gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
The role of relative performance in bank closure decisions (1999)

Abstract. This paper studies a competitive banking industry subject to common and idiosyncratic shocks. The induced correlation across bank portfolio returns can be used by a regulator to improve inferences about bank portfolio choices. We compare two types of closure rules: (1) an ‘absolute closure rule’, which closes banks when their own individual asset/liability ratios fall below a given threshold, and (2) a ‘relative closure rule’, which closes banks when their asset/liability ratios fall below the industry average by a given amount. Two main results emerge from the model. First, a relative closure rule implies forbearance during ‘bad times’, defined as adverse realizations of the common shock. This forbearance occurs for incentive reasons, not because of irreversibilities or political economy considerations. Second, a relative closure rule is less costly to taxpayers, and the cost savings increase with the relative variance of the common shock. To evaluate the model, we estimate a panel-logit regression using a sample of U.S. commercial banks for the period 1992 through 1997. We find strong evidence that U.S. bank closures are based on relative performance. Individual and average asset/liability ratios are both significant predictors of bank closure, and their coefficient estimates are consistent with the theory. We conclude that relative performance is a valuable input to bank closure decisions, and that U.S. bank regulators seem to be aware of this.
When Smart Phone Meets Vehicle: A New On-Board Unit Scheme for VANETs (2015)

As the most main part of constituting Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), On-Board Unit (OBU) which is installed on vehicle is crucial to the development and popularization of such networks. In this paper, we propose a New OBU (NOBU) scheme of combining smart phone with Customized 802.11p Device. Since smart phone is generally equipped with powerful computing and storing device, GPS and electronic map, in our proposed scheme, it is utilized as a platform to run routing strategy and all kinds of applications of VANETs. By USB cable, the smart phone can readily connect with a customized 802.11p device, and thus access VANETs. As smart phones have been becoming so popular that almost every driver own one, the scheme will provide vehicles, especially for low-and middle-price ones, with a chance to access VANETs in a feasible, low-cost and efficient way. Simulation results based on a real map demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Psychological Stress and skin aging: A review of possible mechanisms and potential therapies (2013)

The link between psychological stress and aging is intuitive although the underlying mechanisms are not well defined. Evidence suggests that chronic psychological stress stimulates the autonomic nervous system, renin-angiotensin system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis when the body attempts to resolve perceived threats to homeostasis. Prolonged activation of these pathways can result in chronic immune dysfunction, increased production of reactive oxygen species, and DNA damage, which are known to contribute to the again of skin and other tissues. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence directly linking psychological stress to skin aging, mechanisms by which stress leads to immune dysfunction, oxidative radicals, and ultimately DNA damage via neuronal, endocrine, and immune modulation may present a possible intervention for skin aging. In addition to the wide array of anti-oxidant therapies being developed to combat aging, the topical use of beta-blockers such as timolol, angiotensin receptor blockers such as valsartan, glucocorticoid blockers such as mifepristone, and cholinergic modulators including botulinum toxin, might be potential therapeutic strategies to prevent skin aging. Given the current understanding of these pathways, it would be premature to utilize such modalities for prevention of skin aging at this time, but future research into this type of topical pharmacologic anti-aging intervention may be promising.
Modeling Side Reactions in Composite Li y Mn2 O 4 Electrodes (1998)

A Li/1 M in propylene carbonate (PC)/ cell is used to investigate the influence of side reactions on the current‐potential behavior of intercalation electrodes. Slow cyclic voltammograms and self‐discharge data are combined to estimate, simultaneously, the reversible potential vs state‐of‐charge curve for the host material and the kinetic parameters for the side reaction. This information is then used, together with estimates of the solid‐state diffusion coefficient and main reaction exchange current density, in a mathematical model of the system. Predictions from the model compare favorably with continuous cycling results and galvanostatic experiments with periodic current interruptions.
Using Self-Supervised Learning Can Improve Model Robustness and Uncertainty (2019)

Self-supervision provides effective representations for downstream tasks without requiring labels. However, existing approaches lag behind fully supervised training and are often not thought beneficial beyond obviating or reducing the need for annotations. We find that self-supervision can benefit robustness in a variety of ways, including robustness to adversarial examples, label corruption, and common input corruptions. Additionally, self-supervision greatly benefits out-of-distribution detection on difficult, near-distribution outliers, so much so that it exceeds the performance of fully supervised methods. These results demonstrate the promise of self-supervision for improving robustness and uncertainty estimation and establish these tasks as new axes of evaluation for future self-supervised learning research.
Cytoprotective effect of gallotannin in oxidatively stressed HaCaT keratinocytes: the role of poly(ADP‐ribose) metabolism (2004)

Oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity is mediated in part by accelerated poly-ADP ribosylation. Peroxynitrite and hydrogen peroxide cause DNA breakage triggering the activation of the DNA nick sensor enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). Overactivation of PARP-1 leads to cell dysfunction and cell death mainly due to depletion of NAD(+) (the substrate of PARP-1) and ATP. PARP-1 attaches most ADP-ribose residues onto itself, leading to downregulation of enzyme activity. Here, we have investigated the role of poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), the poly(ADP-ribose)-catabolyzing enzyme in oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells. We have found that inhibition of PARG by gallotannin (GT) (50 microM) provided significant cytoprotection to peroxynitrite- or hydrogen peroxide-treated HaCaT cells, as assessed by lactate dehydrogenase release and propidium iodide uptake (parameters of necrotic cell death) as well as caspase activation (apoptotic parameter). GT pretreatment has also inhibited the depletion of cellular NAD(+) pools in hydrogen peroxide- or peroxynitrite-treated HaCaT cells. GT caused the accumulation of poly(ADP-ribose) and concomitant inhibition in cellular PARP activity in oxidatively stressed cells. Therefore, PARG is likely to contribute to maintaining the active state of PARP-1 by continuously removing inhibitory ADP-ribose residues from PARP-1.
Growth Cone Collapse Induced by Semaphorin 3A Requires 12/15-Lipoxygenase (2002)

Detection of a repellent factor, such as a semaphorin (Sema), causes localized collapse of the growth cone and directs the neurite away from the repellent. Growth cone collapse results from concomitant cytoskeletal rearrangements and detachment of adhesion sites from the extracellular matrix, via mostly unknown signaling mechanisms. In cultures of dorsal root ganglion neurons, we found that Sema3A treatment stimulates the synthesis of the eicosanoid, 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE), whereas Sema3A-induced growth cone collapse is prevented when 12(S)-HETE synthesis is blocked with an inhibitor of 12/15-lipoxygenase (LO). Exogenously applied product of 12/15-LO, 12(S)-HETE, mimics Sema3A-induced collapse. As observed by interference reflection and confocal microscopy, 12(S)-HETE causes the loss of growth cone adhesion sites. The adhesion site effect seems partially independent of the actin cytoskeleton because growth cones treated with Sema3A and 12/15-LO inhibitor remain spread despite actin cytoskeleton loss. These studies demonstrate that 12/15-LO activity is a necessary step in Sema3A collapse signaling in growth cones and suggest a mechanism for its action.
Control strategy for power flow management in a PV system supplying electrical loads in an air-conditioned bus (2014)

The price of fossil fuels is constantly escalating. Fossil fuels are also the major cause of air pollution and global warming. Renewable energy sources appear to be a suitable alternative as they are abundant and pollution free. However, the major drawback of replacing fossil fuels completely with renewable energy sources, especially solar energy, is that the renewable energy sources tend to be inadequate in meeting the energy demands in certain situations and are also not wholly reliable under all circumstances. This paper presents a novel strategy to feed the electrical loads in a bus using solar energy. The already existing bus electrical system which is powered by the alternator coupled to the bus engine, is integrated with Photovoltaic (PV) cells in order that minimum energy is drawn from the fossil fuels. An efficient power flow management strategy is incorporated together with a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm such that the solar energy augments the power supplied from the bus engine and thereby reduces fuel consumption in the process. This control strategy is formulated using State of Charge (SoC) of the battery as the criterion.
Investigation of microemulsion system for transdermal delivery of itraconazole (2011)

A new oil-in-water microemulsion-based (ME) gel containing 1% itraconazole (ITZ) was developed for topical delivery. The solubility of ITZ in oils and surfactants was evaluated to identify potential excipients. The microemulsion existence ranges were defined through the construction of the pseudoternary phase diagrams. The optimized microemulsion was characterized for its morphology and particle size distribution. The optimized microemulsion was incorporated into polymeric gels of Lutrol F127, Xanthan gum, and Carbopol 934 for convenient application and evaluated for pH, drug content, viscosity, and spreadability. In vitro drug permeation of ME gels was determined across excised rat skins. Furthermore, in vitro antimycotic inhibitory activity of the gels was conducted using agar-cup method and Candida albicans as a test organism. The droplet size of the optimized microemulsion was found to be <100 nm. The optimized Lutrol F 127 ME gel showed pH in the range of 5.68±0.02 and spreadability of 5.75±1.396 gcm/s. The viscosity of ME gel was found to be 1805.535±542.4 mPa s. The permeation rate (flux) of ITZ from prepared ME gel was found to be 4.234 μg/cm/h. The release profile exhibited diffusion controlled mechanism of drug release from ME ITZ gel. The developed ME gels were nonirritant and there was no erythema or edema. The antifungal activity of ITZ showed the widest zone of inhibition with Lutrol F127 ME gel. These results indicate that the studied ME gel may be a promising vehicle for topical delivery of ITZ.
Spin-offs, Start-ups and Networks in UK Universities (2004)

The aim of this chapter is to give information about important aspects of university-business interaction in the UK, in order to provide a general background to the more theoretical studies in the rest of the volume. Its aim is therefore not analytical, but to provide an overview of the nature of UK universities' engagement with spin-off and start-up companies, and of its scale. The chapter then goes behind this to look more closely at the types of individuals responsible for these developments, their attributes, skills and roles. The chapter emphasizes that most of those who help to establish spin-offs and start-ups are linked with and through networks of individuals who provide a crucial element in both narrower and broader business-university links.KeywordsIntellectual PropertyVenture CapitalCapital GainResearch ExpenditureBusiness AngelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
<title>Adaptive methods for chaotic communication systems</title> (1993)

We describe several existing and two new nonlinear dynamics (NLD)-based communication schemes, addressing the shortcomings and advantages of each. One new method is based on modulating the parameters of one or more chaotic generating systems with the signal(s) of interest. The output of the resulting nonstationary chaotic system is transmitted across the channel, and the signals are extracted via a continuous adaptation of system coefficients. The other novel method involves injecting the signal of interest as dynamic or feedback noise into the chaotic generating system. The noisy output is transmitted, and the dynamics of the generating system are estimated at the receiver. These dynamics are used to generate short term prediction errors, which are proportional to the original dynamic noise if the recovered system coefficients are reasonably accurate. Both methods have particular application to radio frequency (rf) communications, where spectral noise and frequency selective fading of signal power are real problems.
Generation of New Hydrogen-Recycling <i>Rhizobiaceae</i> Strains by Introduction of a Novel <i>hup</i> Minitransposon (2000)

Hydrogen evolution by nitrogenase is a source of inefficiency for the nitrogen fixation process by the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. To develop a strategy to generate rhizobial strains with H(2)-recycling ability, we have constructed a Tn5 derivative minitransposon (TnHB100) that contains the ca. 18-kb H(2) uptake (hup) gene cluster from Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae UPM791. Bacteroids from TnHB100-containing strains of R. leguminosarum bv. viciae PRE, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, R. etli, and Mesorhizobium loti expressed high levels of hydrogenase activity that resulted in full recycling of the hydrogen evolved by nitrogenase in nodules. Efficient processing of the hydrogenase large subunit (HupL) in these strains was shown by immunoblot analysis of bacteroid extracts. In contrast, Sinorhizobium meliloti, M. ciceri, and R. leguminosarum bv. viciae UML2 strains showed poor expression of the hup system that resulted in H(2)-evolving nodules. For the latter group of strains, no immunoreactive material was detected in bacteroid extracts using anti-HupL antiserum, suggesting a low level of transcription of hup genes or HupL instability. A general procedure for the characterization of the minitransposon insertion site and removal of antibiotic resistance gene included in TnHB100 has been developed and used to generate engineered strains suitable for field release.
Efficient solid-state reactions of alcohols: dehydration, rearrangement, and substitution (1990)

F. Toda, H. Takumi and M. Akehi, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1990, 1270 DOI: 10.1039/C39900001270
Free‐Standing Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid) Nanosheet for Sealing Operations in Surgery (2009)

A free-standing biodegradable nanosheet composed of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was shown to have excellent sealing efficacy for a gastric incision as a novel wound dressing material that did not require adhesive agents, and the PLLA nanosheet-induced wound repair showed neither scars nor tissue adhesion. This material may, therefore, be an ideal alternative to conventional tissue repairing procedures using suture/ligation in surgery.
Two-dimensional numerical simulation of side-gating effect in GaAs MESFETs (1990)

Two-dimensional device simulations that confirm that the side-gating effect in GaAs MESFETs occurs on semi-insulating substrates containing hole traps are discussed. A negative voltage applied on a side gate, a separate n-type doped region, causes an increase in the thickness of the negatively charged layer at the FET channel interface in the substrate, through hole emission from hole traps. The FET channel current is modulated by the electron depletion of the n-type channel, which results from the compensation for the extension of the negatively charged layer at the n-i interface into the i-substrate containing hole traps. The magnitude of the drain current reduction is determined by the total acceptor concentration in the substrate and the donor concentration of the channel. However, the magnitude is independent of the side-gate distances.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampling for Tuning-Curve Analysis (2009)

A central theme of systems neuroscience is to characterize the tuning of neural responses to sensory stimuli or the production of movement. Statistically, we often want to estimate the parameters of the tuning curve, such as preferred direction, as well as the associated degree of uncertainty, characterized by error bars. Here we present a new sampling-based, Bayesian method that allows the estimation of tuning-curve parameters, the estimation of error bars, and hypothesis testing. This method also provides a useful way of visualizing which tuning curves are compatible with the recorded data. We demonstrate the utility of this approach using recordings of orientation and direction tuning in primary visual cortex, direction of motion tuning in primary motor cortex, and simulated data.
Spherical Coordinates Transform-Based Motion Model for Panoramic Video Coding (2019)

Panoramic video is produced and displayed as if it is supported on sphere, but it is usually mapped to two-dimensional (2D) plane for compression purpose. The mapping from sphere to 2D plane inevitably causes deformation of video content, which shall be taken into account in panoramic video coding. In this paper, we propose a new motion model based on spherical coordinates transform to explicitly address the deformation problem. Different from the traditional 2D translational motion model, our model assumes a 3D translational motion, which is characterized by a 2D motion vector and a relative depth parameter. Based on spherical coordinates transform, we can deduce the motion compensation and motion estimation algorithms for our proposed motion model. We then integrate the algorithms into the joint exploration model (JEM) scheme for panoramic video coding, and perform experiments on some typical equirectangular projection format video sequences. Experimental results show that our proposed method leads to up to 10.7% and on average 2.6% BD-rate reduction compared to the JEM anchor on our test sequences, with no increase of decoding time.
Genomic structure and chromosomal localization of the human hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 1 and 2 genes (2000)

Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 1 (HAI-1) and type 2 (HAI-2) are recently discovered Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitors which can be purified and cloned from human stomach cancer cell line MKN45 as specific inhibitors against hepatocyte growth factor activator (HGFA). HAI-2 was identical with the protein originally reported as placental bikunin. Both proteins contain two Kunitz inhibitor domains (KDs), of which the first domain (KD1) is mainly responsible for the inhibitory activity against HGFA, and are expressed ubiquitously in various tissues. In this study, we cloned the genes coding for these two structurally similar proteins by screening of human genomic bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library and their genomic structures were compared. HAI-1 and -2 genes consist of 11 and 8 exons spanning 12 kbp and 12.5 kbp, respectively. Three exons were inserted between KD1 and KD2 of each gene, of which the middle one was the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-like domain (HAI-1) and the testis specific exon (HAI-2). Apparently homologous regions between HAI-1 and -2 were not found in 5'-flanking region and neither TATA nor CAAT box was present. The genes were mapped to chromosome 15q15 (HAI-1) and 19q13.11 (HAI-2). These results suggested that although HAI-1 and -2 genes might be derived from same ancestor gene, they acquired distinctive in vivo roles during their evolution.
Inhibition of the Growth of Foodborne Disease-Causing Bacteria by Calcined Scallop Shell Powder (1999)

To make practical use of unused scallop shells, we ground the shells into a powder, calcined the powder, and then tested the powder's ability to inhibit the growth of foodbome disease-causing bacteria.Powder calcined at around 8OO'C showed strong bacteriostatic effect and completely inhibited cell growth of Escherichia coli 0-157: H7, Staphylococcus aureus and Sal'llWT/,6lla enteritidis at concentrations greater than 0.4% (minimal concentration tested).CaC0 3 , a major chemical constituent of scallop shells, changed to CaO after calcination at 8OO'C or higher.The calcined powder consisted of 97.5% Ca and 1.0% Na.The results suggest that the bacteriostatic effect of calcined powder prepared from scallop shells is due to the high alkalinity and the presence of trace elements.
Fast image segmentation on mobile phone using multi-level graph cut (2015)

This paper presents a system for an efficient image segmentation on mobile phones using multi-level graph cut. As the computational capacity of mobile devices is often limited, a fluent and smooth image segmentation is a challenging task with existing segmentation algorithms, increased in difficulty by mobile phone cameras continually upgraded to take photos of higher resolution. Our solution is to carefully tweak the classic graph cut algorithm for an interactive image cutout, enhancing the performance without compromising the quality of the segmentation. This is achieved by down-sampling the original high-resolution image and selecting a rough cutout region on this low-resolution image with a superpixel based pre-segmentation. The segmented foreground is then mapped back to the full-size image and the image undergoes an adaptive boundary refinement. This second segmentation performs the optimization locally and can be accomplished within milliseconds. We test our system on an Apple iPhone 6 and our experiments show that a high quality segmentation can be achieved in a lag-free manner on the mobile phone even for multi-megapixel images.
Signal Deflation and Paraunitary Constraints in Spatio-Temporal Fastica-Based Convolutive Blind Source Separation of Speech Mixtures (2007)

The FastICA algorithm of Hyvarinen and Oja is a popular procedure for blind source separation of non-convolutive signal mixtures. Recently, two different extensions of this procedure have been proposed for convolutive blind source separation of speech and other signal mixtures. In this paper, we describe the major differences and compare the performances of these approaches, illustrating how signal deflation or coefficient orthogonalization is employed to maintain uniqueness of the separated system outputs for both synthetic convolutive mixtures and speech mixtures as recorded in real-room environments. Our numerical evaluations indicate that (a) coefficient orthogonality through paraunitary constraints provide more robust estimation behavior than least-squares signal deflation with unit-norm constraints, and (b) all-pass constraints can be used to improve the perceptual quality of the extracted speech when only signal deflation is employed.