Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiff Economics Working Papers

This study examines the productivity growth of the nationwide banks of China over the ten years to 2006. Using a bootstrap method for the Malmquist index estimates of productivity growth are constructed with appropriate confidence intervals. The paper adjusts for the quality of the output by accounting for the non-performing loans on the balance sheets and test for the robustness of the results by examining alternative sets of outputs. The productivity growth of the state-owned banks is compared with the Joint-stock banks and it determinants evaluated. The paper finds that average productivity of the Chinese banks improved modestly over this period. Adjusting for the quality of loans, by treating NPLs as an undesirable output, the average productivity growth of the state-owned banks was zero or negative while productivity of the Joint-Stock banks was markedly higher.
Effect of interleukin-6 receptor blockade on surrogates of vascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis: MEASURE, a randomised, placebo-controlled study

Objectives The interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) blocker tocilizumab (TCZ) reduces inflammatory disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but elevates lipid concentrations in some patients. We aimed to characterise the impact of IL-6R inhibition on established and novel risk factors in active RA. Methods Randomised, multicentre, two-part, phase III trial (24-week double-blind, 80-week open-label), MEASURE, evaluated lipid and lipoprotein levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particle composition, markers of coagulation, thrombosis and vascular function by pulse wave velocity (PWV) in 132 patients with RA who received TCZ or placebo. Results Median total-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride levels increased in TCZ versus placebo recipients by week 12 (12.6% vs 1.7%, 28.1% vs 2.2%, 10.6% vs −1.9%, respectively; all p<0.01). There were no significant differences in mean small LDL, mean oxidised LDL or total HDL-C concentrations. However, HDL-associated serum amyloid A content decreased in TCZ recipients. TCZ also induced reductions (>30%) in secretory phospholipase A2-IIA, lipoprotein(a), fibrinogen and D-dimers and elevation of paraoxonase (all p<0.0001 vs placebo). The ApoB/ApoA1 ratio remained stable over time in both groups. PWV decreases were greater with placebo than TCZ at 12 weeks (adjusted mean difference 0.79 m/s (95% CI 0.22 to 1.35; p=0.0067)). Conclusions These data provide the first detailed evidence for the modulation of lipoprotein particles and other surrogates of vascular risk with IL-6R inhibition. When compared with placebo, TCZ induced elevations in LDL-C but altered HDL particles towards an anti-inflammatory composition and favourably modified most, but not all, measured vascular risk surrogates. The net effect of such changes for cardiovascular risk requires determination.
Lipids in Health and Disease

Objective: The objective of this survey was to study the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Methods: The study population consisted of 961 consecutive patients (711 males and 250 females) who underwent coronary angiography for suspected or known coronary atherosclerosis. The patients' body mass index, blood pressure, the blood lipid, blood glucose, leukocyte count (109/L), neutrophil count (109/L), and Helicobacter pylori-specific IgG antibodies were performed. Coronary angiograms were scored according to vessel score and Gensini's score. Results: A significant association between H. pylori infection and coronary atherosclerosis as well as its severity was not find in this cross section study (p = 0.858). And, the level distribution of vessel score (p = 0.906) and Gensini's score (p = 0.905) were similar in the seropositivity group and seronegativity group of Helicobacter pylori infection. However, the level of fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/L) (p = 0.013) was significantly lower in the seropositivity group than that in the seronegativity group of Helicobacter pylori infection. Conclusions: In conclusion, in the present study, a significantly correlation between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and angiographically evaluated severity of atherosclerosis was not find. And, the present study showed a good correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and decreased HDL cholesterol. However, the exact mechanisms need further study. Introduction Cardiovascular diseases, including coronary atherosclerosis remain the leading cause of deaths in the developed and developing countries despite of declining mortality. Understanding the etiology and pathophysiology of coronary atherosclerosis is essential in treating the disease and Published: 23 December 2009 Lipids in Health and Disease 2009, 8:59 doi:10.1186/1476-511X-8-59 Received: 1 November 2009 Accepted: 23 December 2009 This article is available from: http://www.lipidworld. com/content/8/1/59 © 2009 Jia et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The HIV-1 protease as a therapeutic target for AIDS.

HIV produces a small , dimeric aspartyl protease which specifically cleaves the polyprotein precursors encoding the structural proteins and enzymes of the virus. This proteolytic activity is absolutely required for the production of mature, infectious virions and is therefore an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. This review summarizes the strategies and multidisciplinary efforts that have been applied to date to the identification of specific inhibitors of this critical viral enzyme. These inhibitors include rationally designed peptide substrate analogs, compounds conceived from tertiary structure information on the enzyme and natural products. Future directions in the discovery and development of HIV-1 protease inhibitors are also discussed.
Tuberculosis Trends in Saudis and Non-Saudis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – A 10 Year Retrospective Study (2000–2009)

Background Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which has a very large labour force from high TB endemic countries. Understanding the epidemiological and clinical features of the TB problem, and the TB burden in the immigrant workforce, is necessary for improved planning and implementation of TB services and prevention measures. Methods A 10 year retrospective study of all TB cases reported in KSA covering the period 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2009. Data was obtained from TB reporting forms returned to the Ministry of Health. Data were then organised, tabulated and analysed for annual incidence rates by province, nationality, country of origin and gender. Results There was an annual increase in the number of TB cases registered from 3,284 in 2000 to 3,964 in 2009. Non-Saudis had nearly twice the TB incidence rate compared to Saudis (P = <0.05). All but four provinces (Najran, Riyadh, Makkah, Tabuk) showed decreasing TB incidence rates. The highest rates were seen in the 65+ age group. In the 15–24 year age group the incidence rate increased from 15.7/100,000 in 2000 to 20.9/100,00 in 2009 (P = <0.05). The incidence of TB in Saudi males was higher than Saudi females. Conversely, for non-Saudis the TB incidence rates were significantly higher in females compared to males. Conclusions Despite significant investments in TB control over 15 years, TB remains an important public health problem in the KSA affecting all age groups, and Saudis and non-Saudis alike. Identification of the major risk factors associated with the persistently high TB rates in workers migrating to KSA is required. Further studies are warranted to delineate whether such patients re-activate latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection or acquire new M.tb infection after arrival in KSA. Appropriate interventions are required to reduce TB incidence rates as have been implemented by other countries.
Towards a General Field model and its order in GIS

Geospatial data modelling is dominated by the distinction between continuous‐field and discrete‐object conceptualizations. However, the boundary between them is not always clear, and the field view is more fundamental in some respects than the object view. By viewing a set of objects as an object field and unifying it with conventional field models, a new concept, the General Field (G‐Field) model, is proposed. In this paper, the properties of G‐Field models, including domain, range, and categorization, are discussed. As a summary, a descriptive framework for G‐Field models is proposed. Then, some common geospatial operations in geographic information systems are reconsidered from the G‐Field perspective. The geospatial operations are classified into order‐increasing operations and non‐order‐increasing operations, depending on changes induced in the G‐Field's order. Generally, the order can be viewed as an indicator of the level of information extraction of geospatial data. It is thus possible to integrate the concept of order with a geo‐workflow management system to support geographic semantics.
On building fast kd-Trees for Ray Tracing, and on doing that in O(N log N)

Though a large variety of efficiency structures for ray tracing exist, kd-trees today seem to slowly become the method of choice. In particular, kd-trees built with cost estimation functions such as a surface area heuristic (SAH) seem to be important for reaching high performance. Unfortunately, most algorithms for building such trees have a time complexity of O(N log2 N), or even O(N2). In this paper, we analyze the state of the art in building good kd-trees for ray tracing, and eventually propose an algorithm that builds SAH kd-trees in O(N log N), the theoretical lower bound
Retinal Arteriolar Tortuosity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Multi-Ethnic Population Study of 10-Year-Old Children; the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE)

Objective—To examine the association between cardiovascular risk factors and retinal arteriolar tortuosity in a multi-ethnic child population. Methods and Results—Cross sectional study of 986 UK primary school children of South Asian, black African Caribbean, and white European origin aged 10 to 11 years. Anthropometric measurements and retinal imaging were carried out and a fasting blood sample collected. Digital images of retinal arterioles were analyzed using a validated semiautomated measure of tortuosity. Associations between tortuosity and cardiometabolic risk factors were analyzed using multi-level linear regression, adjusted for gender, age, ethnicity, arteriole branch status, month, and school. Levels of arteriolar tortuosity were similar in boys and girls and in different ethnic groups. Retinal arteriolar tortuosity was positively associated with levels of triglyceride, total and LDL cholesterol, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. One standard deviation increases in these risk factors were associated with 3.7% (95% CI: 1.2%, 6.4%), 3.3% (0.9%, 5.8%), 3.1% (0.6%, 5.6%), 2.0% (−0.3%, 4.2%), and 2.3% (0.1%, 4.6%) increases in tortuosity, respectively. Adiposity, insulin resistance, and blood glucose showed no associations with tortuosity. Conclusion—Established cardiovascular risk factors, strongly linked to coronary heart disease in adulthood, may influence retinal arteriolar tortuosity at the end of the first decade of life.
Sol–Gel Derived Nanocomposites for Optical Applications

This paper provides a selective description of the development of nanostructured materials and the fabrication of the devices for optical applications. Examples are interference coatings, refractive and diffractive lenses, and macro‐ and micro‐GRIN (graded refractive index) optical elements. Hybrid materials containing nanoparticles are of particular interest for the production of optical elements because, by exploiting the intrinsic solid state properties of the nanoparticles, nanocomposites can be tailored to exhibit the desired properties. A particular advantage of wet chemical processing lies in its great flexibility for depositing functional coatings.
Synthesis and Characterization of Yttrium/Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles

The aim of this study was to synthesize yttrium/hydroxyapatite(Y/HA) nanoparticles and submit to a structural, chemical and biological characterization. The microstructure, shape and size, concentration of yttrium released in water were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The biological actions were evaluated by the cell cultivation method and oral bacterial colony counting method. The results showed that yttrium can be incorporated into the hydroxyapatite structure. Sizes of the nanocrystals were less than 100nm. The shape was needle-like. The human periodontal fibroblast growth was accelerated and oral bacterial growth was lightly restricted. The data indicate that the hydrothermally synthetized approach can be successfully used to prepare yttrium/hydroxyapatite nanocrystals with crystallinity, crystal dimensions, structure and stability close to those characteristic of biological apatite and with better biological activity, bacteriostasis.
A Procedure for Mediation of Queries to Sources in Disparate Contexts

This paper discusses the algorithm we are using for the mediation of queries to disparate information sources in a Context Interchange system, where information sources may have di(cid:11)erent interpretations arising from their respective context. Queries are assumed to be formulated without regard for semantic heterogeneity, and are rewritten to corresponding mediated queries by taking into account the semantics of data codi(cid:12)ed in axioms associated with sources and receivers (the corresponding context theories). Our approach draws upon recent advances in abductive logic programming and presents an integration of techniques for query rewriting and semantic query optimization. We also demonstrate how this can be e(cid:14)ciently implemented using the constraint logic programming system ECLiPSe.
GEDA-C : Gene Expression Data Analysis-Clustering based-on seed method

With the advances in genomics and microarray technologies and large amounts of microarray data produced, clustering has been applied to identifying groups of genes. For example, Eisen et al. applied a hierarchical clustering algorithm to identify groups of co-regulated yeast genes [1]. Tamayo et al. used SOM (self-organizing maps) to identify clusters of genes with similar expression patterns [2]. Tavazoie et al. applied K-means method to identify clusters of genes [3]. However, major problem of conventional clustering methods is that the clustering results are dependent on which clustering method is used. Users could be confused by obtaining various results according to different clustering methods.
Cumulative Burden of Glucocorticoid-related Adverse Events in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Findings from a 12-year Longitudinal Study

Objective. The aim of this population-based study is to examine the adverse events (AE) associated with longitudinal systemic glucocorticoid (GC) use among an ethnic Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort. Methods. Our study subjects were patients with newly diagnosed SLE aged 18 and older who received at least 1 prescription of systemic GC between 2001 and 2012 from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). The earliest prescription date of systemic GC for each subject was defined as the index date. For each subject, we calculated the average prednisolone-equivalent dose and the medication possession ratio (MPR) of GC use every 90 days for each patient after the index date. Patients with a diagnosis of AE (defined by the International Classification of Diseases-9-Clinical Modification diagnosis code) during the followup were also identified from the NHIRD. Generalized estimating equations adjusted for propensity score were applied to examine the association between longitudinal GC use and risks of prespecified AE (musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, ophthalmologic, infectious, cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, metabolic, and dermatologic diseases). Results. We identified 11,288 patients with SLE (mean followup: 6.28 yrs). Higher doses and higher MPR of GC were associated with increased risk of osteonecrosis [adjusted OR (aOR) 2.87–9.09]. Similar results were found regarding the risk of osteoporosis (aOR 1.71–3.67), bacterial infection (aOR 2.12–3.89), Cushingoid syndrome (aOR 6.51–62.03), and sleep disorder (aOR 1.42–3.59). Conclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the dose and intensity of longitudinal use of GC were both associated with risk of AE among a nationwide Asian SLE cohort.
Absolute quality evaluation of protein model structures using statistical potentials with respect to the native and reference states

In protein structure prediction, it is crucial to evaluate the degree of native‐likeness of given model structures. Statistical potentials extracted from protein structure data sets are widely used for such quality assessment problems, but they are only applicable for comparing different models of the same protein. Although various other methods, such as machine learning approaches, were developed to predict the absolute similarity of model structures to the native ones, they required a set of decoy structures in addition to the model structures. In this paper, we tried to reformulate the statistical potentials as absolute quality scores, without using the information from decoy structures. For this purpose, we regarded the native state and the reference state, which are necessary components of statistical potentials, as the good and bad standard states, respectively, and first showed that the statistical potentials can be regarded as the state functions, which relate a model structure to the native and reference states. Then, we proposed a standardized measure of protein structure, called native‐likeness, by interpolating the score of a model structure between the native and reference state scores defined for each protein. The native‐likeness correlated with the similarity to the native structures and discriminated the native structures from the models, with better accuracy than the raw score. Our results show that statistical potentials can quantify the native‐like properties of protein structures, if they fully utilize the statistical information obtained from the data set. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Using NoSQL databases for streaming network analysis

The high-volume, low-latency world of network traffic presents significant obstacles for complex analysis techniques. The unique challenge of adapting powerful but high-latency models to realtime network streams is the basis of our cyber security project. In this paper we discuss our use of NoSQL databases in a framework that enables the application of computationally expensive models against a real-time network data stream. We describe how this approach transforms the highly constrained (and sometimes arcane) world of real-time network analysis into a more developer friendly model that relaxes many of the traditional constraints associated with streaming data. Our primary use of the system is for conducting streaming text analysis and classification activities on a network link receiving ~200,000 emails per day.
Carrion Therapy Techniques The Treatment of Separation Anxiety Disorder Employing Attachment Theory and Cognitive Behavior

This study explored a potentially important intersection between behavior therapy and attachment theory in the treatment of separation anxiety disorder (SAD). Specifically, in this article, the authors describe an intervention that incorporated attachment theory in the framework of an exposure-based cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for severe separation anxiety experienced by a 9-year-old boy. Assessment measures indicated that treatment gains were evident at the end of 12 sessions and that the child showed continued improvement at a 6-month follow-up session. Overall, it seemed that an attachment perspective was helpful in framing an understanding of SAD for the parent and fostering compliance with the CBT regimen. Utilization of the theory also helped the parent and therapist in determining reinforcers for the child’s behavior. More detailed and controlled investigations of the effect and relative effect of the attachment focus during CBT for SAD are warranted.
Joint effect of insulin signaling genes on insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis.

CONTEXT Reduced insulin signaling in insulin secreting β-cells causes defective insulin secretion and hyperglycemia in mice. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether functional polymorphisms affecting insulin signaling (ie, ENPP1 K121Q, rs1044498; IRS1 G972R, rs1801278; and TRIB3 Q84R, rs2295490) exert a joint effect on insulin secretion and abnormal glucose homeostasis (AGH). DESIGN Insulin secretion was evaluated by 1) the disposition index (DI) from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in 829 individuals; 2) insulin secretion stimulation index (SI) in islets from nondiabetic donors after glucose (n = 92) or glibenclamide (n = 89) stimulation. AGH (including impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes; T2D) was evaluated in case-control studies from the GENetics of Type 2 Diabetes in Italy and the United States (GENIUS T2D) Consortium (n = 6607). RESULTS Genotype risk score, obtained by totaling individual weighted risk allele effects, was associated with the following: 1) DI (P = .005); 2) glucose and glibenclamide SI (P = .046 and P = .009); or 3) AGH (odds ratio 1.08, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.13; P = .001). We observed an inverse relationship between genetic effect and age at AGH onset, as indicated by a linear correlation between AGH-genotype risk score odds ratios and age-at-diagnosis cutoffs (R(2) = 0.80, P < . 001). CONCLUSIONS Functional polymorphisms affecting insulin signaling exert a joint effect on both in vivo and in vitro insulin secretion as well as on early-onset AGH. Our data provide further evidence that abnormal insulin signaling reduces β-cell function and impairs glucose homeostasis.
Visual analytics of brain effective connectivity using convergent cross mapping

To elucidate the dynamics of information processing in the brain, it is necessary to identify the direction of neural information transmission in the neuronal network and clarify the effects (i.e., the causal relationship) of neuronal activity in one area on neuronal activity in another area. Convergent cross mapping (CCM) has been employed in the neuroscience field to examine the effective connectivity of brain functions. CCM can detect causality from time series data created from deterministic and nonlinear systems. Because CCM includes complicated processes such as the determination of advance parameters, the confirmation of nonlinearity, and the interpretation of results, which results in a lowering of the usability of CCM, there is a strong need for an effective visual interface. In this paper, we propose a visual analytic system that increases the usability of CCM and contributes to new discoveries in effective connectivity. The usability was evaluated using a domain expert questionnaire. It was confirmed that the usability was improved by comparing the proposed system to the original character user interface from the viewpoint of the results and process comprehensibility. In addition, with the proposed system, new findings in human brain connectivity have been obtained from actual magnetoencephalography data during visual cognitive task and resting-state task.