Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Performance

This paper analyses the major changes in both monetary and fiscal policy that have taken place over the past two decades and, within the limits of the existing empirical research, evaluates the overall costs and benefits for the OECD economies. The general findings for monetary policy are that, while it was costly to lower inflation (in terms of output and employment), there are also benefits in terms of lower risk premiums on interest rates, a more favourable investment climate and an improvement in economic efficiency. That said, the paper concludes that there is not much of a case for lowering inflation further from its already low level. While inflation was being lowered, in a number of cases central banks were also undergoing rather significant changes to their institutional structures and policy-making frameworks. There is some limited evidence that these changes have helped in terms of better anchoring inflation expectations. At the same time there is no firm answer on how . Politique macro-economique et performance Cette etude examine les changements majeurs survenus au cours des vingt dernieres annees dans la conduite des politiques monetaire et fiscale et en evalue les principaux couts et benefices sur la base de la litterature empirique existante. Concernant la politique monetaire, bien qu’il ait ete couteux de reduire l’inflation (en termes d’emploi et de production), il y eu egalement des benefices en termes de reduction de prime de risque sur les taux d’interet, un climat plus favorable a l’investissement et une plus grande efficience economique. Ceci etant, l’etude conclut qu’il n’apparait pas justifie de poursuivre la desinflation au-dela des faibles niveaux deja enregistres dans la plupart des pays. Parallelement a la poursuite de la politique desinflationniste, plusieurs banques centrales ont modifie de maniere importante le cadre institutionnel dans lequel la politique est mise en operation. L’hypothese selon laquelle ces changements ont contribue a mieux ancrer les anticipations .
Adiponectin as a protective factor in hepatic steatosis.

AIM Obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are closely related to hepatic steatosis (HS), and adiponectin is a hepatic insulin sensitizer that has important effects in liver function. This study aims at investigating the relationship between serum adiponectin concentration and the presence of HS. METHODS We carried out a cross-sectional study in a check-up unit of a University Hospital in Mexico City. We enrolled 196 subjects, comprising 98 subjects with HS (27 women, 71 men) and 98 controls (37 women and 61 men). Anthropometric, metabolic and biochemical variables were measured in the two groups. Serum adiponectin and leptin concentrations were determined, their association with grade of HS tested, and concentrations, according to quartiles, compared between cases and controls. chi(2) analysis for linear trends was used to test for a dose-response relationship and logistic regression analysis was conducted to test for a protective effect of adiponectin. RESULTS The HS subjects were older and more obese than controls, with a central obesity pattern. In the fourth quartile of adiponectin concentrations, HS was less common and severe. In a multivariate model of the fourth quartile of the adiponectin concentrations, we observed a protective effect (OR = 0.17, 95%CI: 0.04-0.67, P = 0.01). In subjects with more severe HS, we observed higher leptin concentrations, and caloric intakes, total fat and iron consumption were higher than in controls. CONCLUSION The results of the present study suggest that a high serum concentration of adiponectin is associated with a protective effect against HS.
Dispersed Chromosomal Stat5b-binding Elements Mediate Growth Hormone-activated Insulin-like Growth Factor-I Gene Transcription*

The growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) axis regulates somatic growth during childhood and orchestrates tissue repair throughout the life span. Recently described inactivating mutations in Stat5b in humans with impaired growth have focused attention on this transcription factor as a key agent linking GH-stimulated signals to IGF-I gene expression, and several putative Stat5b sites have been identified in the IGF-I gene. Here, we define and characterize potential GH- and Stat5b-activated chromosomal enhancers that can regulate IGF-I gene transcription. Of 89 recognizable Stat5 sequences in 200 kb centering on the rat IGF-I gene, 22 resided within conserved regions and/or were identical among different species. Only 15 of these sites, organized into 7 distinct domains, were found to bind Stat5b by quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation assays in liver chromatin of rats, but only after acute GH treatment. These sites could bind Stat5b in vitro, and individual domains could mediate GH- and Stat5b-stimulated IGF-I promoter activity in cultured cells. Further analyses revealed that four Stat5b domains possessed chromatin signatures of enhancers, including binding of co-activators p300 and Med1, and RNA polymerase II. These modifications preceded GH-stimulated recruitment of Stat5b, as did lysine 4 monomethylation of histone H3, which was enriched in 6/7 Stat5b-binding elements. In contrast, histone acetylation was induced by GH but was limited to Stat5b binding domains found within the IGF-I transcription unit. We conclude that GH stimulates recruitment of Stat5b to multiple dispersed regions within the igf1 locus, including several with properties consistent with long range transcriptional enhancers that collectively regulate GH-activated IGF-I gene transcription.
High frequency single crystal ultrasonic transducers up to 100 MHz for high resolution ophthalmic imaging applications

As one of the most important and well established tools, ultrasound imaging provides noninvasive valuable diagnostic information, especially in the form of cross-sectional images of soft tissues. High frequencies are used directly to enable high resolution imaging to be of clinical benefit. As a result, high-frequency ultrasonic transducers with better resolution are needed. The difficulty of a high frequency transducer comes from preparation of a very thin layer of piezoelectric material with piezoelectric properties similar to bulk material. To date, although there are some reports about high frequency (80 to 100 MHz) ultrasonic transducers for eye imaging applications, but the focal length of those transducers are not enough and the images are not clear enough. In this work, high frequency transducers were prepared and used for eye imaging, high resolution of pig eye imaging were obtained.
FPGA implementation of convolutional neural network based on stochastic computing

There has been a body of research to use stochastic computing (SC) for the implementation of neural networks, in the hope that it will reduce the area cost and energy consumption. However, no working neural network system based on stochastic computing has been demonstrated to support the viability of SC-based deep neural networks in terms of both recognition accuracy and cost/energy efficiency. In this demonstration we present an SC-based deep nenural network system that is highly accurate and efficient. Our system takes an input image and processes it with a convolutional neural network implemented on an FPGA using stochastic computing to recognize the input image, with nearly the same accuracy as conventional binary implementations.
Riding the Wave of Urban Growth in the Countryside: Spread, Backwash, or Stagnation?

The advisability of an urban-centered growth strategy to reap the benefits of urban agglomeration economies is much debated. Rural areas benefit when the growth “spreads” to the hinterlands, especially within daily commuting distance. Yet, in distant-peripheral locations, urban growth may create a “backwash” as households relocate to the urban center. This study examines spread vs. backwash, as separate from long-run, distance-from-urban-center trend effects, using a novel Canadian GIS database. The unique nation-wide approach yields a spread and backwash rural-growth topography that varies by distance from the urban center, by urban population vs. income growth, and by size of rural community. (JEL R11, R14)
Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar change detection for specific land cover types

This paper presents a supervised polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) change detection method applied to specific land cover types. For each pixel of a PolSAR image, its target scattering vector can be modeled as having a complex multivariate normal distribution. Based on this assumption, the joint distribution of two corresponding vectors in a pair of PolSAR images is derived. Then, a generalized likelihood ratio test statistic for the equality of two likelihood functions of such joint distribution is considered and a maximum likelihood distance measure for specific land cover types is presented. Subsequently, the Kittler and Illingworth minimum error threshold segmentation method is applied to extract the specific changed areas. Experiments on two repeat-pass Radarsat-2 fully polarimetric images of Suzhou, China, demonstrate that the proposed change detection method gives a good performance in determining the specific changed areas in PolSAR images, especially the areas that have changed to water.
How to avoid self-fulfilling crises

Obstfeld (1994) shows that, for the same level of economic fundamentals, it may be optimal for a government either to devalue or to maintain the peg. Multiple equilibria occur: it is the phenomenon of self-fulfilling crisis. To avoid this kind of crisis, this article offers a new proposal: a partial delegation of exchange rate policy to a more inflation-averse central banker. It shows that if the government continues to decide whether to maintain the peg while the central banker chooses the magnitude of any realignment, lower inflationary expectations will lead to the existence of only one equilibrium.
ECONOMIC POLICY REGIMES AND INDIAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

India has tried some economic policy models since independence to spread the benefits of development to all her people. This paper examines the implications of economic policy shifts on economic activities in India based on select macroeconomic indicators for a period from January 1966 to January 2007. Findings suggest that, to some extent, the policy shifts positively influenced the economic activities save the industrial production. This will surely frustrate the votaries of ‘free economy’ in India as the policy prescriptions failed to augment the growth in real sector. SECTION I Economic policy planners around the globe primarily aspire to achieve a healthy but faster economic growth, sustain and augment that growth and spread the benefits of development to all people irrespective of their economic and social status. In a similar vein, Indian planners also have toiled hard and tried three distinct economic models since independence. In the ‘controlled regime’ primary focus was on ‘creation of wealth’ through State directed and State controlled financial system. Financial institutions, especially the banking sector was entrusted upon to mobilize and purvey surpluses generated by the economic organisms. In the ‘semi-controlled’ regime, they have sought to shift from the controlled model of development emphasizing the efficiency of investment accompanied by a general move away from administrative and financial control (Kohli 1989, Jha, 1984, 1982). Finally, they settled on the much publicized and optimistic model of ‘free economy’ from the year 1992. All the suggestions of this new model are focused on ‘development by creation and distribution of wealth’. Financial and trade liberalization with ‘borrowing and lending at substantial real rate of interest’ and ‘a stable price level’ are the primary commitments of this new policy. Moreover, in the prescription of free economy, role of capital market is favored over the financial institutions, especially, in the noble job of mobilization and allocation of precious resources of the economy. The policy, grossly, entails a move towards a more market oriented system conjured up to usher halcyon days spawning a healthy living to all economic units (Kanagasapathy 2001, Reddy 2002).
Model-based direct control of PWM converters with an LCL filter

This paper presents a novel model-based strategy for direct power control of three-phase pulse-width-modulated converters. In another paper, the authors have reported this model-based method for direct power control of three-phase PWM converters which are connected to the grid through an L filter. In this research work by an analogous approach the proposed DPC is adapted for three-phase converters with an output LCL filter. The performance of the proposed technique is verified with simulation results.
Macroeconomic Policy and the Exchange Rate: working together?

The chapter reviews the behaviour of the Indian exchange rate over the past few years, and its interactions with the macroeconomic cycle. It examines the extent to which exchange rate policy has been able to contribute to lowering the probability of currency and banking crises, ensuring sustainable internal and external balance, and containing inflation. Given the political economy, more openness, the structural wage-price processes, the degree of backward and forward looking behavior in the Indian economy, the chapter draws out implications for macroeconomic policy. It finds that structure combined with openness actually increases the degrees of freedom and impact of monetary policy.
Competitive determinants of organizational risk‐taking attitude: the role of strategic reference points

A growing body of literature has emphasized the importance of innovative strategy as a source of competitive advantage. Drazin and Shoonhoven summarized the literature using multilevel theoretical perspectives (community, population, and organization) that affect organizational innovative behavior. In parallel, Fiegenbaum et al. developed an organizational level theory, based on prospect theory, to explain how risky strategies are determined within organizations. They argued that organizational reference points delineate organizational attitudes toward risk‐taking into two polarized regimes: risk‐aversive whereas below it is risk‐assertive. They described the organizational mechanism that converts attitudes toward risk‐taking into actual risk‐aversive and risk‐assertive strategic behavior. A three‐dimensional space is provided that illustrates the spectrum of strategic reference points (SRP). The current study extends SRP theory. It is proposed that the nature of the industry, organizational strategy, and performance impact the kind of reference points used, which, in turn, impact risk‐taking behavior towards innovative strategy.
FPGA based radar image enhanced: A robust evolutionary controlled filter approach

In this work, we implemented the robust evolutionary controlled (REC) filter in a FPGA platform. Due unknown a priori statistical information, we replace the Optimal Wiener Filter by its rough approximation referred to as REC filter. The evolution of the filter is controlled by changing/choosing the vector of the controlled parameters gamma. Such a control provides additional degrees of freedom of the filter. We report and discuss some implementation results in the Xilinx Virtex-II Pro XC2VP30 FPGA related to enhancement of the uncertain real-world RS imagery, these are indicative of the significantly increased performance efficiency gained with the developed approach.
Psychiatry interacts with contemporary Western views: the DSM‐III innovation and its adverse effects

Economic studies of innovation are relevant to the mental health sector, not just for innovations in more conventional industries, such as telecommunications. We present an economic examination of the impact of an innovation in the mental health sector. The innovation examined here was first adopted in 1980 with the publication of a new edition of the nosology (or classification) for the diagnosis of mental illnesses and disorders, which is known familiarly as the DSM‐III. In our analysis, we incorporate the impact of that innovation, and another major force relevant to psychiatric diagnosis during that time period, i.e. a trend in the West towards the medicalisation of normal sorrows. This is now a documented phenomenon. By using conventional price–quantity space and focussing attention on the quantity outcome, we are able to consider the impact of these concurrent forces on the false positive rate in the diagnosis of mental illnesses in the West and on efficacious diagnostic practice in this sector. Diagnostic efficacy is relevant to treatment, but it is relevant also to resource allocation in the mental health sector. Our analysis highlights the vital place of innovation in diagnostic practices, and the funding of this, in the mental health sector.
Pay Flexibilities in the United Kingdom's Public Services

The development of more flexible payment systems in the public services has been a major objective of the British government since 1979 This increased flexibility has been observed to have three major elements: (1) a decline m the influence of national collective bargaining in pay determination; (2) a shift to pay systems which are more contingent on local circumstances, and, (3) the growth of more variability of compensation in the pay system, such as performance-related pay. The government's approach has been to encourage public sector pay practices to become more similar to those in the private sector. This article reviews the changes in pay determination methods in the British public services since 1979, and it assesses the degree to which public service pay practices are converging with the private sector It concludes that, despite evidence of significant changes, major constraints continue to inhibit the direct transfer of many private sector pay practices to the public services
Climate Effects of the Deep Continental Stratus Clouds Generated by the Tibetan Plateau

Evidence is presented to show that the maximum annual mean cloud optical depth between 608S and 608N is located on the lee side of the Tibetan Plateau. This largest cloud optical depth is produced by persistent deep stratus clouds (primarily the nimbostratus and altostratus) during winter and spring. These deep stratus clouds are generated and maintained by the frictional and blocking effects of the Tibetan Plateau. The plateau slows down the overflow, inducing downstream midlevel divergence; meanwhile it forces the low-level flows to converge downstream, generating sustained large-scale lifting and stable stratification that maintain the thick stratus clouds. These stratus clouds produce extremely strong cloud radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere, which fundamentally influences the local energy balance and climate change. Analysis of the long-term meteorological station observations reveals that the monthly mean anomalous cloudiness and surface temperature vary in tandem. In addition, the surface warming leads to destabilization and desaturation in the boundary layer. This evidence suggests a positive feedback between the continental stratus clouds and surface temperature through changing lower-tropospheric relative humidity and stratification. It is shown that the positive feedback mechanism is more robust during the period of the surface cooling than during the surface warming. It is suggested that the positive climate feedback of the continental stratus cloud may be instrumental in understanding the long-term climatic trend and variations over East Asia.
Informational Efficiency under the Shogunate Governance: Concentration and Integration of the Rice Market in Tokugawa Japan

In the Tokugawa period, the market transaction explosively grew, and the local markets of all Japan were effectively integrated as a national market. This is the common view shared among the historians. Then, an important question is how these markets performed. To evaluate the performance, this paper focusses on the co-movement of rice prices between Osaka and Otsu. Applying the Granger causality test, it is shown that the Otsu market had reflected the rice prices in Osaka within two days in the early 19th century, and within a day in the mid-19th century. This change had stemmed from the development of the communication technology. The rice merchants' appetite for the information had made the co-movement of the rice prices so fast that the Otsu market did not need even one trading day to reflect the rice prices in Osaka.
Cerebral cavernous malformation is a vascular disease associated with activated RhoA signaling

Abstract Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) involves the homozygous inactivating mutations of one of three genes, ccm1, -2, or -3 resulting in hyperpermeable blood vessels in the brain. The CCM1, -2, and -3 proteins form a complex to organize the signaling networks controlling endothelial cell physiology including actin dynamics, tube formation, and adherens junctions. The common biochemical defect with the loss of CCM1, -2, or -3 is increased RhoA activity leading to the activation of Rho-associated coiled coil-forming kinase (ROCK). Inhibition of the ROCK rescues CCM endothelial cell dysfunction, suggesting that the inhibition of RhoA-ROCK signaling may be a therapeutic strategy to prevent or arrest the progression of the CCM lesions.
Production of superoxide anion by head-kidney leucocytes of Indian major carps immunised with bacterins of Aeromonas hydrophila.

On contact with micro-organisms or any other antigenic particles which are recognised as phagocytosable, the leucocytes of vertebrates raise their oxygen consumption suddenly (respiratory burst). The consumed oxygen is then converted into reactive oxygen species (ROS). An effort has been made in the present study to estimate the production of superoxide anion, one of the ROS, by the resident as well as activated head-kidney leucocytes of Indian major carps. Activation was accomplished by immunisation with formalin killed (FK) and heat killed (HK) whole cell bacterins of Aeromonas hydrophila. In the ex vivo experiment conducted, activated leucocytes yielded a significant increase in O.D. values for nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction reaction, reflecting an increase in superoxide anion production, from day 1 post immunisation. Of the three species of Indian major carps immunised, Catla catla showed the greatest production of superoxide anion, followed by Labeo rohita and then by Cirrhinus mrigala. The enhancement of superoxide anion production of leucocytes by immunisation justifies the role of immunisation in the microbicidal defence mechanism of fish.
Nanoscopic Localization of Surface-Exposed Antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi

Abstract Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Ixodes spp. ticks. Successful infection of vertebrate hosts necessitates sophisticated means of the pathogen to escape the vertebrates’ immune system. One strategy employed by Lyme disease spirochetes to evade adaptive immunity involves a highly coordinated regulation of the expression of outer surface proteins that is vital for infection, dissemination, and persistence. Here we characterized the expression pattern of bacterial surface antigens using different microscopy techniques, from fluorescent wide field to super-resolution and immunogold-scanning electron microscopy. A fluorescent strain of B. burgdorferi spirochetes was labeled with monoclonal antibodies directed against various bacterial surface antigens. Our results indicate that OspA is more evenly distributed over the surface than OspB and OspC that were present as punctate areas.