Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variation in maternal strategies during lactation: The role of the biosocial context

Compared to other mammals, human milk is dilute which lowers the relative daily cost of lactation allowing women greater flexibility in the strategies they use to meet the energy demands of lactation. These strategies include increasing dietary intake, reducing energy expenditure, and drawing on energy stores. Women are affected by the biosocial context in which they live, including norms regarding the sexual division of labor and diet and activity patterns during lactation, as well as household‐level factors such as economic strategy and the availability of social support. This paper combines longitudinal data on dietary intake, energy expenditure, and body weight of 23 lactating Amazonian women living in a subsistence‐based economy with detailed ethnographic data and considers how adherence to the cultural norms and the availability of social support contributed to intra‐population variation in maternal energetic strategies. Dietary intake was found to vary more than energy expenditure. Adherence to dietary restrictions during the postpartum period of resguardo significantly reduced intra‐population variation in energy intake. Women with social support came closer to achieving energy balance during resguardo (t = 2.8; P = 0.01) and peak lactation (t = 2.7; P = 0.02) and lost less weight (t = 3.6; P = 0.002) than those without such support. Those with social support had higher energy (t = 2.1; P = 0.05) and carbohydrate (t = 2.1, P = 0.05) intakes during resguardo and spent significantly less time in subsistence work during peak (t = 2.6, P = 0.03) and late lactation(t = 2.4, P = 0.03). Case studies are used to place these finding in context. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sowing the seeds of cancer: telomeres and age-associated tumorigenesis

Purpose of review Advances in the health system and medical sciences are continuously pushing the barrier of life-expectancy. As a consequence, humans are being increasingly afflicted by age-associated diseases, such as cancer. The challenge now lies in understanding the mechanisms underlying ageing in order to reduce the lifetime risk for cancer. Recent findings In long-lived mammals, telomere length and restriction of telomerase activity are important barriers preventing the uncontrolled cell division. Absence of telomerase dictates the continuous telomere erosion with each cell division, thus restraining the proliferation of incipient tumour cells. However, recent findings have revealed the unintended consequences of telomere control of cell division. Cells with short telomeres accumulate in older individuals increasing the risk of telomere depletion. Loss of telomere protection results in tetraploidization and genomic instability characteristic of epithelial cancers. Additionally, telomere shortening blocks cell proliferation and induces cell senescence. Senescent cells secrete proinflammatory factors and reactive oxygen species that increase the likelihood of cellular transformation and create the perfect soil for cancer development. Summary Telomere shortening thus provides an example of antagonist pleiotropy, in which a beneficial characteristic that acts during the reproductive years of an organism may, later in life, contain the seed to its demise.
Corporate Taxation in a Modern Monetary Economy: Legal History, Theory, Prospects

Corporate taxation is a perennially controversial topic in American politics. In fact, it may be the tax policy controversy that most Americans are aware of and even have an opinion about. Nevertheless, the purpose of corporate taxation is unclear in popular, or even for that matter, academic, discourse. In this paper we lay out and critically evaluate contemporary and historical corporate tax policy debates based on three common justifications for taxation: the “revenue” justification, the “distribution” justification, and the “behavior” justification. The revenue theory argues that the purpose of taxes is to raise the money required to finance expenditures. The distribution theory argues that certain taxes are required to produce desirable distributional outcomes. The behavior theory argues that certain taxes are required to change organizational and individual behavior in ways that benefit society. This paper will trace the application of these justifications in American corporate tax law debates from the late nineteenth century through to the present, and analyze the implications of these debates to the contemporary corporate income tax debate. In particular, we argue that: a) following the observation made in 1946 by former President of the New York Federal Reserve Beardsley Ruml that, in the context of a modern government with a non-convertible currency, a floating exchange-rate, and its own central bank, “taxes for revenue are obsolete,” the revenue theory is empirically false; b) The distribution theory case for the modern corporate income tax is weak; and c) from the perspective of the behavior theory, the modern corporate income tax has strongly perverse impacts on corporate behavior.
Low-frequency neurons in the lateral superior olive exhibit phase-sensitive binaural inhibition.

1. Responses of low characteristic frequency (CF) neurons in the lateral limb of the lateral superior olive (LSO) of chinchilla and rat to binaural stimuli at various interaural phase and intensity differences were examined and compared to responses from previous studies of high CF neurons. 2. Ninety-six LSO neurons from chinchillas and 10 LSO neurons from rats with CFs less than 1,200 Hz were characterized. The majority of these neurons displayed phase-locked tone-evoked temporal discharge patterns to ipsilateral CF stimuli. 3. Similar to high-CF LSO neurons, low-CF LSO neurons were excited by ipsilateral stimuli and inhibited by contralateral stimuli, with discharge rate sensitive to interaural intensity differences (IID). Discharge rate increased as ipsilateral intensity was increased and decreased as contralateral stimulus intensity was increased. 4. Binaural inhibition, inhibition of ipsilaterally evoked activity by contralateral stimuli, was dependent on interaural phase differences (IPD) in the majority of low-CF LSO neurons. Responses of phase-sensitive neurons to binaural stimuli often varied with 90 or 180 degrees changes in IPD from total inhibition to a facilitated response when compared to responses to control ipsilateral stimuli alone. 5. In summary, like high-CF LSO neurons, LSO neurons with low CFs (less than 1,200 Hz) were ipsilaterally excited and contralaterally inhibited (EI) and were sensitive to IID. Unlike most high-CF EI LSO neurons, which are not responsive when the azimuth of the stimulus is directly in front of or directly behind the animal, many low-CF LSO neurons are responsive to these stimuli. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Rapid MR imaging.

During the past few years major improvements have been made in MR systems resulting in increased S/N, which is now being traded for more rapid imaging times. As discussed, there are three general strategies to decrease acquisition time and more will likely surface. Gradient-echo imaging, which has provided the most clinical experience to date, can be used for rapid imaging, functional studies and unique contrast mechanisms such as susceptibility imaging. While the contrast mechanisms and ultimate clinical utility require further study, it seems likely that gradient-echo imaging will become a routine part of clinical MR imaging.
SAR ground control point identification with the aid of high resolution optical data

Only until recently, it has been demonstrated that absolute localization with centimeter accuracy can be achieved for manually matched Persistent Scatterer (PS)s from TerraSAR-X images acquired from cross-heading geometries [1]. This paper describes an automatic algorithm for absolute localization of natural PSs in SAR images, where the detection of potential PSs is aided by high resolution optical data. As the focus of the study is on urban area, the target detection part relies on identification of lamp posts using template matching. These targets are, most probably, the only ones visible in SAR images acquired from both ascending and descending orbits. Thus, the methodology includes identification of lamp posts from high resolution optical data and retrieves the precise absolute three-dimensional coordinates of the points from corrected TerraSAR-X timing measurements using the stereo SAR method [1]. Preliminary results for a test site in the city of Berlin acquired from TerraSAR-X high resolution spotlight mode are shown.
Generalized warts and immune deficiency

A case of common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia with associated impairment of cell mediated immunity and severe wart virus infection is described. The defect of cell mediated immunity is thought to have predisposed this patient to the development of persistent wart infection which in turn grossly depressed the body's cellular immunity and thus allowed widespread dissemination of the warts. The rapid restoration of cell mediated immunity which followed the reduction in the antigenic load of wart virus by diathermy treatment was followed by the spontaneous regression of all the patient's warts. This unusual case may provide some insight into the complex relationship between wart virus infection and the immune system of the host.
Traffic Signs Classification Based on Local Characteristics and ELM

Traffic signs classification as a key problem in ITS. This paper presents a method about traffic signs recognition based on local characteristics and ELM neural network. This method combines a variety of local characteristics and ELM neural network. First, HOG characteristics and LBP characteristics were used to extract sign characteristics and formed a new eigenvector, which was inputted onto ELM neural network for training. Finally the trained ELM network was used to traffic signs recognition. In this paper the traffic sign samples extracted from the GTSRB database, including 780 training samples and 120 testing samples, the result shows that the recognition rate of test sample is up to 100% with 2.97 ms/frame.
Authoritarianism, Populism, and the Environment: Comparative Experiences, Insights, and Perspectives

Recent years have seen the widespread rise of authoritarian leaders and populist politics around the world, a development of intense political concern. This special issue of the Annals explores the many and deep connections between this authoritarian and populist turn and environmental politics and governance, through a range of rich case studies that provide wide geographic, thematic, and theoretical coverage and perspectives. This introduction first summarizes major commonalities among many contemporary authoritarian and populist regimes and reviews debates regarding their relationships to neoliberalism, fascism, and more progressive forms of populism. It then reviews three major connections to environmental politics they all share as common contexts: roots in decades of neoliberal environmental governance, climate change and integrally related issues of energy development and agricultural change, and complex conflations of nation and nature. Next, it introduces the six sections in the special issue: (1) historical and comparative perspectives (two articles); (2) extractivism, populism, and authoritarianism (six articles); (3) the environment and its governance as a political proxy or arena for questions of security and citizenship (seven articles); (4) racialization and environmental politics (five articles); (5) politics of environmental science and knowledge (six articles); and (6) progressive alternatives (five articles). It concludes with the suggestion that environmental issues, movements, and politics can and must be central to resistance against authoritarian and reactionary populist politics and to visions of progressive alternatives to them. Key Words: authoritarianism, environmental governance, environmental politics, populism.
Baby cry detection in domestic environment using deep learning

Automatic detection of a baby cry in audio signals is an essential step in applications such as remote baby monitoring. It is also important for researchers, who study the relation between baby cry patterns and various health or developmental parameters. In this paper, we propose two machine-learning algorithms for automatic detection of baby cry in audio recordings. The first algorithm is a low-complexity logistic regression classifier, used as a reference. To train this classifier, we extract features such as Mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients, pitch and formants from the recordings. The second algorithm uses a dedicated convolutional neural network (CNN), operating on log Mel-filter bank representation of the recordings. Performance evaluation of the algorithms is carried out using an annotated database containing recordings of babies (0-6 months old) in domestic environments. In addition to baby cry, these recordings contain various types of domestic sounds, such as parents talking and door opening. The CNN classifier is shown to yield considerably better results compared to the logistic regression classifier, demonstrating the power of deep learning when applied to audio processing.
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and progression of chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has recently assumed epidemic proportion, becoming a troubling emerging cause of morbidity, especially if it progresses to terminal stage (ESRD). The authors aimed to evaluate whether neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a novel specific biomarker of acute kidney injury, could predict the progression of CKD. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Serum and urinary NGAL levels, together with a series of putative progression factors, were evaluated in a cohort of 96 patients (mean age: 57 +/- 16 years) affected by nonterminal CKD (eGFR > or =15 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) of various etiology. Progression of CKD, assessed as doubling of baseline serum creatinine and/or onset of ESRD, was evaluated during follow-up. RESULTS At baseline, both serum and urinary NGAL were inversely, independently, and closely related to eGFR. After a median follow-up of 18.5 mo (range 1.01 to 20), 31 patients (32%) reached the composite endpoint. At baseline, these patients were significantly older and showed increased serum creatinine, calcium-phosphate product, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, daily proteinuria, and NGAL levels, whereas eGFR values were significantly lower. Univariate followed by multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that urinary NGAL and sNGAL predicted CKD progression independently of other potential confounders, including eGFR and age. CONCLUSION In patients with CKD, NGAL closely reflects the entity of renal impairment and represents a strong and independent risk marker for progression of CKD.
Olanzapine versus placebo in the treatment of adolescents with bipolar mania.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of olanzapine for the treatment of acute manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar disorder in adolescents. METHOD A 3-week multicenter, parallel, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial was conducted at 24 sites in the United States and two sites in Puerto Rico. The participants were outpatient and inpatient male and female adolescents 13-17 years of age with an acute manic or mixed episode. Subjects received either olanzapine (2.5-20 mg/day [N=107]) or placebo (N=54). The mean change from baseline to endpoint in the Young Mania Rating Scale total score was the primary outcome measure. RESULTS The mean baseline-to-endpoint change in the Young Mania Rating Scale total score was significantly greater for patients receiving olanzapine relative to patients receiving placebo, and a greater proportion of olanzapine-treated patients met response and remission criteria (44.8% versus 18.5% and 35.2% versus 11.1%, respectively). The mean baseline-to-endpoint weight change was significantly greater for patients receiving olanzapine relative to patients receiving placebo (3.7 kg versus 0.3 kg), and the incidence of treatment-emergent weight gain > or =7% of baseline was higher for olanzapine-treated patients (41.9% versus 1.9%). The mean baseline-to-endpoint changes in prolactin, fasting glucose, fasting total cholesterol, uric acid, and the hepatic enzymes aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase were significantly greater in patients treated with olanzapine relative to patients receiving placebo. CONCLUSIONS Olanzapine was effective in the treatment of bipolar mania in adolescent patients. Patients treated with olanzapine, however, had significantly greater weight gain and increases in the levels of hepatic enzymes, prolactin, fasting glucose, fasting total cholesterol, and uric acid.
A novel complex of a phenolic derivative with insulin: Structural features related to the T → R transition

The structure of a symmetric T3Rf3 insulin hexamer, complexed with 4‐hydroxybenzamide, has been determined using X‐ray crystallographic techniques. Data were measured from six crystals grown in microgravity to a resolution of 1.4 Å and the structure has been refined including the contributions from hydrogen atoms. The crystals are isomorphous with T3Rf3 complexes of phenolic derivatives as well as with uncomplexed forms. Unlike the structures of complexes with phenol, m‐cresol, resorcinol, 4′‐hydroxyacetanilide, and methylparaben, which bind one phenolic derivative molecule per R‐ or Rf‐state monomer, two molecules of 4‐hydroxybenzamide are bound by each Rf‐state monomer. The presence of the second guest molecule results in an extensive hydrogen bonding network, mediated by water molecules, between the T‐ and Rf‐state trimers and adds stability to the formation of the hexamer. The only access to these second sites is through three symmetry‐related, narrow channels that originate on the surface of the T‐state trimer. Although the conformation of the backbone atoms of the monomers is nearly identical to that of other T3Rf3 hexamers, significant changes are observed in the conformations of side chains in the vicinity of the second binding site. The side chain of the T‐state A11 Cys residue, which forms a disulfide bond to A6 Cys in the same monomer, is observed in two discrete conformations; two discrete conformations are also present for the entire A8 Thr residue in the Rf‐state monomer. A procedure is also described for an alternate method of interframe scaling and merging intensity data from an image plate detector.
Competing Norms and Strategic Visions: A Critical Appraisal of V4 Security Potential

Abstract Despite shared historical experience and cultural proximity, the Visegrad group (V4) struggles to institutionalise its cooperation through stable mechanisms ensuring internal cohesion and external credibility. This is especially evident in the field of security and defence, which requires a shared strategic vision, in particular, common norms regarding the legitimate use of military force. While in the 1990s the four countries exhibited solidarity and unity in their collective ambition under the narrative of the ‘Return to Europe’, their general perception of security threats and strategic culture prevents deeper integration into a security community.
Subpial neuronal migration in the medulla oblongata of Pax‐6‐deficient rats

In rat fetuses, neurons generated in the lower rhombic lip on embryonic day 14 (E14) specifically express the transcription factor Pax‐6 and migrate circumferentially in the subpial region along axons which are immunoreactive for TAG‐1, a neural cell adhesion molecule. These neurons ultimately settle from E17 in the contralateral medulla oblongata to form the precerebellar nuclei, the lateral reticular and external cuneate nuclei. We have examined this migratory process in rat small eye (rSey2) which has a mutation in the Pax‐6 gene. Both the migration and settlement of neurons labelled with 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) at E14 delayed in the mutant. Furthermore, in the ventrolateral part of the E16 mutant medulla oblongata, cells both expressing Pax‐6 mRNA and prelabelled with BrdU at E14 were ectopically localized in the deep zone of the medullary parenchyma in addition to the normal subpial location. These ectopic neurons remained in close contact with ectopic TAG‐1‐immunoreactive axons. These results indicate that Pax‐6 plays a role in the migration of medullary precerebellar neurons, although neurons generated in the lower rhombic lip can nevertheless migrate and settle to form the external cuneate nucleus in the absence of Pax‐6.
Stability analysis of PWM converters connected to general load subsystems

This paper investigates stability of dc-to-dc converters deriving another dc-to-dc converter through a filter stage. The impacts of the downstream filter/converter stage on the absolute and relative stabilities of the upstream converter are analyzed. The absolute stability is examined using the minor loop gain, defined as the ratio of the impedances seen at the output port of the upstream converter. The relative stability is assessed using the loop gain expression of the upstream converter. This paper reveals that the downstream filter/converter stage rarely destabilizes the upstream converter, but usually dictates the loop gain characteristics of the upstream converter and frequently determines the phase margin and 0 dB crossover frequency of the loop gain. This paper proposes a simple method to determine the stability margins of the converter from the minor loop gain. The theoretical predictions are supported by both small-signal simulations and experimental measurements.
On convergence of nonlinear active disturbance rejection for SISO systems

The active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) was proposed by Jingqing Han in the late 1990s, which offers a new and inherently robust controller building block that requires very little information of the plant. Originally, the proposal was based largely on experiments with numerous simulations on various systems of different nature. Later, the effective of the control strategy has also been demonstrated in many engineering applications such as motion control, web tension regulation, chemical processes. However, many theoretical issues, including its applicability in stabilization, output regulation remain unanswered. In this paper, we consider the ADRC for general single input single output nonlinear systems subject to dynamical and external uncertainties. We establish conditions that guarantee the ADRC achieving closed-loop system stability, disturbance rejection, and reference tracking.
Germanium p- & n-MOSFETs fabricated with novel surface passivation (plasma-PH/sub 3/ and thin AlN) and TaN/HfO/sub 2/ gate stack

Ge-MOS devices (EOT /spl sim/7.5 /spl Aring/, J/sub g/ /spl sim/ 10/sup -3/ A/cm/sup 2/) are fabricated on both n- & p-type Ge-substrates, using novel surface passivation and TaN/HfO/sub 2/ gate stack. Results show that the plasma-PH/sub 3/ treatment and thin AlN layer at HfO/sub 2//Ge interface are effective to suppress the GeO formation, which is mainly formed during HfO/sub 2/ deposition, and prevent Ge out-diffusion, resulting in improved C-V characteristics for n-MOS device with extremely low leakage. Thermal stability study of TaN/HfO/sub 2//Ge gate stack shows that low leakage with thin EOT can be obtained after post-anneal at 500 /spl deg/C and degradation is observed above 600 /spl deg/C. It is also observed that good Ge n/sup +/-p and p/sup -/-n diode characteristics are achieved by S/D activation at 500 /spl deg/C and 400/spl deg/C, respectively. Both p- & n-MOSFETs are fabricated by conventional self aligned process with maximum temperature of 500 /spl deg/C. Compared to reported Si-MOSFETs, the mobility enhancement of 1.6X for hole and 1.8X for electron is observed with Ge-MOSFETs.