Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and Validation of Vertebral Compression Fractures Using Administrative Claims Data

Introduction:Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are the most common type of osteoporotic fracture. Administrative claims data might be useful to identify VCFs, but this approach to case finding has received limited evaluation. Methods:Using the administrative claims databases of a large regional US health care organization, we identified adults with a claim with a VCF diagnosis code from January 2003 to June 2004 and excluded persons with malignancy. We examined the positive predictive values (PPV) of several claims algorithms to correctly identify any confirmed (prevalent or incident) VCF, and separately, incident VCFs. Results:A total of 259 persons were identified with a VCF suspected based on their administrative claims data. A claims algorithm that required a VCF diagnosis on any claim had a PPV to identify any confirmed VCF of 87% (95% confidence interval (CI), 82–91%). The PPV of this algorithm to identify a confirmed incident VCF was 46% (95% CI, 37–54%). An algorithm that required a spine imaging test followed by a physician visit with a VCF code within 10 days, or a hospitalization with a primary diagnosis code, had higher PPVs (PPV = 93%; 95% CI, 87–98% for any confirmed VCF; PPV = 61%; 95% CI, 49–74% for incident VCFs). Conclusions:A simple case finding approach to identify VCFs using administrative claims data can identify prevalent VCFs with high accuracy but misclassified more than half of incident VCFs. A more complex claims algorithm may be used but still will result in some misclassification of incident VCFs.
Economic Growth Analysis of Japan by Dynamic General Equilibrium Model with R&D Investment

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of R&D capital stock in Japan fs economic growth and consider the effects of science and technology policies, including public R&D expenditures, on the economic growth based on a general equilibrium dynamic model incorporating the nature of R&D capital as a public good. After developing data of R&D capital investment and capital stock and arranging SNA data on the basis of 2008SNA, we develop a numerical model by estimating or calibrating the structural parameters of a twosector dynamic general equilibrium model. A growth account using the production function of final goods production and R&D production shows that the TFP growth rates of both final goods production and R&D production have declined since the 1990s. As a result of a policy simulation incorporating the role of the spillover effects of public R&D into the model, it is found that an increase in public R&D investment significantly increases not only R&D production but also final goods production and household consumption.
Store-operated Ca2+ entry controls ameloblast cell function and enamel development.

Loss-of-function mutations in stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) impair the activation of Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels and store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE), resulting in a disease syndrome called CRAC channelopathy that is characterized by severe dental enamel defects. The cause of these enamel defects has remained unclear given a lack of animal models. We generated Stim1/2K14cre mice to delete STIM1 and its homolog STIM2 in enamel cells. These mice showed impaired SOCE in enamel cells. Enamel in Stim1/2K14cre mice was hypomineralized with decreased Ca content, mechanically weak, and thinner. The morphology of SOCE-deficient ameloblasts was altered, showing loss of the typical ruffled border, resulting in mislocalized mitochondria. Global gene expression analysis of SOCE-deficient ameloblasts revealed strong dysregulation of several pathways. ER stress genes associated with the unfolded protein response were increased in Stim1/2-deficient cells, whereas the expression of components of the glutathione system were decreased. Consistent with increased oxidative stress, we found increased ROS production, decreased mitochondrial function, and abnormal mitochondrial morphology in ameloblasts of Stim1/2K14cre mice. Collectively, these data show that loss of SOCE in enamel cells has substantial detrimental effects on gene expression, cell function, and the mineralization of dental enamel.
Theory Building in the Information Systems Discipline: Some critical reflections

This chapter articulates criteria for evaluating the quality of a theory. It also shows how the criteria can be used to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of a theory that, based upon citation evidence, appears to have had a significant impact on other researchers within the information systems discipline. Aside from their evaluation purposes, the criteria are also intended to inform researchers who are seeking to build high-quality theory to account for some type of phenomena within the information systems domain. Nothing is as practical as a good theory. (Lewin, 1945, p. 129)
A low-loss SICC filter using LTCC technology, for X-Band application

In this paper, a novel compact X-Band band pass filter (BPF) with low loss and narrow-band using low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology is proposed. This four pole filter is based on substrate integrated circular cavity (SICC) resonators, and the slots excitation with λ/4 open stub is used here. This filter with simple structure exhibits an insertion loss of 0.66dB at center frequency 11.6 GHz, and a 3-dB bandwidth 4.9% (~560 MHz).
China and the USA: An analysis of intercultural training methods in the corporate environment

This project presents the cultural significance of establishing and maintaining business relationships with Chinese counterparts. As both national and organizational cultures deeply impact the ways in which business is conducted, it is vital for leaders to learn the nuances of their international clients. Current business dealings are migrating towards China, as China has recently opened its doors to the outside business world and the opportunities for foreign companies are vast in China. Thus, an understanding of Chinese national and business cultures needs to be introduced in American training modules. Current training methods include role playing, simulations games, critical incident reviews, and various methods authored by business leaders. Research materials were obtained from literature and online journals, as well' as personal experiences and knowledge of the Chinese culture. Sample training modules for various corporate entities, based on the findings of the research for this project, are recommended by this author. Such training modules provide the necessary intercultural training for all firms engaged in business
Social support, depression, and quality of life among people living with HIV in Guangxi, China

ABSTRACT This study collected data from 2987 people living with HIV in China and employed structural equation modeling to examine the relationships among social support, depression, and quality of life (QOL). Depression was the strongest predictor of the psychological, energy, and mobility aspects of QOL with β = −. 70 (p < .001), β = −. 47 (p < .001), and β = −. 44 (p < .001), respectively. Emotional social support was a significant predictor of depression (β = −.12, p < .001), mobility (β = .20, p < .001), energy (β = .15, p < .001), and psychological aspect (β = .06, p < .05). Informational social support was a significant predictor of mobility (β = −.08, p < .01), energy (β = −.06, p < .05), and psychological aspect (β = −.07, p < .001). Functional social support was only negatively associated with mobility (β = −.16, p < .01). Therefore, depression had a negative effect on physical (perceived mobility and energy) and psychological (positive/negative feelings, thinking, learning, memory, and concentration) aspects of QOL. Emotional social support had both direct and indirect effects (through its buffering effect on depression) on better QOL. However, the associations between informational social support and the three aspects of QOL were negative; and informational social support did not have a buffering effect on depression. Functional social support was negatively associated with mobility, which means provision of functional support to PLHIV may not necessarily be associated with better QOL. The findings confirm that HIV/AIDS care in China should consider the conceptual differences between emotional, informational, and functional support.
Latent Class Analysis With Distal Outcomes: A Flexible Model-Based Approach

Although prediction of class membership from observed variables in latent class analysis is well understood, predicting an observed distal outcome from latent class membership is more complicated. A flexible model-based approach is proposed to empirically derive and summarize the class-dependent density functions of distal outcomes with categorical, continuous, or count distributions. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to compare the performance of the new technique to 2 commonly used classify-analyze techniques: maximum-probability assignment and multiple pseudoclass draws. Simulation results show that the model-based approach produces substantially less biased estimates of the effect compared to either classify-analyze technique, particularly when the association between the latent class variable and the distal outcome is strong. In addition, we show that only the model-based approach is consistent. The approach is demonstrated empirically: latent classes of adolescent depression are used to predict smoking, grades, and delinquency. SAS syntax for implementing this approach using PROC LCA and a corresponding macro are provided.
Conservation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Function in the Human Parasitic Helminth Schistosoma mansoni*

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) plays an important role in development and cell differentiation, and homologues of EGF-R have been identified in a broad range of vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. This work concerns the functional characterization of SER, the EGF-R-like molecule previously identified in the helminth parasite Schistosoma mansoni (Shoemaker, C. B., Ramachandran, H., Landa, A., dos Reis, M. G., and Stein, L. D. (1992) Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 53, 17–32). Transactivation assays performed in epithelial Madin-Darby canine kidney cells co-transfected with SER and a Ras-responsive reporter vector indicated that SER was able to trigger a Ras/ERK pathway in response to human epidermal growth factor (EGF). These results were confirmed in Xenopus oocytes showing that human EGF induced meiosis reinitiation characterized by germinal vesicle breakdown in SER-expressing oocytes. Germinal vesicle breakdown induced by EGF was dependent on receptor kinase activity and shown to be associated with phosphorylation of SER and of downstream ERK proteins. 125I-EGF binding experiments performed on SER-expressing oocytes revealed high affinity (2.9 × 10–9 m) of the schistosome receptor for human EGF. Phosphorylation of the native SER protein present in S. mansoni membranes was also shown to occur upon binding of human EGF. These data demonstrate the ability of the SER schistosome receptor to be activated by vertebrate EGF ligands as well as to activate the classical ERK pathway downstream, indicating the conservation of EGF-R function in S. mansoni. Moreover, human EGF was shown to increase protein and DNA synthesis as well as protein phosphorylation in parasites, supporting the hypothesis that host EGF could regulate schistosome development. The possible role of SER as a receptor for host EGF peptides and its implication in host-parasite signaling and parasite development are discussed.
Long-term result of bilateral pectoralis major muscle advancement flap in median sternotomy wound infections.

OBJECTIVE Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is an uncommon but serious complication of open heart surgery being characterized by a high mortality rate and a considerable economic weight. Repair of sternal defects, compromised with infection, can be achieved in several ways. The aim of our study is to report our case load in the management of sternal wound infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this study, we will report our twelve-year case load with bilateral pectoralis major advancement flap as the sole treatment modality for deep sternal wound infection. RESULTS This surgical approach has given excellent results in terms of resolution of the infection of the sternum, with few complications and a good cosmetic result. CONCLUSIONS We propose bilateral pectoralis major advancement flap as the first choice treatment for deep sternal wound infection.
An experimental and computational investigation of high-accuracy calibration techniques for gain reference antennas

We present a comparative investigation of the pattern integration technique and the two-antenna technique for calibration of standard gain horns; the investigation involves high-accuracy spherical near-field antenna measurements as well as high-accuracy integral equation / method of moments simulations. The experimental results are thus supported by computational results, and the agreement between these demonstrates the high accuracy of both. For the pattern integration technique the computational and experimental directivities are within 0.01 dB. For the two-antenna technique the proximity effect and the mutual reflections are clearly observed, and it is demonstrated that the use of the phase centers separation in Friis' transmission formula significantly reduces the necessary distance between antennas for a required accuracy.
The kinetics of antibody binding to membrane antigens in solution and at the cell surface.

The reaction kinetics of 125I-labelled mouse monoclonal antibodies binding to three cell-surface antigens of rat thymocytes (Thy-1.1, W3/25) were studied. The differences between bivalent and univalent interactions were determined by using antibody in the F(ab')2 or Fab' form and by using antigen in polymeric or monomeric forms. Association rate constants (k+1), dissociation rate constants (k-1) and equilibrium constants were determined. Also, the dissociation kinetics of rabbit antibodies against rat Thy-1 antigen were studied. The major findings were as follows. (i) With F(ab')2 antibody there was no simple relationship between antigen density at the cell surface and extent of bivalent binding. Extensive univalent binding was observed unless the antibody had a high k-1 for the univalent interaction, in which case all binding was bivalent. (ii) k+1 values were similar for F(ab')2 or Fab' antibody, and for the different antibodies were in the range 0.8 x 10(5)--1.1 x 10(6) M-1.s-1. These differences were sufficient to affect the interpretation of serological assays with the different antibodies. (iii) Antibody bound bivalently dissociated much more slowly than that bound univalently. However, the k-1 values for the univalently bound antibody were sufficiently low in most cases that the lifetime of the univalent complex was similar to or greater than the time needed for the assay. Thus the results could be interpreted on the basis of irreversible reactions. The overall conclusion from the study is that for an understanding of the binding of antibody to cell-surface antigens the kinetics of the interaction are of major importance and theories based on equilibrium binding are inappropriate.
Fieller's theorem and linkage disequilibrium mapping

Linkage disequilibrium mapping exploits the fact that at genetic markers close enough to a disease locus on a particular chromosome, we expect to find an association between the disease and marker alleles. Furthermore, the magnitude of the association is expected to follow a unimodal curve when plotted against location, with the peak at the disease location. In practice, for real data, we usually see deviations from such a curve due to other influences such as evolutionary variability, mutation, and selection. Here we propose fitting a quadratic curve to data of this nature, estimating the location of the disease locus by the point at which the curve is maximum. A key feature of our method is the use of transformations of both location and disequilibrium, so that departures from a unimodal curve are incorporated by fitting the curve not to the original location and disequilibrium values but to the transformed values. In addition, we estimate the covariances between the disequilibrium values at linked loci using either a multinomial approximation or a bootstrap procedure. The location estimate from our method is the ratio of two quantities that, in large samples, are normally distributed, and so we use Fieller's theorem to obtain a confidence interval for the disease gene location. We successfully apply our method to data from several published studies in which the true disease gene location is known. Genet. Epidemiol. 17:237–252, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Low Computation Face Verification Using Class Center Analysis

Despite the existence of many state-of-the-art face verification systems, the use of complex features and/or high order recognition models in these systems limits their application in devices with low computation power or low latency requirement. In this paper, we approach the problem by performing verification using simple linear distance model. We introduce a novel probability-based distance metric learning algorithm called Class Center Analysis (CCA) to improve the matching performance in a transformed space. CCA generalizes the classic Neighborhood Components Analysis (NCA) from two aspects. First NCA often leads to distributed clusters, while CCA produces more concentrative clusters, And second, NCA sometimes gives over-fitted distance transformation model, while CCA has better generalization ability. With CCA, our system is able to directly project the difference between face image pair into a real-valued score as their similarity, using only simple matrix-vector operation, and thus consuming very low computation. Our comprehensive experimental evaluation show that, CCA outperforms several other benchmark algorithms in verification accuracy. We have also built the CCA algorithm into a mobile application that uses face image for user authentication.
Individual transferable quota markets with non-compliance and market power.

This thesis presents a theoretical study of the impact of non-compliance and market power in a fishery regulated using individual transferable quotas (ITQs). The study analyses individual firm quota demands in the presence of non-compliance and/or market power and the resultant properties of the ITQ market. The analysis is static and set in a single-species fishery. The implications of non-compliance for a fishery composed entirely of competitive firms are examined first. Here the analysis departs from the convention in the literature on analogous pollution permit markets in that firms' expected penalties are modelled as a function of their relative violations of quotas. This has a significant effect upon the results, including the possibility of quota prices which are higher with non-compliance. The research then focuses on market power in the setting of a single dominant firm faced by a fringe of competitive firms. The dominant firm is allowed market power in the quota market alone and then in both quota and output markets simultaneously. In the latter case the results differ from those previously reported in the literature, including the possibility that the firm may be freely compliant, or if cheating, may have a positive quota demand even with a zero initial quota allocation. Finally, the effects of non-compliance by the dominant firm and the competitive fringe are explored.
Biosynthesis, translocation, and accumulation of betaine in sugar beet and its progenitors in relation to salinity.

Like other halophytic chenopods, sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) can accumulate high betaine levels in shoots and roots. N,N,N-trimethylglycine impedes sucrose crystallization and so lowers beet quality. The objective of this research was to examine the genetic variability and physiological significance of betaine accumulation in sugar beet and its relatives. Three cultivated genotypes of B. vulgaris and two genotypes of the wild progenitor B. maritima L. were grown with and without gradual salinization (final NaCl concentration = 150 millimolar). At 6 weeks old, all five genotypes had moderately high betaine levels in shoots and roots when unsalinized (averages for all genotypes: shoots = 108 micromoles per gram dry weight; roots = 99 micromoles per gram dry weight). Salinization raised betaine levels of shoots and roots 2- to 3-fold, but did not greatly depress shoot or root growth. The genotype WB-167-an annual B. maritima type-always had approximately 40% lower betaine levels in roots than the other four genotypes, although the betaine levels in the shoots were not atypically low.THE SITE AND PATHWAY OF BETAINE SYNTHESIS WERE INVESTIGATED IN YOUNG, SALINIZED SUGAR BEET PLANTS BY: (a) supplying 1 micromole [(14)C]ethanolamine to young leaf blades or to the taproot sink of intact plants; (b) supplying tracer [(14)C]formate to discs of leaf, hypocotyl, and taproot tissues in darkness. Conversion of both (14)C precursors to betaine was active only in leaf tissue. Very little (14)C appeared in the phospholipid phosphatidylcholine before betaine was heavily labeled; this was in marked contrast to the labeling patterns in salinized barley. Phosphorylcholine was a prominent early (14)C metabolite of both [(14)C]ethanolamine and [(14)C]formate in all tissues of sugar beet. Betaine translocation was examined in young plants of sugar beet and WB-167 by applying tracer [methyl-(14)C]betaine to a young expanded leaf and determining the distribution of (14)C after 3 days. In all cases, extensive (14)C translocation to young leaves and taproot sink occurred; neither in the fed leaf nor in sink organs were any (14)C metabolites of betaine detected.
Global and Extreme Dependence Between Investor Sentiment and Stock Returns in European Markets

ABSTRACT The authors investigate the global and extreme dependence structure between investor sentiment and stock returns in 7 European stock markets (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK), over the period 1985–2015. Global dependence refers to the correlation of changes in sentiment and stock returns over the whole range of these 2 variables, and extreme dependence refers to the local correlation of high (i.e. asymptotic) changes in sentiment and high stock returns. Using copula models and a bootstrap procedure, 6 statistical tests are performed for this purpose. Among the results of the tests, the authors highlight those that provide evidence of contemporaneous lower extreme dependence and contemporaneous upper extreme independence between sentiment and returns. As policy implications, these results suggest that financial stability can be promoted if regulators consider the impact of their decisions on investor sentiment. Also, the results seem to support the arguments in favor of short selling ban during turmoil periods. Finally, overall, the results are relevant for both investors and regulators and reinforce the importance of considering investor sentiment to better understand the behavior of financial markets.