Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skill Wage Premia, Employment, and Cohort Effects: Are Workers in Germany All of the Same Type?

This paper studies the relationship between employment and wage structures in West Germany based on the IAB employment subsample 1975-1997. It extends the analytical framework of Card and Lemieux (2001) which simultaneously includes skill and age as important dimensions of heterogeneity. After having identified cohort effects in skill wage premia and in the evolution of relative employment measures, we estimate elasticities of substitution between employees in three different skill groups and between those of different age, taking account of the endogeneity of wages and employment. Compared to estimates in the related literature, we find a rather high degree of substitutability. Drawing on the estimated parameters, we simulate the magnitude of wage changes within the respective skill groups that would have been necessary to halve skill-specific unemployment rates in 1997. The required nominal wage reductions range from 8.8 to 12.2% and are the higher the lower the employees' skill level.
Categorization, Performance Appraisals, and Self-Limiting Behavior: The Impact on Current and Future Performance

The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of treatment discrimination as manifested through performance evaluation bias. Research has demonstrated that demographic dissimilarity between raters and ratees can result in performance evaluation bias. As a result of such bias, work-related opportunities based on performance evaluation might be provided to individuals with demographic characteristics similar to those of the rater and not to those whose characteristics differ. The current model suggests that the denial of such opportunities is associated with the formation of self-limiting behavior and subsequent performance detriment. The current model also addresses the formation of a performance feedback loop that potentially leads to future poor performance. Moderators (i.e., task interdependence, time, social category identification, and common group identity) of the proposed relationships are also identified. Additionally, suggestions for future investigations are offered.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa PilY1 Binds Integrin in an RGD- and Calcium-Dependent Manner

PilY1 is a type IV pilus (tfp)-associated protein from the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa that shares functional similarity with related proteins in infectious Neisseria and Kingella species. Previous data have shown that PilY1 acts as a calcium-dependent pilus biogenesis factor necessary for twitching motility with a specific calcium binding site located at amino acids 850–859 in the 1,163 residue protein. In addition to motility, PilY1 is also thought to play an important role in the adhesion of P. aeruginosa tfp to host epithelial cells. Here, we show that PilY1 contains an integrin binding arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motif located at residues 619–621 in the PilY1 from the PAK strain of P. aeruginosa; this motif is conserved in the PilY1s from the other P. aeruginosa strains of known sequence. We demonstrate that purified PilY1 binds integrin in vitro in an RGD-dependent manner. Furthermore, we identify a second calcium binding site (amino acids 600–608) located ten residues upstream of the RGD. Eliminating calcium binding from this site using a D608A mutation abolished integrin binding; in contrast, a calcium binding mimic (D608K) preserved integrin binding. Finally, we show that the previously established PilY1 calcium binding site at 851–859 also impacts the protein's association with integrin. Taken together, these data indicate that PilY1 binds to integrin in an RGD- and calcium-dependent manner in vitro. As such, P. aeruginosa may employ these interactions to mediate host epithelial cell binding in vivo.
Empirical mode decomposition use in electroencephalography signal analysis for detection of starting and stopping intentions during gait cycle

Electroencephalography signals can be used to detect start and stop times of gait. This is useful for people who have lost or present serial low limb motor difficulties in order to work in conjunction with an exoskeleton. Normally, the frequency bands that are used to detect the gait or stop intentions are related to mu and beta frequency bands. However, in order to enhance the electroencephalography signal quality, it is necessary to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. In the paper, a former research is complemented with the use of different types of frequency and spatial filters. A multi resolution analysis tool based on Hilbert-Huang transform is also introduced as a new processing tool and its results discussed with the help of a recent developed comparison index.
Marginalized Denoising for Link Prediction and Multi-Label Learning

Link prediction and multi-label learning on graphs are two important but challenging machine learning problems that have broad applications in diverse fields. Not only are the two problems inherently correlated and often appear concurrently, they are also exacerbated by incomplete data. We develop a novel algorithm to solve these two problems jointly under a unified framework, which helps reduce the impact of graph noise and benefits both tasks individually. We reduce multi-label learning problem into an additional link prediction task and solve both problems with marginalized denoising, which we co-regularize with Laplacian smoothing. This approach combines both learning tasks into a single convex objective function, which we optimize efficiently with iterative closed-form updates. The resulting approach performs significantly better than prior work on several important real-world applications with great consistency.
The Webster Technique: a chiropractic technique with obstetric implications.

OBJECTIVE To survey members of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA); regarding the use of the Webster Technique for managing the musculoskeletal causes of intrauterine constraint, which may necessitate cesarean section. METHODS Surveys were mailed to 1047 US and Canadian members of the ICPA. RESULTS One hundred eighty-seven surveys were returned from 1047 ICPA members, constituting a return rate of 17.86%. Seventy-five responses did not meet the study inclusion criteria and were excluded; 112 surveys (11%) provided the data. Of these 112 surveys, 102 (92%) resulted in resolution of the breech presentation, while 10 (9%) remained unresolved. CONCLUSION The surveyed doctors reported a high rate of success (82%) in relieving the musculoskeletal causes of intrauterine constraint using the Webster Technique. Although the sample size was small, the results suggest that it may be beneficial to perform the Webster Technique in month 8 of pregnancy, when breech presentation is unlikely to spontaneously convert to cephalic presentation and when external cephalic version is not an effective technique. When successful, the Webster Technique avoids the costs and/or risks of external cephalic version, cesarean section, or vaginal trial of breech.In view of these findings, the Webster Technique deserves serious consideration in the health care management of expectant mothers exhibiting adverse fetal presentation.
Consistent Subsets of Inconsistent Systems

A large knowledge system operating for a long time almost inevitably becomes \polluted" by wrong data that makes the system inconsistent. Despite this fact, a sizeable part of the system remains unpolluted, and retains useful information. It is widely adopted that a maximally consistent subset of a system (mc-subset) contains a sig-niicant portion of unpolluted data. So, determining mc-subsets is a necessary step towards reasoning with inconsistent knowledge. We consider extensions of the MAX-SAT problem, investigate characteristic features of mc-subsets, present algorithms for computing all or major mc-subsets of inconsistent sets of clauses, and report results of experiments evaluating parameters of mc-subsets.
Surface Expression of a T Cell Receptor Chain in the Absence of TCR-cr and "3' Proteins By Jennifer A. Punt,* Ralph T. Kubo, Takashi Saito, S

From the *Department of Pathology, University of Pennsflvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104; the *National Jewish Center for Immunolog? and Respirator,/Medicine, Denver, Colorado 80206; the SDivision of Molecular Genetics, Center for Neurobiology and Molecular t z d he liD artment o Immunology, School of Medicine, Chiba Universi y, Ch'ba, Japan; an t ep ,f Microbiology and Immunology, Fels Research Institute, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140
Family Ties, Physical Health, and Psychological Well-Being

Objectives: This study assesses the impact of number and quality of family ties on the health and well-being of elderly people. Method: Measures of the quantity and quality of family ties, adjusting for gender, education, and income, were correlated with the self-rating of health and well-being of a sample of 534 married parents between 68 and 73 years of age. Results: The quality of an individual's relationships with spouse, children, and other family members was associated with personal feelings of well-being, but the quantity of such associations had little impact on either physical or psychological health. Discussion: Researchers and those working with elderly people should not assume that the presence of family members necessarily implies that social support affecting physical health and well-being will be forthcoming.
Identification of a New Benzimidazole Derivative as an Antiviral against Hepatitis C Virus

ABSTRACT Aminoquinolines and piperazines, linked or not, have been used successfully to treat malaria, and some molecules of this family also exhibit antiviral properties. Here we tested several derivatives of 4-aminoquinolines and piperazines for their activity against hepatitis C virus (HCV). We screened 11 molecules from three different families of compounds, and we identified anti-HCV activity in cell culture for six of them. Of these, we selected a compound (B5) that is currently ending clinical phase I evaluation for neurodegenerative diseases. In hepatoma cells, B5 inhibited HCV infection in a pangenotypic and dose-dependent manner, and its antiviral activity was confirmed in primary hepatocytes. B5 also inhibited infection by pseudoparticles expressing HCV envelope glycoproteins E1 and E2, and we demonstrated that it affects a postattachment stage of the entry step. Virus with resistance to B5 was selected by sequential passage in the presence of the drug, and reverse genetics experiments indicated that resistance was conferred mainly by a single mutation in the putative fusion peptide of E1 envelope glycoprotein (F291I). Furthermore, analyses of the effects of other closely related compounds on the B5-resistant mutant suggest that B5 shares a mode of action with other 4-aminoquinoline-based molecules. Finally, mice with humanized liver that were treated with B5 showed a delay in the kinetics of the viral infection. In conclusion, B5 is a novel interesting anti-HCV molecule that could be used to decipher the early steps of the HCV life cycle. IMPORTANCE In the last 4 years, HCV therapy has been profoundly improved with the approval of direct-acting antivirals in clinical practice. Nevertheless, the high costs of these drugs limit access to therapy in most countries. The present study reports the identification and characterization of a compound (B5) that inhibits HCV propagation in cell culture and is currently ending clinical phase I evaluation for neurodegenerative diseases. This molecule inhibits the HCV life cycle by blocking virus entry. Interestingly, after selection of drug-resistant virus, a resistance mutation in the putative fusion peptide of E1 envelope glycoprotein was identified, indicating that B5 could be used to further investigate the fusion mechanism. Furthermore, mice with humanized liver treated with B5 showed a delay in the kinetics of the viral infection. In conclusion, B5 is a novel interesting anti-HCV molecule that could be used to decipher the early steps of the HCV life cycle.
Manometric study of lower esophageal sphincter in children with primary acid gastroesophageal reflux and acid gastroesophageal reflux secondary to food allergy.

PURPOSE The comparison of values of selected lower esophageal sphincter (LES) manometric parameters measured in children suspected of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (preliminary study) and in children with primary acid GER and acid GER secondary to cow's milk allergy and/or other food (CMA/FA) in relation to the duration of the disease (prospective study). MATERIAL AND METHODS A 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring was performed on 264 children of both sexes suspected of GERD (mean age x=20.78+/-17.23 months). Pathological acid gastroesophageal reflux (GER) was diagnosed and divided into primary and secondary reflux in 138 children (52.3%). 76 patients (28.8%) (x=25.2+/-27.28 months) with primary GER made up Group 1. Group 2 consisted of 62 patients (23.5%) (x=21.53+/-17.79 months) with GER secondary to CMA/FA. 32 patients (12.1%) (x=23.7+/-12.63 months) with CMA/FA symptoms made up Group 3 (reference group). Prospective assessment of LES manometric parameters, i.e. resting LES pressure and LES length, was performed on 138 children with GER. Manometric parameters, resting LES pressure and LES length, measured at the preliminary study (0) and control studies (after 1, 2 and 8 years), were prospectively assessed in 138 children. The assessment resulted from clinical observation and/or conservative treatment. RESULTS The mean value of resting LES pressure (mm Hg) before treatment was x=11.75+/-3.98 in Group 1, x=11.05+/-3.31 in Group 2, and x=14.17+/-3.86 in Group 3 (reference group). After 2 years of clinical observation, the mean value of resting LES pressure accounted for x=13.71+/-3.88 in Group 1, x=13.01+/-2.94 in Group 2, and x=17.92+/-3.36 in Group 3. The mean LES length (cm) before treatment accounted for x=1.68+/-0.72 in Group 1, x=1.78+/-0.70 in Group 2, and x=2.0+/-0.86 in Group 3. After 2 years of clinical observation, the mean LES length was x=2.80+/-0.40 in Group 1, x=2.76+/-0.40 in Group 2, and x=2.97+/-0.48 in Group 3. 12 children with persistent GERD (Group 1) and 8 children with persistent GERD and food allergy (Group 2) underwent manometric evaluation of LES after 8 years. No statistical differentiation of the mean values of resting LES pressure and LES length were shown in examined children of Groups 1 and 2 during prospective studies. CONCLUSIONS Manometric studies of LES assessing only resting LES pressure and its length in the examined children with acid GER do not clearly differentiate GER into primary and secondary refluxes to food allergy.
Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanoparticles for Bacterial Inhibition: Synthesis and Characterization of Doped and Undoped ONPs with Ag/Au NPs

Organic nanoparticles (ONPs) of lipoic acid and its doped derivatives ONPs/Ag and ONPs/Au were prepared and characterized by UV-Visible, EDS, and TEM analysis. The antibacterial properties of the ONPs ONPs/Ag and ONPs/Au were tested against bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi). Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and bacterial growth inhibition tests show that ONPs/Ag are more effective in limiting bacterial growth than other NPs, particularly, for Gram positive than for Gram-negative ones. The order of bacterial cell growth inhibition was ONPs/Ag > ONPs > ONPs/Au. The morphology of the cell membrane for the treated bacteria was analyzed by SEM. The nature of bond formation of LA with Ag or Au was analyzed by molecular orbital and density of state (DOS) using DFT.
Association between hTERT rs2736100 polymorphism and sensitivity to anti-cancer agents

Background: The rs2736100 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is located in the intron 2 of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have consistently supported the strong association between this SNP and risk for multiple cancers. Given the important role of the hTERT gene and this SNP in cancer biology, we hypothesize that rs2736100 may also confer susceptibility to anti-cancer drug sensitivity. In this study we aim to investigate the correlation between the rs2736100 genotype and the responsiveness to anti-cancer agents in the NCI-60 cancer cell panel. Methods and Materials: The hTERT rs2736100 was genotyped in the NCI-60 cancer cell lines. The relative telomere length (RTL) of each cell line was quantified using real-time PCR. The genotype was then correlated with publically available drug sensitivity data of two agents with telomerase-inhibition activity: Geldanamycin (HSP90 inhibitor) and RHPS4/BRACO19 (G-quadruplex stabilizer) as well as additional 110 commonly used agents with established mechanism of action. The association between rs2736100 and mutation status of TP53 gene was also tested. Results: The C allele of the SNP was significantly correlated with increased sensitivity to RHPS4/BRACO19 with an additive effect (r = −0.35, p = 0.009) but not with Geldanamycin. The same allele was also significantly associated with sensitivity to antimitotic agents compared to other agents (p = 0.003). The highest correlation was observed between the SNP and paclitaxel (r = −0.36, p = 0.005). The telomere length was neither associated with rs2736100 nor with sensitivity to anti-cancer agents. The C allele of rs2736100 was significantly associated with increased mutation rate in TP53 gene (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Our data suggested that the cancer risk allele of hTERT rs2736100 polymorphism may also affect the cancer cell response to both TERT inhibitor and anti-mitotic agents, which might be attributed to the elevated telomerase-independent activity of hTERT, as well as the increased risk for TP53 gene mutagenesis conferred by the polymorphism. Detailed mechanisms need to be further investigated.
Comparison of : Four Approaches to Automatic Language Identification of Telephone Speech

AbstructWe have compared the performance of four approaches for automatic language identification of speech utterances: Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classification; single-language phone recognition followed by languagedependent, interpolated n-gram language modeling (PRLM); parallel PRLM, which uses multiple single-language phone recognizers, each trained in a different language; and languagedependent parallel phone recognition (PPR). These approaches, which span a wide range of training requirements and levels of recognition complexity, were evaluated with the Oregon Graduate Institute Multi-Language Telephone Speech Corpus. Systems containing phone recognizers performed better than the simpler GMM classifier. The top-performing system was parallel PRLM, which exhibited an error rate of 2% for 45-s utterances and 5% for 10-s utterances in two-language, closed-set, forcedchoice classification. The error rate for 11-language, closed-set, forced-choice classification was 11 % for 45-s utterances and 21% for 10-s utterances.
XML and its impact on content and structure in electronic health care documents

Worldwide information networks have the requirement that electronic documents must be easily accessible, portable, flexible and system-independent. With the development of XML (eXtensible Markup Language), the future of electronic documents, health care informatics and the Web itself are about to change. The intent of the recently formed ASTM E31.25 subcommittee, "XML DTDs for Health Care", is to develop standard electronic document representations of paper-based health care documents and forms. A goal of the subcommittee is to work together to enhance existing levels of interoperability among the various XML/SGML standardization efforts, products and systems in health care. The ASTM E31.25 subcommittee uses common practices and software standards to develop the implementation recommendations for XML documents in health care. The implementation recommendations are being developed to standardize the many different structures of documents. These recommendations are in the form of a set of standard DTDs, or document type definitions that match the electronic document requirements in the health care industry. This paper discusses recent efforts of the ASTM E31.25 subcommittee.
The Antiangiogenic Insulin Receptor Substrate-1 Antisense Oligonucleotide Aganirsen Impairs AU-Rich mRNA Stability by Reducing 14-3-3β–Tristetraprolin Protein Complex, Reducing Inflammation and Psoriatic Lesion Size in Patients

Increased inflammation and aberrant angiogenesis underlie psoriasis. Here, we report that the inhibition of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) expression with aganirsen resulted in a dose-dependent reduction (P < 0.0001) in IRS-1 protein in the cytoplasm, while IRS-1 protein remained quantitatively unchanged in the perinuclear environment. Aganirsen induced a dose-dependent increase in serine-phosphorylated IRS-1 in the soluble perinuclear-nuclear fraction, inducing IRS-1–14-3-3β protein association (P < 0.001), thereby impairing 14-3-3β–tristetraprolin protein complex and AU-rich mRNA’s stability (P < 0.001). Accordingly, aganirsen inhibited (P < 0.001) in vitro the expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-12, IL-22, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), four inflammatory mediators containing mRNA with AU-rich regions. To demonstrate the clinical relevance of this pathway, we tested the efficacy of aganirsen by topical application in a pilot, double-blind, randomized, dose-ranging study in 12 psoriatic human patients. After 6 weeks of treatment, least square mean differences with placebo were −38.9% (95% confidence interval, −75.8 to −2.0%) and −37.4% (−74.3 to −0.5%) at the doses of 0.86 and 1.72 mg/g, respectively. Lesion size reduction was associated with reduced expression of IRS-1 (P < 0.01), TNFα (P < 0.0001), and vascular endothelial growth factor (P < 0.01); reduced keratinocyte proliferation (P < 0.01); and the restoration (P < 0.02) of normal levels of infiltrating CD4+ and CD3+ lymphocytes in psoriatic skin lesions. These results suggest that aganirsen is a first-in-class of a new generation of antiangiogenic medicines combining anti-inflammatory activities. Aganirsen-induced downregulation of inflammatory mediators characterized by AU-rich mRNA likely underlies its beneficial clinical outcome in psoriasis. These results justify further large-scale clinical studies to establish the dose of aganirsen and its long-term efficacy in psoriasis.
IgD class switching: Identification of a novel recombination site in neoplastic and normal B cells

IgD on normal B lymphocytes usually is co‐expressed with IgM. A minority of normal plasma cells and rare B cell malignancies express exclusively IgD (IgM−‐IgD+). The low frequency has been explained by the lack of a recognizable switch region within the Cμ‐Cδ intron. We analyzed four cases of IgM−IgD+ hairy cell leukemia (HCL) by Southern (DNA) blot analysis and identified two cases with a recombinatorial event within the Cμ‐Cδ intron and deletion of Cμ. DNA sequence analysis of junctional regions showed that Sμ or the immediate upstream region was used as a donor site and that the Cμ‐Cδ intronic σδ region was used as acceptor site. Using polymerase chain reaction, we subsequently analyzed whether similar Sμ‐σδ recombinations occur in normal tonsils containing IgM−IgD+ plasma cells. Multiple products with a size range of 200–800 base pairs were detected in all four individuals, suggesting clustering of acceptor sites within σδ. Sequence analysis of three cloned products showed Sμ‐σδ recombinations similar those observed in HCL. The σδ region contains a relatively high content of pentameric repeats with an extremely G‐rich area and appears to function as a vestigial switch recombination site in normal and neoplastic IgM−‐IgD+ B cells.