Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Six and 12 Weeks Treatment Response Predicts Continuation of Tumor Necrosis Factor Blockade in Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Observational Cohort Study from Southern Sweden

Objective. To investigate if treatment response predicts continuation of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. We investigated if treatment response and/or achieving a certain activity state at 6 weeks or 3 months predicts continuation of treatment in an observational cohort of 1789 anti-TNF-naive patients with established RA disease from southern Sweden. Results. Response to treatment at 6 weeks at overall/American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) or good/major level (except ACR70) significantly predicted drug continuation. Response according to all criteria sets at overall/ACR20 and at good/major/ACR70 level predicted drug continuation at 3 months, as did achieving low disease activity at 3 months irrespective of activity index applied. Remaining in a high disease activity state predicted drug discontinuation at both timepoints and according to all criteria sets. Conclusion. Response criteria may be useful aids in deciding on continuation of TNF blockade in RA as early as after 6 weeks of treatment. The various criteria sets perform similarly.
Deep Web Query Interface Integration Based on Incremental Schema Matching and Merging

Data hidden inside the deep web are of much higher quality than those in the surface web. Internet users need to fill in query conditions in the HTML query interface and click the submit button to obtain deep web data. Unfortunately, deep web data from one site normally is insufficient for users. Users usually need to integrate information from several deep web sites. It is time-consuming to manually perform form filling for many web sites and to collect their query results. An integrated deep web query interface could help alleviate the above web users' burdens. One of the key technologies in building such integrated query interface is schema matching and merging. Previous solutions usually perform schema matching and merging separately in a holistic approach by utilizing the statistical information of attributes of the involved schemas. That approach does not take user preference of the web sites into account. We propose new deep web query interface integration (DWQII) methodology based on incremental schema matching and merging. Our matching method is based on string similarity and synonyms of labels. Besides schema matching and merging, our system also automatically transforms query conditions from the integrated query interface into those suitable for individual web sites. Our methodology has the benefit of being able to easily supplement new deep web query interfaces into previously established integrated query interfaces. We design and implement DWQII using object oriented approach. To test DWQII, we integrate nine search interfaces in the books domain. These web sites are collected from the open directory dmoz.org, including Amazon, eBay, and other popular sites. We also conduct query experiments using our integrated query interface to verify feasibility and measure performance of the methodology.
Religiosity and Earnings Management: International Evidence from the Banking Industry

Using an international sample of banks, we study how differences in religiosity across countries affect earnings management. Given that religiosity is a major source of morality and ethical behavior, it may reduce excessive risk taking and act as deterrence for earnings manipulations. Therefore, we predict lower earnings management in societies that have higher religiosity. Consistent with expectations, our cross-country analysis indicates that religiosity is negatively related to income-increasing earnings management for loss-avoidance and just-meeting-or-beating prior year’s earnings. We also find that religiosity reduces income-increasing earnings management through abnormal loan loss provisions. In additional tests, we document that religiosity increases the information value of bank earnings, with both earnings persistence and cash flow predictability being enhanced by higher religiosity. For the crisis period analysis (i.e., 2007–2009), our evidence shows that banks in countries with higher religiosity exhibit lower probability of reporting asset deterioration and lower probability of having poor performance.
Conformational dynamics of a crystalline protein from microsecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations and diffuse X-ray scattering

Significance A major challenge of protein crystallography is to accurately describe protein structure variations. Whereas Bragg peaks only yield a picture in which the variations are superimposed, diffuse X-ray scattering (diffraction between the peaks) reports on the way different atoms move together and can be used to increase the accuracy of models. We have performed a molecular-dynamics (MD) simulation of crystalline staphylococcal nuclease, yielding a rich picture of functionally important motions. This simulation is 100-fold longer than previous studies and yields reproducible calculations of diffuse intensity, overcoming a major challenge in the field. Experimental data support the MD models and indicate that diffuse scattering can be used both to validate and to improve MD simulations. X-ray diffraction from protein crystals includes both sharply peaked Bragg reflections and diffuse intensity between the peaks. The information in Bragg scattering is limited to what is available in the mean electron density. The diffuse scattering arises from correlations in the electron density variations and therefore contains information about collective motions in proteins. Previous studies using molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations to model diffuse scattering have been hindered by insufficient sampling of the conformational ensemble. To overcome this issue, we have performed a 1.1-μs MD simulation of crystalline staphylococcal nuclease, providing 100-fold more sampling than previous studies. This simulation enables reproducible calculations of the diffuse intensity and predicts functionally important motions, including transitions among at least eight metastable states with different active-site geometries. The total diffuse intensity calculated using the MD model is highly correlated with the experimental data. In particular, there is excellent agreement for the isotropic component of the diffuse intensity, and substantial but weaker agreement for the anisotropic component. Decomposition of the MD model into protein and solvent components indicates that protein–solvent interactions contribute substantially to the overall diffuse intensity. We conclude that diffuse scattering can be used to validate predictions from MD simulations and can provide information to improve MD models of protein motions.
PhosphoSiteAnalyzer: a bioinformatic platform for deciphering phospho proteomes using kinase predictions retrieved from NetworKIN.

Phosphoproteomic experiments are routinely conducted in laboratories worldwide, and because of the fast development of mass spectrometric techniques and efficient phosphopeptide enrichment methods, researchers frequently end up having lists with tens of thousands of phosphorylation sites for further interrogation. To answer biologically relevant questions from these complex data sets, it becomes essential to apply computational, statistical, and predictive analytical methods. Here we provide an advanced bioinformatic platform termed "PhosphoSiteAnalyzer" to explore large phosphoproteomic data sets that have been subjected to kinase prediction using the previously published NetworKIN algorithm. NetworKIN applies sophisticated linear motif analysis and contextual network modeling to obtain kinase-substrate associations with high accuracy and sensitivity. PhosphoSiteAnalyzer provides an algorithm to retrieve kinase predictions from the public NetworKIN webpage in a semiautomated way and applies hereafter advanced statistics to facilitate a user-tailored in-depth analysis of the phosphoproteomic data sets. The interface of the software provides a high degree of analytical flexibility and is designed to be intuitive for most users. PhosphoSiteAnalyzer is a freeware program available at http://phosphosite.sourceforge. net .
When working hard pays off: testing creativity hypotheses

Purpose – This study seeks to suggest and test an important moderator, organizational encouragement, which plays between working hard, and two outcome variables, creativity and performance. This study also aims to test the traditional inferences and conclusions in the creativity literature in order to generalize them into the corporate communications/public relations (PR) setting.Design/methodology/approach – The dataset includes 148 survey returns from Korean practitioners in corporate communications and/or PR. Path analysis and multi‐group analysis are utilized for analyses.Findings – The findings provide evidence that the effect of working hard on performance can significantly be intensified when the practitioner is encouraged to work creatively in the organization. Some of the findings also confirm the general view of the traditional notion from the creativity literature.Research limitations/implications – The results indicate that when an employee is working hard is better related to the performance .
Depolarization Activates ERK and Proline-rich Tyrosine Kinase 2 (PYK2) Independently in Different Cellular Compartments in Hippocampal Slices*

In the hippocampus, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the non-receptor protein proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2) are activated by depolarization and involved in synaptic plasticity. Both are also activated under pathological conditions following ischemia, convulsions, or electroconvulsive shock. Although in non-neuronal cells PYK2 activates ERK through the recruitment of Src-family kinases (SFKs), the link between these pathways in the hippocampus is not known. We addressed this question using K+-depolarized rat hippocampal slices. Depolarization increased the phosphorylation of PYK2, SFKs, and ERK. These effects resulted from Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and were diminished by GF109203X, a protein kinase C inhibitor. Inhibition of SFKs with PP2 decreased PYK2 tyrosine phosphorylation dramatically, but not its autophosphorylation on Tyr-402. Moreover, PYK2 autophosphorylation and total tyrosine phosphorylation were profoundly altered in fyn-/- mice, revealing an important functional relationship between Fyn and PYK2 in the hippocampus. In contrast, ERK activation was unaltered by PP2, Fyn knock-out, or LY294002, a phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase inhibitor. ERK activation was prevented by MEK inhibitors that had no effect on PYK2. Immunofluorescence of hippocampal slices showed that PYK2 and ERK were activated in distinct cellular compartments in somatodendritic regions and nerve terminals, respectively, with virtually no overlap. Activation of ERK was critical for the rephosphorylation of a synaptic vesicle protein, synapsin I, following depolarization, underlining its functional importance in nerve terminals. Thus, in hippocampal slices, in contrast to cell lines, depolarization-induced activation of non-receptor tyrosine kinases and ERK occurs independently in distinct cellular compartments in which they appear to have different functional roles.
Congressional Parties and Civil Rights Politics from 1933 to 1972

The reversal in the Democratic and Republican parties’ positions on civil rights is widely viewed as one of the most important political transformations in the last century. Drawing upon new indicators of members’ support for civil rights - which more effectively gauge preferences than do the roll-call based measures analyzed in previous studies - we show that northern Democrats displaced northern Republicans as the leading advocates of civil rights in the House beginning in the mid-1940s, and that the gap gradually increased thereafter. Rather than a relatively sudden change driven by national party elites, we argue that the civil rights realignment was a response to the two parties’ coalitional partners.
The next level of complexity: Crosstalk of posttranslational modifications

Beside gene expression and translational control, which are relatively slow, PTM of proteins represents the major level of regulation, from very fast and reversible to slow or irreversible processes. PTMs affect protein structure and act as molecular switches, which regulate the interaction of proteins with DNA, cofactors, lipids, and other proteins. In the past few years, evidence for extensive crosstalk between PTMs has accumulated. The combination of different PTMs on protein surfaces can create a “PTM code,” which can be recognized by specific effectors to initiate/inhibit downstream events, only inducing/retaining a signal once the complementary incoming signals are present at the same time and place. Although MS‐based proteomics has substantially improved our knowledge about PTMs, currently sensitive and dedicated analytical strategies are available only for few different types of PTM. Several recent studies focused on the combinatorial analysis of PTMs, but preferentially utilized peptide‐centric bottom‐up strategies might be too restricted to decipher complex PTM codes. Here, we discuss the current state of PTM crosstalk research and how proteomics may contribute to understanding PTM codes, representing the next level of complexity and one of the biggest challenges for future proteomics research.
The Economics of Water Quality

This article surveys selected contributions of economics to the literature on water pollution and the regulation of water quality. While not a comprehensive review, the article highlights water pollution issues to which economics has made important contributions, as well as areas in which further research might illuminate critical questions from the perspective of theory, empirics, or applied policy analysis. The focus is on drinking water regulation and provision; water quality standards in local, national, and transboundary settings; and the issue of policy instrument choice for water quality regulation.
The quality of local governance - ranking local governments in Belgium

Over the last years, there have been several research efforts to measure the quality of governance of nations (e.g., World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators). These efforts have been criticised by several academics. Less research has been conducted on indicators of the quality of local governance. In this article, we investigate whether different indicators of the quality of local governance in Flanders (Belgium) correlate with each other. Since they all proclaim to measure the quality of governance, we expect strong correlations. We identified 12 rankings based on eight data sources. This resulted in 66 correlations, of which only 17 were significant in the expected the direction. The vast majority of the correlations were insignificant. This suggests policy makers and academics need to be very careful when interpreting rankings of the quality of governance. Therefore, future rankings of governance should be targeted at the micro level of public service delivery, instead of the macro level of the public sector in general.
An Hcp100 gene fragment reveals Histoplasma capsulatum presence in lungs of Tadarida brasiliensis migratory bats

SUMMARY Histoplasma capsulatum was sampled in lungs from 87 migratory Tadarida brasiliensis bats captured in Mexico (n=66) and Argentina (n=21). The fungus was screened by nested-PCR using a sensitive and specific Hcp100 gene fragment. This molecular marker was detected in 81·6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 73·4–89·7] of all bats, representing 71 amplified bat lung DNA samples. Data showed a T. brasiliensis infection rate of 78·8% (95% CI 68·9–88·7) in bats captured in Mexico and of 90·4% (95% CI 75·2–100) in those captured in Argentina. Similarity with the H. capsulatum sequence of a reference strain (G-217B) was observed in 71 Hcp100 sequences, which supports the fungal findings. Based on the neighbour-joining and maximum parsimony Hcp100 sequence analyses, a high level of similarity was found in most Mexican and all Argentinean bat lung samples. Despite the fact that 81·6% of the infections were molecularly evidenced, only three H. capsulatum isolates were cultured from all samples tested, suggesting a low fungal burden in lung tissues that did not favour fungal isolation. This study also highlighted the importance of using different tools for the understanding of histoplasmosis epidemiology, since it supports the presence of H. capsulatum in T. brasiliensis migratory bats from Mexico and Argentina, thus contributing new evidence to the knowledge of the environmental distribution of this fungus in the Americas.
The effect of CEO ownership and shareholder rights on cost of equity capital

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether managerial ownership affects the association between shareholder rights and the cost of equity capital.Design/methodology/approach – Prior literature has shown that strong shareholder rights are associated with a lower level of cost of equity capital. This paper empirically tests the interaction between managerial ownership and shareholder rights on affecting the cost of equity capital, using Gompers et al.'s governance score and Ohlson and Juettner‐Nauroth's estimate of cost of equity capital. To mitigate the endogeneity arising from other governance variables affecting both shareholder rights and the cost of equity capital, the paper adopts both OLS and two‐stage regression.Findings – The results indicate that managerial ownership aligns managers' interests with those of shareholders, leading to a lesser degree of agency problems and lower cost of equity capital. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that managerial ownership could substitute fo.
Extreme movements of the main stocks traded in the Eurozone: an analysis by sectors in the 2000's decade

We have analysed extreme movements of the main stocks traded in the Eurozone by sectors in the 2000's decade. We find several patterns. First, we can classify firms by sector according to their different estimated Value-at-Risk (VaR) values but we cannot find differences according to their geographical situation. Second, we find sectors where companies have very high (telecommunications and banking) and very low (petroleum, utilities, energy and consumption) estimated VaR values. Other sectors such as industry are very heterogeneous. Third, we get differences when we analyse the correlation between average return and VaR estimates: higher average return is found in firms with smaller risk in extreme events in the banking and consumption subsectors; however, higher return with higher estimated VaR values occurs in the utilities (electricity and gas) subsector, being less attractive for very risk-averse investors. Finally, our results show that very risk-averse investors that are looking for high average return and low estimated VaR should choose the following firms classified by sector: Danone and Sanofi-Aventis (consumption), Bbva (financial services), Eni Spa and Iberdrola (petroleum and energy) and Telefonica (technology and telecommunications).
Economical Colorimetric Smart Sensor to Measure Water Quality of Drinking Water in CKDu Prevalence Areas

Safe drinking water is essential for good health. Recommendations on drinking water sources of CKDu prevalence areas are utmost important due to health risk of long-term consumption. This paper focuses on designing a sensor to measure fluoride and hardness in well water with an automated mechanism. Here, a simple colorimetric approach was adapted to develop the proposed optical sensor using procedures of variation of color with SPADNS reagent and complexometric titration. Added measurement of conductivity and pH supports decision making. Reduced reagent volumes make the design to be eco-friendly and estimated cost of U.S. $1 per sample analysis is affordable to the communities with low income.
Immigration and Unemployment

The wisdom of maintaining high levels of immigration into Australia has been questioned, particularly on the grounds that migration contributes to aggregate unemployment. This paper uses both statistical causality techniques and conventional structural models to investigate the relationship between immigration and unemployment in the post-war period in Australia. The tests find no evidence of any association from migration to unemployment, though there is strong evidence of a significant effect of Australian unemployment on migration. The results indicate that immigration policy should not be dictated by unfounded fears of immigration causing unemployment, at least over the range of previous Australian experience.
IT sourcing: a research framework

It is only during the past few years that the sourcing of IT has become an important issue for most organisations. Downsizing, the move to flatten organisations and the search for added flexibility, are cited as major reasons for this interest. Additionally, for the UK public sector, government pressure and legislative requirements have been instrumental in making many organisations consider outsourcing. Transaction cost analysis provides an economic approach to selecting the most appropriate source. However, in itself it is not enough, since it fails to take account of the special features of knowledge-intensive goods and services. This form of analysis needs to be augmented with considerations of these special features and of the organisational and environmental factors surrounding the sourcing decision. This paper provides this augmentation within a comprehensive framework for IT sourcing decision making.
Silicon-on-insulator based nanopore cavity arrays for lipid membrane investigation

We present the fabrication and characterization of nanopore microcavities for the investigation of transport processes in suspended lipid membranes. The cavities are situated below the surface of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Single cavities and large area arrays were prepared using high resolution electron-beam lithography in combination with reactive ion etching (RIE) and wet chemical sacrificial underetching. The locally separated compartments have a circular shape and allow the enclosure of picoliter volume aqueous solutions. They are sealed at their top by a 250 nm thin Si membrane featuring pores with diameters from 2 µm down to 220 nm. The Si surface exhibits excellent smoothness and homogeneity as verified by AFM analysis. As biophysical test system we deposited lipid membranes by vesicle fusion, and demonstrated their fluid-like properties by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. As clearly indicated by AFM measurements in aqueous buffer solution, intact lipid membranes successfully spanned the pores. The nanopore cavity arrays have potential applications in diagnostics and pharmaceutical research on transmembrane proteins.
On the generation of higher order chaotic oscillators via passive coupling of two identical or nonidentical sinusoidal oscillators

We investigate the possibility of generating higher order chaos via passive coupling of two identical or nonidentical sinusoidal oscillators. The examples of such a technique, which have already been reported in the literature, suffer from the lack of generality and apply only to particular sinusoidal oscillator circuits. Here, we treat sinusoidal oscillators either as generic single-port or two-port networks, and examine all the different coupling possibilities of any two stages. For this purpose, we choose the simplest possible coupling technique composed of two diodes; one of which represents a self-stage-controlled nonlinearity while the other represents an inter-stage mutually controlled nonlinearity. Experimental observations for selected coupling cases are shown.