Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic Transition and Growth

Some extensions of neoclassical growth models are discussed that allow for cross section heterogeneity among economies and evolution in rates of technological progress over time. The models offer a spectrum of transitional behavior among economies that includes convergence to a common steady state path as well as various forms of transitional divergence and convergence. Mechanisms for modeling such transitions and measuring them econometrically are developed in the paper. A new regression test of convergence is proposed, its asymptotic properties are derived and some simulations of its finite sample properties are reported. Transition curves for individual economies and subgroups of economies are estimated in a series of empirical applications of the methods to regional US data, OECD data and Penn World Table data.
MICRODROPLET OPTICAL CAVITY SENSORS

We describe the use of microdroplet optical cavities as sensors. By monitoring resonances of these cavities, we demonstrate precise characterization of the size of drops generated by a microfluidic flow-focusing nozzle (FFN), and the detection of nanoparticles inside the drops. This method should be useful for microfluidic droplet applications.
Using auditory classification images for the identification of fine acoustic cues used in speech perception

An essential step in understanding the processes underlying the general mechanism of perceptual categorization is to identify which portions of a physical stimulation modulate the behavior of our perceptual system. More specifically, in the context of speech comprehension, it is still a major open challenge to understand which information is used to categorize a speech stimulus as one phoneme or another, the auditory primitives relevant for the categorical perception of speech being still unknown. Here we propose to adapt a method relying on a Generalized Linear Model with smoothness priors, already used in the visual domain for the estimation of so-called classification images, to auditory experiments. This statistical model offers a rigorous framework for dealing with non-Gaussian noise, as it is often the case in the auditory modality, and limits the amount of noise in the estimated template by enforcing smoother solutions. By applying this technique to a specific two-alternative forced choice experiment between stimuli “aba” and “ada” in noise with an adaptive SNR, we confirm that the second formantic transition is key for classifying phonemes into /b/ or /d/ in noise, and that its estimation by the auditory system is a relative measurement across spectral bands and in relation to the perceived height of the second formant in the preceding syllable. Through this example, we show how the GLM with smoothness priors approach can be applied to the identification of fine functional acoustic cues in speech perception. Finally we discuss some assumptions of the model in the specific case of speech perception.
Gut Microbiota Profiling and Gut–Brain Crosstalk in Children Affected by Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated With Streptococcal Infections

Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections syndrome (PANDAS) are conditions that impair brain normal neurologic function, resulting in the sudden onset of tics, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other behavioral symptoms. Recent studies have emphasized the crosstalk between gut and brain, highlighting how gut composition can influence behavior and brain functions. Thus, the present study investigates the relationship between PANS/PANDAS and gut microbiota ecology. The gut composition of a cohort of 30 patients with PANS/PANDAS was analyzed and compared to control subjects using 16S rRNA-based metagenomics. Data were analyzed for their α- and β-diversity; differences in bacterial distribution were detected by Wilcoxon and LEfSe tests, while metabolic profile was predicted via PICRUSt software. These analyses demonstrate the presence of an altered bacterial community structure in PANS/PANDAS patients with respect to controls. In particular, ecological analysis revealed the presence of two main clusters of subjects based on age range. Thus, to avoid age bias, data from patients and controls were split into two groups: 4–8 years old and >9 years old. The younger PANS/PANDAS group was characterized by a strong increase in Bacteroidetes; in particular, Bacteroides, Odoribacter, and Oscillospira were identified as potential microbial biomarkers of this composition type. Moreover, this group exhibited an increase of several pathways concerning the modulation of the antibody response to inflammation within the gut as well as a decrease in pathways involved in brain function (i.e., SCFA, D-alanine and tyrosine metabolism, and the dopamine pathway). The older group of patients displayed a less uniform bacterial profile, thus impairing the identification of distinct biomarkers. Finally, Pearson’s analysis between bacteria and anti-streptolysin O titer reveled a negative correlation between genera belonging to Firmicutes phylum and anti-streptolysin O while a positive correlation was observed with Odoribacter. In conclusion, this study suggests that streptococcal infections alter gut bacterial communities leading to a pro-inflammatory status through the selection of specific bacterial strains associated with gut inflammation and immune response activation. These findings highlight the possibility of studying bacterial biomarkers associated with this disorder and might led to novel potential therapeutic strategies.
Some theoretical predictions on the relationships among spreading rate, mantle temperature, and crustal thickness

A series of numerical experiments on mantle flow and melting predict a positive relation between mantle temperature and crustal thickness. The models also demonstrate that crust formed at slow spreading rates is more sensitive to variations in mantle temperature than crust formed at fast rates so that the range of calculated thicknesses is much greater for crust formed at slower rates. An instantaneous mantle temperature increase results in a transient pulse of melt production that is also more pronounced at slower spreading rates. The predicted behavior is caused by the interplay between mantle flow driven by plate separation and that driven by thermal, compositional, and melt-related buoyancy. A temperature increase results in a decrease in mantle viscosity and an increase in the depth at which melting begins. A lower viscosity leads to stronger buoyancy-driven flow that carries more mantle to shallow depths below the ridge. Thermal buoyancy effects, which may result in cooling and mixing of depleted and undepleted material under the ridge, appear to be of greater importance at slower spreading rates. The steady state results are broadly consistent with global compilations of oceanic crustal thickness that show larger variations in crustal thickness at slower spreading rates than at faster rates. Thicknesses estimated from seismic refraction data from crust formed within a single segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge but at different spreading rates (1.0 to 1.9 cm/yr) are consistent with (but do not prove) the model results. The transient pulse of melt production associated with a rapid increase in mantle temperature might occur when a ridge becomes proximal to a hot spot.
Fault Detection on Large Slow Bearings

Large, slow turning bearings remain difficult to analyze for diagnostics and prognostics. For critical equipment, such as drilling equipment, top drives, mining equipment, wind turbine main rotors, helicopter swash plates, etc. this poses safety and logistics support problems. An undetected bearing fault can disrupt service, and causes delays, lost productivity, or accidents. This paper examines a strategy for analysis of large slow bearings to improve the fault detection of condition monitoring systems, thus reducing operations and maintenance cost associated with these bearing faults. This analysis was based on vibration, temperature and grease analysis from three wind turbines, where one turbine was suspected of having a faulted main bearing.
Knowledge Management in Canadian Healthcare Organizations: How Do Knowledge Brokers Perform?

Under the Canada’s health Act, the health sector is administered and operated on a nonprofit basis by the public authority. The sustainability of Canada’s public health-care system depends in large part on its ability to implement strategies to improve its perform‐ ance in terms of social, economic, organizational and professional. Knowledge-brokering is an emerging function in the healthcare systems worldwide. Championed as a corner‐ stone role for knowledge translation by the Canadian Health Services Research Founda‐ tion, the implications of understanding this function and those who undertake it are important for improving knowledge management in the healthcare sector where there is a spread of the evidence informed/based decision making (EI/BDM) movement. Knowl‐ edge brokering is defined, by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, through a set of basic skills that are the ability to bring people together and facilitate their interaction; the ability to find academic research and other evidence to shape decisions; the ability to assess evidence, interpret it and adapt it to circumstance; a knowledge of marketing, communication and Canadian healthcare; and the ability to identify emerging management and policy issues which research could help to resolve. Its mandate is to support in the organization, management and delivery of health services and its main strategy for doing so is to link decision makers and researchers to ensure effective knowledge transfer.
MECHANISMS OF ENDOTOXIN TOLERANCE

Healthy male volunteers were rendered tolerant to the pyrogenic and toxic activities of bacterial endotoxin by daily intravenous injections. Five subjects were given 0.5 µg Salmonella typhosa endotoxin for 7 days; four subjects were given Pseudomonas endotoxin, increasing over a period of 30 days from 25 to 250 µg. Reticuloendothelial system (RES) phagocytic activity was assessed by serial measurements of the clearance of I131-labeled aggregated human serum albumin. In no subject was an increase in RES phagocytic activity detectable. Such negative findings could not be attributed to decreased RES blood flow. —Additional studies on the pyrogenic responses of man to various schedules of endotoxin administration revealed: (a) Hyperreactivity of some subjects to a second injection of endotoxin administered 24 hours after the initial dose; (b) prevention of such hyperreactivity by plasma from donors tolerant to a heterologous endotoxin, but not from normal donors; (c) reduced reactivity to a second injection of endotoxin given 7 days after the initial dose; (d) reversal of induced tolerance by administration of half the dose of endotoxin followed 2 hours later by the second half; (e) reversal of induced tolerance 24 hours after administration of a heterologous endotoxin; (f) enhanced dermal reactivity to endotoxin induced inflammation during tolerance. The observations are consistent with the hypothesis that tolerance to the pyrogenic activity of endotoxin in man is not based upon generalized enhancement of RES phagocytic activity or exhaustion of host reactivity but rather involves the participation of specific antibody which assists the RES in the clearance and inactivation of the endotoxin molecule.
Cost of depression among adults in England in 2000.

BACKGROUND The cost of depression in the UK was estimated at pound 3.5 billion almost a decade ago. The shift to community-based management for depression alongside the availability of more accurate data have allowed these estimates to be revised. AIMS To calculate the total cost of depression in adults in England during 2000. METHOD Recorded data on health service use by patients with depression were analysed and the cost of treating patients was calculated. The cost of working life lost was estimated from sickness benefit claims and the number of registered deaths of patients with depression. RESULTS The total cost of adult depression was estimated at over pound 9 billion, of which pound 370 million represents direct treatment costs. There were 109.7 million working days lost and 2615 deaths due to depression in 2000. CONCLUSIONS Despite awareness campaigns and the availability of effective treatments, depression remains a considerable burden on both society and the individual, especially in terms of incapacity to work.
Coordinated Beamforming for Downlink Visible Light Communication Networks

Visible light communication (VLC) is an emerging short-range optical wireless communication technology that is driven by the widespread deployment of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Indoor VLC users may experience noticeable interference when independent transmitters utilizing wide-beam luminaires are closely located. In this paper, a coordinated beamforming (CB) scheme is proposed for downlink interference mitigation among the coexisting VLC attocells utilizing multi-luminaire transmitters. Compared to joint transmission (JT) schemes, wherein the data and channel state information are shared among transmitters of different attocells, the proposed CB scheme places lower requirements on the network in terms of backbone traffic, and is easier to implement in a practical deployment, though at the cost of compromised performance. In this paper, we investigate the downlink transmission of coordinated VLC attocells and focus on its transmitter design. The weighted sum mean square error (WSMSE) is adopted as the performance metric to take into consideration interference, noise, and fairness among users in system optimization. The WSMSE minimization problem is considered with linear beamforming restricted by amplitude constraints. Such constraints arise from the dynamic range limitations in typical LEDs. Moreover, we extend our design method to take into account possible mismatches in channel information available to the transmitters. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed CB scheme in typical VLC scenarios. We also quantify the performance gap among several coordination schemes including JT and CB.
Integrated Multivariate Health Monitoring System for Helicopters Main Rotor Drives: Development and Validation with In-Service Data

The implementation into service of accelerometric health monitoring systems of mechanical power drives on helicopters has shown that the generation of false failure alarms is a critical issue. The paper presents a combined application of several multivariate statistical techniques and shows how a monitoring method which integrates these tools can be successfully exploited in order to improve the reliability of the diagnos- tic systems. The first phase of the research activity was ad- dressed to exploring the potential advantages of using multi- variate classification/discrimination/anomaly detection methods on real world accelerometric condition monitoring data. The second phase consisted of an implementation into actual service of an innovative integrated multivariate health monitoring system.
Americas Conference on Information Systems ( AMCIS ) 1-1-2009 Exploring the Factors Driving M-Learning Adoption

Mobile Learning (m-learning) is quickly spreading in many regions of the world. However, research addressing the driving factors for m-learning adoption is lacking. This study proposes a revised TAM by integrating perceived long-term usefulness and personal innovativeness. The adoption model was found to explain 60.8 percent of m-learning intentions based on 209 completed questionnaires. Perceived near-term/long-term usefulness and personal innovativeness are found to be significant motivators for m-learning adoption. The results in this study also suggest that, as most adoption theories are originated from a work-related context by employees, it is important to employ the construct of perceived long-term usefulness (the utility value) in adoption research when applied to education-related innovations.
Low dosage of arsenic trioxide inhibits vasculogenic mimicry in hepatoblastoma without cell apoptosis

Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common type of pediatric liver malignancy, which predominantly occurs in young children (aged <5 years), and continues to be a therapeutic challenge in terms of metastasis and drug resistance. As a new pattern of tumor blood supply, vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a channel structure lined by tumor cells rather than endothelial cells, which contribute to angiogenesis. VM occurs in a variety of solid tumor types, including liver cancer, such as hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effect of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on VM. In vitro experiments identified that HB cell line HepG2 cells form typical VM structures on Matrigel, and the structures were markedly damaged by As2O3 at a low concentration before the cell viability significantly decreased. The western blot results indicated that As2O3 downregulated the expression level of VM-associated proteins prior to the appearance of apoptotic proteins. In vivo, VM has been observed in xenografts of HB mouse models and identified by periodic acid-Schiff+/CD105− channels lined by HepG2 cells without necrotic cells. As2O3 (2 mg/kg) markedly depresses tumor growth without causing serious adverse reactions by decreasing the number of VM channels via inhibiting the expression level of VM-associated proteins. Thus, the present data strongly indicate that low dosage As2O3 reduces the formation of VM in HB cell line HepG2 cells, independent of cell apoptosis in vivo and in vitro, and may represent as a candidate drug for HB targeting VM.
Finding Resilience-Friendly Compiler Optimizations Using Meta-Heuristic Search Techniques

With the projected future increase in hardware error rates, application software needs to be resilient to hardware faults. An important factor affecting an application's error resilience and vulnerability is the set of optimizations used when compiling it. We propose an automated technique based on genetic algorithms to find the application-specific set of compiler optimizations that can boost performance without degrading the application's error resilience. We find that the resulting optimized code has significantly better error resilience than when being compiled with the standard optimization levels (i.e., O1, O2, O3), while attaining comparable performance improvements, thus leading to lower overall vulnerabilities.
Cognitive Map Merging For Multi-Robot Navigation

In this paper we investigate a map-building strategy based on geometric and topological information about the environment, acquired through sonar sensors and odometric actuator. To reduce robot individual exploration needs, a framework based on multi-robot map acquisition is proposed, where each robot executes a map building algorithm and performs exploration in the environment. The current global map is built based on the merging of overlapping regions among the previously cognitive maps. A brief description of the on-going research and the results obtained is also provided.
How do insect nuclear ribosomal genes compare to protein‐coding genes in phylogenetic utility and nucleotide substitution patterns?

Abstract. The expanding data set on insect molecular systematics allows examination of phylogenetic performance and molecular evolution of different types of gene. Studies combining more than one gene in the same analysis allow examination of the relative contribution and performance of each gene partition and can help inform gene choice for resolving deep and/or problematic divergences. We compared results obtained from analyses of twelve insect data sets in which authors combined one or more nuclear ribosomal genes (28S and/or 18S) with one or more protein‐coding genes [elongation factor‐1α (EF‐1α), histone H3, carbamoylphosphate synthetase domain (CPS domain of CAD, or rudimentary), long‐wavelength rhodopsin (LW opsin), glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6pd), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), arginine kinase, and white]. Data sets examined spanned eight orders of insects (Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera), providing a broad range of divergence times and taxonomic levels. We estimated the phylogenetic utility of the individual genes (using parsimony methods) and characterized the nucleotide substitution patterns (using Bayesian methods) to ask which type of data is preferable for phylogenetic analysis in insects. Nuclear ribosomal and protein coding genes differed little in our measures of phylogenetic performance and patterns of nucleotide substitution. We recommend combining nuclear ribosomal gene data with nuclear protein‐coding gene data because each data set has distinct advantages. We do not recommend using mitochondrial genes for higher‐level studies of insect phylogeny because reviewed studies demonstrate substitution patterns that lead to high levels of homoplasy.
Socio-economic position and common mental disorders

Background Individuals in lower socio-economic groups have an increased prevalence of common mental disorders. Aims To investigate the longitudinal association between socio-economic position and common mental disorders in a general population sample in the UK. Method Participants (n=2406) were assessed at two time points 18 months apart with the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. The sample was stratified into two cohorts according to mental health status at baseline. Results None of the socio-economic indicators studied was significantly associated with an episode of common mental disorder at follow-up after adjusting for baseline psychiatric morbidity. The analysis of separate diagnostic categories showed that subjective financial difficulties at baseline were independently associated with depression at follow-up in both cohorts. Conclusions These findings support the view that apart from objective measures of socio-economic position, more subjective measures might be equally important from an aetiological or clinical perspective.
Permanent draft genome sequence of Comamonas testosteroni KF-1

Comamonas testosteroni KF-1 is a model organism for the elucidation of the novel biochemical degradation pathways for xenobiotic 4-sulfophenylcarboxylates (SPC) formed during biodegradation of synthetic 4-sulfophenylalkane surfactants (linear alkylbenzenesulfonates, LAS) by bacterial communities. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 6,026,527 bp long chromosome (one sequencing gap) exhibits an average G+C content of 61.79% and is predicted to encode 5,492 protein-coding genes and 114 RNA genes.
Systemc-AMS model of a dynamic large-scale satellite-based AIS-like network

In an automatic identification system (AIS), ground base stations can only provide services within a very limited range off the coast. Recent analyses show that low earth orbit (LEO) satellites can expand the service of AIS to a global range. Multi-antenna satellite receivers are suggested to be used to cancel the interference between messages in heavily trafficked areas. In this paper, we present a SystemC-AMS model for a dynamic large-scale satellite-based AIS-like network as the test environment for such algorithms. Complex data type is used in the signal flow. Many effects such as Doppler shifts, path loss, arrival angles, and the real-time transmission and collisions of messages are modeled. This model is further tested with a multi-user detection algorithm in the satellite receiver and validated with receivers in matlab.