Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy estimation technique utilizing timing information for TOF-PET application

This paper proposes an energy estimation technique utilizing only timing information from a Multi-channel Digital a SiPM (MD-SiPM) and presents a statistical analysis of the proposed approach for TOF PET applications with a LYSO scintillator. By utilizing only timing information for estimating energy of gamma photons, circuitry in the MD-SiPM is minimized so as to increase fill-factor and the dead time is reduced dramatically. The statistical analysis of the proposed estimation techniques show that the expected error of the estimate and its uncertainty are a function of the number of primary photons triggering the detector cells that, in turn, is a function of the energy of the gamma photon. The maximum uncertainty (FWHM) acquired by the random simulation is 345 photons in the range of 60-2000 primary photons by utilizing multiple photon timestamps arriving within only 4 nanosecond after the detection of the first photon.
The Determinants of Trade Credit in the U.S. Total Manufacturing Sector

This paper estimates a model specifying the determinants of trade credit in the United States total manufacturing sector for the postwar period. Trade credit is considered as a selling expense, like advertising outlays. Its determinants are derived from a profit maximization model in which the price, volume of output, and the selling costs are all variables to be jointly determined. The opportunity or user cost of accounts receivable and accounts payable are specified and the response of these accounts as well as net trade credit to changes in various monetary decision variables is examined. TRADE CREDIT HAS been a major and growing source of finance in all sectors of the United States economy since World War II. Its volume and widespread use have not been matched by any other kind of business financing. Yet trade credit, like other components of working capital, has received little attention in the literature. One reason for this neglect is that trade credit is buried in the distribution activity of the firm, and sorting out the complex institutional factors that influence its behavior is extremely difficult. The few available studies on the subject have been concerned primarily with assessing the response of trade credit to changes in monetary policy. Rarely has attention been given to developing an optimal model of trade credit based on the theory of the firm, to specifying the opportunity cost of extending or receiving trade credit, or to incorporating the influence of changes in the monetary policy instruments on the optimal level of trade credit. In this paper we attempt to analyze these three problems. The brief discussion in Section 2 introduces the issues. The theoretical framework for the study is sketched in Section 3. In Section 3a, the concept of opportunity or "user" costs of accounts receivable and payable is developed. The relationship and response of these forms of trade credit to changes in monetary policy are discussed in Section 3b. The adjustment process is formulated in Section 3c. The empirical results of the model for accounts receivable, accounts payable, and net trade credit, i.e., the difference between accounts receivable and payable, are presented and analyzed in Section 4. The paper is concluded with a summary and an appendix describing the data sources and definitions of the variables used in the study.
Baseline E-UTRA Downlink Spectral Efficiency Evaluation

This paper evaluates spectral efficiency performance of the 3GPP Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) downlink with baseline settings. A detailed link level tool has been developed including the majority of 3GPP E-UTRA link chain processing modules such as time-domain link adaptation and LI HARQ. Since MIMO is an integral part of the new system, we include four basic multiple antenna configurations in the analysis, namely the SISO, 1x2 SIMO, 2x2 SFC and 2x2 BLAST schemes. Since the BLAST is very sensitive to channel estimation error in cell edge, a case denoted as adapMIMO is considered as well, where the SFC is taken as a backup for the BLAST in cell edge. The system bandwidth is fixed at 20 MHz and a Typical Urban channel model is assumed for both macrocell and microcell evaluations. Simulation results show that in macrocell scenario, the spectral efficiency performance gain of SIMO over SISO is up to 54%, while SFC shows an additional gain of 14% over SIMO. Although the adapMIMO scheme has similar performance as SFC in the macrocellular case, it produces about 30% spectral efficiency gain in the microcell scenario.
LysM-Type Mycorrhizal Receptor Recruited for Rhizobium Symbiosis in Nonlegume Parasponia

Parasponia uses a mycorrhizal signaling receptor essential for arbuscle formation to control rhizobium nodule symbiosis. Rhizobium–root nodule symbiosis is generally considered to be unique for legumes. However, there is one exception, and that is Parasponia. In this nonlegume, the rhizobial nodule symbiosis evolved independently and is, as in legumes, induced by rhizobium Nod factors. We used Parasponia andersonii to identify genetic constraints underlying evolution of Nod factor signaling. Part of the signaling cascade, downstream of Nod factor perception, has been recruited from the more-ancient arbuscular endomycorrhizal symbiosis. However, legume Nod factor receptors that activate this common signaling pathway are not essential for arbuscular endomycorrhizae. Here, we show that in Parasponia a single Nod factor–like receptor is indispensable for both symbiotic interactions. Therefore, we conclude that the Nod factor perception mechanism also is recruited from the widespread endomycorrhizal symbiosis.
Agricultural Land Values and the Value of Rights to Future Land Development

We investigate the influence of future land development on current agricultural land values. From a theoretical model of land markets, we derive a reduced-form expression for agricultural land values in terms of observable variables. This result dictates the specification of our econometric model and we find strong support for the model in an application to New York State. The estimated model, together with a spatial interpolation algorithm, is used to generate a surface of estimated development rights values for Orange County. This approach overcomes several problems that arise with the use of standard appraisal methods to value conservation easements. (JEL Q24)
The novel complement inhibitor human CUB and Sushi multiple domains 1 (CSMD1) protein promotes factor I‐mediated degradation of C4b and C3b and inhibits the membrane attack complex assembly

CUB and Sushi multiple domains 1 (CSMD1) is a transmembrane protein containing 15 consecutive complement control protein (CCP) domains, which are characteristic for complement inhibitors. We expressed a membrane‐bound fragment of human CSMD1 composed of the 15 C‐terminal CCP domains and demonstrated that it inhibits deposition of C3b by the classical pathway on the surface of Chinese hamster ovary cells by 70% at 6% serum and of C9 (component of membrane attack complex) by 90% at 1.25% serum. Furthermore, this fragment of CSMD1 served as a cofactor to factor I‐mediated degradation of C3b. In all functional assays performed, well‐characterized complement inhibitors were used as positive controls, whereas Coxsackie adenovirus receptor, a protein with no effect on complement, was a negative control. Moreover, attenuation of expression in human T47 breast cancer cells that express endogenous CSMD1 significantly increased C3b deposition on these cells by 45% at 8% serum compared with that for the controls. Furthermore, by expressing a soluble 17–21 CCP fragment of CSMD1, we found that CSMD1 inhibits complement by promoting factor I‐mediated C4b/C3b degradation and inhibition of MAC assembly at the level of C7. Our results revealed a novel complement inhibitor for the classical and lectin pathways. —Escudero‐Esparza, A. , Kalchishkova, N. , Kurbasic, E. , Jiang, W. G. , Blom, A. M. , The novel complement inhibitor human CUB and Sushi multiple domains 1 (CSMD1) protein promotes factor I‐mediated degradation of C4b and C3b and inhibits the membrane attack complex assembly. FASEB J. 27, 5083–5093 (2013). www.fasebj. org
Turning a ToF camera into an illumination tester: Multichannel waveform recovery from few measurements using compressed sensing

A critical element of any Time-of-Flight (ToF) 3D imaging system is the illumination. Most commercial solutions are restricted to short range indoor operation and use simple illumination setups of single or few LEDs, grouped together. Recent developments towards medium and long range ToF imaging, ready for outdoor operation, bring the need for powerful illumination setups, constituted by many emitters, which might be grouped in distributed modules. Provided that the depth accuracy of ToF cameras strongly depends on the quality of the illumination waveform, assuring that a complex illumination system is providing a homogeneous in-phase wavefront is of capital importance to minimize systematic inaccuracies. In this work we present a novel framework for multichannel simultaneous testing of illumination waveforms, which is able to recover the waveform of the incident light on each pixel of a ToF camera, exploiting the sparsity of typical continuous wave (CW) illumination signals in frequency domain.
Exploring the resilience development process by implementing the crisis strategic planning framework : A Swedish textile SME perspective

Global financial crises have affected the survivability of firms particularly the small and medium ones. Swedish textile-related SMEs were no exception as they showed a higher bankruptcy during the crises. In such a context, resilience development is vital. It is upheld by crisis management, business continuity management and strategic planning thus forming an integrated crisis strategic planning (CSP) framework. This paper highlights such a CSP framework along a six-step resilience development process by identifying environmental turbulences, developing leadership and capability analyses and multiple strategy development combining effective planning and adaptation. A Swedish SME is studied longitudinally to make a comparative analysis of the resilience development process in two crises. This involves practical use of CSP using simple strategic tools or techniques to improve responsiveness and preparedness in an integrated way. SME practitioners can identify the problems, their impacts, ensure competitive market positioning, and develop multiple strategies over a timeframe of development.
Work characteristics and employee outcomes in local government

The overall objective of this study was to examine the work characteristics that make significant contributions to extra-role performance (as measured by the helping dimension of citizenship behaviour) and employee wellbeing (measured by job satisfaction and psychological health) in a local government. The work characteristics examined were based on the demand-control-support (DCS) model, augmented by organization-specific characteristics. The results indicate that characteristics described in the core DCS are just as relevant to extra-role performance as they are to more traditional indicators of job stress. Although the more situation-specific conditions were not predictive of citizenship behaviour, they made unique contributions to job satisfaction.
Epidermal Growth Factor Reduces Hepatic Sequelae in Experimental Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Background and Aim: Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common gastrointestinal disease of premature infants. We recently demonstrated that the gut/liver axis plays an important role in the pathophysiology of NEC through the release of inflammatory mediators into the intestinal lumen. We have also shown that supplementation of formula with epidermal growth factor (EGF) dramatically decreases ileal pathology associated with experimental NEC. In this study, we examined the effects of EGF on the liver portion of the gut/liver axis in the neonatal rat model of NEC. Methods: Newborn rats were divided into three experimental groups, NEC, hand-fed with growth-factor free formula; NEC + EGF, hand-fed with formula supplemented with 500 ng/ml rat EGF; or DF, dam fed. All animals were exposed to asphyxia and cold stress twice daily for 4 days to develop NEC. Results: EGF receptor expression was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) decreased in the NEC + EGF group compared to the NEC group. EGF supplementation significantly decreased Kupffer cell numbers (p ≤ 0.01) as well as hepatic tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin-18 production (p ≤ 0.05). Further, TNF-α in the intestinal luminal contents of the NEC + EGF group were normalized to levels observed in DF controls compared to the NEC group (p ≤ 0.05). Activated nuclear factor-ĸB was also substantially decreased in the NEC + EGF group versus the NEC group. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that EGF normalizes cytokine overproduction in the liver of neonatal rats with NEC, which contributes to diminished intestinal damage during the development of experimental NEC. These data suggest that supplementation of formula with EGF can have beneficial effects on the gut/liver axis during NEC pathogenesis.
School-based Management Framework and Education Efficiency

This paper applies an aspect of school-based management, which describes the actors that shape and promote school management, their interests, and the network that links them. Four categories of actors are identified: policymakers, school committee, providers, and clients. The public expenditure tracking survey and the quantitative service delivery survey were the instruments used to collect the data. The stochastic frontier analysis was employed for estimating education efficiency. The variables, which determine education efficiency, are specified according to the school-based management framework. The results show that, on average, the school-based management was suitable for explaining student achievement in the sample schools. It suggests that both socio-economic and institutional factors drawn from the school-based management framework, in addition to higher budget allocation, are required to improve efficiency in providing education.
Convergence of the static estimation toward the long-run effects of dynamic panel data models: a labour demand illustration

This article focuses on the estimation of long-run effects on panel data. Pirotte showed that the probability limit of the between estimator of a static relation – whereas the true specification is a dynamic error components model – converges to the long-run effects. This article illustrates this theoretical result by an empirical study to labour demand.
Anatomical Wrist Patterns on Plain Radiographs.

BACKGROUND Interpreting the structure in the wrist is complicated by the existence of multiple joints as well as variability in bone shapes and anatomical patterns. Previous studies have evaluated lunate and capitate shape in an attempt to understand functional anatomical patterns. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe anatomical shapes and wrist patterns in normal wrist radiographs. We hypothesized that there is a significant relationship in the midcarpal joint with at least one consistent pattern of wrist anatomy. METHODS Seventy plain posteroanterior (PA) and lateral wrist radiographs were evaluated. These radiographs were part of a previously established normal database, had all been read by a radiologist as normal, and had undergone further examination by 2 hand surgeons for quality. Evaluation included: lunate and capitate shape (type 1 and 2 lunate shape according to the classification system by Viegas et al.), ulnar variance, radial inclination and height, and volar tilt. RESULTS A significant association was found between lunate and capitate shape using a dichotomal classification system for both lunate and capitate shapes (p=0.003). Type 1 wrists were defined as lunate type1and a spherical distal capitate. Type 2 wrists had a lunate type 2 and a flat distal capitate. No statistically significant associations were detected between these wrist types and measurements of the radiocarpal joint. CONCLUSION There was a significant relationship between the bone shapes within the midcarpal joint. These were not related to radiocarpal anatomical shape. Further study is necessary to better describe the two types of wrist patterns that were defined and to understand their influence on wrist biomechanics and pathology.
Networks and the Challenge of Sustainable Development

Network concepts are central to at least three challenges of interest in the sustainability science literature: how to link knowledge with action, how to enhance collective action, and how to promote social learning. Although each challenge has developed into a coherent literature, social network concepts—which examine the particular ways in which social agents relate to one another—emerge as a common theme across all three challenges. To build a synthetic understanding of networks and sustainability, we must consider how structural properties of networks relate to sustainability outcomes, how networks evolve over time, and how institutional context influences this evolutionary process. A better understanding of these questions can inform strategies to promote patterns of social interaction that support sustainability.
ANÁLISE DO IMPACTO DA SUBSTITUIÇÃO DA DOAR PELA DFC: UM ESTUDO SOB A PERSPECTIVA DO VALUE-RELEVANCE

Over the past 40 years, several studies have discussed the relevance of accounting information. These are the so-called value-relevance studies of accounting information. In these studies, accounting variables are used to try and explain stock price behavior. The focus is to verify, through regression analysis, if certain accounting information has information contents for the capital market. That is the context for this article, which aims to analyze the impact of replacing the SSAF (Statement of Sources and Applications of Funds) by the SCF (Statement of Cash Flows), implemented through changes in Brazilian accounting standards valid for the financial year 2008. Therefore, it analyzes the question about the value relevance of the operational sources of funds (ORO) from SSAF and operating cash flow (FCO) from the SCF, for the years 2005 to 2007, of non-financial publicly-traded corporations listed in the database Melhores e Maiores of FIPECAFI-EXAME. Empirical evidence supports that the replacement of the SSAF by the SCF was beneficial for accounting information users in Brazil, although previous studies have pointed to the SSAF as a richer statement in terms of information, i.e. a statement that allows ursers to extract more information. A plausible explanation for this finding is that the SCF is na easier to understand and more user-friendly statement, especially for users who are less familiar with accounting, so that it is more used.
Can factor proportions explain vertical intra-industry trade?

Two questions in particular will be addressed. First, can earlier results for specific industries that suggest a positive relation between quality and capital-labour ratios of exporting countries be generalized to other industries? Second, what type of capital, physical or human, is most important in affecting the quality of vertically differentiated products? The results suggest that the relation between factor endowments and the quality of exported products is not just restricted to the product groups in previous analyses and that it is primarily human and not physical capital that determines the quality of production.
Ossicular chain reconstruction: The torp and porp in chronic ear disease.

The traditional objectives of tympanoplasty are infection control, closure of the ear by grafting techniques, and hearing rehabilitation via ossicular reconstruction. The multiplicity of contemporary prostheses and surgical options available would seem to underscore the magnitude of the ossicular reconstruction problem in the difficult chronic ear relative to all else. The success of stapedectomy has led to great expectations for all problems of ossicular reconstruction. The circumstances of the chronic ear is a milieu hostile in comparison and precludes any such comparison.
College Students' Perceptions and Attitudes Toward the Selection of Study Abroad Programs

The number of U.S. students who participated in study abroad programs has increased by 5% in the past decade. The main goal of this study is to understand the motivations and attitudes of students toward the selection of study abroad programs. Approximately 600 undergraduate students from a land-grant university in the Southeastern U.S. were randomly invited to participate in this study. Participants were approached at the 2 main entrances of the campus library due to its popularity, accessibility, convenient location, and diverse uses. A total of 192 usable surveys were collected in fall 2005. The survey instrument included three sections: (a) students' behaviors during their leisure trips, (b) students' perceptions toward study abroad programs and during an on-site trip, and (c) demographic profiles. Based on the results, promotional strategies for study abroad programs should highlight summer programs lasting 2 to 4 weeks. Opportunities for touring and social contact at low prices are also attractive to students. As study abroad programs become more popular among American students, the results of this study will be useful for institutions that have an interest in promoting student exchange programs. The results of this study can assist study abroad program marketers in promoting positive images of host destinations and providing better services for both receiving and generating institutions.
Elevated SMAD1/β-catenin molecular complexes and renal medullary cystic dysplasia in ALK3 transgenic mice

Renal dysplasia, the most frequent cause of childhood renal failure in humans, arises from perturbations in a complex series of morphogenetic events during embryonic renal development. The molecular pathogenesis of renal dysplasia is largely undefined. While investigating the role of a BMP-dependent pathway that inhibits branching morphogenesis in vitro, we generated a novel model of renal dysplasia in a transgenic (Tg) model of ALK3receptor signaling. We report the renal phenotype, and our discovery of molecular interactions between effectors in the BMP and WNT signaling pathways in dysplastic kidney tissue. Expression of the constitutively active ALK3 receptor ALK3QD, in two independent transgenic lines caused renal aplasia/severe dysgenesis in 1.5% and 8.4% of hemizygous and homozygous Tg mice, respectively, and renal medullary cystic dysplasia in 49% and 74% of hemizygous and homozygous Tg mice, respectively. The dysplastic phenotype, which included a decreased number of medullary collecting ducts, increased medullary mesenchyme, collecting duct cysts and decreased cortical thickness, was apparent by E18.5. We investigated the pathogenesis of dysplasia in these mice, and demonstrated a 30% decrease in branching morphogenesis at E13.5 before the appearance of histopathogical features of dysplasia, and the formation of β-catenin/SMAD1/SMAD4 molecular complexes in dysplastic renal tissue. Increased transcriptional activity of a β-catenin reporter gene in ALK3QD;Tcf-gal mice demonstrated functional cooperativity between the ALK3 and β-catenin-dependent signaling pathways in kidney tissue. Together with our results in the dysplastic mouse kidney, our findings that phospho-SMAD1 and β-catenin are overexpressed in human fetal dysplastic renal tissue suggest that dysregulation of these signaling effectors is pathogenic in human renal dysplasia. Our work provides novel insights into the role that crucial developmental signaling pathways may play during the genesis of malformed renal tissue elements.