Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stage‐ and region‐dependent chondrogenesis and growth of chick wing‐bud mesenchyme in serum‐containing and defined tissue culture media

During development, limb‐bud mesenchymal cells carry out complex spatiotemporal patterns of growth and differentiation. Tissue and organ culture facilitate analysis of environmental influences on these cell behaviors, allowing their partial dissection into exogenous and endogenous components. Two factors that complicate such in vitro analyses are the heterogeneity of the cultured cells and imprecise knowledge of culture medium composition. Limb mesenchyme comprises a heterogenous cell population with important regional differences in cell type. Dividing the limb into subregions helps limit the cellular heterogeneity and using chemically defined, serum‐free medium allays concerns about medium composition. In the present study, mesenchyme from different regions along the anteroposterior and proximodistal axes of stage 21–22 and stage 23–24 chick wing buds was grown in high‐density microtiter cultures in chemically defined and in serum‐containing medium. Fourday cultures of the various regions were compared in terms of culture morphology and the accumulation of Alcian blue‐positive cartilage matrix and DNA. The results demonstrate stage‐ and region‐dependent differences in the in vitro growth, differentiation, and responsiveness of these cells. For example, mesenchyme from the distal anterior region of the wing bud exhibited lower intrinsic chondrogenic capacity and greater responsiveness to serum than other regions. Patterns of in vitro chondrogenesis also suggest that, at the stages examined, distal wing‐bud mesenchyme may be less homogeneous than has been believed. A case is made for the suitability of serum‐free medium for future in vitro studies of chick limb‐bud mesenchyme. The results are considered in relation to the process of limb development and regional expression of pattern‐related genes. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Plasma Inflammatory Mediators Associated with Bone Metabolism in COPD

ABSTRACT The association of osteoporosis with COPD is well established, but the relationship between systemic inflammatory mediators and bone metabolism has not been explored. Plasma samples from 40 COPD patients awaiting lung transplantation were analyzed for 27 inflammatory mediators using a multiplex protein array. C-telopeptide type I collagen (CTx), a marker of bone resorption, was measured with ELISA, and N-terminal procollagen propeptide (P1NP), a marker of bone formation, was ascertained with a radioimmunoassay. Associations between inflammatory mediators versus CTx and P1NP with adjustments for steroid and bisphosphonate use were determined. Mean age was 59 years (± 6) and FEV1 was 23.5% (± 8.3%) predicted. Ninety-five percent of the subjects had low bone mineral density measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 4 were positively associated with CTx and P1NP. RANTES and eotaxin were inversely associated with CTx and P1NP. Interleukin 2 and interferon gamma were also directly associated with P1NP. Biologically plausible systemic mediators are associated with bone metabolism in patients with severe COPD, offering potential insight into risk factors and underlying mechanisms of bone disease. Furthermore, they may be useful in monitoring disease activity, and serve as targets for biological therapy.
Detection of Acute HIV Infections in an Urban HIV Counseling and Testing Population in the United States

Summary:The southeastern United States has an increasing burden of HIV, particularly among blacks, women, and men who have sex with men. To evaluate HIV nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) and antibody-based algorithms in determination of HIV incidence, detection of acute HIV infections, and surveillance of drug-resistant virus transmission in the urban southeastern United States, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of prospectively collected data from 2202 adults receiving HIV testing and counseling at 3 sites in Atlanta, GA from October 2002 through January 2004. After standard testing with an HIV enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and Western blot confirmation, HIV-positive specimens were tested with 2 standardized assays to detect recent infection. HIV antibody-negative specimens were pooled and screened for HIV using NAAT. Seventy (3.2%) of 2202 subjects were HIV infected. Only 66 were positive on the standard HIV antibody test; 4 were antibody-negative but acutely HIV infected. The overall annual HIV incidence was 1.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.4 to 1.8) based on the Vironostika-LS assay and 1.3% (95% CI: 0.6 to 2.1) based on the BED Incidence Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA). The prevalence of acute HIV infection was 1.8 per 1000 persons (95% CI: 0.7 to 4.6). The sensitivity of the current testing algorithm using an EIA and Western blot test for detectable infections was only 94.3% (95% CI: 86.2 to 97.8). All 3 of the acutely infected subjects genotyped had drug resistance mutations, and 1 had multiclass resistance. Adding NAAT-based screening to standard HIV antibody testing increased case identification by 6% and uncovered the first evidence of multidrug-resistant HIV transmission in Atlanta. Antibody tests alone are insufficient for public health practice in high-risk urban HIV testing settings.
Transfer pricing strategies and management performance of MNEs

This paper aims to explore the adoption attitudes of internal and external motivations by multinational enterprises (MNEs) concerning transfer pricing. We conduct an empirical study on the influence of transfer pricing strategies of MNEs on the perception of the level of tax rates of host countries. This research found that Holland-based MNEs are most likely to adopt transfer pricing strategies, while Japan-based MNEs are least likely. For the purpose of reducing income tax burden, the US-based MNEs are most likely to adopt, followed by Japan-based MNEs. The Japan-based MNEs are most likely to adopt transfer pricing strategies, as due to internal motivations, followed by Holland-based MNEs. The same applies to external motivations. The MNEs managements agree that with higher tariff rates of the host country, they are more likely to adopt low quotes in transfer pricing strategies to maintain the profits in the subsidiaries of the host country. If the income tax rates of the host country are higher, the managements are more likely to adopt high quotes in transfer pricing strategies to retain profits in the host country by reducing operational performances of subsidiaries.
Analysis of HRT images: comparison of reference planes.

PURPOSE The values of Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph (HRT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) stereometric parameters depend on the reference plane (RP), the instability of which results in parameter variability. Identification of change depends on RP stability. This study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of various RPs on rim areas (RAs) in a longitudinal image series. METHODS A longitudinal image series of 31 subjects with ocular hypertension who had reproducible visual field loss and 19 normal subjects was analyzed using five different RPs: the standard RP (HRT software version 3.1.2.0), two 320-mum RPs (software ver. 3.1.2.0 and 1.7.0), a previously described experimental RP, and a new Moorfields RP. The Moorfields RP takes the standard RP at baseline and then is fixed relative to the reference ring for subsequent images. Linear regression of RA over time was performed, and the slope and residual SD (RSD) were calculated for each RP. Comparisons between RPs were made by paired t-tests. RESULTS In eyes with progressing disease, application of the standard RP resulted in significantly greater variability (as measured by the RSD) compared with other RPs (mean 0.057 mm(2) vs. 0.035-0.038 mm(2)). There was a trend toward faster RA change/time (mean, -0.0123 mm(2)/y) for the standard RP and slower (-0.0095 mm(2)/y) for the experimental RP. There was a trend for the Moorfields RP to result in the best signal-to-noise ratio (speed of RA change/variability): mean RA slope -0.0118 mm(2)/y and mean global RSD 0.037mm(2). CONCLUSIONS Compared to the standard RP, the Moorfields RP has significantly lower variability and probably provides a greater facility for discriminating RA change from measurement variability in a longitudinal HRT image series.
On fusion for robust motion segmentation

While a multitude of motion segmentation algorithms have been presented in the literature, there has not been an objective assessment of different approaches to fusing their outputs. This paper investigates the application of 4 different fusion schemes to the outputs of 3 probabilistic pixel-level segmentation algorithms. We performed an extensive experimentation using 6 challenge categories from the changedetection.net dataset demonstrating that in general simple majority vote proves to be more effective than more complex fusion schemes.
Bias-Induced Healing of $V_{\text {min}}$ Failures in Advanced SRAM Arrays

A novel bias-induced healing of address specific failing bits in VLSI SRAM functional arrays is demonstrated for the first time in advanced CMOS nodes. Aging effects due to bias temperature instability (BTI) resulting in device shifts are a well-known reliability problem in advanced CMOS technologies. We propose and demonstrate a method of exploiting the BTI mechanism and the addressing capability of SRAM to recover bits that fail during stress. Recovery of failures using this method is demonstrated in both 20- and 14-nm technology nodes in VLSI SRAM arrays. This method introduces the possibility of self-healing SRAM arrays and overcomes many of the limitations of the conventional industry voltage-guard-band approach.
The Foreign Exchanges

Kate of exchange between two moneys part of a larger problem, 52. — Conditions requisite to equilibrium of exchange, 53. — Exceptions (1) government control, (2) monopoly, 54. — Connection between different commodities in international exchange, 56. — The effect of inconvertible paper, 62. — Purchasing power parities, 63. — Lapses from alignment between actual and normal rates of exchange, 70.
THE TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-&bgr;1 CODON 10 GENE POLYMORPHISM AND ACCELERATED GRAFT VASCULAR DISEASE AFTER CLINICAL HEART TRANSPLANTATION

Background. The multifunctional cytokine transforming growth factor-(TGF) &bgr;1 is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of graft vasculardisease (GVD). Polymorphisms at codon 10,(Leu 10 →Pro) and codon 25(Arg 25 →Pro) in the signal sequence of theTGF-&bgr;1 gene regulate the production and secretion of the protein. Weinvestigated whether these polymorphisms are risk factors for the developmentof GVD after clinical hearttransplantation. Method. TGF-&bgr;1 polymorphisms,Leu 10 →Pro andArg 25 →Pro, were determined in DNA from hearttransplant recipients (n=252) and their donors (n=213), usingsequence-specific oligonucleotide probing. GVD was angiographically diagnosed1 year after transplantation. In addition other potential risk factorsincluding underlying disease, recipient and donor age, recipient and donorgender, number of acute rejections in the first year, cold ischemia time, andHLA mismatches were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logisticregressionanalysis. Results. Univariate analysis showed that the recipient TGF-&bgr;1polymorphism Leu 10 →Pro,(P =0.056,&khgr; 2 test), underlying disease(P =0.01,&khgr; 2 test), number of acute rejections in thefirst-year (P =0.03, analysis ofvariance), and donor age (P <0.001,analysis of variance) were risk factors for the development of GVD. TheTGF-&bgr;1 Arg 25 →Pro polymorphism was not arisk factor. Also in the multivariate analysis, the recipient TGF-&bgr;1 codon10 polymorphism was associated with GVD, with patients homozygous for Pro atgreatest risk (odds ratio 7.7, P =0.03). Apart for therecipient TGF-&bgr;1 Leu 10 →Pro polymorphism,donor age appeared to be an independent risk factor for the development of GVDat 1 year. Patients with older donor hearts were at greater risk than patientsreceiving grafts from younger donors (odds ratio 1.1/year, P <0.001). Conclusion. Recipient TGF-&bgr;1Leu 10 →Pro polymorphism and higher donor ageare independent risk factors for the development of GVD after clinical hearttransplantation.
The Impact of Rules of Origin on Trade Flows

type="main" xml:lang="en"> A great deal of post-war trade liberalization resulted from regional, preferential trade agreements. Preferential trade agreements cut tariffs on goods originating only in those nations that have signed the agreement. Therefore, they need ‘rules of origin’ to determine which goods benefit from the tariff cut. Rules of origin have long been ignored for two good reasons: they are dauntingly complex and at first sight appear mind-numbingly dull. The third standard reason for ignoring them – the assertion that they do not matter much – turns out to be wrong. We show that rules of origin are important barriers to trade. Moreover, such rules are emerging as an important trade issue for three additional reasons. First, preferential trade deals are proliferating worldwide. Second, the global fragmentation of production implies complex international supply chains which are particularly constrained and distorted by rules of origin. Third, the extent to which regionalism challenges the WTO-based trading system depends in part on incompatibilities and rigidities built into rules of origin. Our empirical results exploit a ‘natural experiment’ that was created by technical changes to Europe's lattice of rules of origin (ROOs) in 1997. This change, known as ‘diagonal cumulation’, relaxed the restrictiveness of rules of origin on trade among the EU's free trade agreement (FTA) partners without changing the degree of tariff preference. Our analysis allows us to establish a lower-bound and upper-bound estimate of trade impact of ROOs reduced trade among the EU's trade partners. The lower bound we find is something like 10% while the upper bound is around 70%. The second part of the paper draws the policy lessons that arise from considering the implications of our empirical findings. The most direct lessons are for FTA-writers. We argue that Europe's implementation of ‘cumulation’ is a good way of reducing the welfare-reducing impact of overlapping rules of origin without gutting their fraud-fighting ability. We also suggest a three-part procedure for establishing a more multilateral framework for rules of origin which would be more transparent, flexible, administratively feasible and negotiable. — Patricia Augier, Michael Gasiorek and Charles Lai-Tong
Selectivity of porcine zona pellucida to bind spermatozoa with normal chromatin structure

This study aimed to investigate the selective ability of swine zona pellucida (ZP) to bind spermatozoa with normal nuclear chromatin. Ten ejaculates of four boars were used, while hemizona assay was applied for evaluation of binding capability. The results of this study showed that swine ZP has the ability to select spermatozoa with normal chromatin structure for sperm‐zona binding process.
An Econometric Assessment of Pricing Sydney’s Residential Water Use

There is currently a high level of interest among policy review agencies in using water usage prices to balance the supply and demand for water (scarcity pricing). The potential effectiveness of scarcity pricing depends upon the price elasticity of demand. This study applies panel data analysis to household level data to obtain short- and long-run estimates of the price elasticity of demand in Sydney. The period of the analysis spans June 2004 to June 2009, during which water usage prices increased in real terms by over 45 per cent. The data are disaggregated into residential user groups of owner-occupied and tenanted houses that did and did not participate in a subsidised water appliance efficiency programme, and housing units. Owner-occupied and tenanted houses are further disaggregated through clustering analysis based on property size. The estimated real price elasticities vary both across and within user groups. The weighted average real price elasticities are small, particularly in the short run. As well as overall price elasticities, the grouping and clustering of households provides insights into the way different households respond to changes in water usage prices, weather conditions and participation in water appliance efficiency programmes. The heterogeneity in responses is found to generate statistically different results compared with an aggregate model of all residential households.
MxA expression as marker for assessing the therapeutic response in HCV genotype 4 Egyptian patients

Summary. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection varies across the world, with the highest number of infections reported in Egypt. Expression of the MxA gene has been found to be a reliable and sensitive marker for the induction of endogenous type I interferons (IFNs) during viral infections. This study examined the correlation of gene expression of MxA with the response to treatment with pegylated‐IFN‐alfa2b and ribavirin. Fifty patients with type 4 HCV and 20 healthy volunteers as controls were enrolled in a prospective study designed with strict inclusion criteria to nullify the effect of confounding variables and further minimize selection bias. Quantification of HCV‐RNA and MxA gene by real‐time PCR was performed for every patient, and quantification of MxA gene was performed for controls. There was a statistically significant difference between patients and control group as regards the quantity of MxA gene expression (P < 0.05) (Mann–Whitney test) (P = 0.004). There was a statistically significant difference between responders and nonresponders (P < 0.05): responders showed a higher percentage of cases with initial MxA <26 (P < 0.05). We conclude that MxA protein expression is a sensitive biological marker for ongoing virus replication and presence of type 1 IFN. These results highlight the importance of the detection of MxA expression at the start of therapy as a factor for assessing the likelihood of HCV genotype 4 patients to achieving a sustained virological response to treatment with IFN‐α2 in combination with ribavirin.
Stochastic Global Sensitivity Analysis for Retrofit Analysis in an Existing Building

Sensitivity analysis has been widely used for rational decision making of energy retrofit alternatives. A Sobol method is a variance based approach and provides powerful post-processing sensitivity results that enable to quantitatively identify influential and non-influential inputs. It can account for impacts of each input as well as impacts caused by all possible interactions between each input on building energy consumption. However, the Sobol method requires vast computation time. To overcome such computational disadvantage of the Sobol method, the authors employed a surrogate model using a Gaussian Process (GP) emulator. In other words, we combined the GP emulator and the Sobol method for energy retrofit decision making. In the paper, the following are addressed in detail: (1) global sensitivity analysis using the GP emulator, (2) decision making based on stochastic prediction.
Asset Price Shocks, Real Expenditures, and Financial Structure: A Multi-Country Analysis

This paper examines the response of the economies of 11 EU countries, Japan, and the United States to shocks in housing and equity prices. The effects are assessed with a Structural Vector Auto Regressive (SVAR) model, and four key findings emerge. First, the impacts of asset price shocks are heterogeneous across countries. Second, these heterogeneous responses are systematically related to cross-country variation in financial structure, and we are thus able to document the importance of a wealth/balance sheet channel for consumption and an equity finance channel for investment. Third, for a given country, housing shocks have a much greater impact than equity shocks. Fourth, variance decompositions indicate that monetary policy reacts to equity price shocks but not to housing price shocks. These results highlight the important role played by asset prices on real activity, and fuel the debate about the inclusion of asset prices in the formulation of monetary policy.
Sexual Health and Stigma in Urban Newspaper Coverage of Methamphetamine

The epidemic use of methamphetamine in the United States is a growing public health problem. Recently its use has increased among gay men who live in urban areas, with accompanying increases in sexually transmitted diseases. This study examined how methamphetamine and sexual health are framed. It investigated the stigma associated with heterosexuals and gay men. Stories from 13 urban newspapers in cities with large populations of gay men published from 2000 to 2006 were analyzed. Results indicated that methamphetamine and sexual health were framed primarily as an individual, present problem. Stories framed methamphetamine as a health problem slightly more often than as a crime problem, but health was the dominant frame in stories mentioning gay men. Crime was the dominant frame in stories with heterosexuals. Articles tied gay men to sexual health issues. Findings indicate gay men and heterosexuals are stigmatized in news coverage of sexual issues and methamphetamine but in different ways.
An Edible History of Humanity

gastronomica: the journal of food and culture, vol.10, no.2, pp.93–94, issn 1529-3262. © 2010 by the regents of the university of california. all rights reserved. please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the university of california press’s rights and permissions web site, http://www.ucpressjournals. com/reprintinfo.asp. doi: 10.1525/gfc.2010. 10.2. 93. Still, gradually, and proving the adaptability of humans, our early relatives became farmers. And so, note both authors, while today there is a huge disconnect between urban and rural worlds, the first “cities” grew from agricultural establishments, successfully undertaking the job of feeding inhabitants until massive growth, population increases (largely the result of a reliable supply of sustenance), and industrialization lessened the priority given to farming and pushed the work of growing food further and further outside the boundaries of the city limits, eventually transforming city dwellers into pure consumers. This is where the similarities between the two books end. Standage’s An Edible History of Humanity is a linear cataloging of pure fact, written mainly for social historians and others fascinated by dates, figures, and hardcore details. Tom Standage is business affairs editor at The Economist, where he oversees the magazine’s business, finance, science, and technology coverage, and the author of five history books, including A History of the World in Six Glasses (2005), a New York Times bestseller. He holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University—which shows in his writing style: slightly dry, somewhat academic, with very little subjective commentary beyond what, when, where, and why something was relevant to what would come next. This is an observation, not a criticism. An Edible History of Humanity is all-encompassing, moving fluidly from one civilization to another, imparting the author’s considerable knowledge to portray significant links between the growing and supplying of food and the world’s major economic, social, and political events. Despite the dryness of Standage’s style, there are wonderful epiphanies within An Edible History of Humanity. The author’s work on the evolution of the potato is fascinating, from the uphill fight to get nearly starving Europeans to eat this unsightly tuber, originally thought to be poisonous, to the potato’s role in saving the Irish from starvation. Standage notes how the failure of the potato crop and subsequent famine triggered waves of immigration and the Blame It on the Grain review essay | joy parks