Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review Article of Corticosteroid Injections Use in Acute and Chronic Lateral Epicondylgia. An Update of the Currently Available Literature

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of corticosteroid injections (CSI) in treatment of acute and chronic Lateral Epicondylgia (LE) by summarising all recent updates related to this injection in LE. Conclusion: Corticosteroid injections have a long record of use in LE, and are frequently requested by patients. However, this review could present a strong argument against the use of CSI, particularly for chronic LE, since no long term benefits were found. This concurs with other reviews. While CSI have a well-documented short-term benefit, they appear to have a detrimental effect with longer follow up, such as an increase in recurrence rate.
Amazon shipping, commodity flows, and urban economic development

This chapter deals with the impact of freight movements on urban economic development in the Amazon basin. The mighty river Amazon has long served as the major expressway for both indigenous people and colonial trade. Cities such as Belem and Manaus thrived in the late nineteenth century on the basis of commodity trade, particularly rubber. When rubber trade for the global markets moved from Brazil to Southeast Asia in the first half of the twentieth century, these cities went into urban economic decline. Since the early 1980s, Amazonia has undergone a process of rapid urbanization. More recently, Amazon shipping is on the rise again as ‘new’ commodities are being extracted from the jungle interior. These developments are accommodated by new private and public investments in port infrastructure, as well as Brazil’s overall economic growth. But while Manaus is experiencing an economic boom – largely due to its Free Trade Zone and its hub location – the coastal city of Belem is running the risk of being bypassed by these new commodity flows which consequently affects the city’s ability to upgrade its urban economic profile.
Structure-function studies of iron-sulfur enzyme systems

Iron-sulfur clusters are among the most ancient of metallocofactors and serve a variety of biological functions in proteins, including electron transport, catalytic, and structural roles. Two kinds of multicomponent enzyme systems have been investigated by X-ray crystallography, the ferredoxin/thioredoxin system and bacterial Rieske non-heme iron dioxygenase (RDO) systems. The ferredoxin/thioredoxin system is a light sensitive system controlling the activities of key enzymes involved in the assimilatory (photosynthetic) and dissimilatory pathways in chloroplasts and photosynthetic bacteria. The system consists of a ferredoxin, ferredoxin:thioredoxin reductase (FTR), and two thioredoxins, Trx-m and Trx-f. In light, photosystem I reduces ferredoxin that reduces Trx-m and Trx-f. This two-electron reduction is catalyzed by FTR that contains a [4Fe-4S] center and a proximal disulfide bridge. When the first electron is delivered by the ferredoxin, an intermediate is formed where one thiol of the proximal disulfide attacks the disulfide bridge of thioredoxin. This results in a transient protein-protein complex held together by a mixed disulfide between FTR and Trx-m. This complex is stabilized by using a C40S mutant Trx-m and its structure have been determined. RDOs consists of a flavoprotein reductase and often a ferredoxin that transfer electrons from NAD(P)H to the terminal dioxygenase. The terminal dioxygenase catalyze the enantioselective addition of dioxygen in the initial degradation of aromatic compounds, producing cis-dihydrodiols. The structures of three dioxygenases, nitrobenzene dioxygenase (NBDO), 2-nitrotoluene (2NTDO) and toluene dioxygenase (TDO), as well as the two electron transfer proteins of the TDO system, toluene dioxygenase reductase (TDOR) and toluene dioxygenase ferredoxin (TDOF), have been determined. The dioxygenase structures are all alpha3beta3 heterohexamers similar to other RDOs. The catalytic a subunit contains a Rieske iron-sulfur cluster and a mononuclear iron at the active site. 2NTDO and NBDO are both able to degrade nitroaromatic compounds. Their structures and structures of NBDO in complex with two nitroarene substrates reveal the structural basis for the dihydroxylation of nitroarene compounds. The electron transfer pathway from NADH via TDOR and the TDOF to the TDO is described in relation to the obtained structures of the TDO system.
On the dissociation between potential vorticity conservation and symmetries

Using a four-dimensional manifestly covariant formalism suitable for classical fluid dynamics, it is shown that the conservation of potential vorticity is not associated with any symmetry of the equations of motion but is instead a trivial conservation law of the second kind. The demonstration is provided in arbitrary coordinates and therefore applies to comoving (or label) coordinates. Since this is at odds with previous studies, which claimed that potential vorticity conservation is associated with a symmetry under particle-relabeling, a detailed discussion on relabeling transformations is also presented.
Determinants of Teff Market Channel Choice in Abay Chomen District, Western Ethiopia

This study analyzes the determinants of Teff market outlet choices in Abay chomen District of Ethiopia. Survey of one hundred eighty-four (184) household heads was conducted in three kebeles of the district in 2016. Multivariate Probit model was used to identify determinants of households’ teff market outlet choice decisions. Farm gate collectors, retailers and wholesaler marketing outlets were used by teff producing farmers in the study area. The model result revealed that age of the households significantly determined the probability of choosing farm gate, retailers and wholesalers market outlets. The study also revealed that sex, land size and quantity of teff produced in 2016 significantly affected the farm gate outlet choice of the smallholders. Additionally, the retailer outlet choice of farmers was significantly determined by quantity of teff produced. On the other hand, the wholesale market outlet choice of farmers was significantly determined by education level of the farmers. This implies that the need to invest on improving the education status of farmers; improving the production capacity of farmers that would help smallholder farmers to choose the more rewarding market outlet. Therefore, any policy attempting to benefit smallholder farmers to link with fair market outlets should focus on their educational status and their production capacity.
Stem Cell Therapy for Endothelial Dysfunction in the Coronary Circulation

The endothelium is increasingly recognized as serving a critical role in maintaining circulatory homeostasis. Endothelial dysfunction is evidenced as an attenuation or exaggeration of the normal dynamic vasomotor range. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are responsible for the endothelial replenishment. When EPC recruitment is insufficient after endothelial injury, endothelial pathophysiological ensues. Impaired endothelial function is associated with myriad cardiovascular diseases including coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, chronic heart failure, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, and chronic renal failure. Therefore, correction of endothelial dysfunction presents a therapeutic opportunity that, if met, could reduce adverse cardiovascular events. EPCs play an important role in maintaining endothelial function and might affect the progression of ischemic heart disease. The mechanisms underlying the salutary effect of EPCs involve EPC-mediated paracrine effects, EPC differentiation into endothelial cells, and promoting the repair of damaged endothelium. The implementation of EPCs is emerging as a new promising cell-based therapy for restoration of angiogenic activity in cardiovascular disease, which might be particularly beneficial. The goal of this article is to review and critically evaluate the relevant literature describing putative role of EPCs in the treatment of ischemic heart disease, especially that of the coronary arterial system, that is rooted in endothelial dysfunction.
Financial Frictions in the Small Open Economy

This paper introduces a global banking system in a small open economy DSGE model with financialfrictions. The model features global relative price adjustments with incomplete asset market. Three mainfindings stand out. Firstly, foreign financial shocks capture negative spillovers from foreign country ina global financial crisis. We show that country differences in the severity of the shocks depend on thedegree of trade openness and banking system stability. Secondly, credit policy could be more powerfulthan monetary policy to alleviate foreign financial shocks since an expansionary monetary policy andalternative policy rules are not a sufficient tool in the global financial crisis. In particular, credit policybased on international credit spread outperforms credit policy based on domestic credit spread since thelatter leads to â€œexcess smoothnessâ€ in the real exchange rate. Lastly, foreign credit policy has a negligibleinfluence on domestic welfare so that the small open economy can effectively reduce welfare losses onlyif the central bank in the economy injects credit.
Wireless Charging Device for Artificial Cardiac Pacemaker

To overcome the limitation of energy supply for artificial cardiac pacemaker, this paper investigated a wireless charging device based on the magnetic coupling resonant wireless transfer (MCR-WPT) technique. We designed the bilayer coupled coils for energy transmission, which had twice power factor than monolayer coils. The frequency is 200 kHz when the MCR-WPT system was in resonance. Furthermore, we put the titanium alloy case behind the receiver coil to simulate the environment of artificial cardiac pacemaker. At last, we have done the charging experiment.
MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION OF THE APARCH MODEL WITH SKEW DISTRIBUTIONS FOR THE INNOVATION PROCESS

A method normally used in empirical financial studies to estimate the parameters of a general autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model is the quasi-maximum likelihood, which maximizes the likelihood function assuming conditional normality, also if it can be a false assumption. When it is possible to assume a nonnormal distribution of errors for this kind of models, it has been shown that there is a loss of efficiency of quasi-maximum likelihood estimators in finite samples with respect to maximum likelihood estimators. In this paper we study, with an empirical application to the daily returns of NASDAQ stock market index, the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the asymmetric power ARCH model, a generalization of the general autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model, with skew distributions for the innovation process. The distributions considered are the Student-t, the exponential power and the generalized secant hyperbolic distributions, with reparametrization of the densities which adds inverse scale factors in positive and negative orthants in order to take the skewness into account. For comparison, we have analyzed the daily returns also with the quasi-maximum and the semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation procedures. We have used a quasi-Newton algorithm to optimize the average log-likelihood functions, in which analytical derivatives of the
An SU-8 Microgripper Based on the Cascaded V-Shaped Electrothermal Actuators: Design, Fabrication, Simulation and Experimental Investigations

This chapter presents the design, fabrication, numerical simulations and experimental investigations of a polymeric microgripper designed using the cascaded V-shaped electrothermal actuators. The microgripper has a total length around 1 mm and a total thickness of only 20 μ m. The microgripper was simulated using electro-thermo-mechanical finite element method (FEM) in order to check the performance of the gripper. As structural material of the microgripper, the SU-8 biocompatible polymer was used during the fabrication process. A fabrication process was implemented to realize the microgripper using a symmetrically sandwich structure. The metallic micro-heaters were encapsulated in the polymeric actuation structure of the microgrippers to reduce the undesirable out-of-plane displacement of the gripper tips and the mechanical stress, to improve the thermal efficiency, and for obtaining the electrical isolation of the structure. Experimental testing has been performed to determine the openings and the temperatures of the microgripper tips as function of electrical current. A displacement of the tips of more than 50 μ m can be obtained at an electrical current of around 26 – 28 mA. A comparison between the simulation results and the measurements were also presented.
The Genomic Structure and Expression Patterns of Cyp 19 a 1 a and Cyp 19 a 1 b Genes in the Ayu Plecoglossus altivelis

Here, we report the genomic structure and expression pattern of the cyp19a1a and cyp19a1b of ayu. The cDNAs of cyp19a1a and cyp19a1b coded 529 and 540 amino acid residues with a similarity of 76% and 77% with Salmo trutta (cyp19a1a) and Oncorhynchus mykiss (cyp19a1b), respectively. Genomic structure analysis revealed that ayu cyp19a1a and cyp19a1b genes contained six and seven introns, respectively. The insert sites of cyp19a1b agreed with other fish species, while that of cyp19a1a varied slightly. Sequence analysis of the 5′-flank region showed that the coding start sites were 71 bp and 72 bp from the translation start sites (TSS) of cyp19a1a and cyp19a1b, respectively. The expression patterns of cyp19a1a and cyp19a1b in adult ayu tissues were same as most teleostomi. Cyp19a1a was predominantly expressed in the ovary and female brain. Unexpectedly, Cyp19a1a also expressed strongly in the muscle. However, cyp19a1b was predominantly expressed in the brain. The expression patterns of ayu embryos and juveniles revealed that cyp19a1a expression fluctuated significantly during ovarian differentiation, while cyp19a1b showed no significant variations during this stage. Based on our data, cyp19a1a might play an important role in gonad differentiation and cyp19a1b might involve in the development of ayu
Local metrical information: application to the perceptual magnet effect

In this paper, we propose an extension of the recently introduced metrical information [1]. We give a local version of it, where the similarity between two events can depend on the position in the event space. While the original method demands the equivocation (or conditional entropy) to be zero and then maximize the information, we here define an objective function requiring a trade-off parameter between the minimization of equivocation and the maximization of information. We show that the well-known perceptual magnet [2] effect can be understood as a consequence of maximizing this objective function in a low-noise regime. In a simple case with narrow gaussian categories, it implies that an optimal decoding system should perform very fine discrimination near the boundaries of the categories while being less demanding near the centers of the categories. This mechanism could be implemented as exhibited in [3]. In the spirit of [4], we here show how the optimal decoder should behave in the low and high-noise regimes.
Hydrology, Geomorphology and Management: Implications for Sustainability of Native Southwestern Fishes

Native southwestern fishes have declined markedly in range and numbers. The factors responsible for their decline are many and varied. However, the primary stressors to native fish assemblages in southwestern rivers and streams are habitat alteration and introduction of non-native species. We present data that compare the fish assemblages in two desert rivers—the Gila and Verde (Arizona-New Mexico)—over a period of 7–12 years, respectively. We also present data on hydrographs, broadscale and local geomorphology, and past fisheries, water, and land management activities. Peak flow, mean volume of flow, variability of flow, canyon-bound and broad alluvial reaches, dams, and introduced fishes are all either directly or indirectly related to fish assemblages in southwestern rivers and streams. We suggest that three primary influencing factors—two natural and one human induced (hydrograph, geomorphology, management)—are critical features in delimiting native fish assemblages. Conserving and sustaining native fish assemblages in these and other southwestern rivers and streams will require land managers to address all aspects of these three major influencing factors with administrative and legal mandates.
The Max-Convolution Approach to Equilibrium Models with Indivisibilities (Applications of Discrete Convex Analysis to Game Theory and Mathematical Economics)

This paper studies a competitive market model for trading indivisible commodities. Commodities can be desirable or undesirable. Agents' preferences depend on the bundle of commodities and the quantity of money they hold. We assume that agents have quasi-linear utilities in money. Using the max-convolution approach, we demonstrate that the market has a Walrasian equilibrium if and only if the potential market value function is concave with respect to the total initial endowment of commodities. We then identify sufficient conditions on each individual agent's behavior. In particular, we introduce a class of new utility functions, called the class of max-convolution concavity preservable utility functions. This class of utility functions covers both the class of functions which satisfy the gross substitutes condition of Kelso and Crawford (1982), or the single improvement condition, or the no complementarities condition of Gul and Stacchetti (1999), and the class of discrete concave functions of Murota and Shioura (1999).
Controls on winter ecosystem respiration in temperate and boreal ecosystems

Abstract. Winter CO2 fluxes represent an important component of the annual carbon budget in northern ecosystems. Understanding winter respiration processes and their responses to climate change is also central to our ability to assess terrestrial carbon cycle and climate feedbacks in the future. However, the factors influencing the spatial and temporal patterns of winter ecosystem respiration (Reco) of northern ecosystems are poorly understood. For this reason, we analyzed eddy covariance flux data from 57 ecosystem sites ranging from ~35° N to ~70° N. Deciduous forests were characterized by the highest winter Reco rates (0.90 &pm; 0.39 g C m−2 d−1), when winter is defined as the period during which daily air temperature remains below 0 °C. By contrast, arctic wetlands had the lowest winter Reco rates (0.02 &pm; 0.02 g C m−2 d−1). Mixed forests, evergreen needle-leaved forests, grasslands, croplands and boreal wetlands were characterized by intermediate winter Reco rates (g C m−2 d−1) of 0.70(±0.33), 0.60(±0.38), 0.62(±0.43), 0.49(±0.22) and 0.27(±0.08), respectively. Our cross site analysis showed that winter air (Tair) and soil (Tsoil) temperature played a dominating role in determining the spatial patterns of winter Reco in both forest and managed ecosystems (grasslands and croplands). Besides temperature, the seasonal amplitude of the leaf area index (LAI), inferred from satellite observation, or growing season gross primary productivity, which we use here as a proxy for the amount of recent carbon available for Reco in the subsequent winter, played a marginal role in winter CO2 emissions from forest ecosystems. We found that winter Reco sensitivity to temperature variation across space (QS) was higher than the one over time (interannual, QT). This can be expected because QS not only accounts for climate gradients across sites but also for (positively correlated) the spatial variability of substrate quantity. Thus, if the models estimate future warming impacts on Reco based on QS rather than QT, this could overestimate the impact of temperature changes.
Model Ambiguity in R: The sValues Package

A researcher is studying economic growth and is specifically interested in the role of Government (Nominal) GDP Share. After trying some preliminary models, he comes up with a “good”, “parsimonious” specification with 10 control variables. The coefficient is negative, “significant” and it even resists some “robustness” checks. How reliable is this finding? Actually, not much. But this practice is quite common. Researchers usually engage in ad-hoc specification searches but present only their favorite models. This, however, can easily underestimate the uncertainty caused by model selection and lead to overconfident inferences. Since we are dealing with nonexperimental data, the set of controls can be virtually unlimited and the theory ambiguous about which ones do matter. In this example, it turns out that one can come up with a different set of 10 controls in which the coefficient for Government GDP Share is positive and“significant”. In fact, there are 67 possible control variables, which could generate 148 quintillion different models! So how can we tackle that problem? This presentation will introduce the R package sValues, which implements a measure of sturdiness of coefficients proposed by Leamer[3] and discussed in Leamer[4]. The S-values try to provide a sensible framework to assess the sensitivity of coefficient estimates to model ambiguity. But before going to the R implementation, let’s see a brief description of the method. ∗This vignette is a draft based on a poster presented on useR! 2015. I’ve learned a great deal from discussions with Ed Leamer! I also thank Rasmus Baath, Danilo Freire and Douglas Araujo for their comments. Of course, all remaining errors are my own. And all opinions expressed in this material are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBB. Contact: carloscinelli@hotmail.com
The Effect of Deposition Parameters on the Growth Rate of Microcrystalline Diamond Powders Synthesized by HFCVD Method

Conventional diamond powders (<10 μm) are generally produced from crushing large-sized diamonds synthesized by high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) technique, whereas they have many morphological imperfections. In the present work, these powders are served as diamond seeds and regrown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD). Deposition parameters—such as the carbon concentration, substrate temperature, and bias current—which play a determined role in the homoepitaxial growth rate of micron diamonds, are investigated in their respective usual ranges. As shown in the experimental results, under the preconditions of maintaining the good morphology of crystals and inhibiting polycrystal growth, the growth rate of isolated diamond crystals can be controlled at 0.9 μm/h. Besides, the final improved powders have a wide range of particle sizes, which could fail to meet the requirements for commercial powders without the post-process of sieving.
Effectiveness in Tax Payment by Rural Micro Enterprises in Tanzania

Taxation in Tanzania started from colonial era, it is a very important source of government revenue; hence it enables the government to finance its functions including administrative, social, protective, and development functions. Despite the fact that, tax is compulsory payment that enables the government to finance its various activities, many residents still do not like paying tax. Therefore, this study assessed effectiveness in tax payment by rural micro enterprises in Meru district in Tanzania.The study collected and used both primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected from a sample of 200 respondents including tax assessors, business owners, and employed managers through questionnaires and interviews. The study revealed that, there was no effectiveness in tax payment by rural micro enterprises in Meru district in Tanzania. It was recommended for the government through TRA to provide taxpayer education and training, lowering the tax rates, creating friendly relationship with tax payers, removal of tax incentives or exclusion among big corporations, and good governance of tax collected. Keywords: Effectiveness, Micro Enterprises, Tax, Tax Compliance