Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corneal thickness determination and correlates in Singaporean schoolchildren.

PURPOSE To determine the central cornea thickness (CCT) in Singaporean children and to examine the possible relationship between intraocular pressure (IOP) and other biometric factors and CCT. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. The subjects (N=652) were obtained from the Singapore Cohort Study of the Risk Factors for Myopia (SCORM). The subjects' ages ranged from 9 to 11 years. There were 485 Chinese, 92 Malayan, and 75 Asian Indian children. Measurement procedures included air-puff tonometry, noncontact slit lamp optical pachymetry, cycloplegic autorefraction, and autokeratometry. RESULTS The mean CCT was 543.6 +/- 32.0 microm. Chinese children had thicker corneas than Malayan or Indian children (P=0.002). The boys had thicker corneas than girls (P=0.011), but the mean difference was only 6.4 microm. There was high correlation of CCT (r=0.98) and IOP (r=0.88) between right and left eyes. IOP was correlated with CCT (r=0.45, P <0.001). In a multiple linear regression model, each millimeter of mercury of IOP was associated with a CCT difference of 5.90 microm (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.98-6.82). The radius of corneal curvature correlated with CCT (r=0.19, P <0.001). The following parameters were not significantly (P >0.05) associated with CCT: age, family income, father's education, axial length, and spherical equivalent. CONCLUSIONS The mean CCT in Singaporean children aged 9 to 11 years was 543.6 microm and showed ethnic and gender variation. CCT affected measured IOP and correlated weakly with corneal curvature. Compared with data in adults, a change in CCT was associated with a greater difference in measured IOP.
Modeling FDI-Induced Technology Spillovers

While previous theoretical works have explored mechanisms through which technology spillovers occur, little attention has been paid to clarifying the necessary conditions for FDI-induced technology spillovers. Motivated by recent empirical findings, this article provides a theoretical framework to characterize FDI's spillover effects in terms of host countries' comparative advantage. The analysis shows that the degree of spillovers varies depending on the interaction of industry and country characteristics. Skilled labor scarce countries have spillover effects only in low-tech industries, while skilled labor abundant countries have spillover effects in high-tech industries. The magnitudes of technology spillovers are smaller for skilled labor scarce countries as compared to skilled labor abundant countries.
Income Inequality and Redistributive Spending: Evidence from Panel Data of Texas Counties

Abstract The relationship between redistributive spending and income inequality has been of interest to researchers for several decades. Existing literature has largely focused on country-level studies and may be broadly divided into two groups: studies that find a positive relationship between the two and studies that find a negative relationship. The positive association is usually explained through the median voter theory and the negative association through the social insurance theory. This study offers a test of the median voter and social insurance hypotheses by examining the relationship between economic inequality, voter turnout and redistributive spending at the sub-national level among the 50 largest counties in Texas over years 2006 to 2012. One of the advantages of using a regional sample is that counties are relatively more homogeneous and allow for the collection of better records across time. Random effects models suggest that income inequality is positively associated with redistributive spending. The study improves our understanding of the patterns of redistribution at the sub-national level and highlights the importance of careful inter-temporal modelling of relationships between redistributive spending and inequality.
THE ECONOMICS OF MUTUALITY

British artisan unions in the 19 century were welfare states in miniature, providing members with unemployment benefit, sick pay, superannuation and some provisions for death. The core of the paper describes the detailed operation of the welfare systems of two trade unions, both in engineering. Firstly, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) was the largest national union in Britain for most of the period and the model for many others; the analysis concentrates on the relationship between the scheme’s income and expenditure and the trade cycle. Secondly, the Steam Engine Makers’ Society (SEM) was only a tenth the size of the ASE and far less well known, but was always the ASE’s largest competitor for its core memberships among fitters and turners. The SEM is remarkable for the extremely detailed information which it published on individual members, and some initial results will be presented from a large nominal linkage analysis which permits analysis of variation in income from and payments to members over their life courses. The final section surveys provision across the union system as a whole, based mainly on surveys by the Board of Trade Labour Department in the 1890s and 1900s. The conclusion explores the relationship between the welfare benefit systems and more conventional trade union activities.
HIV‐1 envelope–receptor interactions required for macrophage infection and implications for current HIV‐1 cure strategies

Myeloid cells residing in the CNS and lymphoid tissues are targets for productive HIV‐1 replication, and their infection contributes to the pathological manifestations of HIV‐1 infection. The Envs can adopt altered configurations to overcome entry restrictions in macrophages via a more efficient and/or altered mechanism of engagement with cellular receptors. This review highlights evidence supporting an important role for macrophages in HIV‐1 pathogenesis and persistence, which need to be considered for strategies aimed at achieving a functional or sterilizing cure. We also highlight that the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV‐1 tropism for macrophages are complex, involving enhanced and/or altered interactions with CD4, CCR5, and/or CXCR4, and that the nature of these interactions may depend on the anatomical location of the virus.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation using transfemoral/transsubclavian or transapical approach: 30-day follow-up of the initial 30 patients.

BACKGROUND Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a new method for the treatment of aortic stenosis (AS). AIM To evaluate early results of TAVI using transfemoral/transsubclavian approach (TFA/TSA) or transapical approach (TAA) in patients with severe AS and high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement. METHODS Between January 2009 and May 2010, 30 high-risk patients underwent TAVI. The primary treatment option was TFA, and TAA was used if contraindications to TFA were present; one patient underwent the procedure using TSA. Reasons for selecting TAA were as follows: small diameter (<7 mm) and/or severe calcification of the iliofemoral arteries, peripheral atherosclerosis, "porcelain" aorta and a horizontal course of the ascending aorta. Edwards-Sapien or CoreValve devices were used in all cases, and procedures were performed without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory. RESULTS Mean patient age was 82.46 ± 5.79 years, mean NYHA class was 3.23 ± 0.41, and predicted mean surgical mortality using logistic Euroscore was 29.18 ± 16.9% (22.72 ± 12.07% in the TFA/TSA group vs 34.6 ± 15.4% in the TAA group; p = 0.031). Eleven patients were treated using TAA. The valve was implanted successfully in 96% of patients. Inhospital mortality was 3.3%. Mean 30-day mortality was 6.6% in the entire cohort, 0% in the TFA/TSA group and 18% in the TAA group. There were no cases of periprocedural myocardial infarction (MI), cardiogenic shock, stroke/transient ischaemic attack, or need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. One patient died suddenly three weeks after the procedure; except for this case, there were no major adverse cardiovascular events (MACCE: MI, cerebrovascular accident, re-do procedure) at 30-day follow-up. The TAVI was associated with a significant reduction in the mean maximal aortic gradient in both groups (from 99.6 ± 22.07 mm Hg to 21.83 ± 9.38 mm Hg post-procedure and to 23.25 ± 9.22 mm Hg at 30-day follow up), with no cases of severe aortic valve regurgitation. The NYHA class at 30 days improved from 3.23 ± 0.41 to 1.72 ± 0.52 (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate lower 30-day complication rate and mortality in the TFA/TSA group. The availability of several techniques of valve implantation in the group of non-surgical patients with severe AS potentially broadens the patient population with indications for this treatment.
Evaluation of Bond Strength, Marginal Integrity, and Fracture Strength of Bulk- vs Incrementally-filled Restorations.

PURPOSE This study evaluated the effect of application technique and preparation size on the fracture strength (FS), microtensile bond strength (μTBS) and marginal integrity (MI) of direct resin composite restorations. MATERIALS AND METHODS Conservative (5 × 2 × 2 mm) or extended (5 × 4 × 2 mm) preparations below the cementoenamel junction were performed in 140 human maxillary premolars (n = 70 per group). After adhesive application (XP Bond), half of each group was restored with the bulk technique (one 4-mm increment of Surefill SDR Flow plus one 1-mm horizontal capping layer of TPH3 [Spectrum TPH3 resin composite]) and half incrementally (TPH3 in three horizontal incremental layers, 1.5 to 2 mm each), all using a metal matrix band. After storage (24 h at 37°C), the proximal surfaces of each tooth were polished with Sof-Lex disks. For FS measurement, 60 restorations were mounted in a universal testing machine and subjected to a compressive axial load applied parallel to the long axis of the tooth, running at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. For μTBS testing, 40 teeth were longitudinally sectioned to obtain resin-dentin bonded sticks from the cavity floor (bonded area: 0.8 mm2). Specimens were tested in tension at 0.5 mm/min. The external marginal integrity of both proximal surfaces was analyzed using SEM of epoxy resin replicas. The μTBS, marginal integrity, and fracture resistance data were subjected to two-way ANOVA, and Tukey's post-hoc test was used for pair-wise comparisons (a = 0.05). RESULTS Fracture resistance, microtensile bond strength, and marginal integrity values were not statistically significantly affected by application technique or preparation size (p = 0.71, p = 0.82, and p = 0.77, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The use of a bulk-fill flowable composite associated with a conventional resin composite as a final capping layer did not jeopardize the fracture strength, bond strength to dentin, or marginal integrity of posterior restorations.
Activity limitations and factors influencing functional outcome of patients with stroke following rehabilitation at a specialised facility in the Western Cape.

BACKGROUND Determining the functional abilities and factors influencing outcome of patients with stroke following rehabilitation are essential for the planning of future interventions and services in order to optimise recovery. OBJECTIVES To determine the activity limitations and factors influencing functional outcome of patients with stroke managed at a specialised rehabilitation centre. METHODOLOGY A longitudinal study design was used to determine the functional outcomes of patients admitted to the centre on admission and discharge. A data gathering sheet was developed to collect information pertaining to the demographicand medical profile and process of rehabilitation, whereas the Barthel Index was used to collect data relating to functional abilities. For analysis, descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (Student t test) were utilised to determine the paired differences. Six prognostic factors influencing functional outcome were selected and tested using linear (bivariate) regression. RESULTS The mean Barthel Index scores on admission and at discharge were 58.85 and 81.59 respectively. A significant improvement was noted in the execution of functional task of patients with stroke (p< 0.01) between the data collection points. Despite the significant overall improvement, results show a high prevalence of dependence with walking and stair climbing at discharge. Only functional ability on admission (r=0.49) predicted a favourable functional outcome at discharge. CONCLUSION This study highlights the limitations of younger stroke survivors and the need for continued rehabilitation following in-patient care. It further underscores the administration of a functional rating scale on admission in order to aggressively manage activity limitations.
The characteristics of firms subject to adverse rulings by the Financial Reporting Review Panel

Abstract This study presents evidence on the characteristics of firms judged by the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) as having published defective financial statements. Relative to a pairwise-matched control sample, FRRP firms are associated with weak performance in the defect year. In contrast, their performance in the post-defect period is indistinguishable from that of the control sample, suggesting that rather than being perennial underachieves, FRRP firms are average performers suffering temporary performance difficulties. FRRP firms are also less likely to have a Big Five auditor. Weaker evidence is also presented that FRRP firms are less likely to have an audit committee and a high proportion of outside directors. In contrast, their remaining governance characteristics are largely indistinguishable from those of the control sample. Moreover, there is no evidence that public censure by the FRRP leads to a higher incidence of executive turnover in subsequent years.
Unions, Fiscal Policy and Central Bank Transparency

In a unionized economy with endogenous fiscal policy central bank transparency has two contrasting effects on wages, the relative strength of which determines the macroeconomic performance. This finding allows us to demonstrate that (i) if the central bank is populist the effect of transparency is negative, and (ii) if policy makers are sufficiently conservative and the government is active, transparency decreases inflation and unemployment, but opposite results apply if a populist government faces a tight fiscal constraint. Macroeconomic volatility disappears with full transparency and increases, in general, with opacity, but the relationship is hump-shaped when the central bank is strongly populist.
Time-Varying Demand for Lottery: Speculation Ahead of Earnings Announcements

Abstract Investor preferences for holding speculative assets are likely to be more pronounced ahead of firms’ earnings announcements, probably because of lower inventory costs and immediate payoffs or because of enhanced investor attention. We show that the demand for lottery-like stocks is stronger ahead of earnings announcements, leading to a price run-up for these stocks. In sharp contrast to the standard underperformance of lottery-like stocks, lottery-like stocks outperform non-lottery stocks by about 52 basis points in the 5-day window ahead of earnings announcements. However, this return spread is reversed by 80 basis points in the 5-day window after the announcements. Moreover, this inverted-V-shaped pattern on cumulative return spreads is more pronounced among firms with a greater retail order imbalance, among firms with low institutional ownership, and in regions with a stronger gambling propensity, and it is also robust after controlling for past 12-month returns and various proxies for investor attention.
Analysis of the general image quality equation

The general image quality equation (GIQE) [Leachtenauer et al., Appl. Opt. 36, 8322-8328 (1997)] is an empirical formula for predicting the quality of imagery from a given incoherent optical system in terms of the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS). In some scenarios, the two versions of the GIQE (versions 3.0 and 4.0) yield significantly different NIIRS predictions. We compare visual image quality assessments for simulated imagery with GIQE predictions and analyze the physical basis for the GIQE terms in an effort to determine the proper coefficients for use with Wiener-filtered reconstructions of Nyquist and oversampled imagery in the absence of aberrations. Results indicate that GIQE 3.0 image quality predictions are more accurate than those from GIQE 4.0 in this scenario.
Measuring Knowledge Management Success: Development and Test of a Theory-Based Measuring Model

Abstract Many reports suggest that knowledge management concepts are practically accepted and only detailed questions remain open but this is only partially the case. Nevermore, one is still preoccupied with the question as to how a successful and sustainable integration of knowledge management can be accomplished in corporate practice. Science therefor begins to systematically investigate impacts on success and to develop analysis methods. Success factors which form the basis of KM success measurement in practice are tested using a research design from behavioural science as theoretical foundation. Zusammenfassung Viele Erfahrungsberichte suggerieren, dass das Wissensmanagement in der Praxis “angekommen” ist und man sich nun Detailfragen zuwenden kann; dies ist jedoch nur bedingt der Fall. Nach wie vor beschäftigt man sich mit der Frage, wie die erfolgreiche und nachhaltige Einbindung von Wissensmanagement in der Praxis sichergestellt werden kann. Die Wissenschaft beginnt daher, die Erfolgswirkungen systematisch zu untersuchen. Die Basis der Erfolgsmessung bilden sogenannte Erfolgsfaktoren, die in diesem Beitrag auf verhaltenswissenschatlicher Basis analysiert und theoretisch begründet werden.
Strategic embeddedness and the microfoundations of collective action: A comparative institutional analysis of the rule of law and informal institutions in cooperation games

Typical accounts of the ability of social networks to enable collective action focus on either whole group or individual advantages. Adding an intermediate perspective, this paper advances a core notion of strategic embeddedness that applies to social interactions involving a subset of society. Strategic embeddedness is modeled with a game-theoretic approach that places an otherwise isolated game into a broader social structure. To facilitate a comparative institutional analysis of formal and informal mechanisms, this paper advances a complementary notion of the cooperative value of a network to evaluate the maximum payoffs possible under various network structures that define the social context of two-person cooperation games. A formal analysis indicates that decentralized network structures can maximize this cooperative value: under some conditions, these are both optimal and efficient structures that can effectively substitute for anonymous public enforcement mechanisms. In conditions where private enforcement is relatively ineffective vis-à-vis a public rule of law enforcement mechanism, then hierarchical network structures are shown to be optimal but inefficient. In general, more connectedness or a higher network density does not readily translate into more cooperation because when most players are connected to the rest of society, the added value of social networks diminishes in the absence of extraneous rules to discriminate among players with common social connections.
Lead-Lag Relationships and Rating Convergence Among Credit Rating Agencies

Using a sample of issuers rated by Moody’s and S&P, we find evidence that Moody’s rating change intensities are higher given a rating change by S&P. This seems to be tentative evidence that S&P assigns ratings in a timelier manner than Moody’s. Second, we find that the tendency towards rating convergence is stronger for Moody’s than for S&P. Our findings are important given the concerns regarding the agencies’ inherent incentives and their dominant market position.
A Vacuolar Processing Enzyme, δVPE, Is Involved in Seed Coat Formation at the Early Stage of Seed Development

Vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) is a Cys proteinase responsible for the maturation of vacuolar proteins. Arabidopsis thaliana δVPE, which was recently found in the database, was specifically and transiently expressed in two cell layers of the seed coat (ii2 and ii3) at an early stage of seed development. At this stage, cell death accompanying cell shrinkage occurs in the ii2 layer followed by cell death in the ii3 layer. In a δVPE-deficient mutant, cell death of the two layers of the seed coat was delayed. Immunocytochemical analysis localized δVPE to electron-dense structures inside and outside the walls of seed coat cells that undergo cell death. Interestingly, δVPE in the precipitate fraction from young siliques exhibits caspase-1–like activity, which has been detected in various types of plant cell death. Our results suggest that, at the early stage of seed development, δVPE is involved in cell death of limited cell layers, the purpose of which is to form a seed coat.
Time scales of sea-level variability along the Alaskan Coast

Alaska's coastal waters exhibit a rich variety of sea-level fluctuations, driven by multiple processes and encompassing a wide range of timescales. Water level data from a set of stations along the Alaska coast are examined from different perspectives to isolate portions of the variability with different periods or subranges of timescales. The approach is exploratory, addressing selected aspects of total observed variability to illustrate regional differences and seasonal characteristics. Tides vary from macrotidal at Anchorage to microtidal at Nome. The variance in the observed data that is not accounted for by the predicted tides varies regionally as well, and is relatively large at Nome. The seasonal cycle of sea level, parameterized in terms of harmonic constituents, exhibits differences among the set of stations with respect to amplitude, phasing, and shape. Non-periodic fluctuations in water level are decomposed and distributed over timescales by wavelet analysis, and then reconstructed as multiple time series, each containing only the timescales falling in a specified band.
Sustainability index of micro finance institutions (MFIs) and contributory factors

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the sustainability of micro finance institutions (MFIs) in a holistic manner. The idea is to create an index of sustainability for MFIs which includes financial and outreach aspects of sustainability. Further, it also discerns the factors which contribute to high (low) sustainability scores of MFIs. Design/methodology/approach - – Data on Indian MFIs was collected from Microfinance Information Exchange database. Using the technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), an Index of sustainability is built by aggregating multiple indicators (operational self-sufficiency ratio, the average loan balance per borrower and the number of active borrowers) to arrive at composite sustainability score of MFIs. Contributory factors of sustainability were identified using a multiple regression model. Findings - – The sustainability score for MFIs ranges from a maximum score of 0.80 to a minimum of 0.26. Gross loan portfolio, No. of borrower per staff member, portfolio at risk>30 days and return on assets, are significant contributors to sustainability scores of Indian MFIs. Practical implications - – The index of sustainability is a useful tool to rank the MFIs on a multi-dimensional construct of sustainability. The study also helps to unravel factors that significantly contribute to sustainability of Indian MFIs. Originality/value - – This study is novel in its attempt to measure sustainability in a holistic fashion by focussing not just on the financial performance of the MFI but also on outreach dimensions. It is also unique in its approach to adopt a multi criteria decision-making technique of TOPSIS to measure sustainability of Indian MFIs.