Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in Energy Productivity . A Sectoral Cross-country Analysis for the Period 1970-1997

The paper describes the development of energyintensity at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries for the period 1970-1997 (distinguishing 13 sectors). The analysis is based on a database that merges energy data from IEA Energy Balances, economic data from the OECD International Sectoral Database and constructed energy prices, using IEA data. We document a number of stylised facts focussing on differences and similarities in trends and levels of energy productivity. The stylised facts are confronted with stylised facts on labourand capital productivity. We found that in all countries the average annual growth rate of energy productivity is significantly lower than the growth rate of labour productivity and in contrast to patterns of total factor productivity where the USA is the leading country, the USA performs on average in Manufacturing while in Transport, Services and Agriculture the USA face an energy productivity disadvantage to most other OECD countries. A decomposition analysis reveals for each country to what extent the observed average annual growth rate of energy productivity is due to increasing energy efficiency and which part is due to a structural shift towards less energyintensive activities. In addition, for each country we trace back the observed aggregate figures on energy productivity to developments at the level of individual sectors. A systematic cross-country analysis on σ-convergence shows that in all sectors the dispersion of energy-productivity is larger and less uniform than the dispersion of labour productivity. Finally, we found for most sectors a significant pattern of β-convergence for the period 1970-1995.
Serological Screening of the Schistosoma mansoni Adult Worm Proteome

Background New interventions tools are a priority for schistosomiasis control and elimination, as the disease is still highly prevalent. The identification of proteins associated with active infection and protective immune response may constitute the basis for the development of a successful vaccine and could also indicate new diagnostic candidates. In this context, post-genomic technologies have been progressing, resulting in a more rational discovery of new biomarkers of resistance and antigens for diagnosis. Methodology/Principal Findings Two-dimensional electrophoresed Schistosoma mansoni adult worm protein extracts were probed with pooled sera of infected and non-infected (naturally resistant) individuals from a S. mansoni endemic area. A total of 47 different immunoreactive proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Although the different pooled sera shared most of the immunoreactive protein spots, nine protein spots reacted exclusively with the serum pool of infected individuals, which correspond to annexin, major egg antigen, troponin T, filamin, disulphide-isomerase ER-60 precursor, actin and reticulocalbin. One protein spot, corresponding to eukaryotic translation elongation factor, reacted exclusively with the pooled sera of non-infected individuals living in the endemic area. Western blotting of two selected recombinant proteins, major egg antigen and hemoglobinase, showed a similar recognition pattern of that of the native protein. Concluding/Significance Using a serological proteome analysis, a group of antigens related to the different infection status of the endemic area residents was identified and may be related to susceptibility or resistance to infection.
Variables that affect the clinical use and abuse of methylphenidate in the treatment of ADHD.

OBJECTIVE Methylphenidate, the most common treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), increases extracellular dopamine in the brain, which is associated with its reinforcing as well as its therapeutic effects. The authors evaluated variables that distinguish these two properties. METHOD The brain imaging and clinical literatures were analyzed to identify variables that contribute to the abuse liability as well as to the clinical efficacy of methylphenidate. RESULTS Four variables were identified. 1) Dose--there is a threshold for methylphenidate-induced dopamine increases to be perceived as reinforcing and to produce therapeutic effects. 2) Pharmacokinetics--the reinforcing effects of methylphenidate are associated with rapid changes in serum concentrations and presumably fast dopamine increases (as achieved with intravenous injection or insufflation), whereas the therapeutic effects are associated with slowly ascending serum concentrations and presumably smoothly rising dopamine levels (as achieved with oral administration). 3) Individual differences--sensitivity to methylphenidate varies across individuals and sets a threshold for blood and brain levels required for reinforcing effects (drug liking) and for therapeutic effects (symptom reduction). 4) Context--the effects of methylphenidate are modulated by different settings in abuse (rituals of self-administration and powerful conditioning) and in clinical use (external demands of low activity and focused attention). CONCLUSIONS Reinforcing effects occur when methylphenidate elicits large and fast dopamine increases that mimic those of phasic dopamine cell firing, whereas therapeutic effects occur when methylphenidate elicits slow, steady-state dopamine increases that mimic those of tonic firing. Thus, the characteristics of clinical use (low doses administered orally and titrated for therapeutic effects) constrain methylphenidate's abuse.
Évaluation des risques que comporte l’exposition aux gras trans au Canada

Trans fats are undesirable because they raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol levels in the blood, which can lead to an increased risk of coronary heart disease. In the mid 1990’s, researchers estimated that Canadians had one of the highest average trans fat intakes in the world, estimated to be approximately 3.7% of energy. The World Health Organization recommends that average intakes of trans fats should be less than 1% of total energy. As such Canada has pursued a multi faceted approach to decrease trans fat levels in Canadian foods. Initiatives undertaken include: mandatory nutrition labelling, the establishment of a multi stakeholder Trans Fat Task Force to develop recommendations and strategies to eliminate trans fat in Canadian foods, and most recently the monitoring of industry’s efforts in reducing trans fats from their food products. Collectively, these initiatives have proven successful as average trans fat intakes have been reduced to 1.42% of overall energy. Further reductions in trans fat levels in the Canadian food supply are needed to meet the target of 1% of energy, the associated public health objectives, and the protection of vulnerable populations.
Preschoolers’ Novel Noun Extensions: Shape in Spite of Knowing Better

We examined the puzzling research findings that when extending novel nouns, preschoolers rely on shape similarity (rather than categorical relations) while in other task contexts (e.g., property induction) they rely on categorical relations. Taking into account research on children’s word learning, categorization, and inductive inference we assume that preschoolers have both a shape-based and a category-based word extension strategy available and can switch between these two depending on which information is easily available. To this end, we tested preschoolers on two versions of a novel-noun label extension task. First, we paralleled the standard extension task commonly used by previous research. In this case, as expected, preschoolers predominantly selected same-shape items. Second, we supported preschoolers’ retrieval of item-related information from memory by asking them simple questions about each item prior to the label extension task. Here, they switched to a category-based strategy, thus, predominantly selecting same-category items. Finally, we revealed that this shape-to-category shift is specific to the word learning context as we did not find it in a non-lexical classification task. These findings support our assumption that preschoolers’ decision about word extension change in accordance with the availability of information (from task context or by memory retrieval). We conclude by suggesting that preschoolers’ noun extensions can be conceptualized within the framework of heuristic decision-making. This provides an ecologically plausible processing account with respect to which information is selected and how this information is integrated to act as a guideline for decision-making when novel words have to be generalized.
The mouse cyclophosphamide model of bladder pain syndrome: tissue characterization, immune profiling, and relationship to metabotropic glutamate receptors

Painful bladder syndrome/Interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) is a chronic disorder characterized clinically by recurring episodes of pelvic pain and increased urination frequency, significantly impairing patients' quality of life. Despite this, there is an unmet medical need in terms of effective diagnostics and treatment. Animal models are crucial in this endeavor. Systemic chronic administration of cyclophosphamide (CYP) in mice has been proposed as a relevant preclinical model of chronic bladder pain. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this model are lacking. Here, we show that mice, subjected to repetitive systemic injections of CYP, developed mild inflammatory response in bladder tissue characterized by submucosal edema, moderate increase in proinflammatory cytokine gene expression, and mastocytosis. No signs of massive inflammatory infiltrate, tissue hemorrhages, mucosal ulcerations and urothelium loss were observed. Instead, CYP treatment induced urothelium hyperplasia, accompanied by activation of proliferative signaling cascades, and a decrease in the expression of urothelium‐specific markers. Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors have been implicated in chronic pain disorders. CYP administration induced differential changes in mGlu receptors mRNA levels in bladder tissue, without affecting gene expression at spinal cord level, pointing to the potential link between peripheral mGlu receptors and inflammation‐induced bladder malfunction and hyperalgesia. Taken together, these data indicate that chronic CYP treatment in mice is a model of PBS mostly relevant to the major, nonulcerative subtype of the syndrome, characterized by a relatively unaltered mucosa and a sparse inflammatory response. This model can help to elucidate the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease.
The Anatomy of a Price Cut: Discovering Organizational Sources of the Costs of Price Adjustment

The fact that organizations find it hard to change in response to shocks in the environment is a crucial feature of the economy. Yet we know little about why it is so difficult for organizations to adjust, and where these limitations come from. In an effort to discover some of these reasons we ground ourselves in the context of price adjustment, and present a qualitative analysis of an intensive ethnographic field study of the pricing practices at a one-billion dollar Midwestern industrial manufacturing firm and its customers. We go into depth on a specific episode, a price cut, which most vividly exemplifies the themes that emerged from our data. In the specific situation, market forces clearly dictate that the firm should cut prices, and everyone in the firm agrees with this assessment, suggesting a fairly straightforward price adjustment decision. Yet when we look deeper, and dissect how the firm implemented the price cut, we uncover a rich tapestry of frictions hidden within the organization. At their core, these frictions relate to how managers, in the context of an organization, attempt to apply the fundamental elements of economic theory. Essentially they face a series of constraints that make sense in the context of an organization trying to make these adjustments, but constraints that are rarely articulated or incorporated into economic understanding of price adjustment. We discover that the largest barriers to price adjustment are related to disputes arising from collisions between "partial models" used by different organizational participants as they confront fundamental economic issues. Often, these issues have not been settled and exist in a tenuous truce within the organization – and adjustment requires the organization to deal with them in order to react to these changes.
The effects of genes, antiepileptic drugs and risk of death on functional anatomy and cognitive networks in epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. Apart from seizures, patients are also affected by epilepsy comorbidities, such as cognitive impairment, side effects of antiepileptic drugs, and an increased risk of dying from sudden death. Within epilepsy research, recent efforts have been made to identify reliable biomarkers to advance the understanding of disease-mechanisms, to individualize and optimize treatment and side-effect profiles and to enhance prediction of treatment success and disease progression. Biomarkers are objective measures of a normal or pathological biological process and, in the context of this PhD, neuroimaging biomarkers ideally enable in vivo measurements of (i) disease activity, (ii) treatment effects and (iii) risk of comorbidities and mortality. Employing functional and structural neuroimaging techniques, we studied potential neuroimaging biomarkers in three different domains of epilepsy. In the first project, we explored fMRI endophenotypes in a prototype of a genetic generalised epilepsy syndrome, namely juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Endophenotypes are heritable traits, closer related to the genotype than the final phenotype and are found frequently in non-affected family members of patients. Our study revealed potential functional endophenotypes and support a genetically determined neurodevelopmental disease mechanism in JME. The second project investigated fMRI markers of antiepileptic drug effects on cognitive networks in patients with refractory epilepsy. In two retrospective studies employing fMRI cognitive tasks, we isolated task- and medication-specific effects on working memory and language networks for Levetiracetam (study 1) and Topiramate and Zonisamide (study 2). In the third project, we employed Voxel-Based-Morphometry in a retrospective analysis of structural imaging of patients who had died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) or were at high or low risk of SUDEP. We identified structural markers of high SUDEP risk, and discussed that these were at least partially specific, i.e. independent of disease progression and load.
This Reprint May Differ from the Original in Pagination and Typographic Detail. Event-related Potentials to Unattended Changes in Facial Expressions: Detection of Regularity Violations or Encoding of Emotions?

All material supplied via JYX is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication or sale of all or part of any of the repository collections is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for your research use or educational purposes in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, whether for sale or otherwise to anyone who is not an authorised user. Event-related potentials to unattended changes in facial expressions: detection of regularity violations or encoding of emotions? to unattended changes in facial expressions: detection of regularity violations or encoding of emotions? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7. Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), a component in event-related potentials (ERPs), can be elicited when rarely presented " deviant " facial expressions violate regularity formed by repeated " standard " faces. vMMN is observed as differential ERPs elicited between the deviant and standard faces. It is not clear, however, whether differential ERPs to rare emotional faces interspersed with repeated neutral ones reflect true vMMN (i.e., detection of regularity violation) or merely encoding of the emotional content in the faces. Furthermore, a face-sensitive N170 response, which reflects structural encoding of facial features, can be modulated by emotional expressions. Owing to its similar latency and scalp topography with vMMN, these two components are difficult to separate. We recorded ERPs to neutral, fearful, and happy faces in two different stimulus presentation conditions in adult humans. For the oddball condition group, frequently presented neutral expressions (p = 0.8) were rarely replaced by happy or fearful expressions (p = 0.1), whereas for the equiprobable condition group, fearful, happy, and neutral expressions were presented with equal probability (p = 0.33). Independent component analysis (ICA) revealed two prominent components in both stimulus conditions in the relevant latency range and scalp location. A component peaking at 130 ms post stimulus showed a difference in scalp topography between the oddball (bilateral) and the equiprobable (right-dominant) conditions. The other component, peaking at 170 ms post stimulus, showed no difference between the conditions. The bilateral component at the 130-ms latency in the oddball condition conforms to vMMN. Moreover, it was distinct from N170 which was modulated by the emotional expression only. The present results suggest that future studies on vMMN to facial expressions should take into account possible confounding effects caused by the differential processing of the …
Amoc Effects on Tropical Pacific Ocean Ocean Science Discussions Frequency-dependent Effects of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning on the Tropical Pacific Ocean Osd Amoc Effects on Tropical Pacific Ocean

Using the ECHAM5/MPI-OM model, we study the relation between the variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and both the Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude. In a 17-member 20C3M/SRES-A1b ensemble for 1950–2100 the Pacific response to AMOC 5 variations on different time scales and amplitudes is considered. The Pacific response to AMOC variations associated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is very small. In a 5-member hosing ensemble where the AMOC collapses due to a large freshwater anomaly, the Pacific SST response is large and in agreement with previous work. Our results show that the modelled connection between AMOC and ENSO 10 depends very strongly on the frequency and/or the amplitude of the AMOC variations. Interannual AMOC variations, decadal AMOC variations and an AMOC collapse lead to with entirely different responses in the Pacific Ocean.
Emotional Intelligence in Organizations: Bridging Research and Practice

Although theory and research on emotional intelligence (EI) in the workplace has generated high expectations and promising findings, the gap between research and practice looms large. Several lines of inquiry point to the potential benefits of EI for leaders, teams, and organizations. Yet, assessing EI remains challenging, and research focusing on group and organizational levels of analysis is still scarce. In this review, I seek to bridge the gap between research and practice by considering a broader view of EI and discussing research findings with a focus on implications for assessment and training. In particular, I discuss strategies to enhance the impact of EI and leadership training, and to drive results through well-integrated organizational development initiatives.
Comment: Understanding Simpson’s Paradox

I thank the editor, Ronald Christensen, for the opportunity to discuss this important topic and to comment on the article by Armistead. Simpson’s paradox is often presented as a compelling demonstration of why we need statistics education in our schools. It is a reminder of how easy it is to fall into a web of paradoxical conclusions when relying solely on intuition, unaided by rigorous statistical methods. In recent years, ironically, the paradox assumed an added dimension when educators began using it to demonstrate the limits of statistical methods, and why causal, rather than statistical considerations are necessary to avoid those paradoxical conclusions (Wasserman 2004; Arah 2008; Pearl 2009, pp. 173–182). My comments are divided into three parts. First, I will give a brief summary of the history of Simpson’s paradox and how it has been treated in the statistical literature in the past century. Next, I will ask what is required to declare the paradox “resolved,” and argue that modern understanding of causal inference has met those requirements. Finally, I will answer specific questions raised in Armistead’s article and show how the resolution of Simpson’s paradox can be taught for fun and progress.
Transgender and anxiety: A comparative study between transgender people and the general population

ABSTRACT Background: Anxiety disorders pose serious public health problems. The data available on anxiety disorders in the transgender population is limited by the small numbers, the lack of a matched controlled population and the selection of a nonhomogenous group of transgender people. Aims: The aims of the study were (1) to determine anxiety symptomatology (based on the HADS) in a nontreated transgender population and to compare it to a general population sample matched by age and gender; (2) to investigate the predictive role of specific variables, including experienced gender, self-esteem, victimization, social support, interpersonal functioning, and cross-sex hormone use regarding levels of anxiety symptomatology; and (3) to investigate differences in anxiety symptomatology between transgender people on cross-sex hormone treatment and not on hormone treatment. Methods: A total of 913 individuals who self-identified as transgender attending a transgender health service during a 3-year period agreed to participate. For the first aim of the study, 592 transgender people not on treatment were matched by age and gender, with 3,816 people from the general population. For the second and third aim, the whole transgender population was included. Measurements: Sociodemographic variables and measures of depression and anxiety (HADS), self-esteem (RSE), victimization (ETS), social support (MSPSS), and interpersonal functioning (IIP-32). Results: Compared with the general population transgender people had a nearly threefold increased risk of probable anxiety disorder (all p < .05). Low self-esteem and interpersonal functioning were found to be significant predictors of anxiety symptoms. Trans women on treatment with cross-sex hormones were found to have lower levels of anxiety disorder symptomatology. Conclusions: Transgender people (particularly trans males) have higher levels of anxiety symptoms suggestive of possible anxiety disorders compared to the general population. The findings that self-esteem, interpersonal functioning, and hormone treatment are associated with lower levels of anxiety symptoms indicate the need for clinical interventions targeting self-esteem and interpersonal difficulties and highlight the importance of quick access to transgender health services.
Les mimiques du créateur, ou l'auto-référence des représentations affectives

En demandant a des sujets de dessiner des visages representant des emotions, les As. etudient les mimiques des sujets en situation de creation de representations. Les sujets sont filmes pendant qu'ils dessinent et leur activite motrice faciale est ensuite analysee selon la methode d'Ehman du Facial Coding System, afin de determiner le degre d'adequation entre l'activite faciale du sujet et l'emotion qu'on lui demande de dessiner