Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delineating the Domain of Development Entrepreneurship: A Market–Based Approach to Facilitating Inclusive Economic Growth

Development economists and management scholars have called for a more market–based approach to address the extreme poverty suffered by the billion people residing primarily in least developed countries. This article proposes a theory of development entrepreneurship that blends business entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and institutional entrepreneurship to accelerate the institutional change necessary to make economic growth more inclusive. After examining various explanations of market failure in the base of the pyramid and social entrepreneurship literatures, I explain why entrepreneurial transformation of formal institutions is needed and what differentiates development entrepreneurship from related concepts such as social entrepreneurship, social business entrepreneurship, and socio–political activism.
Alterations in Insulin , Leptin , Orexin-A and Neuropeptide-Y Levels in the High-Fat Diet Fed Rats

Obesity is now so common within the world's population that it is beginning to replace under-nutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to ill health. Obesity causes or exacerbates a large number of health problems, both independently and in association with other diseases. In particular, it is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and an increased incidence of certain forms of cancer, obstructive sleep apnoea, and osteoarthritis of large and small joints. Despite this evidence, many clinicians continue to consider obesity to be a self-inflicted condition of little medical significance. In the current study, it has been found that all major classes of serum lipid and lipoprotein pattern were significantly increased in fatfed rats over those of the controls. Also, the obtained data showed a significant decrease in the levels 3 of free T , insulin, leptin, orexin A (OX-A) and neuropeptide-Y (NPY). On the otherhand, a significant increase in the level of leptin was occurred in obese rats dependent on the level of lard content in diet 4 while, a numerical changed was occurred in the levels of free T and orexin B (OX-B). The current investigation confirmed the hypothesis that these peptides (orexin A, NPY, leptin and insulin) play an important role in the metabolism in rats and the activity of these peptide hormones is disturbed in obesity. The underlining mechanisms were discussed according to available references.
The mechanical efficiency of front crawl swimming.

In this study the gross efficiency of swimming was determined in a group of male (N = 6) and female (N = 4) competitive swimmers. The gross efficiency is defined as the ratio of the power output (W) to the power input (W). In a range of swimming velocities (0.95-1.6 m.s-1), the power input (rate of energy expenditure, 445-1137 W) was calculated from the oxygen uptake values (1.33-3.25 1 O2.min-1). The total power output (26-108 W) was directly measured during front crawl swimming using a system of underwater push-off pads instrumented with a force transducer (MAD-system). Using the MAD-system, the effect on total body drag due to the addition of the respiratory apparatus was evaluated to be negligible. The gross efficiency ranged from 5 to 9.5%. At equal swimming speed, the male competitive swimmers demonstrated a higher gross efficiency. However, this was due to the higher power output required by the male swimmers at a given speed. Gross efficiency was dependent on the absolute power output such that as power output increased so did the calculated gross efficiency. At the same power output, the values for the gross efficiency do not differ between the male and female competitive swimmers.
The Medium is Global, the Content is Not: The Role of Geography in Online Newspaper Markets

Previous research suggests that the print newspaper's local nature and the Internet's boundary-transcending capacity enable online newspapers to operate in local and long-distance markets. A census of online newspapers in 4 states was conducted via email to examine the existence of and differences between the 2 markets. Results show that the long-distance market is a substantial sub-market that constitutes about one third of the online readership, while the local market still outweighs the long-distance market in terms of usage and online newspapers' targeting intention.
Congenital Intracranial Teratoma with Massive Macrocephaly and Skull Rupture

Objective: Congenital intracranial tumors are rare and only account for 0.5–1.5% of all pediatric brain tumors. Teratoma is the most frequently encountered intracranial tumor at birth. Massive congenital intracranial teratoma is an extremely rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis. They grow rapidly and cause extensive destruction in the brain. Herein we report a massive intracranial teratoma causing skull rupture. Case Report: A fetus with a congenital intracranial teratoma presenting with a disproportionately enlarged head at 25 weeks of gestation is presented. Since it was the first admission of the mother to a medical expert for a prenatal examination, there was noprevious follow-up data. Prenatal ultrasonography demonstrated a huge, heterogeneous intracranial mass, and midline structures and ventricles could not be observed. No heartbeat was detected. Autopsy was perforated, and histopathologic examination of the samples taken from the intracranial mass revealed an immature teratoma. Conclusion: Although congenital intracranial teratomas are rare, they may reach enormous sizes. Regular follow-up of the fetus may lead to early diagnosis of immature intracranial teratomas and prevent the mother from having further complications either due to intrauterine fetal death orpsychological trauma of giving birth to a heavily malformed baby.
Laboratory Experiments for Economic Policy Making

In this paper, we assess the scope and the specific contribution of laboratory experiments for economic policy making. We review experiments which have addressed a specific problem, institution, mechanism design or tool relevant in economic policy. We have two research questions. What type of policy questions can be addressed in the laboratory? And what is the specific value added of economic experiments for policy making. The survey contains experiments on competition policy, auctions, regulated markets, and emission permits.
Pre- and postweaning performance of pigs injected with dexamethasone at birth.

A trial was conducted to determine pre- and postweaning performance of pigs injected with dexamethasone either 1 or 24 h after birth. In Exp. 1, 225 pigs (Triumph4 x PIC Camborough 22) were assigned according to birth weight and sex to three treatments. Treatments included either saline (Control), Dex1 (2 mg/kg BW i.m. injection of dexamethasone within 1 h of birth), or Dex24 (2 mg/kg BW i.m. injection of dexamethasone within 24 h after birth). Birth weights (1.56 +/- 0.06 kg) did not differ among treatments (P > 0.10) or between sexes (P > 0.10). There was a treatment x sex interaction on BW at weaning (15 d; P < 0.05) with Dex1 and Dex24 males 10% heavier than Control males (4.77 and 4.78 vs. 4.34 kg, respectively), and no significant differences in BW among the females (P > 0.05). In Exp. 2, 180 pigs from Exp. 1 were transported to a segregated early weaning nursery facility where each sex was assigned to 10 pens per treatment (60 pens total). Pigs were fed fortified corn-soybean meal diets in a three-phase feeding program. At the end of Exp. 2 (49-d period), there was a treatment x sex interaction (P < 0.01) for BW with Dex1 and Dex24 barrows being on average 8% heavier than the Control barrows (30.1 and 29.8 vs. 27.7 kg, respectively), and no significant difference in BW (P > 0.10) among the gilts. No treatment differences in feed efficiency (gain:feed) were observed during the nursery period (P > 0.10). In Exp. 3, pigs from the nursery were moved to a finishing facility where each sex was assigned to 4 pens per treatment (24 pens total). All pigs were fed fortified corn-soybean meal diets in a four-phase feeding program with sexes fed separately. Real-time ultrasound was used to measure 10th rib backfat depth and longissimus muscle area. At the end of Exp. 3 (83-d period), there was a treatment x sex interaction (P < 0.05) for final BW with Dex1 and Dex24 barrows being on average 5.45 kg heavier than Control barrows (119.6 and 120.7 vs. 114.4 kg, respectively), and no difference (P > 0.05) in BW among the gilts. No treatment differences (P > 0.10) were observed for backfat depth, longissimus muscle area or gain:feed. These studies demonstrate that dexamethasone (2 mg/kg BW) given within 24 h of birth significantly improves both pre- and postweaning performance of barrows with no beneficial effects on gilts.
Essays on Asset Return and Housing Market

The last two decades have witnessed substantial amount of research on time variation in asset returns. It has been found that macroeconomic variables contain useful information about asset returns. This dissertation consists of three essays that study the link between the macroeconomy and financial markets. A central idea behind the link is that households adjust their consumption spending in anticipation of variations in the return on household assets. The first essay proposes a latent-variables approach to estimate expected returns on total household assets and expected growth rate of excess consumption (consumption in excess of labor income) within a present-value model of consumption. The present-value model of consumption implies that the ratio of consumption- aggregate wealth reflects information about future asset returns and consumption growth. Since expected returns and expected excess consumption growth are unobserved variables, the current literature uses lagged excess consumption-assets ratio or other proxies for estimation. This essay goes beyond the existing literature by using an unobserved component approach to filter these unobserved variables from the observed history of realized returns and realized excess consumption growth. Results suggest that both filtered returns and filtered excess consumption growth rate are significant and better predictors of realized returns and realized excess consumption growth rate than the one obtained by lagged excess consumption-assets ratio. The second essay focuses on estimating expected return on housing by exploiting the information from the movements in consumption, income, and observable assets. To do so, a present-value model of consumption is combined with an unobserved component model. Kalman filter is then applied to extract expected housing returns from the observed history of realized returns and realized excess consumption growth. Results suggest that the filtered housing returns does a significantly better job in predicting realized housing returns than other popular predictors like mortgage rate and price-rent ratio. The third essay uses an unobserved components model with heteroskedastic disturbances to measure the time-varying importance of permanent and transitory components in the U.S. and U.K. house prices. Estimation results suggest that the movement in house prices in the two economies is mainly transitory in nature from its trend path.
Takeovers, Market Monitoring, and International Corporate Governance

We theoretically and empirically examine the role of international takeover markets in curtailing dominant shareholder moral hazard for firms with higher value-added from acquisitions. In equilibrium, such firms strategically list shares in the markets of their targets and voluntarily dilute dominant shareholder control through capital-raising events to lower their expected acquisition costs. Empirical tests, using a sample of foreign firms cross-listing on U.S. stock exchanges during 1990-2003, support the framework. We find a strong influence of post-listing dilution of dominant shareholder control through capital-raising events on the likelihood of acquisitions and their cost to the acquirers, in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets. Copyright (c) 2008, RAND.
Editorial: Accounting research and the public interest

Purpose – This essay sets out to introduce the special issue. Design/methodology/approach – The essay discusses a variety of approaches to exploring the relationship between accounting and the public interest, and briefly reviews the contribution of the articles in the issue. Findings – Not applicable. Originality/value – The essay argues that accounting research can be opened up by problematizing the notion of the public interest, and by considering not only how accounting constitutes the public interest, but how various public interests constitute accounting.
Environmental policy stringency and technological innovation: evidence from survey data and patent counts

This article uses patent data to examine the impact of public environmental policy on innovations in environment-related technology. The analysis is conducted using data on an unbalanced panel of 77 countries between 2001 and 2007, drawing upon data obtained from the European Patent Office (EPO) World Patent Statistical (PATSTAT) database and the World Economic Forum's (WEF) ‘Executive Opinion Survey’. The results support our hypotheses concerning the positive role of both general innovative capacity and environmental policy stringency on environment-related innovation. A subsequent two-stage model assesses the factors which drive innovation in general and uses the fitted values to estimate environmental innovation. While the analysis is conducted on a smaller sample, they confirm the findings of the reduced-form model.
A bioinformatics approach to 2 D shape classification ✩

In the past, the huge and profitable interaction between Pattern Recognition and biology/bioinformatics was mainly unidirectional, namely targeted at applying PR tools and ideas to analyse biological data. In this paper we investigate an alternative approach, which exploits bioinformatics solutions to solve PR problems: in particular, we address the 2D shape classification problem using classical biological sequence analysis approaches – for which a vast amount of tools and solutions have been developed and improved in more than 40 years of research. First, we highlight the similarities between 2D shapes and biological sequences, then we propose three methods to encode a shape as a biological sequence. Given the encoding, we can employ standard biological sequence analysis tools to derive a similarity, which can be exploited in a nearest neighbor framework. Classification results, obtained on 5 standard datasets, confirm the potentials of the proposed unconventional interaction between PR and bioinformatics. Moreover, we provide some evidences of how it is possible to exploit other bioinformatics concepts and tools to interpret data and results, confirming the flexibility of the proposed framework. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
International Second Home Retirement Motives in Malaysia: Comparing British and Japanese Retirees

Generally, the international second home (ISH) retirement develops from the need for better life quality of the aging population globally. “Malaysia My Second Home” (MM2H) is an ISH scheme that aims to attract inbound retiree market in Malaysia. This study explores the retirement motivations and their influences on ISH decision using the combination of push–pull travel motivation theory and tri-reference point (TRP) theory, while simultaneously comparing the British and the Japanese retirees. We interviewed 26 MM2H participants in depth and content analyzed the data with qualitative NVivo software. Other than common motivations shared by both groups, there are also distinct differences, especially with regards to environmental preference and risk taking. Only two motives fit into all the three elements of TRP, with most motives either explained by a single or dual reference point. Based on the findings, the study proposes its knowledge, marketing, and managerial implications.
Market Size Matters

This paper characterizes the effects of market size on the size distribution of establishments for thirteen retail trade industries across 225 U.S. cities. In nearly every industry we examine, establishments are larger in larger cities, and in four industries the dispersion of establishment sizes depends on market size. Models of competition in which individual producers' markups do not depend on the number of producers are inconsistent with these observations. Models in which competition is tougher in larger markets can reproduce the positive effect of market size on establishments' average size.
Intakes of nutrients and nutritional status in coeliac patients.

BACKGROUND The intake of nutrients and the nutritional status of untreated coeliac patients and coeliac patients in remission were investigated at Kuopio University Hospital. METHODS Forty untreated and 52 coeliac patients in remission were admitted to the study. The control group included 77 persons. Four-day food records, anthropometric measurements, and blood biochemistry were examined to obtain nutrient intake and nutritional status. RESULTS Concentrations of serum ferritin, vitamin B12, and erythrocyte folate were lower in patients with untreated coeliac disease than in those in remission. Altogether, 15-38% of the untreated patients but only 0-20% of the patients in remission had levels of haemoglobin, serum ferritin, iron, vitamin B12, or erythrocyte folate below the reference values. No difference in anthropometric measurements was found between the two groups of coeliac patients. CONCLUSIONS Except for some subclinical abnormal values in biochemical analyses in 20-38% of coeliac patients, nutritional status was quite normal in both groups of coeliac patients.
Cell Volume-dependent Regulation of L-selectin Shedding in Neutrophils

Neutrophil-mediated organ damage is a common feature of many disease states. We previously demonstrated that resuscitation with hypertonic salt solutions prevented the endotoxin-induced leukosequestration and consequent lung injury, and this effect was partially attributed to an altered surface expression of adhesion molecules, CD11b and L-selectin. In this study we investigated the mechanisms whereby osmotic stress evokes L-selectin shedding. The metalloprotease inhibitor RO 31-9790 prevented the osmotic down-regulation of L-selectin, indicating that this process was catalyzed by the same “sheddase” responsible for L-selectin cleavage induced by diverse inflammatory stimuli. The trigger for hypertonic shedding was cell shrinkage and not increased osmolarity, ionic strength, or intracellular pH. Volume reduction caused robust tyrosine phosphorylation and its inhibition by genistein and erbstatin abrogated shedding. Shrinkage stimulated tyrosine kinases Hck, Syk, and Pyk2, but prevention of their activation by the Src-family inhibitor PP1 failed to affect the L-selectin response. Hypertonicity elicited the Src family-independent activation of p38, and the inhibition of this kinase by SB203580 strongly reduced shedding. p38 was also essential for the N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine- and lipopolysaccharide-induced shedding but not the phorbol ester-induced shedding. Thus, cell volume regulates L-selectin surface expression in a p38-mediated, metalloprotease-dependent manner. Moreover, p38 has a central role in shedding induced by many inflammatory mediators.
iASPP, a microRNA‑124 target, is aberrantly expressed in astrocytoma and regulates malignant glioma cell migration and viability.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate biogenesis and disease development by targeting numerous mRNAs. miRNA (miR)‑124 and its direct target, inhibitor of apoptosis‑stimulating protein of p53 (iASPP), may be involved in tumor development and progression. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of miR‑124‑targeted iASPP in glioma. The results demonstrated that miR‑124 was aberrantly expressed in astrocytic glioma tissue and in the human glioblastoma cell lines U87 and U251. The expression of miR‑124 was lower in astrocytic gliomas compared with normal brain (NB) tissues, with a more reduced expression in higher‑grade tumors. In addition, several miR‑124 loci (including miR‑124‑1, miR‑124‑2 and miR‑124‑3) were revealed to be more highly methylated in U87 cells compared with methylation levels in U251 cells and NB cells. Furthermore, the expression of iASPP was higher in high‑grade astrocytic gliomas compared with low‑grade astrocytic gliomas. miR‑124 overexpression effectively inhibited U87 and U251 cell migration. In addition, miR‑124 regulated cell viability and arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase in these two cell lines. miR‑124 also reduced the expression levels of the cell cycle related genes iASPP, cyclin‑dependent kinase (CDK)4, CDK6 and cyclin D1. Results from the present study indicated that expression of the miR‑124 target gene iASPP may contribute to glioma development and progression.
Conivaptan: promise of treatment in heart failure

Conivaptan, the first vasopressin receptor antagonist approved by the FDA, is available for the treatment of hyponatremia in euvolemic and hypervolemic patients. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is activated in heart failure (HF) causing clinical worsening. Arginine vasopressin levels are also elevated in HF. Conivaptan is an effective and FDA approved for the treatment of euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia and may offer an extra treatment option in HF by targeting V1a and V2 receptors. In this article we review the physiology, preclinical studies as well as the human clinical studies on the use of conivaptan and its potential and promise in the treatment of HF.