Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Standards for mesiodistal and buccolingual crown size and height of primary molars in a sample of Spanish children.

AIM The aim of this study was to obtain mesiodistal, buccolingual and height sizes of dental crowns of first and second primary molars in a sample of Spanish children given, not only their anthropological and forensic significance, but also their clinical interest for the future analysis of restorative and orthodontic treatments. MATERIALS AND METHODS Measurements of mesiodistal, buccolingual size and height of the crowns of primary molars were studied. A transversally descriptive design was carried out and the interrelationship between these three dimensions was established. A sample of 703 first and second primary molars was selected from healthy Spanish boys and girls from 4 to 9 years old. Molars presenting anomalies of the crowns, caries or restorations were excluded. Measurements were made on dental plaster models, using a vernier caliper. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient was obtained and Wilcoxon's non- parametric test was applied for comparison of the mean, analysis of sexual dimorphism and comparison of antimeric teeth. RESULTS Average sizes of each group of molars were obtained. Sexual dimorphism was studied utilizing the Wilcoxon test. A variability of relationship between the measurements was found in each molar studied. Primary second molars had less variability than first molars in the three measurements obtained. The measurement with the least variability was height, followed by mesiodistal size. CONCLUSIONS Measurements of primary molars showed that average sizes of boys' molars were significantly larger than those of girls. Relationship between the three measurements studied was variable but second molars showed less variability than first molars. The relationship between height and width was found significant in most of the molars. i.
Brand Image and Fan Loyalty in Professional Team Sport: A Refined Model and Empirical Assessment

This study highlights the importance of brand image for fan loyalty in team sport. A parsimonious 4-factor, 20-indicator structure effectively represents brand image. In contrast to Keller’s proposed model, relationships between the brand image’s components were discovered. Thus, in line with means-end theory, a brand-image model should incorporate causalities among brand attributes, benefits, and attitudes. Fan loyalty is positively influenced by a fan’s brand attitude. Relationships among the brand-image dimensions and loyalty are confirmed via structural equation modeling. The non-product-related brand attributes (i.e., logo or tradition) have a particularly large impact on attitudes and behavior. They represent promising starting points for a successful and differentiating team brand strategy. In marketing practice, an increasing interest in customer relationships has
Risk and its Management in Post-Financial Crisis Hong Kong

In the 1970s and up until the financial crisis occurred in the late 1990s, Hong Kong prospered in a relatively stable social, economic and political context. Since the financial crisis, however, its population has been increasingly exposed to risk: there has been job uncertainty and decreasing capacity for self-reliance, leading to a growing reliance on public welfare and on families at a time when both are under pressure. The old welfare policies, unable to cope with the new risks, have been replaced by neo-liberal reforms, redistributing the roles and responsibilities of the individual and the state, with a greater burden falling on the former. Individuals are required to be prudent to manage risk. While these reforms have relieved some of the burden on the state, both new social risk groups and ‘net taxpayers’ considered themselves to have borne disproportional costs. Society is facing serious problems resulting from ineffective old welfare policies, new social risks due to new policies, and the political upheavals arising from increased social conflicts and weakened social cohesion and solidarity. A further complication is that there is no acceptable platform or agent to negotiate a compromise between the polarized groups. This article argues that reliance on publicly funded risk coping strategies or on neo-liberal risk prevention and mitigation strategies is not a desirable and sustainable policy. A commonly accepted political platform is required to negotiate a compromise which emphasizes shared and balanced roles and responsibilities, and a well-conceived combination of risk prevention, mitigation and coping strategies.
Options for dismantling trade restrictions in developing countries

Although many countries have adopted freer trade regimes or are in the process of reforming quantitative restrictions, such reforms are not without short-term costs. Sudden removal of quantitative restrictions can release a surge of demand for imports that can deplete foreign exchange reserves and force rapid adjustment by domestic industries. Five methods to more gradually liberalize quantitative restrictions are discussed : 1) raising quota ceilings until they are non-binding; 2) eliminating quotas product by product; 3) converting quotas to equivalent tariffs and then reducing them; 4) auctioning quota licences; and 5) converting quotas to tariff quotas, and then liberalizing these. The various instruments are evaluated according to their implications for the adjustment period, for government revenue, for the balance of payments, and for the extent to which they are likely to produce political disruptions.
Who uses methadone services in China? Monitoring the world's largest methadone programme.

AIMS To describe the data collected by the Chinese methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) system and the characteristics of clients entering the programme. DESIGN Descriptive study using routinely collected data from the MMT data management system for the period March 2004 and March 2010. SETTING All MMT clinics in China. PARTICIPANTS Clients who enrolled for services between March 2004 and March 2010. MEASUREMENTS Routinely collected data included: demographic information; drug use, sexual and criminal behaviours; status of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis; random urine-opiate test results; and the daily methadone dose received. Differences among clients by year were examined. FINDINGS During the period examined, there were 251,974 clients attending 684 clinics in 27 provinces. Overall, the mean age was 34.4 years, 83.8% were male, 70.2% were unemployed, 75% had ever injected drugs, 17% had shared needles and 7.4% were HIV-positive. The profile of clients changed over time, with fewer HIV-positive individuals, fewer injecting drug users, fewer needle-sharers, fewer females and fewer unemployed. Half the clients dropped out within 6 months. The average final dose received was 49.4 mg. The estimated probability of interrupting treatment before 6 months was 52.5%. CONCLUSIONS The profile of clients enrolling in methadone maintenance treatment in China is continually changing and appears to be associated with reduced risk of HIV. High dropout in the programme may limit its effectiveness. The availability of a centralized, real-time data system was extremely useful for monitoring the progress of the Chinese methadone maintenance treatment programme.
Minimally Important Difference of Health Assessment Questionnaire in Psoriatic Arthritis: Relating Thresholds of Improvement in Functional Ability to Patient-rated Importance and Satisfaction

Objective. To evaluate changes in function as measured by Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and the meaningfulness of the changes, in importance and satisfaction, in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods. HAQ-DI was assessed at baseline and at Weeks 4, 12, and 24 in a randomized double-blind study of 205 patients with active PsA receiving etanercept 25 mg twice weekly or placebo. Concurrently, patients rated the importance of and satisfaction with their change in function on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all important/satisfied; 7 = extremely important/satisfied). Mean HAQ-DI improvement corresponding to ratings of minimally (2–3) or very (6–7) important or satisfied was determined using a posthoc linear mixed-model analysis. Patient importance ratings were used as an anchor to estimate minimally important difference (MID) for HAQ-DI; distribution-based estimates were also calculated. Results. A total of 161 patients (69 placebo; 92 etanercept) had ≥ 1 HAQ-DI scores showing improvement from baseline and a corresponding importance or satisfaction rating. HAQ-DI improvements corresponding to importance scale ratings of 2 or 3 were 0.335 (95% CI 0.214, 0.455) and 0.360 (95% CI 0.263, 0.456), respectively, suggesting an MID of about 0.35. HAQ-DI improvements corresponding to satisfaction scale ratings of 2 and 3 were 0.293 (95% CI 0.230, 0.357) and 0.360 (95% CI 0.307, 0.413). For a given change in HAQ-DI, nearly two-thirds of patients indicated a lower rating for satisfaction than for importance. This trial was registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT00317499). Conclusion. Our study suggests the MID for HAQ-DI in PsA is about 0.35. The results may also provide insight into patient satisfaction with changes in function and expectations for therapy.
Alteration of branch site consensus sequence and enhanced pre-mRNA splicing of an NMDAR1 intron not associated with schizophrenia.

Aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA is recognized to account for a significant minority of disease-causing mutations. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) subunit gene R1 (NMDAR1) is alternatively spliced to produce eight length variants. In an examination of the NMDAR1 as a candidate gene in schizophrenia, a presumed microdeletion/insertion (del/ins) was observed in intron 10 of an African-American male near a weak putative branch-site consensus sequence. Although exon 10 is not known to be alternatively spliced, the del/ins was posited to alter splicing efficiency. If splicing were abolished and intron retention occurred, an in-frame translation product of more than 250 amino acids was predicted. To explore splicing efficiency, mini genes were examined through primer-extension analyses in NIH293 embryonic kidney cell cultures. Rather than disruption of splicing, the del/ins allele exhibited a fivefold enhancement in splicing. In an association analysis with additional schizophrenic cases and unaffected controls, all of African-American descent, the mutant allele was observed at equivalent frequencies. A family study also did not support cosegregation of the variant allele with psychiatric disease.
Dynamic Co-evolution and Interaction of Avian Leukosis Virus Genetic Variants and Host Immune Responses

Subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J), a typical retrovirus, is characterized of existence of a cloud of diverse variants and considerable genetic diversity. Previous studies describing the evolutionary dynamics of ALV-J genetic variants mainly focused on the early infection period or few randomly selected clones. Here, we inoculated 30 specific-pathogen-free chickens with the same founder ALV-J stock of known genetic background. Six (three antibody positive and three antibody negative) chickens were selected among 15 chickens with viremia. Viruses were serially isolated in 36 weeks and then sequenced using MiSeq high-throughput sequencing platform. This produced the largest ALV-J dataset to date, composed of more than three million clean reads. Our results showed that host humoral immunity could greatly enhance the genetic diversity of ALV-J genetic variants. In particular, selection pressures promoted a dynamic proportional changes in ALV-J genetic variants frequency. Cross-neutralization experiment showed that along with the change of the dominant variant, the antibody titers specific to infectious clones corresponding to the most dominant variants in weeks 12 and 28 have also changed significantly in sera collected in weeks 16 and 32. In contrast, no shift of dominant variant was observed in antibody-negative chickens. Moreover, we identified a novel hypervariable region in the gp85 gene. Our study reveals the interaction between ALV-J and the host, which could facilitate the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs.
Foreign ownership and bank performance metrics in Saudi Arabia

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the performance metrics of Saudi banks against the background of the proportion of foreign ownership. Design/methodology/approach - One of the empirical challenges in addressing small developing markets is the analysis of small samples. The current study looks at a population of ten publicly traded banks in Saudi Arabia over a two-year period. While the results of traditional parametric tests of difference are reported, the study also employs more robust distribution free non-parametric tests of differences in location measures between the two groups. Findings - Surprisingly though, the evidence provided in this paper shows that while banks with foreign ownership are indeed more aggressive in terms of capital structure, loan portfolios and regulatory tier 1 capital, they are unable to translate these into higher performance outcomes. Research limitations/implications - One limitation is drawing inferences from small samples. The study overcomes this by using non-parametric methods. Practical implications - The study provides potential investors in the Middle-Eastern region with information about the banking sector in Saudi Arabia. Social implications - The results of the study may provide banking regulators with insights into the behavior of foreign owned banks in developing countries. Originality/value - This is the first study that looks at this very important sector in the largest country within the GCC.
Tomentomimulol and mimulone B: Two new C-geranylated flavonoids from Paulownia tomentosa fruits

Two new discovered C-geranylated flavonoids tomentomimulol (1) and mimulone B (2) were isolated from the methanol extract of Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb). Steud. (Paulowniaceae) fruits by exhaustive chromatographic separation together with one known compound tanariflavanone D (3). The identification of compounds and structure elucidation was carried out using 1D and 2D NMR experiments, as well as mass spectroscopy, ultra-violet, infra red and CD experiments.
The Farm Diversification Grant Scheme: Adoption and Nonadoption in England and Wales

The Farm Diversification Grant Scheme, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1988, encourages farmers to diversify their business activities on the farm. In this paper, the Scheme is described and both the ‘farm’ and ‘farmer’ characteristics of a sample of ‘adopters’ and ‘nonadopters’ in England and Wales are examined as well as the reasons for adoption and nonadoption. The results indicate that adopters are drawn from larger farms, those with higher incomes and levels of borrowing, the younger, better educated farmers, and from farms where spouses are more actively involved in developing the business. Considerable resistance towards diversification was found among nonadopters, who have still to be convinced of the financial viability of this type of business development; to many, it is just not farming.
Global games, local rules: Mega-events in the post-socialist world

In the past decade mega-events have entered a new phase of global reach, as post-socialist countries in Eurasia, from Poland to Russia, have or will become host to some of the largest events on earth: the Olympic Games in Sochi (2014), the Football World Cup in Russia (2018), the Football European Championship in Poland and Ukraine (2012), Expo in Astana (2017), the Asian Winter Games in Almaty (2011) and the Universiade in Kazan (2013), as well as a series of high-level political summits including the APEC and the BRICS summits in Russia. Although these mega-events are global, the various institutional, economic and cultural constellations and recombinant forms of rule that have emerged in their post-socialist host countries have shaped fundamentally the planning and organisation of each mega-event in unique ways. In each case, mega-events in post-socialist countries have involved a strong role for the central state and neopatrimonial forms of resource allocation. The events are meant to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the cities and countries once behind the Iron Curtain have at long last arrived in global modernity. While the rhetoric of worldwide competition, nationalist pride and one-upmanship between event organisers may be global, policies, knowledge and ideas connected to the events tend not to move unchanged to the post-socialist world.
Public Investment Targeting in Rural Central America

This paper uses an asset-base framework to analyze the determinants of rural growth and poverty reduction for the three poorest countries in Central America: Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. High inequalities in the distribution of productive assets in all three countries constrain how the poor share in the benefits of growth, even under appropriate policy regimes. Heterogeneous conditions require complementary analysis of spatial determinants of well-being, analysis of household-level assets, and how household livelihood strategies, conditioned on spatial attributes and asset bases, determine well-being outcomes. Using a combination of GIS mapping techniques and quantitative household analysis, we generate a description of rural territories that recognizes the differential effects of policies and asset bundles across space and households. We identify the asset combinations that matter most to raise household well-being and take advantage of poverty-reducing growth. In all three countries, investments have generally been directed toward more favored areas. But area economic potential does not automatically translate into improved well-being for all households. We found a strong overlap between economic potential, poverty rates and poverty densities in Guatemala and Honduras but not in Nicaragua. This implies that while in Guatemala and Honduras public investments may be targeted toward the Western Altiplano and the hillside areas respectively, in Nicaragua high poverty rates but low poverty densities in the Atlantic zone, and somewhat lower poverty rates but high poverty densities near Managua and other urban centers in the Central and Pacific regions, present a trade-off which makes targeting decisions more complicated.
Rights versus Underwritten Offerings: An Asymmetric Information Approach

By assuming asymmetric information between investors and firms seeking new equity, we derive a rational expectations, partially revealing information equilibrium in which three forms of equity financing are observed. The highest quality firms employ a standby rights offers, intermediate quality firms signal their true value in the choice of a subscription price in an uninsured rights offer, while low-quality firms remain indistinguishable to investors by making fully underwritten issues. The model offers justification for many firms using apparently more costly underwritten offers, provides a reason why firms using uninsured rights offers do not set arbitrarily low subscription prices to ensure the success of the issue, and explains the simultaneous existence of the three financing vehicles. WHEN FIRMS WISH TO raise new equity capital, they have a variety of alternatives available. These alternatives include fully underwritten offers, uninsured rights offers, and standby (insured) rights offers. The literature provides evidence on the choice of financing methods by firms. Smith [11] examines 578 equity offers in the U.S. over the period 1971-1975; 83% of these offerings were underwritten, 7% were rights offers, and 10% were standby rights offers. Similarly, Bhagat [1] reports the predominant use of underwritten offers in the U.S. In contrast, Marsh [5] states that new equity capital in Europe is raised almost exclusively by rights issues; e.g., over 99% of the new equity issued in the U.K. in 1975 was raised via rights offers. The predominant use of fully underwritten new equity issues in the U.S. rather than the much less costly rights offer has been called an unresolved paradox in finance by Brealey and Myers [2]. Potential explanations have been put forward by several authors. Smith [11] hypothesizes that underwritings provide the managers of the issuing firms with perquisites that are absent in rights offers. Hanson and Pinkerton [3] claim that concern for corporate control influences
A framework for dynamic link prediction in heterogeneous networks

Network and linked data have become quite prevalent in recent years because of the ubiquity of the web and social media applications, which are inherently network oriented. Such networks are massive, dynamic, contain a lot of content, and may evolve over time. In this paper, we will study the problem of efficient dynamic link inference in temporal and heterogeneous information networks. The problem of efficiently performing dynamic link inference is extremely challenging in massive and heterogeneous information network because of the challenges associated with the dynamic nature of the network, and the different types of nodes and attributes in it. Both the topology and type information need to be used effectively for the link inference process. We propose an effective two‐level scheme which makes efficient macro‐ and micro‐decisions for combining structure and content in a dynamic and time‐sensitive way. The time‐sensitive nature of the links is leveraged in order to perform effective link prediction. We will also study how to apply the method to the problem of community prediction. We illustrate the effectiveness of our technique over a number of real data sets. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 2013 DOI: 10.1002/sam.11198
Do OA patients gain additional benefit from care from a clinical nurse specialist?--a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES To assess whether OA patients attending a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) clinic gain 'additional benefit' compared with those attending a traditional junior hospital doctor (JHD) clinic. METHODS A total of 100 patients with OA attending rheumatology clinics at a UK teaching hospital were randomly allocated to a CNS or JHD clinic and seen at 0, 16, 32 and 48 weeks. The study assessed (i) non-inferiority of the CNS with respect to clinical outcomes (pain, morning stiffness, self-efficacy, physical function and psychological status) and (ii) superiority of the CNS in terms of patient knowledge and satisfaction. RESULTS Average pain at follow-up was lower in the CNS group: unadjusted mean difference for the JHD group minus the CNS group was 5.3 (95% CI -4.6, 15.2); adjusted was 1.6 (95% CI -5.7, 8.9). The corresponding effect size estimates were 0.20 (95% CI -0.17, 0.57) and 0.06 (95% CI -0.21, 0.33), respectively. There were similar outcomes in morning stiffness, physical function and self-efficacy. Patient knowledge and satisfaction were statistically significant at the 5% level attaining moderate to large effect sizes in favour of the CNS. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that the clinical outcome of CNS care is not inferior to that of JHD care, and patients attending CNS gain additional benefit in that they are better informed about their disease and significantly more satisfied with care than are their counterparts.