Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of childhood obesity in Greece

Σκοπός της διατριβής είναι να διερευνήσει κατά πόσο ένα κομμάτι του μίγματος μάρκετινγκ, η τιμολόγηση, μπορεί να τροποποιήσει την αγοραστική συμπεριφορά μιας οικογένειας. Συγκεκριμένα, εξετάζεται εάν οι πολιτικές τιμολόγησης τροφίμων σε συνδυασμό με άλλες εξωτερικές επιδράσεις μπορούν να αποτελέσουν κίνητρο για τη διαμόρφωση ενός καταναλωτικού προτύπου υγιεινής διατροφής στα μέλη της οικογένειας. Η διερεύνηση των καταναλωτικών προτιμήσεων έγινε με την μέθοδο του οικονομικού πειράματος επιλογής σε συνθήκες πραγματικού κόστους.
The boom and bust in new public management

This article review the concept and practice of new public management (NPM) and use the comparative study of global experiences as the methodology for proving the relevance of NPM event in the post NPM phase. The experience of radical reform in the west is a lesson for developing countries, which still grappling to understand NPM as a concept and a practice. The academia have different argument: supporting or opposing NPM, this article shows the approach to balance it with the pendulum clock theory to tackle the dilemma of growth with control.
A Case of Cutaneous Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Concurrent Follicular Lymphoma In-Situ

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma are the most common non-Hodgkin lymphomas seen in adults. Follicular lymphomas are derived from germinal centers of lymphatic tissue and are composed of centrocytes and centroblasts arranged into secondary lymphoid follicles with a germinal center. Follicular lymphomas can transform into diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Follicular lymphoma in situ has been identified as a risk factor for several B-cell neoplasms, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. We report a case of a 62 year old man with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma on his scalp, germinal center phenotype, who was incidentally found to have a nodal follicular lymphoma in situ on his chest wall. This case highlights the clinical implications of in situ follicular lymphoma.
Symptom experiences of family members of intensive care unit patients at high risk for dying

Objective:To describe the symptom experiences of family members of patients at high risk for dying in the intensive care unit and to assess risk factors associated with higher symptom burden. Design:Prospective, cross-sectional study. Setting:Three intensive care units at a large academic medical center. Participants:A sample of 74 family members of 74 intensive care unit patients who had a grave prognosis and were judged to be at high risk for dying. Patients at high risk for dying were identified as having Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores >20, an intensive care unit length of stay >72 hrs, and being mechanically ventilated. Interventions:None. Measurements and Results:We assessed the degree of symptom burden approximately 4 days after the patient's admission to the intensive care unit in the following domains: traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. Overall, the prevalence of symptoms was high, with more than half (57%) of family members having moderate to severe levels of traumatic stress, 80% having borderline symptoms of anxiety, and 70% having borderline symptoms of depression. More than 80% of family members had other physical and emotional symptoms, such as fatigue, sadness, and fear, and these were experienced at the moderate to severe levels of distress. Factors independently associated with greater severity of symptoms included younger age, female gender, and non-white race of the family member. The only patient factor significantly associated with symptom severity was younger age. Despite their symptom experience, the majority of the family members were coping at moderate to high levels and functioning at high levels during the intensive care unit experience. Conclusions:We document a high prevalence of psychological and physical symptoms among family members during an intensive care unit admission. These data complement existing data on long-term symptom burden and highlight the need to improve family centered care in intensive care units.
Suicide Risk in Relation to Social Class: A National Register-Based Study of Adult Suicides in Korea, 1999–2001

Background: Few controlled studies have examined social class as a risk factor for suicide in Korea. Aim: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of social class on suicide risk in Korea. Methods: A case-control design was constructed from cause-of-death statistics for the period 1999 to 2001, in Korea, as published by the Korean National Statistical Office. The cases were defined as people aged between 20 and 64 who died by suicide, while the controls were defined as those who died of natural causes in the same age groups. Results and conclusions: The proportions and odds ratios for suicide were higher in young people than in elderly people, and higher for divorced subjects than for cohabitants. They were also higher for residents of rural areas, as opposed to residents of Seoul and other metropolitan areas, and for people in social classes III and IV, than they were for those in social class I. To control the variables that influence risk of suicide, such as age, marital status and area of residence, we used multiple logistic regression. Compared with class I, risk of suicide was higher in social classes III and IV, in both sexes. The principal conclusion of this study is that, regardless of sex, lower social class constitutes a high risk for suicide in Korea, even after controlling for variables such as age, marital status and area of residence. We conclude that a well-controlled and balanced social welfare system could reduce suicide risk, especially among people in lower social class.
Cross-Layer Protocol Design for CSMA/CD in Full-Duplex WiFi Networks

The device in conventional half-duplex (HD) WiFi networks cannot perform carrier sensing while in data transmission, thus it suffers from long collision duration. To mitigate this problem, this letter presents a new WiFi cross-layer protocol design based on CSMA/CD, which facilitates simultaneous carrier sensing and data transmission by using the full-duplex (FD) technology. As the FD technology introduces the residual self-interference (RSI), we study two types of errors caused by the RSI against the FD-WiFi sensing (i.e., false alarm and miss detection). Meanwhile, we derive the normalized throughput when considering the sensing performance in the proposed FD-WiFi CSMA/CD protocol. Both analytical and simulated results show that sensing threshold should be properly designed to balance the two types of sensing errors, and our proposed cross-layer protocol can achieve significant throughput improvement.
Yupingfeng San Inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome to Attenuate the Inflammatory Response in Asthma Mice

Yupingfeng San (YPFS) is a representative Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula with accepted therapeutic effect on Asthma. However, its action mechanism is still obscure. In this study, we used network pharmacology to explore potential mechanism of YPFS on asthma. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pathway was shown to be the top one shared signaling pathway associated with both YPFS and asthma. In addition, NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome was treated as target protein in the process of YPFS regulating asthma. Further, experimental validation was done by using LPS-stimulated U937 cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized BALB/c mice model. In vitro experiments showed that YPFS significantly decreased the production of TNF-α and IL-6, as well as both mRNA and protein levels of IL-1β, NLRP3, Caspase-1 and ASC in LPS-stimulated U937 cells. In vivo experiment indicated that YPFS treatment not only attenuated the clinical symptoms, but also reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, mucus secretion and MUC5AC production in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. Moreover, YPFS treatment remarkably decreased the mRNA and protein levels of IL-1β, NLRP3, Caspase-1 and ASC in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that YPFS could inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome components to attenuate the inflammatory response in asthma.
Pleconaril Revisited: Clinical Course of Chronic Enteroviral Meningoencephalitis after Treatment Correlates with In Vitro Susceptibility

Background Human enteroviruses (HEVs) can cause severe infections, especially in patients with a deficient humoral immune response, such as X-linked agammaglobulinemia. In this patient group, chronic enteroviral meningitis (CEMA) is feared because of extensive morbidity and high fatality rate. Treatment options consist of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), with various outcomes. Pleconaril is an antiviral agent with in vitro activity against HEVs that has been used in the treatment of HEV infections. Methods The efficacy of pleconaril and IVIG against HEV isolated from the patients was assessed in vitro in two patients with CEMA. Results Echovirus 11 was found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of case 1. Treatment with high-dose IVIG and pleconaril did not provide any clinical improvement and HEV PCR in CSF remained positive. Case 2 (echovirus 13 positive in CSF) was also treated with IVIG and pleconaril. The patient recovered completely and HEV PCR in CSF became negative. Recent IVIG batches contained low titres of neutralizing antibodies against the patient strains. Echovirus 11 (case 1) was resistant to pleconaril in vitro, whereas echovirus 13 (case 2) was susceptible, in accordance with virological response after treatment and subsequent clinical results. Conclusions This is the first report that evaluates efficacy of antiviral treatment in CEMA patients in relation to in vitro susceptibility of clinical virus isolates. Since pleconaril is no longer available for compassionate use we strongly propagate that new drugs should be developed against these potential life threatening HEV infections.
Did British Capitalism Breed Inequality

1. The issues PART I 2. Real wages and standard of living 3. Earnings inequality, skill scarcity and the structure of pay 4. Income inequality PART II 5. What drives inequality? 6. Disequilibrating factor demand: The industrialization bias 7. Equilibrating supply: men, machines and skills PART III 8. Modeling inequality in a resource-scarce open economy 9. Fact or fiction? 10. Accounting for the Kuznets Curve, 1821-1911 11. Why was British growth so slow before the 1820s? 12. Inequality, industrialization and the standard of living during wartime: conjectures 13. Data, theory and debate Appendices.
What Makes a Good Sustainable Development Plan? An Analysis of Factors That Influence Principles of Sustainable Development

A key question faced by practitioners trying to plan for sustainable development is: what can be done in planning practice to influence promotion of sustainable development? This research addresses that question by investigating three dimensions of the planning process (political support for the concept, participation, and resource commitment), the organization of local land-use plans, and state planning mandates to determine how they influence the support plan policies have for principles of sustainable development. We use plan content analysis as well as survey data for forty-two communities across the United States to analyze factors which influence such support. Our findings highlight that the presence of a state planning mandate, most applicable to US planning, as well as having a variety of groups participating in the planning process, are key factors that increase overall plan support for the sustainable development principles. Recommendations for planning practice are offered based on our findings.
Explaining TFP Growth rates: Dissimilar effect of openness between different income groups of countries

The discussion about the relationship between openness and economic growth is still open. The dissent is about the theoretical foundation of the relationship, and about the robustness of the positive effect that is presented in the empirical arena. Our paper has the purpose of incorporating new evidence to the discussion. To do that, we improve the process of TFP estimation and use new data sources. Our principal result is that there are important differences between groups of countries with regard to the relevant factors that explain the technological performance.
A computational fresco sketch generation framework

As a famous cultural wealth, the sketch of fresco is one of the most important art expression forms in the World Heritage. To avoid the damage of natural and human factors, painters can only use photos and videos to depict sketch in most world culture heritage sites, otherwise real frescos. Therefore, a computational method for extracting sketch is helpful and meaningful in sketch copying and researching area. However, existing approaches with the incomplete fresco are not enough to deal with the challenge of sketch extraction. In this paper, we proposes a framework to generate sketch of fresco with frescos as input. To reduce noise and refine detail lines, we adopt hierarchical segmentation technology to extract sketches of different regions respectively, and splice those sketches into an integrated sketch. For replacing the missing content and getting a complete sketch, we provide recommendations from a database of many existing fresco sketches elements for users to select. At last, users can adjust sketch based on vectorization to achieve optimization. Our framework can be used for artists or learners to study painting sketch images and research fresco art. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework.
Small lymph nodes of the abdomen, pelvis, and retroperitoneum: usefulness of sonographically guided biopsy.

PURPOSE To evaluate the usefulness of sonographically guided percutaneous biopsy of small lymph nodes in the abdomen, retroperitoneum, and pelvis. MATERIALS AND METHODS From May 1995 through January 1997, 35 sonographically guided lymph node biopsies were performed in 34 patients. All biopsies were performed with a 20- (n = 18) or 22-gauge (n = 10) self-aspirating needle alone or in combination (n = 7). To determine the amount of compression achieved with the transducer, the skin-to-lesion distance on reference computed tomographic (CT) scans was compared with that on sonograms. A biopsy was considered successful if a specific benign or malignant diagnosis was rendered by the pathologist. RESULTS Of 35 sonographically guided biopsies, 30 (86%) were successful. Diagnoses included 26 (74%) cases of carcinoma, three (9%) cases of benign reactive lymphocytosis confirmed at open biopsy, and one (3%) case of a lymph node with a positive acid-fast bacilli stain. The average lymph node diameter was 2.1 cm (range, 0.9-4.3 cm). With sonography, a mean of 2.5 needle passes (range, 1-5) were made per biopsy. Transducer compression reduced the skin-to-lesion distance from an average of 8.8 cm (at CT) to 4.5 cm. CONCLUSION Sonographic guidance seems to provide a reasonable alternative to CT in biopsy of small abdominal, pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph nodes.
Gallup Polls of Attitudes Toward Education, 1969-1984. A Topical Summary.

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Row-column parallel turbo decoding of product codes

A row-column parallel architecture of a turbo decoder dedicated to product codes is presented. This architecture enables simultaneous decoding of the row and the column of a block. The performance of the proposed row-column parallel turbo decoder is similar to that of a conventional turbo decoder. However, this new architecture reduces the decoding latency by a factor of two. Moreover, the memory necessary for the block reconstruction between row decoding and column decoding is removed.
Endogenous International Technology Spillovers and Biased Technical Change in Agriculture

This paper analyzes trade-related knowledge flows from an innovating country to other countries. It is assumed that knowledge is embodied in commodities traded between countries and that the potential productivity of this knowledge is determined by the local usability of foreign technologies. The usability of foreign knowledge is dependent on the local absorption capacity (such as knowledge infrastructure and human capital) and on structural differences (factor endowments or climate) between countries. In agriculture, a large portion of the knowledge is embodied in inputs which cause factor-biased technical change in the receiving sectors. Trade-related knowledge transmission is introduced in an applied multi-region general equilibrium model (GTAP) to study the macro-economic and sectoral impacts of knowledge spillovers and of trade policies. Endogenous embodied technology spillovers bear some important implications for trade policy, because protective measures preclude countries not only from cheaper imports but also from foreign technologies.
What Should a Central Bank (Not) Do?

The financial crisis that began unfurling in 2008 has led to the refashioning of the model central bank governor along the lines of Churchillian war leader, willing to try anything with the money he conjures to restore economic growth. This raises important questions as to what limits, if any, elected officials should impose on such aspiring great men, and what limits markets will ultimately impose on them if elected officials forbear. This article focuses on the second of these questions.
The highly virulent variola and monkeypox viruses express secreted inhibitors of type I interferon

Variola virus (VARV) caused smallpox, one of the most devastating human diseases and the first to be eradicated, but its deliberate release represents a dangerous threat. Virulent orthopoxviruses infecting humans, such as monkeypox virus (MPXV), could fill the niche left by smallpox eradication and the cessation of vaccination. However, immunomodulatory activities and virulence determinants of VARV and MPXV remain largely unexplored. We report the molecular characterization of the VARV‐ and MPXV‐se‐creted type I interferon‐binding proteins, which interact with the cell surface after secretion and prevent type I interferon responses. The proteins expressed in the baculovirus system have been purified, and their interferon‐binding properties characterized by surface plasmon resonance. The ability of these proteins to inhibit a broad range of interferons was investigated to identify potential adaptation to the human immune system. Furthermore, we demonstrate by Western blot and activity assays the expression of the type I interferon inhibitor during VARV and MPXV infections. These findings are relevant for the design of new vaccines and therapeutics to smallpox and emergent virulent orthopoxviruses because the type I interferon‐binding protein is a major virulence factor in animal models, vaccination with this protein induces protective immunity, and its neutralization prevents disease progression. —Fernández de Marco, M. M. , Alejo, A. , Hudson, P., Damon, I. K. , Alcami, A. The highly virulent variola and monkeypox viruses express secreted inhibitors of type I interferon. FASEB J. 24, 1479–1488 (2010). www.fasebj. org
The Effects of Financial Statement and Informational Complexity on Analysts’ Cash Flow Forecasts

ABSTRACT: We characterize the operating-activities section of the indirect-approach statement of cash flows as backward because it presents reconciling adjustments in a way that is opposite from the intuitively appealing, future-oriented, Conceptual Framework definitions of assets, liabilities, and the accruals process. We propose that the reversed-accruals orientation required in the currently mandated indirect-approach statement of cash flows is unnecessarily complex, causing information-processing problems that result in increased cash flow forecast error and dispersion. We also predict that the mixed pattern (i.e., +/−, −/+) of operating cash flows and operating accruals reported by most companies impedes investors’ ability to learn the time-series properties of cash flows and accruals. We conduct a carefully controlled experiment and find that (1) cash flow forecasts have lower forecast error and dispersion when the indirect-approach statement of cash flows starts with operating cash flows and adds c.
Ig-Reactive CD4+CD25+ T Cells from Tolerized (New Zealand Black × New Zealand White)F1 Mice Suppress In Vitro Production of Antibodies to DNA1

We have recently shown that tolerogenic administration of an artificial peptide (pConsensus) that is based on sequences within the VH regions of several murine anti-dsDNA Ig delays appearance of autoantibodies in female (New Zealand Black (NZB) × New Zealand White (NZW))F1 (NZB/W F1) mice and significantly prolongs their survival. The aim of this study was to characterize the T cell population(s) involved in pConsensus-induced down-regulation of autoimmune responses in tolerized NZB/W F1 mice. Using MHC class II dimers loaded with tolerogenic peptide, we found that pCons favored expansion of peptide-reactive CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (TR) that inhibited in vitro production of anti-dsDNA Ab-forming cells. Suppression by TR was abrogated by the presence in culture of Ab to glucocorticoid-induced TNFR family member 18 or to TGFβ latency-associated protein. These findings suggest possible relevance of Ag specificity in the mechanism of TR-mediated immune tolerance to Ig-derived peptides in NZB/W F1 mice.
Histamine dose-response relationships in normal and asthmatic subjects. The importance of starting airway caliber.

We examined the effects of pharmacologic antagonists on the bronchial response to inhaled histamine in 11 normal and 11 asthmatic subjects. We constructed cumulative log dose-response curves and determined the steepest slope and the provocative dose of histamine (PD35) needed to cause a 35% fall in specific airway conductance (SGaw). The slope was positively related to starting SGaw in both groups. Starting SGaw and slope were approximately 2-fold lower in asthmatics. After inhaling salbutamol (200 micrograms) and atropine (4 mg), there was an increase in starting SGaw and slope of the histamine response by approximately 1.5-fold in normal subjects and 2-fold in asthmatics, the relationship between starting SGaw and slope being preserved. Chlorpheniramine (4 mg) had little effect on starting SGaw and slope.l Atropine, salibutamol, and chlorpheniramine increased PD35 by approximately 4-fold in normal subjects and 6-fold in asthmatics. Afte bronchodilatation with atropine or salbutamol, mean starting SGaw, slope, and PD35 of the responses in asthmatics were similar to those of unpremedicated normal subjects. Thus, the slope of the histamine dose-response curve is largely determined by the starting airway caliber, increases in PD35 by drugs reflect in part the effects of bronchodilatation and in part their specific pharmacologic antagonist activity.