Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Common Clinical Characteristics and Rare Medical Problems of Fragile X Syndrome in Thai Patients and Review of the Literature

Background. Clinical characteristics of fragile X syndrome (FXS) have been well documented in Caucasians, whereas in Asians they have rarely been described. Those that have been conducted used small cohorts that utilized DNA for diagnosis and larger cohorts that utilized cytogenetics for diagnosis. This study is to describe clinical characteristics of FXS in a large cohort of Thai patients diagnosed by standard molecular methods. Methods. Seventy-seven index cases and 46 affected relatives diagnosed with FXS were recruited into the study. To determine frequencies of common characteristics of FXS in prepubertal boys, we reviewed 56 unrelated cases aged between 18 and 146 months. To list rare medical problems, we reviewed 75 cases aged between 8 months to 71 years old, including 53 index cases and 22 affected relatives. In addition, we selected 16 clinical studies from various ethnicities for comparison with our findings. Results. In prepubertal boys with FXS, attention deficit and/or hyperactivity, prominent ears, macroorchidism, and elongated face were observed in 96%, 80%, 53%, and 48% of patients, respectively, whereas recognizable X-linked inheritance presented in 11% of patients. IQ scores ranged between 30 and 64 (mean ± SD = 43 ± 9, n = 25). We observed clinical findings that rarely or have never been reported, for example, medulloblastoma and tetralogy of Fallot. Conclusion. Attention deficit and/or hyperactivity and prominent ear are the most common behavioral and physical features in prepubertal boys with FXS, respectively. There are differences in frequencies of clinical characteristics observed between ethnicities; however, it is difficult to draw a solid conclusion due to different recruitment criteria and sample sizes within each study.
Aligning Incentives for Contract Dairy Heifer Growth

As dairy farms grow and specialize in milking cows, raising replacement heifers is increasingly outsourced. Perhaps the largest challenge of outsourcing the heifer enterprise involves quality, measured as milk production potential, and the possibility for moral hazard due to hidden action on the part of the custom heifer grower. A principal-agent framework was used to elicit contract terms to provide incentives for the heifer grower to achieve desired growth rates, and enable the return of the heifer to the dairy farm on an accelerated time frame, without sacrificing quality. To mitigate incentive asymmetries, bonuses and deductions are proposed.
The Statistical Behavior of GDP after Financial Crises and Severe Recessions

Abstract Do severe recessions associated with financial crises cause permanent reductions in potential GDP? If the economy eventually returns to its trend, does the return take longer than the return following recessions not associated with financial crises? We develop a statistical methodology appropriate for identifying and analyzing slumps, episodes that combine a contraction and an expansion and end when the economy returns to its trend growth rate. We analyze the Great Depression for the United States, severe and milder financial crises for advanced economies, severe financial crises for emerging markets, and postwar recessions for the United States and other advanced economies. The preponderance of evidence for episodes comparable with the current U.S. slump is that, while potential GDP is eventually restored, the slumps last an average of nine years. If this historical pattern holds, the Great Recession that started in 2007:Q4 will not ultimately affect potential GDP, but the Great Slump is not yet half over.
Food Stamps and the Market Demand for Food

This article compares estimates of disaggregated market food demand responses to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits based on exact nonlinear aggregation to responses based on linear aggregation. By accounting for income inequality, nonlinear aggregation implies that only the households that receive benefits contribute to market demand responses. In contrast, linear aggregation presumes all households receive benefits and thus contribute to the market demand response. The consequence is that nonlinear market estimates are smaller than the linear estimates by roughly the fraction of households that receive benefits. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.
TOWARD A MORE COMPLETE MODEL OF OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE

Most corporate finance practitioners understand the trade‐off involved in making effective use of debt capacity while safeguarding the firm's ability to execute its business strategy without disruption. But quantifying that trade‐off to arrive at an optimal level of debt can be a complicated and challenging task. This paper develops a simulation model of capital structure that starts by generating multiple estimates of market rates (LIBOR, currency rates) and corresponding company operating cash flows. To arrive at an optimal capital structure, the model then incorporates the shareholder value effects of alternative financing decisions by directly measuring the costs of financial distress, including the costs of missed investment opportunities and higher working capital requirements. The model generates both a target credit rating and a lower fallback rating that permits a higher level of debt to maintain investments and dividends when operating cash flows are weak. As the model shows, companies with volatile cash flows and significant investment opportunities can add substantial shareholder value by establishing a fallback credit rating that is one or two notches below the target rating. The model also optimizes the mix of fixed versus floating debt, the maturity structure, and the currency composition. Another distinctive feature of the model is its ability to estimate the expected cost of alternative liability structures that can provide the liquidity insurance necessary to sustain the firm through periods of severe stress. This cost turns out to be quite small relative to the total market capitalization of the average firm.
Proposal of Overlay Cloud Computing System by Virtual Autonomous Network Configuration

Recently, technology of cloud computing has been rapidly developed, and it is expected to apply for various network services. Virtual technology is a part of significant technology which has been contributed for the development of cloud computing. Various virtual technologies such as virtual OS and VDE become very important for server and network management in these days. Furthermore, such a virtual technology becomes possible to provide efficient resource management or QoS with virtual network configuration. Thus, it will be important for network construction to provide hardware and software service in near future. Autonomous network configuration in virtual layer is one of such a service. Not only network configuration is constructed in physical layer, but also it should be constructed in virtual layer for providing optimal resource and QoS management. In this paper, Overlay Cloud Computing Service is proposed, and it is consisted of virtual autonomous network configuration in cloud computing service including various server and network services. In our proposal methods, first of all, there are various kinds of user policy such as eco mode, high power mode, and secure mode. Then, virtual network and server configuration is automatically held in virtual layer with the mode setting and hardware configuration. Besides, with observation values of network and server condition, virtual configuration is changed optimally. In this optimal configuration changes, Kalman filter is used for the calculation of network and server condition. Then, with the results of calculation, virtual network topology is changed. In this paper, first, introduction and cloud computing service is discussed. Then, our proposed Overlay Cloud Computing Service by autonomous network configuration is introduced. In the chapter, optimal control method by Kalman filter with observed values is also introduced. Finally, conclusion and future study is discussed.
Géométrie différentielle des fibrés vectoriels et algèbres de Clifford appliquées au traitement d'images multicanaux. (Differential geometry of vector bundles and Clifford algebras applied to multi-channels image processing)

Le sujet de cette these est l'apport d'applications du formalisme des algebres de Clifford au traitement d'images multicanaux. Nous y introduisons egalement l'utilisation du cadre des fibres vectoriels en traitement d'image. La Partie 1 est consacree a la segmentation d'images multicanaux. Nous generalisons l'approche de Di Zenzo pour la detection de contours en construisant des tenseurs metriques adaptes au choix de la segmentation. En utilisant le cadre des fibres en algebres de Clifford, nous montrons que le choix d'une segmentation d'une image est directement lie au choix d'une metrique, d'une connexion et d'une section sur un tel fibre. La Partie 2 est consacree a la regularisation. Nous utilisons le cadre des equations de la chaleur associees a des Laplaciens generalises sur des fibres vectoriels. Le resultat principal que nous obtenons est qu'en considerant l'equation de la chaleur associee a l'operateur de Hodge sur le fibre de Clifford d'une variete Riemannienne bien choisie, nous obtenons un cadre global pour regulariser de maniere anisotrope des images (videos) multicanaux, et des champs s'y rapportant tels des champs de vecteurs ou des champs de reperes orthonormes. Enfin, dans la Partie 3, nous nous interessons a l'analyse spectrale via la definition d'une transformee de Fourier d'une image multicanaux. Cette definition repose sur une theorie abstraite de la transformee de Fourier basee sur la notion de representation de groupe. De ce point de vue, la transformee de Fourier usuelle pour les images en niveau de gris est basee sur les representations irreductibles du groupe des translations du plan. Nous l'etendons aux images multicanaux en lui associant les representations reductibles de ce groupe.
HIV/AIDS risk among brothel-based female sex workers in China: assessing the terms, content, and knowledge of sex work.

To the Editor: Huang et al reported the results of ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews conducted in south China, including 158 female prostitutes from 45 brothels in 4 red light districts.1 The authors compared wealthy suburb areas of city B with poorer places of city A using samples of 10 and 148 sex workers, respectively, but it was not clear how the statistical analysis was performed. Moreover, the authors did not report illicit drug use by sex workers or trade sex for drugs. Illicit drug use is the cause of expanding HIV infection in several countries as a result of intravenous drug use and sharing needles and syringes.2 Huang et al did not describe if there are nongovernmental or governmental organizations where the prostitutes could be tested and receive counseling for HIV infection. This information would give us a full picture of women’s vulnerability in China, where injecting drug use and unprotected sexual intercourse between prostitutes and men who have sex with men are the fuels of the HIV epidemics.3 References
An ITS-based phylogenetic framework for the genus Vorticella: finding the molecular and morphological gaps in a taxonomically difficult group

Vorticella includes more than 100 currently recognized species and represents one of the most taxonomically challenging genera of ciliates. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Vorticella has been performed so far with only sequences coding for small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA); only a few of its species have been investigated using other genetic markers owing to a lack of similar sequences for comparison. Consequently, phylogenetic relationships within the genus remain unclear, and molecular discrimination between morphospecies is often difficult because most regions of the SSU rRNA gene are too highly conserved to be helpful. In this paper, we move molecular systematics for this group of ciliates to the infrageneric level by sequencing additional molecular markers—fast-evolving internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions—in a broad sample of 66 individual samples of 28 morphospecies of Vorticella collected from Asia, North America and Europe. Our phylogenies all featured two strongly supported, highly divergent, paraphyletic clades (I, II) comprising the morphologically defined genus Vorticella. Three major lineages made up clade I, with a relatively well-resolved branching order in each one. The marked divergence of clade II from clade I confirms that the former should be recognized as a separate taxonomic unit as indicated by SSU rRNA phylogenies. We made the first attempt to elucidate relationships between species in clade II using both morphological and multi-gene approaches, and our data supported a close relationship between some morphospecies of Vorticella and Opisthonecta, indicating that relationships between species in the clade are far more complex than would be expected from their morphology. Different patterns of helix III of ITS2 secondary structure were clearly specific to clades and subclades of Vorticella and, therefore, may prove useful for resolving phylogenetic relationships in other groups of ciliates.
High intakes of trans monounsaturated fatty acids taken for 2 weeks do not influence procoagulant and fibrinolytic risk markers for CHD in young healthy men

Dietary trans fatty acids are associated with increased risk of CHD. We hypothesized that the changes in plasma lipids associated with a high intake of trans fatty acids would cause adverse effects on procoagulant and fibrinolytic activities. A randomized crossover controlled feeding study was conducted in twenty-nine men. A trans-rich diet supplying 10 % energy as trans- 18:1 was compared with diets in which the trans fatty acids were replaced either with carbohydrate or oleate; each diet was taken for 2 weeks in random order. Fasting fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations and factor VII coagulant, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and tissue plasminogen activator did not differ between diets. Postprandially, tissue plasminogen activator activity increased and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 activity decreased on all diets. Factor VIIc increased postprandially by 15 and 17 % on the trans and oleate diets respectively, compared with an 11 % increase on the carbohydrate diet; the mean difference between oleate and carbohydrate diets was 6 (95 % CI 0·2, 11·9) %. The LDL-cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B: apolipoprotein A-I ratios increased by 13 (95 % CI 5·7, 21·8) and 10 (95 % CI 3·1, 17·2) % respectively on the trans diet compared with the oleate diet and by 6 (95 % CI 0·1,12·7) and 7 (95 % CI 0, 13·5) % respectively compared with the carbohydrate diet. Plasma HDL2-cholesterol concentration was 18 (95 % CI 0·7, 35·9) % lower on the trans diet compared with the oleate diet. The results confirm adverse effects of trans fatty acids on HDL-cholesterol concentrations, but suggest that trans fatty acids do not have any specific effects on known haemostatic risk markers for cardiovascular disease in healthy young men in the short-term.
The Relevance of Margin Regulations: A Note

Margin credit was singled out for selective credit control in 1934 by the Securities Exchange Act (SEA). This act directed the Federal Reserve Board to regulate security credit so as to "prevent the excessive use of credit in the purchase or carrying of securities. " The principal objectives of the SEA were: (1) to protect investors from speculative losses, (2) to prevent the speculative securities markets from absorbing credit away from productive commercial and agricultural uses, and (3) to inhibit security price fluctuations due to credit-financed security purchases. ' To date, there has been little research into the effectiveness of margin regulations in attaining the objectives of the SEA.2 One noteworthy exception is a paper by Luckett (1982) which analyzes the efficacy of margin requirements in influencing the investor's degree of personal leverage and risk exposure. However, Luckett's analysis leaves unanswered the impacts of changes in margin requirements on firm valuation, security returns uncertainty, and the allocation of credit in the economy. In this paper modern finance theory is employed to analyze some of these effects. We conclude that corporations will take actions so as to offset, at least in part, the impacts of changes in margin restrictions on personal leverage, and that the effects of margin requirements are generally inconsistent with the objectives of the SEA reformers.
Has Firm Level Analysis Reached its Limits? Time for a Rethink

Entrepreneurship research has concentrated almost exclusively on small organizations and the firm as the unit of analysis. As a result, researchers have overlooked the real wealth-creating activities of established business owners. Current work does not pay enough attention to ownership patterns and the accumulation, control, and transmission of capital, which should be central questions in a free enterprise, capitalist economy. Argues that small and medium-sized enterprises are part of the process of wealth creation and capital accumulation, which is entrepreneur based and operates at all scales. Underlying most research to date are four assumptions: the firm (rather than the entrepreneur) is the unit of definition and analysis, the differences between large and small firms are paramount; starting and growing firms is the best way to conceptualize wealth and job creation; and starting firms is separate from firm growth. The thesis herein is that the process of wealth creation and capital accumulation is entrepreneur- rather than organization-based, and that the process and all stakeholders should be the focus of study. Research into multiple business owners (portfolio entrepreneurs) in Scotland in 1994-95 was designed to establish the contribution of existing business to new firm creation. Of 7,316 new companies, 45 percent had directors of other companies; people starting new companies are significantly associated with activities of existing businesses; and a substantial number of new firms interlock with existing companies, forming clusters. While individual firms in a cluster may not grow, the cluster does. Diversification may be a growth and survival strategy. Starting and growing new firms may be a form of capital accumulation. Focus at the level of small firms overlooks the political and social aspect of business: the issues of who owns and controls, gains and loses power and jobs, and how capital is structured. The new awareness will provide better answers and make clearer the real contributions of entrepreneurs to the economy, as well as the implications of taxation and regulation. (TNM)
Swarm Intelligence based File Replication and Consistency Maintenance in Structured P 2 P File Sharing Systems

In peer-to-peer file sharing systems, file replication helps to avoid overloading file owners and improve file query efficiency. There exists a tradeoff between minimizing the number of replicas (i.e., replication overhead) and maximizing the replica hit rate (which reduces file querying latency). More replicas lead to increased replication overhead and higher replica hit rates and vice versa. An ideal replication method should generate a low overhead burden to the system while providing low query latency to the users. However, previous replication methods either achieve high hit rates at the cost of many replicas or produce low hit rates. To reduce replicas while guaranteeing high hit rate, this paper presents SWARM, a file replication mechanism based on swarm intelligence. Recognizing the power of collective behaviors, SWARM identifies node swarms with common node interests and close proximity. Unlike most earlier methods, SWARM determines the placement of a file replica based on the accumulated query rates of nodes in a swarm rather than a single node. Replicas are shared by the nodes in a swarm, leading to fewer replicas and high querying efficiency. In addition, SWARM has a novel consistency maintenance algorithm that propagates an update message between proximity-close nodes in a tree fashion from the top to the bottom. Experimental results from the real-world PlanetLab testbed and the PeerSim simulator demonstrate the effectiveness of the SWARM mechanism in comparison with other file replication and consistency maintenance methods. SWARM can reduce querying latency by 40%-58%, reduce the number of replicas by 39%-76%, and achieves more than 84% higher hit rates compared to previous methods. It also can reduce the consistency maintenance overhead by 49%99% compared to previous consistency maintenance methods.
Application of reliability test standards to SiC Power MOSFETs

The application of existing reliability test standards, based on Si technology, to SiC power MOSFET reliability qualification can in some cases result in ambiguous test results. Depending on the exact measurement procedure, a given device stress tested under identical conditions may either pass or fail. The large variations observed in ID-VGS characteristics, and accompanying shift in threshold voltage (VT) and change in leakage current, are likely due to the complex time, temperature, and bias dependent nature of the charging and discharging of significant numbers of near-interfacial oxide traps (and possibly mitigated by the movement of mobile ions) which are not present in Si power devices. The variation in VT following a high temperature gate-bias (HTGB) stress is shown to be dependent on the measurement delay time, sweep direction, and temperature. Negative gate-bias temperature stress results show that device reliability may be limited due to increased drain leakage current in the OFF-state, which is caused by large shifts in VT depending on the gate-bias stress time, bias magnitude, and stress temperature. In addition, positive gate-bias stressing at elevated temperature may increase power dissipation in the ON-state.
Analyzing the impact of bufferbloat on latency-sensitive applications

Delay-sensitive applications, such as live and interactive video, are mainstream in today's Internet, and set to increase with the emergence of web-based video conference. For such applications quality cannot be captured solely by a flow's throughput: interactive video needs to avoid fluctuations in both visual quality and delay. This is far more valuable than achieving a fleeting increase in throughput. Emerging real-time protocols are being designed with these goals in mind, but it is important to evaluate these methods when sharing the network with real-world traffic. Much of today's Internet traffic uses TCP CUBIC, we therefore quantify its impact on interactive video experience (visual quality and delay): we measure the degradation imposed to interactive video when sharing a network bottleneck with TCP CUBIC traffic. To understand this impact, we compare performance when two delay-based congestion control schemes are used, one for interactive video and another for file transfer and show that these algorithms can assure good video experience and appropriate download time to their respective users. In contrast, we suggest that achieving such a “low-delay coexistence” with TCP CUBIC would require use of Active Queue Management (AQM) techniques. The paper therefore provides quantitative evidence that AQM can force loss-based TCP and delay-sensitive flows to reach a stable equilibrium point that is similar to the one naturally achieved when TCP flows are governed by delay-based mechanisms.