Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AMP-activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) Negatively Regulates Nox4-dependent Activation of p53 and Epithelial Cell Apoptosis in Diabetes*

Diabetes and high glucose (HG) increase the generation of NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species and induce apoptosis of glomerular epithelial cells (podocytes). Loss of podocytes contributes to albuminuria, a major risk factor for progression of kidney disease. Here, we show that HG inactivates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), up-regulates Nox4, enhances NADPH oxidase activity, and induces podocyte apoptosis. Activation of AMPK blocked HG-induced expression of Nox4, NADPH oxidase activity, and apoptosis. We also identified the tumor suppressor protein p53 as a mediator of podocyte apoptosis in cells exposed to HG. Inactivation of AMPK by HG up-regulated the expression and phosphorylation of p53, and p53 acted downstream of Nox4. To investigate the mechanism of podocyte apoptosis in vivo, we used OVE26 mice, a model of type 1 diabetes. Glomeruli isolated from these mice showed decreased phosphorylation of AMPK and enhanced expression of Nox4 and p53. Pharmacologic activation of AMPK by 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-riboside in OVE26 mice attenuated Nox4 and p53 expression. Administration of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-riboside also prevented renal hypertrophy, glomerular basement thickening, foot process effacement, and podocyte loss, resulting in marked reduction in albuminuria. Our results uncover a novel function of AMPK that integrates metabolic input to Nox4 and provide new insight for activation of p53 to induce podocyte apoptosis. The data indicate the potential therapeutic utility of AMPK activators to block Nox4 and reactive oxygen species generation and to reduce urinary albumin excretion in type 1 diabetes.
A Dynamic Style Analysis Model for Hedge Funds

In this paper, we develop a dynamic style analysis model designed to identify hedge fund risk structures. Through the estimation of implied risk exposures, it reconciles the concepts of dynamics and non-linearity. We show that our model, coupled with specific estimation and selection methods, deliver significant results in identifying complex and non-linear risk exposures, such as straddle-like exposures implied by trend following strategies. Applied at the individual fund level, our dynamic model exhibit superior explanatory power in comparison to Asset-Based Style Factor models proposed in previous literature. The dynamic risk structures estimated are in line with the investment strategies that are specific to the various hedge fund styles.
Emissions Trading, Wealth Transfers and the Wounded Bull Scenario in Power Generation

"Electricity generators accept that emissions trading is fundamental to meeting CO 2 reduction targets. But unless a percentage of permits are allocated, existing generators will face non-trivial wealth transfers. Seldom contemplated in academic works are the adverse economic consequences of an all-auction approach to emissions trading. Using Victoria to illustrate, we find that once CO 2 prices exceed $17.50st, the marginal coal generator facing large wealth transfers will withhold generating capacity to raise prices and recoup stranded investments, thus becoming a 'wounded bull' in the market place. This has material welfare implications with modelling results indicate an intermediate-run 300 per cent increase in wholesale power prices. " Copyright (c)2009 The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
Monetary Policy Switch, the Taylor Curve, and the Great Moderation

This paper employs a standard new Keynesian model to compute the inflation/output volatility frontier, i.e. the "Taylor curve". The computation is performed both under equilibrium uniqueness and under indeterminacy. While under uniqueness the Taylor curve looks like expected - i.e. a monotonically decreasing curve in the ($\sigma x$, $\sigma \Pi$) diagram -, under indeterminacy a new result arises. We find that the tighter is the monetary policy, the higher is the inflation/output gap volatility. This is due to impact of systematic monetary policy on inflation and output persistence. In fact, under indeterminacy a more aggressive monetary policy causes an increase in inflation persistence, and augments its volatility. The effects on output tend to be of opposite sign. This finding is robust to different parameterization of the DSGE new-Keynesian monetary model employed. This result i) offers support the move from "passive" to "active" monetary policy as one of the possible rationales for the Great Moderation, ii) underlines the need of a deeper understanding of the link between systematic monetary policy and macroeconomic persistence, and iii) warns against sub-samples pooling when performing macroeconometric analysis.
Increased levels of interferon‐gamma in seminal plasma of infertile men

Summary. The role of the cell‐mediated immunity in male infertility is still far from clear. Interferon‐gamma (INF‐γ), a secretory product of activated T cells and natural killer cells, has been hypothesized to have a toxic effect on sperm function. The presence of INF‐γ was investigated in seminal plasma of fertile and infertile subjects, using a specific enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, in order to study its role in male infertility. Forty‐one subjects were studied; 20 had proven fertility and normal semen quality (fertile group) and 21 showed male infertility for at least 2 years and poor semen quality (infertile group). INF‐γ was present in significantly higher levels in the seminal plasma of infertile subjects (6.36±0.72 fmol ml−1) compared to fertile subjects (3.68±0.30 fmol ml−1). Moreover, a significant negative correlation between INF‐γ levels and sperm count, motility and morphology was detected, whereas no correlation between INF‐γ levels and leukocyte count was found. These findings (i) confirm INF‐γ to be present in seminal plasma; (ii) show increased INF‐γ secretion in the infertile group; (iii) demonstrate negative correlations of INF‐γ with the main spermiogram parameters and (iv) no correlation with leukocyte count. INF‐γ may therefore play an important role in male infertility.
The role of audit committees in managing relationships with external auditors after SOX

Purpose – Recent US reforms aimed at strengthening audit committees and their structure grant independent audit committees the responsibility to appoint, dismiss, and compensate auditors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between audit committee characteristics and auditors' compensation and dismissals following the enactment of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). Design/methodology/approach – A series of linear and logistic regression models were employed in a unique sample comprising of 2,393 observations.Findings – It was observed that stronger audit committees demand a higher level of assurance and are less likely to dismiss their auditors. Further, an increase was found in auditor independence as measured by reduced board involvement and less dismissals following an unfavorable audit opinion. Overall results suggest that increased audit committee roles and independence after SOX contribute to auditor independence and audit quality.Practical implications – This research has implications.
Genetic Diversity Revealed in Human Faces

Abstract From an evolutionary perspective, human facial attractiveness is proposed to signal mate quality. Using a novel approach to the study of the genetic basis of human preferences for facial features, we investigated whether attractiveness signals mate quality in terms of genetic diversity. Genetic diversity in general has been linked to fitness and reproductive success, and genetic diversity within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has been linked to immunocompetence and mate preferences. We asked whether any preference for genetic diversity is specific to MHC diversity or reflects a more general preference for overall genetic diversity. We photographed and genotyped 160 participants using microsatellite markers situated within and outside the MHC, and calculated two measures of genetic diversity: mean heterozygosity and standardized mean d2. Our results suggest a special role for the MHC in female preferences for male faces. MHC heterozygosity positively predicted male attractiveness, and specifically facial averageness, with averageness mediating the MHC-attractiveness relationship. For females, standardized mean d2 at non-MHC loci predicted facial symmetry. Thus, attractive facial characteristics appear to provide visual cues to genetic quality in both males and females, supporting the view that face preferences have been shaped by selection pressures to identify high-quality mates.
Utah State University From the SelectedWorks of Frederick D Provenza 1996 Acquired aversions as the basis for varied diets of ruminants foraging on rangelands

Ruminants eat an array of plant species that vary in nutrients and toxins. This selection makes intuitive sense, but no theories adequately explain this diversity. Some maintain it reduces the likelihood of overingesting toxins, whereas others contend it meets nutritional needs. Nevertheless, herbivores seek variety even when toxins are not a concern and nutritional needs are met. I offer another explanation for this behavior, one which encompasses the avoidance of toxins and the acquisition of nutrients. A key concept in this theory is aversion, the decrease in preference for food just eaten as a result of sensory input (a food’s taste, odor, texture, i.e., its flavor) and postingestive effects (effects of nutrients and toxins on chemo-, osmo-, and mechano-receptors) unique to each food. Aversions are pronounced when foods contain toxins or high levels of rapidly digestible nutrients; they also occur when foods are deficient in specific nutrients. Aversions occur even when animals eat nutritionally adequate foods because satiety (satisfied to the full) and surfeit (filled to nauseating excess) represent points along a continuum, and there is a fine line between satiety and aversion. Thus, eating any food is likely to cause a mild aversion, and eating a food too frequently or in excess is likely to cause a strong aversion. Aversions are involuntary and are not the result of conscious decisions by an animal. Aversions yield benefits (e.g., obtain a balanced diet, reduce ingestion of toxic foods, optimize foraging and rumination times, sample foods, maintain a diverse microflora in the rumen) that are often mistaken as the cause of varied diets. In this article, I discuss the subtle ways in which aversions diminish preference and cause animals to eat a variety of foods.
Dasatinib (BMS-35482) Interacts Synergistically With Docetaxel, Gemcitabine, Topotecan, and Doxorubicin in Ovarian Cancer Cells With High SRC Pathway Activation and Protein Expression

Purpose This study aimed to explore the activity of dasatinib in combination with docetaxel, gemcitabine, topotecan, and doxorubicin in ovarian cancer cells. Methods Cells with previously determined SRC pathway and protein expression (SRC pathway/SRC protein IGROV1, both high; SKOV3, both low) were treated with dasatinib in combination with the cytotoxic agents. SRC and paxillin protein expression were determined pretreatment and posttreatment. Dose-response curves were constructed, and the combination index (CI) for drug interaction was calculated. Results In the IGROV1 cells, dasatinib alone reduced phospho-SRC/total SRC 71% and p-paxillin/t-paxillin ratios 77%. Phospho-SRC (3%–33%; P = 0.002 to 0.04) and p-paxicillin (6%–19%; P = 0.01 to 0.05) levels were significantly reduced with dasatinib in combination with each cytotoxic agent. The combination of dasatinib and docetaxel, gemcitabine, or topotecan had a synergistic antiproliferative effect (CI, 0.49–0.68), whereas dasatinib combined with doxorubicin had an additive effect (CI, 1.08). In SKOV3 cells, dasatinib resulted in less pronounced reductions of phospho-SRC/total SRC (49%) and p-paxillin/t-paxillin (62%). Phospho-SRC (18%; P < 0.001) and p-paxillin levels (18%; P = 0.001; 9%; P = 0.007) were significantly decreased when dasatinib was combined with docetaxel and topotecan (p-paxillin only). Furthermore, dasatinib combined with the cytotoxics in the SKOV3 cells produced an antagonistic interaction on the proliferation of these cells (CI, 1.49–2.27). Conclusions Dasatinib in combination with relapse chemotherapeutic agents seems to interact in a synergistic or additive manner in cells with high SRC pathway activation and protein expression. Further evaluation of dasatinib in combination with chemotherapy in ovarian cancer animal models and exploration of the use of biomarkers to direct therapy are warranted.
Exploring for the Determinants of Credit Risk in Credit Default Swap Transaction Data: Is Fixed-Income Markets' Information Sufficient to Evaluate Credit Risk?

We investigate the influence of various fundamental variables on a cross-section of credit default swap transaction data. Credit default swap rates can be seen as a superior proxy to credit risk than bond spreads are. Because we have transaction prices rather than quotes, we have thus observations of financial markets’ assessment of credit risk. Therefore our findings are relevant not only for the understanding of credit default swaps but for credit risk in general. The fundamental variables include fixed-income market data such as ratings, interest rate data and bond spreads as well as equity market data such as variance and market leverage (so called ” structural variables ”). We test for the stability of the influence of the different fundamental variables along several lines. We find evidence that most of the variables predicted by credit risk pricing theories have a significant impact on the observed levels of credit default prices. We also provide an international analysis of corporate credit risk, as half of our corporate sample is not US based, as well as some re-sults on sovereign credit risk. Using this information we are able to explain a significant portion of the cross-sectional variation in our sample with adjusted R 2 reaching 82% using the variables predicted by classical theoretical models. However there are important behavioral differences between high rated and low rated underlyings, sovereign and corporate underlyings and underlyings from different markets (US vs no US). We analyze these differences. We also find evidence of behavioral, momentum-like issues in equity markets-credit risk relationships. Overall, strong results show the importance of considering so called ”structural variables ” and equity market information as well as stochastic interest rates along with classical ratings when pricing credit risk overall. Furthermore, and contrarily to previous results, equity market information seems to matter for both high and low ratings, albeit in different ways. We implement a reduced-form model and analyze the errors obtained. Equity market variables seem to explain a large part of the errors. Overall, we document the importance of taking into account equity markets when doing credit risk analysis.
Fairness and the Assumptions of Economics

The advantages and disadvantages of expanding the standard economic model by more realistic behavioral assumptions have received much attention. The issue raised in this article is whether it is useful to complicate-or perhaps to enrichthe model of the profit-seeking firm by considering the preferences that people have for being treated fairly and for treating others fairly. The absence of considerations of fairness and loyalty from standard economic theory is one of the most striking contrasts between this body of theory and other social sciences-and also between economic theory and lay intuitions about human behavior. Actions in many domains commonly conform to standards of decency that are more restrictive than the legal ones: the institutions of tipping and lost-and-found offices rest on expectations of such actions. Nevertheless, the standard microeconomic model of the profitmaximizing firm assigns essentially no role to The traditional assumption that fairness is irrelevant to economic analysis is questioned. Even profit-maximizing firms will have an incentive to act in a manner that is perceived as fair if the individuals with whom they deal are willing to resist unfair transactions and punish unfair firms at some cost to themselves. Three experiments demonstrated that willingness to enforce fairness is common. Community standards for actions affecting customers, tenants, and employees were studied in telephone surveys. The rules of fairness, some of which are not obvious, help explain some anomalous market phenomena. * The research for this paper was supported by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Kahneman and Thaler were also supported, respectively, by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Conversations with J. Brander, R. Frank, and A. Tversky were very helpful. We also thank Leslie McPherson and Daniel Treisman for their assistance. The paper presented at the conference and commented on by the discussants included a detailed report of study 3, which is only summarized here. It did not contain study 1, which was incomplete at the time. Daniel Kahneman is now in the Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
Effects of stimulus and recording parameters on the air conduction ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential.

BACKGROUND Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) have been recorded from the sternocleidomastoid muscle (cervical VEMP or cVEMP) and more recently from the eye muscles (ocular VEMP or oVEMP) in response to air conduction and bone conduction stimuli. Both cVEMPs and oVEMPs are mediated by the otoliths and thereby provide diagnostic information that is complementary to videonystagmography and rotational chair tests. In contrast to the air conduction cVEMP, which originates from the saccule/inferior vestibular nerve, recent evidence suggests the possibility that the air conduction oVEMP may be mediated by the utricle/superior vestibular nerve. The oVEMP, therefore, may provide complementary diagnostic information relative to the cVEMP. There are relatively few studies, however, that have quantified the effects of stimulus and recording parameters on the air conduction oVEMP, and there is a paucity of normative data. PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of several stimulus and recording parameters on the air conduction oVEMP and to establish normative data for clinical use. RESEARCH DESIGN A prospective repeated measures design was utilized. STUDY SAMPLE Forty-seven young adults with no history of neurologic disease, hearing loss, middle ear pathology, open or closed head injury, cervical injury, or audiovestibular disorder participated in the study. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The effects of stimulus frequency, stimulus level, gaze elevation, and recording electrode location on the amplitude and latency of the oVEMP for monaural air conduction stimuli were assessed using repeated measures analyses of variance in an initial group of 17 participants. The optimal stimulus and recording parameters obtained in the initial group were used subsequently to obtain oVEMPs from 30 additional participants. RESULTS The effects of stimulus frequency, stimulus level, gaze elevation, and electrode location on the response prevalence, amplitude, and latency of the oVEMP for monaural air conduction stimuli were significant. The maximum N1-P1 amplitude and response prevalence were obtained for contralateral oVEMPs using a 500 Hz tone burst presented at 125 dB peak SPL during upward gaze at an elevation of 30°. CONCLUSIONS The optimal stimulus and recording parameters quantified in this study were used to establish normative data that may be useful for the clinical application of the air conduction oVEMP.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 3a Protein Is a Viral Structural Protein

ABSTRACT The present study showed the association of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SCoV) accessory protein, 3a, with plasma membrane and intracellular SCoV particles in infected cells. 3a protein appeared to undergo posttranslational modifications in infected cells and was incorporated into SCoV particles, establishing that 3a protein was a SCoV structural protein.
Assessing the impact of training on unemployment duration using hazard models with instrumental variables

The goal of the study is to prove the effectiveness of training programs directed to the unemployed on the local labor market in Poland. We estimate a semiparametric hazard model to assess the impact of training on the individual’s unemployment duration. To resolve the potential sample selection problem, the participation in a training program is instrumented using a probit model. The main question of this paper is whether the training significantly raises the transition rate from the unemployment into the employment state.
Too Busy to Serve? An Examination of the Influence of Overboarded Directors

Overboarded directors (i.e., those serving on too many boards) have come under recent attack. The accusation is that such directors are 'stretched' by several directorships and therefore cannot fulfil their governance responsibility. This study investigates the impact of overboarded directors upon key strategic decisions such as corporate acquisitions. Based on our examination of acquisition outcomes, we found that such directors are important sources of knowledge and enhance acquisition performance. Moreover, they represent an important complement to inside and non-overboarded outside directors. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2004.
Lévy Processes in Finance: Pricing Financial Derivatives

Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Financial Mathematics in Continuous Time. The Black-Scholes Model. Imperfections of the Black-Scholes Model. Levy Processes and OU Processes. Stock Price Models Driven by Levy Processes. Levy Models with Stochastic Volatility. Simulation Techniques. Exotic Option Pricing. Interest-Rate Models. Appendix A: Special Functions. Appendix B: Levy Processes. Appendix C: S&P 500 Call Option Prices. References. Index.
A General Equilibrium Entrepreneurial Theory of Firm Formation Based on Risk Aversion

We construct a theory of competitive equilibrium under uncertainty using an entrepreneurial model with historical roots in the work of Knight in the 1920s. Individuals possess labor which they can supply as workers to a competitive labor market or use as entrepreneurs in running a firm. All entrepreneurs have access to the same risky technology and receive all profits from their firms. In the equilibrium, more risk averse individuals become workers while the less risk averse become entrepreneurs. Less risk averse entrepreneurs run larger firms and economy-wide increases in risk aversion reduce the equilibrium wage. A dynamic process of firm entry and exit is stable. The equilibrium is efficient only if all entrepreneurs are risk neutral. Inefficiencies in the number of firms and in the allocation of labor to firms are traced to inefficiencies in the risk allocation caused by institutional constraints on risk trading. In a second best sense which accounts for these constraints, the equilibrium is efficient.