Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing Sentiments from Social Media: The Case of Financial Markets

Investors seeking quality information rely on market experts on financial news platforms such as Google Finance or Bloomberg. However, in recent years, stock discussion forums hosted on social media platforms are competing with financial news platforms and vying to become an important and credible source of information in this knowledge driven economy. Stock discussion forums are likely to attract retail investors who seek and share their opinions at no cost, and are competing with financial news platforms. This research compares the effect of information available on these two knowledge sources on stock returns. We use text mining methods to capture the sentiments revealed on a popular stock discussion forum and a news media platform and compare their ability to predict market returns. We find that sentiments from both social media and news media platforms predict future stock returns but the effect of social media appears to be stronger and more long lasting compared to news media.
Spaced Bitter Solenoid Design for a Continuous Wave 95-GHz Gyrotron

A strong homogeneous magnetic field is required for a gyrotron as well as other applications. For many applications, the natural solution is a superconducting magnet, but for some applications, this solution is not suitable. In this paper, a copper-based design of a continuous, strong magnetic field source is presented. The design is based on a spaced Bitter solenoid with various radii, and with a transversely flowing cooling system. The results of the design are ±0.19% homogeneity over a length of 25 mm, and a power consumption of 12.2 kW for continuous operation. These results show that such a concept is applicable for a 95-GHz gyrotron operating in a long pulse or even continuous mode.
Role of N-Linked Glycans in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Envelope Glycoprotein: Effects on Protein Function and the Neutralizing Antibody Response

ABSTRACT The envelope (Env) glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) contains 24 N-glycosylation sites covering much of the protein surface. It has been proposed that one role of these carbohydrates is to form a shield that protects the virus from immune recognition. Strong evidence for such a role for glycosylation has been reported for simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) mutants lacking glycans in the V1 region of Env (J. N. Reitter, R. E. Means, and R. C. Desrosiers, Nat. Med. 4:679-684, 1998). Here we used recombinant vesicular stomatitis viruses (VSVs) expressing HIV Env glycosylation mutants to determine if removal of carbohydrates in the V1 and V2 domains affected protein function and the generation of neutralizing antibodies in mice. Mutations that eliminated one to six of the sites for N-linked glycosylation in the V1 and V2 loops were introduced into a gene encoding the HIV type 1 primary isolate 89.6 envelope glycoprotein with its cytoplasmic domain replaced by that of the VSV G glycoprotein. The membrane fusion activities of the mutant proteins were studied in a syncytium induction assay. The transport and processing of the mutant proteins were studied with recombinant VSVs expressing mutant Env G proteins. We found that HIV Env V1 and V2 glycosylation mutants were no better than wild-type envelope at inducing antibodies neutralizing wild-type Env, although an Env mutant lacking glycans appeared somewhat more sensitive to neutralization by antibodies raised to mutant or wild-type Env. These results indicate significant differences between SIV and HIV with regard to the roles of glycans in the V1 and V2 domains.
Macrophage serum markers in pneumococcal bacteremia: Prediction of survival by soluble CD163*

Objective:Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is a new macrophage-specific serum marker. This study investigated sCD163 and other markers of macrophage activation (neopterin, ferritin, transcobalamin, and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor [suPAR]) as prognostic factors in patients with pneumococcal bacteremia. Design:Observational cohort study. Setting:Five university hospitals in Denmark. Patients:A total of 133 patients with Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia (positive blood culture) and 133 age- and gender-matched controls. Interventions:Samples were collected for biochemical analyses at the time of first positive blood culture. Measurements and Main Results:sCD163 was highly correlated with other macrophage markers and was significantly elevated (median [25–75 percentiles], 4.6 mg/L [2.8–8.9]) compared with healthy controls (2.7 mg/L [2.1–3.3], p < .0001). Increased levels were observed in patients who needed intensive care (hemodialysis, p = .0011; hypotension, p = .0014; mechanical ventilation, p = .0019). Significantly lower levels of sCD163, ferritin, transcobalamin, and suPAR (but not C-reactive protein) were measured in patients ≥75 yrs. In patients <75 yrs, all macrophage markers were increased in patients who died from their infection compared with survivors, whereas no change was observed in any of the markers in the very old age. At cutoff levels of 9.5 mg/L (sCD163) and 1650 nmol/L (C-reactive protein), the relative risk for fatal outcome in patients <75 yrs was 10.1 (95% confidence interval 3.4–31.0) and 7.0 (95% confidence interval 2.4–21.6) for sCD163 and C-reactive protein, respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression model for patients <75 yrs, ferritin, transcobalamin, neopterin, and suPAR contained no significant information on the probability of survival when sCD163 and CRP were known (p = .25). Conclusions:Macrophage marker response in pneumococcal bacteremia was compromised in old age. In patients <75 yrs old, sCD163 was superior to other markers, including C-reactive protein, in predicting fatal disease outcome.
A 1.3–330-MHz direct clock synthesizer for display interface using fractional multimodulus frequency divider

A 1.3-MHz to 330-MHz video clock synthesizer consisting of a fine-resolution fractional frequency divider and a divider-merged delta-sigma modulator (DSM) is presented. The proposed architecture provides a wide frequency range of output clock, and good jitter performance with reduced design complexity. Moreover, the divider-merged DSM guarantees the cycle-accurate frequency synthesis. The proposed fractional divider can divide the clock frequency with 4-bit fractional resolution using the proposed phase-switching technique. Fabricated in a 0.13-μm CMOS technology, the synthesizer has maximum peak-to-peak period jitter of 120 ps.
Effects of Flaxseed Lignan and Oil on Bone Health of Breast-Tumor-Bearing Mice Treated With or Without Tamoxifen

Previous studies showed that flaxseed lignan (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside, SDG) and oil (FO) inhibit established breast tumor growth in athymic mice with or without tamoxifen (TAM) treatment. TAM was found to increase bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) in breast cancer patients. It is not known whether SDG or FO alone or combined with TAM affects bone health. Hence, the effects of SDG and FO, alone or in combination, on BMC, BMD, and biomechanical bone strength in ovariectomized athymic mice with established human breast tumors (MCF-7) treated with or without TAM were studied. In a factorial design, mice were divided into four non-TAM and four TAM groups. Each group consisted of mice fed a basal diet (BD), SDG (1 g/kg), FO (38.5 g/kg) or SDG + FO (combination) diets. The TAM group had TAM implants that provide a 5-mg TAM dose released over 60 d. TAM exerted an overall significant effect in increasing BMC, BMD, and biomechanical strength in femurs and lumbar vertebra. Without TAM treatment, SDG produced significant lower femur BMD (6%) while FO produced lower vertebrae BMC (8%) and BMD (6%). With TAM treatment, SDG and FO did not exert an effect on BMC and BMD at the femur or vertebra. SDG and FO produced no marked effect on biomechanical bone strength with or without TAM treatment. In conclusion, FS components did not significantly attenuate the positive effects on bone induced by TAM in this model system, indicating no apparent adverse effects on bone health.
Magnetotransport through antidot and dot lattices in two-dimensional structures.

The redistribution of electron density caused by magnetic gaps is explored for both dot and antidot lattices. It is assumed that the saddle points in the electron-density distribution determine the magnetotransport in these periodic systems. We show that the quantum Hall plateaus are shifted to lower magnetic fields in the case of antidot lattices and to higher magnetic fields in the case of dot lattices. Our theory is in a good quantitative agreement with the experimental data by Ensslin and Petroff for antidot systems. The results are obtained by computer simulation taking into account nonlinear screening by the electrons of two Landau levels. For one-level screening, we present an analytical solution of the nonlinear electrostatic problem
Development and characterization of EST-SSR markers for Artocarpus hypargyreus (Moraceae)

Premise of the study: Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for Artocarpus hypargyreus (Moraceae), a threatened species endemic to China, to investigate the genetic diversity and structure of the species. Methods and Results: Based on the transcriptome data of A. hypargyreus, 63 primer pairs were preliminarily designed and tested, of which 34 were successfully amplified and 10 displayed clear polymorphisms across the 67 individuals from four populations of A. hypargyreus. The results showed the number of alleles per locus ranged from three to 10, and the observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity per locus varied from 0.000 to 0.706 and from 0.328 to 0.807, respectively. Conclusions: These microsatellite markers will be useful in exploring genetic diversity and structure of A. hypargyreus. Furthermore, most loci were successfully cross-amplified in A. nitidus and A. heterophyllus, indicating that they will be of great value for genetic study across this genus.
Fusicoccins are biosynthesized by an unusual chimera diterpene synthase in fungi

Fusicoccins are a class of diterpene glucosides produced by the plant-pathogenic fungus Phomopsis amygdali. As modulators of 14-3-3 proteins, fusicoccins function as potent activators of plasma membrane H+-ATPase in plants and also exhibit unique biological activity in animal cells. Despite their well studied biological activities, no genes encoding fusicoccin biosynthetic enzymes have been identified. Cyclic diterpenes are commonly synthesized via cyclization of a C20 precursor, geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP), which is produced through condensation of the universal C5 isoprene units dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopentenyl diphosphate by prenyltransferases. We found that (+)-fusicocca-2,10 (14)-diene, a tricyclic hydrocarbon precursor for fusicoccins, is biosynthesized from the C5 isoprene units by an unusual multifunctional enzyme, P. amygdali fusicoccadiene synthase (PaFS), which shows both prenyltransferase and terpene cyclase activities. The functional analysis of truncated mutants and site-directed mutagenesis demonstrated that PaFS consists of two domains: a terpene cyclase domain at the N terminus and a prenyltransferase domain at the C terminus. These findings suggest that fusicoccadiene can be produced efficiently in the fungus by using the C5 precursors, irrespective of GGDP availability. In fact, heterologous expression of PaFS alone resulted in the accumulation of fusicocca-2,10 (14)-diene in Escherichia coli cells, whereas no product was detected in E. coli cells expressing Gibberella fujikuroi ent-kaurene synthase, another fungal diterpene cyclase that also uses GGDP as a substrate but does not contain a prenyltransferase domain. Genome walking suggested that fusicoccin biosynthetic enzymes are encoded as a gene cluster near the PaFS gene.
Teaching procedural skills in general practice.

BACKGROUND General practitioners need the skills to perform a core set of procedures. The increase in community based medical education gives GPs more opportunity and responsibility to facilitate medical students and junior doctors' acquisition of these core skills. OBJECTIVE This article summarises how procedural skills are learned and describes a practical framework for constructing a supportive learning environment that is safe for patients and learners. DISCUSSION Procedural skills are learned in stages starting with a 'big picture' concept of the skill and its place in clinical care. Next the skill becomes fixed through deliberate practice with specific, constructive feedback based on observation. Autonomous practice is reached after further practice and exposure to increased complexity. General practitioners can facilitate skill development by using a staged learning cycle, building on their learner's prior knowledge and skill.
Troglitazone Reduces Contraction by Inhibition of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Ca2+ Currents and Not Endothelial Nitric Oxide Production

The insulin-sensitizing compound troglitazone has evolved into a promising therapeutic agent for type II diabetes. It improves insulin sensitivity and lipoprotein metabolic profiles and lowers blood pressure in humans and rodents. Because troglitazone has insulinlike effects on a number of tissues, we hypothesized that it may reduce vascular tone through stimulation of endothelial-derived nitric oxide (NO) production or by diminution of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i). Our results show that troglitazone decreases norepinephrine-induced contractile responses in the rat tail artery, an effect not reversed by the NO inhibitor L-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME). In contrast, troglitazone significantly inhibited L-type Ca2+ currents in freshly dissociated rat tail artery and aortic VSMCs and in cultured VSMCs. The data suggest that troglitazone attenuates vascular contractility via a mechanism involving VSMC [Ca2+]i but independent from endothelial generation of NO. Because insulin has been shown to affect vascular tone by both of these mechanisms, troglitazone only partially mimics insulin action in this tissue.
In vitro Regeneration, Acclimatization and Antimicrobial Studies of Selected Ornamental Plants

© 2012 Ahmed et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In vitro Regeneration, Acclimatization and Antimicrobial Studies of Selected Ornamental Plants
Grotesque imagery enhances the persuasiveness of luxury brand advertising

Abstract The current research empirically documents grotesque imagery’s positive effect on the persuasiveness of luxury brand advertising, and examines the perceived fit between grotesque imagery and luxury branding as the psychological mechanism underlying that effect. The results of two studies showed that grotesque imagery in advertisements for luxury products enhanced consumers’ brand experiences and increased their purchase intentions by transporting them to the narratives portrayed in the ads. This process was driven by the perceived fit between grotesque imagery and luxury branding, which leads to fluent processing, thereby facilitating transportation to the ad. This research presents clear evidence that grotesque ads can effectively influence consumers when they are used to promote luxury brands.
Serial diffusion and perfusion-weighted MR in transient hypoglycemia

Thirty to 50% of cases of bilateral vestibular failure are idiopathic.1 However, an autoimmune cause has been suggested in some cases with bilateral idiopathic vestibular failure (BIVF). 2-4 The pathogenesis in autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is poorly understood, and no specific diagnostic test is available. The western blot technique is useful in diagnosing AIED, although the antigen used is often heat shock protein-70 (hsp-70) from bovine kidney tissue and therefore lacks ear specificity. Two patients were admitted for investigations. This project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (Queen Square, London, UK). Patient A was a 57-year-old man who had a 3-year history of recurrent episodes of severe vertigo and progressive unsteadiness. Examination revealed an unsteady ataxic gait and a bilateral positive head-thrust test. No nystagmus could be elicited during caloric irrigation (30 and 44 °C) or with rotational steps of 60°/s. CSF analysis showed a protein concentration of 0.43 g/L and oligoclonal bands in the CSF …
Predictive Performance of Customer Lifetime Value Models in E-Commerce and the Use of Non-Financial Data

The article contributes to the knowledge of customer lifetime value (CLV) models, where extensive empirical analyses on large datasets from online stores are missing. Based on this knowledge, practitioners can decide about the deployment of a particular model in their business and academics can design or enhance CLV models. The article presents predictive performance of selected CLV models: the extended Pareto/NBD model, the Markov chain model, the vector autoregressive model and the status quo model. Six large datasets of medium and large‑sized online stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are used for a comparison of the predictive performance of the models. Online stores have annual revenues in the order of tens of millions of euros and more than one million customers. The comparison of CLV models is based on selected evaluation metrics. The results of some of the models which use additional non‑financial data on customer behaviour - the Markov chain model and the vector autoregressive model - do not justify the effort which is needed to collect such data. The advantages and disadvantages of the selected CLV models are discussed in the context of their deployment.
Study on low-cost QFN packages for high-frequency applications

Quad flat no-lead (QFN) packages have found wide applications in RF and high-speed digital systems. The purpose of this paper is to study high-frequency performance of conventional low-cost QFN packages, and the impact of various parameters. Physical insight of the bond wires and leadframe are presented through full-wave simulation study. Critical parameters are identified and their effects are evaluated at frequencies up to 20 GHz.
Parallel particle filter for state of charge and health estimation with a long term test

The paper presents a new approach for state estimation of batteries that is able to overcome most of the obstacles for the classical Kalman filter approach. The so called particle filter is able to use any probability density function by applying Monte Carlo sampling methods for approximating the density functions for state of charge and state of health defined by the remaining capacity. Thereby the restriction of the Kalman filter to zero mean Gaussian distributions for all states and errors is overcome. The paper proves the validity of the approach by testing lithium metal oxide/graphite batteries with different states of health by applying different current and temperature profiles. A special focus of the testing is on electric vehicles and photovoltaic applications. For electric vehicles state of health determination achieves a correctness of 1 % or better and is a bit worse for photovoltaic applications with 3.75 % or better for ageing state between 100 % and 80 % of initial capacity. During long term testing the algorithm is validated with a decreasing state of health over time due to accelerated ageing. The state of charge estimation is always better than 1 % in long term testing and the state of health is correctly tracked over time.
ATP binding and cross‐bridge detachment steps during full Ca2+ activation: comparison of myofibril and muscle fibre mechanics by sinusoidal analysis

• Sinusoidal length change was employed to study the single myofibril mechanics during full Ca2+ activation for the first time, and the tension time course results were compared with those of single muscle fibres. • With myofibrils, the rate constants of exponential processes (tension transients) B and C were very close to each other at 8 mm phosphate, indicating that they could not be analysed independently. Thus, the sum and the product of the two rate constants were fitted to a cross‐bridge model. • The results demonstrate that the association constant of MgATP to cross‐bridge is K1= 2.91 mm−1, and the rate constants of the cross‐bridge detachment step are k2= 288 s−1 and k−2= 10 s−1. These values compare to those for fibres: K1= 2.35 mm−1, k2= 243 s−1, and k−2= 6 s−1, which are respectively not significantly different from myofibril values. • With inspection of video records, we did not observe any local shortening, wave propagation, or sarcomere inhomogeneity along myofibrils during isometric contraction or while applying sinusoidal length oscillations, indicating the integrity of the analysis method and the data acquired.
Anatomical and functional brain abnormalities in drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE The authors sought to explore whether anatomical and functional brain deficits are present in similar or different brain regions early in the course of schizophrenia, before antipsychotic treatment, and whether these deficits are more severe or otherwise different in patients with prominent negative symptoms. METHOD A total of 100 drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia patients and 100 matched healthy comparison subjects underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scanning. Gray matter volume and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations during resting-state functional studies were measured. RESULTS Group comparisons of gray matter volume showed significant differences mainly in thalamo-cortical networks, while alterations in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations were observed in fronto-parietal and default mode networks. Thus, different brain regions had alterations in gray matter volume and resting state physiology. These changes did not correlate with the duration of untreated illness, nor with acute clinical symptom severity. Patients with prominent negative symptoms had greater regional alterations in brain anatomy, particularly in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while the pattern of functional alterations was unrelated to severity of negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Anatomical and resting-state functional deficits were observed in different brain regions, indicating that anatomical and functional brain abnormalities are significantly dissociated in the early course of schizophrenia. The lack of association of these abnormalities with illness duration and episode severity suggests that these anatomical and functional changes may be early-evolving features of the illness that are relatively stable early in the course of illness. The different structural deficits of regional gray matter observed in patients with prominent negative symptoms may provide unique insight into the early regional neuropathology of this symptom dimension in schizophrenia.
Hysterectomy with or without unilateral oophorectomy and risk of ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the role of hysterectomy, performed on benign indications, on the risk of developing ovarian cancer. METHODS Multicenter case-control study conducted in four Italian areas. Cases were 1031 women with epithelial ovarian cancer. Controls were 2411 women admitted to the same network of hospitals for a wide spectrum of acute non-neoplastic conditions, unrelated to known risk factors for ovarian cancer. RESULTS Compared to women with intact uterus and ovaries, the multivariate odds ratios (OR) was 0.6 (95% confidence interval 0.4-0.9) for women who reported hysterectomy. The OR was 0.5 > or =15 years after surgery. The OR was similar for women who had had pelvic surgery before age 45 and for those who had surgery later. No appreciable heterogeneity emerged across strata of parity and family history of ovarian/breast cancer. CONCLUSION Women who had undergone hysterectomy had a long-term reduced risk of epithelial ovarian cancer.