Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body Composition and Metabolic Changes in Antiretroviral-Naive Patients Randomized to Didanosine and Stavudine vs. Abacavir and Lamivudine

Comparisons of body composition and metabolic changes among antiretroviral-naive patients randomly assigned to didanosine and stavudine- (ddI + d4T) vs. abacavir and lamivudine- (ABC + 3TC) containing regimens were assessed in a nested substudy of an ongoing multicenter randomized trial. At baseline and every 4 months, body cell mass and total body fat were calculated, anthropometric measurements were performed, and fasting metabolic parameters were obtained. The rates of change (unit/mo) estimated using the slopes of regression lines and overall mean changes from baseline were compared by study assignment. Among 96 patients enrolled, 46 received ddI + d4T- and 50 received ABC + 3TC-containing regimens with a median follow-up of 32.4 months. For both study arms, an overall increase in the rates of change was seen for body cell mass. For ddI + d4T, after an initial increase, the rates of change declined for regional fat and total body fat compared with an increase for ABC + 3TC, with the 2 arms being significantly different (P < 0.05). For high-density lipoprotein cholesterol rates of change, ddI + d4T decreased, while ABC + 3TC increased. For both arms, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased, while triglycerides increased. Early and sustained increases in insulin and insulin resistance were seen only for ddI + d4T. In this prospective study, metabolic and body composition changes varied according to whether subjects received ddI + d4T or ABC + 3TC.
Violence and weapon carrying in music videos. A content analysis.

BACKGROUND The positive portrayal of violence and weapon carrying in televised music videos is thought to have a considerable influence on the normative expectations of adolescents about these behaviors. OBJECTIVES To perform a content analysis of the depictions of violence and weapon carrying in music videos, including 5 genres of music (rock, rap, adult contemporary, rhythm and blues, and country), from 4 television networks and to analyze the degree of sexuality or eroticism portrayed in each video and its association with violence and weapon carrying, as an indicator of the desirability of violent behaviors. METHODS Five hundred eighteen videos were recorded during randomly selected days and times of the day from the Music Television, Video Hits One, Black Entertainment Television, and Country Music Television networks. Four female and 4 male observers aged 17 to 24 years were trained to use a standardized content analysis instrument. Interobserver reliability testing resulted in a mean (+/- SD) percentage agreement of 89.25% +/- 7.10% and a mean (+/- SD) kappa of 0.73 +/- 0.20. All videos were observed by rotating 2-person, male-female teams that were required to reach agreement on each behavior that was scored. Music genre and network differences in behaviors were analyzed with chi 2 tests. RESULTS A higher percentage (22.4%) of Music Television videos portrayed overt violence than Video Hits One (11.8%), Country Music Television (11.8%), and Black Entertainment Television (11.5%) videos (P = .02). Rap (20.4%) had the highest portrayal of violence, followed by rock (19.8%), country (10.8%), adult contemporary (9.7%), and rhythm and blues (5.9%) (P = .006). Weapon carrying was higher on Music Television (25.0%) than on Black Entertainment Television (11.5%), Video Hits One (8.4%), and Country Music Television (6.9%) (P < .001). Weapon carrying was also higher in rock (19.8%) and rap (19.5%) videos than in adult contemporary (16.1%), rhythm and blues (6.9%), and country (6.3%) videos (P = .002). The videos with the highest level of sexuality or eroticism were found to be less likely to contain violence (P < or = .04). CONCLUSION Because most music videos are between 3 and 4 minutes long, these data indicate that even modest levels of viewing may result in substantial exposure to violence and weapon carrying, which is glamorized by music artists, actors, and actresses.
Effect of commercially available nasal strips on airway resistance in exercising horses.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of a commercially available nasal strip on airway mechanics in exercising horses. ANIMALS 6 horses (5 Standardbreds and 1 Thoroughbred). PROCEDURE Horses exercised on a treadmill at speeds corresponding to 100 and 120% of maximal heart rate with and without application of a commercially available nasal strip. Concurrently, tracheal pressures, airflow, and heart rate were measured. Peak inspiratory and expiratory tracheal pressures, airflow, respiratory frequency, and tidal volume were recorded. Inspiratory and expiratory airway resistances were calculated by dividing peak pressures by peak flows. Endoscopic examination of the narrowest point of the nasal cavity (ie, nasal valve) was performed in 1 resting horse before, during, and after application of a nasal strip. RESULTS During exercise on a treadmill, peak tracheal inspiratory pressure and inspiratory airway resistance were significantly less when nasal strips were applied to horses exercising at speeds corresponding to 100 and 120% of maximal heart rate. Application of the nasal strip pulled the dorsal conchal fold laterally, expanding the dorsal meatus. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The commercially available nasal strip tented the skin over the nasal valve and dilated that section of the nasal passage, resulting in decreased airway resistance during inspiration. The nasal strip probably decreases the amount of work required for respiratory muscles in horses during intense exercise and may reduce the energy required for breathing in these horses.
Comparator Power Minimization Analysis for SAR ADC Using Multiple Comparators

Comparator power consumption is a major bottleneck to the power efficiency of a high resolution successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) used in low-power applications. This paper analyzes theoretically the optimal comparators that need to be used to achieve a desired overall performance at minimum power levels. A simple and accurate mathematical model of the SAR ADC that is amenable to analysis is first presented. The mathematical formulation suggests that the comparison power allocated to each bit step need not be the same. The optimization problem, therefore, is solved so that the comparator power budget is optimally distributed among all bit steps. Simulation results show that up to 50% and 60% power savings can be achieved when 10 and 12 comparators are employed for 10 b and 12 b SAR ADCs, respectively. To reduce the implementation complexity, comparator noise allocation problem is also solved when fewer than N comparators are employed in an N-bit SAR ADC. Simulation results suggest that two comparators is sufficient to achieve near ideal performance in 10 b and 12 b SAR ADCs.
Alexandre Lamfalussy and the monetary policy debates among central bankers during the Great Inflation

The 1970s were a turbulent period in postwar monetary history. This paper focuses on how central bankers at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), especially Alexandre Lamfalussy, the BIS’s Economic Adviser, responded to the Great Inflation. The breakdown of Bretton Woods forced central bankers to look for new monetary policy strategies as the exchange rate lost its central role. Lamfalussy, in his early years a Keynesian in favour of discretionary policies, moved to a "conservative Keynesian" position, acknowledging that a medium term orientation and the credibility of monetary policy were important to break inflationary expectations. However, Lamfalussy never moved to “monetarist” positions. Lamfalussy certainly acknowledged that monetary targets could reinforce the credibility and independence of monetary policy. However, he rejected mechanical rules. In essence he aimed for a middle position: rules applied with a pragmatic sense of discretion. In the early 1980s, with the rise of financial innovations, Lamfalussy would stress even more the limitations of monetary targeting. His focus turned increasingly to systemic financial stability risks, preparing the ground for the macroprudential approach of the BIS. In Lamfalussy's view, central banking remained an art, not a science.
A prospective study of age trends in cervical human papillomavirus acquisition and persistence in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

BACKGROUND Cross-sectional human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA prevalence peaks at young ages, reflecting sexual acquisition and typically rapid clearance. In some populations, HPV prevalence demonstrates a second peak in older women. Longitudinal data may help to explain this second peak. METHODS We followed a population-based cohort of 7237 women in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in which we had previously observed a second peak in the baseline HPV prevalence in older women. We tested for >40 HPV types by polymerase chain reaction. We analyzed age-specific patterns of acquisition and persistence 5-7 years after enrollment for individual HPV types. RESULTS At enrollment and follow-up, cross-sectional data revealed U-shaped age-specific HPV prevalence curves for virtually every type, with higher prevalences in the younger and older women than in the middle-aged women. Prospectively, acquisition of types decreased significantly as women aged (PTrend<.05, for both), with the highest peak in young women and a secondary minor peak in older women. Type-specific persistence of HPV increased with age (PTrend<.0001). Overall, HPV acquisition predominated at younger ages, whereas persistent infections gradually became more prominent with age (PTrend<.0001). CONCLUSIONS Newly apparent infections decreased, whereas persistence increased, with age; this latter tendency supports the utility of HPV screening in older women.
Empirical Evidence of Entrepreneurial Competencies and Firm Performance: A Study of Women Entrepreneurs of Nigeria

Abstract The purpose of current study is to investigate the effects of entrepreneurial competencies on firm performance of businesses owned by Nigerian women entrepreneurs. The 200 respondents of this study are women entrepreneurs operating micro-business units in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Survey questions was used to collect data. The study utilises SPSS and SmartPLS 2.0 to analyse the data. The findings indicated that strategic, opportunity and organizing competencies significantly affect the firm performance of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Data and competition law

: Digital firms often use the data provided by their users to offer a service that improves as the number of data and users increases. This accounts for the large size of Web platforms, which often enable digital firms to hold a dominant market position. For all that, is it necessary to change the rules of competition to adapt to this new business? Or are the usual arrangements under competition law effective in this sector for both detecting and sanctioning the anticompetitive actions undertaken by these platforms? Following a review of the procedures applied in the digital realm, information is provided for answering these questions. Firms with a business model based on digital technology are operating in all branches of the economy: transportation, the hotel business, banks, culture, entertainment, etc. Digital platforms do not form a single “sector” of the economy. In some cases, they are revitalizing customer services thanks to digital technology (like the platforms that, competing with taxis, offer rides with drivers) or creating new services that only they can offer (like the delivery of real–time traffic information). These firms have different positions in terms of competition depending on whether they are newcomers in existing markets or innovators in emerging markets. Nevertheless, they definitely share a common point: they offer services with the help of algorithms that use, as raw material, users’ data. 1
Motion of the Head and Neck of Female and Male Volunteers in Rear Impact Car-to-Car Impacts

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to quantify and compare dynamic motion responses between 50th percentile female and male volunteers in rear impact tests. These data are fundamental for developing future occupant models for crash safety development and assessment. Methods: High-speed video data from a rear impact test series with 21 male and 21 female volunteers at 4 and 8 km/h, originally presented in Siegmund et al. (1997), were used for further analysis. Data from a subset of female volunteers, 12 at 4 km/h and 9 at 8 km/h, were extracted from the original data set to represent the 50th percentile female. Their average height was 163 cm and their average weight was 62 kg. Among the male volunteers, 11 were selected, with an average height of 175 cm and an average weight of 73 kg, to represent the 50th percentile male. Response corridors were generated for the horizontal and angular displacements of the head, T1 (first thoracic vertebra), and the head relative to T1. T-tests were performed with the statistical significance level of . 05 to quantify the significance of the differences in parameter values for the males and females. Results: Several differences were found in the average motion response of the male and female volunteers at 4 and 8 km/h. Generally, females had smaller rearward horizontal and angular motions of the head and T1 compared to the males. This was mainly due to shorter initial head-to–head restraint distance and earlier head-to–head restraint contact for the females. At 8 km/h, the female volunteers showed 12 percent lower horizontal peak rearward head displacement (P = .018); 22 percent lower horizontal peak rearward head relative to T1 displacement (P = .018); and 30 percent lower peak head extension angle (P = .001). The females also had more pronounced rebound motion. Conclusions: This study indicates that there may be characteristic differences in the head–neck motion response between 50th percentile males and females in rear impacts. The exclusive use of 50th percentile male rear impact dummies may thus limit the assessment and development of whiplash prevention systems that adequately protect both male and female occupants. The results of this study could be used in the development and evaluation of a mechanical and/or computational average-sized female dummy model for rear impact safety assessment. These models are used in the development and evaluation of protective systems. It would be of interest to make further studies into seat configurations featuring a greater head-to–head restraint distance.
A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns

The circular economy (CE) requires companies to rethink their supply chains and business models. Several frameworks found in the academic and practitioner literature propose circular economy business models (CEBMs) to redefine how companies create value while adhering to CE principles. A review of these frameworks shows that some models are frequently discussed, some are framework specific, and some use a different wording to refer to similar CEBMs, pointing to the need to consolidate the current state of the art. We conduct a morphological analysis of 26 current CEBMs from the literature, which includes defining their major business model dimensions and identifying the specific characteristics of these dimensions. Based on this analysis, we identify a broad range of business model design options and propose six major CEBM patterns with the potential to support the closing of resource flows: repair and maintenance; reuse and redistribution; refurbishment and remanufacturing; recycling; cascading and repurposing; and organic feedstock business model patterns. We also discuss different design strategies to support the development of these CEBMs.
Adaptive deadbeat current controllers for AC induction motor control

This paper presents employment of adaptive deadbeat current controllers in vector control scheme working in rotor flux coordinates. The parameter changes cause the deterioration of control performance in high precision AC induction motor drives. The adaptive controllers with online identification keep the performance on a high level. On-line identification gives the estimate of the motor parameters. This paper shows that deadbeat controllers can be easily tuned since their parameters directly depend on AC induction motor parameters. The advantage is their fast response. The algorithm is not computationally intensive which makes it suitable for real time implementation in reasonable hardware.
Responsiveness of beef cattle (Bos taurus) to human approach, novelty, social isolation, restraint and trade-offs between feeding and social companionship.

This study investigated responsiveness of beef cattle to various environmental stimuli by subjecting 15-16 Japanese Black cows to five tests repeated twice. Within individual behavioral measures, cows were moderately (repeatability = 0.54-0.70) or highly (repeatability = 0.74-0.89) consistent in flight distance during grazing and resting in the human approach tests, maximum distance from the group pen and the number of total and different feed tub visits in the feeding-sociability trade-off test, and unwillingness to enter the restraint, movement under restraint and flight speed after release from restraint in the social isolation and restraint test. By contrast, cows were not consistent in the latency to make the first contact and the number of contacts with novel object(s) in the novelty test (repeatability = 0.24-0.39). Across behavioral measures in different tests, cows showed no consistency (P ≥ 0.05) in any combinations of measures from the two human approach tests, the trade-off test and the social isolation and restraint test. In conclusion, human approach (particularly during resting), feeding-sociability trade-off and social isolation and restraint situations can be used for evaluating personality in Japanese Black cows, while the value of the novelty test needs to be reexamined.
MIMO-SAR based millimeter-wave imaging for contactless assessment of burned skin

The rapid and accurate assessment of burn injuries is a very challenging task in burn surgery. To illustrate the potential of millimeter-wave systems for burn diagnosis, the current paper at first shows a coaxial probe based ex-vivo measurement of the effective relative permittivity of skin depending on the degree of burn and also in-vivo measurements of the relative permittivity change caused by small skin irritation (i.e., increased or decreased blood perfusion, edema formation) in the frequency range 0.1 to 50 GHz. Based on the presented relation between skin condition, frequency, permittivity and loss, a MIMO-SAR imaging system operating at 75 GHz is introduced that facilitates a near real-time skin diagnosis. A skin model based on ex-vivo porcine skin is utilized to image the stepwise increased degree of a burn wound. In addition, for the first time in-vivo imaging results of normal and irritated human skin are presented.
Optimized Model of Cerebral Ischemia In situ for the Long-Lasting Assessment of Hippocampal Cell Death

Among all the brain, the hippocampus is the most susceptible region to ischemic lesion, with the highest vulnerability of CA1 pyramidal neurons to ischemic damage. This damage may cause either prompt neuronal death (within hours) or with a delayed appearance (over days), providing a window for applying potential therapies to reduce or prevent ischemic impairments. However, the time course when ischemic damage turns to neuronal death strictly depends on experimental modeling of cerebral ischemia and, up to now, studies were predominantly focused on a short time-window—from hours to up to a few days post-lesion. Using different schemes of oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD), the conditions taking place upon cerebral ischemia, we optimized a model of mimicking ischemic conditions in organotypical hippocampal slices for the long-lasting assessment of CA1 neuronal death (at least 3 weeks). By combining morphology and electrophysiology, we show that prolonged (30-min duration) OGD results in a massive neuronal death and overwhelmed astrogliosis within a week post-OGD whereas OGD of a shorter duration (10-min) triggered programmed CA1 neuronal death with a significant delay—within 2 weeks—accompanied with drastically impaired CA1 neuron functions. Our results provide a rationale toward optimized modeling of cerebral ischemia for reliable examination of potential treatments for brain neuroprotection, neuro-regeneration, or testing neuroprotective compounds in situ.
Functional and structural interactions between measles virus hemagglutinin and CD46

We analyzed the roles of the individual measles virus (MV) surface glycoproteins in mediating functional and structural interactions with human CD46, the primary MV receptor. On one cell population, recombinant vaccinia virus vectors were used to produce the MV hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) glycoproteins. As fusion partner cells, various cell types were examined, without or with human CD46 (endogenous or recombinant vaccinia virus encoded). Fusion between the two cell populations was monitored by a quantitative reporter gene activation assay and by syncytium formation. MV glycoproteins promoted fusion with primate cells but not with nonprimate cells; recombinant CD46 rendered nonprimate cells competent for MV glycoprotein-mediated fusion. Markedly different fusion specificity was observed for another morbillivirus, canine distemper virus (CDV): recombinant CDV glycoproteins promoted fusion with primate and nonprimate cells independently of CD46. Fusion by the recombinant MV and CDV glycoproteins required coexpression of H plus F in either homologous or heterologous combinations. To assess the role of H versus F in determining the CD46 dependence of MV fusion, we examined the fusion specificities of cells producing heterologous glycoprotein combinations. The specificity of HMV plus FCDV paralleled that observed for the homologous MV glycoproteins: fusion occurred with primate cells but not with nonprimate cells unless they produced recombinant CD46. By contrast, the specificity of HCDV plus FMV paralleled that for the homologous CDV glycoproteins: fusion occurred with either primate or nonprimate cells with no dependence on CD46. Thus, for both MV and CDV, fusion specificity was determined by H. In particular, the results demonstrate a functional interaction between HMV and CD46. Flow cytometry and antibody coprecipitation studies provided a structural correlate to this functional interaction: CD46 formed a molecular complex with HMV but not with FMV or with either CDV glycoprotein. These results highlight the critical role of the H glycoprotein in determining MV specificity for CD46-positive cells.
Postauditing and Cost Estimation Applications: An Illustration of MCMC Simulation for Bayesian Regression Analysis

Abstract Often in Bayesian anlysis closed-form posteriors cannot be derived for complex models. However, it is important to be able to do Bayesian analysis relatively easily. This article presents an alternative, the more general Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation approach, which permits the efficient development of posterior distributions. MCMC simulation methods are now becoming the state of the art in numerous empirical and analytical applications in applied mathematics, biostatistics, marketing, economics, and other areas, but those methods are noticeably absent in the engineering economic analysis literature. The purpose of this article is to introduce MCMC simulation methods to the engineering economics research and practitioner community. Using postaudits and cost estimation as application areas, the article focuses on what MCMC simulation entails, its advantages, and its disadvantages and highlights the usefulness and versatility of the approach.