Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbonaceous Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors have been widely studied around the world in recent years, due to their excellent power density and long cycle life. As the most frequently used electrode materials for supercapacitors, carbonaceous materials attract more and more attention. However, their relatively low energy density still holds back the widespread application. Up to now, various strategies have been developed to figure out this problem. This research news summarizes the recent advances in improving the supercapacitor performance of carbonaceous materials, including the incorporation of heteroatoms and the pore size effect (subnanopores' contribution). In addition, a new class of carbonaceous materials, porous organic networks (PONs) has been managed into the supercapacitor field, which promises great potential in not only improving the supercapacitor performances, but also unraveling the related mechanisms.
Impact of caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms on prostate cancer in different ethnic groups.

BACKGROUND Despite evidence suggesting roles for caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms in prostate cancer (PCa), the association of these polymorphisms with PCa risk remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to more precisely estimate the association of CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa susceptibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of CASP8 D302H and -652 6N del polymorphisms and PCa risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association and the precision of the estimate, respectively. RESULTS Nine -625 6N del studies and 4 D302H studies were included. CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms were not significantly associated with PCa risk in the overall analyses. However, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, -625 6N del was significantly associated with PCa risk in the East Asian and Indian populations under the recessive model. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis strongly suggested that D302H was associated with lower PCa risk in the Non-Indian population under the dominant model. CONCLUSIONS In our meta-analysis, ethnic-specific differences were evident in the association of CASP8 -625 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa risk.
Surplus Distribution from the Introduction of a Biotechnology Innovation

We examine the distribution of welfare from the introduction of Bt cotton in the United States in 1996. The welfare framework explicitly recognizes that research protected by intellectual property rights generates monopoly profits, and makes it possible to partition these rents among consumers, farmers, and the innovating input firms. We calculate a total increase in world surplus of $240.3 million for 1996. Of this total, the largest share (59%) went to U.S. farmers. The gene developer, Monsanto, received the next largest share (21%), followed by U.S. consumers (9%), the rest of the world (6%), and the germplasm supplier, Delta and Pine Land Company (5%).
THE PRICE OF RISK IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN EQUITY MARKET

This paper investigates domestic risk-return behaviour by focussing on the intertemporal relationship between the conditional domestic equity market premium, its conditional variance and its conditional covariance with the international equity market. The paper finds that the domestic equity market prices in both domestic and international diversification risk. The estimated daily price of domestic variance risk is 0.0279% (EAR: 7.28%) for every one unit of expected domestic variance. The estimated daily price of covariance risk is 0.0111% (EAR: 2.83%) for every unit of expected covariance risk. The representative domestic investor values domestic variance more than covariance risk. The variances of domestic and international equity returns are found to be time-varying, as is the covariance between the two. Evidence is found that the Johannesburg Securities Exchange is not perfectly integrated with the world economy, in an absolute sense. The volatility spillover effect is observed to be both significant and positive. The standard Capital Asset Pricing Model misspecifies the return to domestic risk, biasing the risk-return coefficient upwards. Domestic investors are rewarded for holding internationally diversified portfolios, with an internationally diversified portfolio expected to have an additional daily return of 0.0238% (EAR: 6.29%) for the same level of risk as an entirely domestic equity portfolio. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Economic Society of South Africa.
Partially clipping (PC) method for the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction in OFDM

OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) has emerged as one of the best modulations for broadband mobile communications. Despite its robustness against multipath interference, the drawback of peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) has to be overcome. PAPR increases the A/D and D/A complexity and reduces the high power amplifier efficiency as well as battery life. A new technique for reducing the PAPR of OFDM modulation is presented. This method does not spread the OFDM signal bandwidth, it scarcely increases the computational complexity and no additional information has to be known by the receiver.
High Precision Systems Require High Precision Blueprints: A New View Regarding the Formation of Connections in the Mammalian Visual System

It is well established that early in development interconnections within the mammalian visual system are often more widespread and less precise than at maturity. The literature dealing with the formation of visual connections has largely ignored differences in developmental specificity among species differing in their phylogenetic status and/or the visual ecological niche that they occupy. Based on a review of the available evidence, we have formulated an hypothesis to account for the varying degrees of developmental specificity that characterize different visual systems. It is suggested that extremely precise systems required for high-acuity binocular vision exhibit fewer presumed developmental errors than do visual systems characterized by poorer acuity and relatively crude depth perception. The developmental implications of the hypothesis are considered, and specific experiments are proposed to further test its validity.
1998 Wharton Survey of Financial Risk Management by US Non-Financial Firms

This is the third in a series of surveys on financial risk management practice and derivatives use by non-financial corporations in the United States undertaken by the Wharton School. This 1998 survey, written in partnership again with CIBC World Markets, extends the previous two surveys by asking new questions about certain aspects of derivative use and risk management practice. This report compares responses across the various surveys and notes changes in responses over time. A tabulation of the responses to all questions is included in the appendix.
Surgeon Training in Telerobotic Surgery via a Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulator

This work presents a software and hardware framework for a telerobotic surgery safety and motor skill training simulator. The aims are at providing trainees a comprehensive simulator for acquiring essential skills to perform telerobotic surgery. Existing commercial robotic surgery simulators lack features for safety training and optimal motion planning, which are critical factors in ensuring patient safety and efficiency in operation. In this work, we propose a hardware-in-the-loop simulator directly introducing these two features. The proposed simulator is built upon the Raven-II™ open source surgical robot, integrated with a physics engine and a safety hazard injection engine. Also, a Fast Marching Tree-based motion planning algorithm is used to help trainee learn the optimal instrument motion patterns. The main contributions of this work are (1) reproducing safety hazards events, related to da Vinci™ system, reported to the FDA MAUDE database, with a novel haptic feedback strategy to provide feedback to the operator when the underlying dynamics differ from the real robot's states so that the operator will be aware and can mitigate the negative impact of the safety-critical events, and (2) using motion planner to generate semioptimal path in an interactive robotic surgery training environment.
Job Instability and Political Attitudes Towards Work: Some Lessons from the Spanish Case

It is widely assumed that workers whose labour market situation is insecure are likely to be individualistic, with negative attitudes towards trade unionism. This article uses Spain as a critical case to test the effects of labour market flexibility. Survey data reveal that, in fact, the attitudes of insecure workers towards trade unionism and mobilization at work are more positive than those of stable employees, and they are more critical of the prevailing economic system. These results are discussed within the framework of current debates on the crisis of trade unionism and the effects of flexibility in industrial relations.
Mesenchymal stromal cell transplantation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a long-term safety study.

BACKGROUND AIMS Mesenchymal stem cells/marrow stromal cells (MSC) represent a promising tool for stem cell-based clinical trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We present the results of long-term monitoring of 19 ALS patients enrolled in two phase I clinical trials of autologous MSC transplantation. METHODS Nineteen patients (11 male and eightfemale) with ALS were enrolled in two consecutive phase I clinical trials. The patients were followed-up for 6-9 months and then treated with autologous MSC isolated from bone marrow and implanted into the dorsal spinal cord with a surgical procedure. The patients were monitored regularly before and after transplantation with clinical, psychological and neuroradiologic assessments every 3 months, at the tertiary referral ALS center in Novara (Italy), until death. RESULTS Follow-up brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed no structural changes (including tumor formation) relative to the baseline throughout the follow-up. There was no deterioration in the psychosocial status and all patients coped well. No clear clinical benefits were detected in these patients but the recruitment and selection of appropriate patients into larger trials will be needed to test the efficacy of the treatment. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to show the safety of MSC transplantation in the central nervous system during a follow-up of nearly 9 years, and is in support of applying MSC-based cellular clinical trials to neurodegenerative disorders.
Public Investment and Public-Private Partnerships: Addressing Infrastructure Challenges and Managing Fiscal Risks

Public Investment and Public-Private Partnerships: Addressing Infrastructure Challenges and Managing Fiscal Risks Gerd Schwartz (Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431, USA. Email: gschwartz@ imf.org), Ana Corbacho (Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431, USA. Email: acorbacho@imf.org) and Katja Funke (Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20431, USA. Email: kfunke@imf.org) (Eds) New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2008
Recombinant Human Interleukin-24 Suppresses Gastric Carcinoma Cell Growth In Vitro and In Vivo

ABSTRACT Previous studies have demonstrated that interleukin-24 [IL-24; originally called melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (mda-7)] as a novel tumor suppressor gene has tumor-suppressive activity against a broad spectrum of human cancers. However, the therapeutic effect of the recombinant human IL-24 (rhIL-24) protein purified from prokaryotic cells on gastric cancer has not been reported. In this study, we purified soluble rhIL-24 using Q-Sepharose column after the denaturing and renaturing process from the protein of Escherichia coli BL21 transfected with pET-21a(+)-hIL-24 vector and treated by isopropyl-β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) for enhanced expression of transgene rhIL-24. We demonstrated that rhIL-24 was capable of inducing in vitro apoptosis of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells and activating peripheral blood mononuclear cellsto secrete cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ. We also showed that rhIL-24 was able to inhibit formation of blood capillaries on chicken embryonic allantois and in vivo tumor angiogenesis leading to suppressing SGC7901 gastric cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo possibly due to its downregulation of Bcl-2/Bax ratio, VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), and CD34. Therefore, our results indicate that rhIL-24 has potent suppressive effect on human SGC7901 gastric carcinoma cell line and warrant its further investigation for therapeutic application against gastric cancer.
Certificateless Public Auditing with Privacy Preserving for Cloud-Assisted Wireless Body Area Networks

With cloud computing being integrated with wireless body area networks, the digital ecosystem called cloud-assisted WBAN was proposed. In cloud-assisted medical systems, the integrity of the stored data is important. Recently, based on certificateless public key cryptography, He et al. proposed a certificateless public auditing scheme for cloud-assisted WBANs. But He et al.’s scheme is not a scheme with privacy preserving. After many checks on some of the same data blocks, the auditor can derive these data blocks. In this paper, we propose a certificateless public auditing scheme with privacy preserving for cloud-assisted WBANs. In the proof phase of the proposed scheme, the proof information is protected from being directly exposed to the auditor. So, the curious auditor could not derive the data blocks. We also prove that the proposed scheme is secure in the random oracle model under the assumption that the Diffie-Hellman problem is hard, and we give a comparison of the proposed scheme with He et al.’s scheme in terms of security and computation cost.
Constant data length retrieval for video servers with variable bit rate streams

We define a novel retrieval algorithm for variable bit rate video streams called GCDL that reads the video data from the disk as constant size data blocks. We formulate for GCDL a deterministic admission control criterion and evaluate its performance. Compared to existing retrieval algorithms, GCDL decreases the buffer requirement and start up latency while admitting the same number of clients.
Tax shelters and corporate debt policy ☆

We gather a unique sample of 44 tax shelter cases to investigate the magnitude of tax shelter activity and whether participating in a shelter is related to corporate debt policy. The average annual deduction produced by the shelters in our sample is very large, equaling approximately nine percent of asset value. These deductions are more than three times as large as interest deductions for comparable companies. The firms in our sample use less debt when they engage in tax sheltering. Compared to companies with similar pre-shelter debt ratios, the debt ratios of firms engaged in tax shelters fall by about 8%. The tax shelter firms in our sample appear underlevered if shelters are ignored but do not appear underlevered once shelters are considered.
Evaluation Of Farming Systems And Informal Insurance Measures For Optimum Income Of Rural Farmers In The Rain Forest Zone Of Nigeria

Maintaining an increasing flow of income to rural farmers is a challenge to success of poverty alleviation programmes in developing economies, due to risks and uncertainties that characterize agricultural activities. The study thus, evaluated farming systems and other informal insurance measures used by farmers for optimum farm income in rain forest zone of Nigeria. Fifty farmers were randomly selected from Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Data collected through structured questionnaires and interview schedules were analysed using net farm income analysis, Pearson correlation, and two way ANOVA techniques. Results showed a positive correlation between number of sources of risks and uncertainties perceived by farmers and strategies employed to prevent their effects. The two way ANOVA showed that farmers who cultivated plantation crops, food crops, reared poultry and small ruminants have more income than those who do not. It also showed that adoption of risk management techniques, marketing strategies, souring of microcredit and improving information sources simultaneously, ensured higher income. Recommendations include encouraging farmers to adopt the most profitable farming systems and informal insurance measures as well as provision of more micro-finance facilities to rural people. Keywords : Agriculture; Risks and Uncertainties; Informal Insurance; Income. Nigeria Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences Vol. 5 (1) 2007: pp. 53-63
Managerial Incentives and Corporate Diversification Strategies

Because the break-up of conglomerates typically produces substantial increases in shareholder wealth, many commentators have argued that the conglomerate form of organization is inefficient. This article reports the findings of a number of recent academic studies, including the authors' own, that examine the causes and consequences of corporate diversification. 1997 Morgan Stanley.
The Sustainability of Budget Deficits in a Stochastic Economy

The transversality condition on government debt requires a zero limit of discounted future debt. The paper shows that, in a stochastic economy, the relevant discount rate depends on the probability distribution of future debt over states of nature. Discount rates on future government debt, spending, and taxes are generally not related to the rates of return on government debt. The correct choice of discount rates is important because debt discounted at the safe interest rate may well diverge to infinity under sustainable policies. This result raises questions about some recent empirical papers testing the sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy. Copyright 1995 by Ohio State University Press.
The Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe

In May 2004, eight former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union: the three Baltic republics, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Slovenia. What is involved in "accession"? How have accession dynamics affected and been affected by the domestic politics of candidate countries and their adoption of EU rules? In this carefully designed volume of original essays, the editors have brought together a group of scholars with firsthand research experience in the new member-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Framed by opening and concluding chapters by Frank Schimmelfennig and Ulrich Sedelmeier that outline several aspects of preparation for accession, the empirical case studies discuss a variety of topics, including democracy and human rights, the reform of state administrations and economic, social, and environmental policies. This book demonstrates the importance of the credibility and the costs of accession conditionality for the adoption of EU rules in Central and Eastern Europe.
Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing

Part 1. What is Metadiscourse? 1. First impressions 2. Definitions, issues and classifications 3. A Metadiscourse model Part 2: Metadiscourse in practice 4. Metadiscourse and rhetoric 5. Metadiscourse and genre 6. Metadiscourse and culture 7. Metadiscourse and community Part 3: Issues and implications 8. Metadiscourse in the classroom 9. Issues and directions References Appendix: Metadiscourse search items.
Trade Costs, Market Integration, and Macroeconomic Volatility

This paper examines the effects of trade costs on macroeconomic volatility. We first construct a dynamic, two-country general equilibrium model, where the degree of market integration depends directly on trade costs (transport costs, tariffs, etc.). The model is a extension of Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995). Naturally, a reduction in trade costs leads to more market integration, as the relative price of foreign goods falls and households increase their consumption of imported goods. In addition, with more market integration, the model predicts that the variability of the real exchange rate should fall, while the variability of the trade balance should increase. Trade costs have ambiguous effects on the volatility of other macro variables, such as income and consumption. Finally, we present some empirical findings that provide mixed support for the model's predictions.
Abstract 175: Pro-survival Function of Mef2 in Cardiomyocytes is Enhanced by β-blockers

β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) stimulation increases apoptosis in cardiomyocytes via activation of cAMP/ protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. β-adrenergic receptor antagonists, or β-blockers, oppose the action of PKA signaling by blocking the β1-receptor and effectively inhibit apoptosis and heart failure. The Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2 (MEF2) proteins have been implicated as nuclear targets for signaling cascades involved in muscle-gene expression and have important roles in proliferation, apoptosis and survival in multiple cell types. We previously reported that PKA signaling represses MEF2 activity. Here, we assessed whether β-blockers can inhibit neonatal cardiac myocyte apoptosis by interfering with PKA dependent MEF2 repression. We show that siRNA mediated MEF2 loss of function induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. β1AR activation by isoproterenol treatment represses MEF2 transcriptional activity and promotes apoptosis in neonatal cardiomyocytes and, importantly, this effect was reversed in cells expressing .
Labour statistics for a market economy : challenges and solutions in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

The International Labour Office is the moving force behind the adoption of the Labour Force Survey in Western countries as the only reliable means of gathering information about trends in employment and unemployment, and on pay. The countries of East-Central Europe and the former USSR have recognized their need of such statistiics and turned to the ILO to help them set up systems to provide data required by decision makers. This pioneering work shows how the old "command" economies are setting up brand new systems to classify occupations, to measure employment and unemployment, and to collect information on wages and labour costs, which will be useful to students of the area and essential for statisticians world-wide concerned with the challenge of instigating an entirely new statistical service.
The evolution of performance measurement research: Developments in the last decade and a research agenda for the next

Purpose – This paper provides an update of Neely et al.'s (1995) literature review “Performance measurement system design”. It was commissioned to appear in a special issue of the International Journal of Operations & Production Management to celebrate the journal's 25th anniversary.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a citation/co‐citation analysis of work in the field of performance measurement to explore developments in the field globally.Findings – The paper argues that scholars working in the field of performance measurement agree about the key research questions despite the fact that they come from different disciplinary backgrounds. The paper identifies the key contributors to the field based on a citation/co‐citation analysis and argues that the field is now entering a phase of empirical investigation and theoretical verification of some core concepts.Research limitations/implications – The research reported in the paper is limited to work that deals directly with performance measureme.