Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Childhood parental behaviour and young people's outcomes

This paper estimates the relationship between several outcomes in early adulthood (education, inactivity, early birth, distress and smoking) and experiences of life in a single-parent family and with jobless parent(s) during childhood. The analysis is performed using a special sample of young adults, who are selected from the first nine waves of the British Household Panel Survey (1991-1999) and can be matched with at least one parent and one sibling over the same period. This sample allows us to estimate the relationship of interest using sibling differences. We also use another sample of young adults from the BHPS, matched to at least one parent, to estimate more conventional level models and compute nonparametric bounds and point estimates. The estimates based on sibling differences require weaker assumptions (as compared to the assumptions imposed by nonparametric estimators under conditional independence and level estimators) for the identification of the effects of family structure and parental joblessness on the outcomes under analysis. We find that: (i) experiences of life in a single-parent family and with jobless parents during childhood are usually associated with disadvantageous outcomes for young adults;(ii) the effect of family structure is in general significantly greater (in absolute value) than the effect of parental worklessness; (iii) most of the unfavourable outcomes are linked to an early family disruption, when the child was aged 0-5, whereas the timing of parental joblessness during childhood has more complex effects, with different outcomes being more strongly influenced by parental worklessness at different developmental stages.
The inhomogeneous structure of water at ambient conditions

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is used to demonstrate the presence of density ﬂuctuations in ambient water on a physical length-scale of (cid:1) 1 nm; this is retained with decreasing temperature while the magnitude is enhanced. In contrast, the magnitude of ﬂuctuations in a normal liquid, such as CCl 4 , exhibits no en- hancement with decreasing temperature, as is also the case for water from molecular dynamics simulations under ambient conditions. Based on X-ray emission spectroscopy and X-ray Raman scattering data we propose that the density difference contrast in SAXS is due to ﬂuctuations between tetrahedral-like and hydro-gen-bond distorted structures related to, respectively, low and high density water. We combine our experimental observations to proposeamodelofwaterasatemperature-dependent,ﬂuctuating equilibrium between the two types of local structures driven by incommensurate requirements for minimizing enthalpy (strong near-tetrahedral hydrogen-bonds) and maximizing entropy (non-directional H-bonds and disorder). The present results provide experimental evidence that the extreme differences anticipated in the hydrogen-bonding environment in the deeply supercooled regime surprisingly remain in bulk water even at conditions rang-ing from ambient up to close to the boiling point.
Extracting and analysing co-speech head gestures from motion-capture data

This paper reports on a method developed for extracting and analyzing head gestures taken from motion capture data of spontaneous dialogue in Swedish. The head gestures were extracted automatically and then manually classified using a 3D player which displays time-synced audio and 3D point data of the motion capture markers together with animated characters. Prosodic features were extracted from syllables co-occurring with a subset of the classified gestures. The head gestures show considerable variation in temporal synchronization with the syllables, while the syllables generally show greater intensity, higher F0, and greater F0 range when compared to the mean across the entire dialogue.
Econometric Models of Private and Public Health Expenditure in OECD Countries, 1970-96

We analyse the evolution of Private Consumption on Health, having into account that there are substitution effects between public and private expenditure in OECD countries. From the analysis of the evolution of these variables our main conclusion is that the increase of expenditure on Health, with economic development, is generally positive for welfare and obeys to a rational behaviour of consumers. So we do not agree with the propositions and attempts to cut public expenditure on this important service which sometimes is made in the name of a kind economic efficiency that does not have into account, in the desirable degree, the quality of services and social welfare. We estimate some econometric models for private expenditure and the results confirm the existence of a high degree of substitution, what means that diminutions in public expenditure do not imply diminution in total expenditure on health but an increases in private one. The findings support a distribution between private and public expenditure, in order to guarantee general assistance of population, to get high standards of consumers welfare and to avoid abuses in demand.
Effect of Beta glucan on quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

PURPOSE Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy in the world. Beta glucan may improve quality of life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The aim of this trial was to determine the effect of Beta glucan on quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS This study was conducted on 30 women with breast carcinoma. The eligible participants were randomly assigned to intervention (n=15) or placebo (n=15) groups using a block randomization procedure. Patients in the intervention group received two 10-mg capsules of soluble 1-3, 1-6, D-beta glucan daily and the placebo group received placebo for 21 days, in an interval between two courses of chemotherapy. Health - related quality of life (HRQL) was evaluated using the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire version.3. 0 (EORTC QLQ-C30) at the beginning and end of the study. RESULTS At the end of the study, the Global health status /QoL score for the Beta glucan group was significantly increased (P=0.023), but the difference between the two groups was not significant. After intervention, the Functional scales score showed no significant change (P=0.099) between the two groups or within the groups. At the end of the study, the Symptom scales\items score was decreased significantly in Beta glucan group comparing the placebo group (P=0.048), as well as after adjusting for baseline score. The Symptom scales\items score's change was significant (P=0.012) within the Beta glucan group, compared with the baseline score. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that Beta glucan may be useful as a complementary or adjuvant therapy for improving quality of life in breast cancer patients in combination with cancer therapies.
The Dividend Puzzle: The Influence of Taxes, Tick Size and Short-Term Trading on Ex-Dividend Day Prices in Canada

We differentiate among some of the contending hypotheses about ex-dividend day pricing by studying share price behavior in Canadian markets around the ex-dividend day during the period 1977-2000. Over this time, the tax regime switched from favoring capital gains to favoring dividends, and in 1996 exchanges decimalized and reduced minimum tick sizes. We rule out both tax and tick-size effects on ex-day behavior. In other words, no support is found for tax-induced pricing and therefore consequently dividend clienteles or for the Bali and Hite (1998) pricing model. While, we do not explore the impact of any other micro-structure effects, we find some evidence that short-term trading may be a factor in the market.
Neuromuscular and haemodynamic effects of mivacurium in elderly and young adult patients.

We have studied the neuromuscular effects of mivacurium and changes in heart rate and arterial pressure in 40 elderly (aged 70 yr) and 20 young adult (aged 18-40 yr) patients anaesthetized with thiopentone, fentanyl, nitrous oxide in oxygen and halothane. Neuromuscular block was monitored by train-of-four (TOF) stimulation of the ulnar nerve and recording of the force of contraction of the adductor pollicis muscle using a force displacement transducer and a neuromuscular function analyser (Myograph 2000, Biometer Ltd). Twenty elderly and 10 young adults received single doses of mivacurium 0.15 mg kg-1 and spontaneous recovery was recorded. The other 20 elderly and 10 adults received the same dose but an infusion was started at T1 (first response in TOF) of 10% and the block maintained at this level. Haemodynamic effects were studied after administration of mivacurium over 15 or 5 s in elderly (n = 10 each) and over 5 s in adult (n = 10) patients. Onset of maximum block occurred at a mean time of 122 (SD 32) and 125 (49) s in elderly and young adults, respectively. Recovery of T1 to 25% occurred in 22.0 (5.7) and 17.2 (4.4) min, and T1 to 90% in 32.8 (6.9) and 24.4 (5.8) min in elderly and adult subjects, respectively. Recovery of the TOF ratio to 0.7 occurred in 32.8 (7.1) and 26.0 (15.0) min in the elderly and young subjects, respectively (all P < 0.05 between young and elderly). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Noncausality and inflation persistence

Abstract We use noncausal autoregressions to examine the persistence properties of quarterly US consumer price inflation from 1970:1 to 2012:2. These nonlinear models capture the autocorrelation structure of the inflation series as accurately as their conventional causal counterparts, but they allow for persistence to depend on the size and sign of shocks to inflation as well as the inflation rate. Inflation persistence has decreased since the early 1980s, after which persistence is also greater following small and negative shocks than large and positive ones. At high levels of inflation, shocks are absorbed more slowly before the early 1980s and faster thereafter compared to low levels of inflation.
Private Capital Flows in East Asia: Boom, Bust and Beyond

The third generation genre of currency crises models that have been popularized following the recent crises inemerging economies give prominence to the capital account. Hence, they are also commonly referred to as 'capital crisis models'. These models provide the theoretical rationale and motivation for examining the capital account transactions of the five crisis-hit economies in East Asia. Relying on data on international capital flows from a fairly diverse set of multilateral sources (i.e. IMF, BIS and IIF), this paper reviews and analyzes the nature and dynamics of international capital flows in the crisis hit East Asian economies in general during the pre-crisis boom period (between 1990 and 1996), as well as the bust and eventual recovery that followed (1997 to early 2000). The data indicate that the recent rebound in regional growth rates, surges in equity prices and stabilization of exchange rates have been accompanied primarily by a resurgence in portfolio capital inflows. Motivated by these facts and guided by a specific informational frictions model of portfolio flows, an array of simple but indicative statistical tests (correlation and causality) are conducted on available time series data to explore the determinants of private portfolio capital flows to the regional economies.
Transaction costs and cattle farmers’ choice of marketing channels in China

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine key factors that affect cattle farmers’ selection of marketing channels and draw implications for China's beef supply chain development.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was designed and face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with a random sample of 153 farmers located in three major cattle producing regions across China.Findings – Several variables related to transaction costs (chiefly, in the form of negotiation costs and monitoring costs), as well as socio‐economic factors, were identified as of significant influence on farmers’ choices of cattle marketing channels.Research limitations/implications – Further research should be conducted to measure the effects of risk preference in marketing decisions. Caution needs to be exercised when generalising the findings of this study to cattle farmers in other regions that are significantly different from the surveyed ones.Practical implications – This study will contribute to a better understanding .
Correlation between vitamin D levels and apoptosis in geriatric patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 4

Background Vitamin D levels play a pivotal role in most biological processes and differ according to age. A deficiency of vitamin D in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients has been shown to be linked with the severity of liver fibrosis, but little is known about the mechanism of this association. Objective In this study, we evaluate the potential interrelation between vitamin D levels, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, based on liver fibrosis in geriatric patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4. Subjects and methods A total of 120 adult individuals aged 30–68 years were recruited in this study. Of these, 20 healthy subjects (15 men and five women) with a mean age of 48.3±6.1 years were selected as controls, and 100 patients with a mean age of 47.8±4.9 years with chronic HCV (CHC) who had undergone liver biopsy (80 men and 20 women) were included in this study. Based on liver radiographic (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging) and histological Metavir system analyses, the CHC patients were classified into three groups: asymptomatic CHC carriers (n=30), fibrosis (n=25), and cirrhosis (n=45). HCV RNA, HCV genotypes, inflammatory cytokines AFP and TNFα, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels, apoptotic markers single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and soluble Fas (sFas), and oxidative stress markers nitric oxide (NO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were estimated by using molecular, immunoassay, and colorimetric techniques. Results Approximately 30% of the study population (n=30) were diagnosed as asymptomatic CHC carriers, and 70% of the study population (n=70) had severe fibrosis; these were classified into fibrosis and cirrhosis. There was a significant reduction in 25(OH)D levels and TAC activity, along with an increase in levels of NO, AFP, TNFα, ssDNA, and sFas in fibrosis and cirrhosis subjects compared with those of asymptomatic CHC carriers and health controls. The deficiency in 25(OH)D levels correlated positively with sFas, ssDNA, AFP, TNFα, NO, and TAC, and negatively with age, sex, liver function, body mass index, homeostatic model assessment – insulin resistance, HCV RNA, and viral load. Significant intercorrelation was reported between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and apoptotic and oxidative markers, which suggested progression of liver pathogenesis and fibrogenesis via oxidative and apoptotic mechanisms. Conclusion The data showed that vitamin D status was significantly correlated with pathogenesis and fibrogenesis of the liver in geriatric patients infected with HCV genotype 4. The deficiency in 25(OH)D levels was shown to have a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of liver via apoptotic, oxidative stress, and inflammatory mechanistic pathways. The data point to adequate vitamin D levels being recommended for a good response to treatment strategies, especially in older CHC patients.
Blind deconvolution of music signals using Higher Order Statistics

A method for the blind deconvolution of music recordings using Higher Order Statistics (HOS) is presented. Music signals can be modelled as sinusoids with noise. The noise part is assumed to have a nonGaussian statistics with a nonzero skewness. I show that when the 3rd-order statistics of a reverberated music signal is calculated, the effect of the deterministics part is cancelled and only noise convolved with the room impulse response (RIR) is observed. Therefore, using system identification methods based on 3rd-order statistics, RIR can be obtained and used to remove the reverberation. Simulations performed with real RIR and music signals confirm the method and validity of the ideas.
A Decision Analysis Perspective on Multiple Response Robust Optimization

Abstract : Decisions in which multiple objectives must be optimized simultaneously occur frequently in government, military, and industrial settings. One method a decision maker may use to assist in such decisions is the application of a desirability function. An informed specification of the desirability function's parameters is essential to accurately describe the decision maker's value trade-offs and risk preference. This thesis uses utility transversality to analyze the implicit trade-off and risk attitude assumptions attendant to the desirability function. The desirability function does not explicitly account for response variability. A robust solution takes not only the expected response into account, but also its variance. Assessing a utility function over desirability as a means to describe the decision maker's risk attitude produces a robust operating solution consistent with those preferences. This thesis examines robustness as it applies to the desirability function in a manufacturing experiment example. Different levels of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME) instruments of national policy are investigated to examine their effect on the political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, and information (PMESII) systems of a nation. AFRL's National Operational Environment Model (NOEM) serves as a basis for identifying a robust national policy in a scenario involving the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Differential Associations of MMP-2 and MMP-14 with Stromal Amounts and T lymphocyte Presence in Ovarian Cancer

Aim: Ovarian cancer prognosis is influenced by factors such as intratumoral T-lymphocyte presence and the amount of stroma formation relative to the epithelial tumor compartment. The regulation of these factors is unknown. Matrix metalloproteinases are involved in stromal remodeling and may be involved in T-cell trafficking as well. This study investigates the quantitative relationships between the matrix metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-14 and both relative stroma amounts (‘stroma percentage’) and the presence of T lymphocytes in the stromal and epithelial compartments of ovarian cancer. Patients and methods: In 86 patients with ovarian cancer, MMP-2 and MMP-14 expression and T-lymphocyte presence was determined using semi quantitative immunohistochemistry. Stroma percentage was determined by area calculation in haematoxylin eosin slides. Per slide, 3 random images at the tumor-stroma interface were investigated. Results: Epithelial MMP-14 scoring correlated negatively with T-lymphocytes in tumor epithelium: correlation coefficient rho −0.36 (p < 0.01) for CD3, −0.30 (p < 0.01) for CD8 and −0.24 (p < 0.05) for CD45Ro. Stromal MMP-2 was positively related to stroma percentage (rho 0.29; p < 0.01). No significant correlations were found for MMP-14 with stromal amounts, or MMP-2 with T-cell presence in stroma or tumor epithelium. Conclusion: Opposite to our hypothesis that MMPs reduce stromal amounts and permit T cell trafficking into both stromal and epithelial tumor parts, MMP expression was associated with higher relative stromal amounts and lower presence of T lymphocytes. In particular, we found that epithelial MMP-14 expression was negatively associated with T-lymphocyte presence in the tumor suggesting a role for MMP-14 in negatively regulating T-cell trafficking by other means. Stromal MMP-2 expression was associated with an increase in stromal amounts suggesting an ineffective feedback on tumor stroma volume growth of the expression of this gelatinase. More research is necessary to determine the specific actions of MMPs in ovarian cancer.
The Chinese Economy in the 21st Century: Enterprise and Business Behaviour

Contents:Preface 1. Going Public Without the Public: Between Political Governance and Corporate GovernanceSonja Opper2. Institutional Change, Diversity and Competition: Foreign Banks in Shanghai, 1847-2004Jeroen Kuilman3. Foreign Firms in China: Success by Strategic ChoicesXueyuan Zhang and Patrick Reinmoeller4. The New Great Leap: The Rise of China's ICT IndustryMark Joannes Greeven5. Enterprise Ground Zero in ChinaBarbara Krug6. China's Emerging Tax Regime: Local Tax Farming and Central Tax Bureaucracy Ze Zhu and Barbara Krug7. Narratives of Change: Culture and Local Economic DevelopmentDavid S.G. Goodman8. Networks as Business NetworksHans Hendrischke9. Whom are we Dealing With? Shifting Organisational Forms in China's Business SectorBarbara Krug and Jeroen KuilmanIndex
Gaze Tracking in Semi-Autonomous Grasping

In critical human/robotic interactions such as, e.g., teleoperation by a disabled master or with insufficient bandwidth, it is highly desirable to have semi-autonomous robotic artifacts interact with a human being. Semi-autonomous grasping, for instance, consists of having a smart slave able to guess the master’s intentions and initiating a grasping sequence whenever the master wants to grasp an object in the slave’s workspace. In this paper we investigate the possibility of building such an intelligent robotic artifact by training a machine learning system on data gathered from several human subjects while trying to grasp objects in a teleoperation setup. In particular, we investigate the usefulness of gaze tracking in such a scenario. The resulting system must be light enough to be usable on-line and flexible enough to adapt to different masters, e.g., elderly and/or slow. The outcome of the experiment is that such a system, based upon Support Vector Machines, meets all the requirements, being (a) highly accurate, (b) compact and fast, and (c) largely unaffected by the subjects’ diversity. It is also clearly shown that gaze tracking significantly improves both the accuracy and compactness of the obtained models, if compared with the use of the hand position alone. The system can be trained with something like 3.5 minutes of human data in the worst case.task is neutral.
Microreview How C-type lectins detect pathogens

Glycosylation of proteins has proven extremely important in a variety of cellular processes, including enzyme trafficking, tissue homing and immune functions. In the past decade, increasing interest in carbohydrate-mediated mechanisms has led to the identification of novel carbohydrate-recognizing receptors expressed on cells of the immune system. These non-enzymatic lectins contain one or more carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) that determine their specificity. In addition to their cell adhesion functions, lectins now also appear to play a major role in pathogen recognition. Depending on their structure and mode of action, lectins are subdivided in several groups. In this review, we focus on the calcium (Ca 2+ )dependent lectin group, known as C-type lectins, with the dendritic cell-specific ICAM-3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) as a prototype type II C-type lectin organized in microdomains, and their role as pathogen recognition receptors in sensing microbes. Moreover, the cross-talk of C-type lectins with other receptors, such as Toll-like receptors, will be discussed, highlighting the emerging model that microbial recognition is based on a complex network of interacting receptors.