Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pipeline Capacity Rationing and Crude Oil Price Differentials: The Case of Western Canada

This paper examines the impact of pipeline capacity constraints on the discount of Canadian oil prices relative to U.S. benchmark oil prices. Using a panel of monthly data for Canadian oil exporting pipelines, we estimate that price differentials between U.S. markets and Western Canada would increase by 3.6% for 1% increase in pipeline capacity constraints. Pipeline capacity constraints in Canada have resulted in an average loss of $5.53 for every barrel of crude oil exported to the U.S. between 2009 and 2017. In 2015 and 2016, the losses due to insufficient pipeline capacity were equivalent to 3%-5% of the Canadian oil and gas industry’s sales revenue and 69%-102% of its royalty payments to provincial governments. Western Canadian oil refiners and refined products’ consumers benefit from the depressed crude oil prices. However, the total gains captured by local refiners and consumers are much smaller than the losses of the upstream sector.
Photodynamic therapy induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in rat CNV model.

PURPOSE To investigate the mechanism of cell death in laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) after photodynamic therapy (PDT). METHODS PDT was performed in Brown-Norway rats using laser light at a wavelength of 689 nm, irradiance of 600 mW/cm(2), and fluence of 25 J/cm(2) after intravenous injection of verteporfin at the doses of 3, 6, and 12 mg/m(2). Apoptotic cells in CNV were detected by TUNEL assay at 1, 3, 6, 15, 24, and 48 hours after PDT. Caspase activation at 1, 3, 6, 15, and 24 hours after PDT was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with a cleaved caspase-3 or -9 antibody. Akt activity was determined by Western blot and IHC with a phosphorylated-Akt (pAkt) antibody. To investigate the roles of Akt in PDT-induced apoptosis, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, an Akt activator, with or without wortmannin, an inhibitor of PI3K-Akt pathway, was injected into the vitreous before PDT. RESULTS The number of TUNEL-positive cells in CNV increased at 3 hours after PDT and peaked at 6 hours, showing a dose dependence of verteporfin. Caspase activation was detected in TUNEL-positive cells. Dephosphorylation of Akt in CNV occurred within 1 hour. IGF-1 significantly activated Akt and suppressed the number of TUNEL-positive cells in CNV, and the effects of IGF-1 were diminished by wortmannin. CONCLUSIONS PDT induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in CNV. These results suggest that PDT leads to dephosphorylation of Akt and subsequent activation of the caspase-dependent pathway. Understanding the intracellular signaling mechanisms of apoptosis in PDT may lead to more selective and effective treatment of CNV secondary to age-related macular degeneration.
A 24 GHz CMOS power amplifier with successive IM2 feed-forward IMD3 cancellation

This paper demonstrates a successive second-order intermodulation feed-forward cancelling path, which can reduce the third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) of a 24 GHz cascode power amplifier (PA) effectively. By adopting this technique, the Psat, OP1dB, and associated PAE are 16.6 dBm, 14.6 dBm, and 12.6%, respectively. The sweet-spot locates at 5 dBm output power with 20 dB IMD3 reduction. The Pout with the IMD3 better than -40 dBc is 7.9 dBm which is 3.7 dB improvement compared with the PA with turn-off auxiliary path.
Review: emotional and behavioral functioning in phenylketonuria.

OBJECTIVE To examine 17 studies of the psychological sequelae of early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU) with emphasis on the impact of dietary control on functioning. Two questions are addressed: (1) What is the typical psychological profile associated with PKU? (2) Is emotional and behavioral disturbance more prevalent in PKU-affected individuals compared to appropriate controls? METHOD Computerized searches of PsycINFO identified studies using behavioral, personality, and diagnostic measures. RESULTS Findings converge upon a profile including attentional difficulties, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Methodological constraints limit conclusions regarding the nature and severity of observed difficulties. A single study has used comparison groups appropriate for the simultaneous examination of the questions posed (Waisbren and Levy, 1991). CONCLUSIONS We discuss results using a biopsychosocial framework, addressing the factors and processes that may influence emotional and behavioral functioning in this neurodevelopmental disorder. We outline potential lines of new investigation that address critical methodological factors.
TheStreptomyces coelicolor Polynucleotide PhosphorylaseHomologue, and Not the Putative Poly(A) Polymerase, CanPolyadenylateRNA

ABSTRACT A protein containing a nucleotidyltransferase motif characteristic of poly(A) polymerases has been proposed to polyadenylate RNA in Streptomyces coelicolor (P. Bralley and G. H. Jones, Mol. Microbiol. 40:1155-1164, 2001). We show that this protein lacks poly(A) polymerase activity and is instead a tRNA nucleotidyltransferase that repairs CCA ends of tRNAs. In contrast, a Streptomyces coelicolor polynucleotide phosphorylase homologue that exhibits polyadenylation activity may account for the poly(A) tails found in this organism.
Wideband Chaos With Time-Delay Concealment in Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers With Optical Feedback and Injection

Both the time-delay signature and the bandwidth of chaos have been investigated in four schemes of chaos generation in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The results show that suppression of the TD signature and the enhanced bandwidth of chaos can be obtained simultaneously in two schemes - a chaotic beam unidirectionally injected into a CW VCSEL and a CW VCSEL mutually coupled to a chaotic VCSEL. However, suppression of the TD signature and the enhanced chaos bandwidth cannot be achieved simultaneously in two other schemes - a CW optical beam unidirectionally injected into a chaotic VCSEL and two mutually coupled CW VCSELs.
Development and Performance Assessment of a Distributed Asynchronous Protocol for Real-Time Network Restoration

The methodology used, and results obtained, in the development and verification of a protocol for real-time network restoration are described. This protocol, called selfhealing, relies on a combination of hardware and software features to achieve an advance in the speed of restoring network spans that have been cut. The hardware environment provides a paradigm for heavily parallel, asynchronous, distributed interaction. This environment is uniquely suited to interactions between digital cross-connect switches (DCS) embedded in a highly-capacity transport network. A speed determination based on an implementation of the protocol exactly as it would exist in the target DCS host machine is given. >
Automated detection of fecal contamination of apples by multispectral laser-induced fluorescence imaging.

Animal feces are a suspected source of contamination of apples by disease-causing organisms such as Echerichia coli O157. Laser-induced fluorescence was used to detect different amounts of feces from dairy cows, deer, and a dairy pasture applied to Red Delicious apples. One day after application, detection for 1:2 and 1:20 dilutions was nearly 100%, and for 1:200 dilutions (<15 ng of dry matter) detection was >80%. Detection after apples had been washed and brushed was lowest for pasture feces; detection for 1:2, 1:20, and 1:200 dilutions of feces was 100%, 30%, and 0%, respectively. This technology may encourage development of commercial systems for detecting fecal contamination of apples.
Pluripotent Stem Cells and Reprogrammed Cells in Farm Animals

Abstract Pluripotent cells are unique because of their ability to differentiate into the cell lineages forming the entire organism. True pluripotent stem cells with germ line contribution have been reported for mice and rats. Human pluripotent cells share numerous features of pluripotentiality, but confirmation of their in vivo capacity for germ line contribution is impossible due to ethical and legal restrictions. Progress toward derivation of embryonic stem cells from domestic species has been made, but the derived cells were not able to produce germ line chimeras and thus are termed embryonic stem-like cells. However, domestic animals, in particular the domestic pig (Sus scrofa), are excellent large animals models, in which the clinical potential of stem cell therapies can be studied. Reprogramming technologies for somatic cells, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, cell fusion, in vitro culture in the presence of cell extracts, in vitro conversion of adult unipotent spermatogonial stem cells into germ line derived pluripotent stem cells, and transduction with reprogramming factors have been developed with the goal of obtaining pluripotent, germ line competent stem cells from domestic animals. This review summarizes the present state of the art in the derivation and maintenance of pluripotent stem cells in domestic animals.
The correlated and shared gamma frailty model for bivariate current status data: An illustration for cross‐sectional serological data

Frailty models are often used to study the individual heterogeneity in multivariate survival analysis. Whereas the shared frailty model is widely applied, the correlated frailty model has gained attention because it elevates the restriction of unobserved factors to act similar within clusters. Estimating frailty models is not straightforward due to various types of censoring. In this paper, we study the behavior of the bivariate‐correlated gamma frailty model for type I interval‐censored data, better known as current status data. We show that applying a shared rather than a correlated frailty model to cross‐sectionally collected serological data on hepatitis A and B leads to biased estimates for the baseline hazard and variance parameters. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Une approche génétique et source à source de l'optimisation de code

Developpement et maintenance de codes numeriques performants requierent generalement des optimisations manuelles, au detriment de la maintenabilite. Les compilateurs source a source offrent une solution interessante a ce probleme en separant le code metier des optimisations. Reste que la recherche des bonnes transformations parmi l’ensemble disponible, la selection de leur ordre et point d’application exigent l’exploration d’un domaine trop vaste pour esperer obtenir un resultat optimal a partir de modifications manuelles. Cet article propose un environnement adaptatif qui automatise l’exploration des combinaisons de transformations possibles en couplant un compilateur source a source et un algorithme genetique. Une validation experimentale donnant des resultats particulierement encourageants est proposee en fin d’article.
Boswellia : A New Herbal Breakthrough for Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common health condition, so it is always interesting to learn of new developments in the treatment of this potentially disabling and painful disorder. The results of recent clinical trials involving the herb Boswellia serrata reveal some quite startling results that suggest this Ayurvedic herb is not only capable of relieving OA symptoms, but also might be disease-modifying.
Nitrogen fixation by sulphate-reducing bacteria.

SUMMARY: Nitrogen fixation has been obained with strains of Desulfovibrio vulgaris and D. gigas, organisms hitherto believed to be incapable of using molecular nitrogen. Fixation has been demonstrated by increases in total nitrogen and by uptake of 15N2. Fixation of N2 may be widespread in this genus of the sulphate-reducing bacteria.
Assessing Cultural Appropriateness of Three Translated Cancer-Related Fatigue Instruments

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cultural appropriateness (ie, semantic equivalence, content equivalence, and conceptual equivalence) of 3 translated fatigue instruments (the Cancer Fatigue Scale, the Fatigue Symptom Inventory, and the Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale-revised) by using 2 phases: (a) establishment of semantic and content equivalencies by the rigorous process of translation and back-translation, and (b) evaluation of content equivalence and conceptual equivalence by testing on monolingual subjects with the translated fatigue scales and a questionnaire with fatigue terms list and open-ended questions. Convenience sampling was used to recruit subjects at a chemotherapy treatment center for outpatients in Taiwan. The results indicated that the content in the 3 scales were relevant to the experience of fatigue among Taiwanese from the view of patients, but only the fatigue domains in the Cancer Fatigue Scale-Chinese version was similar to the original construct based on the exploratory factor analysis. However, the results for examining the content equivalencies by the fatigue terms list showed that only 4 items in the list were used to describe fatigue by more than 50% of the patients. Therefore, the contents of the chosen scales might not represent the whole concept of fatigue in Taiwan. Exploration of the content and construct of fatigue in Taiwan and further testing of the translated scales are recommended. In addition, the result in this study is helpful for clinical nurses to understand expressions of fatigue in cancer patients within the Chinese culture but the meaning of fatigue still needs to be further explored.
Temperature Dependent Dielectric Properties of Polycrystalline Aluminum Oxide Substrates with Various Impurities

Temperature dependent dielectric properties of 92% and 99.6% polycrystalline aluminum oxide (Al2O3) substrate materials between room temperature and 550degC are reported, and compared with those of 96% Al2O3. Parallel-plate capacitors with aluminum oxide dielectrics and gold electrodes were used for measurement of the dielectric properties of these materials. The capacitance and parallel conductance of these Al2O3 materials were directly measured by an impedance meter at 120 Hz. 1 KHz. 10 KHz. 100 KHz. and 1 MHz. and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss were calculated from the measured capacitance and conductance data. The temperature and frequency dependent quality factor (dissipation factor) of these materials are presented.
Perioperative risk factors for postoperative pneumonia after major oral cancer surgery: A retrospective analysis of 331 cases

Objective Postoperative pneumonia (POP) is common and results in prolonged hospital stays, higher costs, increased morbidity and mortality. However, data on the incidence and risk factors of POP after oral and maxillofacial surgery are rare. This study aims to identify perioperative risk factors for POP after major oral cancer (OC) surgery. Methods Perioperative data and patient records of 331 consecutive subjects were analyzed in the period of April 2014 to March 2016. We individually traced each OC patient for a period to discharge from the hospital or 45 days after surgery, whichever occur later. Results The incidence of POP after major OC surgery with free flap construction or major OC surgery was 11.6% or 4.5%, respectively. Patient-related risk factors for POP were male sex, T stage, N stage, clinical stage and preoperative serum albumin level. Among the investigated procedure-related variables, incision grade, mandibulectomy, free flap reconstruction, tracheotomy, intraoperative blood loss, and the length of the operation were shown to be associated with the development of POP. Postoperative hospital stay was also significantly related to increased incidence of POP. Using a multivariable logistic regression model, we identified male sex, preoperative serum albumin level, operation time and postoperative hospital stay as independent risk factors for POP. Conclusion Several perioperative risk factors can be identified that are associated with POP. At-risk oral cancer patients should be subjected to intensified postoperative pulmonary care.
Acoustic Accident Detection System

In this research we considered the development of a system for automatically detecting and reporting traffic accidents at intersections. A system with these properties would be a great benefit in determining the cause of accidents and could also be useful in determining features of the intersection that relate to safety. A complete system would automatically detect and record traffic conditions associated with accidents such as time of the accident, video of the accident, and the traffic light signal controller parameters. In this project, the basic research required to develop the system has been considered. This involves developing methods for processing acoustic signals and recognizing accident events from the background traffic events. A database consisting of sounds from vehicle crashes, car braking sounds, construction sounds, and traffic sounds was created. We compute the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients as a feature vector for input to the classification system. A neural network is used to classify these features into categories of crash and non-crash events. The classification testing results achieved 99% accuracy.
Design, Aerodynamics, and Vision-Based Control of the DelFly

Light-weight, autonomous ornithopters form a promise to observe places that are too small or too dangerous for humans to enter. In this article, we discuss the DelFly project, in which we follow a top-down approach to ever smaller and more autonomous ornithopters. Top-down signifies that the project always focuses on complete flying systems equipped with camera. We give arguments for the approach by explaining which findings on the DelFly I and DelFly II recently led to the development of the DelFly Micro: a 3.07-gram ornithopter carrying a camera and transmitter onboard. These findings concern the design, aerodynamics, and vision-based control of the DelFly. In addition, we identify main obstacles on the road to fly-sized ornithopters.
CD10 Expression in Pure Stromal and Sex Cord-Stromal Tumors of the Ovary: An Immunohistochemical Analysis of 101 Cases

Summary: CD10 has been recently advocated as a good immunohistochemical marker for endometrial stromal tumors. Metastatic endometrial stromal tumors to the ovary and primary endometrioid stromal sarcomas may show overlapping histological features with pure stromal and sex cord-stromal tumors (SCSTs). We investigated CD10 expression in a large series of pure stromal and SCSTs of the ovary to ascertain whether CD10 may aid in this differential diagnosis. Archival material from 11 fibromas, 10 thecomas, 10 sclerosing stromal tumors (SSTs), 10 adult granulosa cell tumors (AGCTs), 4 luteinized AGCTs, 9 juvenile granulosa cell tumors (JGCTs), 9 Sertoli cell tumors, 9 Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors, 11 sex cord tumors with annular tubules, 10 steroid cell tumors (StCTs), and 8 fibrosarcomas of the ovary were immunostained for CD10. The percentage of cells stained (<5%, 5%-39%, 40%-75%, and >75%) and intensity of staining (1+, 2+, 3+) were evaluated. CD10 was expressed in 7 of 10 thecomas (4 with 5%-75% and mostly 1+), 9 of 10 SSTs (7 with 5%-39% + cells, mostly 1+), 9 of 10 AGCTs (<5%-39%, four 1+, five 2+), 1 of 4 luteinized AGCTs (<5% and 1+), 8 of 9 JGCTs (mostly <5% to 39% and +1), 4 of 9 Sertoli cell tumors (either focal or >75% with variable intensity), 4 of 9 Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (mostly <10% with variable staining), with the Leydig cells being positive in only 1 tumor (1+ and <5%), and 7 of 10 StCTs (4 tumors with more than 75% + cells, from 1+ to 3+). All fibromas, all but 1 fibrosarcoma (<5% and 1+), and all sex cord tumors with annular tubules were CD10 negative. CD10 expression was frequently seen in StCTs, SSTs, and thecomas of the ovary, although the latter 2 categories usually showed only faint immunoreactivity. In conclusion the frequency and intensity of CD10 immunoreactivity in pure stromal and sex cord-stromal ovarian tumors are low and contrast with the typical strong and diffuse immunostaining seen in endometrial stromal tumors; however, faint CD10 positivity is consistent with the diagnosis of ovarian SCST. Steroid cell tumors are often positive for CD10, but these tumors do not pose problems in differential diagnosis with endometrial stromal tumors. CD10 may play a useful role in aiding the differential between endometrial stromal tumors in the ovary and SCST and stromal tumors.
The problem with red, amber, green: the need to avoid distraction by random variation in organisational performance measures

‘The Problem with…’ series covers controversial topics related to efforts to improve healthcare quality, including widely recommended but deceptively difficult strategies for improvement and pervasive problems that seem to resist solution. Many healthcare organisations now track a number of performance measures like infection and complication rates, waiting times, staff adherence to guidelines, etc. Our own organisation, The Capital Region of Denmark, provides healthcare for 1.7 million people and runs 6 hospitals and 11 mental health centres. Measures of clinical quality have been widely used in our region locally at hospitals and departments for many years. Recently, our region started to systematically define and track strategical key performance measures also at the top management level. Approximately 25 measures on a wide range of subjects from hospital infections to public transportation are being tracked by the top management and the Regional Council. The measurement strategy for hospitals involves a bottom–up approach allowing each hospital and department to, if needed, define its own performance measures that feed into one or more of the overall measures. For example, bacteraemia is one of the overall measures, and some acute-care departments, who rarely see hospital-acquired bacteraemia, have started to work on reducing the use of bladder catheters in order to reduce the risk of bacteraemia from catheter-related urinary tract infections diagnosed after their patients have been transferred to other departments. To support their work, they have developed a handful of measures that track the use of catheters and staff compliance with standard procedures related to catheter use. We welcome this development very much. The choice of relatively few overall measures combined with the bottom–up approach is a helpful strategy that focuses and aligns improvement work and stimulates the use of data at all levels of the organisation while leaving room for meaningful local adaptations of performance …