Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A randomized trial of teen online problem solving: efficacy in improving caregiver outcomes after brain injury.

OBJECTIVE To examine the results of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of Teen Online Problem Solving (TOPS), an online problem solving therapy model, in increasing problem-solving skills and decreasing depressive symptoms and global distress for caregivers of adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHOD Families of adolescents aged 11-18 who sustained a moderate to severe TBI between 3 and 19 months earlier were recruited from hospital trauma registries. Participants were assigned to receive a web-based, problem-solving intervention (TOPS, n = 20), or access to online resources pertaining to TBI (Internet Resource Comparison; IRC; n = 21). Parent report of problem solving skills, depressive symptoms, global distress, utilization, and satisfaction were assessed pre- and posttreatment. Groups were compared on follow-up scores after controlling for pretreatment levels. Family income was examined as a potential moderator of treatment efficacy. Improvement in problem solving was examined as a mediator of reductions in depression and distress. RESULTS Forty-one participants provided consent and completed baseline assessments, with follow-up assessments completed on 35 participants (16 TOPS and 19 IRC). Parents in both groups reported a high level of satisfaction with both interventions. Improvements in problem solving skills and depression were moderated by family income, with caregivers of lower income in TOPS reporting greater improvements. Increases in problem solving partially mediated reductions in global distress. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that TOPS may be effective in improving problem solving skills and reducing depressive symptoms for certain subsets of caregivers in families of adolescents with TBI.
A simple wheat haploid and doubled haploid production system using anther culture

SummaryWheat (Triticum aestivum L.) haploids and doubled haploids have been used in breeding programs and genetic studies. Wheat haploids and doubled haploids via anther culture are usually produced by a multiple step culture procedure. We improved a wheat haploid and doubled haploid production system via anther culture in which plants are produced from microspore-derived embryos using one medium and one culture environment. In the improved protocol, tillers of donor plants were pretreated at 4°C for 1–2 wk before anthers were plated on a modified 85D12 basal medium with phenylacetic acid (PAA) and zeatin and cultured at 30°C with a 12-h daylength (43 μEs−1m−2) in an incubator. Microspore-derived embryos developed in 2–3 wk and the plants were produced 3–4 wk after anther plating. In the improved system, as much as 53% of the anthers of Pavon 76 were responsive with multiple embryos. For plant regeneration, as many as 22 green and 25 albino plants were produced from 100 anthers. Sixty-five green plants were grown to maturity and 32 (49%) plants were fertile and produced seeds (indicating spontaneous chromosome doubling) while 33 plants did not produce seed. Of five Nebraska breeding lines tested using the protocol, NE96675 was very responsive and the other lines less so, indicating that the protocol is genotype-dependent.
Polarization correlations in pulsed, vertical cavity, surface-emitting lasers.

We have examined noise behavior and polarization correlations in the output of a pulsed, multitransverse-mode, vertical-cavity, surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). We have measured the output of the laser simultaneously in two orthogonal, linear polarizations as a function of drive current for pulse widths of 3 ns, 10 ns, and 30 ns. We present joint probability distributions for the number of detected photoelectrons in each of the two polarization-resolved outputs. The joint distributions indicate that the correlations can be quite complicated, and are not completely described by a single number (i.e., the correlation coefficient). Furthermore, we find that the number of lasing modes appears to be the most important parameter in determining the degree of polarization correlation.
Party Organizations in American Politics

Contradicting the conventional political wisdom of the 1970s, which said state political parties were dormant and verging upon extinction, this book reveals that state party organizations actually grew stronger in the 1960s and 1970s.Reprinted with a new preface that covers changes in the 1980s in electoral politics, Party Organizations in American Politics encourages a reappraisal of scholarly treatment of party organization in political science. "
Jobs, Poverty, and Earnings in American Metropolises: Do Immigrants Really Hurt the Economic Outcomes of Blacks?

Abstract We contribute to the debate about the effects of immigration in the United States by analyzing the impact of recent (1980-2000) immigration on the economic outcomes of African Americans. We use Census 2000 data for a sample of 150 U.S. metropolitan areas to examine these outcomes. Our findings indicate that after controlling for a variety of theoretically relevant control variables, increases in recent immigration decrease labor force non-participation and poverty, and increase median earnings, among blacks. We argue that recent immigration expands blacks' job opportunities in or near the middle of the occupational hierarchy (e.g., protective services; office and administrative support). However, we also find a non-linear effect of immigration on black median earnings which indicates an immigrant population threshold where black earnings begin to decline. Thus, both sides of this debate may be correct: middle-class blacks benefit from increased immigration, but the gains of the black middle class do not always offset the fact that poor and lower-skilled blacks are losing out because of increased competition with immigrants.
Did the EU ETS Make a Difference? An Empirical Assessment Using Lithuanian Firm-Level Data

We use a panel dataset of about 5,000 Lithuanian firms between 2003 and 2010, to assess the impact of the EU ETS on the environmental and economic performance of participating firms. Using a matching methodology, we are able to estimate the causal impact of EU ETS participation on CO2 emissions, CO2 intensity, investment behaviour and profitability of participating firms. Our results show that ETS participation did not lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions, while we identify a slight improvement in CO2 intensity. ETS participants are shown to have retired part of their less efficient capital stock, and to have made modest additional investments from 2010. We also show that the EU ETS did not represent a drag on the profitability of participating firms.
On Current Account Surpluses and the Correction of Global Imbalances

In this paper I analyze the nature of external adjustments in current account surplus countries. I ask whether a realignment of world growth rates -- with Japan and Europe growing faster, and the U.S. growing more slowly -- is likely to solve the current situation of global imbalances. The main findings may be summarized as follows: (a) There is an important asymmetry between current account deficits and surpluses. (b) Large surpluses exhibit little persistence through time. (c) Large and abrupt reductions in surpluses are a rare phenomenon. (d) A decline in GDP growth, relative to long term trend, of 1 percentage point results in an improvement in the current account balance -- higher surplus or lower deficit -- of one quarter of a percentage point of GDP. Taken together, these results indicate that a realignment of global growth -- with Japan and the Euro Zone growing faster, and the U.S. moderating its growth -- would only make a modest contribution towards the resolution of global imbalances. This means that, even if there is a realignment of global growth, the world is likely to need significant exchange rate movements. This analysis also suggests that a reduction in China's (very) large surplus will be needed if global imbalances are to be resolved.
Savings Behavior of Private Households in Germany

The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of households' saving behavior. Savings and savings behavior was subject to large and comprehensive research, and still, the complexity of households' savings behavior is not completely understood. To understand saving, it therefore helps to be open for economic as well as psychological and sociological explanations. Germany, in particular, is an interesting country to study saving, especially among older households. Even though the pension and health insurance system in Germany is one of the most generous systems in the world, private savings are high until old age. Until recently, there has been a lack of data that records detailed information on savings in Germany in conjunction with sociological and psychological characteristics. This dissertation builds on the newly established SAVE data set which started in 2001. It contains seven chapters with both, methodological and substantive aspects.
Psychosocial predictors of mortality in 83 women with premature acute myocardial infarction.

&NA; This was an exploratory investigation of psychosocial risk factors for mortality in women with premature acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Subjects were 83 female participants in the Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project, who were between the ages of 30 and 63 in 1978, nonsmoking, nondiabetic, and at least 6 months beyond their index AMI. Follow‐up ranged from 8 to 10 years, with an average of 8.5 years. Six deaths occurred in the 83 women over the follow‐up. Univariate predictors of these deaths were arrhythmias on ECG (RR = 7.83, p = .003), being divorced (RR = 6.9, p = .003), being employed without a college degree (RR = 6.8, p = .03), and the inverse of Type A behavior, time urgency, and emotional arousability (p = .03; .005; .006, respectively). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis produced a solution that included as independent predictors: arrhythmias on ECG (RR = 4.01, p = .004), being divorced (RR = 3.43, p = .01), and the inverse of time urgency (RR = 0.35, p = .02). In the multivariate model, “divorced” was interchangeable with “employed without a college degree” and “time urgency” was interchangeable with “emotional arousability. ” This small sample precludes firm conclusions, but provides a basis for hypothesis development.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection associated with an acute brainstem syndrome

A patient who developed an acute brainstem syndrome following Mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infection is reported. MRI showed changes consistent with brainstem demyelination. Clinical features and laboratory investigations support an immune mediated mechanism with no evidence of direction CNS invasion. On the basis of this case and a review of the literature, we postulate two mechanisms for the development of M. pneumoniae associated CNS disease: direct CNS invasion causing meningitis and an immune‐mediated acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). This has obvious therapeutic implications.
Comprehensive evaluations of cone-beam CT dose in image-guided radiation therapy via GPU-based Monte Carlo simulations

Cone beam CT (CBCT) has been widely used for patient setup in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Radiation dose from CBCT scans has become a clinical concern. The purposes of this study are (1) to commission a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation package gCTD for Varian On-Board Imaging (OBI) system and test the calculation accuracy, and (2) to quantitatively evaluate CBCT dose from the OBI system in typical IGRT scan protocols. We first conducted dose measurements in a water phantom. X-ray source model parameters used in gCTD are obtained through a commissioning process. gCTD accuracy is demonstrated by comparing calculations with measurements in water and in CTDI phantoms. Twenty-five brain cancer patients are used to study dose in a standard-dose head protocol, and 25 prostate cancer patients are used to study dose in pelvis protocol and pelvis spotlight protocol. Mean dose to each organ is calculated. Mean dose to 2% voxels that have the highest dose is also computed to quantify the maximum dose. It is found that the mean dose value to an organ varies largely among patients. Moreover, dose distribution is highly non-homogeneous inside an organ. The maximum dose is found to be 1–3 times higher than the mean dose depending on the organ, and is up to eight times higher for the entire body due to the very high dose region in bony structures. High computational efficiency has also been observed in our studies, such that MC dose calculation time is less than 5 min for a typical case.
An MCMC-based prior sub-hypergraph matching in presence of outliers

Correspondence problems are very challenging due to the complexity of real-world scenes. Some hypergraph matching methods have been proposed for improving the recall of the solution, but the numerous outliers are brought since the precision is rarely considered. To solve this issue, we propose a sub-hypergraph matching method, which is robust with better integration of geometric information and reduces the difficulty of NP-hard problem happened in hypergraphs. To narrow the search space and solve the optimization problem, a new prior strategy and cell-algorithm in Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) framework is proposed on sub-hypergraph matching. The experiments show that our proposed method significantly outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms.
A Signal Integration Model of Thymic Selection and Natural Regulatory T Cell Commitment

The extent of TCR self-reactivity is the basis for selection of a functional and self-tolerant T cell repertoire and is quantified by repeated engagement of TCRs with a diverse pool of self-peptides complexed with self-MHC molecules. The strength of a TCR signal depends on the binding properties of a TCR to the peptide and the MHC, but it is not clear how the specificity to both components drives fate decisions. In this study, we propose a TCR signal-integration model of thymic selection that describes how thymocytes decide among distinct fates, not only based on a single TCR–ligand interaction, but taking into account the TCR stimulation history. These fates are separated based on sustained accumulated signals for positive selection and transient peak signals for negative selection. This spans up the cells into a two-dimensional space where they are either neglected, positively selected, negatively selected, or selected as natural regulatory T cells (nTregs). We show that the dynamics of the integrated signal can serve as a successful basis for extracting specificity of thymocytes to MHC and detecting the existence of cognate self-peptide-MHC. It allows to select a self-MHC–biased and self-peptide–tolerant T cell repertoire. Furthermore, nTregs in the model are enriched with MHC-specific TCRs. This allows nTregs to be more sensitive to activation and more cross-reactive than conventional T cells. This study provides a mechanistic model showing that time integration of TCR-mediated signals, as opposed to single-cell interaction events, is needed to gain a full view on the properties emerging from thymic selection.
Bankruptcy prediction models: How to choose the most relevant variables?

This paper is a critical review of the variable selection methods used to build empirical bankruptcy prediction models. Recent decades have seen many papers on modeling techniques, but very few about the variable selection methods that should be used jointly or about their fit. This issue is of concern because it determines the parsimony and economy of the models and thus the accuracy of the predictions. We first analyze those variables that are considered the best bankruptcy predictors, then present variable selection and review the main variable selection techniques used to design financial failure models. Finally, we discuss the way these techniques are commonly used, and we highlight the problems that may occur with some non-linear methods.
Comparing Returns from Human and Physical Capital: Black, White and Many Shades of Gray

This study aims to quantitatively estimate the rates of returns from investment in human and physical capital and find any possible endogeniety between these two types of capital, and compare the returns from two types of capital investments. Using primary, secondary and tertiary level enrollment rates as alternative proxies for human capital, this study estimates the returns on investment in human as well as in physical capital for a panel of 202 countries for the period 1971-2015 using the random effect GLS model. The analysis is also done at a more disaggregated income groups’ level. Returns on human capital investment surpass investment on physical capital investment when human capital is measured by secondary and tertiary level education. As we move along the income continuum, continuously higher levels of education brings in the highest returns.
Mapping anomalous democracies during the Cold War

During the Cold War, a number of societies established stable democracies despite having low levels of modernisation and relatively few democratic neighbours. Threshold levels of modernisation and neighbouring democratic societies are consistently related to the endurance of democracy. Meanwhile, the Cold War superpowers often supported autocracies, making it even more difficult to maintain democracy. Analysing these stable but ‘deviant’ democracies provides an opportunity to examine how domestic factors influence regime stability. In particular, such historical cases advance understanding of contemporary patterns of democratic stability. Previous research has not systematically identified deviant democracies before 1989. This research note does so using a large-N analysis of 125 societies during the first phase of the third wave of democratisation, from 1975 to 1988. It identifies 11 deviant democracies, including Bolivia, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey. 冷战期间，若干社会建立了稳定的民主体制，尽管它们现代化的程度较低，左邻右舍民主化的不多。 民主的持久与否一向与一个国家的现代化基础水平、也与左邻右舍是否为民主政体有关。 而冷战期间超级大国往往支持独裁政权，这又使得民主更难维持。 分析那些稳定却并非标准的民主国家，使我们得以了解国内因素如何影响政体的稳定性。 这些历史的案例增强了我们对当代民主稳定模式的理解。 以往的研究没有系统地确认1989年以前的非标准民主国家。 本文对第三次民主浪潮第一期125个国家包括玻利维亚、博茨瓦纳、哥伦比亚、科斯特黎加、多米尼加、洪都拉斯、印度、牙买加、毛里求斯、特立尼达和多巴哥、土耳其等做了大量案例分析。
Follower-Followee Network, Communication Networks, and Vote Agreement of the U.S. Members of Congress

The digital traces of U.S. members of congress on Twitter enable researchers to observe how these public officials interact with one another in a direct and unobtrusive manner. Using data from Twitter and other sources (e.g., roll-call vote data), this study aims to examine how members of congress connect and communicate with one another on Twitter, why they will connect and communicate with one another in such a way, and what effects such connection and communication among members of congress have on their floor vote behavior. The follower-followee and communication networks of members of congress on Twitter demonstrate a high degree of partisan homogeneity. Members of congress prefer to follow or communicate with other members who are similar to them in terms of partisanship, home state, chamber, and public concern. This condition is known as the homophily effect in social network research. However, the magnitude of the homophily effect is mitigated when the effects of endogenous networking mechanisms (i.e., reciprocity and triadic closure) in such networks are controlled. Follower-followee ties can facilitate political discourse among members of congress on Twitter, whereas both follower-followee and communication ties on Twitter increase the likelihood of vote agreement among members of congress. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are addressed.
The Antidepressant Agomelatine in Daily Practice: Results of the Non-Interventional Study VIVALDI

Abstract Introduction: The non-interventional study VIVALDI was carried out to evaluate the treatment with agomelatine, an innovative antidepressant, in routine practice. Methods: 665 psychiatrists treated 3 317 patients over 12 weeks with agomelatine and documented antidepressant effects via svMADRS, CGI scale and CircScreen questionnaire. Subgroups with severe depression (svMADRS ≥30) and elderly patients (≥65 years) were also analyzed. Results: In the total population, svMADRS total score decreased from 30.6 at baseline to 12.8 at final visit, in severely depressed patients from 36.7 to 14.7, in elderly patients from 29.0 to 12.2. In total 65.8% of patients could be classified as responders (≥50% decrease in svMADRS total score) and 54.8% as remitters (svMADRS ≤12). Daytime sleepiness was ameliorated in 78.2% of patients. Adverse drug reactions were reported for 10.0%, 8.9% and 10.1% of patients in total population, severely ill and elderly patients, respectively. Discussion: In this study, the antidepressant effects, improvement of circadian rhythm disorders and good tolerability of agomelatine were observed in unselected depressed patients, including multimorbid elderly and severely depressed patients under routine practice.
Neodesarrollismo y el tipo de cambio competitivo

En este trabajo se intenta mostrar que las modificaciones en los tipos de cambio tienen efectos limitados en el aumento del producto, mientras que, inversamente, esos cambios impactan especialmente en la distribucion del ingreso al incidir en los precios domesticos. Se analizan y muestran multiples referencias de la literatura internacional que cuestionan este “consenso de tipos de cambio competitivos”. Se realizan correlaciones que muestran resultados distintos de los obtenidos en Rodrik (2008) con los mismos datos utilizados, aunque simplemente cambiando la metodologia de datos de panel y usando en cambio una mas convencional de series de tiempo.
Inflationary Expectations and the Fisher Effect Prior to World War I

We use univariate and multivariate techniques to estimate the expected price level changes for the U.S. during the pre-World War I period. We also examine contemporaneous evidence from agricultural commodity futures markets to measure inflationary expectations. Using previously neglected data on consumer prices and a variety of techniques, we draw three main conclusions not traditionally found for this period: (1) price level changes were not white noise, (2) a significant portion of deflationary and inflationary episodes was indeed expected, and (3) expected inflation is positively and significantly correlated with nominal interest rates, thus providing support for a short-run Fisher effect.