Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating memory with vaccination

The goal of vaccination is to induce long‐lasting protective immune memory. Although most vaccines induce good memory responses, the type of memory induced by different vaccines may be considerably different. In addition, memory responses to the same vaccine may be influenced by age, environmental and genetic factors. Results emerging from detailed and integrated profiling of immune‐responses to natural infection or vaccination suggest that the type and duration of immune memory are largely determined by the magnitude and complexity of innate immune signals that imprint the acquired immune primary responses. Here we summarize results obtained from analyzing human immune memory responses to different types of vaccines. We will also discuss how extending clinical investigation to events occurring early after vaccination can help identify early predictive markers of protective memory and thus contribute to faster development of better and safer vaccines.
Cash Transfer Programme, Productive Activities and Labour Supply: Evidence from a Randomised Experiment in Kenya

Abstract This paper reports the analysis of the impact of Kenya’s Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme on the household decisions on productive activities using data from a randomised experimental design. Results show that the programme had a positive and significant impact on food consumption coming from home production, accumulation of productive assets, especially on the ownership of small livestock, and on formation of nonfarm enterprise, especially for females. The programme has provided more flexibility to families in terms of labour allocation decisions, particularly for those who are geographically isolated. The programme was also found to reduce child labour, an important objective of the programme. However, we find very little impact of the programme on direct indicators of crop production.
Validity of the Capital Assets Pricing Model: Evidence from the Indian Companies – The NSE India

Capital Asset Pricing model (CAPM) is widely researched, tested, and paradoxically both generally accepted and rejected model of asset pricing. From its beginning (1964) it has occupied the pride of place among the financial economist’s research, and still part of the text books on finance in the leading business schools all over the world. The study covered monthly data of Indian companies’ from the 'National Stock Exchange' (NSE) for the period 2005 to 2009. In our first model, betas are estimated where the risk free rate is the intercept term. The results show that for the State Bank of India (SBIN), HDFC bank, and Tata Motors, the betas are more than one and significant, and for the Reliance, it is near one, and for Infosystch, it is less than one and statistically significant. The second model of 'Jen’s alphas' results show that for only SBIN, and Reliance group, 'Jensen’s alpha' is positive, and for other three companies, it is negative. For positive values of 'Jensen’s alpha', the conclusion is that those companies earned return more than the companies of similar betas, and for negative values, those companies earned less than the companies of similar betas. Over the sample period, for SBIN, HDFC, and Reliance companies, the actual return is are greater than the required returns, and for Tata Motors, and Infosystch, the actual return is less than the required returns. There is an equity risk premium for many of the Indian securities during the sample period. On the whole, the CAPM model could satisfactorily explain the risk-return relationship in the Indian Stock market.
The Small Business Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Running Your Own Business

In this definitive instructional handbook, Irving Burstiner offers practical advice on finding the right business for you, targeting customers, getting financing, choosing a location, hiring and managing employees, marketing your products and services, pricing for profit, distribution, managing the company's finances, planning for growth and expansion, and much more. Newly revised and updated, this edition of the bestselling classic features all the latest information on financing and production, as well as up-to-date tax advice. It also remains the most complete introduction to business administration available. Whether you're operating a manufacturing, wholesale, retail, or service business, The Small Business Handbook is the essential primer on how to avoid common start-up problems and turn your business into a lasting success.
Skill Variety, Innovation and New Business Formation

We extend Lazear’s theory of skills variety and entrepreneurship in three directions. First, we provide a theoretical framework linking new business creation with an entrepreneur’s skill variety. Second, in this model we allow for both generalists and specialists to possess skill variety. Third, we test our model empirically using data from Germany and the Netherlands. Individuals with more varied work experience seems indeed more likely to successfully start up a new business and being a generalist does not seem to be important in this regard. Finally, we find that innovation positively moderates the relationship between having varied experiences, and being successful in starting up a new business. Our conclusion is that entrepreneurs with more varied work experience are more likely to introduce innovations that have not only technical, but also commercial value. Our findings support the notion that entrepreneurship can be learned.
T-to-R switch of muscle fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase involves fundamental changes of secondary and quaternary structure

When crystallized in the absence of the allosteric inhibitor AMP, human muscle fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase has a totally unexpected quaternary structure of its active R form, with the two dimers of the homotetrameric molecule in a perpendicular orientation, in stark contrast to the coplanar arrangement of the closely related liver isozyme. The T-to-R switch of the muscle enzyme also involves a highly unusual α→β refolding of the N-terminus.
International market segmentation, and the CME Quanto Nikkei Future

The CME Nikkei 225 "Quanto" futures contract settles against the Nikkei Index but taken to refer to US dollars. In contrast, the corresponding "Vanilla" instruments trading in Singapore and Osaka, settle in Yen. We show that the returns to the Quanto future are correlated with returns to the US market, as represented by the CME S&P500 future, even after controlling for the returns to the Vanilla contract, translated into dollars, and the dollar/Yen returns. This correlation is partially reversed the next day. This result goes against the usual analysis of Quanto instruments, which asserts that they can be hedged via the corresponding vanilla instrument, and a currency position. In fact, we show that our Quanto and Vanilla investment strategies should not differ in their currency exposure, and this is reflected in the significance of the dollar/Yen return not being high or consistent from year to year in our regressions. Our results point to the international market being segmented; users of the CME Quanto Nikkei future are influenced too much by the US Market factor. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Nikkei 225 futures contract is a "Quanto" instrument, in that its settlement refers to the level of the Nikkei index, but denominated in US dollars, whereas the Nikkei index is naturally denominated in Japanese Yen. This contrasts with the Nikkei 225 contracts trading on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX), and on the Osaka Securities Exchange, which are "Vanilla flavored" (i.e not unusual), in that they are settled in Yen. The quanto feature is designed for the convenience of US investors wanting to take exposure to the Japanese market: if they do this via the Quanto contract, then they do not have to deal with Yen; but if they use the SIMEX or OSAKA contract, then they have to repatriate the daily margin cash flows from Yen into Dollars. Another advantage which is often cited for Quanto instruments, is that while they provide exposure to the underlying foreign investment (in our case, the Nikkei Index), they do not entail exposure to the foreign currency itself; however, we will see below that this does not apply in our case, because the Quanto and Vanilla strategies that we will compare, do not entail systematically different exposures to the Yen. Our main result in this paper is to show that the returns to the CME Quanto future are positively correlated with returns to the US market, as represented by the S&P500
SpaceBook A Case Study of Social Network Analysis in Adjacency Graphs

In this paper, we have adopted methods from Social Network Analysis in order to analyze adjacency graphs. Our intent was to uncover as much hidden structures as possible so as to improve adjacency requirements before they are used further on during the design process. To that end, we have conducted a case study using two readily available software packages (Gephi, Pajek), concluding that these could benefit from being more transparent about the underlying algorithms and more geared towards the problem domain 'adjacency analysis' when it comes to data entry and visualization. As a matter of fact, we produced an open-source prototype called SpaceBook, which customizes computation and visualization in the aforementioned spirit.
A novel phase noise reduction technique in oscillators using defected ground structure

A new technique to reduce the phase noise in microwave oscillators is developed using the resonant characteristic of the defected ground structure (DGS). Two kinds of oscillators have been designed and measured for the examination of the reduction of phase noise by the DGS. The first adopts the DGS section under the microstrip line at the gate circuit, while the second has only the conventional microstrip line. Measurement shows reduced phase noise by 10-15 dB in the oscillator with the DGS compared to the conventional one.
Admission source and mortality in a pediatric intensive care unit

Background and Aims: Studies carried out in different countries have shown that source of patient admission in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is associated to death. Patients admitted from wards show a greater ICU mortality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between admission source and outcome in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Materials and Methods: We studied all PICU admissions that took place between January 2002 and December 2005 in a tertiary hospital in Brazil. The major outcome studied was death while in the PICU. The independent variable analyzed was admission source, defined either as pediatric emergency room (PER), wards, operating room (OR) of the same hospital or other sources. Results: A total of 1823 admissions were studied. The overall expected mortality based on the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 was 6.5% and the observed mortality was 10.3%. In adjusted analysis, the mortality was doubled in patients admitted from wards when compared with the PER patients. Conclusions: Observed mortality rates were higher in patients admitted from wards within the same hospital, even after adjustment.
A low energy adaptive clustering multi-hop routing protocol based on fuzzy decision

In large-scale wireless sensor networks, a low energy consumption requirement in data communication has become more prominent, but the currently existing solutions are unsatisfactory. Based on the complexity and uncertainty in the node energy consumption and communication path in wireless sensor networks, this paper proposes a low energy adaptive clustering multi-hop routing protocol based on fuzzy decision (FD-LEACH). In order to constitute a dynamic network routing structure, the protocol introduces the concept of fuzzy set and uses the theory of fuzzy decision to select excellent communication relay nodes. Analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol is more effectively adapted to large-scale wireless networks, which can provide a better balance in energy consumption and significantly prolong network lifetime.
Neural-variable structure controller with PID compensation for robot tracking

One of the most important manipulator operations is the control of the manipulator to track a given trajectory. Most commercial robot systems currently are equipped with conventional PID controllers due to their simplicity in structure and ease of design. Using PID control, however, it is difficult to achieve a desired tracking control performance since the dynamic equations of a mechanical manipulator are tightly coupled, highly nonlinear and uncertain. In order to improve the tracking control performance under uncertainty, This work presents a new hybrid control scheme for manipulator, which consists of a neural network controller, a sliding mode controller and PID compensation controller. In this control architecture, it will be shown that the robotic manipulator can track precisely both the trained and untrained trajectories. Simulation examples are included to illustrate the validity of the proposed method.
Characterization of HBV Among HBV/HIV-1 Co-Infected Injecting Drug Users from Mombasa, Kenya.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B (HBV) and Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are both bloodborne viruses. Markers of either active or past HBV infection are present in many HIV infected patients. Worldwide, HBV prevalence varies geographically and endemicity is classified as low (<2%) or high (>8%). Genotypically, prevalence varies among different populations, with genotype A having a wide distribution. In Kenya, the prevalence of HIV-1/HBV co-infection ranges from 6-53% depending on the sub-population, with genotype A as the most common. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and characterize HBV in HBV/HIV co-infected injecting drug users (IDUs) from Mombasa, Kenya. METHODS Blood samples were collected from HIV-infected IDUs in Mombasa, Kenya. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was tested by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). HBV DNA was extracted by SMITEST R&D kit. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done; followed by population sequencing of HBV preS, core and full genome using specific primers. Analysis was done phylogenetically with reference sequences from the Genbank. RESULTS Seventy two HIV-positive samples were collected from IDUs in Mombasa in February and March 2010. Of these, 10 (13.89%) were HBsAg-positive by EIA. Nine of the 10 samples (12.5%) were PCR positive for HBV in the preS region; from these, four HBV full length sequences were obtained. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all belonged to genotype A1. CONCLUSION The prevalence of HBV co-infection among HIV-infected IDUs in Mombasa, Kenya was 12.5%. Phylogenetically, sequences obtained from this study showed clusters that were distinct from reported Kenyan reference sequences from the Genbank. The findings point to an existence of a transmission network among IDUs in Mombasa. This further suggests that HBV genotypes in Kenya may be regionally diverse.
Reliability of the Mid Upper Arm Circumference for the Assessment of Wasting among Children Aged 12-59 Months in Urban Ibadan, Nigeria

Although the mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) is used as a proxy to assess wasting in children, its validity abounds in controversies. This study therefore assessed the validity of MUAC as a measure of nutritional status among children aged 12-59 months in urban setting in western Nigeria. A cross sectional study of children aged 12-59 months in selected nursery schools in Moniya, Akinyele local government area, Oyo state was carried out between February to April 2010. The age, weight, length and MUAC, were obtained from the school children who were selected through total sampling. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values of the MUAC were determined using weight for age as gold standard (underweight). Z-Scores for anthropometric indicators were calculated using EPI-NUT programme. Receivers operating curve was prepared to determine the optimal cut off of MUAC for the sensitivity and specificity. The overall prevalence of under nutrition among the respondents was 5.6%. The mean mid upper arm circumference was 15.47 ± 1.4 cm and appears to increase with age from 11.49 ± 3.0 at 12-23 months and peaks at age five with a value of 18.05 ± 3.5. At 13.5 cm cut off, the sensitivity of MUAC is 20%, and the specificity is 95.3%, with a Kappa of 16.7%. The receivers operating curve reveals an optimum cut off of 15.5 cm with optimal but improved MUAC sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 53.5%. Thus MUAC was a poorly sensitive indicator of under nutrition at a cut-off below 13.5 cm but highly sensitive at 15.5 cm. A higher cut off value is therefore for recommended for screening for acute malnutrition among under five children.
Crystal Structure of a Complex Between the Catalytic and Regulatory (RIα) Subunits of PKA

The 2.0-angstrom structure of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)–dependent protein kinase (PKA) catalytic subunit bound to a deletion mutant of a regulatory subunit (RIα) defines a previously unidentified extended interface. The complex provides a molecular mechanism for inhibition of PKA and suggests how cAMP binding leads to activation. The interface defines the large lobe of the catalytic subunit as a stable scaffold where Tyr247 in the G helix and Trp196 in the phosphorylated activation loop serve as anchor points for binding RIα. These residues compete with cAMP for the phosphate binding cassette in RIα. In contrast to the catalytic subunit, RIα undergoes major conformational changes when the complex is compared with cAMP-bound RIα. The inhibitor sequence docks to the active site, whereas the linker, also disordered in free RIα, folds across the extended interface. The β barrel of cAMP binding domain A, which is the docking site for cAMP, remains largely intact in the complex, whereas the helical subdomain undergoes major reorganization.
A Fast Compressed Sensing Approach to 3D MR Image Reconstruction

The problem of high-resolution image volume reconstruction from reduced frequency acquisition sequences has drawn significant attention from the scientific community because of its practical importance in medical diagnosis. To address this issue, several reconstruction strategies have been recently proposed, which aim to recover the missing information either by exploiting the spatio-temporal correlations of the image series, or by imposing suitable constraints on the reconstructed image volume. The main contribution of this paper is to combine both these strategies in a compressed sensing framework by exploiting the gradient sparsity of the image volume. The resulting constrained 3D minimization problem is then solved using a penalized forward-backward splitting approach that leads to a convergent iterative two-step procedure. In the first step, the updating rule accords with the sequential nature of the data acquisitions, in the second step a truly 3D filtering strategy exploits the spatio-temporal correlations of the image sequences. The resulting NFCS-3D algorithm is very general and suitable for several kinds of medical image reconstruction problems. Moreover, it is fast, stable and yields very good reconstructions, even in the case of highly undersampled image sequences. The results of several numerical experiments highlight the optimal performance of the proposed algorithm and confirm that it is competitive with state of the art algorithms.
A fluid–structure interaction model to characterize bone cell stimulation in parallel-plate flow chamber systems

Bone continuously adapts its internal structure to accommodate the functional demands of its mechanical environment and strain-induced flow of interstitial fluid is believed to be the primary mediator of mechanical stimuli to bone cells in vivo. In vitro investigations have shown that bone cells produce important biochemical signals in response to fluid flow applied using parallel-plate flow chamber (PPFC) systems. However, the exact mechanical stimulus experienced by the cells within these systems remains unclear. To fully understand this behaviour represents a most challenging multi-physics problem involving the interaction between deformable cellular structures and adjacent fluid flows. In this study, we use a fluid–structure interaction computational approach to investigate the nature of the mechanical stimulus being applied to a single osteoblast cell under fluid flow within a PPFC system. The analysis decouples the contribution of pressure and shear stress on cellular deformation and for the first time highlights that cell strain under flow is dominated by the pressure in the PPFC system rather than the applied shear stress. Furthermore, it was found that strains imparted on the cell membrane were relatively low whereas significant strain amplification occurred at the cell–substrate interface. These results suggest that strain transfer through focal attachments at the base of the cell are the primary mediators of mechanical signals to the cell under flow in a PPFC system. Such information is vital in order to correctly interpret biological responses of bone cells under in vitro stimulation and elucidate the mechanisms associated with mechanotransduction in vivo.
KOBİ’LERİN FİNANSMANI ERZURUM ORGANİZE SANAYİ BÖLGESİNDE BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Bu calismanin amaci, KOBI’lerin ekonomiye sagladiklari katkilardan hareket ederek KOBI’lerin ekonomideki onemini ortaya koymak ve diger kuruluslarla olan iliskilerini incelemektir. Gunumuz isletmelerinin bircogunu KOBI’ler olusturmaktadir. Bundan dolayi, kucuk ve orta buyuklukteki isletmelerin ekonomiye onemli katkilari olmaktadir. Gelismekte olan bircok ulke, uretimin ve istihdamin onemli bolumunu saglayan KOBI’lerin gelisebilmesi ve rekabet guclerinin artabilmesi amaciyla, alternatif finansman kaynaklari kullanmaktadir. Bu yuzden, KOBI’lerin finansman saglamada tercih ettikleri metotlar ve kullandiklari alternatif finansman kaynaklarini gelistirmeleri ve kullanmalari olumlu etki saglayacaktir. Firmalarin gereksinim duyduklari mal ya da hizmetin, nakit para yerine, uretilen mal ve hizmetle odenmesi olarak tanimlanan barter sistemi, ic ve dis ticaret islemlerine uygulanan ve ozellikle kisa vadeli mal satislarinda basvurulan factoring, sabit sermaye yatirimlarinin cok kisa surede gerceklesmesine, yatirim tutarinin uzun vadede kira oder gibi odenmesine imkân veren finansal kiralama gibi bircok alternatif kaynak soz konusu olmaktadir.
Chaotic Speed Synchronization Control of Multiple Induction Motors Using Stator Flux Regulation

This paper presents and implements a new control approach to synchronize the chaotic speed of multiple induction motors. The direct torque control (DTC) using the stator flux regulation (SFR) method is the key for the chaotic speed control. Additionally, a nonlinear control approach, namely the adaptive time-delayed feedback control, is proposed to regulate the reference torque for the SFR-based DTC unit. By using the proposed control scheme, multiple induction motors can achieve a synchronized chaotic speed within a controllable boundary.
Developing credit markets

Banks provide credit and take deposits. Whereas a high price in the credit market increases banks' retained earnings and attracts more deposits, it reduces lending if borrowers are sufficiently poor to be tempted by diversion. Thus optimal bank market structure trades off the benefits of monopoly banking in attracting deposits against losses due to tighter credit. The model shows that market structure is irrelevant if both banks and borrowers lack resources. Monopoly banking induces tighter credit rationing if borrowers are poor and banks are wealthy, and increases lending if borrowers are wealthy and banks lack resources. The results indicate that improved legal protection of creditors is a more efficient policy choice than improved legal protection of depositors, and that subsidies to firms lead to better outcomes than subsidies to banks. There are also likely to be sizable gains from promoting banking competition in developing countries.