Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automated Recognition of Intracellular Organelles in Confocal Microscope Images

Recognition of the localisation of intracellular proteins is essential to the understanding of their function. It is usually made through knowledge of and comparison to the distribution of well‐characterised intracellular organelles by experts in cell biology. We have automated this process in order to achieve a more objective and quantitative assessment of the protein distribution within the cell, which can be employed by the less experienced cell biologist and may be utilised as a training program for inexperienced users, or as a high throughput localisation program for novel genes in functional analysis. Here we describe the development and testing of a classification system based on a modular neural network trained with sets of confocal sections through cell lines fluorescently stained for markers of key intracellular structures. The system functioned well in spite of the variability in pattern that occurs between individual cells and performed with 97% accuracy, which gives us confidence in the method and in its future development. It is envisaged that this program will aid the design of further experiments utilising colocalisation with known organelle marker proteins, in order to confirm putative trafficking pathways and protein–protein interactions of the protein of interest.
Comparison between iloprost and alprostadil in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon

Objective: The prostanoids iloprost and alprostadil are widely used to treat ischaemic changes in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), but the optimal regimen is poorly defined. We evaluated whether there are differences between iloprost and alprostadil, in terms of either clinical efficacy or of laboratory data, with the aim of assisting in the treatment of connective tissue disease (CTD)‐associated RP. Methods: Twenty‐one women with CTD‐associated RP were given intravenous iloprost (11 patients) or alprostadil (10 patients) cyclically (5 consecutive days, followed by 1 day every 30 days). Clinical efficacy (RP symptoms, skin score, digital ulcers) and circulating levels of von Willebrand factor (VWf), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), thrombomodulin (TM) and Type III procollagen N‐terminal propeptide (PIIINP) were evaluated by enzyme‐linked immunoassay at different intervals. Results: The overall benefits of iloprost and alprostadil were similar. RP improved in 45% versus 90% of patients; ulcers in 60% versus 40% of patients (iloprost versus alprostadil). Skin score did not significantly change with either drug. Circulating VWf decreased with either drug (iloprost −6.2%, alprostadil −9.4%), while tPA, TM, and PIIINP remained unchanged. Side effects were only minor and less frequent with alprostadil. Conclusion: Iloprost and alprostadil were both of benefit in CTD‐associated RP, without significant differences in either clinical efficacy or circulating markers. However, ease of handling and the lower price favours alprostadil.
Coronary artery disease prevalence and outcome in patients hospitalized with acute heart failure: an observational report from seven Middle Eastern countries

ABSTRACT Objectives: The purpose of this study was to report prevalence, clinical characteristics, precipitating factors, management and outcome of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) among patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) in seven Middle Eastern countries and compare them to non-CAD patients. Methods: Data were derived from Gulf CARE (Gulf aCute heArt failuRe rEgistry), a prospective multicenter study of 5005 consecutive patients hospitalized with acute HF during February-November 2012 in 7 Middle Eastern countries. Results: The prevalence of CAD among Acute Heart Failure (AHF) patients was 60.2% and varied significantly among the 7 countries (Qatar 65.7%, UAE 66.6%, Kuwait 68.0%, Oman 65.9%, Saudi Arabia 62.5%, Bahrain 52.7% and Yemen 49.1%) with lower values in the lower income countries. CAD patients were older and more likely to have diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and chronic kidney disease. Moreover, CAD patients were more likely to have history of cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular disease when compared to non-CAD patients. In-hospital mortality rates were comparable although CAD patients had more frequent re-hospitalization and worse long-term outcome. However, CAD was not an independent predictor of poor outcome. Conclusion: The prevalence of CAD amongst patients with HF in the Middle East is variable and may be related to healthcare sources. Regional and national studies are needed for assessing further the impact of various etiologies of HF and for developing appropriate strategies to combat this global concern.
A New Partial Reconfiguration-Based Fault-Injection System to Evaluate SEU Effects in SRAM-Based FPGAs

Modern SRAM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices offer high capability in implementing complex system. Unfortunately, SRAM-based FPGAs are extremely sensitive to single event upsets (SEUs) induced by radiation particles. In order to successfully deploy safety- or mission-critical applications, designer need to validate the correctness of the obtained designs. In this paper we describe a system based on partial-reconfiguration for running fault-injection experiments within the configuration memory of SRAM-based FPGAs. The proposed fault-injection system uses the internal configuration capabilities that modern FPGAs offer in order to inject SEU within the configuration memory. Detailed experimental results show that the technique is orders of magnitude faster than previously proposed ones.
The BMW European Works Council: A Cause for European Industrial Relations Optimism?

This article evaluates the role performed by BMW's European Works Council (EWC) in the recent Rover crisis. During this period of great uncertainty a picture emerges whereby contacts achieved through the EWC came to play a central role in discussions and negotiations with BMW and Rover management. Of particular interest are the issues of trust relations between British and German EWC members and the changing attitudes towards each other. Here, the diverse points of reference resulting from contrasting industrial relations settings are discussed at some length. It is concluded that a new industrial relations platform now exists that could allow European trade unionists the chance to develop better cross-border relations as well as mutually supportive positions.
Current challenges in endovascular therapy for thoracic aneurysms

ABSTRACT Surgical treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms can be associated with high mortality and complication rates, resulting in prolonged hospital stay. Endovascular techniques for treating thoracic aortic disease have been rapidly embraced, showing limited mortality and major adverse events. Its wide availability and relative ease of application has changed and extended management options for thoracic aortic disease, including inpatients deemed unsuitable for open surgery. Rapid technical evolution has allowed it to be applied to even hostile anatomy and complex cases. However, as it is still a young technology, many unknowns remain, including long-term outcomes with respect to conservative treatment and open surgical repair.
Affine Models for Credit Risk Analysis

Continuous-time affine models have been recently introduced in the theoretical financial literature on credit risk. They provide a coherent modeling, rather easy to implement, but have not yet encountered the expected success among practitioners and regulators. This is likely due to a lack of flexibility of these models, which often implied poor fit, especially compared to more ad hoc approaches proposed by the industry. The aim of this article is to explain that this lack of flexibility is mainly due to the continuous-time assumption. We develop a discrete-time affine analysis of credit risk, explain how different types of factors can be introduced to capture separately the term structure of default correlation, default heterogeneity, correlation between default, and loss-given-default; we also explain why the factor dynamics are less constrained in discrete time and are able to reproduce complicated cycle effects. These models are finally used to derive a credit-VaR and various decompositions of the spreads for corporate bonds or first-to-default basket. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
Integrated reliability modeling for data center infrastructures: A case study

Optimization of energy efficiency is a major challenge that influences current technical design processes. A data center electrical infrastructure, as a major energy consumer, can be viewed as a microgrid. However, any optimization effort targeted at that local grid has to be governed by consideration of the resulting reliability. Since the required cooling of the IT-components is an on-demand service, it is not only the microgrid itself what determines the resulting infrastructure reliability. In addition, the cooling system components themselves have to be included in the reliability analysis calculations. This article presents a method of calculating the reliability of integrated data center infrastructure models (including power grid and cooling systems) using Boolean algebra. Furthermore, failure analysis statistics of two different complex infrastructure designs based on reliability models will be discussed.
A Simple Model of Equilibrium Price Dispersion

This paper demonstrates that price dispersion can exist even within the context of a very simple model. Identical buyers with elastic demand curves sample sequentially from a known price distribution, at a fixed cost per observation. Firms are assumed to be perfectly informed of buyers' reservation prices and demand functions. Given the firms' distribution of marginal costs, firms' behavior as monopolistic competitors results in their offering a distribution of prices which is consistent with expected utility maximization by buyers and with expected profit maximization by sellers.
A technique for extracting a measure of expected inflation from the interest rate term structure

FEW macroeconomic variables are as crucial to so many current controversies, and yet as hard to measure in empirical work, as the expected inflation rate. Each of the proxies that are often used for the expected inflation rate has serious drawbacks. Public opinion survey data are not based on observed economic behavior. Lagged values of the actual inflation rate, or other relevant macroeconomic variables, cannot hope to capture all the information that enters into the formation of expectations-for example, the latest government announcements of money growth. Future values of the actual inflation rate differ from the expected inflation rate by large expectational errors, even though they have mean zero if expectations are rational. One proxy sometimes used for the expected inflation rate is the nominal interest rate (minus a constant) under the hypothesis that the real rate of interest is constant. This proxy has the advantages that it is based on observed economic behavior and that it is capable of capturing the latest information available in financial markets. The disadvantage lies in the questionableness of the hypothesis that the real rate of interest is literally constant. Much has been written on both sides of this issue.1 Most economists probably would not agree with the claim that the real rate of interest is literally constant in the short run.2 But a majority perhaps would agree that, in the absence of new disturbances (such as unexpected monetary expansions), the expected inflation rate will become increasingly incorporated into the nominal interest rate with the passage of time. Since long-term interest rates are known to reflect expected future short-term interest rates, an important implication is that long-term interest rates reflect the expected inflation rate more fully than do short-term interest rates. This principle is recognized in financial markets. For example, when President Carter announced a more restrictive monetary policy in late 1978, in an effort to combat inflation and the depreciation of the dollar, the long-term interest rate fell below the short-term interest rate for the first time in several years. The Wall Street Journal characterized the reaction in bond markets as follows:
Regulation of Profilin Localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Phosphoinositide Metabolism (*)

Profilin is an actin- and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-binding protein that plays a role in the organization of the cytoskeleton and may be involved in growth factor signaling pathways. The subcellular localization of profilin was examined in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Immunoblot analysis showed that profilin was localized in both the plasma membrane and cytosolic fractions of the cell. Actin was bound to the profilin localized in the cytosol. The association of profilin with the membrane was peripheral and mediated through interaction with phospholipid. The phospholipid dependence of profilin for membrane binding was examined in vitro using pure profilin and defined unilamellar phospholipid vesicles. The presence of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in phospholipid vesicles was required for maximum profilin binding. Moreover, the binding of profilin to phospholipid vesicles was dependent on the surface concentration of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. The subcellular localization of profilin was examined in vivo under growth conditions (i.e. inositol starvation of ino1 cells and glucose starvation of respiratory deficient cells) where plasma membrane levels of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate were depleted. Depletion of plasma membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate levels resulted in a translocation of profilin from the plasma membrane to the cytosolic fraction. Profilin translocated back to the membrane fraction from the cytosol under growth conditions where plasma membrane levels of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate were replenished. These results suggested that phosphoinositide metabolism played a role in the localization of profilin.
BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF A FRACTIONAL COINTEGRATION MODEL

The concept of fractional cointegration, whereby deviations from an equilibrium relationship follow a fractionally integrated process, has attracted some attention of late. The extended concept allows cointegration to be associated with mean reversion in the error, rather than requiring the more stringent condition of stationarity. This paper presents a Bayesian method for conducting inference about fractional cointegration. The method is based on an approximation of the exact likelihood, with a Jeffreys prior being used to offset identification problems. Numerical results are produced via a combination of Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. The procedure is applied to several purchasing power parity relations, with substantial evidence found in favor of parity reversion.
Organizational and individual identities in transition: The case of Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises

It is wisely recognised that the sector of small and medium enterprises is, at present, the only source of new jobs [in Romania] . However, to focus upon SMEs solely as a means for absorbing excess unemployment is grossly to understate their role in the economy and the society. SMEs help to foster a culture of competitiveness based on higher flexibility and productivity. From a wider point of view, SMEs promote change in both the organisational and commercial behaviour of companies and individuals.
A fuzzy nonlinear model approach with CAPM for portfolio optimization

In the stocks markets, main factors which have to be considered to make accurate investment decisions are return and risk. Since the knowledge related this couple is not certain and precise, deterministic and stochastic models used in portfolio optimization are not sufficient for investment decisions. In this study, a new fuzzy nonlinear portfolio model is proposed by means of membership functions developed for return and risk. In construction of the mentioned model, Konno and Yamazaki's model is taken as reference model. As a second stage, expected return of this model is assumed to be fuzzy. Since the expected return is taken as fuzzy, the values of objective function which denote risk can also be accepted as fuzzy. For this reason the nonlinear programming model with fuzzy source and objective is constituted. Besides, in order to consider stocks market trend, the constraint, which includes sensitivity of market, is added in this model by means of membership function of portfolio beta that is consistent with Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). In application part, using the closure data of stocks operated in ISE30 index, the performance of the proposed model is compared with ones of Markowitz and Konno-Yamazaki model.
DOES FINANCIAL INSTABILITY WEAKEN THE FINANCE-GROWTH NEXUS? A CASE FOR PAKISTAN

The paper investigates whether financial instability weakens finance-growth nexus in case of Pakistan. In doing so ARDL bounds testing approach is used for cointegration among variables over the period of 1971-2005. The results show that financial instability does weaken finance-growth nexus. Trade openness increases economic growth through spillover effects. Increasing inflation retards economic growth i.e., lower inflation rates are necessary for sustained economic growth. Political instability impedes economic growth. The present study indicates new direction for policy makers to sustain the pace of economic growth and avoid financial crisis.
Patient ratings of chewing ability from a randomised crossover trial: lingualised vs. first premolar/canine-guided occlusion for complete dentures.

BACKGROUND Complex procedures involving a facebow transfer and the use of lingualised teeth are deemed to have a positive influence on the chewing ability with complete dentures. OBJECTIVES To determine if patients' ratings of their ability to chew depend on the method of complete denture fabrication. METHODS Edentulous patients (n = 20) participated in a within-subject crossover trial. Each patient received two sets of new complete dentures. One pair was manufactured based on intraoral tracing of centric relation and facebow transfer; semi-anatomical teeth with lingualised occlusion denture (LOD) were chosen. The second pair was made using a simplified procedure without facebow transfer; jaw relations were recorded with wax occlusion rims, and anatomical teeth with a first premolar/canine-guidance (CGD) were selected. The dentures were delivered in randomised order, and each was worn for 3 months. Three months after delivery, patients' ratings of each new prosthesis were recorded on visual analogue scales for their ability to chew seven index foods. Repeated measurements analysis of variance was performed to investigate possible carry-over effects accounting for confounding by treatment period. RESULTS When comparing the two treatments, participants rated their ability to chew in general, to masticate carrots, hard sausage, steak and raw apple in particular, was significantly better with the CGD (anatomical teeth) than with the LOD (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Comprehensive methods for the fabrication of complete dentures including semi-anatomical lingualised teeth and a full registration do not seem to influence the perceived chewing ability, when compared with more simple procedures. Chewing ability for tough foods appears to benefit from the use of anatomical teeth.
Correlation between follicular fluid 25-OH vitamin D and assisted reproductive outcomes

Background: Vitamin D in complex with its receptor by regulating gene expression, endometrium immune response and stimulation of endometrium decidualization can be involved in implantation. So, it seems that the amount of vitamin D in follicular fluids (FF) may have an association with ART success. Objective: First, we intended to investigate the possible association between levels of follicular fluids 25-OH vitamin D with assisted reproductive outcomes. Second, we examined relationship between 25-OH vitamin D levels with number and quality of oocytes. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, 80 infertile female candidates for IVF/ICSI were enrolled. Blood samples (on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration) and follicular fluids were taken, and then levels of serum estradiol and follicular fluids 25-OH vitamin D were measured. Also clinical characteristics of patients (duration of infertility, causes of infertility, menstrual status), number and quality of oocytes, number of fertilized oocytes, estradiol levels, and clinical pregnancy were evaluated. Results: Concentration of FF 25-OH vitamin D in pregnant women was significantly higher than non-pregnant women (p=0.007) but there were no significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), duration of infertility, menstrual status, number of oocytes, oocytes quality, number of fertilized oocytes, and serum estradiol levels between the two groups. Statistically positive correlation was found between 25-OH vitamin D levels with patient age and implantation rate (r=0.264, p=0.018 and r=0.301, p=0.007 respectively). Conclusion: The obtained results suggest that vitamin D without affecting the number and quality of oocytes can independently improve implantation rate and IVF outcome.
The urban–rural divide in the perception of the poverty line: the case of Russia

In this article, we analyse the differences in the perception of the poverty line between rural and urban settlements in the Russian Federation. We show that although the level of absolute poverty increases as the size of the settlement decreases, the level of subjective poverty moves in the opposite direction. These results have potential implications for targeting poverty in urban and rural areas.
Initial experience with delivery of palliative care toterminal cancer patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM We investigated the symptoms and needs of terminal cancer patients in a region where formal palliative care is limited. Here we present the demographic features and symptoms of end-stage cancer patients living in a city in northern Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted at Gaziosmanpaşa University (Tokat, Turkey), in 2011 and 2012. End-stage cancer patients admitted or referred by various departments to our outpatient pain unit were included. Demographic data, treatment histories, primary tumor sites, patient complaints, and symptom intensities measured using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System Scale were prospectively entered into a database. RESULTS A total of 107 patients (36 female and 71 male) were included. Gastrointestinal cancer was the most common form of cancer (43%), followed by genitourinary (25.3%) and lung cancer (15%). The most common symptom was fatigue (98.1%). The other symptoms (in decreasing order) were pain (92.5%), insomnia (92.5%), loss of appetite (76.6%), constipation (71%), dyspnea (63.6%), nausea (60.7%), cough (57.9%), and vomiting (48.6%). Eighty-six percent of the patients (n = 92) had metastases. Most lived in the city (59.8%) and 84 (78.5%) lived with their spouses. CONCLUSION Patients were referred at the late stages of disease with pain as the principal presenting symptom. Family members were the principal caregivers.