Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Potential for Further Foreign Demand for U.S. Assets: Has Financing U.S. Current Account Deficits Made Foreign Investors Overweight in U.S. Securities?

Since 2001, foreign investors have acquired roughly $5 trillion in U.S. securities--more than doubling their holdings of U.S. equities and bonds--as both official and private inflows have financed record U.S. current account deficits. Although the rapid growth of foreign holdings of U.S. securities raises concerns that foreign investors may have become too heavily weighted in U.S. assets, foreign investors have not in fact materially changed the relative allocations between U.S. and other foreign securities in their portfolios in recent years. Based on data from the most recent comprehensive surveys of foreign portfolio investment, the 2006 IMF Coordinated Portfolio Investment Surveys (CPIS), most foreign investors remain relatively more underweight in both U.S. equities and bonds than they do in foreign securities in general. Although the underweight position suggests that there remains potential for foreign investors to continue to acquire U.S. securities, econometric evidence indicates that the underweight position itself reflects a preference by foreign investors for securities of countries with which they have strong economic or cultural ties, consistent with recent research that suggests "location" or "information" preferences in both domestic and international portfolios. As securities markets abroad continue to deepen, such factors are likely to continue to attract investment from "nearby" markets, especially from European investors.
Analysis of a Novel Prophage-encoded Group A Streptococcus Extracellular Phospholipase A2*

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is an important human pathogen that causes many types of infections, including pharyngitis and severe invasive diseases. We recently sequenced the genome of a serotype M3 strain and identified a prophage-encoded secreted phospholipase A2 designated SlaA. To study SlaA structure-activity relationships, 20 site-specific mutants were constructed by alanine-replacement mutagenesis and purified to apparent homogeneity. Enzymatic activity was greatly reduced by alanine replacement of amino acid residues previously described as crucial in the catalytic mechanism of secreted phospholipase A2. Similarly, substitution of five residues in an inferred Ca2+-binding loop and three residues in the inferred active site region resulted in loss of activity of 76.5% or greater relative to the wild-type enzyme. Analysis of enzyme substrate specificity confirmed SlaA as a phospholipase A2, with activity against multiple phospholipid head groups and acyl chains located at the sn-2 position. PCR analysis of 1,189 GAS strains representing 48 M protein serotypes commonly causing human infections identified the slaA gene in 129 strains of nine serotypes (M1, M2, M3, M4, M6, M22, M28, M75, and st3757). Expression of SlaA by strains of these serotypes was confirmed by Western immunoblot. SlaA production increased rapidly and substantially on co-culture with Detroit 562 human pharyngeal epithelial cells. Together, these data provide new information about a novel extracellular enzyme that participates in GAS-human interactions.
Changes in tissue-oxidative stress markers in an experimental model of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy

Background. Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) is associated with prolonged warm ischemia, which could potentially increase oxidative stress in the graft. Because pneumoperitoneum (Pp) used to facilitate LDN impairs renal perfusion, it could augment the effects of warm ischemia. Our experimental, randomized, controlled study with blind outcome assessment is the first to address this possibility. Methods. Wistar-Albino rats were randomized to 4 groups. Controls were subjected to a sham operation; the remainder were subjected to Pp with or without warm ischemia of differing durations. The kidneys were removed at the end of each experiment. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl, and sulfhydryl groups and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase were measured in renal samples as markers of oxidative stress. Renal samples were also evaluated histopathologically using light microscopy. Results. Pp promoted oxidative stress in renal tissues, with an increase of MDA and protein carbonyls and a decrease in protein sulfhydryls and SOD activity. Warm ischemia exerted an additive effect on Pp-associated oxidative stress only when sustained for 10 minutes. These changes occurred in the absence of light-microscopic evidence of overt tissue damage. Conclusion. In an experimental model resembling LDN, Pp and 10 minutes of warm ischemia emerged as additive factors with respect to causing increased oxidative stress in the kidney. Because these effects imply subtle injury not only in the harvested kidneys of live donors but also in the kidneys the donors retain, avoiding Pp and warm ischemia above 5 minutes during LDN appears advisable.
Comprehensive Laboratory Measurements of Biomass-Burning Emissions: 1. Emissions from Indonesian, African, and Other Fuels

Trace gas and particle emissions were measured from 47 laboratory fires burning 16 regionally to globally significant fuel types. Instrumentation included the following: open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry; filter sampling with subsequent analysis of particles with diameter <2.5 μm for organic and elemental carbon and other elements; and canister sampling with subsequent analysis by gas chromatography (GC)/flame ionization detector, GC/electron capture detector, and GC/mass spectrometry. The emissions of 26 compounds are reported by fuel type. The results include the first detailed measurements of the emissions from Indonesian fuels. Carbon dioxide, CO, CH 4 , NH 3 , HCN, methanol, and acetic acid were the seven most abundant emissions (in order) from burning Indonesian peat. Acetol (hydroxyacetone) was a major, previously unobserved emission from burning rice straw (21-34 g/kg). The emission factors for our simulated African fires are consistent with field data for African fires for compounds measured in both the laboratory and the field. However, the higher concentrations and more extensive instrumentation in this work allowed quantification of at least 10 species not previously quantified for African field fires (in order of abundance): acetaldehyde, phenol, acetol, glycolaldehyde, methylvinylether, furan, acetone, acetonitrile, propenenitrile, and propanenitrile. Most of these new compounds are oxygenated organic compounds, which further reinforces the importance of these reactive compounds as initial emissions from global biomass burning. A few high-combustion-efficiency fires emitted very high levels of elemental (black) carbon, suggesting that biomass burning may produce more elemental carbon than previously estimated.
Gray Matter Structure and Morphosyntax Within a Spoken Narrative in Typically Developing Children and Children With High Functioning Autism

This study examined the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)–based measures of gray matter structure and morphosyntax production in a spoken narrative in 17 typical children (TD) and 11 children with high functioning autism (HFA) between 6 and 13 years of age. In the TD group, cortical structure was related to narrative performance in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area), the right middle frontal sulcus, and the right inferior temporal sulcus. No associations were found in children with HFA. These findings suggest a systematic coupling between brain structure and spontaneous language in TD children and a disruption of these relationships in children with HFA.
A 1-year follow-up of an experimental study of a self-management arthritis programme with an added exercise component of clients with osteoarthritis of the knee

The aim was to assess the self-efficacy and health outcomes of an adopted Arthritis Self-Management Programme (ASMP) among osteoarthritic knee sufferers in Hong Kong at 1 year. An experimental study with 95 participants assigned randomly to the intervention (n=45) or control group (n=50). Seventy-seven (81.1%) participants joined at least one out of three follow-ups in the 12 month period. Participants in the intervention group received a 6-week ASMP with an added exercise component in two general clinics. Outcome measures included arthritis self-efficacy (ASE) and health outcomes including pain and fatigue rating, self-rated health, daily activities limitation and number of unplanned arthritis-related medical consultations. Mean change (12 months minus baseline) and the effect size of the outcome measures were calculated by Mann–Whitney U test and nQuery Advisor 4.0. At 12 months, there were significant reductions of current pain (p=0.0001), pain at night (p=0.001), pain during walking (p=0.01) and number of unplanned arthritis-related medical consultations (p=0.03) and a significant increase in ASE for pain (p=0.01) and other symptoms (p=0.02) and self-rated health (p=0.04) among the intervention group but not for the control group. However, there were similarities in outcome measures of pain while switching from a sitting to a standing position, fatigue rating and physical functional limitation (p=0.15; p=0.22 and p=0.91, respectively) for both groups. Our findings add to the evidence that the modified arthritis empowering programme improved perception of control of osteoarthritis and three health outcomes after 12 months of treatment.
Lipid peroxidation in open‐angle glaucoma

Abstract. UV‐spectrophotometry and fluorescent analysis were used to study lipid extracts from lenses, aqueous humour and blocks containing trabecular and Schlemm's canal tissues, obtained from 49 eyes of patients with primary open‐angle glaucoma (POAG). Accumulation of the primary, secondary, and end products of lipid peroxidation (LPO) (diene and triene conjugates, Schiff's bases) was noted in the studied extracts. Significant differences in the levels of all the mentioned LPO products in comparison with the control were observed. The data may be considered as an evidence of LPO participation in destruction of the trabecule and Schlemm's canal in POAG.
Have You Met The 1 ? A Machine ’ s Approach to Human Relationships

We have all pondered about the same thing in a relationship: is he/she the right one for me? Countless articles, quizzes, suggestions, tips, and consultants out there are trying to answer this question for us. They bring out big words to make it logical; they tell us to mind the differences, but also note that some differences matter and some do not; they place their own arbitrary weights on terms such as ambition, core values, intelligence, emotional intelligence, spiritual beliefs, etc. It makes us wonder: if we are already talking about logic in romance, why don’t we take a step further? What if, instead of reading these sources and still remaining puzzled about the relationship, we can tell you with a high confidence level exactly how likely you are going to be with your significant other for the rest of your life with the help of a machine learning algorithm? Thanks to How Couples Meet and Stay Together dataset (HCMST) by Rosenfeld, Michael J., Reuben J. Thomas, and Maja Falcon, it is now possible, based on your everyday habit, your usage of Internet, your marriage status, and other miscellaneous information about your life, to predict if you will stay with him/her for at least the next few years.
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in a Patient with Optic Atrophy After Non-arteritic Anterior Ischaemic Optic Neuropathy

ABSTRACT A 75-year-old female noticed a lower visual field (VF) defect in the right eye. A diagnosis of non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) was made. The lower VF defect in the right eye did not change after onset. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiograms on the disc and the macula showed decreased retinal perfusion in the upper retina of the right eye. Retinal nerve fibre layer loss and ganglion cell complex loss in the upper retina were also seen in the right eye. OCT angiography could non-invasively detect the decrease of the retinal perfusion due to NAION.
Using targeted magnetic arsenic trioxide nanoparticles for osteosarcoma treatment.

The present study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of the magnetic arsenic trioxide (ATO) nanoparticles against osteosarcoma in vivo tumor models. ATO was incorporated in the magnetic nanoparticles and encapsulated by poly lactic acid. Human MG-63 osteosarcoma cells were injected subcutaneously into the nude mice. After 15 days, the mice were randomly assigned to the four groups (n=6 mice): group 1: control, saline only (10 mL kg(-1) day(-1), intravenously (i.v.)); group 2: ATO alone (5 mg kg(-1) day(-1), i.v. ); group 3: magnetic ATO nanoparticles at a dose equivalent to 50% of the ATO alone, with an external magnetic field on the tumor; group 4: CDDP, cisplatin (5 mg kg(-1) day(-1), i.v. ). The mice were sacrificed after 21 days. In vitro release profiles showed that ATO was released rapidly from the nanoparticles. The magnetic ATO evaluation indicated that the magnetic nanoparticles might localize under the magnet in vivo. The tumor volume examination showed that the treatment with magnetic ATO nanoparticles achieved the similar inhibition effect on osteosarcoma as that of CDDP or ATO alone. Electron microscopic features typical of apoptosis were identified in the tumor tissue with the three-drug treatment. This "magnetic ATO targeting" offers an opportunity to treat osteosarcoma with a lower dose.
Potentiation of duration of the vasodilator effect of bradykinin by sympatholytic drugs and by reserpine.

The vasodilator effects of bradykinin were studied in relation to previous injections of common hypotensive drugs: a) a sympatholytic (Dibenzyline); b) a gangliolytic (hexamethonium); and c) centrally acting drugs (Apresoline, chiorpromazine and reserpine). Drugs of groups a and c strongly delayed recovery from hypotension provoked by a standard small dose (25 to 30 units) of bradykinin injected intravenously in cats. Hexamethonium had no potentiating effect. Cocaine had the opposite effect of shortening the time of recovery after the injection of 60 units of bradykinin. Although most of the potentiation observed might be explained on the basis that the return of the blood pressure to normal level was impaired by the blockade of the peripheral sympathetic receptors at the walls of the blood vessels, or by depletion of the stores of catecholamines in their peripheral stocks, some central component might explain part of the potentiation by reserpine or Apresoline, since bradykinin injected into the carotid artery (through the lingual artery branch) or directly into the cerebral lateral ventricle had a prolonged hypotensive effect. Many of the effects produced by reserpine have also been observed by the cerebral injection of bradykinin.
Supervising System Stress in Multiple Markets

This paper develops an extended financial stress measure that considers the supervisory objective of identifying risks to the stability of the financial system. The measure provides a continuous and bounded signal of financial stress using daily public market data. Broad coverage of material financial system markets over time is achieved by leveraging dynamic credit weights. We consider how this measure can be used to monitor, analyze, and alert financial system stress.
Fever of unknown origin in adults: Evaluation of 144 cases in a non-university hospital

The spectrum of diseases found in series of fever of unknown origin shows variation in relation to selection bias; particularly, selection of the most difficult cases in tertiary reference university centres. We present a series of 144 patients presenting to a non-university hospital between 1999 and 2005 (secondary level of the health care system) with a community-acquired fever of unknown origin. In 37 cases (25.7%), the reason for fever could not be explained. Among the 107 patients with a final diagnosis (74.3%), non-infectious inflammatory disorders represented the most prevalent category (35.5%), surpassing infections (30.8%), miscellaneous causes (20.6%) and malignancies (13.5%). 13 entities accounted for over 68% of diagnoses (sinusitis and occult dental infections, Q fever, Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus infections, lymphoma, colo-rectal adenocarcinoma, adult-onset Still disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, giant cell arteritis and/or polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatoid arthritis, polyarteritis nodosa, factitious fever and habitual hyperthermia). As demonstrated in other studies, non-infectious inflammatory diseases emerge as the most prevalent diagnostic category. Giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica were particularly frequent in the elderly. Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus infections and habitual hyperthermia were particularly frequent in the youngest patients. There were no major differences in repartition of diagnostic categories between this series and historical university series.
Binary Opinion Dynamics with Biased Agents and Agents with Different Degrees of Stubbornness

In this paper, we investigate the impact of random interactions between agents in a social network on the diffusion of opinions in the network. Opinion of each agent is assumed to be a binary variable and each agent is assumed to be able to interact with any other agent in the network. This models scenarios where every agent in the network has to choose from two available options and the size of the neighborhood of each agent is an increasing function of the total number agents in the network. It is assumed that each agent updates its opinion at random instants upon interacting with other randomly sampled agents. We consider two simple rules of interaction: (1) the voter rule in which the updating agent simply copies the opinion of another randomly sampled agent, (2) the majority rule, in which the updating agent samples multiple agents and adopts the majority opinion among the sampled agents and the agent itself. Under each rule, we consider two different scenarios which have not been considered in the literature thus far: (1) where the agents are 'biased' towards one of the opinions, (2) where different agents have different degrees of stubbornness. We show that the presence of biased agents reduces the consensus time for the voter rule exponentially as compared to the case where the agents are unbiased. For the majority rule model with biased agents, we show that the network reaches consensus on a particular opinion with high probability only when the initial fraction of agents having that opinion is above a certain threshold. For the majority rule model with stubborn agents, we observe metastability where the network switches back and forth between stable states spending long intervals in each state.
Genetic parameter estimates for serum insulin-like growth factor-I concentration and carcass traits in Angus beef cattle.

Divergent selection for serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentration began at the Eastern Ohio Resource Development Center (EORDC) in 1989 using 100 spring-calving (50 high line and 50 low line) and 100 fall-calving (50 high line and 50 low line) purebred Angus cows. Following weaning, bull and heifer calves were fed in drylot for a 140-d postweaning period. At the conclusion of the postweaning test, bulls not selected for breeding were slaughtered and carcass data were collected at a commercial abbatoir. At the time of this analysis, IGF-I measurements were available for 1,283 bull and heifer calves, and carcass data were available for 452 bulls. A set of multiple-trait, derivative-free, restricted maximum likelihood (MTDFREML) computer programs were used for data analysis. Estimates of direct heritability for IGF-I concentration at d 28, 42, and 56 of the postweaning period, and for mean IGF-I concentration were . 32, . 59, . 31, and . 42, respectively. Direct heritabilities for carcass traits ranged from . 27 to 1.0, . 26 to 1.0, and . 23 to 1.0 when the age-, fat-, and weight-constant end points, respectively, were used, with marbling score having the smallest heritability and longissimus muscle area having the highest heritability in each case. Maternal heritability and the proportion of phenotypic variance due to permanent environmental effect of dam generally were < or = . 21 for IGF-I concentrations and for carcass traits other than longissimus muscle area. Additive genetic correlations of IGF-I concentrations with backfat thickness, longissimus muscle area, hot carcass weight, marbling score, quality grade, and yield grade averaged -. 26, . 19, -. 04, -. 53, -. 45, and -. 27, respectively, when carcass data were adjusted to an age-constant end point. Bulls with lower IGF-I concentrations had higher marbling scores and quality grades, but also had higher backfat thickness and yield grades regardless of the slaughter end point. Serum IGF-I concentration may be a useful selection criterion when efforts are directed toward improvement of marbling scores and quality grades of beef cattle.
Impact of an e-Learning Course on Clinical Practice in Psychiatric Hospitals: Nurse Managers' Views.

BACKGROUND e-Learning is one way to provide continuing education and has been shown to be an effective method. However, little is known about how psychiatric organizations benefit from continuing education. PURPOSE The aim of this study was to use Kirkpatrick's four-level model to evaluate an e-learning continuing education course from the perspectives of nursing managers in psychiatric hospital organizations. DESIGN AND METHODS This qualitative design evaluated one e-learning course using Kirkpatrick's model as an evaluation frame. FINDINGS Nursing managers noticed positive, neutral, and negative reactions after the course. Nursing managers also reported that the nurses' learning evolved.
The link between the peel force of adhesive dressings and subjective discomfort in volunteer subjects.

OBJECTIVE The study compared the level of discomfort experienced by healthy volunteers on the removal of a range of adhesive wounds. METHOD This was an open, within subject comparative study of six adhesive dressings in 24 volunteers. The test site was the lower back. Allocation of test materials to the test sites was randomised. The peel force of removal was recorded after 24 hours of application using a device that removed the dressing at a constant speed and angle to the skin surface. The discomfort experienced at each removal was assessed by the subjects themselves using an electronic visual analogue scale. RESULTS Overall, Mepilex Border was given a significantly lower discomfort score (p < or = 0.01) by the subjects than the other dressings. There were no clear differences between the five other products tested. Tielle and Allevyn Adhesive had significantly higher (p < or = 0.05) peel force than the other products. Mepilex Border caused less discomfort on removal than Duoderm Extra Thin, Biatain and Versiva, even though the peel force was similar. Tielle and Allevyn had higher peel force, but the levels of discomfort were not significantly higher for these products. CONCLUSION It may be that the level of discomfort experienced by subjects on removal of an adhesive dressing is not entirely dependent on the peel force and that other aspects of the interaction of the skin surface and adhesive play a role.