Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Eff ects of Competition on Medical Service Provision # 647

We explore how competition between physicians affects medical service provision. Previous research has shown that, without competition, physicians deviate from patient-optimal treatment under payment systems like capitation and fee-for-service. While competition might reduce these distortions, physicians usually interact with each other repeatedly over time and only a fraction of patients switches providers at all. Both patterns might prevent competition to work in the desired direction. To analyze the behavioral effects of competition, we develop a theoretical benchmark which is then tested in a controlled laboratory experiment. Experimental conditions vary physician payment and patient characteristics. Real patients benefit from treatment decisions made in the experiment. Our results reveal that, in line with the theoretical prediction, introducing competition can reduce overprovision and underprovision, respectively. The observed effects depend on patient characteristics and the payment system, though. Tacit collusion is observed and particularly pronounced with fee-for-service payment, but it appears to be less frequent than in related experimental research on price competition. JEL Classification: I11, D43, C91, C72
Ramesh Chandran Project Proposal Preventing Blocking of VoIP Traffic Motivation and Objectives

Voice Over IP (VoIP) is the transmission of voice messages over a packet switched network. Like most things associated with the Internet, this technology has the potential to change the way we communicate today. It offers a cheap alternative to traditional telephone systems. Due to the disruptive potential of this new technology, many established players see this as a threat. This includes telcos who see VoIP causing a drain in revenues. This leads to cases of VoIP blocking where organizations prevent VoIP traffic from reaching parts of the network under their control [1]. There are also cases where some ISPs block competitors’ voice traffic from reaching their customers. But such activities fly in the face of Internet’s philosophy of open communications.
VLSI Systems Design University of Idaho

This work reports a design technique to harden CMOS memory circuits against Single Event Upset (SEU) in the space environment. A RAM cell and Flip Flop design are presented to demonstrate the method. The Fllp Flop was used in the control circuitry for a Reed Solomon encoder designed for the Space Station and Explorer missions. Introduction Electronic circuitry is exposed to a flux of ionized particles in the outer space environment. If the energy level of a charged particle is high enough and that particle passes through the diffusion of a susceptible node then the contents of a MOS memory cell can be changed [1]. This is known as a Single Event Upset (SEU) of the integrated circuit containing the memory cell. The consequences of the SEU depend on the system function of the memory cell. Circuit design techniques which axe independent of processing and which are without serious performance degradation have been reported [16]. This work also reports a circuit design method which is process independent and maintains the performance level. With the new techniques presented here, loading on the clock signal is reduced when compared with other known techniques[16]. RAM Design There are three fundamental concepts that can be used to design SEU immune circuitry. First, information must be stored in two different places. This provides a redundancy and maintains a source of uncorrupted data after an SEU. Second, feedback from the noncorrupted location of stored data must cause the lost data to recover after a particle strike. Finally, current induced by a particle hit flows from the n-type diffusion to the p-type diffusion. If a single type of transistor is used to create a memory cell then ptransistors storing a 1 cannot be upset and n-transistors storing a 0 cannot be upset. The RAM cell consists of two storage structures. The top half is constructed from pchannel devices while the bottom half consists solely of n-channel devices. Some transistors
Exportin Crm 1 is repurposed as a docking protein to generate 1 microtubule organizing centers at the nuclear pore 2 3 4

27 28 Non-centrosomal microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) are important for microtubule 29 organization in many cell types. In fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the protein 30 Mto1, together with partner protein Mto2 (Mto1/2 complex), recruits the -tubulin complex to 31 multiple non-centrosomal MTOCs, including the nuclear envelope (NE). Here, we develop a 32 comparative-interactome mass spectrometry approach to determine how Mto1 localizes to 33 the NE. Surprisingly, we find that Mto1, a constitutively cytoplasmic protein, docks at nuclear 34 pore complexes (NPCs), via interaction with exportin Crm1 and cytoplasmic FG-nucleoporin 35 Nup146. Although Mto1 is not a nuclear export cargo, it binds Crm1 via a nuclear export 36 signal-like sequence, and docking requires both Ran in the GTP-bound state and Nup146 37 FG repeats. In addition to determining the mechanism of MTOC formation at the NE, our 38 results reveal a novel role for Crm1 and the nuclear export machinery in the stable docking 39 of a cytoplasmic protein complex at NPCs. 40
H 2 Adaptive Control

Model reference adaptive control laws are derived using an H2 optimization approach. In addition, this leads to H2 forms of well known σand emodification based adaptive control architectures. It is shown thatH2 adaptive control leads to smaller tracking errors without requiring high adaptati on gain. Instead it provides an optimal time varying adaptation gain that results in improved performance without tuning of the adaptation gain.
Auditory stimulation affects apparent motion1

Abstract: In two experiments, we investigated how the number of auditory stimuli affectedthe apparent motion induced by visual stimuli. The multiple visual stimuli that induced theapparent motion on the front parallel plane, or in the depth dimension in terms of the binoculardisparity cue, were accompanied by multiple auditory stimuli. Observers reported thenumber of visual stimuli (Experiments 1 and 2) and the displacement of the apparent motionthat was deﬁned by the distance between the ﬁrst and last visual stimuli (Experiment 2). When the number of auditory stimuli was more/less than that of the visual stimuli, observerstended to perceive more/less visual stimuli and a larger/smaller displacement than whenthe numbers of the auditory and visual stimuli were the same, regardless of the dimensionof motion. These results suggest that auditory stimulation may modify the visual processingof motion by modulating the spatiotemporal resolution and extent of the displacement. Key words: audiovisual interaction, apparent motion, sound-induced ﬂash perception, frequency, displacement. In this study, we examined the effects of anauditory stimulus on the visual processing ofapparent motion. Previous studies have reportedthat the effects of audition on vision and viceversa depend on whether spatial or temporalaspects are involved in the task. For example,many studies have shown that vision dominatesaudition in determining the spatial localizationof stimuli. That is, if there is conﬂict betweenthe spatial location of auditory and visual signals,the perceived location of the sound sourcetends to be biased by the location of the visualstimulus (Ewert, 1930; Stratton, 1897; Thomas,1941; Willey, Inglis, & Pearce, 1937; Young,1928). This effect is known as “visual capture”(Hay, Pick, & Ikeda, 1965; Jackson, 1953), orthe “ventriloquism effect” (Bertelson & Radeau,1981; Howard & Templeton, 1966; Jack T Sekiyama & Tohkura, 1993). In contrast,
The Structure of Suspended Graphene

Submitted for the MAR07 Meeting of The American Physical Society The Structure of Suspended Graphene JANNIK MEYER, ANDRE GEIM, MIKHAIL KATSNELSON, KOSTYA NOVOSELOV, TIM BOOTH, SIEGMAR ROTH, University of Manchester — The recent discovery of graphene has sparked significant interest, which has so far been focused on the peculiar electronic structure of this material, in which charge carriers mimic massless relativistic particles. However, the structure of graphene is also puzzling. On one hand, graphene appears to be a strictly 2D material and exhibits such a high crystal quality that electrons can travel submicron distances without scattering. On the other hand, perfect 2D crystals cannot exist in the free state, according to both theory and experiment. This is often reconciled by the fact that all graphene structures studied so far were an integral part of larger 3D structures, either supported by a bulk substrate or embedded in a 3D matrix. We describe individual graphene sheets freely suspended on a microfabricated scaffold. These membranes are only one atom thick and still display a long-range crystalline order. However, our studies by transmission electron microscopy have revealed that suspended graphene sheets are not perfectly flat but exhibit intrinsic microscopic roughening such that the surface normal varies by several degrees and out-of-plane deformations reach 1 nm. The atomically-thin single-crystal membranes offer an ample scope for fundamental research and new technologies whereas the observed corrugations in the third dimension may shed light on subtle reasons behind the stability of 2D crystals. Andre Geim University of Manchester Date submitted: 01 Dec 2006 Electronic form version 1.4
Impact of A1/A2 forms of Cow's Milk on Human Health-A review

Milk derived peptides may adversely affect the biological health of humans by increasing the risk of dependency on insulin to overcome the occurrence of diabetes. The higher occurrence of the diabetes relies on the relationship of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the consumption of variants A1 and B beta –casein from cow’s milk. The production of BCM-7 is more in A1 milk than A2 milk and the difference is basically due to position 67 of the beta casein chain. However, proline in A2 is substituted by histidine in A1 milk casein chain. Deleterious effects of A1 milk in the process of digestion in human stomach and intestines have not been reviewed earlier. It is an effort to review the aspect thoroughly and bring minor details into focus to have better understanding of the milk particularly in perspective of human health.
Homogeneous Development of Electrical Heterogeneous Ion Channel Expression Excitabil ity via

Department of Physiology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262 Synchronous differentiation of delayed-rectifier potassium cur- only partially suppresses or has no effect on current. Thus, rent regulates electrical excitability and calcium entry in motor, diverse embryonic neurons coordinate differentiation of excit- sensory, and interneurons of the developing amphibian spinal ability yet rely on heterogeneous potassium channel gene cord. Although Kvl and Kv2 potassium channel transcripts are expression. detectable in these cells, it is not known which transcript contributes to functional expression. Overexpression of a Kvl dominant-negative subunit indicates that 20% of neurons have Key words: potassium channels; Xenopus embryos; electrical only Kvl potassium currents. In other neurons, non-Kvl chan- excitability; neuronal differentiation; gene expression; dominant nels function because the dominant-negative subunit either negative The delayed-rectifier potassium current (I,,) plays a pivotal role in maturation of the action potential (Barish, 1986; O’Dowd et al., 1988; Lockery and Spitzer, 1992; Ribera and Spitzer, 1992). I,, is initially small when impulses are of long duration. Uniform in- creases in the I,, density of all primary spinal neurons synchro- nize conversion of long-duration calcium-dependent action poten- tials to brief sodium-dependent spikes. By regulating the duration of the action potential, I,, also determines the amount of calcium influx associated with impulse generation. In amphibian spinal neurons, spontaneous calcium transients associated with long-duration action potentials provide developmental cues necessary for development of neurotransmit- ter expression and potassium channel kinetics (Gu and Spitzer, 1995). Thus, mechanisms that regulate I,, will have an impact on neuronal differentiation (Jones and Ribera, 1994). Potassium channels are thought to consist of four pore-forming (Y subunits (MacKinnon, 1991; Liman et al., 1992) as well as auxiliary cytoplasmic p subunits (Rettig et al., 1994). Four major subfamilies of potassium channel 01 subunits have been identified: Kvl, Kv2, Kv.3, and Kv4 (Chandy, 1991; Salkoff et al., 1992). Within each subfamily, several variants may exist and coassemble to form heteromeric channels. However, coassembly of subunits from different subfamilies (e.g., Kvl.1 and Kv2.2) has not been observed. Developmental regulation of I,, may be under direct transcrip- tional control, because a critical period of RNA synthesis has been associated with maturation of I,, in all embryonic spinal neurons (Ribera and Spitzer, 1989). Candidate, relevant potassium chan- nel cy subunit genes are Xeno~pus Kvl.1 and Kv2.2, which arc
22 Osteoimmunology and Cancer-Clinical Implications

The skeletal and immune systems are interconnected in normal (physiologic) and pathologic conditions. Both systems are intimately coupled, as osteoclastogenesis and hematopoiesis occur in the bone marrow. Osteoclasts, macrophages, and dendritic cells also share common precursors. Furthermore, the skeletal and immune systems share various cytokines, receptors, adaptor proteins, signaling molecules, and transcription factors, thereby allowing crosstalk to occur between the various cells and their respective signal transduction pathways involved in osteoclastogenesis and hematopoiesis. Hematopoietic stem cells are maintained in the bone marrow. Adjacent osteoblast precursors produce signals that control hematopoietic stem cell replication and differentiation. Hematopoietic stem cells may either maintain their pluripotency or differentiate into multipotential progenitor cells, which have the capacity to form common lymphoid progenitor or common myeloid precursor cells. Common lymphoid progenitor cells undergo additional differentiation to form T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, or natural killer cells, whereas common myeloid precursor cells form all other myeloid lineages and preosteoclasts. Activated osteoclasts are formed from the fusion of preosteoclasts and multinucleated osteoclasts, the regulation of which is complex and affected by multiple factors. Multipotential stem cells differentiate into chondrocytes, adipocytes, and mesenchyme precursors; the latter undergo differentiation to form preosteoblasts and, eventually, mature matrix-producing osteoblasts. Osteoblasts may remain on the bone surface as lining cells or undergo terminal differentiation to form osteocytes, which become encased in the mineralized bone matrix [1]. The shared lineages and paracrine signaling between osteoclasts and hematopoietic cells highlight the potential for bone-targeted agents to influence the immune system.
Toxic effects of transition metals on male reproductive system: A review -

Transition metals are d block elements, which show multiple oxidation states. Transition metals have a wide variety of applications in the industrial world. Recent studies have shown a considerable increase in metal contamination all over the world due to extensive use of metals and anthropogenic activity. A significant amount of many metals including transition metals have been reported in semen and blood of occupationally exposed workers. In the biological system, transition metals are mostly conjugated to proteins, forming metalloproteins, which are part of the enzymatic system. These are an essential component of biological function, but at higher concentration they can be toxic. Transition metals can interact additively, synergistically or antagonistically and affect each others absorption, distribution and excretion. Recent studies have shown that exposure to transition metals such as Cd, Cr, Hg, manganese, Ni, V and Zinc affects many body organs including the reproductive system. Transition metals may adversely affect male reproductive system in the terms of disruption of spermatogenesis, reduction in sperm count, motility, viability and increase in oxidative stress, inhibition of testicular steroidogenesis, serum testosterone, libido and decline in fertility. Various underlined mechanism have been proposed for such effects. The aim of this review is to provide a summary of the effects of transition metal exposure on male reproductive organs and functions.
Dynamics, structure and properties of plant litterfall in a 120-year old beech stand in Middle Pomerania between 2007-2010

Abstract Studies of plant litterfall mass, its dynamics, structure and chemical composition were conducted between 2007.2010 in a 120-year old beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stand located in Middle Pomerania. The annual mass of litterfall during the study period ranged from 2.793 to 5.398 t·ha.1 and its maximum was observed during the seed year. Leaves were the major component of plant litterfall and their contribution was 82.4. 84.5% in the non-seed years and 47.2% during the seed year. Inflorescences, seeds, and seed coats were important components of litterfall during the seed year and accounted together up to 39.8% of the total litterfall mass. Particular fractions of litterfall significantly differed in the chemical composition. The highest concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were noticed in seeds and leaves collected in spring and the maximum content of calcium was observed in leaves collected in autumn. The weighted mean annual concentrations of nitrogen ranged within 0.81. 1.13%, phosphate . 0.126. 0.153%, potassium . 0.298. 0.485% and calcium . 0.416. 0.583%. The influx of elements with litterfall to the soil was: 167.3. 225.9 kg·ha-1 of ash, 23.2. 61.0 kg·ha-1 of nitrogen, 3.6. 7.6 kg·ha-1 of phosphorus, 8.3. 26.2 kg·ha-1 of potassium and 15.3. 22.4 kg·ha-1 of calcium.
Optimal choice problem and its solutions

The article introduces the Optimal Choice problem. The problem emerges quite often in various practical applications, but it was not formalized as a machine learning problem to the best of author’s knowledge. The problem may seem perplexing because the most common assumptions of statistical learning theory are violated here, as we discuss. Yet, the Optimal Choice problem may be solved successfully, as we demonstrate on an example of a real life dataset from a signal processing application. We propose two approaches to solve the problem. Both of them reach good solutions, at least on the data at hand. 1 Optimal choice problem Let us introduce a Optimal Choice (OC) problem on an example of horse races. Given is the history of horse races, including the information about the participating horses and the winner of each race. Each competing horse is characterized by certain features. The goal is, knowing the horses running in the next race, predict the winner. We will discuss important examples of OC after the formal definition. 1.1 Formal Statement A choice is vector of values of n features, x ∈ D ⊂ R. A lot is a finite set of choices. Denote Ω set of all possible lots. Each lot has not more than one choice called prime. Conveniently denote X ′ the prime in the lot X . If the lot X does not have a prime, it will be denoted as X ′ = ∅. Then, training set can be presented as a finite set of pairs Z = {〈X1, I(X ′ 1 , X1)〉, . , 〈Xm, I(X ′ m , Xm)〉}, where all Xi ∈ Ω and I(x,X) is identity function on X :
W Time-Averaged Power MidIR Supercontinuum Generation Extending Beyond 4 μ m With Direct Pulse Pattern Modulation

A novel, all-fiber-integrated supercontinuum (SC) laser is demonstrated and provides up to 10.5 W time-averaged power with a continuous spectrum from ∼0.8 to 4 μm. The SC is generated in a combination of standard single-mode fibers and ZrF4 –BaF2 –LaF3 –AlF3 –NaF (ZBLAN) fluoride fibers pumped by a laser-diode-based cladding-pumped fiber amplifier system. The output SC pulse pattern can be modulated by directly modulating the seed laser diode. Near-diffraction-limited beam qualities are maintained over the entire SC spectrum. The SC average power is also linearly scalable by varying the input pump power and pulse repetition rate. We further investigate the theoretical limitations on the achievable average power handling and spectral width for the SC generation in ZBLAN fibers. Based on the thermal modeling, the standard ZBLAN fiber can handle a time-averaged power up to ∼15 W, which can be further scaled up to ∼40 W with a proper thermal coating applied onto the ZBLAN fiber. The SC long-wavelength edge is limited by the nonlinear wavelength generation processes, fiber bend-induced loss, and glass material loss. By using a ZBLAN fiber with a 0.3 numerical aperture, the SC spectrum could extend out to ∼4.5 μm, which is then limited by the material loss.
Digitale Netzwerkanalyse dramatischer Texte

Das Projekt ‘Digitale Netzwerkanalyse dramatischer Texte’ steht in der Tradition strukturanalytischer Ansätze in der Literaturwissenschaft (allgemein Titzmann 1977), die es einerseits im Sinne eines konsequent netzwerkanalytischen Relationismus (mit Rekurs auf die Social Network Analysis, siehe u. a. Wasserman/Faust 1998), andererseits unterstützt durch Verfahren der automatisierten Datenerhebung und -auswertung weiterentwickelt, um sie auf größere Textkorpora anzuwenden und so umfassende relationale Daten über Prozesse des literaturgeschichtlichen Strukturwandels gewinnen zu können. Als theoretisches Fundament dient dabei eine netzwerkanalytische Konzeptualisierung dramatischer Interaktion (erste Ideen dazu prominent bei Moretti 2011; Kritik und literaturtheoretisch begründete Rekonzeptualisierung bei Trilcke 2013 – dort auch ein ausführlicher Forschungsüberblick), die – in Fortführung von Konzepten der dramatischen Konfiguration (Marcus 1973, Pfister 1977; problematisch hingegen, weil mit diffuser Konzeptualisierung: Pohlheim 1997) – zunächst bei einer rudimentären Operationalisierung ansetzt, nach der eine ‘Interaktion’ dann vorliegt, wenn zwei Figuren innerhalb einer durch die überlieferte Struktur des Textes vorgegebenen Subsegmentierungseinheit (in der Regel ‘Szene’ oder ‘Auftritt’) als Sprecher aufgeführt werden. ‘Interaktion’ wird in diesem Sinne – und zu Zwecken einer ersten Automatisierung – verstanden als ‘szenische Kopräsenz zweier Sprecher’. Auf Grundlage der so definierten Relation werden im Rahmen des Projekts automatisiert netzwerkanalytische Daten erhoben, die sowohl global die ‘Interaktions’-Netzwerke der Dramen (Density, Average Degree, Connectedness u. dergl.) als auch fokussiert einzelne Akteure charakterisieren (Degree sowie diverse weitere Centrality-Indices). Der erstellte Workflow ermöglicht auch die Datenerhebung auf Mesoebene (u. a. Identifizierung von Clustern) und beinhaltet darüber hinaus Visualisierungen der Netzwerkdaten, die wiederum zur Analyse des literaturgeschichtlichen Strukturwandels beitragen.
Evaluación demorada de trauma psicológico en víctimas de tortura durante la dictadura militar en Chile

El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar los efectos a largo plazo de las torturas en victimas de la represion durante la dictadura militar de Chile durante los anos 1973-1990. Para ello se aplico el Protocolo de Estambul para la documentacion de casos de torturas que incluye los cuestionarios Harvard y Hopkins que evaluan ansiedad, depresion y trastorno de estres postraumatico (TEPT), entre otras patologias frecuentemente asociadas a victimas de hechos traumaticos. Los resultados muestran que el 54.5% de los participantes cuarenta anos despues de las torturas, aun presentaba sintomas de ansiedad, el 45.5% sintomas de depresion, y el 16.7 % trastorno de estres postraumatico. El 66.6% aun tienen pensamientos y recuerdos recurrentes sobre los hechos.