Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pricing Heart Attack Treatments

In this paper, we estimate price indices for heart attack treatments, demonstrating the techniques that are currently used in official price indices and presenting some alternatives. We consider two types of price indices, a Service Price Index, which prices specific treatments provided, and a Cost of Living Index, which prices the health outcomes of patients. Both indices are complicated by price measurement issues: list prices and transactions prices are fundamentally different in the medical care field. The development of new or modified medical treatments further complicates the comparison of like' goods over time. And the Cost of Living Index is hampered by the need to determine how much of health improvement results from medical treatments in comparison to other factors. We describe methods to address each of these obstacles. We conclude that whereas traditional price indices when applied to heart attack treatments are rising at roughly 3 percent per year above general inflation, a corrected service price index is rising at perhaps 1 to 2 percent per year above general inflation, and the cost of living index is falling by 1 to 2 percent per year relative to general inflation. We discuss the implications of these results for official price index calculations.
Sex differences in the clinical manifestations of Alzheimer disease pathology.

CONTEXT Sex differences in risk of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer disease (AD) have been studied extensively, but little is known about the relation of the pathologic indices of AD to the clinical manifestations of the disease in men compared with women. OBJECTIVE To test whether the relation of AD pathology to the clinical manifestations of the disease differs in men and women. DESIGN Longitudinal, clinicopathologic cohort study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING Analyses were conducted on 141 older Catholic clergy members who underwent detailed annual clinical evaluations and brain autopsy at death. The number of neuritic plaques, diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles in a 1-mm2 area sampled from 4 cortical regions was counted, and a global measure of AD pathology (range, 0-2.98 U) and specific measures of each pathology were derived. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Clinical diagnosis of probable AD and level of global cognitive function at the last evaluation before death. RESULTS Women had more global AD pathology than did men (P = .04), due primarily to more neurofibrillary tangles (P = .02). At the last evaluation before death, 57 persons met clinical criteria for probable AD (34 [60%] of them women). In logistic regression models, sex was not related to odds of clinical AD (odds ratio [OR], 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-3.25), but the relation of global AD pathology to clinical diagnosis differed for men and women. Each additional unit of AD pathology was associated with a nearly 3-fold increase in the odds of clinical AD in men (OR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.03-7.65) compared with a more than 20-fold increase in the odds of clinical AD in women (OR, 22.67; 95% CI, 5.11-100.53). Results were unchanged after controlling for potential confounders or using level of cognition as the outcome. CONCLUSION These data suggest that AD pathology is more likely to be clinically expressed as dementia in women than in men.
Plan for Final Year Project : HKU-Face : A Large Scale Dataset for Deep Face Recognition

Face recognition has been one of the most successful techniques in the field of artificial intelligence because of its surpassing human-level performance in academic experiments and broad application in the industrial world. Gaussian-face[1] and Facenet[2] hold state-of-the-art record using statistical method and deep-learning method respectively. What’s more, face recognition has been applied in various areas like authority checking and recording, fostering a large number of start-ups like Face.
A Note on the Effect of Cost Changes on Prices

In a recent article in this Journal, Sumner (1981) took an ingenious approach to estimating the level of monopoly power in the cigarette industry. He noted that differences in marginal costs exist in the industry due to varying levels of state taxes. The sales prices established will satisfy the equation p[I + (lIq)l = MR = MC, where p = price and -q = the elasticity of demand for the product in question. If elasticity is a constant, observing the change in marginal cost and the change in price enables one to infer the elasticity of demand perceived by the firm. Elasticity could then be used as a proxy for the firm's market power. This technique turns out to be of very limited applicability, however, because it is extremely sensitive to the functional form assumed for the demand curve. Consider the general problem of a firm facing constant marginal costs of c. In maximizing profits the firm solves
The concept and measurement of fathers’ stimulating play: a review

ABSTRACT Reviews of attachment research point to fathers’ capacity to provide for a secure child-parent attachment relationship; a suggested mechanism for the development of this relationship may be sensitive and challenging play interactions. This review synthesises research on fathers’ challenging and stimulating play by mapping the variation in construct definitions and reporting on the association of fathers’ stimulating play with child outcomes. Using search terms such as “father”, “stimulating”and “challenging”, 26 studies were identified, including 16 longitudinal studies, which assessed the association between father-child stimulating or challenging play, and child outcomes. Five categories of stimulating play were derived from the analysis,ranging on a continuum of activation and complexity. Most studies reported positive associations with children’s cognitive, psycho social and physical development. The discussion highlights the variation in the operationalisation of challenging and stimulating play, and suggestions for future research on the function of fathers’ play interactions are made.
Financing Options for Entrepreneurial Ventures

Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new organizations or revitalizing mature organizations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities. The classic entrepreneurship is the “Start-Up”, where a raw idea develops into a highgrowth company and the success involves strong main entrepreneur and a team with complimentary talents. Start-ups are the engine for job creation and economic growth. The lifecycle of a new venture includes seed stage, start-up stage, early stage, and later stage. Securing funding for a start-up in its early stages is from internal sources. The funder provides the initial capital, along with funds from family and fiends (3Fs), and the firm also relies on bootstrapping & business alliances. As the firm grows and needs additional capital, it will require external sources of funding: business loan from a bank, governmentsponsored programs/grants, professional investors (angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate investors), initial public offering (IPO) and the equity markets. This article provides an overview of the funding options for start-up ventures with special emphasis on business angels and venture capital.
ECOLOGICAL GENETICS OF ADAPTIVE COLOR POLYMORPHISM IN POCKET MICE: GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN SELECTED AND NEUTRAL GENES

Abstract Patterns of geographic variation in phenotype or genotype may provide evidence for natural selection. Here, we compare phenotypic variation in color, allele frequencies of a pigmentation gene (the melanocortin-1 receptor, Mc1r), and patterns of neutral mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in rock pocket mice (Chaetodipus intermedius) across a habitat gradient in southern Arizona. Pocket mice inhabiting volcanic lava have dark coats with unbanded, uniformly melanic hairs, whereas mice from nearby light-colored granitic rocks have light coats with banded hairs. This color polymorphism is a presumed adaptation to avoid predation. Previous work has demonstrated that two Mc1r alleles, D and d, differ by four amino acids, and are responsible for the color polymorphism: DD and Dd genotypes are melanic whereas dd genotypes are light colored. To determine the frequency of the two Mc1r allelic classes across the dark-colored lava and neighboring light-colored granite, we sequenced the Mc1r gene in 175 individuals from a 35-km transect in the Pinacate lava region. We also sequenced two neutral mtDNA genes, COIII and ND3, in the same individuals. We found a strong correlation between Mc1r allele frequency and habitat color and no correlation between mtDNA markers and habitat color. Using estimates of migration from mtDNA haplotypes between dark- and light-colored sampling sites and Mc1r allele frequencies at each site, we estimated selection coefficients against mismatched Mc1r alleles, assuming a simple model of migration-selection balance. Habitat-dependent selection appears strong but asymmetric: selection is stronger against light mice on dark rock than against melanic mice on light rock. Together these results suggest that natural selection acts to match pocket mouse coat color to substrate color, despite high levels of gene flow between light and melanic populations.
Antiviral Treatment with Alpha Interferon Up-Regulates CD14 on Liver Macrophages and Its Soluble Form in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

ABSTRACT To investigate whether therapy with alpha interferon (IFN-α) induces changes in intrahepatic antigen-presenting cells (APCs), we obtained liver biopsy specimens before, during, and after therapy with IFN-α from chronic hepatitis B patients whose viral load had already been reduced by at least 8 weeks of treatment with lamivudine. HLA-DR, CD1a, and CD83 were not modified by the therapy. The intralobular expression of CD68 on Kupffer cells remained stable, denoting no changes in the number of resident macrophages during IFN-α treatment. In contrast, CD14 was weakly expressed in the absence of IFN-α and was significantly up-regulated during therapy. At the same time, the levels of soluble CD14 and interleukin-10 in plasma increased significantly. In vitro, monocytes maintained in the presence of IFN-α differentiated into macrophages or dendritic cells with higher levels of expression of CD14 than that for the control cultures. During therapy with IFN-α, T-cell infiltration in the portal spaces was reduced, mainly due to a significant decrease in the number of CD8+ T cells. These findings show that IFN-α is biologically active on APCs in vivo and in vitro and suggest that this newly described regulatory function, together with the already known inhibitory effects on lymphocytes, may cooperate to reduce inflammation and consequent tissue damage in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.
Changes in Electrical and Physiological Properties of Human Blood During Storage

In this study, the relationship between physiological parameters and electrical impedance changes of human blood and their further clinical implications are investigated. The study is performed on 255 erythrocyte suspension samples derived from 51 male donors. The samples are stored at 4degC and measurements are done on the (0<sup>th</sup>, 10<sup>th</sup>, 21<sup>st</sup>, 35<sup>th</sup> and 42<sup>nd</sup> days of storage. The complex impedance is measured in the frequency range from 100 kHz to 1 MHz. The extracellular resistance R<sub>e</sub> and the effective cell membrane capacitance C<sub>m</sub> increased progressively with storage time while the intracellular resistance ri has decreased. Electrical impedance alterations are explained in terms of the measurements of Na<sup>+</sup>, K<sup>+</sup> and Cl<sup>-</sup> concentrations, pH and ATP. Storage of red blood cells resulted in a rise in the extracellular K<sup>+</sup> and a fall in the extracellular Na<sup>+</sup>, Cl<sup>-</sup>, pH and ATP. Variance analysis (ANOVA) is used to evaluate any variations in blood parameters, in relation to storage time. According to the (SPSS) regression analysis, R<sub>i</sub> and R<sub>e</sub> are highly correlated with Na<sup>+</sup>, K<sup>+ </sup>, Cl<sup>-</sup> and pH and, more significantly with ATP. The Cole-Cole parameters F<sub>c</sub> and alpha showed very little change with storage time and C<sub>m</sub> had weak correlations with blood parameters. Results show that complex impedance measurements may serve as a useful indicator in the quality assessment of blood bank stored blood samples
Estimating Individual Treatment Effect from Educational Studies with Residual Counterfactual Networks

Personalized learning considers that the causal eﬀects of a studied learning intervention may diﬀer for the individual student. Making the inference about causal eﬀects of studies interventions is a central problem. In this paper we propose the Residual Counterfactual Networks (RCN) for answering counterfactual inference questions, such as ”Would this particular student beneﬁt more from the video hint or the text hint when the student cannot solve a problem? ”. The model learns a balancing representation of students by minimizing the distance between the distributions of the con-trol and the treated populations, and then uses a residual block to estimate the individual treatment eﬀect based on the representation of the student. We run experiments on semi-simulated datasets and real-world educational online experiment datasets to evaluate the eﬃcacy of our model. The results show that our model matches or outperforms the state-of-the-art.
The Effectiveness of Breast Health Promotion Counseling on Breast Cancer Screening Behaviors Among Female Patients

Breast cancer is a major health concern and remains the most common malignancy in women worldwide affecting 1.6%, and in Egypt 37.5%. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the breast health promotion counseling on breast cancer screening behavior among female patients. Three hypotheses were addressed: 1) Increased rates in mammography, Clinical Breast Examination, Breast Self Examination, and Breast Self Examination Proficiency. 2) Increased levels of breast health knowledge perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, benefits of BSE and mammography. 3) Decreased levels of perceived barriers to BSE and mammography. Aquasi-experimental design was used. The sample consisted of 84 women who attended the counseling sessions. Data were collected through: 1) A structured interviewing questionnaire for data related to demographic characteristics; 2) preposttest sheet to examine the knowledge related to the problem of the breast cancer; 3) Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS); 4) Breast Self-Examination Proficiency Rating Instrument (BSEPRI). The counseling phase consisted of 10 sessions, given jointly with a booklet for women. Data were collected twice, at the booking visit and at the post counseling. The main results were: Improvement was observed in knowledge, changes in BSE proficiency (skills & lump detection), breast self-examination, clinical breast examination and mammography and health belief model scales in post counseling. More than half of participants between 40-45 years 34 years, 71.4% were married, 23.8%. The study concluded that the education sessions had a positive impact on knowledge and practice regarding to breast cancer. The study recommended the following that further studies may require BSE training sessions with a focus on the most essential component to achieve criterion levels of BSE skills competency. [Fatma A. Ahmed, Heba A. Osman and Gehad M. Abo Elmatti. The Effectiveness of Breast Health Promotion Counseling on Breast Cancer Screening Behaviors Among Female Patients. Life Sci J 2014;11(8):835-845]. (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 125
Determination of Aortic Elastic Modulus by Pulse Wave Velocity and Wall Tracking in a Rat Model of Aortic Stiffness

Several methods have been used to evaluate the elastic modulus of the aortic wall in the rat, but these have never been compared when used simultaneously. We measured thoracoabdominal pulse wave velocity (PWV) and changes in thoracic aorta diameter during the cardiac cycle (with wall echo-tracking) in pentobarbital-anesthetized adult male Wistar rats; half of the group had previously received vitamin D3 plus nicotine (VDN) in order to increase the stiffness of the aortic wall. The Moens-Korteweg elastic modulus (EMK) was calculated from PWV and the ratio of the internal diameter to the medial thickness determined by histomorphometry following in situ pressurized fixation. The incremental elastic modulus (Einc) was calculated from the distensibility coefficient and end-diastolic diameter measured by wall echo-tracking and the medial thickness determined by histomorphometry. Both values were higher in VDN rats than in controls: Einc 8.9 ± 0.5 and 5.7 ± 0.4·106 dyne/cm2, p < 0.05; EMK 7.6 ± 0.5 and 4.1 ± 0.5·106 dyne/cm2, p < 0.05. Einc was greater than EMK and this was partially due to the fact that the in vivo end-diastolic diameter measured by ultrasound was greater than the mean aortic diameter measured ex vivo by histomorphometry. In conclusion, different methods for the measurement of the elastic properties of the aortic wall gave similar results in controls and in a rat model of aortic stiffness.
Young GED[R] Credential Recipients in the 21st Century: A Snapshot from NLSY97.

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED Tests became widely institutionalized through the adult education programs in the United States, the outcomes for GED credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Does earning a GED credential bring positive life changes to the adults who did not complete a high school education? Does obtaining a GED credential help the recipients find better employment opportunities and earn higher wages? Among the studies on labor market outcomes of GED credential recipients, the most influential was the 1993 study by Cameron and Heckman, which was based on the NLSY79 data and argued that GED credential recipients are “nonequivalence of high school equivalents,” and that they are “indistinguishable in many relevant labor market dimensions” from uncredentialed high school dropouts. Now, almost two decades after the Cameron and Heckman study, has anything changed with a new generation of American youth? Based on a new wave of NLSY data (NLSY97), this paper aims to examine how GED credential recipients compare with other young adults who had not completed a high school education and with traditional high school graduates on their labor market performance. The study found that GED credential recipients’ hourly compensation on their most recent job is much higher than that of the high school dropouts and is closer to that of the high school graduates, both of which are in the $14 range. For GED credential recipients and high school graduates at five years or more after obtaining their credential or diploma, the hourly wages are about the same, around $15. In terms of work hours, wage income, family income, and poverty ratio, GED credential recipients seem to fall between high school dropouts and high school graduates. The study also looked into job satisfaction, employer size, fringe benefits, industry, and occupation. The study then uses multiple regressions to assess the impact of educational status on hourly compensation and hours of work for the NLSY97 members who did not pursue postsecondary education. After controlling for individual demographic, ability, work experience, and employer industry, GED credential recipients’ hourly wages on average could be 6.7 to 9.3 percent higher than those of high school dropouts, while the high school graduates’ hourly wages could be 6.2 to 6.7 percent higher than those of GED credential recipients. GED credential recipients’ annual hours could also be 120 hours (approximately 11 percent) longer than those of high school dropouts, while high school graduates’ work hours could be 120 to180 hours (approximately 10 to 15 percent) longer than those of GED credential recipients. Finally, this paper discusses the findings from earlier sections and suggests policy implications and future research studies. Young GED Credential Recipients in the 21st Century: A Snapshot from NLSY97 3
Rapid Diagnosis of Babesia gibsoni by Point‐of‐Need Testing by Insulated Isothermal PCR in Dogs at High Risk of Infection

Background Dogs seized by law enforcement agencies during dogfighting investigations are at increased risk of Babesia gibsoni infection. A rapid and cost‐effective diagnostic test would increase the feasibility of mass screening of dogs for infection and monitoring treatment efficacy in B. gibsoni‐infected dogs. Objective To determine the performance of a point‐of‐need insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR) test for diagnosis of B. gibsoni in dogs rescued in dogfighting investigations. Animals Two hundred and thirty‐three dogs seized in dogfighting investigations. Methods Cross‐sectional study. Whole blood samples were tested for B. gibsoni and Babesia spp. by iiPCR. Results were compared to a reference standard comprised of concordant results from real‐time PCR in a commercial diagnostic laboratory and antibody titers. Results The iiPCR system was quick to learn, portable, and had a short processing time of <2 hours. Sensitivity and specificity of the iiPCR assay for B. gibsoni were 90% (95% confidence interval [CI] 81–95%) and 99% (CI, 95–100%), respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of the iiPCR assay for Babesia spp. were 87% (CI, 78–93%) and 98% (CI, 0.94–99%), respectively. Conclusions and Clinical Importance The iiPCR system produced few false‐positive results, indicating that positive results are likely to represent true infections when used in high‐risk animals. The iiPCR system can fail to identify 10–15% of truly infected dogs. However, the portability, speed, and economy of the iiPCR system compared to testing through a reference laboratory can allow rescue groups to screen and identify infection in more dogs.
Role of inflammation in right ventricular damage and repair following experimental pulmonary embolism in rats

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is associated with poor clinical outcome following pulmonary embolism (PE). Previous studies in our laboratory show that influx of neutrophils contributes to acute RV damage seen in an 18 h rat model of PE. The present study describes the further progression of inflammation over 6 weeks and compares the neutrophil and monocyte responses. The RV outflow tract became white in colour by day 1 with influx of neutrophils (tissue myeloperoxidase activity increased 17‐fold) and mononuclear cells with characteristics of M1 phenotype (high in Ccl20, Cxcl10, CcR2, MHCII, DNA microarray analysis). Matrix metalloproteinase activities were increased and tissue was thinned to produce a translucent appearance in weeks 1 through 6 in 40% of hearts. RV contractile function was significantly reduced at 6 weeks of PE. In this later phase, there was accumulation of myofibroblasts, the presence of mononuclear cells with M2 characteristics (high in scavenger mannose receptors, macrophage galactose lectin 1, PDGFR1, PDGFRβ), enrichment of the subendocardial region of the RV outflow tract with neovesels (α‐smooth muscle immunohistochemistry) and deposition of collagen fibres (picrosirius red staining) beginning scar formation. Thus, while neutrophil response is associated with the early, acute inflammatory events, macrophage cells continue to be present during the proliferative phase and initial deposition of collagen in this model, changing from the M1 to the M2 phenotype. This suggests that the macrophage cell response is biphasic.