Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tissue residue approach for chemical mixtures

At the SETAC Pellston Workshop “The Tissue Residues Approach for Toxicity Assessment,” held in June 2007, we discussed mixture toxicology in terms of the tissue residue approach (TRA). This article reviews the literature related to the TRA for mixtures of chemicals and recommends a practical, tiered approach that can be implemented in regulatory or risk assessment applications. As with the toxicity of individual chemicals, addressing mixture toxicity by means of the TRA has a number of significant advantages. Early work provided a theoretical basis and experimental data to support the use of TRA for mixtures; later work provided a field‐based validation of the integration. However, subsequent development has been hindered by the lack of mixture toxicity data expressed in tissue or preferably target‐site concentrations. We recommend a framework for addressing the toxicology of mixtures that integrates the TRA and mixture toxicology in a 3‐tier approach. Tier I uses concentration addition (CA) to estimate the toxicity of mixtures regardless of the mechanism of action of the components. However, the common approach that uses a bioaccumulation factor (BAF) to predict TR from the exposure–water concentration for organics must be modified slightly for metals because, unlike organics, the BAF for a metal changes as 1) the aqueous exposure concentration changes, and 2) the concentration of other metals changes. In addition, total tissue residues of a metal are not a good predictor of toxicity, because some organisms store high concentrations of metals internally in detoxified forms. In tier I, if the combination of measured concentrations in the mixture exceeds that predicted to produce adverse effects or above‐reference levels, it is necessary to proceed to tier II. Tier II is a mixed model that employs CA and independent action to estimate mixture toxicity. Tiers I and II estimate the toxicity of mixtures to individual species. In tier III, the TRA is integrated with the multisubstance potentially affected fraction (ms‐PAF) method to derive TR levels that are protective of a selected percentage of species in aquatic communities (e.g., hazardous concentration for 5% of the species [HC5]). Integr Environ Assess Manag 2011;7:99–115. © 2010 SETAC
Calibration photométrique de l'imageur MegaCam. Analyse des données SnDICE.

L'etalonnage photometrique des imageurs grand champ est a ce jour la principale limitation pour plusieurs mesures de cosmologie, parmi lesquelles celle des parametres cosmologiques a l'aide des supernovae de type Ia. Afin d'obtenir l'exactitude de l'ordre de 0.1% necessaire pour les releves futurs, les collaborations actives dans ce domaine explorent la possibilite de nouvelles techniques de calibration a l'aide d'instruments dedies comme alternative a celle traditionnelle a l'aide d'etoiles standard spectrophotometriques. Le groupe du LPNHE a concu SnDICE, un systeme d'illumination innovant et tres stable qui a ete installe dans la dome du telescope Canada-France-Hawaii pour calibrer l'imageur MegaCam et en suivre les performances. Le but est de demontrer la faisabilite d'une calibration instrumentale absolue exacte a 0.1% ou mieux. Dans la premiere partie de la these, un bref apercu du modele standard de la cosmologie et des principales sondes etudiees pour en contraindre les parametres est suivi par la description de MegaCam et SnDICE. La seconde partie s'attache a presenter la construction d'un modele optique de MegaCam et d'une modelisation geometrique permettant de connaitre les attitudes de MegaCam et SnDICE dans le dome. Ces deux modeles ont ete implementes dans un logiciel traceur de rayons, cree a l'aide des librairies ROOT, de facon a simuler l'eclairement du plan focal. Cette simulation permet de distin- guer l'illumination directe des contributions dues aux reflexions issues des surfaces du correcteur grand champ. Enfin, est presentee l'application de ces outils pour la premiere analyse des poses de calibration SnDICE : la determination de la bande passante rM de MegaCam.
Alcohol Beverage Household Expenditure, Taxation and Government Revenues in Broader European WHO Region

Health Economics and Pharmacoeconomics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia, 2 Federal Research Institute for Public Health Organization and Information (CNIIOIZ), Ministry of Health, Moscow, Russia, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 4 Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA, 5 Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Defending Wireless Ad Hoc Network from Single and Cooperative Black Holes

Mobile ad hoc networks remove the dependence on a fixed network infrastructure by treating every available mobile node as an intermediate switch, thereby extending the range of mobile nodes well beyond their base transceivers. Since routing is the backbone of any mobile ad hoc communication, thus if there occur any flaws in the routing, the whole of the communication would come down to a stand still. The black hole is one of the most severe threats which has engulfed the routing, practically causing no useful communication to take place. The black hole can be easily deployed against the MANETs.
LMI relaxation to Riccati equations in structured H2 control

In this paper we discuss structured Hscr2 control methods for large-scale interconnected systems. Based on a relaxation of Riccati equations, we derive some LMI conditions for suboptimal controllers in which information structure can be imposed. In particular, we derive controllers by solving low-dimensional LMIs, which are decentralized except for the sharing information between neighbors, as determined by the plant interconnection, and for which we optimize a performance bound
Business and network models for innovation: strategic logic and the role of network position

Firms increasingly organise their innovation activities in networked environments, including specific models such as supplier-network innovation, coopetition, or open innovation with a large set of stakeholders. These types of business and network models for innovation are often discussed from one of two main approaches – the strategic or the structural. The strategic approach examines the focus and logic of innovation in networks, and the structural approach analyses the network position and the related value creation and capture possibilities of a focal actor related to the position. In this study, these two approaches are combined in the attempt to provide an overview of this increasingly important topic in innovation management.
Comparative evaluation of inverter topologies for wind and solar applications

NPP topology is used to implement 3-level inverter for AC drives. Here 3-level inverter is used to improve output wave form and also to reduce harmonics torque. This will allow a digital controller or micro-processor based control structure to be implemented. Many inverter topologies are present to implement the 3-level inverter technique. The NPP (natural point piloted) technique, allows lesser voltage stress on switches by the series connection of two IGBT to allow for a bi-directional switching, hence 4-quadrat operation is possible. So regenerative braking can be used. Moreover the speed of drive may be controlled more effectively. Proper switching may also reduces/eliminates the need of sine-wave filters which is a big advantage over other inverter topology, the size and cost comes down and the efficiency goes up.
THE USE OF GRANULOCYTE COLONY‐STIMULATING FACTOR AFTER LIVER TRANSPLANTATION

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) increases the number of circulating granulocytes and decreases TNF production while improving survival in sepsis models. To study the effects of G-CSF administration on sepsis and rejection, 37 primary liver allograft recipients received intravenous recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF; 5–10 μg/kg/day) for the first 7–10 days following transplantation, targeting a blood absolute granulocyte count of between 10,000 and 20,000 cells/mm3. These recipients were monitored prospectively for sepsis and rejection, as were the previous 49 primary liver allograft recipients who did not receive G-CSF. Both groups utilized identical protocol immunosuppression and standardized diagnosis and treatment of sepsis and rejection. Univariate and logistic regression analysis of risk factors for sepsis and rejection revealed no difference between the two patient groups. G-CSF-treated patients developed an increased absolute granulocyte count over time (P<0.0001, repeated-measures analysis of variance). G-CSF-treated patients had a decreased number of sepsis episodes per patient (0.92±.5 vs. 2.18±2.8, P<0.02, t test), and a lower percentage of sepsis-related deaths (8% vs. 22%, P<0.04, chi-square test). The incidence of acute rejection was decreased in the G-CSF-treated group (22% vs. 51%, P<0.01, chi-square test). These pilot data support further investigation into G-CSF's favorable effects on sepsis and rejection.
Accurate Inference for Adaptive Linear Models

Estimators computed from adaptively collected data do not behave like their non-adaptive brethren. Rather, the sequential dependence of the collection policy can lead to severe distributional biases that persist even in the infinite data limit. We develop a general method decorrelation procedure -- W-decorrelation -- for transforming the bias of adaptive linear regression estimators into variance. The method uses only coarse-grained information about the data collection policy and does not need access to propensity scores or exact knowledge of the policy. We bound the finite-sample bias and variance of the W-estimator and develop asymptotically correct confidence intervals based on a novel martingale central limit theorem. We then demonstrate the empirical benefits of the generic W-decorrelation procedure in two different adaptive data settings: the multi-armed bandits and autoregressive time series models.
Regulatory Polymorphisms in β-Tubulin IIa Are Associated with Paclitaxel-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Purpose: Peripheral neuropathy is the dose-limiting toxicity of paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug widely used to treat several solid tumors such as breast, lung, and ovary. The cytotoxic effect of paclitaxel is mediated through β-tubulin binding in the cellular microtubules. In this study, we investigated the association between paclitaxel neurotoxicity risk and regulatory genetic variants in β-tubulin genes. Experimental Design: We measured variation in gene expression of three β-tubulin isotypes (I, IVb, and IIa) in lymphocytes from 100 healthy volunteers, sequenced the promoter region to identify polymorphisms putatively influencing gene expression and assessed the transcription rate of the identified variants using luciferase assays. To determine whether the identified regulatory polymorphisms were associated with paclitaxel neurotoxicity, we genotyped them in 214 patients treated with paclitaxel. In addition, paclitaxel-induced cytotoxicity in lymphoblastoid cell lines was compared with β-tubulin expression as measured by Affymetrix exon array. Results: We found a 63-fold variation in β-tubulin IIa gene (TUBB2A) mRNA content and three polymorphisms located at −101, −112, and −157 in TUBB2A promoter correlated with increased mRNA levels. The −101 and −112 variants, in total linkage disequilibrium, conferred TUBB2A increased transcription rate. Furthermore, these variants protected from paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy [HR, 0.62; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.42–0.93; P = 0.021, multivariable analysis]. In addition, an inverse correlation between TUBB2A and paclitaxel-induced apoptosis (P = 0.001) in lymphoblastoid cell lines further supported that higher TUBB2A gene expression conferred lower paclitaxel sensitivity. Conclusions: This is the first study showing that paclitaxel neuropathy risk is influenced by polymorphisms regulating the expression of a β-tubulin gene. Clin Cancer Res; 18(16); 4441–8. ©2012 AACR.
Politiques monétaires: est-ce le début de la fin ?

Depuis 2009, les principales banques centrales mettent en oeuvre des politiques monetaires expansionnistes afin de stimuler l'activite economique, reduire les risques de spirale deflationniste et soutenir le systeme financier. Ces politiques se sont traduites par des taux d'interet fixes a leur plus bas niveau ou presque et par des mesures non conventionnelles. L'amelioration recente du climat conjoncturel et la volonte affichee des banques centrales d'organiser le retrait progressif des mesures non conventionnelles posent la question d'une eventuelle normalisation des politiques monetaires. Pour autant, toute hausse des taux d'interet d'ici 2014 est exclue. En effet, le risque inflationniste est inexistant et la croissance anticipee trop moderee pour entrainer une baisse rapide du taux de chomage. Or, la Reserve federale et la Banque d'Angleterre ont conditionne un relevement du taux d'interet a une cible de taux de chomage. Cette politique de communication (forward guidance ou orientation prospective) relative aux taux d'interet a pour objectif d'ancrer les anticipations de taux et de fournir par ce biais un soutien a la croissance. Cette strategie accompagne l'ensemble des mesures non conventionnelles de nature plus quantitatives telles que les programmes d'achat de titre ou les operations exceptionnelles de refinancement du systeme bancaire. La normalisation des operations de politique monetaire passe par un retrait progressif de ces mesures non conventionnelles. Mais l'annonce de Ben Bernanke d'un eventuel ralentissement progressif du rythme des achats de titres par la Reserve federale a provoque de la volatilite sur les marches et une augmentation rapide des taux a long terme. Des lors, les banques centrales doivent faire preuve d'une grande prudence afin d'eviter une normalisation trop hâtive des politiques monetaires. Ceci d'autant plus que les risques associes a ces mesures (developpement de nouvelles bulles, independance des banques centrales ou risques inflationnistes) ne paraissent pas etre aujourd'hui la principale menace dans les pays industrialises (.).
Acute and delayed response to resistance exercise leading or not leading to muscle failure

This study compared the time course of recovery following two resistance exercise protocols differing in the number of repetitions per set with regard to the maximum possible (to failure) number. Ten men performed three sets of 6 versus 12 repetitions with their 70% 1RM (3 × 6 [12] versus 3 × 12 [12]) in the bench press (BP) and squat (SQ) exercises. Mechanical [CMJ height, velocity against the 1 m s−1 load (V1‐load)], biochemical [testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, insulin‐like growth factor‐1, creatine kinase (CK)] and heart rate variability (HRV) and complexity (HRC) were assessed pre‐, postexercise (Post) and at 6, 24 and 48 h‐Post. Compared with 3 × 6 [12], the 3 × 12 [12] protocol resulted in significantly: higher repetition velocity loss within each set (BP: 65% versus 26%; SQ: 44% versus 20%); reduced V1‐load until 24 h‐Post (BP) and 6 h‐Post (SQ); decreased CMJ height up to 48 h‐Post; greater increases in cortisol (Post), prolactin (Post, 48 h‐Post) and CK (48 h‐Post); and reductions in HRV and HRC at Post. This study shows that the mechanical, neuroendocrine and autonomic cardiovascular response is markedly different when manipulating the number of repetitions per set. Halving the number of repetitions in relation to the maximum number that can be completed serves to minimize fatigue and speed up recovery following resistance training.
Astrocyte fatty acid binding protein‐7 is a marker for neurogenic niches in the rat hippocampus

Recent research has determined that newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of the macaque are frequently adjacent to astrocytes immunoreactive for fatty acid binding protein‐7 (FABP7). To investigate if a similar relationship between FABP7‐positive (FABP7+) astrocytes and proliferating cells exists in the rodent brain, sections of brains from juvenile rats were stained by immunohistochemistry to demonstrate newborn cells (antibody to Ki67 protein) and FABP7+ astrocytes. In rat brains, FABP7+ astrocytes were particularly abundant in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and were frequently close to dividing cells immunoreactive for Ki67 protein. FABP7+ astrocytes were also present in the olfactory bulbs, arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, and in the dorsal medulla subjacent to the area postrema, sites where more modest numbers of newborn neurons can also be found. These data suggest that regional accumulations of FABP7+ astrocytes may represent reservoirs of cells having the potential for neurogenesis. Because FABP7+ astrocytes are particularly abundant in the hippocampus, and since the gene for FABP7 has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, age‐related changes in FABP7+ astrocytes (mitochondrial degeneration) may be relevant to age‐associated disorders of the hippocampus. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
State estimation of VTOL octorotor for altitude control by using hybrid extended Kalman filter

In this paper, state variables of eight-rotor Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft are estimated and used in the feedback loop for altitude control. Due to output measurement noise, the measured signal cannot be directly used in estimation and control. To study the effect of filtering on system's performance, we consider three modes of filtering, namely, (1) no filter, (2) firstorder low-pass filter, and (3) hybrid extended Kalman filter. System control in the no filter mode is not favorable. There is significant tracking error, and control signal consists of frequent fluctuations with large amplitude. In the second mode, when using first-order low-pass filter, tracking condition of altitude reference signal is better, but the control signal still has frequent fluctuations with large amplitude and could not be implemented. In the third mode, when hybrid extended Kalman filter is used, tracking of reference signal is performed well and the control signal is in good condition with mitigated fluctuations and bounded amplitude.
Using Geographical Convergence of Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease, and Type 2 Diabetes at the Neighborhood Level to Inform Policy and Practice

Introduction Chronic diseases are increasing across the world. Examination of local geographic variation in chronic disease patterns can enable policy makers to identify inequalities in health outcomes and tailor effective interventions to communities at higher risk. Our study aimed to determine the geographic variation of obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and type 2 diabetes, using general practice clinical data. Further objectives included identifying regions of significantly high and low clusters of these conditions and assessing their association with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods A cross-sectional approach was used to determine the prevalence of obesity, CVD, and type 2 diabetes in western Adelaide, Australia. The Getis-Ord Gi* method was used to identify significant hot spots of the conditions. Additionally, we used the Pearson correlation test to determine the association between disease clusters and risk factors, including socioeconomic status (SES), smoking history, and alcohol consumption. Results The spatial distribution of obesity, CVD, and type 2 diabetes varied across communities. Hot spots of these conditions converged in 3 locations across western Adelaide. An inverse relationship was observed between area-level prevalence of CVD, obesity, and type 2 diabetes with SES. Conclusion Identification of significant disease clusters can help policy makers to target prevention strategies at the right people, in the right location. The approach taken in our study can be applied to identify clusters of other chronic diseases across the world, wherever researchers have access to clinical data.
A highly nonlinear coupled mode of decadal-to-interdecadal variability in a mid-latitude ocean – atmosphere model . Part II : Dynamics

A novel type of mid-latitude coupled variability, which crucially depends on the nonlinear dynamics of both the atmosphere and the ocean, was described in a companion paper. In the present paper, a series of coupled and uncoupled experiments show that the coupled mode is active accross parameter ranges that allow the bimodality of the atmospheric zonal flow to coexist with oceanic turbulence. The latter is most intense in the regions of inertial recirculation (IR). IR reorganizations caused by transitions of the atmosphere from its high-latitude to its low-latitude state and vice-versa create sea-surface temperature anomalies that tend to induce transition to the opposite atmospheric state. The decadal-to-interdecadal time scale of the resulting oscillation is set by the IR adjustment; the latter depends most sensitively on the oceanic bottom drag. The period T of the nonlinear oscillation is of 7–25 yr for the range of parameters explored, with the most realistic parameter values yielding T ≈ 20 yr. This period and the associated spatio-temporal pattern are discussed in terms of observed behavior in the North Atlantic. Aside from this nonlinear oscillation, an interannual Rossby wave mode is present in all coupled experiments. This coupled mode depends neither on atmospheric bimodality, nor on ocean-eddy dynamics; it is analogous to the mode found previously in a channel configuration. Its time scale in the model configuration with a rectangular ocean basin is set by cross-basin wave propagation and equals 3–5 yr for a basin width comparable with the North Atlantic.
Mammography Image Enhancement using Linear, Nonlinear and Wavelet Filters with Histogram Equalization

In the worldwide, breast cancer is one of the major diseases among the women. In the modern medical science, there are plenty of newly devised methodologies and techniques for the timely detection of breast cancer. However, there are difficulties still exist for detecting breast cancer at an early stage for its diagnoses because of poor visualization and artifacts present in the mammography. Thus the Digital mammographic image preprocessing often requires, enhancement of the image to improve the quality while preserving important details. The proposed method works in three stages. First it removes all the artifacts present in the image. Second it denoise the image by using Linear, nonlinear and wavelet filters. Third, contrast of the image increased by histogram equalization. This method definitely helps to computer aided diagnosis system to increase the accuracy. The experimental results are tested on two standard datasets MIAS and DDSM.
Facts and Fancies About a Posteriori "Wiener" Filtering

A posterior "Wiener" filtering is an estimation technique that has gained renewed interest in recent years, particularly in evoked potential studies. However, several misconceptions appear to exist with respect to the theory and its applicability. The purpose of this paper is to clarify these aspects and to explain the method in a comprehensive manner. Finally, the use of a more powerful time-varying filtering technique is recommended.