Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Fuzzy Decision-Making Explain Growing Consumption During Eras of Negative Real Interest Rates?

Treatment of fuzziness as a distinct source of uncertainty in intertemporal consumption models allows for explicit modeling of the eect of consumers' optimism-pessimism on optimal consumption decisions. By exploring the use- fulness of this particular feature in uncovering the 'excessive consumption growth'puzzle we demonstrate in simple two-period life-cycle settings that there are some reasonable ranges of individuals'optimism-pessimism and risk- aversion for which the optimal consumption is expected to grow 'excessively' despite negative real interest rate
Interactions between histamine and bradykinin in stimulation of ischaemically sensitive cardiac afferents in felines

Cardiac spinal afferents are activated during myocardial ischaemia. Our previous studies have shown that during ischaemia, histamine and bradykinin (BK) stimulate cardiac spinal afferents. Because the two mediators are released together during ischaemia, the present study examined the interactions between these two mediators with respect to their influence on ischaemically sensitive cardiac afferents. Single‐unit cardiac afferent activity was recorded from the left sympathetic chain or rami communicantes (T2–T5) in anaesthetized cats. Fifty‐five ischaemically sensitive cardiac afferents (conduction velocity (CV) = 0.2−5.6 m s−1, 8 Aδ‐ and 47 C‐fibres) were identified. Administration of histamine (10 μg kg−1) and BK (1 μg) in combination into the left atrium (LA) caused an additive response in 16 afferents compared with administration of either BK or histamine alone (2.62 ± 0.39 versus 1.67 ± 0.20 versus 1.24 ± 0.23 impulses s−1 (imp s−1), BK + histamine versus BK versus histamine). To further evaluate interactions between these mediators, we observed that injection of histamine (10 μg kg−1, LA) 4 min after the administration of BK (1 μg, LA) induced a significantly larger cardiac afferent response than the response to histamine before BK (1.24 ± 0.23 versus 1.96 ± 0.39 imp s−1, before versus after, n= 10). In contrast, six other afferents responded reproducibly to repeated injections of histamine (10 μg kg−1, LA) in the absence of BK. BK sensitization of the afferent response to histamine lasted for less than 10 min. Cyclooxygenase blockade with indomethacin (5 mg kg−1, i.v.) abolished BK sensitization of the response to histamine (1.09 ± 0.11 versus 1.11 ± 0.10 imp s−1, n= 10). Conversely, the response of most (7/9) cardiac afferents to repeat application of BK (1 μg, LA) 4 min after histamine (10 μg kg−1, LA) was attenuated compared with the BK response before histamine (1.84 ± 0.25 versus 1.31 ± 0.18 imp s−1, before versus after, P < 0.05). Repeat BK (1 μg, LA) induced a consistent response in five other afferents in the absence of histamine. Thus, BK interacts with histamine, and together they cause a larger response than either one alone. BK sensitizes cardiac afferents responding to histamine in a time‐dependent fashion, and the BK sensitization effect is dependent on an intact cyclooxygenase pathway. Conversely, histamine reduces the response of most afferents to BK.
Vitreoretinal Lymphoma versus Uveitis: Cytokine Profile and Correlations

Abstract Purpose: To compare the cytokine spectrum of vitreoretinal lymphoma to uveitis and correlate cytokine concentrations with disease activity. Methods: Retrospective case series of 10 patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma and 7 patients with uveitis. Aqueous humor concentration of IFN-γ, TNF-α, TNF-β, IL-1ra, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17, MCP-1, G-CSF, GM-CSF, and VEGF-A was determined using a bead-based assay (Luminex). Variance between groups, correlation coefficients, and longitudinal behavior of cytokines were analyzed. Results: No statistically significant difference in cytokines was found when comparing groups. IL-10 was positively correlated with IL-6 and MCP-1. IL-6 was positively correlated with G-CSF, IL-1ra, IL-8, and IL-10. A relationship between concentration of any cytokine, aside from IL-10, and disease activity was not found. Conclusion: IL-10 and IL-6 are good immunologic markers to be used as complementary diagnostic tools. IL-10 is the only IL that could be used for monitoring purposes.
Evidence that IL‐6‐type cytokine signaling in cardiomyocytes is inhibited by oxidative stress: Parthenolide targets JAK1 activation by generating ROS

Parthenolide, an anti‐inflammatory compound, was reported to inhibit signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation by the interleukin (IL)‐6‐type cytokines by an undefined process, which was the focus of our study. Here we report that parthenolide reduced both basal and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)‐induced STAT3 tyrosine 705 (Y705) phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes in a dose‐dependent manner, but stimulated the MAP kinase signaling pathways. Activation of Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) tyrosine kinase was markedly reduced by parthenolide. Pretreatment with parthenolide inhibited JAK1‐mediated phosphorylation of the LIF receptor subunits LIF receptor (LIFR) α and glycoprotein 130 (gp130), and reduced the LIF‐induced increase in JAK1 association with both components. In addition, we documented that parthenolide, over the same concentration range, does not have a direct inhibitory effect on JAK1 autophosphorylation. However, we observed that parthenolide increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pretreatment with the antioxidant, N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine, completely suppressed the effect of parthenolide on JAK1 and STAT3. From these results, we conclude ROS generation in cardiomyocytes blocks STAT3 signaling of the IL‐6‐type cytokines by targeting JAK1. The finding that signaling by the IL‐6‐type cytokine may be redox‐sensitive defines a novel mechanism of regulation that has implications for exploiting their therapeutic potential. J. Cell. Physiol. 212: 424–431, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Health-Shirt using e-Textile Materials for the Continuous and Cuffless Monitoring of Arterial Blood Pressure

This paper proposes a health-shirt (h-Shirt) using e-textile materials for long-term and continuous monitoring of physiological parameters, including arterial blood pressure (BP) by a cuffless approach. BP measurements using the h-Shirt and the setup of a calibration technique for this approach were tested on 10 and 5 subjects respectively. The results demonstrated the potential of integrating the calibration and measurement techniques on the h-Shirt to develop a wearable, hands-free system for monitoring users' BP around the clock. Based on the h-Shirt, a convertible, universal health-suit (CUHS) is suggested to include both monitoring functions and bio-feedback mechanisms for real-time health management. The development of the h-Shirt and CUHS is instigated by our researches on building wearable intelligent sensors and systems for e-health (WISSH).
THE IMPACT OF EXCHANGE RATE VOLATILITY ON TRADE FLOWS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY WITH A PANEL DATA APPROACH

We examine the impact of exchange rate volatility on the trade flows of 42 countries, which constitutes the 70% share of the total world trade, and also 16 developing countries. We use a panel data approach, and recently developed panel techniques, namely CD test for the panel unit root test, which is developed by Pesaran (2006) and takes into account the cross section dependence, and common correlated effects (CCE) estimators. We find a significant effect of exchange rate volatility to the trade flows for the 16 developing countries. But the results for 42 heterogeneous countries are not significant.
Terrorism in an Unstable World

Richard Clutterbuck examines the changing nature of conflict since the end of the Cold War. Using the techniques of his previous books, he analyses the connections between terrorism and drug trafficking and the options available to governments in combatting the terrorist threat, including a review of the current high technology available to law enforcement institutions.
RASSF1A hypermethylation and its inverse correlation with BRAF and/or KRAS mutations in MSI‐associated endometrial carcinoma

Both hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor gene RASSF1A and activating mutations of the KRAS and/or BRAF gene have been reported in a variety of human cancers. To investigate these epigenetic and genetic alterations in endometrial carcinoma (EC), we examined their frequency in 4 uterine EC cell lines and in 75 sporadic primary ECs. Using methylation specific PCR, we found RASSF1A methylation in 25 of 75 (33.3%) ECs. RASSF1A methylation was significantly associated with microsatellite instability (MSI, p < 0.001) and also with hMLH1 methylation (p < 0.001). KRAS mutations were detected in 14 of 75 (18.7%) ECs. BRAF mutations were identified in only 3 of 75 (4.0%) ECs and were not found in ECs with KRAS mutations or RASSF1A methylation. RASSF1A methylation was more frequent in KRAS mutation‐negative ECs than in KRAS mutation‐positive ECs (37.7% vs 14.3%), but this inverse correlation is not statistically significant (p = 0.122). However, we observed that RASSF1A methylation was inversely correlated with KRAS and/or BRAF mutations (p = 0.028) in MSI‐negative ECs, while this inverse correlation disappeared in MSI‐positive ECs. Furthermore, in MSI‐positive ECs, 2 cases of concomitant RASSF1A methylation and KRAS mutation were found. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that, in EC tumorigenesis, RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation is as important as KRAS mutations in activating the RAS pathway. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Functional Outcomes and Mortality Vary among Different Types of Hip Fractures: A Function of Patient Characteristics

A review of prospectively collected data was done to compare functional outcomes and mortality among patients with different hip fracture types. Five hundred thirty-seven elderly patients who sustained a hip fracture were followed up prospectively. Orthopaedists blinded to treatment and outcome radiographically classified the fractures as either: (1) nondisplaced or impacted femoral neck; (2) displaced femoral neck; (3) stable intertrochanteric; or (4) unstable intertrochanteric fracture. Functional independence measure scores were calculated for preinjury function and at 2- and 6- month followups. Comorbidities, operative details, postoperative complications, and deaths were recorded. Six-month mortality was lowest for patients with nondisplaced femoral neck fractures (5.7%) and highest for patients with displaced femoral neck fractures (15.8%), but multivariate analysis only identified preinjury function as an independent predictor of mortality. All preinjury and followup functional independence measure scores were greatest for patients with nondisplaced femoral neck fractures and least for patients with unstable intertrochanteric fractures. However, multivariate analysis identified only patient age and preinjury functional independence measure scores as independent predictors of functional outcome. These data show differences in mortality and functional outcomes among fracture types that can be attributed to differences in functional status before injury.
The Role of Regulatory Learning in Energy Transition: The Case of Solar PV in Brazil

Abstract An important problem that has attracted significant amount of attention within the context of energy transitions is the carbon lock-in: a situation in which energy systems are locked-in to high carbon technologies through a path-dependent process. Several measures to avoid the carbon lock-in involve technology-specific measures, which in turn implies that those measures may result in an energy system locked-in to certain low carbon technologies. We consider that the Brazilian system needs policies to escape the carbon lock in, which are based on providing incentives to low carbon technologies. We develop an analytical framework to analyze the role of regulatory institutions in the possible lock-in to utility-scale photovoltaic, in the sense that they create barriers to the adoption of distributed-generation photovoltaic. We show that the definition of a process to adapt the institutional framework in a context of stress in the innovation system is crucial for the adoption of new technologies. Applying our framework to the Brazilian power sector, we observe that only when regulators consider the possibility that the system is locked-in to centralized production technologies (and not when they just consider the carbon lock-in) they manage to eliminate barriers to distributed generation based on solar PV.
Serum Resistance in an Invasive, NontypeableHaemophilus influenzae Strain

ABSTRACT A common feature of many different organisms causing bacteremia is the ability to avoid the bactericidal effects of normal human serum. InHaemophilus influenzae encapsulated strains are particularly serum resistant; however, we found that a nonencapsulated strain (R2866) isolated from the blood of an immunocompetent child with meningitis who had been successfully immunized with H. influenzae type b conjugate vaccine was serum resistant. Since serum resistance usually involves circumventing the action of the complement system, we defined the deposition of various complement components on the surfaces of this H. influenzae strain (R2866), a nonencapsulated avirulent laboratory strain (Rd), and a virulent type b encapsulated strain (Eagan). Membrane attack complex (MAC) accumulation correlated with the loss of bacterial viability; correspondingly, the rates of MAC deposition on the serum-sensitive strain Rd and the serum-resistant strains differed. Analysis of cell-associated immunoglobulin G (IgG), C1q, C3b, and C5b indicated that serum-resistant H. influenzae prevents MAC accumulation by delaying the synthesis of C3b through the classical pathway. Among the initiators of the classical pathway, IgG deposition contributes most of the C3 convertase activity necessary to start the cascade ending with MAC deposition. Despite similar IgG binding, strain R2866 delays C3 convertase activity compared to strain Rd. We conclude that strain R2866 can persist in the bloodstream, in part by inhibiting or delaying C3 deposition on the cell surface, escaping complement mediated killing.
The Canadian Experience: Why Canada Decided Against an Upper Limit for Cholesterol

Canada, like the United States, held a “consensus conference on cholesterol” in 1988. Although the final report of the consensus panel recommended that total dietary fat not exceed 30 percent and saturated fat not exceed 10 percent of total energy intake, it did not specify an upper limit for dietary cholesterol. Similarly, the 1990, Health Canada publication “Nutrition Recommendations: The Report of the Scientific Review Committee” specified upper limits for total and saturated fat in the diet but did not specify an upper limit for cholesterol. Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating, a companion publication from Health Canada, suggested that Canadians “choose low-fat dairy products, lean meats, and foods prepared with little or no fat” while enjoying “a variety of foods. ” Many factors contributed to this position but a primary element was the belief that total dietary fat and saturated fat were primary dietary determinants of serum total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, not dietary cholesterol. Hence, Canadian health authorities focused on reducing saturated fat and trans fats in the Canadian diet to help lower blood cholesterol levels rather than focusing on limiting dietary cholesterol. In an effort to allay consumer concern with the premise that blood cholesterol level is linked to dietary cholesterol, organizations such as the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency (CEMA) reminded health professionals, including registered dietitians, family physicians and nutrition educators, of the extensive data showing that there is little relationship between dietary cholesterol intake and cardiovascular mortality. In addition, it was pointed out that for most healthy individuals, endogenous synthesis of cholesterol by the liver adjusts to the level of dietary cholesterol intake. Educating health professionals about the relatively weak association between dietary cholesterol and the relatively strong association between serum cholesterol and saturated fat and trans fats helped keep consumers informed about healthy diets and ways to control blood cholesterol.
Dominant role of the kidneys and accessory role of whole-body autoregulation in the pathogenesis of hypertension.

In this paper I have presented two closely related themes both of which seem to be fundamental in understanding the pathophysiology of hypertension. The first theme is the dominant role of the volume-excretion function of the kidneys in setting the long-term arterial pressure level. That is, each person in general has a rather steady intake of salt, water, and those other constituents that make up extracellular fluid. When the arterial pressure is normal, the kidney excretion of these constituents is exactly the correct amount to balance the intake of each of them. When the pressure is too great, there is more loss than gain, and the body fluid volume decreases; therefore, the pressure falls until the exact balance point is reached again; it is only at this balance point that the loss and gain are equal. At any pressure below the balance point, volume gain is greater than loss, and the pressure will continue to rise until the exact balance level is again reached. This capability of the kidney mechanism to return the pressure all-the-way back to the level of balance between input and output--not merely part-way back--is called the "infinite gain" characteristic of this pressure control system, and the level to which the pressure is controlled is called the "set-point" of the system. In pathophysiological states, the set-point for pressure control can be increased to hypertensive levels as a result of (1) a pathophysiological change in renal function or (2) increased salt and volume intake; then hypertension will ensue. Other abnormalities of circulatory function that do not affect one of these two factors cannot cause chronic hypertension because of the infinite gain feature of the renal-volume mechanism for pressure control. One such condition that does not cause hypertension without some concurrent abnormality that affects renal function is a primary increase in total peripheral resistance. The second theme is that whole-body autoregulation causes the blood flow in all parts of the body to return or remain near to normal when high arterial pressure tries to increase the flow. It does this by increasing the resistance in all parts of the peripheral arterial tree. Therefore, in effect, autoregulation converts any tendency to high cardiac output hypertension into high resistance hypertension. Yet, in so far as is now known, the pressure level will be the same with or without autoregulation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Hardware-Centric Vision Processing for Mobile IoT Environment Exploiting Approximate Graph Cut in Resistor Grid

The Internet of things (IoT) has become a general trend in the electronic world. In this IoT era, various types of sensors gathering data are placed everywhere, and visual data is one of the most valuable information. While extracting important features from visual images, complex vision algorithms are often processed by high speed computing units like CPU or GPU. However, most IoT devices are mobile, so hardware resources are severely limited, which disturbs usage of the high performance processors in IoT appliances. Therefore, efficient vision computing becomes a crucial concern in this resource poor environment. Graph cut is a popular and widespread algorithm for image segmentation, image denoising, and stereo matching. However, it suffers from inefficient memory access patterns and massive digital computations. Due to the small hardware capacity not enough to overcome these obstacles, it is hardly feasible to run the algorithm in the IoT devices. In this paper, we propose an approximate version of the graph cut with the aid of the dedicated hardware design. By exploiting the analogy between the max flow and electric currents, we design the theoretical model of an approximate max flow solution and suggest the resistor grid as its processing circuit. Because this work utilizes electric potentials for the min cut computation, it is possible to find the cut at a low energy and a high speed. A prototype circuit is designed and simulated for evaluation. Using public GrabCut benchmark, algorithm evaluations are performed. As a result, we can verify a fast and an energy-efficient image processing with an acceptable accuracy. For supervised binary image segmentation, speed efficiency is 4.57 times higher, and energyefficiency is 9.11 times better when compared to other image/video segmentation works.
Detection of application layer DDoS attack by modeling user behavior using logistic regression

DDoS attack has been a threat to network security since a decade and it will continue to be so in the near future also. Now a days application layer DDoS attack poses a major challenge to Web servers. The main objective of Web server is to offer an uninterrupted application layer services to its benign users. But, the application layer DDoS attack blocks the services of the web server to its legitimate clients which can cause immense financial losses. Moreover, it requires very less amount of resources to perform the application layer DDoS attack. The solutions available to detect application layer DDoS attack, detect only limited number of application layer DDoS attacks. The solutions that detect all types of application layer DDoS attacks have huge complexity. To find an effective solution for the detection of application layer DDoS attack the normal user browsing behavior has to be modeled in such a way that normal user and attacker can be differentiated. In this paper, we propose a method using feature construction and logistic regression to model normal Web user browsing behavior to detect application layer DDoS attacks. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated in terms of the metrics such as total accuracy, false positive rate, and detection rate. Comparison of the proposed solution with the existing methods reveals that the proposed method performs better than the existing methods.
Effect of concomitant administration of piperacillin on the dispositions of netilmicin and tobramycin in patients with end-stage renal disease

The effect of piperacillin administration on the dispositions of netilmicin and tobramycin was assessed in 12 chronic hemodialysis patients. Six subjects each received netilmicin (2 mg/kg) or tobramycin (2 mg/kg) alone and in combination with piperacillin (4 g every 12 h for four doses). Subjects also received a single dose of piperacillin (4 g) on a separate occasion. The serum concentration-versus-time profiles of netilmicin and tobramycin were biexponential. The terminal elimination half-life (t1/2 beta) of tobramycin was markedly reduced (59.62 +/- 25.18 [mean +/- standard deviation] versus 24.71 +/- 5.41 h) and total body clearance (CLP) was significantly increased in the presence of piperacillin (3.45 +/- 1.61 versus 7.16 +/- 1.64 ml/min). In contrast, the t1/2 beta (41.80 +/- 13.24 versus 40.07 +/- 10.37 h) and CLP (5.11 +/- 2.15 versus 5.55 +/- 2.32 ml/min) of netilmicin were not significantly altered when netilmicin was administered in combination with piperacillin. No change in the central or steady-state volume of distribution of netilmicin or tobramycin was observed. The disposition of piperacillin in hemodialysis patients was not altered in the presence of either aminoglycoside antibiotic. Although no adjustment in netilmicin dosing is required, tobramycin should be administered more frequently when given concomitantly with piperacillin to hemodialysis patients to avoid prolonged periods of subtherapeutic concentrations.