Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The targeting effectiveness of social transfers

ABSTRACT Many methodologies exist for dividing a population into those who are classified as eligible for social transfers and those who are ineligible. Popular targeting mechanisms include means tests, proxy means tests, categorical, geographic, community-based and self-selection. This paper reviews empirical evidence from a range of social protection programmes on the accuracy of these mechanisms, in terms of minimising four targeting errors: inclusion and exclusion, by eligibility and by poverty. This paper also reviews available evidence on the various costs associated with targeting, not only administrative but also private, social, psycho-social, incentive-based and political costs. Comparisons are difficult, but all mechanisms generate targeting errors and costs. Given the inevitability of trade-offs, there is no ‘best’ mechanism for targeting social transfers. The key determinant of relative accuracy and cost-effectiveness in each case is how well the targeting mechanism is designed and implemented.
Functional and Structural Diversification of the Anguimorpha Lizard Venom System*

Venom has only been recently discovered to be a basal trait of the Anguimorpha lizards. Consequently, very little is known about the timings of toxin recruitment events, venom protein molecular evolution, or even the relative physical diversifications of the venom system itself. A multidisciplinary approach was used to examine the evolution across the full taxonomical range of this ∼130 million-year-old clade. Analysis of cDNA libraries revealed complex venom transcriptomes. Most notably, three new cardioactive peptide toxin types were discovered (celestoxin, cholecystokinin, and YY peptides). The latter two represent additional examples of convergent use of genes in toxic arsenals, both having previously been documented as components of frog skin defensive chemical secretions. Two other novel venom gland-overexpressed modified versions of other protein frameworks were also recovered from the libraries (epididymal secretory protein and ribonuclease). Lectin, hyaluronidase, and veficolin toxin types were sequenced for the first time from lizard venoms and shown to be homologous to the snake venom forms. In contrast, phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the lizard natriuretic peptide toxins were recruited independently of the form in snake venoms. The de novo evolution of helokinestatin peptide toxin encoding domains within the lizard venom natriuretic gene was revealed to be exclusive to the helodermatid/anguid subclade. New isoforms were sequenced for cysteine-rich secretory protein, kallikrein, and phospholipase A2 toxins. Venom gland morphological analysis revealed extensive evolutionary tinkering. Anguid glands are characterized by thin capsules and mixed glands, serous at the bottom of the lobule and mucous toward the apex. Twice, independently this arrangement was segregated into specialized serous protein-secreting glands with thick capsules with the mucous lobules now distinct (Heloderma and the Lanthanotus/Varanus clade). The results obtained highlight the importance of utilizing evolution-based search strategies for biodiscovery and emphasize the largely untapped drug design and development potential of lizard venoms.
The Impact of Shocks on Higher Moments

In this paper, we extend the concept of the news impact curve of volatility developed by Engle and Ng (1993) to the higher moments and co-moments of the multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model with non-normal innovations. For this purpose, we present a new methodology to describe the joint distribution of GARCH processes in a non-normal setting. Then, we provide expressions for the response of the moments of the subsequent distribution to a shock. This tool enhances the understanding of the temporal evolution of the joint distribution. We use our methodology to provide stylized facts for the four largest international stock markets. In particular, we document the persistence of large (positive or negative) daily returns. In a multivariate setting , we find that foreign holdings provide a good hedge against changes in domestic volatility after good shocks but a bad hedge after crashes. Finally, using generalized impulse responses, we show that the effect of shocks on the higher moments of the distribution is short-lasting.
Antisense to MDR1 mRNA reduces P‐glycoprotein expression, swelling‐activated Cl− current and volume regulation in bovine ciliary epithelial cells

1 Native ciliary epithelial cells from the ciliary epithelium of the eye exhibit anti‐P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) immunofluorescence. 2 We have used an antisense ‘knock‐down’ approach to investigate the relationship between P‐gp and the volume‐activated chloride current (ICl,swell) and its role in volume regulation. 3 An antisense oligonucleotide to the human multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene, taken up by the cells in a dose‐dependent manner, reduced P‐gp immunofluorescence, inhibited ICl,swell and significantly increased the latency of activation of ICl,swell. 4 Increasing the hypotonic stress did not result in an increased activation of ICl,swell. MDR1 antisense ‘knock‐down’ also reduced the ability of the cells to volume regulate following a hypotonic challenge. 5 These cells are known to express at least two volume‐activated chloride channels, and the data suggest that P‐gp is involved in the activation pathway of a subset of channels that contribute to whole‐cell ICl,swell and participate in volume regulation.
Non-tuberculous mycobacterial bloodstream infections in patients with indwelling vascular catheters – the role of sickle cell anaemia

Abstract Introduction: Few studies have examined risk factors for nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) bloodstream infections (BSI) involving indwelling vascular catheters (IDVC). Sickle cell anaemia (HbSS/SC) is known to affect several aspects of the immune system leading to relative immune deficiency. The purpose of this retrospective nested case-control study was to determine if HbSS/SC is a risk factor for NTM BSI among individuals with IDVCs. Methods: All NTM IDVC infections (cases) at two tertiary hospitals from 2008 to 2014 were reviewed. Cases were matched 2:1 with controls who had IDVC infections due to organisms other than NTM. Matching criteria included age within 10 years and IDVC infection within three months of index case. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for IDVC infection due to NTM. Results: Nineteen NTM BSIs were identified. Three cases were excluded because they did not have IDVCs at the time their BSI was identified. Sixteen cases of NTM IDVC infection were matched to 32 controls with IDVC infections due to other organisms. The mean age of patients with IDVC infections was 48.5 years and 28 (58%) were male. Compared to the control group those with NTM BSI were more likely to have HbSS/SC 38% (6/16) versus 6% (2/32) (p = .006). Conclusion: IDVCs are a risk factor for NTM BSI. Sickle cell anaemia appears to be a risk factor for IDVC infections due to NTM. This study is limited by the small sample size. A larger study is needed to further investigate the association between HbSS/SC and NTM IDVC infections.
Taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion behaviour: an empirical study in Malaysia

Purpose The success of self-assessment tax system is voluntary compliance with the tax laws. When tax evasion is seen as unacceptable, taxpayers will tend to evade tax less. Hence, the understanding of taxpayers’ attitude on tax morality towards a tax system has to be enhanced to minimize tax evasion cases. The purposes of this study are to examine the relationship between tax fairness, tax knowledge, enforcement level and social exchange towards taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality under the self-assessment system in Malaysia and also to identify the relationship between taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality and taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 400 taxpayers through a questionnaire and analysed. Findings From the analysis, it has been found out that tax knowledge is the most important tax system characteristic that affects taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality. In addition, taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality is significant to taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion in Malaysia. Originality/value The findings of this study would be useful for the government to further improve the present tax system to increase voluntary tax compliance.
Interstitial adenosine triphosphate modulates muscle afferent nerve–mediated pressor reflex

Previous work has shown that muscle contraction elevates interstitial adenosine triphosphate concentration ([ATP]i), which is likely due to the release of ATP from active skeletal muscle. ATP activation of purinergic receptors P2X on thin muscle afferent fibers further enhances cardiovascular responses to contraction. Thus, the purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the mechanisms by which ATP is released from muscle in response to mechanical stimulation; and (2) to study the effects of interstitial ATP concentrations on modulating pressor response to muscle contraction. Static contraction of the triceps surae muscle was evoked by electrical stimulation (at 5 HZ and 2.5 times motor threshold) of the tibial nerve in 9 anesthetized cats. Muscle interstitial ATP samples were collected from microdialysis probes inserted into the muscles. Dialysate ATP concentrations were determined using the luciferin–luciferase assay. In a control experiment, contraction was induced after 0.5 ml of saline was injected into the arterial blood supply of the hindlimb muscles. This increased [ATP]i by 220% (P < 0.05 vs. baseline). After gadolinium (1 mM), a blocker of mechanically sensitive channels, was injected into the muscles, contraction increased [ATP]i by 112% (P < 0.05 vs. control). In contrast, glibenclamide (an inhibitor of the ATP‐binding cassette protein), monensin, and brefeldin A, which interfere with vesicular formation (or trafficking) and inhibit exocytosis, did not significantly affect ATP release by muscle contraction. In addition, a regression analysis showed that [ATP]i was linearly related to the pressor response to muscle contraction. The data suggest that ATP release from skeletal muscle is mediated via involvement of mechanosensitive channels. These findings further support a physiological role for release of ATP in modulating cardiovascular responses during static muscle contraction. Muscle Nerve, 2008
Candidate-centred electoral systems and voter turnout

Abstract This study evaluates contradictory theoretical predictions concerning the relationship between the candidate-centredness of electoral systems and voter turnout. Candidate-centredness has been proposed to both stimulate and depress turnout. Cross-sectional time-series data from 36 democracies between 1990 and 2014 are used to test the competing assumptions made about the impact of the personal vote on turnout. Three measures assessing the extent to which electoral systems create incentives to cultivate a personal vote are employed. The results show that turnout is the lowest in candidate-centred systems and the highest in party-centred systems with closed and ordered lists, while controlling for a host of contextual factors that have been linked to aggregate turnout. In addition, the finding that candidate-centredness is negatively related to turnout holds up even when taking into account district magnitude, electoral disproportionality and effective number of parties.
Heavy-Tailed Distributions and Risk Management of Equity Market Tail Events

Traditional econometric modelling typically follows the idea that market returns follow a normal distribution. However, the concept of tail risk indicates that the distribution of returns is not normal, but skewed and has heavy tails. Thus, a heavy-tailed distribution, which accurately estimates the tail risk, would significantly improve quantitative risk management practice. In this paper, we compare four widely used heavy-tailed distributions using the S&P 500 daily returns. Our results indicate that the Skewed t distribution in Hansen (1994) has the superior empirical performance compared with the Student’s t distribution, the normal reciprocal inverse Gaussian distribution and the generalized hyperbolic distribution. We further showed the Skewed t distribution could generate the VaR estimates closest to the nonparametric historical VaR estimates compared with other heavy-tailed distributions.
Cognitive status correlates with neuropathologic stage in Parkinson disease

Objective: To study the association of cognitive status with the stages of a published neuropathologic staging procedure for sporadic Parkinson disease (PD) in a cohort of 88 patients with PD from a single neurologic unit. None had received the clinical diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Methods: The authors assessed Lewy neurites/bodies (LNs/LBs) immunoreactive for α-synuclein semiquantitatively in sections from 18 brain regions. In silver-stained sections and sections immunostained for tau and β-amyloid protein, the authors semiquantitatively evaluated comorbidities potentially contributing to cognitive decline, e.g., Alzheimer disease (AD), argyrophilic grain disease (AGD), and cerebral vascular disease. The authors analyzed four Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) subgroups ranging from marginally impaired cognition to severe dementia using nonparametric tests. Results: It was possible to assign all patients to one of the PD stages. MMSE scores correlated with neuropathologic stages (p < 0.005) and this association showed a linear trend (p < 0.025). Median MMSE test scores for women were lower than those for men. Cognitively impaired individuals displayed higher stages of AD-related neurofibrillary pathology (p < 0.05) and β-amyloid deposition (p < 0.05) than cognitively unimpaired persons. MMSE scores did not correlate significantly with AGD, disease duration, age at disease onset, or age at death. Hoehn and Yahr scores, however, correlated with PD stages (p < 0.0005) and MMSE scores (p < 0.0005). Conclusions: The decrease in median Mini-Mental State Examination scores between PD stages 3 to 6 indicates that the risk of developing dementia increases with disease progression. In some individuals, however, cognitive decline can develop in the presence of mild Parkinson disease–related cortical pathology and, conversely, widespread cortical lesions do not necessarily lead to cognitive decline.
Emergency Caesarean section: best practice *

Good multidisciplinary communication is crucial to the safe management of women requiring non‐elective Caesarean section. Anaesthetists should participate actively in resuscitation of the fetus in utero; relief of aortocaval compression is paramount. Epidural top‐up with levobupivacaine 0.5% is the anaesthetic of choice for women who have been receiving labour epidural analgesia. If epidural top‐up fails to provide bilateral light touch anaesthesia from S5 – T5, a combined spinal‐epidural technique with small intrathecal dose of local anaesthetic is a useful approach. Pre‐eclampsia is not a contra‐indication to single‐shot spinal anaesthesia, which is the technique of choice for most women presenting for Caesarean section without an epidural catheter in situ. Induction and maintenance doses of drugs for general anaesthesia should not be reduced in the belief that the baby will be harmed. Early postoperative observations are geared towards the detection of overt or covert haemorrhage.
Detection of unknown primary tumours in patients with cerebral metastases using whole‐body 18F‐flouorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

Identification of the unknown primary tumours in patients presenting with cerebral metastasis is a continued diagnostic challenge. Despite extensive and lengthy diagnostic work‐up, the primary tumours will remain obscure in a significant proportion of the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of whole‐body 18‐F‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG PET) scanning in this pursuit. Sixteen patients aged 34–74 years, with histologically confirmed metastatic brain tumours, were included in the study. Whole‐body 18FDG PET identified pulmonary foci of probable primary tumours in all patients. Subsequent confirmation of tumour tissue was determined either by direct histological verification or indirectly by the observation of lesion appearance or lesion growth on structural imaging. This could only be obtained in eight of 16 patients, all defined as true positive. Of the remaining eight, a biopsy could not be sampled from seven patients, because of death or limited follow‐up investigations, and one patient had pulmonary malignant melanoma metastases. Whole‐body 18FDG PET scanning is a sensitive tool in the search for unknown primary tumours of patients with confirmed cerebral metastases allowing early and focused histological confirmation from suspicious lesions.
Econometric Identification of Foreign Exchange Options Volatility Surfaces Recovering Foreign Exchange Option Prices from Spot Price Dynamics

Over-the-counter foreign exchange options are the fourth largest derivatives market (by asset class) in the world, but this market is little studied in the finance literature. We propose a new set of modelling tools for pricing options on this market and demonstrate their applicability to five liquid currencies versus the dollar. Our discrete time affine nested GARCH based model specification is the first of its type to be estimated directly from spot foreign exchange and short rate (timed deposit) quotes. Out-of-sample testing suggests that an affine term structure with stochastic volatility model estimated at a monthly frequency outperforms most specifications with no recourse to option market quotes to assist calibration. Indeed, this model outperforms a realized variance model by almost an order of magnitude, across all quote types, when compared to observed option market data.
Influence of sexual abuse on HIV-related attitudes and behaviors in adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the associations between sexual abuse and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related attitudes and behaviors of adolescents with a psychiatric disorder. METHOD HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors were examined by self-report assessment of adolescents admitted to a psychiatric hospital (N = 100). A subsample (n = 30) completed a role-playing exercise regarding HIV-preventive behavior that was scored for the degree of effective communication by raters blind to the subjects' abuse history. RESULTS HIV-related risk behaviors were prevalent, including unprotected sexual intercourse (67%) and multiple partners (27%) among the sexually active (71% of the total). Also frequent were alcohol and drug use (25%) and sharing cutting instruments (22%) among those engaged in self-cutting behavior (62%). The 38% of the sample identified as having a history of sexual abuse indicated significantly poorer self-efficacy concerning condom use than their peers. Abused females scored significantly lower on the self-efficacy of condom use scale and reported significantly more frequent alcohol use than nonabused females (p = .003). A hierarchical multiple regression that controlled for consistency of condom use and tolerance of people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome found that abuse history uniquely accounted for 16% of the variance in condom use self-efficacy. Analysis of the videotaped role-play found that abused adolescents were significantly less competent and had more difficulty in effective communication than their peers (p = .003). CONCLUSION A history of sexual abuse is associated with impaired safe sexual decision-making and HIV-preventive communication skills, even in this already at-risk group. This study also underscores the importance of actively addressing these issues in the context of clinical care.
Interdependency of local capillary density, blood flow, and metabolism in rat brains.

Previous investigations have established a strong correlation between local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU). In the present study the relationship between density of perfused brain capillaries and LCBF or LCGU was investigated in conscious and anesthetized rats. Perfused capillaries were stained by labeling the plasma with the gamma globulin-coupled fluorochromes, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and lissamine-rhodamine B 200 (RB 200). The density of perfused capillaries was determined in 12 different brain structures by fluorescence microscopy of embedded brain sections following coronal sectioning in a cryostat. Significant differences were found among brain structures investigated; the lowest density of perfused capillaries was found in the white matter (e.g., corpus callosum 162 fragments/mm2), whereas the highest values were determined in the structures of the auditory system (e.g., inferior colliculus 810 fragments/mm2). LCBF and LCGU were measured in two separate groups of rats using standard autoradiographic methods. In all three experimental groups, the same structures were identified and measured with a high degree of accuracy and local resolution. Density of perfused capillaries correlated well with LCBF (r = 0.93) and even better with LCGU (r = 0.97). In addition to the relationship between LCGU and LCBF established by earlier studies, these data show the intimate interrelationship between LCGU, density of perfused capillaries, and LCBF.
Use of complementary and alternative medicine among adults with chronic diseases: United States 2002.

BACKGROUND Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has increased in recent years. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the use of CAM among people with diagnosed chronic diseases. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis was used. SETTING The 2002 National Health Interview Survey was the setting. PATIENTS Participants were representative of the noninstitutionalized U.S. population 18 years and older. MEASUREMENTS Respondents answered questions about use of CAM and physician-diagnosed arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and lung disease. RESULTS Adults with diagnosed chronic diseases are more likely to use CAM compared to adults with none of the reported chronic diseases. Adults with arthritis alone were most likely to report ever use of CAM (59.6%) followed by adults with cancer or lung disease alone or two or more chronic diseases (55%), adults with cardiovascular disease (46.4%), and adults with no chronic diseases (43.6%) and diabetes alone (41.4%). Adults with chronic diseases were also more likely to report use of CAM in the past 12 months (32% to 43.3%), followed by adults with none of these chronic diseases (32%), and adults with diabetes alone (26.2%). Less than 30% of CAM users in the past 12 months reported talking to their healthcare professional about CAM use. LIMITATIONS Information about CAM use is based on self-report. CONCLUSIONS Use of CAM, particularly biologically based CAM therapies, is common and is more likely to be used by those with chronic diseases.