Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk objectives in two-stage stochastic programming models

In applications of stochastic programming, optimization of the expected outcome need not be an acceptable goal. This has been the reason for recent proposals aiming at construction and optimization of more complicated nonlinear risk objectives. We will survey various approaches to risk quantification and optimization mainly in the framework of static and two-stage stochastic programs and comment on their properties. It turns out that polyhedral risk functionals introduced in Eichorn and Romisch [17] have many convenient features. We shall complement the existing results by an application of contamination technique to stress testing or robustness analysis of stochastic programs with polyhedral risk objectives with respect to the underlying probability distribution. The ideas will be illuminated by numerical results for a bond portfolio management problem.
Accurate prediction of the blood–brain partitioning of a large set of solutes using ab initio calculations and genetic neural network modeling

A genetic algorithm‐based artificial neural network model has been developed for the accurate prediction of the blood–brain barrier partitioning (in logBB scale) of chemicals. A data set of 123 logBB (115 old molecules and 8 new molecules) of a diverse set of chemicals was chosen in this study. The optimum 3D geometry of the molecules was estimated by the ab initio calculations at the level of RHF/STO‐3G, and consequently, different electronic descriptors were calculated for each molecule. Indeed, logP as a measure of hydrophobicity and different topological indices were also calculated. A three‐layered artificial neural network with backpropagation of an error‐learning algorithm was employed to process the nonlinear relationship between the calculated descriptors and logBB data. Genetic algorithm was used as a feature selection method to select the most relevant set of descriptors as the input of the network. Modeling of the logBB data by the only quantum descriptors produced a 5:4:1 ANN structure with RMS error of validation and crossvalidation equal to 0.224 and 0.227, respectively. Better nonlinear model (RMSV and RMSCV equals to 0.097 and 0.099, respectively) was obtained by the incorporation of the logP and the principal components of the topological indices to electronic descriptors. The ultimate performances of the models were obtained by the application of the models to predict the logBB of 23 molecules that did not have contribution in the steps of model development. The best model produced RMS error of prediction 0.140, and could predict about 98% of variances in the logBB data. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 27: 1125–1135, 2006
INCOME AND WEALTH HETEROGENEITY, PORTFOLIO CHOICE, AND EQUILIBRIUM ASSET RETURNS

We derive asset-pricing and portfolio-choice implications of a dynamic incomplete-markets model in which consumers are heterogeneous in several respects: labor income, asset wealth, and preferences. In contrast to earlier papers, we insist on at least roughly matching the model's implications for heterogeneity — notably, the equilibrium distributions of income and wealth — with those in U.S. data. This approach seems natural: Models that rely critically on heterogeneity for explaining asset prices are not convincing unless the heterogeneity is quantitatively reasonable. We find that the class of models we consider here is very far from success in explaining the equity premium when parameters are restricted to produce reasonable equilibrium heterogeneity. We express the equity premium as a product of two factors: the standard deviation of the excess return and the market price of risk. The first factor, as expected, is much too low in the model. The size of the market price of risk depends crucially on the constraints on borrowing. If substantial borrowing is allowed, the market price of risk is about one one-hundredth of what it is in the data (and about 15% higher than in the representative-agent model). However, under the most severe borrowing constraints that we consider, the market price of risk is quite close to the observed value.
Investigation of Positive Behavioral Change as a Function of Genuineness, Nonpossessive Warmth, and Empathic Understanding

AbstractResearch has shown that genuiness, nonpossessive warmth, and accurate empathy are positively related to therapeutic outcome for neurotic and schizophrenic adults. The present study attempted to extend and clarify these findings with elementary school children. Thirty-five adult females volunteered to work individually with thirty-five children who were experiencing behavioral and academic difficulties. Early and late interviews were tape recorded and rated on each of three variables. Each helper and each child completed a relationship inventory. Late-rated nonpossessive warmth, late-rated accurate empathy, and the total scores on the children's relationship inventories were significantly related to positive behavioral change. Similar programs will need to find methods of raising the overall level of therapeutic conditions offered by the helpers.
Chronic Ethanol and Withdrawal Differentially Modulate Basolateral Amygdala Paracapsular and Local GABAergic Synapses

Withdrawal-related anxiety is cited as a major contributor to relapse in recovering alcoholics. Changes in basolateral amygdala (BLA) neurotransmission could directly influence anxiety-like behaviors following chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal. We have recently shown that these treatments enhance BLA glutamatergic function and neurotransmission. However, the BLA GABAergic system tightly controls the expression of anxiety-like behavior; and, additional neuro-adaptations in this system are potentially important as well. The intrinsic BLA GABAergic system consists of at least two populations of interneurons – local feed-back interneurons scattered throughout the region and feed-forward interneurons concentrated within groups found in the lateral/paracapsular region of the BLA. In the present study, we found that withdrawal from chronic ethanol robustly decreased presynaptic function at feed-forward GABA synapses but did not alter neurotransmitter release from local interneurons. Differential presynaptic changes at these synapses were complemented by decreased zolpidem sensitivity at feed-forward synapses and decreased midazolam sensitivity at local synapses. Consistent with this, chronic ethanol/withdrawal decreased expression of GABA α 1 subunit total protein and increased surface expression of α 4 subunit protein. We also found transient increases in GABARAP protein levels and persistent increases in γ 2 subunit and gephyrin proteins that would suggest alterations in GABA A receptor trafficking that might help regulate changes in α 4 subunit localization. These data together suggest that chronic ethanol and withdrawal differentially modulate local and LPC GABAergic synapses via distinct pre- and post-synaptic mechanisms. These findings extend our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms governing changes in anxiety-like behavior following chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal.
Summative assessment: dealing with the ‘measurement fallacy’

Much grading of student work is based, overtly or tacitly, on assumptions derived from scientific measurement. However, the practice of grading and the cumulation of grades into an overall index of achievement are socially constructed activities that fall a long way short of what is expected of scientific measurement. If scientific measurement is an unattainable ideal, how should the summative assessment of student achievement be approached? The case is argued that the professional judgement of assessors has to be given prominence, and that this implies a sustained commitment to developmental work at institutional and sectoral levels. Some suggestions along these lines are outlined.
Human Dendritic Cells Activated by TSLP and CD40L Induce Proallergic Cytotoxic T Cells

Human thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a novel epithelial cell–derived cytokine, which induces dendritic cell (DC)-mediated CD4+ T cell responses with a proallergic phenotype. Although the participation of CD8+ T cells in allergic inflammation is well documented, their functional properties as well as the pathways leading to their generation remain poorly understood. Here, we show that TSLP-activated CD11c+ DCs potently activate and expand naive CD8+ T cells, and induce their differentiation into interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13–producing effectors exhibiting poor cytolytic activity. Additional CD40L triggering of TSLP-activated DCs induced CD8+ T cells with potent cytolytic activity, producing large amounts of interferon (IFN)-γ, while retaining their capacity to produce IL-5 and IL-13. These data further support the role of TSLP as initial trigger of allergic T cell responses and suggest that CD40L-expressing cells may act in combination with TSLP to amplify and sustain pro-allergic responses and cause tissue damage by promoting the generation of IFN-γ–producing cytotoxic effectors.
Histology and Histopathology In vitro analysis of the cellular resistance to chemotherapeutic BCNU

Our asays in vitro show that BCNU inhibits cell proliferation in the Ca cell line experimental glioma and is dose-dependent, starting from 0.5 pg/ml of the drug with just an hour of exposure. For every tested concentration of BCNU it is shown that, from the fifth day after exposure, cellular resistance appeared. This resistance is justified by the capacity of cell DNA reparation. A study of the clonogenic capacity of the Ca cells exposed to BCNU also shows the appearance of cellular resistance for doses of 0.5 pglml and 1 pglml. Furthermore, the exposure of Ca cell cultures to BCNU at these levels produces a cellular evolution towards more differentiated morphological patterns.
Dependency Networks for Inference, Collaborative Filtering, and Data Visualization

We describe a graphical representation of probabilistic relationships|an alternative to the Bayesian network|called a dependency network. Like a Bayesian network, a dependency network has a graph and a probability component. The graph component is a (cyclic) directed graph such that a node’s parents render that node independent of all other nodes in the network. The probability component consists of the probability of a node given its parents for each node (as in a Bayesian network). We identify several basic properties of this representation, and describe its use in probabilistic inference, collaborative (cid:12)ltering (the task of predicting preferences), and the visualization of predictive relationships.
Modifying specificity of antidigoxin antibodies using insertional mutagenesis

Certain antibodies (Abs) elicited using the cardiac glycoside digoxin (digoxigenin tridigitoxoside) bind preferentially to analogs that differ from digoxin by substitutions on the cardenolide rings, the lactone, or by the presence or absence of attached sugars. Antibody 26–10 binds equally well to digoxin and digitoxin, which differ only by the presence in the former and the absence in the latter of an hydroxyl group at C12. Other antidigoxin Abs, however, can distinguish between these ligands by three orders of magnitude in binding. Inspection of the structure of Fab 26–10 complexed with digoxin shows a gap in complementarity in the region between the digoxin O12 and LCDR3. We proposed that insertions in LCDR3 might result in Abs that bind digitoxin preferentially. We produced libraries of mutants displayed on bacteriophage which were randomized at LCDR3 and contained LCDR3 insertions. Mutants were selected by panning against digoxin and analogs. The mutants bound digitoxin preferentially up to 47‐fold greater than digoxin. The mutants that bound well to digitoxin demonstrated a consensus sequence including the substitution of Trp at position L:94. Using site‐directed mutagenesis, the binding to digitoxin was shown to be maximized by the combination of an insertion and L:Trp94 mutation, moving the L 94 side chain closer to digoxin. We also selected mutants that bound preferentially to gitoxin, which, like digitoxin, lacks the 12‐hydroxyl, increasing relative binding to gitoxin up to 600‐fold compared to the unmutated Ab 26–10.
Ectodomain shedding of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 in human airway epithelia.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a terminal carboxypeptidase and the receptor for the SARS and NL63 coronaviruses (CoV). Loss of ACE2 function is implicated in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pathogenesis, but little is known about ACE2 biogenesis and activity in the airways. We report that ACE2 is shed from human airway epithelia, a site of SARS-CoV infection. The regulation of ACE2 release was investigated in polarized human airway epithelia. Constitutive generation of soluble ACE2 was inhibited by DPC 333, implicating a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM17). Phorbol ester, ionomycin, endotoxin, and IL-1beta and TNFalpha acutely induced ACE2 release, further supporting that ADAM17 and ADAM10 regulate ACE2 cleavage. Soluble ACE2 was enzymatically active and partially inhibited virus entry into target cells. We determined that the ACE2 cleavage site resides between amino acid 716 and the putative transmembrane domain starting at amino acid 741. To reveal structural determinants underlying ACE2 release, several mutant and chimeric ACE2 proteins were engineered. Neither the juxtamembrane stalk region, transmembrane domain, nor the cytosolic domain was needed for constitutive ACE2 release. Interestingly, a point mutation in the ACE2 ectodomain, L584A, markedly attenuated shedding. The resultant ACE2-L584A mutant trafficked to the cell membrane and facilitated SARS-CoV entry into target cells, suggesting that the ACE2 ectodomain regulates its release and that residue L584 might be part of a putative sheddase "recognition motif. " Thus ACE2 must be cell associated to serve as a CoV receptor and soluble ACE2 might play a role in modifying inflammatory processes at the airway mucosal surface.
End-tidal CO2-arterial CO2 differences: a useful intraoperative mortality marker in trauma surgery.

OBJECTIVE The gradient of end-tidal CO2 to arterial CO2 (Pa-ET)CO2 has been identified as a predictor of mortality in patients undergoing emergency trauma surgery. In an effort to further elucidate this phenomena, we accumulated additional data on trauma patients undergoing emergency surgery. METHODS Five-hundred and one patients undergoing emergent trauma surgery at an Urban Level I Trauma Center were used as a database. Data were obtained both prospectively and retrospectively. End-tidal and CO2 measurements were serially obtained during surgery. Data were arbitrarily placed in three categories: initial OR, post-resuscitation, and final OR. (Post-resuscitation was identified after bleeding controlled and vital signs normalizing). Correlation of the end-tidal CO2 with the PACO2 difference were correlated with various factors including survival. RESULTS Overall mortality was 29%. Mean ISS was 22 +/- 9.8. Mean emergency department systolic blood pressure was 81 mm Hg. Sixty-three people died in the operating room, 54 died within 24 hours post-op, and 30 patients died greater than 24 hours post-op. The average (Pa-ET)CO2 difference was <10 mm Hg in all survivors at all measurement times. The average (Pa-ET)CO2 was >10 mm Hg in non-survivors in patients that died at all time intervals. CONCLUSION (Pa-ET)CO2 can be used as a predictor of mortality and may be useful as an intraoperative tool for assessing the physiologic conditions of the patient. This predictor of mortality was valid even in patients that died greater than 24 hours after surgery. This information is almost always already available and may be used to further guide the decisions regarding patient care, particularly in decisions regarding damage control surgery.
The Income Digital Divide: Trends and Predictions for Levels of Internet Use

This article examines recent U.S. Census Bureau data to test the hypothesis that the diffusion of the Internet is becoming more rather than less polarized by family income in the United States. Using multiple logistic regression and other odds-based analyses to assess Internet access in the United States from 1997 to 2003, this analysis finds that the odds of access increased most rapidly for individuals at highest family income levels and most slowly for individuals with the lowest income levels. These differential rates of diffusion, combined with an overall slowing of the diffusion of Internet use since 2001, suggest that it may be 2009 before a majority of lowestincome Americans use the Internet. The slow diffusion among low-income groups is not apparent in comparable assessments of Internet diffusion in European countries.
Are Organic Consumers Healthier than Others

Recent research results indicate that organic consumers have a healthier diet than other consumers. This suggests that there might be a positive relationship between organic consumption and a healthy lifestyle. One aim of an ongoing research project is to analyse whether consumers with a high organic consumption have a higher interest in nutrition and a healthy living than other consumers. In order to test whether such a causal relationship exists, purchase data from Danish households are combined with information on these households’ perception of organic food and their health concerns.
The Disability Oriented Rehabilitation Unit - A Major Factor Influencing Stroke Outcome

Many investigators have analyzed the effectiveness of the cardiac care unit (as a model of a disability oriented, specially staffed, geographically isolated unit) in altering outcome following acute myocardial infarction. Little data are available, however, on the efficacy of caring for patients with stroke on specially staffed disability oriented units. Of 667 patients with stroke recently discharged from the Burke Rehabilitation Center, 589 were admitted to the stroke unit (SU group) and 78 were admitted to other units (NSU group). Statistical analysis showed that the SU patients were significantly weaker, had longer onset-admission intervals, and exhibited more concurrent medical problems and neurologic deficits. There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in age, sex, and distribution of weakness. Both groups had similar treatment programs provided by staff who had rotated through the stroke unit. Ability to perform activities of daily living (dressing, feeding, hygiene, bowel and bladder routines) and length of hospitalization were similar for both groups. SU patients walked better and went home more frequently than NSU patients. These data indicate that even in a rehabilitation center specializing in treating functional disabilities, patients with stroke are more likely to improve if placed on a disability oriented unit than if they are admitted to mixed disability units which are scattered throughout the hospital.
Evaluating the Role of Patient Sample Definitions for Quality Indicators Sensitive to Nurse Staffing Patterns

BackgroundAdministrative data are an attractive data source for the construction of quality indicators to assess and monitor quality of nursing care in hospitals. Current approaches to constructing measures from discharge abstracts apply substantial restrictions to exclude patients at high risk or with preexisting conditions. This study evaluates whether broader sample definitions combined with risk adjustment would allow for larger samples and increase analytic power. MethodsEight indicators were constructed from discharge abstracts of major surgical and medical patients from 799 hospitals in 11 states using existing definitions: pneumonia, urinary tract infection, decubitus ulcers, central nervous system complications, shock, sepsis, pulmonary failure, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We tested the effect of broadening the samples in 4 ways: comparing indicator rates in the broader and restrictive samples; assessing correlations of hospital ranks in the broader and restrictive samples; performing clinical reviews of cases in the added samples; and using different samples in regressions of indicators on nurse staffing variables, adjusting for patient risk. ResultsIndicator rates in the broader samples tended to be higher but did not change hospital rankings significantly. Clinical review suggested that many sample restrictions could be dropped. Using indicators based on broader definitions, coefficients on staffing variables increased in magnitude ConclusionLess restrictive sample definitions were shown to be feasible and increased the sensitivity of the indicators and thus the power of the analysis. Particularly in surgical patients, the samples could be broadened, although more conservative definitions appeared appropriate for medical patients.
Clinical and laboratory aspects of raised virus antibody titres in systemic lupus erythematosus.

A possible role of virus infection in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been postulated. This concept has been supported by the demonstration by Mellors, Shirai, Aoki, Huebner, and Krawczynski (1971) and Levy and Pincus (1970) of a role of virus infection in the disease of New Zealand mice (NZB) which is a model of SLE (Howie and Helyer, 1968); by reports of microtubular structures in glomerular endothelium from SLE patients (Fresco, 1968; Grausz, Earley, Stephens, Lee, and Hopper, 1970; and Norton, 1969) and by the occurrence of high antibody titres to measles, rubella, and parainfluenza 1 viruses (Phillips and Christian, 1970; Hurd, Dowdle, Casey, and Ziff, 1972; Hollinger, Sharp, Lidsky, and Rawls, 1971; Feltkamp, van Loghem, Lucas, van der Noordaa, de Rooy, and ten Veen, 1971) in SLE patients as compared to controls. High antibody titres to the Epstein-Barr (EB) virus have also been reported by Dalldorf, Carvalho, Jamra, Frost, Erlich, and Marigo (1969), and in a larger survey of our own (Evans, Rothfield, and Niederman, 1971), to be present in SLE patients as compared to controls. The present study expands our previous preliminary communication on the increase of the four virus antibodies in SLE as compared to control subjects and in contrast to normal or decreased antibody levels for seven other viruses. We here present the relation of the raised antibody titres of the four viruses to epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features of SLE. The data here presented also include serial observations over prolonged periods on several patients. On the basis of the evidence found, the EB virus may be a likely candidate for participation in the aetiology and pathogenesis of SLE in some patients. Material and methods
Pathways to deviance: developmental trajectories of externalizing problems in dutch youth

textabstractExternalizing behaviors are the most common and persistent forms of childhood problem behaviors (Campbell, 1995) and are both concurrently and prospectively related to impaired functioning in many domains (Rutter, Giller, & Hagell, 1998). Studies indicated that children and adolescents with conduct problems are at increased risk for various types of psychopathology in adulthood (Bardone, Moffitt, Caspi, Dickson, & Silva, 1996; Farrington, 1999; Fergusson, Lynskey, & Horwood, 1996; Keenan, Loeber, & Green, 1999; Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, & Milne, 2002; Zoccolillo, 1993), delinquency (Broidy et al., 2003; Fergusson & Horwood, 2002), and impaired social functioning (Achenbach, Howell, McConaughy, & Stanger, 1998; Chassin, Pitts, & DeLucia, 1999). At the same time externalizing behaviors change so much in expression and frequency over the course of development that studies at any single time-point in development will provide only limited information or misrepresent the phenomenon (Kraemer, Yesavage, Taylor, & Kupfer, 2000). Therefore there is a growing consensus that externalizing behavior must be studied from a developmental perspective (Costello & Angold, 2000).