Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Demobilization of Class Politics in Denmark: The Social Democratic Party’s Group-Based Appeals 1961–2004

Abstract In Denmark, as in other Western European countries, the working class does not vote for social democratic parties to the same extent as before. Yet, what role did the social democratic parties themselves play in the demobilization of class politics? Building on core ideas from public opinion literature, this article differs from the focus on party policy positions in previous work and, instead, focuses on the group-based appeals of the Social Democratic Party in Denmark. Based on a quantitative content analysis of party programs between 1961 and 2004, I find that, at the general level, class-related appeals have been replaced by appeals targeting non-economic groups. At the specific level, the class-related appeals that remain have increasingly been targeting businesses at the expense of traditional left-wing groups such as wage earners, tenants and pensioners. These findings support a widespread hypothesis that party strategy was crucial in the decline of class politics, but also suggests that future work on class mobilization should adopt a group-centered perspective.
The γ-secretase-cleaved C-terminal fragment of amyloid precursor protein mediates signaling to the nucleus

Sequential processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β- and γ-secretases generates the Aβ peptide, a major constituent of the senile plaques observed in Alzheimer's disease. The cleavage by γ-secretase also results in the cytoplasmic release of a 59- or 57-residue-long C-terminal fragment (Cγ). This processing resembles regulated intramembrane proteolysis of transmembrane proteins such as Notch, where the released cytoplasmic fragments enter the nucleus and modulate gene expression. Here, we examined whether the analogous Cγ fragments of APP also exert effects in the nucleus. We find that ectopically expressed Cγ is present both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. Interestingly, expression of Cγ59 causes disappearance of PAT1, a protein that interacts with the APP cytoplasmic domain, from the nucleus and induces its proteosomal degradation. Treatment of cells with lactacystin prevents PAT1 degradation and retains its nuclear localization. By contrast, Cγ57, a minor product of γ-cleavage, is only marginally effective in PAT1 degradation. Furthermore, Cγ59 but not Cγ57 potently represses retinoic acid-responsive gene expression. Thus, our studies provide the evidence that, as predicted by the regulated intramembrane proteolysis mechanism, Cγ seems to function in the nucleus.
To what extent does income predict an individual’s risk profile in the UK (2012- 2014)

This study seeks to estimate whether income is predictive of an individual’s risk profile. The consensus amongst the existing literature is that income is predictive of an individual’s risk profile and the two do have a relationship. This study uses a quantitative approach by estimating a series of statistical models that estimate the relationship between an individual’s income and their risk profile using a large UK based longitudinal dataset. The research finds that income is positively related to risk and that for every £1,000 increase in income, an individual’s odds of becoming risk seeking increase by 1%. Moreover, the research finds that not only is income predictive of an individual’s risk, but so too are;; gender, education level, age and self-employment.
Will Claims Workers Dislike a Computerized Fraud Detector?

The computerized fraud detector (CFRD) assigns suspicion scores to questionable automobile insurance claims. Evaluators pilot tested this algorithm in three offices, comparing its effects with three matched offices. Observers uncovered that in two target offices and one comparison office, Millennium 2000 (M2K) also was being installed. The study design thus became as follows: Two offices had two interventions, one office had CFRD but not M2K, another office had M2K but not CFRD, and two offices had neither. Hierarchical linear models document that offices with both new computer systems will have the most unfavorable employee attitudes toward computerized fraud detection, followed by offices with only one new system. Employees with jobs of higher rank and employees not receptive to innovation will dislike computerized fraud detection. Implementation of one computer system, CFRD or M2K, may have minor negative fixed effects on employee attitudes, but their effects on the between-office variance are inconsequential.
An Evaluation of Risk and Return Performance Measure Alternatives: Evidence from Real Estate Mutual Funds

This paper examines the appropriate measure of performance for real estate mutual funds. Several popular performance measures including Sharpe, Treynor and Sortino measures are evaluated. The results demonstrate that the Sharpe index outperforms the other two alternatives. In order to consider these various methods as consistent, a certain degree of agreement in rankings between the measurements should exist. The concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) is an index that assesses the strength of agreement between rankings and it has been widely applied in situations in which ranking measurements are made. This research aims to explore the consistency of the risk-adjusted performance between the Sharpe index, the Treynor index, and the Sortino ratio. Mutual funds within the Real Estate sector are analyzed using the CCC to determine if the various rankings of the three different risk/return measurements are significantly different. This analysis is an attempt to determine which measure of risk-adjusted returns may be a better indicator of overall performance based on ex-post data. The data considered extends for a ten-year period from 2007 to 2016 and results suggest that the Sharpe Ratio outperforms the Treynor index and the Sortino ratio in determining the risk-adjusted performance of real estate mutual funds
Stock Liquidity and Firm Value: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in India

The Indian securities market regulator intervened in June 2010 with a regulatory amendment in the listing requirement that mandated all the listed firms other than PSUs (government‐owned companies) to have a minimum public shareholding of 25%. The affected firms were given a 3‐year window to comply with the regulation. This study examines the impact of the new regulation on the affected firms’ value. We explore the relationship between improvement in firms’ value and stock liquidity. This regulatory intervention offers a natural experiment to examine direct causality between stock liquidity and firms’ value. The findings of the empirical analysis confirm the existence of a direct causal relationship between stock liquidity and firm value, stemming from an improved operating performance.
Nonsecretory intestinocystoplasty: a 10-year experience.

PURPOSE We present long-term results on the use of demucosalized intestine for reconstructive surgery of the bladder. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 129 bladder augmentations with demucosalized intestine were performed in 123 patients (55% males and 45% females) 3 months to 53 years old during the last 10 years. Of the patients 82 presented with neurogenic bladder, 40 with bladder exstrophy, 3 each with tuberculosis and posterior urethral valves, and 1 with female hypospadias. Sigmoid was used in 104 cases and ileum in 25. In 105 cases a silicone balloon was left inside the augmented bladder for 2 weeks. In the remaining cases bladder mucosa was preserved and no mold was used. A silicone inflatable bladder neck cuff was implanted at the same time as augmentation in 32 patients. RESULTS Followup ranged from 3 to 135 months (median 51.0). There was a 329% increase in bladder capacity and compliance increased 7-fold. There were 13 (10.1%) cases considered failures, which were treated with reaugmentation using demucosalized ileum (6), different forms of augmentation (5) and no reaugmentation (2). There was no mucus formation, bladder perforation or neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS Based on our study we conclude that demucosalized intestine is a safe alternative for bladder augmentation and can be used for the same indications as total bowel segments.
Denoising of diaphragmatic electromyogram signals for respiratory control and diagnostic purposes

Diaphragmatic electromyogram (EMGdi) signals give important information about the respiratory muscle pump, can be used as an indicator of neural respiratory drive, and have been postulated as a method of designing neurally-activated intelligent ventilators. However diaphragmatic EMG signals measured with an esophageal catheter tend to be contaminated by electrical signals from the heart - electrocardiogram (ECG). This paper presents a novel method of rapidly separating and enhancing the Electromyogram signals from the combined EMG and ECG signals recorded from an esophageal catheter based sensor. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is used to separate the EMG and ECG signals, then further processing is used to extract the frequency of the patient's breathing and the relative magnitudes of diaphragmatic muscle activity. These signals have two applications, firstly in artificial ventilator systems and as a diagnostic tool for health professionals.
Mild cognitive impairment is related to Alzheimer disease pathology and cerebral infarctions

Objectives: To examine the extent to which persons with mild cognitive impairment have intermediate levels of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology, cerebral infarcts, and Lewy body disease. Methods: A total of 180 Catholic clergy participating in the Religious Orders Study underwent annual detailed evaluation and brain autopsy. Blocks of midfrontal, superior temporal, medial temporal lobe, inferior parietal, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and substantia nigra were paraffin embedded, and sectioned at 6 μm. Cortical neuritic plaques, diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles were visualized with Bielschowsky silver stain, and counted and summarized to yield a Braak stage, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) diagnosis, National Institute on Aging (NIA)–Reagan diagnosis, and composite measure of AD pathology. The authors recorded the number and location of all gross chronic cerebral infarctions. Lewy bodies were identified with antibodies to alpha-synuclein. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation of AD pathology and cerebral infarctions to clinical diagnosis proximate to death, controlling for age, sex, and education. Results: A total of 37 had mild cognitive impairment, 60 did not have cognitive impairment, and 83 had dementia proximate to death. Nearly all persons had at least some AD pathology. Cerebral infarctions were present in 35.2%, and 15.6% had Lewy body disease. Persons with mild cognitive impairment were intermediate in terms of Braak stage and CERAD and NIA–Reagan neuropathologic criteria for AD compared to the other two groups. In multiple regression analyses, persons with mild cognitive impairment had intermediate levels of AD pathology from those without cognitive impairment and those with dementia (test for trend, F = 45.2, p < 0.001). Further, the relation between cognition and AD pathology in persons with mild cognitive impairment did not differ significantly from the relation between cognition and AD pathology in persons with dementia or those without cognitive impairment. Persons with mild cognitive impairment also had intermediate levels of cerebral infarctions (test for trend, p = 0.04). Only 3 (8.1%) persons with mild cognitive impairment had Lewy body disease. Conclusion: These data suggest that mild cognitive impairment may be the earliest clinical manifestation of common age-related neurologic diseases.
Serum Procalcitonin as a Biomarker for the Prediction of Bacterial Exacerbation and Mortality in Severe COPD Exacerbations Requiring Mechanical Ventilation

Background: Procalcitonin (PCT) is being used as a marker of bacterial infections. Although there are several studies showing the diagnostic yield of PCT to differentiate bacterial involvement in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations (COPDE), the prognostic yield of PCT in severe COPDE has been studied less. Objectives: The primary aim was to determine whether the level of serum PCT at admission in severe COPDE serves as a prognostic biomarker for hospital mortality. The secondary aim was to determine the role of PCT in identifying a bacterial exacerbation. Methods: A total of 63 COPDE patients (median age 71 years; male 58.7%) were retrospectively analyzed from our intensive care unit database. Results: The hospital mortality rate was 23.8%. Admission PCT levels were higher in patients who died during hospitalization (0.66 vs. 0.17 ng/ml; p = 0.014). This association between hospital mortality and serum PCT level remained significant in a multivariate analysis; for every 1 ng/ml increase in PCT level, hospital mortality increased 1.85 times (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval: 1.07-3.19; p = 0.026). The optimal admission PCT threshold was 0.25 ng/ml in order to discern patients who had bacterial exacerbation with a sensitivity of 63%, a specificity of 67%, and a negative predictive value of 80%. The negative predictive value increased to 89% when both the admission and follow-up PCT levels remained <0.25 ng/ml. Conclusion: This study shows that admission PCT levels have a prognostic importance in estimating hospital mortality among patients with severe COPDE. A PCT level <0.25 ng/ml at the time of admission and during follow-up is suggestive of the absence of a bacterial cause of COPDE.
The Potency of Culture-Expanded Nasal Septum Chondrocytes for Tissue Engineering of Cartilage

Tissue engineering techniques to create extra autologous cartilage for reconstructive surgery receive more and more scientific and industrial attention. The objective of this experimental study was to assess the use of in vitro multiplied chondrocytes of the nasal septum for generation of cartilage grafts using tissue engineering techniques. Cells isolated from a biopsy of septal cartilage of rabbits and humans were expanded in culture to get a sufficient number of cells to engineer a cartilage graft. The drawback of the expansion procedure is that the cells lose their cartilaginous phenotype (dedifferentiation). We studied a method to reverse the dedifferentiation of expanded cells to stimulate them to produce cartilage matrix of good qualm. Rabbit chondrocytes showed reversion of dedifferentiation (redifferentiation) when fetal calf serum was replaced by the growth factors IGF1 and TGFβ2. This was expressed by increased glycosaminoglycan synthesis and increased numbers of collagen type II-producing cells. The redifferentiation capacity of septal cartilage cells of young rabbits was higher than that of adult rabbits. In human chondrocytes from the nasal septum redifferentiation could also be induced by replacement of serum with IGF1 and TGFβ2. This method, however, was less efficient than in rabbits. Chondrocytes of older patients (>40 years old) were no longer sensitive to the growth factor treatment. In conclusion, our study demonstrates a method to regain cartilage phenotype in multiplied cells of nasal septum cartilage needed for tissue engineering of new cartilage. These results are promising for this technique to generate cartilage grafts for facial plastic surgery of the nasal septum.
Access and coverage: which farmers do plant clinics reach in Uganda?

ABSTRACT This article reports on a study that assessed farmers’ access to, and coverage of, five plant clinics operating from market places in two districts of Uganda. Despite the noticeable geographic and thematic coverage of the services, placing plant clinics at markets did not automatically ensure equitable access and high farmer attendance. Clinic users were predominantly middle-aged male farmers and overall attendance was relatively low. Uganda has taken plant clinics to scale in recent years due to their potential to strengthen the country’s responsiveness to pests and diseases. Optimising farmer reach and ensuring equity in access requires reviewing clinic placement, timing, and mobilisation strategies.
Fickle Capital Flows and Retrenchment: Evidence From Bilateral Banking Data

Abstract We empirically examine the response of cross-border capital flows to economic uncertainty. Using bilateral banking flow data, we show that while banks reduce their exposure to a foreign country when it becomes more risky, they tend to increase their exposure to their home country in bad times (a retrenchment). To further understand this puzzle, we examine how the differential response to foreign and domestic uncertainty is affected by country-specific characteristics, bilateral characteristics and crises. Our analysis suggests that most of the current theories, based on either information asymmetries between foreign and domestic investors or institutional risk, cannot explain bilateral data well. On the other hand, our results show that global crises have an asymmetric impact on the risk attitudes of banking institutions towards country-specific uncertainty: global crises make investors more risk-averse towards foreign uncertainty, but have no effect on the responsiveness to domestic uncertainty.
c‐myc, p53 and bcl‐2, apoptosis‐related genes in infiltrating breast carcinomas: Evidence of a link between bcl‐2 protein over‐expression and a lower risk of metastasis and death in operable patients

Apoptosis is an important physiological process controlled by multiple genes, including c‐myc, p53 and bcl‐2, and its inhibition may lead to the development of human cancers. In this study, we analyzed expression of the c‐myc gene using Northern blot and of the p53 and bcl‐2 proteins by immuno‐histochemistry in 175 breast tumor specimens obtained from patients with operable breast cancer. We evaluated the relation between expression of these 3 genes and (i) the main usual prognostic factors (tumor size, histo‐prognostic grade, hormone receptors and number of positive nodes); (ii) the risk of death and relapse, taking into account these 4 factors, after a mean period of follow‐up of 9.5 years (SD 2 years). Over‐expression of c‐myc, p53 and bcl‐2 was observed in 35%, 23% and 63% of tumors, respectively. Over‐expression of c‐myc was strongly linked to the number of positive nodes (p = 0.0005). p53 protein expression was associated with both high‐grade (p = 0.0001) and hormone receptor‐negative (p = 0.0001) tumors. In contrast, bcl‐2 protein over‐expression was associated with the main favorable prognostic factors and, more particularly, with hormone receptor‐positive tumors (p = 0.0001). Multivariate analysis, using the Cox model, showed that only 2 factors were independently linked to the risk of death: number of positive nodes, which increased the risk (p = 0.0001), and bcl‐2 protein over‐expression, which decreased the risk (p = 0.008). When bcl‐2 over‐expression was studied in relation to nodal status, hormone receptor status and chemo‐ and hormone therapy, no significant difference was observed between different subgroups of patients. bcl‐2 expression was also associated with a significantly lower risk of distant metastasis (p = 0.04). In conclusion, bcl‐2 expression characterizes a particular phenotype of breast cancer with a favorable prognosis, and it may therefore be used as a marker of long‐term survival. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 84:562–567, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Patient Interpretation of Neuropathy (PIN) Questionnaire

OBJECTIVE—Using the common-sense model of illness behavior, we developed and validated a self-report instrument for assessment of patients’ cognitive and emotional representations of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) influencing foot self-care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The Patient Interpretation of Neuropathy (PIN) questionnaire, generated from discussions with clinicians and interviews with patients with DPN, was administered to patients with DPN attending U.K. (n = 325) and U.S. (n = 170) diabetes centers. Psychometric tests of the PIN questionnaire comprised factor analysis, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Partial correlations and multivariate regressions established construct and criterion-related validity. The associations of PIN scales to past foot ulceration and foot self-care behaviors were compared with those using a generic measure of illness perception and emotion, the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), which was adapted to neuropathy. RESULTS—Factor analysis of the PIN questionnaire produced 11 scales, which explained 69% of item variance. Nine factors measured patients’ common-sense beliefs about DPN and their levels of understanding of DPN-related medical information. Two factors assessed the emotions of worry about potential consequences and anger at practitioners. Most scales demonstrated adequate internal (Cronbach’s α = 0.62–0.90) and test-retest reliability (Pearson’s r = 0.51–0.64). Partial correlations between the PIN and IPQ-R scales in corresponding domains were significant but modest (rp = 0.15–0.26). Finally, PIN scales showed significant associations with past foot ulceration and foot self-care behaviors, thereby confirming criterion validity. CONCLUSIONS—The 39-item PIN questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure of patients’ cognitive and emotional representations of neuropathy affecting foot self-care.
The students’ perceptions of the use of L1 in EFL classes: A Private Anatolian High School Sample

The current study aims to demonstrate a Private Anatolian High School students’ tendencies towards the issue of mother tongue (L1) use in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. The study was conducted in the 2016-2017 academic year. The data were collected through the questionnaire developed by Prodromou (2002). 96 Private Anatolian High School students participated in the study. The motive for investigating this subject lies within the fact that using translation or code switching has been a subject of debate throughout the language history. Although some studies assert the idea that the use of the mother tongue (L1) should be forbidden in classes due to the conflicts in students’ minds especially when they are thinking a word’s equal meaning in their L1, others claim that the use of learners’ mother tongue in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes can sometimes be helpful for the learning process Nowadays, researchers highlight that the importance of English-only attitudes has been declining. In the light of these views, a descriptive study was conducted to bring about the students’ perceptions of L1 use while learning English in EFL classes. Findings revealed that, in parallel with most studies on this issue, students seemed willing to use their mother tongue.