Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic Value of Left Atrium Remodeling after Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with ST Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction

The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between left atrial (LA) size and outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to evaluate dynamic changes in LA size during long-term follow-up. Echocardiographic analyses were performed on 253 AMI patients (174 male and 79 female, 65.4 ± 13.7 yr) undergoing PCI. These subjects were studied at baseline and at 12 months. Clinical follow-up were done at 30.8 ± 7.5 months. We assessed LA volume index (LAVI) at AMI-onset and at 12-month. Change of LAVI was an independent predictor of new onset of atrial fibrillation or hospitalization for heart failure (P = 0.002). Subjects who survived the 12-month period displayed an increased LAVI mean of 1.86 ± 4.01 mL/m2 (from 26.1 ± 8.6 to 28.0 ± 10.1 mL/m2, P < 0.001). The subject group that displayed an increased LAVI correlated with a low left ventricular ejection fraction, large left ventricle systolic and diastolic dimensions and an enlarged LA size. In conclusion, change of LAVI is useful parameter to predict subsequent adverse cardiac event in AMI patients. Post-AMI echocardiographic evaluation of LAVI provides important prognostic information that is significantly greater than that obtained from clinical and laboratory parameters alone.
Competition and pass-through on international markets: Evidence from French firms

We exploit French customs data on exporters and the structural framework of an imperfect competition model on international markets to characterize how heterogenous firms pass-through exogenous aggregate asymmetric shocks to their price. We focus on the reaction to changes in national VAT rates during the 1995-2005 period into the Euro zone. We argue this measure is less prone to endogeneity issues than exchange rate variations that are frequently used in the literature. We find evidence that (1) on average the pass-through of shocks to export prices is incomplete but higher than in previous studies; (2) the number of competitors on a given export market reacts to shocks so that, besides the intensive margin, the adjustment is also made through the extensive margin; (3) the response varies with firm’s characteristics like the number of destination markets or the number of products sold. All in all these results stress the importance of firms’ heterogeneity and changes in the strength of competition to understand the transmission of asymmetric macroeconomic shocks to international prices.
Inflation Hedging for Long-Term Investors

Long-term investors face a common problem - how to maintain the purchasing power of their assets over time and achieve a level of real returns consistent with their investment objectives. While inflation-linked bonds and derivatives have been developed to hedge the effects of inflation, their limited supply and liquidity lead many investors to continue to rely on the indirect hedging properties of traditional asset classes. In this paper, we assess these properties over different time horizons, in the context of a diversified portfolio. Using a vector error correction model, we find that effective short-run hedges, such as commodities, may not work over longer horizons and that tactical asset allocation could enhance investment returns following inflation surprises.
Reexamination of capital asset pricing model (CAPM): An application of quantile regression

Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) plays a very important role in risky asset evaluation. This paper tries to explore the important aspect in CAPM, which is perfect linear relationship assumption between return and market portfolio risk and further discusses the application of CAPM. Empirical evidence shows that the model in ordinary least squares (OLS) supports the positive relationship between systematic risk and return. However, by quantile regression (QR) analysis, not all relationships between systematic risk and return are positive. For lower quantiles, the relationship is not significantly positive although the positive relationship is concluded for higher quantiles. To sum it up, it is not always sustainable for a positive relationship between systematic risk and return. Besides, non-parametric estimations show that the linear assumption between market portfolio risk and return in CAPM is suspicious. Therefore, we find that the two important associated assumptions, which are positive and linear relationships between market portfolio risk and return, do not necessarily exist. Key words: CAPM, quantile regression, nonlinear.
Financial Performance of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI): What Have We Learned? A Meta‐Analysis

With a meta-analysis of 85 studies and 190 experiments, the authors test the relationship between socially responsible investing (SRI) and financial performance to determine whether including corporate social responsibility and ethical concerns in portfolio management is more profitable than conventional investment policies. The study also analyses the influence of researcher methodologies with respect to several dimensions of SRI (markets, financial performance measures, investment horizons, SRI thematic approaches, family investments and journal impact) on the effects identified. The results indicate that the consideration of corporate social responsibility in stock market portfolios is neither a weakness nor a strength compared with conventional investments; the heterogeneous results in prior studies largely reflect the SRI dimensions under study (e.g. thematic approach, investment horizon and data comparison method).
The Silo Project

SUMMARY The paper is a summary of the negotiations which led to the choice of a particularly unfortunate project in Tanzania, and a commentary of them. The project was for ‘modern silos’ even though economic analysis strongly suggested that the traditional bag-stores were a cheaper form of grain storage. The fact that the project was aid-financed enabled consultants and machinery suppliers to benefit, while the receiving government did not give the project the scrutiny it would have given to a use of local funds. RESUMELe projet des silos Cet article resume les negociations qui ont abouti au choix d'un projet particulierement malchanceux en Tanzanie et les commentent. Le projet portait sur des “silos modernes” alors que l'analyse economique suggerait clairement que l'emmagasinage traditionnel en sacs constituait un stockage meilleur marche des grains. Le fait que le projet etait finance par une aide exterieure permit aux consultants et aux fournisseurs de machines d'en beneficier et le gouvernement beneficiaire ne controla pas le projet d'aussi pres que s'il s'etait agi de ses propres fonds. RESUMENEl proyecto de sito El articulo es una resena de las negociaciones que condujeron a elegir un proyecto sumamente desafortunado en Tanzania, y un comentario sobre las mismas. El proyecto estaba relacionado con “silos modernos”, aunque el analisis economico sugeria de manera contundente que los almacenes tradicionales de sacos eran una forma mas barata de almacenaje de cereales. El hecho de que el proyecto contase con ayuda financiera permitio beneficiarse a los consultores y los proveedores de maquinaria, en tanto que los gobiernos recipiendarios no sometieron el proyecto a un analisis tan estricto como el que se hubiera empleado en la utilizacion de fondos de origen local.
The temporal constitution of the European Commission: a timely investigation

This paper examines the main temporal factors impacting on the European Commission and sheds light on its particular relationship to time. By way of illustration, it discusses two relatively recent, but increasingly significant, features of the Commission's work: its planning and programming cycle and its use of impact assessments. These two techniques are at the core of the Commission's quest for exemplary management and of its endeavour to promote ‘better regulation’ principles. Taken together, they can transform EU policy-making and bring about a greater predictability and transparency of EU action. They cannot, however, fully capture the more political and discretionary role of the Commission, which must adapt to a diverse and changing EU agenda.
Vagal Nerve Stimulation: Overview and Implications for Anesthesiologists

Vagal nerve stimulation is an important adjunctive therapy for medically refractory epilepsy and major depression. Additionally, it may prove effective in treating obesity, Alzheimer's disease, and some neuropsychiatic disorders. As the number of approved indications increases, more patients are becoming eligible for surgical placement of a commercial vagal nerve stimulator (VNS). Initial VNS placement typically requires general anesthesia, and patients with previously implanted devices may present for other surgical procedures requiring anesthetic management. In this review, we will focus on the indications for vagal nerve stimulation (both approved and experimental), proposed therapeutic mechanisms for vagal nerve stimulation, and potential perioperative complications during initial VNS placement. Anesthetic considerations during initial device placement, as well as anesthetic management issues for patients with a preexisting VNS, are reviewed.
The standard gamble method: what is being measured and how it is interpreted.

OBJECTIVE The Standard Gamble (SG) technique is recommended for measurement of individuals' preferences under uncertainty and to express the outcome of different therapeutic choices in utility values to be used in clinical decision analysis and health program evaluation. The article alerts users of this technique to problems stemming from inappropriate interpretation of results of measurements using the SG method. STUDY DESIGN We review different situations where the SG method is used to measure individuals' or group preferences. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We demonstrate inappropriate interpretation of the time dimension at the individual level; issues stemming from the aggregation of individual utility values measured using different time horizons; the potential for double counting of the time preference effect when discounting future quality-adjusted life years (QALYs); and problems associated with using the SG technique to measure temporary health states. CONCLUSIONS The inappropriate interpretations stem mainly either from ignoring the time dimension, which is inextricably bound to the health of the individual, or form adding assumptions, in addition to those required by von Neumann-Morgenstern (vNM) utility theory, that are not supported by empirical evidence. An alternative approach to QALYs, the healthy years equivalent (HYE), which incorporates the SG but avoids many of these problems, is described.
Gene Expression and Polymorphism of Myostatin Gene and its Association with Growth Traits in Chicken

ABSTRACT Myostatin is a member of TGF-β super family and is directly involved in regulation of body growth through limiting muscular growth. A study was carried out in three chicken lines to identify the polymorphism in the coding region of the myostatin gene through SSCP and DNA sequencing. A total of 12 haplotypes were observed in myostatin coding region of chicken. Significant associations between haplogroups with body weight at day 1, 14, 28, and 42 days, and carcass traits at 42 days were observed across the lines. It is concluded that the coding region of myostatin gene was polymorphic, with varied levels of expression among lines and had significant effects on growth traits. The expression of MSTN gene varied during embryonic and post hatch development stage.
Adaptations of Linkage and Association Methods for the Study of Asthma, A Complex Trait

Early studies that found significant linkage between markers on 5q and asthma and IgE have not been reproduced. In an attempt to improve the power of these studies we performed a variance components linkage analysis and transmission‐disequilibrium tests (TDT) with haplotypes using markers on 5q, using the Southampton and Perth data sets supplied by GAW. The linkage analysis with covariates revealed a maximum lod of 1.57 in the Perth families. The addition of age and RAST significantly improved the fit of the null models but did not improve the lod scores. The TDT tests showed a marginally significant association with D5S393 and D5S399 and with three markers together (IL9, IL4, D5S393). We conclude that further studies are needed to delineate the environmental contribution to this disease so that the genetic factors can be more easily identified. In addition, haplotype analysis may help to identify specific genetic effects. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An economic analysis of factors influencing rural‐urban migration in southern Africa

Rural‐urban migration is a serious problem being encountered by developing countries, including South Africa. A single‐equation model is formulated to test hypotheses concerning the determinants, namely personal and household characteristics, of the decision by household heads in Ciskei to migrate. The migration model was expressed as a dichotomous ordered‐response model using logistic regression. The results suggest that the personal characteristics of the household heads had a bearing on the probability of migration. The coefficients of the household characteristics, with the exception of the number of adults in the household, were found to have a statistically weak association with the decision to migrate.
A questionnaire study for 128 patients with Gaucher disease

Gaucher disease is an uncommon autosomal recessive disorder characterized by lysosomal storage of glucosyl ceramide, a material released during cell degradation. Patients with Gaucher disease often have significant hematologic, bone structural, and visceral problems which sometimes greatly affect their health and life style. Based on some extraordinary scientific discoveries over the past 45 years, a treatment system has evolved which consists of administration of an enzyme, which destroys the lysosome‐stored material and to some extent restores the patients to good health. There are still some problems for these patients; however, and the purpose of the study is to define some of the clinical, sociologic, and psychologic problems with a specially designed questionnaire. Questionnaire data was collected for 128 patients from two institutions with complete anonymity, and the information compared against data from a National Health Inteview Survey. The results show that many of the patients still have fairly extensive problems, which could possibly be helped by some alterations in treatment protocols.
Susceptibility of tamarillo to seven plant viruses

Three-week-old tamarillo seedlings were inoculated on the cotyledons and first true leaf with seven different viruses known to infect solanaceous plants. Five of the viruses caused systemic mosaic or necrotic symptoms in some or all of the inoculated plants. Alfalfa mosaic, cucumber mosaic and tomato spotted wilt viruses were the most severe, causing significant decreases in leaf, stem and root dry weight. Tobacco streak virus caused a significant decrease in dry weight of roots only, but results with potato virus X were not significant. Potato virus Y and tobacco mosaic virus failed to cause infection in tamarillo as indicated by lack of symptoms, failure to recover virus in indicator plants and failure to detect virus particles in leaf extracts using immunosorbent electron microscopy.
A 21.6μW inductively powered implantable IC for blood flow measurement

This paper presents a fully integrated inductively powered implantable circuits for blood flow measurement, which are embedded within vascular prosthetic grafts for early detection of graft degradation or failure. The ASIC interfaces with micro-fabricated pressure sensors and uses a 13.56MHz carrier frequency for power transfer and command/data communication. A backscatter-modulated passive telemetry is used for transmitting sensor readout information to an external monitoring device. The chip has been fabricated in 0. 18μm CMOS process, occupies a total active area of 1.5×1.78mm2 and consumes a total power of 21. 6μW. The rectifier achieves an efficiency of 66% The sub-μW 10-bit SAR ADC achieves an ENOB of 8.5 bits at 106KS/s conversion rate.
The Limits of Enterprise Unionism: Prospects for Continuing Union Decline in Japan

Les AA. s'interrogent sur les raisons du declin des syndicats au Japon. Ils examinent l'evolution de la syndicalisation entre 1950 et 1993. Ils presentent, de meme, un certain nombre de donnees collectees dans ce pays en 1992 aupres d'ouvriers syndiques et non-syndiques. Ils etudient l'influence d'un certain nombre de facteurs comme : le salaire, l'attitude vis-a-vis des syndicats. Ils soulignent le role des syndicats d'entreprise japonais constituant un facteur important sur le plan de la participation sociale des salaries et cela malgre un taux de syndicalisation tres faible
Comparative analysis of contention oriented power saving based medium access control Protocols for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are an emerging technology for low-cost that are becoming involved in almost every field of life, due to the advancement in wireless technologies and reductions in size. Idle listening is disastrous in WSNs based on the fact that nodes in this mode consume the same magnitude of power as in receiving. Overhearing means that nodes decode packets are destined to others. Collisions result in corrupted packets and the following MAC layer retransmissions consume extra energy. From the network perspective, channel contention is a serious problem in WSNs resulting in collisions, re-transmissions. In this paper, we focus on the MAC layer problem with contention protocols oriented saving energy and latency. We have compared the existing contention-based protocols: IEEE802.11/802.15. 4, S-MAC, T-MAC and OB-MAC protocols. We simulated and evaluated the performance of existing protocols using the NS-2 simulator. Evaluations show that the optimized OB-MAC achieved considerable improvement in energy and latency.
Pitfalls in the Analysis of Option-Adjusted Spreads

The option-adjusted spread (OAS) is derived by positing an array of interest rate paths (using multinomial lattice or simulation techniques) consistent with the current Treasury term structure. These interest rate paths are then used to discount the cash flows from non-Treasury securities to arrive at present values. (We note here that the cash flows may depend upon the level, or even the history, of interest rates.) The present values are averaged to get an expected value, which can be viewed as the theoretically "correct" price of the security.
Discovery of Novel Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 Inhibitors by Structure-based Virtual Screening

Background: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is a trans-membrane receptor like protein, and aberrant signaling of HER2 is implicated in many human cancers, such as ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, and prostate cancer, most notably breast cancer. Moreover, it has been in the spotlight in the recent years as a promising new target for therapy of breast cancer. Objective: Since virtual screening has become an integral part of the drug discovery process, it is of great significant to identify novel HER2 inhibitors by structure-based virtual screening. Materials and Methods: In this study, we carried out a series of elegant bioinformatics approaches, such as virtual screening and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to identify HER2 inhibitors from Food and Drug Administration-approved small molecule drug as potential “new use” drugs. Results: Molecular docking identified top 10 potential drugs which showed spectrum affinity to HER2. Moreover, MD simulations suggested that ZINC08214629 (Nonoxynol-9) and ZINC03830276 (Benzonatate) might exert potential inhibitory effects against HER2-targeted anti-breast cancer therapeutics. Conclusion: Together, our findings may provide successful application of virtual screening studies in the lead discovery process, and suggest that our discovered small molecules could be effective HER2 inhibitor candidates for further study.
Discriminative Feature Learning for Unsupervised Change Detection in Heterogeneous Images Based on a Coupled Neural Network

With the application requirement, the technique for change detection based on heterogeneous remote sensing images is paid more attention. However, detecting changes between two heterogeneous images is challenging as they cannot be compared in low-dimensional space. In this paper, we construct an approximately symmetric deep neural network with two sides containing the same number of coupled layers to transform the two images into the same feature space. The two images are connected with the two sides and transformed into the same feature space, in which their features are more discriminative and the difference image can be generated by comparing paired features pixel by pixel. The network is first built by stacked restricted Boltzmann machines, and then, the parameters are updated in a special way based on clustering. The special way, motivated by that two heterogeneous images share the same reality in unchanged areas and retain respective properties in changed areas, shrinks the distance between paired features transformed from unchanged positions, and enlarges the distance between paired features extracted from changed positions. It is achieved through introducing two types of labels and updating parameters by adaptively changed learning rate. This is different from the existing methods based on deep learning that just do operations on positions predicted to be unchanged and extract only one type of labels. The whole process is completely unsupervised without any priori knowledge. Besides, the method can also be applied to homogeneous images. We test our method on heterogeneous images and homogeneous images. The proposed method achieves quite high accuracy.
Silencing of the Baculovirus Op-iap3 Gene by RNA Interference Reveals that It Is Required for Prevention of Apoptosis during Orgyia pseudotsugata M Nucleopolyhedrovirus Infection of Ld652Y Cells

ABSTRACT The Op-iap3 gene from the baculovirus Orgyia pseudotsugata M nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV) inhibits apoptosis induced by a mutant of Autographa californica MNPV (AcMNPV) that lacks the antiapoptotic gene p35, as well as apoptosis induced by a wide range of other stimuli in both mammalian and insect cells. However, the role of Op-iap3 during OpMNPV infection has not been previously examined. To determine the function of the Op-IAP3 protein during OpMNPV infection, we used RNA interference (RNAi) to silence Op-iap3 expression during OpMNPV infection of Ld652Y cells. Infected cells treated with Op-iap3 double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) did not accumulate detectable Op-iap3 mRNA, confirming that the Op-iap3 gene was effectively silenced. Op-IAP3 protein was found to be a component of the budded virion; however, in OpMNPV-infected cells treated with Op-iap3 dsRNA, the Op-IAP3 protein that was introduced by the inoculum virus decreased to almost undetectable levels by 12 h after dsRNA addition. Apoptosis was observed in infected cells treated with Op-iap3 dsRNA beginning at 12 h, and by 48 h, almost all of the cells had undergone apoptosis. These results show for the first time that Op-IAP3 is necessary to prevent apoptosis during OpMNPV infection. In addition, our results demonstrate that the RNAi technique can be an effective tool for studying baculovirus gene function.