Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Common Stochastic Trends and Convergence of European Union Stock Markets

Using data obtained from the OECD's monthly economic indicators, the authors convert measures of stock performance to real Deutschemark units and present evidence on the number of common stochastic trends in ten EU stock markets. Moreover, they measure the degree of convergence of these stock markets using the time-varying parameter (Kalman filter) methodology suggested by A. G. Haldane and S. G. Hall (1991). Copyright 1997 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Stock Options and Firm Performance: New Evidence from the French Market

This study investigates the effect of stock option‐based compensation on the short‐term and long‐term performance of French companies. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first empirical evidence describing the market reaction following initiations and renewals of Employee Stock Option (ESO) plans in France. We find that the French market reacts positively to initiations of ESO plans but does not consider their renewal as relevant information. Our results on the long‐term effect of ESO plans suggest that neither the size nor the value of the grants affect the firm's accounting and market performance. Similarly, corporate performance prior to the grant has no explanatory power of the size or value of the grant. This implies that, over our sample period, the relationship between option‐based compensation and corporate performance in France was inexistent, regardless of the direction considered.
High prepregnancy body-mass index--a maternal-fetal risk factor.

Obesity is one of the most common nutritional problems complicating pregnancy in developed countries. Maternal obesity has been defined in various ways, including a body weight above 80 to 114 kg (175 to 250 lb), a weight 50 to 300 percent more than ideal prepregnancy weight for height, and a maternal body-mass index (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) from 26 to 29 (for overweight) or above 29 (for obesity). There is general agreement that maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk of medical and puerperal complications, including hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes .
Discrete Dynamic Causal Modeling and Its Relationship with Directed Information

This paper explores the discrete Dynamic Causal Modeling (DDCM) and its relationship with Directed Information (DI). We prove the conditional equivalence between DDCM and DI in characterizing the causal relationship between two brain regions. The theoretical results are demonstrated using fMRI data obtained under both resting state and stimulus based state. Our numerical analysis is consistent with that reported in previous study.
Functional characterization of the transactivation properties of the PDX-1 homeodomain protein

Pancreas formation is prevented in mice carrying a null mutation in the PDX-1 homeoprotein, demonstrating a key role for this factor in development. PDX-1 can also bind to and activate transcription from cis-acting regulatory sequences in the insulin and somatostatin genes, which are expressed in pancreatic islet beta and delta cells, respectively. In this study, we compared the functional properties of PDX-1 with those of the closely related Xenopus homeoprotein XIHbox8. Analysis of chimeras between PDX-1, XIHbox8, and the DNA-binding domain of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcription factor GAL4 revealed that their transactivation domain was contained within the N-terminal region (amino acids 1 to 79). Detailed mutagenesis of this region indicated that transactivation is mediated by three highly conserved sequences, spanning amino acids 13 to 22 (subdomain A), 32 to 38 (subdomain B), and 60 to 73 (subdomain C). These sequences were also required by PDX-1 to synergistically activate insulin enhancer-mediated transcription with another key insulin gene activator, the E2A-encoded basic helix-loop-helix E2-5 and E47 proteins. These results indicated that N-terminal sequences conserved between the mammalian PDX-1 and Xenopus XIHbox8 proteins are important in transcriptional activation. Stable expression of the PDX-1 deltaABC mutant in the insulin- and PDX-1-expressing betaTC3 cell line resulted in a threefold reduction in the rate of endogenous insulin gene transcription. Strikingly, the level of the endogenous PDX-1 protein was reduced to very low levels in these cells. These results suggest that PDX-1 is not absolutely essential for insulin gene expression in betaTC3 cells. We discuss the possible significance of these findings for insulin gene transcription in islet beta cells.
Determinants of Fertility at the Macro Level: New Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean

This article analyses the factors associated with the decline of fertility in Latin America. Based on the microeconomic approach to fertility determinants, we use macro panel data for Latin American and Caribbean countries for the period 1960-2000. We estimate fertility determinants and test for the robustness of alternative specifications and different assumptions about the exogeneity of child mortality. Our results indicate that differences in fertility rates in time and among countries in the region in this period are mainly related to women’s education and, to a lesser extent, to GDP evolution and the process of urbanization.
Incidence of Fractures Attributable to Abuse in Young Hospitalized Children: Results From Analysis of a United States Database

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to assess the proportion of children with fractures attributable to abuse and the incidence of fractures caused by abuse among children <36 months of age who were hospitalized in the United States. METHODS. We used the Kids' Inpatient Database, which has discharge data on 80% of acute pediatric hospitalizations in the United States, for 3 time periods (1997, 2000, and 2003). Fractures attributable to abuse in children <36 months of age were identified by both an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code for fracture and a diagnosis external-cause-of-injury code for abuse. Weighted estimates of the incidence were calculated. RESULTS. Among children <36 months of age who were hospitalized with fractures, the proportions of cases attributable to abuse were 11.9% in 1997, 11.9% in 2000, and 12.1% in 2003. The proportions of cases attributable to abuse decreased with increasing age; for example, in 2003, the proportions attributable to abuse were 24.9% for children <12 months of age, 7.2% for children 12 to 23 months of age, and 2.9% for children 24 to 35 months of age. In 2003, the incidence of fractures caused by abuse was 15.3 cases per 100000 children <36 months of age. The incidence was 36.1 cases per 100000 among children <12 months of age; this decreased to 4.8 cases per 100000 among 12- to 23-month-old children and 4.8 cases per 100000 among 24- to 35-month-old children. CONCLUSIONS. The Kids' Inpatient Database can be used to provide reasonable estimates of the incidence of hospitalization with fractures attributable to child abuse. For children <12 months of age, the incidence was 36.1 cases per 100000, a rate similar to that of inflicted traumatic brain injury (25–32 cases per 100000).
Evidence of the Environmental Kuznets’ Curve among US Counties and the Impact of Social Capital

In this applied study, we use US county data to examine patterns in fine particulates (also called fine particulate matter or PM2.5) ambient concentrations as a measure of air pollution within the framework of the environmental Kuznets’ curve (EKC). We pay particular attention to the role of social capital and notions of ruralness. Consistent with expectations, we find that peak of the EKC ranges between US$24,000 and US$25,500 for PM2.5 concentrations depending on the estimator used. Also consistent with expectations, higher levels of social capital places downward pressure on PM2.5 concentrations, but that effect is weaker in more rural areas. The implication is that the promotion of economic growth may harm the environment at lower levels of income but will improve the environment as income continues to grow.
Unilateral Versus Bilateral Neck Exploration for Primary Hyperparathyroidism: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectiveTo compare unilateral and bilateral neck exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism in a prospective randomized controlled trial. Summary Background DataBased on the assumption that unilateral neck exploration for a solitary parathyroid adenoma should reduce operating time and morbidity, a variety of minimally invasive procedures have challenged the idea that bilateral neck exploration is the gold standard for the surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism. However, to date, no open prospective randomized trial has been published comparing unilateral and bilateral neck exploration. MethodsNinety-one patients with the preoperative diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism were randomized to unilateral or bilateral neck exploration. Preoperative scintigraphy and intraoperative parathyroid hormone measurement guided the unilateral exploration. Gross morphology and frozen section determined the extent of parathyroid tissue resection in the bilateral group. The primary end-point was the use of postoperative medication for hypocalcemic symptoms. ResultsEighty-eight patients (97%) were cured. Histology and cure rate did not differ between the two groups. Patients in the bilateral group consumed more oral calcium, had lower serum calcium values on postoperative days 1 to 4, and had a higher incidence of early severe symptomatic hypocalcemia compared with patients in the unilateral group. In addition, for patients undergoing surgery for a solitary parathyroid adenoma, unilateral exploration was associated with a shorter operative time. The cost for the two procedures did not differ. ConclusionsPatients undergoing a unilateral procedure had a lower incidence of biochemical and severe symptomatic hypocalcemia in the early postoperative period compared with patients undergoing bilateral exploration. Unilateral neck exploration with intraoperative parathyroid hormone assessment is a valid surgical strategy in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism with distinct advantages, especially for patients with solitary parathyroid adenoma.
Does the Quality of Financial Advice Affect Prices?

Using a large data sample of 58,562 new municipal issues covering the period from 1984 to 2002, we examine whether the quality of advice provided by a financial advisor affects new issue interest costs. We find that higher-quality financial advisors are associated with statistically significant decreases in new issue yields. The effect of advisor quality on yields is more pronounced for revenue, negotiated, and opaque bond issues than for general obligation and competitively sold issues. However, issuers of revenue or negotiated bonds are more likely to choose a low-quality advisor.
Vertical Fiscal Imbalances and the Accumulation of Government Debt

The implications of delegating fiscal decision making power to sub-national governments has become an area of significant interest over the past two decades, in the expectation that these reforms will lead to better and more efficient provision of public goods and services. The move towards decentralization has, however, not been homogeneously implemented on the revenue and expenditure side: decentralization has materialized more substantially on the latter than on the former, creating vertical fiscal imbalances. These imbalances measure the extent to which sub-national governments' expenditures are financed through their own revenues. This mismatch between own revenues and expenditures may have negative consequences for public finances performance, for example by softening the budget constraint of sub-national governments. Using a large sample of countries covering a long time period from the IMF's Government Finance Statistics Yearbook, this paper is the first to examine the effects of vertical fiscal imbalances on fiscal performance through the accumulation of government debt. Our findings suggest that vertical fiscal imbalances are indeed relevant in explaining government debt accumulation, and call for a degree of caution when promoting fiscal decentralization.
Privatization and Liberalization: Costs and Benefits in the Presence of Wage-Bargaining

The most important economic motive for privatization and liberalization is to reduce costs, which are believed to be higher in a public monopoly for several reasons, including internal rent capture. We assume that there is wage-bargaining both before and after privatization and liberalization. Wages are then in most cases reduced by liberalization but not by privatization as such. Social welfare may increase after liberalization with decentralized wage-bargaining if many firms enter, if the employees' bargaining strength is high and if there is no need of vertical separation. However, the social costs of privatization and liberalization are more likely to dominate despite free entry if sunk costs are high, and will always dominate under central wage-bargaining or vertical separation. Copyright © 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © CIRIEC 2008.
C-type natriuretic peptide in complicated pregnancy: increased secretion precedes adverse events.

CONTEXT C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), a vasoactive product of the endothelium, is markedly increased during placentation in ovine pregnancy and is further stimulated by nutrient restriction. Whether CNP products change in human pregnancy is unknown. OBJECTIVES The objective of the study was to compare serial changes in maternal plasma CNP peptides during normal pregnancy with changes in pregnancy complicated by adverse events and relate these to fetal growth and placental CNP content. DESIGN This was a prospective observational study undertaken in a tertiary care center. METHODS We studied changes in maternal plasma aminoterminal proCNP (NTproCNP) and CNP at monthly intervals, fetal growth, and placental and umbilical plasma CNP peptides in 51 women, 28 of whom experienced an adverse event and 23 were uneventful. Age matched healthy nonpregnant women served as a reference range for NTproCNP. RESULTS Compared with nonpregnant women, maternal plasma NTproCNP in an uneventful pregnancy was significantly reduced from first sampling (16 wk gestation) until 36 weeks. In contrast, in complicated pregnancy, levels did not decline and were significantly higher (P < .001 by ANOVA) than in normal pregnancy from 20 weeks. Highest values occurred in women later developing hypertension and fetal growth disorders. Placental concentration of NTproCNP was unrelated to maternal NTproCNP but strongly correlated with cord plasma levels. CONCLUSIONS Maternal NTproCNP is significantly raised in women who later exhibit a range of obstetric adverse events. Lack of association with placental concentrations suggests that these changes represent an adaptive response within the maternal circulation to a threatened nutrient supply to the fetus.
Patient self‐management of oral anticoagulation and external quality assessment procedures

Summary. The role of external quality assessment (EQA) is a contentious issue for patient self‐management (PSM) of oral anticoagulation. Patients from general practices in the West Midlands undertaking PSM were recruited to compare efficacy of patients' and health professionals' EQA procedure using the UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme (NEQAS). Patients using Coaguchek (Roche Diagnostics) were trained to perform EQA as part of their PSM training. They undertook PSM for 26 weeks and were asked to perform EQA using material provided by the UK NEQAS twice at home without supervision and twice at the practice with supervision. Patients' results were compared with health care professional users of Coaguchek S. Twenty‐three PSM patients were compared with 75 health care professional users of the NEQAS scheme. The PSM group international normalized ratio (INR) percentage time in range was 74%. There was no significant difference in the median results on NEQAS samples obtained by the patients and those obtained by professionals. Three patients were outwith consensus (results > 15% from the median INR) on more than one occasion. Patients were able to perform the EQA tests competently. The data show that good agreement can be achieved between patients analysing the same EQA samples, with coefficients of variation ranging from 22·3% to as low as 5·4%. Further study is required to determine how precision within these EQA schemes relates to the stability of treatment in patients' management of their own anticoagulation.
The Neuron-specific K-Cl Cotransporter, KCC2

The neuron-specific K-Cl cotransporter (KCC2) is hypothesized to function as an active Cl− extrusion pathway important in postsynaptic inhibition mediated by ligand-gated anion channels, like γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) and glycine receptors. To understand better the functional role of KCC2 in the nervous system, we developed polyclonal antibodies to a KCC2 fusion protein and used these antibodies to characterize and localize KCC2 in the rat cerebellum. The antibodies specifically recognized the KCC2 protein which is an ∼140-kDa glycoprotein detectable only within the central nervous system. The KCC2 protein displayed a robust and punctate distribution in primary cultured retinal amacrine cells known to form exclusively GABAAergic synapses in culture. In immunolocalization studies, KCC2 was absent from axons and glia but was highly expressed at neuronal somata and dendrites, indicating a specific postsynaptic distribution of the protein. In the granule cell layer, KCC2 exhibited a distinct colocalization with the β2/β3-subunits of the GABAAreceptor at the plasma membrane of granule cell somata and at cerebellar glomeruli. KCC2 lightly labeled the plasma membrane of Purkinje cell somata. Within the molecular layer, KCC2 exhibited a distinctly punctate distribution along dendrites, indicating it may be highly localized at inhibitory synapses along these processes. The distinct postsynaptic localization of KCC2 and its colocalization with GABAA receptor in the cerebellum are consistent with the putative role of KCC2 in neuronal Cl− extrusion and postsynaptic inhibition.
Role of Protease Activated Receptor 2 in Experimental Acute Lung Injury and Lung Fibrosis

Protease activated receptor 2 (PAR2) is widely‐distributed (lung, liver, kidney, etc.) and expressed by variety of cells (i.e. leukocytes, epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblast). PAR2 may participate in many pathological processes, such as, inflammation, injury, as well as fibrosis. Therefore, in this study, we tested whether PAR2 would exert a role in acid‐induced acute lung injury, E. coli pneumonia, bleomycin‐induced acute lung injury and fibrosis. Acid, E. coli, or bleomycin were intratracheally instilled into the lungs of both wildtype and PAR2 knockout mice to detect differences in pulmonary edema, lung vascular permeability, lung fibrosis, and other parameters. Knockout of PAR2 did not affect the extent of pulmonary edema and lung vascular permeability in acid‐induced acute lung injury. Also, both activation of PAR2 in the airspaces of the lung and deletion of PAR2 did not alter the magnitude of pulmonary edema and lung vascular permeability in E. coli pneumonia. Finally, PAR2 deficiency did not affect the severity of lung inflammation and lung fibrosis in bleomycin‐induced acute lung injury and lung fibrosis models. Thus, PAR2 does not appear to play a critical role in the pathogeneses of experimental acid‐induced acute lung injury, E. coli pneumonia, and bleomycin‐induced acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Anat Rec, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pharmacokinetics of meloxicam in plasma and urine of horses.

OBJECTIVE To determine pharmacokinetic parameters for meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in horses. ANIMALS 8 healthy horses. PROCEDURE In the first phase of the study, horses were administered meloxicam once in accordance with a 2 x 2 crossover design (IV or PO drug administration; horses fed or not fed). The second phase used a multiple-dose regimen (daily oral administration of meloxicam for 14 days), with meloxicam administered at the recommended dosage (0.6 mg/kg). Plasma and urine concentrations of meloxicam were measured by use of validated methods with a limit of quantification of 10 ng/mL for plasma and 20 ng/mL for urine. RESULTS Plasma clearance was low (mean +/- SD; 34 +/- 0.5 mL/kg/h), steady-state volume of distribution was limited (0.12 +/- 0.018 L/kg), and terminal half-life was 8.54 +/- 3.02 hours. After oral administration, bioavailability was nearly total regardless of feeding status (98 +/- 12% in fed horses and 85 +/- 19% in nonfed horses). During once-daily administration for 14 days, we did not detect drug accumulation in the plasma. Meloxicam was eliminated via the urine with a urine-to-plasma concentration that ranged from 13 to 18. Concentrations were detected for a relatively short period (3 days) after administration of the final daily dose. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results of this study support once-daily administration of meloxicam regardless of the feeding status of a horse and suggest a period of at least 3 days before urine concentrations of meloxicam reach concentrations that could be used in drug control programs.
Screening of infants for strabismus and refractive errors with two‐flash photorefraction with and without cycloplegia

Abstract 35 1/2‐year‐old and 31 1‐year‐old children were screened by two‐flash photorefraction for strabismus and refractive errors with and without cycloplegia. The sensitivity of the method to detect refractive errors was tested with an optical demonstration eye. All the children were examined clinically to compare the sensitivity of the method. Every child co‐operated with the photography, but 4 children did not co‐operate in the clinical examination and were thus excluded from the refractive material, as were also two cases of esotropias which were found. There were no false positive or negative strabismus cases. The total refractive material consisted of 120 eyes. The method was clearly more sensitive for refractive errors with cycloplegia. Even one hyperopia of +5.25 D(OD) and +6.0 D(OS) was underestimated without cycloplegia. In the material there were no cases of anisometropia of over 1.0 D in spherical equivivalent that would cause a potential risk for amblyopia. A rather good correlation of refractive results existed with the method in cycloplegia, with partial overlapping of emmetropic and moderate hyperopic cases. The screening of children aged 1/2‐1 year with two‐flash photorefraction is simple to perform. The underestimation of symmetrical hyperopias should be accepted when cycloplegia is not used. Only one successful photograph of each child is necessary for the interpretation.