Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polymorphisms in the interleukin-10 gene and relation to phenotype in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Interleukin-10 (IL-10) has a key role in regulating mucosal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease. In our population of Spanish ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, we have previously demonstrated that two polymorphisms (IL-10.G14 microsatellite allele and homozygous for the -1082G allele (guanine at position -1082)) in the IL-10 gene were susceptibility markers for disease. No data exist regarding the relationship of these IL-10 polymorphisms with phenotypic subpopulations in UC. Therefore, this study sought to examine the contribution of IL-10 polymorphisms to phenotypical variability in UC. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cohort of 215 Spanish unrelated patients with UC recruited in a single center was studied. All patients were rigorously phenotyped and followed for at least 3 years (mean time: 11.8 years). The clinical phenotype was established before genotyping. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. RESULTS Patients with UC included 129 (60%) men and 89 (40%) women. Mean age at diagnosis was 38 years, with a range of 8-83. Disease extent included 127 (59.1%) left-side patients and 88 (40.9%) extensive patients. Neither UC phenotype variable was associated with the presence of susceptibility polymorphisms (10G14 microsatellite and -1082G allele). CONCLUSIONS In Madrid's Spanish population of UC patients, the carrying of the ILG14 microsatellite or -1082G polymorphism in the IL-10 gene was not associated with phenotype of disease.
What factors explain the price of top quality wines

Given the growing supply of wines and the large number of new consumers with purchasing power but lacking knowledge of the subtleties of high-quality wines, expert opinions are used for consumers as proxies for quality. This study aims to determine the determinants of prices in top-quality wine market. The authors also seek to estimate the role for country of origin, grape, producing region and winery in prices. And, finally, the authors try to show how countries, regions and wineries can help increase their position in international rankings. ,The authors try to answer: What factors explain the price of top-quality wines (defined as best rated in a standardized ranking)? To some extent, in the hands of producers influence prices, which imply long-term decisions or large investments in land and marketing. Other variables that consumer value does affect prices. The authors try also to detect undervalued or overvalued wines, grapes, regions, wineries or producer countries. The authors estimate an econometric model of hedonic prices using a 14-year sample of the Wine Spectator’s 100 top-rated wines for the American market between 2003 and 2016, totaling 1,400 observations. The sample is a great cross-section because each wine is unique. ,The authors’ contribution is twofold: the determination of the price explanatory values and the identification and attribution of price differences by country, grape, region and winery. Also, the authors detected grapes, countries, regions and wineries which are overvalued or undervalued with respect to the average prediction of the model. ,The findings are useful to understand the role of price explanatory variables, as well as for making policy and managerial decisions. From the model, collective or managerial actions can be derived to increase particular wines’ positions in international rankings. The proxy for “quality” in the study is not the only possible definition. ,In some cases, managerial choices could be conditioned by the policies or history. There is some room for collective action and public policies to improve regions’ and countries’ reputation. ,There are clear synergies for policies that can raise the prestige of countries and regions and their spillovers on the brand name reputation of individual wineries. ,The results, policy and managerial implications are of interest for business, countries interested in improving their position in international rankings and for consumers to make more informed decisions.
Longer RNNs - Project Report

For problems with long range dependencies, training of Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) faces limitations because of vanishing or exploding gradients. In this work, we introduce a new training method and a new recurrent architecture using residual connections, both aimed at increasing the range of dependencies that can be modeled by RNNs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by showing faster convergence on two toy tasks involving long range temporal dependencies, and improved performance on a character level language modeling task. Further, we show visualizations which highlight the improvements in gradient propagation through the network.
Resting state default‐mode network connectivity in early depression using a seed region‐of‐interest analysis: Decreased connectivity with caudate nucleus

Aim: Reports on resting brain activity in healthy controls have described a default‐mode network (DMN) and important differences in DMN connectivity have emerged for several psychiatric conditions. No study to date, however, has investigated resting‐state DMN in relatively early depression before years of medication treatment. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the DMN in patients seeking help from specialized mental health services for the first time for symptoms of depression.
Role of lead market factors in globalization of innovation: Emerging evidence from India & its implications

Access to “lead markets” is generally regarded as an important driver for the increasing globalization of innovation since these are considered to be early indicators for emerging customer needs. They are traditionally thought to exist in economies with high per capita income, sophisticated markets and high international visibility. We, however, propose that there is an increasing evidence of lead market tendencies in some emerging economies, e.g. India. We undertake a literature review to crystallize the need for an update/extension of the existing model to better reflect the changed ground realities and propose that factors such as voluminous markets, strong technological capabilities, and favorable government policies may be able to offset some of the disadvantages rooted in traditional deficiencies of developing economies. Engaging a developing country lead market may be useful for firms in securing better access to markets at the bottom of the economic pyramid, worldwide.
Rate of Language Growth in Children with Hearing Loss in an Auditory-Verbal Early Intervention Program

This longitudinal study explored the rate of language growth of children in an early intervention program providing auditory-verbal therapy. A retrospective investigation, the study applied a linear growth model to estimate a mean growth curve and the extent of individual variation in language performance on the Preschool Language Scale, 4th ed. (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) for 24 children with hearing loss in a convenience sample. A statistically significant change in raw scores was observed across 6-month intervals. However, growth in standard scores did not show statistically significant predictable change across the 6-month intervals. Scores on the language measure were closer to expectations for younger peers with normal hearing when compared to data reported for the PLS-4 normative sample. Language outcomes varied significantly for individual children based on time spent in early intervention, suggesting that intervention was contributing to growth.
A Hospital-Based Survey on Food Allergy in the Population of Kolkata, India

Background: Food allergy is increasing worldwide, and Asian countries are not the exception. Still, ample data are lacking in India. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a metropolis of Eastern India to record the presence of food allergy among the local population. Methods: The prevalence of food allergy was investigated among patients reporting to The Institute of Child Health and Mediland Diagnostics in Kolkata, India. A total of 5,161 patients were subdivided into 3 age groups and surveyed accordingly. The evaluation was conducted via a questionnaire and a skin prick test. Results: Among the 5,161 patients tested, 4,160 showed a positive response to one or more food items. Banana (32%), brinjal (29%), wheat (22%), and egg (23%) were found to be dominant allergens. Sixty-three percent of patients with a family history of allergy showed either a sudden or an insidious mode of onset, whereas the remaining 37% suffered insidious allergic symptoms with no record of a family history of allergy. Skin rashes, cough, and sneezing were the major symptoms observed. Patients in the age group of 15-40 years were the most susceptible. Conclusion: It has been observed that certain specific foods consumed in specific regions cause allergies that are unique to their respective populations. In the present study, the most commonly consumed foods in the studied area, e.g. banana, brinjal, wheat, and egg, had severe effects on the local population. Complementary studies in other countries as well as in other parts of India will allow us to gain further insight into this fact. Some other influencing factors were found to be genetics, cultural habits, and occupation. Avoidance of the allergy-causing food is the best way to deal with food allergy.
Partitionnement d'un réseau de sociabilité à fort coefficient de clustering

In order to compare social organization of a medieval peasantry before and after the Hundred Years' War we study the sructure of social networks built from a corpus of agrarian contracts. Low diameters and high clusterings show small-world graphs. Like many other networks studied these last years these graphs are scale-free. The distributions of the vertex degrees are fitted by a truncated power law. Moreover they have a rich-club : a dense core with a low diameter consisting of vertices with high degree. The particular shape of the laplacian spectrum allows us to extract communities that are spread along a star whose center is the rich-club.
Adverse effects associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The use of antidepressant medications and the resulting costs have increased dramatically in recent years, partly because of the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). An assessment of the clinical and economic aspects of SSRIs compared with the older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) was initiated to generate information for purchasers of these drugs as well as clinicians. One component of this study was an examination of the adverse effects associated with the use of these drugs. METHODS Searches of bibliographic databases (for January 1980 through May 1996) and manual scanning of both peer-reviewed publications and other documents were used to identify double-blind, randomized controlled trials involving at least one SSRI and one TCA. For the study of adverse effects, only trials that had at least 20 patients in each trial arm and that reported rates of adverse effects in both arms were retained. In total 84 trials reporting on 18 adverse effects were available. Meta-analyses were undertaken to calculate pooled differences in rates of adverse effects. The question of whether the method of eliciting information from patients about adverse effects made a difference in the findings was also examined. Finally, differences in drop-out rates due to adverse effects were calculated. RESULTS The crude rates of occurrence of adverse effects ranged from 4% (palpitations) to 26% (nausea) for SSRIs and from 4% (diarrhea) to 27% (dry mouth) for TCAs. The differences in the rates of adverse effects between the 2 types of drugs ranged from 14% more with SSRIs (for nausea) to 11% more with TCAs (for constipation). The results did not depend on the method of eliciting information from patients. There were no statistically significant differences between drug classes in terms of drop-outs due to adverse effects. INTERPRETATION SSRIs and TCAs are both associated with adverse effects, although the key effects differ between the drug classes. Further explanation of the adverse effects and their relation to discontinuation of medication will require better studies involving prospective collection of quality-of-life data.
Placebos, Placebo Effect, and the Response to the Healing Situation: The Evolution of a Concept

Summary: In spite of its impressive progress, medicine has been strongly criticized for relying on its modern biomedical tradition to the neglect of the psychosocial aspects of health. This neglect may account for patients' dissatisfaction and eventual use of alternative health approaches. The concept of placebo has sustained dramatic “protean” metamorphoses through the ages. For centuries, placebos have been regarded as powerful deceptive therapies. From the middle of the twentieth century, however, conventional medicine has used placebos as methodologic tools to distinguish the specific from the nonspecific ingredients in treatments. In modern medical research, the double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized clinical trial has been established as the gold standard for the assessment of any new treatment. Recently a new trend regarding placebos seems to have emerged. The placebo and other nonspecific effects elicited by the “healing situation” have been independently subjected to scientific study. Progress in this area may promote useful clinical applications, enabling physicians to broaden their perspectives on the healing process. We present the historical changes of the concept of placebo and the ethical issues raised by their use.
Medical Status of School-Age Children Reentering Foster Care

Medical status changes between foster care placements were investigated to determine whether medical status improves and whether medical status changes predict reentry into care. Three hundred and ninety-two school-age children reentering foster care received comprehensive medical evaluation on each foster care entry. Results indicated that students reentering care had worsened medical status. Comparison with matched students having a single foster care placement did not show medical status predictive of foster care reentry but suggested that some medical status declines were age related.
Structured backward error analysis of linearized structured polynomial eigenvalue problems

We introduce a new class of structured matrix polynomials, namely, the class of M_A-structured matrix polynomials, to provide a common framework for many classes of structured matrix polynomials that are important in applications: the classes of (skew-)symmetric, (anti-)palindromic, and alternating matrix polynomials. Then, we introduce the families of M_A-structured strong block minimal bases pencils and of M_A-structured block Kronecker pencils,, and show that any M_A-structured odd-degree matrix polynomial can be strongly linearized via an M_A-structured block Kronecker pencil. Finally, for the classes of (skew-)symmetric, (anti-)palindromic, and alternating odd-degree matrix polynomials, the M_A-structured framework allows us to perform a global and structured backward stability analysis of complete structured polynomial eigenproblems, regular or singular, solved by applying to an M_A-structured block Kronecker pencil a structurally backward stable algorithm that computes its complete eigenstructure, like the palindromic-QR algorithm or the structured versions of the staircase algorithm. This analysis allows us to identify those M_A-structured block Kronecker pencils that yield a computed complete eigenstructure which is the exact one of a slightly perturbed structured matrix polynomial.These pencils include (modulo permutations) the well-known block-tridiagonal and block-antitridiagonal structure-preserving linearizations. Our analysis incorporates structure to the recent (unstructured) backward error analysis performed for block Kronecker linearizations by Dopico, Lawrence, Perez and Van Dooren, and share with it its key features, namely, it is a rigorous analysis valid for finite perturbations, i.e., it is not a first order analysis, it provides precise bounds, and it is valid simultaneously for a large class of structure-preserving strong linearizations.
Growth and Risk: Methodology and Micro Evidence

How exposure to risk affects economic growth is a key issue in development. This article quantifies both the ex ante and ex post effects of risk using long-running panel data for rural households in Zimbabwe. It proposes a simulation-based econometric methodology to estimate the structural form of a micro model of household investment decisions under risk. The key finding is that risk substantially reduces growth in this particular setting: the mean capital stock in the sample is (in expectation) 46 percent lower than in the absence of risk. About two-thirds of the impact of risk is due to the ex ante effect (that is, the behavioral response to risk), which is usually not taken into account in policy design. These results suggest that policy interventions that reduce exposure to shocks or that help households manage risk could be much more effective than is commonly thought.
Empirical Analysis of Basel Effects on the Interest Rate of Public and Private Banks: A Case Study of SBI and ICICI Bank

The purpose of this working paper is to analyze the effect of Basel norms on the interest rate structure of both public and private bank of Indian banking industry by taking the time series data of two leading banks i.e. State bank of India and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India from 2000 to 2015.The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches and to analyze the data linear regression model is used for interest rate structure. To study the effect on interest rate this paper includes independent variable based on CAMEL approach. The ratio which are taken into consideration are Capital adequacy ratio, Asset management (Net Asset to loan given), Managerial Efficiency (Total advances to total deposit), Earning Ratio (Net interest income to total fund), and Liquidity Ratio (Liquid Asset to deposit ratio. The result of regression model summary statistics for average interest rate on loans shows that interest rate of loan has a strong correlation with explanatory variables that we used in this model. Explanatory variable explains 78.8 percent (public bank SBI) and 83.3 percent (private bank ICICI) of dependent variable and this can be concluded that the model is proper and fit. The empirical result shows the independent variables have a significant effect on the interest rate of the Indian Banking Industry.
The First Year: Influences on the Satisfaction, Involvement, and Persistence of New Community Volunteers

This investigation tests an elaborated form of Omoto and Snyder’s volunteer process model, which explains how the helping behavior of volunteers is influenced by antecedent factors and by subjective experiences while volunteering. Two-hundred-thirty-eight community volunteers from nine different organizations were recruited at the time of initial orientation and completed measures of personality and motivation. They were contacted at four times during their first year of volunteering and queried regarding their emotional reactions (sympathy, distress), satisfaction, and degree to which their motivations for volunteering were being fulfilled. Consistent with the elaborated model, feelings of sympathy, distress, and motive fulfillment were substantially predicted by antecedent factors, and satisfaction with the volunteer work was substantially predicted by these subjective experiences. Also consistent with the elaborated model, volunteer involvement (hours per week volunteered) was predicted by satisfaction, although volunteer persistence over time was not. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Deceptive versus Informative Income Smoothing: Evidence from Audit Committee Attributes

The paper examines which income smoothing perspective (deceptive or informative) is more prevalent by focusing at four audit committee attributes namely audit committee size, the number of audit committee meeting, the proportion of nonexecutive, and the proportion of independent audit committee members. Using a sample comprises 604 public listed firms in Malaysia during the year 2008 to 2014, this study finds that firms with strong audit committee, which have large audit committee, more frequent meeting and high proportion of independent directors are associated with low extent of income smoothing. The findings provide evidence supporting the proponent for deceptive perspective in which income smoothing is viewed as an unacceptable act when reporting earnings. The results are robust even when using an alternative mesure for income smoothing and including various control variables namely auditor size, firm size, leverage, profitability, growth and industry fixed effects.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the detection of antibody to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in the sera of livestock and wild vertebrates

Summary IgM antibody response to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus was monitored in experimentally infected sheep and cattle by an IgM capture enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Specific binding of antigen was detected by a rabbit anti-CCHF horseradish peroxidase conjugate or a sandwich technique with hyperimmune mouse anti-CCHF ascitic fluid and commercially available anti-mouse immunoglobulin peroxidase conjugate. The persistence of IgM antibody activity was found to be of shorter duration than in humans, and this may be a function of the relative lack of susceptibility of these animals to infection with CCHF virus. IgG antibody responses in the sheep could be monitoried by sandwich ELISA using commercially available anti-sheep immunoglobulin peroxidase conjugates. Total antibody activity in the sera of experimentally infected sheep, cattle and small mammals could be monitored in a competitive ELISA (CELISA) using rabbit anti-CCHF peroxidase conjugate. The CELISA was applied to the sera of 960 wild vertebrates from a nature reserve in South Africa, and the prevalence of antibody was found to be greatest in large mammals such as rhinoceros, giraffe and buffalo, which are known to be the preferred hosts of the adult tick (Hyalomma) vectors of the virus.