Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does GDP Distort Mexico's Economic Performance?

Between 1961 and 1980, Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita grew nearly 3.50% annually. During the 1980s, however, it shrank about 0.50% per year. GDP figures suggest that there was sustained economic growth for the 1960s and 1970s, changing suddenly to contraction in the 1980s. This impression may be misleading. GDP does not account for housework or informal production outside households. Further, GDP also may be distorted by transactional activities, which are expenditures to support transactions, not actual output consumed. This study recalculates output for Mexico for the 1961-1990 sample period, controlling for transactional activities and nonmarket production. We find that GDP misstates Mexico's "actual" economic growth. In the 1960s, the economy expanded more quickly than GDP suggests. But in the 1970s, growth was less than half that of the 1960s. The economy indeed slumped in the 1980s, but not as terribly as the official figures indicate. Mexico's economy did not collapse suddenly in the early 1980s; actual economic growth had slowed dramatically during the 1970s.
Treatment of Septic Patients with an Arginine-Based Endotoxin Adsorber Column Improves Hemodynamics and Reduces Oxidative Stress: Results of a Feasibility Study

Background: Mortality of severe sepsis and septic shock is unacceptably high. Adsorptive removal of endotoxin may interrupt the inflammatory cascade triggered by lipopolysaccharide. Methods: Prospective feasibility study with plasma separation and adsorption (PSA) treatment using a novel arginine-coated adsorber column was performed in a tertiary care gastroenterological intensive care unit. Results: 10 patients with severe sepsis/septic shock (median APACHE II score: 27, hospital mortality 40%) were treated with PSA on 5 consecutive days. There were no serious adverse events. No patient died during the treatment period. During treatment sessions, mean arterial pressure and cardiac power index increased while vasopressors could be reduced. Advanced oxidation protein products and in vitro pro- apoptotic activity of plasma decreased. We could not demonstrate any changes in endotoxin levels. Conclusions: PSA resulted in a reduction of indicators of oxidative stress and pro-apoptotic activity of the plasma and an improvement in hemodynamic parameters, suggesting increased myocardial contractility and reduced septic vasodilation.
Lipid-lowering therapies in development

Lipid lowering is established as a proven intervention to reduce atherosclerosis and its complications. This article summarises novel developments in the lipid-altering therapies under development, including combination therapies, squalene synthase inhibitors, microsomal transfer protein inhibitors, acyl-cholesterol acyl transferase inhibitors, cholesterol ester transfer protein antagonists, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonists, high-density lipoprotein-derived peptides and inflammation inhibitors, which have at least reached trials in animal models. Lipid-altering drugs are likely to to be a fast-developing area for novel treatments as possible synergies exist between new and established compounds for the treatment of atherosclerosis. New agents will have to show significant advantage in tolerability or efficacy over existing agents and have the potential to be used in combination therapy as is well established for bile acid sequestrants, nicotinic acid or fibrates and statins. Any new drugs will also have to be assessed in clinical end-point trials against current compounds with proven outcome benefits.
Reliability of the information about the history of diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Differences in regard to sex, age, and educational level. The Pró-Saúde study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the intraobserver reliability of the information about the history of diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. METHODS A multidimensional health questionnaire, which was filled out by the interviewees, was applied twice with an interval of 2 weeks, in July '99, to 192 employees of the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), stratified by sex, age, and educational level. The intraobserver reliability of the answers provided was estimated by the kappa statistic and by the coefficient of intraclass correlation (CICC). RESULTS The general kappa (k) statistic was 0.75 (95% CI=0.73-0.77). Reliability was higher among females (k=0.88, 95% CI=0.85-0.91) than among males (k=0.62, 95% CI=0.59-0.65). The reliability was higher among individuals 40 years of age or older (k=0.79; 95% CI=0.73-0.84) than those from 18 to 39 years (k=0.52; 95% CI=0.45-0.57). Finally, the kappa statistic was higher among individuals with a university educational level (k=0.86; 95% CI=0.81-0.91) than among those with high school educational level (k=0.61; 95% CI=0.53-0.70) or those with middle school educational level (k=0.68; 95% CI=0.64-0.72). The coefficient of intraclass correlation estimated by the intraobserver agreement in regard to age at the time of the diagnosis of hypertension was 0.74. A perfect agreement between the 2 answers (k=1.00) was observed for 22 interviewees who reported prior prescription of antihypertensive medication. CONCLUSION In the population studied, estimates of the reliability of the history of medical diagnosis of hypertension and its treatment ranged from substantial to almost perfect reliability.
σ-DVO: Sensor Noise Model Meets Dense Visual Odometry

In this paper we propose a novel method called s-DVO for dense visual odometry using a probabilistic sensor noise model. In contrast to sparse visual odometry, where camera poses are estimated based on matched visual features, we apply dense visual odometry which makes full use of all pixel information from an RGB-D camera. Previously, t-distribution was used to model photometric and geometric errors in order to reduce the impacts of outliers in the optimization. However, this approach has the limitation that it only uses the error value to determine outliers without considering the physical process. Therefore, we propose to apply a probabilistic sensor noise model to weigh each pixel by propagating linearized uncertainty. Furthermore, we find that the geometric errors are well represented with the sensor noise model, while the photometric errors are not. Finally we propose a hybrid approach which combines t-distribution for photometric errors and a probabilistic sensor noise model for geometric errors. We extend the dense visual odometry and develop a visual SLAM system that incorporates keyframe generation, loop constraint detection and graph optimization. Experimental results with standard benchmark datasets show that our algorithm outperforms previous methods by about a 25% reduction in the absolute trajectory error.
Joint Stochastic Dynamic Pricing and Advertising with Time-Dependent Demand

This paper examines the sale of a finite number of items in a class of stochastic dynamic pricing and advertising models with time-dependent demand elasticities. We prove structural properties of the optimal expected profits with respect to time, inventory level, price impact, advertising impact and different model parameters, such as discount rate, marginal unit costs, and holding costs. We find that the value of an additional item (opportunity costs) is decreasing in the unit costs, the discount rate, the holding cost rate and the number of items left to sell. We also derive structural properties of optimal joint pricing and advertising strategies. This way, we obtain general qualitative insights in the complex interplay and the mutual dependence of optimal pricing and advertising decisions. Among other properties, we show that a higher advertising impact leads to higher optimal prices and lower advertising rates, which in turn implies a lower speed of sale. The results obtained help practitioners to respond to changes in market conditions by adjusting price and advertising accordingly. Our results allow speeding up numerical computations of decisions as the set of possible actions can be reduced significantly. Our analysis implies general results for pure pricing as well as pure advertising models with time-dependent demand elasticities.
The value of non-working time incorporated in quality of life comparisons: The case of the US vs. the Netherlands

The distribution of well-being in society and comparisons of well-being across societies depend both on the amount of inequality at the national level and also on the national average level of well-being. Comparisons between the U.S. and western Europe show that inequality is greater in the U.S. but that average GDP/capita is also greater in the U.S., and most Americans have higher standards of living than do Western Europeans at comparable locations in their national income distributions. What is less well-known is that (depending on the country) much or all of this gap arises from differences in the level of working hours in the U.S. and in Western Europe. Crossnational comparisons of well-being have typically relied on the methodology of generalized Lorenz curves (GLC), but this approach privileges disposable income and cash transfers while ignoring other aspects of welfare state and labor market structure that potentially affect the distribution of well-being in a society. We take an alternative approach that focuses on the value of time use and the different distributions of work and family time that are generated by each country? s labor market and social welfare institutions. We show that reasonable estimates of the greater contribution to well-being from non-market activities such as the raising of children or longer vacations overturn claims in the literature that the U.S. offers greater well-being to more of its citizens than do Western European countries.
Identification of the pathogen associated with Sigatoka disease of banana in South Africa

Three species of Mycosphaerella are known to cause Sigatoka leaf diseases in banana. M. musicola causes yellow Sigatoka, M. fijiensis causes black Sigatoka and M. eumusae causes eumusae leaf spot. Linie is known about the presence of Sigatoka leaf diseases of banana in South Africa. Although yellow Sigatoka has previously been reported, the identity of the causal organism has never been confirmed. Extensive surveys of the five banana-growing areas in South Africa were conducted between 1999 and 2001, which resulted in the collection of various Sigatoka-like leaf spot samples. After morphological examination of the infected material, monoconidial isolates of the causal organism were established from each sample. A molecular confirmation of identity was conducted using species-specific primers for M. musicola and M. fijiensis. Sequence data of the ITS region was further obtained to compare the South African Mycosphaerella isolates from banana with M. musicola, M. fijiensis and M. eumusae. These results confirm that only M. musicola is presently associated with yellow Sigatoka symptoms in South Africa.
Expression of Toll-Like Receptor 4 and Endotoxin Responsiveness in Mice during Perinatal Period

Endotoxin [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)] from Gram-negative bacteria is found in amniotic fluid in intrauterine infections that associate with the risk for spontaneous premature birth, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and respiratory distress syndrome. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is the signaling receptor for LPS. The aim was to investigate the primary inflammatory response in mice shortly after administration of LPS to the dam (14 and 17 d of pregnancy), to the newborn, or into the amniotic fluid. The expression levels of TLR4, IL-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, IL-10, macrophage inflammatory protein-2, and IL-1 receptor 1 were studied with ribonuclease protection assay. In addition, TLR4 protein was analyzed with Western blotting. The fetal membranes expressed TLR4 mRNA and protein and showed an acute cytokine response to LPS when LPS was administrated into the amniotic fluid. There was distinct ontogeny in the responsiveness of fetal lung to LPS: on fetal day 14 (term 20 d), both the expression of TLR4 and the acute cytokine response were undetectable 5 h after LPS; they became detectable by fetal day 17. TLR4 and the cytokine response further increased after birth. In maternal lung, the TLR4 expression was strongest and up-regulated in parallel with the induction of the cytokines. We propose that TLR4 controls the magnitude of the LPS-induced cytokine response during the perinatal period.
A Narrowband Quasi-Transversal Filter using a Slow-Wave Structure

Previous slow-wave transmission lines for producing large delays have required multi-layer patterning or increased width. A narrow-band slow-wave structure without these disadvantages is proposed for use with tapped delay line (transversal) narrow-band filters. This line has periodic discontinuities, resulting in a pass-and stop-band structure in which the group delay in the pass-bands is very large. A linear phase transversal stripline filter, in which delay is increased by a factor of five, is demonstrated using a previously-published design procedure (which deals with multiple reflections, dispersion and losses) to calculate the filter tap weights. A wide range of both phase and amplitude characteristics should eventually be possible, and superconducting delay lines should ultimately permit losses of only 1 or 2 dB.
Biochemical Characterization of Two Major Proteins of the Hamster Sperm Acrosomal Matrix

An acrosomal fraction, termed the ALM (acrosomal lamina complex) was isolated from hamster cauda epididymal spermatozoa that contain specific domains of the acrosomal matrix and an adherent detergent-insoluble complex, termed the acrosomal lamina, which is derived from the outer acrosomal membrane. By SDS-PAGE, the ALM fraction exhibited two major polypeptides of Mr=29,000 (ALM29) and Mr=22,000 (ALM22). We have also shown that an ALM complex binds both acrosin and N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGA) in a dose-dependent manner and acrosin binds to the ALM29 polypeptide only. The objective of the present study is to investigate the binding efficiency of acrosin to the V8 protease-generated peptides of ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides, to examine the presence of phosphate groups on both ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides and to identify the binding competency of dephosphorylated ALM29 polypeptide to acrosin. Diagonal gel electrophoresis was performed to investigate whether both ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides are joined by disulfide bridge(s). Both polypeptides migrate on a diagonal line with a comparable Rf in both non-reduced and reduced conditions suggesting that both polypeptides are not joined by disulfide bridge(s). All V8 protease-digested peptides of ALM29 and ALM22 showed immunoreactive bands when stained with anti-ALM22 antibody suggesting that all peptides are antigenically related family. Both ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides were stripped out of the ALM complex by high pH (pH-11) extraction and were treated with alkaline phosphatase followed by immunoblot analysis. Both ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides showed a reduction in size (~3 kDa) by alkaline phosphatase treatment. A sedimentation assay was employed to determine whether alkanine phosphate treated ALM29 polypeptide possesses acrosin binding. Dephosphorylated ALM29 polypeptide revealed a significant reduction (~50%) in acrosin binding in comparison with acrosin to a native ALM29 polypeptide. Our studies conclude that both ALM29 and ALM22 polypeptides are phosphorylated and demonstrate the role of phosphate group of ALM29 polypeptide in acrosin binding.
Capturing Ambulatory Activity Decline in Parkinson's Disease

Background and Purpose: Relatively little is known about the natural evolution of physical activity–related participation restrictions associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). We examined this issue prospectively, using continuous monitoring technology to capture the free-living ambulatory activity of persons with PD engaging in life situations. We specifically sought (1) to explore natural, long-term changes in daily ambulatory activity and (2) to compare the responsiveness of ambulatory activity parameters to clinical measures of gait and disease severity. Methods: Thirty-three persons with PD participated (Hoehn and Yahr range of 1–3). Participants wore a step activity monitor for up to 7 days at baseline and again at 1-year follow-up. Mean daily values were calculated for parameters indicative of amount, intensity, frequency, and duration of ambulatory activity. Clinical measures included the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, the 6-Minute Walk, and Maximal Gait Speed. Parametric tests for paired samples were used to investigate changes in ambulatory activity parameters and clinical measures. Results: Participants had significant declines in the amount and intensity of daily ambulatory activity but not in its frequency and duration (P < 0.007). Declines occurred in the absence of changes in clinical measures of gait or disease severity. The greatest 1-year decline occurred in the number of daily minutes participants spent engaging in at least moderate-intensity ambulatory activity. Conclusion: Continuous monitoring of ambulatory activity beyond mere step counts may serve as a distinct and important means of quantifying declining ambulatory behavior associated with disease progression or improved ambulatory behavior resulting from rehabilitation and medical and/or surgical interventions in persons with PD.
Emergency Department Visits at the End of Life of Patients With Terminal Cancer

Frequent emergency department visits (EDVs) by patients with terminal cancer indicates aggressive care. The pattern and causes of EDVs in 154 patients with terminal cancer were investigated. The EDVs that started during working hours and ended by home discharge were considered avoidable. During the last 3 months of life, 77% of patients had at least 1 EDV. In total, 309 EDVs were analyzed. The EDVs occurred out of hour in 67%, extended for an average of 3.6 hours, and ended by hospitalization in 52%. The most common chief complaints were pain (46%), dyspnea (13%), and vomiting (12%). The EDVs were considered avoidable in 19% of the visits. The majority of patients with terminal cancer visit the ED before death, mainly because of uncontrolled symptoms. A significant proportion of EDVs at the end of life is potentially avoidable.
Recognition and mapping of facial expressions to avatar by embedded photo reflective sensors in head mounted display

We propose a facial expression mapping technology between virtual avatars and Head-Mounted Display (HMD) users. HMD allow people to enjoy an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience. A virtual avatar can be a representative of the user in the virtual environment. However, the synchronization of the the virtual avatar's expressions with those of the HMD user is limited. The major problem of wearing an HMD is that a large portion of the user's face is occluded, making facial recognition difficult in an HMD-based virtual environment. To overcome this problem, we propose a facial expression mapping technology using retro-reflective photoelectric sensors. The sensors attached inside the HMD measures the distance between the sensors and the user's face. The distance values of five basic facial expressions (Neutral, Happy, Angry, Surprised, and Sad) are used for training the neural network to estimate the facial expression of a user. We achieved an overall accuracy of 88% in recognizing the facial expressions. Our system can also reproduce facial expression change in real-time through an existing avatar using regression. Consequently, our system enables estimation and reconstruction of facial expressions that correspond to the user's emotional changes.
Model based controller and observer for boost converter

This paper describes an analysis of modern controller, which uses output voltage as feedback to regulate its output voltage to a desired value without steady-state oscillations with the aid of Matlab® & Simulink® simulation software. This methodology is proposed to develop modern controller for application on boost DC-DC converter system with no parasitic components in the circuit. It is implemented on the system by analyzing state-space modeling. By specifying switches' ON and OFF position and solving node equations of the corresponding circuit topology, a set of state-space equations for each topological mode are recorded. Power simulator (PSIM) simulation results obtained are used to validate this approach. The minimum inductor value and minimum current flow on boost converter are calculated to ensure it operates in continuous current mode. In comparison to the open-loop controllers, the closed-loop controllers consist of a state feedback controller, optimal controller, state feedback with the feed forward controller and integral controller are performed in simulation. These modern controllers are simulated to analyze transient response and percentage of overshoot of boost converter output voltage. If the output of the system is observable, a full state observer can also be implemented. All collected results are compared to find the best controller, which produces a minimum error.
Gene Expression Analysis of the Brazilian Type of Hereditary Persistence of Fetal Hemoglobin: Identification of Genes that Could be Related to γ-Globin Activation

Increased γ-globin production and consequent fetal hemoglobin (Hb F, α2γ2) formation is an important modulator of the clinical and hematological features of hemolytic anemias, such as sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia (β-thal). Hb F genes are genetically regulated, but despite numerous studies, the molecular basis of hemoglobin (Hb) switching is not completely understood. Hereditary persistence of fetal Hb (HPFH) is a consequence of impaired switching in adult life, which results in the continued expression of the γ-globin gene. This study was undertaken to identify genes that could be involved in Hb switching and/or maintenance of elevated Hb F levels. Two libraries were constructed using reticulocytes from normal donors and from Brazilian HPFH subjects. Results suggest that the maintenance of Hb F levels could be associated with some gene/protein expression modifications, such as low expression of KLF1, a transcription factor known to contribute to the regulation and modulation of Hb switching, decreased expression of MIER1, known for the recruitment of chromatin remodeling enzymes, and decreased expression of HOOK3. These data suggest new genes that may play a role in globin gene regulation, γ-globin gene expression and augmentation of Hb F levels, and may represent newly-defined cellular pathways for the control of Hb switching in erythroid cells.
The determinants of the costs of financial distress in SMEs

We propose a theoretical model that argues that the expected financial distress costs in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) result from the interaction of the financial distress likelihood and the magnitude of the consequences borne whenever financial failure occurs. The empirical evidence from five European countries, where the insolvency laws are representative of prevailing institutional traditions, supports this model. We reveal that the ex ante financial distress costs suffered by a firm depend not only on the likelihood of financial distress but also on the variables that influence the amount of time and costs incurred during the insolvency process. Specifically, financial costs are lower where the capacity to use tangible assets as collateral and short-term debt is greater; they are higher the greater the use of long-term secured debt. Additionally, the effect of these variables is moderated by a firm’s ownership and by the nature of the insolvency law in operation. The timely management of these variables can avoid the high costs involved in an involuntary exit.