Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Balanced-Budget Restraint in Taxing Income from Wealth in the Ramsey Model

The past two decades mark a swing in Western political economy back to several traditional values. Welfare reform in the Netherlands and the United States clearly rests on the principle of individual responsibility: the moral premise that those who choose not to help themselves are not entitled to help from the state and might even do better without it. The wave of privatization, sweeping from the United Kingdom to the Mediterranean and points east, rests on the value of capitalism, the premise that people need and seek the stimulation and progress achievable by private enterprise. When it comes to individual responsibility and private enterprise, I am fully on board. My book Rewarding Work would extend and intensify the integration of the less-advantaged in the capitalist economy-as much to buttress capitalism against its opponents as to widen the opportunity for self-support and personal growth that capitalism can uniquely provide. Yet some new policy talk deals with more than individualism or capitalism. Whether these added precepts are on solid ground is unclear. The new proposals regarding tax policy offer an obvious example. Is a budgetary surplus looming up? Cut taxessurpluses are anathema, deficits are good (as discussed in the editorial "King Solomon's Tax Cut," Wall Street Journal, July 27, 1998). Is there wage inequality? Cut the taxes of those whose incomes are low (Kemp 1998). Slow growth of productivity? Cut tax rates to spur investment and entrepreneurship (Reynolds
The use of gold and gold alloys in prosthetic dentistry – a literature review

Abstract Gold is a noble metal with very good chemical resistance. It also does not become oxidized in water or air. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and shine, and it is a heavy, but soft metal with huge plasticity and ductility. For many years, gold and its alloys have been recognized as being great prosthetic material in dental practice. In current dentistry, the progress in materials science and galvanoforming techniques have made it possible to create precise restorations utilizing this metal. This pertains both to fixed and removable dentures. Galvanized gold has a range of advantages, among these being biocompatibility, proper marginal tightness, endurance, its esthetic design and the fact that it boasts bacteriostatic features.
Die Bedeutung der Krankenhäuser für die Versorgung von Patienten mit Katarakt in Deutschland: Systematische Auswertung der Krankenhausqualitätsberichte der Jahre 2006 bis 2016

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die Katarakt ist eine der häufigsten Augenerkrankungen in Deutschland. Laut Schätzungen der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft nimmt die Häufigkeit in den kommenden Jahrzehnten noch weiter zu. Es wird postuliert, dass Kataraktoperationen in Deutschland zunehmend als ambulante Eingriffe durchgeführt werden, jedoch gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass weiterhin ein Bedarf an stationären Kataraktoperationen besteht. Ziel der Arbeit Es soll auf Grundlage der Krankenhausqualitätsberichte geprüft werden, wie sich die Gesamtzahl der in den deutschen Krankenhäusern erbrachten Kataraktoperationen über den Beobachtungszeitraum verändert hat und ob ein Trend zur Verlagerung in den ambulanten Bereich zu verzeichnen ist. Material und Methoden Die Zahlen der ambulant bzw. stationär durchgeführten Kataraktoperationen wurden aus den Krankenhausqualitätsberichten der Jahre 2006 bis einschließlich 2016 extrahiert und die Zahl der insgesamt (absolut und pro 1000 Einwohner) durchgeführten Kataraktoperationen (ambulant/stationär) ermittelt. Zudem wurde der Anteil komplexer Kataraktformen in Relation gesetzt zur Gesamtzahl der im jeweiligen Operationsrahmen (ambulant bzw. stationär) durchgeführten Kataraktoperationen. Die statistische Auswertung erfolgte deskriptiv und wurde mit dem Softwarepaket R (www.r-project.org) durchgeführt. Ergebnisse Im Zeitraum von 2006 bis 2016 wurden insgesamt 1 884 506 ambulante und stationäre Kataraktoperationen in deutschen Krankenhäusern durchgeführt. Es zeigte sich bundesweit eine Zunahme in der Gesamtzahl der durchgeführten Kataraktoperationen (2006: 223 070; 2016: 279 331). Der Anteil ambulant durchgeführter Kataraktoperationen stieg zwischen 2006 (44%) und 2010 (48,9%) an. Über den weiteren Untersuchungszeitraum zeigte sich der entsprechende Anteil relativ stabil (2016: 48,5%). Der Anteil komplexer Kataraktformen war dabei in der Gruppe stationär durchgeführter Kataraktoperationen in den Jahren 2006 bis 2016 jeweils höher als in der Gruppe ambulant durchgeführter Kataraktoperationen (56 – 86%). Diskussion Die Krankenhäuser leisten in Deutschland nach wie vor einen signifikanten Beitrag zur Versorgung von Patienten, die an einer Katarakt erkrankt sind. Die Gesamtzahl der Operationen hat zugenommen. Eine systematische und anhaltende Verlagerung der Versorgung von Patienten mit Katarakt in den ambulanten Bereich lässt sich anhand der vorliegenden Daten nicht bestätigen. Nach einer Steigerung des Anteils ambulanter Kataraktoperationen bis in das Jahr 2010 blieb der entsprechende Anteil zwischen 2010 und 2016 stabil. Dies ist möglicherweise darauf zurückzuführen, dass eine über die Jahre konstant große Gruppe von Patienten aus medizinischen oder auch sozialen Gründen im Rahmen ambulanter Eingriffe nicht hinreichend versorgt wäre.
The tumour suppressor CDKN2A/p16INK4a regulates adipogenesis and bone marrow-dependent development of perivascular adipose tissue

The genomic CDKN2A/B locus, encoding p16INK4a among others, is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a risk factor for both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. p16INK4a is a cell cycle regulator and tumour suppressor. Whether it plays a role in adipose tissue formation is unknown. p16INK4a knock-down in 3T3/L1 preadipocytes or p16INK4a deficiency in mouse embryonic fibroblasts enhanced adipogenesis, suggesting a role for p16INK4a in adipose tissue formation. p16INK4a-deficient mice developed more epicardial adipose tissue in response to the adipogenic peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma agonist rosiglitazone. Additionally, adipose tissue around the aorta from p16INK4a-deficient mice displayed enhanced rosiglitazone-induced gene expression of adipogenic markers and stem cell antigen, a marker of bone marrow-derived precursor cells. Mice transplanted with p16INK4a-deficient bone marrow had more epicardial adipose tissue compared to controls when fed a high-fat diet. In humans, p16INK4a gene expression was enriched in epicardial adipose tissue compared to other adipose tissue depots. Moreover, epicardial adipose tissue from obese humans displayed increased expression of stem cell antigen compared to lean controls, supporting a bone marrow origin of epicardial adipose tissue. These results show that p16INK4a modulates epicardial adipose tissue development, providing a potential mechanistic link between the genetic association of the CDKN2A/B locus and cardiovascular disease risk.
Testing for gene–environment interaction under exposure misspecification

Complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors characterizes the etiology of many diseases. Modeling gene–environment (GxE) interactions is often challenged by the unknown functional form of the environment term in the true data‐generating mechanism. We study the impact of misspecification of the environmental exposure effect on inference for the GxE interaction term in linear and logistic regression models. We first examine the asymptotic bias of the GxE interaction regression coefficient, allowing for confounders as well as arbitrary misspecification of the exposure and confounder effects. For linear regression, we show that under gene–environment independence and some confounder‐dependent conditions, when the environment effect is misspecified, the regression coefficient of the GxE interaction can be unbiased. However, inference on the GxE interaction is still often incorrect. In logistic regression, we show that the regression coefficient is generally biased if the genetic factor is associated with the outcome directly or indirectly. Further, we show that the standard robust sandwich variance estimator for the GxE interaction does not perform well in practical GxE studies, and we provide an alternative testing procedure that has better finite sample properties.
Effects of Very High Stimulation Frequency and Wide-Pulse Duration on Stimulated Force and Fatigue of Quadriceps in Healthy Participants

Objective To determine the effect of very high stimulation frequency (150 and 200 Hz) with wide pulse duration versus 50 Hz with wide pulse duration on stimulated force and fatigue of quadriceps femoris in healthy participants. Methods Thirty-four healthy participants underwent fatigue test using three stimulation frequency conditions (50, 150, and 200 Hz) with pulse duration of 0.9 ms. Normalized force values at the end of each fatigue protocol and curve fitting patterns were compared among stimulated frequencies. Results Very high stimulation frequency (150 and 200 Hz) conditions showed a trend of having more decline in normalized stimulated force during fatigue test compared to a low stimulation frequency at 50 Hz. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Responder group showed the same slope of a linear fitting pattern, implying the same pattern of muscle fatigue among three stimulation frequency conditions (−3.32 in 50 Hz, −2.88 in 150 Hz, and −3.14 in 200 Hz, respectively). Conclusion There were high inter-subject variations in the response to different frequency stimulation conditions. However, very high stimulation frequency generated the same fatigue pattern as the low stimulation frequency in the responder group. Further research is needed to explore the mechanism involved.
Developing community capability for e‐commerce development in rural China: A resource orchestration perspective

Community capability enables a large number of rural citizens to cooperatively engage in e‐commerce as an e‐commerce cluster, and it thus plays a critical role in e‐commerce development in the rural regions of developing countries. Taking the resource orchestration perspective as the theoretical lens, this study investigates the process for developing community capability. Two cases of community capability development in rural Chinese villages are studied. The findings reveal two settings for community capability development—government supported and self‐orchestrated—and show that community capability is developed through the individual capabilities of lead users and the resource orchestration interactions of stakeholders. This study has theoretical implications because it reveals the importance of developing community capability by orchestrating resources beyond merely providing training and education to rural community members and because it identifies the processes for developing community capability in the two respective settings. It also extends the resource orchestration perspective from a single‐firm context to a community context by revealing the resource orchestration interactions.
Estimation of 3D Protein Structure by means of parallel Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper presents the Algorithm of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) implemented in a Distributed Computing Environment. The main objective of this PSO is to calculate the Protein 3D Structure reducing the computational time to carry out this task; this problem is also known as Protein Folding Problem (PFP). The parallel PSO works on a real conformation, considering structural restriction of the protein, where the conformation uses a representation of torsion angles of the skeleton and the side chains, applying the sequence of amino-acid of the protein for the prediction of 3D structure of minimum energy. In order to calculate the energy of the protein conformation, the energy empirical function ECEPP/3 is used. This program was implemented for running in a cluster with the libraries MPI for the processor communication. The quality of the results on the testing peptide (leuenkephalin) is compared with other techniques reported in literature, and also the PSO is used to predict the structure of unknown proteins.
Effect of thermal additions on the density and distribution of thermophilic amoebae and pathogenic Naegleria fowleri in a newly created cooling lake

Pathogenic Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of fatal human amoebic meningoencephalitis. The protozoan is ubiquitous in nature, and its presence is enhanced by thermal additions. In this investigation, water and sediments from a newly created cooling lake were quantitatively analyzed for the presence of thermophilic amoebae, thermophilic Naegleria spp. , and the pathogen Naegleria fowleri. During periods of thermal additions, the concentrations of thermophilic amoebae and thermophilic Naegleria spp. increased as much as 5 orders of magnitude, and the concentration of the pathogen N. fowleri increased as much as 2 orders of magnitude. Concentrations of amoebae returned to prior thermal perturbation levels within 30 to 60 days after cessation of thermal additions. Increases in the thermophilic amoeba concentrations were noted in Savannah River oxbows downriver from the Savannah River plant discharge streams as compared with oxbows upriver from the discharges. Concentrations of thermophilic amoebae and thermophilic Naegleria spp. correlated significantly with temperature and conductivity. Air samples taken proximal to the lake during periods of thermal addition showed no evidence of thermophilic Naegleria spp. Isoenzyme patterns of the N. fowleri isolated from the cooling lake were identical to patterns of N. fowleri isolated from other sites in the United States and Belgium.
Mouthpiece ventilation and complementary techniques in patients with neuromuscular disease: A brief clinical review and update

Noninvasive ventilatory support (NVS) is sometimes reported as suboptimal in patients with neuromuscular disease (NMD). The reasons for this include inadequate ventilator settings and/or lack of interface tolerance. NVS has been used for many years in patients with NMD disorders as a viable alternative to continuous ventilatory support via a tracheostomy tube. The mouthpiece ventilation (MPV) is a ventilatory mode that is used as daytime ventilatory support in combination with other ventilatory modalities and interfaces for nocturnal NVS. However, there is still a poor understanding of this method’s benefits compared with other modalities. This review aims to highlight the indications and advantages along with the disadvantages of MPV.
Coffee consumption and risk of myocardial infarction: a dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies

Background Previous epidemiological studies have provided inconsistent conclusions on the effect of coffee consumption in the development of myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of coffee consumption and its potential dose-response patterns on the risk of developing MI. Materials and Methods Three databases were searched for evidence of eligible studies. A random-effects model was used to pool the fully adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Dose-response analysis was performed to show the effect of each cup increased in daily coffee drinking on the risk of MI. Results Seventeen studies involving 233,617 participants were included in our study. The association between coffee consumption and risk of MI did not show statistical significance when pooling the outcome data for the coffee consumption categories of 1~2 vs. < 1 cup per day (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.94–1.19) and 2~3 vs. < 1 cup per day (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.94–1.23). Compared with < 1 cup, daily drinking of 3~4 cups and > 4 cups of coffee were significantly associated with the risk of MI, and the pooled ORs (95% CIs) were 1.40 (1.11–1.77) and 1.48 (1.22–1.79), respectively. The dose–response analysis showed a “J–shaped” curve relationship of the risk of MI with coffee consumption. Conclusions Daily drinking of more than three cups of coffee was associated with a significantly increased risk of MI. This positive association was only found in men but not in women. The impact of gender on this association should be further evaluated.
Worker Rights Promote Productivity Growth

ROBERT BUCHELE is Professor of Economics at Smith College. JENS CHRISTIANSEN is Professor of Economics at Mount Holyoke College. industrial-relations system ought to be judged, at least in part, on how workers are treated by it. So there is a case for a policy that enhances worker rights even if that policy reduces productivity growth. But in contrast to the widespread belief today that worker rights undermine economic efficiency, we believe that a strong case can be made that worker rights enhance productivity. In sum, what's good for workers is also good for the economy, certainly in the long run as well as in the short run.
Analysis of mean packet delay in DR-MPCP limited service using queueing theory

Ethernet passive optical access network (EPONs) have become widespread optical access network. In EPON uplink communication, communication is reserved by polling from an optical network unit (ONU) to an optical line terminal (OLT) using multi-point control protocol (MPCP). A method of delaying the transmission timing of REPORT messages in MPCP, called delayed REPORT messages-MPCP (DR-MPCP) has been proposed as a way of reducing the mean packet delay time of EPON uplink communication [1][2]. However, this method cannot limit the transmission window size of each ONU (making it gated service). In real networks, the transmission window size should be limited to be fair to each ONU (i.e. it should be limited service). This paper derives the upper limit and theoretical expression of the mean packet delay time in DR-MPCP limited service using the queueing theory M/G/1 model. It also analyzes the characteristics of mean packet delay.
Speedup in Parallel Rendering System with Computational Best-effort Scheme

Virtual reality (VR) surgical training and presurgical planning require the creation of 3D virtual models of patient anatomy from medical scan data. Real-time head tracking in VR applications allows users to navigate in the virtual anatomy from any 3D position and orientation. The process of interactively rendering highly-detailed 3D volumetric data of anatomical models from a dynamically changing observer's perspective is extremely demanding for computational resources. Parallel computing presents a solution to this problem, involving a distributed volume graphics rendering system composed of multiple nodes concurrently working on different portions of the output streaming, which are later integrated to form the final view. This paper presents a distributed graphics rendering system consisting of multiple GPU-based heterogeneous nodes running a best-effort rendering scheme. Experiments show promising results in terms of efficiency and performance for rendering medical volumes in real time.
Where Tree Planting and Forest Expansion are Bad for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Misperceptions about the world's grassy biomes contribute to their alarming rates of loss due to conversion for agriculture and tree plantations, as well as to forest encroachment. To illustrate the causes and consequences of these misperceptions, we show that the World Resources Institute and the International Union for Conservation of Nature misidentified 9 million square kilometers of ancient grassy biomes as providing “Opportunities” for forest restoration. Establishment of forests in these grasslands, savannas, and open-canopy woodlands would devastate biodiversity and ecosystem services. Such undesired outcomes are avoidable if the distinct ecologies and conservation needs of forest and grassy biomes become better integrated into science and policy. To start with, scientists should create maps that accurately depict grassy biomes at global and landscape scales. It is also crucial that international environmental agreements (e.g., the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) formally recognize grassy biomes and their environmental values.
Phase Ib Study of Lumretuzumab Plus Cetuximab or Erlotinib in Solid Tumor Patients and Evaluation of HER3 and Heregulin as Potential Biomarkers of Clinical Activity

Purpose: This study investigated the safety, clinical activity, and target-associated biomarkers of lumretuzumab, a humanized, glycoengineered, anti-HER3 monoclonal antibody (mAb), in combination with the EGFR-blocking agents erlotinib or cetuximab in patients with advanced HER3-positive carcinomas. Experimental Design: The study included two parts: dose escalation and dose extension phases with lumretuzumab in combination with either cetuximab or erlotinib, respectively. In both parts, patients received lumretuzumab doses from 400 to 2,000 mg plus cetuximab or erlotinib according to standard posology, respectively. The effect of HRG mRNA and HER3 mRNA and protein expression were investigated in a dedicated extension cohort of squamous non–small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC) patients treated with lumretuzumab and erlotinib. Results: Altogether, 120 patients were treated. One dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) in the cetuximab part and two DLTs in the erlotinib part were reported. The most frequent adverse events were gastrointestinal and skin toxicities, which were manageable. The objective response rate (ORR) was 6.1% in the cetuximab part and 4.2% in the erlotinib part. In the sqNSCLC extension cohort of the erlotinib part, higher tumor HRG and HER3 mRNA levels were associated with a numerically higher disease control rate but not ORR. Conclusions: The toxicity profile of lumretuzumab in combination with cetuximab and erlotinib was manageable, but only modest clinical activity was observed across tumor types. In the sqNSCLC cohort, there was no evidence of meaningful clinical benefit despite enriching for tumors with higher HRG mRNA expression levels. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5406–15. ©2017 AACR.
Antibacterial and Antioxidant Compounds from the Flower Extracts of Vernonia amygdalina

Vernonia amygdalina is traditionally used in Ethiopia to treat various diseases. This prompted us to isolate bioactive compounds from the flowers of this plant. The CHCl3 extract after silica gel column chromatography has led to the isolation of two compounds identified as tricosane (1) and vernolide (2), while the acetone extract furnished isorhamnetin (3) and luteolin (4). The acetone extract and isorhamnetin significantly scavenged the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical by 91.6 and 94%, respectively. It was also shown that the acetone extract and isorhamnetin inhibited lipid peroxidation by 74 and 80%, respectively. The extracts and isolated compounds were also evaluated for their antibacterial activity with the CHCl3 extract and vernolide showing strong activity against S. aureus with an inhibition zone of 21 and 19 mm, respectively. On the other hand, the acetone extract and isorhamnetin were active against all bacterial pathogens tested. The work presented herein has demonstrated that vernolide and isorhamnetin had antibacterial activity. The antioxidant activity displayed by the flowers of V. amygdalina is accounted to the presence of isorhamnetin. Therefore, the biological activities displayed by the extracts and isolated compounds from this plant corroborate the traditional uses of this plant by the local people against various diseases.