Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Productivity of Pharmaceuticals in Improving Health: An Analysis of the OECD Health Data

Although a number of studies have been conducted on health production functions, little attention has been given to pharmaceuticals as a separate input into the production of health. Building upon existing published work, this paper uses an alternative specification and more recent data to estimate the effect of pharmaceutical expenditures on levels of health in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In a sample of developed countries, we found that pharmaceutical consumption, as measured by per capita drug expenditures, has a positive effect on life expectancy at advanced ages. The marginal effect of pharmaceutical consumption is consistent with estimates that have been reported previously but appears to decline with increasing age. Over the past few years, the substantial and disproportionate growth of pharmaceutical expenditures for public and private payers in the U.S. has led to calls for regulatory intervention (e.g., price controls). However, our research suggests that increases in drug spending may yield further increases in life expectancy.
Regulation of the inflammatory immune response by the cytokine/chemokine network in amoebiasis

Amoebiasis is caused by the protozoa Entamoeba histolytica and persists as one of the leading parasitic diseases affecting millions worldwide. This parasite invades the intestinal mucosa, causing amoebic colitis and ulcers. It may also spread to other organs, mainly the liver, causing amoebic liver abscess (ALA). Current research efforts have focused on the development of specific diagnostic tests and animal models searching for a better understanding of the complex physiopathology of this disease. Analysis of the inflammatory immune response during intestinal amoebiasis in both human disease and animal murine models has revealed an important regulatory role for chemokines and cytokines. Recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells can also be modulated by specific protease‐mediated cleavage of cytokines and by secreted amoebic factors such as amoebapores and monocyte locomotion inhibitory factor (MLIF). Unlike intestinal amoebiasis, analysis of the immune response in ALA has mainly been done in the hamster model. This has limited our information regarding the immune response during this phase of the disease. However, even with these limitations, several Th1/2 cytokines, such as IL‐6 and IL‐4, and regulatory cytokines, like IL‐10 and TGFβ, have been associated to the development of this disease.
Chaperone function of FkpA, a heat shock prolyl isomerase, in the periplasm of Escherichia coli

The nature of molecular chaperones in the periplasm of Escherichia coli that assist newly translocated proteins to reach their native state has remained poorly defined. Here, we show that FkpA, a heat shock periplasmic peptidyl‐prolyl cis/trans isomerase (PPIase), suppresses the formation of inclusion bodies from a defective‐folding variant of the maltose‐binding protein, MalE31. This chaperone‐like activity of FkpA, which is independent of its PPIase activity, requires a full‐length structure of the protein. In vitro, FkpA does not catalyse a slow rate‐limiting step in the refolding of MalE31, but prevents its aggregation at stoichiometric amounts and promotes the reactivation of denaturated citrate synthase. We propose that FkpA functions as a chaperone for envelope proteins in the bacterial periplasm.
An empirical evaluation of Value-at-Risk during the financial crisis

In the latest financial crisis, risk management and forecasts of market losses played a crucial role in the area of finance. This thesis evaluates the theory of Value-at-Risk through a quantitative study of two non-parametric approaches and three parametric: Basic- and volatility-weighted Historical Simulation, Normal distribution, Log-normal distribution and Student’s t-distribution. The thesis compares 1-day VaR estimates predictive performance of market losses defined by the index of Standard & Poor’s 500 on a 99% and 95% confidence level. The study is made by a rolling window forecast between 2005-12-28 and 2008-12-31 which includes 786 observations that accommodate one tranquil and one crisis period. Performance is evaluated by backtesting, using the Kupiec’s test. The result shows that VaR as a risk measure is very imprecise in its forecasts; however the predictability is different across the five approaches. Under the tranquil period all approaches were significant on the 99% significance level on the 95% however some approaches were not, due to overestimates of the risk. Another finding among the approaches is that they fail to account for rapid shifts in risk. During the crisis period all VaR models included in the backtest was rejected at both confidence intervals. This means that VaR is proven to serious destabilizing during times of crisis. The failure of non-parametric approaches is mostly due to that they are determined by a historical distribution which reflects the past market climate that not always correspond with the climate tomorrow. We also conclude that the parametric approaches rely too heavily on unrealistic assumptions of future distribution and therefore fail as well.
Local Government Management

This special issue of ARPA seeks to fill a void in the public administration literature by bringing to the forefront analyses of local government and metropolitan challenges from the perspective of public administrationists: Those who manage cities and counties, and those who both teach and study local government management. The public administration perspective on local government and metropolitan governance has traditionally been grounded in jurisdictions—cities, counties, school and special districts. Today, however, there is often a disjuncture between problems to be solved and jurisdictional boundaries. Accordingly, local governments have changed, and continue to change in response to boundary-crossing challenges as Wheeland, Paulus and Wood evaluate, and new patterns of metropolitan governance are emerging, as Leland and Thurmeier analyze. According to Agranoff, these patterns of change are both horizontal, between and among connected units of local government and vertical, among local governments, states, and the national government. Civic engagement in local public affairs is growing in creative new ways as citizens seek to participate, a topic probed by Nabatchi and Amsler. In the same way that all politics is local, all policy is also local and none is more important than the need to balance the risk of disaster with the need for preparedness, as Donahue, Eckel, and Wilson explore. Together these articles are a timely treatment of compelling challenges facing governments and governance nearest at hand: Our cities, counties, districts and metropolitan areas.
Aviation bearing fault diagnosis method based on CHSMM

Aiming at realizing the effective fault diagnosis for aviation bearing, a method based on coupled hidden semi Markov model is proposed. Firstly, according to the aviation dynamic components of transmission structure, the monitoring network is designed for monitoring radial and axial vibration data of bearings; Secondly, the nonlinear feature extraction method is applied for obtaining a few key features which provides a prerequisite for improving the efficiency and accuracy of fault diagnosis; Finally, the left and right type homogenous hidden Markov chain, extending coupled hidden semi Markov model to multi-channel data fusion fault diagnosis, is utilized for building the reasonable model of the state of residence time distribution in the practical problems, moreover, the initial state model selection and parameter estimation algorithm of coupled hidden semi Markov model with two chains is researched by probability reasoning algorithm. The validation and effectivity of the proposed CHSMM(Coupled Hidden semi Markov Model) model is verified by the result of fault diagnosis on rolling bearing.
Use of Urinary Thiocyanate as a Biomarker of Tobacco Smoke

Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 2005-2010 were used to develop cut off levels for urinary thiocyanate (USCN) to distinguish smokers from nonsmokers aged ≥ 20 years. A cut off of (i) 1840 ng/ml for USCN was able to distinguish smokers from nonsmokers with a sensitivity of 80.7% and a specificity of 80.8%, (ii) 2630 ng/ml for USCN was able to distinguish smokers from nonsmokers with exposure to SHS at home with a sensitivity of 82.0% and a specificity of 82.1%, and (iii) 1550 ng/ml for USCN was able to distinguish smokers from nonsmokers without exposure to SHS at home with a sensitivity of 75.7% and a specificity of 75.6%. Adequacy of these cut offs was evaluated by applying them to NHANES data for 2011-2012. Sensitivities and specificities for 2005-2010 and 2011-2012 data were comparable. USCN levels for smokers were 4.6 times of what they were for nonsmokers (4102.6 vs. 890.6 ng/ml, p<0.01). Those aged 20-64 years had higher levels of USCN than those aged 65+ years (1390.0 vs. 855.9 ng/ml). Males had higher levels of USCN than females (p<0.01). Non- Hispanic whites had statistically significantly higher levels of USCN than non-Hispanic blacks (p<0.01).
Emotional Distress in the Partners of Type 1 Diabetes Adults: Worries About Hypoglycemia and Other Key Concerns.

BACKGROUND Although the widespread prevalence of diabetes-related distress (DD) in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) has been well established, there has been little inquiry into the experiences of their spouse/partners. Therefore the goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence and sources of DD in the spouses and partners of adults with T1D ("T1D partner") and to examine the associations of DD in this population with key demographic and contextual factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Qualitative interviews with 11 T1D partners led to the development of 44 DD survey items, which were examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Regression models examined associations of the resulting DD scales with four groups of variables: partner demographics and contextual variables, as well as person with diabetes (PWD) demographics, diabetes status, and behavioral factors. RESULTS EFA with 317 T1D partners yielded a 22-item scale with four factors: Hypoglycemia Distress, Emotional Distress, Management Distress, and Role Distress. All scales were significantly correlated with the three criterion variables (depression, general life stress, and diabetes-related relationship satisfaction), suggesting satisfactory concurrent validity. High DD was most common for Hypoglycemic Distress (64.4% of the sample) and least common for Management Distress (28.4%). Greater DD was significantly and independently linked with being younger, female, greater involvement in the PWD's diabetes management, lower levels of relationship satisfaction, less trusting of the PWD's physician, poorer PWD glycemic control, and more frequent hypoglycemic episodes. T1D partners also reported low levels of diabetes-related support from all sources. CONCLUSIONS Four sources of partner DD were identified. Results suggest that DD in T1D partners is common, especially distress associated with hypoglycemia. Predictors of T1D partner DD come from multiple sources: demographic, disease-related, and contextual arenas, all pointing to opportunities for acknowledging and addressing DD directly in this population.
The Role of IL-17 in the Pathogenesis of Psoriasis and Update on IL-17 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Plaque Psoriasis

Background: Major advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of psoriasis. Objectives: The authors review the role of interleukin (IL) 17 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and provide updates on approved and investigational therapies targeting IL-17 and the IL-17 receptor. Methods: A PubMed search was performed for relevant literature. Conclusion: The IL-23/Th17 signaling pathway (including IL-17) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Biologic agents that block IL-17 (secukinumab and ixekizumab) or its receptor (brodalumab) are effective and safe for the treatment of psoriasis.
Graptoloid diversity and disparity became decoupled during the Ordovician mass extinction

The morphological study of extinct taxa allows for analysis of a diverse set of macroevolutionary hypotheses, including testing for change in the magnitude of morphological divergence, extinction selectivity on form, and the ecological context of radiations. Late Ordovician graptoloids experienced a phylogenetic bottleneck at the Hirnantian mass extinction (∼445 Ma), when a major clade of graptoloids was driven to extinction while another clade simultaneously radiated. In this study, we developed a dataset of 49 ecologically relevant characters for 183 species with which we tested two main hypotheses: (i) could the biased survival of one graptoloid clade over another have resulted from morphological selectivity alone and (ii) are the temporal patterns of morphological disparity and innovation during the recovery consistent with an interpretation as an adaptive radiation resulting from ecological release? We find that a general model of morphological selectivity has a low probability of producing the observed pattern of taxonomic selectivity. Contrary to predictions from theory on adaptive radiations and ecological speciation, changes in disparity and species richness are uncoupled. We also find that the early recovery is unexpectedly characterized by relatively low morphological disparity and innovation, despite also being an interval of elevated speciation. Because it is necessary to invoke factors other than ecology to explain the graptoloid recovery, more complex models may be needed to explain recovery dynamics after mass extinctions.
Prevalence of primary and secondary fibrositis.

Of 1,473 consecutive new patients seen in an outpatient rheumatology clinic, 3.7% met criteria for "primary fibrositis. " Secondary fibrositis was diagnosed in 12.2% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 15.7% of patients with primary neck and back pain syndromes and 6.7% of patients with osteoarthritis (OA). When conditions presumed to be associated with secondary fibrositis were excluded, primary fibrositis was identified in 55 of 405 patients or 13.6%. Two hundred fifteen or 14.6% of all patients had either primary or secondary fibrositis. Fibrositis may be the most common disorder seen in rheumatic disease practice after OA and RA.
An Empirical Analysis of Fertilizer Use in Pakistan

One of the stylized facts in developing countries is the wide variation in agricultural per-acre input and output levels across farm households. Here we focus on the variation in the level of chemical fertilizer applied, in particular to high-yielding wheat. The model used to explain the variation in fertilizer input across farms incorporates the process by which 'zeros' are generated, in particular differentiating between households who do not apply because of 'lack of access' and those who do not apply out of choice. We find that access is positively correlated with farm size but that, among users, per-acre fertilizer levels decrease with farm size. We interpret the latter by appealing to input choice under uncertainty. With this interpretation, our results suggest that, although larger farms have a higher level of non-stochastic wealth which, in the presence of decreasing absolute risk aversion, has the effect of increasing fertilizer intensity with farm size, the presence of increasing relative risk aversion means that the net relationship between farm size and fertilizer intensity is negative. This latter affect appears to dominate any tendancy for higher fertilizer intensity on larger farms arising from better knowledge or irrigation facilities.
Vibrational Forces in Salient Pole Synchronous Machines Considering Tooth Ripple Effects

In rotating electrical machines, the air-gap magnetic field causes radial forces on the stator core physically based on the Maxwell stress. These radial force waves do not contribute to the torque generation of the machine but may lead to dangerous vibrations. This problem must be especially researched when designing salient pole synchronous machines with a high number of poles and fractional slot windings. At full load operation, the stator winding magnetomotive force (MMF), the stator tooth ripple effects, the saliency of the rotor poles, the induced currents in the damper winding, and the field winding MMF generate a set of harmonic field waves circulating around the air gap. The waves interact by modulation effects and therefore create different magnetic force wave modes. This paper presents an analytical computation model for force waves and compares results with finite-element calculations as well as measurements. Attention is paid to tooth ripple phenomena and reduction of parasitic forces with nonstandard stator winding phase belt distributions.
Blockade of reactive oxygen species and Akt activation is critical for anti-inflammation and growth inhibition of metformin in phosphatase and tensin homolog-deficient RAW264.7 cells

Abstract Context: Metformin is widely used for treatment of type 2 diabetes and has a potential application on the treatment of inflammation and cancer. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) plays a critical role in cancer cell growth and inflammation; however, precise mechanisms remain unclear. Objective: We aimed to investigate the possible mechanisms of how PTEN regulates metformin against cell growth and inflammation. Materials and methods: We established PTEN knockdown in RAW264.7 murine macrophages (shPTEN cells) to detect inflammatory mediators using commercial kits, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by flow cytometry, cell growth by MTT assay and phosphorylated levels of signal molecules by western blot. Results: The shPTEN cells had a significant large amount of inflammatory mediators, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)/nitric oxide (NO) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2); and also elevated the production of ROS and increased cell proliferation. These effects were accompanied with the activation of Akt and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and the inactivation of an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2. Pretreatment with metformin not only blocked these inflammatory mediators, but also caused growth inhibition induced by significant apoptosis. Furthermore, inactivation of Akt, blockade of ROS generation and independence of activations of AMPK and MAPK by metformin were also observed. Conclusion: Macrophages with PTEN deficiency developed a continuous inflammatory microenvironment, which further aggravated tumor cell growth. Moreover, metformin affected PTEN-deficient cells dependent of inhibition of ROS production and Akt activation against enlarged inflammatory mediators and/or cell growth in shPTEN cells.
Editorial: Democracy and Management in Britain and the United States of America

Travel broadens the mind, they say. Spending a year in the United States of America alters one’s perspective on democratic public administration very considerably. The United States is often assumed to be the source of many of the managerial reforms we have faced in this country over the last fifteen years. For instance, in the United States and increasingly in the United Kingdom, many relationships between government agencies, as well as between private suppliers of goods and services and their public authority customers, are regulated by contracts enforceable in the courts. At least since the publication of the Ditchley Conference book in 1971 (Smith and Hague, 1971), we have been debating the development of the &dquo;Contract State&dquo; both there and in the UK. This discussion has been greatly sharpened by the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering in local government and more recently, the development of &dquo;Market Testing&dquo; in the Civil Service. These innovations have produced not only profound changes in the structures and working practices of local authorities, Civil Service departments and executive agencies; they have also significantly changed the nature of the accountability of public services and servants to the
Accounting conservatism and stock pricing: an analysis based on China's split‐stock reform

Purpose - China's securities market is growing gradually as well as the investors, analysts, intermediates and regulation authorities. Accounting earnings is a key determinant among the factors influencing stock prices, which even overreacts to earnings. Split-stock reform (all-circulation reform) in China provides a chance for investors to revaluate the stock prices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the market reaction during the reform from the perspective of accounting conservatism. Design/methodology/approach - Using the data of companies completing the split-stock reform, this paper empirically investigates how the accounting conservatism influences the market reaction around re-open day after the reform. Findings - Accounting information plays its role on stock pricing through the reform of split-stock reform in the China securities market, evident in the significantly positive relation between the proxies of accounting conservatism and cumulative abnormal returns for one day, three days, ten days and 30 days around re-open day after the reform. Also, the profitability of listed firms in the past will further improve the positive relation between conservatism and market reaction. Originality/value - There is ample theoretical work on stock pricing of accounting conservatism but empirical work is scarce, so this paper provides more evidence for the role of stock pricing of accounting conservatism, especially in emerging markets. Second, current research on accounting conservatism in China is focusing on whether conservatism exists and how the conservatism varies; this paper further extends the research field of conservatism from the pricing perspective. Third, researches based on the determinants of stock compensation and market reaction on stock reform lack theoretical analysis, while this paper provides a theory basis for the market reaction during the stock reform.
Gaining competitive advantage through a low carbon economy: China vs Europe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible developments of the energy sector in 2050. Special consideration is given to the evolution of the relationship between Europe and China.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the analysis of current trends and news to develop a hypothetical scenario for the energy sector in 2050. A new hypothetical scenario is proposed in which China's role is dramatically shifted from world's largest polluter to that of leader of the green revolution.Findings – The paper suggests that the countries with the highest standards could gain a competitive advantage by imposing their standards on the other countries. In the specific scenario analyzed in the paper, China is the country that will gain such an advantage by 2050.Research limitations/implications – The paper's main limitation is the lack of estimations on the likelihood of such a hypothetical scenario.Practical implications – Practical implications of the paper are the recommendations to Europe.
Bio-Magnetics Interfacing Concepts: A Microfluidic System Using Magnetic Nanoparticles for Quantitative Detection of Biological Species

Abstract : This report describes a research project in the area of bio-magnetics interfacing concepts aimed at developing a microfluidic system based on the use of magnetic nanoparticles for the quantitative detection of biological species in various media. Novel bio-compatible ferrofluids of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles suitable for bioconjugation of antibodies or other active biomolecules are developed, prepared, and tested for us in biomedical research, and various biological and clinical diagnostic applications.