Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Locating a catheter transducer in a three-dimensional ultrasound imaging field

Cardiac procedures rely on fluoroscopy for catheter guidance and visualization. However, fluoroscopy provides poor contrast of myocardial structures and exposes both the patient and health care providers to ionizing radiation. As an alternative to fluoroscopy, real-time three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound imaging has the potential to provide a safe means for tracking catheter position in 3-D while simultaneously imaging the heart's anatomy. A method is described for locating a catheter-mounted transducer in the 3-D ultrasound imaging field. The distance from the imaging transducer to the catheter transducer is measured by time of flight, while the angular position is determined by a spatial crosscorrelation of the received signals with stored receive profiles. Results from simulations with 20-dB SNR demonstrated a mean accuracy of 0.22 +/- 0.13 mm at a 70-mm range. In vitro testing showed a resolution of 0.23 +/- 0.11 mm at a range of 75 mm and a resolution of 0.47 +/- 0.47 mm at a range of 97 mm. With combined catheter position and imaging, this tracking method has the potential to replace fluoroscopy and enhance interventional procedures.
Optimal linear multistage receivers for synchronous CDMA

We analyse the optimal linear multistage receiver based on a weighted matrix polynomial expansion. We prove that the optimal linear multistage receiver which minimises the mean squared error for a particular stage also maximises the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio for a particular stage. We present an alternative derivation of the large system signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio. We observe an important link between the optimal linear multistage receiver and the multistage reduced rank Wiener filter receiver.
Therapeutic inhibition of the miR-34 family attenuates pathological cardiac remodeling and improves heart function

MicroRNAs are dysregulated in a setting of heart disease and have emerged as promising therapeutic targets. MicroRNA-34 family members (miR-34a, -34b, and -34c) are up-regulated in the heart in response to stress. In this study, we assessed whether inhibition of the miR-34 family using an s.c. -delivered seed-targeting 8-mer locked nucleic acid (LNA)-modified antimiR (LNA-antimiR-34) can provide therapeutic benefit in mice with preexisting pathological cardiac remodeling and dysfunction due to myocardial infarction (MI) or pressure overload via transverse aortic constriction (TAC). An additional cohort of mice subjected to MI was given LNA-antimiR-34a (15-mer) to inhibit miR-34a alone as a comparison for LNA-antimiR-34. LNA-antimiR-34 (8-mer) efficiently silenced all three miR-34 family members in both cardiac stress models and attenuated cardiac remodeling and atrial enlargement. In contrast, inhibition of miR-34a alone with LNA-antimiR-34a (15-mer) provided no benefit in the MI model. In mice subjected to pressure overload, LNA-antimiR-34 improved systolic function and attenuated lung congestion, associated with reduced cardiac fibrosis, increased angiogenesis, increased Akt activity, decreased atrial natriuretic peptide gene expression, and maintenance of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase gene expression. Improved outcome in LNA-antimiR-34–treated MI and TAC mice was accompanied by up-regulation of several direct miR-34 targets, including vascular endothelial growth factors, vinculin, protein O-fucosyltranferase 1, Notch1, and semaphorin 4B. Our results provide evidence that silencing of the entire miR-34 family can protect the heart against pathological cardiac remodeling and improve function. Furthermore, these data underscore the utility of seed-targeting 8-mer LNA-antimiRs in the development of new therapeutic approaches for pharmacologic inhibition of disease-implicated miRNA seed families.
Domestic Investment And External Imbalances In East Asia

Since the 1997-98 financial crisis, many East Asian economies have experienced permanent declines of domestic investment and output growth, mainly resulting from the increase in financial risk and decrease in the return on investment. The investment decline in East Asia, outside of China, combined with the falling in public and private savings in the United States, has contributed to recent surges in global current account imbalances. The reduction of global current account imbalances requires adjustment polices to raise domestic investment in East Asia, such as expansion of public infrastructure investment and an increase in R&D and human capital investment. Continuous structural reforms in the corporate and financial sectors are also required to lower financial risk and improve investment efficiency. Simulations with a global general equilibrium model support the positive role of the investment increase or strong productivity related growth in reducing current account surpluses in East Asia. Nevertheless, a fiscal adjustment in the United States turns out to be more effective in reducing the US current account deficit and thereby correcting global imbalance.
Perceived Masculinity Predicts U.S. Supreme Court Outcomes

Previous studies suggest a significant role of language in the court room, yet none has identified a definitive correlation between vocal characteristics and court outcomes. This paper demonstrates that voice-based snap judgments based solely on the introductory sentence of lawyers arguing in front of the Supreme Court of the United States predict outcomes in the Court. In this study, participants rated the opening statement of male advocates arguing before the Supreme Court between 1998 and 2012 in terms of masculinity, attractiveness, confidence, intelligence, trustworthiness, and aggressiveness. We found significant correlation between vocal characteristics and court outcomes and the correlation is specific to perceived masculinity even when judgment of masculinity is based only on less than three seconds of exposure to a lawyer’s speech sample. Specifically, male advocates are more likely to win when they are perceived as less masculine. No other personality dimension predicts court outcomes. While this study does not aim to establish any causal connections, our findings suggest that vocal characteristics may be relevant in even as solemn a setting as the Supreme Court of the United States.
Analysis and optimization of gain-boosted telescopic amplifiers

A thorough analysis of the behavior of a simple gain-boosted telescopic amplifier in terms of both the frequency and time domain is performed. The well-known slow-settling component is analyzed and a constraint for eliminating its effect is also given. Moreover, a procedure for designing the amplifier, based on the comparison of its time response to the time response of a two-pole system is reported, too.
Ranking of handicaps in international financial analysing

The objective of this study is to rank some factors as handicaps that create diversity and incertitude in international financial analysis. It is an important subject when discussing the adoption of International Accounting Standards as one unique set of standards in capital markets around the world. Although it is necessary to reach homogeneity in the field of accounting standards because of the costs, barriers and lack of comparability that they create, the handicap imposed by accounting diversity is not the most important. This assertion has been proved through statistical methodology: Dual Scaling. The most important factors creating differences between net income and shareholders’ funds prepared according to domestic (Spanish, German, and British) and US‐GAAPS are the industry in which the company operates, the country from where the company comes and finally differences due to different accounting standards used in the calculation of net income and shareholders’ funds.
Direct Visualization by Confocal Fluorescent Microscopy of the Permeation of Myristoylated Peptides Through the Cell Membrane

To study the permeability through the cellular membrane of synthetic peptides containing an hydrofobic moiety, we used a 13‐mer myristoylated peptide labeled with a N ‐terminal fluorescent probe. After 2 h of incubation, the subcellular distribution was analyzed in intact chromaffin cells by confocal fluorescent microscopy. Our results demonstrate that myristoylated peptides diffuse into intact cells, showing an heterogeneous distribution, but they do not reach the cellular nucleous, at least during the time range used.
Efficacy of lamivudine in patients with hepatitis B virus precore mutant infection before and after liver transplantation

OBJECTIVE:Hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore mutant infection is associated with a more severe liver disease and a poorer response to interferon. We evaluated the efficacy and tolerance of lamivudine to induce complete and sustained suppression of viral replication in seven patients infected with HBV precore mutant (HBeAg−/HBeAb+/HBV DNA+) (in three patients mutation at codon 1896 was detected by direct sequencing). METHODS:Of the seven patients, five had decompensated HBV cirrhosis in a replicative phase and were liver transplant candidates (Group A) and two patients underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for HBV liver cirrhosis and developed recurrent HBV infection in the grafted liver (Group B). Lamivudine 100 mg daily was administered orally for a period of 6–75 wk.RESULTS:After 6–8 wk lamivudine therapy was well tolerated and successfully suppressed HBV replication to an undetectable serum level of HBV DNA by polymerase chain reaction in six patients. In Group A, two patients underwent successful OLT with no evidence of HBV reinfection 2–14 months later. Lamivudine was continued after OLT with no episodes of rejection. Three patients died before a suitable liver could be found (one remained serum HBV DNA+ after 6 wk of lamivudine therapy). In Group B, 9–14 months after lamivudine therapy both patients developed lamivudine resistance (increased liver enzymes, reappearance of serum HBsAg and HBV DNA [by hybridization]). In both patients liver histology had progressed and in both, mutation at codon 552 of the HBV polymerase gene was detected.CONCLUSIONS:Lamivudine is well tolerated in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis due to HBV precore mutant infection who are liver transplant candidates. In four patients (80%) potent suppression of viral replication was detected, allowing OLT to be performed. However, post-OLT, a resistant mutant developed under lamivudine therapy. Combination therapy with other antiviral agents should be evaluated to discourage the emergence of lamivudine-resistant mutants.
Refugees: On the Economics of Political Migration

Unless literally forced to leave, prospective refugees have a choice between staying and flight, subject to constraints, particularly the willingness of a country to grant asylum. Although all options may be unpleasant, they nonetheless represent alternatives amenable to economic analysis, The incentive to flee is a function of threat severity and credibility, and the attractiveness of available safe havens. The theoretical analysis suggests that restrictive asylum policies have little impact on demand for asylum, except in the interplay with other factors, such a costs of flight and retribution against unsuccessful refugees. While the case of bogus refugees has received much attention in the popular literature, this article shows that threatened individuals may choose emigration instead of flight if there are repercussions associated with refugee status. The article also analyzes the case of bogus refugees.
Mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal low genetic diversity in Culex quinquefasciatus from residential areas in Malaysia

The present study explored the intraspecific genetic diversity, dispersal patterns and phylogeographic relationships of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) in Malaysia using reference data available in GenBank in order to reveal this species' phylogenetic relationships. A statistical parsimony network of 70 taxa aligned as 624 characters of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and 685 characters of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COII) gene revealed three haplotypes (A1–A3) and four haplotypes (B1–B4), respectively. The concatenated sequences of both COI and COII genes with a total of 1309 characters revealed seven haplotypes (AB1–AB7). Analysis using tcs indicated that haplotype AB1 was the common ancestor and the most widespread haplotype in Malaysia. The genetic distance based on concatenated sequences of both COI and COII genes ranged from 0.00076 to 0.00229. Sequence alignment of Cx. quinquefasciatus from Malaysia and other countries revealed four haplotypes (AA1–AA4) by the COI gene and nine haplotypes (BB1–BB9) by the COII gene. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that Malaysian Cx. quinquefasciatus share the same genetic lineage as East African and Asian Cx. quinquefasciatus. This study has inferred the genetic lineages, dispersal patterns and hypothetical ancestral genotypes of Cx. quinquefasciatus.
A Changing Demographic Regime and Evolving Poly centric Urban Regions: Consequences for the Size, Composition and Distribution of City Populations

The demographic regime in western Europe and many other countries of the developed world is now very different from that of 30-40 years ago and is continuing to evolve. At the same time, settlement systems have been altering significantly in spatial structure, notably in terms of the emergence of polycentric urban configurations. This paper examines the nature of these two sets of changes and searches for linkages between them. First, it outlines the main features of the changing demographic regime. Secondly, it attempts to identify what constitutes 'polycentric urban regions' as opposed to traditional monocentric structures. Thirdly, it assesses how recent demographic developments relate to traditional urban structures and discusses whether they are more conformable with polycentric urban forms.
Food Provisioning and Wholesale Agricultural Commodity Chains in Northern Vietnam

Recent research examining the functioning of agricultural wholesale markets in the Global South tends to aim at understanding how these connect commodity chains between Global South suppliers and Global North consumers (often via large chain supermarkets), identifying groups of winners and losers en route. Often, the everyday lived experiences of individual actors along these chains, and how they maintain a livelihood within these vast networks, is omitted in favor of macro-level interpretations. Focusing on agricultural food provisioning in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city, we analyze the complex negotiations among numerous actors operating both local commodity chains as well as regional South-South networks through the city's Cho Long Biěn wholesale market. These negotiations and trade relations rely on intricate networks, ties, and social capital. In present day socialist Vietnam, long-standing agricultural commodity chain actors are not necessarily losing out to new players such as supermarkets as one mi.
Issue Definition and the Opinion-Policy Link: Public Preferences and Health Care Spending in the US and UK

This article explores the extent to which yearly changes in health spending reflect yearly changes in public preferences. Time series modelling suggests that health care spending is remarkably more responsive to yearly changes in public opinion in the US than in the UK. A content analysis of party manifestos suggests the significant role of ‘issue definition’ in accounting for this difference. Health care issues in the US have more often been viewed as problems of expenditure, while UK policy-makers have tended to focus on efficiency. Results suggest that the responsiveness of health care expenditures to public preferences in the US and UK is linked to the way in which health care issues are differently defined by policy-makers.
Cressie–Read Power‐Divergence Statistics for Non‐Gaussian Vector Stationary Processes

Abstract. For a class of vector‐valued non‐Gaussian stationary processes, we develop the Cressie–Read power‐divergence (CR) statistic approach which has been proposed for the i.i. d. case. The CR statistic includes empirical likelihood as a special case. Therefore, by adopting this CR statistic approach, the theory of estimation and testing based on empirical likelihood is greatly extended. We use an extended Whittle likelihood as score function and derive the asymptotic distribution of the CR statistic. We apply this result to estimation of autocorrelation and the AR coefficient, and get narrower confidence intervals than those obtained by existing methods. We also consider the power properties of the test based on asymptotic theory. Under a sequence of contiguous local alternatives, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the CR statistic. The problem of testing autocorrelation is discussed and we introduce some interesting properties of the local power.
Primary care problems in patients attending a semi-rural accident and emergency unit: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the characteristics of patients attending a coastal resort accident and emergency (A&E) unit and compare use by summer visitors with use by the indigenous winter population by previously validated assessment criteria. SETTING: Accident and emergency unit of a semi-rural coastal town district general hospital. SUBJECTS: 3643 first attenders in the summer cohort and 2876 in the winter cohort. METHODS: All patients attending the A&E unit over two 28 day periods in summer and winter 1995 were assessed prospectively in four categories by trained, experienced nurse assessors. Category 4 identified patients who fulfilled the King's College Hospital criteria as being suitable for care from primary care practitioners. RESULTS: 43.8% of the summer patients could have been seen in the primary care setting, as could 38.7% of the winter visitors. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of patients with primary care problems who attend semi-rural A&E units appears to be much higher than previously thought. These findings cast doubt on the validity of the King's College Hospital criteria for classifying patients to either primary care or A&E categories.
Asymmetric Unemployment-Output Tradeoff in the Eurozone

This study investigates the asymmetric unemployment-output tradeoff in the Eurozone. Building upon the framework of an augmented Okun’s law, the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) modelling reveals that the nature of Okun’s law is asymmetric. For the Eurozone economies, the empirical evidence demonstrates that labour markets quickly respond to cyclical outputs in a short period, while the adjustments towards new equilibrium become weak in the long run. In addition, the cross-sectional analysis of long run asymmetries indicates that government spending and trade balance are key factors affecting the asymmetric unemployment-output relationship. Therefore, member states might conduct effective labour market reforms taking into account the identified asymmetries and asymmetry determinants. These results also seem to suggest that, in spite of the fact that member states lack monetary sovereignty, flexible application of fiscal reforms could help to reduce asymmetric effects.
The Diffusion of Mobile Telecommunications Services in the European Union

We study the determinants of the diffusion of mobile telecommunications services in the European Union in a logistic model of technology diffusion. We find that the transition from the analogue to the digital technology during the early nineties, and the corresponding increase in spectrum capacity, has had a major impact on the diffusion of mobile telecommunications. The impact of introducing competition was also significant, during both the analogue and the digital period, though the effect was proportionately smaller. Finally, we find that countries which granted first licenses at later points in time, show a significant catching-up effect, though international convergence may be expected only by the year 2006. The empirical results remain robust when other possible determinants of diffusion are included, such as the size of the fixed network and GDP per capita.
Price dispersion on the internet: A review and directions for future research

The explosive growth in Internet retailing has sparked a stream of research on online price dispersion, defined as the distribution of prices (such as range and standard deviation) of an item with the same measured characteristics across sellers of the item at a given point in time. In this paper, we review the empirical and analytical literature on online price dispersion and outline the future directions in this research stream. We address the issue of whether price dispersion is greater or smaller online than off-line, examine whether price dispersion on the Internet has changed over time, discuss multichannel retailing and measurement of price dispersion, explore why Internet price dispersion exists, and investigate the drivers of online price dispersion.
Portfolio selection: does corporate governance matter?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether corporate governance has an impact on portfolio selection within the usual mean‐variance framework, the idea being that by reducing agency conflicts, corporate governance increases the value of the firm.Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 460 American firms between 1995 and 2004, the authors first determine the optimal mean‐variance portfolio. The authors then test whether governance characteristics explain the optimal portfolio weights.Findings – The results show that the optimal portfolio weights are sensitive to internal control mechanisms, ownership concentration, managerial entrenchment and incentive compensation.Originality/value – The results are relevant to academicians and investors concerned with portfolio selection. In fact, they underline the importance of including governance characteristics in their portfolio selection.
A marriage trichotomy and its applications

This paper promotes research methods specific to men, the new focus of fertility and family planning studies (especially in sub-Saharan Africa). I propose a novel marriage categorization based on married men’s intentions to take another wife. The three marriage groups are currently monogamous men who intend to remain so, currently monogamous men who intend to become polygynous, and currently polygynous men. The first analysis demonstrates that typical marriage analyses may misclassify men who intend to become polygynous. Applications of the marriage trichotomy illustrate that men with varying marital intentions have differing desires regarding fertility and family planning.