Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Hope Statistic as an Alternative Measure of Competitive Balance

We examine the need for and the presence of competitive balance in professional sports leagues. We argue that competitive balance helps to further fan welfare and we propose a new measure of competitive balance that hopefully better reflects the needs of fans—that is, compared with measures used both currently and in the past. More specifically, we model the hope of postseason play in a new way as a proxy for competitive balance, and, using a database from Major League Baseball, we provide descriptive statistics for our measure alongside a number of other measures currently extant in the literature. We conclude by discussing policy positions that may be derived from our findings.
A Regression-constrained Optimization Approach to Estimating Suppressed Information using Time-series Data

Most regional economic databases (e.g., US Economic Census and County Business Patterns [CBP]) have some employment records suppressed and then represented as ranges, in order to guarantee the confidentiality of the data. This article incorporates the implicit temporal relationships between annual employment data over several years into an optimization model designed to estimate suppressed records. This model minimizes (1) the sum of the deviations between the estimates and target values within the corresponding ranges and (2) the sum of the deviations between the estimates and an employment trend curve endogenously determined through absolute-value regression. The 1999–2006 CBP data for Arizona are used to test the model. Two decision-theoretic criteria (Pareto frontier and concordance–discordance analysis) are used to analyze the results, pointing to a specific set of parameters yielding the best estimates.
Restless legs syndrome: update on pathogenesis

Purpose of review Much recent progress has been made in understanding restless legs syndrome (RLS), focusing mainly on genetic predisposition and dysregulation of iron metabolism and the dopaminergic system. We provide in this review an update of the most recent scientific advances on the pathophysiology of primary RLS. Recent findings Genome-wide association studies identified six genetic variants including MEIS1 and BTBD9 with potential relationships with iron. Brain iron level is low in RLS and neuropathological studies have shown significant decreases in dopamine D2 receptors in the putamen that correlated with RLS severity, and increased tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra. An overly activated dopaminergic system was reported in both animal and cell models of iron insufficiency thus suggesting that in at least a subgroup of RLS patients altered iron metabolism plays a role in the disorder. Also, dysregulation of iron uptake and storage within brain microvessels was recently reported and might play a role in a subgroup of RLS patients. Summary RLS is a genetically heterogeneous complex trait with high prevalence but large phenotype variability. Current theories of RLS pathophysiology emphasize brain iron deficiency with abnormal dopaminergic consequences, together with a strong underlying genetic background.
How to Create and Sustain Meaningful Discussions in Online Courses?

While taking online courses students are required to participate in online discussions. These are often mandatory activities that count towards the course final grade. Even though, in many occasions, online students find this requirement dreadful and unproductive. A case study has been conducted with a postgraduate educational technology online course at a large university in the United States. This course offers two innovative strategies to overcome this issue and concomitant evidence of effectiveness.
Identifying the concepts contained in outcome measures of clinical trials on musculoskeletal disorders and chronic widespread pain using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a reference.

OBJECTIVES To systematically identify and compare the concepts contained in outcome measures of clinical trials on low back pain, chronic widespread pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference. METHODS Randomized controlled trials carried out between 1991 and 2000 were identified using MEDLINE and selected according predefined criteria. The outcome measures were extracted and the concepts contained in the outcome measures were linked to the ICF. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-nine trials on low back pain, 42 trials on chronic widespread pain, 176 trials on osteoarthritis, 107 trials on osteoporosis and 382 trials on rheumatoid arthritis were included. Fifty-nine different health status questionnaires were extracted in low back pain, 29 in chronic widespread pain, 29 in osteoarthritis, 3 in osteoporosis and 48 in rheumatoid arthritis. Across conditions at least 77% (range 77-88%) of the extracted concepts could be linked to the ICF. In low back pain, chronic widespread pain and osteoarthritis the most used ICF-categories were sensation of pain (b280), in osteoporosis structure of trunk (s760) and in rheumatoid arthritis additional musculoskeletal structures related to movement (s770). The most used category across conditions was sensation of pain (b280) except for osteoporosis. CONCLUSION The ICF provides a useful reference to identify and quantify the concepts contained in outcome assessment used in clinical trials.
EPS Mid-Career Award 2014

In visual search, observers try to find known target objects among distractors in visual scenes where the location of the targets is uncertain. This review article discusses the attentional processes that are active during search and their neural basis. Four successive phases of visual search are described. During the initial preparatory phase, a representation of the current search goal is activated. Once visual input has arrived, information about the presence of target-matching features is accumulated in parallel across the visual field (guidance). This information is then used to allocate spatial attention to particular objects (selection), before representations of selected objects are activated in visual working memory (recognition). These four phases of attentional control in visual search are characterized both at the cognitive level and at the neural implementation level. It will become clear that search is a continuous process that unfolds in real time. Selective attention in visual search is described as the gradual emergence of spatially specific and temporally sustained biases for representations of task-relevant visual objects in cortical maps.
Empirical Research in Transaction Cost Economics: A Review and Assessment

This paper summarizes and assesses the growing body of empirical research in transaction cost economics (TCE). Originally an explanation for the scale and scope of the firm, TCE is now used to study a variety of economic relationships, ranging from vertical and lateral integration to transfer pricing, corporate finance, marketing, the organization of work, long-term commercial contracting, franchising, regulation, the multinational corporation, company towns, and many other contractual relationships. The main insights and predictions of TCE-in particular, the importance of governing transactions-are becoming increasingly accepted. The empirical support for these claims, however, is much less known. We believe the empirical literature, on the whole, is remarkably consistent with the predictions of TCE-more so than is typically the case in economics. After presenting an overview of the theory and a discussion of some theoretical and methodological preliminaries, we summarize the major findings and discuss their implications, particularly the potential applications to public policy. In an appendix we provide a more comprehensive list of articles, arranged by type of study, as a reference aid for researchers.
A Demand Function for Length of Stay on Ski Trips to Aspen

The purpose of this article is to develop and apply a statistical procedure to estimate the demand for length of stay at the Aspen ski resort. Length of stay can be increased by several variables, most of which can be influenced by the promotional and service programs of resorts. The article illustrates how information on the determinants of demand for length of stay can help resort managers make more effective operating and planning decisions.
Age at onset is associated with disease severity in Lewy body variant and Alzheimer's disease

This study investigated the influence of age at onset on cognitive performance, neuropathological and neurochemical features in autopsy-confirmed sporadic Lewy body variant (LBV) and in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We compared 28 early-onset (≤ 70 years) LBV subjects with 28 matched late-onset (> 70 years) subjects. Similarly, we examined the same features in 89 early onset AD and 89 matched late onset AD patients. Patients with early onset LBV and early onset AD declined more rapidly, had more neuritic plaques, and greater neocortical cholinergic loss compared to late onset LBV and late onset AD subjects. Taken together, these results suggest that for both LBV and AD, earlier age at onset may predict a more aggressive disease course.
Inflation Targeting and Inflation Persistence

Abstract This paper argues that the adoption of an inflation target reduces the persistence of inflation. We develop the theoretical literature on inflation persistence by introducing a Taylor Rule for monetary policy into a model of persistence and showing that inflation targets reduce inflation persistence. We investigate changes in the time series properties of inflation in seven countries that introduced inflation targets in the late 1980s or early 1990s. We find that the persistence of inflation is greatly reduced or eliminated following the introduction of inflation targets.
A new inequality related to the Diaconis-Graham inequalities and a new characterisation of the dihedral group

We prove an inequality between three measures of disorder on the symmetric group on n elements. This inequality has been inspired by the well-known Diaconis-Graham inequalities. We also discuss when the inequality is satisfied as equality, and how often this happens. In the case n is odd, the number of permutations that satisfy the equality is a simple function of the Lucas numbers. In addition, we show that a quantity involved in the new inequality (which is a function of the three measures of disorder) can be used to give a new characterization of the dihedral group.
"Open the lung and keep it open": a homogeneously ventilated lung is a 'healthy lung'.

The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) for over four decades. What was thought to be a universally fatal form of double pneumonia was first identified in 1967 as a unique clinical entity and is now what we call ARDS. Ashbaugh et al. first identified ARDS as a unique disease triggered by a collection of pathologic abnormalities from initiating injuries such as sepsis, pneumonia, trauma or burns (1). In addition, this group demonstrated that ARDS mortality could be significantly reduced if positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) was added to the ventilator strategy (1). Mortality secondary to ARDS was almost 70% from 1967–1979 and has been reduced progressively over the decades [60%: 1980–1989; 50%: 1990–1997] to the current mortality of ~40% [1998-2013] (2). Although we have significantly reduced ARDS mortality from when it was first identified, mortality has not been reduced any further over last 15 years (3).
The Role of Territorial Capital in Local Economic Growth: Evidence from Italy

Territorial capital is defined as the system of territorial assets of economic, cultural, social and environmental nature that ensures the development potential of places. The potential of this concept resides in the recognition of possible interactions between factors of different nature. So far, however, very few studies have focused on the empirical verification of the links between territorial capital and economic growth. This work is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between economic growth and territorial capital in Italian NUTS3 regions between 1999 and 2008. The distribution of territorial assets across regions points out the huge gap between Italian macro-areas. These divergences do not clearly reproduce the differentials in GDP growth. The second part of the analysis is focused on the joint effect of the territorial capital components on the regional economic performance. Our findings emphasize the role of some endogenous factors in explaining the differentiation of regional growth patterns. Moreover, they point out the importance of soft assets in correspondence of an external shock, as the one represented by the recent financial crisis.
Does founding family control affect earnings management?

Because of concentrated ownership stakes, board composition and longer-investment horizons, founding-family controlled firms provide an interesting setting for examining issues relating to governance and control. Anderson and Reeb (2003a, b, 2004), find that the founding-family controlled structure results in superior stock market and accounting performance and lower cost of debt compared to their nonfamily controlled counterparts. We add to their findings by examining the relationships between founding family control and earnings management. The unique characteristics of family controlled firms could insulate these firms from pressures to manage earnings. Our results support this notion, and find that family firms are significantly less likely to manage earnings.
A 7‐year survey of dermatophytoses in Crete, Greece

Dermatophytoses are of worldwide distribution. Epidemiological studies concerning dermatophyte infections have been performed in many countries and differences in the incidence and the aetiological agents have been reported in different geographical locations. This study was undertaken to investigate the prevailing species of dermatophytes in the island of Crete, Greece, and their pattern of infection during a 7‐year period (1997–2003). A total of 5544 samples obtained from 3751 patients with clinically suspected dermatomycoses were examined mycologically in the laboratory of Clinical Microbiology at the University Hospital of Crete, Greece. Skin, hair and nail specimens were subjected to direct microscopy and culture. Dermatophytes were isolated from 520 patients (13.9%). Trichophyton rubrum was the most frequently isolated dermatophyte accounting for 48% of the infections, followed by Microsporum canis (17.9%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale (14.2%) and Epidermophyton floccosum (6%). Tinea unguium, tinea pedis, tinea corporis, tinea capitis, tinea cruris, tinea manuum and tinea facei were the clinical types of dermatophytoses in decreasing order of frequency. Trichophyton rubrum is the predominant dermatophyte in our area. As the epidemiology of dermatophytoses is changing over time it is important to review periodically the incidence of dermatophytes and their distribution.
Greater song complexity is associated with augmented song system anatomy in zebra finches

We revisited the relationship between brain anatomy and song behavior in zebra finches. Consistent with previous studies in other songbirds, we find that differences in volume of the telencephalic song control nucleus HVc is predictive of differences in repertoire size and phrase duration in zebra finches. We extend the study of brain and behavior correlations in song birds by showing that repertoire size in zebra finches can be predicted by variance in several brain nuclei, providing the first demonstration that volumetric differences across multiple components of a neural network are predictive of song behavior.
Systemic polarisation and spatial voting

The controversy between proximity and directional models of issue voting has not been settled. Instead of appointing an ultimate winner, this article explores the conditioning impact of the level of systemic polarisation and provides evidence that proximity is a more relevant determinant of voter behaviour in less polarised systems, whereas there is a centrifugal and directional dynamic in more polarised contexts. By so doing, the article shows how a largely forgotten notion – namely Sartori's idea of the spatial elasticity of the political spectrum – leads to different spatial viewpoints. In distinguishing between party (supply side) and voter (demand side) polarisation, this framework provides a comprehensive picture about the conditions that turn a centripetal electoral dynamic into a purely centrifugal one.
Host‐associated genetic differentiation in a seed parasitic weevil Rhinusa antirrhini (Coleptera: Curculionidae) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data

Plant feeding insects and the plants they feed upon represent an ecological association that is thought to be a key factor for the diversification of many plant feeding insects, through differential adaptation to different plant selective pressures. While a number of studies have investigated diversification of plant feeding insects above the species level, relatively less attention has been given to patterns of diversification within species, particularly those that also require plants for oviposition and subsequent larval development. In the case of plant feeding insects that also require plant tissues for the completion of their reproductive cycle through larval development, the divergent selective pressure not only acts on adults, but on the full life history of the insect. Here we focus attention on Rhinusa antirrhini (Curculionidae), a species of weevil broadly distributed across Europe that both feeds on, and oviposits and develops within, species of the plant genus Linaria (Plantaginaceae). Using a combination of mtDNA (COII) and nuclear DNA (EF1‐α) sequencing and copulation experiments we assess evidence for host associated genetic differentiation within R. antirrhini. We find substantial genetic variation within this species that is best explained by ecological specialisation on different host plant taxa. This genetic differentiation is most pronounced in the mtDNA marker, with patterns of genetic variation at the nuclear marker suggesting incomplete lineage sorting and/or gene flow between different host plant forms of R. antirrhini, whose origin is estimated to date to the mid‐Pliocene (3.77 Mya; 2.91–4.80 Mya).
Shaping attitude toward Christianity among year seven pupils: the influence of sex, church, home and primary school

This study set out to examine the differences in attitude toward Christianity among year seven secondary school pupils who had undertaken their primary education either in a Church of England voluntary aided school or a non‐denominational state‐maintained school. Data were provided by 492 year‐seven pupils attending three Church of England voluntary secondary schools and comparison is made between 288 pupils who had transferred from Anglican voluntary aided primary schools and 164 from non‐denominational state‐maintained schools. After taking into account the effects of sex, pupil church attendance, paternal church attendance, and maternal church attendance, the data found no effect from attending a Church of England voluntary aided primary school.
Prospective study of the clinical features and outcomes of emergency department patients with delayed diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

OBJECTIVES The authors hypothesized that emergency department (ED) patients with a delayed diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) will have a higher frequency of altered mental status, older age, comorbidity, and worsened outcomes compared with patients who have PE diagnosed by tests ordered in the ED. METHODS For 144 weeks, all patients with PE diagnosed by computed tomographic angiography were prospectively screened to identify ED diagnosis (testing ordered from the ED) versus delayed diagnosis (less than 48 hours postadmission). Serum troponin I level, right ventricular hypokinesis on echocardiography, and percentage pulmonary vascular occlusion were measured at diagnosis; patients were prospectively followed up for adverse events (death, intubation, or circulatory shock). RESULTS Among 161 patients with PE, 141 (88%) were ED diagnosed and 20 (12%) had a delayed diagnosis. Patients with a delayed diagnosis were older than ED-diagnosed patients (61 [+/-15] vs. 51 [+/-17] years; p < 0.001), had a longer median time to heparin administration (33 vs. 8 hours; p < 0.001), and had a higher frequency of altered mental status (30% vs. 8%; p = 0.01) but did not have a higher frequency of prior cardiopulmonary disease (25% vs. 23%). Patients with a delayed diagnosis had equal or worse measures of PE severity (right ventricular hypokinesis on echocardiography, 60% vs. 58%; abnormal troponin I level, 55% vs. 24%); on computed tomographic angiography, ten of 20 patients with a delayed diagnosis had PE in lobar or larger arteries and >50% vascular obstruction. Patients with a delayed diagnosis had a higher rate of in-hospital adverse events (9% vs. 30%; p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS In this single-center study, the diagnosis of PE was frequently delayed and outcomes of patients with delayed diagnosis were worse than those of patients with PE diagnosed in the ED.
Economic Lessons of the Kobe Earthquake

The earthquake that struck the Japanese port city of Kobe on January 17, 1995, was the most severe quake ever to strike a modern urban area. It has become the most studied, analyzed, and discussed natural disaster in history. What I propose to add to this dialogue is an economist's overview of what he saw in Kobe 19 months after the event and what he learned during the ensuing 6 months.