Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regression models for allele sharing: analysis of accumulating data in affected sib pair studies

Advances in human genome mapping have led to the identification of large numbers of genetic markers that allow systematic searches for multiple disease susceptibility genes for complex traits. A common design involves the recruitment of families with at least two children affected with the disease of interest. The objective is to find chromosomal regions that harbour susceptibility genes for the disease. The affected children, their parents if available, and sometimes other, unaffected, siblings are genotyped using sets of microsatellite DNA markers representing chromosomal sites distributed across the genome. Each marker can occur in several different variants known as alleles, and a pair of alleles constitutes the marker genotype. Each child randomly inherits one of their mother's two alleles and one of their father's two alleles. If a marker is close to a disease susceptibility gene, then affected siblings are expected to have more sharing of the same maternal and/or paternal marker alleles. Statistical methods are used to estimate the distribution of allele sharing in each affected sib pair (ASP) using the set of markers typed across each chromosome, and to test for the presence of excess sharing in the families as a group at each point across the genome. Regression models that allow the allele sharing proportions to depend on characteristics of the family such as diagnostic subtype or ethnic background have been developed to address the heterogeneity that is characteristic of complex disease, but these have not yet been widely applied. In this paper, we apply regression modelling to investigate variation associated with family‐level covariates and with the order in which families are recruited and genotyped. We also discuss how some of the concepts of group sequential analysis apply to accumulating data from genome scans of complex disease. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Unresponsiveness to hypoglycemia of centers controlling epinephrine release in cerebral infarct patients.

Urinary excretion of catecholamines under insulin hypoglycemia was studied in cerebral infarct patients as well as in patients with Parkinson's disease and subjects with lumbar discopathy (control group). While in the last two categories of subjects a normal response to hypoglycemia, i.e., an increase in urinary excretion of epinephrine was noticed, no such increase was found in patients with cerebral infarction. The disorder is attributed to the unresponsiveness to hypoglycemia of the brain stem centers controlling epinephrine secretion.
The role of institutional support in Asian entrepreneurial expansion in Britain

This paper examines the role of formal and informal institutional support in the expansion of Asian‐owned businesses in Britain, based on a large survey of Asian entrepreneurs based in Britain. More specifically, it investigates the significance of formal (bank) sources of finance relative to that of informal (family or personal) sources of finance at start‐up and the implications of that reliance on subsequent business expansion. The paper also examines the wider role of informal family and community networks in providing access to information and labour, in addition to capital, and the impact of these support networks on business expansion. The methodology used is that of quantitative, statistical analysis supplemented by qualitative survey data. The evidence suggests that both formal and informal institutional support have played a limited role in fostering Asian entrepreneurial expansion in Britain. Although bank finance was valuable in preventing undercapitalised ventures, rapidly growing Asian businesses did not rely on bank finance either at start‐up or for expansion. This may be attributed to the short‐term perspective of banks. Rapidly growing Asian businesses did not rely on formal sources of advice. Nor did they rely on family or community networks for finance or labour. The Asian entrepreneurs who rapidly expanded their businesses invested their personal savings at start‐up, relied on their family and friends for advice, employed non‐Asian labour and invested in employee training. These results imply that Asian entrepreneurs aspiring to grow need to advance beyond the traditional reliance on informal support networks for finance and labour. Formal institutions could offer long‐term debt or equity finance, encourage investment in employee training, and provide appropriate training schemes.
Influence of occupational factors on lung function in French dairy farmers. A 5-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND Dairy farming is associated with a high prevalence of respiratory disorders but the respective influence of occupational exposures, environmental, and individual factors on lung function remain unclear. METHODS In 1994 and 1999, dairy farmers were examined in the Doubs province, France. Spirometric measures and allergological tests were performed. Medical and professional data were obtained by questionnaires. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed. RESULTS An accelerated decline in lung function parameters was associated with age, male sex, traditional farm (as opposed to modern farms), and a high rate of total IgE (P < 10(-2)). Blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) was significantly positively linked with the modernization of the farm and negatively with age, smoking status, and log IgE (P < 10(-2)). Geographical factors (altitude and climatic conditions) had no significant effect. CONCLUSIONS The modernization of the farm has an important and beneficial impact on lung functiony.
Current Account Dynamics and the Terms of Trade: Harberger-Laursen-Metzler Two Generations Later

The current account dynamics is examined for a small open economy which is subject to exogenous changes in its static terms of trade and in world interest rates. The model used is one with overlapping finite-lived generations, which we argue gives rise to a more reasonable saving behaviour than previously used models with infinite lived consumers.In particular no restrictions on the rate of time preference is required.Anticipated and unanticipated, as well as temporary and permanent,terms of trade changes have very different effects. There is, however,a general tendency towards cycles in both savings and investment,which gives rise to cycles in the current account.The classic Harberger-Laursen-Metzler effect on saving of a terms of trade deterioration can have any sign for plausible parameter values,both for temporary and permanent disturbances.
Neural Correlates of Induced Motion Perception in the Human Brain

A physically stationary stimulus surrounded by a moving stimulus appears to move in the opposite direction. There are similarities between the characteristics of this phenomenon of induced motion and surround suppression of directionally selective neurons in the brain. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate the link between the subjective perception of induced motion and cortical activity. The visual stimuli consisted of a central drifting sinusoid surrounded by a moving random-dot pattern. The change in cortical activity in response to changes in speed and direction of the central stimulus was measured. The human cortical area hMT+ showed the greatest activation when the central stimulus moved at a fast speed in the direction opposite to that of the surround. More importantly, the activity in this area was the lowest when the central stimulus moved in the same direction as the surround and at a speed such that the central stimulus appeared to be stationary. The results indicate that the activity in hMT+ is related to perceived speed modulated by induced motion rather than to physical speed or a kinetic boundary. Early visual areas (V1, V2, V3, and V3A) showed a similar pattern; however, the relationship to perceived speed was not as clear as that in hMT+. These results suggest that hMT+ may be a neural correlate of induced motion perception and play an important role in contrasting motion signals in relation to their surrounding context and adaptively modulating our motion perception depending on the spatial context.
Reduced Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit

Compressed Sensing (CS) is an elegant technique to acquire signals and reconstruct them efficiently by solving a system of under-determined linear equations. The excitement in this field stems from the fact that we can sample at a rate way below the Nyquist rate and still reconstruct the signal provided some conditions are met. Some of the popular greedy reconstruction algorithms are the Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP), the Subspace Pursuit (SP) and the Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (LAOMP). The LAOMP performs better than the OMP. However, when compared to the SP and the OMP, the computational complexity of LAOMP is higher. We introduce a modified version of the LAOMP termed as Reduced Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (Reduced LAOMP). Reduced LAOMP uses prior information from the results of the OMP and the SP in the quest to speedup the look ahead strategy in the LAOMP. Monte Carlo simulations of this algorithm deliver promising results.
ACHIEVING SUPERIOR INTERNATIONALIZATION THROUGH STRATEGIC AMBIDEXTERITY

In this paper, I examine the optimal approach to internationalization. Drawing from the ambidexterity literature, I build on the concept of structural ambidexterity and suggest that the optimal approach occurs when firms pursue 'strategic ambidexterity,' which is characterized by simultaneously executing paradoxical strategies of pro-profit and pro-growth. I examine this approach through empirical study based on in-depth field research of two cases: Merrill Lynch, a multinational enterprise and Comdirect Bank, an international new venture. I find that a) firms that pursue strategic ambidexterity in their internationalization effort achieve above-average internationalization performance in the short term; and b) firms that pursue strategic ambidexterity in their internationalization effort also achieve above-average firm-level performance in the long term. I conclude that strategic ambidexterity is the optimal strategy by which to achieve superior performance.
1.85 A structure of anti-fluorescein 4-4-20 Fab.

The crystal complex of fluorescein bound to the high-affinity anti-fluorescein 4-4-20 Fab (Ka = 10(10) M-1 at 2 degrees C) has been determined at 1.85 A. Isomorphous crystals of two isoelectric forms (pI = 7.5 and 7.9) of the anti-fluorescein 4-4-20 Fab, an IgG2A [Gibson et al. (1988) Proteins: Struct. Funct. Genet. , 3, 155-160], have been grown. Both complexes crystallize with one molecule in the asymmetric unit in space group P1, with a = 42.75 A, b = 43.87 A, c = 58.17 A, alpha = 95.15 degrees, beta = 86.85 degrees and gamma = 98.01 degrees. The final structure has an R value of 0.188 at 1.85 A resolution. Interactions between bound fluorescein, the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of the Fab and the active-site mutants of the 4-4-20 single-chain Fv will be discussed. Differences were found between the structure reported here and the previously reported 2.7 A 4-4-20 Fab structure [Herron et al. (1989) Proteins: Struct. Funct. Genet. , 5, 271-280]. Our structure determination was based on 26,328 unique reflections--four times the amount of data used in the previous report. Differences in the two structures could be explained by differences in interpreting the electron density maps at the various resolutions. The r.m.s. deviations between the variable and constant domains of the two structures were 0.77 and 1.54 A, respectively. Four regions of the light chain and four regions of the heavy chain had r.m.s. backbone deviations of > 4 A. The most significant of these was the conformation of the light chain CDR 1.
The development of a portfolio of business models: a longitudinal case study of a building material company

Dynamic aspects of intended company change can be related to the development and management of a portfolio of business models with regard to competence deployment and to performance. A portfolio of business models is seen as a reflection of the realized strategy of a company, and the dynamics aspects of company change are connected to internal and external critical strategic incidents. The business model elements considered in this research are market position, offering, and operational platform enabling a differentiation between strategic and operational effectiveness. The evolution of a Swedish supplier of building components and systems during a 15-year period is examined. The process data consists of temporal phases where a shift of phase is defined as a change of a specific portfolio of business models. The concept of a portfolio of business models helped to discover new and conflicting standardized or customized business models that were not always intended by the company. The findings indicate that unawareness of intended actions led to unintended allocation of resources or integration mechanisms that negatively affected company performance. On the other hand gains can be achieved if a strategy is deliberately managed as a portfolio of business models which then also can be a tool for managing change in a company.
Risk Factors in Australian Bond Returns

This study examines the risk factors in Australian bond returns. The study quantifies bond liquidity and estimates a liquidity risk factor in the Australian setting. We develop a three‐factor asset pricing framework that uses term, default and liquidity risk factors to explain the variation of Australian bond returns. Our findings corroborate the US evidence on the pervasiveness of these risk factors faced by bond investors. The three‐factor model developed in this study has practical applications when calculating the cost of debt, evaluating the performance of an active bond fund manager and hedging underlying risk in a bond portfolio.
Induced Effects in a Pacemaker Equipped With a Wireless Power Transfer Charging System

This paper deals with the intrasystem electromagnetic interference (EMI) in a pacemaker equipped with a wireless power transfer (WPT) charging system. The WPT application to pacemakers is very new, and no results are yet published on possible EMI effects produced by the WPT coil currents in the pacemaker pacing leads. To this aim, an efficient and original co-simulation circuit/field method is proposed to predict the induced voltages on a pacing lead. In the numerical calculation, the pacemaker with WPT secondary coil and a pacing lead is implanted in a sophisticated human body model. The numerical results are validated by measurements showing a good agreement. The proposed approach would be a useful tool for pacemaker EMI compliance tests and safety assessment evaluations.
Building an affordable projective, immersive display

Immersive, interactive virtual reality is a tool with hypothetically limitless uses. However, so far it has been put to serious use primarily in technical application areas such as computational science, automotive engineering, and chemical exploration. Groups working in these fields often have large budgets and can afford expensive, advanced displays. VR should also be of value to schools and museums, but most of them have much smaller budgets than major research labs, or are not able to support high-end graphics workstations. A simple, affordable, projection based display system can make VR far more accessible. In schools, displays could be put into individual classrooms and not just a central computer lab. In the museum world, small institutions would be capable of showing cutting edge digital work that previously has been restricted to a few large museums. This workshop describes the construction of a single screen, passive stereo, VR display based on commodity, or otherwise low-cost, components. There are many options available for the major elements of such a system and the basic system can be modified or adapted to many different styles of use. Figure 1 shows a photo of such a system in use at the University at Buffalo.
Assessment and cultivation of total quality management organisational culture – an empirical investigation

The objective of this paper is to conduct an empirical study on the role of total quality management organisational culture (TQM OC) in enabling Taiwanese companies to achieve a high level of business excellence. TQM OC is defined by TQM artefacts (also called practices), TQM core values (which indicate management commitment, customer focus, focus on fact, total participation and continuous improvement), and TQM underlying assumptions (which assume TQM benefits individual, organisation and society) that organisational members share about the appropriate behaviours prevailing in an organisation. In this study, seven Taiwanese companies, who are either National Quality Award winners or finalists, are investigated by using the approach developed by Chen, Ponce, and Jang [(2013) An approach on the cultivation of organizational culture toward TQM culture. The 16th QMOD conference, Portoroz, Slovenia]. It is intended to make an assessment of TQM organisational culture and come up with the necessary actions followed by the assessment to improve TQM OC. The result reveals that the performance of business outcome in the seven companies is positively correlated to their TQM OC. The implications of research findings in this empirical study are further discussed in the text.
The Keynesian and the convergence theories in the Portuguese manufactured industry

This work aims to test the Verdoorn Law, with the alternative specifications of (1)Kaldor (1966), for the five Portuguese regions (NUTS II), from 1986 to 1994. It is intended to test, yet in this work, the alternative interpretation of (2)Rowthorn (1975) about the Verdoorn's Law for the same regions and period. The results of this study are about each one of the manufactured industries operating in the Portuguese regions. The aim of this paper is, also, to present a further contribution to the analysis of absolute convergence, associated with the neoclassical theory, of the manufactured industry productivity at regional level and for the period from 1986 to 1994.
Direct injection of a recombinant retroviral vector induces human immunodeficiency virus-specific immune responses in mice and nonhuman primates

The cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response plays an important role in controlling the severity and duration of viral infections. Immunization by direct in vivo administration of retroviral vector particles represents an efficient means of introducing and expressing genes and, subsequently, the proteins they encode in vivo in mammalian cells. In this manner foreign proteins can be provided to the endogenous, class I major histocompatibility complex antigen presentation pathway leading to CTL activation. A nonreplicating recombinant retroviral vector, encoding the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) IIIB envelope and rev proteins, has been developed and examined for stimulation of immune responses in mouse, rhesus macaque, and baboon models. Animals were immunized by direct intramuscular injection of the retroviral vector particles. Vector-immunized mice, macaques, and baboons generated long-lived CD8+, major histocompatibility complex-restricted CTL responses that were HIV-1 protein specific. The CTL responses were found to be dependent on the ability of the retroviral vector to transduce cells. The vector also elicited HIV-1 envelope-specific antibody responses in mice and baboons. These studies demonstrate the ability of a retroviral vector encoding HIV-1 proteins to stimulate cellular and humoral immune responses and suggest that retrovector immunization may provide an effective means of inducing or augmenting CTL responses in HIV-1-infected individuals.
Large-scale reform of investor protection regulation: the European Union experience

This article considers the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004 which has introduced large-scale and dramatic reforms to investment services and trading markets across the European Union. Chief among these reforms is the new conduct of business regime which addresses all aspects of the investor/investment firm relationship. The promotion of informed investor choice and competent investor decision-making lies at the core of the new regime which is designed to construct an informed and competent cohort of retail investors for a choice-driven pan-EU investment services market. The new regime represents a landmark in EU investment services policy and the first time the retail markets have been the express target of EU policy-making. This article outlines the main features of the new conduct of business regime, which will dictate, in great detail, regulation in all 27 Member States of the EU, and considers how it articulates the underlying themes of investor choice and competent investor decision-making which drive the new regime. Although the implications of the new regime remain to be seen, considerable risks exist with respect to how the reforms manage the costs of regulation, the impact of costs on choice, and, in particular, the assumptions the reforms make concerning disclosure and effective decision-making.
Expectation Propagation Detection for High-Order High-Dimensional MIMO Systems

Modern communications systems use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and high-order QAM constellations for maximizing spectral efficiency. However, as the number of antennas and the order of the constellation grow, the design of efficient and low-complexity MIMO receivers possesses big technical challenges. For example, symbol detection can no longer rely on maximum likelihood detection or sphere-decoding methods, as their complexity increases exponentially with the number of transmitters/receivers. In this paper, we propose a low-complexity high-accuracy MIMO symbol detector based on the Expectation Propagation (EP) algorithm. EP allows approximating iteratively at polynomial-time the posterior distribution of the transmitted symbols. We also show that our EP MIMO detector outperforms classic and state-of-the-art solutions reducing the symbol error rate at a reduced computational complexity.