Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association Between Back Pain and Physical Fitness in Adolescents

Study Design. A cross-sectional study of 9413 adolescents. Objectives. To study the associations between back pain, physical activity, and physical fitness. Summary of Background Data. A high physical fitness level, and especially muscle endurance in the back muscles, is associated with lower risk of back pain, but little is known about other types of physical fitness and back pain in adolescents. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 3956 boys and 5457 girls 17 years of age. The associations between self-reported back pain and different types of physical fitness and self-reported physical activity were analyzed in high schoolchildren in Denmark. Results. Back pain was reported by 43% of the girls and 37% of the boys. Back pain was associated with low isometric muscle endurance in the back extensors, and the highest quartile had a lower risk of back pain (odds ratio = 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.62–0.82) within the last month. No associations were found to aerobic fitness, functional strength, flexibility, or physical activity level after adjustment for muscle endurance. More girls than boys experienced back pain, and it was more common in taller adolescents. Conclusion. Children with high isometric muscle endurance were less likely to report back pain. No other measures of physical fitness or level of self-reported physical activity were linked to back pain reporting.
Capital Protection: Modeling the CPPI Portfolio

The aim of the paper is to introduce a rigorous mathematical modellization of the Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI), with as principal aims: to capture the characteristic of the portfolio's distribution, to analyze the properties of the return/risk profile and to identify a procedure through it is possible to produce reliable future target returns. Particular stress has been made in order to produce closed formulas that may lead to easy Monte-Carlo simulation estimates. Moreover as attempt to hedge the CPPI portfolio's risks, the approach followed relies on classical replication techniques: the closing out effect and the gap risk are faced by acting on the CPPI as on a self-financed hedging strategy and converting it in a synthetic derivative. In addition to put an extra protection it has been studied the case of Vanilla options having as underlying the CPPI portfolio's value at maturity and as strike the protected amount. Two are the CPPI portfolios analyzed. As first it has been considered the known case of a CPPI portfolio whose risky exposure is non-constrained and whose floor consists in the risk-less bond. As second, it has been tested the mathematical model on the case of a CPPI whose portfolio's risky exposure is constrained and whose floor is rebalanced at any time of the financial horizon.
Technology and inter-firm relationships in the automotive industry: the case of the Basque Country and Navarre (Spain)

This article focuses on the nature and significance of inter-firm technological relationships in the automotive industry. Following a theoretical explanation, the key technological role of (interfirm) buyer-supplier relationships is shown for firms in the automotive industry. This approach is valid when determining a firm's competitive position as well as its anchorage in the industry. The paper concludes with the outline of a method that enables the interpretation of the main features of the automotive industry in a specific regional environment: the Basque Country and Navarre in Northern Spain. Lastly, a practical application of the results obtained is sought.
Effect of physician-delivered nutrition counseling training and an office-support program on saturated fat intake, weight, and serum lipid measurements in a hyperlipidemic population: Worcester Area Trial for Counseling in Hyperlipidemia (WATCH).

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for physician-delivered nutrition counseling, alone and in combination with an office-support program, on dietary fat intake, weight, and blood low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in patients with hyperlipidemia. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Forty-five primary care internists at the Fallon Community Health Plan, a central Massachusetts health maintenance organization, were randomized by site into 3 groups: (1) usual care; (2) physician nutrition counseling training; and (3) physician nutrition counseling training plus an office-support program. Eleven hundred sixty-two of their patients with blood total cholesterol levels in the highest 25th percentile, having previously scheduled physician visits, were recruited. Physicians in groups 2 and 3 attended a 3-hour training program on the use of brief patient-centered interactive counseling and the use of an office-support program that included in-office prompts, algorithms, and simple dietary assessment tools. Primary outcome measures included change at 1-year of follow-up in percentage of energy intake from saturated fat; weight; and blood low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. RESULTS Improvement was seen in all 3 primary outcome measures, but was limited to patients in group 3. Compared with group 1, patients in group 3 had average reductions of 1.1 percentage points in percent of energy from saturated fat (a 10.3% decrease) (P = .01); a reduction in weight of 2.3 kg (P<.001); and a decrease of 0.10 mmol/L (3.8 mg/dL) in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (P = .10). Average time for the initial counseling intervention in group 3 was 8.2 minutes, 5.5 minutes more than in the control group. CONCLUSION Brief supported physician nutrition counseling can produce beneficial changes in diet, weight, and blood lipids.
A STRATEGIC RATIONALE FOR CAPTIVE SUPPLIES

Partial backward integration is prevalent in many agricultural and natural resource processing industries. A strategic rationale for partial backward integration is developed for a dominant firm with a competitive fringe purchasing from competitive input suppliers. A partially backward integrated dominant firm potentially can increase profit through production efficiency gains and through a lower price for externally purchasing input. The optimal degree of backward integration results when the dominant firm's profit from exerting monopsony market power in the external spot market equals its profit from producing raw input internally, less the incremental cost of acquiring internal raw input production capacity. Comparative statics results are consistent with recent empirical studies of the beef packing industry.
An automated technique for in vitro assessment of the susceptibility of urinary catheter materials to encrustation.

An automated technique has been developed for assessing the extent to which existing or potential materials for the construction of indwelling catheters become encrusted during exposure to infected urine. In this technique the enzyme urease is added to artificial urine containing albumin in a reaction vessel which contains the samples to be tested. Controlled replacement of reactants leads to appreciable formation of encrusting deposits which adhere firmly to the surface of the test samples. Deposits have the same chemical composition as those which encrust catheters in vivo.
Regarding the challenges of Performance Analysis of Virtualized Systems

Virtualization is an irreplaceable technique for efficient management of hardware resources in the field of information technology and computer science. With this phenomenal technology come challenges that hinder proper performance analysis of virtualized systems. This study focuses on virtualization implementations, various enterprise solutions, characterization of observations, concerns, pitfalls, and industry standard virtualization performance measurement tools. Our goal is to delineate the various intricacies of virtualization to help researchers, information technologists, and hobbyists realize areas of concern and improvement in their performance analysis of virtualized systems.
FNA, core biopsy, or both for the diagnosis of lung carcinoma: Obtaining sufficient tissue for a specific diagnosis and molecular testing

Increasingly, minimally invasive procedures are performed to assess lung lesions and stage lung carcinomas. In cases of advanced‐stage lung cancer, the biopsy may provide the only diagnostic tissue. The aim of this study was to determine which method—fine‐needle aspiration (FNA), core biopsy (CBx), or both (B)—is optimal for providing sufficient tissue for rendering a specific diagnosis and pursuing molecular studies for guiding tumor‐specific treatment.
Iron and Copper Nutrition-Dependent Changes in Protein Expression in a Tomato Wild Type and the Nicotianamine-Free Mutant chloronerva

The nicotianamine-deficient mutant chloronerva resembles phenotypically an Fe-deficient plant despite the high accumulation of Fe in the leaves, whereas it suffers from Cu deficiency in the shoot. Two-dimensional electrophoretic separation of proteins from root tips and leaves of wild-type Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Bonner Beste and the mutant grown with and without Fe showed a number of consistent differences. In root tips of the Fe-deficient wild type and the Fe-sufficient as well as the Fe-deficient mutant, the expression of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase, and ascorbate peroxidase was increased. In leaves of the Fe-sufficient and -deficient mutant, Cu-containing chloroplastic and cytosolic superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn) and plastocyanin (Cu) were nearly absent. This low plastocyanin content could be restored by supplying Cu via the xylem, but the superoxide dismutase levels could not be increased by this treatment. The differences in the protein patterns between wild type and mutant indicate that the apparent Fe deficiency of mutant plants led to an increase in enzymes involved in anaerobic metabolism as well as enzymes involved in stress defense. The biosynthesis of plastocyanin was diminished in mutant leaves, but it was differentially induced by increased Cu content.
On FPGA implementation of blind adaptive antenna

This paper presents a review of an adaptive array antenna using a constant modulus algorithm (CMA) in implementation aspect. MAC and parallel architectures of the CMA processing unit for the adaptive antenna are discussed. The CMA processing units based on MAC or parallel architecture is implemented on field programmable gate array (FPGA). The effect of floating-point and fixed-point arithmetic on the performance of the CMA processing unit is also discussed. Finally, the FPGA resource utilization and maximum operating clock frequency are shown.
Interpretation, Activity Participation, and Environmental Attitudes of Visitors to Penguin Island, Western Australia

ABSTRACT Natural area management agencies use on-site interpretation, in part, to communicate messages based on themes of conservation. These themes stem from the legislative mandate to protect ecologically significant areas. Many of these areas are also popular destinations for a range of visitor activities. This provides the context onto which management overlays their emphasis on protection of often fragile and unique ecosystems. Penguin Island, Western Australia, is an example of one such site. Visitors were surveyed immediately before and after the island experience to ascertain any influence on knowledge and environmental attitude. Analysis focused on a subsample of respondents undertaking different categories of activities while being exposed to the same on-site interpretation. All activity groups seemed to recall factual information equally, but environmental attitudes toward the island were influenced significantly differently.
The European Nucleotide Archive

The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA; http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena) is Europe’s primary nucleotide-sequence repository. The ENA consists of three main databases: the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), the Trace Archive and EMBL-Bank. The objective of ENA is to support and promote the use of nucleotide sequencing as an experimental research platform by providing data submission, archive, search and download services. In this article, we outline these services and describe major changes and improvements introduced during 2010. These include extended EMBL-Bank and SRA-data submission services, extended ENA Browser functionality, support for submitting data to the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) through SRA, and the launch of a new sequence similarity search service.
Associations of Physical Activity and Inactivity Before and During Pregnancy With Glucose Tolerance

OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations of physical activity and television viewing before and during pregnancy with risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and abnormal glucose tolerance, the combination of GDM with less severe impaired glucose tolerance. METHODS: We assessed duration and intensity of physical activity and time spent viewing television both before and during pregnancy among 1,805 women enrolled in Project Viva, a cohort study in eastern Massachusetts. We identified 1,493 (83%) women with normal glucose tolerance and 312 (17%) with abnormal glucose tolerance, including 91 (5%) with GDM based on clinical glucose tolerance test results. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, race or ethnicity, history of GDM, family history of diabetes, and prepregnancy body mass index, our data suggest that women who engaged in any vigorous physical activity in the year before pregnancy experienced a reduced risk of GDM (odds ratio [OR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33–0.95) and abnormal glucose tolerance (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.57–1.00). Women who reported vigorous activity before pregnancy and light-to-moderate or vigorous activity during pregnancy appeared to have a lower risk of both GDM (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.24–1.01) and abnormal glucose tolerance (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.49–1.01) compared with women reporting these activities in neither time period. Walking and total physical activity provided modest benefits. We observed no association of television viewing before or during pregnancy with risk of GDM or abnormal glucose tolerance. CONCLUSION: Physical activity, especially vigorous activity before pregnancy and at least light-to-moderate activity during pregnancy, may reduce risk for abnormal glucose tolerance and GDM. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2
A Narrative indicator of Monetary Conditions in China

In this paper, we apply the narrative approach, studying the PBC's historical records, to infer policy-makers' intentions and thereby build a time series of monetary policy indicator. We show that our narrative policy indicator is informative about economic activity. Changes in it reflect the PBC's responses to its perceptions of economic conditions. It is a good indicator of monetary policy actions. Finally, we show that compared to monetary aggregates, changes in interest rates and the required reserve ratio are more associated with changes in monetary policy, as measured by our narrative indicator, but only to a limited degree. None of them alone can be a good proxy of policy indicator.
The Case for Conditioning Federal Infrastructure Investment on State Land and Water Planning

Abstract Federal water policy encompasses both investment in capital improvement projects and resource development, and environmental protection and preservation, resulting in continuing tension. Partly as a consequence we have reached an impasse in national water policy without achieving the 35-year-old goal of “fishable and swimmable” surface waters or addressing the potential effect of rising sea levels. Making federal monies for Corps of Engineers projects, highways, and agricultural programs available only on the condition that states receiving funds have comprehensive land and water plans in place could help the nation achieve these important tasks.
Put Call Parity: An Extension of Boundary Conditions

In this paper, the boundary conditions for put-call parity are extended to take into account the potential rational early exercise of an option and the possibility that dividends and capitalisation changes will differ from expectations. A series of statistical tests provide the basis for a conclusion in favour of put-call parity and the hypothesised risk-return relationships in the Australian exchange traded options market over the sample period.
What Are We Learning from Tropical Coastal Management Experiences?

The experience in coastal management in the tropics that is presented in this special issue is considered in light of other coastal management initiatives worldwide. The major challenges confronting those working to promote cross-sectoral, participatory approaches to the management of coastal areas are discussed. Emerging conceptual frameworks are considered. Several factors critical to the design of coastal management projects and programs are identified. The article concludes with a reflection on priorities for furthering the practice of coastal management in the next decade.
Social Media Mining Shared Task Workshop

Social media has evolved into a crucial resource for obtaining large volumes of real-time information. The promise of social media has been realized by the public health domain, and recent research has addressed some important challenges in that domain by utilizing social media data. Tasks such as monitoring flu trends, viral disease outbreaks, medication abuse, and adverse drug reactions are some examples of studies where data from social media have been exploited. The focus of this workshop is to explore solutions to three important natural language processing challenges for domain-specific social media text: (i) text classification, (ii) information extraction, and (iii) concept normalization. To explore different approaches to solving these problems on social media data, we designed a shared task which was open to participants globally. We designed three tasks using our in-house annotated Twitter data on adverse drug reactions. Task 1 involved automatic classification of adverse drug reaction assertive user posts; Task 2 focused on extracting specific adverse drug reaction mentions from user posts; and Task 3, which was slightly ill-defined due to the complex nature of the problem, involved normalizing user mentions of adverse drug reactions to standardized concept IDs. A total of 11 teams participated, and a total of 24 (18 for Task 1, and 6 for Task 2) system runs were submitted. Following the evaluation of the systems, and an assessment of their innovation/novelty, we accepted 7 descriptive manuscripts for publication--5 for Task 1 and 2 for Task 2. We provide descriptions of the tasks, data, and participating systems in this paper.
La fiscalité des fonds de pension aux Etats-Unis

Over the last thirty years, several tax reforms have been implemented in the United States to foster households' savings. In 1974, the ERISA introduced Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for the workers who did not have access to firm-sponsored pension plans. In 1981, the Economic Recovery Tax Act extended the eligibility of IRAs to all tax payers, and the contribution and deductibility limits were upwardly revised. At the same time, firm-sponsored plans known as 401(k) after the name of the tax code section became popular with the clarification of their fiscal status. In 1986 a tax reform act substantially reduced tax deductibility ceilings, and the outstanding of pension plan savings decreased. To prevent a further depletion, the Parliament enacted the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act in 2001, which created incentives to retirement savings both for the households and the firms. This article has two main objectives. First it aims at describing the tax rules and devices applicable to pension savings. Second it surveys the effects of tax rules on savings accumulation over the last twenty years.
Inclined Weight-Loaded Walking at Different Speeds: Pelvis-Shoulder Coordination, Trunk Movements and Cost of Transport

ABSTRACT Although studied at level surface, the trunk kinematics and pelvis-shoulder coordination of incline walking are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the speed effects on pelvis-shoulder coordination and trunk movement and the cost of transport (C) during unloaded and loaded (25% of body mass) 15% incline walking. We collected 3-dimensional kinematic and oxygen consumption data from 10 physically active young men. The movements were analyzed in the sagittal plane (inclination and range of trunk motion) and the transverse plane (range of shoulder and pelvic girdle motion and phase difference). The rotational amplitude of the shoulder girdle decreased with load at all speeds, and it was lower at the highest speeds. The rotational amplitude of the pelvic girdle did not change with the different speeds. The phase difference was greater at optimal speed (3 km.hr−1, at the lowest C) in the loaded and the unloaded conditions. The trunk inclination was greater with load and increased with speed, whereas the range of trunk motion was lower in the loaded condition and decreased with increasing speed. In conclusion, the load decreased the range of girdles and trunk motion, and the pelvis-shoulder coordination seemed to be critical for the incline walking performance.
Progress and needs for developing and validating alternatives for dermal sensitisation testing

The sensitising potential of chemicals is usually identified on the basis of animal studies. In addition to increasing public concern regarding the use of animal testing for the toxicological evaluation of new chemicals, the adoption of the 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive in Europe will result in animal testing of ingredients used in cosmetics being subjected to severe restrictions by 2009 which will be tightened by 2013. The development of in vitro models for predicting the sensitising potential of new chemicals is therefore an obvious need. In vitro sensitisation tests will have to reflect the complex interactions of a chemical with the different compartments of the immune system. COLIPA STTF is therefore supporting a range of research projects reflecting our current understanding of the molecular and cellular events occurring during the sensitisation process from aspects of chemistry, peptide binding and skin metabolism to intracellular signalling pathways induced by allergens (see fig. 1).
Vietnam: Two Decades of Urban Development

Doi moi, adopted as a policy of economic reform in Vietnam in 1986, has ushered in fundamental and sweeping economic and social changes spearheaded by its cities. The paper, by a senior Hong Kong-based geographer, reviews the country's progress over a twodecade period ending in 2006. Discussion of the first decade focuses on deterioration of urban infrastructure and its causes (as well as the onset of reconstruction) based largely on field interviews, reconnaissance, and review of official documents and reports. Coverage of the second decade's more rapid change highlights legal reforms, privatization, foreign direct investment, as well as regional development. The favorable prognosis for urban Vietnam is examined in the context of the country's accession to the WTO and its hosting of the APEC Summit in late 2006. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O10, O18, O30, P20. 4 figures, 1 table, 26 references.
Regional crop supply behaviour in the EU

The objective of this paper is to present an evolution of PMP model suitable to estimate the revenue function and to provide price elasticity due to the variation of subsidies at farm level, especially if they are decoupled. This problem arises when individual data of farm households in a given region, coming from FADN, are used for implement PMP models finalized to policy analysis. This paper presents the theoretical background of the proposed innovations and empirical evidence on the basis of a sample of farms included in FADN database in Italy.