Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary assessment in UK Biobank: an evaluation of the performance of the touchscreen dietary questionnaire

UK Biobank is an open access prospective cohort of 500 000 men and women. Information on the frequency of consumption of main foods was collected at recruitment with a touchscreen questionnaire; prior to examining the associations between diet and disease, it is essential to evaluate the performance of the dietary touchscreen questionnaire. The objectives of the present paper are to: describe the repeatability of the touchscreen questionnaire in participants (n 20 348) who repeated the assessment centre visit approximately 4 years after recruitment, and compare the dietary touchscreen variables with mean intakes from participants (n 140 080) who completed at least one of the four web-based 24-h dietary assessments post-recruitment. For fish and meat items, 90 % or more of participants reported the same or adjacent category of intake at the repeat assessment visit; for vegetables and fruit, and for a derived partial fibre score (in fifths), 70 % or more of participants were classified into the same or adjacent category of intake (κweighted > 0·50 for all). Participants were also categorised based on their responses to the dietary touchscreen questionnaire at recruitment, and within each category the group mean intake of the same food group or nutrient from participants who had completed at least one web-based 24-h dietary assessment was calculated. The comparison showed that the dietary touchscreen variables, available on the full cohort, reliably rank participants according to intakes of the main food groups.
Administrative reforms : towards sustainable practices

Urban Local Governance Reforms Decentralizing Experiment - Mohit Bhattacharya A Case Study of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Good Practices in Public Sector Reform - Jennifer Jalal A Few Examples from Two Indian Cities Local Government Innovations in American Cities - Vidu Soni Power and Transport Sector Reforms Regulation of the Indian Power Sector - Daljit Singh Lessons for Other Sectors Regulatory Experiments in the Indian Power Sector - Sudha Mahalingam Missing the Wood for the Trees Battling for Clean Environment - Kuldeep Mathur Technocrats and Populist Politics in Delhi Social Sector Reforms Administrative Lessons from the National Literacy Mission in Bihar - Shaibal Gupta Practices and Imperfections in Health Sector Reforms - James Warner Bjorkman Logic, Options, Constraints and Corrections Rehabilitation of Cyclone Affected People - Uma Medury and Alka Dhameja E-Governance - Suresh Misra Responsive and Transparent Service Delivery Mechanism Conclusion - Kuldeep Mathur Micro Innovations and Macro Changes
Exporting, Foreign Direct Investment, and Wages: Evidence from the Canadian Manufacturing Sector

Do exporters and foreign-controlled establishments pay their workers higher wages than non-exporters and domestic-controlled establishments? This paper draws on an employer–employee data set to explore the existence of exporter and foreign-owned wage premiums in the Canadian manufacturing sector. Results from wage regression models reveal that, on the whole, exporters and foreign-controlled plants do pay higher wages than non-exporters and domestic-controlled plants. These results hold even after controlling for other plant and worker characteristics, although the wage differentials are substantially smaller. Furthermore, while the impact of foreign ownership on wages is found to be widespread across industries and regions, that of exporting is not. At the industry level, the wage effects of export-market participation are strongest for workers in plants belonging to scale-based industries; regionally, they are strongest in Quebec and British Columbia.
Evolution of nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded subunit interaction in cytochrome c oxidase.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded proteins function in eukaryotes as subunits of respiratory complexes that also contain nuclear DNA (nDNA)-encoded subunits. The importance of functional interactions between mtDNA- and nDNA-encoded proteins was previously demonstrated by testing the survivability of cybrid cells or individuals containing nDNA and mtDNA from different populations or species. This report focuses on the multisubunit respiratory complex cytochrome c oxidase (COX), made up of both mtDNA-encoded and nDNA-encoded subunits. A combination of evolutionary and crystallographic data is employed to determine whether rates of nonsynonymous substitutions have been higher, the same, or lower for residues in close proximity that are encoded by a different genome (nDNA or mtDNA). This determination is performed by simply taking the ratio, called the interaction ratio i, of the nonsynonymous substitution rate of the close-contact residues to the nonsynonymous substitution rate of the noncontact residues. We assume that the close-contact residues (which are more likely to interact) are functionally important and that, therefore, amino acid replacements among these residues cannot escape the scrutiny of natural selection. i = 1 indicates that the close-contact residues have been under neither greater purifying selection nor greater positive selection than the noncontact residues as a specific consequence of their being encoded by separate genomes. i < 1 indicates that the close-contact residues have been under greater purifying selection but less positive selection than have the noncontact residues. Conversely, i > 1 indicates that the close-contact residues have been under less purifying but greater positive selection than have the noncontact residues. i < 1 may be referred to as a constraining interaction; i.e., the close-contact residues compared with the noncontact residues appear to be under greater structural-functional constraints. On the other hand, i > 1 may be referred to as an optimizing interaction; i.e., apparently many different amino acid replacements are required to optimize this subunit's interaction with the other subunit. A major finding is that the nDNA-encoded residues in close physical proximity to mtDNA-encoded residues evolve more slowly than the other nuclear-encoded residues (and thus display a constraining interaction), whereas the mtDNA-encoded residues in close physical proximity to nDNA-encoded residues evolve more rapidly than the other mitochondrial-encoded residues (and thus display an optimizing interaction). A possible reason for this striking difference between the nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded COX subunits in how their functional interaction evolves is discussed.
Effects of treating helminths during pregnancy and early childhood on risk of allergy‐related outcomes: Follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial

Helminth infections, common in low‐income countries, may protect against allergy‐related disease. Early exposure may be a key. In the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study, treating helminths during pregnancy resulted in increased eczema rates in early childhood. We followed the cohort to determine whether this translated to increased asthma rates at school age.
A REVIEW OF POSTMENOPAUSAL HORMONE THERAPY RECOMMENDATIONS: POTENTIAL FOR SELECTION BIAS

To survey the advice given to physicians in regard to postmenopausal hormone therapy, and thus to find out indirectly whether selective prescribing may have contributed to the findings of health effects. Data sources: Surveys on the health benefits of postmenopausal therapy were identified from previous reviews. Experts in various fields were consulted regarding relevant textbooks, and recommended booklists were used. Methods of study selection: Most of the surveys were conducted in the United States and concerned only estrogens; therefore, we focused on these data. Advice given to United States physicians on estrogen prescribing was abstracted from the Physicians' Desk Reference, five textbooks, and other sources written between 1945-1990. Data extraction and synthesis: In advice given to physicians, there was concern that estrogens could cause cancer. In addition, it was not recommended to give estrogens to women in poor general health. Advice concerning cardiovascular diseases and estrogens was contradictory and variable. Conclusions: If the advice observed reflects the prescribing practices of physicians, then surveys on the health impact of estrogen therapy may have underestimated the risk of breast cancer and overestimated the prevention of fractures. The impact on studies of cardiovascular diseases is less clear, and other mechanisms of selection bias may have been more important.
Circuit techniques for a 2 GHz AMBA AHB bus

This paper explores various circuit techniques applicable to design a high-performance full-custom AMBA advanced high-speed bus (AHB). The authors have demonstrated that clock frequencies in excess of 2 GHz are feasible with a 180nm CMOS process from TSMC. This result is obtained by means of proper clocking strategy, aggressive transistor sizing, efficient logic style, and meticulous layout techniques. Feasibility of the proposed bus is supported with details of a run-time reprogrammable VLIW AHB arbiter. Circuit simulations show that this core operates up to 3 GHz.
Corporate Governance in the Public Sector: a Study in Spanish Public Universities

Corporate governance (CG) in recent years is still relevant due, among other things, to its multiple actions to improve the management and control of organizations. Within this context, the public sector is searching for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its management largely driven by the growing demand of the various stakeholders who are demanding from government improved transparency and greater accountability. In this sense, the present study sought to analyze the CG within the public sector, specifically, in the field of higher education. To this end, it seeks to identify the contributions made on the governance and structure of university governance in Spain. Moreover, we focus on identifying and assessing the degree of adoption of the aspects of CG to be found in the 49 Spanish public universities registered with the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. To this end, we note the information contained in the online sites of various educational institutions.
Age estimation using annulations in root cementum of human teeth: A comparison between longitudinal and cross sections

Background: Age estimation is an important factor in the identification of an individual in forensic science. Research indicates that cemental annulations may be used more reliably than other morphological or histological traits of human skeleton for age estimation. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five teeth were sectioned longitudinally, and twenty-five teeth were cross-sectioned at the mid portion of the root. Sections were ground, mounted and viewed under a bright light microscope. The area selected for counting was photographed under ×10 objective, magnified 5 times; cemental lines were counted and added to the eruption age of that patient, to obtain the chronological age. The statistical software SAS 9.2, SPSS 15.0, Stata 10.1, MedCalc 9.0. 1, Systat 12.0 and R environment ver.2. 11.1 were used for the analysis of the data. Results: The P value comparing actual age and calculated age using longitudinal sections is moderately significant and the P value comparing actual age and calculated age in the age group of <30 years is significant. Interpretation and Conclusion: The middle third of tooth root was most suitable to count annulations. The cross sections are easier to count but longitudinal sections give more appropriate results on age estimation. Though the procedure predicts under assessment of age in the younger age group and over assessment of age in the older age group, it provides a close estimate of the actual age of an individual. It can be correlated with other age estimation methods for better reliability.
Interpolation based MPC for LPV systems using polyhedral invariant sets

Guaranteeing asymptotic stability and recursive constraint satisfaction for a set of initial states that is as large as possible and with both a minimal control cost and computational load can be identified as a common objective in the model predictive control (MPC) community. General interpolation (Rossiter et al., 2004, Bacic et al, 2003) provides a favourable trade oil between these different aspects, however, in the robust case, this requires on-line semi-definite programming (SDP), since one typically employs ellipsoidal invariant sets. Recently, (Pluymers et al., 2005) have proposed an efficient algorithm for constructing the robust polyhedral maximal admissible set (Gilbert et al., 1991) for linear systems with polytopic model uncertainty. In this paper a robust interpolation based MPC method is proposed that makes use of these sets. The algorithm is formulated as a quadratic program (QP) and is shown to have improved feasibility properties, efficiently cope with non-symmetrical constraints and give better control performance than existing interpolation based robust MPC algorithms.
Hemodynamic markers and subclinical atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with primary hyperparathyroidism.

CONTEXT Recent evidence suggests that primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is linked with hypertension and subclinical atherosclerosis. These associations have not been examined in postmenopausal women, in whom cardiovascular risk steeply rises after menopausal transition. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess whether pHPT is associated with hemodynamic markers and subclinical atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women under a cross-sectional case-control design. METHODS One hundred two postmenopausal women with pHPT and 102 women matched 1:1 for age and menopausal status were consecutively recruited. In all patients, flow-mediated dilatation, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, reflected waves, aortic blood pressures (BP), intima-media thickness, and the presence of plaques in the carotid and common femoral arteries were measured. RESULTS Women with pHPT had higher aortic and peripheral BP (P < .05 for all), but no correlation was observed with subclinical atherosclerosis. After adjusting for possible confounders, pHPT was an independent determinant of peripheral and aortic diastolic BP (P < .05 for all). The association with systolic BP was lost after adjusting for C-reactive protein. Further adjustment for PTH and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels revealed that PTH but not 25-hydroxyvitamin D was an independent determinant of all BP parameters. Both peripheral and aortic BP increased across PTH tertiles as compared with the control group, but this association lost significance after adjustment for C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that pHPT may increase peripheral and aortic BP through PTH and inflammatory-mediated mechanisms. A direct impact of the disease on the arterial wall cannot be implicated despite the large number of markers of subclinical atherosclerosis measured in this study.
Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Symptoms Unmasked by Ossicular Chain Reconstruction

S uperior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) was first described in 1998 among patients experiencing an unusual combination of auditory and vestibular symptoms. Common symptoms include autophony, aural fullness, and dizziness/vertigo. Patients often exhibit soundand pressure-induced eye movements on examination and lowfrequency conductive hearing loss on audiometric testing. The pathophysiology of SSCD lies in the thinning or absence of the bone between the middle cranial fossa and the superior semicircular canal, thus creating a ‘‘third window’’ into the inner ear. Otosclerosis, which can generate oval window immobility, can coexist with SSCD and suppress SSCD symptoms, and accordingly stapes surgery can ‘‘unmask’’ the third window. In the current case study, we describe, for the first time, the unmasking of a third window following an ossicular chain reconstruction, resulting in symptomatic SSCD.
Economic Capital Modeling: Closed-Form Approximation of Incremental Economic Capital for Real-Time Applications

Economic capital (ECap) modeling is a fundamental part of Pillar II of the Basel framework. Indeed, 'sophisticated' financial institutions need to have in place internal models for the assessment of the level of the overall capital buffer which is deemed sufficient to cover the risk of their business activities. On top, ECap models are also frequently used for pricing purposes on an ex-ante basis: financial institutions need to know the incremental economic capital (IECap), i.e. the size by which the overall capital buffer needs to be increased after addition of e.g. a single new loan to the existing portfolio. This is important in order to be able to price such additional loan accordingly. Finally, ECap contributions (ECapC) are also required ex-post in order to break down the overall capital buffer to the individual obligors, products etc. within the portfolio. Simulation of IECap and ECapC can be computationally expensive and unstable, but it appears that closed form approximations provide accurate, consistent and quick solutions in many cases. The formula introduced here is based on the multi-factor approximation from [Pykhtin, 2004] applicable to a default-mode Merton type model. As such, default correlations between obligors (stemming from a multi-factor-model) are taken into account, but the formula also captures specific amortization schedules and loss given default (LGD) values for each individual position -- a feature which is of practical relevance, but often neglected in standard default-mode models. For the time being, credit-risk mitigants such as the existence of guarantors on individual loans, are not captured by the formula, neither are credit migrations or correlations between default probabilities and LGDs. Our formula allows for approximation of all ECap contributions without extra computational cost. After calculation of the ECap of the original portfolio, IECap can be computed within few seconds and more accurately than in standard linear approximations based on ECap contributions.
Kv3.3 Channels at the Purkinje Cell Soma Are Necessary for Generation of the Classical Complex Spike Waveform

Voltage-gated potassium channel subunit Kv3.3 is prominently expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells and is known to be important for cerebellar function, as human and mouse movement disorders result from mutations in Kv3.3. To understand these behavioral deficits, it is necessary to know the role of Kv3.3 channels on the physiological responses of Purkinje cells. We studied the function of Kv3.3 channels in regulating the synaptically evoked Purkinje cell complex spike, the massive postsynaptic response to the activation of climbing fiber afferents, believed to be fundamental to cerebellar physiology. Acute slice recordings revealed that Kv3.3 channels are required for generation of the repetitive spikelets of the complex spike. We found that spikelet expression is regulated by somatic, and not by dendritic, Kv3 activity, which is consistent with dual somatic–dendritic recordings that demonstrate spikelet generation at axosomatic membranes. Simulations of Purkinje cell Na+ currents show that the unique electrical properties of Kv3 and resurgent Na+ channels are coordinated to limit accumulation of Na+ channel inactivation and enable rapid, repetitive firing. We additionally show that Kv3.3 knock-out mice produce altered complex spikes in vitro and in vivo, which is likely a cellular substrate of the cerebellar phenotypes observed in these mice. This characterization presents new tools to study complex spike function, cerebellar signaling, and Kv3.3-dependent human and mouse phenotypes.
The Romanian Yield Curve: the Expectations Hypothesis and Connections to the Real Economy

This paper discusses the construction of the yield curve in Romania using the prices on the primary and secondary bond markets, and studies its relationship with other macroeconomic variables. Although the data are scarce and volatile, especially those on the secondary market, several conclusions can be drawn: (a) Up to 1 year, BUBOR is a good approximation of T-bill yields, suggesting that BUBOR is followed closely when bidding for T-bills; (b) On the primary market yields are higher than on the secondary market, which indicates a winner's curse in the bidding phase; (c) The expectation hypothesis does not hold; the market still anticipates the direction, but not the degree of change in the interest rates; (d) A large part of yield curve movements is due to factors that affect all maturities equally (level factors); (e) The Taylor rule is verified in its backwards-looking form, but not in the original, no-lag, form (f) The connections between the yields and the real economy are difficult to assess because of the scarcity and volatility of data; however, from the two models used, the one that incorporates the price of a commodity (oil) is better for predicting short term yields, and the one without the commodity price is better for predicting medium-term yields.
Incremental Parzen Window Classifier for a Multi-Class System

The problems of infinitely long data streams and concept drift as well as the possible emergence of “novel classes” are topics of high relevance in the field of recognitions systems based on data streaming. To take into account concept drift and novel, unknown classes, the classifier should be updated continuously with new data and also the time of processing should be maintained small. We propose an incremental Parzen window kernel density estimator (IncPKDE) which addresses the problems of data streaming using a model that is insensitive to the training data set size and has the ability of novelty detection within multi-class systems. The results show that the IncPKDE approach has superior properties especially regarding processing time and that it robust to the wrongly-labelled samples when used in a semi-supervised learning scenario.
Is Your School Prepared for a Sexting Crisis

Early Monday morning, a high school principal is informed that a female student sent a picture of herself naked to her boyfriend, who forwarded the picture to a group of his friends. School personnel do not know how many students the message reached or whether it spread to other schools. Sexting is a growing challenge. Results from a survey indicated that 20% of adolescents ages 13–19 have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves; 71% of adolescent females and 67% of adolescent males who have sexted sent the content to a boyfriend or girlfriend; and 38% of adolescent females and 39% of adolescent males report having seen messages originally intended for someone else (National Campaign, 2008). Those messages can spread at a rapid rate, causing both legal and emotional ramifications for all students involved. Principals can help prevent sexting and mitigate its negative consequences by making staff members and students aware of the issues involved and implementing effective prevention and intervention efforts.