Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Meningothelial Proliferations in Mature Cystic Teratom of the Ovary: Evidence for the Common Presence of Cranially Derived Tissues Paralleling Anterior Embryonic Plate Development. An Analysis of 25 Consecutive Cases

Mature cystic teratomas (MCTs) of the ovary are typically composed of a cyst lined with neoplastic tumor cells recapitulating ectodermal differentiation including derivatives such as epidermis, dermis, and appendages (sebaceous glands), although mesodermal and endodermal derivatives can also be seen. After the observation of a meningothelial proliferation similar to ectopic meningothelial hamartoma (EMH) in a consult case of MCT and subsequently within dermal tissue in 2 consecutive MCTs, we wanted to assess the frequency of this finding and to consider its possible significance. Twenty-five consecutive cases of ovarian MCT (patient age ranging from 23 to 66 years, mean: 36.3 years; size ranging from 2.5 to 11.5 cm, mean: 6.1 cm) diagnosed in 2008 were retrieved from the archives at Brigham and Women's Hospital. All cases contained tissue that could be localized to the head and neck region including skin with abundant pilosebaceous units (scalp skin), brain, cartilage, bone, teeth, respiratory/sinonasal epithelium, and thyroid tissue. Ten of the 25 cases (40%) contained an EMA-positive meningothelial proliferation akin to EMH, including features such as psammomatous calcifications and pigmented dendritic cells. In all 10 cases, the meningothelial element was immediately adjacent to ectodermally derived skin with pilosebaceous units and glial tissue. This study shows that the presence of meningothelial tissue in MCT of the ovary is quite frequent and its appearance is similar to that of EMH. The similar morphologic appearance of the meningothelial proliferation in MCT to EMH, its localization to the dermal subcutaneous portion of MCT, and its frequent proximity to glial tissue supports the hypothesis that the tissue elements of ovarian MCT are primarily of the head and neck type (eg, scalp skin, brain, upper respiratory/sinonasal, and less commonly thyroid) suggesting that the neoplastic growth of MCT parallels normal anterior embryonic plate development with primarily the formation of the cranial (cephalad) portion of the embryo.
Stock Return Volatility, Operating Performance and Stock Returns: International Evidence on Drivers of the 'Low Volatility' Anomaly

This study highlights the link between stock return volatility, operating performance, and stock returns. Prior studies suggest that there is a ‘low volatility’ anomaly, where firms with a low stock return volatility out-perform firms with a high stock return volatility. This paper confirms that low volatility stocks earn higher returns than high volatility stocks in emerging markets and developed markets outside of North America. We also show that low volatility stocks have higher operating returns and this might explain why low volatility stocks earn higher stock returns. These results provide a partial explanation for the ‘low volatility effect’ that is independent from the existence of market anomalies or per se inefficiencies that might otherwise drive a low volatility effect. We emphasize the importance of controlling for stock return volatility when analyzing operating performance and stock performance.
A lattice model of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer

Abstmct-The development of a new three-port model of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer, employing linear systems theory, is presented. A discrete bidirectional lattice is used to describe mechanical wave propagation and continuous transfer functions to represent the electrical parameters. When presented in block-diagram format, an extremely valuable insight is gained into the nature of piezoelectric interaction. The lattice concept is extended to the analysis of multilayered structures and, when implemented in the discrete time domain, close agreement with experimental data is obtained. A number of experimental and simulation results are included for comparison. I. INTRODUCTION ONVENTIONAL models of the thickness-mode piezoelectric transducer invariably utilize transmissionline analogs in which the electromechanical properties of the system are evaluated by means of electrical network concepts. Examples of this include the equivalent circuits of Mason [l] and the more recent KLM [2] model, which uses a center-tapped transmission line to model acoustic wave propagation. In this form both models are also readily adapted for the analysis of multilayered transducer structures. However, electrical analogs possess some disadvantages which limit their flexibility when applied to piezoelectric transducer modelling [3]. Physical insight into the nature of the transduction process is often masked, and as a'result the influence of external electrical and mechanical load conditions on transducer behaviour is difficult to determine. To overcome this, an alternative strategy has been proposed by Hayward [3] who adopted a systems feedback approach to
A comparison of comorbidity in body dysmorphic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to compare 3 groups of patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and comorbid BDD and OCD with respect to clinical characteristics and to study their similarities and differences. METHODS Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with BDD, 20 diagnosed with comorbid BDD/OCD and 49 diagnosed with OCD were included in the study. Patients with BDD, comorbid BDD/OCD, and OCD were compared in terms of demographic and clinical variables and scores obtained from various scales. RESULTS Patients in the comorbid BDD/OCD and OCD groups tended to have higher anxiety scores than in BDD group. Any depressive disorder was more common in the comorbid BDD/OCD and OCD groups than in the BDD group. A significantly higher proportion of patients with BDD/OCD had any anxiety disorder than those with BDD. Subjects with BDD were significantly more likely than subjects with OCD to have narcissistic and avoidant personality disorders and any Axis II personality disorder. Finally, the rate of any cluster B personality disorder was higher in the BDD and BDD/OCD groups than in the OCD group. CONCLUSIONS Despite the similarities between BDD and OCD, these disorders appear to have different aspects especially on psychiatric comorbidity.
Climate Change and Sustainable Development Series Editor: Carlo Carraro Are Preferences for Environmental Quality Sensitive to Financial Funding Schemes? Evidence from a Marine Restoration Programme in the Black Sea

This paper uses a non-market valuation study to elicit consumers’ preferences for a marine restoration programme in the Black Sea aiming to reduce the level of public health risk from bathing and improve water quality and the overall level of marine biodiversity. In this context, we administer a stated choice experiment in coastal settlements in Ukraine and Turkey and employ two tax revenue reallocation schemes as payment vehicles. One proposes the financing of the marine restoration programme by the reduction of the public budget for renewable energy and the second by the reduction of the public budget on training for civil servants. We examine the stated preferences and the subsequently derived economic value estimates in the two treatments with the aim to investigate whether the trade-off implied by the funding scheme has implications for the valuation outcome. Results reveal that preferences and marginal rates of substitution between the non-price attributes under consideration differ significantly. In the civil servants’ budget reallocation scheme, the reallocation coefficient is positive, implying that ceteris paribus redistribution of public financial resources from this source is utility-enhancing. The magnitude of the results differs in the two considered countries mirroring their heterogeneity in political and cultural dimensions.
The South African wildlife ranching sector: a social accounting matrix Leontief multiplier analysis

Orientation: There is startlingly little economic research on the South African wildlife sector which contributes toward disputes regarding the economic contribution of the sector. Research purpose: The purpose of this article is to put into context the relative economic contribution of the wildlife ranching sector, as opposed to other land-use options in South Africa. Motivation for the study: Growth in the wildlife ranching sector at the cost of other traditional farming practices resulted in disagreements amongst various role players about the impact thereof on the national economy. The controversy can most probably be explained by different beliefs, coupled with the lack of a proper understanding and quantification of the wildlife ranching sector’s contribution toward the economy. Research methodology: The study employed a Social Accounting Matrix-based Leontief multiplier analysis for South Africa. Main findings: Results from the multiplier analysis revealed that developments within the wildlife ranching sector are likely to make a relatively more superior contribution towards the economy, especially when compared to similar land-use options such as extensive livestock production. Practical/managerial implications: It has been acknowledged by both academia and private sector that a major need exists for more research on the South African wildlife ranching industry, specifically looking at issues such as the industries, economic and social contributions, potentials and constraints. The research, therefore, contributes toward the depth of economic information and research regarding the South African wildlife sector. Contribution/value added: The research provides valuable information in dealing with the ‘popular belief’, especially amongst some of South Africa’s decision makers, namely, that growth in the wildlife ranching sector is not or does not have the ability to contribute significantly toward economic and socioeconomic factors.
Relationship between the mode of land redistribution, tenure security and agricultural credit use in KwaZulu-Natal

Data collected from interviews with new landowners in KwaZulu-Natal in 1999 show that households on four government-assisted projects had less tenure security than households that acquired land via private transactions. Households in government-assisted projects also used less agricultural credit and had less liquidity and less wealth. The probability of households using agricultural credit increased with more secure tenure, more household wealth (number of durable goods), higher liquidity and higher levels of household education. It is recommended that more emphasis be placed on redistributing land through the private market and encouraging the creation of management committees or joint enterprises to utilise the land settled by large groups of beneficiaries. This would be a first step towards making tenure more secure, most notably in the government land reform projects. More secure tenure would improve the creditworthiness of emerging farmers, thereby creating incentives for investing in improvements and complementary inputs to raise agricultural performance.
War of words: the impact of Russian state television on the Russian Internet

How effective is Russian state television in framing the conflict in Ukraine that began with the Euromaidan protests and what is its impact on Russian Internet users? We carried out a content analysis of Dmitrii Kiselev's “News of the Week” show, which allowed us to identify the two key frames he used to explain the conflict – World War II-era fascism and anti-Americanism. Since Kiselev often reduces these frames to buzzwords, we were able to track the impact of these words on Internet users by examining search query histories on Yandex and Google and by developing quantitative data to complement our qualitative analysis. Our findings show that much of what state media produces is not effective, but that the “fascist” and anti-American frames have had lasting impacts on Russian Internet users. We argue that it does not make sense to speak of competition between a “television party” and an “Internet party” in Russia since state television has a strong impact in setting the agenda for the Internet and society as a whole. Ultimately, the relationship between television and the Internet in Russia is a continual loop, with each affecting the other.
Sequential Impact of General Interest Rate Changes on the Interest Expense of Publicly Traded Restaurant Firms

It is generally known that restaurant firms are very capital intensive, largely due to the significant amount of capital expenditures required to expand. Therefore, restaurant firms are critically dependent upon borrowed capital for financing new locations. This would imply that interest expense is a significant expense for most restaurant firms. Therefore, any changes in the interest rates in the general economy have the potential of having a major impact on restaurant firm earnings, even without an accompanying change in the eating-out behavior of consumers. The interest of this study was in determining the sequential impact of the general interest rates (federal funds target rate) on the firm specific effective after-tax interest rate, which are, in turn, related to the cost of capital of the firm. Empirical evidence on this relationship is provided, along with magnitude and lag information of the relationship. Both short-term and long-term debt, as well as quarterly and annual data of firms, are used. Findings indicate that changes in the federal funds interest rate have small sequential impacts on the effective interest rates for restaurant firms. In other words, changes in federal rates affect the effective interest rates of restaurant firms in a decreasing fashion. The more recent the changes in federal rates, the less the impact on the effective interest rates.
Total Disc Replacement for Chronic Discogenic Low Back Pain: A Cochrane Review

Study Design. Systematic literature review. Objective. To assess the effect of total disc replacement for chronic low back pain due to lumbar degenerative disc disease compared with fusion or other treatment options. Summary of Background Data. There is an increasing use in disc replacement devices for degenerative disc disease, but their effectiveness compared with other interventions such as fusion of the motion segment or conservative treatment remains unclear. Methods. A comprehensive search in PubMedCentral, MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and FDA trials register was conducted. Randomized controlled trials comparing total disc replacement with any other intervention for degenerative disc disease were included. Risk of bias was assessed using the criteria of the Cochrane Back Review Group. Quality of evidence was graded according to the GRADE approach. Two review authors independently selected studies, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. Results and upper bounds of confidence intervals were compared with predefined clinically relevant differences. Results. We included 7 randomized controlled trials with a follow-up of 24 months. There is risk of bias in the included studies due to sponsoring and absence of any kind of blinding. One study compared disc replacement with rehabilitation and found a significant advantage in favor of surgery, which, however, did not reach the predefined threshold. Six studies compared disc replacement with fusion and found that the mean improvement in visual analogue scale score of back pain was 5.2 mm higher (2 studies; 95% confidence interval 0.2–10.3) with a low quality of evidence. The improvement of Oswestry disability index score at 24 months in the disc replacement group was 4.3 points more than in the fusion group (5 studies; 95% confidence interval 1.85–6.68) with a low quality of evidence. Both upper bounds of the confidence intervals were below the predefined clinically relevant difference. Conclusion. Although statistically significant, the differences in clinical improvement were not beyond generally accepted boundaries for clinical relevance. Prevention of adjacent level disease and/or facet joint degeneration was not properly assessed. Therefore, because we think that harm and complications may occur after some years, the spine surgery community should be prudent to adopt this technology on a large scale, despite the fact that total disc replacement seems to be effective in treating low back pain in selected patients, and in the short term is at least equivalent to fusion surgery.
The Dilemma of Plants: To Grow or Defend

Physiological and ecological constraints play key roles in the evolution of plant growth patterns, especially in relation to defenses against herbivores. Phenotypic and life history theories are unified within the growth-differentiation balance (GDB) framework, forming an integrated system of theories explaining and predicting patterns of plant defense and competitive interactions in ecological and evolutionary time. Plant activity at the cellular level can be classified as growth (cell division and enlargement) of differentiation (chemical and morphological changes leading to cell maturation and specialization). The GDB hypothesis of plant defense is premised upon a physiological trade-off between growth and differentiation processes. The trade-off between growth and defense exists because secondary metabolism and structural reinforcement are physiologically constrained in dividing and enlarging cells, and because they divert resources from the production of new leaf area. Hence the dilemma of plants: They must grow fast enough to complete, yet maintain the defenses necessary to survive in the presence of pathogens and hervivores. The physiological trade-off between growth and differentiation processes interacts with herbivory and plant-plant competition to manifest itself as a genetic trade-off between growth and defense in the evolution of plant life history strategies. Evolutionary theories of plant defense are reviewed. We also extend a standard growth rate model by separating its ecological and evolutionary components,and formalizing the role of competition in the evolution of plant defense. We conclude with a conceptual model of the evolution of plant defense in which plant physioligical trade-offs interact with the abiotic environment, competition and herbivory.
The Stock-REIT Relationship and Optimal Asset Allocations

In this paper, the marginal effects of changes (due to non-stationarity or estimation errors) in the REIT-stock risk premium and the REIT-stock correlation on the optimal portfolio asset mix of REITs, stocks, and bonds are determined. Employing a mean variance utility function and considering different levels of investor risk aversion, the findings reveal that the expected return of REITs, relative to that of stocks, is a much more important factor than the REIT-stock correlation in making portfolio decisions. A 1% change in the forecast return for REITs dramatically impacts optimal portfolio allocations for investors of all risk levels. A significant change of 0.1 in the REIT stock correlation, on the other hand, has only minimal impact on optimal portfolio weights.
The Psychological Effects of Income Testing Income-Support Benefits

One of the chief arguments against income-tested (welfare) programs, and for their replacement by a system of non-income-tested benefits, is that welfare is "stigmatizing" and therefore has negative psychological consequences for recipients. This study compares single-parent women who are recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with those who are nonrecipients of AFDC on two psychological status measures. It then examines the impacts that entering and leaving AFDC have on psychological well-being (PWB). There are fairly consistent results to suggest that AFDC recipients do have lower PWB than nonrecipients, but there is only mixed support for concluding that entering or leaving AFDC influences PWB.
Board Composition and Corporate Control: Evidence from the Insurance Industry

The authors investigate the role of outside directors in the corporate-control process by exploiting variation in ownership structure within the insurance industry. In mutuals, ownership rights are not transferable. This inalienability restricts the effectiveness of control mechanisms like external takeovers, thus increasing the importance of monitoring by outside directors. Consistent with this hypothesis, the authors find that mutuals employ more outside directors than stocks; firms that switch between stock and mutual characters make corresponding changes in board composition; mutuals' bylaws more frequently stipulate participation by outside directors; and mutuals with more outside directors make lower expenditures on salaries, wages, and rent. Copyright 1997 by University of Chicago Press.
Effects of platforms on new product development projects

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects of platforms on new product development (NPD) projects. Emphasis has been put on the following effect categories: project performance, process changes, and the use of performance measurements. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on data collected in a survey of Swedish manufacturing firms. The survey collected data on platform characteristics and NPD characteristics. This paper reports correlations and regression analyses of the different variables. Findings - The application of a platform strategy leads to a significant increase of component commonality on the product program level. However, it was observed that firms still have problems with sticking to project budgets in terms of cost and lead-time restrictions. Moreover, platform implementation often involves significant process adaptations. Finally, it showed that firms are hardly applying measurements to follow up on their platform-related activities. Research limitations/implications - It appears that predictions made in current literature regarding platform effects are not generally valid for all firms. Therefore, this study indicates that there may be contingencies affecting the applicability of a platform strategy for specific firms. Practical implications - Owing to potential contingencies affecting the applicability of platforms, firms have to carefully consider if a platform strategy is promising in their specific situation. Moreover, product platform implementation does not only demand an adaptation of product structures but also involves significant process adaptations. Originality/value - By statistically testing effects of platforms on product development performance, the tendency of the current literature towards case-based research is overcome. Hereby, the findings of current literature are challenged in terms of their generalizability.
Fancy a Stay at the 'Hotel California'? The Role of Easy Entry and Exit for FDI

Investment incentives targeted at attracting multinational firms have been extensively researched, and empirical evidence has shown them to be influential. The same is not true of exit restrictions. Yet, as recent theory suggests, there may be a trade-off between entry incentives and ease of exit. This paper focuses on that trade-off in the case of US multinationals in 33 host countries. An indicator of labour market regulations is used as a measure of ease of exit. Results suggest that both entry incentives and labour market regulations are important and ignoring the latter neglects an important dimension in firms' location decision. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.