Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance on the continuous performance test in children with ADHD is associated with sleep efficiency.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To examine whether the level of sleep efficiency of children diagnosed with ADHD moderates their performance on the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) while receiving a placebo and while receiving methylphenidate (MPH). DESIGN Nightly sleep actigraphic assessment during a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical study (1 week of 0.5 mg/kg MPH; 1 week of placebo) were obtained on 37 children between 6 and 12 years of age with a DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD. Subjects were divided into 2 groups based on the mean sleep efficiency score during the placebo condition, with subjects above and below the mean placed in the Poor Sleep Group (PSG) and Good Sleep Group (GSG), respectively. SETTING Vigilance testing was conducted in the laboratory; sleep was assessed in the home. MEASUREMENTS Sleep was monitored using actigraphy for 2 weeks. In addition, parents were asked to complete nightly sleep logs and a sleep questionnaire. The Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT) was used to assess vigilance. RESULTS Significant interaction of Sleep Group with Medication was found on 1 CPT factor. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the present study support the hypothesis that sleep moderates performance on CPT in children with ADHD while receiving placebo or MPH.
The TBT Panels: US–Cloves, US–Tuna, US–COOL

Abstract In a series of controversial 2011 decisions, WTO DSM Panels sought to reconcile legitimate regulatory interests of the state with various obligations to treat imported products in an even-handed and not unnecessarily trade-restrictive manner. Among the key points of contention were which obligation pertained in each case – national treatment, limits on technical regulations, or rules governing standards. In each case, the Panel imposed significant restrictions on national regulatory practices, and in each case the Panel reasoning was challenged by the Appellate Body. This paper addresses some of the key legal and economic issues raised in the original Panel decisions, leaving the late-breaking Appellate Body decisions for future analysis. Given the unsettled nature of the terrain, the economic analysis focuses primarily on the question of national treatment, while the legal analysis deals with other interesting points that emerge from these rulings, such as the appropriate level of deference to international standards and the legitimacy of labeling requirements.
Cultural Differences in Pictorial Destination Images

Destination photography communicates images that shape and reshape destination perceptions of past and potential tourists and, consequently, influence their decision-making process. Using theoretical underpinnings provided in works on culture, this exploratory study examines whether destination photographs taken by tourists and posted on social-network websites are reflective of culture to which those tourists belong. Content analysis of American and Korean photographs of Russia posted on Flickr and in Korean travel blogs, respectively, was followed by chi-square and co-occurrence analyses of destination attributes, as well as geospatial analysis of image locations using ARC GIS software. Although the core of Russia’s destination image—urban, contemporary, architecturally interesting, and spacious—is similar for both cultural groups, the study found differences in the way that American and Korean tourists represent Russia as a destination. These differences are discussed from the perspective of tourists’ respective cultures.
A Trading Volume Benchmark: Theory and Evidence

Abstract This paper provides a theoretical rebalancing benchmark for trading volume that delivers a connection between trading activity in individual stocks and market-wide volume. This model supports the empirical use of an adjustment for market-wide trading activity when filtering out normal trading volume. Data on a sample of large NYSE/AMEX firms support the usefulness of the benchmark. While 20% of the sample firms exhibit trading behavior that is consistent with the cross-sectional prediction of the rebalancing benchmark, systematic deviations exist. An analysis of deviations from the benchmark allows a characterization of anomalous trading activity. I find that average excess turnover vs. the benchmark is positively related to option availability and institutional ownership and negatively related to firm size. The data do not yield a uniform conclusion on the effect of S&P 500 inclusion. S&P 500 inclusion does not significantly increase the trading of firms that are already trading above benchmark levels, but does result in additional trading for firms that undertrade the benchmark prior to inclusion. An investigation of individual firm market model regressions indicates that this is a useful methodology for filtering out the anomalous trading documented here.
Implied Volatility of Oil Futures Options Surrounding OPEC Meetings

This study examines implied volatility from options on crude oil futures surrounding OPEC meetings. Studies suggest that the implied volatility embedded in option prices should drift upward prior to scheduled information releases and drop afterward. As predicted, volatility drifts upward as the meeting approaches and drops by three percent after the first day of the meeting and by five percent over a five-day window period. Surprisingly, highly visible bi-annual conferences experience little drop in volatility. Rather, the most pronounced decline in volatility is associated with meetings of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which makes production recommendations to the larger conference. The results have implications for the debate about whether OPEC influences oil prices and provide an explanation for previously documented return anomalies in crude oil futures surrounding OPEC meetings.
An Empirical Analysis of the Incentive‐Action‐Performance Chain of the Principal‐Agent Model

ABSTRACT: This study empirically investigates the incentive‐action‐performance chain on cross‐sectional plant data in the context of a just‐in‐time (JIT‐ plant manufacturing environment. Incentives in this study are of the “soft” goal‐oriented variety rather than direct compensation. The empirical analysis is implemented using ordinary least squares and Heckman two‐stage regressions to account for the potential endogeneity of the JIT adoption decision. We find that plant performance outcomes are associated with actions, namely, the breadth and intensities of plant JIT practices adopted by plant management, but are not associated with performance incentives. However, we find that the JIT adoption decision is associated with incentives. We further find that it is the essential inventory incentive aspects of JIT, such as increasing inventory turns and reducing scrap/waste, that motivate JIT adoption rather than other, arguably less central incentive aspects of JIT, such as product quality. Overall, our resul.
Using Continuous Glucose Monitoring Data and Detrended Fluctuation Analysis to Determine Patient Condition

Patients admitted to critical care often experience dysglycemia and high levels of insulin resistance, various intensive insulin therapy protocols and methods have attempted to safely normalize blood glucose (BG) levels. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices allow glycemic dynamics to be captured much more frequently (every 2-5 minutes) than traditional measures of blood glucose and have begun to be used in critical care patients and neonates to help monitor dysglycemia. In an attempt to obtain a better insight relating biomedical signals and patient status, some researchers have turned toward advanced time series analysis methods. In particular, Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) has been a topic of many recent studies in to glycemic dynamics. DFA investigates the “complexity” of a signal, how one point in time changes relative to its neighboring points, and DFA has been applied to signals like the inter-beat-interval of human heartbeat to differentiate healthy and pathological conditions. Analyzing the glucose metabolic system with such signal processing tools as DFA has been enabled by the emergence of high quality CGM devices. However, there are several inconsistencies within the published work applying DFA to CGM signals. Therefore, this article presents a review and a “how-to” tutorial of DFA, and in particular its application to CGM signals to ensure the methods used to determine complexity are used correctly and so that any relationship between complexity and patient outcome is robust.
Collaborative Water Resource Management: What makes up a supportive governance system?

Collaboration is increasingly seen as an important aspect of successful water management, and yet it remains insufficiently understood. This paper examines how collaboration is influenced by the governance system that guides and organizes the related actions and interactions. Building upon an existing governance assessment tool, this paper provides the basis for predicting how supportive (or restrictive) a governance system will be towards collaboration, according to eight different governance system classes. The validity of this framework is reflected upon in case studies from five countries: Mexico, the Netherlands, Canada, Romania and Turkey. The collaborative processes in Mexico, Romania and Turkey are embedded in restrictive governance systems and show low levels of collaboration. The governance system in the Canadian case is assessed as neutral and shows a medium level of collaboration, whereas the governance system in the Netherlands shows high levels of collaboration and is assessed as supportive. The results are encouraging, as the case studies demonstrate the predicted influences of a governance system on collaboration. Yet, the case studies also highlight the potential importance of characteristics of the collaborative process and collaborating actors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Immunogenicity of hepatitis A vaccine in decompensated liver disease

ObjectiveHepatitis A can cause decompensation and death in patients with previous liver injury. The hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for patients with chronic liver disease. The aim of this study was to screen, immunize, and measure the safety and antibody response of the hepatitis A vaccine in liver failure and liver transplant patients.MethodsThis was a prospective immunization trial at a referral center for liver disease and liver transplantation. A total of 193 patients with severe chronic liver disease were screened and 24 patients were vaccinated. Sixteen end stage liver disease patients were compared with eight liver transplant patients. Hepatitis A vaccinations using 1440 ELISA units were given at 0 and 2 months. Serum hepatitis A antibody titers were measured after each vaccine dose. An antibody response ≥33 mIU/ml was considered protective.ResultsScreening seropositive rate was 70 of 193 (36%) and 24 patients were available for vaccination. The median antibody titer was markedly lower in liver transplant patients, 0.0 mIU/ml compared to liver failure patients 34.7 mIU/ml (p < 0.001). Liver transplant recipients did not respond to the vaccine (0 of eight patients) compared with seven of 14 liver failure patients (seroconversion rate 50%, p= 0.02). ConclusionsLiver failure significantly reduces the antibody response to hepatitis A vaccine, and liver transplant recipients were unable to respond to the vaccine. Although this study was small, immunization should be considered early for susceptible patients with chronic liver disease because the development of liver failure may blunt the immunogenicity of the vaccine.
Economic Rationales for Central Banking: Historical Evolution, Policy Space, Institutional Integrity, and Paradigm Challenges

The late-2000s global financial crisis saw increased public profiles and balance sheets of both the US and European central banks, their combined series of financial rescue measures in effect pushing the envelope of central banking modus operandi. And in general, somewhat anecdotally amongst non-crisis Asia-Pacific/emerging economies, central banks are under increased pressure to pursue growth agenda, or at least being publicly called to task as to whether strict inflation regime is all that necessary. All the while, orthodox economics appear to be bursting at the seams, as the world witnesses extreme financial-capital market events increasingly becoming the ‘new normal’, globalised banking system portending knife-edged stability dynamics consistent with high degree of epidemic, network-like systemic interconnectivities, and global catastrophe phenomena reflecting energy/ecological/environmental imbalances more and more frequently materialising as economic disequilibria. Taken together, it is only becoming more difficult to reconcile historical evolution of central banks (the institutions) and central banking (the mandate) with ever mounting stabilisation policy demands and global ‘mega-trend’ challenges over the next decades. This essay details our positive and normative analysis and posits our conceptual arguments concerning the very essence of central banks (the institutions) and central banking (the discipline). We begin with Historical Evolution, from the genesis of early ‘proto’ central banks to the emergence of modern consensus on central banking. Stylised facts and conceptual schemas drawn from that exercise then enables us to formulate the notion of Policy Space as a generalization of central bank role and responsibility. We then employ economic rationales to argue for and advocate key elements and principles in terms of Institutional Integrity as an imperative foundation for the pursuit of policy goals. The emerging evolutionary perspective also compels us to postulate a number of Paradigm Challenges facing current and future generations of central bankers.
Airway hyperreactivity in asymptomatic military personnel.

OBJECTIVES Asthma is frequently diagnosed in military personnel despite strict guidelines that disqualify persons with active disease or a recent history of asthma. It is generally considered incompatible with military service, because of the regular physical training, outdoor training exercises, and deployments to remote locations. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of airway hyperreactivity in asymptomatic military personnel, as an estimate of subclinical reactive airway disease. METHODS A prospective study of healthy, asymptomatic, military personnel with no previous history of asthma and <1 year on active duty status was conducted. After completion of a screening questionnaire, personnel underwent baseline spirometry with a portable spirometer. Personnel with obstructive indices (based on published guidelines) and matched control subjects participated in an exercise test (1.5-mile run), with pre- and postexercise spirometry. RESULTS A total of 222 asymptomatic military personnel completed baseline spirometry, and 31 (14%) were found have airway obstruction. A normal matched control group of 31 military personnel and 26 personnel with obstruction performed exercise spirometry. Twenty-three percent of the participants with obstruction demonstrated increased airway hyper-reactivity after exercise, based on a reduction in forced expiratory volume at 1 second, compared with 19% of control subjects. CONCLUSIONS Asymptomatic airway obstruction has a prevalence of 14% in young military personnel. A significant percentage of individuals also have evidence of worsening obstruction during exercise. These data suggest that screening spirometry may identify early reactive airway disease in asymptomatic individuals and should be considered as a method to identify persons predisposed to developing symptomatic asthma.
Selection and fitness in bacteriocin–producing bacteria

Bacteriocins are proteinaceous anticompetitor molecules produced by bacteria against closely related species. A number of theoretical models have been used to explain experimental data that indicate high polymorphisms among bacteriocins and a frequency–dependent nature of selection for bacteriocin–producing strains. The majority of these experimental data were, however, obtained from investigations into the colicin group of bacteriocins produced by Gram–negative bacteria. The conclusions drawn from these models have been extrapolated to other bacteriocins and allelopathic compounds in general. Examination of more recent experimental investigations into the bacteriocins of Gram–positive bacteria indicate a lower degree of polymorphism and a less frequency–dependent mode of selection among these strains than among the colicin–producing strains. Here we examine these contradictions in the light of the assumptions and conclusions of the theoretical models and reported data. We show that fitness costs (as indicated by decreased relative maximum growth rate) associated with bacteriocin production may be much lower in many cases than is assumed in the present models. A lower fitness cost associated with bacteriocin production adequately explains the newer data from Gram–positive bacteria cited here, and indicates that extrapolation of existing models to all bacteriocins and other allelopathic compounds is not appropriate.
Asset allocation

is widely agreed that asset allocation accounts for a large part of the variability in the return on a typical investor’s portfolio. This is especially true if the portfolio is invested in multiple funds, each including a number of securities. Asset allocation is generally defined as the allocation of an investor’s portfolio across a number of ”major” asset classes. Clearly such a generalization cannot be made operational without defining such classes. Once a set of asset classes has been defined, it is important to determine the exposures of each component of an investor’s overall portfolio to movements in their returns. Such information can be aggregated to determine the investor’s overall effective asset mix. If it does not conform to the desired mix, appropriate alterations can then be made. Once a procedure for measuring exposure to variations in returns of major asset classes is in place, it is possible to determine how effectively individual fund managers have performed their functions and the extent (if any) to which value has been added through active management. Finally, the effectiveness of the investor’s overall asset allocation can be compared with that of one or more benchmark, asset mixes. An effective way to accomplish all these tasks is to use an asset class factor model. After describing 7 5 w 8
Can trade liberalisation in South Africa reduce poverty and inequality while boosting economic growth? Macro–micro reflections

South Africa is trapped in a cycle of modest growth, unacceptable poverty levels and record unemployment. This has led to renewed interest on the relationship between macro (growth) and micro (poverty and distribution) issues. This paper uses a macro–micro tool that couples a computable general equilibrium model with microsimulation models to examine the impact of further unilateral trade policy reforms on growth, poverty and welfare. Trade liberalisation alone has very minimal short-run macroeconomic consequences while its long-term impacts are positive and magnified by technical factor productivity (TFP) effects. Trade liberalisation has no appreciable impact on poverty in the short run even if we allow for trade-induced TFP increases. In the long run, however, poverty reduces even in the case when we do not allow for TFP increases. Trade liberalisation policy has been found to be progressive despite the low level of tariff protection remaining in South Africa.
The zero Voltage switching (ZVS) critical conduction mode (CRM) buck Converter With tapped-inductor

The critical conduction mode (CRM) control has some disadvantages such as the increase of switching loss and conduction loss of the main switch at extreme high/low voltage conversion applications. In this paper, a CRM buck converter with tapped inductor is proposed to overcome these problems. In this converter, both the active switch and the diode have soft switching operation by the resonance between the switch parasitic capacitors and the filter inductor. Furthermore, the peak current of the main switch is reduced by tapped inductor operation, thus the conduction loss and switching loss levels of the main switch are lowered. Consequently, this tapped inductor scheme with CRM control alleviates the severe power stress and enhances device utilization. For the proposed converter evaluation, this paper provides the operation analysis and design procedures of the converter, and also presents the hardware verification for a 50-W prototype operating at maximum 70 kHz. Finally, a new topology family derived by combination of CRM operation with the basic tapped-inductor converter is included.
Decreased Expression of Cystathionine β-Synthase Promotes Glioma Tumorigenesis

Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) catalyzes metabolic reactions that convert homocysteine to cystathionine. To assess the role of CBS in human glioma, cells were stably transfected with lentiviral vectors encoding shRNA targeting CBS or a nontargeting control shRNA, and subclones were injected into immunodeficient mice. Interestingly, decreased CBS expression did not affect proliferation in vitro but decreased the latency period before rapid tumor xenograft growth after subcutaneous injection and increased tumor incidence and volume following orthotopic implantation into the caudate–putamen. In soft-agar colony formation assays, CBS knockdown subclones displayed increased anchorage-independent growth. Molecular analysis revealed that CBS knockdown subclones expressed higher basal levels of the transcriptional activator hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α/EPAS1). HIF2α knockdown counteracted the effect of CBS knockdown on anchorage-independent growth. Bioinformatic analysis of mRNA expression data from human glioma specimens revealed a significant association between low expression of CBS mRNA and high expression of angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) and VEGF transcripts, which are HIF2 target gene products that were also increased in CBS knockdown subclones. These results suggest that decreased CBS expression in glioma increases HIF2α protein levels and HIF2 target gene expression, which promotes glioma tumor formation. Implications: CBS loss-of-function promotes glioma growth. Mol Cancer Res; 12(10); 1398–406. ©2014 AACR.
Spacing Affects Stem form, early Growth and Branching in Young Whitewood (Endospermum medullosum) Plantations in Vanuatu

SUMMARY This paper investigates the early growth response, branching and stem quality of Endospermum medullosum (whitewood) at different spacings. Whitewood plantings were established at stockings of 400–833 trees per hectare and early growth, tree stem quality and branching were quantified up to age 3 years. Growth, number of live branches and branch size were negatively correlated with stocking. The stocking of trees of acceptable quality had high spatial variation. Initial spacing in whitewood plantations can be used to manipulate branch size, crown rise and stem size; all of which are important for development of pruning and thinning regimes to produce high quality logs. If unimproved whitewood stock is used, to ensure that there are 300 stems per hectare of acceptable quality to produce sawlogs, more than 600 trees per hectare should be established at planting.