Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sensory and Motor Neuron-derived Factor. A NOVEL HEREGULIN VARIANT HIGHLY EXPRESSED IN SENSORY AND MOTOR NEURONS (*)

The heregulin family of polypeptides arise as splice variants from a single gene and share a conserved epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain thought to be the major determinant of their biological activities. We report here the cloning of a novel member of this family, termed sensory and motor neuron-derived factor or SMDF, which is highly expressed in sensory and motor neurons in human and rodent species. It contains a C-terminal β-type EGF-like domain and an unique N-terminal sequence which lacks an Ig-like domain and is distinct from all known heregulin variants. Mammalian cell-expressed SMDF activates tyrosine phosphorylation of a 185-kDa protein in cell lines expressing p185, indicating that it is biologically active. Analyses of expression patterns suggest that, unlike other heregulin variants, SMDF is expressed mainly in the nervous system. In situ hybridization signals with the unique SMDF sequence probe and with a probe to the conserved EGF-like domain are comparable, suggesting that SMDF is the predominant isoform expressed in sensory and motor neurons. Expression of SMDF is maintained in both adult motor neurons and dorsal root ganglion neurons. These findings suggest that SMDF may mediate biological responses such as Schwann cell proliferation and acetylcholine receptor induction in the peripheral nervous system.
Analysis of the determinants of sports participation in Spain and England

This article investigates the role of sociodemographic characteristics, educational and economic variables on sports participation in a comparative way in two European countries: Spain and England. Adopting a broad concept of sport, as in the common European approach, we analyse the determinants of sports participation in 40 different professional and nonprofessional sports and recreational activities in both countries. The research involves a comparative analysis between the data of England and Spain based on two logistic regressions. The regression equation of every country tests the effect of 17 binary explanatory variables on a dependent binary variable for participation. Higher education level, professional occupation, younger age and being male are all factors associated with more sports participation. Although there is no difference in the direction of the factor effects on participation between England and Spain, there is considerable variation in their relative strength, which has sport policy implications in the two nations.
What Do Resident Physicians Know about Nutrition? An Evaluation of Attitudes, Self-Perceived Proficiency and Knowledge

Objective: Despite the increased emphasis on obesity and diet-related diseases, nutrition education remains lacking in many internal medicine training programs. We evaluated the attitudes, self-perceived proficiency, and knowledge related to clinical nutrition among a cohort of internal medicine interns. Methods: Nutrition attitudes and self-perceived proficiency were measured using previously validated questionnaires. Knowledge was assessed with a multiple-choice quiz. Subjects were asked whether they had prior nutrition training. Results: Of the 114 participants, 61 (54%) completed the survey. Although 77% agreed that nutrition assessment should be included in routine primary care visits, and 94% agreed that it was their obligation to discuss nutrition with patients, only 14% felt physicians were adequately trained to provide nutrition counseling. There was no correlation among attitudes, self-perceived proficiency, or knowledge. Interns previously exposed to nutrition education reported more negative attitudes toward physician self-efficacy (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Internal medicine interns’ perceive nutrition counseling as a priority, but lack the confidence and knowledge to effectively provide adequate nutrition education.
Profitability and risk of organic production systems in the northern Great Plains

Abstract Organic crop production systems are increasingly being adopted by producers in the northern Great Plains. This study evaluated the expected net returns and risk of organic crop rotations, compared to conventional rotations. Field plot data of organic and conventional crop rotations were used to determine the net returns of the systems, using four different levels of premiums for organic produce. The risk of returns was evaluated using estimated cumulative density functions and stochastic dominance. The most profitable organic rotation required high price premiums to dominate the most profitable conventional rotation. However, the most profitable organic rotation dominated some conventional rotations that are commonly used in the northern Great Plains. The organic rotations had slightly higher risk, but the relative risk of rotations had little impact on the optimal rotation.
Ratio of 8-hydroxyguanine in intact DNA to free 8-hydroxyguanine is increased in Alzheimer disease ventricular cerebrospinal fluid.

BACKGROUND Markers of oxidative stress are increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), although none of those reported are appropriate diagnostic markers because of the overlap between patients with AD and control subjects. OBJECTIVE To determine the ratio of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) levels in intact DNA to free 8-OHG in the ventricular CSF of patients with AD and age-matched control subjects. The most prominent marker of DNA oxidation is 8-OHG. METHODS Free 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was isolated from ventricular CSF taken at autopsy from 18 subjects with AD and 7 control subjects using solid-phase extraction columns. Levels were measured as the hydrolysis product, 8-OHG, using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with selective ion monitoring. Intact DNA was isolated from the same CSF and the levels of 8-OHG were determined in the intact structures. Stable-labeled 8-OHG was used for quantification. RESULTS A statistically significant (P<.05) 108-fold increase in the ratio of 8-OHG in intact DNA to free 8-OHG was observed in patients with AD. Analysis of the data distribution indicated that the lowest AD ratio was 3.5 times higher than the highest control ratio; there was no overlap of the 2 populations. CONCLUSION Although the data for each individual measurement demonstrates overlap between patients with AD and control subjects, the ratio of 8-OHG intact in DNA to free 8-OHG demonstrates a delineation between patients with AD and control 8-OHG subjects and may be useful as a marker of disease progression or the efficacy of therapeutic antioxidant intervention.
Robust controllers for space station momentum management

The design of controllers for space station attitude control and momentum management is described. Fundamental control performance tradeoffs between stabilization, attitude regulation, and momentum magnitudes are explored using H-infinity optimization. The resulting controllers stabilize the unstable gravity gradient torques, keep attitudes and momentums due to aero disturbance torques small, and are robust to uncertainties in the moments of inertia of the space station. Structured singular values of the closed-loop system are computed to verify the robustness of the controllers. Simplified controllers that achieve near-optimal performance with good robustness properties and with significantly reduced complexity are also given. <<ETX>>
How Ukraine became a market economy and democracy

One of Europe's old nations steeped in history, Ukraine is today an undisputed independent state. It is a democracy and has transformed into a market economy with predominant private ownership. Ukraine's postcommunist transition has been one of the most protracted and socially costly, but it has taken the country to a desirable destination. * Aslund's vivid account of Ukraine's journey begins with a brief background, where he discusses the implications of Ukraine's history, the awakening of society because of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, the early democratization, and the impact of the ill-fated Soviet economic reforms. He then turns to the reign of President Leonid Kravchuk from 1991 to 1994, the only salient achievement of which was nation-building, while the economy collapsed in the midst of hyperinflation. The first two years of Leonid Kuchma's presidency, from 1994 to 1996, were characterized by substantial achievements, notably financial stabilization and mass privatization. The period 1996-99 was a miserable period of policy stagnation, rent seeking, and continued economic decline. In 2000 hope returned to Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko became prime minister and launched vigorous reforms to cleanse the economy from corruption, and economic growth returned. The ensuing period, 2001-04, amounted to a competitive oligarchy. It was quite pluralist, although repression increased. Economic growth was high. * The year 2004 witnessed the most joyful period in Ukraine, the Orange Revolution, which represented Ukraine's democratic breakthrough, with Yushchenko as its hero. The postrevolution period, however, has been characterized by great domestic political instability; a renewed, explicit Russian threat to Ukraine's sovereignty; and a severe financial crisis. The answers to these challenges lie in how soon the European Union fully recognizes Ukraine's long-expressed identity as a European state, how swiftly Ukraine improves its malfunctioning constitutional order, and how promptly it addresses corruption.
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives In Brazil

This is a product of a research project on Distortions to Agricultural Incentives, under the leadership of Kym Anderson of the World Bank’s Development Research Group. The authors are grateful for helpful comments from workshop participants and the Washington-based part of the team, especially Ernesto Valenzuela, and for funding from World Bank Trust Funds provided by the governments of Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands (BNPP) and the United Kingdom (DfID).
Teacher Effects on Academic and Social Outcomes in Elementary School

Numerous studies conclude that teacher effects on academic achievement are substantial in size. Education is about more than academic achievement, and we know very little about teachers' effectiveness in promoting students' social development. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -Kindergarten Cohort (ECLSK), we estimate teacher effects on social as well as academic outcomes. We find that teacher effects on social development are sizeable, and are approximately twice as large as teacher effects on academic development. We further determine that teachers who produce better than average academic results are not the same teachers who produce better than average social results. However, we find that observable characteristics of teachers and the instructional approaches utilized in their classrooms are weak predictors of teacher effects. Finally, we show that the development of social skills has a positive effect on the growth of academic skills, and therefore teachers who are good at teaching social skills provide an additional indirect boost to academic skills in addition to their direct teaching of academic skills. We conclude that current policy debates over what it means to be a "highly qualified teacher" should also take social development into
Land Ownership Security and Farm Investment in Thailand

The article discusses the impact of land ownership security on farm investment and land improvements. Ownership security enhances capital formation by providing better incentives and improved access to credit. Data from three provinces in Thailand are used to support theoretical propositions and estimate the impact of ownership security. Econometric analysis shows that in two provinces, ownership security induces significantly higher capital/land ratios. In a third province, with a well-developed, informal credit market, ownership security is less important and the impact on capital formation is less significant. Land-improving investments are shown to be significantly affected by ownership security.
Foreign Capital and Domestic Savings: A Test of Haavelmo's Hypothesis with Cross-Country Data: A Comment

of reserves should grow at approximately the same rate as global wealth. A lower growth rate of reserves would impose undesirable policy constraints, while a higher growth rate would imply an inflationary bias to the world economy. Judging from the data used in this study, rates of increase of national wealth varied approximately 2.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent, with a cluster around the 5 per cent figure. If the behavior of the governmental authorities follows the pattern found in this study, we might assume that they will want to increase their stock of international reserves by approximately 5 per cent annually. Table 2 pre-
Assessing acute and chronic copper risks to freshwater aquatic life using species sensitivity distributions for different taxonomic groups

Using copper as an example, we present a method for assessing chemical risks to an aquatic community using species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for different taxonomic groups. This method fits probability models to chemical exposure and effects data to estimate the percentage of aquatic species potentially at risk and expands on existing probabilistic risk assessment methodologies. Due to a paucity of chronic toxicity data for many chemicals, this methodology typically uses an acute–chronic ratio (ACR) to estimate the chronic effects distribution from the acute effects distribution. We expanded on existing methods in two ways. First, copper SSDs were developed for different organism groups (e.g., insects, fish) that share similar sensitivities or ecological functions. Integration of exposure and effects distributions provides an estimate of which organism groups may be at risk. These results were then compared with a site‐specific food web, allowing an estimation of whether key food web components are potentially at risk and whether the overall aquatic community may be at risk from the perspective of ecosystem function. Second, chronic SSDs were estimated using the relationship between copper ACRs and acute toxicity (i.e., the less acutely sensitive a species, the larger the ACR). This correction in the ACR removes concerns previously identified with use of the ACR and allows evaluation of a significantly expanded chronic data set with the same approach as that for assessing acute risks.
Firm innovation persistence: a fresh look at the frameworks of analysis

This paper introduces the special issue on innovation persistence. It delineates three complementary theoretical frameworks assessing drivers and implications of innovation persistence: ‘knowledge accumulation’ approach, the ‘success-breeds-success’ hypothesis and the concept of sunk costs in R&D activities. It emphasizes how path dependence could be related to innovation persistence. It provides an extensive overview of the main empirical findings of recent papers and suggests a new research agenda about firms’ dynamic capabilities and innovation persistence. Finally it highlights a set of issues that deserve further investigation in the future. The contributions to this issue are set out as well.
Neuropsychological correlates of hippocampal atrophy in memory testing in nondemented older adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Cognitive deficits in older adults attributable to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology are featured early on by hippocampal impairment. Among tests used to evaluate memory, verbal memory tests with controlled encoding and cued recall are believed to be specific for hippocampal impairment. The objective of this study was to assess the relation between left and right hippocampal volumes and several frequently used memory tests. METHODS Fifty six nondemented older adults (30 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and 26 cognitively healthy older adults) underwent neuropsychological testing including: (1) The Enhanced Cued Recall test (ECR), a memory test with controlled encoding and recall; (2) the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), a verbal memory test without controlled encoding and with delayed recall; and (3) The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (ROCF), a visuospatial memory test-recall condition. 1.5T brain MRI scans were used to measure estimated total intracranial volume (eTIV) along with hippocampal right and left volumes, which were measured with quantitative volumetry using FreeSurfer package (version 4.4.0). Spearman partial correlation controlled for age was used to correct for non-normal score distribution and effect of age. RESULTS We found moderate correlations of hippocampal volumes with AVLT 1-5 scores, AVLT delayed recall, ECR free and total recall, and ROCF reproduction. Total recall in ECR using cued recall was not superior to any of the free recall tests. No correlation in any memory test was achieved with eTIV. CONCLUSION Verbal memory tests, either with controlled encoding and cued delayed recall (ECR), or without it (AVLT), as well as nonverbal memory test with delayed recall (ROCF), equally reflect hippocampal atrophy in nondemented older adults.
Vitamin D deficiency and acute vaso‐occlusive complications in children with sickle cell disease

Vitamin D is increasingly recognized for its roles in non‐skeletal disorders. Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency but data are limited with respect to possible associations between low vitamin D and acute vaso‐occlusive complications. We examined whether vitamin D deficiency is associated with acute pain and acute chest syndrome (ACS) in children with SCD.
Meta-analysis of comparison between minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy and conventional thyroidectomy.

OBJECTIVE Comparing the minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) with conventional thyroidectomy in safety and clinical application. STUDY DESIGN A systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Randomized controlled trials comparing the MIVAT with conventional thyroidectomy were ascertained by methodical search using Medline, Embase, Pubmed, and The Cochrane Library. The trials data were extracted and statistical analyzed using STATA 11.0. RESULTS Nine trials were identified. Operative time was significantly less with conventional thyroidectomy than with MIVAT, while MIVAT was associated with less pain at 24 hours postoperatively. MIVAT was associated with less scarring and greater cosmetic result. There were no statistically significant differences for the presence of transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and the presence of transient hypoparathyroidism. CONCLUSIONS MIVAT is a feasible, practical, and safe procedure with cosmetic benefit. It is a promising new technique for modern patients, with benefits over the established surgery.
Fiat: Open Innovation in a Downturn (1993–2003)

One of the key elements of Fiat9s recent resurgence is the superiority of its clean, fuel-efficient engine technologies that were mostly developed during the 1990s by Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF), the Fiat Group company in charge of R&D and technology development. In the early 1990s, when the Italian carmaker was going through troubling times (along with many other players in the automotive industry), CEO Gian Carlo Michellone radically turned around CRF9s organization and innovation strategy, adopting and mastering a strategic approach to innovation that resembles what would become known as the open innovation paradigm. This revolution allowed the Fiat Group to keep its “innovation engine” running, despite the heavy downturn of the industry. The CRF case demonstrates how open innovation can protect the firm9s innovation capability from the risk of severe resource rationalizations during periods of crisis while proffering a starting point to replicate innovation capability once the downturn is over. The efforts to streamline the adoption of open innovation need to be targeted at several aspects of a firm9s organization, i.e. the structures, organizational roles, the planning and control and performance management systems, corporate values, and individual competencies and attitudes. The role played by the senior executive leadership in promoting the successful implementation of open innovation is critical, especially during tough economic times.
The Impact of Public Law 480 Imports on Prices and Domestic Supply of Cereals in India

This article quantifies the impact of imports of cereals under Public Law 480 on the prices and domestic supply of cereals in India. An econometric model encompassing six simultaneous equations is set up. An analytical framework for measuring the impact of P.L. 480 imports on prices and domestic supply is constructed. The statistical analysis supports the belief that the importation of cereals under P.L. 480 leads to lower prices and a decline in domestic supply but that the decrease in domestic supply is less than the quantity imported. Thus, there is a net addition to the quantity available for consumption, which is a significant contribution in a shortage economy.
The Future of the Nonprofit Sector: Its Entwining with Private Enterprise and Government

The nonprofit sector-neither private enterprise nor governmental-is growing rapidly, and not only in the United States. This article explores three questions about the sector, which includes large elements of such service industries as universities, hospitals, nursing homes, day-care centers, museums, social services, and organizations promoting medical research, environmental protection, and the arts. These questions are: (a) Why is the nonprofit sector expanding worldwide? ; (b) How is the growth of nonprofits affecting other parts of the economy? ; and (c) What evidence is there that nonprofits make a difference, that they perform functions which private firms or government cannot perform? A major theme is that the sector's growth necessitates finding ways to increase revenues, and that has brought side effects, particularly as nonprofits have become more and more “commercial. ” In the process, borders between the nonprofit and both the for-profit and public sectors are being crossed increasingly, and with consequences that often pose problems.