Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lack of association between the MTHFR C677T variant and migraine with aura in an older population: Could selective survival play a role?

Background: Several studies, but not all, of primarily middle-aged or younger adults have suggested that the common MTHFR C677T variant is a genetic risk factor for migraine with aura (MA). Here, we consider whether this variant is associated with MA risk in an older non-clinical population (AGES-Reykjavik cohort). Methods: Participants are a sub-sample (n = 1976) of subjects from the Reykjavik Study (RS; mean age 50) and its continuation, AGES-RS (mean age 76). We estimated the relative odds of MA in TT versus CC carriers using multinomial logistic regression. As both MA and the TT genotype may be linked with modestly reduced longevity, we performed a simple simulation to illustrate the effect that selective survival may have had on our observed gene–disease association. Results: TT versus CC carriers were at marginally reduced odds of MA (ORTT 0.55 (0.3–1.0), p = 0.07), significantly for women (ORTT 0.45 (0.2–0.9), p = 0.03). Assuming the ‘true’ (e.g. mid-life) effect of the TT genotype is ORTT 1.26, from a recent meta-analysis, our simulation suggested that if 25-year mortality had been (hypothetically) 13% higher in MA subjects with the TT versus CC genotype, the measured effect of the TT genotype on MA would have been attenuated to non-significance (e.g. ORTT 1.00). Our observed protective effect was consistent with the most extreme selective mortality scenario, in which essentially all of the previously reported increased mortality in MA subjects was (hypothetically) found in CT or TT carriers. Conclusion: The MTHFR 677TT genotype was associated with marginally reduced risk of MA in our older population. Our simulation illustrated how even modest selective survival might obscure the apparent effect of a genetic or other risk factor in older populations. We speculate that some of the heterogeneity previously observed for this particular genetic variant may be due to age range differences in the studied populations.
Producing a Questionnaire for a User Survey on Anshin with Information Security for Users without Technical Knowledge

An shin is a Japanese term that indicates the sense of security. Traditional research on security has been based on the assumption that users would feel An shin when provided with objectively secure systems. In this research we investigate users' subjective sense of security, which we call An shin in Japanese. We have conducted user surveys on An shin with the users of information security technology using factor analysis. With factor analysis, a questionnaire needs to have a large enough set of question items to deduce factors. Previous questionnaires did not reflect feedback from users without technical knowledge on information security. Accordingly we produced a new questionnaire, to reflect feedback from the users without technical knowledge, using brainstorming and the KJ method. We conducted a Web survey with nine hundred thirty-seven subjects with the newly produced questionnaire and extract the factors of An shin. As the result of the factor analysis, we found three factors: "Cognitive Trust," "Familiarity" and "Reputation".
Residual Astigmatism Threshold and Patient Satisfaction with Bifocal, Trifocal and Extended Range of Vision Intraocular Lenses (IOLs)

Purpose: To compare the impact of induced astigmatism with four different types of multifocal intraocular lenses (MIOLs). Method: Prospective, comparative, interventional, mono-centered study, including 80 eyes of patients with implantation of four different MIOLs: AcrySof ReSTOR +2.5 D (20 eyes), AcrySof ReSTOR +3.0 D (20 eyes), AcrySof Panoptix (20 eyes) (Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA), and Tecnis Symfony ZRX00 (Abbott Medical Optics, Santa Ana, USA) (20 eyes). Patients were followed up for 3 months after surgery. Major parameters were uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuity, subjective refraction and patient satisfaction. Results: Differences between IOLs with regard to the impact of the cylinder sign and axis on visual acuity and patient satisfaction were not significant. With mild added negative cylinder, AcrySof ReSTOR +2.5 D and Tecnis Symfony IOLs maintained the baseline visual acuity, while it was mildly reduced with AcrySof ReSTOR +3.0 D and Panoptix IOLs. With moderate induced cylinder, the Tecnis Symfony IOL maintained good visual acuity and patient associated satisfaction. Panoptix IOL was the IOL most affected by the induced astigmatism with regard to dissatisfaction and visual acuity. The highest tolerance to the astigmatic distortion and blurriness induced with a -1.50 D cylinder was obtained with the Tecnis Symfony IOL. Tecnis Symfony IOL showed less dissatisfaction and less reduction of visual acuity than the other MIOLs. Conclusion: Simulated residual cylinders after the implantation of the Tecnis Symfony IOL up to 1.0 D have a very mild and not clinically relevant impact on visual acuity or patient satisfaction. The ERV IOL showed a better tolerance to unexpected postoperative residual errors than diffractive bifocal and trifocal IOLs.
Taxes, Incorporation, and Productivity

US businesses can be C-corporations or pass-throughs in the forms of S-corporations and partnerships. C-corporate form confers benefits from perpetual existence, limited liability, potential for public trading of shares, and ability to retain earnings. However, legal changes especially since the 1980s have improved the status of pass-throughs. The C-corporate form has typically been subject to a tax wedge, which has diminished since the 1960s. In our formal model, the tax wedge determines the fraction of firms opting for C-corporate form, the level of output (business productivity), and the C-corporate share of output. This framework underlies our empirical analysis, wherein long-difference regressions for 1978–2013 show that a higher tax wedge reduces the C-corporate share of net capital stock and gross assets. A calibrated model, fit to observed total factor productivity (TFP) and C-corporate share of economic activity, implies that, for 1958–2013, the declining tax wedge and gap between C-corporate and pass-through productivity contributed 0.37% per year out of a total TFP growth rate of 1.09% per year. From 1994 to 2004, the TFP growth rate was unusually high at 2.00% per year, and the estimated contribution from the falling productivity gap between C-corporate and pass-through status was particularly large at 0.77% per year. The last channel lines up with legal changes related especially to limited liability companies.
The Novel 10-Item Asthma Prediction Tool: External Validation in the German MAS Birth Cohort

Background A novel non-invasive asthma prediction tool from the Leicester Cohort, UK, forecasts asthma at age 8 years based on 10 predictors assessed in early childhood, including current respiratory symptoms, eczema, and parental history of asthma. Objective We aimed to externally validate the proposed asthma prediction method in a German birth cohort. Methods The MAS-90 study (Multicentre Allergy Study) recorded details on allergic diseases prospectively in about yearly follow-up assessments up to age 20 years in a cohort of 1,314 children born 1990. We replicated the scoring method from the Leicester cohort and assessed prediction, performance and discrimination. The primary outcome was defined as the combination of parent-reported wheeze and asthma drugs (both in last 12 months) at age 8. Sensitivity analyses assessed model performance for outcomes related to asthma up to age 20 years. Results For 140 children parents reported current wheeze or cough at age 3 years. Score distribution and frequencies of later asthma resembled the Leicester cohort: 9% vs. 16% (MAS-90 vs. Leicester) of children at low risk at 3 years had asthma at 8 years, at medium risk 45% vs. 48%. Performance of the asthma prediction tool in the MAS-90 cohort was similar (Brier score 0.22 vs. 0.23) and discrimination slightly better than in the original cohort (area under the curve, AUC 0.83 vs. 0.78). Prediction and discrimination were robust against changes of inclusion criteria, scoring and outcome definitions. The secondary outcome ‘physicians’ diagnosed asthma at 20 years' showed the highest discrimination (AUC 0.89). Conclusion The novel asthma prediction tool from the Leicester cohort, UK, performed well in another population, a German birth cohort, supporting its use and further development as a simple aid to predict asthma risk in clinical settings.
Smith, Turgot, and the “Four Stages” Theory

In the early years after the war, when I was a lecturer in the Department of Political Economy at Glasgow University, I became very interested in the work of the members of the so-called Scottish Historical School, which Roy Pascal had rescued from oblivion in his remarkable article of 1938.2 I was impressed in particular by John Millar, whose work was pervaded by a theory of history and society which seemed to me to be a kind of preview of the materialist conception of history upon which I had been brought up in my revolutionary youth. I was interested also, of course, in the work of the other members of the School — notably that of Adam Ferguson, William Robertson, and Adam Smith; but these three seemed to be rather shadowy, peripheral figures in the face of the gigantic presence of the great John Millar.
CCA2 secure biometric identity based encryption with constant-size ciphertext

We propose a new biometric identity based encryption scheme (Bio-IBE), in which user biometric information is used to generate the public key with a fuzzy extractor. This is the first Bio-IBE scheme that achieves constant size ciphertext. This is also a scheme that is secure against the adaptive chosen ciphertext attack (CCA2). Details are presented along with a discussion of Shamir’s threshold secret sharing and fuzzy extraction of biometrics, which is based on error correction codes. We also define a security model and prove that the security of the proposed scheme is reduced to the decisional bilinear Diffie-Hellman (DBDH) assumption. The comparison shows that the proposed scheme has better efficiency and stronger security compared with the available Bio-IBE schemes.
Observational, open-label, prospective multicenter study of sexual function in patients starting treatment with aripiprazole.

INTRODUCTION Treatment with neuroleptics may be associated with secondary sexual dysfunction. Studies of sexual dysfunction induced by antipsychotic are important to establish the effectiveness of these agents in patients taking chronic treatments. The main objective of this study was to evaluate prospectively whether a 3 month course ofaripiprazole produces changes in the sexual function of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS The efficacy analysis was performed in the intention-to-treat population (41 patients) and the per protocol population (36 patients). The safety analysis was based on the total sample (42 patients). RESULTS The incidence of sexual dysfunction after 3 months of treatment with aripiprazole was zero both in patients who switched therapy due to lack of efficacy and in those taking aripiprazole as a first antipsychotic. Aripiprazole led to an improvement in the symptoms of psychosis (score on the BPRS) and lower scores on the SALSEX questionnaire.The most remarkable improvement was in delayed eyaculation/orgasm. CONCLUSION During the 3 months of treatment, we observed an overall improvement in sexual performance, with a quicker recovery in men than in women, although recovery was similar in both at the end of treatment.
Determination of reference ranges for full blood count parameters in neonatal cord plasma in Hilla, Babil, Iraq

Background The health of an individual is known to vary in different countries, in the same country at different times, and in the same individuals at different ages. This means that the condition of individuals must be related to or compared with reference data. Determination of a reference range for the healthy term newborn is clinically important in terms of various complete blood count parameters. The purpose of this study was to establish a local reference range for full blood count parameters in neonatal cord plasma in Hilla, Babil, Iraq. Methods A total of 220 mothers and their neonates were enrolled in this cross-sectional study from February 2011 to January 2012. Maternal inclusion criteria were age 15–45 years, an uneventful pregnancy, and hemoglobin ≥ 10 g. Neonatal inclusion criteria were full term (37–42 weeks) and normal birth weight. The umbilical cord was immediately clamped after delivery of the baby; 3 mL of cord blood was then taken from the umbilical vein and collected in a tube containing ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid, its plasma was analyzed for full blood count parameters by standard Coulter gram, and the differential leukocyte count was done manually. Results Mean neonatal hemoglobin was 13.88 ± 1.34 (range 11–17.3) g/dL and mean white cell count was 10.12 ± 2.8 (range 3.1–21.6) × 109/L. Mean platelet count was 267.63 ± 60.62 (range 152–472) × 109/L. No significant differences in red cell, white cell, or platelet counts were found between males and females, except for neutrophil count. The current study shows lower levels of hemoglobin, white cells, and red cells compared with other studies, and there is agreement with some studies and disagreement with others concerning platelet count. Conclusion Most results in the current study were within the reference range. The hematological reference values for Iraqi neonatal cord plasma need to be confirmed by larger numbers of blood samples and by collecting samples from different areas in Iraq.
Market Growth, Economies of Scale, and Plant Size in the Chemical Processing Industries

What factors determine the size of new industrial plants? This study uses data on twenty-tw o chemical products to test alternative models of capacity expansion, including the Manne model and a "scale frontier" model. The empiri -cal results strongly support the scale frontier model: the size of n ew plants increased along a time trend that was unrelated to market c oncentration, market growth, or the magnitude of investment scale eco nomies. Entrants typically built smaller plants than incumbents, but all firms built plants closer to the technological frontier when smal l plants carried a higher relative cost penalty. Copyright 1987 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
The beta-lactamase threat in Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter.

Over the past 60 years, the use of successive generations of beta-lactam antibiotics has selected successive generations of beta-lactamase enzymes, each more potent than the last. Currently, rising problems include CTX-M extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamases and KPC carbapenemases in Enterobacteriaceae, while OXA- and metallo- carbapenemases are of growing importance in Acinetobacter spp. and (less so) in other non-fermenters. Escherichia coli isolates with CTX-M ESBLs are spreading multiresistance in the community and in hospitals, while carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter spp. , mostly from intensive care, are among the most multiresistant nosocomial bacteria known and are often susceptible only to polymyxins and, potentially, tigecycline. This review discusses the epidemiology and microbiology of these resistance problems, along with possible solutions.
Following in China's footsteps? The political economy of North Korean reform

Abstract Since the coming to power of Kim Jong Un in 2012, the North Korean government has recently announced, and to some degree has implemented, a new set of economic management policies known as the June 28th measures in 2012 and the May 30th measures in 2014. Both of these sets of measures seek to build upon the abandoned reforms of the early 2000s through restructuring North Korea's highly inefficient collective farm and state-owned enterprise management system. In addition, the government has intensified ongoing efforts at building special economic zones for the purpose of attracting foreign investment. As such, the country is attempting to emulate the reforms adopted by China in the late 1970s. Although the success of these efforts is by no means guaranteed, they do serve to question mainstream analyses that suggest that Juche Self-Reliance or Sŏn'gun Military First Politics ideologies will inhibit any genuine attempt at economic reform in North Korea. We argue, in contrast, that ongoing changes to North Korean state and society mean that, a cyclical stop and start rhythm to the reforms notwithstanding, such attempts at economic reform are likely to continue. However, we also argue that while the contemporary reform drive resembles and may indeed reproduce some of the successes of the Chinese experience, North Korea faces significantly greater challenges, including the greater decline of North Korean industry, local resistance to reform, and the dangers of inflation. Furthermore, North Korea faces a highly challenging external security environment that undermines the ability of the regime to attract investment and by extension the political standing of reformist elements within the country. Given this contrast with the international environment surrounding China's own reform experience, our analysis emphasises the importance of geopolitical context in shaping experiences of economic reform and of development more broadly.
Fecal calprotectin concentrations in adult dogs with chronic diarrhea.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate fecal calprotectin concentrations in healthy dogs and dogs with chronic diarrhea, to identify cutoff values for fecal calprotectin concentrations for use in differentiating dogs with chronic diarrhea and a canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI) < 12 from dogs with chronic diarrhea and a CCECAI ≥ 12, and to evaluate the association between histologic evidence of intestinal mucosal changes and fecal calprotectin concentrations in dogs with chronic diarrhea. SAMPLE Fecal samples from 96 adult dogs (27 dogs with chronic diarrhea and 69 healthy control dogs). PROCEDURES Severity of clinical signs was evaluated on the basis of the CCECAI scoring system. Endoscopy was performed in all dogs with chronic diarrhea, and mucosal biopsy specimens were evaluated histologically. Fecal calprotectin concentration was quantified via radioimmunoassay. RESULTS Fecal calprotectin concentrations were significantly higher in dogs with chronic diarrhea than in healthy control dogs. Fecal calprotectin concentrations were also significantly higher in dogs with a CCECAI ≥ 12, compared with concentrations for dogs with a CCECAI between 4 and 11. Fecal calprotectin concentrations were significantly higher in dogs with chronic diarrhea associated with histologic lesions, compared with concentrations in control dogs, and were significantly correlated with the severity of histologic intestinal lesions. Among dogs with chronic diarrhea, the best cutoff fecal calprotectin concentration for predicting a CCECAI ≥ 12 was 48.9 μg/g (sensitivity, 53.3%; specificity, 91.7%). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Fecal calprotectin may be a useful biomarker in dogs with chronic diarrhea, especially dogs with histologic lesions.
Global Equity Market Volatility Spillovers: A Broader Role for the United States

Rapach et al. (2013) have recently shown that U.S. equity market returns carry valuable information to improve return forecasts in global equity markets. In this study, we extend the work of Rapach et al. (2013) and examine if U.S. based equity market information can be used to improve realized volatility forecasts in a large cross-section of international equity markets. We use volatility data for the U.S. and 17 foreign equity markets from the Oxford Man Institute’s realized library and augment for each foreign equity market our benchmark HAR model with U.S. equity market volatility information. We show that U.S. equity market volatility information substantially improves out-of-sample forecasts of realized volatility in all 17 foreign equity markets that we consider. Forecast gains are not only highly significant, but produce out-of-sample R 2 values between 4.56% and 14.48%, with 12 of these being greater than 10%. The improvements in out-of-sample forecasts remain statistically significant for horizons up to 1 month ahead. A substantial part of the predictive gains are driven by forward looking volatility as captured by the VIX.
Periodic Heteroskedastic Regarfima Models for Daily Electricity Spot Prices

Although the main interest in the modelling of electricity prices is often on volatility aspects, we argue that stochastic heteroskedastic behaviour in prices can only be modelled correctly when the conditional mean of the time series is properly modelled. In this paper we consider different periodic extensions of regression models with autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average disturbances for the analysis of daily spot prices of electricity. We show that day-of-the-week periodicity and long memory are important determinants for the dynamic modelling of the conditional mean of electricity spot prices. Once an effective description of the conditional mean of spot prices is empirically identified, focus can be directed towards volatility features of the time series. For the older electricity market of Nord Pool in Norway, it is found that a long memory model with periodic coefficients is required to model daily spot prices effectively. Further, strong evidence of conditional heteroskedasticity is found in the mean corrected Nord Pool series. For daily prices at three emerging electricity markets that we consider (APX in The Netherlands, EEX in Germany and Powernext in France) periodicity in the autoregressive coefficients is also established, but evidence of long memory is not found and existence of dynamic behaviour in the variance of the spot prices is less pronounced. The novel findings in this paper can have important consequences for the modelling and forecasting of mean and variance functions of spot prices for electricity and associated contingent assets.
Current Account Adjustment in Developing Countries: The Role of Exchange Rate Regimes

This article employs hazard models to investigate the role of exchange rate regimes in the timing of current account adjustment in developing countries. We identify high current account deficit spells and find that fixed exchange rate regimes increase the duration of high deficit spells and thus delay current account adjustment. The result is robust to a variety of model specifications and alternative classifications of exchange rate regimes. When distinguishing between hard pegs and soft pegs, we notice that the delay in the current account adjustment is primarily driven by hard pegs rather than soft pegs.
Orientation Training and Job Satisfaction: A Sector and Gender Analysis

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we investigate how various types of job training impact upon employees’ job satisfaction and its domains. We find that orientation training exerts a significant positive effect on newcomer male employees’ job satisfaction in both the private and public sectors, but it increases the job satisfaction of newcomer female employees only in the public sector. Other types of job training have only a weak effect on job satisfaction. We attribute the predominance of orientation training as a strong predictor of job satisfaction to its important function of facilitating the workplace socialization of new employees by reducing the uncertainty about aspects of the job that are not always easily contractible.