Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Productive Decentralization or Indigenous Growth? Small Manufacturing Enterprises and Regional Development in Central Portugal

LEWIS J. R. and WILLIAMS A. M. (1987) Productive decentralization or indigenous growth? Small manufacturing enterprises and regional development in central Portugal, Reg. Studies 21, 343–361. Small firms are crucial to the Portuguese economy and have been important in the recent expansion of industrial activity away from core regions. A survey of the formation and development of manufacturing enterprises in four contrasting rural locations within the Central region tested the relevance of explanations based on North Italian evidence of productive decentralization and spatial spread. However, analysis of employment characteristics, inter-firm linkages and conditions of firm formation reveals the dominance of independent and indigenous growth in the present wave of industrialization. Variations in firm characteristics between industrial sectors and economic environments indicate the need for more effective promotion policies, not least to contain intra-regional inequalities. LEWIS J. R. et WILLIAMS A. M. (1.
The Development of Priority Cervical Cancer Trials: A Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup Report

Since the late 1990s, when a spate of US studies reported the benefit of chemoradiation for cervical cancer, there has been a dearth of clinical trials in cervical cancer. This requires to be addressed with urgency because this disease is responsible for a quarter of a million deaths globally each year, mostly in developing countries, but therapeutic advances are required in all health care settings. The Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG) is a worldwide collaborative of leading national groups that develops and promotes multinational trials in gynecologic cancer. In recognition of the pressing need for action, the GCIG convened an international meeting with expert representations from most of the GCIG groups and selected large centers in low- and middle-income countries. The focus was to identify consensus on several concepts for clinical trials, which would be developed and promoted by the GCIG and launched with major international participation. The first half of the meeting was devoted to a resume of the current state of the knowledge and identifying the gaps most needing new evidence. The second half of the meeting was concerned with achieving consensus on the way forward. There were 2 principal outcomes. The first was a proposal to establish, under the umbrella of GCIG, a cervical cancer trials network of centers from countries currently outside GCIG (Eastern Europe, India, Thailand, Southern Africa, and South and Central America), which could increase international participation in trials, conducted within the principles of good clinical practice. The second was to identify the priorities for clinical trials. These included additional systemic therapy before or after chemoradiation; less radical surgery for small, early-stage tumors; the use of fewer fractions to improve cost-effectiveness of treatment in centers with limited resources; and chemotherapy to improve resectability of bulky tumors.
Ex-Post Evaluations of Demand Forecast Accuracy: A Literature Review

Abstract Travel demand forecasts play a crucial role in the preparation of decision support to policy-makers in the field of transport planning. The results feed directly into impact appraisals such as cost–benefit analyses and environmental impact assessments, which are mandatory for large public works projects in many countries. Over the last few decades, there has been increasing attention given to the lack of demand forecast accuracy. However, since data availability for comprehensive ex-post appraisals is problematic, such studies are still relatively rare. This study presents a review of the largest ex-post studies of demand forecast accuracy for transport infrastructure projects. The focus is threefold: to provide an overview of observed levels of demand forecast inaccuracy, to highlight key contextual and methodological differences between studies and to highlight key focus areas for future research in this field. The results show that inaccuracy remains problematic for road, rail and toll projects alike, but also how the lack of methodological clarity and consistency calls for a careful interpretation of these results. Mandatory, systematic ex-post evaluation programmes are suggested as a necessary tool to improve decision support, as data availability for ex-post studies is often remarkably poor even for internal audits.
Who Enjoys 'Trips' Abroad? An Empirical Analysis of Intellectual Property Rights in the Uruguay Round

Analysis of the Uruguay Round is extended by quantifying the impact of the TRIPs agreement. The static costs of raising the standards of patent protection are captured by the transfers of income between countries, with the majority of countries estimated to make net payments abroad, the United States being a major beneficiary. To offset these transfers the model provides estimates of the dynamic benefits from the greater incentive to innovate, revealing that there is potential for all countries to benefit from the TRIPs agreement in the long run. However, the distribution of these benefits is highly skewed towards developed countries.
Business performance and customer relationship management: The effect of IT, organisational contingency and business process on Taiwanese manufacturers

With the rapidly growing development of electronic commerce, global competition and changing customer needs, traditional business operating strategies have totally changed. Companies have to reconsider and re-engineer their business processes for customer satisfaction, and the efficiency of production and services from the viewpoint of customer relationship management. In this research, the authors discuss the relationship of information technology (IT), organisational contingency, business process re-engineering and organisation performance in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. The 800 companies surveyed in this study belong to Taiwan's manufacturing industry and are listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange 2005. Using canonical correlation tests and a multi-regression approach, the results present a significant positive relationship between organisation performance and the factors of IT-route integration, information sharing, supply chain integration, decentralisation and coordination, and business extension. The results show a positive interaction between IT and organisational contingency; and IT and business process, organisational contingency and business process.
Nitric oxide modulates the development and surgical reversal of renovascular hypertension in rats

Objective To evaluate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the development and unclipping-induced reversal of blood pressure and bilateral renal function in two-kidney, one clip (2K1C) Goldblatt hypertensive rats. Methods Goldblatt hypertensive rats were prepared by clipping the left renal artery 4 weeks before unclipping experiments. NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) was administered after clipping and during unclipping to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. Blood pressure and bilateral renal responses were measured. Results Chronic L-NAME treatment accelerated and aggravated blood pressure elevations and increased plasma nitrite and nitrate levels in 2K1C rats. Surgical removal of the renal artery clip induced profound reductions in blood pressure in rats with and without L-NAME treatment. However, the magnitude of the unclipping-induced depressor response at the first post-unclipping hour was significantly smaller in L-NAME-treated rats compared to those without L-NAME administration (15 ± 1 versus 22 ± 1%, P <0.05). Two hours after unclipping, blood pressure of both groups fell to a comparable, normal level. Acute intravenous infusion of L-NAME in established 2K1C hypertensive rats further increased blood pressure. Subsequent unclipping caused a depressor response similar to that observed in hypertensive rats treated chronically with L-NAME. Despite the marked decreases in blood pressure, unclipping induced striking increases in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urine flow and sodium and potassium excretion rates in the ipsilateral kidney. However, the magnitudes of increases in GFR and the diuretic and natriuretic responses in rats without L-NAME treatment were significantly greater than in rats with L-NAME administration. In contrast, unclipping reduced these function indices in the contralateral kidney to a similar level in rats with and without L-NAME treatment. Conclusions NO exerts vasodilator action and thereby lessens renal artery clipping-induced blood pressure elevation. Furthermore, unclipping-induced release of NO partially contributes to the early reduction in blood pressure and changes in bilateral renal function but does not directly mediate the normalization of blood pressure after unclipping in this hypertension model.
Managing Intrastate Low-Intensity Armed Conflict 1993–2004: A New Dataset

This article presents a new event dataset covering third-party measures in intrastate low-intensity conflict dyads for the period 1993–2004, Managing Low-Intensity Intrastate Conflict (MILC). The rationale behind MILC is to enable the systematic study of third-party conflict management activities that might contribute to preventing these minor conflicts from escalating to the level of full-scale war. Intrastate armed conflict dyads are followed, and third-party activities mapped, until the dyad escalates to full-scale war or the dyad becomes inactive. The dataset contains information on the intermediaries as well as the different types of measures undertaken. The data include measures such as different types of talks, good offices, arbitration, fact-finding missions, permanent observation missions, and peacekeeping. In addition, a wealth of novel descriptive findings is presented, such as the distribution of third-party efforts over regions as well as over individual conflict dyads. We notice that the Middle East attracts the most third-party involvement relative to the number of active conflict dyads. Asia, in contrast, is relatively neglected given the high number of conflicts on the continent. The trend in third-party activity over time is presented, and we show that the number of third-party efforts globally is relatively constant over the period of study with the exception of a dramatic spike in activity related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the years 2000–2002. The distribution of different types of measures and third parties is also presented. The most active third parties include several major powers and intergovernmental organizations, but also a few middle powers.
The Post-Announcement Performance of Dividend-Changing Companies: The Dividend-Signalling Hypothesis Revisited

This study revisits the dividend–signalling hypothesis by examining the post–announcement performance of U.K. companies which disclose dividend and earnings news to the capital market on the same day. For this purpose, we first analyse market–adjusted excess returns for three periods around the announcement and then examine the financial performance in the year of the announcement and in the subsequent five–year period. The near announcement excess returns and the announcement–year financial profiles provide strong evidence in support of the dividend–signalling hypothesis. However, in contrast to the predictions of the hypothesis, the longer–term results suggest that the companies which announce a reduction in both dividends and earnings (bad news companies) outperform their dividend–increasing counterparts.
Control Argumentation Frameworks

Dynamics of argumentation is the family of techniques concerned with the evolution of an argumentation framework (AF), for instance to guarantee that a given set of arguments is accepted. This work proposes Control Argumentation Frameworks (CAFs), a new approach that generalizes existing techniques, namely normal extension enforcement, by accommodating the possibility of uncertainty in dynamic scenarios. A CAF is able to deal with situations where the exact set of arguments is unknown and subject to evolution, and the existence (or direction) of some attacks is also unknown. It can be used by an agent to ensure that a set of arguments is part of one (or every) extension whatever the actual set of arguments and attacks. A QBF encoding of reasoning with CAFs provides a computational mechanism for determining whether and how this goal can be reached. We also provide some results concerning soundness and completeness of the proposed encoding as well as complexity issues.
Is natural openness or trade policy good for the environment?

Abstract In this paper, we estimate the individual effects of natural openness and trade policy on air pollution. Natural openness is the component of the trade share (imports and exports as a percentage of GDP) attributable to population, geography and factor endowment differences. We find that natural openness reduces air pollution, while trade policy has a limited impact. The implication is that ‘natural’ geographic and endowment differences play a more important role than deliberate trade policy decisions in explaining the trade and environment link.
The effects of countercyclical capital buffers on bank lending

This article provides a simulation on how the countercyclical capital buffer designed in the Basel III package could impact on bank lending. It finds that the buffer could help to reduce credit growth during booms and attenuate the credit contraction once it is released. This would help to dampen procyclicality in addition to the beneficial effects of higher capital levels in terms of higher banking sector resilience to shocks.
A Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Regulatory Element Enhances the Immunogenicity of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 DNA Vaccines in Mice and Nonhuman Primates

ABSTRACT Plasmid DNA vaccines elicit potent and protective immune responses in numerous small-animal models of infectious diseases. However, their immunogenicity in primates appears less potent. Here we investigate a novel approach that optimizes regulatory elements in the plasmid backbone to improve the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. Among various regions analyzed, we found that the addition of a regulatory sequence from the R region of the long terminal repeat from human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) to the cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer/promoter increased transgene expression 5- to 10-fold and improved cellular immune responses to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) antigens. In cynomolgus monkeys, DNA vaccines containing the CMV enhancer/promoter with the HTLV-1 R region (CMV/R) induced markedly higher cellular immune responses to HIV-1 Env from clades A, B, and C and to HIV-1 Gag-Pol-Nef compared with the parental DNA vaccines. These data demonstrate that optimization of specific regulatory elements can substantially improve the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines encoding multiple antigens in small animals and in nonhuman primates. This strategy could therefore be explored as a potential method to enhance DNA vaccine immunogenicity in humans.
A Coalition Game of the Baltic Sea Cod Fishery

The paper sets up a discrete-time, deterministic, coalition game model among the major agents exploiting the cod stock in Baltic Sea. The characteristic func-tion is constructed and the Shapley value and the nucleolus are used as one-point solution concepts. The paper identifies the problem with these sharing rules and develops a new sharing rule which takes into account the stability of cooperation. The paper contributes to the literature by introducing a connection between cooperative games (sharing rules) and non-cooperative games (stabil-ity).
Latin America's Emerging Local Politics

N O net tAW (TITLE 17 U.S. COOfe LATIN AMERICA'S EMERGING LOCAL POLITICS Jonathan Fox Jonathan Fox is associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This essay expands on presentations made to the Ford Foundation's Latin America and Caribbean Program (April 1993) and the Inter-American Dialogue (September 1993). D oes local democratization really matter for national politics? For those who value accountable government and civic participation, democracy at the local level is obviously important in and of itself. This essay makes a different point, however—that the degree of democratization of local government affects the prospects for national democratic governance. Most Latin American nations made the delicate transition from authoritarian to elected civilian regimes in the 1980s, but in the 1990s many still have not firmly consolidated their democratic gains. The wave of regime transitions in the 1980s created opportunities for experimentation with more honest and effective styles of governance, but so far most of the new regimes have failed to produce successful results at the national level. Traditional centralized, top-down approaches dominated national governance thoughout the region during the 1980s. Key characteristics included centralized and militarized police powers, appointed rather than elected mayors and governors, and extreme fiscal and bureaucratic centralization. These problems of top-down governance were compounded by systemic defects such as the lack of independent judicial authority and highly opaque, discretionary policy processes. Remarkably, most of these practices could be found across the entire political spectrum, from the moderate civilian governments of Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia to revolutionary Nicaragua and Cuba on the left and military-dominated E l Salvador, Guatemala, and pre-1989 Chile on the right. The view that policy solutions should necessarily be national is now Journal of Democracy Vol. 5, No. 2 April 1994
In Vivo Manganese–MR Imaging of Calcium Influx in Spontaneous Rat Pituitary Adenoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Rapid uptake of the calcium analog manganese (Mn2+) into spontaneous pituitary adenoma during MR imaging of aged rats generated the hypothesis that neuroendocrine tumors may have a corresponding increase in calcium influx required to trigger hormonal release. A goal of this study was to investigate the potential for clinical evaluation of pituitary adenoma by MR imaging combined with administration of Mn2+ (Mn-MR imaging). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mn-MR imaging was used to characterize the dynamic calcium influx in normal aged rat pituitary gland as well as spontaneous pituitary adenoma. To confirm the validity of Mn2+ as a calcium analog, we inhibited Mn2+ uptake into the olfactory bulb and pituitary gland of normal rats by using the calcium channel blocker verapamil. Rats with adenomas received fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning for characterization of tumor metabolism. Mn2+ influx was characterized in cultured pituitary adenoma cells. RESULTS: Volume of interest analysis of the normal aged pituitary gland versus adenoma indicated faster and increased calcium influx in adenoma at 1, 3, 11, and 48 hours. Mn2+ uptake into the olfactory bulb and pituitary gland of normal rats was inhibited by calcium channel blockers and showed dose-dependent inhibition on dynamic MR imaging. FDG-PET indicated correlation between tumor energy metabolism and Mn2+ influx as well as tumor size. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that adenomas have increased activity-dependent calcium influx compared with normal aged pituitary glands, suggesting a potential for exploitation in the clinical work-up of pituitary and other neuroendocrine tumors by developing Mn-MR imaging for humans.
Impact of the Securities Transaction Tax on Stock Markets

This article investigates the effects of the securities transaction tax (STT) on market trading volume and return volatility using Chinese data. We found strong evidence to support a negative relationship between STT and market trading volume. The shrinking of the tax base casts doubt on the idea of using STT to increase government revenue. Furthermore, the impact of STT on market volatility is mixed. Examination of dually listed stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong further corroborates these findings.
Experimental Physiology - Symposium Report Role of nitric oxide and prostacyclin as vasoactive hormones released by the endothelium

The endothelium lines the luminal surface of every blood vessel, allowing it contact with circulating blood elements, as well as the underlying vascular smooth muscle layer. In healthy vessels, the endothelium expresses constitutive forms of nitric oxide synthase (NOSIII) and cyclo-oxygenase (COX-1), which produce the vasoactive hormones NO and prostacyclin, respectively. Both NO and prostacyclin relax blood vessels and inhibit platelet activation. The actions of prostacyclin are mediated by cell surface prostacyclin (IP) receptors and/or intracellular peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)β. The actions of NO are mediated predominately by activation of intracellular guanylyl cyclase, leading to the formation of cGMP. In platelets, the actions of NO and prostacyclin are synergistic, but in vessels their actions are additive. In diseased vessels, inducible forms of NOS (NOSII) and cyclo-oxygeanse (COX-2) are expressed in vascular smooth muscle, resulting in the release of large amounts of NO, prostacyclin and prostaglandin E2. The relative contribution of NOSII and COX-2 to vascular inflammation is still debated, but is likely to result in both protective and damaging responses. The relative contribution of constitutive forms of NOS and COX, as well as interactions between IP, PPARβ and guanylyl cyclase pathways in vessels and platelets, is discussed.
Durable Goods Cycles

We show that a straight forward approximation of the distribution of durable goods holdings gives rise to a tractable equilibrium (S,s) model of durable demand. We analyze both competitive and monopoly supply. We show that equilibrium interactions lead to elongated impulse responses in demand, to procyclical markups in response to demand shocks, and to countercyclical markups in response to cost shocks.
Volatility and Spillover Effects of Yen Interventions

We consider the effects of interventions by the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) on the intraday volatility of the US dollar/Japanese yen (USD/JPY) exchange rates and their spillovers to volatility of the euro/JPY exchange rates. We use 15‐minute data during the period 2000–2004 and employ multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) modeling and quartile plots of intraday volatility to analyze the intraday effects of the BoJ interventions on exchange rate volatility. The results indicate that the BoJ interventions decrease daily volatility of the USD/JPY exchange rate but increase the volatility of the euro/JPY series. On intervention days, the intraday volatility has different patterns to those on non‐intervention days.