Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Market Impact of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999: Differences Between Life Insurers and Property-Liability Insurers

Recent research has examined the effect of the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, more commonly known as the Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act, on the market value of insurers, commercial banks, securities firms, thrifts, and finance companies. This study differs from previous research in that it examines life insurers and property-liability insurers as separate industries rather than treating them as a single industry. This study also analyzes trading volume in addition to share price reactions. Finally, this study features two variables in a cross-sectional analysis of insurer stock returns not considered in prior research. … Using a generalized least squares portfolio approach and Corrado’s rank statistic, we find significant share price reactions to certain legislative announcements surrounding the passage of the GLB. Trading volume reactions corroborate the significant share price reactions. Our results indicate that life insurers and property-liability insurers reacted differently to enactment of the GLB. Smaller life insurers with high liquidity and high leverage had the most positive (or least negative) share price reactions of all insurers.
Breast cancer chemoprevention Phase IB evaluation of biomarker modulation by arzoxifene, a third generation selective estrogen receptor modulator.

1015 Background: Arzoxifene (LY353381.HCl) is a new selective estrogen receptor modulator, SERM, with strong breast antiestrogen activity and absence of uterine agonist activity that is being explored as a potential breast cancer chemoprevention agent. We performed a multi-institutional Phase IB evaluation of the effects of arzoxifene on serum and tissue biomarkers in women with newly diagnosed DCIS and T1/T2 invasive cancer who received study agent in the interval between core biopsy and definitive re-excision. METHODS Post-menopausal women were randomized (2:1) to 20 mg of arzoxifene daily vs. matched placebo. Women discontinued hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prior to entry on study. Tissue from biopsy and re-excision specimens was evaluated immunohistochemically for proliferation (Ki-67 by MIB-1; PCNA) and other biomarkers potentially related to drug effect. Only subjects with an ER+ and/or PR+ tumor at biopsy, with tumor tissue available from both biopsy and re-excision, were evaluated for biomarker modulation. RESULTS 74 subjects entered the study. For 58 subjects evaluable for tissue biomarker analysis, a change in ER expression (median decrease of 6% positive cells) was observed for subjects receiving arzoxifene, that was statistically significant (p=0.0068) compared to the placebo group (median change = 0%). However, the changes in proliferation indices (median decreases: Ki-67 = 1.5%, PCNA = 3%) were not statistically different from the placebo group (median decreases: Ki-67 = 1.1%, PCNA = 0%). This may be due to the large number (46%) of subjects who discontinued HRT in the peri-biopsy period, resulting in decreases in proliferation independent of an arzoxifene effect. CONCLUSIONS We have demonstrated the feasibility of accrual to a multi-institutional biomarker modulation trial utilizing women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer. Given a favorable side effect profile and the modulations of tissue (ER and proliferation) biomarkers associated with risk of breast cancer development, arzoxifene remains a candidate for continued evaluation as a breast cancer chemoprevention agent. [Table: see text].
Association between Regulated upon Activation, Normal T Cells Expressed and Secreted (RANTES) -28C/G Polymorphism and Susceptibility to HIV-1 Infection: A Meta-Analysis

Background Many studies have investigated the distributions of RANTES genotypes between HIV-1 infected patients and uninfected individuals. However, no definite results have been put forward about whether the RANTES −28C/G polymorphism can affect HIV-1 susceptibility. Methods We performed a meta-analysis of 12 studies including 7473 subjects for whom the RANTES −28C/G polymorphism was genotyped. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were employed to assess the association of the polymorphism with HIV-1 susceptibility. By dividing the controls into healthy controls and HIV-1 exposed but seronegative (HESN) controls, we explored the both allelic and dominant genetic models. Results By using the healthy controls, we found a marginally significant association between the −28C/G polymorphism and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in the allelic model (OR = 0.82, 95%CI = 0.70–0.97). But sensitivity analysis suggested that the association was driven by one study. We further performed stratified analysis according to ethnicity. The −28G allele decreased susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in the allelic model among Asians (OR = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.66–0.94). By using the HESN controls, no association between the polymorphism −28C/G and the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection was revealed in either the allelic model (OR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.60–1.17) or the dominant model (OR = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.54–1.10). Conclusions Our findings suggested that the RANTES −28G allele might play a role in resistance to HIV-1 infection among Asians. Additional well-designed studies were required for the validation of this association.
How the News Media Fail American Voters: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies

1. Campaigns Are Unthinkable, Save in Terms of the News Media2. Media Use in the 1996 Campaign3. Explaining Media Use4. Scratching the Surface: Overall Ratings of Election Coverage5. Tilting Left: Perceptions of Political Bias in Election Coverage6. Evaluations of News Content and News Sources7. The Consequences of Poor Media Performance8. Conclusion
Product and Price Competition in a Two-Dimensional Vertical Differentiation Model

In this paper, the one-dimensional vertical differentiation model Shaked and Sutton [Shaked, A. , J. Sutton. 1982. Relaxing price competition through product differentiation. Rev. Econom. Stud.49 3--13. ], Moorthy [Moorthy, K. S. 1988. Product and price competition in a Duopoly. Marketing Sci.7Spring 141--168. ] is extended to two dimensions and an analysis of product and price competition is presented. A two-stage game theoretic analysis in which two firms compete first on product positions and then on price is conducted. Closed form equilibrium solutions are obtained for each stage in which competitors are unrestricted in their choices of price or product positions. A significant finding of this research is that unlike the one-dimensional vertical differentiation model, firms do not tend towards maximum differentiation, although this solution is possible under certain conditions. When the range of positioning options on each of the dimensions is equal, MaxMin product differentiation occurs. That is, in equilibrium, the two firms tend to choose positions which will represent maximum differentiation on one dimension and minimum differentiation on the other dimension.
Acupuncture in Headache

History Acupuncture as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was first recorded at a time when Europe‘s “Dark Ages“ halted scientific progress. Based on centuries of observation, classification and inductive logic, the Chinese system reached a high state of development. Little interest in it was shown in the west until the 1970s. Even then, medical establishment attitudes relegated it to ”alternative” and “complementary” status, thus isolating it from ongoing developments in biomedicine. However, favorable press reports and public interest generated funding for research, and the therapy began to be taken seriously after it was shown that acupuncture releases endogenous peptides and that there is a scientific basis to its use.
The effects of economy education through MMORPG

The research is a study on the effects of MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) utilized in educational program. We investigated the possibilities of online game as an educational tool, especially in the field of economy education. Students have been taught market, price, profit, scarcity of goods etc., and then they played an online game we provided. Students manufactured cyber goods and also sold or bought various materials to maximize their profits. A experimental group was compared with a control group on measures of economic self-efficacy, motivation for economic learning, and attitude for economic learning, economic self-efficacy and motivation for economic leaning scales consist of 2 factors and attitude for economic leaning consists of 1 factor. Participants were 5th grade elementary school students(experimental group: 154, control group: 158). After the experiment, students' self-efficacy and motivations for economy learning have increased significantly. It has been found that students understand more easily the difficult economic terms such as' inflation', 'price setting', 'scarcity of goods etc. Their motivations for economy learning also increased significantly. This result indicates that online games have the potentiality that can be utilized as an educational tool.
Labor Supply Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit under Labor Supply Restrictions

Previous empirical papers find that single mothers respond to EITC changes through the labor force participation (extensive) margin, not through the hours (intensive) margin. This is not predicted by standard labor supply models. My paper investigates labor supply effects of the EITC with a structural model, augmented with two factors that limit workers’ hours choices: costs of working and different wage offers between full-time and part-time work. I estimate a discrete choice static model with restrictions on hours choices using indirect inference. Through simulations I find that single mothers increase hours worked in response to positive substitution effects of the EITC in the subsidy region, but show little responsiveness to negative effects of the EITC beyond the subsidy region. Without wage differentials between full-time and part-time work, I find that single mothers become more responsive to negative incentives of the EITC on hours worked in the phase-out region. These findings suggest that with higher wage offers in full-time work than in part-time work, workers are likely to retain full-time work, which leads to little responsiveness to negative incentives of the EITC on hours worked. ∗Email: ylee89@wisc.edu. I thank John Karl Scholz, Chris Taber, and Jesse Gregory for their helpful advice and comments. I am also grateful to seminar participants at the UW-Madison Public Economics workshops for helpful comments. All remaining errors are my own.
Lessons learned about ageing and gerontological nursing in South Africa

Background The unprecedented global growth in older adults merits high-quality gerontological nursing care. As gerontological nursing grows in visibility in developed and developing countries, nurses must possess a broader worldview of ageing with knowledge of physiological, psychosocial, and cultural issues. Purpose The purpose of this article is to: (1) highlight lessons learned on differences and similarities in ageing and care of older adults in the United States of America (USA) and South Africa (SA); and (2) provide recommendations on how to advance gerontological nursing education in SA. Methods A two-week international service-learning project was undertaken by visiting SA and learning about their nursing system and care of older adults. Service-learning is an innovative teaching-learning-service method that provided reflective and hands-on experience of gerontological nursing. This article provides a personal reflection of lessons learned about ageing and gerontological nursing during the service-learning project. Findings Care of older adults in SA is in many ways different from and similar to that in the USA. Consequently global nurses should recognise those differences and provide culturally appropriate care. This service-learning experience also demonstrated the need for gerontological nursing education in SA. Based on this, recommendations on how to infuse and advance gerontological nursing education in SA are provided. Conclusion Caring for older adults in a global context requires knowledge and understanding of cultures and their values and practices. With a growing population of diverse older adults, there is a need for incorporation of more gerontological education in nursing curriculums and clinical experiences.
Fiscal Consolidation: Part 5. What Factors Determine the Success of Consolidation Efforts?

The global economic and financial crisis exacerbated the need for fiscal consolidation in many OECD countries. Drawing lessons from past episodes of fiscal consolidation, this study investigates the economic environments, political settings and policy measures conducive to fiscal consolidation and debt stabilisation using probit, duration, truncated regression and bivariate Heckman selection methods. The empirical analysis builds on the earlier literature and extends it to include new aspects that may be of importance for consolidating governments. The empirical analysis confirms previous findings that the presence of fiscal rules – expenditure or budget balance rules – is associated with a greater probability of stabilising debt. Crucial in determining the causal link behind the association, the results also reveal an independent role for such rules over and above the impact of preferences for fiscal prudence. Also, while the analysis confirms that spending-driven adjustments visa- vis revenue-driven ones are more likely to stabilise debt, it also reveals that large consolidations need multiple instruments for consolidation to succeed. Sub-national governments, in particular state-level governments can contribute to the success of central government consolidation, if they co-operate. To ensure that state-level governments do co-operate, having the right regulatory framework with the extension of fiscal rules to sub-central government levels is important.
Working with Young People in the UK: Considerations of Race, Religion and Globalisation

This thesis overall is concerned with three cardinal considerations in relation to working with young people in a modern and fundamentally demographically changed Britain. These themes include considerations of how young people’s racial/ethnic origins and religious identity continue to shape how mainstream services interact with them as well as understanding how an increasingly globalised world changes how young people from Britain see or are seen in a new way at the personal, local, national and global levels. This thesis argues that the majority of these considerations are not currently well understood; hence the need for practitioners in youth and community development to gain cultural competency and global literacy. It has been evidenced that Black young people continue to be disadvantaged in education, employment, criminal justice and a host of other socialisation spaces in comparison to the rest of society. In addition, the furore raised constantly and continuously in relation to the vulnerability of young Muslims to violent extremism deserves more critical attention. Furthermore, globalisation means that the world is much closer economically, politically, environmentally, technologically and culturally and there is increasing consciousness about the repercussions of these connections at the personal, local, national and global levels. However, questions remain as to whether practitioners who work with young people have the required competency to work across these racial, religious and global considerations. This thesis, consisting of the author’s published works and this overview explores these three cardinal considerations of race, religion and globalisation when working with young people in a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-faith modern Britain. The thesis comprises an exploration of working with Black young people within a historical and social policy context, as well as presenting research that explores the views of young Black children and parents. The author’s key contributions consist of explaining how cultural relativism and dogmatism, as extreme positions, are constructed, with potentially fatal consequences. The second dimension of working with young people in Britain explored in this thesis is that arena of Global Youth Work within both a theoretical and practice setting, especially in relation to the training of practitioners. This section also reports on research in relation to how Global Youth Work is conceptualised and operationalised in British Higher Education Institutions delivering youth work training. The last section of the thesis focuses on the contemporary issue of working with young Muslims. Against a backdrop of the government’s policy context of the “Prevent" agenda, perceptions of barriers young Muslims face in accessing mainstream services are explored, as well as the wider implications of fostering a culturally and religiously competent way of working with young Muslims.
Prevalence of Hypertension in a Tribal Land Locked Population at High Altitude

Introduction. Extensive pubmed search reveals paucity of data on prevalence of hypertension in tribal population at high altitude. The data is all the more scarce from our part of India. Studies among tribal populations at high altitudes provide an interesting epidemiological window to study human evolution and adaptation to hypobaric hypoxia. Material and Methods. 401 participants above the age of 20 years were evaluated for blood pressure using a stratified simple random technique among villages located at high altitude. Results. Out of a total of 401 individuals studied 43 (males: 35; females: 8) were identified as hypertensive yielding a crude prevalence of 10.7%. The prevalence was higher in males (35/270; 12.9%) as compared to females (8/131; 6%). Prevalence was the highest in the age group of 30–39 among males (16/35; 45.7%) while it was the highest in the age group of 40–49 among females (7/8; 87%). Conclusions. Prevalence of 10.5% is noteworthy when interpreted in light of prevalence of hypertension in general population especially if hypobaric hypoxia is considered to have a protective effect on blood pressure in high altitude native populations.
Magnetic Stripes of a Transitional Continental Rift in Afar

Magnetic stripes parallel to mid-ocean ridges are one of the most signifi cant consequences of seafl oor spreading, and have played an essential role in the establishment of the plate tectonics theory and the determination of seafl oor spreading rates. Similar magnetic anomaly patterns have not been well documented subaerially in continental rifts transitioning into seafl oor spreading centers. Here, using high-resolution magnetic data that were collected across the Tendaho Graben in the Afar Depression, Ethiopia, we document one of the fi rst examples of subaerial magnetic lineations similar in pattern and amplitude to those that characterize seafl oor spreading centers. The ~50-km-wide graben is the southernmost structural and geomorphological expression of the on-land continuation of the Red Sea propagator, which is taken to represent the Arabian-Nubian plate boundary within Afar. The graben is bounded by northwest-trending border faults, with the footwalls dominated by ca. 1.7 Ma basalts and the downthrown blocks constituting progressively younger basalts toward the center of the graben, reaching ca. 35 ka. The Tendaho magnetic fi eld is characterized by an ~10-km-wide linear negative magnetic anomaly that corresponds to a normal-polarity zone that is fl anked by two parallel, ~20-km-wide linear positive magnetic anomalies of reversed polarity. This work shows that magnetic stripes can be developed in transitional continental rifts before the development of oceanic spreading centers. The common assumption that magnetic stripes can be used to date the onset of seafl oor spreading may need to be re-evaluated in light of the evidence provided here.
Dynamic modulation of illusory and physical target size on separate and coordinated eye and hand movements

In everyday behavior, two of the most common visually guided actions—eye and hand movements—can be performed independently, but are often synergistically coupled. In this study, we examine whether the same visual representation is used for different stages of saccades and pointing, namely movement preparation and execution, and whether this usage is consistent between independent and naturalistic coordinated eye and hand movements. To address these questions, we used the Ponzo illusion to dissociate the perceived and physical sizes of visual targets and measured the effects on movement preparation and execution for independent and coordinated saccades and pointing. During independent movements, we demonstrated that both physically and perceptually larger targets produced faster preparation for both effectors. Furthermore, participants who showed a greater influence of the illusion on saccade preparation also showed a greater influence on pointing preparation, suggesting that a shared mechanism involved in preparation across effectors is influenced by illusions. However, only physical but not perceptual target sizes influenced saccade and pointing execution. When pointing was coordinated with saccades, we observed different dynamics: pointing no longer showed modulation from illusory size, while saccades showed illusion modulation for both preparation and execution. Interestingly, in independent and coordinated movements, the illusion modulated saccade preparation more than pointing preparation, with this effect more pronounced during coordination. These results suggest a shared mechanism, dominated by the eyes, may underlie visually guided action preparation across effectors. Furthermore, the influence of illusions on action may operate within such a mechanism, leading to dynamic interactions between action modalities based on task demands.
Suppression of Lymphoma and Epithelial Malignancies Effected by Interferon γ

The immunosurveillance of transformed cells by the immune system remains one of the most controversial and poorly understood areas of immunity. Gene-targeted mice have greatly aided our understanding of the key effector molecules in tumor immunity. Herein, we describe spontaneous tumor development in gene-targeted mice lacking interferon (IFN)-γ and/or perforin (pfp), or the immunoregulatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-12, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Both IFN-γ and pfp were critical for suppression of lymphomagenesis, however the level of protection afforded by IFN-γ was strain specific. Lymphomas arising in IFN-γ-deficient mice were very nonimmunogenic compared with those derived from pfp-deficient mice, suggesting a comparatively weaker immunoselection pressure by IFN-γ. Single loss of IL-12, IL-18, or TNF was not sufficient for spontaneous tumor development. A significant incidence of late onset adenocarcinoma observed in both IFN-γ– and pfp-deficient mice indicated that some epithelial tissues were also subject to immunosurveillance.