Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Pay and Earnings Dynamics

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we study how the autocovariance structure of wages and earnings di¤ers under di¤erent contractual arrangements. We divide jobs on the basis of whether they pay for performance, and whether they are covered by collective bargaining agreements. While cross-sectional wage inequality is larger in performance-pay than non-performance-pay jobs, precisely the opposite happens in the case of annual earnings. This suggests that hours of work respond more to demand shocks when wages are inexible (in non-performance-pay jobs) than when they are exible because of performance-pay schemes. This result only holds, however, for purely cross-sectional measures of inequality. Since the variation in hours is mostly transitory, from a long-run perspective inequality remains larger in performance-pay than non-performance-pay jobs. The authors would like to thank John Haltiwanger, Lawrence Katz, Till von Wachter, and Michael Woodford for useful discussions, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for research support.
Parfait: designing a scalable bug checker

We present the design of Parfait, a static layered program analysis framework for bug checking, designed for scalability and precision by improving false positive rates and scale to millions of lines of code. The Parfait framework is inherently parallelizable and makes use of demand driven analyses. In this paper we provide an example of several layers of analyses for buffer overflow, summarize our initial implementation for C, and provide preliminary results. Results are quantified in terms of correctly-reported, false positive and false negative rates against the NIST SAMATE synthetic benchmarks for C code.
Comparison of the Humoral Markers of Bone Turnover and Bone Mineral Density in Patients on Haemodialysis and Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Renal osteodystrophy is an important complication in patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance dialysis. The aim of this study was to compare the biochemical markers of bone formation (serum collagen type I C-terminal propeptide) and resorption (serum deoxypyridinoline – DPD – and pyridinoline – PYR) with the bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar spine, femoral neck, and forearm in patients with end-stage renal disease on haemodialysis (HD) versus continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Fifty-nine adult patients, 45 on CAPD (18 females, 27 males) and 14 on HD (2 females, 12 males), were studied. The mean age was 44 ± SEM 1.6 and 54.4 ± 4.8 years, respectively. No significant differences in serum calcium, phosphorus, creatinine, and parathyroid hormone were found between patients on HD and CAPD in predialysis samples. Serum urea was significantly lower (p = 0.02) in the CAPD group. Serum PYR (nmol/l) and DPD (nmol/l) were significantly higher in patients on HD as compared with those on CAPD: 105 ± 23.3 versus 43.7 ± 3.47 (p = 0.007) and 31.0 ± 2.4 versus 24.4 ± 1.4 (p = 0.027), respectively. The results were still significantly higher in the HD patients following correction for serum creatinine and body mass index. There was a close correlation between dialysate DPD and creatinine in both dialysis modalities (HD r = 0.9, CAPD r = 0.76). The clearance of DPD did not differ significantly between the CAPD membrane and the HD membrane (p = 0.22). Serum collagen type I C-terminal propeptide was not significantly different between the HD and CAPD patients. The results were unaffected following correction for age and gender. The BMD was measured in 38 (65%) of the patients (HD n = 8, CAPD n = 30) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and expressed as ‘Z’ scores. This was reduced at all sites in the patients with end-stage renal disease. The BMD was significantly lower at the ultradistal forearm (mostly trabecular bone) in HD patients as compared with CAPD patients (n = 0.02). A similar trend was observed at the lumbar spine, although the results failed to reach significance. In the whole population (n = 38), linear regression analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between BMD at the ultradistal forearm and serum PYR (r = –0.35, p = 0.04) and DPD (r = –0.33, p = 0.049). Combined measurements of BMD and biochemical markers of bone resorption may have potential in the identification of patients at high risk of bone loss who may require further evaluation of bone remodeling by bone histomorphometry.
A Subpopulation of Olfactory Bulb GABAergic Interneurons Is Derived from Emx1- and Dlx5/6-Expressing Progenitors

The subventricular zone (SVZ) of the postnatal brain continuously generates olfactory bulb (OB) interneurons. We show that calretinin+, calbindin+, and dopaminergic (TH+) periglomerular OB interneurons correspond to distinct subtypes of GABAergic cells; all were produced in the postnatal mouse brain, but they matured and were eliminated at different rates. The embryonic lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) is thought to be the site of origin of postnatal SVZ neural progenitors. Consistently, grafts of the embryonic LGE into the adult brain SVZ generated many OB interneurons, including TH+ and calbindin+ periglomerular interneurons. However, calretinin+ cells were not produced from these LGE grafts. Surprisingly, pallial and septal embryonic progenitors transplanted into the adult brain SVZ also resulted in the generation of OB interneurons, including calretinin+ cells. A subset of Dlx2+ OB interneurons was derived from cells expressing Emx1, a transcription factor largely restricted to the pallium during development. Emx1 lineage-derived cells contributed a substantial portion of GABAergic cells in the OB, including calretinin+ interneurons. This is in contrast to cortex, in which Emx1 lineage-derived cells do not differentiate into GABAergic neurons. Our results suggest that some OB interneurons are derived from progenitors outside the LGE and that precursors expressing what has classically been considered a pallial transcription factor generate GABAergic interneurons.
Therapeutic efficacy of the topoisomerase I inhibitor 7-ethyl-10-(4-[1-piperidino]-1-piperidino)-carbonyloxy-camptothecin against human tumor xenografts: lack of cross-resistance in vivo in tumors with acquired resistance to the topoisomerase I inhibitor 9-dimethylaminomethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin.

The efficacy of the topoisomerase I inhibitor CPT-11 [7-ethyl-10-(4-[1-piperidino]-1-piperidino)-carbonyloxycamptothec in] has been evaluated against a panel of human tumor xenografts derived from adult and pediatric malignancies. Tumors included eight colon adenocarcinomas representing intrinsically chemorefractory malignancies, six lines derived from childhood rhabdomyosarcoma (three embryonal and three alveolar) representing a chemoresponsive histiotype, and sublines of rhabdomyosarcomas selected in vivo for resistance to vincristine, melphalan, and the topoisomerase I inhibitor 9-dimethylaminomethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (topotecan). CPT-11 was given by i.v. administration daily for 5 days each week for 2 weeks (one cycle of therapy) or on the same schedule with cycles repeated every 21 days. The maximum tolerated dose for a single cycle of treatment was 40 mg/kg/dose, and for 3 cycles the maximum tolerated dose was 10 mg/kg/dose. Treatment was started against advanced tumors. Against colon adenocarcinomas CPT-11 administered for one cycle at the maximum tolerated dose caused complete or partial regression (> or = 50% reduction in tumor volume) in 5 of 8 lines. One cycle of CPT-11 therapy caused significant inhibition of tumor growth, without 50% regression, in 2 of 3 other colon adenocarcinomas. Rhabdomyosarcoma xenografts derived from untreated patients were highly responsive to CPT-11, which caused complete regression in 5 of 6 lines even at 20 or 10 mg/kg/dose. CPT-11 retained complete activity against rhabdomyosarcomas selected for resistance to vincristine and caused complete regressions in a line selected for resistance to melphalan that was also completely cross-resistant to topotecan. Of note was the observation that CPT-11 was as active against two xenografts selected for primary resistance to topotecan as it was against the respective parental tumors. Preliminary data indicate that CPT-11, like the topoisomerase I inhibitor topotecan, may have increased therapeutic efficacy when administered at a low dose for protracted periods (3 cycles). A comparison of the efficacy of CPT-11 with topotecan is presented.
Resolving the Spanning Puzzle in Macro-Finance Term Structure Models

Most existing macro-finance term structure models (MTSMs) appear incompatible with regression evidence of unspanned macro risk. This “spanning puzzle” appears to invalidate those models in favor of new unspanned MTSMs. However, our empirical analysis supports the previous spanned models. Using simulations to investigate the spanning implications of MTSMs, we show that a canonical spanned model is consistent with the regression evidence; thus, we resolve the spanning puzzle. In addition, direct likelihood-ratio tests find that the knife-edge restrictions of unspanned models are rejected with high statistical significance, though these restrictions have only small effects on cross-sectional fit and estimated term premia.
INCORPORATING NATURAL VARIATION INTO TIME SERIES-BASED LAND COVER CHANGE IDENTIFICATION

The ability to monitor forest related change events like forest fires, deforestation for agriculture intensification, and logging is critical for effective forest management. Time series remote sensing data sets such as MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) can be used to identify these changes. Most existing approaches work on small data sets spanning over a specific geographic region of a homogeneous vegetation type. Also, most of these need training samples or require setting of parameters for each geographic region individually. These limitations make the algorithms unscalable and restrict their global applicability. In this paper, we present a scalable time series based change detection framework that overcomes these limitations of the existing methods. We introduce the concept of natural variation in EVI for a given of location and incorporate it into the change detection paradigm. We evaluate the change events identified by our approach using forest fire validation data in California and Canada. The results of this study demonstrate that the inclusion of a measure of natural variability improves detection accuracy, and makes the paradigm more robust across vegetation types and regions.
Personality‐dependent dissociation of absolute and relative loss processing in orbitofrontal cortex

A negative outcome can have motivational and emotional consequences on its own (absolute loss) or in comparison to alternative, better, outcomes (relative loss). The consequences of incurring a loss are moderated by personality factors such as neuroticism and introversion. However, the neuronal basis of this moderation is unknown. Here we investigated the neuronal basis of loss processing and personality with functional magnetic resonance imaging in a choice task. We separated absolute and relative financial loss by sequentially revealing the chosen and unchosen outcomes. With increasing neuroticism, activity in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) preferentially reflected relative rather than absolute losses. Conversely, with increasing introversion, activity in the right lateral OFC preferentially reflected absolute rather than relative losses. These results suggest that personality affects loss‐related processing through the lateral OFC, and propose a dissociation of personality dimension and loss type on the neuronal level.
Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in the Originate-to-Distribute Model of Bank Credit

Bank credit has evolved from the traditional relationship banking model to an originate-to-distribute model. We show that the borrowers whose loans are sold in the secondary market underperform their peers by about 9% per year (risk-adjusted) over the three-year period following the initial sale of their loans. Therefore, either banks are originating and selling loans of lower quality borrowers based on unobservable private information (adverse selection), and/or loan sales lead to diminished bank monitoring that affects borrowers negatively (moral hazard). We propose regulatory restrictions on loan sales, increased disclosure, and a loan trading exchange/clearinghouse as mechanisms to alleviate these problems.
On the Banach-Space-Valued Azuma Inequality and Small-Set Isoperimetry of Alon–Roichman Graphs

We discuss the connection between the expansion of small sets in graphs, and the Schatten norms of their adjacency matrices. In conjunction with a variant of the Azuma inequality for uniformly smooth normed spaces, we deduce improved bounds on the small-set isoperimetry of Abelian Alon–Roichman random Cayley graphs.
Equivalence Constraint Satisfaction Problems

The following result for finite structures Gamma has been conjectured to hold for all countably infinite omega-categorical structures Gamma: either the model-complete core Delta of Gamma has an expansion by finitely many constants such that the pseudovariety generated by its polymorphism algebra contains a two-element algebra all of whose operations are projections, or there is a homomorphism f from Delta^k to Delta, for some finite k, and an automorphism alpha of Delta satisfying f(x1,.,xk) = alpha(f(x2,.,xk,x1)). This conjecture has been confirmed for all infinite structures Gamma that have a first-order definition over (Q;<), and for all structures that are definable over the random graph. In this paper, we verify the conjecture for all structures that are definable over an equivalence relation with a countably infinite number of countably infinite classes. Our result implies a complexity dichotomy (into NP-complete and P) for a family of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) which we call equivalence constraint satisfaction problems. The classification for equivalence CSPs can also be seen as a first step towards a classification of the CSPs for all relational structures that are first-order definable over Allen's interval algebra, a well-known constraint calculus in temporal reasoning.
High Aneuploidy Rates Observed in Embryos Derived from Donated Oocytes are Related to Male Aging and High Percentages of Sperm DNA Fragmentation

Capsule Male aging effects on aneuploidy rates in embryos. Objective Paternal age is associated with decreasing sperm quality; however, it is unknown if it influences chromosomal abnormalities in embryos. The objective of this study is to evaluate if the aneuploidy rates in embryos are affected by advanced paternal age. Methods A total of 286 embryos, obtained from 32 in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles with donated oocytes in conjunction with preimplantation genetic diagnosis, were allocated according to paternal age in three groups: Group A: ≤39 years (n = 44 embryos); Group B: 40-49 years (n = 154 embryos); and Group C: ≥50 years (n = 88 embryos). Fertilization rates, embryo quality at day 3, blastocyst development, and aneuploidy embryo rates were then compared. Results There was no difference in the seminal parameters (volume, concentration, and motility) in the studied groups. Fertilization rate, percentages of zygotes underwent cleavage, and good quality embryos on day 3 were similar between the three evaluated groups. The group of men ≥50 years had significantly more sperm with damaged DNA, low blastocyst development rate, and higher aneuploidy rates in embryos compared to the other two evaluated groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings suggest that advanced paternal age increases the aneuploidy rates in embryos from donated oocytes, which suggests that genetic screening is necessary in those egg donor cycles with sperm from patients >50 years old.
HIF-1 regulates CD47 expression in breast cancer cells to promote evasion of phagocytosis and maintenance of cancer stem cells

Significance Uncontrolled cell proliferation and abnormal blood vessel formation result in regions of breast cancers that are hypoxic (deprived of oxygen). Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) stimulate the expression of genes that enable cancer cells to invade and metastasize, leading to patient mortality. In this paper, we report that HIFs stimulate the production of CD47, a protein on the cell surface that enables cancer cells to avoid destruction by macrophages. CD47 is also important for maintaining cancer stem cells, which are a small population of cells that are required for the formation of primary tumors and metastases. Reduction of HIF activity or CD47 levels in breast cancer cells led to increased killing by macrophages and depletion of cancer stem cells. Increased expression of CD47 has been reported to enable cancer cells to evade phagocytosis by macrophages and to promote the cancer stem cell phenotype, but the molecular mechanisms regulating CD47 expression have not been determined. Here we report that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) directly activates transcription of the CD47 gene in hypoxic breast cancer cells. Knockdown of HIF activity or CD47 expression increased the phagocytosis of breast cancer cells by bone marrow-derived macrophages. CD47 expression was increased in mammosphere cultures, which are enriched for cancer stem cells, and CD47 deficiency led to cancer stem cell depletion. Analysis of datasets derived from thousands of patients with breast cancer revealed that CD47 expression was correlated with HIF target gene expression and with patient mortality. Thus, CD47 expression contributes to the lethal breast cancer phenotype that is mediated by HIF-1.
Classification of Contraction Bands Using Immunohistochemistry

AbstractPathological contraction bands (CBs) are a type of necrosis pattern found in the myocardium. The composition of CB is not well studied. This is because CBs have diverse forms and can be observed in various causes of death. In pathology fields, CBs are classified artifactual CB and CB necrosis. We have identified different forms of CB by examining the expression and distribution of complement component C9 (CCC9) and Sirtuin1 by immunohistochemistry in the myocardium of patients who died because of different causes of death. We used cardiac tissues with CB from 30 forensic autopsy cases in our department from the last 2 years. We excluded the cases that had very little CB. We found that our CB classification based on expression levels of both CCC9 and Sirtuin1 correlated well with the agonal situation, including high temperature, myocardial infarction, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and hypothermia. On the basis of these results, we here advocate a classification scheme based on immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, we found that CB necrosis could be detected using immunostaining with CCC9. Using our classification scheme, it will be possible to more accurately research each type of CB and the causative mechanisms.
Prevalence and Associated Factors for Episodic and Chronic Daily Headache in the Colombian Population

There are multiple risk factors for chronic daily headache (CDH), but they are usually assessed in an isolated form without an adequate control for confounders. CDH is considered a variant of episodic headache, but studies have not gathered enough evidence to evaluate simultaneously CDH and episodic in the same population. We set out to establish simultaneously the factors associated with chronic daily or episodic headache in a population setting, using a cross-sectional survey in a random sample of 1505 adult urban inhabitants (Bucaramanga, Colombia). The survey asked questions about headache, family and personal history of disease, and consumption or abuse of caffeine, alcohol, hypnotics and analgesics. The association among independent variables and CDH or episodic headache was made with multinomial logistic regression. Female gender, arterial hypertension or cranial trauma history, and a high score in the depression scale are associated with episodic headache and CDH. Parents with CDH, the complaint of multiple arousals during sleep and use of hypnotics are associated with CDH, but not with episodic headache. Age < 36 years, alcoholism and snoring are factors associated only with episodic headache. Chronic daily headache and episodic headache have several common risk factors, but there are other factors not shared by both conditions.
Blood transfusion among thalassemia patients: A single Egyptian center experience

Background: Although red cell transfusions are lifesavers for patients with thalassemia, they are responsible for a series of complications and expose the patients to a variety of risks. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 464 Egyptian beta(β) thalassemia major patients whose age ranged between 10 months and 31 years (mean 10.2 ± 6.6 years). All patients were subjected to thorough history taking with special emphasis on blood transfusions regarding rate of blood transfusion, type of received blood, and history of previous transfusion reactions in addition to type of chelation and compliance to iron chelation therapy and history of diabetes. Serum ferritin and pretransfusion hemoglobin assessment were done for all patients. Results: The mean pretransfusion hemoglobin level was 5.7 ± 1.16 g/dl. Allergic reactions were observed in 3.9% of the patients during the period of the study, while the history of previous allergic reaction was given by 72% of the patients. Deferiprone showed better compliance (58.6%) than deferoxamine (26.3%). The prevalence of diabetes was 10.1% among the studied group. On comparing diabetics to nondiabetics, serum ferritin, transfusion intervals, and age were statistically higher among diabetics (P<0.001). Conclusion: Lower pretransfusion hemoglobin and high rate of prevalence of diabetes, in addition to better compliance to deferiprone than deferoxamine, were detected among the patients.
Molecular mechanism of the susceptibility difference between HLA-B*27:02/04/05 and HLA-B*27:06/09 to ankylosing spondylitis: substitution analysis, MD simulation, QSAR modelling, and in vitro assay

Abstract The human leukocyte antigen HLA-B27 is directly involved in the disease pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). HLA-B27 has a high degree of genetic polymorphism, with 105 currently known subtypes; the presence of aspartic acid at residue 116 (Asp116) has been found to play an essential role in AS susceptibility. Here, we systematically investigated the molecular mechanism of the susceptibility difference between the AS-associated subtypes HLA-B*27:02/04/05 and AS-unassociated subtypes HLA-B*27:06/09 to AS at sequence, structure, energetic and dynamic levels. In total seven variable residues were identified among the five studied HLA-B27 subtypes, in which Asp116 can be largely stabilized by a spatially vicinal, positively charged His114 through a salt bridge, while five other variable residues seem to have only a marginal effect on AS susceptibility. We also employed a quantitative structure–activity relationship approach to model the statistical correlation between peptide structure and affinity to HLA-B*27:05, a genetic ancestor of all other HLA-B27 subtypes and associated strongly with AS. The built regression predictor was verified rigorously through both internal cross-validation and external blind validation, and was then employed to identify potential HLA-B*27:05 binders from >20,000 cartilage-derived self-peptides. Subsequently, the binding potency of the top five antigenic peptides to HLA-B*27:05 was assayed in vitro using a FACS-based MHC stabilization experiment. Consequently, two (QRVGSDEFK and LRGAGTNEK) out of the five peptides were determined to have high affinity (BL50 = 5.5 and 15.8 nM, respectively) and, as expected, both of them possess positively charged Lys at the C-terminus.