Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Silicon Somewhere?

Public authorities in the European Union actively promote the dissemination of so-called ‘best practices’ in regional policy. With the help of scoreboards, case studies and interregional benchmarks, policy makers hope to improve the competitiveness of Europe's regions. In practice, however, this development has resulted in a tendency for regions to simply imitate a limited number of alleged success stories such as Silicon Valley. Hence, we can observe the emergence of a range of ‘Silicon Valley’ type initiatives across Europe. In this article the usefulness of such best practices in regional policy is assessed with the aim of drawing lessons. For this purpose, insights are combined from Schumpeterian thinking, economic geography and comparative public policy. First, the copycat behaviour in regional policy is explained by placing Schumpeter's innovation theory in a political context. Then, the factors that are generally regarded in the economic-geographical literature as the determinants of regional competitiveness are reviewed. Thereafter, insights from comparative public policy are used to identify the ‘contingencies of lesson-drawing’, i.e. the preconditions that affect whether a policy can be transferred from one place to another. When combining the different bodies of literature, it is concluded that exactly those conditions that explain the success of a particular region are the most difficult elements to learn from. It is thus argued that the possibilities of lesson-drawing from best practices in regional policy are only limited. Moreover, by relying too heavily upon them, it is feared that regions undermine their competitiveness and become victims of a territorial race to the bottom. Policy makers are therefore advised to take care with the further propagation of ‘best practices’ in regional policy. Only when authorities are stimulated to attune their policy to area-based assets (‘regional realism’), will the wasteful attempts of regions to grow into the next ‘Silicon Somewhere’ be prevented.
Astroglial processes show spontaneous motility at active synaptic terminals in situ

Within the tripartite structure of vertebrate synapses, enwrapping astroglial processes regulate synaptic transmission by transmitter uptake and by direct transmitter release. We applied confocal and two‐photon laser scanning microscopy to acutely isolated slices prepared from the brainstem of transgenic TgN(GFAP‐EGFP) mice. In transversal sections fluorescently labelled astrocytes are evenly distributed throughout the tissue. Astroglial processes contacted neuronal somata and enwrapped active synaptic terminals as visualized using FM1‐43 staining in situ. Here, at these synaptic regions astroglial process endings displayed a high degree of dynamic morphological changes. Two defined modes of spontaneous motility could be distinguished: (i) gliding of thin lamellipodia‐like membrane protrusions along neuronal surfaces and (ii) transient extensions of filopodia‐like processes into the neuronal environment. Our observations highlight the active role of astrocytes in direct modulation of synaptic transmission.
Risk Retention and the Market Implied Probability of Loss

The risk retention decision is a classic example of decision making under conditions of uncertainty. A cost savings may be obtained by the firm in exchange for accepting additional risk through risk assumption, but little attention has been directed toward optimizing this tradeoff for the firm. In this paper, the authors develop a model which uses the probability of loss to evaluate deductible selection. The advantage of this model is that it leads to decisions that are optimal for the firm.
The surprise–attention link: a review

The surprise–attention hypothesis assumes a strong connection between surprise—expectancy discrepant events—and attention. Attention is easily engaged with surprising events, leading to long dwell times. In addition, if the expectancy discrepancy can be determined on the basis of simple, preattentively available information, attention can be captured by the surprising stimulus. This review summarizes different lines of research relevant to the proposed surprise–attention link: shifts of attention as indexed by accuracy gains and efficiency gains, validity effects, shifts of gaze, discrepancies in natural scenes, surprise‐induced blindness, and action interruption. It is argued that there is convergent evidence for the surprise–attention link in general, and for the particular hypothesis that the underlying mechanism constantly tests expectancies on different levels of representation. Evidence also converges on a latency of an attentional engagement of nearly 400 ms. This seems to be a unique feature of surprise capture that also questions the validity of models proposing that saliency is an early automatic attractor of attention. Mechanisms possibly underlying the surprise–attention link are discussed.
Pattern formation using multiple robots

Pattern formation is one of typical problems in the field of multi-robot cooperation. It can be applied to complex application scenarios such as region coverage and path exploration. Compare to traditional multi-robot coordination algorithm, the method based on swarm robots to solve the issue of pattern formation has better scalability and dynamic adaptability and robustness. In this demo, we propose a scalable algorithm using a modified gradient descent technique which allows a swarm of robots to form a letter, such as ‘A’. In this demo, we verify our algorithm through experimentation in a team of self-organized robots, in which communication with each other is through Zigbee network.
Prognostic model built on blood-based biomarkers in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND We had previously showed that the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are prognostic factors for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. In this study we developed a prognostic model based on these three indices. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 243 patients who were initially diagnosed as mCRC between 2005 and 2010 in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were studied. The endpoint was overall survival (OS). RESULTS NLR>3, elevated GGT and elevated CEA were confirmed as independent risk factors which could predict poor prognosis. Patients could be divided into three groups according to the number of risk factors they had. Those with two or three were defined as the high risk group, individuals with one risk factor as the modest risk group and patients without risk factor as the low risk group. The OS values for these three groups were 16.2 months (2.80~68.8), 24.2 months (4.07~79.0), and 37.2 months (12.6~87.8), respectively (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS We developed a simple but useful model based on NLR, GGT and CEA to provide prognostic information to clinical practice in highly selected mCRC patients. Further prospective and multi-center studies are warranted to test our model.
Gastro-intestinal cancer in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND Report on cancer incidence in Indonesia was presented in relative frequency. To lower the bias, the report has been presented in age standardized cancer ratio (ASCAR). The report was a department of pathology based cancer registration. The ASCAR of gastro intestinal cancer in Indonesia has some variation between pathologic centres. The incidence of rectal cancer in Jogjakarta was higher than colon cancer, and stomach cancer is very low. The risk factors of stomach cancer are H. Pylori infection and food consumption especially salt and the risk factor of colorectal cancer is food consumption. PURPOSE The article will discuss the ASCAR of stomach and colorectal cancer in Indonesia. The histopathologic of stomach and colorectal cancer in Jogjakarta will be presented from the view point of pathology. METHODS Stomach and colorectal cancer data from 13 pathologic diagnostic centres in Indonesia were collected. The pathogenesis of stomach and colorectal cancer will be discussed in correlation with the cancer prevention. RESULTS The incidence of stomach cancer in many centres in the year of 1996 are very low from 0,00% - 0,24 % for the most lowest incidence and 2.22 % - 5.60 % for the highest incidence. The higher incidence of stomach cancer was in Medan 19 males (5.6%); 10 females (2.22%); Palembang 7 males (4.75%), 1 female (0.11%); Surabaya 18 males (1.38%), 7 females (0.35%); Denpasar 12 males (2.97%), 1 female (0.24%), and Jakarta 55 males (4%), 28 females (1.39%). The incidence of colorectal cancer is almost equal in every pathologic diagnostic centres. It is interesting that the incidence of rectal cancer was higher than colon cancer. In Jogjakarta the histopathological feature of stomach cancer was predominated by poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, while colorectal cancer was predominated by well differentiated adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS The low incidence of gastric cancer in Indonesia in relation with H. Pylori and food consumption and the high ratio between rectal and colon cancer in correlation with the food consumption and it pathogenesis need further investigation.
On the Structure of Cortical Microcircuits Inferred from Small Sample Sizes

The structure in cortical microcircuits deviates from what would be expected in a purely random network, which has been seen as evidence of clustering. To address this issue, we sought to reproduce the nonrandom features of cortical circuits by considering several distinct classes of network topology, including clustered networks, networks with distance-dependent connectivity, and those with broad degree distributions. To our surprise, we found that all of these qualitatively distinct topologies could account equally well for all reported nonrandom features despite being easily distinguishable from one another at the network level. This apparent paradox was a consequence of estimating network properties given only small sample sizes. In other words, networks that differ markedly in their global structure can look quite similar locally. This makes inferring network structure from small sample sizes, a necessity given the technical difficulty inherent in simultaneous intracellular recordings, problematic. We found that a network statistic called the sample degree correlation (SDC) overcomes this difficulty. The SDC depends only on parameters that can be estimated reliably given small sample sizes and is an accurate fingerprint of every topological family. We applied the SDC criterion to data from rat visual and somatosensory cortex and discovered that the connectivity was not consistent with any of these main topological classes. However, we were able to fit the experimental data with a more general network class, of which all previous topologies were special cases. The resulting network topology could be interpreted as a combination of physical spatial dependence and nonspatial, hierarchical clustering. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The connectivity of cortical microcircuits exhibits features that are inconsistent with a simple random network. Here, we show that several classes of network models can account for this nonrandom structure despite qualitative differences in their global properties. This apparent paradox is a consequence of the small numbers of simultaneously recorded neurons in experiment: when inferred via small sample sizes, many networks may be indistinguishable despite being globally distinct. We develop a connectivity measure that successfully classifies networks even when estimated locally with a few neurons at a time. We show that data from rat cortex is consistent with a network in which the likelihood of a connection between neurons depends on spatial distance and on nonspatial, asymmetric clustering.
Nonequilibrium Green's-function method applied to double-barrier resonant-tunneling diodes.

The effect of inelastic scattering on quantum electron transport through double-barrier resonant-tunneling structures with large cross-sectional areas is studied numerically using the approach based on the nonequilibrium Green's-function formalism of Keldysh, Kadanoff, and Baym. The Markov assumption is not made, and the energy coordinate is retained. This makes the inclusion of the phonon-energy spectrum straightforward both conceptually and in practice. The electron-phonon interaction is treated in the self-consistent first Born approximation (SCFBA). The Pauli exclusion principle is taken into account exactly within the SCFBA. The retention of the energy coordinate allows the calculation of a number of quantities that give insight into the effect of inelastic scattering on electron transport: The effect of inelastic scattering on the occupation of the energy levels, the density of states, the energy distribution of the current density, and the power density is calculated from a quantum kinetic equation for actual device structures under high bias.
Multimodal positive computing system for public speaking with real-time feedback

A multimodal system with real-time feedback for public speaking has been developed. The system has been developed within the paradigm of positive computing which focuses on designing for user wellbeing. To date we have focused on the following determinants of wellbeing – autonomy, self-awareness and stress reduction. Two system prototypes have been developed which differ in the way they display feedback to users. One prototype displays peripheral feedback and the other displays line-of-vision feedback. Initial user evaluation of the system prototypes has yielded positive results. All users reported that they preferred the prototype with line-of-vision feedback. Users reported having autonomy in choosing what visual feedback to focus on when using the system. They also reported that they gained self-awareness as a speaker from using the system.
The lymphatic superficial circumflex iliac vessels deep branch perforator flap: A new preventive approach to lower limb lymphedema after groin dissection‐preliminary evidence

Groin dissection is the procedure with the highest risk of lower limb lymphedema.As lymph stasis causes irreversible alterations to the limb over time,therapies should be administered in early stages,or better yet, lymphatic drainage impairment should be prevented.We developed a new preventive approach to lymphedema after groin dissection, and we report our preliminary experience.
Evidence of a Leadership Role in the Chilean Stock Exchanges

In our study of the two leading stock exchanges in Chile - the Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Electronic Stock Exchange (ESE) - we find that the SSE exhibits a leadership role over the ESE in terms of transmission of returns and volatility. These results indicate that prior empirical studies showing that the New York Stock Exchange leads other exchanges is a result of market structure factors rather than a "US effect". The factors that lead to a leadership role are deeper liquidity, more effective monitoring, and a greater concentration of speculators. Markets possessing these factors will be the first to attract investors and will lead other exchanges. Although the leadership role of the SSE creates a predictable flow of information between markets, the ability to create arbitrage opportunities is mitigated by transaction costs and the current order processing mechanism in Chile. However, our results suggest that a market's leadership could result in arbitrage opportunities in countries with lower transaction costs or different order-processing mechanisms.
Limited reduction of ferrihydrite encrusted by goethite in freshwater sediment

Many physical and chemical processes control the extent of Fe(III) oxyhydroxide reduction by dissimilatory Fe(III)‐reducing bacteria. The surface precipitation of secondary Fe minerals on Fe(III) oxyhydroxides limits the extent of microbial Fe(III) reduction, but this phenomenon has not yet been observed in nature. This paper reports the observation of secondary Fe‐mineral (goethite) encrustation on ferrihydrite surface within freshwater sediment up to 10 cm deep. The sediment surface was characterized by the predominance of ferrihydrites with biogenic stalks and sheaths. An Fe(II)‐oxidizing bacterium (Gallionellaceae) was detected by 16S rRNA gene analysis at sediment depths of 1 and 2 cm. Fe2+ concentration in the sediment pore water was relatively higher at 2–4 cm depths. The 16S rRNA genes affiliated with dissimilatory Fe(III)‐reducing bacteria were detected at 1, 2, and 4 cm depths. The results of the Fe K‐edge extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis suggested the presence of goethite and siderite at depths below 3 cm. However, the change in the Fe‐mineral composition was restricted to sediment depths between 3 and 4 cm, despite the presence of abundant ferrihydrite at depths below 4 cm. An increase in CH4 concentration was observed at deeper than 6 cm. Stable isotopic analysis of CH4 in the pore water indicated that acetoclastic CH4 occurred at depths below 7 cm. Transmission electron microscope observations suggested the presence of goethite and siderite on stalks and sheaths at depths below 3 cm. Results from conversion electron yield EXAFS analysis suggested that goethite dominated at 10 cm depth, thereby indicating that ferrihydrite was encrusted by goethite at this depth. Moreover, the incomplete reduction of ferrihydrite below depths of 4 cm was not due to the lack of organic carbon, but was possibly due to the surface encrustation of goethite on ferrihydrite.
A Compact Dualband LNA Using Self-matched Capacitor

A designed LNA can support the dualband; 2.3~2.5 GHz and 5.1~5.9 GHz. Switched inductor and switched capacitor is adopted for frequency selection. In switched inductor and capacitor matching network, the optimizing techniques to minimize the insertion loss are explained and self-matched capacitor is proposed for easy flexible impedance and noise matching in the various frequency bands. As using switched inductor and capacitor matching network, a designed LNA can support IEEE 802.11a/b/g in 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz. The performances of LNA are comparable with those of LNA for single standard due to self-matched capacitor and optimized switched inductor matching network. The dualband LNA is designed with small the size (0.5 mm2) by reducing the number of inductors.
Plasma Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 Levels May Predict Endoleaks After Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair

A simple, noninvasive and cost-effective diagnostic test for the detection of endoleaks after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) would complement (or even replace) current surveillance modalities. We reviewed the literature for studies correlating circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)/tissue inhibitors of MMPs with the presence of endoleaks after EVAR. An electronic search of databases was performed to identify studies reporting circulating concentrations of MMPs in patients with and without an endoleak after EVAR. Four studies were identified. Patients with an endoleak had higher plasma MMP-9 levels compared with those without an endoleak. Two studies that also evaluated plasma MMP-3 levels after EVAR suggest that these levels may also be higher in patients with an endoleak. Preliminary evidence suggests that MMP-9 levels are increased in patients developing an endoleak after EVAR. Larger studies are required to confirm or refute our findings.
Single port access adrenalectomy.

OBJECTIVE To report the first single port access (SPA) adrenalectomy to minimize patient discomfort through a less invasive procedure. METHODS/RESULTS We performed the first SPA in a 63-year-old, otherwise healthy Caucasian female who had a 4.5-cm left adrenal mass that was incidentally discovered on computed tomography scan of the abdomen and pelvis. Through a 2-cm single longitudinal supraumbilical incision extended down to the abdominal fascia, three 5-mm ports were placed through separate facial entry points, to make a triangular port arrangement. The adrenal vein was identified and ligated using hemoclips. The remainder of the dissection was done using hemocoagulation. The adrenal gland was extracted via an EndoCatch bag device by removing one 5-mm port and upsizing to a 12-mm port. CONCLUSION We report on the first SPA adrenalectomy. Although this technology is still in its infancy, the use of a single port for surgery provides a means to provide a potentially better patient outcome with a less invasive procedure.
Tracking antigen‐driven responses by flow cytometry: Monitoring proliferation by dye dilution

Cell‐tracking reagents such as the green‐fluorescent protein labeling dye CFSE and the red‐fluorescent lipophilic membrane dye PKH26 are commonly used to monitor cell proliferation by flow cytometry in heterogeneous cell populations responding to immune stimuli. Both reagents stain cells with a bright homogeneous fluorescence, which is partitioned between daughter cells during each cell division. Because daughter cell fluorescence intensities are approximately halved after each division, the intensity of a cell relative to its intensity at the time of staining provides information about how many divisions it has undergone. Knowing how many rounds of division have occurred and the relative number of cells in each daughter generation, one can back‐calculate the number of cells in the original population (i.e., cells present at the time of stimulus) that went on to respond by proliferating. Using this information, the precursor cell frequencies and extent of expansion to a specific antigen or mitogen of interest can be calculated. Concurrently, the phenotype of the cells can be determined, as well as their ability to bind antigen or synthesize cytokines, providing more detailed characterization of all cells responding to the antigen, not just effector cells. In multiparameter flow cytometric experiments to simultaneously analyze antigen‐specific tetramer binding, cytokine production and T‐cell proliferation, we found that only approximately half of the cells that exhibited specific binding to influenza tetramer also proliferated, as measured by dye dilution, and synthesized IFNγ in response to antigen. We expect the advent of new cell tracking dyes emitting from the violet to the near infrared combined with the increasing number of lasers and detectors on contemporary flow cytometers to further expand the usefulness of this approach to characterization of complex antigen‐driven immunological responses. © 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry