Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bispecific single‐chain antibodies as effective tools for eliminating epithelial cancer cells from human stem cell preparations by redirected cell cytotoxicity

High‐dose chemotherapy (HDC) with autologous bone marrow or peripheral stem cell transplantation is discussed as one option to treat the extensive stage of a variety of tumors. Effective methods to eliminate contaminating tumor cells from human bone marrow or stem cell grafts may improve the outcome of the patients. We investigated 3 recombinant bispecific single‐chain antibodies (bscAbs) directed against 17‐1A (EpCAM), c‐erbB‐2 (HER‐2/neu) and LeY on the one and CD3 on the other binding site for their ability to induce lysis of epithelial tumor cells by retargeting autochthonous T lymphocytes present in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMC) and in peripheral stem cell mononuclear cells (PSMC). The bscAbs showed remarkable specific lysis of different epithelial tumor cell lines with BMMCs as well as with PSMCs as effector cells. Investigation of the α17‐1A‐αCD3 bscAb revealed a significant correlation between the percentage of CD3+ cells present in the BMMCs and the rate of lysis as well as the absence of detrimental effects on the viability of hematopoietic progenitor cells as determined by colony‐forming unit assays (CFUs). Our results indicate that recombinant bispecific single‐chain antibodies could be new tools for purging of human bone marrow and peripheral stem cell grafts from contaminating epithelial cancer cells for patients receiving autologous stem cell transplantation after HDC. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Microtubule-mediated transport of the tumor-suppressor protein Merlin and its mutants

The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor-suppressor protein Merlin is a member of the ERM family of proteins that links the cytoskeleton to the plasma membrane. In humans, mutations in the NF2 gene cause neurofibromatosis type-2 (NF2), a cancer syndrome characterized by the development of tumors of the nervous system. Previous reports have suggested that the subcellular distribution of Merlin is critical to its function, and that several NF2 mutants that lack tumor-suppressor activity present improper localization. Here we used a Drosophila cell culture model to study the distribution and mechanism of intracellular transport of Merlin and its mutants. We found that Drosophila Merlin formed cytoplasmic particles that move bidirectionally along microtubules. A single NF2-causing amino acid substitution in the FERM domain dramatically inhibited Merlin particle movement. Surprisingly, the presence of this immotile Merlin mutant also inhibited trafficking of the WT protein. Analysis of the movement of WT protein using RNAi and pull-downs showed that Merlin particles are associated with and moved by microtubule motors (kinesin-1 and cytoplasmic dynein), and that binding of motors and movement is regulated by Merlin phosphorylation. Inhibition of Merlin transport by expression of the dominant-negative mutant or depletion of kinesin-1 results in increased nuclear accumulation of the transcriptional coactivator Yorkie. These results demonstrate the requirement of microtubule-dependent transport for Merlin function.
A hybrid pose tracking approach for handheld augmented reality

With the rapid advances in mobile computing, handheld Augmented Reality draws increasing attention. Pose tracking of handheld devices is of fundamental importance to register virtual information with the real world and is still a crucial challenge. In this paper, we present a low-cost, accurate and robust approach combining fiducial tracking and inertial sensors for handheld pose tracking. Two LEDs are used as fiducial markers to indicate the position of the handheld device. They are detected by an adaptive thresholding method which is robust to illumination changes, and then tracked by a Kalman filter. By combining inclination information provided by the on-device accelerometer, 6 degree-of-freedom (DoF) pose is estimated. Handheld devices are freed from computer vision processing, leaving most computing power available for applications. When one LED is occluded, the system is still able to recover the 6-DoF pose. Performance evaluation of the proposed tracking approach is carried out by comparing with the ground truth data generated by the state-of-the-art commercial motion tracking system OptiTrack. Experimental results show that the proposed system has achieved an accuracy of 1.77 cm in position estimation and 4.15 degrees in orientation estimation.
Bayes error based feature selection: An electric motors fault detection case study

In the modern industrial sector there is a growing interest on electric motors safety, reliability and maintainability. In this context health monitoring and fault detection are crucial tasks to be performed. In this paper we introduce a univariate filter method based on Bayes error for feature selection in a fault detection scenario. The feature selection algorithm firstly estimates the probability density function of the data. At a second stage we compute the PDFs intersection area which is related to the Bayes error. Finally we choose the features with the minimum Bayes error. In order to properly test the proposed algorithm, a starter motor assembly line has been considered as a case study. Features extraction is performed on statistical time and frequency domain analysis while the quadratic classifier is used for the final fault detection. Performances of the proposed approach have been compared with those of Relieff and SFS algorithms on a 649 motors data set. Results show that our method outperforms the other two in terms of Area Under Curve - Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC).
Prophylactic, therapeutic and immune enhancement effect of liposome‐encapsulated PolyICLC on highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza infection

In view of the magnitude and severity of outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus (H5N1‐HPIV) and the threat to public health, there is an urgent need to develop broad‐spectrum prophylactic and therapeutic agents against infection by H5N1‐HPIV and other subtypes.
Dimensionality Reduction for Dynamic Movement Primitives and Application to Bimanual Manipulation of Clothes

Dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) are widely used as movement parametrization for learning robot trajectories, because of their linearity in the parameters, rescaling robustness, and continuity. However, when learning a movement with DMPs, a very large number of Gaussian approximations needs to be performed. Adding them up for all joints yields too many parameters to be explored when using reinforcement learning (RL), thus requiring a prohibitive number of experiments/simulations to converge to a solution with a (locally or globally) optimal reward. In this paper, we address the process of simultaneously learning a DMP-characterized robot motion and its underlying joint couplings through linear dimensionality reduction (DR), which will provide valuable qualitative information leading to a reduced and intuitive algebraic description of such motion. The results in the experimental section not only show that we can effectively perform DR on DMPs while learning, but we can also obtain better learning curves, as well as additional information about each motion: linear mappings relating joint values and some latent variables.
India's Global Trade Potential: The Gravity Model Approach

Abstract In this article an augmented gravity model equation has been used to analyze the world trade flows using a sample of 146 countries. The coefficients thus obtained are then used to predict trade potential for India. Ordinary Least Squares with cross-section data for the year 2000 have been used for estimation. The results show that all three traditional “gravity” effects are intuitively reasonable, with statistically significant t-statistic often exceeding 50 in absolute value. Alternative measures of gross national product (GNP) dollar value and purchasing power parity do not alter either the sign or significance of different explanatory variables. Historical and cultural similarities also impact positively upon bilateral trade. As concerns India's trade potential, the model shows that there is tremendous potential with China and trade can more than double if barriers and constraints are removed. Our estimates also indicate a huge potential, of the order of US$6.5 billion, with Pakistan.
An Updating Model of Salary Adjustments in Major League Baseball: How Much Is a Home Run Worth?

The spectacular salaries paid to various baseball stars—and the ongoing player-management acrimony over those salaries—leads one to question the relationship between performance and compensation during what may someday be referred to as the “golden era” of free agency. After reading the available work on the determinants of ballplayer compensation, one may still wonder what effect today's hit, strikeout, assist, or error exerts on tomorrow's salary—or, more colloquially, “How much is a home run worth? ” The present study addresses these questions from the vantage point of a salary-updating model. This model assumes no salary cap and posits that, according to an updating or ratcheting process, future salary depends on current salary and current performance.
Production and characterization of genus and species specific monoclonal antibodies against surface tegumental antigens of Schistosoma mekongi

A panel of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against freeze thaw surface tegumental antigens of Schistosoma mekongi were produced from naturally infected BALB/c mice. In this study, we have characterized two MoAbs which have different antigenic specificity for S. mekongi, S. japonicum and S. mansoni. The target epitopes of these two hybridoma antibodies are contained in the Mr 38 kDa (designated Sme 38) and Mr 97 kDa (designated Sme 97) proteins of adult worms as analysed by immunoblotting. The Sme 38 epitope was genus‐specific, since it is also detectable in S. japonicum and S. mansoni. The Sme 97 was not detected in S. japonicum and S. mansoni. therefore it is considered as species‐specific epitope. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed the presence of Sme 38 epitope in the surface tegument, the tegumental cells lying underneath the muscle layer and gut surface. The Sme 97 epitope was detectable only in the surface tegumental area.
Clinical efficacy of oral-transdermal clonidine combinations during the perioperative period.

In an attempt to maintain stable levels of an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist throughout the perioperative period, two different oral-transdermal clonidine dosage regimens were administered according to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. We determined the clinical efficacy of a high- and a low-dose clonidine regimen on sedation, hemodynamic parameters, anesthesia, and analgesia. The low-dose clonidine group of patients (n = 14) received a 7-cm2 clonidine transdermal patch (Catapres-TTS #2), which was supplemented with oral doses of clonidine approximately 3 micrograms.kg-1 on the evening prior to surgery and on the morning of surgery. The high-dose clonidine group (n = 14) received a 10.5-cm2 clonidine transdermal patch (Catapres-TTS #3) with oral clonidine approximately 4.5 micrograms.kg-1 at bedtime and 6.0 micrograms.kg-1 on the morning of surgery. Placebo-treated (control) patients received the same occlusive patch without active ingredient and oral placebo tablets at bedtime and on the morning of surgery. Preanesthetic medication included midazolam 50 micrograms.kg-1 intramuscularly (im). Anesthesia was induced with alfentanil 30 micrograms.kg-1 intravenously (iv), thiopental 3 mg.kg-1 iv, and vecuronium 0.1 mg.kg-1 iv, and was maintained with 70% nitrous oxide in oxygen and a continuous infusion of alfentanil 0.5 microgram.kg-1.min-1. Isoflurane was added when the blood pressure exceeded 110% of the patient's prestudy value. For pain relief postoperatively, the patients received morphine, 1-2-mg iv boluses, via a patient-controlled analgesia pump. The low-dose clonidine patient group had mean plasma clonidine concentrations that varied from 1.47 ng.ml-1 (preoperative) to 1.32 ng.ml-1 (postoperative day 2). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Different signals control the activation of glycolysis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The glycolytic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is activated by fermentable sugars at several steps. Mutants with deletions of genes coding for enzymes of the upper part of glycolysis were used to characterize the triggering mechanisms. Synthesis of fructose‐2,6‐bisphophate is catalysed by two 6‐phosphofructo‐2‐kinase isoenzymes, one of which is activated by fermentable sugars while synthesis of the second enzyme is induced (Kretschmer and Fraenkel, 1991). Increase in the level of fructose‐2, 6‐bisphosphate is demonstrated to depend on an internal metabolite upstream of the phosphoglucose isomerase reaction. The signalling process correlates with distinct temporal changes in the concentration of glucose‐6‐phosphate but not with its absolute level, indicating an adaptational mechanism. It is independent of the uptake and phosphorylation systems used by different sugars. Interestingly, this increase, although delayed, could also be observed in strains lacking the rapid cAMP increase after sugar addition which is thought to be responsible for the activating process. Synthesis of glucose‐6‐P and fructose‐6‐P is needed for the complete induction of pyruvate kinase and inactivation of fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase. On the other hand, induction of pyruvate decarboxylase depends mainly on a signal in the lower part of glycolysis.
DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS USING KANO'S MODEL AND QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT

Quality and innovation are two main issues involved in product development. When faced with increasingly intense competition from both national and international competitors, organisations usually consider quality and innovation as sources of competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction can be met and exceeded by providing customers with innovative products of high quality. Focusing on the early phases of product development, this paper suggests the combined use of quality function deployment and Kano's model. A case example is presented by employing the proposed method in a World Wide Web page design process. Customer requirements on Web pages were clearly recognised and deeply analysed. Also, further technical features were identified for delivering attractive Web pages. The results from the case example support the proposed framework as a means of innovative product development and attractive quality creation.
Welfare Regimes, Employment Systems and Job Preference Orientations

Employees’ preferences about the types of jobs they want are of central importance both for theories of work motivation and for theories of personal well-being. Yet, we know little about whether there are significant differences between European countries in the strength of different preferences. This article uses representative data for five European countries with contrasting institutional regimes—Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden. It compares the relative strength of intrinsic and extrinsic job preferences in these countries and then seeks to examine the usefulness of contrasting theoretical accounts to account for employees’ job preference orientations. It finds little support for the view that either production or welfare regimes have a substantial effect on job preferences. Much of the difference between countries can be accounted for in terms of differences in workforce composition. There is, however, support for the view that the quality of jobs contributes to the salience of intrinsic job preferences and that variations between societies in the prevalence of good quality jobs help account for differences in motivational patterns.
Towards combinatorial clustering: preliminary research survey

The paper describes clustering problems from the combinatorial viewpoint. A brief systemic survey is presented including the following: (i) basic clustering problems (e.g., classification, clustering, sorting, clustering with an order over cluster), (ii) basic approaches to assessment of objects and object proximities (i.e., scales, comparison, aggregation issues), (iii) basic approaches to evaluation of local quality characteristics for clusters and total quality characteristics for clustering solutions, (iv) clustering as multicriteria optimization problem, (v) generalized modular clustering framework, (vi) basic clustering models/methods (e.g., hierarchical clustering, k-means clustering, minimum spanning tree based clustering, clustering as assignment, detection of clisue/quasi-clique based clustering, correlation clustering, network communities based clustering), Special attention is targeted to formulation of clustering as multicriteria optimization models. Combinatorial optimization models are used as auxiliary problems (e.g., assignment, partitioning, knapsack problem, multiple choice problem, morphological clique problem, searching for consensus/median for structures). Numerical examples illustrate problem formulations, solving methods, and applications. The material can be used as follows: (a) a research survey, (b) a fundamental for designing the structure/architecture of composite modular clustering software, (c) a bibliography reference collection, and (d) a tutorial.
Reliability index of optical flow that considers error margin of matches and stabilizes camera movement estimation

A reliability index that evaluates the quality of optical flow is needed because the accuracy of estimation of camera movement or the shape of the environment depends on the accuracy of optical flow. A reliability index using spatial brightness gradient information has already been proposed, and its effectiveness has been confirmed. In this paper, we propose a reliability index that considers the error margin of matches in addition to the spatial brightness gradient information. The result of experiments showed that considering the error margin of matches increases the performance of the reliability index. It was also found that the camera movement can be estimated from optical flow in a synthetic image to which the camera movement was known beforehand. Then, it was confirmed that rejecting using the reliability index improves the accuracy of estimation. Moreover, in an experiment in witch changing of noise was added to the image sequence, it was shown that moderate noise stabilized the movement estimation
A RELAÇÃO ENTRE INOVAÇÃO E DESEMPENHO INTERNACIONAL DE ATIVIDADES DE SERVIÇOS EM FIRMAS FRANCESAS

RESUMO Partindo do pressuposto que a internacionalizacao pode ser um fator determinante para que as empresas, no setor de servico, percebam a inovacao como primordial para o desenvolvimento, este artigo tem como objetivo determinar como se da a relacao entre a inovacao de servicos e o desempenho internacional de empresas de servicos. Com base em marco teorico desenvolvido a partir de teorias de internacionalizacao e inovacao de servicos, foi construido um modelo sobre as relacoes entre estes fatores, incluindo as seguintes variaveis: desempenho internacional, inovacao de servico, experiencia internacional, competencia internacional, capacidade organizacional, capacidade relacional e capacidade da empresa de utilizar as novas tecnologias da informacao e da comunicacao. O questionario utilizado para a coleta dos dados foi construido a partir dos indicadores desses fatores e avaliado em uma escala Likert de 5 itens. A amostra, retirada de banco de dados frances Altares e apos varias selecoes, foi constituida por 51 empresas. O metodo utilizado para tratamento dos dados, o Partial Least Square (PLS), revelou uma relacao entre inovacao e o desempenho internacional das empresas estudadas.
Environmental R&D and the Uncertainty of Future Earnings

This paper examines whether the variability in the future earnings stream generated by the investment in environmentally-related R&D projects is different than that created by the investment in other R&D projects. To carry out this investigation, I decompose total R&D expenditures into two components: those related to R&D projects aimed at reducing the firm’s costs to comply with environmental legislation (i.e., the environmental component), and those related to all other R&D projects, which are focused on increasing the firm’s revenues and/or decreasing its other operating costs (i.e., the residual component). As predicted, I find that the environmental component of R&D expenditures contributes significantly less to the variability of future earnings than the residual component.
Nanohandling automation within a scanning electron microscope

In this paper, current research regarding a semi-automated handling station for TEM-lamella is described. The development of this station started with automated handling of microparts as described in many previous publications. However, within this project, we were able to apply current research to an economically important task for the semiconductor industry - TEM-lamella handling. This task consists of automatic tracking of the lamella, picking it up from the silicon wafer and placing it on a TEM-grid.
Market Models and Heteroscedasticity of Residual Security Returns

Bickel's tests provide attractive robust alternatives to traditional tests of heteroscedasticity. NYSE securities have homoscedastic residuals once nonnormality of security returns is allowed. Some portfolio designs may generate some heteroscedastic residuals, but this heteroscedasticity is reduced by the Kraus-Litzenberger quadratic market model. This result suggests a misspecification in the traditional market model.
Idiosyncratic volatility and security returns: Australian evidence

This article examines whether idiosyncratic risk is priced for equities listed in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Specifically, this article follows the methodology of Bali et al. (2005) and investigates whether idiosyncratic volatility is able to predict 1-month ahead excess returns on the value-weighted market index (the All Ordinaries Index–AOI), over the period 1980:01 to 2004:12. We also investigate whether the idiosyncratic volatility is priced differently in partitioned subperiods. Our findings suggest that idiosyncratic volatility is not priced in the Australian market.
Immigrant Population Search Algorithm for Solving Constrained Optimization Problems

This article introduces the Immigrant Population Search Algorithm (IPSA) inspired by the pattern of human population migration to find better habitats. The algorithm is viewed as a new optimization method for solving constrained optimization problems, and it belongs to the set of population-based algorithms that are proposed for combinatorial optimization. In this algorithm, the life environment is the solution space of the problem. Every point of this space is a solution for the problem, which may be feasible or infeasible, and the quality of life at that point is the value of fitness function for that solution. Each population group tries to investigate feasible and better habitats. In other words, it tries to optimize the problem. After the algorithm steps are described, the efficiency of the algorithm is compared to that of three other metaheuristic algorithms that are used to optimize some mathematic problems. The results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than the other three methods.