Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depression in patients with chronic pain attending a specialised pain treatment centre: prevalence and impact on health care costs

Abstract This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of depression on health care costs in patients with complex chronic pain. The sample included 1204 patients attending a tertiary pain management service for people with chronic disabling pain, unresponsive to medical treatment. As part of routine care, patients completed a web-based questionnaire assessing mental and physical health, functioning, and service use in the preceding 3 months. Depression was assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Self-report health care utilisation was measured across 4 domains: general practitioner contacts, contacts with secondary/tertiary care doctors, accident and emergency department visits, and days hospitalised. The participation rate was 89%. Seven hundred and thirty-two patients (60.8%; 95% CI 58.0-63.6) met criteria for probable depression, and 407 (33.8%) met the threshold for severe depression. Patients with depression were more likely to be unable to work because of ill health and reported greater work absence, greater pain-related interference with functioning, lower pain acceptance, and more generalised pain. Mean total health care costs per 3-month period were £731 (95% CI £646-£817) for patients with depression, compared with £448 (95% CI £366-£530) for patients without depression. A positive association between severe depression and total health care costs persisted after controlling for key demographic, functional, and clinical covariates using multiple linear regression models. These findings reveal the extent, severity, and impact of depression in patients with chronic pain and make evident a need for action. Effective treatment of depression may improve patient health and functioning and reduce the burden of chronic pain on health care services.
Women's understandings of sexuality, sex and sexual problems : an interview study

Background There are a paucity of studies that address women's own understandings of sexuality and sexual problems. Much of the research and theory which underpin current diagnostic criteria for sexual problems is based upon a set of sexual norms which are predicated upon male experience. Moreover, these dominant understandings, entrenched in a perspective that favours the material body, fail to take account of contextual factors of women's experiences. Objectives Within a diverse sample of women: to examine understandings of sexuality and sexual problems; explore the importance of sexual activity using their own definitions; and identify the influence of wider socio-cultural factors upon understandings of sexuality and sexual problems. Methods In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen women recruited from the general public and ten women recruited from a psychosexual clinic aged 23-72 years. Data analysis Data were analysed thematically using the conventions of template analysis within a material-discursive framework. Findings The findings of this study suggest that women's understandings of sexuality, sex and sexual problems should be understood as bodily 'experienced' and socially and psychologically mediated. Participants also appear to be influenced by the relational context of their experience and draw upon a patriarchal explanatory framework to make sense of their own sexual functioning and satisfaction. Conclusions This study poses a challenge to the recent drive to medicalise women's sexual problems via the Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) label. The findings dispute current diagnostic criteria for sexual problems which presuppose a highly individualized framework and take very little account of contextual factors. Consequently, this study concludes that such criteria need to consider biological, social, psychological as well as patriarchal and historical factors in determining the meaning and importance of sexuality, sex and sexual problems to women.
Redistribution at the State and Local Level: Consequences for Economic Growth

Fiscal redistribution varies substantially across U.S. states, both on the tax and spending side. A compensating differential framework is used to show that greater redistribution will tend to increase the gross wage of skilled workers but that any increase could be offset by stronger preferences for redistribution. An increase in gross wages raises the cost of output in the more redistributive state, leading to a predicted decline in income and output. To test the model, five- and ten-year per capita and aggregate growth rates are estimated as a function of initial measures of tax and expenditure incidence. Data are a four-period panel of U.S. states from 1977 to 1995. Tax progressivity is measured both overall and for the income tax alone. Expenditure progressivity is measured by spending on welfare and higher education, and the state share of elementary and secondary education spending. Tax structure and welfare spending are instrumented. State tax progressivity shows no effect on growth. Welfare spending has a negative effect on aggregate income growth but not on per capita income. Higher education spending is unrelated to growth. Fiscal spillovers within regions are asymmetric. Progressive taxation and more higher education spending by a state’s geographic neighbors have positive effects on own-state growth. The asymmetry in tax effects explains why interstate tax competition does not lead to geographic convergence in fiscal structures. The results suggest that interstate differences in fiscal redistribution are welfare enhancing in the Pareto sense.
HLA class I alleles tag HLA-DRB1*1501 haplotypes for differential risk in multiple sclerosis susceptibility

The major locus for multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility is located within the class II region of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). HLA-DRB1 alleles, constituting the strongest MS susceptibility factors, have been widely exploited in research including construction of transgenic animal models of MS. Many studies have concluded that HLA-DRB1*15 allele itself determines MS-associated susceptibility. If this were true, haplotypes bearing this allele would confer equal risk. If HLA-DRB1*15 bearing haplotypes differed for risk, roles for other loci in this region would be implied and further study of the fine structure of this locus would be compelling. We have tested the hypothesis comparing haplotypes stratified by HLA class I tagging. We show here that HLA-DRB1*15-bearing-haplotypes in 1970 individuals from 494 MS families are indeed heterogeneous. Some HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes determine susceptibility while others do not. Three groups of class I tagged HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes were not over-transmitted: (i) HLA-DRB1*15-HLA-B*08 (TR = 25, NT = 23, Odds Ratio = 1.09), (ii) -HLA-B*27 (TR = 18, NT = 17, Odds Ratio = 1.06), and (iii) rare HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes (frequency <0.02). Rare haplotypes were significantly different from common haplotypes, and transmissions were remarkably similar to those for class-I-matched non-HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes. These results unambiguously indicate that HLA-DRB1*15 is part of a susceptibility haplotype but cannot be the susceptibility allele itself, requiring either epistatic interactions, epigenetic modifications on some haplotypes, or nearby structural variation. These findings strongly imply that differences among HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes will furnish the basis for MHC-associated susceptibility in MS and raise the possibility that the MHC haplotype is the fundamental unit of genetic control of immune response.
Late Onset Myasthenia Gravis Is Associated with HLA DRB1*15:01 in the Norwegian Population

Background Acquired myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare antibody-mediated autoimmune disease caused by impaired neuromuscular transmission, leading to abnormal muscle fatigability. The aetiology is complex, including genetic risk factors of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex and unknown environmental factors. Although associations between the HLA complex and MG are well established, not all involved components of the HLA predisposition to this heterogeneous disease have been revealed. Well-powered and comprehensive HLA analyses of subgroups in MG are warranted, especially in late onset MG. Methodology/Principal Findings This case-control association study is of a large population-based Norwegian cohort of 369 MG patients and 651 healthy controls. We performed comprehensive genotyping of four classical HLA loci (HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1) and showed that the DRB1*15:01 allele conferred the strongest risk in late onset MG (LOMG; onset ≥60years) (OR 2.38, pc7.4×10−5). DRB1*13:01 was found to be a protective allele for both early onset MG (EOMG) and LOMG (OR 0.31, pc 4.71×10−4), a finding not previously described. No significant association was found to the DRB1*07:01 allele (pnc = 0.18) in a subset of nonthymomatous anti-titin antibody positive LOMG as reported by others. HLA-B*08 was mapped to give the strongest contribution to EOMG, supporting previous studies. Conclusion The results from this study provide important new information concerning the susceptibility of HLA alleles in Caucasian MG, with highlights on DRB1*15:01 as being a major risk allele in LOMG.
Geographic Diversification and Agency Costs of Debt of Multinational Firms

This paper examines the agency conflicts between shareholders and bondholders of multinational and non-multinational firms and provides an explanation for the puzzle that multinational firms use less long-term debt but more short-term debt than domestic firms. Using a sample of 6,951 firm-year observations for multinational and domestic firms over the 1988-1994 period, we find that alternative measures of agency costs have statistically significant negative effects on firm long-term leverage. The results, however, also show that the negative effects of agency costs of debt on long-term leverage are significantly greater for multinational than non-multinational firms. It is documented that the effect of the agency costs of debt on leverage are increased by the firm's degree of foreign involvement. The evidence shows that firm's increasing foreign involvement exacerbates agency costs of debt leading to lower (greater) use of long-term (short-term) debt financing. This result is also confirmed using alternative measures of foreign involvement. The evidence is consistent with the view that multinational corporations are susceptible to higher agency costs of debt than domestic corporations because geographic diversity renders active monitoring more difficult and expensive in comparison to domestic firms. The results fail to support the view that MNCs' lower long-term debt ratios are due to the advantages of the internal capital markets.
Single parenchymal brain cysticercus: relationship between age of patients and evolutive stage of parasites

Abstract Background: A recent hypothesis suggested that in many cases cysticercal granulomas represent recently established Taenia solium metacestodes rapidly destroyed by the host’s immune system. Here, we attempted to determine whether patients with cysticercal granulomas are younger than those with other forms of parenchymal brain cysticercosis. Methods: Series of 185 patients with single parenchymal brain cysticercus, classified according to the stage of the parasite at the moment of diagnosis in cysts without inflammation, cysts with inflammation, granular lesions, and calcifications. We correlated the age of the patients with the parasite evolutive stage. Results: Patients with cysticercus granulomas were significantly younger than those with vesicular cysts (17·7±12·9 versus 36·8±15·1 years, P<0·005) or calcifications (17·7±12·9 versus 40·8±19·7 years, P<0·0001). There was also a non-significant trend for patients with granulomas to be younger than those with coloidal cysts (17·7±12·9 versus 26·7±15·6 years, P = 0·367). Conclusions: Results from this study argued against the classical hypothesis that granulomas are the end result from long-established vesicular cysts destroyed by the host’s immune system. Vesicular (viable) cysticerci must be treated with cysticidal drugs as it is unlikely that they will be spontaneously destroyed.
Effect of Plastic Film Mulching on the Grain Filling and Hormonal Changes of Maize under Different Irrigation Conditions

Plastic film mulching (PM) is widely utilized for maize production in China. However, the effect of PM on the grain yield of crops has not been established, and the biochemical mechanism underlying the increase or decrease in grain yield under PM is not yet understood. Grain filling markedly affects the grain yield. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of PM on maize grain filling under different irrigation levels and the relationship of such effects with hormonal changes. In the present study, PM was compared with traditional nonmulching management (TN) under 220 mm, 270 mm and 320 mm irrigation amount, and the grain filling characters of the grains located in various parts of the ear and the hormonal changes in the grains were measured. The results indicated that at 220 mm irrigation, PM significantly increased the grain filling rate of the middle and basal grains and decreased the grain filling rate of the upper grains. At 270 mm irrigation, the PM significantly increased the grain filling rate of the all grains. At 320 mm irrigation, the PM only significantly increased the grain filling rate of the upper grains. The IAA, Z+ZR and ABA content in the grains was positively correlated with the grain weight and grain-filling rates; however, the ETH evolution rate of the grains was negatively correlated with the grain weight and grain-filling rates. These results show that the effect of PM on maize grain filling is related to the irrigation amount and that the grain position on the ear and the grain filling of the upper grains was more sensitive to PM and irrigation than were the other grains. In addition, the PM and irrigation regulated the balance of hormones rather than the content of individual hormones to affect the maize grain filling.
A Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Inferring Player Strategy Types in a Number Guessing Game

The p-beauty contest is a multi-player number guessing game that is widely used to study strategic behavior. Using new data from a speciallydesigned web experiment, we examine the evidence in favor of a popular class of behavioral economic models called k-step thinking models. After fitting a custom Bayesian spline model to the experimental data, we estimate that the proportion of players who could be using a k-step thinking strategy is approximately 25%.
Sentiment Analysis and Subjectivity

An intraocular lens for implantation in an eye comprising an optic configured so that the optic can be deformed to permit the intraocular lens to be passed through an incision into the eye. A peripheral zone circumscribes the optical zone of the optic and one or more fixation members coupled to the peripheral zone and extending outwardly from the peripheral zone to retain the optic in the eye are provided. In one embodiment the fixation member or members are located so that the optical zone is free of such member or members. The peripheral zone preferably has a maximum axial thickness which is larger than the maximum axial thickness of the periphery of the optical zone.
How Risky are Banks' Risk Weighted Assets? Evidence from the Financial Crisis

We study how investors account for the riskiness of banks' risk-weighted assets (RWA) by examining the determinants of stock returns and market measures of risk. We find that banks with higher RWA had lower stock returns over the US and European crises. This relationship is weaker in Europe where banks can use Basel II internal risk models. For large banks, investors paid less attention to RWA and rewarded instead lower wholesale funding and better asset quality. RWA do not, in general, predict market measures of risk although there is evidence of a positive relationship before the US crisis which becomes negative afterwards.
Quantile Models with Endogeneity

In this article, we review quantile models with endogeneity. We focus on models that achieve identification through the use of instrumental variables and discuss conditions under which partial and point identification are obtained. We discuss key conditions, which include monotonicity and full-rank-type conditions, in detail. In providing this review, we update the identification results of Chernozhukov & Hansen (2005). We illustrate the modeling assumptions through economically motivated examples. We also briefly review the literature on estimation and inference.
Feminist Killjoys and Women Scorned: An Analysis of News and Commentary on the Sexual Violence Allegations Against Julian Assange

This article examines digital media debate over sexual violence by analyzing news reports and reader comments on the rape allegations against WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Through analysis of the Guardian and New York Times, the article shows how this case became a flash-point for debate about feminist constructions of sexual violence. News reports amplified Assange’s defense that the allegations stemmed from feminist influence on Swedish law and would not be criminalized in England, provoking feminist and anti-feminist commentary. Thus, this article illuminates the salience of feminist constructions of sexual violence for digital news and points to broader social contestation over the meaning of rape fostered by digital media.
Using Wikis to Foster Collaborative Writing: Exploring Influencing Factors to Successful Implementation

Wiki technology provides new opportunities to foster collaborative learning in various educational settings. To empirically examine the impact of wikis on learning, this article explores students’ collaborative writing activities performed on MediaWiki. The activities were analyzed using a taxonomy with ten categories (clarify content, add content, delete content, add link, delete link, fix link, grammar, spelling, style/typography, and formatting). The work also analyses students’ comments posted on the discussion page of the wiki. The results show important differences in the types of contributions across the categories investigated. The results also reveal that the level of collaboration and discussion was relatively low compared with other activities performed on the wiki. Finally, the article suggests a number of factors influencing wiki-based collaborative writing in teacher education.
Values as predictors of teacher trainees' self-esteem and perceived social support

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the values of an individual can significantly predict the individual's self-esteem and social support or not. The study has a general survey design. The population of the research consists of 547 teacher trainees. Teacher trainees, 304 (%55.6) were female while 243 (%44.4) were male. Data collection instruments included Self-esteem Scale developed by Aricak (1999), Schwartz's Values Inventory and Perceived Social Support Scale developed in 1988 by Zimet et al. Data was analysed using stepwise regression analysis. The results indicated that dimensions of the values inventory predict both self-esteem and the dimensions of the perceived social support scale.
Systematic review: interactions between aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and polymorphisms in relation to colorectal cancer

Nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) include aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA). Long‐term use of NSAIDs has been associated with lowered risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the use is hampered by adverse effects. Also, the anti‐carcinogenic effects of NSAIDs are incompletely understood. Understanding biological effects of NSAIDs may help developing new preventive medical strategies.
Generation of accurate rational models of lossy systems using the Cauchy method

A method to generate an accurate rational model of lossy systems from either measurements or an electromagnetic analysis is presented. The Cauchy method has been used to achieve this goal. This formulation is valid either for lossless or lossy system responses. Thus, it provides an improvement over the conventional Cauchy method and takes into account the relationship between the transmission and reflection coefficients of the system which in our case is a filter. The resulting model can be used to extract the coupling structure of the filter. Two examples have been presented. One deals with measured data and the other one uses numerical simulation data from an electromagnetic analysis.
SCOOP An Investigation of Concurrency in Eiffel

Bertrand Meyer has defined an inter-object concurrency mechanism for the Eiffel language. The mechanism, SCOOP (Simple Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming), differs significantly from the concurrency mechanisms of Java, and many other objectoriented languages. This thesis presents the mechanism described by Meyer. Its properties are considered, and a model that describes SCOOP is derived. From the model, a set of requirements for a run-time system is constructed. Modifications were made to the SmallEiffel compiler to implement SCOOP. Although SCOOP is designed as an abstraction mechanism and not a mechanism for fine-grained parallel programming, the performance implications of the introduction of concurrency to SmallEiffel are considered. This consideration includes benchmarking as well as an analysis of the constructed system. It is shown experimentally that the system is efficient and, for some applications, speed-ups are possible on SMP (symmetric multi-processing) machines. This is the first research based investigation of the SCOOP concurrency mechanism for Eiffel and also the first publicly-available implementation. This project contributes to the growing number of research papers on efficient mechanisms for the implementation of concurrency in object-oriented languages.
The response time of PMSE to ionospheric heating

[1] During July of 1999, experiments were conducted in northern Norway to investigate the effects of ionospheric heating on polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE). The experiments were conducted using the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) VHF radar and heating facility. It was shown that heating can dramatically reduce the backscattered echo power of PMSE. Here, we reexamine the high temporal resolution data of the PMSE backscattered power from three of the experiments as a function of ionospheric heating. Particular attention is paid to the transitions from the heater off-to-on and on-to-off states. The transition times of the PMSE echo power from high to low and low to high, respectively, is estimated in both cases to be less than 30 ms. It is suggested that enhancement of the electron diffusivity during heating is unlikely to account for such a fast decrease of radar backscattered power when the heater is switched on. We consider that an increase of the electron Debye length up to a significant fraction of a radar wavelength due to electron heating will change scattering character that might explain the observed heating effect on PMSE.