The economic geography of football success: empirical evidence from european cities

Introduction. – 1. The geography of successful football teams: an analytical framework – 2. Empirical analysis – 2.1. Data, model estimation and results – 2.2. Cities and teams: some remarks about market size and teams’ performance – 3. Conclusions – 4. Annex

The production process in basketball: Empirical evidence from Spanish league

The main objective of this paper is to provide an empirical assessment of the production process in a basketball team. We estimate a logit model in which the output produced by a team is the game outcome (win or loss) and the inputs are those play characteristics that impact on that outcome. From the results obtained it is clear that, on average, there is a substantial difference between the impact of each play characteristic on a basketball team’s winning probability and that probability varies as the quality/quantity of the inputs used changes, albeit not proportionally.sports economics, team sport, professional basketball, productive process, logit model

The angiopoietin-like protein 4, apolipoprotein C3, and lipoprotein lipase axis is disrupted in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Modulators of triglyceride metabolism include lipoprotein lipase (LPL), angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), and apolipoprotein C-3 (ApoC3). There is evidence on the influence of this triangle of molecules on an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CV) in the general population. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) present changes in lipid profiles and accelerated CV disease. In the present study, we set out to study whether the ANGPTL4, ApoC3, and LPL axis differs in subjects with RA compared to controls. In a further step, we investigated the relationship of this axis with subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with RA. Methods: Cross-sectional study that included 569 individuals, 323 patients with RA and 246 age-matched controls. ANGPTL4, ApoC3 and LPL, and standard lipid profiles were analyzed in patients and controls. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaques were assessed in RA patients. A multivariable analysis was performed to assess whether the ANGPTL4, ApoC3, and LPL axis was altered in RA and to study its relationship with RA dyslipidemia and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. Results: Most lipid profile molecules did not differ between patients and controls. Despite this, and after fully multivariable analysis including CV risk factors, use of statins, and changes in the lipid profile caused by the disease itself, patients with RA showed higher serum levels of ANGPTL4 (beta coef. 295 [95% CI 213-376] ng/ml, p<0.001) and ApoC3 (beta coef. 2.9 [95% CI 1.7-4.0] mg/dl, p<0.001), but lower circulating LPL (beta coef. -174 [95% CI -213 to - 135] ng/ml, p<0.001). ANGPTL4 serum levels were positively and independently associated with a higher cIMT in patients with RA after fully multivariable adjustment. Conclusion: The axis consisting in ANGPTL4, ApoC3, and LPL is disrupted in patients with RA. ANGPTL4 serum levels are positively and independently associated with a higher cIMT in RA patients.Funding: This work was supported by a grant to IFA from the Spanish Ministry of Health, Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016 and by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional - FEDER - (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, PI17/00083)

HDL cholesterol efflux capacity in rheumatoid arthritis patients: contributing factors and relationship with subclinical atherosclerosis

Background: Lipid profiles appear to be altered in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients because of disease activity and inflammation. Cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC), which is the ability of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to accept cholesterol from macrophages, has been linked not only to cardiovascular events in the general population but also to being impaired in patients with RA. The aim of this study was to establish whether CEC is related to subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in patients with RA. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that encompassed 401 individuals, including 178 patients with RA and 223 sex-matched control subjects. CEC, using an in vitro assay, lipoprotein serum concentrations, and standard lipid profile, was assessed in patients and control subjects. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid plaques were assessed in patients with RA. A multivariable analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship of CEC with RA-related data, lipid profile, and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. Results: Mean (SD) CEC was not significantly different between patients with RA (18.9 ± 9.0%) and control subjects (16.9 ± 10.4%) (p = 0.11). Patients with RA with low (? coefficient ?5.2 [?10.0 to 0.3]%, p = 0.039) and moderate disease activity (? coefficient ?4.6 [?8.5 to 0.7]%, p = 0.020) were associated with lower levels of CEC than patients in remission. Although no association with CIMT was found, higher CEC was independently associated with a lower risk for the presence of carotid plaque in patients with RA (odds ratio 0.94 [95% CI 0.89?0.98], p = 0.015). Conclusions: CEC is independently associated with carotid plaque in patients with RA

General tree enumeration.

<p>The tree begins at element 0 and continues enumerating the elements following the red arrows. When a terminal element is reached, the enumeration returns to the immediate previous unfinished branch.</p

Performance of the solvers and processors.

<p>a) The myelinated axon is the ideal scenario to exploit the GPU implementation of <i>Neurite</i>, where the time consumptions is reduced from days to minutes. For the dendritic tree b) and the damaged axon c), the GPU implementation did not show any advantage compared to the CPU implementation.</p

Hodgkin-Huxley parameters.

<p><i>Na</i>_<i>v</i> and <i>K</i>_<i>v</i> parameters. Potential and time units are, respectively, <i>mV</i> and <i>ms</i> in this table. Note that </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><mi>G</mi><mo>¯</mo></p><p><mi>N</mi><mi>a</mi></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> and <p></p><p></p><p></p><p><mi>G</mi><mo>¯</mo></p><mi>K</mi><p></p><p></p><p></p> are the maximal <i>Na</i>_<i>v</i> and <i>K</i>_<i>v</i> conductances, respectively, and are taken from the original HH model [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116532#pone.0116532.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>].<p></p><p>Hodgkin-Huxley parameters.</p

Time consumptions for the myelinated axon.

<p>The total number of elements is 251,894.</p><p>Time consumptions for the myelinated axon.</p

PDE model parameters.

<p><i>d</i> and <i>h</i> are the neurite diameter and membrane thickness respectively; the subscript <i>my</i> indicates that the values are for each one of the <i>n</i>_<i>my</i> myelin layers.</p><p>PDE model parameters.</p

General discretization framework.

<p>Each element <i>i</i> (and its corresponding <i>mm</i>) is related to its <i>pa</i>, <i>rc</i>, and <i>lc</i> in the case that <i>i</i> is at a branching point (if not, <i>lc</i> does not exist).</p