Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tufted folliculitis of the scalp: a distinctive clinicohistological variant of folliculitis decalvans

Tufted folliculitis is an uncommon folliculitis of the scalp that resolves with patches of scarring alopecia within which multiple hair tufts emerge from dilated follicular orifices. The clinicohistological data from a group of 15 patients with tufted folliculitis were reviewed and compared with those of seven patients with folliculitis decalvans, five with acne keloidalis nuchae, four with dissecting cellulitis of the scalp, three with kerion celsi and 20 with follicular lichen planus. It was found that tufted folliculitis could be differentiated from folliculitis decalvans only by finding several hair tufts scattered within patches of scarring alopecia. Histologically, a single tuft consisted of peculiar clustering of adjacent follicular units opening at the bottom of an epidermal depression. Conversely, the presence of keloidal plaques in acne keloidalis nuchae, coalescing nodules discharging purulent material in dissecting cellulitis of the scalp, erythematous plaques covered by pustules replete with fungal elements in kerion celsi, and the absence of follicular pustules in follicular lichen planus distinguished these diseases from tufted folliculitis. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that tufted folliculitis should be considered as a distinctive clinicohistological variant of folliculitis decalvans. Tufting of hair is caused by clustering of adjacent follicular units due to a fibrosing process and to retention of telogen hairs within the involved follicular units.
Deteriorated External Work Environment, Heavy Workload and Nurses' Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention

Health system reform experienced in Canada since the 1990s profoundly affected health-care workplaces and workers' attitudes. In this paper we examine associations between deteriorated external work environment, heavy workload and nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention. Data are from our 2002 survey responses of 1,396 nurses employed in three teaching hospitals in southern Ontario. Data are analyzed first for all nurses and then separately for full-time, part-time, and casual nurses. External work environment refers to nurses' perceptions of important decisions being made outside the hospital, limited resources, and budget cuts. Results show that when nurses perceive a deteriorated external work environment and consider their workload to be heavy, they also report low job satisfaction. Low job satisfaction and heavy workload, in turn, are associated with nurses' turnover intention. However, when nurses perceive a deteriorated external work environment they are more inclined to stay. When data are examined separately for each employment status group, the effect of external work environment and workload are different on turnover intentions for fulltime, part-time, and casual nurses. We suggest managers and policymakers pay attention to the impact of deteriorated external work environment and heavy workload in developing strategies for nurses' job satisfaction and retention. More importantly, the different impact of these factors according to employment contracts should be considered in developing human resources policies for nurses' job satisfaction and retention.
Retinol as a cofactor for PKCδ‐mediated impairment of insulin sensitivity in a mouse model of diet‐induced obesity

We previously defined that the mitochondria‐localized PKCδ signaling complex stimulates the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl‐coenzyme A by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. We demonstrated in vitro and ex vivo that retinol supplementation enhances ATP synthesis in the presence of the PKCδ signalosome. Here, we tested in vivo if a persistent oversupply of retinol would further impair glucose metabolism in a mouse model of diet‐induced insulin resistance. We crossed mice over‐expressing human retinol‐binding protein (hRBP) under the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter (MCKhRBP) with the PKCδ–/– strain to generate mice with a different status of the PKCδ signalosome and retinoid levels. Mice with a functional PKCδ signalosome and elevated retinoid levels (PKCδ+/+hRBP) developed the most advanced stage of insulin resistance. In contrast, elevation of retinoid levels in mice with inactive PKCδ did not affect remarkably their metabolism, resulting in phenotypic similarity between PKCδ–/– hRBP and PKCδ–/– mice. Therefore, in addition to the well‐defined role of PKCδ in the etiology of metabolic syndrome, we present a novel PKCδ signaling pathway that requires retinol as a metabolic cofactor and is involved in the regulation of fuel utilization in mitochondria. The distinct role in whole‐body energy homeostasis establishes the PKCδ signalosome as a promising target for therapeutic intervention in metabolic disorders. —Shabrova, E. , Hoyos, B. , Vinogradov, V. , Kim, Y. ‐K. , Wassef, L. , Leitges, M. , Quadro, L. , Hammerling, U. , Retinol as a cofactor for PKCδ‐mediated impairment of insulin sensitivity in a mouse model of diet‐induced obesity. FASEB J. 30, 1339–1355 (2016). www.fasebj. org
A Helical Short-Peptide Fusion Inhibitor with Highly Potent Activity against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1), HIV-2, and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) has already spread to different regions worldwide, and currently about 1 to 2 million people have been infected, calling for new antiviral agents that are effective on both HIV-1 and HIV-2 isolates. T20 (enfuvirtide), a 36-mer peptide derived from the C-terminal heptad repeat region (CHR) of gp41, is the only clinically approved HIV-1 fusion inhibitor, but it easily induces drug resistance and is not active on HIV-2. In this study, we first demonstrated that the M-T hook structure was also vital to enhancing the binding stability and inhibitory activity of diverse CHR-based peptide inhibitors. We then designed a novel short peptide (23-mer), termed 2P23, by introducing the M-T hook structure, HIV-2 sequences, and salt bridge-forming residues. Promisingly, 2P23 was a highly stable helical peptide with high binding to the surrogate targets derived from HIV-1, HIV-2, and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Consistent with this, 2P23 exhibited potent activity in inhibiting diverse subtypes of HIV-1 isolates, T20-resistant HIV-1 mutants, and a panel of primary HIV-2 isolates, HIV-2 mutants, and SIV isolates. Therefore, we conclude that 2P23 has high potential to be further developed for clinical use, and it is also an ideal tool for exploring the mechanisms of HIV-1/2- and SIV-mediated membrane fusion. IMPORTANCE The peptide drug T20 is the only approved HIV-1 fusion inhibitor, but it is not active on HIV-2 isolates, which have currently infected 1 to 2 million people and continue to spread worldwide. Recent studies have demonstrated that the M-T hook structure can greatly enhance the binding and antiviral activities of gp41 CHR-derived inhibitors, especially for short peptides that are otherwise inactive. By combining the hook structure, HIV-2 sequence, and salt bridge-based strategies, the short peptide 2P23 has been successfully designed. 2P23 exhibits prominent advantages over many other peptide fusion inhibitors, including its potent and broad activity on HIV-1, HIV-2, and even SIV isolates, its stability as a helical, oligomeric peptide, and its high binding to diverse targets. The small size of 2P23 would benefit its synthesis and significantly reduce production cost. Therefore, 2P23 is an ideal candidate for further development, and it also provides a novel tool for studying HIV-1/2- and SIV-mediated cell fusion.
R&D, Scope Economies, and Plant Performance

In this article I present an alternative specification of knowledge production and derive a structural econometric model with some desirable properties. I provide a simple and less data-intensive framework for empirical studies of the relationship between firm performance and R&D. The main empirical findings are as follows: (i) R&D has a positive effect on performance, (ii) the appropriable part of knowledge capital depreciates at a rate of . 2, (iii) there are significant spillover effects of R&D across lines of business within a firm, and (iv) there are significant spillovers in R&D across firms that belong to the same interlocking group of firms.
Audit pricing and the Big4 fee premium: evidence from Belgium

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study audit pricing and the Big4 fee premium in Belgium. While a number of studies have already explored these issues, the Belgian audit market provides an interesting setting to gain an additional insight into the pricing of audit services for many reasons (e.g. audit market concentration in Belgium is much lower than in other countries, the Belgian audit market mainly consists of non-listed firms, etc.). Design/methodology/approach - Besides the traditional audit fee model, based on seminal work by Simunic, the paper also estimates regression models in which the author allows coefficients to vary across Big4 and non-Big4 auditors and control for self-selection (based on a two-stage procedure). Findings - Using the traditional audit fee model, results suggest that Big4 auditors receive (or are able to charge) a fee premium compared to non-Big4 auditors. Nevertheless, when the author allows regression coefficients to vary across Big4 and non-Big4 auditors and control for self-selection, the aforementioned finding does no longer hold. The results reveal differences in fee structures between Big4 and non-Big4 auditors and suggest that Big4 auditors consider a richer set of variables when setting their fees. Research limitations/implications - Since Belgian firms are only required to disclose audit fees as from 2007 onwards, the analyses are based on data for one year only. Practical implications - An important implication, at least from an academic point of view, is that the results clearly illustrate and corroborate the need to control for self-selection when modelling audit fees (while this issue has been ignored by recent audit fee studies). The findings also have implications for the (Belgian) auditing profession. For example, the fact that significant differences are observed in audit pricing between the Big4 and non-Big4 firms may have an impact on the (Belgian) audit services market (e.g. it might influence the competitive nature of the tendering process). Originality/value - Using a two-stage procedure, the results corroborate the need to control for self-selection in modeling audit fees (an issue that has been largely ignored in the audit fee literature). In addition, the results reveal that Big4 and non-Big4 auditors have different fee structures and that it is therefore important to allow the regression coefficients (and not only the intercept) to vary across both groups. Finally, the findings add to the very scarce evidence on audit pricing for non-listed firms.
Market Selection Along the Firm Life Cycle

This article analyses market selection in French manufacturing in the nineties. It argues that the determinants of firm survival have different effects depending on firm age. Results show that exiting firms display low levels of profitability and productivity. This selection process is more severe for young firms because industry structures favor the survival of mature firms. Concerning the latter, markets select against persistent bad performers, not against temporary losses of efficiency. These results reveal the presence of barriers to firm growth—not to entry—as an important driver of industry dynamics. Copyright 2008 , Oxford University Press.
Multivariate Entropy Distance Method for Prokaryotic Gene Identification

A new simple method is found for efficient and accurate identification of coding sequences in prokaryotic genome. The method employs a Shannon description of artificial language for DNA sequences. It consists in translating a DNA sequence into a pseudo-amino acid sequence with 20 fundamental words according to the universal genetic code. With an entropy-density profile (EDP), the method maps a sequence of finite length to a vector and then analyzes its position in the 20-dimensional phase space depending on its nature. It is found that the ratio of the relative distance to an averaged coding and non-coding EDP over a small number (up to one) of open reading frames (ORFs) can serve as a good coding potential. An iterative algorithm is designed for finding a set of "root" sequences using this coding potential. A multivariate entropy distance (MED) algorithm is then proposed for the identification of prokaryotic genes; it has a feature to combine the use of a coding potential and an EDP-based sequence similarity analysis. The current version of MED is unsupervised, parameter-free and simple to implement. It is demonstrated to be able to detect 95-99% genes with 10-30% of additional genes when tested against the RefSeq database of NCBI and to detect 97.5-99.8% of confirmed genes with known functions. It is also shown to be able to find a set of (functionally known) genes that are missed by other well-known gene finding algorithms. All measurements show that the MED algorithm reaches a similar performance level as the algorithms like GeneMark and Glimmer for prokaryotic gene prediction.
Oxidative stress and antioxidative status in patients with alcoholic liver disease

The exact pro-oxidant and antioxidant status in alcoholic liver disease among the chronic alcoholics is still not clear. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) & its complications are still one of the most frequent causes of death in both developing and developed counties. The present study was conducted to add a new insight to the question, whether ethanol induces oxidative stress, change in the level of antioxidant vitamins ascorbic acid & vitamins E (non- enzymatic antioxidant parameters), trace elements Zinc & Selenium & activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) & catalase in erythrocytes. Study was performed in 40 patients with alcoholic liver disease (study subject) & compared to 40 age & sex matched healthy subject (controls). It was observed that they was a significant increase in MDA (Malondialdehyde), SOD, GPx and significant decrease in ascorbic acid, vitamin E, zinc, selenium & catalase activity in patients with alcoholic liver disease when compared to controls. The results of our study have shown higher free radical production, as evidenced by the increased MDA & decreased levels of ascorbic acid, vitamin E, selenium & catalase activity, supporting the hypothesis that they is increased oxidative stress in patients with ALD. The increased activities of antioxidant enzymes may be a compensatory regulatory response to increased oxidative stress. The decreased antioxidative status support the hypothesis that lipid peroxidation is an important causative factor in the pathogenesis of ALD. These data clearly indicates that, antioxidant mechanisms might be impaired in these patients. These findings also provide a therotical basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies such as antioxidant supplementation.
Models for Heterogeneous Variable Selection

Preference heterogeneity is a major research stream in marketing aimed at quantifying and understanding the diversity of demand for product attributes and attribute levels. In experimental settings, in which consumers are presented with simple descriptions of product offerings, continuous distributions of heterogeneity, such as the multivariate normal, provide a useful representation of preference. However, in more complex cases in which respondents have value for only a few of the benefits associated with an offering or cognitive constraints that result in selective attention to a subset of the information available, continuous distributions of heterogeneity do not reflect the possibility that a subset of the variables has nonzero effect sizes for different respondents. Identifying which attributes are used in a brand choice decision is closely related to the statistical procedure of variable selection. This article extends variable selection methods to accommodate heterogeneity across consumers and data contexts, conditions frequently encountered in marketing studies. The authors apply the methods to a discrete-choice conjoint study in which data are collected in both full-profile and partial-profile formats.
Firm Characteristics as Determinants of Capital Structures in Australia

Abstract This study investigates capital structures of Australian firms in relation to firm characteristics. Using an unbalanced panel of 367 firms observed over a 15‐year period from 1992 to 2006, our panel data regression results show that debt–asset ratio is positively related to asset tangibility but inversely related to growth prospects and business risk measured by unlevered beta of equity. We also find that although levered firms are generally more profitable than unlevered firms, profitability decreases the debt ratio of levered firms. We do not find that firm size affects the capital structure of Australian firms. These results are consistent with the pecking order and the agency cost theories but contradict the trade‐off theory.
Book-Tax Differences and Inland Revenue Audit Adjustments in New Zealand

Using confidential data from US manufacturing firms' tax returns and Inland Revenue Service (IRS) audit adjustments, Mills (1998) tests, and finds support for, her hypothesis that IRS audit adjustments increase as the book-tax differences increase. We test Mills' hypothesis using confidential data obtained from the New Zealand Inland Revenue (hereafter Inland Revenue). Confidential data provide the key variable of interest, Inland Revenue's proposed audit adjustment, which is not available from public sources. These data provide the exact audit adjustment amounts, eliminating measurement errors inherent in proxy variables, and enable a temporal alignment of the book-tax differences with the Inland Revenue audit adjustments, thereby enhancing the internal validity of the relation between book-tax differences and Inland Revenue audit adjustments. Because the results of our study using New Zealand data, another time period, a more diverse set of firms, and a different institutional environment are consistent with those of Mills, we argue for the generalizability of Mills' hypothesis that proposed audit adjustments are positively related to the excess of book income over taxable income.
Security Game with Non-additive Utilities and Multiple Attacker Resources

There has been significant interest in studying security games for modeling the interplay of attacks and defenses on various systems involving critical infrastructure, financial system security, political campaigns, and civil safeguarding. However, existing security game models typically either assume additive utility functions, or that the attacker can attack only one target. Such assumptions lead to tractable analysis, but miss key inherent dependencies that exist among different targets in current complex networks. In this paper, we generalize the classical security game models to allow for non-additive utility functions. We also allow attackers to be able to attack multiple targets. We examine such a general security game from a theoretical perspective and provide a unified view. In particular, we show that each security game is equivalent to a combinatorial optimization problem over a set system ε, which consists of defender's pure strategy space. The key technique we use is based on the transformation, projection of a polytope, and the ellipsoid method. This work settles several open questions in security game domain and significantly extends the state-of-the-art of both the polynomial solvable and NP-hard class of the security game.
Mathematical Modeling of Electrochemical Capacitors

Analytic solutions to the mathematical model of an electrochemical capacitor (EC) are used to study cell performance under two types of operating conditions: (i) constant current and (ii) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The analytic solution under constant-current operation is used to investigate the relative importance of ionic resistance in the separator, and ionic and electronic resistances in the porous electrode in the design and operation of an EC. Model results are presented that show the trade-off between energy and power density, as the physical properties of the cell components are varied (e.g., electrode thickness). The analytic solution is also used to study the effect of cell design and operation on the heat generation during constant-current cycling. The impedance model is presented as an alternative to equivalent-circuit models for data analysis. The analytic solution can be used to gain a physical understanding of the various processes that occur in an EC.
Missing Documentation of Weight and Height at Preventive Visits for Children

Despite the importance of measuring weight and height at well-child visits, there are limited data on frequency of anthropometric documentation. The authors aimed to identify characteristics associated with missing weight and height documentation at preventive visits for children. Among preventive visits for children from birth to 18 years old, recorded in the National Ambulatory Medical Care and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys for 2005-2009, the authors found that 20.8% had missing weight and/or height (n = 19 033) documentation. Compared with infants younger than 2 years, school-age children (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03-1.64), and adolescents (OR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.26-2.04) were more likely to lack documentation. Missing documentation was also more likely for visits with nonphysicians (OR = 4.53; 95% CI = 3.17-6.48) and nonpediatricians (OR = 2.63; 95% CI = 2.02-3.41) compared with pediatricians. Efforts to improve weight and height surveillance should be directed to clinics in which midlevel providers and nonpediatric physicians are caring for school-age children and adolescents.
The elasticity of taxable income in New Zealand: Evidence from the 1986 tax reform

This paper uses the 1986 New Zealand tax reform as a ‘natural experiment’ to estimate the elasticity of taxable income for New Zealand. Adopting the methodology of Auten and Carroll (1999), elasticity estimates ranging from 0.34 to 0.52 are obtained. These results imply a significant behavioural response to tax rate changes well in excess of that implied by standard labour supply elasticity estimates, and suggest that the welfare costs of taxation in New Zealand are larger than may have previously been considered.
The Effects of Corruption on Capital Structure: When Does It Matter?

We study the effects of corruption on the capital structures of firms in 72 countries. Using the Corruption Perception Index, we show that corruption increases the costs of debt and equity. Interestingly, as the level of corruption decreases, these costs become more sensitive to changes in corruption. Similarly, the capital structure adjustment speeds exhibit a non-linear dynamic. These results indicate that for the most corrupt countries, it is necessary to engage in corruption reduction efforts to get past a minimum threshold before they can affect the behaviors of firms. Additionally, the least corrupt countries need to remain vigilant against increases in corruption.