Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High dose tamoxifen plus cisplatin and etoposide in the treatment of patients with advanced, inoperable nonsmall cell lung carcinoma

Tamoxifen sensitizes cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. High dose tamoxifen has been tested in the treatment of patients with melanoma and other cancers. The authors conducted a Phase II study of high dose tamoxifen plus cisplatin and etoposide for patients with advanced, inoperable nonsmall cell lung carcinoma.
R&D Investment Level and Environment as Predictors of Firm Acquisition

R&D investments contribute to the development of firm technology resources, and the possession of such resources often increases a firm’s attractiveness as a potential acquisition target. However, the value ascribed to a firm’s technology resources by would-be acquirers may be moderated by its industry’s environmental characteristics. Using data from 2886 firms, we find that investments in R&D predict acquisition likelihood and that R&D investments are most strongly associated with acquisition of firms under conditions of high environmental munificence and dynamism. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
The Role of Payout Ratio in the Relationship between Stock Returns and Dividend Yield

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between returns and dividend yield in the UK stock market, and introduces earnings-related data to the asset pricing model in the form of payout ratio. The latter has a considerable effect upon the inferences which would otherwise be drawn from a study of the dividend yield-returns relationship in the absence of such earnings information. Payout ratio conveys additional signalling information and is an important adjunct to dividend yield in explaining returns. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2004.
Clinical observation of Endostar® combined with chemotherapy in advanced colorectal cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE Endostar® (Rh-endostatin injection) is a new recombinant human endostatin developed by Shandong Simcere-Medgenn Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in China. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Endostar plus leucovorin calcium/ 5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) in treating patients with advanced colorectal cancer. METHODS Thirty-six patients with advanced colorectal cancer were retrospectively assigned to one of two treatment groups: FOLFOX4 (control) or FOLFOX4 plus Endostar (Endostar) according to patient accreditation. The observational end points were overall response rate, overall survival, progression-free survival and toxicity. RESULTS The response rate and progression-free survival of Endostar were significantly better than those of control group (P <0.05), but significance was not observed for median survival. In addition, gastrointestinal side effects and incidence of leucopenia were not lower than in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The addition of Endostar to FOLFOX4 resulted in a higher objective response rate and longer time to disease progression. Hypertension and cardiac ischemia were the principal safety concerns, but were manageable. Endostar deserves to be further investigated by randomized controlled clinical trails.
Accounting for intellectual capital: Evidence from listed English football clubs

In recent years there has been increasing focus on the importance of intellectual capital disclosure. The major resources of the football industry are human ‐ the players (as well as coaches and management) and supporters, yet the traditional accounting framework is largely ineffective in capturing these ‘hidden’ values. This paper reviews research on the quality and extent to which 19 listed professional English football clubs are reporting intellectual capital in their annual reports for the 2002 period. A disclosure index was developed and applied, giving scores for categories of disclosure and for the football clubs. The research findings suggest that components of intellectual capital were poorly reported by listed professional football clubs. External capital reporting was the highest scoring category, followed by human capital. However internal capital reporting scored the lowest. The research findings indicated a positive significant correlation between the size of clubs, club performance and thei.
The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Other Wages

In this paper I explore how changes in the minimum wage affect various occupational wages. I postulate that other wages increase for two reasons: first, firms try to mitigate the deterioration in a worker's relative wage which would cause him to reduce his work effort, and second, there is an increase in the demand for nonminimum wage workers. Wage adjustment patterns are examined to ascertain whether wage comparisons play a role in the adjustment process. The empirical work shows a short-run wage compression among white-collar occupations which is consistent with the wage comparison model. However, large standard errors make inferences weak.
Explaining the Younger-Older Worker Union Density Gap: Evidence from New Zealand

This paper uses two recent large-scale surveys in New Zealand to test the various reasons given for lower rates of union membership among younger workers. Younger workers' disproportionate location in smaller workplaces and those industries where union reach is lowest accounts for a substantial part of their lower union density. Along with the tendency of younger workers to explore their options through labour turnover, this factor offers a much better explanation for the younger-older worker union density gap than do assertions about a growth in individualism in Generations X and Y.
Bilateral risk for subsequent breast cancer after lobular carcinoma-in-situ: analysis of surveillance, epidemiology, and end results data.

PURPOSE Noninvasive lesions involving the lobules of the breast are increasingly diagnosed as incidental microscopic findings at the time of lumpectomy or core-needle biopsy. We investigated the incidence rates of invasive breast cancer (IBC) after a diagnosis of lobular carcinoma-in-situ (LCIS) by using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (N = 4,853) having a diagnosis of primary LCIS in the time period of 1973 to 1998 were identified using the SEER Public Use CD-ROM data. The database was then searched for patients with subsequent primary IBC occurrences (n = 350). The clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients with subsequent primary IBCs were compared with the characteristics of patients with primary IBCs attained during the same time period (N = 255,114). RESULTS The incidence of IBC increased over time from diagnosis of LCIS, with 7.1% +/- 0.5% incidence of IBC at 10 years. IBCs detected after partial mastectomy occurred in either breast (46% ipsilateral and 54% contralateral); however, after mastectomy, most IBCs were contralateral (94.7%). IBCs occurring after LCIS more often represented invasive lobular histology (23.1%) compared with primary IBCs (6.5%). The standardized incidence ratio (the ratio of observed to expected cases) for developing IBC was 2.4 (95% CI, 2.1 to 2.6) adjusted for age and year of diagnosis. CONCLUSION LCIS is associated with increased risk of subsequent invasive disease, with equal predisposition in either breast. The minimum risk of developing IBC after LCIS is 7.1% at 10 years.
The Adapted American City

Almost all U.S. cities are established by state charter as either mayor-council or council-manager cities. For decades, these two legal-statutory categories have been used by researchers as dichotomous variables in descriptions of city government form and in statistical equations. This study indicates that the mayor-council and council-manager categories, although legally based, mask several important empirical characteristics of U.S. city government. Using a large data set, the authors indicate that the structures of U.S. cities are surprisingly dynamic. Cities tend to change their structures incrementally. Over time, cities with mayor-council statutory platforms will incrementally adapt many of the characteristics of council-manager form cities to improve their management and productivity capabilities. Over time, cities with council-manager statutory platforms will adopt features of mayor-council form cities to increase their political responsiveness, leadership, and accounting capabilities. Because each of the two legal forms of cities adopts primary features of the other, these cities now constitute a third form of the U.S. city—the adapted city.
A new relational method for smoothing and projecting age specific fertility rates: TOPALS

Age-specific fertility rates can be smoothed using parametric models or splines. Alternatively a relational model can be used which relates the age profile to be fitted or projected to a standard age schedule. This paper introduces TOPALS (tool for projecting age patterns using linear splines), a new relational method that is less dependent on the choice of the standard age schedule than previous methods. TOPALS models the relationship between the age-specific fertility rates to be fitted and the standard age schedule by a linear spline. This paper uses TOPALS for smoothing fertility age profiles for 30 European countries. The use of TOPALS to create scenarios of the future level and age pattern of fertility is illustrated by applying the method to project future fertility rates for six European countries.
Transplantation of Human Marrow Stromal Cells and Mono-Nuclear Bone Marrow Cells Into the Injured Spinal Cord: A Comparative Study

Study Design. Two groups of 6 rats received dorsolateral funiculotomies followed by direct injection of bone marrow stromal cells (MSC) or mono-nuclear fraction of bone marrow (mnBM). Animals were killed at 4 or 21 days. Objective. Cellular transplantation is a promising treatment strategy for spinal cord injury (SCI); however, most cells need to be cultured before transplantation introducing burdensome steps for clinical application. Cells immediately available for transplantation, like mnBM, would be preferable. Summary of Background Data. Previous studies have shown that MSC transplants promote protection and repair after SCI. MSC are attractive for transplantation because of easy isolation and availability of autologous sources. MSC are derived from whole bone marrow, purified and expanded in culture for a period of at least 2 weeks. Alternatively, mnBM could be used for transplantation. mnBM derived from bone marrow from through simple centrifugation can be reimplantated within hours; however, the presence of immune cells may be problematic. Methods. Cultured MSC or mnBM from human donors were acutely transplanted into SCI. After sacrifice, spinal cord sections were histologically analyzed for presence of graft-derived immune cells, host immune response, tissue sparing, glial scar formation, and grafting efficacy. Results. mnBM did not give rise to mature immune cells after transplantation into SCI, or evoke an increased host immune response or tissue loss compared to MSC-transplanted animals. In contrast, host macrophage/microglia response was increased early after MSC transplantation, perhaps due to exposure of cells to serum-containing media. The glial scar was less prominent after mnBM transplantation at day 4. At 21 days, differences had subsided and MSC and mnBM macrophage responses and effects on glial scarring were comparable. MSC and mnBM engraftment efficiencies were also similar. Conclusion. The use of mnBM is a viable alternative to MSC for transplantation into SCI and may dramatically ease clinical translation.
Prevalence of Antibody to Hepatitis E Virus among Healthy Individuals in Southern Taiwan

The seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among 997 healthy individuals aged 6 to 84 years, collected between July 1993 and June 1994 at Kaohsiung‐Pingtung area in Southern Taiwan was studied. Of the study populations of vegetable farmers, elementary school children, volunteer blood donors and college students, the prevalence of IgG anti‐HEV ranged from 6.4% to 8.8%. In suburban elemantary school children of Mang‐Chou Village at Pingtung‐Hsien, the seroprevalence rate (9.6%) was significantly higher than the positive rate (1.5%) found in rural aboriginal elementary school of San‐Min Village at Kaohsiung‐Hsien. IgG anti‐HEV antibodies were widely distributed among all age groups, with a significantly higher percentage (13.1%) in the age group of 46‐55 years old.
Germline Genetic Variants in the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway as Predictors of Colorectal Cancer Risk

Background: The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a key role in stem cell maintenance in the colorectum. Rare high-penetrance genetic mutations in components of this pathway result in familial colorectal cancer, yet the impact of common, germline variants remains unknown. Methods: We assessed 172 variants in 26 genes from the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in 809 colorectal cancer cases and 814 healthy controls, followed by replication of the top findings in another 691 cases and 775 controls. In silico informatic tools were used to predict functional effects of variants. Results: Eighteen SNPs in the pathway were significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk (P < 0.05) in the discovery phase. We observed a significant dose-response increase in colorectal cancer risk by number of risk genotypes carried (P = 4.19 × 10−8). Gene-based analysis implicated CSNK1D (P = 0.014), FZD3 (P = 0.023), and APC (P = 0.027) as significant for colorectal cancer risk. In the replication phase, FZD3:rs11775139 remained significantly associated with reduced risk with a pooled OR of 0.85 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.76–0.94, P = 0.001]. Although borderline significant in the replication population, APC:rs2545162 was highly significant in the pooled analysis—OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.16–1.74; P = 0.00085. Functional assessment identified several potential biologic mechanisms underlying these associations. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that common germline variants in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway may be involved in colorectal cancer development. Impact: These variants may be informative in colorectal cancer risk assessment to identify individuals at increased risk who would be candidates for screening. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(3); 540–6. ©2016 AACR.
Contractile Activity Is Necessary to Trigger Intermittent Hypobaric Hypoxia-Induced Fiber Size and Vascular Adaptations in Skeletal Muscle

Altitude training has become increasingly popular in recent decades. Its central and peripheral effects are well-described; however, few studies have analyzed the effects of intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH) alone on skeletal muscle morphofunctionality. Here, we studied the effects of IHH on different myofiber morphofunctional parameters, investigating whether contractile activity is required to elicit hypoxia-induced adaptations in trained rats. Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained 1 month and then divided into three groups: (1) rats in normobaria (trained normobaric inactive, TNI); (2) rats subjected daily to a 4-h exposure to hypobaric hypoxia equivalent to 4,000 m (trained hypobaric inactive, THI); and (3) rats subjected daily to a 4-h exposure to hypobaric hypoxia just before performing light exercise (trained hypobaric active, THA). After 2 weeks, the tibialis anterior muscle (TA) was excised. Muscle cross-sections were stained for: (1) succinate dehydrogenase to identify oxidative metabolism; (2) myosin-ATPase to identify slow- and fast-twitch fibers; and (3) endothelial-ATPase to stain capillaries. Fibers were classified as slow oxidative (SO), fast oxidative glycolytic (FOG), fast intermediate glycolytic (FIG) or fast glycolytic (FG) and the following parameters were measured: fiber cross-sectional area (FCSA), number of capillaries per fiber (NCF), NCF per 1,000 μm2 of FCSA (CCA), fiber and capillary density (FD and CD), and the ratio between CD and FD (C/F). THI rats did not exhibit significant changes in most of the parameters, while THA animals showed reduced fiber size. Compared to TNI rats, FOG fibers from the lateral/medial fields, as well as FIG and FG fibers from the lateral region, had smaller FCSA in THA rats. Moreover, THA rats had increased NCF in FG fibers from all fields, in medial and posterior FIG fibers and in posterior FOG fibers. All fiber types from the three analyzed regions (except the posterior FG fibers) displayed a significantly increased CCA ratio compared to TNI rats. Global capillarisation was also increased in lateral and medial fields. Our results show that IHH alone does not induce alterations in the TA muscle. The inclusion of exercise immediately after the tested hypoxic conditions is enough to trigger a morphofunctional response that improves muscle capillarisation.
Implants of Encapsulated Human CNTF-Producing Fibroblasts Prevent Behavioral Deficits and Striatal Degeneration in a Rodent Model of Huntington’s Disease

Delivery of neurotrophic molecules to the CNS has gained considerable attention as a potential treatment strategy for neurological disorders. In the present study, a DHFR-based expression vector containing the human ciliary neurotrophic factor (hCNTF) was transfected into a baby hamster kidney fibroblast cell line (BHK). Using a polymeric device, encapsulated BHK-control cells and those secreting hCNTF (BHK-hCNTF) were transplanted unilaterally into the rat lateral ventricle. Twelve days later, the same animals received unilateral injections of quinolinic acid (QA; 225 nmol) into the ipsilateral striatum. After surgery, animals were behaviorally tested for apomorphine-induced rotation behavior and for skilled forelimb function using the staircase test. Rats receiving BHK-hCNTF cells rotated significantly less than animals receiving BHK-control cells. No behavioral effects of hCNTF were observed on the staircase test. Nissl-stained sections demonstrated that BHK-hCNTF cells significantly reduced the extent of striatal damage produced by QA. Quantitative analysis of striatal neurons further demonstrated that both choline acetyltransferase- and GAD-immunoreactive neurons were protected by BHK-hCNTF implants. In contrast, a similar loss of NADPH-diaphorase-positive cells was observed in the striatum of both implant groups. Analysis of retrieved capsules revealed numerous viable and mitotically active BHK cells that continued to secrete hCNTF. These results support the concepts that implants of polymer-encapsulated hCNTF-releasing cells can be used to protect striatal neurons from excitotoxic damage and that this strategy may ultimately prove relevant for the treatment of Huntington’s disease.
Institutional requirements for full employment in advanced economies

Abstract In the 1980s, fifty years after the Great Depression industrial countries came again to be haunted with the spectre of mass unemployment. The unemployment situation, into the 1990s, continues to be dire in several European Union countries. Double digit unemployment rates are currently being recorded by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, with near double-digit rates in several others including Britain, Germany and Sweden. On the most recent available official data, nearly a quarter of the labour force in Spain and Finland are unemployed
Arabidopsis Inositol Polyphosphate 6-/3-Kinase Is a Nuclear Protein That Complements a Yeast Mutant Lacking a Functional ArgR-Mcm1 Transcription Complex Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.006676.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase, and more generally inositol polyphosphate kinases (Ipk), play important roles in signal transduction in animal cells; however, their functions in plant cells remain to be elucidated. Here, we report the molecular cloning of a cDNA (AtIpk2β) from a higher plant, Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis AtIpk2β is a 33-kD protein that exhibits weak homology (∼25% identical amino acids) with Ipk proteins from animals and yeast and lacks a calmodulin binding site, as revealed by sequence analysis and calmodulin binding assays. However, recombinant AtIpk2β phosphorylates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate to inositol 1,4,5,6-tetrakisphosphate and also converts it to inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate [Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5]. AtIpk2β also phosphorylates inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate to Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5. Thus, the enzyme is a D3/D6 dual-specificity inositol phosphate kinase. AtIpk2β complements a yeast ARG82/IPK2 mutant lacking a functional ArgR-Mcm1 transcription complex. This complex is involved in regulating Arg metabolism–related gene expression and requires inositol polyphosphate kinase activity to function. AtIpk2β was found to be located predominantly in the nucleus of plant cells, as demonstrated by immunolocalization and fusion to green fluorescent protein. RNA gel blot analysis and promoter–β-glucuronidase reporter gene studies demonstrated AtIpk2β gene expression in various organs tested. These data suggest a role for AtIpk2β as a transcriptional control mediator in plants.
Effect of SiN on Performance and Reliability of Charge Trap Flash (CTF) Under Fowler–Nordheim Tunneling Program/Erase Operation

Silicon-nitride trap layer stoichiometry in charge trap flash (CTF) memory strongly impacts electron and hole trap properties, memory performance, and reliability. Important tradeoffs between program/erase (P/E) levels (memory window), P- and E-state retention loss, and E-state window closure during cycling are shown. Increasing the Si richness of the SiN layer improves memory window, cycling endurance, and E-state retention loss but at the cost of higher P-state retention loss. The choice of SiN stoichiometry to optimize CTF memory performance and reliability is discussed.
Analysts’ Incentives to Overweight Management Guidance when Revising Their Short-Term Earnings Forecasts

ABSTRACT: We document that, when revising their short-term earnings forecasts in response to management guidance, analysts wishing to curry favor with management weight the guidance more heavily than predicted, based on the credibility and usefulness of the guidance. This overweighting of guidance is present prior to equity offerings and other events that could lead to investment banking business. Although analysts sacrifice their forecast accuracy by overweighting management guidance, they appear to benefit, on average, by subsequently gaining the underwriting business for their banks. Thus, while analysts wishing to please managers are optimistic in their long-term earnings forecasts, they take their cue from management when determining their short-term earnings forecasts.
Spatial and temporal relationships between water quality and land use in northern Georgia, USA

The impact of land use changes caused by urban sprawl on water quality since the 1970s in northern Georgia, USA is studied by examining the spatial and temporal relationships between land use and water quality indicators in 43 watersheds through geographic information system (GIS) and statistical analyses. GIS analyses are used to delineate watersheds using Digital Elevation Models for water sampling sites and to derive land use indicators such as urban land, forest, agricultural land, and wetland for each watershed. Statistical analyses are used to examine, quantify, and compare the relationships between water quality and land use indicators and to find good predictors of water quality changes in response to the spatial and temporal variations of land uses. Significant spatial relationships are found between all the 14 studied water quality indicators, including dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, dissolved nutrients, dissolved ions, dissolved solids, and suspended sediment, and two land use indicators (percentages of urban land and forest). The more urbanized watersheds with higher percentage of urban land and lower percentage of forest tend to have higher concentrations of water pollutants. However, no significant temporal relationships are found between water quality and land use indicators. To fully evaluate, explain, and predict water quality long-term change, it is necessary to consider more natural and anthropogenic factors, such as water pollution control technology, policy, and climate change.