Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The large‐scale distribution of somatic mutations in cancer genomes

Recently, the genome sequences from several cancers have been published, along with the genome from a noncancer tissue from the same individual, allowing the identification of new somatic mutations in the cancer. We show that there is significant variation in the density of mutations at the 1‐Mb scale within three cancer genomes and that the density of mutations is correlated between them. We also demonstrate that the density of mutations is correlated to that in the germline, as measured by the divergence between humans and chimpanzees and humans and macaques. We show that the density of mutations is correlated to the guanine and cytosine (GC) conent, replication time, distance to telomere and centromere, gene density, and nucleosome occupancy in the cancer genomes. However, overall, all factors explain less than 40% of the variance in mutation density and each factor explains very little of the variance. We find that genes associated with cancer occupy regions of the genome with significantly lower mutation rates than the average. Finally, we show that the density of mutations varies at a 10‐Mb and a chromosomal scale, but that the variation at these scales is weak. Hum Mutat 33:136–143, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sonoclot evaluation of whole blood coagulation in healthy adult dogs.

OBJECTIVE To establish a standard protocol for analysis of canine whole blood and generate reference intervals for healthy dogs using the Sonoclot analyzer, and to compare Sonoclot values to standard and viscoelastic coagulation tests. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Veterinary University research facility and teaching hospital. ANIMALS Twelve healthy random source dogs and 52 healthy dogs from the general veterinary school population. INTERVENTIONS Blood sampling for viscoelastic coagulation testing. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Blood was collected from 12 healthy adult dogs by jugular venipuncture. After a rest period at room temperature of 30, 60, or 120 minutes, 340 μL of citrated blood was added to 20 μL of 0.2 M CaCl(2) in 1 of 2 cuvette types warmed to 37° C. Cuvettes contained a magnetic stir-bar with glass beads (gbACT+) or only a magnetic stir-bar (nonACT). Reference interval samples were collected from 52 healthy adult dogs and analyzed in duplicate. The ACT, CR, and PF were not affected by duration of rest period for either cuvette type. ACT variability was decreased when using gbACT+ cuvettes (P < 0.05). In normal dogs reference intervals (mean ± 2 SD) using gbACT+ cuvettes were: ACT 56.0-154.0 seconds, CR 14.85-46.0, and PF 2.1-4.05. ACT correlated to TEG R-time, K-time, and angle, while CR correlated with all TEG parameters. Fibrinogen correlated with ACT, CR, and PF. Sonoclot did not correlate with other common coagulation tests. CONCLUSIONS Sonoclot provides viscoelastic evaluation of canine whole blood coagulation and correlated to several TEG parameters and fibrinogen. A standard protocol and reference intervals were established.
The Valuation Effects of Prime Rate Revisions: Is There an Advantage of Being First?

US banks making prime rate revisions are known to suffer stock price declines, which is consistent with the Stiglitz-Weiss adverse selection theory, given the relative stickiness of interest rates. If banks suffer price declines, then why are some banks consistent leaders when revising prime rates? This research question is the focus of our paper and is examined in the relatively concentrated banking system of Singapore. Lead banks in Singapore initiating a large number of rate increases earned an average abnormal return of 5.2%, while non-lead banks also experienced positive abnormal returns of 3.9%, a result not in agreement with US-specific evidence. We argue that the rate increases (decreases) resulting in a significant stock price increase (decrease) for lead banks are consistent with a valuation effect in a concentrated banking system. Our results could be explained as a valuation effect from anticipated higher profits or as reward for being first. The first mover advantage may thus also have signaling value on quality.
Spatial planning, area action plans and the rural-urban fringe

Abstract The rural-urban fringe has been called ‘planning's last frontier’, and it is a frontier that is now receiving greater attention from policy makers. This is partly a result of ongoing reforms of the planning system—through the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and potentially through further legislation in 2007 or 2008—and the apparent opportunities that have been created to manage the inherent complexities of these near-urban interstitial landscapes through ‘spatial planning’. This may include landscape enhancement and the provision of green infrastructure to meet community needs, which past green belt policy has tended to overlook according to the recent Barker Review of Land-Use Planning. This paper examines how spatial planning delivered at the local level, through area action plans (AAP), provides the potential to carry forward a new set of objectives at the rural-urban fringe, essentially, to reflect the ‘multi-functional’ nature of the fringe to a greater extent than past land-use planning with its emphasis on policy control. Existing green belt policy has been, for the past 50 years, an expression of this policy control focus. But what potential now exists to do more than merely control and respond to development pressure? Do AAP offer a means of enhancing the rural-urban fringe for the benefit of nearby communities and the wider environment? Can they ‘bridge the gap’ between the ideas of spatial planning and the need for transformative and integrative projects on the ground? These questions are asked in the context of a recent project at St Helens, in the north of England, which has aimed to carry forward a more holistic approach to the planning and management of the rural-urban fringe through area action planning rolled out by a local strategic partnership of public and private bodies.
Pain in Parkinson's disease: analysis of 50 cases in a clinic of movement disorders.

INTRODUCTION Pain is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is often related to the illness itself. OBJECTIVE To prospectively establish the occurrence of pain in PD patients. METHOD This study was conducted within a population composed of 50 patients with PD to evaluate the presence of pain. RESULTS Twenty-eight patients reported pain; comparing the group with pain and the group without pain, there were no differences related to the beginning of the illness and the motor symptoms of PD. However, many patients related an improvement of pain when antiparkinsonian therapy was initiated or adjusted. CONCLUSION The use of techniques for analgesia and the adjustment of PD medication contribute to improve the manifestations of pain and the life quality of patients with PD.
The Arabidopsis nitrate transporter NPF7.3/NRT1.5 is involved in lateral root development under potassium deprivation

ABSTRACT Plants have evolved a large array of transporters and channels that are responsible for uptake, source-to-sink distribution, homeostasis and signaling of nitrate (NO3−), which is for most plants the primary nitrogen source and a growth-limiting macronutrient. To optimize NO3− uptake in response to changing NO3− concentrations in the soil, plants are able to modify their root architecture. Potassium is another macronutrient that influences the root architecture. We recently demonstrated that the Arabidopsis NO3− transporter NPF7.3/NRT1.5, which drives root-to-shoot transport of NO3−, is also involved in root-to-shoot translocation of K+ under low NO3− nutrition. Here, we show that K+ shortage, but not limiting NO3− supply, causes in nrt1.5 mutant plants an altered root architecture with conspicuously reduced lateral root density. Since lateral root development is influenced by auxin, we discuss a possible involvement of NPF7.3/NRT1.5 in auxin homeostasis in roots under K+ deprivation.
On making a polynomial Hurwitz invariant by choice of feedback gains

Given a polynomial f(s,k,q) which depends on the complex variable s, a vector of design parameters k¿Rm and a vector of uncertain parameters q¿Q, we consider the following problem: Under what conditions does there exist a k* making f(s,k*,q) Hurwitz invariant? That is for all q¿Q, f(s,k*,q) has all its zeros in the strict left half plane. In this paper, we develop sufficient conditions for the existence of k* and provide a "recipe" for the construction of k* (whenever it exists). The conditions developed are seen to have an interesting control theoretic interpretation.
Does the one man show pay? Theory and evidence on the dual CEO revisited

Contrary to the view expressed in several countries and the corresponding pressure exerted by shareholder activists and regulators to separate the titles of CEO and Board Chairman, this study proposes that there is an optimal board composition for each firm, which varies across firms and over time. A review of the extant empirical evidence reveals that most prior studies bypass this notion which raises serious implications for related empirical studies. In addition, this study documents striking differences in leadership structures between the US and the UK and calls for further research in an international context.
Market Definition and the Analysis of Antitrust in Banking

In antitrust analysis of bank mergers, banking markets are viewed as geographically local, with a "cluster" of products as the relevant product line. This view is criticized as outdated, now that many bank products are offered by nonbank institutions and financial institutions' operations are increasingly national in scope. This paper reexamines the question of market definition in banking, using two micro data sets uniquely well-suited to the task. We find that local depositories remain the dominant supplier of key financial services to households and small businesses, with geographic proximity still important in their institution choice.
Cancer Immunotherapy: Historical Perspective of a Clinical Revolution and Emerging Preclinical Animal Models

At the turn of the last century, the emerging field of medical oncology chose a cytotoxic approach to cancer therapy over an immune-centered approach at a time when evidence in support of either paradigm did not yet exist. Today, nearly 120 years of data have established that (a) even the best cytotoxic regimens only infrequently cure late-stage malignancy and (b) strategies that supplement and augment existing antitumor immune responses offer the greatest opportunities to potentiate durable remission in cancer. Despite widespread acceptance of these paradigms today, the ability of the immune system to recognize and fight cancer was a highly controversial topic for much of the twentieth century. Why this modern paradigmatic mainstay should have been both dubious and controversial for such an extended period is a topic of considerable interest that merits candid discussion. Herein, we review the literature to identify and describe the watershed events that ultimately led to the acceptance of immunotherapy as a viable regimen for the treatment of neoplastic malignancy. In addition to noting important clinical discoveries, we also focus on research milestones and the development of critical model systems in rodents and dogs including the advanced modeling techniques that allowed development of patient-derived xenografts. Together, their use will further our understanding of cancer biology and tumor immunology, allow for a speedier assessment of the efficacy and safety of novel approaches, and ultimately provide a faster bench to beside transition.
The effect of crossing legs on blood pressure: a randomized single-blind cross-over study.

BACKGROUND Although there is a theoretical basis for crossing legs to increase blood pressure, there are no published data addressing this question. As a result guidelines for measurement of blood pressure are not consistent in recommending that patients legs should not be crossed during measurement. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of crossing legs on blood pressure. METHODS Fifty healthy volunteers and 53 patients with hypertension were randomly allocated in a study with a cross-over design to having seated blood pressure measured with their legs in three different positions: feet flat on the floor and legs crossed using two common methods. The blood pressures were assessed by an investigator who was blinded to the leg positions and used a fully automated sphygmomanometer. RESULTS Crossing legs during blood pressure measurement increased systolic (by average 8.1 mmHg, 95% confidence interval 5.1-11.1 mmHg for method 1; 10.5 mmHg, 6.5-14.6 mmHg for method 2) and diastolic (by 4.5 mmHg, 1.5-7.5 mmHg for method 1; 4.0 mmHg, 2.0-6.0 mmHg for method 2) blood pressures in patients who have hypertension. Crossing legs increased systolic blood pressure (by 2.5 mmHg, 1.3)3.8 mmHg for method 1; 2.3 mmHg, 0.9-3.7 mmHg for method 2) in the healthy volunteers but had little effect on diastolic blood pressure. The cardiovascular-risk class increased for a large number of the hypertensive patients but for fewer of the normotensive subjects. CONCLUSIONS Blood pressure increases when legs are crossed and this increases the estimation of cardiovascular risk for many patients. Care should be taken to ensure that the patients feet are flat on the floor when measuring their blood pressure.
The Determinants of Currency Risk Management in Latin American Nonfinancial Firms

This paper investigates the determinants of currency risk management in nonfinancial firms in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, based on a panel data sample of firms that list as American depositary receipts from 2001 to 2004. Our evidence indicates that derivatives held for hedging purposes can yield cash flows of the same order of magnitude of capital expenditures, operational earnings, and financial expense, unlike what was previously found by Guay and Kothari (2003) for U.S. firms. We study not only the decision to use derivatives, but also the magnitude of derivatives holdings and the importance of operational hedging in firms' risk management strategies. We find that economies of scale, financial distress costs, informational asymmetry, and growth opportunities are important for risk management decisions, and that firms do not hedge because of potential tax benefits.
Social safety nets and gender : learning from impact evaluations and World Bank projects

Poverty reduction is the overarching objective of the World Bank Group and is reflected in the institutions commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More recently, the twin goals of the institution, eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity, expressed a renewed commitment toward the Bank Groups vision of a world free of poverty. This message is intimately related to another main goal of the institution: advancing gender equality. The shared prosperity goal calls for ensuring that men and women and boys and girls are included in the development process. This review focuses on a core set of poverty reduction interventions: Social Safety Net (SSN) programs. SSNs, a subset of social protection programs, are noncontributory transfer programs. Their main objective is to protect the poor against destitution and promoting equality of opportunity. The need to integrate gender considerations into the design of SSNs (and social protection interventions more generally) is an explicit objective of the World Bank Social Protection (SP) strategy. This report analyzes whether SSN interventions produce results and help to improve gender equality for men and women and boys and girls, either as a deliberate outcome or as an unplanned consequence. The report discusses whether SSN interventions aim to empower women and achieve greater gender equality, or impact other gender outcomes as one of their main goals. The report also looks at what type of actions and indicators these interventions adopt and what results they obtain. The report reviews evidence of results on SSN-specific outcomes.
A Self-Care Framework for Social Workers: Building a Strong Foundation for Practice

Self-care is widely recognized as critical to social work practice, yet little empirical support or practical guidance exists in the literature to steer social workers in its implementation. Self-care may not only be crucial in preventing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and high staff turnover, but it can serve as a means of empowerment that enables practitioners to proactively and intentionally negotiate their overall health, well-being, and resilience. The purpose of this article is threefold: (a) to explore current conceptualizations of self-care; (b) to provide a clear conceptual definition of and an applied framework for self-care; and (c) to explicate the utility of this framework for social work practitioners, students, educators, and social service agencies' supervisors and administrators.
Baclofen for binge eating: an open-label trial.

OBJECTIVE Baclofen is a GABA-B agonist that may be useful in the treatment of substance use disorders, and also reduces 'binge-like' eating in rodents. We hypothesized that baclofen might be effective in reducing binge eating episodes in binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN). METHOD Seven women with BED (n = 4) or BN (n = 3) took baclofen (60 mg/day) for 10 weeks. RESULTS Six out of seven patients completed the full 10-week trial. Five out of seven participants (3 BED; 2 BN) demonstrated 50% or greater reduction of frequency of binge eating from beginning to end of the study. Three out of seven participants (2 BED; 1 BN) were free of binge eating at study end. Four out of seven participants elected to continue baclofen at study end. Baclofen was well tolerated by the participants. CONCLUSION In this open-label trial, baclofen was associated with decreased binge eating frequency in patients with BED and BN.
Spaces for Creativity and Innovation in Two Established Organizations

Organizational work environments are increasingly strategically designed to support creativity and innovation processes, although a consistent theoretical frame for such an endeavour has not been developed yet. Creativity- and innovation-oriented design of work environments requires an understanding of the principles of the underlying processes and their spatial implications. Both creativity and innovation processes are complex and display in different phases convergent and divergent characteristics. The processes are dependent on both individual and group effort. In this article these dimensions are discussed from a theoretical perspective and are used for evaluating the two cases presented here. The first case, the Interactive Creativity Landscape as integral part of the Fraunhofer Office Innovation Center in Germany has been designed interpreting the convergent and divergent phases of creative processes. The second case, the Learning Garden of a Scandinavian financial institution has been designed having de Bono's procedure in mind. The article concludes with the suggestion that increasingly organizations will offer diversity for spatially supporting creativity and innovation processes; solutions will be manifold but will follow certain principles - some of which are discussed here.
The Visual Presentation of Beauty in Transnational Fashion Magazine Advertisements

In the age of globalization, fashion advertising images are increasingly used in multiple cultural arenas. As such, the purpose of the study is to examine how Western media operates in a non-Western context. Specifically, the research aims to investigate how beauty ideals and ethnicity are portrayed in transnational fashion ads. The findings suggest beauty ideals in fashion ads contain similarities and differences across cultural boundaries. In addition, ethnicity of the models plays a crucial role in fashion display. Overall, the research sheds light on cultural theories and promotion strategies in global advertising.
Is hypothermia in the victim of major trauma protective or harmful? A randomized, prospective study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this randomized, prospective clinical trial was to determine whether hypothermia during resuscitation is protective or harmful to critically injured trauma patients. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Hypothermia has both protective and harmful clinical effects. Retrospective studies show higher mortality in patients with hypothermia; however, hypothermia is more common in more severely injured patients, which makes it difficult to determine whether hypothermia contributes to mortality independently of injury severity. There are no randomized, prospective treatment studies to assess hypothermia's impact as an independent variable. METHODS Fifty-seven hypothermic (T < or = 34.5 C), critically injured patients requiring a pulmonary artery catheter were randomized to a rapid rewarming protocol using continuous arteriovenous rewarming (CAVR) or to a standard rewarming (SR) control group. The primary outcome of interest was first 24-hour blood product and fluid resuscitation requirements. Other comparative analyses included coagulation assays, hemodynamic and oxygen transport measurements, length of stay, and mortality. RESULTS The two groups were well matched for demographic and injury severity characteristics. CAVR rewarmed significantly faster than did SR (p < 0.01), producing two groups with different amounts of hypothermia exposure. The patients who underwent CAVR required less fluid during resuscitation to the same hemodynamic goals (24,702 mL vs. 32,540 mL, p = 0.05) and were significantly more likely to rewarm (p = 0.002). Only 2 (7%) of 29 patients who underwent CAVR failed to warm to 36 C and both died, whereas 12 (43%) of 28 patients who underwent SR failed to reach 36 C, and all 12 died. Patients who underwent CAVR had significantly less early mortality (p = 0.047). CONCLUSION Hypothermia increases fluid requirements and independently increases acute mortality after major trauma.
Endogenous Choice of Strategic Variables in an Asymmetric Duopoly with Respect to the Demand Functions that Firms Face

This paper examines endogenous choice of firm's strategic variables—i.e. price or quantity contract—in a duopoly in which the demand functions that they face are asymmetric in managerial delegation case with separation between ownership and management. We show that when the degree of asymmetry between the demand functions that the two firms face is low, price and quantity competitions are observed in the equilibrium, whereas when the degree of such asymmetry is high, the two types of market structures in which the strategic variables selected by the two owners are different from each other are observed in the equilibrium.
A Method to Generate Structural Impulse-Responses for Measuring the Effects of Shocks in Structural Macro Models

We develop a technique for analyzing the response dynamics of economic variables to structural shocks in linear rational expectations models. Our work differs fromstandard SVARs since we allow expectations of future variables to enter structural equations. We show how to estimate the variance-covariance matrix of fundamental and non-fundamental shocks and we construct point estimates and confidence bounds for impulse response functions. Our technique can handle both determinate and indeterminate equilibria. We provide an application to U.S. monetary policy under pre and post Volcker monetary policy rules. JEL Classification: C39, C62, D51, E52, E58