Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dosimetry and dose planning in boron neutron capture therapy : Monte Carlo studies

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a biologically targeted radiotherapy modality. So far, 249 cancer patients have received BNCT at the Finnish Research Reactor 1 (FiR 1) in Finland. The effectiveness and safety of radiotherapy are dependent on the radiation dose delivered to the tumor and healthy tissues, and on the accuracy of the doses. At FiR 1, patient dose calculations are performed with the Monte Carlo (MC) -based treatmentplanning system (TPS), Simulation Environment for Radiotherapy Applications (SERA). Initially, BNCT was applied to head and neck cancer, brain tumors, and malignant melanoma. To evaluate the applicability of the new target tumors for BNCT, calculation dosimetry studies are needed. So far, clinical BNCT has been performed with the neutrons from a nuclear reactor, while an accelerator based neutron sources applicable for hospital operation would be preferable. In this thesis, BNCT patient dose calculation practice in Finland was evaluated against reference calculations and experimental data in several cases. Calculations with two TPSs applied in clinical BNCT were compared. The suitability of the deuterium-deuterium (DD) and deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction-based compact neutron sources for BNCT were evaluated. In addition, feasibility of BNCT for noninvasive liver tumor treatments was examined. The deviation between SERA and the reference calculations was within 4% in the phantoms studied and in a brain cancer patient model elsewhere, except on the phantom or skin surface, for the boron, nitrogen, and photon dose components. These dose components produce 99% of the tumor dose and > 90% of the healthy tissue dose at points of relevance for treatment at the FiR 1 facility. The reduced voxel cell size ( 0.5 cm) in the SERA edit mesh improved calculation accuracy on the surface. The erratic biased fastneutron run option in SERA led to significant underestimation (up to 30–60%) of the fastneutron dose, while more accurate fast-neutron dose calculations without the biased option are too time-consuming for clinical practice. The SERA calculations for thermal neutron fluence are also accurate (within 5%) in comparison to the activation foil measurements at FiR 1. Large (> 5%) deviation was found between the measured and calculated photon doses, which produces from 25% up to > 50% of the healthy tissue dose at certain depths.
Upregulation of Nox‐Based NAD(P)H Oxidases in Restenosis After Carotid Injury

&NA; Restenosis, a frequent complication of coronary angioplasty, is associated with increased superoxide (O2·−) production. Although the molecular identity of the responsible oxidase is unclear, an NAD(P)H oxidase appears to be involved. In smooth muscle, p22phox and 2 homologues of gp91phox, nox1 and nox4, are expressed, whereas fibroblasts contain gp91phox. To begin investigating the possibility that these oxidase components might contribute to the increased O2·− that accompanies neointimal formation, we measured their expression after balloon injury of the rat carotid artery. The increase in O2·− production 3 to 15 days after surgery was not due to inflammatory cell infiltration but appeared to be derived from medial and neointimal smooth muscle cells and adventitial fibroblasts. Nox1 and p22phox mRNAs were increased 2.7‐ and 3.6‐fold, respectively, at day 3 after injury and remained elevated for 15 days. gp91Phox was increased 7 to 15 days after injury, and nox4 expression was increased 2‐fold, but only at day 15 after surgery. These results confirm and extend our previous in vitro data and suggest that in the vasculature, the nox‐based NAD(P)H oxidases serve different functions. This dynamic regulation of oxidase components may be critical to smooth muscle phenotypic modulation in restenosis and atherosclerosis.
Anno Stolper : The Credibility of Certifiers

It is often argued that certifiers have an incentive to offer inflated certificates, although they deny it. In this paper, we study a model in which a certifier is paid by sellers, and may offer them inflated certificates, but incurs costs if doing so. We find that the certifier may face a commitment problem: The certifier offers inflated certificates if the costs of offering the first inflated certificate are lower than the sellers’ willingness-topay for it. However, in equilibrium, the buyers cannot be fooled. The certifier would hence make a higher profit if the certifier did not offer inflated certificates and the buyers believed it. The number of inflated certificates, which the certifier offers in equilibrium, depends on the costs of offering inflated certificates. Yet, the certifier may oppose an increase in the costs of offering inflated certificates. We show that whether a certifier welcomes tighter regulation or lobbies against it, may depend on whether the new regulation only imposes higher costs, or also reduces the certifier’s commitment problem significantly. JEL classification: C72; D82; G24; L15; M42
Secure sensor node with Raspberry Pi

Information Technology, when implemented in healthcare, has the potential to radically improve the quality and efficiency of services being made available to patients. With the advent of mobile computing and wireless sensor networks, data acquisition and processing has become much faster and less expensive. Since there is an increase in possible software attacks on privacy and safety of health applications, safety and reliability of the sensor data is an important issue that needs to be addressed in this field. In this paper, a unique design of a secure sensor node prototype has been proposed and implemented, which communicates over Bluetooth using RC4 encryption algorithm between a mobile phone and their monitoring equipment. The design uses an accelerometer based sensor, which can be used as a prototype for a body sensor for fall detection in elderly people [1]. The data from the sensor is processed, encrypted and wirelessly communicated by Raspberry Pi (a Single Board Computer) to a mobile phone. The security issues have been addressed in two ways. Firstly, the loss of data is prevented by introducing a wired connection between the Raspberry Pi and the accelerometer based sensor. Secondly, a secure data communication is ensured by encrypting the sensor data using an encryption key sent from the mobile phone using Bluetooth. Our prototype, can be used to investigate and design several new sensor nodes with different interfaces, encryption and compression algorithms. The future work extends the application of this secure sensor node to the design of the body sensor module.
Political economy of post‐1991 economic reforms in India

THIS PAPER PROVIDES AN EVALUATION OF THE POLITICAL ECONOMY of economic reforms in India since June 1991. It identifies the major domestic political factors which have constrained the pace of India's economic reforms. It is organised under four sections. Section I provides the highlights of the rationale and the content of economic reforms implemented between mid-1991 and mid-1999. Section II evaluates the gains (and losses) from these reforms. Section III focuses on the urgency of launching a second wave of economic reforms in India. It outlines the major contours of these required reforms. Finally, section IV discusses the nature and critical role of appropriate political leadership in launching the process of the next generation of economic reforms to achieve the objective of making India into a super Asian economic power in the twenty-first century.
Molecular Epidemiology of blaCMY-2 Plasmids Carried by Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli Isolates from Cattle in the Pacific Northwest

ABSTRACT Restriction analyses of blaCMY-2-bearing plasmids and Salmonella and Escherichia coli hosts identified (i) shared highly similar plasmids in these species in rare cases, (ii) a clonal host-plasmid relationship in Salmonella enterica serotype Newport, and (iii) a very high diversity of strain types and plasmids among commensal E. coli isolates.
Tariff and Consumption Tax Reforms in a Developing Tourism Economy

This paper examines the effects of a coordinated tax reform by replacing import tariffs with point-by-point increases in consumption taxes for a small-open developing tourism economy. Foreign tourists demand for the non-traded goods provided in the informal sector of the host economy, resulting in a tourism-induced terms-of-trade effect. The presence of inbound tourism lends a support to positive tariffs even for a small open economy. The indirect tax reform of this kind can increase residents’ welfare and government revenue when the initial tariffs are relatively larger to the consumption taxes.
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON FREE RADICAL FORMATION AND ELECTRON MIGRATION IN IRRADIATED PROTEINS.

Electron vacancy, or electron spin density, caused by irradiation was found, at room temperature, to migrate through the protein from the multiple sites where the ionizing radiation struck to the few sites where the spin density was finally detected. Such migration did not occur at the temperature of liquid nitrogen, 77 deg K. From the shape of their resonances, it was concluded that when silk and feather quill were irradiated at temperatures as low as 77 deg K, several types of free radicals were produced. When the proteins irradiated at lowered temperatures were allowed to warm to room temperature, these complex patterns were usually converted to the simple pattern of a single free radical. This radical was the one characteristic of that protein irradiation at room temperature. A possible mechanism for this formation of characteristic free radicals is described. (M.C.G.)
CRM in Indian banking Sector: exploring the critical success factors

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is no longer a new term but a reality for many organisations. Banking is a prime candidate for CRM transformation, as competition in this sector increases; an excellence in service becomes a critical success factor. The study discovers the factors that influence CRM in Indian Banking Sector and evaluates the current CRM implementation process. Respondents are from both private and public sector banks. Findings of this study have relevance for managers as these findings provide them with the current scenario of CRM. Further managers learn to identify CRM-related factors that could contribute to CRM implementation.
A spiking neural representation for XCSF

This paper presents a Learning Classifier System (LCS) where each traditional rule is represented by a spiking neural network, a type of network with dynamic internal state. The evolutionary design process exploits parameter self-adaptation and a constructionist approach, providing the system with a flexible knowledge representation. It is shown how this approach allows for the evolution of networks of appropriate complexity to emerge whilst solving a continuous maze environment. Additionally, we extend the system to allow for temporal state decomposition. We evaluate our spiking neural LCS against one that uses Multi Layer Perceptron rules.
Infliximab in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease rapidly decreases fecal calprotectin levels.

AIM To study the response to infliximab in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as reflected in fecal calprotectin levels. METHODS Thirty-six pediatric patients with IBD [23 Crohn's disease (CD), 13 ulcerative colitis (UC); median age 14 years] were treated with infliximab. Fecal calprotectin was measured at baseline, and 2 and 6 wk after therapy, and compared to blood inflammatory markers. Maintenance medication was unaltered until the third infusion but glucocorticoids were tapered off if the patient was doing well. RESULTS At introduction of infliximab, median fecal calprotectin level was 1150 μg/g (range 54-6032 μg/g). By week 2, the fecal calprotectin level had declined to a median 261 μg/g (P < 0.001). In 37% of the patients, fecal calprotectin was normal (< 100 μg/g) at 2 wk. By week 6, there was no additional improvement in the fecal calprotectin level (median 345 μg/g). In 22% of the patients, fecal calprotectin levels increased by week 6 to pretreatment levels or above, suggesting no response (or a loss of early response). Thus, in CD, the proportion of non-responsive patients by week 6 seemed lower, because only 9% showed no improvement in their fecal calprotectin level when compared to the respective figure of 46% of the UC patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION When treated with infliximab, fecal calprotectin levels reflecting intestinal inflammation normalized rapidly in one third of pediatric patients suggesting complete mucosal healing.
Title : Cyclic electron flow in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Revisiting the pathway and regulation of cyclic electron flow in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Cyclic electron flow (CEF), one of the major alternative electron transport pathways to the primary linear electron flow (LEF) in chloroplasts has been discovered in the middle of the last century. It is defined as a return of the reductants from the acceptor side of the Photosystem I (PSI) to the pool of its donors via the cytochrome b6f, and has proven essential for photosynthesis. However, despite many efforts aimed at its characterisation, the pathway and regulation of CEF remain equivocal, and its physiological significance remains to be properly defined. Here we use novel spectroscopic approaches to measure CEF in transitory conditions in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We show that CEF operates at the same maximal rate regardless of the oxygen concentration, and that the latter influences LEF, rather than CEF in vivo, which questions the recent hypotheses about the CEF supercomplex formation. We further reveal that the pathways proposed for CEF in the literature are inconsistent with the kinetic information provided by our measurements. We finally provide cues on the regulation of CEF by light. not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was . http://dx.doi. org/10.1101/153288 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jun. 21, 2017;
Markets where buyers also are sellers. How realized home equity may work as an accelerator of house prices

The house price level is a function of buyers' realized home equity, and buyers' realized home equity is a function of the house price level. This interdependence follows from the fact that buyers are sellers in the same market. This article examines under what conditions this leads to a possible upward-sloping demand curve with a potentially unstable equilibrium. I employ a parsimonious model with two kinds of buyers, and utilize an augmented Slusky-equation that decomposes Walrasian demand into a substitution, an income, and an endowment income effect. The model demonstrates that instability may occur if first-time buyers' demand is sufficiently inelastic, leverage is stretched, debt-financing is common, and nth-time buyers are relatively more frequent than first-time buyers. Regulation on leverage and a capital gains tax reduce the likelihood of upward-sloping demand. The article utilizes new data from Norway to examine an empirical indicator of an equity accelerator of house prices and finds that over the period 2000-2008 the value of all housing transactions exceeded the aggregate net growth of mortgages by 50%, indicating substantial equity financing. In one year, 2008, the value of aggregate housing transactions was double the growth in net mortgages.
Welfare Effects of Price Targeting on Fixed Income Earners in Nigeria: A Framework for Analysis

The paper examines the welfare implications of price targeting from the perspective of when central bank has credibility of persistently achieving the target rates and when people have lost confidence on such credibility. In the former, it was observed that the principle of Pareto optimality holds while there will be welfare loss and social bliss denied in case of the later. The paper thus recommends a cautions monetary policy from the monetary targetters that will not affect the goal of ensuring maximum welfare and social justice in the society.
Interactive software usage for e‐learning of business statistics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine students' academic progress in a course of business statistics through interactive software usage, which helps these students to build their e‐learning during basic competences: solving problems and interpreting results.Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of 278 students is used to contrast two research hypotheses through the χ2‐test. The sample data correspond to the students' final grades reported during the academic period from Spring‐2004 to 2008 at an American State University.Findings – The population proportion of students that got passing or better final grades in a course of Business Statistics depends on how these students are classified as users or not users of interactive software (p‐value=0.029); for the students that got passing or better grades: the proportion (86.8 percent) of students using interactive software is greater than the proportion (76.4 percent) of students that do not use interactive software. Confirmation of this con.
Football Players as Human Assets Measurement as the Critical Factor in Asset Recognition: A Case Study Investigation

This paper considers whether the prospective services provided by a football player on behalf of the club holding his registration can be recognised as an accounting asset. The first section of the paper considers the appropriateness of treating these prospective services as intangible assets within the terms of the UK Accounting Standards Board criteria for definition and recognition of assets. In the second section, four valuation methodologies are evaluated using case study data made available by a major Scottish club. Each of the methods evaluated is either currently used in accounting practice by some clubs, or is used in some form in the existing market place for players. The historical cost model involves capitalising players acquired by the club via the transfer market on the balance sheet at their cost of registration. The earnings multiplier model applies a multiplier to a player's earnings to produce a current valuation of that player. The third model involves capitalising players at directors' valuation, while the independent multiple player evaluation model involves obtaining valuations for players from various informed sources, knowledgeable on those particular players. The paper concludes that there are convincing arguments for the conceptualisation of the services provided by football players as accounting assets, and recommends an system of valuation in which players are valued at their realisable value by independent experts.
The effects of quality management – a survey of Swedish quality professionals

Purpose – In this study, the effects of the different models and tools of quality management are examined. The purpose is to identify differences in the effects generated by different quality management models and tools.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was mailed to 500 Swedish quality professionals. The questions concerned their companies' adoption of the values of TQM, the use of the models and tools of TQM and the effects they notice. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out.Findings – The findings show that there is statistical correlation between the adoption of the values of TQM and successful quality management. The usefulness of the Swedish Quality Award, the European Quality Award and ISO 9000 as well as several of the quality management tools is also indicated. Regarding ISO 9000 specific effects have been found.Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is that the financial outcomes of the quality management practices are not measur.
When is the optimal time to deliver late preterm IUGR fetuses with abnormal umbilical artery Dopplers?

Abstract Objective: To determine the optimal timing of delivery in late preterm intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) fetuses with abnormal umbilical artery Doppler (UAD) indices. Methods: A decision-analytic model was built to determine the optimal gestational age (GA) of delivery in a theoretic cohort of 10 000 IUGR fetuses with elevated UAD systolic/diastolic ratios diagnosed at 34 weeks. All inputs were derived from the literature. Strategies involving expectant management accounted for the probabilities of stillbirth, spontaneous delivery and induction of labor for UAD absent or reversed end-diastolic flow (AREDF) at each successive week. Outcomes included short- and long-term neonatal morbidity and mortality with quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) generated based on these outcomes. Base case, sensitivity analyses and a Monte Carlo simulation were performed. Results: The optimal GA for delivery is 35 weeks, which minimized perinatal deaths and maximized total QALYs. Earlier delivery became optimal once the risk of stillbirth was threefold our baseline assumption; our model was also robust until the risk of AREDF at 35 weeks was half our baseline assumption, after which delivery at 36 weeks was preferred. Delivery at 35 weeks was the optimal strategy in 77% of trials in Monte Carlo multivariable sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: Weighing the risks of iatrogenic prematurity against the poor outcomes associated with AREDF, the ideal GA to deliver late preterm IUGR fetuses with elevated UAD indices is 35 weeks.
The prevalence of chlamydial infection in Estonia: a population-based survey

Summary The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among Estonian men and women by a cross-sectional study based on the screening of a probability sample of the residents of Tartu using participant-collected, mail-delivered testing for C. trachomatis complemented with the self-administered questionnaire. Full participation as defined by returning both the questionnaire and specimen was 34% (n = 479; 95% confidence interval [CI] 32–37%). Study participation was 40% (n = 560; 95% CI 37–43%) for subjects returning either or both the study questionnaire and specimen. After weighing the population distribution, the prevalence estimate for the age group of 18–35 years was 5.4% (95% CI 3.0–7.5%), 6.9% (95% CI 3.6–10.3%) among women and 2.7% (95% CI 0.3–5.0%) among men. The number of sexual partners in the past 12 months was the strongest predictor of infection.
Margin requirements, positive feedback trading, and stock return autocorrelations: the case of Japan

This article examines the pattern of autocorrelation of daily stock index returns in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) by estimating the two variants of the EGARCH model by Nelson (1991). We confirm the findings by Sentana and Wadhwani (1992) and Koutmos (1997) that stock returns exhibit positive autocorrelation when volatility is low but they exhibit negative autocorrelation when volatility is rather high, and that stock returns are more negatively autocorrelated after price declines than after price rises. Evidence is also found that an increase in margin requirements makes stock returns more positively autocorrelated, which contrasts with Sentana and Wadhwani (1992) who were unable to detect any effect of margin requirements on the autocorrelation of returns in the US stock market.