Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast profits in a fasting month? A markov regime switching approach in search of ramadan effect on stock markets

Ramadan is deemed to be the holiest month which is observed by 1.6 billion Muslims across the world. We investigate the stock returns during Ramadan for 5 biggest stock markets in Muslim majority countries (Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia and Kuwait) by taking weekly data over the period of 5 years. By applying the Markov Regime Switching technique we found out that there is not enough evidence to conclude that Ramadan effect plays a significant part in providing investors with higher return during the one-month period. However, we found out that all the stock exchanges move in the same direction during the Ramadan 2012 and Ramadan 2015 which perhaps may be attributed to the Eurozone Crisis and oil price drops. These show that external factors may play a far bigger role in determining the returns from the stock market than a seasonality effect.
A detailed power loss analysis of modular multilevel converter

This paper thoroughly examines the semiconductor power loss characteristics of modular multilevel converters (MMC). Power loss behavior is examined under different pulse width modulation (PWM) methods and operating conditions. The effects of stored energy level, circulating current control utilization, power factor and submodule voltage balancing method on power loss are studied. Furthermore, unbalanced power losses and specific semiconductor stresses within a submodule are visualized by investigating the loss distribution in a submodule. The paper aids in understanding and design of MMC converter modules, selecting PWM and control methods with power loss perspective.
The MobiCert Mobile Information Community for Organic Primary Producers: a South Australian Prototype

Mobile technology and m-Commerce are transforming our digital economy to a mobile one, with new markets and mobile services worldwide. Today, the importance of communication and information access in a timely and efficient manner is critical for many industries: particularly those in rural and regional areas, due to their often limited Internet access and mobile coverage. This paper presents the findings of the MobiCert project, which investigated the use of mobile technology to improve communication and information access within one of these rural industries using a Rapid Appraisal approach. As a proof-of-concept project, MobiCert focused the development of a mobile information community for organic primary producers in rural South Australia to improve their stakes in the Mobile Revolution. The extremely positive acceptance of the MobiCert solution by organic primary producers illustrated the significant potential mobile technology has to improve rural farm life in Australia.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Magnetic Properties of Ni Nanocontacts

The dynamic deformation upon stretching of Ni nanowires as those formed with mechanically controllable break junctions or with a scanning tunneling microscope is studied both experimentally and theoretically. Molecular dynamics simulations of the breaking process are performed. In addition, and in order to compare with experiments, we also compute the transport properties in the last stages before failure using the first-principles implementation of Landauer's formalism included in our transport package ALACANT.
Propionyl-Coenzyme A Synthase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus, a Key Enzyme of the 3-Hydroxypropionate Cycle for Autotrophic CO2 Fixation*

The 3-hydroxypropionate cycle has been proposed as a new autotrophic CO2 fixation pathway for the phototrophic green non-sulfur eubacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus and for some chemotrophic archaebacteria. The cycle requires the reductive conversion of the characteristic intermediate 3-hydroxypropionate to propionyl-CoA. The specific activity of the 3-hydroxypropionate-, CoA-, K+-, and MgATP-dependent oxidation of NADPH in autotrophically grown cells was 0.09 μmol min−1 mg−1 protein, which was 2-fold down-regulated in heterotrophically grown cells. Unexpectedly, a single enzyme catalyzes the entire reaction sequence: 3-hydroxypropionate + MgATP + CoA + NADPH + H+ → propionyl-CoA + MgAMP + PPi + NADP+ + H2O. The enzyme was purified 30-fold to near homogeneity and has a very large native molecular mass between 500 and 800 kDa, with subunits of about 185 kDa as judged by SDS-PAGE, suggesting a homotrimeric or homotetrameric structure. Upon incubation of this new enzyme, termed propionyl-CoA synthase, with the proteinase trypsin, the NADPH oxidation function of the enzyme was lost, whereas the enzyme still activated 3-hydroxypropionate to its CoA-thioester and dehydrated it to acrylyl-CoA. SDS-PAGE revealed that the subunits of propionyl-CoA synthase had been cleaved once and the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the two trypsin digestion products were determined. Two parts of the gene encoding propionyl-CoA synthase (pcs) were identified on two contigs of an incomplete genome data base of C. aurantiacus, and the sequence of the pcs gene was completed. Propionyl-CoA synthase is a natural fusion protein of 201 kDa consisting of a CoA ligase, an enoyl-CoA hydratase, and an enoyl-CoA reductase, the reductase domain containing the trypsin cleavage site. Similar polyfunctional large enzymes are common in secondary metabolism (e.g. polyketide synthases) but rare in primary metabolism (e.g. eukaryotic type I fatty acid synthase). These results lend strong support to the operation of the proposed pathway in autotrophic CO2 fixation.
Variable effects of goitrogens in inducing precocious metamorphosis in sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus).

The ability of different goitrogens (anti-thyroid agents) to induce precocious metamorphosis in larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) was assessed in four separate experiments. Two of these goitrogens (propylthiouracil [PTU] and methimazole [MMI]) are inhibitors of thyroid peroxidase-catalyzed iodination, and three (potassium perchlorate [KClO(4)], potassium thiocyanate [KSCN], and sodium perchlorate [NaClO(4)]) are anionic competitors of iodide uptake. Because, theoretically, all of these goitrogens prevent thyroid hormone (TH) synthesis, we also measured their influence on serum concentrations of thyroxine and triiodothyronine. All goitrogens except PTU significantly lowered serum TH concentrations and induced metamorphosis in some larvae. The incidence of metamorphosis appeared to be correlated with these lowered TH concentrations in that KClO(4), NaClO(4), and MMI treatments resulted in the lowest serum TH concentrations and the highest incidence of metamorphosis in sea lampreys. Moreover, fewer larvae metamorphosed in the KSCN and low-KClO(4) treatment groups and their serum TH concentrations tended to be greater than the values in the aforementioned groups. MMI treatment at the concentrations used (0.087 and 0.87 mM) was toxic to 55% of the exposed sea lampreys within 6 weeks. The potassium ion administered as KCl did not alter serum TH concentrations or induce metamorphosis. On the basis of the results of these experiments, we have made the following conclusions: (i) In general, most goitrogens other than PTU can induce metamorphosis in larval sea lampreys, and this induction is coincident with a decline in serum TH concentrations. (ii) The method by which a goitrogen prevents TH synthesis is not directly relevant to the induction of metamorphosis. (iii) PTU has variable effects on TH synthesis and metamorphosis among lamprey species. (iv) Unlike in protochordates, potassium ions do not induce metamorphosis in sea lampreys and are not a factor in the stimulation of this event.
A wide-tuning quasi-type-I PLL with voltage-mode frequency acquisition aid

A wide-tuning low-cost PLL architecture with negligible loop filter area is presented. To overcome the static phase error or reference spur problem of the conventional type-I PLL over broad frequency tuning range, a Δ-Σ DAC based real-time frequency acquisition aid method is employed in the PLL voltage domain. Different from other Δ-Σ based frequency acquisition methods mainly used for the type-II all-digital PLL (ADPLL), the proposed method provides inherent quantization noise reduction by the PLL loop filter. Simulation results verify that significant reference spur reduction as well as Δ-Σ noise reduction can be achieved with the proposed architecture.
A novel two-step etching to suppress the charging damages during metal etching employing helicon wave plasma

A two-step etching has been performed to eliminate the plasma charging damages during helicon-wave plasma metal etching without selectivity loss. This technique utilized a normal etching recipe to remove the Al film followed by an optimized etching recipe for the overetching step. By increasing the bias power and decreasing the source power, the optimum etching recipe can target the plasma more directionally and reduce the Al charging damages. Eventually, the damage mechanism was also reported.
A functional haplotype in the 5′ flanking region of the factor VII gene is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease

Summary. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate associations between coronary heart disease risk and polymorphisms in the coagulation factor (F)VII gene in participants of a large prospective study. Methods: One thousand nine hundred and fifty‐seven men were genotyped for four FVII polymorphisms, −670A→C, −402G→A, a 10 base pair insertion at −323 (0 > 10) in the promoter, and R353Q in the structural gene. Associations among genotypes and estimated haplotypes, plasma FVII levels, and coronary heart disease risk were evaluated, and the function of the promoter polymorphisms was assessed in reporter gene assays. Results: The −670A→C and −402G→A polymorphisms were in complete allelic association. The haplotype containing −670C and −402A (frequency =0.23) was associated with significantly increased plasma FVII coagulant activity and increased risk of an initial coronary event, particularly acute myocardial infarction, which remained after correction for conventional risk factors. In contrast, the −323 insertion and Q353 alleles (frequency =0.11 and 0.10, respectively) were associated with decreased plasma FVII levels, but hazard ratios for coronary events in carriers of these alleles were not significantly different from unity. In transiently transfected hepatoma cells, increased basal expression of the reporter gene was directed by a promoter fragment with rare haplotype −670C/−630G/−402A rather than by a promoter fragment with common haplotype −670A/−630A/−402G; −402A was not responsible for this effect. Conclusions: The promoter haplotype, −670C/−630G/402A, was associated with significantly increased plasma FVII coagulant activity, risk of an initial coronary event, particularly acute myocardial infarction, and reporter gene expression.
Cognitive Test Performance in a Community-Based Nondemented Elderly Sample in Rural India: The Indo-U.S. Cross-National Dementia Epidemiology Study

Interpretation of cognitive test performance among individuals from a given population requires an understanding of cognitive norms in that population. Little is known about normative test performance among elderly illiterate non-English-speaking individuals. An age-stratified random sample of men and women, aged 55 years and older, was drawn from a community-based population in the rural area of Ballabgarh in northern India. These Hindi-speaking individuals had little or no education and were largely illiterate. A battery of neuropsychological tests, specially adapted from the CERAD neuropsychological battery, which was adminstered to this sample, is described. Subjects also underwent a protocol diagnostic examination for dementia. Norms for test performance of 374 nondemented subjects on these tests are reported across the sample and also by age, gender, and literacy.
Sex Slavery in Thailand

This article focuses on sex slavery in Thailand, with a strong emphasis on human rights and connection to social development. Distinctions between prostitution, human traffi cking, and sex slavery are presented. Factors promoting sex slavery (i.e., religion, families, sex tourism/prostitution) are examined, and the ways in which sex slavery affects human rights and individual health are explored. A sex traffi cking conceptual model assessing oppression of human rights, current approaches to combat sex slavery, and suggestions for additional preventive measures are discussed. Language: en
Cross-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes against a HIV-1 p24 epitope in slow progressors with B*57

Objectives To determine whether CD8 T lymphocytes from HIV-1-infected patients expressing B*5701 and B*5703 show broad cross-reactivity against different variants of a conserved p24 epitope, which might account for the good prognosis of HIV-1-infected individuals with HLA-B*57. Design B*5701+ and B*5703+ were recruited from Nairobi, Kenya and from Oxford, UK. All patients had been HIV positive for at least 8 years and could be categorized as slow progressors. Methods CD8 cytotoxic T cell clones were generated from B*5701+ and B*5703+ donors and tested for their ability to recognize clade variants of an index p24 epitope in standard cytolytic assays. Cross-reactive responses in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were assessed by interferon-γ (IFNγ) production and tetramer binding. Results Broad cross-clade reactivity for both cytolysis and tetramer binding was observed in CD8 T cell clones from patients harbouring the index epitope sequence. Patterns of cross-reactivity were similar in freshly isolated PBMC but varied between individuals in terms of strength and breath of responses generated. One common variant induced an unusual response with tetramer binding but often failed to induce IFNγ production, and another was a weak stimulator of both IFNγ and cytolytic activity. Conclusion B*5701+ and B5703+ donors demonstrate broad functional cross-reactivity to both common and rare variants of a dominant p24 epitope, which could be relevant to the association of B*57 alleles with slow progression to AIDS.
Elevated thyrotropin in bipolar youths prescribed both lithium and divalproex sodium.

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of combined lithium and divalproex sodium on thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in children and adolescents with bipolar disorders and to identify risk factors for lithium-induced hypothyroidism. METHOD Bipolar youths aged 5 to 17 years participating in an open-label clinical trial received treatment with lithium and divalproex sodium for up to 20 weeks. TSH levels were measured at baseline and at the end of the study. Subjects were divided into two groups for analysis: group 1 had TSH levels of less than 10.0 mU/L at the end of the study and group 2 had TSH levels of 10.0 mU/L or more at end of the study. RESULTS Twenty of the 82 subjects (24.4%) showed TSH elevations of at least 10 mU/L within an average exposure of less than 3 months. The mean baseline TSH level for group 2 was significantly higher than for group 1 (2.97 [SD = 1.48] versus 2.05 [SD = 0.89], p <.05). Mean lithium levels at the end of the study were 1.00 mEq/L for group 2 compared to 0.76 mEq/L for group 1 (t = -2.41, p =.019). CONCLUSIONS Lithium is associated with significant rates of thyrotropin elevation in bipolar youths. Factors associated with elevation in TSH in lithium-treated subjects include a higher baseline TSH level and a higher lithium level. Close monitoring of thyroid function in children and adolescents taking lithium is recommended.
Linking Statistical Learning to Diagnosis

As device and interconnect feature sizes shrink, silicon chip behavior becomes more sensitive to process and environmental variations and uncertainties. During the design phase, many effects of these variations are not explicitly or accurately modeled and simulated, either because doing so is too expensive or because the designer is not aware that a particular effect can significantly alter chip timing. When a significant timing-behavior mismatch occurs between design and silicon, it would be useful to identify the unmodeled effects that contribute most to the mismatch. Traditional diagnosis of defects is based on an assumed fault model. A failing chip is diagnosed to find the subset of faults that can best explain the failure. In this article, we propose a new type of diagnosis that explains mismatches between predicted and observed timing behavior. We assume that design-silicon timing mismatch is due to unmodeled systematic and random timing effects. Our goal is to uncover the most important systematic effects. To observe a mismatch, we measure the delays of a set of critical paths on a collection of sample chips. We compare the measured and the predicted path delays. Their differences reflect the timing mismatch. We do not discuss the measurement method in detail here, but rather we focus on the diagnosis algorithm.
Effect of timer interrupt interval on file system synchronization overhead

File system metadata is indispensable in both describing the data and maintaining the file system. Despite the importance of metadata in the file system, the overhead of maintaining the metadata cannot be taken lightly. It is because the metadata also have to be persisted on the storage device and it consumes IO bandwidth as well as creates journaling overhead. In this paper, we find that the random write with synchronous performance of a storage is significantly affected by not only the hardware performance but also timer interrupt interval of the kernel. Extending the timer interrupt interval allows reducing the write volume and increasing the random write followed by fsync() performance of EXT4 file system. We propose intermittent mtime timestamp update on Coarse grain mtime interval instead of Fine grain mtime interval. The experiment results with mtime update interval of 1 second show that the total write volume is decreased by 75% and 28%, respectively compared to total write volume of 1 ms and 10 ms mtime interval, and the throughput increased 3.1× and 1.2× compared to 1 ms and 10 ms mtime interval. Coarse grain mtime update is resolve to the journaling overhead issues while still logging mtime timestamp.
Depression, Internalized HIV Stigma and HIV Disclosure

Purpose: There is extensive evidence regarding the relationship between HIV related stigma and disclosure; however, the influence of depression in this relationship is not well understood, and thus is the focus of our analysis. Methods: Baseline data from a prospective longitudinal cohort of 798 HIV patients starting ART in Kampala, Uganda were examined. A staged-approach regression analysis was used to examine variables associated with HIV disclosure to most people (general disclosure) and disclosure to primary sex partner. Internalized HIV stigma plus demographic and background covariates were first entered into the model; the binary indicator of clinical depression was added on step two, followed by the addition of the interaction of stigma and depression in step three. Separate analyses were conducted for each of the two disclosure outcomes. Results: 39% indicated that they kept their HIV status as a secret from most people, while 19% of respondents with a regular sex partner had not disclosed their HIV status to the partner. In bivariate analysis, respondents who preferred to keep their HIV status as a secret from most people had higher internalized HIV stigma (p ＜ 0.001) and depression (p ＜ 0.01), and were more likely to be clinically depressed (p ＜ 0.01) compared with others in the sample. Similarly, participants who had not disclosed their HIV status to their main sex partner had higher internalized HIV stigma (p ＜ 0.01) and depression (p ＜ 0.05), and were more likely to be clinically depressed (p ＜ 0.01) compared with those who had informed their partner of their HIV status. The regression analysis revealed that internalized HIV stigma was strongly negatively correlated with disclosure to primary partner, while depression was not associated. In the regression analysis for general disclosure, both stigma and depression were negatively correlated with disclosure when the interaction term was included in the model. Further analysis showed that internalized HIV stigma was more strongly associated with general disclosure among participants who were not depressed. Conclusions: Although there was clearly a strong and consistent association between internalized HIV stigma and depression symptoms, the strong association between internalized HIV stigma and general disclosure among respondents who were not depressed indicated that HIV stigma was in itself remained a strong barrier to HIV disclosure. Therefore, interventions to reduce internalized HIV stigma may aid in efforts to decrease secondary transmission of HIV.
Solution of the Forward Problem in Magnetic-Field Tomography (MFT) Based on Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

This paper presents the methodology and some of the results of accurate solution of the forward problem in magnetic-field tomography based on magnetoencephalography for brain imaging. The solution is based on modeling and computation of magnetic-field distribution in and around the head produced by distributed 2-D cortical and 3-D volume lead current sources. The 3-D finite-element model of the brain incorporates realistic geometry based on accurate magnetic resonance imaging data and inhomogeneous conductivity properties. The model allows arbitrary placement of line, surface, and volume current sources. This gives flexibility in the source current approximation in terms of size, orientation, placement, and spatial distribution.
Deriving mechanical properties from CT scan for surgical simulation

Surgical simulation is very important field in medical studies. It provides a platform to the surgeons for practicing laparoscopic surgery. While practicing surgery in virtual reality simulators, surgeons do not really know if the organs depict realistic behavior or not. Elastic properties of soft tissues show realistic behavior of organs in simulators. In this paper, mechanical properties for soft tissues have been derived from CT scan images on the basis of their hounsfield number for surgical simulations so that organs can depict realistic behavior in simulation. These properties are then embedded to the surface model for generation of accurate mathematical model.