Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oesophageal dilatation on high-resolution computed tomography scan of the lungs as a sign of scleroderma

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a generalised autoimmune disease that causes morbidity and reduced life expectancy. Recently, evidence has been accumulating that immunosuppressive treatment in an early stage of the disease could improve survival, enhancing the need for early diagnosis and regular evaluation of organ involvement. Among others, a high-resolution computer tomography (HRCT) scan of the chest is performed for the assessment of pulmonary involvement in SSc. The objective of this study is to evaluate the predictive value of oesophageal dilatation on the HRCT scan for the diagnosis of SSc. Methods: In total, 105 consecutive patients with scleroderma and 107 consecutive controls were included in this study. The first available scan for each patient and control was evaluated in random order and blinded for the diagnosis, by two independent radiologists, for oesophageal dilatation and interstitial lung disease. Results: The positive predictive value of oesophageal dilatation for the diagnosis of SSc was 83%. No significant correlation of oesophageal dilatation and interstitial lung disease was found in the patients with scleroderma or controls. Conclusion: Oesophageal dilatation as visible on an HRCT scan of the chest may alert doctors to look for other signs or symptoms of SSc in these patients, enabling early diagnosis and specific treatment.
On the assessment of the performance in earnings management for the banking industry: the case of China’s banks

ABSTRACT Earnings management is popular in the banking industry. Earnings can be manipulated by discretionary loan loss provisions (DLLP). Analysing the trajectories of banks’ DLLP (i.e. their change in DLLP over time) is an effective way to assess the performance in earnings management for the banking industry, but seems not to have been addressed in the earnings management literature. In this study, we analyse the trajectories of DLLP with the yearly data from 2007 through 2012 for four types of banks in China. The results have indicated that state-owned banks, policy banks and city commercial banks seem to manage earnings well. Cautionary notes about bank risks are provided.
Renal hypouricemia is an ominous sign in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome

Background: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence and significance of hypouricemia in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Pulmonary lesions in patients with SARS are thought to result from proinflammatory cytokine dysregulation. Acute renal failure has been reported in patients with SARS, but whether cytokines can injure renal tubules is unknown. Methods: Sixty patients diagnosed with SARS in Taiwan in April 2003 were studied. Patients were identified as hypouricemic when their serum uric acid (UA) level was less than 2.5 mg/dL (<149 μmol/L) within 15 days after fever onset. Urine UA and creatinine levels were available for 43 patients; the serum cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured in 16 patients. Results: Sixteen patients (26.7%) had hypouricemia (UA, 1.68 ± 0.52 mg/dL [100 ± 31 μmol/L]). No differences in age, sex, symptoms, vital signs, hemogram, or other biochemistry data existed between the hypouricemic and normouricemic groups. Fractional excretion (FE) of UA (FEUA) in 12 hypouricemic patients was 39.6% ± 23.4%, significantly greater than that of 31 normouricemic patients (16.4% ± 11.4%; P < 0.0001). After adjustments for age and sex, high FEUA was significantly associated with the lowest blood oxygenation (P = 0.001; r = −0.624). The number of catastrophic outcomes (endotracheal intubation and/or death) adjusted for older age and sex showed that hypouremic patients had an odds ratio of 10.57 (confidence interval, 2.33 to 47.98; P = 0.002). Kaplan-Meier curves for catastrophic outcome–free results showed significant differences between patients with normouricemia or hypouricemia (P = 0.01). Serum IL-8 levels correlated significantly with FEUA (P < 0.001; r = 0.785) and inversely with serum UA level (P = 0.044; r = −0.509); neither IL-6 nor TNF-α level showed such correlations. Conclusion: One fourth of patients with SARS developed hypouricemia, which might result from a defect in renal UA handling and was associated with a high serum IL-8 level. Renal hypouricemia is an ominous sign in patients with SARS.
Algorithmic geolocation of harvest in hand‐picked agriculture

Precision agriculture significantly depends on measuring yield; this allows feedback to optimize various decisions. While spatially granular yield mapping is readily available in machine‐harvested row crops, it is more difficult in hand‐picked row crops. We study here a data set collected during harvesting of strawberries; using smartphones, we collected Global Positioning System (GPS) logs of individual harvesters. Using recent advances in feature identification, we are able to algorithmically decompose the path into individual excursions into the field to harvest the berries. This lays the groundwork for yield mapping.
Preliminary Characterisation of Torovirus‐Like Particles of Humans: Comparison With Berne Virus of Horses and Breda Virus of Calves

Pleomorphic virus‐like particles have been observed by electron microscopy in the faeces of children and adults with diarrhoea. Some of these particles were approximately 100 nm in diameter and had a “fringe” of closely applied peplomers approximately 10 nm long; they closely resembled Berne virus of horses and Breda virus of calves, the two representatives of a newly proposed family called the Toroviridae. In one sample a toroidal nucleoprotein‐like structure was observed within the particles. For two samples a buoyant density of 1.14 g/ml was determined by centrifugation through a sucrose density gradient. One sample possessed a haemagglutination for rat erythrocytes. The serological relationship between these different viruses was observed by immune electron microscopy, haemagglutination inhibition, and serum neutralisation. The role of these viruslike particles as candidate pathogens of humans is discussed.
Immunoelectrophoresis of red blood cells performed on microcapillary chips

Immunoanalysis of blood cells on a microcapillary electrophoresis (νCE) chip has been studied using sheep erythrocytes (ShE) as an example. Two different buffer solutions, the phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) and the gelatin veronal buffer (GVB) were examined in regard to the electrokinetic transport behavior of ShE suspended in these solutions inside the rectangular channel engraved on a quartz chip. This clarified two advantages of the use of GVB for on‐chip cell electrophoresis: gelatin coatings prevent (i) nonspecific sticking of ShE on the channel wall, and cause (ii) an appreciable reduction in the zeta potential of the wall suppressing the electroosmotic flow of the buffer solution. As a result ShE suspended in the GVB can smoothly migrate from the cathode to the anode, which is the opposite flow direction of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies under the physiological pH condition of 7.4. Based on these results, on‐chip capillary cell immunoelectrophoresis of ShE and rabbit anti ShE antibodies (IgG) have been proposed and successfully accomplished using the GVB. It is demonstrated that the variation of the cell migration velocity originating from the change in the surface charge after binding antibodies is applicable to the fast detection of immune reactions and also to single‐cell typing.
Cordyceps sinensis promotes immune regulation and enhances bacteriostatic activity of PA-824 via IL-10 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis disease

PA-824 is a novel bicyclic nitroimidazole anti-tuberculosis (TB) drug. Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc. (CS) was proven to be a good immunomodulatory compound. This research aimed to investigate the effect of CS on PA-824 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infected mice (female CBA/J mice, 6 to 8 weeks of age and 20±2 g of weight). Mice were randomly assigned to 4 groups: PA-824, CS, PA-824+CS, and control. To verify the effect of PA-824 and CS on M.tb, after drug administration, mice lungs were harvested and bacterial colony formations were measured. Cells were isolated from infected lungs and spleens to analyze the percentage of CD4+ T cells (CD11a positive). Lung cells were cultured to detect the secretion of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) by ELISA. IFN-γ and IL-10 double-positive CD4+ cells in peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry. The expression levels of IL-2 and IL-10 in mice lungs were analyzed by real-time PCR and western blot. Results showed that PA-824 combined with CS led to the lowest lung colony-forming units (CFU) counts among treated groups. Furthermore, this beneficial outcome might be associated with the decreased CD11a on CD4+ cells in mice lungs and spleens. Moreover, the suppressed secretion of IFN-γ and IL-10, and IL-10 expressions, as well as the decreased IFN-γ and IL-10 double-positive CD4+ cells in blood, could also be associated with the positive effect. However, no significant effect on IL-2 production was found. The combination of PA-824 and CS had more effective bacteriostatic and immunomodulatory effects on M.tb infected mice than PA-824 alone. In conclusion, CS has the potential to be an effective adjuvant in TB treatment.
Multiple Activities in Networks

We consider a network model where individuals exert efforts in two types of activities that are interdependent. These activities can be either substitutes or complements. We provide a full characterization of the Nash equilibrium of this game for any network structure. We show, in particular, that quadratic games with linear best-reply functions aggregate nicely to multiple activities because equilibrium efforts obey similar formulas to that of the one-activity case. We then derive some comparative-statics results showing how own productivity affects equilibrium efforts and how network density impacts equilibrium outcomes. (JEL C72, D11, D85, Z13)
Fiscal consolidation in Europe: has it worked?

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to shed some light on the issue of fiscal austerity within Europe. We focus specifically on the 2008Q1–2014Q4 period, and on the effect of shocks to government expenditure and taxes on unemployment, controlling for other macro factors. We find that expenditure contractions may be detrimental for employment.
The Impact of Human Resource Expenses on Business Value: Focus on Welfare and Training Expenses in Listed Korean Stock Markets

This article investigates whether investment in education and training and welfare expenses can help promote corporate value. If such expenditures are found to affect enterprise value, this evidence should lead to a revision of the current accounting treatment of education and training and welfare expenses in the Republic of Korea. The empirical results show that the book value of equity, education and training expenses and welfare costs has positive relationships with enterprise value, whereas accounting earnings have significantly negative effects on them in both the full samples and subsamples (i.e., KOSPI, KOSDAQ, large-sized, small and medium-sized firms, high-tech, and low-tech groups). The results of this study provide empirical evidence on the effects of welfare and training costs on firm value. They suggest a need to discuss investments in human capital such as welfare and education and training expenses, which have been treated as expenses for the past decades. However, the results are based only on companies listed on the Korean capital market. It is necessary to analyse firms in other countries, such as Japan, the USA and China.
Effect of Mutations at Position E138 in HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase on Phenotypic Susceptibility and Virologic Response to Etravirine

The contribution of E138 mutations to etravirine resistance was investigated. Amino acids at position E138 after failure with etravirine in DUET were A (n = 1), G (n = 5), K (n = 3), P (n = 1), Q (n = 5), and V (n = 2). At baseline, only E138A and Q were found at 3.0% and 2.5%, respectively. Virologic response (less than 50 copies/mL) was observed in six of 12 and eight of 10 patients with E138A and E138Q, respectively. Site-directed mutants harboring E138A/G/K/Q/R or S showed etravirine fold change values of 2.9, 2.4, 2.6, 3.0, 3.6, and 2.8, respectively. E138G, K, and Q were added to the existing etravirine-weighted genotypic score including 17 etravirine resistance-associated mutations.
Drug–DNA recognition: energetics and implications for design

In this article we review thermodynamic studies designed to examine the interaction of low molecular weight ligands or drugs with DNA. Over the past 10 years there has been an increase in the number of rigorous biophysical studies of DNA–drug interactions and considerable insight has been gained into the energetics of these binding reactions. The advent of high‐sensitivity calorimetric techniques has meant that the energetics of DNA–drug association reactions can be probed directly and enthalpic and entropic contributions to the binding free energy established. There are two principal consequences arising from this type of work, firstly three‐dimensional structures of DNA–drug complexes from X‐ray and NMR studies can be put into a thermodynamic context and the energetics responsible for stabilizing the observed structures can be more fully understood. Secondly, any rational approach to structure‐based drug design requires a fundamental base of knowledge where structural detail and thermodynamic data on complex formation are intimately linked. Therefore these types of studies allow a set of general guidelines to be established, which can then be used to develop drug design algorithms. In this review we describe recent breakthroughs in duplex DNA‐directed drug design and also discuss how similar principles are now being used to target higher‐order DNA molecules, for example, triplex (three‐stranded) and tetraplex (four‐stranded) structures. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Macroeconomic model of institutional reforms’ influence on economic growth of the new EU members and the Republic of Croatia

Abstract The aim of this paper is to research, theoretically and empirically, the impact of institutional reforms on economic growth in transition countries (new European Union members) and Croatia, in the period from 1996 to 2012. In order to prove the hypothesis, we will use panel analysis of transition economies and Croatia, namely the Arellano–Bond dynamic panel analysis. The analysis includes two dependent variables (gross domestic product per capita [G.D.P./p.c.]and the share of export in G.D.P.) and five independent variables (total Heritage Index of Economic Freedom, Worldwide Governance Indicators (W.G.I.) government effectiveness indicator, W.G. I. rule of law indicator, corruption perception index and the index of institutional reforms in transition countries). The results show that there is a significant positive impact of institutional reforms on the economic growth of transition countries and Croatia, which creates preconditions that are essential for the future growth rate of the Croatian economy.
Dynamic Hierarchical Aggregation for Vehicular Sensing

Vehicular sensing has gained prominence in recent years with its use in entities, including traffic management centers, forensic authorities, and air pollution control units. It also provides end users with real-time street images, parking summaries, and road congestion status. To reduce bandwidth usage and improve the content value, the sensed data must be aggregated. Data aggregation is said to be efficient when the destination (i.e., a node that serves as a data collection point in the network) is capable of receiving sensed data from a significant proportion of vehicles. However, when a large number of vehicles attempt to send sensed data, the network becomes congested eventually causing packet losses and collisions. Thus, if aggregation is performed without considering key factors, such as number of vehicles and network dynamics, it is difficult to ensure the efficient collection of sensed data at the destination. In this paper, we propose a dynamic hierarchical aggregation scheme in which sensed data is aggregated using a hierarchy. Moreover, the hierarchy is dynamically updated based on theoretically estimated delivery efficiency. In particular, we perform partition and merge operations within the hierarchy to achieve an improved value of delivery efficiency. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme ensures efficient data collection even with stringent delay requirements and achieves scalability with respect to a number of vehicles in the network.
Highly effective iterative demosaicing using weighted-edge and color-difference interpolations

Demosaicing is a process of obtaining a full-color image by interpolating the missing colors of an image captured from a single sensor color filter array. This paper provides an effective and low-complexity iterative demosaicing algorithm applying a weighted-edge interpolation to handle green pixels followed by a series of color-difference interpolation to update red, blue, and green pixels. Based on our experiments of images, we enable the algorithm a well-designed stopping condition and pre-determine the proper weights of interpolation. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs much better than three state-of-the-art demosaicing techniques in terms of both computational cost and image quality. In comparison to the algorithm of successive approximation, the algorithm proposed here reduces mean squared error up to 14.5% while requiring computational cost only 22% on average. That is, it takes less time but performs better.
Strategy Cost Driver Research of Urban Railway Transportation Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process

As an urban public transport, city railway transportation is far more concerned with its aggressive development in China, especially in recent years. Almost every local government has special interests to own one or more urban railways running across the city, but when they begin to consider the cost of planning, building and operation urban railways, they will find what a black hole they are facing. In order to improve investment efficiency, the strategic cost driver are introduced the urban railway transportation. This paper presented a strategy cost drivers schema of the urban public transport used the analytic hierarchy process
Rethinking Teaching of Basic Principles of Economics from a Sustainability Perspective

In this paper, we posit that sustainability warrants explicit recognition in the teaching of basic principles of economics. The conventional exposition of conceptual and analytic frameworks in basic principles in almost all standard economics textbooks overlooks at least two basic flaws. The first of these concerns the collection of residual externalities that exist without being internalized in market transactions and hence fall outside the calculus of national income accounting. For example, not all energy resource prices capture the entirety of the damages inflicted on natural ecosystems. The cumulus of residual externalities threatens the feasibility of sustainability. The second flaw is the absence of sustainability as a necessary condition in the fundamental benchmark of perfect competition (PC). Sustainability, when explicitly introduced in the PC benchmark, results in significant changes to conceptual premises in economics. The most significant of such changes concerns the axiomatic differentiation between “goods” and “bads”.
Isolation, sequencing, and mutagenesis of the gene encoding NAD- and glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase (GD-FALDH) from Paracoccus denitrificans, in which GD-FALDH is essential for methylotrophic growth

NAD- and glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase (GD-FALDH) of Paracoccus denitrificans has been purified as a tetramer with a relative molecular mass of 150 kDa. The gene encoding GD-FALDH (flhA) has been isolated, sequenced, and mutated by insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene. The mutant strain is not able to grow on methanol, methylamine, or choline, while heterotrophic growth is not influenced by the mutation. This finding indicates that GD-FALDH of P. denitrificans is essential for the oxidation of formaldehyde produced during methylotrophic growth.
Three Levels of Neuroelectronic Interfacing

Abstract: We consider the direct electrical interfacing of semiconductor chips with individual nerve cells and brain tissue. At first, the structure of the cell‐chip contact is studied. Then we characterize the electrical coupling of ion channels—the electrical elements of nerve cells—with transistors and capacitors in silicon chips. On that basis it is possible to implement signal transmission between microelectronics and the microionics of nerve cells in both directions. Simple hybrid neuroelectronic systems are assembled with neuron pairs and with small neuronal networks. Finally, the interfacing with capacitors and transistors is extended to brain tissue cultured on silicon chips. The application of highly integrated silicon chips allows an imaging of neuronal activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. The goal of the work is an integration of neuronal network dynamics with digital electronics on a microscopic level with respect to experiments in brain research, medical prosthetics, and information technology.
Drug Efflux and parC Mutations Are Involved in Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Viridans Group Streptococci

ABSTRACT Nine ciprofloxacin-resistant viridans group streptococci isolated from asymptomatic carriers were analyzed. Identification to the species level by using three different commercial systems and a PCR-based approach was inconsistent. The nucleotide sequences of fragments of theparC, parE, gyrA, andgyrB genes showed considerable intra- and interspecies variations, and these variations mainly involved silent mutations. Three isolates had changes in Ser-79 of ParC (to Phe or Tyr). Phenotypic characterization indicated that eight of the nine isolates had a putative efflux mechanism that would confer low-level resistance to ciprofloxacin.
The determinants of limit order cancellations

email at petter.dahlstrom@sbs.su. se; bjorn.hagstromer@sbs.su. se; lars.norden@sbs.su. se. Björn Hagströmer and Lars L. Nordén are affiliated with the Swedish House of Finance and are grateful to the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius foundation and the Tore Browaldh foundation for research support. We thank Frank Hatheway, Patrik Sandås, Bart Zhou Yueshen and Marius Zoican for useful discussions. The Determinants of Limit Order Cancellations