Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Folate intake and pancreatic cancer incidence: a prospective study of Swedish women and men.

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic evidence supports an association between high folate intake and reduced risk of some cancers, in particular colorectal cancer. However, epidemiologic data concerning the relationship between folate and pancreatic cancer risk are sparse. We examined the association between folate intake and risk of pancreatic cancer in a population-based prospective study of Swedish women and men. METHODS We prospectively followed 81,922 women and men in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men who were cancer-free and completed a 96-item food-frequency questionnaire in 1997. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate multivariable rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS A total of 135 incident pancreatic cancer cases were diagnosed during a mean follow-up of 6.8 years. In multivariable analyses controlling for age, smoking, fruit and vegetable consumption, and other potential confounders, dietary and total folate intakes were statistically significantly inversely associated with risk of pancreatic cancer. The multivariable rate ratios of pancreatic cancer for those in the highest category of folate intake (> or = 350 microg/day) compared with the lowest category of intake (< 200 microg/day) were 0.25 (95% CI = 0.11 to 0.59; Ptrend = .002) for dietary folate and 0.33 (95% CI = 0.15 to 0.72; Ptrend = .01) for total folate (combining dietary and supplemental sources). Folic acid from supplements was not associated with pancreatic cancer (for > or = 300 microg/day compared with 0 microg/day of supplemental folic acid, multivariable RR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.56 to 1.88). The sex- and age-standardized incidence rates of pancreatic cancer per 100,000 person-years were 41 for the lowest and 18 for the highest category of dietary folate intake. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that increased intake of folate from food sources, but not from supplements, may be associated with a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer.
Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteria Recovered from Faeces of Dairy Cattle in the High Plains Region of the USA

Objective A study was conducted to recover carbapenem-resistant bacteria from the faeces of dairy cattle and identify the underlying genetic mechanisms associated with reduced phenotypic susceptibility to carbapenems. Methods One hundred and fifty-nine faecal samples from dairy cattle were screened for carbapenem-resistant bacteria. Phenotypic screening was conducted on two media containing ertapenem. The isolates from the screening step were characterised via disk diffusion, Modified Hodge, and Carba NP assays. Carbapenem-resistant bacteria and carbapenemase-producing isolates were subjected to Gram staining and biochemical testing to include Gram-negative bacilli. Whole genome sequencing was performed on bacteria that exhibited either a carbapenemase-producing phenotype or were not susceptible to ertapenem and were presumptively Enterobacteriaceae. Results Of 323 isolates collected from the screening media, 28 were selected for WGS; 21 of which were based on a carbapenemase-producing phenotype and 7 were presumptively Enterobacteriaceae and not susceptible to ertapenem. Based on analysis of WGS data, isolates included: 3 Escherichia coli harbouring blaCMY-2 and truncated ompF genes; 8 Aeromonas harbouring blacphA-like genes; 1 Acinetobacter baumannii harbouring a novel blaOXA gene (blaOXA-497); and 6 Pseudomonas with conserved domains of various carbapenemase-producing genes. Conclusions Carbapenem resistant bacteria appear to be rare in cattle. Nonetheless, carbapenem-resistant bacteria were detected across various genera and were found to harbour a variety of mechanisms conferring reduced susceptibility. The development and dissemination of carbapenem-resistant bacteria in livestock would have grave implications for therapeutic treatment options in human medicine; thus, continued monitoring of carbapenem susceptibility among enteric bacteria of livestock is warranted.
Separatrix regions of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause

Using data from the four Cluster spacecraft we study the separatrix regions of magnetic reconnection sites at the dayside magnetopause under conditions when reconnection is occurring in the magnetopause current layer which separates magnetosheath plasma from the hot magnetospheric plasma sheet. We define the separatrix region as the region between the separatrix - the first field line opened by reconnection - and the reconnection jet (outflow region). We analyze eight separatrix region crossings on the magnetospheric side of the magnetopause and present detailed data for two of the events. We show that characteristic widths of the separatrix regions are of the order of ten ion inertial lengths at the magnetopause. Narrow separatrix regions with widths comparable to a few ion inertial lengths are rare. We show that inside the separatrix region there is a density cavity which sometimes has complex internal structure with multiple density dips. Strong electric fields exist inside the separatrix regions and the electric potential drop across the regions can be up to several kV. On the magnetosheath side of the region there is a density gradient with strong field aligned currents. The observed strong electric fields and currents inside the separatrix region can be important for a local energization of ions and electrons, particularly of ionospheric origin, as well as for magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.
Model complexity control for hydrologic prediction

A common concern in hydrologic modeling is overparameterization of complex models given limited and noisy data. This leads to problems of parameter nonuniqueness and equifinality, which may negatively affect prediction uncertainties. A systematic way of controlling model complexity is therefore needed. We compare three model complexity control methods for hydrologic prediction, namely, cross validation (CV), Akaike's information criterion (AIC), and structural risk minimization (SRM). Results show that simulation of water flow using non‐physically‐based models (polynomials in this case) leads to increasingly better calibration fits as the model complexity (polynomial order) increases. However, prediction uncertainty worsens for complex non‐physically‐based models because of overfitting of noisy data. Incorporation of physically based constraints into the model (e.g., storage‐discharge relationship) effectively bounds prediction uncertainty, even as the number of parameters increases. The conclusion is that overparameterization and equifinality do not lead to a continued increase in prediction uncertainty, as long as models are constrained by such physical principles. Complexity control of hydrologic models reduces parameter equifinality and identifies the simplest model that adequately explains the data, thereby providing a means of hydrologic generalization and classification. SRM is a promising technique for this purpose, as it (1) provides analytic upper bounds on prediction uncertainty, hence avoiding the computational burden of CV, and (2) extends the applicability of classic methods such as AIC to finite data. The main hurdle in applying SRM is the need for an a priori estimation of the complexity of the hydrologic model, as measured by its Vapnik‐Chernovenkis (VC) dimension. Further research is needed in this area.
Gradient superconvergence on uniform simplicial partitions of polytopes

Superconvergence of the gradient for the linear simplicial finite-element method applied to elliptic equations is a well known feature in one, two, and three space dimensions. In this paper we show that, in fact, there exists an elegant proof of this feature independent of the space dimension. As a result, superconvergence for dimensions four and up is proved simultaneously. The key ingredient will be that we embed the gradients of the continuous piecewise linear functions into a larger space for which we describe an orthonormal basis having some useful symmetry properties. Since gradients and rotations of standard finiteelement functions are in fact the rotation-free and divergence-free elements of Raviart– Thomas and Ńed́elec spaces in three dimensions, we expect our results to have applications also in those contexts.
Property market liquidity and real estate recovery procedures efficiency

Purpose – The minimization of financial losses and costs stemming from the credit recovery process is strictly connected with the time necessary to complete the procedure: in real estate credits, it depends on the liquidity and the efficiency of the enforcement procedures. The purpose of this paper is to test the relevance of the economic cycle in Italy on the determinants of the recovery process both at national and regional level.Design/methodology/approach – The first step is to identify the determinants of the real estate loans recovery process duration by the means of the review of the existing literature. The second step develops an empirical analysis to appraise the relevance of the economic cycle on the liquidity of the real estate market and efficiency of real estate enforcement proceedings. The relevance of the economic cycle is verified through, first, a correlation analysis of the selected indexes with the national and regional gross domestic product (GDP) and, second, a regression analysis of.
Analisis Faktor-Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Dividend Payout Ratio Pada Perusahaan Yang Go Public Di Indonesia

Pembayaran dividend pada perusahaan yang Go Public mempunyai dampak yang sangat penting baik bagi para investor maupun bagi perusahaan yang akan membayarkan dividennya, karena kebijakan dividend adalah sangat penting untuk memenuhi harapan para pemegang saham terhadap dividend dan di satu sisi juga tidak harus menghambat pertumbuhan perusahaan.Dalam pelaksanaan Kebijakan dividend suatu perusahaan akan melibatkan du pihak yan berkepentingan dan saling bertentangan, yaitu kepentingan para pemegang saham dengan dividennya dan kepentingan perusahaan dengan laba ditahannya. Tujuan yang ingin dicapai dalam penelitian ini adalah 1). Untuk mengetahui Model yang paling fit hubungan dan pengaruh secara simultan atas variabel-variabel : Assets (diwakili posisi kas/cash position=X1, potensi pertumbuhan/growth potential=X2, ukuran perusahaan/firm size=X3, perbandingan antara kewajiban dengan modal/debt to equity ratio=X4); Equity (diwakili ukuran perusahaan/firm size=X3, dan X6 kepemilikan/Holding; Earnings (diwakili keuntungan/profitability=X5), kepemilikan (holding=X6) terhadap dividend payout ratio (DPR), 2). Untuk mengetahui pengaruh assets, equity dan earnings secara bersama-sama (simultan) terhadap dividend payout ratio . 3). mengetahui pengaruh assets, equity dan earnings secara sendiri-sendiri (partial) terhadap devidend payout ratio.Pengujian dilakukan dengan menggunakan Regresi Bertahap atau Multistage Regression dan Analisis Jalur ( Path Analysis). Hasil penelitian diperoleh kesimpulan bahwa dari 6 (enam) variasbel yang diperkirakan mempunyai pengaruh tidak langsung terhadap Dividend Payout Ratio ternyata hanya 2 (dua) variabel yang berpengaruh, yaitu Variabel ukuran perusahaan/firm size=X3 dan variabel Debt to equity ratio=X4 melalui variabel intervening atau variable antara Equity ( Y2). Sedangkan Variabel Pertumbuhan (X2) mempunyai pengaruh signifikan tethadap Assets (Y1), tetapi Assets pengaruhnya tidak signifikan terhadap DPR (Y). Demikian pula Variabel Profit (X5) mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap Earning (Y3), tetapi Earning pengaruhnya tidak signifikan terhadap DPR (Y). Hal ini disebabkan karena banyak faktor yang mempengaruhi kebijakan dividend dalam suatu perusahaan dan banyak faktor tersebut saling berinteraksi (terjadi interdependensi) satu sama lain dan juga antara satu jenis perusahaan dengan perusahaan lain juga ada perbedaan-perbedaan pertimbangan . Oleh karena itu sulit untuk memperoleh suatu model yang secara general mampu menjelaskan perilaku perusahaan dalam kebijakan dividend payout ratio.
Technological Change, Occupational Tasks and Declining Immigrant Outcomes: Implications for Earnings and Income Inequality in Canada

The earnings and occupational task requirements of immigrants to Canada are analyzed. The growing education levels of immigrants in the 1990s have not led to a large improvement in earnings as one might expect if growing computerization and the resulting technological change was leading to a rising return to non-routine cognitive skills and a greater wage return to university education. Controlling for education, we find a pronounced cross-arrival cohort decline in earnings that coincided with cross-cohort declines in cognitive occupational task requirements and cross-cohort increases in manual occupational task requirements. The immigrant earnings outcomes had only a small effect on overall Canadian earnings inequality.
Constraining Reionization with the Evolution of the Luminosity Function of Lyα Emitting Galaxies

At redshifts beyond z ≳ 6, as the mean fraction of neutral hydrogen ⟨xH i⟩ in the intergalactic medium (IGM) increases, the line flux of Lyα emitters can be significantly attenuated, which can result in a decrease in the observed number of emitters at a given Lyα flux. However, cosmological H II regions surrounding the Lyα emitting galaxies alleviate these effects. We use simple models of the Lyα line attenuation that incorporate the presence of H II regions to predict the overall effect of the Lyα absorption on the Lyα luminosity function (LF). We find, in agreement with other recent studies, that a fully neutral IGM is inconsistent with the Lyα LF remaining unchanged from z = 5.7 to z = 6.5, as suggested by recent observations. However, the presence of local H II regions prohibits placing a tight constraint on the mean neutral fraction. We find ⟨x⟩ ≲ 0.25; the presence of strong winds and/or the clustering of ionizing sources would further weaken this constraint. We conclude that the evolution of the Lyα LF is consistent with reionization occurring near this redshift, as suggested by other observations. Finally, we suggest that a measurement of observed Lyα line width as a function of the Lyα luminosity, in a future, larger sample of Lyα emitters, may serve as a robust diagnostic of the neutral fraction in the IGM.
HsH: Estimating Semantic Similarity of Words and Short Phrases with Frequency Normalized Distance Measures

This paper describes the approach of the Hochschule Hannover to the SemEval 2013 Task Evaluating Phrasal Semantics. In order to compare a single word with a two word phrase we compute various distributional similarities, among which a new similarity measure, based on Jensen-Shannon Divergence with a correction for frequency effects. The classification is done by a support vector machine that uses all similarities as features. The approach turned out to be the most successful one in the task.
Improved Membrane-Based Sensor Network for Reliable Gas Monitoring in the Subsurface

A conceptually improved sensor network to monitor the partial pressure of CO2 in different soil horizons was designed. Consisting of five membrane-based linear sensors (line-sensors) each with 10 m length, the set-up enables us to integrate over the locally fluctuating CO2 concentrations (typically lower 5%vol) up to the meter-scale gaining valuable concentration means with a repetition time of about 1 min. Preparatory tests in the laboratory resulted in a unexpected highly increased accuracy of better than 0.03%vol with respect to the previously published 0.08%vol. Thereby, the statistical uncertainties (standard deviations) of the line-sensors and the reference sensor (nondispersive infrared CO2-sensor) were close to each other. Whereas the uncertainty of the reference increases with the measurement value, the line-sensors show an inverse uncertainty trend resulting in a comparatively enhanced accuracy for concentrations >1%vol. Furthermore, a method for in situ maintenance was developed, enabling a proof of sensor quality and its effective calibration without demounting the line-sensors from the soil which would disturb the established structures and ongoing processes.
Impairment of rod cGMP-gated channel alpha-subunit expression leads to photoreceptor and bipolar cell degeneration.

PURPOSE To determine whether alterations in rod cGMP-gated channel function mediate retinal degeneration, a transgenic approach in which the alpha subunit of the rod cGMP-gated channel is reduced by the expression of an antisense RNA was used. METHODS A 890-bp fragment of the 5' mouse rod cGMP-gated channel cDNA was cloned in the antisense orientation under the control of the strong bacterial cytomegalovirus promoter. This antisense construct was used to generate transgenic mice in which the expression of the antisense transgene was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Histologic, immunocytochemical, and TdT-dUTP terminal nick-end labeling (TUNEL) analyses were performed on control and transgenic retina sections to determine the effects of antisense expression on specific cell types. RESULTS The antisense RNA was able to inhibit the translation of the rod channel protein in an in vitro assay. Three transgenic mouse lines expressing the antisense construct were obtained. Molecular analyses showed that the antisense is expressed in the eye of each transgenic mouse line, where it reduces rod cGMP-gated channel RNA expression. Histologic and immunocytochemical data showed that transgenic retinas have a reduced number of photoreceptors and bipolar cells. TUNEL staining confirmed that photoreceptor and bipolar cells degenerate along an apoptotic pathway. CONCLUSIONS Impairment of rod cGMP-gated channel alpha subunit expression leads to photoreceptor and bipolar cell degeneration. These transgenic mice are the first model of retinal degeneration caused by an alteration in the expression of the rod cGMP-gated channel. This model system can be used to test therapies designed to slow or stalled retinal degenerations.
The Role of Rating and Loan Characteristics in Online Microfunding Behaviors

We propose an in-depth study of lending behaviors in Kiva using a mix of quantitative and large-scale data mining techniques. Kiva is a non-profit organization that offers an online platform to connect lenders with borrowers. Their site, kiva.org, allows citizens to microlend small amounts of money to entrepreneurs (borrowers) from different countries. The borrowers are always affiliated with a Field Partner (FP) which can be a microfinance institution (MFI) or other type of local organization that has partnered with Kiva. Field partners give loans to selected businesses based on their local knowledge regarding the country, the business sector including agriculture, health or manufacture among others, and the borrower.Our objective is to understand the relationship between lending activity and various features offered by the online platform. Specifically, we focus on two research questions: (i) the role that MFI ratings play in driving lending activity and (ii) the role that various loan features have in the lending behavior. The first question analyzes whether there exists a relationship between the MFI ratings - that lenders can explore online - and their lending volumes. The second research question attempts to understand if certain loan features - available online at Kiva - such as the type of small business, the gender of the borrower, or the loan's country information might affect the way lenders lend.
Lobbying for the ear : the public fascination with and academic legitimacy of the sonification of scientific data

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Cryptic signals and the fidelity of V(D)J joining

V(D)J recombination is responsible for the de novo creation of antigen receptor genes in T- and B-cell precursors. To the extent that lymphopoiesis takes place throughout an animal's lifetime, recombination errors present an ongoing problem. One type of aberrant rearrangement ensues when DNA sequences resembling a V(D)J joining signal are targeted by mistake. This study investigates the type of sequence likely to be subject to mistargeting, the level of joining-signal function associated with these sequences, and the number of such cryptic joining signals in the genome.
Effect of Macroeconomic Factors on Stock Prices in Ghana: A Vector Error Correction Model Approach

This study examines the effect of macroeconomic variables on stock prices in Ghana. Analysis was done using monthly data from 1991.4 to 2010.8. This study employed cointegration test and vector error correction models (VECM) to examine both long-run and short-run dynamic relationships between the stock market index and the macroeconomic variables. Generalized impulse function (IRF) and forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) were used to detect the effect of shocks in the macroeconomic factors on complete time path of stock prices and vice versa. The time series properties of the data were, first, analyzed using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips- Perron tests. The empirical results derived indicate that all the variables were stationary after their first differencing. The paper established that there is cointegration between macroeconomic variables and Stock prices in Ghana indicating long run relationship. The above long term relation indicates that Interest Rate (TB) and Exchange Rate (XR) have a negative effect on Stock Prices whiles Inflation (CPI) showed a positive effect on Stock Prices (DSI). Results of Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Forecast Error Variance Decomposition (FEVD) indicate that the macroeconomic variables identified a low significant influence on share price movements in Ghana.
Robust feedback scheme for precoding systems based on finite-rate feedback

In a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding system based on finite-rate feedback, the receiver sends a precoding matrix to the transmitter via a feedback channel. The overall system performance is degraded due to feedback error. In this paper, we propose a robust feedback scheme that employs the index permutation technique to provide the system with redundancy-free protection against the feedback error. The wireless channel is assumed to experience Rayleigh fading, and the feedback channel is modeled as a discrete memoryless channel (DMC). Using the average chordal distance as a metric, the design of the index permutation in the feedback scheme is formulated into a minimization problem. An upper bound on the average chordal distance is derived, and the permutation design problem is simplified based on the bound. A modified binary switching algorithm is then developed to search for good permutations. Simulation results show that the proposed feedback scheme well compensates for the performance degradation caused by feedback error.