Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Importing, Exporting and Innovation in Developing Countries

Recent studies have shown that not only exporters but also importers perform better than firms that do not trade. Using a detailed firm level dataset from 43 developing countries, I show that there are persistent differences in evolution of firms when they are grouped according to their trade orientation as: two-way traders (both importing and exporting), only exporters, only importers, and non-traders. Extending the existing models of firm evolution in open economies by incorporating importing decision, I show that: i) globally engaged firms are larger, more productive, and grow faster than non-traders; ii) two-way traders are the fastest growing and most innovative group who are followed by only-exporters; iii) estimating export premium without controlling for import status is likely to overestimate the actual value by capturing the import premium; and iv) R&D investment contributes to growth of traders significantly more than to non-traders. Finally I show the robustness of the findings by providing evidence from the panel data constructed from the original dataset and controlling for variables that are likely to affect firm growth.
Simple bacterial preservation medium and its application to proficiency testing in water bacteriology

A medium composed of nutrient broth, 1.8% boric acid, and 1% sodium chloride at pH 7.0 was shown to maintain the stability of Escherichia coli cultures for up to 10 days at room temperature. By using this preservation medium for preparing a simulated sample a successful proficiency test survey in water bacteriology was conducted.
Personal finances : what is the possible impact on entrepreneurial activity in South Africa?

South Africa has the lowest level of entrepreneurial activity of all developing countries surveyed by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in 2005. A possible explanation could be the low levels of savings in South Africa, as personal capital is the main source of funding when starting a new business. The inverse relationship between debt and savings denotes that the more individuals spend on debt, the less they will save. Financial illiteracy has been found to contribute to the mismanagement of personal finances. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the percentage of disposable income spent on debt, and to examine certain behaviours that influence personal debt and savings, as well as the possible reasons that individuals are not saving. All the students enrolled at the University of the Free State School of Management during 2005 took part in the study. Financial literacy is a necessity for entrepreneurial advancement in South Africa, and the high levels of debt, and subsequent low levels of savings, could restrain the development of entrepreneurial activity in South Africa.
Representative Bureaucracy

The domination of policing by White males has long been considered a threat to the legitimacy of the profession, as police agencies have struggled with attracting, retaining, and promoting women and minorities within their agencies for decades. Female and minority representation are hardly stable across agencies with some agencies employing no women or people of color, while others are more representative of the communities they serve. Using a national sample of 1,478 police jurisdictions, this study further explores the correlates of diversity of women and racial minorities using a framework informed by representative bureaucracy theory. Findings suggest that the same factors are not predictive of representation of women and racial minorities.
European S3‐Guidelines on the systemic treatment of psoriasis vulgaris – Update 2015 – Short version – EDF in cooperation with EADV and IPC

European S3-Guidelines on the systemic treatment of psoriasis vulgaris – Update 2015 – Short version – EDF in cooperation with EADV and IPC A. Nast,* P. Gisondi, A.D. Ormerod, P. Saiag, C. Smith, P.I. Spuls, P. Arenberger, H. Bachelez, J. Barker, E. Dauden, E.M. de Jong, E. Feist, A. Jacobs, R. Jobling, L. Kem eny, M. Maccarone, U. Mrowietz, K.A. Papp, C. Paul, K. Reich, S. Rosumeck, T. Talme, H.B. Thio, P. van de Kerkhof, R.N. Werner, N. Yawalkar Division of Evidence Based Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Charit e – Universit€ atsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy Department of Dermatology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Ambroise Par e Universit e Paris V, Boulogne, France Clinical Lead for Dermatology, St Johns Institute of Dermatology, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK Department of Dermatology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Third Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic Department of Dermatology, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France St. Johns Institute of Dermatology, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain University Medical Center Nijmegen St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Rheumatologie u. klinische Immonologie, Charit e – Universit€atsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany Cambridge, UK SZTE Borgyogyaszati Klinika, Szeged, Hungary Roma, Italy Department of Dermatology, Psoriasis-Center University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein, Kiel, Germany Waterloo, Canada Department of Dermatology, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France Dermatologikum Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Section of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Dermatology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Department of Dermatology, Inselspital, Universit€ atsklinik f€ ur Dermatologie, Bern, Switzerland *Correspondence: A. Nast. E-mail: alexander.nast@charite.de Received: 22 June 2015; Accepted: 7 July 2015
Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on C-reactive Protein in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in the worldwide. It is associated with chronic disorders such as diabetes and heart diseases. Inflammation is one of the basic causes of metabolic diseases. Several studies have shown that Vitamin D can reduce inflammation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Vitamin D supplementation on inflammation in patients with NAFLD. Methods: This study involved 60 NAFLD patients, divided equally into two intervention and placebo groups. During 10 weeks, patients in the intervention group receive Vitamin D (capsules containing 50,000 IU vitamin D), weekly. Vitamin D levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance tests. Analyses were done using SPSS software (version 16) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). P < 0.05 set as significant level. Results: Vitamin D supplementation resulted in an increase of serum 25(OH) D concentrations in inter group (P < 0.05) and intra-group (P < 0.05) in intervention group. At the end of the study, in the intervention group, TG and CRP reduced significantly compare with baseline (P < 0.05). A significant increase was seen in calcium serum in the intervention group in comparison with baseline (P < 0.05) and compared with the placebo group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation had no effect on CRP and other variables in the intervention group compared with the placebo group. Further studies with strong design and more sample must conduct to demonstrate the effect of Vitamin D supplementation on inflammation in patients with NAFLD.
The Crash Risks of Style Investing: Can They Be Internationally Diversified?

The crash risks of momentum tend to be higher than those of size and value. International diversification lowers the crash risks of size and value but not momentum. The authors examined the conditional correlations and return co-exceedances of style portfolios across countries and found that this difference in the effect of diversification is due to the left (right) tails of momentum (size and value) portfolios being more correlated than the right (left) tails across countries. Motivated by the growth in popularity of style investing and the concerns about extreme events among investors, we examined the tail risks of style investing in the G–7 countries over 1981–2010. We evaluated whether portfolios with different size, value, and momentum tilts—the SMB (small minus big), HML (high minus low), and UMD (up minus down, or past winners minus past losers) portfolios—experience different crash risks and whether these risks can be mitigated through international diversification. We found that the crash risks of momentum tend to be higher than those of size and value, where crash risks are measured by return skewness and expected shortfall. International diversification lowers the crash risks of size and value but has only limited effects on momentum. Specifically, a diversified world UMD portfolio (equal-weighted portfolio of the G–7 countries) tends to be more left-skewed and has a more negative expected shortfall than the momentum portfolios of particular countries. In contrast, the world SMB and HML portfolios tend to have less negative skewness and expected shortfall than their country-specific counterparts. By examining the conditional correlations and return co-exceedances of style portfolios across countries, we found that the extreme negative returns on UMD in different markets tend to occur together, whereas those on SMB and HML tend to be country specific. In fact, for SMB and HML, the right-tail events tend to be more global in nature. These results suggest that the difference in the effect of international diversification is due to the left (right) tails of momentum (size and value) portfolios being more correlated than the right (left) tails across countries.
Automatic Calibration of High Density Electric Muscle Stimulation

Electric muscle stimulation (EMS) can enable mobile force feedback, support pedestrian navigation, or confer object affordances. To date, however, EMS is limited by two interlinked problems. (1) EMS is low resolution -- achieving only coarse movements and constraining opportunities for exploration. (2) EMS requires time consuming, expert calibration -- confining these interaction techniques to the lab. EMS arrays have been shown to increase stimulation resolution, but as calibration complexity increases exponentially as more electrodes are used, we require heuristics or automated procedures for successful calibration. We explore the feasibility of using electromyography (EMG) to auto-calibrate high density EMS arrays. We determine regions of muscle activity during human-performed gestures, to inform stimulation patterns for EMS-performed gestures. We report on a study which shows that auto-calibration of a 60-electrode array is feasible: achieving 52% accuracy across six gestures, with 82% accuracy across our best three gestures. By highlighting the electrode-array calibration problem, and presenting a first exploration of a potential solution, this work lays the foundations for high resolution, wearable and, perhaps one day, ubiquitous EMS beyond the lab.
Electrophysiological Correlates of Conscious Vision: Evidence from Unilateral Extinction

Abstract To study the electrophysiological correlates of conscious vision, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in a patient with partial unilateral visual extinction as a result of right-hemisphere damage. When, following bilateral presentations, contralesional stimuli were not perceived, there was an absence of the early attention-sensitive P1 (80-120 msec) and N1 (140-180 msec) components of the ERP response. In contrast, following unilateral presentations, or in those bilateral presentations in which contralesional stimuli were perceived (about 60%), these ERP components were present. These results provide novel evidence that extinction involves the stage of early focusing of attention and that the P1 and N1 components of visual ERPs are reliable physiological correlates of conscious vision.
Locally advanced rectal carcinoma treated with preoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy: preliminary analysis of diffusion-weighted MR imaging for early detection of tumor histopathologic downstaging.

PURPOSE To determine whether changes in apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of rectal carcinoma obtained 1 week after the beginning of chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CRT) correlate with tumor histopathologic downstaging after preoperative CRT. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective study was approved by an institutional review board; informed consent was obtained from all patients. Thirty-seven patients (mean age, 54.7 years; 13 women, 24 men) with primary rectal carcinoma who were undergoing preoperative CRT were recruited for the study. Diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed with a 1.5-T MR imager in all patients before therapy, at the end of the 1st and 2nd week of therapy, and before surgery. Tumor ADCs were calculated. Linear mixed-effects modeling was applied to analyze change in ADCs and volumes following treatment. RESULTS Patients were assigned to the tumor downstaged group (n = 17) or the tumor nondownstaged group (n = 20) on the basis of histopathologic examination results following surgery. Before CRT, the mean tumor ADC in the downstaged group was lower than that in the nondownstaged group (1.07 x 10(-3) mm(2)/sec +/- 0.13 [standard deviation] vs 1.19 x 10(-3) mm(2)/sec +/- 0.15, F = 6.91, P = . 013). At the end of the 1st week of CRT, the mean tumor ADC increased significantly from 1.07 x 10(-3) mm(2)/sec +/- 0.13 to 1.32 x 10(-3) mm(2)/sec +/- 0.16 (F = 37.63, P <.001) in the downstaged group, but there was no significant ADC increase in the nondownstaged group (F = 1.18, P = .291). The mean percentage of tumor ADC change in the downstaged group was significantly higher than that in the nondownstaged group at each time point (F = 18.39, P < .001). CONCLUSION Early increase of mean tumor ADC and low pretherapy mean ADC in rectal carcinoma correlate with good response to CRT. DW MR imaging is a promising noninvasive technique for helping predict and monitor early therapeutic response in patients with rectal carcinoma who are undergoing CRT.
Beyond Conventional Wage Discrimination Analysis: Assessing Comprehensive Wage Distributions of Males and Females Using Structured Additive Distributional Regression

In this paper, we propose a new comprehensive framework for analysing wage discrimination. This framework assesses wage discrimination on the grounds of conditional wage distributions (rather than just conditional means), regards the whole population (rather than just those in work) and employs a more general definition of work based on Margaret Reid's "third party criterion" (rather than a definition based on payment). Examining wage discrimination with respect to gender in Germany, we find that gender wage discrimination is exacerbated if considered in such a framework, as women are faced not only with a lower expected pay, but also with a more unequal distribution, lower chances of employment and a higher workload of unpaid activities.
Permissive Attitude Toward Suicide and Future Intent in Individuals With and Without Depression: Results From a Nationwide Survey in Korea

Abstract Many previous studies have revealed that individuals with depression have higher thought of suicide, although not always exhibiting intent. We investigated the associated factors with respect to intent for suicide in the future. A total of 1584 adults were selected through a nationwide multistage probability sampling, randomly one person per household, and through face-to-face interviews (response rate was 63.4%) using the suicidality module of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Patient Health Questionnaire–9. The group with depression (n = 152) revealed a significantly higher level of future suicide intent (t = 4.65, p <0.0001) and permissive attitude (t = 4.32, p <0.0001) than did the group without depression, which regarded suicide as free from life suffering, a personal right, and a solution to a difficult situation. After adjusting for all variables in the multiple logistic regression models, permissive attitude (adjusted odds ratio, 3.69; 95% confidence interval, 1.97–6.89) was the only factor significantly associated with future suicide intent, whereas age; sex; education years; monthly income; financial, job, and family stress; physical illness; lifetime suicide attempt; and depression showed no statistical significance. The group with depression showed significantly higher levels of future suicide intent than did the group without depression in those who had a higher permissive attitude (t = 4.18, p <0.0001) but not in those who had lower permissive attitudes (t = 1.98, p = 0.067). Permissive attitude toward suicide was associated with intent for suicide in the future in individuals with depression. Permissive attitude could be evaluated and corrected to prevent suicide.
Heat wave and cold spell changes in Iberia for a future climate scenario

This study investigates the impacts of climate change scenario on summer heat waves' (HWs) and winter cold spells' (CSs) characteristics for 12 locations over the Iberian Peninsula (IP). These characteristics are duration, recovery factor and intensity. Two future time slices of the chosen scenario are studied, namely, the periods 2046–2065 and 2081–2100 which are compared with a reference climate for the recent‐past (1986–2005). The RCP8.5 greenhouse gas emission scenario is considered. The minimum and maximum daily temperature were obtained for these periods through regional model simulations using the Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) model forced with the MPI‐ESM‐LR model. The model was validated against EOBS and SPAIN02 datasets. The model shows 90th/10th percentile temperature (i.e. thresholds to identify HW/CS) biases. Therefore, HW/CS numbers and properties were evaluated using the model's respective thresholds. HW/CS numbers and characteristics were also compared between the model and EOBS derived data. Probability density functions (PDFs) of the duration, recovery factor and intensity show significant changes in the mean and variance for the summer HWs. Differences, between future and recent‐past climate in the extremes are evaluated by the 95th percentile which show an increase in the duration and intensity of the HWs for the future time slices. Very few CSs were detectable in the mid‐term future (2046–2065) and none in the long‐term future (2080–2100), except for Barcelona. For most locations, the CS for the future are of smaller duration and intensity. The PDF of the recovery factor suggests smaller absolute differences between the minimum and maximum temperature during winter which is also confirmed by the percentile analysis. The increase in the duration and intensity of HWs is greater in the long‐term future than in the mid‐term future, pointing for a warmer IP with more and longer HWs towards the end of the XXI century.
Meta‐analysis of laparoscopic versus open cholecystectomy for patients with liver cirrhosis and symptomatic cholecystolithiasis

Open cholecystectomy (OC) is often preferred over laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension, but evidence is lacking to support this practice. This meta‐analysis aimed to clarify which surgical technique is preferable for symptomatic cholecystolithiasis in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans

Exercise promotes longevity and ameliorates type 2 diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance. However, exercise also increases mitochondrial formation of presumably harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidants are widely used as supplements but whether they affect the health-promoting effects of exercise is unknown. We evaluated the effects of a combination of vitamin C (1000 mg/day) and vitamin E (400 IU/day) on insulin sensitivity as measured by glucose infusion rates (GIR) during a hyperinsulinemic, euglycemic clamp in previously untrained (n = 19) and pretrained (n = 20) healthy young men. Before and after a 4 week intervention of physical exercise, GIR was determined, and muscle biopsies for gene expression analyses as well as plasma samples were obtained to compare changes over baseline and potential influences of vitamins on exercise effects. Exercise increased parameters of insulin sensitivity (GIR and plasma adiponectin) only in the absence of antioxidants in both previously untrained (P < 0.001) and pretrained (P < 0.001) individuals. This was paralleled by increased expression of ROS-sensitive transcriptional regulators of insulin sensitivity and ROS defense capacity, peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), and PPARγ coactivators PGC1α and PGC1β only in the absence of antioxidants (P < 0.001 for all). Molecular mediators of endogenous ROS defense (superoxide dismutases 1 and 2; glutathione peroxidase) were also induced by exercise, and this effect too was blocked by antioxidant supplementation. Consistent with the concept of mitohormesis, exercise-induced oxidative stress ameliorates insulin resistance and causes an adaptive response promoting endogenous antioxidant defense capacity. Supplementation with antioxidants may preclude these health-promoting effects of exercise in humans.
Biomechanically Induced Gene iex-1 Inhibits Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Neointima Formation

Abstract— Mechanotransduction plays a prominent role in vascular pathophysiology but is incompletely understood. In this study, we report the biomechanical induction of the immediate early response gene iex-1 in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Mechanical induction of iex-1 was confirmed by Northern (30-fold induction after 2 hours) and Western (6-fold induction after 24 hours) analyses. Expression of iex-1 was regulated by mechanical activation of nuclear factor (NF)-&kgr;B and abolished by overexpression of I&kgr;B in SMCs. The function of iex-1 in SMCs was explored by gene transfer using adenoviral vectors overexpressing iex-1. After 48 hours of 4% cyclic mechanical strain, adenoviral vectors overexpressing iex-1–infected cells had lower 3[H]-thymidine incorporation compared with AdGFP-infected controls (71.3±8.5% versus 180.2±19.4% in controls; P <0.001). Overexpression of iex-1 suppressed mitogenesis induced by platelet-derived growth factor (208.1±108.3% versus 290.0±120.5% in controls; P <0.05). This was accompanied by reduced degradation of p27kip1, inhibition of Rb hyperphosphorylation, and reduced cell cycle progression. To investigate functional effects of iex-1 in vivo, we performed carotid artery mechanical injury and endothelial denudation in low-density lipoprotein receptor–deficient mice followed by intraluminal injection of adenoviral vectors (3×109 pfu in 50 &mgr;L) for overexpression of iex-1 or gfp (control). Vascular overexpression of iex-1 reduced neointima formation 2 weeks after injury (intima/media ratio, 0.23±0.04 versus 0.5±0.24 in controls; P <0.05). Our findings demonstrate that biomechanical strain induces iex-1 with subsequent antiproliferative effects in SMCs and that selective gene transfer of iex-1 inhibits the local vascular response after injury. These findings suggest that the induction of iex-1 represents a novel negative biomechanical feedback mechanism limiting the vascular response to injury.