Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A re-analysis of the long-term effects on life expectancy of the Great Finnish Famine of 1866–68

The results of studies exploring the long-term consequences of famine during foetal or infant development are inconsistent. We tested the hypothesis that selection forces occurring during a famine change the distribution of frailty in the affected cohorts, possibly hiding negative long-term effects. Using mortality data for Finland, gathered from the Human Mortality Database, we explored the effect of being born during the Great Finnish Famine of 1866–68 by comparing mortality at age 60 and over for the 1850–89 births, taking into account unobserved cohort heterogeneity. Contemporaneous Swedish cohorts, unexposed to the famine, were used as an additional control group. When cohort heterogeneity is accounted for, a lower life expectancy at age 60 for male cohorts in Finland born during the famine is observed. The results for females are less conclusive. No substantial changes are seen in the Swedish cohorts. In order to provide consistent estimates of the long-run effects of famines, selection forces need to be considered.
Prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pyogenic community and hospital acquired skin and soft tissues infections.

OBJECTIVE To determine the percentage and frequency of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in community and hospital-acquired pyogenic skin and soft tissue infections. METHODS The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dermatology Department of Combined Military Hospital, Abbottabad, from June 2009 to March 2010, and comprised 144 community-acquired and 54 hospital-acquired skin and soft tissue infections. Pus swabs from the infected lesions one from each individual were sent to laboratory for culture and sensitivity tests. Methicillin resistance was detected by 1 microg oxacillin disk. Organisms were labelled methicillin-resistant once the inhibition zone for oxocillin was less than 10 mm. Data analysis was done by using SPSS 20. RESULTS Of the 198 patients in the study, 98 (49.5%) were males and 100 (50.5%) were females, with an overall mean age of 33.7 +/- 14.81 44 years. There were 144 (72.72%) community-acquired infections and 54 (27.27%) had hospital-acquired infections. Community-acquired Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus numbered 40 (27.8%) and hospital-acquired ones numbered 26 (48.1%). CONCLUSION Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in community and hospital-acquired pyogenic skin and soft tissue infections was high.
Predicting moral attitudes and antisocial behavior in young team sport athletes: A self‐determination theory perspective

Research on prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport has indicated that a substantive minority of athletes engage in behaviors consid‐ ered ethically inappropriate in sport, such as injuring an opponent, cheating, retaliating to a foul, faking an injury, or engaging in be‐ haviors that will psychologically distract or upset the opponents (Boardley & Kavussanu, 2007; Lee, Whitehead, & Ntoumanis, 2007; Lee, Whitehead, Ntoumanis, & Hatzigeorgiadis, 2008; Long, Pantaléon, Bruant, & D'Arripe‐Longueville, 2006). Although many of these behaviors contravene the rules and regulations of sport and are duly sanctioned if identified by officials or in retrospective evi‐ dence (e.g., TV, video footage), some behaviors go undetected and others are not considered rule transgressions but are still considered contrary to the “spirit” of fair play and moral conduct in sport. This presents considerable problems when the goal of sport, even at the Received: 9 May 2018 | Revised: 31 July 2018 | Accepted: 17 January 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12581
The Social Economy in Central East and South East Europe

The chapter explores the evolution of the social economy in Central East and South East Europe and highlights the way in which the development of the contemporary social economy is deeply rooted in the historical traditions established before the Second World War and the effects of the Communist era. Highlighting the impact of the transition, the strengths and weaknesses in the development of the social economy in the region are explained as being embedded in the similar national and international policies that have produced similar paths of developments. The mainstreaming of social inclusion policies and programmes, and decentralisation and local development, can hardly be successful if social economy organisations in the region are not provided with an environment which enables them to fulfil their potential.
Impact of Macroeconomic News Surprises on Interest Rate Swap Spreads

This study examines the response of Australian interest rate swap spreads to the arrival of macroeconomic news during economic expansion and contraction. We find the degree that news surprises impact on swap spread depends largely on the state of the economy. Unexpected inflation rate is the only news release that has significant impact on swap spreads across all maturities during contractions and remains the important news announcement throughout the business cycle, while unanticipated unemployment rate tends to be more relevant for the 10-year swap and the unanticipated change in money supply tends to be more relevant for 4-and 7-year swaps during expansions. We also find that shocks from these news surprises significantly impact the conditional volatility of the swap spread change during both economic expansion and contraction. The macroeconomic shocks in general are negatively related to the conditional volatility of the swap spread change, suggesting that news worthy announcements tend to reduce uncertainty on the news announcement days in the swap market during both economic expansion and contraction.
Convex Relaxation for Optimal Distributed Control Problems

This paper is concerned with the optimal distributed control (ODC) problem for linear discrete-time deterministic and stochastic systems. The objective is to design a static distributed controller with a prespecified structure that is globally optimal with respect to a quadratic cost functional. It is shown that this NP-hard problem has a quadratic formulation, which can be relaxed to a semidefinite program (SDP). If the SDP relaxation has a rank-1 solution, a globally optimal distributed controller can be recovered from this solution. By utilizing the notion of treewidth, it is proved that the nonlinearity of the ODC problem appears in such a sparse way that an SDP relaxation of this problem has a matrix solution with rank at most 3. Since the proposed SDP relaxation is computationally expensive for a large-scale system, a computationally cheap SDP relaxation is also developed with the property that its objective function indirectly penalizes the rank of the SDP solution. Various techniques are proposed to approximate a low-rank SDP solution with a rank-1 matrix, leading to near globally optimal controllers together with a bound on the optimality degree of each controller. The above results are developed for both finite-horizon and infinite-horizon ODC problems. The SDP relaxations developed in this work are exact for the design of a centralized controller, hence serving as an alternative for solving Riccati equations. The efficacy of the proposed SDP relaxations is elucidated through a case study on the distributed frequency control of power systems.
Poly Thymidine Polymorphism and Cystic Fibrosis in a Non-Caucasian Population

Background: Cystic fibrosis is a monogenic recessive disorder found predominantly in Caucasian population. This disease arises from mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. In this study we consider poly T polymorphism c.1210-12T[5], c.1210-12T[7], c.1210-12T[9] (T5, T7, T9) in the intron 8 of CFTR gene in normal individuals and cystic fibrosis patients in the north of Iran. Material and methods: 40 CF patients and 40 normal individuals were screened for poly T polymorphism in intron 8 of CFTR gene using Reverse Dot Blot method which was also used to detect p.Phe508del among CF patients. Results: T7 allele is the most prevalent in both normal and CF patients. Its abundance is approximately 75%. T9 and T5 represent approximately 20% and 5% of alleles respectively. T7/ T7 genotype is the most present in both normal and CF patients with 72.5% and 60% prevalence respectively. p.Phe508del was present in 13 CFTR alleles belonging to 7 patients with either homozygote T9/ T9, T7/ T7 or compound heterozygote T7/ T9 genotypes. Conclusion: Contrary to the Caucasians, T7 allele is more frequent in Northern Iranian CF patients. The presence of p.Phe508del and T7 allele in the same framework is reported for the first time in this part of the world. Further investigations of other populations will help to understand whether p.Phe508del arose by selection pressure in this part of the world or was imported from European countries. The abundance of T5, T7, T9 alleles indicates that this polymorphism can be used as one of the informative markers for detection of normal and mutant alleles in prenatal diagnosis or carrier assessment in families with previous history of the disease in regions with high degree of CFTR mutation heterogeneity.
Improved lattice-based spoken document retrieval by directly learning from the evaluation measures

Lattice-based approaches have been widely used in spoken document retrieval to handle the speech recognition uncertainty and errors. Position Specific Posterior Lattices (PSPL) and Confusion Network (CN) are good examples. It is therefore interesting to derive improved model for spoken document retrieval by properly integrating different versions of lattice-based approaches in order to achieve better performance. In this paper we borrow the framework of ‘learning to rank’ from text document retrieval and try to integrate it into the scenario of lattice-based spoken document retrieval. Two approaches are considered here, AdaRank and SVM-map. With these approaches, we are able to learn and derived improved models using different versions of PSPL/CN. Preliminary experiments with broadcast news in Mandarin Chinese showed significant improvements.
2013 Book review : Bruno DYCK 2013 Management and the Gospel : Luke ’ s Radical Message for the First and Twenty-First Centuries

This book is a masterful analysis of Jesus’ radical ideas regarding managers and management. These ideas, when understood in the context of the Greco-Roman management system, present transformational possibilities for 21st century managers. A change model that utilizes Jesus’ ideas and his discussion about the Kingdom of God frames the book.
Intelligent determination for readmission of postoperative patients in ambulatory surgery

The present paper presents an intelligent system which determines the need for readmission in postoperative patients of ambulatory surgery, after being discharged. The decision made by the system depends on the answers given to a follow-up questionnaire, which includes questions related to the recovery state of the patient, and information about his/her medical records stored in a database. In order to carry out the system, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were implemented to model clinical decision-making, by using different configurations of ANN, to select the one that presented the highest success rate in the decision.
Environmental Quality, Developmental Plasticity and the Thrifty Phenotype: A Review of Evolutionary Models

The concept of the thrifty phenotype, first proposed by Hales and Barker, is now widely used in medical research, often in contrast to the thrifty genotype model, to interpret associations between early-life experience and adult health status. Several evolutionary models of the thrifty phenotype, which refers to developmental plasticity, have been presented. These include (A) the weather forecast model of Bateson, (B) the maternal fitness model of Wells, (C) the intergenerational phenotypic inertia model of Kuzawa, and (D) the predictive adaptive response model of Gluckman and Hanson. These models are compared and contrasted, in order to assess their relative utility for understanding human ontogenetic development. The most broadly applicable model is model A, which proposes that developing organisms respond to cues of environmental quality, and that mismatches between this forecast and subsequent reality generate significant adverse effects in adult phenotype. The remaining models all address in greater detail what kind of information is provided by such a forecast. Whereas both models B and C emphasise the adaptive benefits of exploiting information about the past, encapsulated in maternal phenotype, model D assumes that the fetus uses cues about the present external environment to predict its probable adult environment. I argue that for humans, with a disproportionately long period between the closing of sensitive windows of plasticity and the attainment of reproductive maturity, backward-looking models B and C represent a better approach, and indicate that the developing offspring aligns itself with stable cues of maternal phenotype so as to match its energy demand with maternal capacity to supply. In contrast, the predictive adaptive response model D over-estimates the capacity of the offspring to predict the future, and also fails to address the long-term parent-offspring dynamics of human development. Differences between models have implications for the design of public health interventions.
Evaluating Candidate Positioning and Success in the 2018 Midterm Elections

Abstract The 2018 House midterm elections saw Democrats regain a majority in the chamber for the first time in almost a decade. Contributing to this partisan change was the difficult situation Republican House incumbents were subject to. This article will examine the different factors contributing to the Republicans’ loss including the role of ideology in candidate success in both the primary and general election stage, the effects of retirements and open seats, and the value of presidential endorsements and legislative position taking.
L2-induced norms and frequency gains of sampled-data sensitivity operators

This paper develops exact, computable formulas for the frequency gain and L/sub 2/-induced norm of the sensitivity operator in a sampled-data control system. With sampled data, we refer to a system that combines both continuous-time and discrete time signals, which is studied in continuous time. The expressions are obtained using lifting techniques in the frequency domain and have application in performance and stability robustness analysis taking into account full intersample information.
Is the Deficit Under Control? A Generational Accounting Perspective on Fiscal Policy and Labour Market Trends in Spain

According to the 2001 Spanish budgetary previsions, the government deficit is about to disappear. We analyse this matter within a generational accounting framework. Accounting for the recent expansive phase of the economic cycle, we find that current fiscal policy is also intertemporally balanced provided that the favourable present employment situation lasts. However, public finances remain under the pressure of the demographic cycle. Therefore, to achieve fiscal sustainability, the surpluses predicted for the next decades need to be accumulated, in order to finance deficits appearing during the baby-boomers’ retirement. The improvement of employment has played an important role in this situation. We extend the standard generational accounting methodology incorporating tax and transfer age profiles by employment status. This permits us to analyse the possible intertemporal impact of several future employment developments. In particular, we assess the fiscal effects of an expected future increase in female labour force participation. We show that this trend does not necessarily improve the intertemporal government budget, as social insurance in Spain is not actuarially fair. Finally, we also assess the impact of a decline in unemployment to the natural rate of unemployment.
Improving audio streaming over multi-hop ZigBee networks

Audio streaming over LR-WPAN is different from data communication because such wireless channels are limited in bandwidth and prone to errors. Nevertheless there are several scenarios such as distributed surveillance and emergency response, where lightweight multimedia applications are compelling solutions for pervasive and ubiquitous computing. This paper investigates the feasibility of transmitting voice over ZigBee compliant platforms using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. We present an implementation of a ZigBee Push-To-Talk application which allows to investigate the capability of ZigBee protocol for low-rate voice streaming and to analyze important streaming metrics such as packet loss over a multi-hop sensor network, evaluating Unicast and Broadcast addressing. Finally, we analyze the trade-off between audio quality and power consumption comparing different compression algorithms and we draw hard conclusions about specific improvements which would be needed to support higher data rates.
On the Trail of Linked Selection

Distinguishing the relative roles of positive and negative selection along with demographic history in shaping genetic diversity has been a decades-long endeavor. Understanding the forces structuring genetic variation informs us not only about the factors maintaining diversity but also about the fundamental evolutionary parameters that influence natural populations, including the rate and strength of positive selection, the deleterious genetic load experienced by populations, and the factors driving genome evolution. Most attempts at modeling demography, positive selection, or negative selection typically do so by ignoring the contribution of the other forces. Because multiple forces are acting simultaneously, these inferences likely overestimate the role of single evolutionary forces and can lead to biased interpretations. In this issue, Elyashiv et al. [1] make important advances towards addressing this problem by presenting a novel approach to simultaneously estimate the parameters of positive and negative selection based on the spatial patterns of neutral genetic variation and apply this method to Drosophila.
From Tailgating to Twitter: Fans' Use of Social Media at a Gridiron Matchup Between Two Historically Black Colleges

The current study investigated the uses and gratifications of attendees using social media at the Southern Heritage Classic (SHC), a Historically Black Colleges and Universities football game between Tennessee State University and Jackson State University. Descriptive data revealed how attendees used various types of media to find information about the SHC, and how social media was utilized by participants during and surrounding the event. Further, following Clavio (2011), two one-way ANOVAs found that attendees did not differ in their use of social media by sex, but did differ by age groups. Specifically, younger age groups were more likely than older attendees to utilize social media to gather information about the SHC. Theoretical implications are discussed, recommendations for practitioners are presented, and areas for future research identified.
Spherically symmetric solutions to fourth-order theories of gravity

Solutions to the field equations generated from Lagrangians of the form f(R) are considered. The spherically symmetric solutions to these equations are discussed, paying particular attention to features that differ from the standard Schwarzschild solution. The asymptotic form of solutions will be described, as will the lack of validity of Birkhoff's theorem. Exact solutions are presented which illustrate these points and the stability and equations of motion of particles in these spacetimes are investigated.
Downregulation of the endogenous opioid peptides in the dorsal striatum of human alcoholics

The endogenous opioid peptides dynorphins and enkephalins may be involved in brain-area specific synaptic adaptations relevant for different stages of an addiction cycle. We compared the levels of prodynorphin (PDYN) and proenkephalin (PENK) mRNAs (by qRT-PCR), and dynorphins and enkephalins (by radioimmunoassay) in the caudate nucleus and putamen between alcoholics and control subjects. We also evaluated whether PDYN promoter variant rs1997794 associated with alcoholism affects PDYN expression. Postmortem specimens obtained from 24 alcoholics and 26 controls were included in final statistical analysis. PDYN mRNA and Met-enkephalin-Arg-Phe, a marker of PENK were downregulated in the caudate of alcoholics, while PDYN mRNA and Leu-enkephalin-Arg, a marker of PDYN were decreased in the putamen of alcoholics carrying high risk rs1997794 C allele. Downregulation of opioid peptides in the dorsal striatum may contribute to development of alcoholism including changes in goal directed behavior and formation of a compulsive habit in alcoholics.
Navigation of trochlear motor axons along the midbrain-hindbrain boundary by neuropilin 2

Trochlear motor axons project dorsally along the midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) to decussate at the dorsal midline. We report on the roles of neuropilin 2 and its ligands in the molecular mechanisms controlling this trajectory. In chick embryos, neuropilin 2 was expressed in the neuroepithelium of the dorsal isthmus in addition to the trochlear neurons, and Sema3F transcripts were localized along the caudal margin of the midbrain. Misexpression of Sema3F demonstrated that Sema3F displays repulsive activity in vivo that guides the trochlear motor axons along the MHB. An unexpected result was that misexpression of neuropilin 2 canceled the midbrain-evoked repulsion, allowing trochlear motor axons to cross the MHB and invade the tectum. A binding assay with neuropilin 2 ectodomain revealed the existence of neuropilin 2 ligands in the midbrain, which were masked by ectopic neuropilin 2. We therefore propose that neuropilin 2 neutralizes the repulsive activity in order to steer trochlear motor axons towards the dorsal decussation point. Taken together, our results suggest that the interaction of neuropilin 2 with its ligands has crucial roles for establishing trochlear trajectory along the MHB.