Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental triggers of acute myocardial infarction: results of a nationwide multiple-factorial population study.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to study the independent environmental triggers of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in a multifactorial environmental population model. METHODS AND RESULTS Daily counts of all STEMI patients who underwent urgent percutaneous coronary intervention over the period 2006-2009 in Belgium were associated with average daily meteorological data and influenza-like illness incidence data. The following meteorological measures were investigated: particulate matter less than 10 μM (PM10) and less than 2.5 μM (PM(2.5)), ozone, black smoke, temperature and relative humidity. During the study period a total of 15,964 STEMI patients (mean age 63, 75% male) were admitted with a daily average admission rate of 11 ± 4 patients. A multivariate Poisson regression analysis showed that only the temperature was significantly correlated with STEMI, with an 8% increase in the risk of STEMI for each 10°C decrease in temperature (adjusted incidence risk ratio (IRR) 0.92, 95% CI 0.89-0.96). The effects of temperature were consistent among several subpopulations but the strongest effect was seen in diabetic patients (IRR 0.85, 95% CI 0.78 -0.95). There was a trend for an incremental risk of STEMI for each 10 μg/m³ PM(2.5) increase and during influenza epidemics with IRR of 1.02 (95% CI 1.00-1.04) and 1.07 (95% CI 0.98-1.16), respectively. CONCLUSION In a global environmental model, low temperature is the most important environmental trigger for STEMI, whereas air pollution and influenza epidemics only seem to have a modest effect.
A Theory of Auditor Resignation

In this paper we propose an economic rationale for auditors resigning from the engagements of "risky" clients and use this rationale to examine claims that increases in expected auditor liability are giving rise to an increase in auditor resignations.1 Given the relatively inelastic demand by publicly traded firms for audits, it seems puzzling that auditors would resign rather than simply risk-adjust their bids for the increase in expected liability. In addition, it is not clear why a successor auditor, who faces not only the threat of legal liability but also the information disadvantage accompanying a first-year audit, would accept the rejected client. Our theory explains how an incumbent auditor rationally resigns an engagement because any attempt at risk-adjusted pricing leaves him with only unprofitable clients, and how successor auditors who know less about the client than the incumbent auditor can profitably accept the engagement of a client whose auditor has rationally resigned. Several auditing models have specifically addressed why client firms switch auditors (Magee and Tseng [1990], Dye [1991], Teoh [1992], Kanodia and Mukherji [1994], and Gigler and Penno [1995]). The interest in auditor switches arises partly from regulatory concerns that
Forecasting the Term Structure of Interest Rates Near the Zero Bound - A New Era?

We investigate the forecasting performance of popular dynamic factor models of the yield curve after the global financial crisis (GFC). This time period is characterized by an unprecedented low and non-volatile interest rate environment in most major economies. We focus on the dynamic Nelson-Siegel model and regressions on principal components and use a dataset of monthly US treasury bond yields to show that subsequent to the GFC both models are significantly outperformed by the random walk no-change forecast. Especially for short and medium term yields the random walk is up to ten times more accurate. Interestingly, these results are not picked up by traditional global forecast evaluation metrics. We show that combining forecasts mitigates the model uncertainty and improves the disappointing forecasting accuracy especially after the GFC.
The interpretation of landscape: Strategies towards smarter cities

In recent years we have seen a gradually increasing concern for the urban landscape and the way it is designed and evaluated. This concern, a result of the emergence of digital technologies and convergence of different scientific disciplines, is based on the ability of design tools to support and reinforce the discussion on urban landscape as an open process for action. But, how do we design a new urban space employing these design tools? So far the discussion on the design and form of the city placed emphasis on the creation of a communication platform that functions either through the development of interpersonal and interactive relationships of the users, or as an entity for configuring and displaying visual messages and communication to society. The term “smart city”, has been linked with digital applications, sensors, and software to produce the city of the future. However, the real challenge is to develop a “smart city,” that starts from the city of today and enables the combination of these smart practices by activating infrastructure that may reform the spatial structure of the urban morphology. This paper will introduce a “reformer,” the natural landscape, based on which a new methodological approach shall be established, in order to manage the urban landscape. This will help create a “smarter city,” which may find applications in various fields that start from today's city, instead of trying to compose an ideal image of the city of tomorrow, that can bridge the gap between digital, natural and urban environment. The main theme of this paper is part of the extended scope of Landscape Urbanism, according to which the urban landscape can be redefined / designed through the remedial procedures of the urban landscape.
Linked data processing provenance: towards transparent and reusable linked data integration

The growth of Linked Data has created a promising environment for data exploration and a growing number of tools allow users to interactively integrate data from various sources. Eliciting the reliability of the results of such ad-hoc integration processes, consistently recreating those results, and identifying changes upon re-execution, however, can be difficult. Automated process provenance trail creation can provide major benefits in this context, because (i) it enables users to trace the contribution of individual sources and processing steps to the final outcome and judge whether the result can be trusted; (ii) it ensures repeatability and raises the trustworthiness of results; (iii) it ideally enables reconstruction of Linked Data integration processes from the provenance information embedded in the final result. In this paper, we present a provenance model that facilitates automatic generation of semantic provenance information for generic Linked Data integration processes. We implement the generic model in a collaborative mashup environment and evaluate it by means of an example application. We find that the model provides a solid foundation for verifiability and contributes towards making Linked Data integration processes more open, transparent, and reusable, which is crucial in domains where the origin of data is essential, such as, for instance, statistical analyses, scientific research, and data journalism.
Energy Efficiency and Contact Opportunities Tradeoff in Opportunistic Mobile Networks

To discover neighbor nodes, nodes in opportunistic mobile networks (OppNets) have to probe their environment continuously. This can be an extremely energy-consuming process. If nodes probe very frequently, a lot of energy will be consumed in the contact probing process and might be inefficient. On the other hand, infrequent contact probing might cause nodes to miss many of their contacts. Therefore, there exists a tradeoff between energy efficiency and contact opportunities in OppNets. To investigate this tradeoff, we first propose a model to investigate the contact probing process based on the random-waypoint model and obtain the expressions of the single detecting probability and the double detecting probability. Moreover, we also demonstrate that among all contact probing strategies with the same average probing interval, which do not have preknowledge of the contact process, the strategy that probes at a constant interval performs better than any arbitrary probing strategy in expectation in the single contact probing process. Then, extensive simulations are conducted to validate the correctness of our proposed model. Finally, based on the proposed model, we analyze the tradeoff between energy efficiency and the total number of effective contacts in the single and double contact probing processes. Our results show that the total number of effective contacts in the single and double contact probing processes has a lower bound and an upper bound, and the good tradeoff points are obviously different when the speed of nodes is different.
Labour-market competition, recession and anti-immigrant sentiments in Europe: occupational and environmental drivers of competitive threat

Research on attitudes towards immigration has overemphasized the subjective dimension of threat, while the objective bases of native-immigrant competition remained largely under-studied. I investigate the impact of both occupational and environmental sources of economic competition on attitudes towards immigration in Europe. Drawing on social stratification and labour economics theory, I discuss three dimensions of the occupation affecting exposure to competition: (i) skill specialization; (ii) monitoring costs; and (iii) the mix of manual versus communicational skills. Environmental correlates are tested by estimating the net change in anti-immigrant sentiments experienced during the first dip of the Great Recession, and by connecting this change to (i) country differences in the intensity of GDP contraction and (ii) prior growth in foreign-born shares. Applying two-step multi-level regression to a pool of the 2004 and the 2010 rounds of the European Social Survey, I find evidence consistent with both occupational and environmental sources of competitive threat.
Serious games in education

Playfulness came into education at a later date. There are two main theoretical paradigms around play and both are relevant to a discussion around serious games for education. Modern theories aim to mainly describe the benefits of play, and classical theories tend to focus on the reasons for play. The classical theories include explanations for children needing play like ‘surplus energy’, [4] and ‘restoration’ [4]. Play as one preparation for adulthood [5, 6] is also considered important for children to develop. Within education, there was something of a revolution when computers came into the classroom and when playfulness could then be associated with gaming, and specifically ‘videogaming’. Playfulness could then be designed in such a way that playing could be packaged as learning. In his explanation of how digital gaming has pervaded classrooms, Egenfeldt-Nelson [7] describes the transition from ‘edutainment,’ which was where computers were mainly used in game like instances to provide drill and repetition, through ‘learner-centred’ products where the emphasis was on personalisation and individually adapting systems, to the most recent ‘socially constructed’ games where learning is situated in a context. Play has always had a close relationship with learning and is certainly essential to learning as far as young children are concerned, but the association of play with learning as learners become older is much less understood and is relatively understudied. In particular, the design of game based and play based This paper describes some of the tensions around serious games in education by considering how serious games might be designed for learners who may not be especially motivated to play them. Beginning with a narrative that sets out where serious games position within educational settings, with a focus on high school and college, the paper describes two elements that are considered essential for serious games for this demographic – fun and cool.
Persistent organic pollutants in the diet of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) inhabiting puget sound, washington (USA), and the strait of Georgia, British Columbia (Canada): A food basket approach

Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) inhabiting Puget Sound (WA, USA) recently were found to be seven times more contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) than those inhabiting the adjacent Strait of Georgia (BC, Canada). We carried out a food basket approach to approximate realistic dietary exposures of both new (e.g., polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDEs]) and legacy (e.g., dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT]) persistent organic pollutants (POPs) for these harbor seals. Food basket homogenates, each consisting of over 200 individual prey items, were constructed using documented dietary preferences for harbor seals in these basins, and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, flame retardants, and other persistent contaminants. Concentration rankings for the major contaminant classes in the Puget Sound food basket were sumPCBs > sumPBDEs > sumDDT, and for the Strait of Georgia food basket were sumPCBs > sumDDT > sumPBDEs, highlighting the emergence of PBDEs as a significant concern in the regional environment. Consistent with observations in harbor seals, PCB concentrations in the Puget Sound food basket were seven times higher than in its Strait of Georgia counterpart. Based on our food basket results, the estimated daily intake of sumPCB toxic equivalents to dioxin by Puget Sound harbor seals exceeds some wildlife consumption guidelines for PCBs. Our results indicate that both legacy and new POPs present a health risk to these marine mammals.
Validity of Informant Reports About AD and MCI Patients’ Memory

Efficient, valid, and economical methods are needed to measure memory in elderly patients who are participants in clinical trials for the prevention or treatment of dementia. Data provided by knowledgeable informants are an ideal means of assessment, but factors that may limit the validity of informant-report data are not known. This study investigated the living status, relationship type, and educational history of informants and determined the impact of these factors on the validity of informant-report data about patients (N = 62) diagnosed with Alzheimer disease or mild cognitive impairment. Validity of informant-reported memory was indicated by the correlation between the reports and patients’ performance on a neuropsychological memory test. Results indicated that informants who lived with patients provided more accurate reports of the patients’ memory than informants who did not live with the patient. Spouses were more accurate than other relationship types, although relationship type was confounded with living status. Patient education and neuropsychiatric symptoms were not significantly associated with informant accuracy. Results of this study will aid in selecting informants who can provide the most accurate data about memory disorder patients and will aid in the development of protocols for clinical trials for dementia prevention and treatment.
Experimental model of intracerebral infection with Cryptococcus neoformans: roles of phagocytes and opsonization

A murine model of intracerebral (i.c.) infection with Cryptococcus neoformans in which naive mice receiving an i.c. fungal inoculation developed a severe disease has been established. The effect was strictly dependent on the number of microorganisms injected and evolved as lethal meningoencephalitis. Murine susceptibility to i.c. infection with C. neoformans was enhanced by treatment with chloroquine and colchicine, agents known to greatly affect the host phagocytic compartment. Furthermore, the life spans of both naive and drug-treated mice were significantly augmented when opsonized fungi were injected. Therefore, phagocyte-mediated mechanisms are likely involved in local resistance to i.c. infection with C. neoformans. Further support for this conclusion was supplied by in vitro data showing that microglial cells were proficient anticryptococcal effectors, provided opsonized microorganisms were used.
Comparing phenotypes in patients with idiopathic autism to patients with velocardiofacial syndrome (22q11 DS) with and without autism

At least three research groups have reported that autism is diagnosed in up to 20% of children with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS). However the degree of phenotypic overlap between VCFS‐affected children with autism and those with idiopathic autism has not been established. The purpose of this study was to define and differentiate the behavioral phenotype of autism in samples of children with either (VCFS) or idiopathic autism. Five groups of children ages 5–15 were included in the between‐group design. Parent report of autism behaviors (based on the Autism Diagnostic Interview‐Revised, ADI‐R) were compared between children with VCFS, children with VCFS and autism (VCFS + autism), siblings of the children with VCFS, a community control group, and a group of children with idiopathic autism. Autism diagnoses were based according to the ADI‐R. Parental responses to the ADI‐R indicated that relative to children with VCFS‐only, children with idiopathic autism and children with VCFS + autism exhibited less make believe play and more rituals, motor stereotypies and repetitive use of objects. However several other core autism behaviors, including difficulties sharing attention, deficits in gestural communication and initiating conversation, and presence of circumscribed interests, appear to be phenotypic VCFS behaviors, characterizing children with VCFS regardless of an autism diagnosis. Accordingly, the autism phenotype in VCFS differs to some extent from that of idiopathic autism. Several features of idiopathic autism are spared in VCFS, and other features appear to be a function of the VCFS phenotype independent of autism. These findings carry implications for clinicians who diagnose and treat VCFS or autism, and for researchers who study genotype–phenotype associations in autism. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hypochlorite scavenging by Pseudomonas aeruginosa alginate

Alginic acid was purified from a mucoid clinical isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of phorbol myristate acetate-stimulated neutrophils was inhibited by this alginate, but oxygen consumption was unaffected. Further studies indicated that this effect was due to the ability of the pseudomonal alginate to scavenge hypochlorite. A seaweed alginate was less effective and dextran T500 was ineffective in hypochlorite scavenging. It appears that the uronic acid core and the O-acetyl groups of pseudomonal alginate are involved in its hypochlorite-scavenging ability. The relevance of this phenomenon was demonstrated by the greater resistance to killing by hypochlorite of mucoid P. aeruginosa compared with a nonmucoid revertant, and the addition of purified alginate to the nonmucoid revertant protected the organism from hypochlorite. Thus, this extracellular polysaccharide may enhance the virulence of P. aeruginosa by scavenging the phagocyte-generated oxidant HOCl. This enhanced virulence may be involved in disease processes in which mucoid organisms predominate, such as cystic fibrosis.
Optimal Envelope Approximation in Fourier Basis with Applications in TV White Space

Lowpass envelope approximation of smooth continuous-variable signals are introduced in this work. Envelope approximations are necessary when a given signal has to be approximated always to a larger value (such as in TV white space protection regions). In this work, a near-optimal approximate algorithm for finding a signal's envelope, while minimizing a mean-squared cost function, is detailed. The sparse (lowpass) signal approximation is obtained in the linear Fourier series basis. This approximate algorithm works by discretizing the envelope property from an infinite number of points to a large (but finite) number of points. It is shown that this approximate algorithm is near-optimal and can be solved by using efficient convex optimization programs available in the literature. Simulation results are provided towards the end to gain more insights into the analytical results presented.
Law Enforcement and Illegal Trafficking of Waste: Evidence from Italy

The illegal trafficking of waste has become one of the fastest growing areas of crime and one of the most lucrative industries among organized criminal activities, which has infiltrated both the Italian urban and hazardous waste management cycle. In this study, we aim to investigate the determinants of the organized activities for the illegal trafficking of waste (art. 260 of the Environmental Code) using waste, economic, and enforcement data in a panel analysis over the period 2002-2013. Our main findings reveal that in most of the Italian regions enforcement activities do not exert significant deterrence on criminal behaviors; a negative relationship between enforcement and illegal trafficking of waste can be identified only for very high levels of enforcement efforts. Moreover, we find that the major determinants of the illegal trafficking of waste rate differ between northern-central and southern regions, confirming the existence of a regional dualism. In particular, while in the North-Centre area the crime rate is positively related to level of education and negatively to the adoption of environmentally sound policies, in southern regions the organized activities for the illegal trafficking are negatively related to the education attainment and positively to the endowment of waste management plants.
Cholesterol Efflux Alters Lipid Raft Stability and Distribution During Capacitation of Boar Spermatozoa1

Abstract A reduction in plasma membrane cholesterol is one of the early events that either triggers or is closely associated with capacitation of mammalian spermatozoa. In this investigation, we have examined the effects of cholesterol efflux on tyrosine phosphorylation, lipid diffusion, and raft organization in boar spermatozoa. Results show that a low level of cholesterol efflux, mediated by 5 mM methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MBCD), enhances capacitation and induces phosphorylation of two proteins at 26 and 15 kDa without affecting sperm viability. Lipid diffusion rates under these conditions are largely unaffected except when cholesterol efflux is excessive. Low-density Triton X100-insoluble complexes (lipid rafts) were isolated from spermatozoa and found to have a restricted profile of proteins. Capacitation-associated cholesterol efflux has no effect on raft composition, but cholesterol depletion destabilizes them completely and phosphorylation is suppressed. During MBCD-mediated capacitation, the distribution of GM1 gangliosides on spermatozoa changes in a sequential manner from overlying the sperm tail to clustering on the sperm head. It is concluded that there is a safe window for removal of plasma membrane cholesterol from spermatozoa within which protein phosphorylation and polarized migration of lipid rafts take place. A preferential loss of cholesterol from the nonraft pool may be the stimulus that promotes raft clustering over the anterior sperm head.
How to Refine 3D Hand Pose Estimation from Unlabelled Depth Data?

Data-driven approaches for hand pose estimation from depth images usually require a substantial amount of labelled training data which is quite hard to obtain. In this work, we show how a simple convolutional neural network, pre-trained only on synthetic depth images generated from a single 3D hand model, can be trained to adapt to unlabelled depth images from a real user’s hand. We validate our method on two existing and a new dataset that we capture, both quantitatively and qualitatively, demonstrating that we strongly compare to state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, this method can be seen as an extension to existing methods trained on limited datasets, which helps on boosting their performance on new ones.