Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Analysis of Canadian Merger Policy

The merger provisions of the new Competition Act (1986) brought significant changes to Canada's merger environment but little is known regarding the application of the provisions by the Bureau of Competition Policy. In this paper, the decision-making process has been approximated by an ordered probit model. The estimated ordered probit results indicate that the Director of Investigation and Research has applied the merger provisions in a consistent manner and in accordance with modern industrial organization economics. Although market share and concentration are important determinants of decisions, they are not the only factors considered. Copyright 1993 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Characterizing entry modes for international construction markets

Purpose – The decision on market entry mode, or how to enter a selected market, is of critical importance for international contractors' profit making and sustainable growth. Based on a previous study, which successively identified ten basic entry modes specifically for international construction markets, this paper aims to focus on differentiating these entry modes in terms of organizational setting characteristics, compatibility, transferability, feasibility regarding different markets, and strategic effects so as to develop a systematic and comprehensive selection method for international construction market entry modes.Design/methodology/approach – Market entry cases were collected through extensive archival analysis and interviews of practitioners. By a comparative analysis, how the entry modes differ by organizational setting characteristics is analyzed, and how they can be combined or sequenced to deliver a market entry process is empirically explored. The strategic effects which constitute the bas.
The N-terminal tandem repeat region of human prion protein reduces copper: role of tryptophan residues.

Prion protein (PrP) has attracted considerable attention, mainly due to its involvement in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Toward its N-terminal region, PrP bears an octapeptide repeat which has been shown to bind copper. We found that a human synthetic peptide (PrP(59-91)), corresponding to the four repeats of Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln has the ability to reduce copper. A mutant peptide lacking tryptophan displayed only 24% of the wild-type copper-reducing activity. Experiments performed in a N(2) environment confirmed that O(2) is not involved in the reaction. Our results indicated that cell surface PrP, besides its ability to bind copper, bears the capacity to reduce copper in vitro. The potential physiological role of copper reduction by PrP is discussed.
Changes in the Activity of the Madden–Julian Oscillation during 1958–2004

Abstract The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is the most prominent mode of tropical intraseasonal variability. This study investigates the following questions. Is there statistical evidence of linear trends in MJO activity since the mid-1970s? Does the MJO exhibit changes in regimes of high and low activity? Are there significant seasonal differences in the activity of the MJO on time scales longer than interannual? Positive linear trends are observed in zonal wind anomalies at 200 (U200) and 850 (U850) hPa during summer and winter seasons. Positive trends are also observed in the number of summer MJO events. Resampling statistical tests indicate that positive trends in summer U200 and U850 anomalies are statistically different from random occurrences at a 5% significance level. A methodology based on the number of events is used to characterize low-frequency (LF) changes in MJO activity. Mean winter LF activity was characterized by nearly uniform variability from the early 1960s until the mid-1990s. In c.
Association analysis of CYP2A6 genotypes and haplotypes with 5-fluorouracil formation from tegafur in human liver microsomes.

AIM Tegafur is primarily converted to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by CYP2A6 in the human liver to exert its antitumor effect. Our objective was to comprehensively investigate the effects of CYP2A6 genetic polymorphisms on tegafur bioactivation activity. MATERIALS & METHODS Using a set of over 45 Chinese livers, the association between CYP2A6 genetic variations and 5-FU formation rates from tegafur, as well as CYP2A6 mRNA and protein levels, was determined. RESULTS A total of 20 polymorphic variants and 20 haplotypes of CYP2A6 were identified. From genotype/haplotype-phenotype association tests, we demonstrated that CYP2A6*4 was the main allele responsible for the decreased 5-FU formation from tegafur and CYP2A6 expression in this population. By contrast, haplotype 14 (a novel CYP2A6*1B allele) was associated with increased microsomal 5-FU formation activity and CYP2A6 expression, and this may be attributed to the combined effects of three single variants (g.22C>T, g.1620T>C and a gene conversion in the 3´-UTR) included in this haplotype. CONCLUSION We concluded that CYP2A6*4 and the novel CYP2A6*1B variant were the major genetic determinants of interindividual variability in 5-FU formation from tegafur in Chinese livers. Original submitted 2 November 2010; Revision submitted 3 December 2010.
Prediction of tumor grade and stage in endometrial carcinoma by preoperative assessment of sonographic endometrial thickness: Is it possible?

Objective: To evaluate preopertive accuracy of endometrial thickness for assesment of histologic grade and stage of endometrial carcinoma and also determining a cut-off value for the determination of grade of endometrial carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Clinical data of 105 patients who underwent surgical staging with endometrial carcinoma were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperatively endometrial thickness were recorded and correlated with pathologic information. Results: A statistically significant correlation was found in between endometrial thickness and grade of the disease (r=0.746, p=0.001). Besides, no correlation was found between endometrial thickness and stage (r=0.153, p=0.119). The endometrial thickness at 9 mm revealed the optimal sensitivity and specificity (93.33 and 26.2, respectively) for turning through grade1 to grade 2 with 68.2% positive predictive value and 66.7% negative predictive value. We indicated the endometrial thickness at 27 mm as the optimal value with sensitivity and specificity (27.27 and 95.65, respectively) for turning through grade 2 to grade 3 with 66.7% positive predictive value and 77.5% negative predictive value. Conclusion: In conlusion, sonographic evaluation of the endometrial thickness is economical, simple and can be used as a prognostic tool for endometrial cancer grading. The operating team may have the chance to get prepared before the operation and may have the chance to inform the patient about the operation.
Ectopic retinal ON bipolar cell synapses in the OFF inner plexiform layer: Contacts with dopaminergic amacrine cells and melanopsin ganglion cells

A key principle of retinal organization is that distinct ON and OFF channels are relayed by separate populations of bipolar cells to different sublaminae of the inner plexiform layer (IPL). ON bipolar cell axons have been thought to synapse exclusively in the inner IPL (the ON sublamina) onto dendrites of ON‐type amacrine and ganglion cells. However, M1 melanopsin‐expressing ganglion cells and dopaminergic amacrine (DA) cells apparently violate this dogma. Both are driven by ON bipolar cells, but their dendrites stratify in the outermost IPL, within the OFF sublamina. Here, in the mouse retina, we show that some ON cone bipolar cells make ribbon synapses in the outermost OFF sublayer, where they costratify with and contact the dendrites of M1 and DA cells. Whole‐cell recording and dye filling in retinal slices indicate that type 6 ON cone bipolars provide some of this ectopic ON channel input. Imaging studies in dissociated bipolar cells show that these ectopic ribbon synapses are capable of vesicular release. There is thus an accessory ON sublayer in the outer IPL. J. Comp. Neurol. 517:226‐244, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Advances in the treatment for haematological malignancies

Despite the progress made in the last decade in the treatment of haematological malignancies, most of the patients still have a dismal prognosis. However, the improved knowledge of tumour biology opened the possibility to develop new ‘intelligent’ therapeutic strategies, the so-named targeted therapies. These approaches aim to selectively kill cancer cells by basing this selectivity on both the expression of a specific molecule on their surface or the activation of particular molecular pathways secondary to malignant transformation. In this article, the authors review the main targeted therapies available in haematology, such as monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase, farnesyltransferase, as well as proteasome inhibitors, antiangiogenesis compounds and antisense oligonuceotides. Finally, the authors focus on the application of imatinib mesylate in chronic myeloid leukaemia as the paradigm of molecular treatment. Although these novel therapies are beginning to fulfil their promise, continued research efforts are needed to determine the optimal role of these strategies in haemato-oncology.
Chasing the dragon east: exploring the frontiers of Western European finance

Like many other developing countries in the past decade, Central European countries pursued financial market reforms based on the assumption that foreign finance would boost the depth and liquidity of their national financial systems, promote efficient economic management and enhance financial stability. Unlike other developing countries however, Central European countries expected to be shielded from the worst effects of global neoliberalism through the process of EU accession. This article evaluates the financial integration of Central Europe in the context of the global process of finance-led restructuring. The article concludes that the financial integration of Central Europe has failed to generate the promised optimisation of investment, let alone reduce macroeconomic risks. This is because the actual Eastward expansion strategies of Western European credit institutions were never geared towards addressing the developmental needs of the host Central European economies. Rather, they were always aimed at redressing the declining profitability of financial institutions operating in the already financialised economies of Western Europe. As a result, foreign financiers emerged as a powerful rentier class in Central Europe able to extract rent incomes far in excess of their profits in the west. The dominancy of foreign financiers in the region resulted in a reorientation of state policy, corporate strategy and households' behaviour, in line with the imperatives of financially based accumulation strategies. This lead not only to an unprecedented transfer of property rights from local society to foreign investors, but also to increased indebtedness and risk, which are ultimately unsustainable in the long run.
Long-Term Scarring from the Financial Crisis

It is useful to look at the distinction between transitory and permanent effects of a crisis. Financial crises normally bring on a recession, and the output costs can be large, as Hoggarth and Saporta (2001) discuss. In the majority of cases since 1970 in the OECD countries output returns to its trend level and there is no permanent effect. However, there may have been a permanent scar on the level of output in Japan after its crisis in the early 1990s, making the crisis and subsequent recession much more costly. This may reflect the nature and length of the crisis, as the banking sector was left to flounder for some years before its rescue toward the end of the crisis period. This appears to have left a permanent scar because risk premia were subsequently higher, and real asset prices have not fully recovered.
Does Anticipated Monetary Policy Matter? Another Look

RECENT WORK BY Mishkin (1982a, 1982b) and Gordon (1982) tests the Lucas-Sargent-Wallace (henceforth LSW) policy ineffectiveness proposition with econometric methods. This work generally finds support for the alternative proposition that there is some short-term influence of anticipated demand policy or anticipated money growth on output. As McCallum (1982) has pointed out, one difficulty with these studies is they presume movements in output and employment are best represented as stationary fluctuations around deterministic trends, in constrast to evidence given by Nelson and Plosser (1982), which suggests these variables are nonstationary processes that have no tendency to return to a deterministic path. If these series are nonstationary processes, then the distribution theory implicit in the hypothesis tests of the Gordon and Mishkin studies does not apply and their results are open to question. Also, as McCallum (1982, p. 4) points out, "the methods of overcoming the observational equivalence difficulty (Sargent 1976) are not entirely satisfying" in these studies. In effect, Gordon and Mishkin are forced to make some untested restrictions in order to distinguish the anticipated from the unanticipated components
Nonparametric Test for the Form of Parametric Regression with Time Series Errors

We propose a new nonparametric method for testing the parametric form of a regression function in the presence of time series errors. The test is motivated by recent advancement in the theory of ANOVA with large number of factor levels and also utilizes a new difference- based estimation method in nonparametric regression with time-series errors proposed by Hall and Van Keilegom (2003). The test statistic is asymptotically normal under the null and local alternative hypotheses. We also propose a bootstrap method to calculate the critical values and prove its consistency. In a Monte Carlo study, we demonstrate that this bootstrap procedure has good properties for moderate sample size.
Training and firm performance in Europe: the impact of national and organizational characteristics

This study focuses on the relationship between training and development and performance. It expands existing research on the subject by combining national and organizational factors through a hierarchical linear model to explore the training and development and performance relationship in 14 European countries. The main findings point out the importance of cultural, institutional and organizational factors in analysing the relationship between training and development and performance.
Role of Hyperglucagonemia in Maintenance of Increased Rates of Hepatic Glucose Output in Type II Diabetics

Elevated rates of basal hepatic glucose output (bHGO) are significantly correlated with the fasting serum glucose (FSG) level in subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). This observation suggests that bHGO is a major determinant of the severity of the diabetic state in these subjects. In addition, basal glucagon levels (bGL) are higher in these diabetics than in control subjects, despite the concurrent basal hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, two factors known to suppress glucagon secretion. Although bGL is responsible for sustaining two-thirds of bHGO in normal humans, its role in sustaining elevated rates of bHGO in NIDDM has not been previously defined. To this end, we have studied 13 normal and 10 NIDDM subjects; mean FSG levels were 90 ± 2 and 262 ± 21 mg/dl, respectively (P <.001). The mean fasting serum insulin and glucagon levels were higher in the diabetics than in the controls: 17 ± 2 vs. 9 ± 1 μU/ml (P < .01) and 208 ± 37 vs. 104 ± 15 pg/ ml (P < .01), respectively. On separate days, HGO was assessed isotopically (with 3-[3H]glucose) in the basal state and during infusion of somatostatin (SRIF) (600 μg/h) alone and in conjunction with replacement infusions of glucose and insulin. The results demonstrate that 1) bHGO is higher in diabetics than in controls (145 ± 12 vs. 89 ± 3 mg m2 ml−1, P < .01); 2) during infusion of SRIF alone, HGO was suppressed by 25% (P < .05) and 34% (P < .05) of the basal value in controls and diabetics, respectively; 3) when the studies were repeated with glucose levels held constant at or near the FSG level by the glucose-clamp technique, the pattern and degree of HGO suppression was similar to that obtained by infusion of SRIF alone; 4) during isolated glucagon deficiency (SRIF + insulin, 5 mU m−2 min−1 with serum glucose maintained at basal level), HGO was suppressed by 71 ± 8% of the basal value in controls (P < .001) and by 58 ± 7% in diabetics (P < .001); and 5) when isolated glucagon deficiency with similar hyperglycemia was created in control subjects, HGO was suppressed by 87% of the basal value. We conclude that 1) elevated glucagon levels contribute significantly to the elevated rates of bHGO in NIDDM subjects, 2) basal glucagon levels sustain ∼71 % of basal HGO in control and 58% in NIDDM subjects, and 3) the excess glucagon effect is largely responsible for the apparent hepatic insulin resistance seen in NIDDM subjects.
The Prevalence of Malnutrition in Iranian Elderly: A Review Article

Background: The elderly population following the improvement in health status and life expectancy in developing countries is increasing. Malnutrition causes decreased quality of life and increased mortality in elderly. This study aimed to review systematically and meta-analysis of studies assessing the prevalence of malnutrition among Iranian elderly people over 60 yr of age using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in 2016 to estimate the overall malnutrition prevalence. Data were collected using the following keywords: prevalence, elderly, aging, malnutrition, nutrition, nutritional assessment, nutritional status, health status, mini nutritional assessment, MNA and Iran in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iranmedex, Magiran, and SID. Computer software CMA: Two were applied to estimate the overall prevalence of malnutrition. Results: Seventeen of 811 articles were included in our analyses. The overall estimated prevalence of malnutrition among elderly based on the random effect model was 12.2% (95% CI 8–18.5). In subgroups, the prevalence of malnutrition among elderly living in home based on the fixed effect model was 9.2% (95% CI 7.1–11.9) and prevalence of malnutrition among elderly residents of nursing homes based on the random effect model was 21.6% (95% CI 12–38.6). Conclusion: Given the increase in the elderly population in future and the prevalence rate of malnutrition among them as well as the higher prevalence of malnutrition in elderly care centers, more attention to this population group is a matter of necessity.
Child-Care Subsidies and Family Well-Being

Many low-income families receive child-care subsidies, and a small but growing literature examines the relationship between subsidies and family well-being. Some studies find a negative association between subsidy receipt and family well-being, raising questions about the processes that mediate the two. Drawing on a subsample of 1,189 subsidy recipients and eligible mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we investigate the relationship between child-care subsidies and maternal and child well-being using measures of parenting stress, maternal depression, and child cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Within a sample limited to working mothers, and after addressing issues of selection, we find little evidence to suggest relationships between subsidy receipt and maternal and child well-being, despite significant negative bivariate associations between subsidy receipt and measures of well-being. Null findings are consistent with those of other recent studies and suggest that subsidy receipt in and of itself is not associated with decreased well-being of either children or mothers.
Information Leakage Prior to Company Issued Guidance

We find that information leakages prior to public guidance issued by company management exist even after Regulation FD, and are more pronounced when characteristics of the firm, the guidance, or the industry reflect higher levels of information asymmetry. Since public guidance is only partially leaked, this information leakage can be used to anticipate the information content of the impending public guidance. We simulate a trading strategy based on the pre-guidance leakage in the period after Regulation FD, which suggests that information leakage is an effective signal of the information content within impending public guidance.
The Revealed Demand For a Public Good: Evidence from Endangered and Threatened Species

This study examines the pattern of public expenditures on endangered and threatened species of animals in the United States. The examination explores how expenditure patterns are affected by biological and ecological information, policy directives, and public perception as measured in a national survey of attitudes towards preservation of individual species. The empirical conclusions of the paper include a set of revealed public values for a member of each endangered and threatened species. These values are compared and contrasted with values obtained from contingent valuation methodology.
Cell‐type specific utilization of multiple negative feedback loops generates developmental constancy

Signaling pathways generally contain multiple negative regulators that are induced by the signal they repress, constructing negative feedback loops. Although such negative regulators are often expressed in a tissue‐ or cell‐type specific manner during development, little is known about the significance of their differential expression patterns and possible interactions. We show the role and interplay of two cell‐type specific negative feedback loops during specification of photoreceptor neurons in the Drosophila compound eye, a process that occurs via epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐mediated sequential induction through the activation of the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway. Inducing cells secreting EGF express a negative regulator Sprouty (SPRY) that lowers Ras/MAPK signaling activity, and as a consequence reduces the signal‐dependent expression of a secreted EGF inhibitor, Argos (AOS). Induced cells in turn express an orphan nuclear receptor Seven‐up (SVP), which represses SPRY expression thereby allowing expression and secretion of AOS, preventing further induction. When this intricate system fails, as in spry mutants, sequential induction is no longer constant and the number of photoreceptor neurons becomes variable. Thus, cell‐type specific utilization of multiple negative feedback loops not only confers developmental robustness through functional redundancy, but is a key component in generating consistent patterning.