Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring preconditions for a stationary economy: The role of the golden rule and the central bank dilemma

We explore the stability conditions of an eventual zero growth economy, irrespective of the desire from sustainability viewpoints or the likeliness and explanations for this to eventuate. If advanced economies will in fact soon be characterized by the absence of growth, then the question whether they will remain stable, and if not, how they can be adapted to zero growth conditions becomes vital. We briefly review the Golden Rule theorem, in its original form postulating an optimal growth path at an interest rate level equal to the growth rate. We address the question if a low growth or stationary economy can be stable at an interest rate above the growth rate, as proposed by the a modified Golden Rule argument. The normative theorem is then supplemented by the positive concept of the interest-rate-growth-differential which was developed in the context of state debt dynamics. We outline a monetary Keynesian framework of credit, portfolio decision, and a hierarchy of asset over commodity markets with liquidity preference and term structure, which can explain the persistence of a positive differential and leads to our deduction of a central bank dilemma of either provoking stagnation or boom-bust cycles. We find support in the recent literature and experience of discount rate policy at the nominal zero bound. Unlike recent discussions calculating the risk of a deflationary spiral, however, we propose a central bank dilemma of the long run for low growth economies. This dilemma is highly certain to be encountered, and unless surmounted, makes a stable stationary equilibrium impossible.
Discrimination of Gain Increments in Speech

During a hearing-aid fitting, the gain applied across frequencies is often adjusted from an initial prescription in order to meet individual needs and preferences. These gain adjustments in one or more frequency bands are commonly verified using speech in quiet (e.g., the clinician’s own voice). Such adjustments may be unreliable and inefficient if they are not discriminable. To examine what adjustments are discriminable when made to speech, this study measured the just-noticeable differences (JNDs) for gain increments in male, single-talker sentences. Sentences were presented with prescribed gains to the better ears of 41 hearing-impaired listeners. JNDs were measured at d’ of 1 for octave-band, dual-octave-band, and broadband increments using a fixed-level, same-different task. The JNDs and interquartile ranges for 0.25, 1, and 4 kHz octave-band increments were 6.3 [4.0–7.8], 6.7 [4.6–9.1], and 9.6 [7.3–12.4] dB, respectively. The JNDs and interquartile ranges for low-, mid-, and high-frequency dual-octave-band increments were 3.7 [2.5–4.6], 3.8 [2.9–4.7], and 6.8 [4.7–9.1] dB, respectively. The JND for broadband increments was 2.0 [1.5–2.7] dB. High-frequency dual-octave-band JNDs were positively correlated with high-frequency pure-tone thresholds and sensation levels, suggesting an effect of audibility for this condition. All other JNDs were independent of pure-tone threshold and sensation level. JNDs were independent of age and hearing-aid experience. These results suggest using large initial adjustments when using short sentences in a hearing-aid fitting to ensure patient focus, followed by smaller subsequent adjustments, if necessary, to ensure audibility, comfort, and stability.
Security evaluation of Cache Mappings Schemes

Cache side-channel attacks have become a significant security threat across a variety of hardware architectures. By observing which sets of a cache are accessed by the victim, the attacker gleans critical information about the address bits in the victim’s access, thereby revealing portions of secret keys used by encryption algorithms (or other sensitive information). Fundamentally, this ability to deduce information about addresses given the accessed sets depends on knowing (or discovering) how addresses are mapped to cache sets by hardware. In this work, we explore and evaluate the security of various cache mapping functions. Using an information-theoretic formulation, CHASM estimates the number of address bits that are likely leaked by different mapping schemes. Our analysis leads to several new insights. One, all one-to-one schemes that map n set-index address bits to 2 set-indices leak all n bits. Two, based on memory footprint, programs often leak several additional (viz., tag) bits (e.g., AES leaks 39 bits out of 42 at L3). This is due to the non-uniform accesses to addresses: some addresses are accessed significantly more often than others and frequently accessed addresses potentially leak more information. Three, tag bits leak even with the use of address space layout randomization (16 − 23 bits). Four, the use of huge pages in order to reduce pressure on TLBs causes increased leakage (5.5 additional bits on average). Since many of these techniques have opposing impact on performance and security, we propose a new performance-security product metric to jointly evaluate mapping schemes for both performance and security.
Potential of endochitinase gene to control Fusarium wilt and early blight disease in transgenic potato lines

Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.), an important food crop in the world, is susceptible to many fungal pathogens including Alternaria solani and Fusarium oxysporum causing Fusarium wilt and early blight diseases. Mycoparasitic fungi like Trichoderma encode chitinases, cell wall degrading enzymes, with high antifungal activity against a wide range of phytopathogenic fungi. In this study, a binary vector harboring endochitinase gene of ~1,000 bp was constructed and used to transform potato nodes through Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. Out of several primary transformants, two transgenic potato lines were verified for transgene insertion and integration by Southern blot. In a pot experiment for Fusarium resistance, the transgenic potato lines didn’t show any symptoms of disease, instead they remained healthy post infection. The transgenic potato lines exhibited 1.5 fold higher mRNA expression of endochitinase at 7 days as compared to 0 day post fungus inoculation. It was evident that the mRNA expression decreased over days of inoculation but was still higher than at 0 day and remained stable upto 30 days post inoculation. Similarly, for A. solani infection assay, the mRNA expression of the endochitinase gene was 3 fold higher 7 days post inoculation compared to expression at 0 day. Although the expression decreased by1.2 fold during subsequent days post infection, it remained stable for 30 days, suggesting that protection in transgenic potato plants against fungal pathogens was achieved through an increase in endochitinase transcript.
CONSERVATION OF FRESH GOLDEN REDFISH (SEBASTES MARINUS) FILLETS: INFLUENCE OF BLEEDING, MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING USING DIFFERENT GAS MIXTURES AND SUPERCHILLING ON QUALITY DETERIORATION

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of bleeding, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and superchilling on freshness deterioration and sensory shelf life of redfish (Sebastes marinus) deskinned fillets. Changes in psychrotrophic microorganisms (TVC), specific spoilage organisms (SSO), their metabolites (TMA, TVB-N), pH, drip loss, headspace gas composition, and sensory characteristics (Torry freshness score and texture) were analysed. The pre-trial conducted involved four gas mixtures as well as vacuum packaging (VP) and air (A) storage at -0.4°C to select the most effective packaging method. The VP fish deteriorated fastest, followed by A treatment. All MAP treatments showed a similar inhibitive effect towards the SSO investigated. The lower (40%) concentration of CO2 was sufficient to delay SSO growth but the gas to fish ratio of 2.2-2.5 caused some textural problems. The initial quality of the fillets obtained for the pre-trial varied in redness and bruises, affecting the sensory assessment, and resulted in some differences within treatments. For the shelf study, unbled deskinned fillets stored in air were compared to two MAP treatments and to bled air-stored (AB) fillets during storage for 6 days at -1°C and +2°C, thereafter mimicking distribution via sea freight to European markets. Bleeding of the whole fish resulted in fillets with slightly slower TVB-N and TMA formation due to slower growth of Photobacterium phosphoreum, an important spoilage bacterium in cold water marine fish. Low pH in MAP fillets resulted in higher drip loss but a lower gas to fish ratio reduced texture problems. P. phosphoreum and pseudomonads were the main SSO in MAP and air storage respectively. MAP led to an extension of freshness and shelf life by few days.
University of Groningen Clinicians' Perspectives on a Web-Based System for Routine Outcome Monitoring in Old-Age Psychiatry in the Netherlands Veerbeek,

Background: In health care, the use of physical parameters to monitor physical disease progress is common. In mental health care, the periodic measurement of a client’s functioning during treatment, or routine outcome monitoring, has recently become important. Online delivery of questionnaires has the potential to reduce clinicians’ resistance to the implementation of routine outcome monitoring. Online delivery enables clinicians to receive results on a questionnaire in a graphic directly after data entry. This gives them insight into the progress of a client at a single glance. Objective: To explore clinicians’ perspectives on a routine outcome monitoring procedure where questionnaires and feedback on scores were delivered online. Questionnaires could also be filled out on paper and then entered into the online system by a research assistant. Methods: In 2009 we sent an online survey, consisting of five yes-or-no questions and six open-ended questions, to all clinicians in the 14 mental health care organizations working with the routine outcome monitoring system in the Netherlands. Of the 172 clinicians contacted, 80 (47%) opened the link and 70 of these 80 (88%) clinicians completed the survey. Results: Clinicians seldom used the graphical feedback from the Web-based system, which indicates that direct feedback on scores did not enhance the implementation of routine outcome monitoring. Integration into the electronic patient record and more training on interpretation and implementation of feedback in daily practice were seen as the primary points for further improvement. It was mainly the availability of a research assistant that made the routine outcome monitoring procedure feasible. Conclusions: Without a research assistant and training in the interpretation of outcomes, software programs alone cannot ensure effective implementation of monitoring activities in everyday practice. (J Med Internet Res 2012;14(3):e76) doi:10.2196/jmir.1937
Facial Appearance and Attachment in Infants with Orofacial Clefts: A Replication

Objective: The current study sought to replicate an unexpected finding reported by Speltz et al. (1997): relatively unattractive infants at age 3 months were more likely than attractive infants to show secure maternal attachment at age 12 months, a finding unaffected by the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate (CLP), cleft palate only (CPO), or the absence of a cleft condition. Design: We evaluated the effects of diagnosis (CLP, CPO, or no diagnosis) and age (3, 12, and 24 months) on facial attractiveness ratings derived from a modified Q-sort method. Setting: Craniofacial clinic in an urban children’s hospital. Participants: Infants with CLP and CPO and typically developing infants without clefts (n 5 126) and their mothers. Ratings were made by 13 adults unfamiliar with cleft conditions. Main Outcome Measures: Facial attractiveness ratings. Results: Infants with CLP were rated as the least attractive at all time points. At ages 12 and 24 months, infants in the CPO group were rated as less attractive than typical infants but more attractive than infants in the CLP group. Typical infants and those with CLP—but not CPO—received higher attractiveness ratings with age. As hypothesized, less attractive infants, regardless of diagnosis, were more likely to show secure attachment than were more attractive infants. Conclusions: We tentatively conclude that the perceived vulnerability of young infants, as indexed by atypical or unattractive facial characteristics, engenders extraordinary protectiveness and responsiveness in some mothers, leading to a higher probability of secure attachment. A test of this hypothesis with a new sample of infants is recommended.
Sonalleve MR-HIFU Philips MR-guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound guided by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (also known as MR guided HIFU, MRgHIFU, or MRgFUS) is a non-invasive therapy technique using focused ultrasound waves to heat and coagulate tissue deep inside the body without damaging intervening tissue. MR-guided HIFU will support new treatment alternatives for conditions where current methods come with significant side effects and for patients who may not tolerate an invasive procedure. In this article we discuss the underlying technical principles of volumetric heating with real time feedback implemented in the Sonalleve MR-HIFU system and their implications for the clinical user.
Vestibular Dehiscence Syndrome Caused by a Labyrinthine Congenital Cholesteatoma

A 40-year-old man presented with conductive hearing loss and pressure- and sound-related vestibular symptoms. Computed tomography and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed the presence of a cholesteatoma involving the vestibular labyrinth. The patient underwent a canal-wall-up tympanoplasty, which revealed evidence of a disruption of the vestibular labyrinth and a wide dehiscence of the vestibule, which was immediately resurfaced. At the 2-month follow-up, the patient's pressure- and sound-related vestibular symptoms had disappeared. Pure-tone audiometry showed a reduction in the air-bone gap with a slight deterioration of bone conduction and an improvement in the air-conduction threshold. Fistulization of the otic capsule produces a “third window,” which can lead to a dehiscence syndrome. One possible cause is a cholesteatoma of the middle ear or petrous bone. When the vestibule is invaded by a cholesteatoma, hearing is almost invariably lost, either pre- or postoperatively. However, in our case, wide opening of the vestibule resulted in hearing preservation.
Effect of Poly-L-lysine Coating on Retinoic Acid-Loaded PLGA Microspheres in the Differentiation of Carcinoma Stem Cells into Neural Cells

In this study, PLGA microspheres were prepared using a water-in-oil-in-water emulsion/solvent evaporation technique. Some microspheres were coated with poly-L-lysine (an extracellular matrix (ECM) component), and then pluripotent P19 embryonic carcinoma cells were seeded on them. P19 cells attached onto the PLGA microspheres; subsequently, by adding retinoic acid (RA) to cell culture medium as a neurogenic inducer (RA was released from the microspheres), the cells differentiated into neural cells. Size and morphology of PLGA microspheres was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Neurogenic differentiation was studied by immunofluorescent staining, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and light microscopy. Histological assay showed that more cells attached onto microspheres coated with poly-L-lysine than the uncoated group. Immunofluoresent staining and RT-PCR analysis for β-Tubulin, Nestin and Pax6 genes indicated differentiation of P19 cells into neural cells on both coated and uncoated microspheres. It was found that a high surface area of microspheres improves cell attachment and expansion, which was significantly increased in those coated with poly-L-lysine. Finally, these results highlight the versatility of these sample scaffolds as a model system for nerve tissue engineering. KEy WORDS: Nerve tissue engineering, PLGA microspheres scaffold, Extra cellular matrix component, Poly-L-lysine, Pluripotent stem cell, Neural differentiation Accepted: September 2, 2010 ORIGINAL ARTICLE body and results in paralysis and loss of sensation below the level of injury. Because in most cases of human spinal cord injury there is significant loss of spinal cord tissue, cavity formation is an important obstacle, impeding axonal regeneration (3). Therefore, repair of the injured human spinal cord in many cases will require neural survival, axonal growth, remyelination and reconnection across the trauma cavity by means of grafts (2). In order to accomplish this, cellular therapy and nerve tissue engineering will probably become a major therapeutic strategy for promoting axonal
An Evaluation of FaaS Platforms as a Foundation for Serverless Big Data Processing

Function-as-a-Service (FaaS), offers a new alternative to operate cloud-based applications. FaaS platforms enable developers to define their application only through a set of service functions, relieving them of infrastructure management tasks, which are executed automatically by the platform. Since its introduction, FaaS has grown to support workloads beyond the lightweight use-cases it was originally intended for, and now serves as a viable paradigm for big data processing. However, several questions regarding FaaS platform quality are still unanswered. Specifically, the impact of automatic infrastructure management on serverless big data applications remains unexplored. In this paper, we propose a novel evaluation method (SIEM) to understand the impact of these tasks. For this purpose, we introduce new metrics to quantify quality in different big data application scenarios. We show an application of SIEM by evaluating the four major FaaS providers, and contribute results and new insights for FaaS-based big data processing.
A Comparison of Two Different Bone-Harvesting Techniques for Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting in Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective: To compare the outcome of the trephine with open hip surgery for alveolar bone grafting in cleft lip and palate surgery. Design: The study was retrospective. The radiographs were assessed blindly and on two separate occasions 1 week apart. Setting: University Teaching Hospital. Patients, Participants: In one group (group A), a trephine was used; in the other (group B), open hip surgery was employed. Group A was comprised of 16 patients (nine with unilateral and seven with bilateral clefts of the lip and palate) and group B, 13 patients (eight unilateral and five bilateral). The prime entry criterion for inclusion in the study was that the canine tooth had erupted into the graft site. Interventions: A long cone periapical radiograph was taken of the erupted canine tooth in the graft site. Main Outcome Measure: The radiographs were graded from type I to type IV, as described by Bergland et al. (1986a). A comparison was also made of the eruption of the canine, postoperative morbidity, and length of stay in hospital for each group. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the interdental bone height (p 5 .61, Mann–Whitney U test). In group A, all patients had a satisfactory clinical outcome (type I or II), and in group B, only one patient had an unsatisfactory result (type III). The spontaneous eruption of the canine and the number of nights spent in the hospital were also similar for both groups. However, no patients in group A suffered postoperative complications, whereas three patients in group B reported either a limp or postoperative infection of the hip. Conclusion: Both techniques produced satisfactory repair of the bony defect, but the open hip surgery resulted in greater postoperative morbidity.
High Frequency Oscillations are Phase-Amplitude Coupled in Stress Induced Seizures Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) often leads to the development of epilepsy, especially with the occurrence of stressful events. Stressors increase the levels of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the amygdala, which can be damaged by the secondary effects of TBI. It is hypothesized that the activity of CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) in the amygdala is altered postTBI and supports the generation of epileptiform waves, namely high-frequency oscillations (HFOs). Sprague-Dawley rats were given a moderate TBI and in vivo recordings of the amygdala were taken during the administration of an acute tail pinch stressor. The stressor increased broadband activity which included the occurrence of HFOs. Moreover, HFO amplitudes were found to be coupled to the phase of a simultaneous theta wave (4 – 8Hz). Furthermore, application of a CRFR1 antagonist disrupted the generation of HFOs and their phase-amplitude coupling with theta, and these effects were reverted after washout of the antagonist.
Image Corrected Cephalometric Analysis (ICCA): Design and Evaluation

Image corrected cephalometric analysis (ICCA) Is a method for eliminating serial image parallax error. In a radiographic survey, image parallax is an inherent and random property of the two-dimensional Image of the subject. Radiographs of the same subject taken at different times will be different in image parallax. This difference, parallax error, is routinely displayed between serial radiographic studies. Parallax error discourages the use of conventional serial cephalometric surveys for tracking and studying changes in discrete craniofacial structures lying outside the midsagittal plane, unilaterally disposed, or changing without bilateral symmetry. Anatomic outlines or discrete points of such structures would routinely display measurement perturbations caused by image parallax differences between surveys. The ICCA method eliminates this problem. Therefore, accurate serial measurements of bone marker point displacements are made possible with two-dimensional reconstructions of points lying in three-dimensional space. The method of ICCA was tested for accuracy by using zero time serial cephalometric surveys of five subjects. Mean implant error of 0.12 mm (SD = 0.1) was found between predicted (ICCA) and actual measured Implant movement caused by the image parallax error. After applying this method, bone marker movements are unlikely to be caused by parallax error between conventional serial cephalometric studies. Furthermore, displacement growth can be related to the relocation of composite growth outlines and midline anatomic landmarks. One plagiocephaly case and one hemifacial microsomia case were used to demonstrate ICCA for growth and treatment effect documentation.
The Effect of Two Tube-feeding Protocols on Bacterial Contamination and Diarrhea in ICU Patients

by LYNDA J. DAVIDSON Diarrhea, a serious outcome for patients, commonly occurs following institution of enteral feeding. One suggested etiology for the problem is bacterial contamination of the enteral feeding solution. The purpose of this study was to extend previous pilot research on the occurrence of bacterial contamination and diarrhea in tube-fed ICU patients by comparing two enteral feeding protocols. The protocols compared were the routine hospital protocol vs an aseptic protocol for the preparation and maintenance of enteral nutrition. A convenience sample of 63 ICU patients, who met the inclusion criteria, were followed from the first day of enteral feeding to the fourth day. All subjects received the same isotonic formula (OsmoliteR) .