Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kyoto and the carbon content of trade

A unilateral tax on CO2 emissions may drive up indirect carbon imports from non-committed countries, leading to carbon leakage. Using a gravity model of carbon trade, we analyze the effect of the Kyoto Protocol on the carbon content of bilateral trade. We construct a novel data set of CO2 emissions embodied in bilateral trade flows. Its panel structure allows dealing with endogenous selection of countries into the Protocol. We find strong statistical evidence for Kyoto commitments to affect carbon trade. On average, the Kyoto protocol led to substantial carbon leakage but its total effect on carbon trade was only minor.
Antibiotic Prescribing for Adults Hospitalized in the Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community Study

Summary Although more than half of ward patients received guideline-concordant antibiotics, a number received nonrecommended community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) antibiotics, informing stewardship strategies and highlighting the need to harmonize CAP and healthcare-associated pneumonia guidelines. Healthcare-associated pneumonia risk, recent outpatient antibiotic use, and in-hospital antibiotic use <6 hours after admission were associated with nonrecommended CAP antibiotics.
The impact of FDA regulatory activities on incident dispensing of LABA-containing medication: 2005–2011

ABSTRACT Objective: Evidence of safety issues associated with long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) treatment has led to multiple regulatory activities by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on this class of medications. This study describes the impact of the regulatory activities on incident LABA-containing medication dispensing. Methods: A monthly rolling cohort of asthma patients who were eligible to initiate a LABA-containing product was created in the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database between January 2005 and June 2011. Cohorts of individuals who initiated LABA were examined for the changes in the proportions of single-ingredient to fixed-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-LABA initiators, appropriate initiation of LABA-containing products, and use of controller medications. The impact of the 2005 and 2010 FDA regulatory activities associated with LABA-containing products was measured using interrupted time series with segmented regression. Results: LABA-containing product initiation was declining prior to the 2005 regulatory activities and continued to decline over the study period, accompanied by increased initiation of fixed dose ICS-LABA among LABA initiators. While the 2010 regulatory activities had no immediate impact on the proportion of LABA initiation in patients with prior controller medication dispensing and/or poor asthma control, there was an increasing positive trend toward LABA initiation in the appropriate patient population after the regulatory activities. Conclusion: The 2005 and 2010 FDA regulatory activities likely had an impact on communicating the safety concerns of LABA products. However, the impact cannot be viewed independent of scientific publications, guidelines for asthma treatment and other regulatory activities.
Exercise training in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic devastating interstitial lung disease associated with exercise intolerance, dyspnea, hypoxemia, diminished quality of life and poor prognosis. A growing body of evidence with respect to short-term effects of exercise training has demonstrated clinical benefits in IPF patients. A recent systematic review showed significant improvements in 6-min walking distance, peak aerobic capacity, reduced dyspnea and improved quality of life. However, aspects of training programs, maintenance and predictors of improvement and the impact on prognosis need to be further explored. The aim of this paper was to comprehensively review the existing scientific literature regarding exercise training in patients with IPF and identify important gaps that should be studied in the future.
The Information Content of the Neutral Rate of Interest

In this paper, I use a structural VAR model and the Kalman filter to estimate the natural rate of interest (NRI) in Poland. I show how the NRI can yield important information for a central banker. First, estimation of the NRI can be helpful for monetary authorities, seeking to stabilize inflation after a long process of disinflation. Second, for a country trying to join a monetary union there exists an additional information content of the estimated NRI. The bigger the difference between the candidates and the Unions natural rates, the more likely the “Portuguese” scenario of a widening current account after adopting the common currency.
Unchanging Incidence of Hip Fracture in Southeastern Norway

Purpose: The aim of this study was to ascertain trends in the incidence of hip fracture in southeastern Norway by comparing the hip fracture incidence for the years 2008 to 2010 to that of a study from 1998 to 2003 in the same area. Methods: We determined the number of hip fractures for the geographical area of Ostfold county, and the age- and gender-specific incidence per 100 000, with 95% confidence intervals, was calculated. Use of bisphosphonates was determined by extracting data from public databases. Results: The hip fracture incidence for men aged 50 to 74 and older than 75 years was 120 (100-141) and 1305 (1237-1372) in the latest time period, 1998-2003, whereas the incidence for the previous period, 2008-2010, was 124 (103-146) for men aged 50 to 75 and 1333 (1189-1476) for men older than 75 years. For women of 50 to 74 years, the incidence was 184 (158-209), and for women older than 75 years, it was 2523 (2428-2618). In the first time period, the corresponding incidence was 228 (200-257) for women aged 50 to 74 and 2330 (2189-2471) for women older than 75 years. As the 95% confidence intervals overlap in all the comparisons, it indicates the the incidence did not significantly differ between the time periods. Bisphosphonate use did not exceed 2% in any age group for men. For women, the highest rate of bisphosphonate use was 12.6% in the 85- to 89-year groups. Conclusion: We cannot confirm reports of decreasing incidence of hip fracture
Dynamic media streaming under predictable reliability

As audiovisual communications services become the dominant traffic source in the Future Internet, their stable coexistence and their fairness towards background traffic is an active research topic. The Internet implements flow multiplexing in a decentralized fashion via congestion control. Audiovisual media streams, however, are classified as inelastic traffic flows that do not allow rate control. Today's Internet streaming applications implement dynamic HTTP streaming in order to adapt to the transport protocol's congestion window size. Nevertheless, the infeasibility of TCP's congestion and error control for low-latency, high-rate communications services leads to significant underutilization of the available bandwidth. As a result, the multimedia quality suffers unnecessarily. In order to address TCP's drawbacks, we implement a novel transport protocol - Predictably Reliable Real-time Transport (PRRT), a protocol layer that efficiently supports the reliability required by multimedia services under their specific time constraint. PRRT is based on hybrid error coding that allows for both proactive and reactive reliability mechanisms. Specifically, it is designed to achieve the optimal trade-off between those mechanisms under strict delay constraints in order to optimize bandwidth utilization. Based on this transport protocol we present a dynamic media streaming architecture with near-optimal bandwidth utilization under equation-based congestion control. We evaluate PRRT's bandwidth utilization and compare it to recent media streaming standards such as HTTP-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP).
Stochastic Interest Rates for Local Volatility Hybrids Models

This paper studies the impact of stochastic interest rates for local volatility hybrids. Our research shows that it is possible to explicitly determine the bias between the local volatility of a model with stochastic interest rates and the local volatility of the same model, but with deterministic interest rates as a function between the correlation of the stochastic interest rates and the digital at the local strike. The paper will show that this bias can be expressed in a simpler form under the assumption of a diffusion of the stochastic interest rates, enabling us to compute a fast calibration for a hybrid model with stochastic interest rates. This bias leads to a decrease in the value of the local volatility as a result of the induced volatility caused by the stochastic drift. Numerical results illustrate the importance of the bias and confirm that some stochastic noise arises from the stochastic drift.
Default risk and derivative products

The modelling of default risk in debt securities involves making assumptions about the stochastic process driv- ing default, the process generating the write-down in default, and risk-free interest rates. Three generic approaches have been used. The first relies on modelling the value of the assets on which the debt is written. The second involves modelling default as an arrival process. The third involves directly modelling the interest rate spreads to which default gives rise. Each of these approaches may be applied to the impact of default risk on derivative products such as swaps and options. One application is to the valuation of derivative products that may default. The other is to the new class of 'credit derivatives' that represent derivative products written on credit risk.
The strategy to market Fine Gael in 1981

Abstract This paper examines the proposition that contemporary party election campaigns can be conceived of and assessed in marketing terms. Fine Gael's perparations for the Irish 1981 election are examined in terms of a political marketing framework comprising elements such as market research, communications strategies and product policy. This paper finds that it is only in relation to part of the product policy that Fine Gael's marketing preparations were incomplete, the result of the last minute release of the manifesto proposals. In conclusion, it is argued that ‘political marketing’ is a reality and that consideration should be given to the implications of this for matters such as party financing, media coverage and rational political debate.
CovS Simultaneously Activates and Inhibits the CovR-Mediated Repression of Distinct Subsets of Group A Streptococcus Virulence Factor-Encoding Genes

ABSTRACT To colonize and cause disease at distinct anatomical sites, bacterial pathogens must tailor gene expression in a microenvironment-specific manner. The molecular mechanisms that control the ability of the human bacterial pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) to transition between infection sites have yet to be fully elucidated. A key regulator of GAS virulence gene expression is the CovR-CovS two-component regulatory system (also known as CsrR-CsrS). covR and covS mutant strains arise spontaneously during invasive infections and, in in vivo models of infection, rapidly become dominant. Here, we compared wild-type GAS with covR, covS, and covRS isogenic mutant strains to investigate the heterogeneity in the types of natural mutations that occur in covR and covS and the phenotypic consequences of covR or covS mutation. We found that the response regulator CovR retains some regulatory function in the absence of CovS and that CovS modulates CovR to significantly enhance repression of one group of genes (e.g., the speA, hasA, and ska genes) while it reduces repression of a second group of genes (e.g., the speB, grab, and spd3 genes). We also found that different in vivo-induced covR mutations can lead to strikingly different transcriptomes. While covS mutant strains show increased virulence in several invasive models of infection, we determined that these mutants are significantly outcompeted by wild-type GAS during growth in human saliva, an ex vivo model of upper respiratory tract infection. We propose that CovS-mediated regulation of CovR activity plays an important role in the ability of GAS to cycle between pharyngeal and invasive infections.
EFFICACY OF VACUUM ASSISTED CLOSURE IN MANAGEMENT OF OPEN WOUNDS AS COMPARED TO MOIST WOUND DRESSING-EXPERIENCE AT CMH RAWALPINDI -

Objective: To compare the efficacy of vacuum assisted closure (VAC) therapy against regular moist wound dressings in reducing the surface area of open chronic wounds by at least 5 mm2 in terms of early closure of wound. Study Design: Randomized controlled trail. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at general surgery department CMH/MH Rawalpindi from Jun 2011 to Dec 2011 over a period of 06 months. Material and Methods: A total of 278 patients (139 in each group) were included in this study. Group A received VAC therapy while moist wound dressings applied in group B. Results: Mean age was 54.9 ±7.2 and 53.4 ± 8.9 years in group A and B, respectively (statistically insignificant (p=0.12). In group A, 96 patients (69.0%) and in group B 92 patients (66.2%) were male while 43 patients (31.0%) in group A and 47 patients (33.8%) in group B were female the difference being statistically insignificant (p=0.608). In group A, 63 (45.3%) patients showed significant reduction in the size of the wound while only 41 (29.5%) patients in group B had adequate wound healing at the end of 04 weeks, the difference being statistically significant (p=0.0064). Conclusion: VAC therapy decreases wound size more effectively than moist wound dressing technique. It definitely reduces hospital stay and ensures early return to work.
College Smoking-Cessation Using Cell Phone Text Messaging

Although rates of smoking among college-aged students continue to rise, few interventions that focus on college smokers' unique motivations and episodic smoking patterns exist. The authors developed and evaluated a prototype program targeting college students that integrates Web and cell phone technologies to deliver a smoking-cessation intervention. To guide the user through the creation and initialization of an individualized quitting program delivered by means of cell phone text messaging, the program uses assessment tools delivered with the program Web site. Forty-six regular smokers were recruited from local colleges and provided access to the program. At 6-week follow-up, 43% had made at least one 24-hour attempt to quit, and 22% were quit-based on a 7-day prevalence criterion. The findings provide support for using wireless text messages to deliver potentially effective smoking-cessation behavioral interventions to college students.
Well, Now, Okey Dokey: English Discourse Markers in Spanish-Language Medical Consultations

The purpose of this article is to examine the use of English discourse markers (EDMs) in medical consultations that were conducted in Spanish. Data are collected from an audio-recorded corpus of Spanish-language consultations that took place in a small community clinic in the United States as well as post-consultation interviews with patients and providers. Through the quantification of the use of discourse makers in the corpus and discourse analysis of transcripts, this article demonstrates that English-dominant medical providers use EDMs more frequently and with a broader range of functions than Spanish-dominant medical providers and patients. Such use of EDMs serves to exacerbate the power relationship between providers and patients even though it does not cause overt miscommunication in the ongoing interaction. The implications for providers who use a second language in their medical consultations are discussed.Cet article examine l'utilisation de marqueurs discursifs de l'anglais lors de consultations se déroulant en espagnol. Les données proviennent d'un corpus d'enregistrements audio de consultations en espagnol dans une petite clinique communautaire des États-Unis, ainsi que d'entrevues post-consultation avec les patients et les soignants. En quantifiant l'usage des marqueurs discursifs dans le corpus et par l'analyse discursive des transcriptions, l'article montre que les soignants qui ont l'anglais comme langue forte ont recours plus souvent aux marqueurs discursifs de l'anglais, qu'ils emploient dans une plus grande diversité de fonctions, que les soignants et les patients qui ont l'espagnol comme langue forte. Un tel usage des marqueurs discursifs de l'anglais accentue fortement la relation de pouvoir entre soignants et patients, même si l'utilisation de ces marqueurs ne cause pas de proble`mes de communication évidents pendant l'interaction. Les conséquences de ces résultats pour les soignants qui font des consultations médicales dans leur langue seconde sont abordées.
Best Practice Recommendations for the Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers: Update 2006

PURPOSE The purpose of this article is to enhance the professional nurses' knowledge of the best practice recommendations for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. TARGET AUDIENCE This continuing education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in wound care. OBJECTIVES After reading this article and taking this test, the reader should be able to: Interpret the pathway to assess and treat pressure ulcers. Differentiate the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) levels of evidence. Identify the scientific evidence for treatment recommendations. Editor's note: This "Best Practice Recommendations" article is reprinted with permission from Wound Care Canada, The Official Publication of the Canadian Association of Wound Care (2006;4[1]:31-43). It is the second installment of 4 articles originally published in 2006, following the latest Nursing Best Practice Guidelines from the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), which are updated approximately every 3 years. In 2000, the Canadian Association of Wound Care produced and had published its first best practice recommendations for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. In this article, current best practice recommendations are discussed for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. The evidence presented is connected to the RNAO's recommendations from its review of the literature up to the writing of its 2006 guidelines. Clinical decision-making in the treatment of pressure ulcers can be guided by the algorithm that directs the clinician to identify and treat the underlying causes, to identify and manage patient-centered concerns, and to provide for good local wound care, considering adjunctive therapies or biologically active dressings when the edge of the wound is not advancing. Finally, the recommendations advise putting into place those organizational and educational activities that support the translations of the guidelines into practice.
A Contract-Based Spectrum Trading Scheme for Cognitive Radio Networks Enabling Hybrid Access

The latest trends in spectrum trading allow secondary users (SUs) to employ hybrid access models and exploit bandwidth employing either opportunistic spectrum access or exclusive spectrum access of vacant frequency bands (FBs) leased for exclusive usage. In this paper, the spectrum trading problem is addressed in an operational framework, where a primary spectrum owner (PSO) allocates specific FBs to a number of primary users (PUs) and at the same time allows SUs belonging to multiple service classes to operate opportunistically in a part of the spectrum primarily allocated to the PU operation. By offering exclusive bandwidth-price contracts to SUs in FBs, which are excluded from the PU access, the PSO expects additional revenue. In this framework, the PSO aims at maximizing its revenue through optimal contract design that considers the multiple SU service classes, about which the PSO may have at its disposal either complete or incomplete information. In the first case, it is proven that only one type of contract destined for the highest SU service class is profitable to the PSO. In the second case, two heuristic algorithms are proposed for the optimal contract design corresponding to offering a single contract or multiple contracts to various service classes. The simulation results for the complete and incomplete information cases have been examined with regard to the SU service classes and the number and transmission specifications of the PUs. The two proposed algorithms manage to address the incomplete information case and be close to the optimal values obtained when complete information is available. Finally, the social welfare, as the aggregate expected utility of all parties involved, is examined.
Exploratory metabolomics study of the experimental opisthorchiasis in a laboratory animal model (golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus)

Background Opisthorchiasis is a parasitic infection caused by the liver flukes of the Opisthorchiidae family. Both experimental and epidemiological data strongly support a role of these parasites in the etiology of the hepatobiliary pathologies and an increased risk of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Understanding a functional link between the infection and hepatobiliary pathologies requires a detailed description a host-parasite interaction on different levels of biological regulation including the metabolic response on the infection. The last one, however, remains practically undocumented. Here we are describing a host response on Opisthorchiidae infection using a metabolomics approach and present the first exploratory metabolomics study of an experimental model of O. felineus infection. Methodology and Principal findings We conducted a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) based longitudinal metabolomics study involving a cohort of 30 animals with two degrees of infection and a control group. An exploratory analysis shows that the most noticeable trend (30% of total variance) in the data was related to the gender differences. Therefore further analysis was done of each gender group separately applying a multivariate extension of the ANOVA—ASCA (ANOVA simultaneous component analysis). We show that in the males the infection specific time trends are present in the main component (43.5% variance), while in the females it is presented only in the second component and covers 24% of the variance. We have selected and annotated 24 metabolites associated with the observed effects and provided a physiological interpretation of the findings. Conclusions The first exploratory metabolomics study an experimental model of O. felineus infection is presented. Our data show that at early stage of infection a response of an organism unfolds in a gender specific manner. Also main physiological mechanisms affected appear rather nonspecific (a status of the metabolic stress) the data provides a set of the hypothesis for a search of the more specific metabolic markers of the Opisthorchiidae infection.
FADD phosphorylation impaired islet morphology and function

Previous studies have indicated that Fas‐FasL pathway and its downstream caspase‐8 can regulate islet mass and insulin secretion. As a classical adaptor in Fas‐FasL signaling, Fas‐associated death domain‐containing protein (FADD) takes part in many non‐apoptosis processes regulated by its phosphorylation. However, its role in islets has not been evaluated to date. Here, through comparative proteomics and bioinformatic analysis on FADD phosphorylated (FADD‐D) and wild‐type (WT) MEFs, we found three proteins involved in islet differentiation and function were dysregulated due to FADD phosphorylation. The mouse model of FADD‐D, which mimics constitutive phosphorylated FADD expression in mice, was further analyzed to address this issue. We confirmed the proteomic results by immunohistological analyses on pancreatic islets. In addition, we found that FADD‐D mice displayed decreased islet area, and the glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) of FADD‐D islets was impaired. These data suggest a novel role of FADD in islet development and insulin secretion. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 1448–1456, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company