Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rituximab for polyneuropathy with IgM monoclonal gammopathy

Background: Polyneuropathy with IgM monoclonal gammopathy can be a disabling disorder necessitating treatment. Methods: In a prospective open label trial, 17 patients with disabling IgM MGUS polyneuropathy were treated with rituximab, a chimeric anti-CD-20 monoclonal antibody. Results: Rituximab induced an improvement of ⩾1 point on the Overall Disability Sum Score in 2/17 patients, an improvement of ⩾5% of the distal MRC sum score in 4/17 and the sensory sum score in 9/17 patients. Bone marrow investigations showed CD 20 B cell depletion in all patients. There were no serious adverse events. Compared with treatment with intermittent cyclophosphamide with prednisone or treatment with fludarabine, it shows a comparable response percentages but fewer side effects. The presence of anti-MAG and a disease duration shorter than 10 years may predict treatment response. Conclusion: Rituximab is a candidate for treatment of IgM MGUS polyneuropathy and should be further investigated in a double-blind randomised trial.
Globalization and Stock Market Returns

With increasing globalization, to what extent do stock market returns reflect global or domestic risk factors? We find a significant relationship between stock market returns and the global market risk factor and macroeconomic factors respectively. In particular, global factors offer four times more explanatory power than domestic factors for developed market stock returns. Yet domestic factors are as important as global ones in emerging economies. Our method allows for the proxies of the state variables to be endogenously determined. The relationship between macroeconomy and stock market returns is robust after accounting for the market factor, firm size and book-to-market characteristics.
On the opportunism-independent theory of the firm

Previous developments in the opportunism-independent theory of the firm are either restricted to special cases or are derived from the capabilities or resource-based perspective. However, a more general opportunism-independent approach can be developed, based on the work of Demsetz and Coase, which is nevertheless contractual in nature. This depends on 'direction', that is, deriving economic value by permitting one set of actors to direct the activities of another, and of non-human factors of production. Direction helps to explain not only firm boundaries and organisation, but also the existence of firms, without appealing to opportunism or moral hazard. The paper also considers the extent to which it is meaningful to speak of 'contractual' theories in the absence of opportunism, and whether this analysis can be extended beyond the employment contract to encompass ownership of assets by the firm. © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.
Cash Holdings and Credit Risk

Intuition suggests that firms with higher cash holdings are safer and should have lower credit spreads. Yet empirically, the correlation between cash and spreads is robustly positive and higher for lower credit ratings. This puzzling finding can be explained by the precautionary motive for saving cash. In our model endogenously determined optimal cash reserves are positively related to credit risk, resulting in a positive correlation between cash and spreads. In contrast, spreads are negatively related to the ``exogenous'' component of cash holdings that is independent of credit risk factors. Similarly, although firms with higher cash reserves are less likely to default over short horizons, endogenously determined liquidity may be related positively to the longer-term probability of default. Our empirical analysis confirms these predictions, suggesting that precautionary savings are central to understanding the effects of cash on credit risk.
PMX-53 as a Dual CD88 Antagonist and an Agonist for Mas-Related Gene 2 (MrgX2) in Human Mast Cells

Human mast cells express the G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) for C5a (CD88). Previous studies indicated that C5a could cause mast cell degranulation, at least in part, via a mechanism similar to that proposed for basic neuropeptides such as substance P, possibly involving Mas-related gene 2 (MrgX2). We therefore sought to more clearly define the receptor specificity for C5a-induced mast cell degranulation. We found that LAD2, a human mast cell line, and CD34+ cell-derived primary mast cells express functional MrgX1 and MrgX2 but the immature human mast cell line HMC-1 does not. A potent CD88 antagonist, PMX-53 (10 nM) inhibited C5a-induced Ca2+ mobilization in HMC-1 cells, but at higher concentrations (≥30 nM) it caused degranulation in LAD2 mast cells, CD34+ cell-derived mast cells, and RBL-2H3 cells stably expressing MrgX2. PMX-53 did not, however, activate RBL-2H3 cells expressing MrgX1. Although C5a induced degranulation in LAD2 and CD34+ cell-derived mast cells, it did not activate RBL-2H3 cells expressing MrgX1 or MrgX2. Replacement of Trp with Ala and Arg with dArg abolished the ability of PMX-53 to inhibit C5a-induced Ca2+ mobilization in HMC-1 cells and to cause degranulation in RBL-2H3 cells expressing MrgX2. These findings demonstrate that C5a does not use MrgX1 or MrgX2 for mast cell degranulation. Moreover, it reveals the novel finding that PMX-53 functions as a potent CD88 antagonist and a low-affinity agonist for MrgX2. Furthermore, Trp and Arg residues are required for the ability of PMX53 to act as both a CD88 antagonist and a MrgX2 agonist.
Architecture of the global land acquisition system: applying the tools of network science to identify key vulnerabilities

Global land acquisitions, often dubbed ‘land grabbing’ are increasingly becoming drivers of land change. We use the tools of network science to describe the connectivity of the global acquisition system. We find that 126 countries participate in this form of global land trade. Importers are concentrated in the Global North, the emerging economies of Asia, and the Middle East, while exporters are confined to the Global South and Eastern Europe. A small handful of countries account for the majority of land acquisitions (particularly China, the UK, and the US), the cumulative distribution of which is best described by a power law. We also find that countries with many land trading partners play a disproportionately central role in providing connectivity across the network with the shortest trading path between any two countries traversing either China, the US, or the UK over a third of the time. The land acquisition network is characterized by very few trading cliques and therefore characterized by a low degree of preferential trading or regionalization. We also show that countries with many export partners trade land with countries with few import partners, and vice versa, meaning that less developed countries have a large array of export partnerships with developed countries, but very few import partnerships (dissassortative relationship). Finally, we find that the structure of the network is potentially prone to propagating crises (e.g., if importing countries become dependent on crops exported from their land trading partners). This network analysis approach can be used to quantitatively analyze and understand telecoupled systems as well as to anticipate and diagnose the potential effects of telecoupling.
Nature Unbound: Conservation, Capitalism and the Future of Protected Areas

This groundbreaking volume is the first comprehensive, critical examination of the rise of protected areas and their current social and economic position in our world. It examines the social impacts of protected areas, the conflicts that surround them, the alternatives to them and the conceptual categories they impose. The book explores key debates on devolution, participation and democracy; the role and uniqueness of indigenous peoples and other local communities; institutions and resource management; hegemony, myth and symbolic power in conservation success stories; tourism, poverty and conservation; and the transformation of social and material relations which community conservation entails. For conservation practitioners and protected area professionals not accustomed to criticisms of their work, or students new to this complex field, the book will provide an understanding of the history and current state of affairs in the rise of protected areas. It introduces the concepts, theories and writers on which critiques of conservation have been built, and provides the means by which practitioners can understand problems with which they are wrestling. For advanced researchers the book will present a critique of the current debates on protected areas and provide a host of jumping off points for an array of research avenues
Irritable bowel syndrome subtypes differ in body awareness, psychological symptoms and biochemical stress markers.

AIM To elucidate the differences in somatic, psychological and biochemical pattern between the subtypes of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). METHODS Eighty IBS patients, 30 diarrhoea predominant (D-IBS), 16 constipation predominant (C-IBS) and 34 alternating IBS (A-IBS) underwent physiotherapeutic examinations for dysfunctions in body movements and awareness and were compared to an apparently healthy control group (AHC). All groups answered questionnaires for gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms. Biochemical variables were analysed in blood. RESULTS The D-IBS group showed less body awareness, less psychological symptoms, a more normal sense of coherence and psychosocial rating as well as higher C-peptide values. C-IBS had a higher degree of body dysfunction and psychological symptoms, as well as the lowest sense of coherence compared to controls and D-IBS. They also demonstrated the most elevated prolactin levels. A-IBS had the lowest degree of body disturbance, deteriorated quality of life and affected biochemical pattern. All subtypes had higher pain scores compared to controls. In addition they all had significantly increased triglycerides and elevated morning cortisol levels, however, without statistical significance compared with the controls. CONCLUSION IBS subtypes showed different profiles in body awareness, somatic and psychological symptoms and in biochemical variables. D-IBS differed compared to the other groups by lowered body awareness, less psychological symptoms and a higher sense of coherence and elevated C-peptide values. C-IBS and A-IBS subtypes suffered more from depression and anxiety, associated with a lower quality of life. These differences may be important and will be taken into account in our treatment of these patients.
Can real-options analysis improve decision-making? Promises and pitfalls

Executive Overview Managers are faced with uncertainty in nearly every aspect of their decisions. Reducing uncertainty, then, often leads to better decisions and greater potential firm success. The real-options literature provides one tool to reduce uncertainty. A real option is commonly defined as any decision that creates the right, but not the obligation, to pursue a subsequent decision. Used effectively, these options can minimize losses while preserving potential gains. Real options are used both formally, as a modeling tool for specific decisions, and informally, as a perspective for framing decisions in a different light. We separate real options into four distinct types—immediate entry, immediate exit, delayed entry, and delayed exit. We then provide additional understanding into how they differ and how each can reduce uncertainty. We also suggest that firms should use all four types of real options to search for additional benefits beyond uncertainty reduction. We identify several pitfalls to avo.
Welfare implications of product choice regulation during the payout phase of funded pensions

Abstract In many countries, governmental support for funded old-age programmes comes at the cost of at least partial mandatory annuitisation of accumulated assets in retirement. We survey regulatory frameworks for the payout phase of funded pension systems in seven European countries and the US and study the influence of mandatory annuitisation on the welfare of both rational and behaviourally influenced individuals using a dynamic life-cycle model. We show that mandatory immediate full annuitisation of retirement assets will reduce rational individuals’ certainty equivalent pension wealth by up to 54%. Softening the strict immediate annuitisation requirements along the line of regulatory realities in some of the surveyed countries reduces utility losses considerably. Behaviourally restricted individuals can benefit from full annuitisation at retirement, but generally they will also prefer more flexible regulation.
Determinants of destination choice by Japanese overseas travelers

Abstract Using the data from the Japanese Pleasure Travel Survey, this study developed a logistic regression model to analyze destination choices of Japanese outbound pleasure travelers. The analysis revealed the effects of a number of variables on the Japanese destination choices. These variables are demographic characteristics including age, marital status, education level, and income, as well as types and purposes of trip. Various motivational factors were also found to be significant in classifying the Japanese market by their destination choices. The findings of this study provide useful information for destination marketers in their efforts to segment and target the Japanese outbound pleasure travel market. They will have a better understanding of the characteristics of the Japanese market relative to the strengths and weaknesses of their respective destinations, thus allowing them to be more effective in their packaging and promotion.
STRATEGIC AWARENESS, PERSONAL COMMITMENT AND THE PROCESS OF PLANNING IN THE SMALL BUSINESS

This paper is based on detailed study [1], over two years, of sixteen small companies based in the northern region of the U.K. the study was concerned with the way in which the companies pursued different lines of product and market development. the research was characterized by experimental ‘action inputs’ designed to allow observation of the impact of different types of ‘software’(information, counselling, training/education) support on the development process. On the basis of this observation the paper constructs a model of the development process as a basis for evaluation of ‘assistance support’. This model, derived from theoretical concepts, nevertheless has been used in practice by companies for the evaluation of their own specific business development and has also been used for training small firm advisers. Observation of the development process enables a characterization of methods of planning used and evaluation of their influence. This indicates clearly the absence of formal planning models but underlines the importance of the strategic awareness and personal commitment of the owner manager in pursuing particular objectives. Strategic awareness is defined and its relationships with forms of assistance are explored. Implications are then drawn for those who seek to assist small businesses.
Information technology and politics

Information technology has a significant impact on national and international politics, concentrating political power and reducing political participation. Information technology's negative effects on politics are due to access inequalities, the increased power of mass communications, the emergence of information as an economic commodity, and the extension of information gathering and manipulating capabilities. Safeguards urgently need to be introduced to control these political implications of information technology.This article is based on an essay that won the 1992 ALIA Student Award for outstanding work in the Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Management course at the University of South Australia.
Investigation of Perceptual-Motor Behavior Across the Expert Athlete to Disabled Patient Skill Continuum can Advance Theory and Practical Application

ABSTRACT A framework is presented of how theoretical predictions can be tested across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Common-coding theory is used as the exemplar to discuss sensory and motor system contributions to perceptual-motor behavior. Behavioral and neural studies investigating expert athletes and patients recovering from cerebral stroke are reviewed. They provide evidence of bi-directional contributions of visual and motor systems to perceptual-motor behavior. Majority of this research is focused on perceptual-motor performance or learning, with less on transfer. The field is ripe for research designed to test theoretical predictions across the expert athlete to disabled patient skill continuum. Our view has implications for theory and practice in sports science, physical education, and rehabilitation.
Two empires or three?

In the last 100 years, several spectacular discoveries were made in the world of biodiversity, discoveries such as the Okapi in the Congo forest, the only living relative of the giraffes, or Latimeria in the Indian Ocean, a living coelacanth fish, believed to have been extinct for 60 million years. But these were merely small white spots on the world map of biodiversity. By contrast, Carl Woese’s discovery of the archaebacteria was like the discovery of a new continent. Where should one place this new group of microorganisms? From antiquity until the twentieth century, the traditional division of the living world was into animals and plants. Even today, biology is taught in zoology and botany departments in many colleges and universities, particularly abroad. Botany, for a long time, was defined as including anything living that is not an animal. As a result, the study of fungi and bacteria was assigned to botany departments. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, some of the leading bacterial taxonomists had their professorships in botany departments. The subdivisions within animals and plants were equally unbalanced. After 1859, the study of phylogeny produced great advances in our understanding of the relationship of animals. The recognition by Grobben (1) that “above” the coelenterates there are two major groupings of animals, the Protostomia and the Deuterostomia, was a great leap forward. The most important recent development, of course, was the use of molecular methods in the field of classification. Although usually confirming the results of morphological analysis, molecular methods are all-important in all cases of controversy and/or uncertainty. It is now only a question of time until the true relationship of all phyla and classes of animals is firmly established. Although foreshadowed by suggestions made by earlier authors, by far the most important advance made …
Combination of transmission electron and atomic force microscopy techniques to determine volume equivalent diameter of submicrometer particles

Morphological properties of atmospheric particles are directly related to their residence time and transport behaviors, and their deposition patterns in human respiratory systems. The projected properties of particles measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were combined with the particle height measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) to determine volume equivalent diameter of submicrometer particles. For nonvolatile (refractory) laboratory‐generated spherical polystyrene latex and cubic NaCl particles, the measured volume equivalent diameters agreed well with the true values (within 4%). However, for nonrefractory (NH4)2SO4 particles, the measured volume equivalent diameter was much smaller than the true value due to evaporation of volatile species at low vacuum pressure and high electron‐beam intensity conditions in TEM, and deformation of particles in AFM. We observed that the volume equivalent diameter of 100 nm mobility‐classified atmospheric particles was 35 ± 5 nm, suggesting that these particles contain nonrefractory species, whereas that of 20 nm mobility‐classified atmospheric particles was found to be 19 ± 6 nm, suggesting that these particles were refractory and spherical. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Neighbourhood Diversity, Metropolitan Segregation and Gentrification: What Are the Links in the US?

An important yet little understood aspect of gentrification is the extent to which it affects spatial relations between various social groups. This study employs two measures of gentrification to discern how it is related to neighbourhood-level diversity and metropolitan-level segregation in the US by race and class respectively. It is found that gentrification does not decrease neighbourhood-level diversity. The evidence on whether gentrification precedes increased levels of neighbourhood-level diversity is more mixed. Depending on the outcome and the metric of gentrification used, there are some instances where gentrification appears to lead to increased diversity. However, there are other instances where gentrifying neighbourhoods start out more diverse than other neighbourhoods and remain that way over the study period. The relationship between metropolitan-level segregation and gentrification is more tenuous, with some of the evidence suggesting that gentrification reduces income segregation and weaker less robust evidence suggesting gentrification increases racial segregation.
The origin and early evolution of life on Earth.

We do not have a detailed knowledge of the processes that led to the appearance of life on Earth. In this review we bring together some of the most important results that have provided insights into the cosmic and primitive Earth environments, particularly those environments in which life is thought to have originated. To do so, we first discuss the evidence bearing on the antiquity of life on our planet and the prebiotic significance of organic compounds found in interstellar clouds and in primitive solar system bodies such as comets, dark asteroids, and carbonaceous chondrites. This is followed by a discussion on the environmental models of the Hadean and early Archean Earth, as well as on the prebiotic formation of organic monomers and polymers essential to life. We then consider the processes that may have led to the appearance in the Archean of the first cells, and how these processes may have affected the early steps of biological evolution. Finally, the significance of these results to the study of the distribution of life in the Universe is discussed.
Effects of Reputational Sanctions on the Competitive Imitation of Design Innovations

This study examines whether and under what conditions reputational sanctions are a strong deterrent to imitative firm behaviour. Results indicate that reputational sanctions can be an effective barrier to imitation, in particular when firms perceive a reputation for innovation to be a factor in their competitive success. Linkages between firms foster the effectiveness of this barrier to imitation, as such linkages make it relatively easy to detect imitative behaviour and to impose reputational sanctions.