Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Season of birth, age and negative symptoms in a Xhosa schizophrenia sample from the Southern Hemisphere.

OBJECTIVES Seasonality of birth, more specifically winter/spring births, has been implicated as a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether schizophrenia patients of Xhosa ethnicity born in autumn/winter have different symptom profiles to those born in spring/summer. The secondary aim was to determine whether the autumn/winter and spring/summer birth rates for schizophrenia patients of Xhosa ethnicity were similar to that of the general Xhosa population. METHOD Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, born in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa (n = 386), were categorized as autumn/winter-born (March to August) patients or summer/spring-born (September to February) patients. Negative global scores of the schedules for the assessment of negative symptoms were categorized as normal (rating of 0 and 1) or positive (rating of 2 to 5). RESULTS Patients born in autumn/winter were more likely to have avolition/apathy than those born in summer/spring. The results also showed that the age of the patients played a significant role in modifying the effect of the season of birth on symptoms of schizophrenia. Especially older people (more than 30 years old) born in autumn/winter had a higher incidence of avolition/apathy than those born in summer/spring (p = 0.026). Furthermore, in the relationship of birth season and avolition/apathy, the marital status of the patient was a significant independent explanatory variable, while gender was not. The study also showed a spring excess of 4% in birth rate compared with the general Xhosa population. CONCLUSION The results from our study support the existence of a seasonal birth pattern in an African schizophrenia population and suggest that avolition/apathy may underpin this seasonal pattern.
Public sector accrual accounting: institutionalising neo‐liberal principles?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of public sector accounting in implementing neoliberal reforms. Design/methodology/approach - The proposition that the adoption and development of accrual accounting in the public sector is a technical development intended to improve transparency and accountability is investigated. The paper compares the development and use of accrual accounting in public sector financial management reforms in the UK and New Zealand. Findings - The findings in this paper suggest that in both countries, accrual accounting, as developed, also provides a means to reduce the government's role to that of procurer of services and enforcer of rules set by others, thus advancing a controversial privatisation and trade liberalisation agenda which is consistent with neo-liberal principles. Research limitations/implications - The paper shows that in contrast to more usual claims about the need for accrual accounting to provide a “read across between the sectors” or that public interest motives assure the neutrality of accounting, seemingly technical accrual accounting developments seem to function as a political tool to aid a controversial political agenda. There is a need to look at the overall effect of public sector financial management reforms and the role of, and implications for, accounting standard-setters. Originality/value - The information in the paper applies to accounting the new political economics literature on agenda control and information based structures where control is achieved through information asymmetries.
Controversies in the management of Parkinson's disease

Over the last decade problems in the management of parkinsonian patients have become increasingly recognized. The major difficulties that generally become evident after 3-9 years of treatment with levodopa comprise psychiatric symptoms (confusion, hallucinations, delusions), involuntary movements other than tremor which are generally termed dyskinesia (chorea, dystonia, athetosis, myoclonus), fluctuations in disability (on-off reactions and wearing-off reactions), and declining efficacy. These problems have led to a reexamination of when, in the natural history of Parkinson's disease, pharmacotherapy should be started, and whether high doses of antiparkinson drugs are deleterious in any way; a related issue of practical importance, is whether these complications benefit from a brief period of withdrawal from levodopa. There is general agreement that
Behavior and attitudes of small family firms towards different funding sources

This study investigates how family ownership affects the usage of and the attitudes towards different funding sources in micro-sized, small and medium-sized private family and non-family firms. Our findings suggest that family firms are more likely than non-family firms to use trade credits, finance companies and owners as their sources of finance. We also find that family firms have more negative attitudes towards bank loans and trade credits, but more positive attitudes towards additional equity from current owners than non-family firms. The fact that our results on the usage of and attitudes towards trade credits differ suggests that the family firms in our sample may be forced to use short-term debt because more preferred sources are not available. Our results also suggest that attitudes towards different funding sources seem to follow pecking order theory.
Alcohol Intoxication Reduces Detection of Asymmetry: An Explanation for Increased Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness after Alcohol Consumption?

Ratings of physical attractiveness are related to degree of facial symmetry. Acute alcohol consumption affects ratings of physical attractiveness and also attenuates aspects of visual perception. We tested the hypothesis that increases in ratings of attractiveness associated with alcohol intoxication can be attributed at least in part to a reduced ability to discern facial asymmetry due to reductions in levels of visual perception. We examined whether alcohol intoxication reduces ability to detect asymmetry in approximately symmetrical images. Sober and intoxicated subjects were shown a series of simple geometric images to which they responded on whether they perceived each one to be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Intoxicated subjects were significantly less able to detect asymmetry than were sober subjects, providing support for the hypothesis.
Short term DC breakdown strength in epoxy based BN nano- and microcomposites

Nanocomposites have been known in the field of electrical engineering for more than a decade, albeit there are still uncertainties of how the filler properties influence the properties of the composite material. Filler size, shape, aspect ratio and the surface modification, which consequently leads to even dispersion or clusters of particles, are all suspected to influence the dielectric behaviour of the insulation. But it is disputed what influences the properties to what extent. The focus of this paper is the dependence of the short term breakdown (BD) strength of polymer based composites filled with boron nitride (BN) on the filler size. Base polymer is commercially available bisphenol A epoxy with anhydrite hardener. As filler material we use boron nitride powder with different average particle sizes. These are ranging from 70 to 5000 nm. The particles were not surface modified in order to see solely the influence of the filler size on the BD strength. The short term BD strength was measured for negative DC voltages with Rogowski shaped electrodes. Dielectric spectroscopy was done complementarily to see how the filler size influences the relative permittivity of the composites.
Are Global Imbalances Sustainable

Large shifts in countries’ external current account positions can be disruptive, often reflecting sudden stops in the flows of external finance and leading to exchange rate and banking crises. As a result, an empirical literature has emerged on the sustainability of, and the determinants of large swings in, current account positions. We shed further light on this issue by testing for the presence of unit roots in the current account balance-to-GDP ratios of a large set of mature and emerging-market economies using a methodology that allows for structural breaks in intercepts and trends. We then construct a chronology of current account reversals that is consistent with sustainability of external positions and use it to estimate the factors explaining the likelihood and magnitude of such reversals using a selection model with ordered probit in the first stage. We find that most of the factors that explain the probability of reversals, such as trends in capital flows, in the budget balance and in external positions, also influence their magnitude. But there are a few exceptions. For instance, the stance of monetary policy and the magnitude of external imbalances prior to a reversal seem to be more powerful predictors of the probability of reversals than of their magnitude.
On the evolution of a multi-regional system

We study the effects of a decrease in trade costs on the spatial distribution of industry in a multi-regional economy, when a rise in the regional population of workers generates higher urban costs. We show that high and low trade costs imply that all regions involve a positive share of the industrial sector. When urban costs are linear, there exists a stable equilibrium for almost all values of trade costs. Furthermore, as trade costs fall, there is a path of stable equilibria such that the industry is, first, agglomerated into a decreasing number of regions and, then, dispersed among a growing number of regions. The second phase arises because of the increasing urban costs associated with the process of agglomeration.
Mega event as strategy for regional development The case of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics

Mega-events like the Winter Oympics are regarded as having a significant economic impact onthe region hosting the events as well as affecting its long-term development. This was the basis for Lillehammer in Norway to host the Olympic Winter Games in 1994. In this pa.per previous research on mega-events is reviewed, the experiences of the Lillehammer Olympics are examined, and the value of hosting a mega-event as a strategy for regional development is discussed.For some time the economic impacts caused by the Olympics were very significant, and major parts of regional industries have been affected in one way or another. However, the Olympics have mostly caused an industrial intermezzo. With the exception of significant growth in the tourism industry,the long-term economic benefits for the region have turned out to be fairly modest and out of proportion to the huge costs of hosting the Games.
FORMAL INCLUSION AND REAL DIVERSITY IN AN ENGINEERING PROGRAM OF A NEW PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Political measures are being taken to “democratize” access to universities in Brazil. A new State university recently created after a wide consultation to the population, has taken two important measures: (i) it reserves fifty per cent of its places to poor students and ten per cent to physically handicapped ones and (ii) has abolished the departmental structure. The paper discusses the result of a strategy adopted to deal with the highly heterogeneous classes resulting from the first measure and presents a way of taking advantage of the absence of epistemological control by a mathematics department to offer interdisciplinary objects as possible students’ objects of desire.
Longitudinal study of cardiac electrical activity in anesthetized guinea pigs by contactless magnetocardiography

Guinea pigs (GPs) are used for preclinical evaluation of electrophysiologic effects of new drugs, because their myocytes have human-like action potentials and ventricular repolarization's (VR) ion currents. This study was aimed to assess the reliability of magnetocardiographic (MCG) mapping for longitudinal studies of GP cardiac electrical activity. Eighteen anesthetized GPs were investigated with an unshielded 36-channel MCG instrumentation, at the age of 5 months (268.1 ± 19 g). Twelve GPs survived and were restudied when 14 months old (595.6 ± 90.5 g). RR, PR, QRS, QTpeak, QTend, JTpeak, JTend and Tpeak-end intervals were measured from MCG waveforms. Magnetic field (MF) maps, equivalent current dipole (ECD) parameters and current density imaging were also analyzed. A significant prolongation of the PR (p < 0.05) and QRS (p < 0.001) intervals was found at 14 months. Gender-related differences of VR intervals were not significant. Ppeak and QRSpeak MFs were similar in all animals, while Tpeak MF varied interindividually at 5 months and showed a rotation in some animals, at 14 months. The ECD strengths, measured at the Ppeak, QRSpeak and Tpeak were stronger (p < 0.01) at the age of 14 months than at 5 months. In contrast to findings in Wistar rats, age-related and gender-related differences of MCG VR parameters were not significant in GPs. Further work is necessary to clarify the variability of VR MF observed in healthy GPs.
Functional Variation of the Antigen I/II Surface Protein in Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus intermedius

ABSTRACT Although Streptococcus intermedius and Streptococcus mutans are regarded as members of the commensal microflora of the body, S. intermedius is often associated with deep-seated purulent infections, whereas S. mutans is frequently associated with dental caries. In this study, we investigated the roles of the S. mutans and S. intermedius antigen I/II proteins in adhesion and modulation of cell surface characteristics. By using isogenic mutants, we show that the antigen I/II in S. mutans, but not in S. intermedius, was involved in adhesion to a salivary film under flowing conditions, as well as in binding to rat collagen type I. Binding to human fibronectin was a common function associated with the S. mutans and S. intermedius antigen I/II. Adhesion of S. mutans or S. intermedius to human collagen types I or IV was negligible. Hydrophobicity, as measured by water contact angles, and zeta potentials were unaltered in the S. intermedius mutant. The S. mutans isogenic mutants, on the other hand, exhibited more positive zeta potentials at physiological pH values than did the wild type. The results indicate common and species-specific roles for the antigen I/II in mediating the attachment of S. mutans and S. intermedius to host components and in determining cell surface properties.
Dataglove calibration with constructed grasping gesture database

Data glove is widely used in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), but its precise calibration is still an unsettled question. This paper establishes a human hand model suit for general-purpose instrumented glove application and presents a reliable and expedient calibration routine. Our calibration method can be simply carried through without the need for auxiliary calibration hardware, while still producing high visual-fidelity performance.
Functional Characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae VHS3 Gene

The yeast gene VHS3 (YOR054c) has been recently identified as a multicopy suppressor of the G1/S cell cycle blockade of a conditional sit4 and hal3 mutant. Vhs3 is structurally related to Hal3, a negative regulatory subunit of the Ser/Thr protein phosphatase Ppz1 important for cell integrity, salt tolerance, and cell cycle control. Phenotypic analyses using vhs3 mutants and overexpressing strains clearly show that Vhs3 has functions reminiscent to those of Hal3 and contrary to those of Ppz1. Mutation of Vhs3 His459, equivalent to the supposedly functionally relevant His90 in the plant homolog AtHal3a, did not affect Vhs3 functions mentioned above. Similarly to Hal3, Vhs3 binds in vivo to the C-terminal catalytic moiety of Ppz1 and inhibits in vitro its phosphatase activity. Therefore, our results indicate that Vhs3 plays a role as an inhibitory subunit of Ppz1. We have found that the vhs3 and hal3 mutations are synthetically lethal. Remarkably, lethality is not suppressed by deletion of PPZ1, PPZ2, or both phosphatase genes, indicating that it is not because of an excess of Ppz phosphatase activity. Furthermore, a Vhs3 version carrying the H459A mutation did not rescue the synthetically lethal phenotype. A conditional vhs3 tetO:HAL3 double mutant displays, in the presence of doxycycline, a flocculation phenotype that is dependent on the presence of Flo8 and Flo11. These results indicate that, besides its role as Ppz1 inhibitory subunit, Vhs3 (and probably Hal3) might have important Ppz-independent functions.
Development and characterization of a novel method to analyze global gene expression profiles in endothelial cells derived from primary tissues

Homogenous cells separated directly from clinical samples with laser capture microdissection (LCM) contain their original transcript messages, which accurately reflects the physiological and pathological changes of the cell before fixation. Analysis of such samples provides a direct understanding of in vivo physiological and pathological processes. The development of modern large‐scale analytical techniques have given us a chance to determine the entire transcript profile of interesting cells. Therefore, LCM and gene expression microarray analysis are becoming common tools across a broad range of disciplines, particularly in the basic and clinical biomedical sciences. However, the combination of these technologies is limited in the study of vascular endothelial cell (VEC) since the precise location and separation of VECs is not easily realized and the requirement for relatively large amount of intact RNA for labeling and hybridization is not easily available. In this report, we describe an approach for tissue fixation and isolation of RNA from laser‐captured cells retrieved from frozen sections, which had previously been subjected to immunohistochemistry and subsequently subjected to linear amplification and gene expression microarray analysis. Our results demonstrate that nanogram quantities of total RNA isolated from about 3,000 VECs can be amplified and that the amplified RNA can generate enough signal intensity for GeneChip analysis. analysis. Am. J. Hematol. , 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Budgeting and Monitoring Pension Fund Risk

This article describes a set of mean–variance procedures for setting targets for the risk characteristics of components of a pension fund portfolio and for monitoring the portfolio over time to detect significant deviations from those targets. Because of the significant correlations of the returns provided by the managers of a typical defined-benefit pension fund, the risk of the portfolio cannot be characterized as simply the sum of the risks of the individual components. Expected returns, however, can be so characterized. I show that the relationship between marginal risks and implied expected excess returns provides the economic rationale for the risk budgeting and monitoring being implemented by a number of pension funds. I then show how a fund's liabilities can be taken into account to make the analysis consistent with goals assumed in asset/liability studies. I also discuss the use of factor models and aggregation and disaggregation procedures. The article concludes with a short discussion of practical issues that should be addressed when implementing a pension fund risk-budgeting and -monitoring system.
Inequality and Poverty in Malaysia: Measurement and Decomposition

This report gives a perspective on Malaysia, by tracing the development and importance of ethnic pluralism in the country. This pluralism has led the government to show special concern for racial income, distribution and, more generally, for racial economic disparities. The income distribution data used in this study were collected through the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) of 1970. A comparison shows that the PES is the best source of income data to date on household and individual incomes in Malaysia. The broad features of the PES household income distribution show overall inequality in Malaysia to be fairly high. The individual income distributions show large inequalities within the racial groups. These suggest that racial income disparities may be only part of a much wider problem of income inequality in the country. A profile of poverty in Malaysia is constructed, which identifies the poor in terms of socioeconomic variables such as race, location, employment status, occupation, and education. Such information is useful not only in understanding better the correlates and circumstances of poverty, but also in identifying areas of government intervention for the redress of poverty. The reports concludes if there are no data on the distribution of physical wealth among individuals in Malaysia, the breakdown of the personal income distribution by employment status does shed some light on the distribution of capital assets.
GPU‐accelerated computation of electron transfer

Electron transfer is a fundamental process that can be studied with the help of computer simulation. The underlying quantum mechanical description renders the problem a computationally intensive application. In this study, we probe the graphics processing unit (GPU) for suitability to this type of problem. Time‐critical components are identified via profiling of an existing implementation and several different variants are tested involving the GPU at increasing levels of abstraction. A publicly available library supporting basic linear algebra operations on the GPU turns out to accelerate the computation approximately 50‐fold with minor dependence on actual problem size. The performance gain does not compromise numerical accuracy and is of significant value for practical purposes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Percutaneous Absorption in Man: In vitro-in vivo Correlation

Aims: To examine the existing literature to determine the degree to which percutaneous absorption data obtained using the excised human skin model match those obtained from living man. Methods: The scientific literature was reviewed to collect data on compounds whose percutaneous absorption through human skin had been measured under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The in vitro-in vivo (IVIV) correlation was evaluated by computing the in vitro/in vivo ratio using total absorption (percent of applied dose) as the metric for comparison. Results: A total of 92 data sets were collected from 30 published studies. The average IVIV ratio across all values was 1.6, though for any single data set there could be a nearly 20-fold difference between the in vitro and in vivo values. In 85% of the cases, however, the difference was less than 3-fold. The correlation was significantly improved when data were excluded from studies in which the protocols for both studies were not fully harmonized. For harmonized data sets the average IVIV ratio was 0.96 and there was a less than 2-fold difference between the in vitro and in vivo results for any one compound, with IVIV ratios ranging from 0.58 to 1.28. The dominant factors leading to exclusion of data were the use of skin from different anatomical sites and vehicles of differing composition. Conclusions: Percutaneous absorption data obtained from the excised human skin model closely approximate those obtained from living man when the two study protocols are appropriately matched.