Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Another Determinant of Household Leverage: Evidence from Japan's Mortgage Loan Data

We investigate determinants of household leverage in Japan, which did not experience the sharp rise in real estate prices and dramatic securitized mortgage market developments in the 2000s, and prove that these determinants are not universal. We employ household sample data collected during 2001–2010 by the Japan Housing Finance Agency and the Nikkei NEEDs Radar Financial Survey, totaling to 28,561 samples. We find that the degree of household interest rate risk preference, which proxies the household constitutional and behavioral factors including risk tolerance, positively relates to the household debt to income ratio. Further, as regards residential mortgage loans, these interest rate risk-preferring households buy higher-priced houses relative to their income, hold fewer financial assets, and tend to be headed by young males. We also find similarities between household mortgage debt determinants in Japan and the United States: the degree of regional bank market competition and the state of bank management soundness influence the aggressiveness of the residential mortgage loan business.
New ex-ante indices of market power

This paper deals with introducing new ex-ante indices of market power which measure potential of each generator in exercising market power. These indices consider competitors' offer price as an important factor affecting incentive of generator to exercise market power. In deregulated electricity market, there exists two strategies adopted by generators to exercise market power which are separated from each other. Therefore, two different indices are introduced in order to separate these two strategies named physical withholding and financial withholding. New separated indices help market monitoring to predict players' reaction more precisely before market constitution. The Proposed indices are calculated for generators of a test system and the results are discussed.
A reflection on bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents at a major tertiary care center in Lebanon over a decade.

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial resistance has been inflecting deleterious health and economic consequences locally and globally. This study addresses the patterns and trends of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents over a decade, at a major tertiary care center in Beirut. METHODS Data on bacterial susceptibility patterns at the CAP accredited Clinical Microbiology Laboratory is analyzed from January 2000 to November 2011, along with related different studies conducted during this period. RESULTS Increasing rates of ESBL-producing isolates were noted for Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. Resistance to carbapenems remains problematic in Acinetobacter spp, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and started emerging in E. coli and K. pneumoniae. Tigecycline and colistin maintained excellent activity against most ESBL and carbapenem resistant bacteria relevant to the treatment by these agents. Resistance to quinolones is being encountered in Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), though remaining relatively high, showed decreasing trends of resistance, while vancomycin maintain uniform activity. Rare and sporadic vancomycin resistant strains in enterococci are encountered. Macrolide and clindamycin increasing rates of resistance is noted in S. pneumoniae, group A streptococci, S. aureus, viridans streptococci and some others. CONCLUSION Physicians should be aware of the local epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance to properly guide the initial therapy. These resistance problems can be attributed to uncontrolled use of antimicrobial agents, thus, highlighting the need for antimicrobial stewardship to curb this threat.
Corruption and Countervailing Action in Pakistan

This paper explores the potential for empirical analysis of corruption and countervailing action, based on data extracted from newspapers. Theoretical analysis suggests that when the press is free and competitive, it is likely to cover corruption and direct forms of countervailing action comprehensively. This theory is borne out by data collected from three Pakistani newspapers published during January and February 1994.
Spontaneous electrical muscle fiber activity in polymyositis and dermatomyositis

Forty patients with polymyositis or dermatomyositis underwent detailed electromyographic evaluation. The paraspinal muscles of all patients were examined, as were several extremity muscles. The distribution of fibrillation potentials (FPs) in different muscles is discussed. FPs were most frequent in paraspinal muscles. We conclude that, for any patient suspected of having a myopathy, electromyographic examination should include the paraspinal muscles.
Fluffy, the major regulator of conidiation in Neurospora crassa, directly activates a developmentally regulated hydrophobin gene

The fluffy (fl) gene of Neurospora crassa is required for asexual sporulation and encodes an 88 kDa polypeptide containing a typical fungal Zn2Cys6 DNA‐binding motif. Identification of genes regulated by fl will provide insight into how fungi regulate growth during morphogenesis. As a step towards identifying the target genes on which FL may act, we sought to define target sequences to which the FL protein binds. The DNA binding domain of FL was expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion with glutathione S‐transferase (GST) and purified using glutathione‐sepharose affinity chromatography. The DNA binding sites were selected and amplified by means of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐mediated random‐site selection method involving affinity bead‐binding and gel mobility shift analysis. Sequencing and comparison of the selected clones suggested that FL binds to the motif 5′‐CGG(N)9CCG‐3′. A potential binding site was found in the promoter region of the eas (ccg‐2) gene, which encodes a fungal hydrophobin. In vitro competitive binding assays revealed a preferred binding site for FL in the eas promoter, 5′‐CGGAAGTTTC CTCCG‐3′, which is located 1498 bp upstream of the eas translation initiation codon. In vivo experiments using a foreign DNA sequence tag also confirmed that this sequence resides in a region required for FL regulation. In addition, yeast one hybrid experiments demonstrated that the C‐terminal portion of FL functions in transcriptional activation. Transcriptional profiling was used to identify additional potential targets for regulation by fl.
Predicting bacteremia in children with fever and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia

Background. Fever and neutropenia are common clinical problems in pediatric oncology and frequently necessitate emergency hospitalization and immediate empiric broad spectrum antimicrobial therapy. Estimating the risk of bacteremia in fever and neutropenia is a challenge. The purpose of this study was to develop an algorithm predicting the risk of bacteremia and Gram-negative bacteremia in children and adolescents with fever and neutropenia, based on information accessible at presentation. Methods. We collected information available within 2 h of presentation of children with fever and neutropenia and, on outcome, from all pediatric cancer patients presenting with fever and neutropenia from 1993 through 2001 in a retrospective single center cohort study. After univariate analyses a multivariate decision tree was constructed, and its performance was evaluated by cross-validation. Results. Bacteremia was detected in 87 (24%) and Gram-negative bacteremia in 30 (8%) of 364 episodes of fever and neutropenia. At the predetermined sensitivity level, ≥95%, decision tree models reached cross-validated specificities of 37 and 43%, with negative predictive values of 96 and 99%, for bacteremia and Gram-negative bacteremia, respectively. Absence of a clinically or radiologically evident source of infection and previous episodes of fever and neutropenia were defined as two newly described factors associated with bacteremia. Conclusions. Based on this retrospective analysis, it appears that bacteremia can be predicted with clinically useful specificity at a high level of sensitivity, using clinical information available at presentation in pediatric cancer patients with fever and neutropenia.
Establishment and characterization of a caprine mammary epithelial cell line (CMEC)

SummaryWe describe the establishment of a continuous, nontransformed cell line obtained from primary culture of a lactating (114 days postparturition) Anglo-Nubian (Capra hircus) goat mammary gland biopsy. These cells (CMEC), have been cultured in the presence of supraphysiologic concentrations of insulin and hydrocortisone for more than 560 population doublings (over 80 passages) without any sign of senescence while maintaining a normal/near-normal diploid chromosome modal number of 2n=60 and are responsive to contact inhibition of proliferation. Cytoskeletal analysis indicates that CMECs are epithelial, without detectable fibroblastic or myoepithelial cells. When grown at low density on plastic substratum, the cells tend to form island monolayer aggregates with the characteristics cobblestone morphology of epithelial cells. With increasing density, the cells organize into lumen-like structures with various morphology consisting of large and small vacuolized and nonvacuolized cells. Postconfluent cultures form epithelial raised dome-like structures, implying a process of contact-induced differentiation. This is corroborated by positive immunocytochemistry to lactation-specific proteins: β-casein and α-lactalbumin, which were predominantly expressed in dome-forming cells. We also observed an overall modulation of cytokeratin 18/19 expression associated with number of days post subculture and with the expression of lactation-specific proteins. Postconfluent cultures which contain lactation-specific, antibody-reactive, dome-like structures showed a decreased expression of keratin 18 and no (null) expression for keratin 19. Lastly, cells cultured within a collagen matrix show morphological differentiation with the organization of branching duct-like and acini-like structures. This study suggests that CMECs are a useful in vitro model for study of mammary gland development and differentiation, in particular, direct modulation of epithelial cells grown on plastic substratum or extracellular matrix without the influence of stromal elements or the necessity and variability associated with primary cell culture or tissue explants.
Mapping of QTL associated with waterlogging tolerance during the seedling stage in maize.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Soil waterlogging is a major environmental stress that suppresses maize (Zea mays) growth and yield. To identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with waterlogging tolerance at the maize seedling stage, a F2 population consisting of 288 F(2:3) lines was created from a cross between two maize genotypes, 'HZ32' (waterlogging-tolerant) and 'K12' (waterlogging-sensitive). METHODS The F2 population was genotyped and a base-map of 1710.5 cM length was constructed with an average marker space of 11.5 cM based on 177 SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers. QTL associated with root length, root dry weight, plant height, shoot dry weight, total dry weight and waterlogging tolerance coefficient were identified via composite interval mapping (CIM) under waterlogging and control conditions in 2004 (EXP.1) and 2005 (EXP.2), respectively. KEY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Twenty-five and thirty-four QTL were detected in EXP.1 and EXP.2, respectively. The effects of each QTL were moderate, ranging from 3.9 to 37.3 %. Several major QTL determining shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total dry weight, plant height and their waterlogging tolerance coefficient each mapped on chromosomes 4 and 9. These QTL were detected consistently in both experiments. Secondary QTL influencing tolerance were also identified and located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 10. These QTL were specific to particular traits or environments. Although the detected regions need to be mapped more precisely, the findings and QTL found in this study may provide useful information for marker-assisted selection (MAS) and further genetic studies on maize waterlogging tolerance.
An Analysis of the Value Added by Secondary Schools in England: Is the Value Added Indicator of Any Value?

This paper argues that the value added score published for all publicly funded secondary schools in England is an unreliable indicator of school performance. A substantial proportion of the between-school variation in the value added score is accounted for by factors outside the school's control. These factors include several pupil-related variables such as the proportion of pupils on free school meals, the authorized absence rate of pupils and the proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds. The value added score is also related to several school characteristics such as the school's admission policy and its subject specialism. The main policy recommendation of this paper is that the value added score should not be used as a performance indicator, but should be used to gain a better understanding of why the value added score varies between schools.
Economic/environmental dispatch of an interconnected power system considering Multiple Fuel Sources

Due to the ever stringent environmental regulations, the power producers have been forced to produce electric power at the least price and minimum level of emissions. The generation electrical power from fossil fuel releases several impurities into atmosphere and this become excrescent if the generating unit is fueled with Multiple Fuel Sources (MFS). Inclusion of this issue in the operational task is a welcome perspective. Nevertheless numerous published reports deal only the cost effective operation, this work proposes a more accurate and practical operational model considering valve-point effects, CO2 emission and MFS. This power system operational problem is constructed as a multi-objective non-linear optimization problem which considers conflicting objectives. To address this problem, the modern nature inspired algorithm called Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) has been chosen as the primal optimizer. The fuzzy decision making mechanism is adopted to determine the best compromised solution in multi-objective framework. Further, the ALO is applied to solve the operational problem taking into consideration the MFS and tie line capacity between different areas of the power system. To validate the effectiveness of ALO, it is implemented on the standard test system comprises of 10 generating units and various kinds of power system operations are performed. Moreover, the comparison and performance analysis confirm that the current proposal is found enhanced in terms of solution quality.
Pharmacokinetics of Recombinant Hirudin in Hemodialyzed End-stage Renal Failure Patients

Summary Recently, hirudin was used for the first time as an anticoagulant during hemodialysis in men. Pharmacokinetic data of this compound in end-stage renal failure are however not available. In this study, the pharmacokinetics of recombinant hirudin (HBW 023) was evaluated in hemodialysis-treated end-stage renal failure patients. HBW 023 was administered as a bolus at the start of a single dialysis (0.02 to 0.08 mg/kg) in 20 patients, and plasma hirudin levels were followed during this and the 5 following dialyses, without additional hirudin administration. The initial dialysis (HDj) was performed with a low flux polysulfone dialyzer; the following dialyses (up to HD6) with a high flux polysulfone dialyzer and regular heparin. Hirudin levels averaged 504.0 ± 214.0 and 527.7 ± 217.1 ng/ml in the middle and at the end of HDj, and then gradually decreased to 15.2 ± 15.2 ng/ml at the end of HD6. Pharmacokinetic data were compared to those obtained in healthy controls (n = 5), receiving the same dose, and reaching the same peak hirudin level. Hirudin half-life was >30 times longer in hemodialysis patients (51.8 ± 15.6 vs. 1.7 ± 1.5 h, p <0.001), whereas area under the curve was >60 times higher (34,669 ± 14,898 vs. 545 ± 205 ng/ml X h, p <0.001). Distribution volume was lower in hemodialysis patients (11.0 ± 3.1 vs. 14.1 ± 2.0 1, p <0.05). Hirudin disappearance rate was the same during high flux polysulfone dialysis as during interdialytic periods. Hirudin removal was markedly higher in those patients still maintaining some residual renal function and parameters of hirudin removal were significantly correlated to residual creatinine clearance. It is concluded that hirudin removal from the body is markedly depressed in hemodialyzed end-stage renal failure patients and that even minor residual renal function may increase this removal rate.
Factors Affecting Sales at Farmers' Markets: An Iowa Study

The 180 farmers' markets operating in a range of urban to rural communities in Iowa provide a useful setting to evaluate factors affecting sales at these markets. Higher average sales at markets tended to be associated with urban and higher income areas. Only 30% of vendors reported sales greater than $5,000, mostly in the produce category. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Integrating Paleodistribution Models and Phylogeography in the Grass-Cutting Ant Acromyrmex striatus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Southern Lowlands of South America

Past climate changes often have influenced the present distribution and intraspecific genetic diversity of organisms. The objective of this study was to investigate the phylogeography and historical demography of populations of Acromyrmex striatus (Roger, 1863), a leaf-cutting ant species restricted to the open plains of South America. Additionally, we modeled the distribution of this species to predict its contemporary and historic habitat. From the partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I of 128 A. striatus workers from 38 locations we estimated genetic diversity and inferred historical demography, divergence time, and population structure. The potential distribution areas of A. striatus for current and quaternary weather conditions were modeled using the maximum entropy algorithm. We identified a total of 58 haplotypes, divided into five main haplogroups. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the largest proportion of genetic variation is found among the groups of populations. Paleodistribution models suggest that the potential habitat of A. striatus may have decreased during the Last Interglacial Period (LIG) and expanded during the Last Maximum Glacial (LGM). Overall, the past potential distribution recovered by the model comprises the current potential distribution of the species. The general structuring pattern observed was consistent with isolation by distance, suggesting a balance between gene flow and drift. Analysis of historical demography showed that populations of A. striatus had remained constant throughout its evolutionary history. Although fluctuations in the area of their potential historic habitat occurred during quaternary climate changes, populations of A. striatus are strongly structured geographically. However, explicit barriers to gene flow have not been identified. These findings closely match those in Mycetophylax simplex, another ant species that in some areas occurs in sympatry with A. striatus. Ecophysiological traits of this species and isolation by distance may together have shaped the phylogeographic pattern.
Determinants of intellectual capital disclosure in prospectuses of initial public offerings

Abstract Intellectual capital is recognised as the new economic era’s pivotal factor underlying value creation. Deficient and inconsistent intellectual capital reporting is escalating information asymmetry between informed and uninformed investors. This provides fertile ground for informed investors to extract higher abnormal returns and higher wealth transfers from uninformed investors, particularly during a firm’s initial public offering (IPO). This study investigates the association between intellectual capital disclosure levels in prospectuses of 444 IPOs listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange between 1997 and 2006, and three potential explanatory determinants: (1) ownership retention; (2) proprietary costs; and (3) corporate governance structure. Statistical analysis supports our conjecture of a positive association between intellectual capital disclosure and ownership retention. We also find, consistent with expectations, a negative influence of proprietary costs on the positive intellectual capital disclosure – ownership retention association. However, contrary to predictions, we do not find an IPO’s corporate governance structure significantly influences the negative interaction of proprietary costs on the ownership retention – proprietary cost association. Our findings have implications for various parties such as regulators who may impose unnecessary costs on issuers if they introduce mandatory disclosures whilst lacking an understanding of the factors influencing intellectual capital disclosures.
Establishing Prediction Model of Antiepileptic Drugs Response using Data Mining Approach

Correspondence Z. -Q. Liu, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China; Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Changsha 410078, China. Tel. : +86-731-8480-5380; Fax: +86-731-8235-4476; E-mail: liuzhaoqian63@126.com Received 1 July 2016; revision 22 July 2016; accepted 24 July 2016
Conservation of Arabidopsis Flowering Genes in Model Legumes1[w]

The model plants Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) have provided a wealth of information about genes and genetic pathways controlling the flowering process, but little is known about the corresponding pathways in legumes. The garden pea (Pisum sativum) has been used for several decades as a model system for physiological genetics of flowering, but the lack of molecular information about pea flowering genes has prevented direct comparison with other systems. To address this problem, we have searched expressed sequence tag and genome sequence databases to identify flowering-gene-related sequences from Medicago truncatula, soybean (Glycine max), and Lotus japonicus, and isolated corresponding sequences from pea by degenerate-primer polymerase chain reaction and library screening. We found that the majority of Arabidopsis flowering genes are represented in pea and in legume sequence databases, although several gene families, including the MADS-box, CONSTANS, and FLOWERING LOCUS T/TERMINAL FLOWER1 families, appear to have undergone differential expansion, and several important Arabidopsis genes, including FRIGIDA and members of the FLOWERING LOCUS C clade, are conspicuously absent. In several cases, pea and Medicago orthologs are shown to map to conserved map positions, emphasizing the closely syntenic relationship between these two species. These results demonstrate the potential benefit of parallel model systems for an understanding of flowering phenology in crop and model legume species.
Quaternion kinematic and dynamic differential equations

Many useful identities pertaining to quaternion multiplications are generalized. Among them multiplicative commutativity is the most powerful. Since quaternion space includes the 3D vector space, the physical quantities related to rotations, such as angular displacement, velocity, acceleration, and momentum, are shown to be vector quaternions, and their expressions in quaternion space are derived. These kinematic and dynamic differential equations are further shown to be invertible due to the fact that they are written in quaternion space, and the highest order term of the rotation parameters can be expressed explicitly in closed form. >