Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glutamate carboxypeptidase II does not process amyloid‐β peptide

The accumulation of amyloid‐β (Aβ) peptide is thought to be a major causative mechanism of Alzheimer's disease. Aβ accumulation could be caused by dysregulated processing of amyloid precursor protein, yielding excessive amounts of Aβ, and/or by inefficient proteolytic degradation of the peptide itself. Several proteases have been described as Aβ degradation enzymes, most notably metalloendopeptidases, aspartic endopeptidases, and some exopeptidases. Recently a report suggested that another metallopeptidase, glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), can also cleave Aβ. GCPII is a zinc exopeptidase that cleaves glutamate from N‐acetyl‐L‐aspartyl‐L‐glutamate in the central nervous system and from pteroylpoly‐γ‐glutamate in the jejunum. GCPII has been proposed as a promising therapeutic target for disorders caused by glutamate neurotoxicity. However, an Aβ‐degrading activity of GCPII would compromise potential pharmaceutical use of GCPII inhibitors, because the enzyme inhibition might lead to increased Aβ levels and consequently to Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, we analyzed the reported Aβ‐degrading activity of GCPII using highly purified recombinant enzyme and synthetic Aβ. We did not detect any Aβ degradation activity of GCPII or its homologue even under prolonged incubation at a high enzyme to substrate ratio. These results are in good agreement with the current detailed structural understanding of the substrate specificity and enzyme‐ligand interactions of GCPII. —Sedlák, F. , Šácha, P., Blechová, M. , Březinová, A. , Šafařík, M. , Šebestík, J., Konvalinka, J. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II does not process amyloid‐β peptide. FASEB J. 27, 2626‐2632 (2013). www.fasebj. org
Specific anesthesia‐induced lung volume changes from induction to emergence: a pilot study

Studies aimed at maintaining intraoperative lung volume to reduce post‐operative pulmonary complications have been inconclusive because they mixed up the effect of general anesthesia and the surgical procedure. Our aims were to study: (1) lung volume during the entire course of anesthesia without the confounding effects of surgical procedures; (2) the combination of three interventions to maintain lung volume; and (3) the emergence phase with focus on the restored activation of the respiratory muscles.
Age Trajectories of Social Policy Preferences - Support for Intergenerational Transfers from a Demographic Perspective

The political discourse on demographic change has gained momentum in many developed countries. When it began, the discussion centred on the question of how to influence population ageing through political means (e.g., by raising fertility rates). But political decision makers now seem to be concerned about the consequences of demographic change on societal dynamics, especially intergenerational relations. This is particularly evident in Germany, where the latest pension increase provoked a discussion about a possible transformation of the political system into a “gerontocracy”, in which the elderly control public resources to their own benefit. In this paper, we investigate whether there is evidence for such a scenario by looking at two main questions. First, what is the effect of age on preferences toward social policies, which organise public transfers between generations (family and pension policies)? Second, to what extent does a possible age effect depend on further demographic factors, such as parenthood and marriage, which represent the framework of an individual’s life course? In order to answer these questions, we use recent survey data (GGS 2005 and PPAS 2003), which we analyse by applying standard linear models as well as Generalised Additive Models. The latter allow us to identify the trajectories of a possible age effect and its dependency on other demographic variables. In contrast to most existing studies, our analyses show clear age effects: older people are less prone to support a variety of transfers to families than younger respondents. At the same time, the elderly are more prone to support pension policy reforms that put an even greater burden on the younger generation. We can also show that the age effects found are not always linear and follow different trajectories across the life course. We therefore argue that classical economic concepts cannot fully explain age-based support for intergenerational transfers. Age effects have to be seen in light of further demographic variables beyond a solely economically defined life cycle.
The importance of neglected tropical diseases in sustaining leprosy programmes.

International attention and funding has been focused on killing disease such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, for example through Millennium Development Goal 6. Until recently, other diseases responsible for considerable morbidity affecting an estimated one billion people, as well as mortality, had been relatively neglected. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) programme is an initiative that brings together efforts to tackle a group of 17 neglected diseases that affect over one billion people worldwide. This grouping includes leprosy and provides an opportunity for leprosy programmes to work synergistically with other disease programmes in a more efficient and sustainable way. NTDs have much in common. They often co-exist and are associated with poverty, affecting large numbers of people who lack visibility and a political voice. Many of the programmes addressing individual NTDs have worked in isolation through vertical programmes with disease specific funding streams. Like leprosy, many of those affected by NTDs experience stigma and discrimination with women, children and migrants being especially vulnerable. There are also common underlying causes based on poverty, poor environments, inequity and complex social determinants. Five different approaches are proposed to tackle NDTs, intensive case management by early diagnosis and treatment is the approach used in leprosy but it is also the approach used for Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis and yaws. Clearly there are opportunities for integration between leprosy and other NTDs where they co-exist for example in training, implementation, supervision, drug distribution, monitoring and evaluation. A framework has been proposed to analyse NTD control partnerships. The potential to develop such
The Use of Financial Data to Monitor Competing Models of Firm Growth

This paper examines three possible explanations for firm growth: 1) a firm grows according to the growth of sales revenue; 2) a firm grows according to cost savings; 3) a firm grows according to the two factors simultaneously. The paper introduces a new measure for firm growth based on sales-weighted growth of fixed assets. The estimation method uses the properties of the discriminant analysis to build three Z-score models, each of which discriminates low-growth firms from high-growth firms based on: a) sales ratios; b) cost ratios; c) sales and cost ratios together. The results show that the three discriminant models have approximately the same discriminant power (60%). This means that revenue and cost factors are used simultaneously as drivers of firm growth. This result supports the notion that Gibrat's and Viner's theories of firm growth complement each other. The results have practical implications for financial managers regarding the sales and cost factors that are to be considered to promote firm growth.
Vive les différences? Voice in French MNCs' overseas workplaces: a comparative study of voice in French, German and US subsidiaries in the UK

Foreign-owned firms help to disseminate management practices across UK companies; this includes the ability of indigenous firms to learn improved human resource management (HRM) practices from leading foreign companies. Analysing the transfer of HRM policies forms an important strand of the international HRM and comparative capitalisms literatures; however, large-scale, comparative studies of voice patterns in German, US and, in particular, French subsidiaries in the UK are limited. This paper draws on a major survey that includes the, to date, largest sample of French MNC subsidiaries. It does not simply identify the existence of different kinds of voice mechanisms, but examines how these different practices come together in the implementation of subsidiaries' voice policies. This enables the detection of subtle, but important, differences in the subsidiaries' voice practices. French subsidiaries are significantly less likely to pursue a partnership approach to voice than their German and US counterparts. French and US establishments are significantly more likely to adopt a ‘bleak house’ approach than German ones. Importantly, these key differences only emerge at a fine-grained level of analysis that examines how subsidiaries implement voice practices.
Determinants of foreign direct investment in OECD member countries

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to get an insight into the potential determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) for a panel of ten OECD member countries over the period of 1985-2009. Design/methodology/approach - Granger causality tests have been implemented in the study to identify causalities, both in the short- and long-run, between FDI and the variables that emerge as significant determinants of FDI during the regression analysis. Findings - The fixed effects estimation indicates that market size, labor cost and quality of infrastructure yield significant coefficients in relation to FDI for the panel of countries under study. A bi-directional short-run relationship is established between market size and labor costs in the short-run; whereas quality of infrastructure causes market size and labor costs in the short-run. For the long-run deviation of FDI from equilibrium, market size, labor costs and quality of infrastructure all bear the joint burden in the short-run to re-establish the equilibrium. Practical implications - The research findings have a number of policy implications for the OECD countries in specific and other developed economies in general. Labor costs seem to affect the FDI decision on the part of investors; therefore, the countries with low labor costs are preferred by investors in order to reduce the cost of their business and products. Policies should be devised to reduce the labor costs and improve the equality of infrastructure in the country in order to attract more FDI into the economy and for quick adjustment purposes in case of shock to the system. Originality/value - This paper investigates the relationship and significance of nine potential determinants of FDI in ten OECD member nations using panel data methods. The practices that are undertaken in developed and established economies are of vast significance to the economies that are in transition stages. The paper uncovers some important factors influencing FDI in the ten countries under study and provide a guide-map for other developed countries.
Active interprofessional education in a patient based setting increases perceived collaborative and professional competence

Background: Interprofessional competence can be defined as knowledge and understanding of their own and the other team members’ professional roles, comprehension of communication and teamwork and collaboration in taking care of patients. Aim: To evaluate whether students perceived that they had achieved interprofessional competence after participating in clinical teamwork training. Method: Six hundred and sixteen students from four undergraduate educational programs–medicine, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy–participated in an interprofessional course at a clinical education ward. The students filled out pre and post questionnaires (96% response rate). Results: All student groups increased their perceived interprofessional competence. Occupational therapy and medical students had the greatest achievements. All student groups perceived improved knowledge of the other three professions’ work (p = 0.000000) and assessed that the course had contributed to the understanding of the importance of communication and teamwork to patient care (effect size 1.0; p = 0.00002). The medical students had the greatest gain (p = 0.00093). All student groups perceived that the clarity of their own professional role had increased significantly (p = 0.00003). Occupational therapy students had the greatest gain (p = 0.000014). Conclusions: Active patient based learning by working together in a real ward context seemed to be an effective means to increase collaborative and professional competence.
Loss Reserves and the Employment Status of the Appointed Actuary

Abstract Property/casualty (P/C) insurers are required to establish loss reserves for unpaid losses at the time that the loss has occurred or is reasonably expected to have occurred. We examine factors that may impact the accurate setting of loss reserves. These include the level of rate regulation faced by the insurer and the incentives to underestimate or overestimate reserves to improve financial ratios or improve solvency scores, to reduce earnings, to defer taxes, or to smooth earnings volatility in order to meet shareholder expectations. The employment status of the Appointed Actuary, that is, whether the Appointed Actuary is an employee of the firm or a consultant, may also impact reserve accuracy. Using a variety of regression models with data from 1995 to 2010, we examine the impact of these factors on the accuracy of reserves posted by Canadian P/C insurers. Our results provide no evidence of systematic differences in the magnitude or direction of loss reserve errors between insurers that use company actuaries versus those that use consultant actuaries. However, we find that for both consultant and company actuaries positive reserve errors are associated with increases in global stock market returns and decreases in unanticipated inflation. The insurance market cycle impacts reserve errors for company actuaries and not consultant actuaries. As well, our results indicate that as the proportion of short-tailed business increases in a company, consultant actuaries are more likely to over-reserve. Similar to many previous studies using U.S. data, we do not find strong evidence regarding insurers’ incentives to deliberately overstate or understate reserves: Loss reserves are relatively unbiased estimates of the true losses paid. Thus these findings should be welcome news to the actuarial profession in Canada and to the prudential regulator: The Appointed Actuary, regardless of employment status, provides objective and unbiased estimates of insurers’ largest liability.
A sector strategy from the Fama and French model

In this article, we test the degree of possible interest there may be in developing an investment strategy based on the three-factor Fama and French model (1992). To this end, we construct a sectorial strategy, taking as a market risk factor the sectorial index to which the securities belong. From our results, we conclude that the aforementioned strategy is of limited use, given that no extraordinary consistent yields are obtained. From this, we conclude that the hypothesis of the efficient market can be accepted.
Rimonabant (SR141716) induces metabolism and acquisition of fertilizing ability in human sperm

Background and purpose: The endocannabinoid system and the cannabinoid CB1 receptor have been identified in human sperm, and it is well known that endocannabinoids have pronounced adverse effects on male and female reproduction. In order to elucidate further the pathophysiological role of the endocannabinoid system in male fertility, we investigated the activity of the CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant (SR141716) on the fertilizing ability of human sperm.
Altered expression of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in acutely rejected myocardium and coronary arteriosclerosis in cardiac allografts of nonhuman primates

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are important in any process of tissue remodeling. However, there is no report evaluating their expression in cardiac allografts in human or nonhuman primates. Heterotopic cardiac transplantation was performed on Japanese monkeys. Subjects were treated with chimeric anti-human lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 monoclonal antibody for 2 weeks. Heart grafts were harvested at days 1–95 (n = 7). Native monkey hearts were used as controls (n = 2). We examined expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 using immunohistochemistry and in situ reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In the myocardium, the expression of MMP-2 was increased in the spindle-shaped cells of acutely rejected myocardial interstitium and prior to the presence of mononuclear cell infiltration at days 1–41. TIMP-1 and 2 expression was enhanced in association with the progression of fibrosis at days 40–95. In the coronary arteries of chronically rejected allografts, enhanced MMP and decreased TIMP expression was observed in both thickened intima and media at days 40–95. The medial MMP mRNA expression was observed before the development of intimal thickening occurred at days 7–28. MMPs are critical for the progression of acute and chronic rejection, and TIMP predominance plays important roles in fibrosis in association with acute rejection. Expression of MMPs and TIMPs is a sensitive indicator of acute and chronic cardiac rejection.
Effective expansion of human adipose‐derived stromal cells and bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells cultured on a fragmin/protamine nanoparticles‐coated substratum with human platelet‐rich plasma

Fragmin/protamine nanoparticles (F/P NPs) can be stably coated onto plastic surfaces and used as a substratum for the absorption and controlled release of growth factors (GFs) secreted from human platelet‐rich plasma (PRP). In this study, we investigated the capability of F/P NP‐coated plates to act as a substratum for the proliferation of human adipose‐derived stromal cells (ASCs) and bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with GFs in PRP. Both cell types adhered well to the F/P NP‐coated plates and grew optimally, with a doubling time of 30 and 32 h in low‐concentration PRP (0.5%) medium supplemented with 5 ng/ml fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF‐2) on the F/P NP‐coated plates. These cells maintained their multilineage potential for differentiation into adipocytes or osteoblasts. Furthermore, ASCs and BMSCs grew well in medium without PRP and FGF‐2 on F/P NP‐coated plates pretreated with PRP and FGF‐2 in a concentration‐dependent manner. Thus, F/P NP‐coated plates are a useful substratum for the adherence and proliferation of ASCs and BMSCs in low‐concentration PRP medium supplemented with FGF‐2. No xenogeneic serum is required. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Assessing Treatment Readiness in Violent Offenders

Although violent offenders are widely considered to be difficult to engage in therapeutic change, few methods of assessing treatment readiness currently exist. In this article the validation of a brief self-report measure designed to assess treatment readiness in offenders who have been referred to violent offender treatment programs is described. The measure, which is an adaptation of a general measure of treatment readiness developed in a previous work, displayed acceptable levels of convergent and discriminant validity and was able to successfully predict treatment engagement in violent offender treatment. These results suggest that the measure has utility in the assessment of treatment readiness in violent offenders.
Not All Suburbs Are the Same

Although American suburbs are commonly understood as the result of growth machine efforts or are grouped in categories like edge cities or inner-ring suburbs, these approaches obscure the unique characters of individual suburbs. This study examines four consequential “character moments” in three Chicago suburbs, Naperville, West Chicago, and Wheaton, where the suburb’s character was open to public debate. These moments show character over time is critical for understanding suburbs, character moments are rare but often consequential, not all moments involve particular development projects and some may be prompted by perceived threats, and suburban character is more dynamic than typically posited.
Systemic Risk and Bank Consolidation: International Evidence

This paper analyzes the systemic risk effects of bank mergers to test the “concentration-fragility” hypothesis. We use the marginal expected shortfall as well as the lower tail dependence between a bank’s stock returns and a relevant bank sector index to capture the merger-related change in an acquirer’s contribution to systemic risk. In our empirical analysis of a dataset of international domestic and cross-border mergers, we find clear evidence for a significant increase in the merging banks’, the combined banks’ as well as their competitors’ contribution to systemic risk following mergers, thus confirming the “concentration-fragility” hypothesis.
Differences in mortality among women with breast cancer by income – a register-based study in Finland

Aims: The aim was to assess all-cause and breast cancer mortality by income among women with incident breast cancer and the effect of cancer stage at diagnosis and comorbidity on the differences. Methods: The 43,439 women (age ⩾30) diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998–2008 in Finland were monitored using individual-level Cancer Registry data supplemented with data from Finnish health care registers and sociodemographic data. Results: Overall mortality was greater among breast cancer patients of the lowest income group than in the highest one; the hazard ratio (HR) for age and incidence year adjusted all-cause mortality was 1.9 (95% CI 1.8–2.1) and for breast cancer mortality 2.0 (95% CI 1.8–2.2). The women from the lowest income group were over-represented in the breast cancer stage ‘distant’ (10.1% vs. 3.5% among the highest income group). The presence of comorbidities was more common in patients with the lowest income (at least one comorbidity in 54%) than in the highest (24%). The HR adjusted with stage at presentation and comorbidities was 1.6 (95% CI 1.4–1.7) for all-cause mortality and 1.6 (95% CI 1.4–1.7) for breast cancer mortality. Conclusions: Tumour stage at diagnosis was more severe among lower income groups, and the presence of comorbidities was more common, although this only accounted for a part of the higher breast cancer mortality in these groups. More information is needed about recognition, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer to examine whether the socioeconomic differences of breast cancer mortality are related to care.