Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Was Harrod Right?

Modern growth theory derives mostly from Robert Solow’s “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth” (1956). Solow’s own interpretation locates the origins of his “Contribution” in his view that the growth model of Roy Harrod implied a tendency toward progressive collapse of the economy. He formulates his view in terms of Harrod invoking a fixed-coefficients production function. This paper, first, challenges Solow’s reading of Harrod, arguing that Harrod’s object in providing a “dynamic” theory had little to do with the problem of long-run growth as Solow understood it, but instead addressed the medium run fluctuations. It was an attempt to isolate conditions under which the economy might tend to run below potential. In making this argument, Harrod does not appeal to a fixed-coefficients production function – or to any production function at all, as that term is understood by Solow. The paper next traces the history of the dominance of Solow’s interpretation among growth economists. These tasks belong to the history of economics. The paper’s final task belongs to economic history. It offers an informal reexamination of economic history through the lens of Harrod’s dynamic model, asking whether there is a prima facie case in favor of Harrod’s model properly understood.
EFFICIENT GENERATION OF SHORTEST ADDITION-MULTIPLICATION CHAINS

The aim of this paper is to generalize some results on addition chains to addition-multiplication chains. The pa-per concerns with generating shortest addition-multiplication chains. It rst presents two methods for generating shortaddition-multiplication chains. Second, it presents an algorithm for generating a shortest addition-multiplication chain.Then it proposes three main improvements for generating a shortest addition-multiplication chain. The practical resultsshow that the proposed improvements reduce, on the average, the running time and storage of the algorithm by about95% and 35% respectively for data range 12 􀀀 20 bits. Similar practical results are obtained for generating all shortestaddition-multiplication chains. Finally, the paper discusses how to apply the algorithm to obtain some results that havebeen uncovered previously.
In Vitro Comparison of Topical Microbicides for Prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transmission

ABSTRACT A standardized protocol was used to compare cellular toxicities and anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) activities of candidate microbicides formulated for human use. The microbicides evaluated were cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), Carraguard, K-Y plus nonoxynol-9 (KY-N9), PRO 2000 (0.5 and 4%), SPL7013 (5%), UC781 (0.1 and 1%), and Vena Gel, along with their accompanying placebos. Products were evaluated for toxicity on cervical and colorectal epithelial cell lines, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and macrophages (MΦ) by using an ATP release assay, and they were tested for their effect on transepithelial resistance (TER) of polarized epithelial monolayers. Anti-HIV-1 activity was evaluated in assays for transfer of infectious HIV-1 from epithelial cells to activated PBMCs and for PBMC and MΦ infection. CAP, Carraguard, PRO 2000, SPL7013, and UC781 along with their placebos were 20- to 50-fold less toxic than KY-N9 and Vena Gel. None of the nontoxic product concentrations disrupted the TER. Transfer of HIV-1Ba-L from epithelial cells to PBMCs and PBMC and MΦ infection with laboratory-adapted HIV-1Ba-L and HIV-1LAI isolates were inhibited by all products except Carraguard, KY-N9, and Vena Gel. KY-N9, Vena Gel, and Carraguard were not effective in blocking PBMC infection with primary HIV-1A, HIV-1C, and HIV-1CRF01-AE isolates. The concordance of these toxicity results with those previously reported indicates that our protocol may be useful for predicting toxicity in vivo. Moreover, our systematic anti-HIV-1 testing provides a rational basis for making better informed decisions about which products to consider for clinical trials.
L 2 L^{2} boundedness for commutators of fractional differential type Marcinkiewicz integral with rough variable kernel and BMO Sobolev spaces

Abstract In this paper, for 0 < γ < 1 {0<\gamma<1} and b ∈ I γ ⁢ ( BMO ) {b\in I_{\gamma}(\mathrm{BMO})} , the authors give the L 2 ⁢ ( ℝ n ) {L^{2}({\mathbb{R}}^{n})} boundedness of μ γ ; b {\mu_{\gamma;b}} , the commutator of a fractional differential type Marcinkiewicz integral with rough variable kernel, which is an extension of some known results.
TORINO Repository ISTITUZIONALE

—The investigation of factors contributing at making humans trust Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will play a fundamental role in the adoption of such technology. The user’s ability to form a mental model of the AV, which is crucial to establish trust, depends on effective user-vehicle communication; thus, the importance of Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) is poised to increase. In this work, we propose a methodology to validate the user experience in AVs based on continuous, objective information gathered from physiological signals, while the user is immersed in a Virtual Reality-based driving simulation. We applied this methodology to the design of a head-up display interface delivering visual cues about the vehicle’ sensory and planning systems. Through this approach, we obtained qualitative and quantitative evidence that a complete picture of the vehicle’s surrounding, despite the higher cognitive load, is conducive to a less stressful experience. Moreover, after having been exposed to a more informative interface, users involved in the study were also more willing to test a real AV. The proposed methodology could be extended by adjusting the simulation environment, the HMI and/or the vehicle’s Artiﬁcial Intelligence modules to dig into other aspects of the user experience.
A Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis of Image Data

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied in various areas such as pattern recognition and data compression. In some cases, however, PCA does not extract the characteristics of the data-distribution efficiently. In order to overcome this problem, we have proposed a novel method of Nonlinear PCA which preserves the order of the principal components. In this paper, we reduce the dimensionality of image data using the proposed method, and examine its effectiveness in the compression and recognition of images.
Interleukin-4: a prototypic immunoregulatory lymphokine.

HE IMMUNE RESPONSE involves the participation of a large number of distinct cell types whose functions must be coordinated to insure a response that is appropriate in quality and in magnitude to the eliciting antigenic stimulus. This coordination of function is generally believed to be regulated by the action of T lymphocytes, whose receptors are specific for peptides from the eliciting to groove in a class I or class I1 major histocompatibility complex Much of T-cell-derived IL-424,25 yields a sequence identical to that inferred from the nucleotide sequence of the cDNA and confirms the inferred N-terminus of the mature protein. Murine IL-4 contains three potential N-linked glycosylation sites and six cysteines. None of the cysteines is available for labeling with lz’I-iodoacetamide~s suggesting that all participate in disulfide bonds. The apparent molecular weight of unreduced IL-4 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is, as noted above, consistent with the molecular weight anticipated for a glycosylated monomer. Further-more, the mobility on SDS-PAGE of reduced IL-4 is slightly slower than that of the unreduced molecule. These results indicate that there are no interchain disulfide bonds and suggest that all the cysteines are participants in intrachain bonds. Reduction and alkylation of IL-4 completely destroys its biologic activity. The human IL-4 gene has many features in common with mouse IL-4.
Activity of Daptomycin or Linezolid in Combination with Rifampin or Gentamicin against Biofilm-Forming Enterococcus faecalis or E. faecium in an In Vitro Pharmacodynamic Model Using Simulated Endocardial Vegetations and an In Vivo Survival Assay Using Galleria mellonella Larvae

ABSTRACT Enterococci are the third most frequent cause of infective endocarditis. A high-inoculum stationary-phase in vitro pharmacodynamic model with simulated endocardial vegetations was used to simulate the human pharmacokinetics of daptomycin at 6 or 10 mg/kg of body weight/day or linezolid at 600 mg every 12 h (q12h), alone or in combination with gentamicin at 1.3 mg/kg q12h or rifampin at 300 mg q8h or 900 mg q24h. Biofilm-forming, vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus faecalis and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (vancomycin-resistant enterococcus [VRE]) strains were tested. At 24, 48, and 72 h, all daptomycin-containing regimens demonstrated significantly more activity (decline in CFU/g) than any linezolid-containing regimen against biofilm-forming E. faecalis. The addition of gentamicin to daptomycin (at 6 or 10 mg/kg) in the first 24 h significantly improved bactericidal activity. In contrast, the addition of rifampin delayed the bactericidal activity of daptomycin against E. faecalis, and the addition of rifampin antagonized the activities of all regimens against VRE at 24 h. Also, against VRE, the addition of gentamicin to linezolid at 72 h improved activity and was bactericidal. Rifampin significantly antagonized the activity of linezolid against VRE at 72 h. In in vivo Galleria mellonella survival assays, linezolid and daptomycin improved survival. Daptomycin at 10 mg/kg improved survival significantly over that with linezolid against E. faecalis. The addition of gentamicin improved the efficacy of daptomycin against E. faecalis and those of linezolid and daptomycin against VRE. We conclude that in enterococcal infection models, daptomycin has more activity than linezolid alone. Against biofilm-forming E. faecalis, the addition of gentamicin in the first 24 h causes the most rapid decline in CFU/g. Of interest, the addition of rifampin decreased the activity of daptomycin against both E. faecalis and VRE.
Interval type‐2 fuzzy logic for edges detection in digital images

Edges detection in a digital image is the first step in an image recognition system. In this paper, we show an efficient edges detector using an interval type‐2 fuzzy inference system (FIS‐2). The FIS‐2 uses as input the original images after applying Sobel filters and attenuation filters, then the fuzzy rules infer normalized values for the edges images, especially useful to enhance the performance of neural networks. To illustrate the results, we built frequency histograms of some images and compare the results of the FIS‐2 edge's detector with the gradient magnitude method and a type‐1 fuzzy inference system (FIS‐1). The FIS‐2 results are better than the gradient magnitude and FIS‐1, because the edges preserve more detail of the original images, and the backgrounds are more homogeneous than with FIS‐1 and the gradient's magnitude method. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
22q11.2 deletion syndrome

DiGeorge and velocardiofacial syndrome (22q11.2 deletion syndrome) is the most common microdeletion disorder in humans and, hence, one of the most common multiple malformation syndromes, with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 2000 to 1 in 4000. It is characterized by craniofacial anomalies, conotruncal heart disease, thymic aplasia and hypoplasia, hypocalcemia, and psychiatric illness. In this article, the author reviews the history, clinical features, and genetic basis of this common disorder.
GE in TREC-2: Results of a Boolean Approximation Method for Routing and Retrieval

This report describes a few experiments aimed at producing high accuracy routing and retrieval with a simple Boolean engine. There are several motivations for this work, including: (1) using Boolean term combinatinations as a filter for advanced extraction systems, (2) improving legacy Boolean retrieval system by helping to automate the generation of Boolean queries, and (3) focusing on query content, rather than retrieval or ranking, as the key to system performance
Investigating ramp wave propagation inside silica glass with laser experiments and molecular simulations

Under elastic shock compression silica glass exhibits a very specific behaviour. A shock propagating inside a material is usually seen as the propagation of a discontinuity. However in silica glass, shocks are unstable and lead to the propagation of a ramp wave where the shock front becomes gradually larger over time. Ramp waves were already reported in the literature, however their origin remain uncertain. This work presents an original study combining laser shock-induced experiments and molecular dynamics simulation aiming to improve the understanding of the mechanisms involved. Experimental ramp waves were directly observed using shadowgraphy technique allowing for an estimation of the head and tail velocities. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in order to reproduce ramp waves and to gain insight into the material properties. Ramp waves were observed for both elastic and plastic shockwaves. In the latter case, the plastic waves were preceded by an elastic ramp precursor. The sound speed, related to the material compressibility, was found to decrease with increasing pressure, as observed experimentally for quasi-static hydrostatic loading, thus providing an explanation for the instabilities that lead to the propagation of ramp waves.
Shape from specular reflection in calibrated environments and the integration of spatial normal fields

Reflections of a scene in a mirror surface contain information on its shape. This information is accessible by measurement through an optical metrology technique called deflectometry. The result is a field of normal vectors to the unknown surface having the remarkable property that it equally changes in all spatial directions, unlike normal maps occurring, e.g., in Shape from Shading. Its integration into a zero-order reconstruction of the surface thus deserves special attention. We develop a novel algorithm for this purpose which is relatively straightforward to implement yet outperforms existing ones in terms of efficiency and robustness. Experimental results on synthetic and real data complement the theoretical discussion.
Stem curve measurement using terrestrial laser scanning

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been shown to be a promising technology for the accurate forest inventory on the sample plots. The advantages of applying TLS can be improving the accuracy and efficiency of the field measurements. In addition, TLS data have the possibility to provide more tree parameters than what are commonly accepted and employed at the moment. This paper discusses the automatic measurement of the stem curve using TLS. A pine and a spruce were used in the experiment. The stem curve estimated from point cloud was compared to the field measurements. The experiment shows that the estimation of the stem curve from single-scan and merged point clouds are comparable to each other. This result indicates that TLS data has the potential to automatically estimate the stem curve.
3D recording and modelling in archaeology and cultural heritage : theory and best practices

The book derives from the experiences of the authors as lecturers and tutors at different international summer schools on reality-based surveying and 3D modelling in the field of archaeology and cultural heritage. The book is organized in three main sections. The first part aims to introduce and discuss the contribution of geomatic techniques in archaeology and more generally in cultural heritage with particular attentions to the 3D domain. The second part is focused on the main areas involved in the implementation of 3D surveys (aerial and terrestrial LiDAR, photogrammetry, remote sensing), 3D documentations, GIS and 3D interpretations (virtual and cyber archaeology). The last section collects some relevant case studies showing the extraordinary contribution that geomatic techniques can give to archaeological research and cultural heritage at different scales of detail: object, site, landscape.
Fisheries and First Nations: Report from research stay in Canada

In the period between March and July 2010, I was able to conduct a study trip to the east and west coast of Canada with the kind financial support from the Centre for Sami Studies at the University of Tromso as part of my PhD program. Without their support, the travel would not have been possible and it has contributed to expanding knowledge and creating contacts in a growing field of study. Many people helped to make this trip come about as successfully as it did. Thank you to my supervisor Svein Jentoft and to Else Grete Broderstad and Stine Barlindhaug and others who kindly provided contacts in Canada. Most of all, I am grateful to Barbara Neis and Peter Armitage who hosted me in St. John’s for almost two months, and also Tony Davis and his family who took me in for two weeks in Nova Scotia. The goal of the trip was to learn more about methodologies1 and methods for documenting fisheries in indigenous and small coastal communities and applying these to the coastal Sami context and my own research on coastal Sami fisheries. I was interested in both fisheries research methods in general and methods for documenting indigenous land use and occupancy, in addition to how the different research institutions and projects in Canada address indigenous fisheries issues. This report contains the background for the research trip, an overview of travels and activities during the stay, and a more detailed report from two of the places visited during the stay, focusing on Mi’kmaq fisheries in Atlantic Canada and salmon farming issues in British Columbia. The most central people and institutions have provided feedback to the report before it was submitted to the board at the Centre for Sami Studies.
Dynamique et échanges sédimentaires en rade de Brest impactés par l'invasion de crépidules

Cette these est une contribution a l’etude de la dynamique sedimentaire dans l’ecosysteme de la rade de Brest. Elle a pour objectif de decrire, par la simulation numerique et l’observation in situ, le mouvement des masses d’eau et de sediments sous l’influence de la maree a l’echelle de la rade, et l’impact de la distribution spatiale actuelle des populations de crepidules sur le transport de sediments en suspension et l’evolution des fonds. Un modele bidimensionnel horizontal (2DH) est mis en œuvre a partir du code TELEMAC. Il integre la variabilite spatiale du substrat, et rend compte de la presence physique (macro-rugosite, partition de la contrainte de cisaillement) et de l’activite biologique (filtration de l’eau chargee de particules en suspension, production de biodepots) des crepidules. Les mesures de hauteur d’eau, de vitesse du courant, et de vitesse de frottement valident de facon satisfaisante les choix de parametrisation du modele hydrodynamique. Les mesures de concentration de matiere en suspension en rade de Brest sont sporadiques, et leur analyse est compliquee. Le modele sedimentaire constitue un outil de comprehension. Il informe de l’evolution temporelle de la contribution de differents types de sediments et de leur origine aux concentrations locales de sediments en suspension et deposes. Il permet de suivre le cheminement des sediments principalement en suspension, de quantifier les echanges entre les sous-bassins de la rade et avec le fond. L’introduction sur le fond des colonies de crepidules, sous forme de chaines assimilees a des cylindres, induit une diminution de la vitesse du courant a l’aplomb et dans leur sillage, compensee par une augmentation en peripherie, entrainant une modification globale des zones d’erosion et de depot de sediments. Localement, les macro-rugosites ont un effet antagoniste selon leur repartition: des densites moyennes augmentent le frottement de peau et les remises en suspension, tandis que des densites elevees induisent un masquage des sediments sur le fond duquel resulte une accretion. Par comparaison a leur impact hydrodynamique, l’activite biologique des crepidules joue un role secondaire sur la dynamique sedimentaire.
Teaching Metabolism in Upper-Division Undergraduate Biochemistry Courses using Online Computational Systems and Dynamical Models Improves Student Performance

Understanding metabolic function requires knowledge of the dynamics, interdependence, and regulation of metabolic networks. However, multiple professional societies have recognized that most undergraduate biochemistry students acquire only a surface-level understanding of metabolism. We hypothesized that guiding students through interactive computer simulations of metabolic systems would increase their ability to recognize how individual interactions between components affect the behavior of a system under different conditions. The computer simulations were designed with an interactive activity (i.e., module) that used the predict–observe–explain model of instruction to guide students through a process in which they iteratively predict outcomes, test their predictions, modify the interactions of the system, and then retest the outcomes. We found that biochemistry students using modules performed better on metabolism questions compared with students who did not use the modules. The average learning gain was 8% with modules and 0% without modules, a small to medium effect size. We also confirmed that the modules did not create or reinforce a gender bias. Our modules provide instructors with a dynamic, systems-driven approach to help students learn about metabolic regulation and equip students with important cognitive skills, such as interpreting and analyzing simulation results, and technical skills, such as building and simulating computer-based models.
Female In-Class Participation and Performance Increase with More Female Peers and/or a Female Instructor in Life Sciences Courses

As we strive to make science education more inclusive, more research is needed to fully understand gender gaps in academic performance and in-class participation in the life sciences. Studies suggest that male voices dominate introductory biology courses, but no studies have been done on upper-level courses. Results on achievement gender gaps in biology vary and often conflict, and no studies have been done on the correlation between participation and academic performance gaps. We observed 34 life sciences courses at all levels at a large private university. Overall, males were more likely to participate than their female peers, but these gender gaps varied from class to class. Females participated more in classes in which the instructor called on most hands that were raised or in classes with more females in attendance. Performance gender gaps also varied by classroom, but female final course grades were as much as 0.2 SD higher in classes with a female instructor and/or a female student majority. Gender gaps in participation and final course grades were positively correlated, but this could be solely because female students are more likely to both participate more and earn higher grades in classes with many females in attendance.