Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discussion of “ The Effects of Housing Prices and Monetary Policy in a Currency Union ”

Central questions raised by recent experience are “why do housing prices fluctuate? ” and “what should central banks do about it? ” For member states of a currency union, such as Spain or Texas, independent monetary policy cannot be conducted, so that it is important to inquire whether fluctuating housing prices make currency union participation undesirable. In this timely paper, Oriol Aspachs-Bracons and Pau Rabanal provide some useful insights into the nature of the Spanish experience, into the mechanics of a two-region dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that contains a housing sector in each region, and on the differences between responses to various shocks under alternative policy rules. It is one component of the authors’ recent work that contributes to a rapidly growing literature on housing and macroeconomics. Since housing is a durable good, the authors draw on two relevant background literatures, each of which is New Keynesian in structure. In terms of the housing literature, the DSGE model analysis builds most directly on prior work by Iacoviello and Neri (2010), which constructs a closed-economy macroeconomic model with separate sectors for “final consumption” and “housing investment. ” In the housing literature, central questions are the response of housing investment, housing prices, final consumption, and aggregate output to shocks in monetary policy in housing demand. In terms of the durability literature, the DSGE model analysis is related to work by Barsky, House, and Kimball (2007), Monacelli (2009), and Sterk (2010) that also studies closed-economy models with separate sectors that are “non-durable” and “durable” in nature. In both housing and durability literatures, a variety of nominal frictions are examined, including wage and price stickiness. In both literatures,
Diabetes Management Using Modern Information and Communication Technologies and New Care Models

Background Diabetes, a metabolic disorder, has reached epidemic proportions in developed countries. The disease has two main forms: type 1 and type 2. Disease management entails administration of insulin in combination with careful blood glucose monitoring (type 1) or involves the adjustment of diet and exercise level, the use of oral anti-diabetic drugs, and insulin administration to control blood sugar (type 2). Objective State-of-the-art technologies have the potential to assist healthcare professionals, patients, and informal carers to better manage diabetes insulin therapy, help patients understand their disease, support self-management, and provide a safe environment by monitoring adverse and potentially life-threatening situations with appropriate crisis management. Methods New care models incorporating advanced information and communication technologies have the potential to provide service platforms able to improve health care, personalization, inclusion, and empowerment of the patient, and to support diverse user preferences and needs in different countries. The REACTION project proposes to create a service-oriented architectural platform based on numerous individual services and implementing novel care models that can be deployed in different settings to perform patient monitoring, distributed decision support, health care workflow management, and clinical feedback provision. Results This paper presents the work performed in the context of the REACTION project focusing on the development of a health care service platform able to support diabetes management in different healthcare regimes, through clinical applications, such as monitoring of vital signs, feedback provision to the point of care, integrative risk assessment, and event and alarm handling. While moving towards the full implementation of the platform, three major areas of research and development have been identified and consequently approached: the first one is related to the glucose sensor technology and wearability, the second is related to the platform architecture, and the third to the implementation of the end-user services. The Glucose Management System, already developed within the REACTION project, is able to monitor a range of parameters from various sources including glucose levels, nutritional intakes, administered drugs, and patient’s insulin sensitivity, offering decision support for insulin dosing to professional caregivers on a mobile tablet platform that fulfills the need of the users and supports medical workflow procedures in compliance with the Medical Device Directive requirements. Conclusions Good control of diabetes, as well as increased emphasis on control of lifestyle factors, may reduce the risk profile of most complications and contribute to health improvement. The REACTION project aims to respond to these challenges by providing integrated, professional, management, and therapy services to diabetic patients in different health care regimes across Europe in an interoperable communication platform.
Graphene-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes

Graphene is an emerging carbon material that may soon find practical applications. With its unusual properties, graphene is a potential electrode material for electrochemical energy storage. This article highlights recent research progress in graphene-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes. With a brief description of the working principle of supercapacitors, research progress towards the synthesis and modification of graphene-based materials, including graphene oxide, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes, is presented. Applications of such materials with desirable properties to meet the specific requirements for the design and configuration of advanced supercapacitor devices are summarized and discussed. Future research trends towards new approaches to the design and synthesis of graphene-based nanostructures and architectures for electrochemical energy storage are proposed.
Predicting intrinsic disorder from amino acid sequence

Blind predictions of intrinsic order and disorder were made on 42 proteins subsequently revealed to contain 9,044 ordered residues, 284 disordered residues in 26 segments of length 30 residues or less, and 281 disordered residues in 2 disordered segments of length greater than 30 residues. The accuracies of the six predictors used in this experiment ranged from 77% to 91% for the ordered regions and from 56% to 78% for the disordered segments. The average of the order and disorder predictions ranged from 73% to 77%. The prediction of disorder in the shorter segments was poor, from 25% to 66% correct, while the prediction of disorder in the longer segments was better, from 75% to 95% correct. Four of the predictors were composed of ensembles of neural networks. This enabled them to deal more efficiently with the large asymmetry in the training data through diversified sampling from the significantly larger ordered set and achieve better accuracy on ordered and long disordered regions. The exclusive use of long disordered regions for predictor training likely contributed to the disparity of the predictions on long versus short disordered regions, while averaging the output values over 61‐residue windows to eliminate short predictions of order or disorder probably contributed to the even greater disparity for three of the predictors. This experiment supports the predictability of intrinsic disorder from amino acid sequence. Proteins 2003;53:566–572. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Force Maximization of Biarticularly Actuated Manipulators Using Infinity Norm

There is a rising interest in biologically inspired manipulators equipped with biarticular actuators-actuators that span two joints-for solving the known limitations of conventional systems. In contrast with kinematic redundancy, actuator redundancy resulting from the presence of biarticular actuators has the added advantages of bringing more stability, reducing the inertia of the robot links, and decreasing the nonlinearity of the end effector force as a function of force direction. In this paper, the advantage of the infinity norm optimization criteria on a robot designed under the actuator redundancy paradigm is investigated. A closed form solution based on the infinity norm for a manipulator with mono- and biarticular actuators is derived. The proposed infinity norm-based approach is compared with the conventional method based on pseudoinverse matrix by both calculation and experiment. Under the same actuator limitations, the maximum end effector force produced with the proposed method is significantly greater than the one produced by the conventional method. The proposed closed form solution is suitable for redundant systems with three inputs and two outputs, bringing the advantage of an higher maximum output without the need for iterative algorithms.
Iris Recognition Algorithms Based on Gabor Wavelet Transforms

Iris recognition is a very reliable method for personal identity verification. Some pre-processing methods are first discussed in this paper, such as iris localization, iris image enhancement etc. To improve some lacks in the published algorithms of iris recognition, some effective methods are proposed for the available region selection, texture feature extraction and code matching of iris. On the selection of available regions, a new division method is applied according to the biometric feature of iris itself to obtain more information. On the texture feature extraction, the transforms of the Gabor wavelet is introduced. Dividing the frequencies of Gabor into two bands, different Gabor scale parameters are selected in every band, and the appropriate location parameters are chosen. In order to resolve the effects of iris image rotation on the result of iris recognition, the binary iris codes achieved must be compared using the method of shifting in a fixed length. Experimental results show that the iris recognition method proposed has a better performance
Evaluation of stresses in hard dental tissues in tooth wear using finite element analysis: A methodological study

Mechanical strength of worn hard dental tissues of a tooth crown under its local loading by a hard food particle was evaluated. A mathematical model of a tooth crown was developed as a two-layer elastic solid, which consisted of worn or demineralized worn enamel, and dentine loaded by masticatory forces through a hard food particle in direct contact. A geomet- rical model of the crown allowed simulation of several stages of enamel wear, resulting in the redistribution of stresses inside the crown tissues. Using finite element method, components of stress state and von Mises equivalent stress along the depth of multi-layer elastic solid were calculated. This methodology allows calculation of limiting values of worn enamel thickness from the viewpoint of dentine overstress prevention.
Electrospinning Fabrication and Characterization of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Montmorillonite Nanofiber Mats

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/montmorillonite clay (MMT) nanofiber mats have been fabricated by the electrospinning technique. The PVA/MMT nanofiber mats were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and mechanical measurements. The study showed that the introduction of MMT results in improvement in tensile strength, and thermal stability of the PVA matrix. XRD patterns and SEM micrographs suggest the coexistence of exfoliated MMT layers over the studied MMT contents. FTIR revealed that there might be possible interaction occurred between the MMT clay and PVA matrix. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Effects of oxygen on lower limb blood flow and O2 uptake during exercise in COPD.

PURPOSE To quantify the effects of acute oxygen supplementation on lower limb blood flow (QLEG), O2 delivery (QO2LEG), and O2 uptake (VO2LEG) during exercise and to determine whether the metabolic capacity of the lower limb is exhausted at peak exercise during room air breathing in patients with COPD. METHODS Oxygen (FIO2 = 0.75) and air were randomly administered to 14 patients with COPD (FEV1: 35 +/- 2% pred, mean +/- SEM) during two symptom-limited incremental cycle exercise tests. Before exercise, a cannula was installed in a radial artery and a thermodilution catheter inserted in the right femoral vein. At each exercise step, five-breath averages of respiratory rate, tidal volume, and ventilation (VE), dyspnea and leg fatigue scores, arterial and venous blood gases, and QLEG were obtained. From these measurements, VO2LEG was calculated. RESULTS Peak exercise capacity increased from 46 +/- 3 W in room air to 59 +/- 5 W when supplemental oxygen was used (P < 0.001). QLEG, QO2LEG, and VO2LEG were greater at peak exercise with O2 than with air (P < 0.05). During submaximal exercise, dyspnea score and VE were significantly reduced with O2 (P < 0.05), whereas QLEG, VO2LEG, and leg fatigue were similar under both experimental conditions. The improvement in peak exercise work rate correlated with the increase in peak QO2LEG (r = 0.66, P < 0.01), peak VO2LEG (r = 0.53, P < 0.05), and reduction in dyspnea at iso-exercise intensity (r = 0.56, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The improvement in peak exercise capacity with oxygen supplementation could be explained by the reduction in dyspnea at submaximal exercise and the increases in QO2LEG and VO2LEG, which enabled the exercising muscles to perform more external work. These data indicate that the metabolic capacity of the lower limb muscles was not exhausted at peak exercise during room air breathing in these patients with COPD.
Procedural rhythmic character animation: an interactive Chinese lion dance

The creation of a stylistic animation through the use of high‐level controls has always been a design goal for computer animation software. In this paper, we propose a procedural animation system, called rhythmic character animation playacting (RhyCAP), which allows a designer to interactively direct animated characters by adjusting rhythmic parameters such as tempo, exaggeration, and timing. The motions thus generated reflect the intention of the director and also adapt to environmental obstacle constraints. We use a sequence of martial‐art steps in the performance of a Chinese lion dance to illustrate the effectiveness of the system. The animation is generated by composition of common motion elements, concisely represented in an action graph. We have implemented an animation control program that allows Chinese lion dance to be choreographed interactively. This authoring tool also serves as a useful means for preserving this part of world cultural heritage. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Microparticles: major transport vehicles for distinct microRNAs in circulation

Aims Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have attracted major interest as biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases. Since RNases are abundant in circulating blood, there needs to be a mechanism protecting miRNAs from degradation. We hypothesized that microparticles (MP) represent protective transport vehicles for miRNAs and that these are specifically packaged by their maternal cells. Methods and results Conventional plasma preparations, such as the ones used for biomarker detection, are shown to contain substantial numbers of platelet-, leucocyte-, and endothelial cell-derived MP. To analyse the widest spectrum of miRNAs, Next Generation Sequencing was used to assess miRNA profiles of MP and their corresponding stimulated and non-stimulated cells of origin. THP-1 (monocytic origin) and human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) MP were used for representing circulating MP at a high purity. miRNA profiles of MP differed significantly from those of stimulated and non-stimulated maternal THP-1 cells and HUVECs, respectively. Quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction of miRNAs which have been associated with cardiovascular diseases also demonstrated significant differences in miRNA profiles between platelets and their MP. Notably, the main fraction of miRNA in plasma was localized in MP. Furthermore, miRNA profiles of MP differed significantly between patients with stable and unstable coronary artery disease. Conclusion Circulating MP represent transport vehicles for large numbers of specific miRNAs, which have been associated with cardiovascular diseases. miRNA profiles of MP are significantly different from their maternal cells, indicating an active mechanism of selective ‘packaging’ from cells into MP. These findings describe an interesting mechanism for transferring gene-regulatory function from MP-releasing cells to target cells via MP circulating in blood.
On the value of learning for Bernoulli bandits with unknown parameters

We investigate the multi-armed bandit problem, where each arm generates an infinite sequence of Bernoulli distributed rewards. The parameters of these Bernoulli distributions are unknown and initially assumed to be beta-distributed. Every time a bandit is selected its beta-distribution is updated to new information in a Bayesian way. The objective is to maximize the long term discounted rewards. We study the relationship between the necessity of acquiring additional information and the reward. This is done by considering two extreme situations which occur when a bandit has been played M times; the situation where the decision maker stops learning and the situation where the decision maker acquires full information about that bandit. We show that the difference in reward between this lower and upper bound goes to zero as N grows large.
Computational fluid dynamics modelling in cardiovascular medicine

This paper reviews the methods, benefits and challenges associated with the adoption and translation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling within cardiovascular medicine. CFD, a specialist area of mathematics and a branch of fluid mechanics, is used routinely in a diverse range of safety-critical engineering systems, which increasingly is being applied to the cardiovascular system. By facilitating rapid, economical, low-risk prototyping, CFD modelling has already revolutionised research and development of devices such as stents, valve prostheses, and ventricular assist devices. Combined with cardiovascular imaging, CFD simulation enables detailed characterisation of complex physiological pressure and flow fields and the computation of metrics which cannot be directly measured, for example, wall shear stress. CFD models are now being translated into clinical tools for physicians to use across the spectrum of coronary, valvular, congenital, myocardial and peripheral vascular diseases. CFD modelling is apposite for minimally-invasive patient assessment. Patient-specific (incorporating data unique to the individual) and multi-scale (combining models of different length- and time-scales) modelling enables individualised risk prediction and virtual treatment planning. This represents a significant departure from traditional dependence upon registry-based, population-averaged data. Model integration is progressively moving towards ‘digital patient’ or ‘virtual physiological human’ representations. When combined with population-scale numerical models, these models have the potential to reduce the cost, time and risk associated with clinical trials. The adoption of CFD modelling signals a new era in cardiovascular medicine. While potentially highly beneficial, a number of academic and commercial groups are addressing the associated methodological, regulatory, education- and service-related challenges.
Effects of Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty and Endovascular Brachytherapy on Vascular Remodeling of Human Femoropopliteal Artery by Noninvasive Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background—Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of severely stenotic peripheral vascular lesions is hampered by a higher restenosis rate. The effects of PTA on vascular wall as well as the effects of the antirestenotic properties of endovascular brachytherapy (EVBT) remain unclear. MRI allows in vivo noninvasive assessment of the vascular effects of such treatment strategies. We sought to elucidate the vascular effect of PTA and PTA+EVBT by serial MRI. Methods and Results—Twenty symptomatic patients with severe stenosis of the femoropopliteal artery were randomly assigned to PTA (n=10) or PTA+EVBT (n=10; 14 Gy by &ggr;-irradiation source) and imaged by high-resolution MRI before and 24 hours and 3 months after intervention. An independent observer blinded to the procedure analyzed the MRI data. At 24 hours, cross-sectional MRI revealed that lumen area (86% and 67%) and total vessel area (47% and 34%) increased similarly in the PTA and PTA+EVBT groups, respectively. All patients showed severe splitting of the atherosclerotic plaque, resulting in an irregularly shaped lumen. At 3 months, MRI revealed a significant difference in lumen area change between the PTA and PTA+EVBT groups (40% and 106%, respectively; P=0.026) and in the total vessel area (14% and 39%, respectively; P=0.018). At 3 months, plaque disruption was still present in 50% of the patients treated with PTA+EVBT. Conclusions—After PTA, there is deep disruption of the atherosclerotic plaques and an extensive remodeling process of the arterial wall. Luminal loss after PTA is partially due to inward vessel remodeling. Brachytherapy prevents inward remodeling and induces an increase in lumen area but partially prevents healing of disrupted vessel surface.
Long-term prognostic importance of patency of the infarct-related coronary artery after thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND After thrombolytic therapy, long-term patency of the infarct-related artery may reduce arrhythmias, limit ventricular dilatation, and provide collaterals to another infarct zone if further infarction occurs. However, independent long-term prognostic value of infarct artery patency has not been shown. METHODS AND RESULTS We followed 312 patients with first myocardial infarction treated < 4 hours after pain onset with thrombolysis (streptokinase [n = 188] or recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator [n = 124]). At 28 +/- 11 days, cardiac catheterization was performed. Flow of the infarct-related artery was assessed by the TIMI scoring system, and a scoring system relating coronary stenoses and flow to the amount of myocardium supplied was also used. Follow-up was for 39 +/- 13 months. Cardiac death occurred in 5.8% of patients, and there were two noncardiac deaths. Revascularization was performed in 11.5% of patients. On univariate and multivariate analysis, ventricular function (ejection fraction, P = .006 and .02, or end-systolic volume index, P = .01 and .06) was the most important prognostic factor. Patency of the infarct-related artery measured as TIMI 3 flow was marginally significant on univariate analysis (P = .08) but not on multivariate analysis (P = .2). Patency was an independent prognostic factor in univariate and multivariate analysis when measured as an occlusion score (amount of myocardium supplied by an occluded artery, P = .01 and < .05). When the ejection fraction was > or = 50%, only occluded arteries supplying > 25% of the left ventricle affected prognosis adversely. If the ejection fraction was < 50%, occluded arteries supplying < 25% of myocardium also adversely affected prognosis. Treadmill exercise duration 4 weeks after infarction was the only other prognostic factor identified. CONCLUSIONS Ventricular function and infarct-related artery patency are independent prognostic factors after thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction.