Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An empirical investigation of stability of money demand for GCC countries

Money demand stability attracts the attention of policy makers while deciding the right policy instrument for the monetary policy. The present study estimates the money demand function by using a time spam of 1980-2014 for the GCC countries. For this purpose, it uses the ARDL cointegration technique to find long-run relationships. The cointegration test has confirmed the long-run relationships in money demand functions for all GCC countries. In the long-run analysis, a positive income elasticity of money demand has been found in all GCC countries. Negative and significant semi-interest rate elasticity has been found in UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Positive and significant exchange rate elasticity has been found in UAE and KSA and it has found negative in Qatar and Kuwait. Positive and significant inflation rate elasticity has been found in Kuwait and Bahrain and it has found negative in UAE, Oman and KSA. Short-run analysis also reveals some significant elasticities. Further, money demand function proofs stable in KSA and Oman and it remains unstable for the rest of GCC countries.
Linkage of inflammatory bowel disease to human chromosome 6p.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by a chronic relapsing intestinal inflammation. IBD is subdivided into Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis phenotypes. Given the immunologic dysregulation in IBD, the human-leukocyte-antigen region on chromosome 6p is of significant interest. Previous association and linkage analysis has provided conflicting evidence as to the existence of an IBD-susceptibility locus in this region. Here we report on a two-stage linkage and association analysis of both a basic population of 353 affected sibling pairs (ASPs) and an extension of this population to 428 white ASPs of northern European extraction. Twenty-eight microsatellite markers on chromosome 6 were genotyped. A peak multipoint LOD score of 4.2 was observed, at D6S461, for the IBD phenotype. A transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT) result of P=. 006 was detected for D6S426 in the basic population and was confirmed in the extended cohort (P=.004; 97 vs. 56 transmissions). The subphenotypes of Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, and mixed IBD contributed equally to this linkage, suggesting a general role for the chromosome 6 locus in IBD. Analysis of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the TNFA and LTA genes did not reveal evidence for association of these important candidate genes with IBD. In summary, we provide firm linkage evidence for an IBD-susceptibility locus on chromosome 6p and demonstrate that TNFA and LTA are unlikely to be susceptibility loci for IBD.
Effect on Filling Time for a Non-Newtonian Flow During the Underfilling of a Flip Chip

In the flip-chip packaging, an underfill encapsulant is used to fill the gap between the chip and the substrate around the solder bumps. The underfill can reduce the thermal stress in solder bumps but increase the stress in the silicon. Epoxy with silica fillers is usually used as the underfill materials. These materials exhibit the non-Newtonian effect during the underfill flow and this type of effect needs to be included in the simulation of the underfilling process. In the analysis, the underfill flow can be treated as a flow through a porous medium. This paper provides the formulation of the effective permeability in the porous flow domain of the flip-chip encapsulation for a non-Newtonian fluid. An average viscosity of the encapsulant is also proposed for the flow in the porous flow domain. It is found the non-Newtonian flow will affect the filling time largely while the filling pattern is similar. The non-Newtonian flow model must be employed in order to accurately predict the underfilling flow.
A mathematical framework for modelling cambial surface evolution using a level set method.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS During their lifetime, tree stems take a series of successive nested shapes. Individual tree growth models traditionally focus on apical growth and architecture. However, cambial growth, which is distributed over a surface layer wrapping the whole organism, equally contributes to plant form and function. This study aims at providing a framework to simulate how organism shape evolves as a result of a secondary growth process that occurs at the cellular scale. METHODS The development of the vascular cambium is modelled as an expanding surface using the level set method. The surface consists of multiple compartments following distinct expansion rules. Growth behaviour can be formulated as a mathematical function of surface state variables and independent variables to describe biological processes. KEY RESULTS The model was coupled to an architectural model and to a forest stand model to simulate cambium dynamics and wood formation at the scale of the organism. The model is able to simulate competition between cambia, surface irregularities and local features. Predicting the shapes associated with arbitrarily complex growth functions does not add complexity to the numerical method itself. CONCLUSIONS Despite their slenderness, it is sometimes useful to conceive of trees as expanding surfaces. The proposed mathematical framework provides a way to integrate through time and space the biological and physical mechanisms underlying cambium activity. It can be used either to test growth hypotheses or to generate detailed maps of wood internal structure.
Studies on the induction of permeability in Ascaris lumbricoides eggs

Summary The initial process in the hatching mechanism of Ascaris eggs is the sudden onset of permeability in the previously impermeable ascaroside membrane. During this change the ascaroside membrane remains intact and no chemical changes can be detected. Using the molecular probe 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulphonic acid no conformational changes were detected in the ascaroside membrane during the induction of permeability. It is suggested that either the permeability change is due to a very localized chemical or conformational change, not detectable by conventional analytical techniques, or the change is due to mechanical damage of the ascaroside membrane, brought about by the activity of the infective larva.
Immune Complex and Fc Receptor-Mediated Augmentation of Antigen Presentation for in Vivo Th Cell Responses1

It has recently been established that FcRs are involved in the triggering of type II and III inflammatory responses. Although FcR is not believed to be involved in the regulation of T cell function, the in vivo contribution of FcRs to T cell function still remains unclear. We analyzed in vivo responses of delayed-type hypersensitivity and proliferation of CD4+ T cells to Ags in FcRγ−/− mice lacking the expression and function of FcγRI, FcγRIII, and FcεRI. We found that the delayed-type hypersensitivity response in FcRγ−/− mice is significantly decreased compared with that in wild-type mice. Moreover, the secondary responses of proliferation and cytokine production as well as the Ab formation by CD4+ T cells from FcRγ−/− mice to Ag and normal APCs were also reduced. In contrast, in vitro primary T cell proliferative responses upon stimulation with anti-TCR Ab or MLR as well as in vivo primary response against staphylococcus enterotoxin B administration were not different between T cells from FcRγ−/− and wild-type mice. In addition, the Ag presentation function of APCs from unimmunized FcRγ−/− mice was normal. On the other hand, Ab-deficient mice also revealed impaired T cell responses. These results demonstrate that the defective T cell responses in FcRγ−/− mice were due to impaired Ag presentation during in vivo priming not to a defect in T cells. Therefore, they suggest that the FcRs on APCs mediate efficient priming of Th cell responses in vivo in an immune complex-dependent manner.
SWF: Segmented Wildcard Forwarding for flow migration in OpenFlow datacenter networks

Networking and performance become major issues in cloud computing. Software Defined Networking (SDN) enables flow-level management and makes routing more effective and flexible for datacenter networks (DCNs). A prior dynamic routing algorithm named Flow Migration shows good results in improving throughput and avoiding congestion through simulation. However, as Flow Migration is applied to a SDN-based DCN, tremendous overhead occurs in modifying flow tables of switches. Therefore, a novel Segmented Wildcard Forwarding (SWF) scheme is proposed to facilitate Flow Migration. SWF leverages the symmetry of a Portland topology and applies wildcard matching for balancing network loading and lowering table-modification cost for flows. Experimental results show that on a Portland 4-8-8 datacenter network, the proposed SWF scheme achieves higher throughput over than the traditional SPB does, and even reduces ~70% modification cost used by the original implementation of Flow Migration. As a result, Segmented Wildcard Forwarding (SWF) is proven a mechanism that practically realizes dynamic routing of SDN but also improves network performance as well as cost for flow migration, simultaneously.
The involvement of the RET variant G691S in medullary thyroid carcinoma enlightened by a meta‐analysis study

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare tumor, partially explained by mutations in the rearranged during transfection (RET) proto‐oncogene. The nonsynonymous RET polymorphism G691S has been reported as associated with MTC, but findings are discordant. We sought to clarify the role of G691S in MTCs through in silico analysis, genetic association in our patients and a meta‐analysis with extensive literature revision. Ninety‐three Italian patients were compared to 85 healthy individuals. Results were included in a meta‐analysis together with 11 case‐control association studies identified through PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science, with a combined sample of 968 cases and 2,115 controls. No association of G691S with MTC was found in our sample; however, we observed an excess of homozygotes for the variant, significantly higher among females. The overall allelic association in the meta‐analysis was significant under the fixed‐effect model (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22 [95% confidence intervals: 1.06–1.39], p = 0.0049), but borderline under the random effect model (OR = 1.21 [0.99–1.46], p = 0.0575), with a moderate/high heterogeneity (I2 = 44.6%, p = 0.047). Under the recessive model of transmission, applied to the eight studies with available genotype frequencies, results were significant under both effect models (OR = 2.016 and OR = 2.022, p = 0.0004). No heterogeneity was anymore detectable. In silico analyses on G691S confirmed a change of the phosphorylation pattern that might account for the enhanced signaling transduction previously reported for G691S in several cancers, thus also explaining its overrepresentation in MTCs. The G691S variant allele does increase the risk for MTC, with a recessive mechanism of action, apparently more evident among females.
Effects of high plasma lipoprotein (a) levels on tissue factor pathway inhibitor and the protein C pathway

Toourknowledge,thislattertreatmentstrategyhasnotbeenprospectively evaluated. We presented here two cases ofpatients who developed recurrent or progressive evidence ofthrombosis despite therapeutic dose warfarin. In each case,patients experienced an immediate and beneﬁcial treatmenteffect with no further episodes of recurrent thrombosis despitethe prior malignant clotting history. In the ﬁrst patient, thedose of LMWH was reduced after 1 month according to someregimens used in the secondary prevention of deep veinthrombosis [9]. In conclusion, this therapeutic option appearsto be safe and effective. However, an increased risk ofosteoporosis, which has been reported in patients on long-term treatment with LMWH, should be taken into account inthese patients [10]. AcknowledgementsDr Crowther is a Career Investigator of the Heart and StrokeFoundation of Canada.References
Transcending Hardware Limits with Software Out-of-Order Processing

Building high-performance, next-generation processors require novel techniques to enable improved performance given today's power- and energy-efficiency requirements. Additionally, a widening gap between processor and memory performance makes it even more difficult to improve efficiency with conventional techniques. While out-of-order architectures attempt to hide this memory latency with dynamically reordered instructions, they lack the energy efficiency seen in in-order processors. Thus, our goal is to reorder the instruction stream to avoid stalls and improve utilization for energy efficiency and performance. To accomplish this goal, we propose an enhanced stall-on-use in-order core that improves energy efficiency (and therefore performance in these power-limited designes) through out-of-program-order execution. During long latency loads, the Software Out-of-Order Processing (SWOOP) core exposes additional memory- and instruction-level parallelism to perform useful, non-speculative work. The resulting instruction lookahead of the SWOOP core reaches beyond the conventional fixed-sized processor structures with the help of transparent hardware register contexts. Our results show that SWOOP demonstrates a 34 percent performance improvement on average compared with an in-order, stall-on-use core, with an energy reduction of 23 percent.
Shi-style cervical manipulations for cervical radiculopathy

Background: There is a lack of high-quality evidence supporting the use of manipulation therapy for patients with cervical radiculopathy (CR). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Shi-style cervical manipulations (SCMs) versus mechanical cervical traction (MCT) for CR. Methods: This was a randomized, open-label, controlled trial carried out at 5 hospitals in patients with CR for at least 2 weeks and neck pain. The patients received 6 treatments of SCM (n = 179) or MCT (n = 180) over 2 weeks. The primary outcome was participant-rated disability (neck disability index), measured 2 weeks after randomization. The secondary outcomes were participant-rated pain (visual analog scale) and health-related quality of life (36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]). Assessments were performed before, during, and after (2, 4, 12, and 24 weeks) intervention. Results: After 2 weeks of treatment, the SCM group showed a greater improvement in participant-rated disability compared with the control group (P = .018). The SCM group reported less disability compared with the control group (P < .001) during the 26-week follow-up. The difference was particularly important at 6 months (mean −28.91 ± 16.43, P < .001). Significant improvements in SF-36 were noted in both groups after 2 weeks of treatment, but there were no differences between the 2 groups. Conclusion: SCM could be a better option than MCT for the treatment of CR-related pain and disability.
EpCAM-Expressing Circulating Tumor Cells in Colorectal Cancer

Background Several studies have raised the issue of the inadequacy of CellSearch® to detect the entire pool of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood of cancer patients, suggesting that cells expressing low levels of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) are not recognized by the capture reagent. In this exploratory study, we aimed to evaluate the status of EpCAM in CTCs isolated from a group of metastatic colorectal cancer patients, in 40% of whom, CTC had been found to be undetected by the CellSearch® system. Methods CTCs were analyzed using both a microfiltration method (ScreenCell) and CellSearch® in parallel. Furthermore, since EpCAM exists in 2 different variants, we investigated the presence of both its intracellular domain (EpICD) and extracellular domain (EpEX) through immunofluorescence staining of CTCs on filters. Results Results from immunofluorescence experiments demonstrated that, overall, EpICD and/or EpEX was expressed in 176 CTCs detected by ScreenCell, while the CellSearch® system was able to capture only 10 CTCs. Conclusions This is the first demonstration that the low sensitivity of CellSearch® to detect CTCs in colorectal cancer patients is not due to the lack of EpCAM.
Inferring Genome-Wide Functional Modulatory Network: A Case Study on NF-κB/RelA Transcription Factor

How different pathways lead to the activation of a specific transcription factor (TF) with specific effects is not fully understood. We model context-specific transcriptional regulation as a modulatory network: triplets composed of a TF, target gene, and modulator. Modulators usually affect the activity of a specific TF at the posttranscriptional level in a target gene-specific action mode. This action may be classified as enhancement, attenuation, or inversion of either activation or inhibition. As a case study, we inferred, from a large collection of expression profiles, all potential modulations of NF-κB/RelA. The predicted modulators include many proteins previously not reported as physically binding to RelA but with relevant functions, such as RNA processing, cell cycle, mitochondrion, ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis, and chromatin modification. Modulators from different processes exert specific prevalent action modes on distinct pathways. Modulators from noncoding RNA, RNA-binding proteins, TFs, and kinases modulate the NF-κB/RelA activity with specific action modes consistent with their molecular functions and modulation level. The modulatory networks of NF-κB/RelA in the context epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and burn injury have different modulators, including those involved in extracellular matrix (FBN1), cytoskeletal regulation (ACTN1), and metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), a long intergenic nonprotein coding RNA, and tumor suppression (FOXP1) for EMT, and TXNIP, GAPDH, PKM2, IFIT5, LDHA, NID1, and TPP1 for burn injury.
The operational context of care sport connectors in the Netherlands

To stimulate physical activity (PA) and guide primary care patients towards local sport facilities, Care Sport Connectors (CSCs), to whom a broker role has been ascribed, were introduced in 2012 in the Netherlands. The aim of this study is to describe CSCs' operational context. A theoretical framework was developed and used as the starting point for this study. Group interviews were held with policymakers in nine participating municipalities, and, when applicable, the CSC's manager was also present. Prior to the interviews, a first outline of the operational context was mapped, based on the analysis of policy documents and a questionnaire completed by the policymakers. A deductive content analysis, based on the theoretical framework, was used to analyse the interviews. Differences were found in CSCs' operational context in the different municipalities, especially the extent to which municipalities adopted an integral approach. An integral approach consists of an integral policy in combination with an imbedding of this policy in partnerships at management level. This integral approach is reflected in the activities of other municipal operations, for example the implementation of health and PA programs by different organisations. Given the CSC mandate, we think that this integral approach may be supportive of the CSCs' work, because it is reflected in other operations of the municipalities and thus creates conditions for the CSCs' work. Further study is required to ascertain whether this integral approach is actually supporting CSCs in their work to connect the primary care and the PA sector.
Identification of a novel coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome.

BACKGROUND The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently been identified as a new clinical entity. SARS is thought to be caused by an unknown infectious agent. METHODS Clinical specimens from patients with SARS were searched for unknown viruses with the use of cell cultures and molecular techniques. RESULTS A novel coronavirus was identified in patients with SARS. The virus was isolated in cell culture, and a sequence 300 nucleotides in length was obtained by a polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)-based random-amplification procedure. Genetic characterization indicated that the virus is only distantly related to known coronaviruses (identical in 50 to 60 percent of the nucleotide sequence). On the basis of the obtained sequence, conventional and real-time PCR assays for specific and sensitive detection of the novel virus were established. Virus was detected in a variety of clinical specimens from patients with SARS but not in controls. High concentrations of viral RNA of up to 100 million molecules per milliliter were found in sputum. Viral RNA was also detected at extremely low concentrations in plasma during the acute phase and in feces during the late convalescent phase. Infected patients showed seroconversion on the Vero cells in which the virus was isolated. CONCLUSIONS The novel coronavirus might have a role in causing SARS.
Characterization and Physical Origin of Fast Vth Transient in NBTI of pMOSFETs with SiON Dielectric

Highly reliable characterization of fast transient in NBTI is achieved by performing initial and stressed I-V measurements in ultra-short time (100 ns). We further provide evidences that reaction-diffusion (R-D) model can not explain the fast transient in NBTI, while hole trapping (HT) model explains all experimental observations. We also establish that previous on-the-fly methods are sound except for the slow initial measurement. This caused the apparent disagreements among results from different groups using on-the-fly methods, which is resolved in this work by the fast on-the-fly technique
Driver Link-up: Exploring User Requirements for a Driver-to-Driver Communication Device

Driving is a social task, where drivers commonly communicate with other road users (e.g. verbally, through gestures, etc.). This exploratory cross-cultural research sought to investigate various communication issues raised while driving, and how a hypothetical electronic device could address them. Twenty-four participants from the UK and Brazil were asked to give their opinions on how they would react to six different driving scenarios involving communication between drivers. The scenarios varied in who instigated the interaction, the number of vehicles involved, the likelihood of anonymity, the event duration and whether the vehicle was stationary/in motion. Results highlighted various cross-cultural differences between drivers when using traditional means of communication, e.g. use of horn/lights. For the electronic device, results showed how the main driver's reaction to an aggressive message would affect their decision to interact with another driver via the device. The presence of passengers was also believed to have important implications for how the system is likely to be used in practice. The study generated design recommendations for a driver-to-driver communication device, such as the need for non-visual interactions and a set of pre-defined messages to cover the basic communication scenarios.