Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Normalization of unconventional US monetary policy and its implications: Korea?s monetary policy case

This study offers some empirical evidence that changes in the US monetary policy affect Korean financial market volatilities, and the efficacy of the Bank of Korea? s policy interest rate to market long-term rate channel of monetary policy since 2000, with emphasis on the post? 2008 period, notable for unconventional US monetary policy. In addition, some structural issues related to the financial health of Korean central bank? s balance sheet are reviewed. Results suggest that capital inflow had weakened the efficacy of monetary policy since 2008. The resulting expanded domestic liquidity appears to have contributed to the trend of steady growth in Korean household indebtedness. Given the severe fluidity of the external monetary/financial situation in the short term, having more flexibility in policy rates in both directions seems advisable. It would also be desirable to grant more autonomy to the Bank of Korea in disposing its operating profits so that it could build up its equity reserves. This measure would enhance monetary policy credibility in the medium term by allaying concerns that monetary policy deliberations might be encumbered by potential operating losses, which could lead to onerous consequences for the Bank of Korea.
Proteasome inhibition and its clinical prospects in the treatment of hematologic and solid malignancies

The proteasome is responsible for the degradation of intracellular proteins, including several involved in cell cycle control and the regulation of apoptosis. Preclinical studies have shown that the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib decreases proliferation, induces apoptosis, enhances the activity of chemotherapy and radiation, and reverses chemoresistance in a variety of hematologic and solid malignancy models in vitro and in vivo. Proteasome inhibition with bortezomib has specifically promoted apoptosis of tumor cells through the stabilization of p53, p21, p27, Bax, and IκBα, resulting in nuclear factor κB inhibition. Bortezomib was the first proteasome inhibitor to enter clinical trials. In two Phase II trials, SUMMIT and CREST, it was found that treatment with bortezomib, alone or in combination with dexamethasone, produced durable responses with meaningful survival benefits in patients with recurrent and/or refractory multiple myeloma. In the APEX Phase III trial, bortezomib produced significant survival benefits and improved response rates over high‐dose dexamethasone at first recurrence and beyond in patients with multiple myeloma. Clinical trials evaluating the safety and activity of bortezomib alone or in combination regimens with dexamethasone, doxorubicin, melphalan, prednisone, and/or thalidomide in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma have shown encouraging results. Preliminary studies suggest that bortezomib may serve as induction therapy before stem cell transplantation. Proteasome inhibition with bortezomib also has shown activity with manageable toxicity in mantle cell and other lymphomas, leukemias, and solid malignancies, including nonsmall cell lung carcinoma. Further studies with bortezomib as monotherapy and in combination regimens in the treatment of solid and hematologic malignancies are warranted. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
Critical review of the uroflowmetry.

Uroflowmetry is the measurement of a urinary flow rate by using the flow meter. A urine flow rate is the volume of urine (millilitres) expelled from the bladder via the urethra per unit of time (second). It is expressed in ml/s. (1) Urine flow curve is the plot of velocity of the voided urine against time. The urine stream is affected by voiding pressure (detrusor power) and bladder outlet resistance. Therefore, uroflowmetry evaluates the interaction of the urinary bladder expelling strength and bladder outlet resistance. This is the initial, non-invasive urodynamic investigation for evaluation of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Although, it is very simple and widely used urodynamic test, the results are nonspecific and required caution interpretations. In the next few pages we will review some aspects of this test, i.e. brief history, equipment, indications, procedure itself and interpretation of the results.
The Influence of Father Criminality on Juvenile Recidivism

This study investigates the relationships between father criminality, prior delinquency, and recidivism using data from 382 incarcerated juveniles assessed in Singapore’s Juvenile Court in 2005. The juveniles are aged 13 to 16 years, with a mean of 14.55 years (SD = 0.93). Using Baron and Kenny’s framework, this study tests the prediction that the prior delinquent behaviors of the juvenile mediate the relationship between father criminality and recidivism in a four-step process. When the juvenile’s prior delinquent behaviors are included in the model, the previous significant relation between father criminality and recidivism disappears. Implications of findings in terms of applied and practical intervention and prevention work for youths in schools and those in incarceration are discussed.
Evaluation of a time efficient immunization strategy for anti-PAH antibody development

ABSTRACT The development of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with affinity to small molecules can be a time-consuming process. To evaluate shortening the time for mAb production, we examined mouse antisera at different time points post-immunization to measure titer and to evaluate the affinity to the immunogen PBA (pyrene butyric acid). Fusions were also conducted temporally to evaluate antibody production success at various time periods. We produced anti-PBA antibodies 7 weeks post-immunization and selected for anti-PAH reactivity during the hybridoma screening process. Moreover, there were no obvious sensitivity differences relative to antibodies screened from a more traditional 18-week schedule. Our results demonstrate a more time efficient immunization strategy for anti-PAH antibody development that may be applied to other small molecules.
A multi-objective geometric programming model for optimal production and marketing planning

This paper presents a multi-objective geometric programming model which determines the product's selling price in two markets. We assume demand is a function of price and marketing expenditure in two markets. The cost of production is also assumed to be a function of demands in both markets. Our model is a posynomial function which is solved using Geometric Programming (GP). In our GP implementation, we use a transformed dual problem to change the model into an optimization of an unconstraint problem with a single variable solved using a simple line search. In order to study the behavior of the model we analyze the solution in different cases and a numerical example is used to demonstrate the implementation for each case.
A 1.8-V 4.36-ppm/°C-TC bandgap reference with temperature variation calibration

A bandgap reference generator with a compensation circuit against temperature variation is presented. The bandgap reference generator provides a reference current of 10μA with temperature coefficient (TC) of only 4.36ppm/°C under temperature range from -40 to 125°C. The chip is fabricated in a 0.18-μm standard CMOS process with a 1.8V power supply voltage, and the active die area is 0.008mm2.
A New Step In The Electrical Characterisation Of Silicon-Insulator Interfaces

The principle of charge pumping (CP), the most widely used semiconductor-insulator interface traps electrical characterisation method, is recalled first. Then, a rigorous model proposed recently for this technique is summarised. A CP technique proposed a few years ago is also presented. Assuming tunnelling for the capture of carriers, the trap depth concentration profiles, from the Si-SiO2 interface towards the oxide bulk extraction can be extracted. Combining these two approaches, i.e. accounting for the trap depth distribution in the rigorous CP model allows for the first time to simulate CP curves in all experimental conditions. The curves obtained are compared with experimental results. It is shown that information on the trap properties can be obtained from the differences between both curve types. The generalised CP model enables to know the energy and depth region of the oxide probed in all the experimental conditions. A new spectroscopic CP technique is also presented. Based on the frequency dependence of the CP curves, it allows to evidence and to study the traps at the Si-SiO2 interface. The traps in the oxide can also be studied independently. The simulations exhibit again the same features as the experimental curves do. Again, trap characteristics can be obtained from the differences between both curve types.
Online vehicle logo recognition using Cauchy prior logistic regression

Vehicle logo recognition is an important part of vehicle identification in intelligent transportation systems. State-of-the-art vehicle logo recognition approaches typically consider training models on large datasets. However, there might only be a small training dataset to start with and more images can be obtained during the real-time applications. This paper proposes an online image recognition framework which provides solutions for both small and large datasets. Using this recognition framework, models are built efficiently using a weight updating scheme. Another novelty of this work is that the Cauchy prior logistic regression with conjugate gradient descent is proposed to deal with the multinomial classification tasks. The Cauchy prior results in a quicker convergence speed for the weight updating process which could decrease the computational cost for both online and offline methods. By testing with a publicly available dataset, the Cauchy prior logistic regression deceases the classification time by 59%. An accuracy of up to 98.80% is achieved when the proposed framework is applied.
Nuclear Chromatin‐concentrated Osteoblasts in Renal Bone Diseases

The morphological appearance of an osteoblast largely alters with its differentiation and maturation, along with the change of cell function. We quantitatively observed the osteoblast morphology and compared it with bone metabolism. Biopsied iliac bone samples obtained from 77 dialysis patients (14 mild change, 37 osteitis fibrosa, 2 osteomalacia, 8 mixed, and 16 adynamic bone) were included in the study. Osteoblast appearances were classified into three groups: (i) type II and III osteoblasts, namely, active osteoblasts characterized by cuboidal or columnar shapes with or without a nuclear clear zone; (ii) type IV osteoblasts, lining osteoblasts characterized by extremely thin cytoplasm; and (iii) type V osteoblasts, apoptotic osteoblasts characterized by nuclear chromatin concentration. The results were quantitatively expressed as the length of bone surface covered by each type of osteoblasts. The type II and III osteoblasts were predominant in osteitis fibrosa, mixed, and mild change. The type IV osteoblasts were overwhelmingly predominant in adynamic bone. The type V osteoblasts appeared most frequently in osteitis fibrosa, followed by mixed and mild change. Both absolute and relative lengths of bone surface covered by the type V osteoblasts were significantly higher in the high‐turnover bone group (osteitis fibrosa and mixed) than the low‐turnover bone group (adynamic bone and osteomalacia). The type V osteoblasts were slightly correlated with serum intact parathyroid hormone levels. In conclusion, a high bone‐turnover condition seems to be associated with the promotion of osteoblastic apoptosis in dialysis patients. This finding may explain the fact that osteopenia develops faster in CKD patients with high turnover of bone.
Genetic variants in the human glucocorticoid‐induced leucine zipper (GILZ) gene in fertile and infertile men

Sertoli cell only (SCO) syndrome is the predominant histology for men with non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA) and is usually of unexplained aetiology. Studies in mouse models indicated that the X‐linked gene glucocorticoid‐induced leucine zipper (GILZ) is essential for survival and differentiation of spermatogonia, and meiosis. GILZ deficiency results in a rapid and progressive loss of germ cells with SCO tubules and sterility in adults. The role of GILZ in human fertility has not been examined. Here we show that GILZ is localized to spermatogonia and spermatocytes in the human testis in a pattern analogous to that seen in mice. To assess the potential for an association between GILZ variants and human infertility, we sequenced the entire protein‐coding regions of the GILZ gene in 65 SCO and 87 fertile Australian men. We identified six genetic variants, three of which had not been reported previously. Three variants, 107018665 G>A, 107018485 C>G and 106959283 C>T, were found at a low frequency only in SCO men. Although none of the identified variants changed the protein code, sequence analysis indicated that two variants, 107018665 G>A and 107018485 C>G, would completely abolish the exonic splicing enhancer (ESE)‐binding motifs for the splicing factors SF2/ASF and SC35 respectively. This result prompted an assessment of whether these two variants were associated with male infertility in a separate population of men. We used a PCR‐based SNP detection approach to screen an additional 52 NOA and 153 fertile Australian men, and 86 SCO and 54 fertile American men. None of these men carried either of these two variants. The cumulative allelic frequency of these variants is less than 1% in SCO men and no association with fertility status was observed. Our study suggests that GILZ variants are not common causes of SCO and NOA in Australian or American men.
β‐Adrenoceptor binding defects in cell lines from families with manic‐depressive disorder

Binding of 125I‐iodohydroxybenzylpindolol to β‐adrenoceptors has been examined in lymphoblastoid cell lines from members of 5 families affected by manic‐depressive disorder. Cell lines from 6 manic‐depressives, 7 unaffected relatives and 11 non‐psychiatric controls were examined. Binding was reduced to less than half of control values in cell lines from 4 out of 6 manic‐depressives and only 1 out of 18 unaffected relatives or controls. All the cell lines with reduced β‐adrenoceptor binding came from 3 families; members of the remaining 2 families showed normal binding. These findings suggest that genetic heterogeneity is present in manic‐depressive disorder and that a β‐adrenoceptor defect may influence genetic susceptibility to the disorder.
Identifying unique subtypes of spinal afferent nerve endings within the urinary bladder of mice

Spinal afferent neurons are responsible for the transduction and transmission of noxious (painful) stimuli and innocuous stimuli that do not reach conscious sensations from visceral organs to the central nervous system. Although the location of the nerve cell bodies of spinal afferents is well known to reside in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), the morphology and location of peripheral nerve endings of spinal afferents that transduce sensory stimuli into action potentials is poorly understood. The individual nerve endings of spinal afferents that innervate the urinary bladder have never been unequivocally identified in any species. We used an anterograde tracing technique developed in our laboratory to selectively label only spinal afferents. Mice were anesthetized and unilateral injections of dextran‐amine made into lumbosacral DRGs (L5‐S2). Seven to nine days postsurgery, mice were euthanized, the urinary bladder removed, then fresh‐fixed and stained for immunoreactivity to calcitonin‐gene‐related‐peptide (CGRP). Four distinct morphological types of spinal afferent ending in the bladder were identified. Three types existed in the detrusor muscle and one major type in the sub‐urothelium and urothelium. Most nerve endings were located in detrusor muscle where the three types could be identified as having: “branching”, “simple”, or “complex” morphology. The majority of spinal afferent nerve endings were CGRP‐immunoreactive. Single spinal afferent axons bifurcated many times upon entering the bladder and developed varicosities along their axon terminal endings. We present the first morphological identification of spinal afferent nerve endings in the mammalian urinary bladder.
The De-noising Methods for SPECT Reconstruction with Non-uniform Attenuation Based on Wavelet Transform

In single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), the non-stationary Possion noise in the projection data (sinogram) is a major cause to compromise the quality of the reconstructed images. To improve the quality, we must remove the Possion noise in the sinogram before reconstruction. However, the conventional space or frequency domain de-noising methods possibly remove the edge information that is very important for the accurate reconstruction, especially for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation. As a time-frequency analysis tool, wavelet transform has been widely used in the signal and image processing fields, demonstrated its powerful functions in the application of de-noising. In this paper, we try to find out the de-noising abilities of the wavelet based de-noising methods for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation, and the effect of the Anscombe transform in the wavelet based de-noising. Five most effective de-noising methods were selected, and the non-uniform attenuation reconstruction algorithm was applied to the de-noised projection data. From the reconstructed results, it is clear that the Revised BivaShrink with complex wavelet is the best wavelet based de-noising method for SPECT reconstruction with non-uniform attenuation, and the effect of Anscombe transform, which converts the Possion noise into Gaussian noise, is not significant in the wavelet based de-noising.
DEBRIS DISKS AROUND SOLAR-TYPE STARS: OBSERVATIONS OF THE PLEIADES WITH THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE

We present Spitzer MIPS observations at 24 μm of 37 solar-type stars in the Pleiades and combine them with previous observations to obtain a sample of 71 stars. We report that 23 stars, or 32% ± 6.8%, have excesses at 24 μm at least 10% above their photospheric emission. We compare our results with studies of debris disks in other open clusters and with a study of A stars to show that debris disks around solar-type stars at 115 Myr occur at nearly the same rate as around A-type stars. We analyze the effects of binarity and X-ray activity on the excess flux. Stars with warm excesses tend not to be in equal-mass binary systems, possibly due to clearing of planetesimals by binary companions in similar orbits. We find that the apparent anti-correlations in the incidence of excess and both the rate of stellar rotation and also the level of activity as judged by X-ray emission are statistically weak.
Feedforward Compensation by Specified Step Settling With Frequency Shaping of Position Reference

This paper presents a frequency shaping of position reference in a framework of deadbeat feedforward compensation with specified step settling. In the proposed compensation, a control design freedom is additionally expanded to the frequency shaping in the original position reference, while the feedforward compensation ensures the specified step settling performance under the conventional control scheme. As a result, a two-degree-of-freedom positioning controller using the proposed approach can improve the settling performance with residual vibration suppression rather than the conventional approach. The effectiveness of the proposed shaping has been verified by experiments using a prototype of linear-motor-driven table system.
An In-DRAM Neural Network Processing Engine

Many advanced neural network inference engines are bounded by the available memory bandwidth. The conventional approach to address this issue is to employ high bandwidth memory devices or to adapt data compression techniques (reduced precision, sparse weight matrices). Alternatively, an emerging approach to bridge the memory-computation gap and to exploit extreme data parallelism is Processing in Memory (PIM). The close proximity of the computation units to the memory cells reduces the amount of external data transactions and it increases the overall energy efficiency of the memory system. In this work, we present a novel PIM based Binary Weighted Network (BWN) inference accelerator design that is inline with the commodity Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) design and process. In order to exploit data parallelism and minimize energy, the proposed architecture integrates the basic BWN computation units at the output of the Primary Sense Amplifiers (PSAs) and the rest of the substantial logic near the Secondary Sense Amplifiers (SSAs). The power and area values are obtained at sub-array (SA) level using exhaustive circuit level simulations and full-custom layout. The proposed architecture results in an area overhead of 25 % compared to a commodity 8 Gb DRAM and delivers a throughput of 63.59 FPS (Frames per Second) for AlexNet. We also demonstrate that our architecture is extremely energy efficient, 7.25× higher FPS/W, as compared to previous works.
Chronic weight dissatisfaction predicts type 2 diabetes risk: aerobic center longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE Weight dissatisfaction, defined as discordance between actual and goal weight, may be associated with increased risk for several obesity-related comorbidities. The purpose of the study was to examine the association between weight dissatisfaction and risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. METHOD This longitudinal study used data from 9,584 adults enrolled in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. Key variables included multiple measures of measured weight, self-reported goal weight, and incident diabetes. Weight dissatisfaction was defined as being above the median of measured weight minus goal weight. Cox proportional hazards regression estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for diabetes incidence by weight dissatisfaction. RESULTS HRs for time until diabetes diagnosis revealed that family history of diabetes (HR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.13, 1.90]), age (HR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.02, 1.04]), and weight dissatisfaction (HR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.50, 2.25]) at baseline were statistically significant predictors. Longitudinally, higher risk was observed in individuals who either stayed dissatisfied (HR = 2.98, 95% CI [1.98, 4.48]) or became dissatisfied (HR = 1.51, 95% CI [0.79, 2.89]), compared with those who stayed satisfied. After additional adjustment for BMI, the elevated HR for those who remained dissatisfied compared with those who remained satisfied persisted (HR = 2.85, 95% CI [1.89, 4.31]). CONCLUSIONS Weight dissatisfaction, regardless of BMI, represents a potentially important psychophysiological modifier of the relationships between BMI and risk of Type 2 diabetes, and warrants greater attention in future studies of chronic disease risk.
Design and development of the social humanoid robot named Ribo

This paper is about the design and development of ”Ribo”, the upper torso enabled social humanoid robot and the mass people's response to it as received at several public exhibition. Ribo is 135cm tall and has necessary actuation in the face to show basic facial expression. The exterior design is especially crafted to make it look more like a social artificial being rather than just a mechanical robot. The robot is optimized by a distributed software architecture which enables modules developed in different programming languages to work in sync. Ribo was presented in several exhibitions in Bangladesh where mass people directly interacted with it. During that time the visitors were asked several questions on the robot's design to rate the social behavior of Ribo. According to the survey, people liked Ribo mostly because of its facial design and how it speaks in their mother tongue.