Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Measurement with Uncertain Risk Loadings

We study the implications of uncertainty about risk loadings for mutual fund investors’ capital allocation decisions. We show that the signal-to-noise ratio is higher and rational investors give more weight to performance signals when market returns are moderate, compared to times of very high or low market returns. Consistent with the model predictions, the flow-performance relation is about twice as steep in moderate times, and the difference is larger for types of funds with more uncertainty about risk loadings. The model-implied degree of parameter uncertainty is consistent with direct estimates of parameter uncertainty from fund holdings and daily returns. ∗Franzoni: University of Lugano and Swiss Finance Institute, francesco.franzoni@usi.ch; Schmalz: University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, schmalz@umich.edu. This paper was previously circulated under the titles “Fund/Capital Flows in Rational Markets. ” For helpful comments and discussions, we would like to thank Yakov Amihud, Jonathan Berk (discussant), Jules van Binsbergen, John Campbell, Susan Christoffersen, Paolo Colla, Roger Edelen, Stefano Giglio, Vincent Glode, Itay Goldstein, Denis Gromb, Rick Green, Alexander Guembel, Burton Hollifield, Christian Julliard, Marcin Kacperczyk (discussant), Shimon Kogan, Robert Kosowski, Augustin Landier, Xuewen Liu, Massimo Massa, Lubos Pastor, Alberto Plazzi, Uday Rajan, Clemens Sialm, David Solomon (discussant), Robert Stambaugh, Luke Taylor, David Thesmar, Fabio Trojani, Dimitri Vayanos, Russ Wermers, Youchang Wu, Josef Zechner, Hong Zhang, Sergey Zhuk, as well as seminar and conference participants at IDC Herzliya, NBER Asset Pricing, SED Annual Meetings, Tel Aviv University, the UNC Junior Faculty Roundtable, University of Michigan, and the University of Toronto. Schmalz is grateful for generous financial support through an NTT Fellowship from the Mitsui Life Financial Center.
Where are we on worms?

Purpose of review There is something about living in an industrialized country that dramatically increases the risk of acquiring inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Loss of routine exposure to parasitic worms (helminths), due to modern highly hygienic life styles, likely contributes to this risk. This article reviews current understanding on how helminths influence intestinal inflammation and mucosal immune responses. Recent findings IBD emerges in populations as regions develop socioeconomically and lose exposure to previously ubiquitous helminthic infections. Helminthic infections provided strong selective pressure for the dissemination of gene variants, many of which predispose to development of IBD. In animal models of IBD, helminth colonization suppresses intestinal inflammation through multiple mechanisms including induction of innate and adaptive regulatory circuits. Trials using helminths like hookworm (Necator americanus) or porcine whipworm (Trichuris suis) show that they are safe and may be effective therapies for the control of the aberrant intestinal inflammation seen in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Summary Evidence is accumulating that highly hygienic living conditions create risk for developing immune-mediated disease such as IBD. To live in their host, helminths have developed the ability to activate cells of innate and adaptive immunity that suppress inflammation. Therapeutic trials using helminths are in progress.
Changing the prehistory of Sindh and Las Bela coast: twenty-five years of Italian contribution

Abstract This paper discusses the prehistory of Sindh and Las Bela coast (Balochistan) before and after partition, and the role played by the Italian archaeologists since the 1980s. Until a few years ago the prehistory of Sindh was known mainly from the impressive urban remains of the Indus civilization and the discovery of Palaeolithic assemblages in the desert landscapes close to India, while very little was known of the remains of other periods, their radiocarbon dating and the importance of the coastal zone. Our knowledge of the prehistory of the country has improved greatly during the last twenty-five years, thanks to systematic surveys and excavations in unexplored landscapes, which radically transformed our knowledge of the prehistoric archaeology of this important region of the Indian subcontinent.
Granulopoiesis and granules of human neutrophils

Granules are essential for the ability of neutrophils to fulfill their role in innate immunity. Granule membranes contain proteins that react to environmental cues directing neutrophils to sites of infection and initiate generation of bactericidal oxygen species. Granules are densely packed with proteins that contribute to microbial killing when liberated to the phagosome or extracellularly. Granules are, however, highly heterogeneous and are traditionally subdivided into azurophil granules, specific granules, and gelatinase granules in addition to secretory vesicles. This review will address issues pertinent to formation of granules, which is a process intimately connected to maturation of neutrophils from their precursors in the bone marrow. We further discuss possible mechanisms by which decisions are made regarding sorting of proteins to constitutive secretion or storage in granules and how degranulation of granule subsets is regulated.
First Metatarsophalangeal Arthrodesis: A Clinical, Pedobarographic and Gait Analysis Study

This study investigated the results of first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) arthrodesis in terms of clinical outcome measures, plantar pressure distribution, and gait patterns. Ten feet in nine patients with severe hallux rigidus (HR) who underwent first MTP arthrodesis were studied. The preoperative evaluation included a subjective questionnaire, physical exam, AOFAS hallux score, radiographs and dynamic pedobarography (EMED). At follow-up (average 34 months) these were repeated, and gait analysis studies were obtained. Patients showed significant clinical improvement based on the subjective criteria. The mean AOFAS score improved from 38 preoperatively to 90 postoperatively. Postoperative EMED analysis showed restoration of the weightbearing function of the first ray, with greater maximum force carried by the distal hallux at toe-off. Kinematic and kinetic gait analysis from each patient's operative limb were compared to the unaffected contralateral limb and to age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. The kinematic data indicated a significantly shorter step length with some loss in ankle plantar flexion at toe-off on the fused side. The kinetic data indicated a reduction in both ankle torque and ankle power at push-off. Clinical results indicated effective pain relief and a high level of patient satisfaction, consistent with previous reports in patients with symptomatic Hallux Rigidus.
Lamin A/C Depletion Enhances DNA Damage-Induced Stalled Replication Fork Arrest

ABSTRACT The human LMNA gene encodes the essential nuclear envelope proteins lamin A and C (lamin A/C). Mutations in LMNA result in altered nuclear morphology, but how this impacts the mechanisms that maintain genomic stability is unclear. Here, we report that lamin A/C-deficient cells have a normal response to ionizing radiation but are sensitive to agents that cause interstrand cross-links (ICLs) or replication stress. In response to treatment with ICL agents (cisplatin, camptothecin, and mitomycin), lamin A/C-deficient cells displayed normal γ-H2AX focus formation but a higher frequency of cells with delayed γ-H2AX removal, decreased recruitment of the FANCD2 repair factor, and a higher frequency of chromosome aberrations. Similarly, following hydroxyurea-induced replication stress, lamin A/C-deficient cells had an increased frequency of cells with delayed disappearance of γ-H2AX foci and defective repair factor recruitment (Mre11, CtIP, Rad51, RPA, and FANCD2). Replicative stress also resulted in a higher frequency of chromosomal aberrations as well as defective replication restart. Taken together, the data can be interpreted to suggest that lamin A/C has a role in the restart of stalled replication forks, a prerequisite for initiation of DNA damage repair by the homologous recombination pathway, which is intact in lamin A/C-deficient cells. We propose that lamin A/C is required for maintaining genomic stability following replication fork stalling, induced by either ICL damage or replicative stress, in order to facilitate fork regression prior to DNA damage repair.
Impact of fishing on size composition and diversity of demersal fish communities

By analysing data sets from different world regions we add evidence to documented changes in demersal fish community structure that may be related to fishing. Changes are analysed by community properties that might be expected to capture relevant overall changes – size spectra slopes and intercepts, Shannon-Wiener diversity, and dominance. Cross-system differences in the shape of the integrated community size spectra appear to be related to ecosystem productivity. The slope of size spectra appears to respond in a consistent way to changes in exploitation levels. In most areas studied, but particularly in high-latitude regions, we observe a decreasing trend in the slope, reflecting changes in size composition toward a relative decline in larger fish. The results from tropical regions are less conclusive, partly owing to the difficulty in obtaining consistent data series, but probably also because the generally higher growth rates of the constituent species make the slope less sensitive to changes in fishing. No evidence was found of any decline in species richness, while changes in diversity (richness and evenness) were caused either by changes in patterns of dominance or by changes in the number of species identified resulting from improved survey protocols.
Frames, claims and audiences: Construction of food allergies in the Canadian media

Food allergies are newly emerging health risks, and some evidence indicates that their prevalence is increasing. Public perception, however, is that the prevalence of food allergies is much greater than systematic estimates suggest. As food allergies increasingly permeate everyday life, this paper explores how associated risks are constructed through the mass media. In particular, nine years of media coverage of food allergies are analysed through the lens of issue framing and claims-making. Results show that advocates and affected individuals dominate discussions around policy action, while researchers and health professionals are diagnosing the causes of food allergy. Results also suggest that there is competition over the definition of food allergies, which may, in turn, be shaping public understanding of the related risks. There is also an indication that the framing of food allergies is evolving over time, and that the discussion is becoming increasingly one-sided with affected individuals leading the charge.
"Missed, dissed, and pissed": making meaning of neighborhood risk, fear and anger management in urban black youth.

The risk factor, stress engagement, and coping experiences of African American youth are not well understood. Given the stressors of racism, hopeless perceptions of urban youth, and violence experience and exposure, anger experience and expression are reasonable resilient and risky reactions to this atmosphere of hostility. This study analyzed the impact upon the anger management of adolescents when calamity fears, neighborhood social capital, and kinship social support are known. The findings suggest that when the calamity fears of youth are high, their anger experience and expression is minimized. This finding was prominent for adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods. Kinship social support showed a positive relationship to anger suppression for youth in high-risk environments. Implications for understanding the phenomenological stress and coping experiences of African American youth are discussed.
Abnormal activation of face processing systems at early and intermediate latency in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a magnetoencephalographic study

The neurological basis of developmental psychopathology in autism is a matter of intense debate. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to study the neuronal responses associated with the processing of faces in 12 able adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), performing image categorization and image identification tasks. The neuromagnetic data were analysed using nonparametric time‐series analysis and equivalent current dipole estimation. Comparison data were obtained from 22 normally developing adults. In individuals with ASD, the neural responses to images of faces, observed in right extrastriate cortices at ≈ 145 ms after stimulus onset, were significantly weaker, less lateralized and less affected by stimulus repetition than in control subjects. Early latency (30–60 ms) responses to face images, over right anterior temporal regions, differed significantly between the two subject groups in the image identification task. No such difference was observed for images of mugs or meaningless geometrical patterns. These findings suggest that, during the course of development in individuals with ASD, the cortical activity associated with the processing of human faces assumes a different‐from‐normal localization in extrastriate brain regions. This abnormal localization may be associated with unusual, but nevertheless face‐specific, fast processing pathways.
Grass carp somatolactin : I . Evidence for PACAP induction of somatolactin-and-gene expression via activation of pituitary PACI receptors

Jiang Q, Ko WK, Lerner EA, Chan KM, Wong AO. Grass carp somatolactin: I. Evidence for PACAP induction of somatolactinand gene expression via activation of pituitary PAC-I receptors. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 295: E463–E476, 2008. First published June 3, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.90385. 2008. —Somatolactin (SL), the latest member of the growth hormone/prolactin family, is a novel pituitary hormone with diverse functions. At present, SL can be identified only in fish but not in tetrapods and its regulation at the pituitary level has not been fully characterized. Using grass carp as a model, we examined the direct effects of pituitary adenylate cyclaseactivating polypeptide (PACAP) on SL secretion and synthesis at the pituitary cell level. As a first step, the structural identity of grass carp SL, SL and SL , was established by 5 /3 -rapid amplification of cDNA ends. These two SL isoforms are single-copy genes and are expressed in two separate populations of pituitary cells located in the pars intermedia. In the carp pituitary, PACAP nerve fibers were detected in the nerve tracts of the neurohypophysis and extended into the vicinity of pituitary cells forming the pars intermedia. In primary cultures of grass carp pituitary cells, PACAP was effective in stimulating SL release, cellular SL content, and total SL production. The increase in SL production also occurred with parallel rises in SL and SL mRNA levels. With the use of a combination of molecular and pharmacological approaches, PACAP-induced SL release and SL gene expression were shown to be mediated by pituitary PAC-I receptors. These findings, as a whole, suggest that PACAP may serve as a hypophysiotropic factor in fish stimulating SL secretion and synthesis at the pituitary level. Apparently, PACAP-induced SL production is mediated by upregulation of SL and SL gene expression through activation of PAC-I receptors.
Glutamate pharmacology and the treatment of schizophrenia: current status and future directions

Glutamate-containing neuronal terminals are ubiquitous in the central nervous system and their functional importance in mental activity is considerable. Therefore, the involvement of this neurotransmitter in the pathology of schizophrenia is being studied. Biochemical evidence has suggested that glutamatergic transmission may be regionally reduced in schizophrenia, although this evidence has never been completely consistent nor fully replicable. More striking has been the behavioral effects in humans of the antiglutamatergic drugs phencyclidine (PCP) and its congener ketamine. By historical report, PCP produces a 'schizophrenia-like' psychosis in normal humans and aggravates the psychosis in schizophrenics. More recently, ketamine has been shown to produce a mild psychotomimetic effect in normal volunteers, which has some schizophrenia-like features. We have studied the effects of ketamine in schizophrenic patients. Here, ketamine intensified each patient's specific underlying psychosis, an effect not blocked by haloperidol. Moreover, ketamine selectively increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the anterior cingulate cortex and reduced CBF in hippocampus and lingual gyrus. These data may be pertinent to the subject's psychosis exacerbation, especially because both cingulate and hippocampus have been previously implicated in schizophrenic psychosis. In addition, ketamine produced a distinctive dynamic time-course of regional CBF changes in different anatomic regions, with immediate (5-10 min) changes in cingulate, but somewhat more delayed changes (20-40 min) in the thalamus and cerebellum. Our immediate early gene (IEG) time-course data with c-fos and zi/268 in rats following PCP suggest that a single dose of this antiglutamatergic compound can have an effect in some brain areas which lasts beyond 48 h, an effect which is distinct by IEG and by region. Together, these data suggest that glutamate-mediated neurotransmission has a strong influence in schizophrenia, although the specifics of this involvement have yet to be articulated.
Inhibition of OATP-1B1 and OATP-1B3 by tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Abstract Background: The potential of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) interacting with other therapeutics through hepatic uptake transporter inhibition has not been fully delineated in drug-drug interactions (DDIs). This study was designed to estimate the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of five small-molecule TKIs (pazopanib, nilotinib, vandetanib, canertinib and erlotinib) interacting with organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs): OATP-1B1 and -1B3. Methods: The IC50 values of TKIs and rifampicin (positive control) were determined by concentration-dependent inhibition of TKIs on cellular accumulation of radiolabeled probe substrates [3H]estrone sulfate and [3H]cholecystokinin octapeptide. Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with humanized OATP-1B1 and OATP-1B3 transporter proteins, respectively, were utilized to carry out these studies. Results: Pazopanib and nilotinib show inhibitory activity on OATP-1B1 transporter protein. IC50 values for rifampicin, pazopanib and nilotinib were 10.46±1.15, 3.89±1.21 and 2.78±1.13 μM, respectively, for OATP-1B1 transporter. Vandetanib, canertinib and erlotinib did not exhibit any inhibitory potency toward OATP-1B1 transporter protein. Only vandetanib expressed inhibitory potential toward OATP-1B3 transporter protein out of the five selected TKIs. IC50 values for rifampicin and vandetanib for OATP-1B3 transporter inhibition were 3.67±1.20 and 18.13±1.21 μM, respectively. No significant inhibition in the presence of increasing concentrations of pazopanib, nilotinib, canertinib and erlotinib were observed for OATP-1B3 transporter. Conclusions: Because selected TKIs are inhibitors of OATP-1B1 and -1B3 expressed in hepatic tissue, these compounds can be regarded as molecular targets for transporter-mediated DDIs. These findings provide the basis for further preclinical and clinical studies investigating the transporter-based DDI potential of TKIs.
Adopted Koreans and the Development of Identity in the ‘Third Space’

Since 1953, 150,000 Korean children have been adopted to 15 main host countries in the West. They constitute the largest international adoptee group worldwide. An adopted Korean movement has existed on an international level since the 1990s and is today trying to formulate an identity and community of its own beyond Western adoption ideology and Korean nationalism. Tobias Hübinette outlines the history of international adoption from Korea, Western and Korean perspectives on international adoption and adopted Koreans, and the emergence of an adopted Korean identity transcending race, citizenship, culture, religion and language in what he terms as the ‘third space’.
Ground and Rove Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Staphylinidae) are Affected by Mulches and Weeds in Highbush Blueberries

ASTRACT Biological control of insects by predators may be indirectly influenced by management practices that change the invertebrate community in agroecosystems. In this study we examined effects that mulching and weeding have on predatory beetles (Carabidae and Staphylinidae) and their potential prey in a highbush blueberry field. We compared beetle communities in unweeded control plots to those that were weeded and / or received a single application of compost or pine needle mulch. Compost mulch and weeding significantly affected the carabid community while the staphylinid community responded to compost and pine needle mulches. Effects because of mulch tended to intensify in the year after mulch application for both families. Estimates of species richness and diversity for Carabidae and Staphylinidae were similar in all plot types, but rarefaction curves suggested higher Carabidae richness in unmulched plots despite fewer individuals captured. Carnivorous Carabidae, dominated by Pterostichus melanarius, were most frequently captured in compost plots both years, and omnivores were most frequently captured in unweeded compost. Density of millipedes, the most abundant potential prey, was generally greater in mulched plots, whereas seasonal abundance of small earthworms varied among mulch types. Our results have potential implications for biological control in mulched highbush blueberries depending on beetle consumption rates for key pests and how rates are affected by alternative prey.
Electrical Modeling and Characterization of Through Silicon via for Three-Dimensional ICs

Three-dimensional ICs provide a promising option to build high-performance compact SoCs by stacking one or more chips vertically. Through silicon vias (TSVs) form an integral component of the 3-D IC technology by enabling vertical interconnections in 3-D ICs. TSV resistance, inductance, and capacitance need to be modeled to determine their impact on the performance of a 3-D circuit. In this paper, the RLC parameters of the TSV are modeled as a function of physical parameters and material characteristics. Models are validated with the numerical simulators like Raphael and Sdevice and with experimental measurements. The TSV RLC model is applied to predict the resistance, inductance, and capacitances of small-geometry TSV architectures. Finally, this paper also proposes a simplified lumped TSV model that can be used to simulate 3-D circuits.
Toward integrated medical resource policies for Canada: 8. Geographic distribution of physicians.

T his the a series of articles'-7 based on the report Toward Integrated Medical Resource Policies for Canada,* prepared for the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health8-0 -and the fifth to address a specific policy area.4-7 It summarizes our analysis of the geographic maldistribution of physicians in Canada and possible policy responses. The consensus from our