Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depo-Provera: new developments in a decade-old controversy.

Examines the 10-year controversy surrounding Depo-Provera, the long acting injectable contraceptive. Although banned as a contraceptive in the US in 1978, Depo is endorsed by agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the World Health Organization for use in the 3rd World. The US Agency for International Development, whose policy forbids distribution of a drug not approved for US use, is under pressure from developing-world governments to distribute Depo. An expert committee, at AID's request, recently reviewed data relating to the safety of the injectable. It found Depo to be safe, and recommended that AID alter its present policy. Critics of the drug continue to maintain that its safety is unproved, and that distribution should await further tests.
Neural control in vergence eye movements

Vergence eye movements are the inward and outward turning of the eyes and contemporary views believe these movements are mediated by a preprogramming and feedback controlled mechanism. The individual left and right eye responses have been reported to have large dynamic asymmetries between the individual eye movements. One hypothesis to explain the observed asymmetry is the preprogrammed transient component is monocularly controlled. A visual stimulus was created to stimulate a single step change to one eye and a double step change to the other eye using a haploscope. Results show that in some responses a double high-velocity component was observed in one response with a single high-velocity response in the other eye. This behavior suggests the preprogrammed component within a vergence response may be monocularly controlled.
Fast Search with Data-Oriented Multi-Index Hashing for Multimedia Data

Multi-index hashing (MIH) is the state-of-the-art method for indexing binary codes, as it di-vides long codes into substrings and builds multiple hash tables. However, MIH is based on the dataset codes uniform distribution assumption, and will lose efficiency in dealing with non-uniformly distributed codes. Besides, there are lots of results sharing the same Hamming distance to a query, which makes the distance measure ambiguous. In this paper, we propose a data-oriented multi-index hashing method (DOMIH). We first compute the covariance ma-trix of bits and learn adaptive projection vector for each binary substring. Instead of using substrings as direct indices into hash tables, we project them with corresponding projection vectors to generate new indices. With adaptive projection, the indices in each hash table are near uniformly distributed. Then with covariance matrix, we propose a ranking method for the binary codes. By assigning different bit-level weights to different bits, the returned bina-ry codes are ranked at a finer-grained binary code level. Experiments conducted on reference large scale datasets show that compared to MIH the time performance of DOMIH can be improved by 36.9%? 87.4%, and the search accuracy can be improved by 22.2%. To pinpoint the potential of DOMIH, we further use near-duplicate image retrieval as examples to show the applications and the good performance of our method.
Bowley’s Law: The Diffusion of an Empirical Supposition into Economic Theory

Resume La part du revenu du travail dans le produit national a baisse dans de nombreux pays developpes au cours des trente dernieres annees. Cependant, nombreux sont les economistes qui demeurent convaincus que la part des salaires reste plus ou moins constante a long terme. La stabilite relative de la part des salaires a long terme est consideree comme un fait stylise, voire comme une « loi de l’economie ». L’article tente de montrer comment la stabilite alleguee de la part du travail dans le revenu est devenue l’une des « caracteristiques centrales de la science economique ». Il montre aussi comment cette « loi » a penetre les trois principales theories macro-economiques de la repartition : neoclassique, post-keynesienne et kaleckienne. Puisque les donnees revelent des fluctuations marquees dans le temps des parts des revenus, on peut en conclure que les principales theories macro-economiques de la croissance et de la repartition sont construites autour d’une hypothese erronee – ou tres discutable.JEL classi? cation : B22, E25
Micro rotary-linear actuator assisted by ferrofluid levitation for 3-dimensional endoscopic imaging

This paper reports the first microactuator that selectively and simultaneously produces rotational and linear motions of its rotor/slider targeted at applications for minimally invasive active catheters. The magnet rotor/slider component is levitated by ferrofluid accumulated around it inside a catheter tube, achieving low-friction actuation for electromagnetic rotation of the component and/or its pneumatic sliding along the tube's axis. A microfabricated prototype of the actuator is coupled with a prism mirror to demonstrate full 3-dimentional (3D) scanning of an energy beam, verifying the designed functionality of the actuator. Testing of the prototype reveals a superior axial stability of rotation over the preceding device with no linear actuation function. The results indicate a promising potential for circumferential 3D imaging usable for different types of endoscopic imaging including ultrasound and optical coherence tomography.
Summary Report Education on Online Safety in Schools in Europe

Stanislav RANGUELOV Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, Belgium Abstract Background: In Europe, Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) open a world of possibilities for children, and expose them to various risks as well. The Safer Internet Programme promoted by the European Commission aims to protect young people online. Goal: The study seeks to identify how European national education systems approach online safety issues faced by children and what children learn about Online Safety (OS) in school; and this reprint shares European experience internationally in promoting online safety education. Research Method: Data was collected by the Eurydice Unit of the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) with the collaboration of the National Eurydice Units. Thirty-four Eurydice Units representing 30 European countries participated in this study voluntarily. Results: The majority of the countries under study address online safety education in both Primary and Secondary schools, and integrate it in various subjects in school curriculum. Teachers with training teach it, and the educational authorities collaborate with other public or private organisations.
The importance of market orientation, learning orientation, and quality orientation capabilities in TQM: an example from Taiwanese software industry

Abstract This paper investigates three important capabilities in TQM – market orientation, learning orientation, and quality orientation – and examines the relationships among them for achieving greater firm performance. From the capability perspective, market orientation as a customer-focused capability may lead to success in TQM, but its effect cannot be fully understood in isolation without considering the complemented capabilities that transform market intelligence into final products/services. This study proposes two other sources of TQM capabilities – learning orientation and quality orientation, and investigates the relationships between the three core values of TQM and firm performance. Based on the data collected from 101 Taiwanese software firms, the results suggest that organizations should link internal processes with market activities by focusing on customer/market information collection and dissemination, exploring market information through adaptive and generative learning, producing innovative improving strategies, then implementing creative strategies with quality processes. As such, firms can gain better product and service performance. Finally, the implications of the study are provided.
Automobile Reliance Among the Elderly: Race and Spatial Context Effects

Abstract Mobility is a necessary condition for the social and emotional well-being of older people. To meet their mobility needs, the elderly assign pivotal importance to the automobile despite the potential challenge of driving cessation and searching for alternatives to automobile transportation. Older persons' generally strong reliance on the automobile varies, however, by land use patterns (density) as well as by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. This paper analyzes the effects of spatial context and personal attributes on automobile reliance among the elderly. Using the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) trip data, two models of automobile reliance among elderly (65p) trip makers are estimated. The results show that spatial context effects of automobile reliance vary by demographic characteristics; in particular, they are more pronounced for black than for white elderly. Moreover, race variation in automobile reliance is strongest in urban locations rather than less dense spatial contexts. Finally, the differentiation between being a passenger rather than a driver is salient in order to understand locational and racial variations in automobile reliance among the elderly. Copyright 2003 Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky.
In vivo MRI Follow-up of Murine Tumors Treated by Electrochemotherapy and other Electroporation-based Treatments

In vivo cell electropermeabilization can be used alone or in combination with a hydrophilic, nonpermeant cytotoxic drug such as bleomycin (electrochemotherapy) to efficiently treat tumors. We used magnetic resonance imaging to detect rapid structural modifications in tumors treated by electroporation-based methods. Water diffusion coefficient (ADC), transverse relaxation time (T2) and tumor volume of fibrosarcomas xenografted on syngenic mice were measured upon 3 groups of 6 treated mice within the 48 hrs following ECT done with a normal (BE) or a high dose of bleomycin (HBE), and after irreversible electroporation (IRE), and in three control groups. As expected, the tumor volume increased in the control groups at 48 hrs (p < 0.05) and the values of ADC and T2 did not varied significantly in the control groups except for ADC decrease and T2 increase observed between 3 hrs and 24 hrs (p < 0.03) in the group that received bleomycin only. Tumor volumes decreased significantly at 24 hrs in the IRE and HBE groups. The mean tumor ADC increased significantly at 24 hrs (+17.6%, p < 0.03) in the BE group, probably reflecting apoptosis, while in the HBE group the mean tumor ADC increased earlier, at 10 hrs (+19%, p < 0.03) because of the speed of the pseudoapopototic process. In the IRE group, the mean tumor ADC decreased significantly at 1 hrs (p < 0.05) and 3 hrs (p < 0.03), and T2 decreased (p < 0.03), both probably reflecting cell swelling induced by the vascular lock. Thus ADC and T2 changes in the treated tumors correlated with previous histological observations on the same tumor models. Noteworthy, ADC allowed the visualization of early and rapid changes in the treated tumors, when tumor volume monitoring was not yet able to detect any effect of the treatments.
Comparing the Empirical Performance of Alternative Demand Systems

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CONVERGENCE AND THE U.S. STATES: A TIME‐SERIES ANALYSIS*

After decades of apparent convergence, state and regional per capita earnings diverged between 1978 and 1988. A central tenet of the convergence hypothesis is that shocks to relative state and regional earnings, such as those of the 1978 to 1988 period, are transitory. We find evidence for convergence for the U.S. states and regions during the 1929 to 1990 period after allowing for a break in the rate at which the various states and regions were converging in 1946. An important finding of this research is that the US. states and regions achieved per capita earnings convergence by 1946.
Human resource management: Leaders, laggards, and followers

Executive Overview Most American companies face intense competition, have had to cut costs, and see a continuing need to improve quality and customer service. In response, they have trimmed their work forces and expanded operations overseas. Those companies that rank as human resource leaders have combined downsizing with restructuring, reengineering, employee involvement programs, and team-based work redesigns. They have retrained and redeployed twice as many workers as the human resource laggards, are more apt to sponsor private-public partnerships with schools, offer employees flexible work arrangements, and conduct diversity training and mentoring programs. Neither leaders nor laggards, HB followers are hampered by short-term pressures, indifferent middle management, and other barriers to change; such companies wait for innovations to take hold in their industries. Because HR executives are generally not well-positioned to promote innovation in their companies, the gap between leaders, followers, and .
Volatility Cones and Their Sampling Properties

Determining the volatility of the underlying asset is perhaps the single most important issue in practical option pricing. Many forecasting techniques exist, using historical returns data, implied volatility parameters from observed option prices, normal and non-normal probability distributions and more complex stochastic processes, non-market information, and more. But one of the most important aspects of the problem is seldom formally examined: estimation error. Even under ideal conditions, both measured volatility in a historical sample of returns and future realized volatility over an option's lifetime are subject to sampling error. Shorter samples have larger estimation error. A “volatility cone” is a plot of the range of volatilities within a fixed probability band around the true parameter, as a function of sample length. In this article, Hodges and Tompkins examine volatility cones under different assumptions about the true returns process. One important contribution is a bias correction for estimation using an overlapping data sample that produces unbiased estimates and a substantial gain in efficiency. They then apply the analysis empirically to S&P 500 index futures returns and conclude that the observed volatility behavior is consistent with a stochastic volatility process that has fat-tailed innovations.
The conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen-dollar exchange rate

This paper examines the conditional heteroscedasticity of the yen-dollar exchange rate. A model is constructed by extending the asymmetric power autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model to a process that is fractionally integrated. It is found that, unlike the equity markets, the appreciation and depreciation shocks of the yen against the dollar have similar effects on future volatilities. Although the results reject both the stable and the integrated models, our analysis of the response coefficients of the past shocks and the application of the models to the estimation of the capital requirements for trading the currencies show that there are no substantial differences between the fractionally integrated models and the stable models. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
But They Don&Apos;T Want to Reduce Housing Equity

The majority of the wealth of most elderly is in the form of housing equity. It is often claimed that many elderly would transfer wealth from housing to finance current consumption expenditure, were it not for the large transaction costs associated with changes in housing equity. This is the rationale for a market in reverse annuity mortgages. This paper considers whether transaction costs, understood to include the psychic costs associated with leaving friends, family surroundings, and the like, prevent the elderly from making choices that would improve their financial circumstances. The analysis considers jointly the probability that an elderly family will move and the housing equity that is chosen when a move occurs. The results are based on the decisions of the Retirement History Survey sample between 1969 and 1919. Relative to the potential gains from a reallocation of wealth between housing equity and other assets, transaction costs are very large. Nonetheless, the effect on the housing equity of the elderly is very small. On balance, were all elderly to move and choose optimum levels of housing equity, the amount of housing equity would be increased slightly. Most elderly are not liquidity constrained. And contrary to standard formulations of the life cycle hypothesis, the typical elderly family has no desire to reduce housing equity. The desired reduction of housing equity is largest among families with low income and high housing wealth, but even in this case the desired reductions are rather small. And these desired reductions are more than offset by the desired increases of other families, especially those with high income and low housing wealth. Thus, consistent with the previous findings of Venti and Wise and of Feinstein and McFadden, limited demand may explain the absence of a market for reverse annuity mortgages.
Expression of the E-cadherin/β-catenin/tcf-4 pathway in gastric diseases with relation to Helicobacter pylori infection: clinical and pathological implications.

OBJECTIVE To determine the expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, and transcription factor 4 (TCF4) proteins in gastric diseases with relation to Helicobacter pylori infection. METHODS A total of 309 patients including 60 with superficial gastritis (SG), 57 with atrophic gastritis (AG) and 192 with gastric cancer (GC), were enrolled. The expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, TCF4 proteins in the gastric mucosa was detected by immunohistochemistry and H. pylori infection by immunohistochemistry and PCR. RESULTS The expression rates of E-cadherin were significantly higher in SG and AG than in GC (P<0.01), while those of β-catenin in the nucleus were significantly lower in SG and AG than in GC (P<0.05). In GC cases, the expression rates of E-cadherin, β-catenin and TCF4 were significantly higher in the intestinal type than in the diffuse type (P<0.05). In GC patients, the expression rate of E-cadherin was significantly higher in the presence of H. pylori than in the absence of infection (P=0.011). Moreover, the expression level of TCF4 and β-catenin protein was significantly higher in the nucleus and cytoplasm in H. pylori positive than in H. pylori negative GC patients, especially in those with the intestinal type (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin progressively decreases during the process of GC tumorigenesis, while overexpression of TCF4 occurs. H. pylori infection is associated with a significant increase in the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in the cytoplasm and nucleus in GC patients, especially those with the intestinal type.
Vacancy Duration, Wage Offers, and Job Requirements - Pre-Match Data Evidence

Besides wage offers, credentials like education, work experience and skill requirements are key screening tools for firms in their recruitment of new employees. This paper contributes some new evidence to a relatively tiny literature on firms’ recruitment behaviour. In particular, our analysis is concerned with how vacancy durations vary with firms’ minimum wage offers and minimum job requirements (regarding education, skills, age, gender and earlier work experience). The empirical analysis is based on ten employer surveys carried out by the DGBAS on Taiwan during the period 1996-2006. We estimate logistic discrete hazard models with a rich set of job and firm characteristics as explanatory variables. The results show that vacancies associated with higher wage offers take, ceteris paribus, longer to be filled. The impact of firms’ wage offers and credential requirements does not vary over the business cycle. However, firms vary their skills requirements over the business cycle: our empirical analysis shows that, for a given wage offer, requirements are stricter in recessions and downturns. Separating between reasons for posting vacancies turned out important in explaining differences in vacancy durations. The duration of vacancies due to regular turnover and changing business cycle condition are less affected by skill requirements than that of other vacant jobs.
Efficient Estimation of the Seemingly Unrelated Regression Cointegration Model and Testing for Purchasing Power Parity

Abstract This paper studies the efficient estimation of seemingly unrelated linear models with integrated regressors and stationary errors. We consider two cases. The first one has no common regressor among the equations. In this case, we show that by adding leads and lags of the first differences of the regressors and estimating this augmented dynamic regression model by generalized least squares using the long-run covariance matrix, we obtain an efficient estimator of the cointegrating vector that has a limiting mixed normal distribution. In the second case we consider, there is a common regressor to all equations, and we discuss efficient minimum distance estimation in this context. Simulation results suggests that our new estimator compares favorably with others already proposed in the literature. We apply these new estimators to the testing of the proportionality and symmetry conditions implied by purchasing power parity (PPP) among the G-7 countries. The tests based on the efficient estimates easily reject the joint hypotheses of proportionality and symmetry for all countries with either the United States or Germany as numeraire. Based on individual tests, our results suggest that Canada and Germany are the most likely countries for which the proportionality condition holds, and that Italy and Japan for the symmetry condition relative to the United States.
Gamma-glutamyltransferase as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality: an epidemiological investigation in a cohort of 163,944 Austrian adults.

BACKGROUND There is evidence from recent studies that gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) is likely to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, few studies to date with sufficient sample size and follow-up investigated the association of GGT with CVD mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS The relation of GGT to the risk of death from CVD was examined in a cohort of 163,944 Austrian adults that was monitored for up to 17 years. To evaluate GGT as an independent predictor, Cox proportional hazards models were calculated, which adjusted for established risk factors. In both men and women, high GGT was significantly (P<0.001) associated with total mortality from CVD, showing a clear dose-response relationship. Adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) per log GGT increase were 1.66 (1.40 to 1.98) in men and 1.64 (1.36 to 1.97) in women. In men, subgroup analyses showed that high GGT was positively associated with incident fatal events of chronic forms of coronary heart disease (P=0.009), congestive heart failure (P<0.001), and hemorrhagic (P=0.01) and ischemic stroke (P<0.001). No significant associations were observed for acute myocardial infarction (P=0.16). In women, hazard ratios suggested associations in all subgroups; however, for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke they were not statistically significant (P=0.09 and P=0.07, respectively). In addition, subgroup analyses stratified by age revealed a stronger relationship of GGT in younger participants. Hazard ratios for total CVD were 2.03 (1.53 to 2.69) in men and 2.60 (1.53 to 4.42) in women younger than 60 years. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates in a large, prospectively observed cohort that GGT is independently associated with cardiovascular mortality.