Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age-related Risk Factors, Culture Outcomes, and Prognosis in Patients Admitted With Infectious Keratitis to Two Dutch Tertiary Referral Centers

Purpose: To assess age-related risk factors (RFs), microbiologic profile, and prognosis of infectious keratitis and create guidelines for prevention and treatment. Methods: Retrospective review of patients with infectious keratitis admitted to 2 Dutch tertiary referral centers from January 2002 to December 2004. Results: Forty-nine patients were admitted to the Academic Medical Center (Amsterdam) and 107 to the Rotterdam Eye Hospital. Mean age was 56.6 ± 24.4 (SD) years; 49.4% were ≥60 years of age. The most common RFs among the elderly were systemic illness (36.4%), ocular surgery (33.8%), topical steroids (26%), blepharitis (20.8%), and herpetic eye disease (28.6%). This was significantly different from the most common RFs among younger patients (contact lens wear, 62.7%; χ2, P = 0.000). Gram-negative infections predominated (52.3%) and were more prevalent among younger patients (χ2, P = 0.000). Gram-positive infections prevailed among the elderly. Untreated patients had higher culture positive rates (68.7%) than patients treated with antibiotics before culturing (41.3%; χ2, P = 0.001). Elderly patients had a higher risk of perforations than younger patients (27.6% vs. 9.9%), a worse prognosis (mean VA, 6/30 vs. 6/10), and more often needed surgery (57.1% vs. 23.4%; P < 0.005 in all cases). Conclusions: Infectious keratitis is a more severe disease in elderly than in younger patients with more complications and a worse prognosis. Elderly patients have multiple and more diverse risk factors, making prevention difficult. Prevention should aim at minimizing topical steroid use and controlling blepharitis, ocular surface disease, and herpetic eye disease. Initial antibiotic treatment should include sufficient coverage of Gram-positive pathogens.
What Regions Do Rather than Make: A Proposed Set of Knowledge-based Occupation Clusters

With the expansion of knowledge-intensive industries in the US, along with intensifying focus on workforce development policy as an economic development strategy, occupations are increasingly being used as basic units of analysis in applied studies of urban and regional economies. An heretofore underappreciated component of occupation-based regional analysis is the need to understand relationships, similarities and dissimilarities among occupations themselves, so that they may be aggregated or grouped in theoretically and empirically meaningful ways. This paper lays out a conceptual framework and empirical approach to identifying knowledge-based occupation clusters, or groups of occupations that share the same broad knowledge characteristics. Following an application of the clusters to a comparison of labour pools in a selected 38 metropolitan economies, the paper discusses the clusters' general value for regional economic analysis, especially their utility as an intermediate step in applied industry cluster analyses where necessary regional occupation data are limited.
The Effect of a High-Risk Stock Fund on Long-Term Investment: An Experimental Study

This article presents a multitrial experiment that extends the classic experiment of Thaler et al. [1997] by adding a high-risk stock fund to the bond and stock funds used in the original experiment. Results from the study show that investors allocate the same proportion of their investment to the high-risk stock fund and the stock fund, increasing their investment in the stocks and their expected return. We conducted a similar experiment with all three assets and found no myopic loss aversion. We suggest that high-risk stock funds might reduce the effect of myopic loss aversion.
Searching for Women on Boards: An Analysis from the Supply and Demand Perspective

Manuscript Type Review Research Question/Issue This paper seeks to provide a systematic review of the multidisciplinary theoretical approaches to women on boards in order to understand the factors that hinder and facilitate the access of women to boards, to show the instruments that can be used to promote women to senior corporate positions, and to outline a research agenda suggesting gaps that still need to be filled. Research Finding/Results Women's access to boards appears to be fragmented in research silos from a variety of areas, lacking a comprehensive view that provides instruments to overcome the barriers hindering the access of women to corporate boards. More in particular, this paper has found very little scientific analysis to understand what instruments can be the most efficient in eliminating barriers for women to reach boardrooms given different cultural environments. Theoretical Implications This paper aims to create a comprehensive framework for understanding the presence of women on boards and for indicating existing gaps to be filled by new research in the future. This framework will help future researchers in analyzing specific instruments and to measure their efficiency in eliminating gender imbalance. Depending on the approach taken for research, the theoretical backgrounds used vary. While on the supply side the predominant theories are gender role theory, gender self-schema, and work–family conflict, the demand side is based on gender discrimination, human and social capital theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional environment theory. Practical Implications This research provides suggestions to typify causes and provide nuanced policy tools to promote women into leadership positions. Future lines of research are proposed to fill the gaps in understanding female representation in top management positions.
Avionics databus safety criteria and certification

The paper considers databuses used in avionics and automotive applications (ARINC 629, ARINC 429, FlexRay, CAN, TTP, SAFEbus, SpaceWire, FireWire and others) and identifies the criteria to evaluate them with respect to safety. The criteria address comprehensive aspects of databus assessment problem, combining mechanical (bus wiring, connectors, pinout, module design and dimensions, etc.), electrical (signal levels, their dynamics to carry information, electromagnetic compatibility, etc.), and logical characteristics, including the protocol of exchanging information between devices over a bus, in all three phases: bus arbitration, data transfer and fault handling. A systematic list of safety-related attributes and their relationships for evaluation of aviation databuses is presented, which would allow building the uniform evaluation criteria for certification purposes. Preliminary simulations and real experiments are aimed at protocol comparison, according to the methodology previously developed by the authors. The study is intended to allow establishing standard and objective criteria for evaluating databus technologies in safety-critical applications.
Impact of sector versus security choice on equity portfolios

We measure the contribution of industry sector choice and individual stock selection to the performance of 3350 United States’ equity funds from 1980 to 2005. First, we demonstrate that sector choice makes a relatively greater contribution to portfolio variance, holding constant manager skill in identifying mispriced securities, and correcting for a bias in research methods previously applied to this issue. Second, using managers’ reported stock holdings, we estimate the actual contribution of industry sector versus security choice to portfolio returns. Active managers of funds with a preference for small stocks with a style preference – value or growth – generate abnormal returns above those achieved by less active managers, consistent with managers having style-specific investment skills. This relative performance is attributed to the incremental returns generated from security selection over sector choice. Security selection also explains significantly more variation in returns across funds. These results imply that active managers make relatively greater use of security selection in forming portfolios which differ from benchmark.
The Effects of Drug Enforcement on Violence in Colombia 1999-2010: A Spatial Econometric Approach

In this paper paper, I use Mejia and Restrepo's(2011d} strategy to disentangle the causal relationship between drug enforcement and violence. To test this relationship, I use information on Colombian municipalities during the period 1999-2010. Due to technological reasons related to the quality of terrain, climate, and locational characteristics of the Colombian territory, cocaine production is more productive at low altitudes. Using the altitude of each municipality and distance from capital cities as sources of exogenous variation, I estimate the effect of drug enforcement on violence in Colombia. To control for a possible omitted-variable bias in the estimations, I run a Panel Data Spatial Durbin Model (SDM). Additionally, I construct a set of indices with comparable units of measure which allows me to determine which percentage of the Colombian violence data is explained by drug enforcement. The results indicate that the Colombian government's enforcement activities increased in 0.98% the homicide rate and in 1.24% the displacement rate and the war among drug dealers increased in 4.00% the homicide rate and 0.16% the displacement rate in the period 1999-2010.
Diagnostic approaches to schizotypal personality disorder: a historical perspective.

The goal of this article is to provide a historical perspective on the DSM-III concept of schizotypal personality disorder. It is argued that two major traditions have influenced our conceptualization of this diagnostic entity. The first or familial approach emphasizes the characteristic traits found in the deviant but nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenics. The second or clinical approach focuses on patients who appear to demonstrate the fundamental symptoms of schizophrenia without psychotic symptoms or severe personality deterioration. A review of these two traditions concludes that while similar in some regards, they also differ in important ways in their views on the characteristics of the true "schizotype. " The impact of these two traditions is then traced through the Danish Adoption Studies of Kety et al. to the development of the DSM-III criteria for schizotypal personality by Spitzer, Endicott, and Gibbon. Finally, the article reviews recent studies on the validity of specific criteria for schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and reassesses the conceptual issue about the nature of the relationship of SPD to schizophrenia on the one hand and to other personality disorders on the other.
On Dynamic Programming Methods for Assembly Line Balancing

Two dynamic programming approaches for treating sequencing problems—one proposed by Schrage and Baker and the other by Lawler—are discussed in the context of an assembly line balancing problem. A variant of the Schrage-Baker method is proposed to extend its range of applicability. The three approaches are compared using randomly generated test problems. We find that Lawler's “reaching”-based approach is superior to the other two “pulling”-based alternatives in both time and storage requirements. Based on the empirical results, we present time and space estimates for solving problems of different sizes and order strengths, and discuss the relative merits of the three procedures.
Criminal Victimisation in Seventeen Industrialised Countries. Key findings from the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey

The International Crime Victimisation Survey (ICVS) is the most far-reaching programme of fully standardised sample surveys looking at householders' experience of crime in different countries. The first ICVS took place in 1989, the second in 1992, and the third in 1996. Surveys have been carried out in over 50 countries since 1989, including a large number of city surveys in developing countries and countries in transition. This report deals with eleven industrialised countries which took part in the third sweep.
Stratification is the key: Inflammatory biomarkers accurately direct immunomodulatory therapy in experimental sepsis*

Objective:This study examined the effectiveness of prospective stratification to identify and target high-dose glucocorticoid therapy for subjects developing lethal sepsis. Design:Prospective, randomized, laboratory-controlled experiment. Setting:University research laboratory. Subjects:Adult female outbred CD-1 mice. Interventions:Mice (n = 88) were subjected to sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Mice were prospectively divided into two groups, predicted to die (P-DIE) or predicted to live (P-LIVE), based on plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6 obtained 6 hours after CLP. Following stratification, dexamethasone (DEX, 2.5 mg/kg, two doses) was administered to half the animals in each group whereas the other half received saline. Measurements and Main Results:Without stratification, DEX conferred no benefit. In the P-DIE group, none of saline-treated mice lived whereas 40% of the DEX-treated mice survived. Of the nonsurvivors, 67% had death delayed by 24–48 hours compared with saline-treated mice. Twenty-four hours post-CLP, the lymphocyte count was higher in the P-DIE than in the P-LIVE mice regardless of treatment status, whereas the opposite trend was noted for neutrophils. Plasma cytokine and cytokine inhibitor levels in the saline-treated animals showed that levels in the P-DIE group were higher than those in the P-LIVE group (e.g., 60 vs. 10 ng/mL for IL-6 and 453 vs.129 ng/mL for IL-1 receptor antagonist). Interestingly, DEX therapy did not decrease 24 hours post-CLP circulating cytokines in either the P-DIE or the P-LIVE group. Conclusions:Following CLP-induced sepsis, early and accurate survival prediction allows targeted immunosuppression that improves survival. Better survival occurred without suppression of the typical proinflammatory mediators, suggesting that the deaths were not mediated by excessive cytokine-driven inflammation. Nonspecific anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive treatment administered to more rigorously defined cohorts may be more successful than mediator-specific drugs used indiscriminately.
A Single-Institution Analysis of 126 Patients Treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases

Background The objective of this study was to report our institutional experience with Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery (GKRS) in the treatment of patients with brain metastases. Methods Retrospectively collected demographic and clinical data on 126 patients with intracranial metastases were reviewed. The patients in our study underwent GKRS at Vidant Medical Center between 2009 and 2014. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to compare survival based on clinical characteristics for univariate analysis, and a Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. Results The median age of the patient population was 62 years. Medicare patients constituted 51% of our patient cohort and Medicaid patients 15%. The most common tumor histologies were non-small cell lung cancer (50%), breast cancer (12.7%), and melanoma (11.9%). The median overall survival time for all patients was 5.8 months. Patients with breast cancer had the longest median survival time of 9.15 months, while patients with melanoma had the shortest median survival time of 2.86 months. On univariate analysis, the following factors were predictors for improved overall survival, ECOG score 0 or 1 vs. 2 or greater (17.0 vs. 1.8 months, p < 0.001), controlled extracranial disease vs. progressive extracranial disease (17.4 vs. 4.6 months, p = 0.0001), recursive partitioning analysis Stage I vs. II–III (18.2 vs. 6.2 months, p < 0.007), multiple GKRS treatments (p = 0.002), prior brain metastasectomy (p = 0.012), and prior chemotherapy (p = 0.021). Age, ethnicity, gender, previous external beam radiation therapy, number of brain metastases, and hemorrhagic vs. non-hemorrhagic tumors were not predictors of longer median survival time. Number of metastatic brain lesions of 1–3 vs. ≥4 (p = 0.051) and insurance status of Medicare/Medicaid vs. commercial insurance approached significance (13.7 vs. 6.8 months, p = 0.08). On multivariate analysis, ECOG performance status 0–1 (p < 0.001), multiple GKRS treatments (p = 0.003), and control of extracranial disease (p = 0.001) remained significant predictors of survival. Conclusion ECOG score, control of extracranial disease, and multiple GKRS treatments are predictors of longer median survival following GKRS in our patient population. GKRS is an effective treatment for brain metastases, but these factors may be considered in patient selection for GKRS.
The nucleolar ubiquitin-specific protease USP36 deubiquitinates and stabilizes c-Myc

Significance c-Myc is ubiquitinated by SCFFbw7 and appears to be degraded mainly in the nucleolus, where it acts as a master regulator of ribosomal biogenesis. However, deubiquitination regulation of c-Myc in the nucleolus is previously unknown. Here, we found that ubiquitin-specific protease 36 (USP36), a nucleolar ubiquitin-specific protease, interacts with and deubiquitinates c-Myc in the nucleolus. It also interacts with Fbw7γ but not Fbw7α, yet it abolishes c-Myc degradation mediated by either Fbw7γ or Fbw7α. Ablation of USP36 reduced c-Myc levels and severely inhibited cancer cell proliferation. USP36 is overexpressed in a subset of human breast and lung cancers. Thus, our study reveals USP36 as a novel deubiquitinating enzyme controlling c-Myc’s nucleolar degradation, adding a missing and end-point regulator into the c-Myc degradation pathway. c-Myc protein stability and activity are tightly regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Aberrant stabilization of c-Myc contributes to many human cancers. c-Myc is ubiquitinated by SCFFbw7 (a SKP1-cullin-1-F-box complex that contains the F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7, Fbw7, as the F-box protein) and several other ubiquitin ligases, whereas it is deubiquitinated and stabilized by ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) 28. The bulk of c-Myc degradation appears to occur in the nucleolus. However, whether c-Myc is regulated by deubiquitination in the nucleolus is not known. Here, we report that the nucleolar deubiquitinating enzyme USP36 is a novel c-Myc deubiquitinase. USP36 interacts with and deubiquitinates c-Myc in cells and in vitro, leading to the stabilization of c-Myc. This USP36 regulation of c-Myc occurs in the nucleolus. Interestingly, USP36 interacts with the nucleolar Fbw7γ but not the nucleoplasmic Fbw7α. However, it abolished c-Myc degradation mediated both by Fbw7γ and by Fbw7α. Consistently, knockdown of USP36 reduces the levels of c-Myc and suppresses cell proliferation. We further show that USP36 itself is a c-Myc target gene, suggesting that USP36 and c-Myc form a positive feedback regulatory loop. High expression levels of USP36 are found in a subset of human breast and lung cancers. Altogether, these results identified USP36 as a crucial and bono fide deubiquitinating enzyme controlling c-Myc’s nucleolar degradation pathway.
A Graphical Exposition of the Economic Theory of Regulation

This article provides a novel graphical exposition of the economic theory of regulation. In particular, we show--within a single graphical construct--a number of features that emerge from the theory. Through a variety of applications we are able to provide an improved understanding of many questions that have vexed economists, including the markets likely to be chosen for regulation, the propensity of regulatory benefits to be spread across interest groups, the symbiotic nature of regulation and cross-subsidization, and the economics of deregulation. We also are able to depict graphically the relationship between the economic theory of regulation and the traditional normative model of regulation, which assumes that regulators maximize social welfare. (JEL D72, L51) Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
Electroporation and RNA interference in the rodent retina in vivo and in vitro

The large number of candidate genes made available by comprehensive genome analysis requires that relatively rapid techniques for the study of function be developed. Here, we report a rapid and convenient electroporation method for both gain- and loss-of-function studies in vivo and in vitro in the rodent retina. Plasmid DNA directly injected into the subretinal space of neonatal rodent pups was taken up by a significant fraction of exposed cells after several pulses of high voltage. With this technique, GFP expression vectors were efficiently transfected into retinal cells with little damage to the operated pups. Transfected GFP allowed clear visualization of cell morphologies, and the expression persisted for at least 50 days. DNA-based RNA interference vectors directed against two transcription factors important in photoreceptor development led to photoreceptor phenotypes similar to those of the corresponding knockout mice. Reporter constructs carrying retinal cell type-specific promoters were readily introduced into the retina in vivo, where they exhibited the appropriate expression patterns. Plasmid DNA was also efficiently transfected into retinal explants in vitro by high-voltage pulses.
Cervical Intervertebral Disc Space Narrowing and Size of Intervertebral Foramina

Computer-assisted simulation of C4-C5, C5-C6, and C6-C7 intervertebral disc space narrowing was performed on 16 anatomic specimen cervical spines to determine the relationship of the cross sectional foraminal areas with the degree of narrowing of the cervical intervertebral disc space. Compared with normal foraminal area values, reduction of 20% to 30% of the foraminal area was found after 1 mm narrowing of the intervertebral disc spaces; reduction of 30% to 40% of the foraminal area was found after 2 mm narrowing of the intervertebral disc space; and reduction of 35% to 45% of the foraminal area was found after 3 mm narrowing of the intervertebral disc space. Statistically significant differences were found among the remaining cross sectional foraminal areas after different degrees of intervertebral disc space narrowing. Compression of the nerve root within the intervertebral foramina after the collapse of the intervertebral disc space cannot be ignored, and an appropriate surgical procedure to maintain the normal height of the disc space is essential. The size of the intervertebral foramen is related directly to the height of the intervertebral disc space. A 3-mm vertical reduction of the intervertebral disc space is associated more frequently with severe narrowing of the neuroforamen.