Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding Top Management and Organizational Change Through Demographic and Processual Analysis

Top management theory has been strongly influenced by demographic studies of top management teams (TMTs), but not by research into organizational adaptation to conditions of extreme institutional turbulence. This article analyses the transformation of a post-socialist enterprise through a combination of demographic and processual methods to develop an enriched account of the micro-processes through which top management constructed organizational change. Adding layers of narrative data and processual explanation directly addresses the well rehearsed problems in demographic TMT studies. From the findings, we propose a set of theoretical arguments that conceptualizes top management in terms of management regimes, to which TMTs are politically tied and through which they seek to realize their values and strategies in organizational outcomes. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007.
MAGE‐A9 mRNA and protein expression in bladder cancer

In a previous analysis, we showed that MAGE‐As were the most frequently expressed cancer‐testis antigens in human bladder tumours. Here, we further characterized by RT‐PCR the expression of this family of genes by analyzing specifically MAGE‐A3, ‐A4, ‐A8 and ‐A9 mRNAs in 46 bladder tumours and 10 normal urothelia. We found that they were expressed in 30, 33, 56 and 54% of tumours, respectively. Although MAGE‐A8 was the most frequent, its expression was low and was also found in most normal urothelia. The other MAGE‐A mRNAs were all tumour‐specific but MAGE‐A9 mRNA was expressed at a higher level and was two times more frequent in superficial than in invasive tumours. To study the expression of the protein, we produced 2 MAGE‐A9‐specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) presenting no cross‐reactivity with other MAGE‐A proteins. MAb 14A11, was used to analyse the expression of the antigen in testis and tumour samples by immunohistochemistry. In testis, MAGE‐A9 expression was restricted to primary spermatocytes. Most bladder tumours that expressed the MAGE‐A9 transcript were positive with mAb 14A11. Staining was heterogeneous but half of the tumours showed over 75% positive cells. Finally, we showed that treatment of bladder cancer cells with the methylation inhibitor, 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine, alone or in combination with the histone deacetylase inhibitors MS‐275 and 4‐phenylbutyrate could strongly induce the expression of MAGE‐A9. These results show that MAGE‐A9 is frequently expressed in superficial bladder cancer and could be a relevant target for immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy because its expression can be induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Total Factor Productivity Growth and the Role of Externalities

This paper argues that the greater part of economic growth can be accounted for by the accumulation of human and physical capital. The role of externalities is relatively small. This view is defended by reviewing the most sophisticated growth accounting studies and also by presenting some new evidence on the growth of total factor productivity in 53 countries over the period 1965 to 1990.
Placing the ‘post-social’ market: Identity and spatiality in the xeno-economy

Following Knorr Cetina and Bruegger (2002), an understanding of financial markets as ‘post-social’ environments has gained sway. This claim is premised on the idea that new technologies, in particular screen displays of complex real-time financial information, have displaced ‘the market’ from the social and economic relations in which it might otherwise be assumed to be embedded. We argue that recent historical transformations in trading and markets are better characterized as ‘re-spatializations’ involving shifts in the placing and mediation of market spatiality. Material from the City Lives project and other sources is analysed to explore the transformation of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) from the early 1980s onwards. Using the notion of ‘xeno-economy’ (cf. Rotman’s (1987) ‘xeno-money’) it is argued that the spatial redistributions of the market did not so much efface sociality as set up new kinds of relations between local traders and institutions, notably mediated through geographical displaced ‘trading arcades’. The immanence of modes of sociality to markets as intrinsically and necessarily social objects is thereby emphasized.
Premature atherosclerosis in HIV-infected individuals – focus on protease inhibitor therapy

ObjectiveLipid disorders associated with the use of protease inhibitors may contribute to the premature development of atherosclerosis. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the administration of a protease inhibitor-containing regimen to middle-aged (30–50 years) HIV-infected individuals for 6 months or longer is associated with an increased prevalence of atherosclerosis. MethodsHigh-resolution B-mode ultrasound imaging was used to visualize the femoral and carotid arteries of 68 HIV-negative and 168 HIV-infected individuals, including 136 patients who had received protease inhibitors for 26.8 ± 8.9 months (mean ± SD). Atherogenic plaques were defined as a thickening of the intima–media ⩾ 1200 mm. ResultsThe proportion of participants with one or more plaques was higher in the HIV-infected group in comparison with the HIV-negative group (55 versus 38%;P = 0.02), and so was the prevalence of cigarette smoking (61 versus 46%;P = 0.03) and hyperlipidaemia (56 versus 24%;P < 0.001). The presence of plaque was independently associated with age, male gender, plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and smoking. In univariate logistic regression analysis, an association was also found with HIV infection. Among HIV-infected subjects protease inhibitor therapy was not associated with the presence of plaque. ConclusionsA large proportion of the middle-aged HIV-infected individuals examined during this study had one or more atherosclerotic plaques within the femoral or carotid arteries. The presence of peripheral atherosclerosis within this population is not associated with the use of protease inhibitors, but rather with ‘classic’ cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and hyperlipidaemia, which are amenable to interventions.
The relative information content of the components of the reserve disclosures: reserve quantities vs. the standardised measure

While a number of research studies have attempted to evaluate the information content of reserve quantity and reserve value disclosures, no research study has examined the information content of these reserve-related disclosures relative to one another. This study sets out to examine the information content of reserve quantity disclosures vs. reserve value disclosures. Further, this study examines the information content of disclosure of the components of the year-to-year changes in reserve quantities relative to the changes in reserve values. Both a discrimination methodology and the Davidson-MacKinnon's J test for non-nested models are used to test the two hypotheses. The results of testing using both methodologies provides no evidence to reject the null hypotheses in favour of the alternatives that the reserve value disclosures provide more information than the reserve quantity disclosures. Therefore, the results do not support the current FASB statement requiring reserve value disclosures. This information should be of use to the IASB in determining whether to require reserve value disclosures, similar to those required by the FASB, in addition to reserve quantity disclosures.
Measuring Global Money Laundering: "The Walker Gravity Model"

Abstract Measuring global money laundering, the proceeds of transnational crime that are pumped through the financial system worldwide, is still in its infancy. Methods such as case studies, proxy variables, or models for measuring the shadow economy all tend to under- or overestimate money laundering. The model presented here is a gravity model which makes it possible to estimate the flows of illicit funds from and to each jurisdiction in the world and worldwide. This “Walker Model” was first developed in 1994, and used and updated recently. We show that it belongs to the group of gravity models which have recently become popular in international trade theory. Using triangulation, we demonstrate that the original Walker Model estimates are compatible with recent findings on money laundering. Once the scale of money laundering is known, its macroeconomic effects and the impact of crime prevention, regulation and law enforcement effects on money laundering and transnational crime can also be measured.
Trade, Food Standards and Poverty: The Case of High-Value Vegetable Exports from Senegal

Agricultural supply chains are changing globally with pervasive food standards and increased vertical coordination. The impact of these changes for developing countries and for small farmers in those countries is not yet well understood. We analyze the developments in high-standards FFV supply chains and the effects for small farmers and rural households in Senegal. We use a unique dataset derived from company level interviews and household surveys in the main horticulture zone in Senegal. Supply chain restructuring resulted in a shift from contract-farming with small-scale producers to large-scale vertically integrated estate-farming. A comprehensive econometric analysis shows that the restructuring of the value chain has enhanced an equitable distribution of rents among the rural population. Contract-farming, on the one hand increases the gains from high-value production and trade that accrue to the rural smallholder population but on the other hand, leads to the exclusion of the poorest farmers. Estate-farming and associated rural employment have a smaller (albeit still significantly large) effect on rural incomes and probably increase the rents from high-value agricultural trade that are extracted by large agro-industrial companies but add to the income of the poorest households. This challenges the argument made in the literature that high-standards food production needs to integrate small farmers as suppliers if it needs to benefit rural development and increase the welfare for the poor.
Free Entry and Social Inefficiency in Radio Broadcasting

In theory, free entry can lead to social inefficiency. We study the radio industry in a first attempt to quantify this inefficiency. Using cross-sectional data on advertising prices, the number of stations, and radio listening, we estimate the parameters of listeners' decisions and of firms' profits. Relative to the social optimum, our estimates imply that the welfare loss (to firms and advertisers) of free entry is 45% of revenue. However, the free entry equilibrium would be optimal if the marginal value of programming to listeners were about three times the value of marginal listeners to advertisers.
La cognition située. Une nouvelle approche de la rationalité limitée

Résumé Cet article défend une nouvelle conception de la rationalité limitée. Partant de théories développées dans les sciences cognitives, il montre comment les ressources cognitives de l'environnement complètent systématiquement les capacités cognitives des agents. Il procède ainsi à une double extension de l'unité d'analyse. (1) Étudiant l'interaction cognitive d'un agent avec son environnement (action située), il montre que la rationalité du comportement ne résulte plus des seules capacités cognitives d'un agent, mais du système cognitif que cet agent forme avec son environnement. (2) Étudiant la répartition cognitive du travail à l'intérieur d'un groupe d'agents (cognition distribuée), il montre comment la résolution d'un problème découle généralement des opérations cognitives d'un ensemble d'agents.
Crime, Punishment, and Tax

This article studies the effects of income taxation on enforcement of business regulations. The key result is that income taxation makes it less socially costly to enforce the law and therefore allows the attainment of a higher level of deterrence. The explanation for this result is that income taxation reduces the gains businesses derive from violating the law, but it does not affect, at least not to the same extent, the feasible fine. This result is true, regardless of whether fines are deductible for tax purposes or not, as long as the probability and magnitude of fines optimally reflect tax rules and tax rates, as this article argues they should do. However, if the probability and magnitude of fines do not change in response to income tax changes, disallowing deductions for fines, which is the prevailing tax rule in many jurisdictions, is socially desirable for sufficiently low tax rates or tax rate changes.
Debt Maturity and Asymmetric Information: Evidence from Default Risk Changes

Abstract Asymmetric information models suggest that a borrower’s choice of debt maturity depends on its private information about its default probabilities, that is, borrowers with favorable information prefer short-term debt while those with unfavorable information prefer long-term debt. We test this implication by tracing the evolution of debt issuers’ default risk following debt issuances. We find that short-term debt issuance leads to a decline inborrowers’ asset volatility and an increase in their distance to default. The opposite is true for long-term debt issues. The results suggest that borrowers’ private information about their default risk is an important determinant of their debt maturity choices.
Understanding changing disability-related employment gaps in Britain 1998–2011

A large and enduring employment gap attaches to impairment and disability. Nevertheless, disability remains a neglected area of research in both labour economics and sociology of work when compared to other protected groups. The government has looked to health professionals (Dame Carol Black, and Sir Michael Marmot), rather than to social scientists, for policy advice, including in relation to the workplace. The Black Review charts an improvement in employment prospects for those reporting disability (1998–2007), a reversal of a prior trend. The purpose of this study is to uncover and disentangle the drivers of employment growth for those reporting disability. The effects of changes in group characteristics, some of which may be linked to an increase in the rate of ill health reporting, are considered; and also the effects of changes in the employment structure towards flexible working, the public sector and non-manual jobs. The analysis extends to 2011 to capture the effects of the recession.
PEST CONTROL DECISION MAKING: SUGAR BEET IN ENGLAND

This paper discusses approaches to the problem of pest control decision making. A farmer's pest control decisions are shown to depend on his subjective perception of the pest hazard, the controls he recognises as available to him, his subjective estimate of their net effect, and his individual decision rule or goal. A case study is discussed in which a decision model is used to compare objective pest observation with subjective perceptions of sugar beet growers. Applications of such a model for improving pest control decisions are suggested.
Herzberg's Proposals and Their Applicability To the Hotel Industry

Two implications of Herzberg's Two-Factor theory were derived and tested empirically, using data obtained from 287 people employed by twenty hotels in Greece. The results supported the hypothesis that when the organization does not allow workers the opportunity to satisfy most of their needs, hygiene factors become powerful sources of motivation, leading to improved performance and thus to productivity. On the other hand, very little contribution to productivity is due to motivators. The findings were interpreted in terms of the employment conditions in Greek hotel industry.
Bidirectional frequency-dependent effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field on E. coli K-12

In the present work, the frequency-dependent effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF EMF) on Escherichia coli K-12 growth have been studied. The frequency-dependent effects of ELF EMF have shown that it can either stimulate or inhibit the growth of microbes. However, the mechanism by which the ELF EMF affects the bacterial cells is not clear yet. It was suggested that the aqua medium can serve as a target through which the biological effect of ELF EMF on microbes may be realized. To check this hypothesis, the frequency-dependent effects (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Hz, B = 0.4 mT, 30 min) of ELF EMF on the bacterial growth were studied in both cases where the microbes were in the culture media during the exposure and where culture media was preliminarily exposed to the ELF EMF before the addition of bacteria. For investigating the cell proliferation, the radioactive [3H]-thymidine assay was carried out. It has been shown that EMF at 4 Hz exposure has pronounced stimulation while at 8 Hz it has inhibited cell proliferation.
Effect of Hydrogenase and Mixed Sulfate-Reducing Bacterial Populations on the Corrosion of Steel

The importance of hydrogenase activity to corrosion of steel was assessed by using mixed populations of sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from corroded and noncorroded oil pipelines. Biofilms which developed on the steel studs contained detectable numbers of sulfate-reducing bacteria (104 increasing to 107/0.5 cm2). However, the biofilm with active hydrogenase activity (i.e., corrosion pipeline organisms), as measured by a semiquantitative commercial kit, was associated with a significantly higher corrosion rate (7.79 mm/year) relative to noncorrosive biofilm (0.48 mm/year) with 105 sulfate-reducing bacteria per 0.5 cm2 but no measurable hydrogenase activity. The importance of hydrogenase and the microbial sulfate-reducing bacterial population making up the biofilm are discussed relative to biocorrosion.
Frequency, character and predisposing factor of headache among students of medical college of Karachi.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the frequency, predisposing factors and symptomatology of headache among medical students. METHODS The cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2013 and comprised students of two medical colleges of Karachi. International Classification of Headache Disorder-II criterion was used to diagnose and classify headache. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Of the 413 medical students studies, 326(79%) had tension type headache, and 87 (21%) had migraine. Headache was more frequent among females than males, with a ratio of 6.5:1. Both types of headache were significantly associated with self-reported disturbed sleep pattern, stress and various triggering factors (p<0.05 each). Both types greatly influenced individual's daily life with significant association with avoiding academics, extra-curricular activities, family and friends (p<0.05 each). High self-medication rate of 400(96.9%) was observed. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of headache among medical students was high with female predominance. Infrequent consultation needs to be addressed through awareness programmes.
The effect of radiation synovectomy in patients with persistent arthritis: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE To investigate and compare the effects of radiation synovectomy of various joints in a rheumatological practice. METHODS Consecutive patients referredfor radiation synovectomy to Medical Center Alkmaarfrom 1993 till 1996 were analyzed (n = 138). Patients had to have persistent arthritis despite at least two intra-articular glucocorticoid injections with 20 mg triamcinolone hexacetonide. The knees were treated with 185 MBq Yttrium-90; shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and talocrural joints received 185 MBq Rhenium-186 and meta-carpophalangeal joints and proximal interphalangeal joints 37 MBq Erbium-169. The radionuclide injection was followed by injection of 20 mg triamcinolone in order to prevent flare-up of synovitis (due to chemical irritation) and needle-track burn. The clinical effect was assessed by evaluating VAS pain (0-10 point scale), functional disability, tenderness and swelling of the treated joint and patient's and physician's global assessments of the effect of therapy (each on a 4-point scale). RESULTS The overall success rate for radiation synovectomy one year after treatment was 70% with a significant improvement in the variables VAS pain, functional disability and joint tenderness and swelling, when compared to baseline values (p < 0.000001). Moderate to considerable satisfaction of patients and physicians one year after treatment was found for > 50% of cases. Wrists and shoulders were the joints with highest success rate of treatment, followed by the elbows. Lowest success rates were found for hips and ankles. In RA treatment was effective in 76% of cases whereas patients with OA exhibited a success rate of 50%. In RA all treated joints, except the ankles, exhibited a success rate of > or = 75%. No short-term clinical adverse side effects were noted. CONCLUSION Radiation synovectomy seems to be a successful treatment for persistent arthritis when other therapeutic modalities have failed.
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Primary Amyloidosis

Amyloidosis involves extravascular deposition of fibrillar proteins within tissues and organs. Primary light chain amyloidosis represents the most common form of systemic amyloidosis involving deposition of monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains. Although pulmonary amyloid deposition is common in primary amyloidosis, clinically significant pulmonary amyloidosis is uncommon, and elevated pulmonary artery pressures are rarely observed in the absence of other underlying etiologies for pulmonary hypertension, such as elevated filling pressures secondary to cardiac amyloid. In this case report, we present a patient with primary light chain amyloidosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension in the setting of pulmonary vascular and right ventricular myocardial amyloid deposition.
Accuracy of preoperative computer imaging in rhinoplasty.

OBJECTIVE To quantitatively measure the accuracy of preoperative computer imaging (PCI) as a reflection of postoperative rhinoplasty results. METHODS Thirty-eight patients underwent primary and revision rhinoplasty. Six-month postoperative photographs and "morphed" PCI images were graded on a 5-point Likert scale by 2 panels of judges, one composed of surgeons and the other of nonsurgeons. Twelve parameters were assessed. Results were stratified based on primary vs revision rhinoplasty and degree of difficulty of the rhinoplasties. Patient surveys were conducted to determine correlation between satisfaction and PCI accuracy. RESULTS Mean overall accuracy was 2.98 by the expert panel, indicating moderate PCI accuracy. Supratip height was the lowest-rated parameter, while measurements of the upper third were most accurate. The accuracy in primary rhinoplasty was comparable to that found in revision surgery, although tougher cases were rated lower in overall accuracy and projection score. Satisfied patients had significantly higher PCI accuracy scores, and most patients found the PCI extremely useful. CONCLUSIONS Preoperative computer imaging is a useful exercise, valued by patients during the rhinoplasty consultation. Accuracy is moderate in both primary and revision cases, although supratip edema is a limiting factor at the 6-month mark.