Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investment initiative for fiscally constrained EU member states: The role of synergetic financial instruments

The economy of the European Union has not recovered from the impact of the economic and financial crisis. Growth rates remain low and investment activity is weak. This questions current economic policies of the Economic and Monetary Union, known as austerity. In opposition to fiscal contraction measures, expansive fiscal action policies are often called for to initiate economic recovery. But the national interests of austerity's main proponent, performed in an asymmetric intergovernmental bargaining arena, render most of the proposed expansive action plans impossible and hence austerity is expected to prevail. The Juncker-Plan constitutes an expansive action plan which respects the restrictive budgetary rules. Nevertheless an investment volume of 315 billion Euro should be made available, enabled by 21 billion Euro of public money. The budget contribution should lever private funds by a multiplier of 15. The crucial factor of 15 rests on experience with Synergetic Financial Instruments which have been increasingly executed during the last budget period. This work assesses the impact of expansive public investment conducted through these Synergetic Financial Instruments and thus gathers information to undertake an appraisal of the Juncker-Plan, foremost of its crucial mechanisms and resulting numbers. By this, the potential of financial instruments as means of fiscal policy and the validity of the Juncker-Plan can be assessed.
A specific immunoassay for monitoring human bone resorption: Quantitation of type I collagen cross‐linked N‐telopeptides in urine

Peptides of low molecular weight that contain pyridinoline cross‐links were isolated from adolescent human urine. A fraction was selected that was enriched in the N‐telopeptide‐to‐helix intermolecular cross‐linking domain of bone type I collagen. Mouse monoclonal antibodies were generated against these urinary peptides conjugated to a carrier protein as immunogen. A high‐affinity antibody was identified that specifically bound to the trivalent peptides derived from the N‐telopeptide‐to‐helix pyridinoline cross‐linking site in type I collagen of human bone. This was confirmed by the direct isolation from human bone collagen of similar fragments recognized selectively by the antibody. A sensitive inhibition ELISA was established on microtiter plates that could quantify the bone‐derived peptides in human urine. The assay, which can be run directly on untreated urine, was thoroughly tested against samples from normal subjects and from patients with metabolic bone disease. For example, strong correlations with urinary hydroxyproline and total pyridinoline cross‐links were found in patients with Paget's disease of bone. The method shows considerable promise as a rapid and specific index of human bone resorption rates, with greatly improved specificity and convenience over total pyridinoline analysis. Potential applications include the study of normal metabolism, the diagnosis and monitoring of bone disease, and evaluating the effectiveness of antiresorption therapies.
Preliminary results of the INSPIRE trial with the novel MGuard™ stent system containing a protection net to prevent distal embolization

Objective: To assess the efficacy of the MGuardTM stent combining a polymer‐mesh sleeve attached to the external surface of a bare‐metal stent in preventing distal embolization during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Background: Distal embolization of thrombus/platelet agreggates is associated with worse immediate and long‐term prognosis after PCI. Treatment of saphenous vein graft (SVG) and PCI in the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is often related to this complication. Although protection and aspiration devices have been shown to reduce distal embolization, they add time and cost to PCI. Methods: A total of 30 patients were included. Inclusion criteria were de novo lesions in SVG or native vessels with angiographic evidence of instability with potential to provoke flow disturbances and/or distal embolization. Primary endpoint included the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (composite of cardiac death, non‐fatal myocardial infarction and TLR) up to 30 days of the procedure and TIMI flow right after the PCI. Results: Mean population age was 60.8 years with 36.7% of diabetes. Overall, 53.3% presented with ACS, and most lesions were located in SVG (16 of 30). The majority of lesions had complex morphology including the presence of thrombus (30%) and ulcer (33.3%). The MGuard stent was successfully deployed in all cases with no angiographic/clinical complications including distal embolization. Final TIMI‐3/blush‐3 were achieved in all cases with no MACE up to 30 days of the procedure. Conclusions: In this preliminary evaluation, the MGuard device demonstrated excellent performance in a highly complex lesion subset, including absence of angiograhpic/procedural complications, and no adverse events up to 30‐day FU. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Randomized controlled trial protocol feasibility: The Wheelchair Self-Efficacy Enhanced for Use (WheelSeeU)

Background. Manual wheelchairs (MWCs) can improve mobility and social participation for individuals who experience difficulty walking; however, older adults receive little training for wheelchair use. The Wheelchair Self-Efficacy Enhanced for Use (WheelSeeU) research program provides peer-led training that may positively influence wheelchair use while reducing clinician burden. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcomes of WheelSeeU. Method. A randomized control trial (RCT) recruits and randomly assigns 40 MWC users (55+ years). Feasibility indicators assessing process, resource, management, and treatment issues are measured, and clinical outcomes (wheelchair skills, safety, confidence, mobility, social participation, quality of life, health utility) are collected at three time points. Implications. WheelSeeU provides an innovative approach for teaching wheelchair skills to an aging population that may improve wheelchair use and decrease clinician burden. Since RCTs are expensive and challenging in rehabilitation, establishing feasibility prior to larger effectiveness trials is prudent.
Receptor-ligand interaction: a new method for determining binding parameters without a priori assumptions on non-specific binding.

Analysis of receptor-ligand binding characteristics can be greatly hampered by the presence of non-specific binding, defined as low-affinity binding to non-receptor domains which is not saturable within the range of ligand concentrations used. Conventional binding analyses, e.g. according to the methods described by Scatchard or Klotz, relate the amount of specific receptor-ligand binding to the concentration of free ligand, and therefore require assumptions on the amount of non-specific binding. In this paper a method is described for determining the parameters of specific receptor-ligand interaction which does not require any assumption or separate determination of the amount of non-specific binding. If the concentration of labelled free ligand is constant, a plot of Fu/(B0*-B*) versus Fu yields a linear relationship, in the case of a single receptor class, in which Fu is the concentration of unlabelled free ligand, B0* is the total amount of labelled bound ligand in the absence of unlabelled ligand and B* is the total amount of labelled bound ligand in the presence of an unlabelled ligand concentration Fu; all of these data are readily obtained from binding studies. This linear relationship holds irrespective of the amount of non-specific binding, and the values for receptor density, ligand dissociation constant and a constant for non-specific binding can be readily obtained from it. If the concentration of labelled free ligand is not a constant for all data points, data are first converted according to a straightforward normalization procedure to permit the use of this relationship. The presence of multiple receptor classes with dissociation constants in the range of the ligand concentrations used results in a negative deviation from this linearity, and therefore the presence of multiple receptor classes can be discriminated unequivocally from non-specific binding. Both theoretical and practical advantages of the present method are described. The method, which will be referred to as the linear subtraction method, is illustrated using the binding of tumour promoters and polypeptide growth factors to their specific cellular receptors.
Effects of foodborne Fusarium mycotoxins with and without a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent on food intake and nutrient digestibility, body weight, and physical and clinicopathologic variables of mature dogs.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of feeding cereal-based diets that are naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins to dogs and assess the efficacy of a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent (GMA) in prevention of Fusarium mycotoxicosis. ANIMALS 12 mature female Beagles. PROCEDURES Dogs received each of 3 cereal-based diets for 14 days. One diet was uncontaminated (control diet), and the other 2 contained contaminated grains; one of the contaminated diets also contained 0.2% GMA. Contaminants included deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and fusaric acid. Food intake and nutrient digestibility, body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and clinicopathologic variables of the dogs were assessed at intervals during the feeding periods. RESULTS Food intake and body weight of dogs fed the contaminated diet without GMA were significantly decreased, compared with effects of the control diet. Reductions in blood pressure; heart rate; serum concentrations of total protein, globulin, and fibrinogen; and serum activities of alkaline phosphatase and amylase as well as increases in blood monocyte count and mean corpuscular volume were detected. Consumption of GMA did not ameliorate the effects of the Fusarium mycotoxins. For the GMA-contaminated diet, digestibility of carbohydrate, protein, and lipid was significantly higher than that associated with the control diet, possibly because of physiologic adaptation of the recipient dogs to reduced food intake. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that consumption of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins can adversely affect dogs' feeding behaviors and metabolism. As a food additive, GMA was not effective in prevention of Fusarium mycotoxicosis in dogs.
Identification of Factors Influencing the Success of Hospital Information System (SIRS) by Hot-Fit Model 2006: A Case Study of RSUD Dr Samratulangi Tondano, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi

Hospital Information System (SIRS) is an integrated information system prepared to handle all hospital mana-gement processes, from diagnosis, patient treatment, medical record, pharmacy, pharmacy warehouse, billing, personnel database, payroll, and management control. Indonesian Constitution No. 44/52/1/2009 and the Decision of the Minister of Health No. 1171/1/1/2011 state that "Hospitals in Indonesia must record, report and perform SIRS". Therefore, RSUD Dr. Tondano Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, uses SIRS to support employee performance in providing health services for the public. The purpose of this study was identifying factors influencing the success of SIRS using Human Organization Technology Fit Model. The researchers randomly collected questionnaires from 150 respondents who used SIRS. Questionnaire data was collected and analyzed by SPSS and AMOS software. The result showed that from 16 proposed hypothesis, 14 hypotheses were accepted and 2 hypotheses were rejected. In conclusion, most SIRS users only focused on registration and administration functions instead of clinical function. Availability of IT unit and IT staff strongly influenced SIRS usage.
Risk Factors for Conduct Disorder and Delinquency: Key Findings from Longitudinal Studies

Conduct disorder (CD) and delinquency are behavioural problems involving violation of major rules, societal norms, and laws. The prevalence of CD and delinquency peaks in mid-to-late adolescence. Both show considerable continuity over time. The most important studies of CD and delinquency have prospective longitudinal designs, large community samples, repeated personal interviews, measures of many possible risk factors, and both self-reports and official measures of antisocial behaviour. The most important risk factors that predict CD and delinquency include impulsiveness, low IQ and low school achievement, poor parental supervision, punitive or erratic parental discipline, cold parental attitude, child physical abuse, parental conflict, disrupted families, antisocial parents, large family size, low family income, antisocial peers, high delinquency rate schools, and high crime neighbourhoods. However, for many risk factors, it is not known whether they have causal effects. Future research should examine changes in risk factors and changes in CD and delinquency to identify the risk factors that are causes and those that are merely markers of other risk mechanisms.
Emergence of Carbapenem-Resistant Non-baumannii Species of Acinetobacter Harboring a blaOXA-51-Like Gene That Is Intrinsic to A. baumannii

ABSTRACT The blaOXA-51-like gene, originally intrinsic to Acinetobacter baumannii, had been detected in two clones of Acinetobacter nosocomialis and one clone of Acinetobacter genomic species “Close to 13TU. ” These blaOXA-51-like genes, all preceded by ISAba1, were located on plasmids that might have originated with A. baumannii. The plasmid-borne ISAba1--blaOXA-51-like confers a high level of carbapenem resistance and affects the accuracy of using blaOXA-51-like detection as a tool for differentiating A. baumannii from other Acinetobacter species.
Host Suitability of Graminaceous Crop Cultivars for Isolates of Meloidogyne arenaria and M. incognita.

Twenty-two graminaceous plant cultivars were evaluated in the greenhouse for host suitability for three South Carolina isolates of Meloidogyne arenaria race 2 (Ma-R2) designated as Florence, Govan, and Pelion, a Florida isolate of M. arenaria race 1 (Ma-R1), and a South Carolina M. incognita race 3. Host suitability was determined by calculating egg mass index (EMI) reproduction factor (RF) (final egg numbers/initial egg numbers), and number of eggs per gram fresh root. Corn hybrids Pioneer 3147 and Northrup King 508 and oat cv. Florida 502 were nonhosts to all nematode isolates, as no egg masses or eggs were found in roots grown in infested soils. Oat cv. Coker 716 and grain sorghum cvs. Cherokee, Northrup King 2660, and Pioneer 8333 were poor hosts (RF < 1). Good (RF = 1.1-5.0) or excellent (RF > 5.0) hosts for both Ma-R1 and three Ma-R2 isolates included the following: barley cvs. Boone, Keowee, and Redhill; corn hybrid Pioneer 3389; oat cvs. Brooks and Coker 820; rye cvs. Bonel, Florida 401, and Wrens Abruzzi; triticale cvs. Beagle 82 and Florida 201 ; and wheat cvs. Coker 983, Florida 302, and Williams. All cultivars except Coker 716 oat were good or excellent hosts of M. incognita.
A beamformer for a prototype vivaldi mid frequency aperture array

A beamformer system for a linear two-element interferometer aligned east-west is implemented. Two phase shifters based on a delay line technique, using coaxial cables and a diode network for selection and deselection of phases, are implemented at a centre frequency of 10.7 MHz. Each phase shifter consists of 6 bits, that are controlled digitally using an Arduino board, to produce 64 discrete phase shifts to the nearest 5°. A beamforming of 26° eastwards was performed and the shift in the “fringe pattern” of the interferometer was found to coincide with the beamforming performed.
The Role of Livestock in Food Security and Environmental Protection

Per capita consumption of milk and meat products in developing Asia (including China) grew by 2.4% and 5% respectively between 1975–79 and 1990–94. This growth can be attributed to high growth rate in income and rapid urbanization. For Latin America, per capita milk and meat consumption has stagnated over the same period, perhaps because the region is already largely urbanized. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) per capita consumption of milk and meat declined by 0.2 and 0.4% over the same period because of declining real incomes. The scope for further increases in demand for livestock production as a result of income increases and urbanization is still large in the developing regions. Projections indicate likely increases in income in developing countries ranging from 3% per annum in SSA and Latin America, and to about 6% in Asia. It is projected that more than four in every ten people will live in urban centres. Projection results indicate that while the share of total meat consumption in the developed countries as a group will decrease from 53 to 36% between 1993 and 2020, in the developing world the share of total meat consumption will increase from 47% to 64% over the same period.
Vertebroplasty Versus Kyphoplasty: Biomechanical Behavior Under Repetitive Loading Conditions

Study Design. Ex vivo biomechanical study using osteoporotic cadaveric fractured vertebral bodies. Objective. To investigate the behavior of fractured osteoporotic vertebral bodies treated with either vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty under repetitive loading conditions. Summary of Background Data. Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are newer alternatives for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Loading conditions that can lead to fractures treated with these methods will likely be encountered subsequently; as such, it is important to understand differences in the biomechanical behavior of the resultant constructs. Methods. There were 7 pairs of osteoporotic T8 and T10 vertebral bodies cyclically loaded to produce a vertebral compression fracture. Of each pair, one was assigned to the kyphoplasty group and the other to the vertebroplasty group. After treatment, specimens were cyclically loaded to 100,000 cycles, between 20% and 70% of the predicted failure load. Results. Height was restored with kyphoplasty, but the vertebral bodies showed significant height loss during cyclic loading. Vertebroplasty specimens had higher compression stiffness and smaller height reduction. Conclusions. Under repetitive loading conditions, fractured vertebral bodies treated with kyphoplasty were initially taller, but because of a progressive loss of height during loading, the resulting constructs were shorter after 100,000 cycles than those treated with vertebroplasty.
Numerical investigation of light scattering by coupled plasmonic nanospheres using a high-accuracy multidomain Legendre pseudospectral time-domain method

A high-numerical-accuracy multidomain Legendre pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) method is utilized to study the three-dimensional problem of light scattering by coupled metallic nanospheres and associated plasmonic resonances. With the multidomain technique, the simulation environment is partitioned into curvilinear hexahedral subdomains that well match the geometrical profile and material interfaces, which is an essential treatment to assure numerical accuracy, in particular, in near-field calculations. Cross sections are accurately calculated for studying the effects of different sphere radii and spacings. Interactions between two silver spheres are investigated for different incident wave propagation directions and polarizations. Electric near fields at plasmon resonances are examined.
A broadband THz waveguide-to-suspended stripline loop-probe transition

We present a novel waveguide-to-suspended stripline loop-probe transition operating over the entire WR-1.0 waveguide band. The loop probe is designed for broadband response with simulated RL > 15 dB, and has an integrated DC return path, which can also be extended for biasing. The measured insertion loss for a back-to-back configuration is 1–2 dB in almost the entire frequency range of 750–1100 GHz.
The Regulation of Leukotoxin Production in Actinobacillus Actinomycetemcomitans Strain JP2

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.) can produce a potent leukotoxin that is thought to be involved in evasion of the host immune response. In order to understand the role of A.a. and its leukotoxin in the initiation and progression of periodontal disease, it is important determine how the expression of A.a. virulence factors might be regulated by the local periodontal micro-environment. To facilitate the measurement of leukotoxin levels, a leukotoxin-β-galactosidase gene fusion was constructed and recombined into the chromosome of A.a. strain JP2 at the leukotoxin locus. The resulting strain, AAM17, produces β-galactosidase under control of the leukotoxin promoter. It also produces leukotoxin, since integration of the gene fusion into the chromosome was designed to produce a duplication of the leukotoxin gene. This strain was used to measure the change in leukotoxin level in response to alterations in two environmental signals: iron concentration and oxygen tension. When AAM17 was grown in iron-limited media that did not alter growth rate but did increase the levels of other iron-regulated proteins, the levels of the leukotoxin-p-galactosidase were similar to those found in AAM17 grown in iron-replete media. These results were confirmed in strains AAM17 and JP2 by leukotoxicity assays and RNA blots. Aerobic growth of AAM17 resulted in a three-fold decrease in leukotoxin β-galactosidase activity compared with anaerobically grown cells. These results indicate that the A.a. leukotoxin is regulated by some of the environmental signals that may vary in the gingival crevice.
miR-17-92 cluster accelerates adipocyte differentiation by negatively regulating tumor-suppressor Rb2/p130

Adipogenesis involves cell proliferation and differentiation, both of which have been shown to be regulated by micro (mi)RNA. During mouse preadipocyte 3T3L1 cell differentiation, we found that miR-17-92, a miRNA cluster that promotes cell proliferation in various cancers, was significantly up-regulated at the clonal expansion stage of adipocyte differentiation. Stable transfection of 3T3L1 cells with miR-17-92 resulted in accelerated differentiation and increased triglyceride accumulation after hormonal stimulation. By using a luciferase reporter assay, we demonstrated that miR-17-92 directly targeted the 3′ UTR region of Rb2/p130, accounting for subsequently reduced Rb2/p130 mRNA and protein quantities at the stage of clonal expansion. siRNA-mediated knock-down of Rb2/p130 at the same stage of clonal expansion recapitulated the phenotype of overexpression of miR-17-92 in the stably transfected 3T3L1 cells. These data indicate that miR-17-92 promotes adipocyte differentiation by targeting and negatively regulating Rb2/p130.
The European Sectoral Social Dialogue: An Uneven Record of Achievement?

While the European intersectoral social dialogue has been, according to the Commission’s own admission, dragging its feet for the last few years on account of a lack of commitment on the part of the private sector employers, the sectoral social dialogue is often presented as a more dynamic and successful venture. A dialogue along sectoral lines has been set in motion by employer and labour organisations from a current total of 43 economic sectors of the European economy (from metalworking through road transport to public services and many others).