Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Jakmip1 Is Expressed upon T Cell Differentiation and Has an Inhibitory Function in Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes1

Jakmip1 belongs to a family of three related genes encoding proteins rich in coiled-coils. Jakmip1 is expressed predominantly in neuronal and lymphoid cells and colocalizes with microtubules. We have studied the expression of Jakmip1 mRNA and protein in distinct subsets of human primary lymphocytes. Jakmip1 is absent in naive CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes from peripheral blood but is highly expressed in Ag-experienced T cells. In cord blood T lymphocytes, induction of Jakmip1 occurs upon TCR/CD28 stimulation and parallels induction of effector proteins, such as granzyme B and perforin. Further analysis of CD8+ and CD4+ T cell subsets showed a higher expression of Jakmip1 in the effector CCR7− and CD27− T cell subpopulations. In a gene expression follow-up of the development of CMV-specific CD8+ response, Jakmip1 emerged as one of the most highly up-regulated genes from primary infection to latent stage. To investigate the relationship between Jakmip1 and effector function, we monitored cytotoxicity of primary CD8+ T cells silenced for Jakmip1 or transduced with the full-length protein or the N-terminal region. Our findings point to Jakmip1 being a novel effector memory gene restraining T cell-mediated cytotoxicity.
The range of derivative's arbitrage prices in a general incomplete market

In this paper we work in a general incomplete market driven by a mixed diffusion of finite dimension and we characterize the range of derivative's arbitrage prices by the super-replication approach in the deterministic interest rate hypothesis (DIRH) and in the stochastic interest rate hypothesis (SIRH). We give some examples of applications of this models in particular incomplete situations.
Measuring Human Capital Like Physical Capital: What Does it Tell Us?

In this paper, I develop a measure of human capital stock that is similar to measuring physical capital by its replacement cost. This measure builds on measures of average educational attainment of the labour force. While it is far from an ideal measure, it is an interesting complement to the educational attainment series and other existing measures of human capital accumulation. In cross-country panel regressions, use of this measure of human capital accumulation yields a positive and significant, but relatively small (about ten per cent) elasticity with per capita GDP growth. Unlike physical capital, the stock of human capital as a share of GDP increases with GDP. This is consistent with the Barro et al. (1995) model of growth with non-mobile human capital and with some predictions of Romer's (1990) model of endogenous growth, but it is not consistent with the predictions of some other growth models. Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research
Pensions and Voting Equilibria in an Overlapping Generation Model with Heterogeneous Agents.

We model how a Beveridgean pay-as-you-go pension system may be supported by a majority of heterogeneous voters in a general equilibrium OLG model. The introduction of heterogeneity creates intragenerational transfers among workers which may lead to different optimal taxation rates within young individuals and to a positive taxation rate as outcome of the political choice. We underline the general equilibrium effects of a PAYG pension system on the interest rate, on future wages and therefore on the future level of pensions. We obtain an equilibrium tax rate and pension level that do not depend on population growth rate and on the capital stock.
Effect of Fibroblast-Seeded Artificial Dermis on Wound Healing

AbstractIn covering wounds, efforts should include use of the safest and least invasive methods with a goal of achieving optimal functional and cosmetic outcome. The recent development of advanced technology in wound healing has triggered the use of cells and/or biological dermis to improve wound healing conditions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of fibroblast-seeded artificial dermis on wound healing efficacy.Ten nude mice were used in this study. Four full-thickness 6-mm punch wounds were created on the dorsal surface of each mouse (total, 40 wounds). The wounds were randomly assigned to one of the following 4 treatments: topical application of Dulbecco phosphate-buffered saline (control), human fibroblasts (FB), artificial dermis (AD), and human fibroblast-seeded artificial dermis (AD with FB). On the 14th day after treatment, wound healing rate and wound contraction, which are the 2 main factors determining wound healing efficacy, were evaluated using a stereoimage optical topometer system, histomorphological analysis, and immunohistochemistry.The results of the stereoimage optical topometer system demonstrated that the FB group did not have significant influence on wound healing rate and wound contraction. The AD group showed reduced wound contraction, but wound healing was delayed. The AD with FB group showed decreased wound contraction without significantly delayed wound healing. Histomorphological analysis exhibited that more normal skin structure was regenerated in the AD with FB group. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the AD group and the AD with FB group produced less &agr;-smooth muscle actin than the control group, but this was not shown in the FB group.Fibroblast-seeded artificial dermis may minimize wound contraction without significantly delaying wound healing in the treatment of skin and soft tissue defects.
Integrated current sensing circuit suitable for step-down dc-dc converters

A new integrated current sensing circuit suitable for step-down dc-dc converter is presented in this paper. The current sensing circuit can fully measure the inductor current through sensing the current of power switches whether the high side or low side switch is turned on. The proposed circuits can work in dc-dc converters such that the loading current can be managed through control theories.
Energy and QoS Aware Packet Forwarding in Wireless Sensor Networks

We consider energy efficient packet forwarding with quality-of-service (QoS) guarantee for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In most existing wireless network protocols, route planning and transmission rate setting are considered independently, however, we observe that energy consumption can be significantly reduced by combining these two aspects together when making forwarding decision. This is because this combination potentially increases one more degree of freedom (i.e., the temporal dimension) for the original routing problem. We are motivated to exploit this additional degree of freedom and devise forwarding protocol that conserves more energy than traditional algorithms. In particular, we cast the packet forwarding problem into the framework of dynamic programming. State space partition technique and state aggregation approximating architecture are introduced to produce an approximating optimal value function. Simulation experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed forwarding protocol. The results indicate that our protocol outperforms classical routing algorithms, especially when the QoS constraint becomes stringent.
Detection of β-Glucosidase Activity in Polyacrylamide Gels with Esculin as Substrate

β-Glucosidase can be located after nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis by incubating the gel with 0.1% esculin and 0.03% ferric chloride. The esculetin released from esculin by β-glucosidase action reacts with ferric ion to produce a black band, corresponding to the β-glucosidase, against the transparent background.
Complementary Assets and Investment Decisions

This paper analyzes which simultaneous crossover effects among tangible, intangible, and current assets affect investment and disinvestment decisions on tangible and intangible assets. Controlling for nonconvexity and irreversibility effects, we analyze investment and disinvestment over 1,044 firm-year observations of Spanish firms. The results show interrelations among tangible and intangible assets affecting their investment and disinvestment decisions, a different effect of current assets on investment and disinvestment, and the existence of lumping investment. The main contribution is the control for misspecification biases since all the effects are considered together.
Time course of the photoperiod-induced change in sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to testosterone feedback in castrated male hamsters.

ABSTRACT. Exposure to short days [6 h of light/24 h (LD 6: 18)] for 10 weeks renders the hypothalamic-pituitary axis of the castrated male golden hamster extremely sensitive to the negative feedback effect of testosterone. The present study investigated the time course of this change in sensitivity to steroid feedback, in both animals shifted from a stimulatory to a nonstimulatory photoperiod and animals shifted from a nonstimulatory to a stimulatory photoperiod. Hamsters were castrated and maintained on LD 14:10 for 60 days and then implanted sc with either empty or testosteronefilled Silastic capsules that were 4, 8, or 20 mm long. Half of theanimals remained on LD 14:10 and half were transferred to LD 6:18. In animals maintained on LD 14:10, the 4-mm testosterone implants had no effect on serum levels of LH and FSH, while the larger doses of testosterone induced a reduction in serum gonadotropin levels. The effect of testosterone on serum gonadotropin levels in LD 14:10 animals did not vary from 10 day.
Healthcare IT: Is your Information at Risk?

Healthcare Information Technology (IT) has made great advances over the past few years and while these advances have enable healthcare professionals to provide higher quality healthcare to a larger number of individuals it also provides the criminal element more opportunities to access sensitive information, such as patient protected health information (PHI) and Personal identification Information (PII). Having an Information Assurance (IA) programallows for the protection of information and information systems andensures the organization is in compliance with all requires regulations, laws and directive is essential. While most organizations have such a policy in place, often it is inadequate to ensure the proper protection to prevent security breaches. The increase of data breaches in the last few years demonstrates the importance of an effective IA program. To ensure an effective IA policy, the policy must manage the operational risk, including identifying risks, assessment and mitigation of identified risks and ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance.
Assessment and management of falls in older people

Worldwide, 30% of people aged 65 years or older who are living in the community fall each year, and among people aged 85 years or older, this proportion increases to nearly 40%. [1][1],[2][2] Falls frequently have serious consequences in this population, with concomitant effects on the health care
From radiobiology to technology: what is changing in radiotherapy for prostate cancer

In the last decades, new technologies have been introduced in the daily clinical practice of the radiation oncologist: 3D-Conformal radiotherapy (RT) became almost universally available, thereafter, intensity modulated RT (IMRT) gained large diffusion, due to its potential impact in improving the clinical outcomes, and more recently, helical and volumetric arc IMRT with image-guided RT are becoming more and more diffused and used for prostate cancer patients. The conventional dose-fractionation results to be the best compromise between the efficacy and the safety of the treatment, but combining new techniques, modern RT allows to overcame one of the major limits of the ‘older’ RT: the impossibility of delivering higher total doses and/or high dose/fraction. The evidences regarding radiobiology, clinical and technological evolution of RT in prostate cancer have been reported and discussed.
Short Interest and Frictions in the Flow of Information

This paper examines the correlation between short interest and price delay that parsimoniously measures the delay with which stock prices incorporate information. I find that price delay relates inversely to short interest indicating that short sellers reduce friction in the flow of information into stock prices. While price delay is shown to predict positive returns, this is mostly true in stocks with the least amount of short interest. Multivariate tests determine that the positive relationship between delay and future returns is decreasing in short interest. Results suggest that short sellers reduce delay and arbitrage the return premium commanded by delay.
Conserved segments 1A and 2B of the intermediate filament dimer: their atomic structures and role in filament assembly

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are key components of the cytoskeleton in higher eukaryotic cells. The elementary IF ‘building block’ is an elongated coiled‐coil dimer consisting of four consecutive α‐helical segments. The segments 1A and 2B include highly conserved sequences and are critically involved in IF assembly. Based on the crystal structures of three human vimentin fragments at 1.4–2.3 Å resolution (PDB entries 1gk4, 1gk6 and 1gk7), we have established the molecular organization of these two segments. The fragment corresponding to segment 1A forms a single, amphipatic α‐helix, which is compatible with a coiled‐coil geometry. While this segment might yield a coiled coil within an isolated dimer, monomeric 1A helices are likely to play a role in specific dimer–dimer interactions during IF assembly. The 2B segment reveals a double‐stranded coiled coil, which unwinds near residue Phe351 to accommodate a ‘stutter’. A fragment containing the last seven heptads of 2B interferes heavily with IF assembly and also transforms mature vimentin filaments into a new kind of structure. These results provide the first insight into the architecture and functioning of IFs at the atomic level.
Food Purchase Behaviour of Different Consumer Groups in Belgium

Abstract Research based on household panel data collected from Gesellschaft für Konsum und Absatzforschung (GfK) in Belgium in 2001 focuses on the three objectives. First, to find out whether the amount of food purchased is different throughout income related social groups. Second, to analyse the relationship between budget share in food expenditure and income. Third, to investigate the impact of socioeconomic variables on food purchase and expenditure between income groups. The basic survey data are adapted specifically for the current research. Further, a three-step methodology is presented. The first step relates to the descriptive analysis of the quantity of food purchased and expenditure. In the second step, regression analyses between total food purchase and food expenditure, and the socioeconomic variables are calculated. As a third, a significant relation between income group and the other socioeconomic variables is tested. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in purchase of various food products (except fish) between the three income groups of households in Belgium. As regard to expenditure on food, the poorer people spend significantly less money on food in general, and specifically less on fish, dairy products and vegetables.
A energy-efficient routing algorithm in ZigBee-based cluster tree Wireless Sensor Networks

Cluster structure is one of the most important structures that have received increasing attention over recent years. This paper presents a modification to the structure of the cluster tree Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) dividing clusters into sub-groups. Each group of these sub-groups operates like a tree from a small number of nodes. The results from the implemented adjustments indicate a significant improvement in reduction of energy consumption and thus an increase in the lifetime of the network, as compared to traditional cluster tree WSN. On the other hand a slightly lower rate of transmission and delivery ratio in the nodes of these networks was observed. This leads us to recommend using this method to build the networks for monitoring protected agriculture and other networks with low transmission rates.
A New Hybrid 9-Level Cascaded H-Bridge Multi Level Inverter for Low Power Applications

Multilevel converters offer advantages in terms of the output waveform quality due to the increased number of levels used in the output voltage modulation. This advantage is particularly true for cascade H-bridge (CHB) converters that can be built to produce a large number of levels owing to their modular structure. When increase the number of levels it requires more number of switches, it implies the size and cost of the device increases. To overcome this problem here we present a new Hybrid Cascaded HBridge Multi Level Inverter with reduced number of switches, this Hybrid Cascaded H-Bridge MLI is effective & efficient in improving the quality of the inverter output voltage as well as the output Power. Here, we describe about the structural parts, switching strategy and operational principles of the Hybrid Cascaded H-Bridge MLI. The Proposed topology reduces the number of switches as well as the number of Pulse generators. The simulation is done in MATLAB/SIMULINK software and the results shown for the existing multilevel inverter & proposed multilevel inverter, THD is reduced and also better speed response.
Do Simulations Enhance Student Learning? An Empirical Evaluation of an IR Simulation

ABSTRACT There is a nascent literature on the question of whether active learning methods, and in particular simulation methods, enhance student learning. In this article, the authors evaluate the utility of an international relations simulation in enhancing learning objectives. Student evaluations provide evidence that the simulation process enhances their knowledge of such abstract theories and concepts. Moreover, the results suggest that the simulation increases students' interest in political science/international relations and provides a memorable experience that they will not forget.
Serum Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Urinary Kidney Injury Molecule-1 as Potential Biomarkers of Subclinical Nephrotoxicity After Gadolinium-Based and Iodinated-Based Contrast Media Exposure in Pediatric Patients with Normal Kidney Function

Background New renal biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) show promise in early diagnosis of contrast media induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). The purpose of our study was to compare the subclinical nephrotoxicity (a condition without changes in standard renal biomarkers) of gadolinium-based contrast media (Gd-DTPA, gadopentetate dimeglumine) and iodinated-based contrast media (iopromide) in pediatric patients with normal kidney function. Material/Methods The first group (n=58) of patients included in the study were undergoing angiography with iopromide, and the second group (n=65) were undergoing magnetic resonance (MR) angiography/urography with Gd-DTPA administration. The concentrations of NGAL and KIM-1 were measured four times in the urine (pre-contrast, then at four hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours after contrast administration), and serum NGAL was measured at 0 (baseline), 24 hours, and 48 hours after contrast exposure. Results After 24 hours, serum NGAL increase of ≥25% was noticed in 32.6% of the patients in the iopromide group and in 25.45% of the patients in the gadolinium group, with significantly higher average percent of this increase in first group (62.23% vs. 36.44%, p=0.002). In the Gd-DTPA group, we observed a statistically significant increase in urinary KIM-1 24 hours after the procedure. Normalized urinary KIM-1, 24 hours after contrast exposure, was a better predictive factor for CI-AKI than other biomarkers (AUC 0.757, cut off 214 pg/mg, sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 54.2%, p=0.035). Conclusions In children with normal renal function, exposure to iodinated-based and gadolinium-based media might lead to subclinical nephrotoxicity, which could be detected using serum NGAL and urinary KIM-1.
Imperfect Information and Dynamic Conjectural Variations

This article analyzes oligopoly interaction in an environment where firms are imperfectly informed about the evolution of the market demand curve. The analysis develops a two-period Cournot framework under the assumptions that demand shifts are positively serially correlated, that firms never directly observe the demand curve, and that firms never observe the previous quantity decisions of rivals. Firms do draw inferences about the position of the demand curve from past observations on prices. Consequently, the current output of a firm will influence the current market price, which will then influence rivals' inferences about future demand. The future output decisions of rivals will respond accordingly. The theory predicts negative dynamic conjectural variations. Essentially, a firm perceives that an increase in its output will lower the current market-clearing price, which will cause rival firms to think that the demand curve has shifted down and hence induce them to lower their outputs in the future.
Measurements of Ultrafine Particles and Other Vehicular Pollutants inside a Mobile Exposure System on Los Angeles Freeways

Abstract A mobile exposure and air pollution measurement system was developed and used for on-freeway ultrafine particle health effects studies. A nine-passenger van was modified with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system that can deliver filtered or unfiltered air to an exposure chamber inside the van. State-of-the-art instruments were used to measure concentration and size distribution of fine and ultrafine particles and the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), black carbon (BC), particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) mass, and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) inside the exposure chamber. This paper presents the construction and technical details of the van and air pollutant concentrations collected in 32 2-hr runs on two major Los Angeles freeways, Interstate 405 (I-405; mostly gasoline traffic) and Interstate 710 (I-710; large proportion of heavy-duty diesel traffic). More than 97% of particles were removed when the flow through the filter box was switched from bypass mode to filter mode while the vehicle was driving on both freeways. The filtration system thus provides a great particulate matter exposure contrast while keeping gas-phase pollutant concentrations the same. Under bypass mode, average total particle number concentration observed inside the exposure chamber was around 8.4 × 104 and 1.3 × 105 particles cm-3 on the I-405 and the I-710 freeways, respectively. Bimodal size distributions were consistent and similar for both freeways with the first mode around 16–20 nm and the second mode around 50–55 nm. BC and particle-bound PAH concentrations were more than two times greater on the I-710 than on the I-405 freeway. Very weak correlations were observed between total particle number concentrations and other vehicular pollutants on the freeways.