Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Macroeconomic Effects of External Pressures on Monetary Policy

Central banks, whether independent or not, may occasionally be subject to external pressures to change policy objectives. We analyze the optimal response of central banks to such pressures and the resulting macroeconomic consequences. We consider several alternative scenarios regarding policy objectives, the degree of commitment and the timing of external pressures. The possibility to adopt "more liberal" objectives in the future increases current inflation through an accommodation effect. Simultaneously, the central bank tries to anchor inflation by promising to be even "more conservative" in the future. The immediate effect is an output contraction, the opposite of what the pressures to adopt "more liberal" objectives may be aiming. We also discuss the opposite case, where objectives may become "more conservative" in the future, which may be the relevant case for countries considering the adoption of inflation targeting.
Predictive comparators with adaptive control

We describe an architecture that adds a linear predictor and adaptive control to a comparator to greatly reduce its delay. The linear predictor feeds an estimated future signal to the comparator to compensate for the comparator's inherent delay. On a cycle-by-cycle basis, an adaptive controller adjusts the comparator's bias current to null residual errors that remain after the prediction. Emphasis is placed on low power consumption, including the development of a linear predictor with no static power consumption. In an experimental 1.5-/spl mu/m VLSI chip implementation, our scheme enabled a 45-fold improvement in the power-delay product of a simple comparator. Our scheme is ideally suited for comparators used in synchronous rectification. It is also broadly useful in applications where an asynchronous comparator is required, such as sensor interfaces, oscilloscope triggers, some types of analog-to-digital converters, and spiking-neuron circuits. The difference equations that govern our adaptive scheme may be represented by a unimodal discrete map. Therefore, near the limits of the scheme's stable regime of operation, we were able to experimentally confirm that there was a period-doubling route to chaos.
Effect of zinc supplementation on malaria and other causes of morbidity in west African children: randomised double blind placebo controlled trial

Abstract Objective: To study the effects of zinc supplementation on malaria and other causes of morbidity in young children living in an area holoendemic for malaria in west Africa. Design: Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled efficacy trial. Setting: 18 villages in rural northwestern Burkina Faso. Participants: 709 children were enrolled; 685 completed the trial. Intervention: Supplementation with zinc (12.5 mg zinc sulphate) or placebo daily for six days a week for six months. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the incidence of symptomatic falciparum malaria. Secondary outcomes were the severity of malaria episodes, prevalence of malaria parasite, mean parasite densities, mean packed cell volume, prevalence of other morbidity, and all cause mortality. Results: The mean number of malaria episodes per child (defined as a temperature ≥37.5°C with ≥5000 parasites/μl) was 1.7, 99.7% due to infection with Plasmodium falciparum. No difference was found between the zinc and placebo groups in the incidence of falciparum malaria (relative risk 0.98, 95% confidence interval 0.86 to 1.11), mean temperature, and mean parasite densities during malaria episodes, nor in malaria parasite rates, mean parasite densities, and mean packed cell volume during cross sectional surveys. Zinc supplementation was significantly associated with a reduced prevalence of diarrhoea (0.87, 0.79 to 0.95). All cause mortality was non-significantly lower in children given zinc compared with those given placebo (5 v 12, P=0.1). Conclusions: Zinc supplementation has no effect on morbidity from falciparum malaria in children in rural west Africa, but it does reduce morbidity associated with diarrhoea. What is already known on this topic Zinc deficiency is common in infants in developing countries Zinc supplementation has been shown to reduce morbidity from infectious disease in such populations, particularly through reductions in morbidity from diarrhoea and respiratory infections Limited evidence exists for zinc supplementation being effective in reducing morbidity from malaria What this study adds Zinc supplementation has no effect on falciparum malaria in children in rural west Africa It is effective in reducing morbidity from diarrhoea and may help to reduce mortality from all causes
Technological roadmap to boost the introduction of AGVs in industrial applications

This paper describes systems of multiple Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) used in factory logistics for the transportation of goods. We describe currently applied solutions, highlighting the main issues that, so far, have prevented a pervasive diffusion of these systems. A roadmap of technological solutions is then drafted, to improve the performance of AGV systems and boost their wide application in factory logistics.
A non-integral-Q Algorithm for RFID system in anti-collision

RFID technology is one of four basic technologies in the Internet of Things. In order to realize its intensive and large-scale uses, the key point is to increase the identification speed of tags. The conventional algorithm only uses integral Q which decreases the efficiency dramatically. In order to decrease the convergence time and rise the slot efficiency, this article proposes a novel anti-collision algorithm based on non-integral Q-a key parameter determining the frame length. By turning the rounding Q in the conventional Q-Algorithm into rounding 2Q, the frame length can get closer to its optimal value. Monte-Carlo simulation result shows that the improved algorithm can keep the throughout rate in a relatively high level (about 0.31) and decrease the total number of time-slots by about 30%.
Serum Levels of Surfactant Proteins in Patients with Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema (CPFE)

Introduction Emphysema and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) present either per se or coexist in combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE). Serum surfactant proteins (SPs) A, B, C and D levels may reflect lung damage. We evaluated serum SP levels in healthy controls, emphysema, IPF, and CPFE patients and their associations to disease severity and survival. Methods 122 consecutive patients (31 emphysema, 62 IPF, and 29 CPFE) and 25 healthy controls underwent PFTs, ABG-measurements, 6MWT and chest HRCT. Serum levels of SPs were measured. Patients were followed-up for 1-year. Results SP-A and SP-D levels differed between groups (p = 0.006 and p<0.001 respectively). In post-hoc analysis, SP-A levels differed only between controls and CPFE (p<0.05) and CPFE and emphysema (p<0.05). SP-D differed between controls and IPF or CPFE (p<0.001 for both comparisons). In IPF SP-B correlated to pulmonary function while SP-A, correlated to the Composite Physiological Index (CPI). Controls current smokers had higher SP-A and SP-D levels compared to non-smokers (p = 0.026 and p = 0.023 respectively). SP-D levels were higher in CPFE patients with extended emphysema (p = 0.042). In patients with IPF, SP-B levels at the upper quartile of its range (≥26 ng/mL) presented a weak association with reduced survival (p = 0.05). Conclusion In conclusion, serum SP-A and SP-D levels were higher where fibrosis exists or coexists and related to disease severity, suggesting that serum SPs relate to alveolar damage in fibrotic lungs and may reflect either local overproduction or overleakage. The weak association between high levels of SP-B and survival needs further validation in clinical trials.
Giving a net semantics to Markovian process algebra

We define two compositional net semantics for the stochastic process algebra Markovian process algebra (MPA), based on a class of stochastic Petri nets. The first semantics is operational in style and is defined by structural induction. We prove that both the functional and performance interleaving semantics are retrievable: given a process term E, the reachability graph and the Markov chain obtained from the net for E are the same as we obtain directly for E, according to MPA specification. Then, we present the other net semantics, which is defined in a denotational style. This additional semantics is proposed only to clarify that all the intended concurrency is expressed in the operational net model. Finally, we comment on an integrated specification strategy for concurrent systems, which is available also because of the operational net semantics described.
Beyond time and error: a cognitive approach to the evaluation of graph drawings

Time and error are commonly used to measure the effectiveness of graph drawings. However, such measures are limited in providing more fundamental knowledge that is useful for general visualization design. We therefore apply a cognitive approach in evaluations. This approach evaluates graph drawings from a cognitive perspective, measuring more than just time and error. Three user studies are conducted to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach.
First-Trimester Serum Acylcarnitine Levels to Predict Preeclampsia: A Metabolomics Approach

Objective. To expand the search for preeclampsia (PE) metabolomics biomarkers through the analysis of acylcarnitines in first-trimester maternal serum. Methods. This was a nested case-control study using serum from pregnant women, drawn between 8 and 14 weeks of gestational age. Metabolites were measured using an UPLC-MS/MS based method. Concentrations were compared between controls (n = 500) and early-onset- (EO-) PE (n = 68) or late-onset- (LO-) PE (n = 99) women. Metabolites with a false discovery rate <10% for both EO-PE and LO-PE were selected and added to prediction models based on maternal characteristics (MC), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and previously established biomarkers (PAPPA, PLGF, and taurine). Results. Twelve metabolites were significantly different between EO-PE women and controls, with effect levels between −18% and 29%. For LO-PE, 11 metabolites were significantly different with effect sizes between −8% and 24%. Nine metabolites were significantly different for both comparisons. The best prediction model for EO-PE consisted of MC, MAP, PAPPA, PLGF, taurine, and stearoylcarnitine (AUC = 0.784). The best prediction model for LO-PE consisted of MC, MAP, PAPPA, PLGF, and stearoylcarnitine (AUC = 0.700). Conclusion. This study identified stearoylcarnitine as a novel metabolomics biomarker for EO-PE and LO-PE. Nevertheless, metabolomics-based assays for predicting PE are not yet suitable for clinical implementation.
Polaris: A System-Level Roadmap for On-Chip Interconnection Networks

Technology trends are driving parallel on-chip architectures in the form of multi-processor systems-on-a-chip (MPSoCs) and chip multi-processors (CMPs). In these systems the increasing on-chip communication demand among the computation elements necessitates the use of scalable, nigh-bandwidth network-on-chip (NoC) fabrics. As transistor feature sizes are further miniaturized leading to rapidly increasing amounts of on-chip resources, more complicated and powerful NoC architectures become feasible that can support more sophisticated and demanding applications. Given the myriad emerging software-hardware combinations, for cost-effectiveness, a system designer critically needs to prune this widening NoC design space to identify the architecture(s) that best balance(s) cost/performance, before the actual design process begins. This prompted us to develop Polaris 1, a system-level roadmap for on-chip interconnection networks that guides designers towards the most suitable network design(s) tailored to their performance needs and power/silicon area constraints with respect to a range of applications that will run over this network(s). Polaris explores the plethora of NoC designs based on projections of network traffic, architectures, and process characteristics. While the Polaris roadmapping toolchain is extensible so new traffic, network designs, and processes can be added, the current version of the roadmap already incorporates 7,872 NoC design points. Polaris is rapid and iterates over all these NoC architectures within a tractable run time of 125 hours on a typical desktop machine, while maintaining high relative and absolute accuracies when validated against detailed NoC synthesis results.
Vibration modes and acoustic noise in a four-phase switched reluctance motor

Acoustic noise in the switched reluctance motor (SRM) is caused primarily by the deformation of the stator lamination stack. Acoustic noise is most severe when the periodic excitation of the SRM phases excites a natural vibration mode of the stack. The natural vibration modes and frequencies of a four-phase, 8/6 SRM are examined. Structural finite element analysis is used to compute the natural modes and frequencies. Impulse tests on the stator stack verify the calculations and show which modes are excited. Heuristic arguments are developed to predict the operating conditions that will excite the natural modes. Measurement of vibration while the machine is under load shows which operating conditions excite the natural modes and verifies the predictions. An approximate formula is derived to predict the frequency of the fundamental vibration mode in terms of lamination dimensions and material properties. The formula is validated by comparison with finite element calculations for several laminations, and hence is shown to be useful in design trade-off studies.
Determinants of Nucleotide-Binding Selectivity of Malic Enzyme

Malic enzymes have high cofactor selectivity. An isoform-specific distribution of residues 314, 346, 347 and 362 implies that they may play key roles in determining the cofactor specificity. Currently, Glu314, Ser346, Lys347 and Lys362 in human c-NADP-ME were changed to the corresponding residues of human m-NAD(P)-ME (Glu, Lys, Tyr and Gln, respectively) or Ascaris suum m-NAD-ME (Ala, Ile, Asp and His, respectively). Kinetic data demonstrated that the S346K/K347Y/K362Q c-NADP-ME was transformed into a debilitated NAD+-utilizing enzyme, as shown by a severe decrease in catalytic efficiency using NADP+ as the cofactor without a significant increase in catalysis using NAD+ as the cofactor. However, the S346K/K347Y/K362H enzyme displayed an enhanced value for k cat,NAD, suggesting that His at residue 362 may be more beneficial than Gln for NAD+ binding. Furthermore, the S346I/K347D/K362H mutant had a very large K m,NADP value compared to other mutants, suggesting that this mutant exclusively utilizes NAD+ as its cofactor. Since the S346K/K347Y/K362Q, S346K/K347Y/K362H and S346I/K347D/K362H c-NADP-ME mutants did not show significant reductions in their K m,NAD values, the E314A mutation was then introduced into these triple mutants. Comparison of the kinetic parameters of each triple-quadruple mutant pair (for example, S346K/K347Y/K362Q versus E314A/S346K/K347Y/K362Q) revealed that all of the K m values for NAD+ and NADP+ of the quadruple mutants were significantly decreased, while either k cat,NAD or k cat,NADP was substantially increased. By adding the E314A mutation to these triple mutant enzymes, the E314A/S346K/K347Y/K362Q, E314A/S346K/K347Y/K362H and E314A/S346I/K347D/K362H c-NADP-ME variants are no longer debilitated but become mainly NAD+-utilizing enzymes by a considerable increase in catalysis using NAD+ as the cofactor. These results suggest that abolishing the repulsive effect of Glu314 in these quadruple mutants increases the binding affinity of NAD+. Here, we demonstrate that a series of E314A-containing c-NADP-ME quadruple mutants have been changed to NAD+-utilizing enzymes by abrogating NADP+ binding and increasing NAD+ binding.
Building a Service Oriented Cloud Computing Infrastructure Using Microsoft CCR/DSS System

Cloud computing is new paradigm for provision of a computing infrastructure and services the over network using a pool of abstracted, virtualized, and scalable, computing resources. One of the challenges is the lack of standard in configuration, management, and programming. Thus, we propose that a service oriented cloud can be built and program using Microsoft Windows Server and program using Microsoft CCR/DSS. The architecture of this service oriented cloud is presented in this paper. In addition, a practical logistic application called Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Window (PDPTW) is developed to demonstrate the concept. The experiments show that a very high speed up of more than 50 times on 16 quad core node and 80-90% efficiency can be obtained using a cloud computing system based on our concept.
Boost converter based MLI topology using H-bridge for device control application with reduced device count

Multilevel inverters are used in several applications such as renewable sources, industrial drives, laminators, blowers, fans, and conveyors based power generation. The proposed multilevel inverter with boost converter plays a major role to minimize power demand and scarcity also provides desired Peak voltage. It synthesizes the desired ac output waveform from dc sources. This project focuses on reducing the device count of the multilevel inverter and improves the quality of output voltage waveform. Two level reduced switching topology has been implemented with only four switches. The proposed topologies also reduce initial cost, complexity and provide even power distribution in comparison with existing topologies. Simulation work is done using the PSPICE software and experimental result has been evaluated.
Virtual Secure Circuit: Porting Dual-Rail Pre-charge Technique into Software on Multicore

This paper discusses a novel direction for multicore cryptographic software, namely the use of multicore to protect a design against side-channel attacks. We present a technique which is based on the principle of dual-rail pre-charge, but which can be completely implemented in software. The resulting protected software is called a Virtual Secure Circuit (VSC). Similar to the dual-rail pre-charge technique, a VSC executes as two complementary programs on two identical processor cores. Our key contributions include (1) the analysis of the security properties of a VSC, (2) the construction of a VSC AES prototype on a dual-PowerPC architecture, (3) the demonstration of VSC’s protection effectiveness with real side-channel attack experiments. The attack results showed that the VSC protected AES needs 80 times more measurements than the unprotected AES to find the first correct key byte. Even one million measurements were not sufficient to fully break VSC protected AES, while unprotected AES was broken using only 40000 measurements. We conclude that VSC can provide a similar side-channel resistance asWDDL, the dedicated hardware equivalent of dual-rail pre-charge. However, in contrast to WDDL, VSC is a software technique, and therefore it is flexible.
Broccoli: Rapid Selection of an RNA Mimic of Green Fluorescent Protein by Fluorescence-Based Selection and Directed Evolution

Genetically encoded fluorescent ribonucleic acids (RNAs) have diverse applications, including imaging RNA trafficking and as a component of RNA-based sensors that exhibit fluorescence upon binding small molecules in live cells. These RNAs include the Spinach and Spinach2 aptamers, which bind and activate the fluorescence of fluorophores similar to that found in green fluorescent protein. Although additional highly fluorescent RNA–fluorophore complexes would extend the utility of this technology, the identification of novel RNA–fluorophore complexes is difficult. Current approaches select aptamers on the basis of their ability to bind fluorophores, even though fluorophore binding alone is not sufficient to activate fluorescence. Additionally, aptamers require extensive mutagenesis to efficiently fold and exhibit fluorescence in living cells. Here we describe a platform for rapid generation of highly fluorescent RNA–fluorophore complexes that are optimized for function in cells. This procedure involves selection of aptamers on the basis of their binding to fluorophores, coupled with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of millions of aptamers expressed in Escherichia coli. Promising aptamers are then further optimized using a FACS-based directed evolution approach. Using this approach, we identified several novel aptamers, including a 49-nt aptamer, Broccoli. Broccoli binds and activates the fluorescence of (Z)-4-(3,5-difluoro-4-hydroxybenzylidene)-1,2-dimethyl-1H-imidazol-5(4H)-one. Broccoli shows robust folding and green fluorescence in cells, and increased fluorescence relative to Spinach2. This reflects, in part, improved folding in the presence of low cytosolic magnesium concentrations. Thus, this novel fluorescence-based selection approach simplifies the generation of aptamers that are optimized for expression and performance in living cells.
Vitamin d, adiposity, and calcified atherosclerotic plaque in african-americans.

CONTEXT Inverse associations are reported between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and visceral adiposity. The effects of vitamin D levels on atherosclerosis are unknown. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to test for relationships between vitamin D, adiposity, bone density, and atherosclerosis in African-Americans. DESIGN Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D, intact PTH, C-reactive protein and computed tomography-derived calcified atherosclerotic plaque (CP), bone density, and fat volumes were measured. SETTING Examinations were performed at a single outpatient general clinical research center visit. SUBJECTS Three hundred forty African-Americans with type 2 diabetes were evaluated. Mean +/- SD age was 55.6 +/- 9.6 yr, diabetes duration 10.6 +/- 8.3 yr, glomerular filtration rate 1.6 +/- 0.5 ml/sec, body mass index 35.6 +/- 8.7 kg/m(2), and 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration 50.4 +/- 30.5 nmol/liter. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Biomarkers were tested for association with pericardial, visceral, im, and sc adipose tissues; thoracic and lumbar vertebral bone density; and aorta, coronary, and carotid artery CP. RESULTS Adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin, and glomerular filtration rate, 25-hydroxyvitamin D was negatively associated with visceral adiposity (P = 0.009) and positively associated with carotid artery CP and aorta CP (P = 0.013 and 0.014, respectively) but not with coronary artery CP or bone density. CONCLUSIONS We confirmed an inverse association between vitamin D and visceral adiposity in African-Americans with diabetes. In addition, positive associations exist between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and aorta and carotid artery CP in African-Americans. The effects of supplementing vitamin D to raise the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level on atherosclerosis in African-Americans are unknown. Prospective trials are needed to determine the cardiovascular effects of supplemental vitamin D in this ethnic group.
TEES 2.1: Automated Annotation Scheme Learning in the BioNLP 2013 Shared Task

We participate in the BioNLP 2013 Shared Task with Turku Event Extraction System (TEES) version 2.1. TEES is a support vector machine (SVM) based text mining system for the extraction of events and relations from natural language texts. In version 2.1 we introduce an automated annotation scheme learning system, which derives task-specific event rules and constraints from the training data, and uses these to automatically adapt the system for new corpora with no additional programming required. TEES 2.1 is shown to have good generalizability and good performance across the BioNLP 2013 task corpora, achieving first place in four out of eight tasks.