Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pension funding, productivity, ageing and economic growth

A key issue in pension reform is whether such a shift from PAYG to funding is largely a matter of reallocation of the financial burden of ageing (with the risk of a generation paying twice), or whether funding improves economic performance sufficiently to generate the resources required to meet the + + + + + + + + + +
Feeding ecology of three myctophid species at the Great Meteor Seamount (North-east Atlantic)

The feeding ecology of three abundant myctophid species was studied using individuals sampled at the Great Meteor Seamount during a cruise of RV “Meteor”, M42/3, in September 1998. Different habitats defined by water depth were sampled with a pelagic trawl: the north-eastern and the south-western slopes of the seamount (bottom depths between 300 and 1500 m), and an oceanic deep-water station (bottom depth > 2300 m). The food composition of the three myctophids was analysed and showed interspecific differences. The diets of the larger myctophid species, Ceratoscopelus warmingii (standard length 20 to 76 mm) and Hygophum hygomii (SL 29 to 63 mm), were dominated by amphipods. In contrast, the major prey categories of the smaller sized myctophid Lobianchia dofleini (SL 21 to 34 mm) were ostracods and calanoid copepods. We found a shift in prey composition of C. warmingii with predator size. Individuals larger than 40 mm standard length fed on a higher proportion of amphipods and on a lower proportion of pteropods compared to smaller sized individuals. Comparison of the myctophid diets with zooplankton composition in multi-net samples showed that the examined species consume selected prey categories in disproportionate numbers to their environmental abundance. L. dofleini showed a pronounced selectivity for the copepod species Pleuromamma xiphias. The observed differences in the dietary compositions of C. warmingii and H. hygomii at different localities of the seamount was a result of local predator size variability rather than an effect of local food availability. Feeding intensity of the myctophids was enhanced over the seamount slopes compared to an oceanic reference station. This could be due to more favourable feeding conditions over the seamount slopes, where hydrographic conditions were characterised by enhanced turbulent mixing processes.
Early weaning and concentrate supplementation strategies for lamb production on Tifton-85 pasture

The influence of early weaning and concentrate supplementation strategies on sward characteristics, forage chemical composition and lamb productivity were evaluated in four production systems on Tifton-85 pasture: suckling lambs not supplemented until slaughter; suckling lambs supplemented with concentrate in creep feeding until slaughter; early-weaned lambs not supplemented until slaughter; and early-weaned lambs supplemented with concentrate until slaughter. Structural, morphological and productive characteristics of pasture were measured. The forage was chemically analyzed to estimate its composition. Lambs average daily gain and productivity were calculated. Sward height, forage and morphological components mass were lower in systems without weaning. Forage production was higher in systems with supplementation. Higher levels of neutral and acid detergent fiber were observed in forage ingested by lambs in creep feeding and by weaned and unsupplemented lambs. Average daily gain was higher for lambs in creep feeding (275 g/d) and lower for the weaned and unsupplemented animals (57 g/d). Productivity was higher for weaned and supplemented lambs (21 kg lamb body weight, BW gain/ha/d). Lower productivity was observed in systems without supplementation (5 kg lamb BW gain/ha/d on average). Ewes modify the sward conditions improving the pasture characteristics and the quality of forage produced. Changes in sward conditions affect the chemical composition of forage ingested by lambs. Early weaning may be an alternative to maximize pasture utilization in small areas. Concentrate supplementation may increase lamb performance and productivity in grazing systems. If the objective is to improve lamb individual performance, creep feeding should be used.
Estimating a Nonlinear Mixed Volume-age Model with and without Taking into Account Serially-correlated Errors: Differences and Implications

In this study we estimated a lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.) volume-age model with and without taking into account serially-correlated errors arisen from permanent sample plots. The estimations were based on the first-order (FO) and first-order conditional expectation (FOCE) methods of the nonlinear mixed model technique. Among the correlated error structures considered, the spatial power structure was found to be the most appropriate. Model predictions were obtained and evaluated on model fitting data, as well as on independent validation data collected from a different ecoregion. Results showed that the model estimated with the independent and identically distributed (iid) error structure performed much better than the model estimated with the correlated error structure. This is true on both model fitting and validation data sets, and for both FO and FOCE methods. It implies that, if the main purpose of a study is to develop models for predictions, there is no real benefit to consider more elaborate and complex error structures to account for the correlated errors. The iid error structure is a sound choice for dealing with correlated errors under the nonlinear mixed model framework.
Analyzing experimental data and model parameters: implications for predictions of SOA using chemical transport models

Abstract. Despite critical importance for air quality and climate predictions, accurate representation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation remains elusive. An essential addition to the ongoing discussion of improving model predictions is an acknowledgement of the linkages between experimental conditions, parameter optimization and model output, as well as the linkage between empirically-derived partitioning parameters and the physicochemical properties of SOA they represent in models. In this work, a "best available" set of SOA modeling parameters is selected by comparing predicted SOA yields and mass concentrations with observed yields and mass concentrations from a comprehensive list of published smog chamber studies. Evaluated SOA model parameters include existing parameters for two product (2p) and volatility basis set (VBS) modeling frameworks, and new 2p-VBS parameters; 2p-VBS parameters are developed to exploit advantages of the VBS approach within the computationally-economical and widely-used 2p framework. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and SOA mass concentrations are simulated for the continental United States using CMAQv.4. 7.1; results are compared for a base case (with default CMAQ parameters) and two best available parameter cases to illustrate the high- and low-NO x limits of biogenic SOA formation from monoterpenes. Results are discussed in terms of implications for current chemical transport model simulations and recommendations are provided for future modeling and measurement efforts. The comparisons of SOA yield predictions with data from 22 published chamber studies illustrate that: (1) SOA yields for naphthalene, and cyclic and > C5 straight-chain/branched alkanes are not well represented using either the newly developed or existing parameters for low-yield aromatics and lumped alkanes, respectively; and (2) for four of seven volatile organic compound+oxidant systems, the 2p-VBS parameters better represent chamber data than do the default CMAQ v.4. 7.1 parameters. Using the "best available" parameters (combination of published 2p and newly derived 2p-VBS), predicted SOA mass and PM 2.5 concentrations increase by up to 15% and 7%, respectively, for the high-NO x case and up to 215% (~3 μg m −3 ) and 55%, respectively, for the low-NO x case. Percent bias between model-based and observationally-based secondary organic carbon (SOC) improved from −63% for the base case to −15% for the low-NO x case. The ability to robustly assign "best available" parameters in all volatile organic compound+oxidant systems, however, is critically limited due to insufficient data; particularly for photo-oxidation of diverse monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and alkanes under a range of atmospherically relevant conditions.
Chapter 4 . 1 Economic Consequences of Russia ’ s Internal Border

In previous work BERKOWITZ and DEJONG, used regional commodity-price data covering the period 1993-96 to document the existence of an internal economic border that divides Russia into two distinct economic regions: the ‘Red Belt’ and the ‘rest of Russia’. The Red Belt represents a group of regions that have broadly resisted the implementation of federally initiated market reforms. Here, we extend this work by quantifying two economic implications of this internal border. First, we show that the Red-Belt border has limited the transmission of price signals to regions within the Red Belt. Second, we show that regions within the Red Belt have experienced extremely poor growth performances relative to Russia as a whole.
Technology Advantage and Home-market Effect:An Empirical Investigation

According to the conventional home-market effect, free trade tends to shrink the market share for a small economy in differentiated manufacturing goods, and in the extreme leads to a complete hollowing-out of the industry in a small economy. This paper considers the technology difference between countries using the standard Helpman-Krugman model. We will show that the home-market effect can be offset and even reversed if the smaller economy is characterized by better technology. The effect of a technology advantage is composed of two parts: a direct effect from lower unit costs that leads to a higher output level of each firm, and an indirect effect through a change of survival firms after trade. Based on theoretical results we derive the gravity equation to undertake empirical tests on the hypothesis of home-market effect, and direct and indirect technology effects using the stock of each country’s patent registered in US in 2002 for six industries ranging from the most technology-intensive semiconductor industry to the most labor-intensive apparel and clothing industry. Empirical results show that the degree of home-market effect varies from industry to industry. The reversal of the home-market effect due to counteracting direct and indirect technology effects is more likely to occur in technology-intensive industries. In this regards, any technology improving policy like R&D subsidies is always justifiable especially for a small open economy and for high-tech industries to prevent from being marginalized by a large economy.
Targeting BCL2 with venetoclax is a promising therapeutic strategy for “double-proteinexpression” lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements

The so-called “double-hit” and “double-protein-expression” lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements is a rare, mature B-cell neoplasm characterized by a germinal center B-cell phenotype, abundant protein expression of MYC and BCL2, rapid disease progression, and a poor prognosis. In this study, we showed the potential benefit of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax in the treatment of this disease. Immunohistochemical studies of the lymphoma tissues confirmed that overexpression of MYC and BCL2 was observed more frequently in this subtype than in other germinal center B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. In contrast, another pro-survival protein MCL1 was less expressed in this subtype, even when compared with its expression in the non-“double-hit” and “double-protein-expression” type. Furthermore, in vitro studies using two “double-hit” and “double-protein-expression” lymphoma-derived cell lines, Karpas231 and OCI-Ly8, clearly showed that a low concentration of venetoclax, but not the MCL1 inhibitor S63845, was sufficient to induce apoptosis in the two lines, compared with in other germinal center B-cell-derived cell lines, BJAB and SU-DHL10. These results indicate that the survival of this type of lymphoma depends predominantly on BCL2 rather than on MCL1. Unexpectedly, we found that venetoclax not only disrupts the interaction between BCL2 and the pro-apoptotic protein BIM, but also leads to dephosphorylation of BCL2 and further downregulates MCL1 protein expression, probably through modulation of the protein phosphatase 2A B56α activity in Karpas231 and OCI-Ly8. Indeed, a low concentration of venetoclax induced substantial apoptosis in the primary lymphoma cells, regardless of high protein expression of MCL1 associated with venetoclax resistance. Venetoclax clearly triggers the signal transduction related to BCL2 and MCL1 in “double-hit” and “double-protein-expression” lymphoma cells.
Evaluation of Limiting Climatic Factors and Simulation of a Climatically Suitable Habitat for Chinese Sea Buckthorn

Chinese sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis) has considerable economic potential and plays an important role in reclamation and soil and water conservation. For scientific cultivation of this species across China, we identified the key climatic factors and explored climatically suitable habitat in order to maximize survival of Chinese sea buckthorn using MaxEnt and GIS tools, based on 98 occurrence records from herbarium and publications and 13 climatic factors from Bioclim, Holdridge life zone and Kria' index variables. Our simulation showed that the MaxEnt model performance was significantly better than random, with an average test AUC value of 0.93 with 10-fold cross validation. A jackknife test and the regularized gain change, which were applied to the training algorithm, showed that precipitation of the driest month (PDM), annual precipitation (AP), coldness index (CI) and annual range of temperature (ART) were the most influential climatic factors in limiting the distribution of Chinese sea buckthorn, which explained 70.1% of the variation. The predicted map showed that the core of climatically suitable habitat was distributed from the southwest to northwest of Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, where the most influential climate variables were PDM of 1.0–7.0 mm, AP of 344.0–1089.0 mm, CI of -47.7–0.0°C, and ART of 26.1–45.0°C. We conclude that the distribution patterns of Chinese sea buckthorn are related to the northwest winter monsoon, the southwest summer monsoon and the southeast summer monsoon systems in China.
Investigating the relationship between customer knowledge management and knowledge sharing among insurance companies in Malaysia

Recently, customer knowledge management has been widely recognized as a determinant of business performance. However, knowledge of customers that the organization gathers is useless unless it is shared internally. Sharing of this knowledge among organizational members will greatly strengthen the competitiveness of the organization, which makes it possible to take advantage of the competitive dynamics in the business environment. Although the importance of knowledge sharing especially the one that is related to customers has long been recognized by the community of researchers, investigation in this area is very limited. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Customer Knowledge Management dimensions, which consist of knowledge for customers, knowledge about customers, knowledge from the customer and knowledge sharing among insurance companies in Malaysia. A total of 180 managers of insurance companies in Malaysia participated in the survey. The results show that the three knowledge dimensions are positively and significantly related to knowledge sharing. Moreover, the results indicate that the insurance companies have implemented knowledge sharing practices especially in securing and managing their customer data to ensure the currency, accuracy, uniqueness and completeness of the customer data. Finally, research and practical implications are discussed.
Metabolomic Consequences of Genetic Inhibition of PCSK 9 Compared With Statin Treatment

Sliz , E , Kettunen , J , Holmes , M V , Williams , C O , Boachie , C , Wang , Q , Maennikkoe , M , Sebert , S , Walters , R , Lin , K , Millwood , I Y , Clarke , R , Li , L , Rankin , N , Welsh , P , Delles , C , Jukema , J W , Trompet , S , Ford , I , Perola , M , Salomaa , V , Jaervelin , M-R , Chen , Z , Lawlor , D A , Ala-Korpela , M , Danesh , J , Davey Smith , G , Sattar , N , Butterworth , A & Würtz , P 2018 , ' Metabolomic Consequences of Genetic Inhibition of PCSK9 Compared With Statin Treatment ' Circulation , vol. 138 , no. 22 , pp. 2499-2512 . https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118. 034942
P27 deficiency accelerates the development of PTEN-deficiency-induced myeloproliferative disease

PTEN acts as a phosphatase for PIP3 and negatively regulates the PI3K/AKT pathway, and CDKN1B (P27KIP1) is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that regulates G0 to S phase transitions by binding to and regulating the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases. Genetic alternations of Pten or Cdkn1b are common in hematological malignancies. Combined loss of PTEN and P27KIP1 expression is associated with tumor cell proliferation and poor prognosis in prostate cancer. However, it is not so clear how two mutations would cooperate in leukemogenesis. Here, we show that combined inactivation of PTEN or P27KIP1 in the hematopoietic compartment in mice results in a more severe myeloproliferative disease phenotype with shorter lifespan, lower hemoglobin and more enlarged spleen, lever comparted inaction of Pten or p27KIP1 alone.
Usual Interstitial Pneumonia Pattern in the Lower Lung Lobes as a Prognostic Factor in Idiopathic Pleuroparenchymal Fibroelastosis

Background: Idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) is a rare interstitial pneumonia that is characterized by stiffness in both the upper lobes and pleura, which is evident on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest. However, prognostic factors for IPPFE have not been identified yet. Objective: We aimed to investigate the clinical prognostic factors affecting survival in patients with IPPFE. Methods: Between April 2009 and September 2017, we enrolled 36 patients who were clinically diagnosed with IPPFE, using HRCT. These patients were classified as either short survival (dead within 12 months from the diagnosis of IPPFE) or long survival (survived for greater than 12 months) groups. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics, serum markers, pulmonary function test results, and HRCT findings. Results: Twelve patients were classified into the short survival and 24 were categorized into long survival categories. At the time of diagnosis, the incidence of coexistence of a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern in the lower lobes on HRCT in the short survival was significantly higher than that in the long survival. Multivariate analysis revealed that a UIP pattern in the lower lobes on HRCT was the only independent variable for poor prognosis. The median survival time from diagnosis in patients with IPPFE was 24 months. Of these patients with IPPFE, the survival time with a UIP pattern was significantly shorter than in those without a UIP pattern. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a UIP pattern in the lower lobes at the time of diagnosis was an independent prognostic factor for IPPFE.
Spatial organisation of catchments – assessment and usage for impartial sub-basin ascertainment and classification

Abstract. A hydrological model should represent the hydrological most relevant catchment characteristics. These are heterogeneously distributed within a watershed but often interrelated and subject of a certain spatial organisation. In order to reproduce the natural rainfall-runoff response the reduction of variance of catchment properties as well as the incorporation of the spatial organisation of the catchment is desirable. In this study the method of the characteristic structure is introduced to detect and visualize the spatial organisation of catchments, based on stream flow length rearrangement of any catchment feature of interest. Moreover, the method is implemented in an algorithm for automated sub-basin ascertainment, which includes the definition of zones within the newly defined sub-basins. The algorithm is applied on two parameters characterising topography and soil of four mid-European watersheds. Results indicate a wide range of applicability for the method and the algorithm. As a limitation of the application for the algorithm the presence of small scale soil enclosures that do not follow the geomorphologic structure of the catchment could be identified. Finally, results of subdivisions based on soil and topography were intersected to gain insight into catchment organisation. Based on this analysis four types of physiographical types could be established.
Abbreviated Biparametric Versus Standard Multiparametric MRI for Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of abbreviated biparametric MRI (bpMRI) versus standard multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) for prostate cancer (PCa) using guided biopsy or prostatectomy histopathology results as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases was performed by two researchers independently and the relevant references were assessed. Original research studies comparing bpMRI with mpMRI in diagnosing PCa were included. The methodologic quality of eligible studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool. Data necessary to complete 2 × 2 contingency tables were obtained to calculate the diagnostic performance of bpMRI and mpMRI using Stata (version 14). RESULTS Ten studies were included, and a total of 1705 patients and 3419 lesions were analyzed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (LR), negative LR, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of mpMRI in diagnosing PCa were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.69-0.87), 0.89 (95% CI, 0.70-0.96), 6.9 (95% CI, 2.5-18.8), 0.24 (95% CI, 0.16-0.35), and 29 (95% CI, 10-83). Sensitivity, specificity, positive LR, negative LR, and DOR of bpMRI in diagnosing PCa were 0.79 (95% CI, 0.69-0.87), 0.88 (95% CI, 0.73-0.95), 6.4 (95% CI, 2.9-14.5), 0.24 (95% CI, 0.16-0.35), and 27 (95% CI, 11-67). Meta-analysis showed no statistically significant difference between bpMRI and mpMRI for the diagnosis of PCa, and the areas under the summary ROC (SROC) curves were 0.89 and 0.88, respectively (p = 0.9944). Results of the sensitivity analysis were consistent, and the area under the SROC curve for bpMRI and mpMRI was 0.89 for both (p = 0.9349). CONCLUSION The available evidence indicates that bpMRI and mpMRI have similar diagnostic efficacy in diagnosing PCa.
Home ranges of feral goats in a pastoral area in Western Australia

Home ranges of feral goats studied by radio-telemetry in a pastoral area in Western Australia were much larger than those found in most other studies. Home ranges of males were larger (ranging from 139.2 to 587.7km*2) than those of females, which ranged from 15.0 to 190.2km*2. Excursions outside the normal (90 percentile) home ranges were common. The home ranges of females were smaller during summer than during winter. Male home ranges were of similar size in both seasons. Group structure and composition was highly variable. Implications of goat movements on management and control programmes are discussed.