Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Productive Public Expenditure and Debt Dynamics: An Error Correction Representation using Indian Data

The paper aims to explore the dynamics between components of public expenditure and public debt using an intertemporal optimization framework based on Turnovsky (2007). Public expenditure is classified as `productive' and `less-productive' based on the rationale that a proportion of the productive public expenditure (phi) corrects disequilibrium in the public debt in the long-run. The `second-order' conditions resulting from the model demonstrate that as phi increases, the marginal social value of a unit of capital reduces. Thus, beyond its optimal level, an increase in phi could still affect public debt inversely; however, this will be at the cost of `crowding out' of private investment. To test the theoretical representation and to analyse the relationship between public expenditure and debt, an empirical analysis using Indian Public Finance data (1980-2013) is carried out in this study. Time series methods are employed to test the hypothesis that capital expenditure of the government is productive public expenditure. The correlation, cointegration and ECM results show that real capital expenditure is cointegrated with real public debt of the Central and the General government. Additionally, in the long run, real capital expenditure adjusts to bring real public debt on a convergent path. The amount of disequilibrium corrected is 0.01 and 0.035 for the Central and the Consolidated General Government respectively. Key policy implications point towards a scope for increasing public capital expenditure in the Indian economy while complementing it with private investment stimulus to stabilize public debt in the long run.
Intercellular calcium signaling and gap junctional communication in astrocytes

Two main characteristics of astrocytes are their elaborated intracellular calcium signaling and their high degree of intercellular communication mediated by gap junctional channels. In these cells a number of studies have contributed to demonstrate that the combination of these two properties provides a basis for a long‐range signaling system within the brain. Intercellular calcium signaling, also termed calcium waves, allows astrocytes to communicate with each other and to interact with adjacent neurons. Most of the intra‐ and inter‐cellular events involved in the initiation and propagation phases of this process has now been identified. This sequence of events includes the permeability of gap junction channels, which at the time‐scale for calcium waves propagation, are likely permeated rather than closed by Ca2+ and/or related signaling molecules like IP3. In addition, in some studies an external component have been reported to participate to the propagation process. Finally, the control of the spread of intercellular calcium signaling has been demonstrated to occur at several levels including phospholipase C, IP3 receptors, intracellular Ca2+ stores, and cytoplasmic Ca2+ buffering. Accordingly, normal and pathological situations that affect one or several of these steps can be predicted to influence on astrocytic calcium waves. GLIA 24:50–64, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dielectric characterization of printed wiring board materials using ring resonator techniques: a comparison of calculation models

Ring resonator structures are widely used to characterize the frequency and temperature dependence of the relative permittivity and loss tangent of printed wiring board materials. Several theoretical models for the ring resonator structures have been presented since the first ring resonator application. In this paper, the theoretical models of the ring resonator structure are adapted for calculating the relative permittivity of low-loss and high-loss printed wiring board materials at frequency range from 250 MHz to 10.0 GHz. In addition, a review of the characterization of the loss tangent using the ring resonator is presented. The review also provides information about differences of the results due to different approximation used for conductor losses of the microstrip line. The research presented in this paper is based on an experimental research with several different microstrip and strip line ring resonator structures. The results of this study provide useful information about applying the ring resonator method for measuring the relative permittivity and loss tangent of dielectric substrates
On the Performance of Solution-Processable Random Network Carbon Nanotube Transistors: Unveiling the Role of Network Density and Metallic Tube Content

This paper reveals the influence of network density and metallic tube content on the performance of random network-based carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) in terms of on-current, on/off ratio, and field-effect mobility. Network density and metallic tube content are two main design factors for random network-based CNTFETs besides variation of the device layout. We conducted a systematic study based on a set of more than 100 solution-processed back-gated CNTFETs with various network densities and metallic tube contents. The on-current and on/off ratio are found to be determined by the metallic tube density, a parameter defined as network density multiplying metallic tube content. The field-effect mobility has a curve shape varying with network density, while its amplitude is determined by metallic tube content of carbon nanotube (CNT) networks. Our results experimentally reveal the influence of those factors on transistor device performance, thus providing guidelines for design and optimization of random network-based CNTFETs, opening up new perspectives for printed electronics. In addition, a percolation model based on the Monte Carlo method was used for simulating the electrical characteristics of CNT devices, offering a basis for further device engineering.
Visual Analytics for Understanding Traffic Flows of Transport Hubs from Movement Data

Transport hubs such as airports, railway stations play an important role in the transportation system and urban development. Understanding the traffic flows of the transport hubs may help traffic engineers and policy makers to improve the transportation planning and support passengers to efficiently plan their trips. However, analyzing the movement data is very challenging due to their large data volume, implicit spatiotemporal relationship, and uncertain semantics. In this paper, we investigate effective visual analytics for exploring spatiotemporal, semantic patterns in the traffic flows in/out of the transport hubs. The contribution of this work is three fold: (1) we propose a visual analysis workflow incorporating data mining techniques and visualization methods to enable users visually explore the spatiotemporal and semantic patterns in the traffic flows in/out of the transport hubs; (2) we use a spatial clustering method to extract significant places and categorize them to different functional regions based on the POI information; (3) we design a novel visual interface that enables the visual exploration of movement data at both an aggregated and an individual level. The visual analytics framework is tested on a real world floating taxi data set in Shanghai. Preliminary experiments show that our proposed framework is feasible and can effectively support visual exploration and identify interesting traffic flow patterns.
Towards Distributed Multiscale Simulation of Biological Processes

The understanding of biological processes, e.g. related to cardio-vascular disease and treatment, can significantly be improved by numerical simulation. In this paper, we present an approach for a multiscale simulation environment, applied for the prediction of in-stent re-stenos is. Our focus is on the coupling of distributed, heterogeneous hardware to take into account the different requirements of the coupled sub-systems concerning computing power. For such a concept, which is an extension of the standard multiscale computing approach, we want to apply the term Distributed Multiscale Computing.
Variation in Sulfide Tolerance of Photosystem II in Phylogenetically Diverse Cyanobacteria from Sulfidic Habitats

ABSTRACT Physiological and molecular phylogenetic approaches were used to investigate variation among 12 cyanobacterial strains in their tolerance of sulfide, an inhibitor of oxygenic photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria from sulfidic habitats were found to be phylogenetically diverse and exhibited an approximately 50-fold variation in photosystem II performance in the presence of sulfide. Whereas the degree of tolerance was positively correlated with sulfide levels in the environment, a strain's phenotype could not be predicted from the tolerance of its closest relatives. These observations suggest that sulfide tolerance is a dynamic trait primarily shaped by environmental variation. Despite differences in absolute tolerance, similarities among strains in the effects of sulfide on chlorophyll fluorescence induction indicated a common mode of toxicity. Based on similarities with treatments known to disrupt the oxygen-evolving complex, it was concluded that sulfide toxicity resulted from inhibition of the donor side of photosystem II.
Improvement of water use efficiency in rice by expression of HARDY, an Arabidopsis drought and salt tolerance gene

Freshwater is a limited and dwindling global resource; therefore, efficient water use is required for food crops that have high water demands, such as rice, or for the production of sustainable energy biomass. We show here that expression of the Arabidopsis HARDY (HRD) gene in rice improves water use efficiency, the ratio of biomass produced to the water used, by enhancing photosynthetic assimilation and reducing transpiration. These drought-tolerant, low-water-consuming rice plants exhibit increased shoot biomass under well irrigated conditions and an adaptive increase in root biomass under drought stress. The HRD gene, an AP2/ERF-like transcription factor, identified by a gain-of-function Arabidopsis mutant hrd-D having roots with enhanced strength, branching, and cortical cells, exhibits drought resistance and salt tolerance, accompanied by an enhancement in the expression of abiotic stress associated genes. HRD overexpression in Arabidopsis produces thicker leaves with more chloroplast-bearing mesophyll cells, and in rice, there is an increase in leaf biomass and bundle sheath cells that probably contributes to the enhanced photosynthesis assimilation and efficiency. The results exemplify application of a gene identified from the model plant Arabidopsis for the improvement of water use efficiency coincident with drought resistance in the crop plant rice.
EELS of Niobium and Stoichiometric Niobium-Oxide Phases—Part I: Plasmon and Near-Edges Fine Structure

Abstract A comprehensive electron energy-loss spectroscopy study of niobium (Nb) and stable Nb-oxide phases (NbO, NbO2, Nb2O5) was carried out. In this work (Part I), the plasmons and energy-loss near-edge structures (ELNES) of all relevant Nb edges (Nb-N2,3, Nb-M4,5, Nb-M2,3, Nb-M1, and Nb-L2,3) up to energy losses of about 2600 eV and the O-K edge are analyzed with respect to achieving characteristic fingerprints of Nb in different formal oxidation states (0 for metallic Nb, +2 for NbO, +4 for NbO2, and +5 for Nb2O5). Chemical shifts of the Nb-N2,3, Nb-M4,5, Nb-M2,3, and Nb-L2,3 edges are extracted from the spectra that amount to about 4 eV as the oxidation state increases from 0 for Nb to +5 for Nb2O5. Four different microscopes, including a 200 keV ZEISS Libra with monochromator, were used. The corresponding wide range of experimental parameters with respect to the primary electron energy, convergence, and collection semi-angles as well as energy resolution allows an assessment of the influence of the experimental setup on the ELNES of the different edges. Finally, the intensity of the Nb-L2,3 white-line edges is correlated with niobium 4d-state occupancy in the different reference materials.
Comparison of polymerase chain reaction and standard southern blotting for the detection of Epstein‐barr virus DNA in various biopsy specimens

The sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was compared to that of standard Southern blotting (SB) hybridization for detecting the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genomes in biopsy samples from 43 patients with a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders. Two pairs of oligonucleotide primers from the first BamHI M and R leftward reading frames (BMLF1 and BRLF1) of EBV were chosen to amplify DNA. The resulting PCR products were analyzed by gel electrophoresis, transfer and hybridization. Restriction enzyme digestion was used to confirm the specificity of the amplified fragment. EBV DNA was found in 38 of 43 patients, as compared with 9 of 43 patients with the Southern technique. No amplified product was detected with other viruses from the Herpes family, nor with human genomic DNA from healthy adults using the same two sets of primers. These results indicate that EBV can be detected in a greater number of lymphoproliferative lesions than previously appreciated. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Reduction of Gibberellin by Low Temperature Disrupts Pollen Development in Rice1[W][OPEN]

Gibberellins and expression levels of their biosynthesis genes decrease in developing anthers on exposure to moderate low temperatures, disrupting pollen development and reducing grain yields. Microsporogenesis in rice (Oryza sativa) plants is susceptible to moderate low temperature (LT; approximately 19°C) that disrupts pollen development and causes severe reductions in grain yields. Although considerable research has been invested in the study of cool-temperature injury, a full understanding of the molecular mechanism has not been achieved. Here, we show that endogenous levels of the bioactive gibberellins (GAs) GA4 and GA7, and expression levels of the GA biosynthesis genes GA20ox3 and GA3ox1, decrease in the developing anthers by exposure to LT. By contrast, the levels of precursor GA12 were higher in response to LT. In addition, the expression of the dehydration-responsive element-binding protein DREB2B and SLENDER RICE1 (SLR1)/DELLA was up-regulated in response to LT. Mutants involved in GA biosynthetic and response pathways were hypersensitive to LT stress, including the semidwarf mutants sd1 and d35, the gain-of-function mutant slr1-d, and gibberellin insensitive dwarf1. The reduction in the number of sporogenous cells and the abnormal enlargement of tapetal cells occurred most severely in the GA-insensitive mutant. Application of exogenous GA significantly reversed the male sterility caused by LT, and simultaneous application of exogenous GA with sucrose substantially improved the extent of normal pollen development. Modern rice varieties carrying the sd1 mutation are widely cultivated, and the sd1 mutation is considered one of the greatest achievements of the Green Revolution. The protective strategy achieved by our work may help sustain steady yields of rice under global climate change.
Feasibility and repeatability of optical coherence tomography measurements of pre-stent thrombus burden in patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI.

AIMS Intracoronary thrombus is disrupted by stent deployment and confounded by the development of intrastent plaque prolapse. This study aims at investigating the feasibility and repeatability of thrombus quantification prior to stent implantation using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients were enrolled in an OCT substudy of the TOTAL trial (a randomized trial of routine aspiration ThrOmbecTomy with PCI vs. PCI ALone in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI) of aspiration thrombectomy or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) alone in primary PCI (PPCI) of STEMI. Using OCT, thrombus burden (TB) and other measures of pre- and post-stent atherothrombus were analysed over the arterial segment defined by the final stent length. Feasibility was 86.2% (25/29 patients) for both pre- and post-stent OCT imaging. Altogether, 8111 OCT cross-sections were analysed. In Bland-Altman analyses of inter-observer variation (n = 25), the mean pre-stent TB was 8.76% for Observer 1 and 8.97% for Observer 2 (limits of agreement -2.6 to 2.2%). In Bland-Altman analyses of intra-observer variation (n = 15), the mean pre-stent TB was 8.06% for the first and 7.35% for the second round of analysis by Observer 1 (limits of agreement -1.72 to 3.15%). There was a good correlation between pre-stent TB and pre-stent quadrants with thrombus/mm (r = 0.97), but only modest correlation between pre-stent TB and post-stent atherothrombotic burden (ATB; r = 0.54). CONCLUSIONS Measurement of pre-stent TB by OCT during the PPCI of STEMI is feasible and highly repeatable. Pre-stent TB is only modestly correlated with post-stent ATB, which indicates that pre-stent measurements might be of additional value when assessing the TB in STEMI.
Digital signal processing techniques applied to mobile radio channel sounding

A novel implementation of a wideband channel sounder for mobile radio using digital signal processing techniques is presented. The system uses the principle of pulse compression at the receiver. By performing in-phase and quadrature (I and Q) down conversion and matched digital filtering in the frequency domain, an improved dynamic range of 15-20 dB over sounders using SAW matched filters can be achieved. The impulse response of the channel is measured in real-time and thus the sounder does not suffer from any of the compromises associated with the non-real-time sliding correlator sounder. The use of a software approach gives the system great flexibility. In particular, the matched filter compensates for the effect of the amplitude and phase response of the transmitter and receiver filters on the probing pulse.
Distributed Human Action Recognition via 2D Conditional Random Field

There are two kinds of correlations in multi-view human actions. One is the temporal correlation between adjacent frames, the other is the spatial correlation between different cameras. In this paper, we introduce a discriminative model, two-dimensional Conditional Random Field (2D CRF) which can model the spatial-temporal correlations in actions, and present algorithms for multi-view single person action and two persons interaction recognition based on this model. For the action representation part, we model each action as a bag of visual words based on the spatial-temporal features; for the action recognition part, we use 2D CRF for multi-view single person action and two persons interaction recognition. We use IXMAS and our Multi-view Human Interaction (MHI) datasets for the experiments. The results show the superior performance of the proposed approach over most of the state-of-the-art methods.
Ventilatory response to exercise in men and women 55 to 86 years of age.

This study examines the relationship between minute ventilation (VE) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) during exercise in men (n = 128) and women (n = 96), 55 to 86 yr of age. The means for the slopes of VE-VCO2 (delta VE/delta VCO2), examined for graded exercise below the ventilation threshold (TVE), increased significantly for men (p < 0.0001), from 25.0 +/- 0.7 (SEM) at mean age 58 (55 to 59) yr to 32.2 +/- 1.8 at mean age 83 (80 to 86) yr, but did not change for women (p = 0.0812), from 22.3 +/- 0.9 at mean age 58 (56-59) yr to 24.2 +/- 2.4 at mean age 79 (75 to 85) yr. A correlation that was significantly greater than zero was found between delta VE/delta VCO2 and age. The increase in delta VE/delta VCO2 was 0.29/yr for men (r = 0.47, p < 0.001) and 0.20/yr for women (r = 0.28, p = 0.0051). In both cases, the explained variance was small (men = 22%; women = 8%). VE, tidal volume (VT), and breathing frequency (fb) were examined at VCO2 = 1.0 L/min, the highest intensity that most older men and women could exercise without exceeding TVE. VE was significantly higher by 14% in men 80 to 86 yr of age (38.2 +/- 1.4 L/min) compared with men 55 to 59 yr of age (33.5 +/- 0.8), whereas there were no differences in VE for the women. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Do Mauritians Have Altruistic Bequest Motives?

In this article, the author empirically tests for the presence of altruistic bequest motives in a small liquidity-constrained economy, Mauritius, by taking into account simultaneity and exogeneity issues. The results emanating from the econometric exercise reveal that Mauritians do transfer bequests to their heirs out of altruism implying that the policy implications of the “generational accounting” framework are not valid. The Error Correction Model further reveals that any short-run policy intended to increase bequests has to aim at increasing current real GDP to a value higher than last period real GDP.
Chemical and genetic diversity of Astragalus mongholicus grown in different eco-climatic regions

Astragalus mongholicus Bunge (Fabaceae) is an important plant source of the herbal drug known as Radix Astragali, which is used worldwide as a medicinal ingredient and a component of food supplement. Russian Federation, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China are the main natural distribution areas of A. mongholicus in the world. However, the quality of medicinal plant varies among different locations. As for A. mongholicus, limited literature focused on its biodiversity mechanism. Here, we combined the chemometric analysis of chemical components with genetic variation, as well as climatic and edaphic traits, to reveal the biodiversity mechanism of A. mongholicus. Results showed that the detected chemical, genetic and climatic traits comprehensively contributed to the quality diversity of A. mongholicus. The eight main chemical components, as well as the inorganic elements of P, B and Na were all significant chemical factors. The precipitation and sunshine duration were the main distinguishing climatic factors. The inorganic elements As, Mn, P, Se and Pb were the distinguishing edaphic factors. The systematic method was firstly established for this medicinal plant in order to illustrate the formation of diversity in terms of quality, and provide scientific evidence for geographic indications and climatic adaptation in production and in the clinical application of herbal medicinal plants.
An exploration of the HRM values of Chinese managers working in Western multinational enterprises in China: implications for HR practice

This paper qualitatively explores the nature of human resource management (HRM) values of local Chinese managers working in Western-based multinational enterprises in China and also considers how these values are associated with preferences for HR practices. The study involves the use of repertory grid interviews with 36 local Chinese managers. The study shows that interviewees reflected a high level of assimilation and internalization of many Western HRM values. Interviewees also retained many traditional Chinese values, thus highlighting the role of institutional and cultural forces on HRM. However, among these local managers, there was clear decline in some traditional Chinese values, such as ‘harmony’ and ‘virtue’. A further interesting finding was the co-existence of paradoxical values of collectivism and individualism among the managers. Analyses of repertory grid data and interview comments also highlight that preferences for HR practices is associated with these underlying HRM values.