Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Remnant Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Incident Coronary Heart Disease: The Jackson Heart and Framingham Offspring Cohort Studies

Background Remnant lipoproteins (RLPs), the triglyceride‐enriched precursors to low‐density lipoprotein, are an emerging risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). We sought to determine the association of RLP cholesterol (RLP‐C) levels with incident CHD in 2 diverse, prospective, longitudinal observational US cohorts. Methods and Results We analyzed cholesterol levels from serum lipoprotein samples separated via density gradient ultracentrifugation in 4114 US black participants (mean age 53.8 years, 64% women) from the Jackson Heart Study and a random sample of 818 predominantly white participants (mean age 57.3 years, 52% women) from the Framingham Offspring Cohort Study. Multivariable‐adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for RLP‐C (the sum of very low‐density lipoprotein3 cholesterol and intermediate‐density lipoprotein cholesterol) were derived to estimate associations with incident CHD events consisting of myocardial infarction, CHD death, and revascularizations for each cohort separately and as a combined population. There were 146 CHD events in the combined population. After adjustments for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, and lipid‐lowering therapy for the combined population, RLP‐C (HR 1.23 per 1‐SD increase, 95% CI 1.06–1.42, P<0.01) and intermediate‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HR 1.26 per 1‐SD increase, 95% CI 1.08–1.47, P<0.01) predicted CHD during an 8‐year follow‐up. Associations were attenuated by high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and ultimately lost significance with inclusion of real low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, which excludes Lp(a) and IDL cholesterol fractions. Similar associations were seen in multivariable analyses within each cohort. Conclusion RLP‐C levels are predictive of incident CHD in this diverse group of primary prevention subjects. Interventions aimed at reducing RLP‐C to prevent CHD warrant further intensive investigation. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.ClinicalTrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00415415.
An over-complete sparse representation approach for face recognition under partial occlusion

B-Joint Sparsity Model (B-JSM) was presented for expression-invariant face recognition by Pradeep Nagesh and Baoxin Li in 2009, which can save storage space for grossly representing per class training images of a given subject by only two features and performs better than the state-of-the-art algorithm. But the recognition rate (RR) is very low by B-JSM when certain part is occluded. On the basis of B-JSM, a new improved model is presented to recognize human faces under partial occlusion in this paper. Firstly, we introduce B-JSM theory. Then we analyze the reason and B-JSM is improved: the feature is extracted after “getting rid of” the region containing the maximal information. A series of experiments with the Extended Yale B database show that our improved approach is effective to solve the problem of partial occlusion and robust to the low-dimensional image or only a few images of an individual.
What breaks trust in customer supplier relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand what breaks trust in a customer supplier relationship and how to repair it.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes a single case study to test the established theories on trust. It captures the circumstances and conditions of everyday situation in business and it is a longitudinal study covering three years' experience of two organisations in business.Findings – The important findings of this case study are that knowledge, level of risk and level of risk tolerance of customers/suppliers are the main causes of trust break down. Though the research on trust focus on partner's characteristics such as benevolence, honesty, reliability, credibility, integrity, contracts, agreements etc., in the context of B2B relationship these perspectives can only help the partners in evaluating the other partner as trust worthy. Once the partners engage in the relationship the orientation will change towards perspectives of rational risk. If the risk level exceed.
Over-Optimism in Forecasts by Official Budget Agencies and its Implications

The paper studies forecasts of real growth rates and budget balances made by official government agencies among 33 countries. In general, the forecasts are found: (i) to have a positive average bias, (ii) to be more biased in booms, (iii) to be even more biased at the 3-year horizon than at shorter horizons. This over-optimism in official forecasts can help explain excessive budget deficits, especially the failure to run surpluses during periods of high output: if a boom is forecasted to last indefinitely, retrenchment is treated as unnecessary. Many believe that better fiscal policy can be obtained by means of rules such as ceilings for the deficit or, better yet, the structural deficit. But we also find: (iv) countries subject to a budget rule, in the form of euroland's Stability and Growth Path, make official forecasts of growth and budget deficits that are even more biased and more correlated with booms than do other countries. This effect may help explain frequent violations of the SGP. One country, Chile, has managed to overcome governments' tendency to satisfy fiscal targets by wishful thinking rather than by action. As a result of budget institutions created in 2000, Chile's official forecasts of growth and the budget have not been overly optimistic, even in booms. Unlike many countries in the North, Chile took advantage of the 2002-07 expansion to run budget surpluses, and so was able to ease in the 2008-09 recession.
Determinants of Rural Income: The Role of Geography and Institutions in Kenya

We revisit the debate about the root causes of income divergence, and ask whether geographical variables or institutions are the main determinants of income. Complementing earlier cross-country work, we focus on the local level and seek to explain within-country income differences. Analysing Kenyan household data, we find that certain geographical variables appear to be more important drivers of per capita income levels than local institutions. Once we control for geography, our measures of community-level institutions do not seem to explain within-Kenya differences in income. Copyright 2012 , Oxford University Press.
Biophysical measurements of human forearm skin in vivo: effects of site, gender, chirality and time

Background/aims: Measurements of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin colour are biophysical techniques commonly used to measure the in vivo skin effects of cosmetics, topical medicaments and chemical irritants. The purpose of this study was to investigate the variability of TEWL and skin colour on human forearm skin as a function of regional variation, gender and preferred chirality over an 8 h period.
Avoiding the cost of males in obligately asexual Daphnia pulex (Leydig)

Asexual organisms are thought to gain an advantage by avoiding the cost of producing males. In the cladoceran Daphnia pulex (Leydig), male production is determined by the environment and is independent of the origin of the asexual obligate parthenogens from the sexual cyclical parthenogens. If there is a cost to producing males, successful obligate parthenogens should have reduced or eliminated male production. Field and laboratory observations showed that obligate parthenogens have much–reduced male production compared to cyclical parthenogens. Although the reduction or elimination of males in the obligate parthenogens suggests that the cost of males is avoided, the coexistence of sexual and asexual forms of D. pulex may be partially explained by cyclical parthenogens compensating for the cost of males by having greater fecundity. In addition, the absence of a mating constraint for the obligate parthenogens may favour an increased allocation to asexual diapausing eggs earlier in the season compared to the cyclical parthenogens which require mating with males to produce sexual diapausing eggs. No difference in the production of diapausing eggs was observed, probably because males were abundant in populations of cyclical parthenogens and do not appear to limit the production of sexual diapausing eggs. D. pulex is a useful system for determining the ecological consequences of abandoning sexual reproduction and explaining the coexistence of sexual and asexual forms of a species.
Characterization of human monocyte‐derived microglia‐like cells

Microglial cells are central to brain immunity and intervene in many human neurological diseases. The aim of this study was to develop a convenient cellular model for human microglial cells, suitable for HIV studies. Microglia derive from the hematogenous myelomonocytic lineage, possibly as a distinct subpopulation but in any case able to invade the CNS, proliferate, and differentiate into ameboid and then ramified microglia in the adult life. We thus attempted to derive microglia‐like cells from human monocytes. When cultured with astrocyte‐conditioned medium (ACM), monocytes acquired a ramified morphology, typical of microglia. They overexpressed substance P and the calcium binding protein Iba‐1 and dimly expressed class II MHC, three characteristics of microglial cells. Moreover, they also expressed a potassium inward rectifier current, another microglia‐specific feature. These monocyte‐derived microglia‐like cells (MDMi) were CD4+/CD14+, evocative of an activated microglia phenotype. When treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), MDMi lost their overexpression of substance P, which returned to untreated monocyte‐derived macrophage (MDM) level. Compared with MDM, MDMi expressed higher CD4 but lower CCR5 levels; they could be infected by HIV‐1BaL, but produced less virus progeny than MDM did. This model of human microglia may be an interesting alternative to primary microglia for large scale in vitro HIV studies and may help to better understand HIV‐associated microgliosis and chronic inflammation in the brain. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Knowledge acquisition and leakage in inter‐firm relationships involving new technology‐based firms

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the role of governance on knowledge acquisition and loss by new technology‐based firms engaged in inter‐firm collaborative new product development projects.Design/methodology/approach – This work draws on the relational exchange perspective, transaction cost theory and the resource‐based view in order to develop hypotheses. Survey data collected from British new technology‐based firms, operating in three industry sectors, was used to examine these hypotheses.Findings – Relational governance was found to have a positive relationship with the acquisition of knowledge‐based resources. Increased comprehensiveness in the formal contractual governance structure was found to be associated with lower levels of harmful knowledge loss.Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted in one country. Future research should be done in different countries to determine the generalizability of the findings.Practical implications – Managers engaging in collaborative new.
Gold Price and GDP Analysis of the World’s Top Economies

The study examines the relationship between gold prices and real GDPs of the world’s largest gold-holding economies, which include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Europe, and Canada, for the 16-year period from December 1995 to June 2011. The authors calculate the multiple correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination to study this relationship. The multiple correlation coefficient measures the relationship between the gold price and GDP based on the regression equation, while the coefficient of determination indicates the percentage of the variation in gold prices that can be explained and accounted for by the GDPs of the world’s largest gold-holding economies in the regression equation. The authors perform multiple regression analyses to study the effect of nine GDPs on the movement of gold price. Results imply that the GDPs of seven out of nine economies when used together best predict the movements in the gold price. They also find that when individual GDPs are regressed with gold prices, the gold price is least correlated with Italy’s GDP but highly correlated with Brazil’s GDP. The gold price is only moderately correlated with the U.S. GDP even though the United States has the world’s highest gold holdings.
Surgical resection for melanoma metastatic to the gastrointestinal tract.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the role of surgery in the survival of patients with melanoma metastatic to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING Tertiary cancer center. PATIENTS One hundred twenty-four potential surgical candidates with metastatic melanoma in the stomach, small intestine, colon, or rectum. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Operative morbidity and mortality, relief of presenting symptoms, and median and 5-year survival. RESULTS The median disease-free interval prior to diagnosis of GI tract metastasis was 23.2 months (range, 1-154 months). Patients typically presented with crampy abdominal pain, symptomatic mass, and/or occult GI tract blood loss. Of the 124 patients, 69(55%) underwent surgical exploration of the abdomen, 46 (66%) had curative resection, and 23 (34%) had a palliative procedure. There was only 1 operative death and 1 major operative complication; 67 (97%) of 69 surgical patients experienced postoperative relief of their presenting GI tract symptoms. The median survival in patients undergoing curative resection was 48.9 months, compared with only 5.4 months and 5.7 months in those undergoing palliative procedures and nonsurgical interventions, respectively. By multivariate analysis, the 2 most important prognostic factors for long-term survival were complete resection of GI tract metastases and the GI tract as the initial site of distant metastases. CONCLUSIONS Almost all patients with melanoma and GI tract metastases can have palliation of symptoms by surgical intervention with minimal morbidity and mortality. The high 5-year survival rate associated with complete surgical resection of GI tract metastases indicates that surgery should be strongly considered for this subgroup of patients with melanoma and distant metastatic disease.
Competitive Equilibria on Turnpikes in a McKenzie Economy, I: A Neighborhood Turnpike Theorem

In his seminal paper, Bewley [1982] integrates growth theory and competitive equilibrium theory, considering a model with finitely many infinitely lived consumers who trade commodities in infinitely many competitive markets from the present through the future. In such a model, a competitive equilibrium path is an optimal growth path. Using this property, he proves a turnpike theorem for competitive equilibrium paths. In growth theory, a social welfare function, with respect to which optimal growth paths are considered, has been assumed to be exogenously given. Bewley shows that in the competitive market system the market mechanism endogenously determines the social welfare function with respect to which an equilibrium path is regarded as an optimal path. In Bewley's model, the future is discounted by a factor p. In growth theory, two types of turnpike theorems have been proved when the future is discounted. The first type is called a neighborhood turnpike theorem. ' It asserts that given c>0, there is 0< p' <1 such that p'? p < 1 implies that an optimal path at the discount factor p eventually stays within the s-neighborhood of a stationary path. This theorem does not require the social welfare function to be differentiable but only to be strictly concave, and is proved by McKenzie [1979]. The second type is called an asymptotic turnpike theorem. It asserts that there is 0 < p' < 1 such that p' < p < 1 implies that an optimal path at the dicount factor p converges to a stationary path. This theorem has been proved only under differentiability assumptions (Scheinkman [1976]). Bewley proves an asymptotic turnpike theorem, making use of extensive differentiability assumptions. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize these two importnat results of Bewley and McKenzie. Namely, we will prove a neighborhood turnpike theorem of McKenzie type in a model like that of Bewley, making no differentiability assumptions. We will make a few generalizations of Bewley's assumptions. Among them, of importance are relaxing his differentiability assumptions, weakening his interiority assumption, and replacing his assumption of decreasing returns to
Identifying recorder-induced geographic bias in an Iberian butterfly database

A database with comprehensive butterfly faunistic information from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands was used to estimate inventory completeness as well as the environmental, spatial. and land-use effects on sampling intensities, on a 50 x 50 km UTM grid. The degree of sampling effort was assessed by means of accumulation curves based on the Clench function. Using the General Linear Model regression procedure, the effects of 22 variables on the estimated sampling efforts were assessed. This combination of methods is proposed as a preliminary step in biodiversity studies, in order to evaluate not only the degree of geographic coverage of existing faunistic data. but also the amount and nature of the bias on the faunistic work done throughout the last two centuries. The degree of spatial effects on the data was greater than the effects of environmental or land-use variables, although the latter two proved to be locally relevant. The results confirm previous findings that collecting is often skewed by relatively simple factors that affect collector activity, such as accessibility and attractiveness of sampling sites. With regard to Iberian and Balearic butterflies. adequate inventories on the scale investigated may probably suffice for further studies of the diversity of this insect group. Additionally, the results enabled us to develop general guide lines for the design of further faunistic work in the area.
Development of resistance to botulinum toxin type A in patients with torticollis

Between 1984 and 1992, 559 patients with torticollis were treated with botulinum toxin type A (btx) injections. Twenty‐four of these 559 patients (4.3%) had serological evidence of antibodies to btx by mouse neutralization assay. Some of the 559 patients had only one or two injection series, whereas others were lost to follow‐up, so that the actual prevalence of serologically detectable antibodies may be higher than 4%. In addition, some patients who improved after btx injections lost benefit and stopped developing muscle atrophy from adequate doses of btx, without serological evidence of antibodies. To evaluate the risk factors for btx resistance (loss of benefit and muscle atrophy after injections with or without serological evidence of antibodies), we reviewed the records of a cohort of torticollis patients injected over 2–45 months (mean, 23 months) beginning in 1988. Eight of 76 patients (10.5%) developed btx resistance. Compared to nonresistant patients from the same cohort, these eight patients received more frequent injections, had more “booster injections” 2–3 weeks after an initial injection, and received higher doses of btx per treatment. In order to minimize the risk of developing btx resistance, therefore, we recommend that physicians wait as long as possible (at least 1 month) between btx injections, avoid booster injections, and use the smallest possible doses.
Humanitarian Logistics: A New Field of Research and Action

Recent natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina in the United States, tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the earthquake in Pakistan, and numerous humanitarian challenges arising from such conflicts as that in Sudan have exposed the shortcomings in planning for disasters. In addition to the natural disasters, the homeland security issues related to domestic as well as international terrorism have increased the fear factor and have made 'readiness' the principal priority. Humanitarian logistics is a critical element of an effective disaster relief process. The objective of this monograph is to discuss research issues and potential actions surrounding the new field of humanitarian logistics. We define humanitarian logistics as that special branch of logistics which manages response supply chain of critical supplies and services with challenges such as demand surges, uncertain supplies, critical time windows in face of infrastructure vulnerabilities and vast scope and size of the operations. We survey case studies to learn from the past experience and review analytical models from the literature to understand the state-of-the-art in humanitarian logistics. We recommend further research in the fields of operations management and operations research to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian logistics. We conclude that though humanitarian logistics is inherently chaotic and complex, and it is difficult to do research in this area, the complexity and obstacles can be dealt with by the researchers.
Intubation of the trachea in the critical care setting.

SKILL at intubation of the trachea is an essential part of the medical repertoire of any physician who has primary care responsibility for patients in a critical care setting. It is common practice in hospitals today to perform tracheal intubation on an emergency or elective basis for ventilatory assistance, high-flow oxygen administration, bronchial hygiene, or airway protection. This article will give the physician not experienced in intubation a general background in the considerations and decisions the experienced laryngoscopist may make when intubating a critically ill patient. This article cannot hope to cover all the materials and techniques used in intubation, but will briefly discuss the key anatomy of the upper airway and the equipment, drugs, and techniques in intubation of the trachea that might be used in a critical care setting. The practice of intubation and airway management should be acquired in a controlled setting under knowledgeable supervision. Anatomy The
The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Australian Households

This paper analyses the net worth and asset portfolios of native- and foreign-born Australian families. Specifically, we estimate a system of asset equations with an adding-up constraint imposed to control for diversity in household wealth. We find that the wealth of mixed and native-born couples is not significantly different; however, immigrant-only couples have approximately $162 000 less wealth than native-born couples. Relative to equally wealthy native-born couples, immigrant-only couples hold substantially more wealth in their homes and less in the form of vehicles. Mixed couples and single individuals allocate their wealth across assets in the same way their native-born counterparts.