Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does it influence? Macro variables on stock returns.

Purpose: This study comprise purpose to investigate relationship between stock returns & macroeconomic indicators of Pakistan. In this research consider macroeconomic variables i.e. Gross Domestic Production (GDP), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been studied with relation to stock returns having influential factor political regime of the country during the period research has been carried out. It has been observed significant impact on stock with variations in macroeconomic variables with the passage of time and also observed how significantly impact of changes in political regime on stock returns. Methodology/sample: Research would be explanatory in nature. Based on secondary time series data of stock 100 index and selected macro-economic variables yearly data from 2003 to 2017 and political regime as controlling variable has been observed during the period research has conducted. For research data analysis regression equation has developed and test run on Eviews 8.0 simple regression to check overall fitness of model, individual significance of each variable, and auto correlation between predictor variables. As well as satisfying time series data requirement Heteroskedasticity Test: Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey to check variance in each data series, Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM Test to test serial correlation between variables, unit root test -Augmented Dickey Fuller has been used to check stationary of data. Findings: Results shows value of R2 is 91% shows goodness of fitness of the model. F-test 39.67% shows overall model is significant. As far as concerned individuality significance GDP & political stability significance but FDI value not showing significance itself. Durbin-Watson value 2.309941 shows auto correlation between GDP & FDI. In Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM Test: value of P-value chi-square 0.2087, 20.87% which is greater 10% shows auto correlation exists in model. In Heteroskedasticity Test: Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey P-value chi-squares greater than 0.05 its means variance & un equality in data exist. In Unit root test P value of FDI & Political regime is less than 0.05 shows stationary in data series, while GDP is not showing stationary in data series. Practical Implications: This study endorsed the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (ATP) developed by Ross (1976) is way of linking macroeconomic variables to stock market return, shows how macro variables having impact on stock returns with influence of political regime in a country with every successive time period operating as controlling element in the country having significant impact on economy of the state. This study has empirical evidences carried on other macro variables. For future this study would help to analyze how defined variables impact on stock returns and how much political regime having significant impact on economy would take extension in the theory. Stock returns boost or decline as per political stability of the country which have parallel variant economic indicators.
SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS: A CASE‐CONTROL EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY IN JAPAN

Background. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is designated by the Japanese government as one of the intractable diseases and all patients, who suffer from these diseases, are registered to get financial aid for treatment. Using newly registered SLE patients, a case‐control study was conducted to evaluate potential risk factors.
IL‐33 and HMGB1 alarmins: sensors of cellular death and their involvement in liver pathology

‘Alarmins’ are a group of proteins or molecules that are released from cells during cellular demise to alert the host immune system. Two of them, Interleukin‐33 (IL‐33) and high‐mobility group box‐1 (HMGB1), share many similarities of cellular localization, functions and involvement in various inflammatory pathologies including hepatitis. The expressions of IL‐33 and HMGB1, and their receptors ST2 and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), are substantially up‐regulated during acute and chronic hepatitis. Recent data evidence a possible protective role of IL‐33/ST2 axis during liver injury. A contrast in expression of IL‐33 and HMGB1 alarmins were associated with type of hepatocellular death mediated by immune cells or hepato‐toxic agents. The massive release of active form of IL‐33 from hepatocytes may affect the recruitment and activation of its ST2‐positive target immune cells in the liver to confer its alarmin functions. This review highlights the emerging roles of alarmin proteins in various liver pathologies, by focusing on classical HMGB1 and a newly discovered alarmin, the IL‐33.
Taking stock of IFPRIâ€™s experience with country programs

IFPRI commissioned this study to assess how the country programs (CPs) are performingâ€”which approaches and methods are producing the best outcomes across countries and over timeâ€”to identify factors that promote or impede their progress and lessons for making them more impactful in the future. The study has two major components. The first is a survey and analysis of the factors that CP leaders perceived to have most helped them influence host-country policies. We interviewed all current and most past CP leaders, which enabled us to compile evidence from recent CP experiences as well as from the 1980s and 1990s. We focused on the lessons they drew from their past successes that shed light on how to make their other activities successful. We did not undertake similar interviews on failed efforts because it is much harder to elicit such information from CP leaders. Additional insights about unsuccessful activities are, however, captured in the second component of the study, a commissioned external evaluation of the performance of a sample of ongoing country programs. Ideally, the external evaluation would have included CPs in both Africa and Asia, but this was not possible with the available budget. We therefore settled for an evaluation of CPs in Africa south of the Sahara. Doing so had two advantages: (1) the African CPs are more homogenous in terms of their objectives, structure, and internal IFPRI management, making comparisons among them more insightful; and (2) the budget was sufficient to both include all the African CPs in some of the analyses and allow the external evaluator to visit three of them.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) : usefulness of the Apfel-score for identification of high risk patients for PONV.

OBJECTIVE Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) still represent an important problem in surgery. Treatment and prevention of PONV requires accurate risk stratification. The simplified Apfel-score includes the four factors female gender, no smoking, postoperative use of opioides and previous PONV or motion-sickness in patients' history. Each of these risk factors is supposed to elevate the PONV-incidence about 20%. The aim of the study was to validate this clinical risk assessment score in patients with high risk for PONV. METHODS In a prospective study 93 patients with high risk preoperative score for PONV (Apfel Score III and IV) were analyzed. Patients and nurses were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire at the time of discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) as well as 6 hours and 24 hours after admission to the PACU. General anaesthesia was applied as total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) with mivacurium, propofol and remifentanil (no nitrous oxide / FI 02 0.5) RESULTS In the group with Apfel score III PONV occurred in 59.7% of patients and in the Apfel score group IV in 91.3% of all patients. The incidence of PONV corresponds to the predicted values of 60% for Apfel III and 80% for Apfel IV although the use of TIVA should have reduced the incidence of PONV about 26%. This apparent overestimation could be explained by the frequent questioning of patients and nurses for PONV leading to assessment of very minor symptoms. CONCLUSION The Apfel-score is a useful and simple tool for stratification of patients with high risk for PONV.
Health Benefits of Volunteering in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study∗

We investigate positive effects of volunteering on psychological well-being and self-reported health using all four waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Confirming previous research, volunteering was positively related to both outcome variables. Both consistency of volunteering over time and diversity of participation are significantly related to well-being and self-reported health. The relationship of volunteering to psychological well-being was moderated by level of social integration, such that those who were less well integrated benefited the most. Mattering appears to mediate the link between volunteering and well-being. Controls for other forms of social participation and for the predictors of volunteering are employed in analyses of well-being in 1992. We find volunteering effects on psychological well-being in 2004, controlling for 1992 well-being, thus providing strong evidence for a causal effect.
Perception of French students in engineering about the ethics of their profession and implications for engineering education

The aims of this paper are to analyse the perception of French students in engineering about the Charter of ethics for engineers and to propose a point of view on the problem of introducing ethics into engineers' training. For this purpose the Conference of Deans of French Engineering Schools and Universities of Technology (CDEFI) did an inquiry among students in engineering in the fall of 2009. 3,589 students in engineering from 106 different schools answered. The characteristics of respondents are consistent with those of the total population of students in engineering with regard to geographical distribution, age, sex and nationality. The results show that 38% of respondents knew the Charter beforehand. Therefore, the inquiry gave 62% of students the opportunity to get to know the Charter. It is considered useful by 62% of respondents and easy to apply by 54%.
Ultrasonographic evaluation of splenic enlargement in athletes with acute infectious mononucleosis

Objective: To quantitatively assess the degree and rate of splenic enlargement and the time required for regression of splenic enlargement in collegiate athletes diagnosed with acute infectious mononucleosis (IM). Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Academic Medical Center(s) outpatient sports medicine clinic. Study participants: Volunteer Division I University athletes. Interventions: A limited abdominal ultrasound was performed on each participant by a licensed and experienced ultrasonographer. Splenic measurements were taken to assess maximum splenic length. Athletes who were subsequently diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis (clinical illness and a positive monospot) underwent serial splenic ultrasounds and physical exams (weekly) until resolution of clinical symptoms and splenic enlargement (as determined by ultrasound measurements). Main outcome measures: Per cent enlargement of spleen size (length) from baseline. Time (in days) from onset of clinical illness to maximum splenic length. Time (in days) required for resolution of splenic enlargement. Results: 20 subjects were diagnosed with acute IM during a 5 year time period. Maximum splenic length increased a mean of 33.6% (SD 19.9%) from baseline values. Peak splenic enlargement was reached a mean of 12.3 (SD 5.1) days from onset of clinical illness. A linear model demonstrated that spleen size decreases approximately 1% per day after reaching peak splenic enlargement. Conclusions: The majority of athletes with IM experience a moderate degree of splenomegaly. Peak splenic enlargement occurs within 2 weeks from the time of symptom onset in most cases, but may extend to 3.5 weeks. The rate of splenic enlargement appears to be predictable for an individual who develops IM. Ultrasonographic data further show that splenomegaly associated with acute IM infection resolves within 4–6 weeks of symptom onset in the majority of cases.
Socioeconomic status, psychosocial resources and risk, and cardiometabolic risk in Mexican-American women.

OBJECTIVES The current study examined the contributions of psychosocial factors to the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) risk, in a randomly selected community cohort of 304 middle-aged (40-65 years old) Mexican-American women, a population at elevated cardiometabolic risk. METHODS Participants underwent a clinical exam and measures of demographic factors and psychosocial resource (i.e., personal and social resources) and risk (i.e., negative emotions and cognitions) variables. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation models (SEMs) were performed in the total sample and in more- and less-U.S.-acculturated women (defined by language preference) separately. RESULTS CFAs revealed single latent constructs for SES (i.e., income, education) and psychosocial resources/risk. Three-factor solution was identified, with blood pressure (systolic diastolic), lipids (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol triglycerides), and metabolic variables (glucose waist circumference) forming separate factors. SEMs showed that an indirect effects model with SES relating to MetSyn factors through psychosocial resources/risk provided a reasonable descriptive and statistical fit in the full and more-acculturated sample (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] and standardized root-mean-square residual < .08); fit in the less-acculturated sample was marginal according to RMSEA = . 09. A significant mediated path from low SES to higher waist circumference/fasting glucose via lower psychosocial resources/higher psychosocial risk was identified in the overall and more-acculturated samples (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS In this cohort of healthy, middle-aged Mexican-American women, contributions of psychosocial factors to SES-MetSyn associations were limited to the core underlying metabolic mechanisms, and to more-U.S.-acculturated women.
[Palpation and elastography of thyroid nodules in comparison].

UNLABELLED In addition to ultrasound, elastography is available for evaluation of thyroid nodules for several years. AIM of this study was to verify a statistically significant correlation between palpation and elastography as well as between scintigraphy and elastography, respectively. PATIENTS, METHODES: 97 solitary thyroid nodules in 67 women (mean age 63.0 ± 14.8 years) and 30 men (mean age 63.4 ± 18.5 years) were colour-coded by a colour spectrum from blue (soft) via yellow to red (hard) (Sonix touch ultrasound system, Ultrasonix, Canada) with a 6-14 MHz probe. These colour codes were classified into an elastography score of ES 1 to ES 4. RESULTS 50 nodules were not palpable, 47 were addressed as "soft" (n = 16), "indifferent" (n = 24) or "hard" (n = 7). Elastography values were higher with increasing stiffness of the palpable nodules. Medians of elastography score were for the soft nodules ES 2, for the indifferent nodules ES 2.5 and for the hard nodules ES 4. A statistically significant correlation could be confirmed by the Jonckheere-Terpstra test (p = 0.01) and Spearman's rank correlation (p = 0.03). No correlation between elastography and scintigraphic uptake could be observed (p = 0.41). CONCLUSION In detectable nodules, palpation is correlated with elastography. Since non-palpable nodules may have differences in elasticity too, elastography can provide additional data, which may influence the further diagnostic procedures and treatment essentially. Based on these results, scintigraphy cannot be replaced by elastography.
Stuck in the Seventies: Gas Prices and Consumer Sentiment

Abstract Using daily consumer survey data, we analyze the transmission of gas prices to consumer beliefs and expectations about the economy. We exploit the high frequency and geographic disaggregation of our data set to facilitate identification. Consumer sentiment becomes more pessimistic with rising gas prices. This effect is strongest for consumers who lived through the recessionary oil crises in the 1970s, consistent with models of learning from personal experience. For younger respondents, the sensitivity of sentiment to gas prices is stronger for college-educated respondents. Sensitivity is also higher in states with greater gas expenditures per capita.
The rural transformation of the two rice bowls of Vietnam: the making of a new Asian miracle economy?

ABSTRACT This paper assesses the factors driving inclusiveness in Vietnam's rural transformation by comparing the two rice deltas of the country since reunification in 1975. In order to achieve this, a pro-poor institutional development approach based on Adelman is applied. We focus on asset-oriented, demand-generating and price-increasing interventions. Our findings point out that the experienced growth might be considered inclusive, but the dynamics of poverty reduction, income generation, and productivity-enhancement are substantially different in the two delta economies. This might have implications for the prospects of Vietnam's continuation in a ‘growth with equity’ model, if policies and innovations are not locally adjusted.
Associations Between Age, Psychosocial Work Conditions, Occupational Well-Being, and Telomere Length in Geriatric Care Professionals: A Mixed-Methods Study

Objective: We identified associations between age, psychosocial work characteristics, occupational well-being, and—as a measure of biological age—leukocyte telomere length in geriatric care professionals. Methods: This is a multisource study of self-reports on psychosocial work characteristics, standardized physician's evaluations of health, and relative telomere length measures of peripheral blood leukocytes. We included 141 geriatric care professionals. Telomere length was assessed by an improved polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method. Results: Increased depersonalization was associated with shorter telomeres. Their association with age was not moderated by psychosocial work conditions. There was, however, a significant three-way interaction of social support and work ability with the age–telomere association. Additionally, social support and adverse general health moderated the age–telomere length relationship. Conclusions: A supportive work environment and work-related health may influence the association between age and telomere length.
Calreticulin Affects Focal Contact-dependent but Not Close Contact-dependent Cell-substratum Adhesion*

We used two cell lines expressing fast (RPEfast) and slow (RPEslow) attachment kinetics to investigate mechanisms of cell-substratum adhesion. We show that the abundance of a cytoskeletal protein, vinculin, is dramatically decreased in RPEfast cells. This coincides with the diminished expression level of an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone, calreticulin. Both protein and mRNA levels for calreticulin and vinculin were decreased in RPEfast cells. After RPEfast cells were transfected with cDNA encoding calreticulin, both the expression of endoplasmic reticulum-resident calreticulin and cytoplasmic vinculin increased. The abundance of other adhesion-related proteins was not affected. RPEfast cells underexpressing calreticulin displayed a dramatic increase in the abundance of total cellular phosphotyrosine suggesting that the effects of calreticulin on cell adhesiveness may involve modulation of the activities of protein tyrosine kinases or phosphatases which may affect the stability of focal contacts. The calreticulin and vinculin underexpressing RPEfast cells lacked extensive focal contacts and adhered weakly but attached fast to the substratum. In contrast, the RPEslow cells that expressed calreticulin and vinculin abundantly developed numerous and prominent focal contacts slowly, but adhered strongly. Thus, while the calreticulin overexpressing RPEslow cells “grip” the substratum with focal contacts, calreticulin underexpressing RPEfast cells use close contacts to “stick” to it.
Composition and structure of helminth communities in eels Anguilla anguilla from Italian coastal lagoons

Abstract The composition and diversity of total and intestinal helminth component and infracommunities were determined in eels Anguilla anguilla from four shallow coastal lagoons near Rome. The lagoons differed principally in respect of their salinity. Only Lake Burano still received an input of freshwater, and both freshwater and marine helminth species were found in eels. In the other three lagoons all helminth species were marine or euryhaline and communities were dominated by digeneans. At component community level these three lagoons were far more similar to each other than to Lake Burano, but this distinction almost disappeared at infracommunity level. Species richness and diversity declined with increasing salinity at component community level but not at infracommunity level. Despite the changes and differences in helminth community composition, intestinal helminth infracommunity structure was very similar in all four lagoons and to that in eels from freshwater localities in Britain. The findings thus provide further and unexpected support for the view that some factor(s) other than supply side ones must be operating to produce the fundamental structural similarity in helminth communities in eels.
Role of the Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase (ahpCF) Gene in Oxidative Stress Defense of the Obligate Anaerobe Bacteroides fragilis

ABSTRACT In this study we report the identification and role of the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (ahp) gene in Bacteroides fragilis. The two components of ahp,ahpC, and ahpF, are organized in an operon, and the deduced amino acid sequences revealed that B. fragilisAhpCF shares approximately 60% identity to orthologues in other gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Northern blot hybridization analysis of total RNA showed that the ahpCF genes were transcribed as a polycistronic 2.4-kb mRNA and that ahpCalso was present as a 0.6-kb monocistronic mRNA. ahpC andahpCF mRNAs were induced approximately 60-fold following H2O2 treatment or oxygen exposure of the parent strain but were constitutive in a peroxide-resistant strain. Further investigation using an ahpCF′::β-xylosidase gene transcriptional fusion confirmed that ahpCF had lost normal regulation in the peroxide-resistant strain compared to the parent. The ahpCF mutant was more sensitive to growth inhibition and mutagenesis by organic peroxides than the parent strain, as determined by disk inhibition assays and the frequency of mutation to fusidic acid resistance. This finding suggests that theahp genes play an important role in peroxide resistance inB. fragilis. Under anaerobic conditions, we observed increases in the number of spontaneous fusidic acid-resistant mutants of five- and sevenfold in ahpCF and ahpF strain backgrounds, respectively, and eightfold in the ahpCF katBdouble mutant strain compared to the parent and katBstrains. In addition, ahpCF, ahpF, andahpCF katB mutants were slightly more sensitive to oxygen exposure than the parent strain. Moreover, the isolation of a strain with enhanced aerotolerance and high-level resistance to alkyl hydroperoxides from an ahpCF katB parent suggests that the physiological responses to peroxide toxicity and to the toxic effects of molecular oxygen are overlapping and complex in this obligate anaerobe.