Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of renal artery stenosis in 1,656 patients who have undergone cardiac catheterization.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of renal artery stenosis (RAS) in patients who have undergone cineangiocoronariography. METHODS Prospective study of cineangiocoronariography and aortography examinations conducted between January 2002 and February 2004 on 1,656 hypertensive and normotensive patients who underwent the examinations to confirm the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease or valve disease. RESULTS The average age of the 1,656 patients was 61.6 +/- 11.8 years. Eight hundred and ninety-one (53.8%) were male, 169 (10.2%) were diabetic and 1,054 (63.8%) presented obstructive coronary artery disease. Renal stenosis greater than 50% was observed in 228 (13.8%) patients, and 25 (1.5%) had bilateral stenosis. Obstructive coronary artery disease was defined as stenosis greater than or equal to 50% of the vessel lumen, in one, two or three main arteries, classified as single, double or triple vessels, respectively. Quantification was conducted using visual analysis of the angiography. Comparison of the groups with and without renal artery obstruction > or = 50%, revealed significant statistical differences in relation to gender, age, diabetes mellitus, blood pressure and left ventricular function. However, no statistical difference was noted in relation to the occurrence of coronary artery obstructions > or = 50%. Nevertheless, renal artery obstructions > or = 70%, revealed significant differences in relation to blood pressure, coronary artery obstructions > or = 50% and left ventricular function, which were all higher in the renal artery obstruction group. CONCLUSION The prevalence of RAS found in our study was comparable to that reported by major medical literature case studies. RAS is associated with systemic hypertension (SH), end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and its sequelae, emphasizing how important it is that we are aware of possible candidates for angiographic diagnosis of this disease.
A Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prime-Boost Immunization Regimen in Humans Induces Antibodies That Show Interclade Cross-Reactivity and Neutralize Several X4-, R5-, and Dualtropic Clade B and C Primary Isolates

ABSTRACT A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine that will be useful in diverse geographic regions will need to induce a broad immune response characterized by cross-clade immunity. To test whether a clade B-based HIV candidate vaccine could induce interclade humoral responses, including neutralizing activity against primary HIV-1 isolates, sera were tested from recipients of a vaccine consisting of recombinant canarypox virus vCP205 and recombinant gp120SF2. Serum antibodies exhibited strong immunochemical cross-reactivity with V3 peptides from clades B, C, and F, with weaker activity for several V3 peptides from clades A, D, G, and H; essentially no reactivity could be demonstrated with V3 peptides from clades E and O. Extensive cross-clade reactivity was also documented by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with all nine recombinant HIV envelope glycoproteins tested from clades B, D, and E. In addition, vaccinees' sera displayed significant neutralizing activity against 5 of 14 primary isolates tested, including one X4 virus and two dualtropic viruses (from clade B) and two R5 viruses (from clades B and C). This is the first demonstration of the induction by a candidate HIV vaccine constructed from clade B laboratory strains of HIV of neutralizing activity against R5 and clade C primary isolates. The data suggest that, by virtue of their ability to induce cross-clade immune responses, appropriately formulated HIV vaccines based on a finite number of HIV isolates may ultimately be able to protect against the wide range of HIV isolates affecting the populations of many geographic regions.
An Alternative Method to Construct Levered Indexes

Investment products that seek to provide leveraged and inverse exposure to the equity markets have enjoyed great success in attracting assets. The largest and most popular exchange traded funds (ETFs) that provide these exposures rebalance their positions each day in an attempt to provide a precise multiple of the market return for the subsequent day. However, the daily rebalancing process can be detrimental to returns over holding periods longer than one day. For investors looking for leveraged or inverse exposure for holding periods greater than one day, a less frequent rebalancing cycle may be more appropriate. Further, moving away from a straight market-capitalization-based weighting methodology may offer opportunities to enhance the return profile thereby enabling an investor to better achieve her long-run investment objectives.
Diet and risk of rheumatoid arthritis in a prospective cohort.

OBJECTIVE To assess the association between dietary factors and risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a large prospective cohort. METHODS Information about dietary intake was obtained from a detailed self-administered food frequency questionnaire completed by 57,053 individuals who participated in a prospective cohort. Linking the cohort to the Danish National Patient Registry we identified patients who developed RA. A rheumatologist scrutinized original medical records for these individuals in order to confirm the diagnosis of RA. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed for dietary and lifestyle factors. RESULTS The average time of followup in the cohort was 5.3 years (range < 1 mo to 7.7 yrs). Sixty-nine individuals were identified with confirmed incident RA. In multivariate models each increase in intake of 30 g fat fish (> or = 8 g fat/100 g fish) per day was associated with 49% reduction in the risk of RA (p = 0.06), whereas medium fat fish (3-7 g fat/100 g fish) was associated with significantly increased risk of RA. Intake of fruit and coffee was not associated with risk of RA. Furthermore, no associations were found between risk of RA and intake of a range of other dietary factors including long chain fatty acids, olive oil, vitamins A, E, C, D, zinc, selenium, iron, and meat. CONCLUSION The limited number of patients who developed RA during followup of our large cohort prevented us from concluding that dietary factors are unimportant as risk factors for RA. It appears, however, that if dietary factors are important modifiers of RA risk, they must play a role more than a few years before clinical diagnosis.
Mergers and Deterrence

Abstract Changes in technology or policy create opportunities for industry restructuring and are frequently accompanied by both numerous mergers and potential entry. In the case of mergers, the combining firms have inside information regarding the strength of the surviving entity. In turn, such strength may be signaled to potential rivals or entrants by means of the acquisition price paid for the target firm. A pooling equilibrium is then possible in which even weak mergers are associated with a high acquisition price meant to deter post-merger rival aggression. The implications of such strategic behavior are consistent with much empirical evidence on mergers.
The 2014 European Parliament Elections in Southern Europe: Second-Order or Critical Elections?

The article provides a comparative analysis of the 2014 European Parliament elections across the six countries of Southern Europe by gauging the performance of the second-order election model. Both the aggregate hypotheses of this model and evidence of micro-level foundations are analysed. The findings reveal that the political and electoral consequences of the economic crisis have not drastically challenged the second-order character of these elections in Southern Europe. However, electoral behaviour also exhibits some indications of a more critical contest.
Effect of Age, Weight, and CYP2C19 Genotype on Escitalopram Exposure

The purpose of this study was to characterize escitalopram population pharmacokinetics (PK) in patients treated for major depression in a cross‐national, US‐Italian clinical trial. Data from the 2 sites participating in this trial, conducted at Pittsburgh (United States) and Pisa (Italy), were used. Patients received 5, 10, 15, or 20 mg of escitalopram daily for a minimum of 32 weeks. Nonlinear mixed effects modeling was used to model the PK characteristics of escitalopram. One‐ and 2‐compartment models with various random effect implementations were evaluated during model development. Objective function values and goodness‐of‐fit plots were used as model selection criteria. CYP2C19 genotype, age, weight, body mass index, sex, race, and clinical site were evaluated as possible covariates. In total, 320 plasma concentrations from 105 Pittsburgh patients and 153 plasma concentrations from 67 Pisa patients were available for the PK model development. A 1‐compartmental model with linear elimination and proportional error best described the data. Apparent clearance (CL/F) and volume of distribution (V/F) for escitalopram without including any covariates in the patient population were 23.5 L/h and 884 L, respectively. CYP2C19 genotype, weight, and age had a significant effect on CL/F, and patient body mass index affected estimated V/F. Patients from Pisa, Italy, had significantly lower clearances than patients from Pittsburgh that disappeared after controlling for patient CYP2C19 genotype, age, and weight. Postprocessed individual empirical Bayes estimates on clearance for the 172 patients show that patients without allele CYP2C19*2 or *3 (n = 82) cleared escitalopram 33.7% faster than patients with heterogeneous or homogeneous *2 or *3 (*17/*2, *17/*3, *1/*2, *1/*3, *2/*2, *2/*3, and *3/*3, n = 46). CL/F significantly decreased with increasing patient age. Patients younger than 30 years (n = 45) cleared escitalopram 20.7% and 42.7% faster than patients aged 30 to 50 years (n = 84) and older than 50 years of age (n = 43), respectively. CYP2C19 genotype, age, and weight strongly influenced the CL/F of escitalopram. These variables may affect patient tolerance of this antidepressant and may provide important information in the effort to tailor treatments to patients' individual needs.
Precarious Footing: Temporary Employment as a Stepping Stone out of Unemployment in Sweden

In the intense debate around questions related to labour market flexibility one of the contested issues has been the relationship between temporary work and unemployment. Temporary work has here been regarded either as a precursor to recurrent unemployment, or as an entry port to stable employment. Little is however known about actual mobility patterns, including whether or not temporary employment can act as a stepping stone out of unemployment. Using a sample of initially unemployed, this is here examined through an analysis of the relationship between temporary employment during a one-year observation period and employment and unemployment during a subsequent twelve-month long follow-up period. The results evince the great overall vulnerability of the unemployed, but also that the permanent and temporary jobs obtained by unemployed differ relatively little in the employment security they offer. This suggests that the type of employment contract is of minor importance for the long-term employment prospects of the unemployed. This holds for women as well as for men, contradicting some earlier conjectures about gender specific mobility patterns.
My place or yours? Perceptions of, and selection choice criteria for, higher education institutions: the case of UK and Malaysian students

There have been a number of studies aimed at assessing student's perceptions of higher education institutions (HEIs) from around the world and based on the results, informing university recruitment strategies and plans. However, no study has addressed a comparison of the UK and Malaysian student's perceptions of the quality of HEIs around the world, or the reasons for, and influencers on, the choice of them. This undergraduate study, based on a large sample of students in one typical HEI in the UK and Malaysia, addresses these issues and shows surprising similarities between both sets of students in terms of perceptions of institutional quality, reputation, reasons for choice of HEI and influencers of choice. Based on the results, recommendations are made on relevant marketing strategies not only to attract international students, but also to address important factors, such as 'location' (e.g. city or rural), 'reputation' (e.g. reputation of university staff), 'learning environment' (e.g. quality of course content, course information and learning materials) and 'career prospects' (e.g. reputation of university for employability after study).
Rationality of Migration

The paradigm of a rational individual acting on the earnings-enhancing benefits of migration is subjected to statistical scrutiny, using data from Turkey. Results with robust selectivity correction support the rationality hypothesis: Both migrants and nonmigrants chose the option in which they had comparative advantage. However, the estimated gain from moving is negative for a substantial portion of migrants, whereas a minority realize very high returns. This suggests that migration is a lottery: Individuals are willing to invest in a proposition that has a high probability of yielding negative returns because of the potential for a very large payoff. Copyright 2000 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Income, Residential Location, and Mode Choice☆

Abstract Commuters choose a mode, defined in terms of trip speed and time, to minimize the money and opportunity costs of travel. New results: the wage-rate elasticity of marginal commuting cost may be zero, negative, greater than one, or declining with the wage rate; a constant wage-rate elasticity is possible only if the marginal money cost of commuting is zero; a positive value of the marginal money cost of commuting implicitly assumes mode choice. The relationship between income and location seems due largely to technological change in intraurban transportation, differences in the money cost of commuting by alternative modes, and differences in real wages.
Health Information Availability and the Consumption of Eggs: Are Consumers Bayesians?

This study uses a generalized Bayesian updating model to estimate the impact of health information appearing in the popular media on the consumption of eggs. The framework permits us to explore the possible effects of several known psychological biases in learning. Generalized Bayesian learning allows media publications to have a decaying effect on behavior. Our primary finding is that health information has a significant impact on U.S. egg consumption. Furthermore, the reaction to health information is found to be temporary. Health information will, on average, decay to a point of unimportance in a matter of a few weeks without a constant and consistent stream of confirming information.
On the Relation Between the Benefits of Risk Pooling and the Variability of Demand

The benefits of pooling risks, manifested in inventory management by consolidating multiple random demands in one location, are well known. What is less well understood are the determinants of the magnitude of the savings. Recently there has been speculation about the impact of demand variabilities on the benefits of risk pooling. We provide an example where increased variability of the individual demands actually reduces the benefits of risk pooling. We prove, however, that if we restrict increased variability to a common linear transformation, the greater the demand variabilities the larger the benefits of consolidating them, in agreement with intuition. We also provide bounds on the benefits of the consolidation of demands. Our results do not require independence of the demands, apply to any number of pooled demands, and are obtained in a pure cost-driven model.
The representation of female athletes in textual and visual media

Whilst the participation of women in sport can be traced back at least as far as 1000BC, there is evidence to suggest that barriers to women’s participation in sport still exist. One possible barrier that can be investigated is the representation of female athletes in the media. This paper outlines the results of two studies designed to investigate the coverage of female participation in sport by newspapers and television companies in the UK. Both studies involved a media watch. The results of both studies indicated that the British media give preference in their coverage to male athletes, often ignoring female athletic achievements. Similar results have been found in earlier studies carried out in other countries (e.g. Australia and the USA).
Endogenous cycles and rent seeking 1

This paper is an attempt to reconsider one of the fundamental results of endogenous cycle theory, which was reached in the paper by Farmer and Guo (1994), by introducing more realistic assumptions about profit allocation in the economy. The hypothesis that profit enters the household’s budget through a separate channel is replaced by the hypothesis that economic profit turns into factor payments as a result of rent seeking. We believe that when economic profit occurs in the economy, a sector of agents which spend resources on capturing it appears, and this is the process referred to as rent seeking mechanism in our model. This assumption changes the agents’ inter-temporal optimization problem, such that conditions for endogenous cycles to occur change depending on the persistency of return to rent seeking. In this paper it is shown that even under large returns to scale in the production sector and a rather low depreciation rate of efforts in the rent seeking sector endogenous cycles do not occur.
Impacts of the World Recession and Economic Crisis on Tourism: North America

This article has been prepared as part of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism’s initiative to provide a better understanding of the impact that the economic crisis of 2008-2009 has had, is having, and will have on the well-being and performance of the global tourism industry. More specifically, it seeks to serve as an information “backgrounder” for the North American components of the study. As such, it provides a concise assessment of the current and evolving status of the tourism sector in each of the three countries in North America. Information on Canada was drawn from data provided by Statistics Canada, the country’s centralized government-funded statistical agency, as well as information bulletins issued by the Canadian Tourism Commission. Information on Mexico was drawn from a number of official reports prepared by several government agencies. Information on tourism in the United States was assembled primarily from available data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis from their U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account system. In summary, the present backgrounder reveals that tourism in Canada and the United States has been, and is being, affected by the current economic crisis, and it appears likely that it will be further affected in the near future. In contrast, tourism in Mexico has been affected more directly and to a much greater extent by the swine flu pandemic, exchange rates, and weather conditions than by the economic crisis itself.
Are nascent entrepreneurs ‘Jacks-of-all-trades’? A test of Lazear's theory of entrepreneurship with German data

In a recent paper Edward Lazear proposed the ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ view of entrepreneurship. Based on a coherent model of the choice between self-employment and paid employment he shows that having a background in a large number of different roles increases the probability of becoming an entrepreneur. The intuition behind this proposition is that entrepreneurs must have sufficient knowledge in a variety of areas to put together the many ingredients needed for survival and success in a business, while for paid employees it suffices and pays to be a specialist in the field demanded by the job taken. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by empirically testing Lazear's hypothesis using a large recent representative sample of the German population. The empirical estimation takes the rare events nature of becoming a nascent entrepreneur and the regional stratification of the sample into account. The results illustrate the statistical significance and economic importance of the ‘jack-of-all-trades’ theory.
Accreditation and the Globalization of Business

Julian and Ofori-Dankwa (2006) argue that on-line education and corporate universities are potentially disruptive threats to traditional U.S. business schools and suggest that accreditation processes may hinder their ability to adapt to these threats. I challenge those arguments by showing that it is unlikely that on-line education and corporate universities will disrupt the environment of traditional business schools. I also show that two longer term trends--the growth of for-profit universities and the globalization of business education coupled with the diffusion of accreditation--are likely to have an impact on business school enrollment markets both within and outside the United States. My conclusion is that accreditation can be beneficial to many business schools for two reasons. One reason is that accreditation processes require that business schools gain clarity about the markets they serve and the services they offer, which is increasingly important as enrollment markets grow more competitive. The other reason is that the value of accreditation as a quality differentiator appears to be rising in the markets for part-time working students and international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
An Assessment of Another Decade of Capital Controls in Colombia: 1998-2008

We explore the effectiveness of capital controls in Colombia. We analyze the impact of administrative restrictions to capital flows on aggregate capital flows, the composition of capital flows, the real exchange rate, and economic activity using restricted versions of vector error correction models (VEC) that control for exogenous global financial conditions. The models are estimated using monthly data ranging from August of 1998 to May of 2008. In addition we estimate GARCH models to identify if capital controls have had relevant impacts on the volatility of the nominal exchange rate and of other relevant asset prices. These models are estimated using weekly data covering the same time period. Results suggest that the capital controls used since 1998 have been ineffective in reducing capital flows and the trend of the Colombian peso to appreciate. In addition there is no evidence suggesting a change in the composition of capital flows induced by capital controls. We find some evidence in favor of capital controls reducing nominal exchange rate volatility at high frequencies.
Determinants of implied risk at depository institutions

Previous research has assessed factors that influence ex post measures of bank risk. While these ex post measures are useful, they do not reflect the market's perception of risk at a given point in time. Our objective is to determine factors that influence ex ante risk of depository institutions. We find that the amount of real estate owned and real estate loans are positively related to E x ante risk. Capital adequacy and non-interest income levels are inversely related to ex ante risk. Furthermore, the level of commitments (an off-balance sheet item) is positively related to the ex ante risk of banks.