Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monte Carlo Experiments on Maximum entropy Constructive Ensembles for Time Series Analysis and Inference

In econometric analysis, the traditional bootstrap and related methods often require the assumption of stationarity. This assumption says that the distribution function of the process remains unchanged when shifted in time by an arbitrary value, imposing perfect time-homogeneity. In terms of the joint distribution, stationarity implies that the date of the first time index is not relevant. There are many problems with this assumption however for time series data. With time series, the order in which random realizations occur is crucial. This is why theorists work with stochastic processes, with two implicit arguments, w and t, where w represents the sample space and t represents the order. The question becomes, is there a bootstrap procedure that can preserve the ordering without assuming stationarity? The new method for maximum entropy ensembles proposed by Dr. H. D. Vinod might satisfy the Ergodic and Kolmogorov theorems, without assuming stationarity. AKCNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Tia Hilmer for all of her help, not only on my thesis, during my master’s program at Virginia Tech. She was a wonderful role model and being her teaching assistant taught me so much. Dr. Aris Spanos was both an important professor and mentor over the time I spent here. He taught me to read critically and reinforced the importance of statistics in economics. Without his help I would still be searching for an interesting, challenging topic. Dr. Daniel Taylor provided the guidance that new graduate students could not do without. I am forever grateful for how he and his family made all of my class feel welcome. I would also like to thank Dr. Deborah Mayo, Dr. Anya McGuirck, Andreas Koutris, and Jason Bergtold for their contributions as well. My parents and my family offered so much support during this time and I greatly appreciate it.
Objective short sleep duration is associated with the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in insomnia.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between objective short sleep duration in patients with insomnia and changes in blood parameters related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. METHOD A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in 30 middle-aged adults with chronic insomnia who were divided into 2 groups according to polysomnography (PSG) total sleep time (TST) (TST > 5h and < 5h). All patients underwent subjective analysis of sleep quality, anthropometric measurements, PSG, and determination off asting blood parameters. RESULTS The results revealed lower sleep efficiency and higher sleep latency for those with a TST < 5h. The subjective sleep quality was worse in the TST < 5h. Significantly, higher glucose and cortisol levels were observed with a TST < 5h. Glucose, cortisol and ACTH levels were inversely correlated with the PSG total sleep time. CONCLUSION Patients with insomnia with objective short sleep duration had HPA-associated endocrine and metabolic imbalances chronically linked to increases in cardiovascular risk observed with this more severe insomnia phenotype.
Process-induced changes on bioactive compounds in whole grain rye

Manufacturing of healthy whole-grain foods demands knowledge of process-induced changes in macro-, micro- and non-nutrients. The high content of dietary fibre is a challenge in relation to good product texture and sensory quality. The stability and bioavailability of bioactive compounds have a marked influence on the health effects of cereal foods. It was confirmed that sterols, folates, tocopherols and tocotrienols, alkylresorcinols, lignans, phenolic acids and total phenolics are concentrated in the bran layers of the rye grain, and are only present at low levels in the flour endosperm. The levels of folate and easily-extractable phenolic compounds increase in germination and sourdough baking, but there are negligible changes in the levels of sterols, lignans and alk(en)ylresorcinols. The levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols are reduced during the sourdough fermentation. In conclusion, many of the bioactive compounds in whole-grain rye are stable during food processing, and their levels can even be increased with suitable processing.
Cell‐Assisted Lipotransfer for Facial Lipoatrophy: Efficacy of Clinical Use of Adipose‐Derived Stem Cells

BACKGROUND Lipoinjection is a promising treatment, but its efficacy in recontouring facial lipoatrophy remains to be established. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of lipoinjection and supplementation of adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs) to adipose grafts. METHODS To overcome drawbacks of autologous lipoinjection, we have developed a novel strategy called cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL). In CAL, stromal vascular fraction containing ASCs was freshly isolated from half of an aspirated fat sample and attached to the other half of aspirated fat sample with the fat acting as a scaffold. This process converts relatively ASC-poor aspirated fat into ASC-rich fat. We performed conventional lipoinjection (non-CAL; n=3) or CAL (n=3) on six patients with facial lipoatrophy due to lupus profundus or Parry-Romberg syndrome. RESULTS All patients obtained improvement in facial contour, but the CAL group had a better clinical improvement score than did the non-CAL patients, although the difference did not reach statistical significance (p=.11). Adipose necrosis was found in one non-CAL case who took perioperative oral corticosteroids. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that CAL is both effective and safe and potentially superior to conventional lipoinjection for facial recontouring.
Twenty-five–Year Panorama of Corneal Immunology: Emerging Concepts in the Immunopathogenesis of Microbial Keratitis, Peripheral Ulcerative Keratitis, and Corneal Transplant Rejection

Purpose. To describe the most recent advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the immunopathogenesis of corneal immunoinflammatory disorders including microbial keratitis, peripheral ulcerative keratitis, and allograft rejection. Methods. Review of the published peer-reviewed literature that has contributed significantly to our modern understanding of corneal immunology. In addition, the authors have summarized the information in conceptual diagrams that highlight the critical cellular and molecular pathways that lead to corneal immune responses in the two most thoroughly studied corneal immune disorders, herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) and transplant rejection. Results. In spite of the wide array of molecular and cellular factors that mediate corneal immunity, critical mechanistic facets are shared by the various corneal immunoinflammatory disorders. These include activation and migration of local antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including Langerhans cells (LCs), upregulation in pleiotropic proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNF-&agr;) that can mediate a wide array of immune functions in addition to upregulating protease expression, and chemokines that play a critical role on the one hand in attracting nonantigen-specific inflammatory cells such as neutrophils and on the other in attracting CD4+ T helper type 1 (Th1) cells that mediate most of the destruction in the cornea. Conclusions. In the last 25 years, we have seen our field develop from a descriptive stage into a new phase where the fundamental processes that mediate and effect corneal immunity are being accurately deciphered. It is anticipated that this new knowledge will allow development of specific molecular and genetic therapeutic strategies that could target critical steps in the immunopathogenesis of disease without the untoward side-effects of nonspecific generalized immune suppression that still remains the standard of care today.
Divergent cytokine response following maximum progressive swimming in hot water

Exercise promotes transitory alterations in cytokine secretion, and these changes are affected by exercise duration and intensity. Considering that exercise responses also are affected by environmental factors, the goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of water temperature on the cytokine response to maximum swimming. Swiss mice performed a maximum progressive swimming exercise at 31 or 38 °C, and plasma cytokine levels were evaluated immediately or 1, 6 or 24 h after exercise. The cytokine profile after swimming at 31 °C was characterized by increased interleukin (IL)‐6 and monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1) levels, which peaked 1 h after exercise, suggesting an adequate inflammatory milieu to induce muscle regeneration. Transitory reductions in IL‐10 and IL‐12 levels also were observed after swimming at 31 °C. The cytokine response to swimming was modified when the water temperature was increased to 38 °C. Although exercise at 38 °C also led to IL‐6 secretion, the peak in IL‐6 production occurred 6 h after exercise, and IL‐6 levels were significantly lower than those observed after maximum swimming at 31 °C (p = 0·030). Furthermore, MCP‐1 levels were lower and tumour necrosis factor‐α levels were higher immediately after swimming at 38 °C, suggesting a dysregulated pro‐inflammatory milieu. These alterations in the cytokine profile can be attributed in part to reduced exercise total work because exhaustion occurred sooner in mice swimming at 38 °C than in those swimming at 31 °C. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impact of Burden on Granulocyte Clearance of Bacteria in a Mouse Thigh Infection Model

ABSTRACT We wished to delineate granulocytes' impact on the clearance of different bacterial burdens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in a granulocyte-replete mouse thigh infection model. A mouse thigh model was employed. Bacterial challenges from 105 to 3 × 107 CFU (S. aureus) and from 3 × 104 to 3 × 108 CFU (P. aeruginosa) were injected into murine posterior thighs. Organism quantitation was at baseline, 2 h (Pseudomonas only), and 24 h. A Michaelis-Menten population model was fit to the data for each organism. Breakpoints for microbial containment by granulocytes were identified. Bacterial burdens exceeding that breakpoint value resulted in organism multiplication. The Michaelis-Menten model fit the data well. For P. aeruginosa, the observed-predicted plot had a regression equation that explained over 98% of the variance (P ≪ 0.001). For S. aureus, this relationship explained greater than 94% of the variance (P ≪ 0.001). Maximal growth rate constants, maximal population burdens, and the bacterial loads at which granulocytes killed if half-saturated were not different. The kill rate constant for P. aeruginosa was almost 10 times that of S. aureus. Bacterial kill by granulocytes is saturable. No difference between saturation points of different isolates was seen. A higher bacterial burden means an increasing reliance on chemotherapy to drive bacterial clearance.
Coitus interruptus and the Control of Natural Fertility

In this article I argue that pre-transitional natural fertility was sometimes controlled through birth-spacing, and that coitus interruptus was probably an important means of such control. First, the motivation for spacing was often strong, although not necessarily associated with a desire for family limitation; and control through spacing, although much harder to detect than a parity-dependent deceleration of the rate of childbearing, has been identified unequivocally in some pre-transitional and transitional populations. Secondly, coitus interruptus is reasonably effective and harmonizes with ancient and persistent notions of reproductive physiology; and evidence for its use comes both from statements of criticism and advocacy, and from a rich set of metaphors and euphemisms. The scenario of natural fertility controlled by means such as coitus interruptus is not offered as an alternative to the emergence of family limitation, which was probably the great innovation of the fertility transition. Rather, i.
Haptic perception of curvature through active touch

Haptic perception of curvature can be achieved by passive or active finger touch. In this study we proposed a new curvature perception haptic device that can independently orient, elevate and translate a flat plate. By exploring it with a finger through active touch, we can render a curved shape. According to the characteristics of this device, two curvature rendering motion models were analyzed: motion model without compensation and motion model with position compensation. Two experiments were then executed. Experiment 1 has verified that our device is able to produce distinct curvatures. Experiment 2 has compared the performances obtained with each motion model during the tasks of curved shape discrimination.
CARDIAC MYOCYTE HYPERTROPHY AND PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN EXPRESSION IN WISTAR RATS INFECTED WITH TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI

Chagasic cardiomyopathy is a major life-threatening complication of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in human beings. This study focuses on the hypertrophic and hyperplastic mechanisms underlying the structural changes of the heart during experimental infection. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, transversal diameter, nuclear area, and number of nuclei per unit volume were determined in the ventricular myocytes of T. cruzi–infected Wistar rats. PCNA expression was enhanced throughout the inflamed myocardium and in the spared areas of the left ventricular wall and the septum. Myocyte width increased from 26 to 75% at the inflammation-free myocardium (P < 0.0001), whereas it decreased 25% at the inflamed left ventricular wall areas (P < 0.001). Nuclear size increased in the inflammation-free myocardium of the left ventricle and the septum (>10–36%, P < 0.01 and >0.2–32%, P < 0.03, respectively) and decreased at the inflamed areas of the left ventricular wall (10–22%, P < 0.02) with respect to the controls. The number of nuclei per unit volume decreased at the inflamed myocardium regardless of topographical location (36–65%) with respect to the controls (P < 0.0001) and in the inflammation-free myocardium of the right ventricle and the septum (<21–37%, P < 0.002 and <8–39%, P < 0.002, respectively). These results show that the heart responds to T. cruzi infection with DNA repair and cell multiplication in the inflamed sites and with hypertrophy of the unaffected myocardium.
Assessment of joint space width in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a comparison of 4 measuring instruments.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the intra and interobserver reproducibility of 4 measuring instruments for assessing joint space width in knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to estimate the effects of patients, instrument, session order, and reader variation. METHODS We studied 30 patients with unilateral tibiofemoral OA selected to represent a broad range of radiographic changes. Joint space width (JSW) was measured on plain anteroposterior weight bearing radiographs. Using an experimental design, 3 readers assessed JSW 3 times with 4 measuring instruments (ruler, caliper, graduated magnifying glass, digitized assessment). RESULTS Intra and interobserver reproducibility was high with all measuring instruments (intraclass correlation coefficients from 0.95 to 0.98 and from 0.91 to 0.97, respectively). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a patient effect (p < 10(-6)), a reader effect (p = 0.0001), an instrument effect (p = 0.0001), and a session order effect (p = 0.04). The variance component estimates were patients 55%, readers 34%, session order 2%, instruments 8%. ANOVA performed separately for each instrument showed that session order differences always represented less than 1% of the total variance. The reader component accounted for 0% of the total variance for the ruler, 2% for the digitized method, 16% for the caliper, and 18% for the graduated magnifying glass. CONCLUSION Ruler and digitized assessment have better reliability than caliper and graduated magnifying glass.
Effects of changing speed on knee and ankle joint load during walking and running

Abstract Joint moments can be used as an indicator of joint loading and have potential application for sports performance and injury prevention. The effects of changing walking and running speeds on joint moments for the different planes of motion still are debatable. Here, we compared knee and ankle moments during walking and running at different speeds. Data were collected from 11 recreational male runners to determine knee and ankle joint moments during different conditions. Conditions include walking at a comfortable speed (self-selected pacing), fast walking (fastest speed possible), slow running (speed corresponding to 30% slower than running) and running (at 4 m · s−1 ± 10%). A different joint moment pattern was observed between walking and running. We observed a general increase in joint load for sagittal and frontal planes as speed increased, while the effects of speed were not clear in the transverse plane moments. Although differences tend to be more pronounced when gait changed from walking to running, the peak moments, in general, increased when speed increased from comfortable walking to fast walking and from slow running to running mainly in the sagittal and frontal planes. Knee flexion moment was higher in walking than in running due to larger knee extension. Results suggest caution when recommending walking over running in an attempt to reduce knee joint loading. The different effects of speed increments during walking and running should be considered with regard to the prevention of injuries and for rehabilitation purposes.
R&D investment and systematic risk

The present study investigates the relationship between a firm's RD (ii) the greater systematic risk is largely attributable to the greater intrinsic business risk and the greater operating risk of RD (iii) RD and (iv) our results are particularly strong in the manufacturing sector. For the non-manufacturing sector, the results are not robust for different study periods.
Ankrd17 positively regulates RIG‐I‐like receptor (RLR)‐mediated immune signaling

Retinoic acid‐inducible gene‐I (RIG‐I)‐like receptors (RLRs), such as RIG‐I, melanoma differentiation‐associated gene 5 (MDA5), and virus‐induced signaling adaptor (VISA), are intracellular molecules that sense diverse viral RNAs and trigger immune responses. In this study, we demonstrate that the ankyrin repeat protein ankrd17 interacts with RIG‐I, MDA5, and VISA and upregulates RLR‐mediated immune signaling. Overexpression of ankrd17 enhances RLR‐mediated activation of IRF‐3 and NF‐κB and upregulates the transcription of IFN‐β. It also promotes RLR signaling in response to poly (I:C), influenza virus RNA, and Sendai virus. Consistently, knockdown of ankrd17 impairs RLR signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ankrd17 enhances the interaction of RIG‐I and MDA5 with VISA; the ankyrin repeat domain of ankrd17 is required for its interaction with RIG‐I as well as for its function in regulating the RLR pathway. Taken together, our results indicate that ankrd17 is a positive regulator of the RLR signaling pathway.
Mortalidad infantil en Uruguay: un análisis de supervivencia

A partir de todos los nacimientos ocurridos en el Uruguay entre 2002 y 2003 y lasdefunciones ocurridas en el primer ano de vida, se estima la tasa de mortalidad infantil atraves de modelos probit y hazard. Debido a que las muertes se concentran en losprimeros dias y semanas de vida, el modelo hazard es preferible al probit, encontrandoseque la estimacion probit sobreestima los efectos de las covariables. Los resultadosmuestran que las variables mas importantes son la edad y la educacion de la madre, loscuidados prenatales y los denominados predictores de la mortalidad (bajo peso al nacer,semanas de gestacion y APGAR).
An Inverse Correlation between Spontaneous Eye-Blink Rate and Platelet Monoamine Oxidase Activity

Summary An inverse correlation between platelet monoamine oxidase activity and spontaneous eye-blink rate, a putative measure of central dopaminergic activity, was found in medication-free chronic schizophrenic patients without tardive dyskinesia (n = 20, rs = -.47, P <.025). A similar correlation was found when patients with tardive dyskinesia were included but was weaker (n = 27, rs = -.35, P <.05). Normal controls and patients with tardive dyskinesia did not demonstrate this relationship. This report confirms a previous finding of a significant platelet monoamine oxidase-blink rate correlation in chronic schizophrenic patients. Insofar as this relationship is mediated by dopamine, it suggests that dopaminergic relations are more readily demonstrated in schizophrenic subjects than normals. Moreover, tardive dyskinesia appears to obscure this dopaminergic relationship.
A Novel Magnetic Gear: Toward a Higher Torque Density

Magnetic gears (MGs), a promising alternative to conventional mechanical gear boxes, have gained growing attention in the last decade. This paper proposes a novel topology of flux-focusing MG, which makes use of both axial and transverse magnetic fluxes. Important geometrical parameters are optimized using a sequential parametric sweeping analysis. Performances are validated by a 3-D finite-element method and compared with the existing MGs. The result indicates that by reducing the saturation in soft magnetic materials and the flux leakage, the new topology has a significantly high torque density within a wide length-diameter ratio.
A NOTE ON MODELING PROJECT INTERDEPENDENCE IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

This note is concerned with the problem of resource allocation under uncertainty in a research and development laboratory. A distinction is defined between project interrelationships that are specific (or internal) to certain projects and interrelationships resulting from external environmental factors. Formulations are introduced that allow both types of interrelationships to be formally included in a resource allocation optimization model. In the case of external environmental factors, an example is presented and analyzed.
Calcineurin Promotes Protein Kinase C and c-Jun NH2-terminal Kinase Activation in the Heart

Multiple intracellular signaling pathways have been shown to regulate the hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes. Both necessary and sufficient roles have been described for the mitogen activated protein kinase1 (MAPK) signaling pathway, specific protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms, and calcineurin. Here we investigate the interdependence between calcineurin, MAPK, and PKC isoforms in regulating cardiomyocyte hypertrophy using three separate approaches. Hearts from hypertrophic calcineurin transgenic mice were characterized for PKC and MAPK activation. Transgenic hearts demonstrated activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), but not p38 MAPK factors. Calcineurin transgenic hearts demonstrated increased activation of PKCα, β1, and θ, but not of ε, β2, or λ. In a second approach, cultured cardiomyocytes were infected with a calcineurin adenovirus to induce hypertrophy and the effects of pharmacologic inhibitors or co-infection with a dominant negative adenovirus were examined. Calcineurin-mediated hypertrophy was prevented with PKC inhibitors, Ca2+chelation, and attenuated with a dominant negative SEK-1 (MKK4) adenovirus, but inhibitors of ERK or p38 activation had no effect. In a third approach, we examined the activation of MAPK factors and PKC isoforms during the progression of load-induced hypertrophy in aortic banded rats with or without cyclosporine. We determined that inhibition of calcineurin activity with cyclosporine prevented PKCα, θ, and JNK activation, but did not affect PKCε, β, λ, ERK1/2, or p38 activation. Collectively, these data indicate that calcineurin hypertrophic signaling is interconnected with PKCα, θ, and JNK in the heart, while PKCε, β, λ, p38, and ERK1/2 are not involved in calcineurin-mediated hypertrophy.