Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinicoepidemiologic features of chronic urticaria in patients having positive versus negative autologous serum skin test: a study of 100 Indian patients.

BACKGROUND Chronic urticaria patients who demonstrate autoantibodies against the high-affinity receptor of IgE (FceRI) or IgE itself tend to have a high itch and wheal score, and systemic symptoms may have a significant bearing on their management in terms of super pharmacologic doses of antihistamines needed or use of immunomodulators. Most studies have used histamine release assays rather than autologous serum skin tests (ASSTs) for correlating urticaria severity and histamine releasing activity. METHODS An ASST was performed in 100 (M:F, 31:69) chronic urticaria patients aged between 14 and 63 (mean, 32.69 ± 13) years with an objective to study the clinicoepidemiologic features like age, sex, age of onset and duration, frequency and distribution of wheals, urticaria severity, angioedema and systemic manifestations in ASST-positive and ASST-negative patients. RESULTS ASST was positive in 46% of the patients and negative in 54% of the patients, respectively. Both groups showed no statistically significant difference for epidemiological details. However, the ASST-positive patients had a higher mean urticaria activity score, frequent involvement of more body sites, particularly palms and soles, presence of throat angioedema and general constitutional, respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms in comparison with the ASST-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS Apparently, ASST-positive patients have more severe clinical manifestations of chronic urticaria. The knowledge will be useful for the treating dermatologists and patients alike in view of its therapeutic implications.
Ein Sicherheitsprotokoll für die internetbasierte Übertragung von personenbezogenen Daten: Monitoring von Behandlung und Medikamenteneffekten

: We present a security protocol for the exchange of medical data via the Internet, based on the type/domain model. We discuss two applications of the protocol: in a system for the exchange of data for quality assurance, and in an on-line database of adverse reactions to drug use. We state that a type/domain security protocol can successfully comply with the complex requirements for data privacy and accessibility typical of such applications.
Office Workers' Objectively Measured Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity During and Outside Working Hours

Objective: To examine objectively determined sedentary behavior and physical activity (PA) during and outside working hours in full-time office workers. Methods: A total of 170 participants wore an ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer for 7 days. Time spent sedentary (<100 counts/min), in light-intensity PA (100 to 1951 counts/min), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (≥1952 counts/min) was calculated for workdays (including working hours and nonworking hours) and nonworkdays. Results: Participants accumulated significantly higher levels of sedentary behavior (68% vs 60%) and lower levels of light-intensity activity (28% vs 36%) on workdays in comparison with nonworkdays. Up to 71% of working hours were spent sedentary. Individuals who were most sedentary at work were also more sedentary outside work. Conclusions: Those who are most sedentary at work do not compensate by increasing their PA or reducing their sedentary time outside work. Occupational interventions should address workplace and leisure-time sedentary behavior.
Auditing Operational Compliance: The Case of Employee Long Distance Piracy

ABSTRACT: This case provides an active-learning opportunity for students to assume the role of an internal auditor conducting a compliance audit. Specifically, we provide students with the actual telephone records of a firm with a policy prohibiting employees from using company phones for personal long distance calls. The case exposes students to (1) using generalized audit software, (2) validating data (for potential anomalies) before performing analysis, (3) analyzing nonfinancial information, (4) converting nonfinancial information into financial impact (i.e., the cost of the nonbusiness long distance phone calls), and (5) writing a business letter outlining the findings of the compliance audit and recommendations. Students must understand the data, analyze it, interpret the results, and develop recommendations. Given that most shareholder value is lost due to strategic, operational, and business risks, rather than financial risks, audit committees and senior management are now putting pressure on inte.
The Structure of Female Wages

While most people would agree that familial responsibilities affect women's labor market behavior and wages, surprisingly little is known about how this process operates. Past investigations of women's wages have generally relied on data sets designed for other purposes, and, as a result, theoretically important determinants of women's wages may be measured imprecisely or omitted entirely from analyses. Familial responsibilities influence women's labor market behavior in at least two distinct ways. First, many women will withdraw entirely from labor market activities to bear and/or raise children. Not only does this reduce the total amounts of work experience and job tenure women acquire, but Jacob Mincer and Solomon Polachek further argue that women's human capital (work skills) will depreciate during such withdrawals and that such withdrawals will affect the timing of women's investments in on-the-job training. Second, women who choose to work may adjust their labor market activities to meet family responsibilities in ways which reduce productivity and hence wages. For instance, women with home responsibilities might restrict job locations or schedules, or might take off extra time from work to care for sick children. The 1976 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is well suited for exploring female wages. The PSID is a longitudinal study of 5,000 families which began in 1968. In 1976, male heads of household, female heads of household, and wives were asked to provide detailed information on earnings, education, work history, absenteeism, and self-imposed restrictions on job hours and job location. These data are used to describe women's patterns of work history and labor force attachment, to specify the determinants of women's wages, and to investigate the wage gaps between white men and each group of women.
Institutions in British Property Research: A Review

This paper surveys approaches to the study of institutions, as used in recent commercial property research in Britain. Institutional analysis can be approached from mainstream economics, power, structure-agency and structures of provision methodologies. Each is elaborated and evaluated. Important differences arise between them, which are related primarily to issues of theory and method rather than over whether institutions matter. Any particular piece of analysis has to make assumptions, and here it is true that many economic models have only limited, stylised institutional behaviour. Those that wish for more institutional input, however, have to demonstrate the greater explanatory power of doing so.
The Impact of Employee Stock Option Adoption and Incidence on Productivity: Evidence from U.S. Panel Data

This paper examines the productivity effect of broad‐based and executive stock option programs in adoption year and five subsequent years. The findings include a positive impact on productivity, which is maintained over a five‐year period after adoption for executive plans but diminishes immediately for broad‐based plans. We interpret these findings as evidence of stock option usage being of benefit to organizations. However, to sustain the impact of broad‐based plans options, grants may need to be made with the same frequency as executive option grants.
Pivotal Role of Bedside Doppler Echocardiography in the Assessment of Patients with Acute Heart Failure and Mitral Regurgitation

Patients presenting with mitral regurgitation and acute heart failure remain a challenge for the clinicians. Bedside echocardiography ascertains the functional or primary nature of mitral regurgitation, thereby allowing to focus therapy on the left ventricle and mitral valve apparatus in patients with functional mitral regurgitation and to hasten mitral valve repair or replacement when acute heart failure results from primary mitral regurgitation. This short article reviews the evaluation by bedside echocardiography to guide management of these patients.
Cardiac outflow tract defects in mice lacking ALK2 in neural crest cells

Cardiac neural crest cells are multipotent migratory cells that contribute to the formation of the cardiac outflow tract and pharyngeal arch arteries. Neural crest-related developmental defects account for a large proportion of congenital heart disorders. Recently, the genetic bases for some of these disorders have been elucidated, and signaling pathways required for induction, migration and differentiation of cardiac neural crest have emerged. Bone morphogenetic proteins comprise a family of secreted ligands implicated in numerous aspects of organogenesis, including heart and neural crest development. However, it has remained generally unclear whether BMP ligands act directly on neural crest or cardiac myocytes during cardiac morphogenesis, or function indirectly by activating other cell types. Studies on BMP receptor signaling during organogenesis have been hampered by the fact that receptor knockouts often lead to early embryonic lethality. We have used a Cre/loxP system for neural crest-specific deletion of the type I receptor, ALK2, in mouse embryos. Mutant mice display cardiovascular defects, including persistent truncus arteriosus, and abnormal maturation of the aortic arch reminiscent of common forms of human congenital heart disease. Migration of mutant neural crest cells to the outflow tract is impaired, and differentiation to smooth muscle around aortic arch arteries is deficient. Moreover, in Alk2 mutants, the distal outflow tract fails to express Msx1, one of the major effectors of BMP signaling. Thus, the type I BMP receptor ALK2 plays an essential cell-autonomous role in the development of the cardiac outflow tract and aortic arch derivatives.
Effects of Three Types of Flight Simulator Visual Scene Detail on Detection of Altitude Change

The effects of three types of flight simulator visual scene detail on detection of altitude change were evaluated in three experiments. Across all experiments and with a variety of tasks and display conditions, speed and accuracy of detecting altitude change improved with increases in the density of vertical objects in scenes. Adding detail to individual objects to increase their natural appearance produced no consistent effects on performance. In Experiment 3 complex texture distributed globally on terrain surfaces improved detection of altitude change but did not alleviate the need for high object density. These results indicate that available computer image generator processing capacity would be used more effectively by increasing the density of objects in scenes, rather than by increasing the complexity and detail of individual objects. Complex texture is used more effectively when distributed globally on terrain surfaces, rather than when allocated to individual objects.
Liquidity risk and the hedging role of options

This study examines the impact of liquidity risk on the behavior of the competitive firm under price uncertainty in a dynamic two‐period setting. The firm has access to unbiased one‐period futures and option contracts in each period for hedging purposes. A liquidity constraint is imposed on the firm such that the firm is forced to terminate its risk management program in the second period whenever the net loss due to its first‐period hedge position exceeds a predetermined threshold level. The imposition of the liquidity constraint on the firm is shown to create perverse incentives to output. Furthermore, the liquidity constrained firm is shown to purchase optimally the unbiased option contracts in the first period if its utility function is quadratic or prudent. This study thus offers a rationale for the hedging role of options when liquidity risk prevails. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:789–808, 2006
Outcome assessments in children with cerebral palsy, Part II: discriminatory ability of outcome tools

Discriminatory ability of several pediatric outcome tools was assessed relative to Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level in patients with cerebral palsy. Five hundred and sixty‐two patients (400 with diplegia, 162 with hemiplegia; 339 males, 223 females; age range 4‐18y, mean 11y 1mo [SD 3y 7mo]), classified as GMFCS Levels I to III, participated in this prospective multicenter, cross‐sectional study. All tools were completed by parents and participants when appropriate. Effect size indices (ESIs) for parametric variables and odds ratios for non‐parametric data quantified the magnitude of differences across GMFCS levels. Binary logistic regression models determined discrimination, and receiver operating characteristic curves addressed sensitivity and specificity. Between Levels I and II, the most discriminatory tools were Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM‐66), velocity, and WeeFIM Mobility. Between Levels II and III, the most discriminatory tools were GMFM Dimension E, Pediatric Functional Independence Measure (WeeFIM) Self‐Care and Mobility, cadence, and Gillette Functional Assessment Questionnaire Question 1. Large ESIs were noted for Parent and Child reports of Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) Sports & Physical Function, Parent report of PODCI Global Function, GMFM Dimension E, and GMFM‐66 across all GMFCS level comparisons. The least discriminatory tools were the Quality of Life and cognition measures; however, these are important in comprehensive assessments of treatment effects.
Peer effects in the workplace: evidence from professional transitions for the superstars of medicine

Pierre Azoulay’s presentation reported the progress on a very data-intensive project trying to understand the role of superstars in the medical sciences. Here the researchers are building a large panel data set on medical researchers and tracking the movement of superstars across institutions to better understand the effect of superstars on the research productivity of their colleagues.
A dynamic general equilibrium model for tax policy analysis in Colombia

The paper documents a dynamic general equilibrium model for Colombia based on national accounts from 1999. The paper is part of a project intended to develop a capacity for the the design, specification, and application of computable models within the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Department of National Planning. Our analytical framework includes both forwardlooking expectations and Harris-Todaro labor markets. In the present paper we compare numerical results from the dynamic model with simpler static and steady-state formulations to highlight the importance of transitional efects in evaluating tax policy reform. Our applications include measurement of the marginal cost of funds from di®erent tax bases and the evaluation of discrete changes in tari® structure. The structure of the labor and intermediate credit markets have important implications for the ranking alternative tax reform proposals.
United States: technology in art education

On the surface, one might see a rich landscape of art ist ic expression wi th technology. Collaborations between the arts and industries appear to be standard fare at conferences and exhibitions throughout the country and the world. Dance troupes such as Elizabeth Streb's; Pamela Z, a digital audio performance artist; and Digital Circus, an art/technology installation group are all groups breaking ground presenting new and original art forms incorporating new technologies.The academic reality is quite different. Most educational institutions still see the computer as an adjunct to a variety of applied creative skills, least of which is creative thought. It is difficult to root out the underlying problems causing the dysfunction in the marriage of ar t and technology. Possibly the expense of viable hardware and software is restricting the amount of creative academic endeavor. Most institutions are making computers available for their graphic design tracts, ignoring the studio arts fields entirely. It is evident at the level of digital output. Few students are approaching the computer and digital media for creative expression. For most students the computer is a facilitator of mundane concepts rather than a fertile new world worthy of critical creative thought. Could established members of the studio arts faculties still hold a prejudice against the new media? Through my personal experience I have to disagree.The hesitance of most studio artists arises from the lack of understanding and the outright fear of technology.Things are changing on this front. As schools and universities become "wired" more and more instructors are having to face technology in their daily routines, alleviating anxiety and introducing at least fundamental capabilities. As arts educators begin to see the potential communications, they will begin to incorporate these new digital venues into their own work and course-
Potential forcing of CO2, technology and climate changes in maize (Zea mays) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) yield in southeast Brazil

Based upon sensitivity experiments, this study aims to investigate the impact of increased atmospheric CO2 concentration, climate changes, and ongoing technological advancements on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and maize (Zea mays) yield. This investigation assumes that the atmospheric CO2 concentration evolves according to the A2 scenario. For these analyses we have used climate data as projected by climate simulations conducted with the HadCM3 climate model for both present day and greenhouse warming conditions. The results demonstrated that warming conditions associated with increased greenhouse gases as delivered by the HadCM3 model lead to reductions in the potential productivity of maize and beans for the years 2050 and 2080 by up to 30%. This thermal response is, however, damped by the highly efficient CO2 fertilization effect which is expected to increase bean productivity as compared to present day conditions. A similar investigation for maize yield revealed a different picture. It has been found that the CO2 fertilization feedback is much weaker and cannot cancel out the thermal effect. We have found, therefore, that climate changes as simulated to occur in the future are not favorable for increasing the maize yield in southeast Brazil. By the inclusion of the third forcing evaluated, representing technological advancements, it is demonstrated that improvements in the crop system reduce the negative effect associated with warmer climate conditions for both crops. We conclude that appropriate soil and technological management as well as genetic improvements may very likely induce an increase in bean and maize yield despite the unfavorable future climate conditions.
Osteoporosis among male Saudi Arabs: a pilot study

BACKGROUND Little attention has been paid to the problem of male osteopororsis in Saudi Arabia. In this prospective study we assessed the prevalence of male osteoporosis among Saudi Arabs. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We studied Saudi Arabian males > 50 years of age attending outpatient clinics at King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, between 1 May 2005 and 30 January 2006. We determined body mass index (BMI) and tests were done to rule out secondary osteoporosis. All subjects had a bone mineral density (BMD) measurement of the hip area and the lumbar spine using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). A T-score of ≤−2.5 SD that of young, healthy adults was taken as osteoporotic and scores between −1 to −2.5 SD were taken as osteopenic. RESULTS One hundred fifteen patients (mean age, 61.8±0.75 years; range, 50 to 76 years) had a mean BMI of 24.7±0.35 (range, 18.5 to 31). Based on hip scans, the prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.3%. Sixty-four percent were osteopenic. Based on scans of the lumbar spine, the prevalence of osteoporosis was 37.4% and 33.9% were osteopenic. Spinal osteoporosis was more common than hip osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that the prevalence of osteoporosis among Saudi Arabian males is higher than among Western males. More studies are needed to determine the national prevalence of male osteoporosis. It is recommended that serious measures to be undertaken to prevent male osteoporosis to stop any future epidemic of catastrophic osteoporosis-related fractures.
Make-to-Order Integrated Scheduling and Distribution

Production and distribution are fundamental operational functions in supply chains. The main challenge is to design algorithms that optimize operational performance by jointly scheduling production and delivery of customer orders. In this paper we study a model of scheduling customer orders on multiple identical machines and their distribution to customers afterwards. The goal is to minimize the total time from release to distribution plus total distribution cost to the customers. We design the first poly-logarithmic competitive algorithm for the problem, improving upon previous algorithms with linear competitive ratios. Our model generalizes two fundamental problems: scheduling of jobs on multiple identical machines (where the goal function is to minimize the total flow time) as well as the TCP Acknowledgment problem.
Sensitivity of Contingent Valuation to Alternative Payment Schedules

Insensitivity to payment schedule, wherein respondents do not adequately differentiate between a one-time payment and a series of payments may be an important, but often overlooked factor in the design, interpretation, and use of contingent valuation studies. Several contingent valuation experiments involving a familiar private good and a less familiar environmental commodity indicate that although respondents distinguished between lump sum and periodic payment schedules, implicit discount rates were very high, suggesting that sensitivity to payment schedule is an important subject for further study.
La dynamique structurelle et spatiale des systèmes de brevets. Une comparaison France, Allemagne, Royaume-Uni, Etats-Unis et Japon : 1617-2006

C'est sous l'impulsion des travaux fondateurs de Schumpeter que l'innovation se positionne au coeur de l'analyse economique. Depuis ces travaux fondateurs, trop peu d'innovation studies se sont toutefois consacrees aux usages du brevet dans la longue duree. Partant de la, cette these a pour ambition premiere de fournir, outre des renseignements empiriques de bonne qualite et de nouvelles series statistiques, une lecture renouvelee, d'inspiration cliometrique, des brevets dans leurs dimensions structurelles et spatiales. Notre premier apport est de presenter l'organisation d'une nouvelle base de donnees sur l'evolution de longue periode des brevets dans 40 pays du XVIIe siecle a 1945 et dans plus de 150 pays de 1945 a nos jours. Nous montrons, par la suite, que des evenements certes rares, mais particulierement significatifs, ont conditionne les pulsations de l'histoire economique des brevets. Les guerres, la promulgation de lois, l'ouverture ou la fermeture d'offices, mais aussi des effets purement statistiques ont, sur le tres long terme, norme, a travers le depot et la delivrance des series etudiees, l'existence des systemes de brevets. En prolongement, nous determinons, a travers une analyse spectrale et co-spectrale, la periodicite de nos series de brevets. Enfin, nous livrons un eclairage plus contemporain, en termes de convergence, sur les dynamiques structurelles et surtout spatiales en oeuvre dans les systemes de brevets des pays europeens.