the supercooling point of adelgid sampled directly from their source populations. The results showed that the same significant differences in supercooling that was found among geographically distinct populations existed even when the adelgid was reared in a common environment, indicating a genetic basis for the variation in cold hardiness. These findings support the hypothesis that the adelgid has adapted to the colder environment as it has expanded its distribution in its invaded range.
Fast determination of regional myocardial strain fields from tagged cardiac images using harmonic phase MRI.

BACKGROUND Tagged MRI of the heart is difficult to implement clinically because of the lack of fast analytical techniques. We investigated the accuracy of harmonic phase (HARP) imaging for rapid quantification of myocardial strains and for detailed analysis of left ventricular (LV) function during dobutamine stimulation. METHODS AND RESULTS Tagged MRI was performed in 10 volunteers at rest and during 5 to 20 microg(-1). kg(-1). min(-1) dobutamine and in 9 postinfarct patients at rest. We compared 2D myocardial strains (circumferential shortening, Ecc; maximal shortening, E(2); and E(2), direction) as assessed by a conventional technique and by HARP. Full quantitative analysis of the data was 10 times faster with HARP. For pooled data, the regression coefficient was r=0.93 for each strain (P<0.001). In volunteers, Ecc and E(2) were greater in the free wall than in the septum (P<0.01), but recruitable myocardial strain at peak dobutamine was greater in the LV septum (P<0.01). E(2) orientation shifted away from the circumferential direction at peak dobutamine (P<0.01). HARP accurately detected subtle changes in myocardial strain fields under increasing doses of dobutamine. In patients, HARP-determined Ecc and E(2) values were dramatically reduced in the asynergic segments as compared with remote (P<0.001), and E(2) direction shifted away from the circumferential direction (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS HARP MRI provides fast, accurate assessment of myocardial strains from tagged MR images in normal subjects and in patients with coronary artery disease with wall motion abnormalities. HARP correctly indexes dobutamine-induced changes in strains and has the potential for on-line quantitative monitoring of LV function during stress testing.
Out of vocabulary detection in Indonesian speech recognition using word and syllable level decoding

One of the problems in speech recognition is out of vocabulary words (OOV) because they can make some words error. Out of vocabulary words are the words that cannot be recognized by speech recognizer because there is no recognizing database. Alignment, language model, and POS Tag method is proposed in order to recognize word error because of OOV words. Word and syllable level decoding from speech recognizer is the input for this method. Alignment is applied to word and syllable level decoding to get some differences from word and syllable level decoding. After that, language model and tag are also applied to determine if the words are correct. Speech recognition accuracy is about 75% if OOV rate is 15,5%. The OOV detection process reaches about 87% precision and 75% recall. Experiments also show that by using OOV detection, speech recognizer accuracy is increased by 11%.
Robust output-feedback discrete-time sliding mode control utilizing disturbance observer

This paper is devoted to the problem of designing a robust dynamic output-feedback discrete-time sliding mode controller (ODSMC) for uncertain discrete-time systems. The basic idea behind this scheme comes from the fact that output feedback discrete-time sliding mode control (ODSMC), unlike its continuous-time counterpart, does not require to exploit a discontinuous term including the sliding function. Therefore, it is not a vital requirement that the sliding function is expressed in terms of the system outputs only. Furthermore, our observer-based discrete-time sliding mode controller (DSMC) leads to a considerably larger region of applicability. Besides, with the assumption of dealing with slow exogenous disturbances, a methodology is developed which aims to reduce the thickness of the boundary layer around the sliding surface. Moreover, the boundedness of the obtained closed-loop system is analyzed and the bound on the underlying system state is derived.
A Factorial HMM Approach to Robust Isolated Digit Recognition in Background Music

This paper presents a novel solution to the problem of isolated digit recognition in background music. A Factorial Hidden Markov Model (FHMM) architecture is proposed to accurately model the simultaneous occurrence of two independent processes, such as an utterance of a digit and an excerpt of music. The FHMM is implemented with its equivalent HMM by extending Nadas’ MIXMAX algorithm to a mixture of Gaussians PDF. At around 0 dB SNR, the proposed system shows an average relative reduction in word error rate of 57% in the recognition of isolated digits in background music.
Effects of Solvent Diols on the Synthesis of ZnFe2O4 Particles and Their Use as Heterogeneous Photo-Fenton Catalysts

A solvothermal method was used to prepare zinc ferrite spinel oxide (ZnFe2O4) using ethylene glycol and 1,4 butanediol as solvent diols, and the influence of diols on the physical properties of ZnFe2O4 particles was investigated. The produced particles were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nitrogen adsorption isotherms, and the catalytic activity for the organic pollutant decomposition by heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction was investigated. Both solvents produced particles with cubic spinel structure. Microporous and mesoporous structures were obtained when ethylene glycol and 1,4 butanediol were used as diols, respectively. A higher pore volume and surface area, as well as a higher catalytic activity for the pollutant degradation were found when 1,4 butanediol was used as solvent.
Vision-Based Vehicle Detection System With Consideration of the Detecting Location

In this paper, we propose a vision-based vehicle detection system. We use a method composed of a hypothesis generation (HG) step and a hypothesis verification (HV) step, following the general approach to vision-based vehicle detection systems. In the HG step, the system extracts hypotheses using shadow regions that appear under vehicles. In the HV step, the system classifies feature vectors extracted from hypotheses to determine whether those hypotheses are vehicles. Along with the histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), we propose and implement a new type of feature vector, i.e., HOG symmetry vectors, in this paper. We also propose a new classification method that uses data importance in the HV step. The data importance value is based on the locations of hypotheses to prioritize hypotheses that have greater risks of accident. Experimental results show the strong performance of our proposed system.
Microwave characterisation and detection of wood decay

The transparency of wood to microwave radiation is subject to changes in the wood's properties caused by softening of the wood material during fungal attack or the addition of moisture. A prototype microwave system that measures microwave attenuation and phase delay between two antennae was developed to detect fungal decay in wood at equilibrium moisture content. A total of twelve wooden stakes of 200 x 65 x 65 mm Pinus radiata (softwood) and twelve stakes of Eucalyptus regnans (hardwood) of the same dimensions were exposed to soil containing decay fungi for 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks in an Accelerated Field Simulator (AFS), which is a climate conditioned room that simulates humid tropical conditions. A control set of three stakes of each wood type was also included in the experiment. Samples were washed and dried in an oven before testing with the prototype system. Orienting the antennae such that the microwave field was perpendicular to the wood grain could not distinguish between sound and decayed wood; however orienting the antennae so that the microwave fields were parallel to the wood grain and having the antennae pressed against the wood sample easily distinguished between sound wood and decayed wood. The phase delay data could not distinguish between sound or decayed wood.
An Experimental Study of the Water-Assisted Injection Molding of PA-6 Composites

This report was carried out to study experimentally the water-assisted injection molding process of glass fiber-reinforced polyamide-6 (Nylon-6) composites. Experiments were carried out on an 80 ton injection molding machine equipped with a lab scale water injection system, which included a water pump, a water injection pin, a pressure accumulator, a water tank equipped with a temperature regulator, and a control circuit. The materials used were Nylon and 30% glass fiber-filled Nylon composites. A spiral mold cavity was used to mold the composites. After molding, the lengths of water penetration in molded parts were measured. The effects of different processing parameters on the lengths of water penetration were determined: melt temperature, mold temperature, melt-filling speed, short-shot size, water pressure, water temperature, water hold, and water injection delay time. Mechanical property tests were performed on the water-assisted injection molded parts. X-ray diffraction was also employed to identify the structural parameters of the materials. In addition, the in-mold temperature distribution of the polymeric materials during the cooling process was measured. Irregular water penetration in molded parts was observed, and water temperature was found to affect the crystallinity distribution of molded parts. Nevertheless, its effects on the tensile properties of molded materials were relatively limited.
Airborne flux measurements of biogenic isoprene over California

Abstract. Biogenic isoprene fluxes were measured onboard the CIRPAS Twin Otter aircraft as part of the California Airborne Biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) Emission Research in Natural Ecosystem Transects (CABERNET) campaign during June 2011. The airborne virtual disjunct eddy covariance (AvDEC) approach used measurements from a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR–MS) and a wind radome probe to directly determine fluxes of isoprene over 7400 km of flight paths focusing on areas of California predicted to have the largest emissions. The fast Fourier transform (FFT) approach was used to calculate fluxes of isoprene over long transects of more than 15 km, most commonly between 50 and 150 km. The continuous wavelet transformation (CWT) approach was used over the same transects to also calculate instantaneous isoprene fluxes with localization of both frequency and time independent of non-stationarities. Fluxes were generally measured by flying consistently at 400 m ± 50 m (a.g.l.) altitude, and extrapolated to the surface according to the determined flux divergence determined in the racetrack-stacked profiles. The wavelet-derived surface fluxes of isoprene averaged to 2 km spatial resolution showed good correspondence to basal emission factor (BEF) land-cover data sets used to drive BVOC emission models. The surface flux of isoprene was close to zero over Central Valley crops and desert shrublands, but was very high (up to 15 mg m−2 h−1) above oak woodlands, with clear dependence of emissions on temperature and oak density. Isoprene concentrations of up to 8 ppb were observed at aircraft height on the hottest days and over the dominant source regions. Even though the isoprene emissions from agricultural crop regions, shrublands, and coniferous forests were extremely low, observations at the Walnut Grove tower south of Sacramento demonstrate that isoprene oxidation products from the high emitting regions in the surrounding oak woodlands accumulate at night in the residual layer above the valley and mix down into the valley in the morning. Thus, the isoprene emissions surrounding the valley have relevance for the regional photochemistry that is not immediately apparent solely from the direct emission flux distribution. This paper reports the first regional observations of fluxes from specific sources by eddy covariance from an aircraft which can finally constrain statewide isoprene emission inventories used for ozone simulations by state agencies. While previously there was no available means to constrain the biogenic models, our results provide a good understanding of what the major sources of isoprene are in California, their magnitude, and how they are distributed. This data set on isoprene fluxes will be particularly useful for evaluating potential model alternatives which will be dealt with in a separate paper to assess isoprene emission models and their driving variable data sets.
Creative interactive play for disabled children

The workshop addresses the emerging field of research on robotics, assistive technologies and interaction design promoting play for physically, visually, and hearing impaired children and for emotionally and mentally handicapped children. Interactive devices including toys, pets and educational tools as well as interactive collaborative environments may represent a unique opportunity for disable children to full engage in play and have fun. The Creative Interactive Play workshop presents a collection of innovative interactive technologies and case studies for inclusive play and discusses the challenges and opportunities they can bid to disabled children.
ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF EGYPTIAN PHOSPHATE FERTILIZER COMPONENTS

Abstract— The accumulation of certain elements in vitally important media such as water, soil, and food is undesirable from the medical point of view. It is clear that the fertilizers vary widely in their heavy metals and uranium content. A shielded high purity germanium HPGe detector has been used to measure the natural concentration of 238U, 232Th, and 40K activities in the phosphate fertilizer and its components collected from Abu-Zaabal fertilizers and chemical industries in Egypt. The concentration ranges were 134.97–681.11 Bq kg−1, 125.23–239.26 Bq kg−1, and 446.11–882.45 Bq kg−1 for 238U, 232Th, and 40K, respectively. The absorbed dose rate and external hazard index were found to be from 177.14 to 445.90 nGy h−1 and 1.03 to 2.71 nGy y−1, respectively. The concentrations of 22 elements (Be, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Zr, Mo, Cd, Ba) in the samples under investigation were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical-emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results for the input raw materials (rock phosphate, limestone and sulfur) and the output product as final fertilizer are presented and discussed.
Routing in the Watts and Strogatz Small World Networks Revisited

The study of small-world networks (SWN) has become popular with the growth of the World Wide Web (or simply Web) and more recently with the rising growth of social networking sites such as Facebook. The idea of a small world can be simply described as between any two people there is only a short chain linking them through their acquaintances. SWNs was first studied in the pioneering work of Stanley Milgram [3] who showed experiments forwarding letters that the length of the chain was between five and six. This is also popularly known as “six degrees of separation”.
PowerTrain: A learning-based calibration of McPAT power models

As research on improving energy efficiency becomes prevalent, the necessity of a tool to accurately estimate power is increasing. Among various tools proposed, McPAT has gained some popularity due to its easy-to-use analytical power models. However, McPAT's prediction has several limitations. Although under- or over-estimated power from unmodeled and mis-modeled parts offset each other, it still incorporates errors in each block. Moreover, the lack of awareness to the implementation details exacerbates the prediction inaccuracies. To alleviate this problem, we propose a new methodology to train McPAT towards precise processor power prediction using power measurements from real hardware. This calibration enables McPAT's power to fit to the target processor power. Once we adjusted the power consumption of each block to best match those in the target processor, our trained McPAT delivered more precise power estimation. We calibrated the outputs of McPAT against a Cortex-A15 within a Samsung Exynos 5422 SoC. We observe that our methodology successfully reduces the errors, particularly for workloads with fluctuating power behaviors. The results show that the mean percentage error and the mean percentage absolute error of the calibrated power against real hardware are 2.04 percent and 4.37 percent, respectively.
Labeling of human face components from range data

An approach to labeling the components of human faces from range images is proposed. The components of interest are those humans usually find significant for recognition. To cope with the nonrigidity of faces, a qualitative approach is used. The preprocessing stage employs a multi-stage diffusion process to identify convexity and concavity points. These points are grouped into components and qualitative reasoning about possible interpretations of the components is performed. Consistency of hypothesized interpretations is carried out using context-based reasoning. Experimental results on real images of several faces are provided. <<ETX>>