Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving rhizome yield and quality of Paris polyphylla through gibberellic acid-induced retardation of senescence of aerial parts

Senescence in perennials has not been extensively studied compared to that in annual plants, and the effects of delaying senescence on plant biomass and metabolic features in herbaceous perennials has also been poorly reported. We recently examined the effects of gibberellin A3 (GA3) on senescence of aerial parts of Paris polyphylla, which characterize the metabolic changes associated with senescence, and found antagonistic effects of GA and abscisic acid during this process. Rhizome yield and quality (saponin content) of Paris polyphylla were both improved by GA3-induced retardation of senescence. We propose that GA3-induced retardation of senescence increases green leaf area and prolongs the duration of photosynthesis, leading to increased rhizome yield. The increased saponin accumulation in GA3-treated plants may be explained by the longer growth phase and ensuing increased environmental stress.
A Stochastic Volatility Model With Markov Switching

This article presents a new way of modeling time-varying volatility. We generalize the usual stochastic volatility models to encompass regime-switching properties. The unobserved state variables are governed by a first-order Markov process. Bayesian estimators are constructed by Gibbs sampling. High-, medium- and low-volatility states are identified for the Standard and Poor's 500 weekly return data. Persistence in volatility is explained by the persistence in the low- and the medium-volatility states. The high-volatility regime is able to capture the 1987 crash and overlap considerably with four U.S. economic recession periods.
Job Turnover and Policy Evaluation: A General Equilibrium Analysis

Recent empirical work indicates that job creation and destruction rates are large, implying significant amounts of job reallocation across firms. This paper builds a general equilibrium model of this reallocation process, calibrates it using data on firm-level dynamics, and evaluates the aggregate implications of policies that interfere with this process. We find that a tax on job destruction at the firm level has a sizable negative impact on total employment: a tax equal to 1 year's wages reduces employment by roughly 2.5 percent. More striking, however, are the welfare consequences: the cost in terms of consumption of this same tax is greater than 2 percent. The mechanism through which this welfare loss arises is apparently a decrease in average productivity, since this policy results in a decrease in average productivity of over 2 percent.
Cardiac side effects of trastuzumab in breast cancer patients – single centere experiences

Aim of the study The aim of this study was to present our own experiences concerning risk factors for cardiac side effects in the study group. Material and methods The study was performed in 120 patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer who received immunotherapy in the Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department, between 2006 and 2011. Results LVEF reduction > 10% of the baseline fraction was observed in 10 (8%) patients. Symptomatic heart failure occurred in two individuals. Due to persistent cardiotoxicity five patients (4%) had to discontinue therapy prematurely. Risk factors for cardiac toxicity in the analyzed group included: previous radiotherapy to the left side of the chest (p = 0.05), higher BMI (p = 0.05), negative steroid receptor status (p = 0.045) and low baseline LVEF (p < 0.001). Patients receiving radiotherapy were more likely to develop cardiotoxicity if presenting older age (p = 0.0003). Conclusions Previous radiotherapy to the left side of the chest, negative steroid receptor status, high BMI and low baseline LVEF were associated with increased risk of cardiac dysfunction. There was no difference between patients receiving adjuvant therapy and those treated due to metastatic disease.
Who Has to Pay for Their Education? Evidence From European Tertiary Education

In this article, we investigate a positive tertiary education externality in 18 European countries. Using a simple Cobb-Douglas-type production function with constant returns to scale, we find that there are positive spillover effects from tertiary education in European countries. According to our model prediction, on average, 72,000 new employed persons with a tertiary education increased gross domestic product per employed person without a tertiary education by US$412 in 2005. From the policy perspective, the existence of positive tertiary education externalities implies that the benefits of tertiary education are diffused through not only education beneficiaries but also the other members of society.
Characterization of Some Blood Parameters of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

The aim of this study was to establish the haematological profile of Juvenile African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Hematological indices (RBCs, WBCs, PCV, Hb, MCV, MCH, MCHC and leucocyte differential count) were measured in blood samples from 120 juvenile African catfish. The results in mean values were; RBCs (x 10 µl) 2.88±0.7011, WBCs (10 µl) 41.1±11.048, PCV (%) 36.00±9.036, Hemoglobin (g/dl) 63
Association of HLA alleles and haplotypes with CYP21A2 gene p. V282L mutation in the Croatian population

The CYP21A2 mutations that are in linkage disequilibrium with particular HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐DRB1 alleles/haplotypes, cause deficiency of the 21‐hydroxylase enzyme (21‐OHD) and account for the majority of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) cases. The aim of this study was to investigate those associations with the p.V282L mutation linked to the non‐classical (NC) form of CAH among Croatians. The study included parents of patients with the NC form of CAH, positive for the p.V282L mutation (N = 55) and cadaveric donor samples (N = 231). All subjects were HLA‐A, ‐B, and ‐DRB1 typed and tested for the presence of the p.V282L mutation. Among parents of patients, 92.73% of subjects were positive for the B*14:02 allele and almost half of them carried the HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 haplotype. Among cadaveric samples 77 out of 96 subjects positive for the B*14:02 allele had the p.V282L mutation. Among them, 37 were positive for the HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 haplotype, 23 had the HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*03:01 haplotype, 8 had the B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 combination and 5 were carrying the HLA‐A*68:02‐B*14:02‐DRB1*13:03 haplotype. Only 4 of these subjects were positive for the B*14:02 allele. HLA‐B*14:02 was the only single allele with association that reached statistically significant P value (RR = 12.00; P = 0.0024). Haplotypes B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 (P < 0.001) and HLA‐A*68:02‐B*14:02‐DRB1*13:03 (P < 0.001) as well as HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 and HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*03:01 showed high relative risks (RR = 45.00, RR = 41.63 and RR = 36.96, respectively). Our data support the previously documented association of the HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*01:02 haplotype with the p.V282L mutation, but also point out a high frequency of the p.V282L mutation among Croatians with HLA‐A*33:01‐B*14:02‐DRB1*03:01 and HLA‐A*68:02‐B*14:02‐DRB1*13:03 haplotypes.
Folic acid and prevention of neural tube defects: a study of Canadian mothers of infants with spina bifida.

OBJECTIVES To determine the diffusion of information about preventing neural tube defects (NTDs) through folic acid consumption by examining whether mothers of Canadian children born with spina bifida, who had become pregnant at least a year after evidence of the preventive effect of folic acid had been published, had taken sufficient amounts of folic acid in the periconceptional period and were aware of this important new information. DESIGN Validated food-frequency questionnaire to assess folate intake. SETTING The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto between Jan. 4 and Aug. 16, 1994. PARTICIPANTS Thirty mothers whose infants were being treated for spina bifida. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The mothers' mean folate intake and knowledge about the protective effect of folic acid; demographic and health information. RESULTS The mothers' mean folate intake was 0.182 mg/d (standard deviation 0.076 mg/d, range 0.02 to 0.53 mg/d), less than half the protective dose. Only 4 (13%) of the mothers had been aware of the relation between nutritional folate and NTDs when they conceived, but even they did not supplement their diets with sufficient folic acid. The medical data showed that, in addition to the failure of primary prevention of NTDs, secondary prevention through diagnostic tests during pregnancy were also inadequate. CONCLUSIONS Our study, one of the first to be conducted after the role of folate in preventing NTDs was confirmed, reveals that, in one of the most advanced countries in the world, this new information has had no effect on patients' folate intake. Unless food is fortified with folate, the estimated 400 to 800 annual cases of NTDs in Canada will not be prevented.
Improving performance through tacit knowledge externalisation and utilisation: Preliminary findings from Greek hotels

Purpose – The study seeks to examine the transformation of tacit knowledge (TK) into business performance by developing a two‐stage framework involving two processes: TK utilization and externalization.Design/methodology/approach – Owing to the limited understanding and interest expressed by hotel professionals through a preliminary telephone survey, a mail survey targeting a representative sample of solely four‐ and five‐star hotels was conducted. Still, a small number of responses were gathered, and so additional telephone interviews were also conducted with two hotel managers for gathering more qualitative information.Findings – Findings revealed an increased unfamiliarity of hotels with TK, which in turn eliminated their activities for externalizing and utilizing TK and enhancing business performance. TK externalization was reported as critically important to be first achieved, as TK utilization builds and uses the potential TK stocks that are created through TK externalization. Respondents also mainl.
A Risk Model with Multilayer Dividend Strategy

Abstract In recent years various dividend payment strategies for the classical collective risk model have been studied in great detail. In this paper we consider both the dividend payment intensity and the premium intensity to be step functions depending on the current surplus level. Algorithmic schemes for the determination of explicit expressions for the Gerber-Shiu discounted penalty function and the expected discounted dividend payments are derived. This enables the analytical investigation of dividend payment strategies that, in addition to having a sufficiently large expected value of discounted dividend payments, also take the solvency of the portfolio into account. Since the number of layers is arbitrary, it also can be viewed as an approximation to a continuous surplus-dependent dividend payment strategy. A recursive approach with respect to the number of layers is developed that to a certain extent allows one to improve upon computational disadvantages of related calculation techniques that have been proposed for specific cases of this model in the literature. The tractability of the approach is illustrated numerically for a risk model with four layers and an exponential claim size distribution.
Long‐Term Trends in Audit Fees

The audit fees literature contains little by way of systematic evidence on long‐term trends in audit fees. This study analyzes trends in audit fees from 1980 through 1997, adjusting for changes in client size, complexity, and risk. The sample is restricted to clients of Big 6 firms that voluntarily disclosed audit fees in the period 1980–1997. Evidence is found that audit fees increased in the 1980s but stayed flat in the 1990s. Most important, a significant increase is noted in 1988, the year in which the Auditing Standards Board issued the “expectation gap” standards. These results hold even after controlling for wage increases in accounting firms, suggesting an expansion of auditing effort. There is no evidence that auditors obtain any price premium from industry specialization. The 1989 Big 8 mergers appear to have had a short‐term, but not long‐term, effect on fees. Finally, the magnitude of the audit fee model coefficient for accounts receivable and inventory has declined over the period, presumably.
Intermediate Input Sharing in the Hospital Service Industry

This paper addresses two related questions that help to explain geographic variation in access to medical services. The first question examines the existence of agglomeration economies in the hospital service industry. The second considers whether the sharing of intermediate inputs contributes to spillovers from spatial concentration of hospital services. These questions are addressed by estimating a bivariate probit model that explicitly controls for potential correlations between whether a service is provided and how the service is provided. Three key findings are obtained. First, hospitals in more concentrated areas are more likely to outsource intermediate services to specialized intermediate service suppliers. This suggests that agglomeration economies exist in the hospital service industry and are generated in part through the sharing of intermediate inputs. Second, the presence of nearby small hospitals increases the tendency to outsource, which is consistent with a “Chinitz” effect identified elsewhere in the literature. Third, the agglomeration effect attenuates geographically.
Bank stock repurchase extent and measures of corporate governance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the extent of stock repurchase and measures of corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach - Using a sample of stock repurchase announcements by banks after the 2002 tax reform, the paper uses an event study methodology to confirm the positive market response to stock repurchase announcements. A regression analysis is then used to study the determinants of the abnormal response to the bank stock repurchases. Regression analysis is also used to analyze whether corporate governance variables are significant determinants of bank extent of stock repurchases and size. Findings - Corporate governance techniques have little impact on market response to bank stock announcements, but are related to some extent to manager decisions regarding the stock repurchase. Board structure and executive/director stock ownership do not influence the market's response to repurchases. However, in some cases board structure is positively related to management's decision regarding the extent and size of the repurchase offer. Proportion of insider equity holdings has less influence on stock repurchase characteristics. Practical implications - Board structure may have a more important role to play in the banking industry in regards to managerial decision-making than equity ownership. Equity ownership in banks tends to be driven by bank size and therefore may have less of an impact on reducing agency problems within the banking industry. Originality/value - The sample is taken after the 2002 tax reform, which provides an analysis of repurchases without tax effect implications. This is the first paper to study the contribution of board structure and equity ownership to stock repurchases in publicly-traded banks.
Akt Kinase Phosphorylation of Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors*

A consensus RXRXX(S/T) substrate motif for Akt kinase is conserved in the C-terminal tail of all three inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor (IP3R) isoforms. We have shown that IP3R can be phosphorylated by Akt kinase in vitro and in vivo. Endogenous IP3Rs in Chinese hamster ovary T-cells were phosphorylated in response to Akt activation by insulin. LnCAP cells, a prostate cancer cell line with constitutively active Akt kinase, also showed a constitutive phosphorylation of endogenous type I IP3Rs. In all cases, the IP3R phosphorylation was diminished by the addition of LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Mutation of IP3R serine 2681 in the Akt substrate motif to alanine (S2681A) or glutamate (S2681E) prevented IP3R phosphorylation in COS cells transfected with constitutively active Akt kinase. Analysis of the Ca2+ flux properties of these IP3R mutants expressed in COS cell microsomes or in DT40 triple knock-out (TKO) cells did not reveal any modification of channel function. However, staurosporine-induced caspase-3 activation in DT40 TKO cells stably expressing the S2681A mutant was markedly enhanced when compared with wild-type or S2681E IP3Rs. We conclude that IP3 receptors are in vivo substrates for Akt kinase and that phosphorylation of the IP3R may provide one mechanism to restrain the apoptotic effects of calcium.
Reframing Evaluation: Defining an Indigenous Evaluation Framework

Abstract: The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), comprising 34 American Indian tribally controlled colleges and universities, has undertaken a comprehensive effort to develop an “Indigenous Framework for Evaluation” that synthesizes Indigenous ways of knowing and Western evaluation practice. To ground the framework, AIHEC engaged in an extensive consultation process including conducting a number of focus groups in major regions of the United States. Cultural experts, Indian educators, and evaluators shared their concerns regarding evaluation and described how evaluation fits within a cultural framework. This article summarizes the focus group discussions and describes how the framework developed using the key principles of Indigenous ways of knowing and four core values common to tribal communities.
PERSON: A General Model of Interpersonal Perception

A general theoretical model of interpersonal perception called PERSON (personality, error, residual, stereotype, opinion, and norm) is developed. This model reparameterizes a weighted-average model (WAM; Kenny, 1991; Kenny, Albright, Malloy, & Kashy, 1994) into six components. Two of those components refer to categorical information and 4 to behavioral information. Based on a formal model, for which parameters are estimatedfrom previous research studies, several implications are developed. The PERSON model can explain the low level of consensus in person perception, the fact that consensus does not increase with greater acquaintance, the strong stability of interpersonal judgment, the overconfidence effect, and the fact that short-term judgments are sometimes as accurate as long-term judgments. The PERSON model generally predicts that acquaintance is not as important in person perception as generally thought.
Can the North–South trade regime explain intra- and inter-country productivity differences?

The literature identifies North–South disparities in Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which, in turn, justify the bulk of international income differences. By building a dynamic, general equilibrium model of North–South technological-knowledge diffusion with scale-invariant growth, we extend the literature in several directions: (i) growth is driven by Schumpeterian R&D and by high and low-skilled human-capital accumulation; (ii) three trade regimes are considered; (iii) sectoral and aggregate TFP measures are computed; (iv) the extent to which the North–South trade regime explains intra-country TFP and inter-country TFP differences is evaluated. In particular, the results suggest that intra-country TFP differences increase and inter-country TFP differences fall when countries are more interdependent.
Costa Rica: Paradise in Doubt

Latin America's oldest democracy is undergoing a crisis of confidence, one made manifest by the recent jailing of two former presidents on corruption charges. This paper analyzes how changing electoral preferencesis behind the disintegration of the two-party system. It examines how citizen dissatisfaction is rooted in the difficulty of overseeing more than one hundred autonomous institutions responsible for a wide array of governmental functions. It also examines the political repercussions of chronic fiscal deficits. Reasonable levels of economic growth and the resilience of the political system should permit a recovery that, however, will be neither quick nor painless.
Linking Organizational Learning with Technical Innovation and Organizational Culture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of organizational learning on technical innovation and the role of organizational culture as a determinant of the organizational learning processes.Design/methodology/approach – After reviewing the literature on organizational learning and its relationship with both, technical innovation and organizational culture, this paper analyzes those relationships using a sample of 451 firms.Findings – Findings reveal that organizational learning is positively associated with technical innovation and that organizational culture can foster both organizational learning and technical innovation but can also act as a barrier. Additionally, findings show that in order to enhance innovation neither a flexibility focus nor an external focus are enough. Both of them are necessary to characterize organizational culture.Research limitations/implications – The main limitations of this paper are the cross‐sectional design of the empirical research and the fact that d.
Teen Content Creators and Consumers

Some 57% of online teens create content for the internet. That amounts to half of all teens ages 12-17, or about 12 million youth. These Content Creators report having done one or more of the following activities: create a blog; create or work on a personal webpage; create or work on a webpage for school, a friend, or an organization; share original content such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos online; or remix content found online into a new creation.
Productivity and performance

The broad aim is to review the technical literature on productivity and performance indicators, and to establish a set of guidelines for improved approaches to the definition, measurement and implementation of indicators. The economic literature on productivity levels and growth rates will be reviewed and contrasted to the more established transport literature on performance indicators. Issues such as scale effects, technical change, traffic composition effects, and density effects will be defined and discussed. Guidelines on essential data and desirable practices for measurement and implementation should be addressed. The broad issue of supply side versus demand side indicators are discussed.
Public employment agencies and unemployment spells: reconciling the experimental and non-experimental evidence

Econometric evidence strongly suggests that unemployed job-seekers who use the services of a Public Employment Agency (PEA) have longer unemployment spells than those choosing alternative search methods. Yet, in some well-designed U.S. experiments, increased use of PEA services has been associated with faster transitions into jobs. The author argues that the nonexperimental studies may be biased toward finding a positive relationship between unemployment spell duration and PEA use because they ignore the possibility that PEAs are chosen by many job-seekers only after other search methods have been tried unsuccessfully and a period of unemployment has elapsed. An analysis of U.K. survey data with information on the timing of PEA use in 1987â€“88 supports that hypothesis.