Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dendrochronological assessment of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) for dating purposes in Central Italy

Summary Chestnut is the most common species used for building construction in Central Italy, but the built chronologies are still floating. This is due to a lack of long master chronologies built for chestnut in these regions and because of the lack of agreement with the very few up to date chestnut curves published for other areas. Chestnut appears to be a suitable species for performing dendrochronological analysis because it forms annual rings, and is a ring-porous species. Nevertheless it shows a very fast growth rate, which results in the presence of only a low number of annual rings even in large beams. To further the understanding of the dendrochronological characteristics that are important for dating purposes, this paper discusses an investigation based an a dendrochronological assessment of living chestnut trees. In total 89 trees from five stands were sampled in Central Italy. The analysis was performed by testing the quality of single master chronologies and comparing the dendrochronological behaviour of trees of the same stand, the crossdating of chestnut chronologies of different provenances, and the interspecific synchronization with oak, beech and silver fir. These trees are the most widespread species in Central Italy and for which reference chronologies have been recently developed - useful for dating purposes. Chestnut chronologies show rather mean sensitivity values. The mean values of synchronization, according to the mean Gleichlaufigkeit (GLK) value, mean correlation value (RBT) and expressed population signal (EPS), among the single curves of the same site are not high. Nevertheless, the number of pointer intervals calculated in the site chronologies can be considered rather high in some periods, and the coincidence of maximum and minimum ring width allows the individual curves to be fitted into the mean site chronology. The results of intraspecific synchronization among chestnut site chronologies are not encouraging. Nevertheless, the degree of visual matching among the chronologies play an important role. The best interspecific synchronization was obtained with oak. No notable correlation was found with beech and silver fir.
Feasibility of an Ingestible Sensor-Based System for Monitoring Adherence to Tuberculosis Therapy

Poor adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment hinders the individual’s recovery and threatens public health. Currently, directly observed therapy (DOT) is the standard of care; however, high sustaining costs limit its availability, creating a need for more practical adherence confirmation methods. Techniques such as video monitoring and devices to time-register the opening of pill bottles are unable to confirm actual medication ingestions. A novel approach developed by Proteus Digital Health, Inc. consists of an ingestible sensor and an on-body wearable sensor; together, they electronically confirm unique ingestions and record the date/time of the ingestion. A feasibility study using an early prototype was conducted in active TB patients to determine the system’s accuracy and safety in confirming co-ingestion of TB medications with sensors. Thirty patients completed 10 DOT visits and 1,080 co-ingestion events; the system showed 95.0% (95% CI 93.5–96.2%) positive detection accuracy, defined as the number of detected sensors divided by the number of transmission capable sensors administered. The specificity was 99.7% [95% CI 99.2–99.9%] based on three false signals recorded by receivers. The system’s identification accuracy, defined as the number of correctly identified ingestible sensors divided by the number of sensors detected, was 100%. Of 11 adverse events, four were deemed related or possibly related to the device; three mild skin rashes and one complaint of nausea. The system’s positive detection accuracy was not affected by the subjects’ Body Mass Index (p = 0.7309). Study results suggest the system is capable of correctly identifying ingestible sensors with high accuracy, poses a low risk to users, and may have high patient acceptance. The system has the potential to confirm medication specific treatment compliance on a dose-by-dose basis. When coupled with mobile technology, the system could allow wirelessly observed therapy (WOT) for monitoring TB treatment as a replacement for DOT.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE LABOR MARKET EFFECTS OF OFFSHORING BY U . S . MULTINATIONAL FIRMS

We use firm-level data on U.S. multinationals to show how offshoring affects domestic employment within and across firms. We introduce a new instrument for offshoring: Bilateral Tax Treaties, which reduce the cost of offshore activities. We find substantial heterogeneity in effects. A 10 percent increase in affiliate employment drives a 1.3 percent increase in employment at the U.S. parent firm, with smaller effects at the industry and regional levels. In contrast, offshoring by vertical multinationals drives declining employment among nonmultinationals in the same industry, and firms opening new affiliates exhibit smaller domestic employment growth than those expanding existing affiliates. Brian K. Kovak H. John Heinz III College Carnegie Mellon University 4800 Forbes Avenue, HBH 3012 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 and NBER bkovak@cmu.edu Lindsay Oldenski Georgetown University 37th and O Streets, NW Washington DC, 20057 Lindsay.Oldenski@georgetown.edu Nicholas Sly Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City 1 Memorial Dr Kansas City, MO 64198 Nick.Sly@kc.frb. org
Genetic Polymorphisms in Estrogen-Related Genes and the Risk of Breast Cancer among Han Chinese Women

Exposure to high levels of estrogen is considered an important risk factor for susceptibility to breast cancer. Common polymorphisms in genes that affect estrogen levels may be associated with breast cancer risk, but no comprehensive study has been performed among Han Chinese women. In the present study, 32 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in estrogen-related genes were genotyped using the MassARRAY IPLEX platform in 1076 Han Chinese women. Genotypic and allelic frequencies were compared between case and control groups. Unconditional logistic regression was used to assess the effects of SNPs on breast cancer risk. Associations were also evaluated for breast cancer subtypes stratified by estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status. Case-control analysis showed a significant relation between heterozygous genotypes of rs700519 and rs2069522 and breast cancer risk (OR = 0.723, 95% CI = 0.541–0.965, p = 0.028 and OR = 1.500, 95% CI = 1.078–2.087, p = 0.016, respectively). Subgroup comparisons revealed that rs2446405 and rs17268974 were related to ER status, and rs130021 was associated with PR status. Our findings suggest that rs700519 and rs2069522 are associated with susceptibility to breast cancer among the Han Chinese population and have a cumulative effect with three other identified SNPs. Further genetic and functional studies are needed to identify additional SNPs, and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms.
Correlation of Clinical Trachoma and Infection in Aboriginal Communities

Background Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness due to conjunctival infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. The presence of active trachoma and evidence of infection are poorly correlated and a strong immunologically-mediated inflammatory response means that clinical signs last much longer than infection. This population-based study in five Aboriginal communities endemic for trachoma in northern Australia compared a fine grading of clinical trachoma with diagnostic positivity and organism load. Methods A consensus fine grading of trachoma, based on clinical assessment and photograding, was compared to PCR, a lipopolysacharide (LPS)-based point-of-care (POC) and a 16S RNA-based nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Organism load was measured in PCR positive samples. Results A total of 1282 residents, or 85.2% of the study population, was examined. Taking the findings of both eyes, the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years was 25.1% (96/383) of whom 13 (13.7%) were PCR positive on the left eye. When clinical data were limited to the left eye as this was tested for PCR, the prevalence of TF decreased to 21.4% (82/383). The 301 TF negative children, 13 (4.3%) were PCR positive. The fine grading of active trachoma strongly correlated with organism load and disease severity (rs = 0.498, P = 0.0004). Overall, 53% of clinical activity (TF1 or TF2) and 59% of PCR positivity was found in those with disease scores less than the WHO simplified grade of TF. Conclusion Detailed studies of the pathogenesis, distribution and natural history of trachoma should use finer grading schemes for the more precise identification of clinical status. In low prevalence areas, the LPS-based POC test lacks the sensitivity to detect active ocular infection and nucleic acid amplification tests such as PCR or the 16S-RNA based NAAT performed better. Trachoma in the Aboriginal communities requires specific control measures.
Modeling maintenance effort by means of dynamic systems

The dynamic evolution of ecological systems in which predators and prey compete for survival has been investigated by applying suitable mathematical models. Dynamic systems theory provides a useful way to model interspecies competition and thus the evolution of predators and prey populations. This kind of mathematical framework has been shown to be well suited to describe evolution of economical systems as well, where instead of predators and prey there are consumers and resources. This paper suggests how dynamic systems could be usefully applied to the maintenance context, namely to model the dynamic evolution of the maintenance effort. When maintainers start trying to recognize and correct code defects, while the number of residual defects decreases, the effort spent to find out any new defect has an initial increase, followed by a decline, in a similar way to prey and predator populations. The feasibility of this approach is supported by the experimental data about a 67 months maintenance task of a software project and its successive releases.
Vegetation responses to climatic variability in the Swiss Southern Alps during the Misox event at the early–mid Holocene transition

Sedimentary pollen, charcoal and plant macrofossil analyses with high resolution and precision suggest a strong shift in vegetation composition during the early to mid‐Holocene transition in the upper mountain belt. At Piano mire (1439 m above sea level (a.s.l.), Ticino, Switzerland) forests were dominated by Abies alba during the early Holocene (prior to ca. 8000 cal. a BP). Abrupt collapses of A. alba at ca. 7800–7400 cal. a BP enabled the expansion of the light‐demanding pioneer Betula. Afterwards A. alba populations regained their previous abundance in the forests. Within the dating uncertainties of our record we assume that a unique combination of wet and cold years between 8400 and 7500 cal. a BP led to repeated lethal disadvantages for Abies. Our record of Abies oscillations is in good biostratigraphic agreement with the record that has been used to define the Misox cold event (Pian di Signano, 1540 m a.s.l.), which has been previously correlated with the 8200 cal. a BP event. Given the age estimates of the Abies collapses in our well‐dated record, our results suggest that additional efforts are needed to understand the linkage between the Misox and the 8200 cal. a BP event. They imply a high sensitivity of mountain vegetation far below the tree line (∼800 m) to Holocene climatic changes of about 2°C in annual air temperature. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Early-Holocene coastal environments and climate in southeast Sweden: a reconstruction based on macrofossils from submarine deposits

Submarine organic deposits situated 0-15 m below present sea level off the southeastern Swedish coast of the Baltic Sea (Hanö Bay, 55°43'N, 14°12'E) were studied for their macrofossil content (plant, insect and mollusc remains) and radiocarbon dated. These deposits are interpreted as gyttja sediments that accumulated in shallow, elongated lakes behind beach ridges or coastal sand dunes. Coastal processes and a sea-level rise were involved in their genesis. Three distinct generations of coastal lakes (lagoons) were recognized: (1) at the end of the Yoldia Sea Stage between 9600 and 9400 BP at 15 m below present sea level; (2) during the time span 9000-8000 BP (after the Ancylus regression) between 12 and 7 m below present sea level; and (3) around 5500 BP (Litorina Sea Stage) slightly below present sea level. Pine was the dominant tree in these coastal environments until ca. 8500 BP when alder became common on waterlogged soils. The plant, insect and mollusc records suggest diverse coastal environments with a mixture of wooded and open vegetation on waterlogged or dry sandy soils, small shallow lakes, brooks and small rivers. A climate as warm as, or slightly warmer than today is inferred from the insect and mollusc data for the period ca. 9500-8000 BP. The implications of the investigation for the history of the shore displacement in south Sweden are discussed.
The idiap wolf corpus: exploring group behaviour in a competitive role-playing game

In this paper we present the Idiap Wolf Database. This is a audio-visual corpus containing natural conversational data of volunteers who took part in a competitive role-playing game. Four groups of 8-12 people were recorded. In total, just over 7 hours of interactive conversational data was collected. The data has been annotated in terms of the roles and outcomes of the game. There are 371 examples of different roles played over 50 games. Recordings were made with headset microphones, an 8-microphone array, and 3 video cameras and are fully synchronised. The novelty of this data is that some players have deceptive roles and the participants do not know what roles other people play.
Petrogenesis of Cenozoic mafic–ultramafic alkaline lavas from the Tigris volcanic field, NE Syria

Abstract Mafic–ultramafic Quaternary lava flows form the Tigris volcanic field (covering 1750 km2) at the northeastern tip of Syria and extend into Turkey. This volcanic field occurs between the Euphrates graben and the Bitlis–Zagros collision suture that forms the boundary between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The rocks are made up of labradorite, clinopyroxene, olivine and opaque phases. The Tigris lavas are compositionally restricted to basanites and alkali basalts, having a narrow range of major element compositions (SiO2, 42.2–48.2 wt%; MgO, 5.7–9.0 wt%, with Mg numbers ranging from 0.51 to 0.62; TiO2, 1.7–3.2 wt%), and are alkaline in nature. The rocks are enriched in HFS elements such as Zr (119–231 ppm), Nb (14–43 ppm) and Y (17–22 ppm). The REE patterns are strongly fractionated ((La/Yb)N = 10.6), indicative of a garnet-bearing source. The 143Nd/144Nd isotopic compositions range from 0.512803 to 0.512908, and 87Sr/86Sr from 0.70327 to 0.70403 (εNd = 3.2–5.3) suggesting strong affinities to ocean island basalts. Modelling using a variety of mantle source materials and different degrees of partial melting indicates that the magma was produced by a small degree of batch partial melting (F = 1.5%) of a primitive, garnet-lherzolite fertile mantle source. The overall petrological/chemical nature supports this interpretation. Shear heating at the base of the lithospheric mantle of the northern boundary of the Arabian plate, caused by a change in plate motion as the Arabian plate moved in a more easterly direction during the Plio-Quaternary, could represent a possible source of the heat necessary for partial fusion and magma generation. Adiabatic decompression and melting represents a more likely process for the generation of the Tigris magma. Elemental ratios such as K/P (4.6), La/Ta (12), La/Nb (0.90), Nb/Y (1.22) and Th/Nb (0.09) indicate that the magma was subjected to minimal crustal contamination.
Imbalance of stromelysin-1 and TIMP-1 in the mucosal lesions of children with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND Degradation of the extracellular matrix and ulceration of the mucosa are major features of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One of the most important enzymes in degrading the matrix and produced in excess by cytokine activated stromal cells, is stromelysin-1. The activity of stromelysin-1 is controlled by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-1), its natural inhibitor. In model systems excess stromelysin-1 produces mucosal degradation. METHODS Quantitative competitive RT-PCR was used to analyse stromelysin-1 and TIMP-1 transcripts; western blotting was used to measure the amount of stromelysin-1 and TIMP-1 protein in biopsy samples from children with IBD. RESULTS In biopsies from patients with active Crohn's disease (n=24), ulcerative colitis (n=23), and controls (n=16), TIMP-1 transcripts and protein were abundant and unchanged. Stromelysin-1 transcripts and protein were markedly elevated in mucosal biopsies obtained from inflamed sites of patients with active IBD but were not elevated in adjacent endoscopically normal mucosa (n=10). Elevated levels of stromelysin-1 transcripts in active Crohn's disease (n=5) returned to normal levels following treatment with enteral nutrition. CONCLUSIONS Stromelysin-1 is markedly overexpressed at inflamed sites in patients with IBD whereas TIMP-1 remains unaltered. Excess stromelysin-1 is likely to be responsible for loss of mucosal integrity in IBD.
Information Uncertainty and Analyst Forecast Behavior

Prior literature observes that information uncertainty exacerbates investor underreaction behavior. In this paper, I investigate whether, as professional investment intermediaries, sell-side analysts suffer more behavioral biases in cases of greater information uncertainty. I show that greater information uncertainty predicts more positive (negative) forecast errors and subsequent forecast revisions following good (bad) news, which corroborates previous findings on the post-analyst-revision drift. The opposite effects of information uncertainty on forecast errors and subsequent forecast revisions following good vs. bad news support the analyst underreaction hypothesis and are inconsistent with analyst forecast rationality or optimism suggested in prior literature.
Temporal profiling of methamphetamine‐induced changes in gene expression in the mouse brain: Evidence from cDNA array

Methamphetamine (METH) is a neurodegenerative drug of abuse. Its toxicity is characterized by destruction of monoaminergic terminals and by apoptosis in cortical and striatal cell bodies. Multiple factors appear to control METH neurotoxicity, including free radicals and transcription factors. Here, using cDNA arrays, we show the temporal profile of gene expression patterns in the cortex of mice treated with this drug. We obtained two patterns of changes from 588 genes surveyed. First, an early pattern is characterized by upregulation of transcription factors, including members of the jun family. Second, a delayed pattern includes genes related to cell death and to DNA repair. A number of trophic factors were also activated at the later timepoint. These observations suggest that METH can activate a multigene machinery that participates in the production of its toxic effects. The resulting degenerative effects of the drug are thus the result of a balance between protoxic and antiapoptotic mechanisms triggered by its administration to these animals. These observations are of clinical relevance because of the recent identification of degenerative changes in the brains of METH abusers. Synapse 41:40–48, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An experimental study of thermally induced microfracturing and its relation to volcanic seismicity

In this study, unconfined samples of basalt, sintered and bonded perlite, insulating firebricks, and paraffin were subjected to thermal gradients ranging from 15°C/cm to 100°C/cm. Microshocks produced by thermoelastic stress relief were detected by means of miniature accelerometers. Histograms of microshock occurrences have similar shapes for all tests. Activity begins and increases abruptly following onset of heating or cooling of the sample. It reaches a maximum, and then decays hyperbolically, in approximate correlation with the time dependence of the thermal gradient. There are later swarms of activity apparently initiated by small thermal fluctuations in the sample. The log-log plots of cumulative number of microshocks versus amplitude were constructed and show kinks or knees. The value of the negative slope b for the linear approximations to these plots ranges from 1.2 to 2.7. These values are greater than those for normal earthquakes series and are similar to those observed for volcanic B-type earthquakes. The effects of a cellular crack pattern, nonuniformity of stress due to the thermal gradient, and sample inhomogeneity may explain these results.
The Significance of Insular Hypometabolism in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in Children

Background and Purpose: Temporal lobe epilepsy is one of the most common forms of medically refractory epileptic syndromes. In a small percentage, temporal lobectomy fails to control the seizures in patients with epilepsy of clear temporal origin, and in some of these patients, seizures originating from the insular cortex is believed to be the cause behind the surgical failures. We retrospectively analyzed the [18F]FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) results of patients who received temporal lobe surgery for presence of insular hypometabolism, and compared the surgical outcome to verify whether insular hypometablism was related with difference in post-operative results. Methods: 13 patients were enrolled, and clinical variables, post-operative pathology, magnetic resonance imaging and PET results were analyzed for possible differences between the patients with or without insular hypometabolism. Results: 7 patients showed insular hypometabolism, while 6 patients were clear of insular lesion on PET exam. 8 patients received anterior temporal lobectomy with amygdalohippocampectomy (AH), 2 patients received radical temporal lobectomy with AH, and 3 patients received insular cortisectomy. Post-operative results were favorable in 8 patients and unfavorable in 5, with unfavorable outcomes in all recipients of insular cortisectomy. Presence of insular hypometabolism did not have any significant relationship with the post-surgical outcome (p=0.266), but its trend showed a tendency towards favorable outcome if insular hypometabolism was not present. Conclusions: Presence of insular hypometabolism in [18F]FDG-PET analysis was not significantly correlated with the post-operative outcome, and recipients of insular cortisectomy among our patients with insular hypometabolism resulted in poor surgical outcome. However, the outcome trend showed a tendency towards better surgical outcome with absence of hypometabolic lesion in the ipsilateral insular cortex. Further studies employing a larger patient group is needed.