Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anticipatory Traders and Trading Speed

We examine whether speed is an important characteristic of traders who anticipate local price trends. These anticipatory participants correctly trade prior to the overall market and systematically act before other participants. They use manual and algorithmic order entry methods, but most are not fast enough to be high frequency traders (HFTs). Those anticipating price trends have impacts as if they are informed traders, while the case for anticipatory participants affecting the volume of other traders is rejected. A follow-up sample shows significant attrition in accounts and difficulty maintaining the anticipatory strategies. To identify anticipatory traders, we devise novel methods to isolate local price trends using order book data from the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures market.
The impact of AIDS/sex education by schools or family doctors on Hong Kong Chinese adolescents

Despite the rapid increases of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in East Asia, the sex-related knowledge among Chinese adolescents is limited and the standard of sex education is both variable and inconsistent in Hong Kong. The aim of this study is to review the overall effectiveness of the school-based or doctor-based sexual health education currently provided for Hong Kong adolescents. In 1999 - 2000, a large survey on youth risk behaviours was carried out among 15 - 18-year-old students from 21 secondary schools. Of the 8,039 questionnaires, 377 students (4.7%) admitted sexual experience. Multiple logistic regression showed that students who had received school AIDS education were found to be less likely to have sexual intercourse in the past 3 months (odds ratio, OR 0.5; 95% confidence interval, CI 0.3 - 0.9) or use drugs or alcohol before the previous intercourse (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.3 - 0.9). They were twice as likely to discuss emotional (95% CI 1.4 - 4.0) or puberty issues (95% CI 1.1 - 3.0). Although not statistically significant, sex education by family doctors showed a similar pattern. This result provides the strongest available evidence that school-based sex education programmes can modify sexual behaviour, which, in turn, reduces risk among Chinese students.
Yes-associated Protein (YAP) Promotes Cell Survival by Inhibiting Proapoptotic Dendrin Signaling*

Background: Dendrin can relocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus to promote podocyte apoptosis. Results: YAP is constitutively expressed in podocyte nuclei, binds to dendrin, and inhibits dendrin-mediated podocyte apoptosis. Conclusion: YAP binding to dendrin promotes podocyte survival by inhibiting proapoptotic dendrin signaling. Significance: YAP could serve as a physiologic inhibitor of podocyte apoptosis and may open avenues for the development of podocyte protective therapies. Kidney podocytes are highly specialized terminally differentiated cells that form the final barrier to urinary protein loss. Podocytes are a target for injury by metabolic, autoimmune, hereditary, inflammatory, and other stressors. Persistence of podocyte injury leads to podocyte death and loss, which results in progressive kidney damage and ultimately kidney failure. Dendrin is a dual compartment protein with proapoptotic signaling properties. Nuclear relocation of dendrin in response to glomerular injury promotes podocyte apoptosis. Here we show that Yes-associated protein (YAP), a downstream target of Hippo kinases and an inhibitor of apoptosis, is expressed in the nucleus of podocytes. The WW domains of YAP mediate the interaction with the PPXY motifs of dendrin. This interaction is functionally relevant because YAP binding to dendrin reduces dendrin-dependent, staurosporine-induced apoptosis in co-transfected HEK293 cells. Moreover gene silencing of YAP in podocytes increases adriamycin-induced podocyte apoptosis. It also increases staurosporine-induced caspase-3/7 activity, which is rescued by dendrin depletion in YAP knockdown cells. Our findings elucidate YAP binding to dendrin as a prosurvival mechanism. The antiapoptotic signaling properties of YAP in podocytes could hold significance in the quest for targeted therapeutics aimed at preventing podocyte loss.
Father‐to‐daughter transmission of Cornelia de Lange syndrome caused by a mutation in the 5′ untranslated region of the NIPBL Gene

Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS; also called Brachmann de Lange syndrome) is a developmental disorder characterized by typical facial dysmorphism, growth and mental retardation, microcephaly, and various malformations. Mutations in the NIPBL gene have been identified in ∼40% of reported cases, suggesting either genetic heterogeneity or that some NIPBL mutations are not detected by current screening strategies. We screened a cohort of 21 patients with no previously identified NIPBL anomaly for mutations in the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) and the proximal promoter of the NIPBL gene. We identified a heterozygous deletion‐insertion mutation in exon 1, 321 nucleotides upstream of the translation initiation codon (c.‐321_‐320delCCinsA) in one affected girl and her mildly affected father. This mutation altered highly conserved nucleotides, was not found in 400 control alleles, arose de novo in the father, and cosegregated with the disease in the family. Using real‐time quantitative PCR, we showed that NIPBL mRNA expression was lowered in patients' lymphocytes compared to control samples. Finally, we showed that, when subcloned into a luciferase reporter vector, the mutation leads to a significant reduction of reporter gene activity. Our results demonstrate that mutations in the 5′ noncoding region of the NIPBL gene can be involved in the pathogenesis of CdLS. Mutations affecting this region of the gene might be associated with a milder phenotype. Hum Mutat 27(8), 731–735, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Radiocarbon-dated charcoal from fluvial sediments in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland: Neolithic forest clearance and tin and gold recovery in the Early Bronze Age?

Two profiles through fluvial sediments associated with the Leitrim River, in the Mourne Mountains, are described and three stratified radiocarbon dates from minute woody-charcoal fragments from one of the profiles are discussed. Two of the dates are Neolithic (early and late), the earliest being, perhaps, the result of slash-and-burn forest clearance. The third date is Early Bronze Age and we suggest, on the basis of the sediment characteristics and metal analyses, that the charcoal in that layer might have been connected with the recovery of tin and gold.
Properties of entorhinal cortex deep layer neurons projecting to the rat dentate gyrus

Medial entorhinal cortex (EC) deep layer neurons projecting to the dentate gyrus (DG) were studied. Neurons, retrogradely‐labelled with rhodamine‐dextran‐amine were characterized electrophysiologically with the patch clamp technique and finally labelled with biocytin. Pyramidal and nonpyramidal neurons form projections from the deep layers of the EC to the molecular layer of the DG. In addition, both classes of projection neurons send ascending axon collaterals to the superficial layers of the EC. Both classes of neurons were characterized physiologically by regular action potential firing upon depolarizing current injection. While a substantial number of pyramidal projection cells showed intrinsic membrane potential oscillations, none of the studied nonpyramidal cells exhibited oscillations. Despite the morphological similarity of bipolar and multipolar cells to those of GABAergic interneurons in the EC, their electrophysiological characteristics were similar to those of principal neurons and immunocytochemistry for GABA was negative. We conclude, that neurons of the deep layers of the medial EC projecting to the DG may function as both local circuit and projecting neurons thereby contributing to synchronization between deep layers of the EC, superficial layers of the EC and the DG.
99mTechnetium-ciprofloxacin Scintigraphy for the Evaluation of Spinal Infections: A Preliminary Report

Currently available laboratory and imaging tests have limitations diagnosing and following patients with spinal infections. We evaluated 17 Technetium-99m labeled ciprofloxacin scintigraphy studies in 11 patients who had the diagnosis of a spinal infection based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. Three of the 17 studies were performed in three patients within 2 months from the onset of the symptoms. All of these three studies showed increased uptake of the radiopharmaceutical in the area of the spinal infection. Fourteen studies were performed during the followup period (from 210 to 690 days after the onset of symptoms) in nine patients with spinal infections. Ten of the 14 studies performed in five patients with an active spine infection showed positive results while the patients had evidence for active spinal infection at the time of the testing. Four studies were performed during the followup period in four patients who at the time of the nuclear imaging testing had no symptoms, signs, or laboratory or other imaging evidence for active infection. All four studies showed negative results. The results of this preliminary study show that scintigraphy with 99mTc-ciprofloxacin may be useful in the diagnosis of active spinal infections.Level of Evidence: Diagnostic study, level II-1 (Testing of previously developed diagnostic criteria on consecutive patients [with universally applied reference “gold” standard]). Please see Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Identification and assessment of digital competences in primary education

This chapter serves as a general introduction and delineates the context in which the subsequent chapters of this dissertation are situated. The first section of this chapter presents the research context and the general theoretical background: ICT competences, measuring ICT competences, factors related to ICT competences, and ICT competences in Flemish education. The second section describes the research objectives. The general objective of this dissertation is to identify relationships that exist between differences in primary school pupils’ ICT competences and differences in pupil, classroom and school level characteristics. Reaching this aim implied 1) developing a conceptual model that can be used to identify pupil, classroom and school level factors related to pupils’ ICT competences; 2) constructing a standardized and performance-based assessment instrument that can be used to measure pupils’ ICT competences in a direct and valid way; and 3) identifying important pupil, classroom and school level characteristics that are related to pupils’ ICT competences. Furthermore, the second section also provides information on the design of the different studies and the outline of the dissertation, in which the content of the different chapters and their interrelatedness is presented. The third section of this introductory chapter provides information on the theoretical, empirical and practical relevance of this dissertation.
Mutations in the Drosophila gene encoding ribosomal protein S6 cause tissue overgrowth

We have characterized two P-element-induced, lethal mutations in Drosophila melanogaster which affect the larval hemocytes, mediators of the insect immune response. Each mutant displays larval melanotic tumors characteristic of mutations affecting the insect cellular immune system, and the moribund animals develop grossly hypertrophied hematopoietic organs because of increased cell proliferation and extra rounds of endoreduplication in some hematopoietic cells. Surprisingly, these mutations are due to P element insertions in the 5' regulatory region of the Drosophila gene encoding ribosomal protein S6 and cause a reduction of S6 transcript abundance in mutant larvae.
Relationship of reported clinical features of pre-eclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage to demographic and other variables.

BACKGROUND Maternal death and disability remain significant problems in developing countries and are predominantly caused by preeclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage. The diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage require medical technologies not readily available in underdeveloped areas. OBJECTIVE To determine the correlates of pre-eclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage using symptoms in a rural setting. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study in which 577 women from the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region of Ghana completed questionnaires that sought for signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage in their current or prior pregnancies. The study was conducted over a period of two months, symptoms of pre-eclampsia assessed included headache, visual disturbance, urination, breathing, leg swelling and seizures. For postpartum haemorrhage, the following features were assessed: placenta delivery, length of labour, difficult delivery of placenta, lacerations associated with delivery, size of newborn, headache, visual disturbance and amount of vaginal bleeding. RESULTS There was a significant association between education and the number of signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, (Χ² =9.059, =0.018; OR no education vs >7 years=6.8). Mothers with no education were about seven times more likely to have all six signs and symptoms of preeclampsia than those with seven or more years of education. There was no significant association between education and postpartum haemorrhage, (Χ² = 1.835, = 0.400). However, the OR of 1.59, indicated an inverse association between the two variables. CONCLUSION The high number of symptoms associated with preeclampsia among women with no formal education strongly supports the need for educational outreach and basic prenatal care in rural Ghana.
Processing lexical semantic and syntactic information in first and second language: fMRI evidence from German and Russian

We introduce two experiments that explored syntactic and semantic processing of spoken sentences by native and non‐native speakers. In the first experiment, the neural substrates corresponding to detection of syntactic and semantic violations were determined in native speakers of two typologically different languages using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The results show that the underlying neural response of participants to stimuli across different native languages is quite similar. In the second experiment, we investigated how non‐native speakers of a language process the same stimuli presented in the first experiment. First, the results show a more similar pattern of increased activation between native and non‐native speakers in response to semantic violations than to syntactic violations. Second, the non‐native speakers were observed to employ specific portions of the frontotemporal language network differently from those employed by native speakers. These regions included the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), and subcortical structures of the basal ganglia. Hum Brain Mapp 25:266–286, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Soluble Mesothelin, Megakaryocyte Potentiating Factor, and Osteopontin as Markers of Patient Response and Outcome in Mesothelioma

Introduction: Soluble mesothelin (SM), megakaryocyte potentiating factor (MPF), and osteopontin (OPN) are blood biomarkers of mesothelioma. This study evaluates their use as markers of response to therapy and outcome. Methods: Sixty-two patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma were included in an observational multicenter study. Blood samples and matched computed tomography scans were collected at diagnosis and, when possible, during and after therapy. For each patient, the best overall radiological response was compared with the changes in serum SM, MPF, and plasma OPN levels across corresponding time points. Results: In five patients, blood sampling was done shortly before and after extrapleural pneumonectomy. SM and MPF levels markedly decreased after surgery, whereas OPN levels showed a median increase. Fifty-seven patients were surveilled during (and after) chemotherapy, of whom 27 (47%) had stable disease, 14 (25%) partial response, and 16 (28%) progressive disease. In patients with stable disease, SM and MPF levels did not change significantly across the corresponding time points, whereas OPN levels significantly decreased. In those with partial response, SM and MPF levels significantly decreased, whereas OPN levels showed no significant change. In patients with progressive disease, all three biomarker levels significantly increased. Patient responses correlated with a 15% change in all three biomarkers, although SM and MPF appeared more accurate than OPN. Low baseline OPN levels were independently associated with favorable progression-free survival and overall survival. Neither SM nor MPF showed prognostic value. Conclusions: SM and MPF levels were more closely associated with disease course than OPN and might prove useful in monitoring patient response in mesothelioma. Baseline OPN levels were an independent negative predictor of survival. These promising results require further validation.
Readiness for Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening. A National Survey of Veterans Affairs Pulmonologists.

RATIONALE To mitigate the potential harms of screening, professional societies recommend that lung cancer screening be conducted in multidisciplinary programs with the capacity to provide comprehensive care, from screening through pulmonary nodule evaluation to treatment of screen-detected cancers. The degree to which this standard can be met at the national level is unknown. OBJECTIVES To assess the readiness of clinical facilities in a national healthcare system for implementation of comprehensive lung cancer screening programs, as compared with the ideal described in policy recommendations. METHODS This was a cross-sectional, self-administered survey of staff pulmonologists in pulmonary outpatient clinics in Veterans Health Administration facilities. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The facility-level response rate was 84.1% (106 of 126 facilities with pulmonary clinics); 88.7% of facilities showed favorable provider perceptions of the evidence for lung cancer screening, and 73.6% of facilities had a favorable provider-perceived local context for screening implementation. All elements of the policy-recommended infrastructure for comprehensive screening programs were present in 36 of 106 facilities (34.0%); the most common deficiencies were the lack of on-site positron emission tomography scanners or radiation oncology services. Overall, 26.5% of Veterans Health Administration facilities were ideally prepared for lung cancer screening implementation (44.1% if the policy recommendations for on-site positron emission tomography scanners and radiation oncology services were waived). CONCLUSIONS Many facilities may be less than ideally positioned for the implementation of comprehensive lung cancer screening programs. To ensure safe, effective screening, hospitals may need to invest resources or coordinate care with facilities that can offer comprehensive care for screening through downstream evaluation and treatment of screen-detected cancers.
Joint Pricing and Inventory Control under Reference Price Effects

In many firms the pricing and inventory control functions are separated. However, a number of theoretical models suggest a joint determination of inventory levels and prices, as prices also affect stocking risks. In this work, we address the problem of simultaneously determining a pricing and inventory replenishment strategy under reference price effects. This reference price effect models the empirically well established fact that consumers not only react sensitively to the current price, but also to deviations from a reference price formed on the basis of past purchases. The current price is then perceived as a discount or surcharge relative to this reference price. Thus, immediate effects of price reductions on profits have to be weighted against the resulting losses in future periods. We study how the additional dynamics of the consumers' willingness to pay affect an optimal pricing and inventory control model and whether a simple policy such as a base-stock-list-price policy holds in such a setting. For a one-period planning horizon we analytically prove the optimality of a base-stock-list-price policy with respect to the reference price under general conditions. We then extend this result to the two-period time horizon for the linear and loss-neutral demand function and to the multi-period case under even more restrictive assumptions. However, numerical simulations suggest that a base-stock-list-price policy is also optimal for the multi-period setting under more general conditions. We furthermore show by numerical investigations that the presence of reference price effects decreases the incentive for price discounts to deal with overstocked situations. Moreover, we find that the potential benefits from simultaneously determining optimal prices and stocking quantities compared to a sequential procedure can increase considerably, when reference price effects are included in the model. This makes an integration of pricing and inventory control with reference price effects by all means worth the effort. (author's abstract)
Comparison of the inferior vena cava index and inferior vena cava collapsibility index obtained by ultrasound as a measure of body fluid volume status in children with nephrotic syndrome

Background: There is triad of hypoalbuminemia, edema, and hyperlipidemia in nephrotic syndrome patients. Management of nephrotic syndrome includes general measures like fluid restriction, emergency albumin transfusions and diuretics that provide symptomatic relief till steroids act. These measures require an assessment of body fluid volume to avoid circulatory failure which is very difficult in these patients because of edema. The objective of the study was to measure and compare the Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Index and Inferior Vena Cava Collapsibility (IVCC) Index by ultrasound as a measure of body fluid volume status in children with nephrotic syndrome.Methods: The present observational study was conducted in all children of age more than 1 year up to 18 year. There were two groups; group 1 was nephrotic syndrome patients-Initial episode or in relapse and group 2 (Control) was age and sex-matched non-nephrotic children. IVC index and IVCC index were measured and compared in both the groups.Results: Mean value of minimum diameter of IVC during inspiration in cases was 5.91±1.60 mm as compared to 4.53±0.94 mm in controls which was significantly higher in case group {P ˂0.0001}. Mean value of IVC index in cases was 0.88±0.20 cm/m2 as compared to 0.93±0.19 cm/m2 in controls which was non-significant. Mean value of IVCC index in cases (35.61±13.68) was significantly less as compared to controls (52.23±2.01) {P ˂0.0001}. Conclusions: The present study concluded that IVCC index is better indicator of body fluid volume status in nephrotic patients as compare to IVC index.