Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indian Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Evidence on Investment Risks, Fund Mandates and Funding Levels

Indian companies are to move towards an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-adapted regime for accounting pension costs. The Indian Accounting Standard (Ind AS) 19 on Employee Benefits has been adapted from International Accounting Standard (IAS) 19. As the new regime provides greater forbearance to the volatility of asset returns by including these as a balance sheet item in Other Comprehensive Income (OCI), we take stock of the investment practice of the defined benefit pension plans of leading Indian companies, namely, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) 50 companies. We present evidence on (i) investment risks, (ii) fund mandates and (iii) funding levels using information from the companies’ financial statements for the financial years (FY) ending 2014 and 2015. We employ non-parametric statistical tests, namely, the Mann–Whitney U test (Mann and Whitney, 1947) and the chi-squared test, to evaluate the linkage between investment risks, fund mandates and funding levels of the NSE 50 companies’ defined benefit pension plans.
CD27 Dissects Mature NK Cells into Two Subsets with Distinct Responsiveness and Migratory Capacity1

Lineage differentiation and the formation of heterogeneous mature subsets are crucial for immune cells to maintain a breadth of responsiveness to pathogens while controlling reactivity to self. In this study, we report that CD27 is a key marker of the NK cell lineage, dissecting the mature Mac-1high NK cell pool into two functionally distinct subsets. The CD27low NK cell subset possesses a higher threshold to stimulation and appears to be tightly regulated by the expression of NK cell inhibitory receptors. Comparatively, the CD27high NK cell subset displays a greater effector function, exhibits a distinct tissue distribution and responsiveness to chemokines, and interacts productively with dendritic cells. Importantly, we have verified that CD27high and CD27low subsets with distinct cell surface phenotypes also exist in human peripheral blood. These findings clearly reclassify mature NK cells into two distinct subsets and begin to discern their specific role in immune responses.
Nanofiber Web Textile Dry Electrodes for Long-Term Biopotential Recording

Electrode properties are key to the quality of measured biopotential signals. Ubiquitous health care systems require long-term monitoring of biopotential signals from normal volunteers and patients in home or hospital environments. In these settings it is appropriate to use dry textile electrode networks for monitoring purposes, rather than the gel or saline-sponge skin interfaces used with Ag/AgCl electrodes. In this study, we report performance test results of two different electrospun conductive nanofiber webs, and three metal plated fabrics. We evaluated contact impedance, step response, noise and signal fidelity performance indices for all five dry electrodes, and compared them to those of conventional Ag/AgCl electrodes. Overall, we found nanofiber web electrodes matched Ag/AgCl electrode performance more closely than metal plated fabric electrodes, with the contact resistance and capacitance of Ag plated PVDF nanofiber web electrodes being most similar to Ag/AgCl over the 10 Hz to 500 kHz frequency range. We also observed that step responses of all three metal-plated fabrics were poorer than those for nanofiber web electrodes and Ag/AgCl. Further, noise standard deviation and noise power spectral densities were generally lower in nanofiber web electrodes than metal plated fabrics; and waveform fidelity of ECG-like traces recorded from nanofiber web electrodes was higher than for metal plated fabrics. We recommend textile nanofiber web electrodes in applications where flexibility, comfort and durability are required in addition to good electrical characteristics.
Accuracy of a commercial optical 3D surface imaging system for realignment of patients for radiotherapy of the thorax

Accurate and reproducible patient setup is a prerequisite to fractionated radiotherapy. To evaluate the applicability and technical performance of a commercial 3D surface imaging system for repositioning of breast cancer patients, measurements were performed in a rigid anthropomorphic phantom as well as in healthy volunteers. The camera system records a respiration-gated surface model of the imaged object, which may be registered to a previously recorded reference model. A transformation is provided, which may be applied to the treatment couch to correct the setup of the patient. The system showed a high stability and detected pre-defined shifts of phantoms and healthy volunteers with an accuracy of 0.40 ± 0.26 mm and 1.02 ± 0.51 mm, respectively (spatial deviation between pre-defined shift and suggested correction). The accuracy of the suggested rotational correction around the vertical axis was always better than 0.3° in phantom measurements and 0.8° in volunteers, respectively. Comparison of the suggested setup correction with that detected by a second and independently operated marker-based optical system provided consistent results. The results demonstrate that the camera system provides highly accurate setup corrections in a phantom and healthy volunteers. The most efficient use of the system for improving the setup accuracy in breast cancer patients has to be investigated in routine patient treatments.
The influence of mannose binding lectin polymorphisms on disease outcome in early polyarthritis. TIRA Group.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether variant alleles of the mannose binding lectin (MBL) gene causing low serum concentrations of MBL are associated with increased susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and erosive outcome in an inception cohort of patients with early polyarthritis. METHODS MBL and HLA-DRB1 alleles were determined by polymerase chain reaction in 68 Danish patients with incident early polyarthritis observed for one year. The associations between MBL and specific HLA-DRB1 genotypes and disease outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS Among the patients with early polyarthritis 7.4% (5/68) and 41.2% (28/68) were homozygous and heterozygous for MBL variant alleles, compared with 2.8% (7/250) and 34.4% (86/250) of healthy controls (p = 0.09), while the corresponding figures in the patients with RA were 10% (5/50) and 42% (21/50) (p = 0.03), and in the patients with erosive RA 18.8% (3/16) and 35.3% (6/16), respectively (p = 0.004). Patients with early polyarthritis homozygous for MBL variant alleles had an increased risk of having erosive RA at inclusion by a factor of 4.7 (p = 0.02) and after one year by a factor of 3.6 (p = 0.04). MBL deficiency was associated with increased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) at inclusion (p < 0.05). HLA-DRB1 alleles were not found to be associated with disease outcome. CONCLUSION MBL variant alleles appear to be weak susceptibility markers for RA, and patients with early polyarthritis and homozygous for MBL structural variant alleles have a higher risk of developing early erosive RA. These findings, together with the positive association between MBL variant alleles and the increased serum levels of IgM RF and CRP, point at the MBL gene as a relevant locus in the pathophysiology of RA.
Gene flow increases fitness at the warm edge of a species’ range

According to theory, gene flow to marginal populations may stall or aid adaptation at range limits by swamping peripheral populations with maladaptive gene flow or by enhancing genetic variability and reducing inbreeding depression, respectively. We tested these contrasting predictions by manipulating patterns of gene flow of the annual plant, Mimulus laciniatus, at its warm range limit. Gene flow was experimentally applied by using crosses within warm-limit populations (selfed and outcrossed), between warm-limit populations, and between warm-limit and central range populations across two elevational transects. We measured the fitness of offspring in a common garden at the warm-edge species range limit. All sources of gene flow increased seedling emergence at the range limit, suggesting local inbreeding depression at both range limit populations; however, lifetime reproductive success only increased significantly when pollen originated from another warm-limit population. Center–to–warm-edge gene flow was maladaptive by delaying time to development at this warm, fast-drying range limit, whereas edge-to-edge gene flow hastened emergence time and time to reproduction. By empirically testing theory on the effects of gene flow on the formation of geographic range limits, we find benefits of gene flow among populations to be greatest when gene flow is between populations occupying the same range limit. Our results emphasize the overlooked importance of gene flow among populations occurring near the same range limit and highlight the potential for prescriptive gene flow as a conservation option for populations at risk from climate change.
A Two-Parameter Family of Socio-Economic Health Inequality Indices: Accounting for Risk and Inequality Aversions

This paper proposes a two-parameter family of socio-economic health inequality indices. First, these indices allow a Boolean risk factor to be associated to other health dimensions. Second, multidimensional health distributions can be compared thanks to a stochastic dominance rule, which includes the attitude of the social planner with respect to the risk factor (risk neutrality, risk aversion and extreme risk aversion). Third, each order of stochastic dominance is also associated to the intensity of possible health transfers occurring between individuals, that is, the degree of inequality aversion of the social planner. This approach is a multidimensional extension of Yitzhaki's Gini indices accounting simultaneously for risk and redistribution.
Web services semantic model system

With the development of the internet technology and software engineering, web services has been more and more important in many universal interoperability practice. In this blooming fielding, the Web Services Description Language Version 2.0 (WSDL 2.0) recommendation, an XML language for describing Web services, has provided in 26 June 2007 W3C. It is more and more important to construct a correct Web services. For improving the reliable, safe, and high quality web service, constructing development component is necessary. This paper provides a mathematical model for WSDL 2.0, and a formal model, specification, and semantics of web services based on the pre-condition logic in Hoare and He's Unifying Theories of Programming (UTP) and at same time extends it.
Influenza virus-susceptible mice carry Mx genes with a large deletion or a nonsense mutation

The interferon-regulated mouse Mx gene encodes the 72-kilodalton nuclear Mx protein that selectively inhibits influenza virus replication. Mice carrying Mx+ alleles synthesize Mx protein and resist influenza virus infection, whereas mice homozygous for Mx- alleles fail to synthesize Mx protein and, as a consequence, are influenza virus susceptible. Southern blot analysis allowed us to define the following three distinct Mx restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) types among classical inbred strains: RFLP type 1 in the Mx+ strains A2G and SL/NiA, RFLP type 2 in BALB/c and 33 other Mx- strains, and RFLP type 3 in CBA/J and 2 other Mx- strains. cDNA clones of Mx mRNAs from BALB/c and CBA/J cells were isolated, and their sequences were compared with that of the wild-type Mx mRNA of strain A2G. Mx mRNA of BALB/c mice has 424 nucleotides absent from the coding region, resulting in a frame shift and premature termination of Mx protein. The missing sequences correspond exactly to Mx exons 9 through 11. These three exons, together with some flanking intron sequences, are deleted from the genomes of all Mx RFLP type 2 strains. The Mx- phenotype of the Mx RFLP type 3 strain CBA/J is due to a point mutation that converts the lysine codon in position 389 to a termination codon. Mx RFLP type 3 strains have an extra HindIII site which maps to an intron and thus probably does not affect the coding capacity of Mx mRNA. We further show that the Mx mRNA levels in interferon-treated BALB/c and CBA/J cells are about 15-fold lower than in similarly treated Mx+ cells. This is probably due to decreased metabolic stabilities of the mutant mRNAs.
Pregnancy Outcome Following First Trimester Exposure to Chloroquine

Although the use of chloroquine (C) and hydroxychloroquine (HC) in the treatment of malaria prophylaxis during pregnancy is probably safe, the use of much higher doses for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis during pregnancy has been controversial. We analyzed the cases of 24 pregnant women with a total of 27 pregnancies who had taken these drugs during their first trimester of pregnancy. C and HC were given in 11 patients with SLE, three with rheumatoid arthritis, and four for malaria prophylaxis. Most of these women had already been on antimalarial drugs for 1 to 172 months prior to pregnancy (mean, 32.2 months). Of the 27 pregnancies, 14 resulted in normal full-term deliveries, six were aborted due to severe disease activity or social conditions, three were stillbirths, and four pregnancies resulted in spontaneous abortions. No congenital abnormalities were detected in the 14 live births at ages between 9 months and 19 years (mean, 5.3 years). All these children are physically and developmentally normal with no clinical evidence of eye or hearing defects. The seven pregnancies that were associated with fetal loss occurred particularly in patients who had active SLE, although stillbirth and spontaneous abortion occurred also in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in two of the three patients who had been treated prophylactically for malaria. Although of the 215 reported pregnancies with C and HC exposure, including our study, only seven (3.3%) had congenital abnormalities, the risk associated with antimalarials may be cumulative and further studies are needed to elucidate the safety of this drug later in pregnancy.
The energetics of the interaction of piroxicam with plasma albumin

The thermodynamics of the binding of piroxicam to human and bovine plasma albumins revealed the reactions to be spontaneous and exothermic with bond strengths indicating the involvement of hydrogen and hydrophobic bonds. The association constants (K) decreased as temperature increased for both human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA); and at all the temperatures in this study, K values obtained for BSA were higher (except at 36 °C) but not the bound fraction of piroxicam (β) and the quantity of binding (V). Scatchard plots of the data indicated at least two classes of binding sites.
Consumer Values and Green Products Consumption in Malaysia: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

To impede environmental deterioration and promote a more sustainable economy, one solution is to shift consumption from conventional to green products. However, inadequate information on how to promote consumers’ green behavioral intention is slowing the growth of green markets and has become a barrier for when developing segments and communicating strategies for effective promotion of green products, in countries like Malaysia where the trend is new. This study attempts to examine consumers’ green purchase intention motivational drivers and determine the moderating effect of education levels, gender and income. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was used to evaluate the causal model. The results suggest that cultural values and environmental advertising are the main influence in building green purchase intention while environmental knowledge is not significantly related. It also indicates that gender and education level have a significant positive moderation effect while income is not. The discussions and implications of these findings are further elaborated.
Mobile Environmental Applications

Mobile communication has developed rapidly in the last few years, shifting from voice to data transfer and offering unique opportunities for providing information. This study focuses on one such aspect, mobile information for environmental purposes. Firstly, the introduction reviews using new media for environmental information. Then an explanation of the mobile medium with its unique characteristics and examples of mobile information services follow. The paper proposes a framework for using mobile media for environmental information. This study subsequently focuses on one such aspect, an application that collects traffic information to help reduce traffic jams and emissions, then, illustrates both information services and personalized services for users. The paper closes with implications and proposed future research of environmental online communication.
Methods for Automated Theorem Proving in Nonclassical Logics

In this paper we outline two basic methods for automated theorem proving in nonclassical logics, including modal, many-valued, relevance, and intuitionistic logics. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of each method and give several illustrative examples. We outline a procedure for attacking more complex problems using a combination of the two basic methods. Results of experimental applications of the techniques are reported.
Comparing the Initial Screening of Investment Opportunities by Business Angel Group Gatekeepers and Individual Angels

The nature of angel investing has changed over the past decade with the emergence of angel groups and a new actor – the angel group manager, or gatekeeper, whose primary role is to undertake the initial screening of investment opportunities. Each of the individual members of the groups then make their own evaluations of those proposals that pass the gatekeeper’s screening. This paper asks how similar or different is the approach of gatekeepers to initial screening to that of individual angels investing on their own. This has considerable practical significance as the advice given to entrepreneurs on how to become investment ready is drawn on the evidence from angels investing on their own. This issue is explored with 21 gatekeepers and 30 individual angels using Verbal Protocol Analysis, a methodology that requires participants to think out loud as they perform a familiar task – in this case the initial screening of an investment opportunity.
Climate Change Driving Financial Innovation: The Case of Green Bonds

This article deals with green bonds as a structured finance instrument that could help close the clean energy investment gap by addressing private and institutional investors. At first, the green bond universe is structured, with market-labeled green bonds being chosen for further analysis, so that patterns of issues, issuers, and market processes can be identified. Based on monthly bond price data, the authors analyze the drivers of green bond prices and their correlations with prices of other financial assets. Their findings on the risk–return positions that green bonds offer on either a standalone or a portfolio basis are mixed and suggest that factors other than pure economic criteria are responsible for the current tendency toward green bond investments.
The precision of pharmacokinetic parameters in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: the effect of sampling frequency and duration

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly applied for tumour diagnosis and early evaluation of therapeutic responses over time. However, the reliability of pharmacokinetic parameters derived from DCE-MRI is highly dependent on the experimental settings. In this study, the effect of sampling frequency (fs) and duration on the precision of pharmacokinetic parameters was evaluated based on system identification theory and computer simulations. Both theoretical analysis and simulations showed that a higher value of the pharmacokinetic parameter Ktrans required an increasing sampling frequency. For instance, for similar results, a relatively low fs of 0.2 Hz was sufficient for a low Ktrans of 0.1 min−1, compared to a high fs of 3 Hz for a high Ktrans of 0.5 min−1. For the parameter ve, a decreasing value required a higher sampling frequency. A sampling frequency below 0.1 Hz systematically resulted in imprecise estimates for all parameters. For the Ktrans and ve parameters, the sampling duration should be above 2 min, but durations of more than 7 min do not further improve parameter estimates.
A transmission line method to compute far-field radiation by arbitrarily directed Hertzian dipoles in a 1-D EBG structure

In this paper, a transmission line method is developed to compute the far-field radiation of arbitrarily directed Hertzian dipoles that are embedded in a 1-D EBG of multilayer slabs. Based on the reciprocity theorem, the evaluation of the far-field is transformed into the evaluation of the field in the 1-D EBG structure due to an incident plane wave. The field in the EBG structure is derived by solving a cascaded transmission line circuit that is mapped from the multilayer structure. As two application examples, the arrangement of the 1-D EBG structure was optimized to maximize the directivity of a quarter wavelength thin wire monopole antenna and a DRA. The results were validated by full wave analysis of the entire physical structure by using IE3D
Public Sector Audit History in Britain and Australia

The introduction of an independent public sector audit function was a critical element in the nineteenth century constitutional reforms of parliamentary and government accountability and created an essential precedent for current practice. By examining the extent of scholarly research on public sector audit history, findings reveal considerable research examined the teleological development of public sector audit and the modern history in a New Public Management context. However, there has been very little published regarding the complex rationales around the origins, development and importance of independent public sector audit notwithstanding that without an appreciation of these precedents it becomes very difficult to protect the Westminster&#8208;based system of democratic government.
Racial Differences in False-positive Mammogram Rates: Results From the ACRIN Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST)

Background:Mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality, but false-positive tests are common. Few studies have assessed racial differences in false-positive rates. Objectives:We compared false-positive mammography rates for black and white women, and the effect of patient and facility characteristics on false positives. Research Design and Subjects:A prospective cohort study. From a sample of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST), we identified black/African American (N=3176) or white (N=26,446) women with no prior breast surgery or breast cancer. Measures:Race, demographics, and breast cancer risk factors were self-reported. Results of initial digital and film mammograms were assessed. False positives were defined as a positive mammogram (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 0, 4, 5) with no cancer diagnosis within 15 months. Results:The false-positive rate for digital mammograms was 9.2% for black women compared with 7.8% for white women (P=0.009). After adjusting for age, black women had 17% increased odds of false-positive digital mammogram compared with whites (OR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.01–1.35; P=0.033). This association was attenuated after adjusting for patient factors, prior films, and study site (OR=1.04; 95% CI, 0.91–1.20; P=0.561). There was no difference in the occurrence of false positives by race for film mammography. Conclusions:Black women had higher frequency of false-positive digital mammograms explained by lack of prior films and study site.The variation in the disparity between the established technique (film) and the new technology (digital) raises the possibility that racial differences in screening quality may be greatest for new technologies.