Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation of blood pressure by central melanocortinergic pathways.

BACKGROUND Weight gain and weight loss are associated with changes in blood pressure through unknown mechanisms. Central melanocortinergic signaling is implicated in the control of energy balance and blood pressure in rodents, but there is no information regarding such an association with blood pressure in humans. METHODS We assessed blood pressure, heart rate, and urinary catecholamines in overweight or obese subjects with a loss-of-function mutation in MC4R, the gene encoding the melanocortin 4 receptor, and in equally overweight control subjects. We also examined the effects of an MC4R agonist administered for 7 days in 28 overweight or obese volunteers. RESULTS The prevalence of hypertension was markedly lower in the MC4R-deficient subjects than in the control subjects (24% vs. 53%, P=0.009). After the exclusion of subjects taking antihypertensive medications, blood-pressure levels were significantly lower in MC4R-deficient subjects than in control subjects, with mean (+/-SE) systolic blood pressures of 123+/-14 mm Hg and 131+/-12 mm Hg, respectively (P=0.02), and mean diastolic blood pressures of 73+/-10 mm Hg and 79+/-7 mm Hg, respectively (P=0.03). As compared with control subjects, MC4R-deficient subjects had a lower increase in heart rate on waking (P=0.007), a lower heart rate during euglycemic hyperinsulinemia (P<0.001), and lower 24-hour urinary norepinephrine excretion (P=0.04). The maximum tolerated daily dose of 1.0 mg of the MC4R agonist led to significant increases of 9.3+/-1.9 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and of 6.6+/-1.1 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001 for both comparisons) at 24 hours, as compared with placebo. Differences in blood pressure were not explained by changes in insulin levels; there were no significant adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Results of our genetic and pharmacologic studies implicate melanocortinergic signaling in the control of human blood pressure through an insulin-independent mechanism.
Underpricing, Board Structure, and Ownership: An Empirical Examination of Indonesian IPO Firms

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how underpricing is associated with board structure and corporate ownership among firms conducting initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Indonesian equity market. Design/methodology/approach - To capture the most recent development, the sample comprises 101 firms conducting IPOs in Indonesia's primary equity market in the period of 2003-2011. The explanatory variables consist of board size, board independence, ownership concentration, and institutional ownership. In further analysis, the authors perform regressions considering three types of the controlling shareholder, namely families, foreign entities, and the government. Findings - Providing some support for signaling theory, it is found that board independence is positively related to the level of underpricing. Further, this study provides evidence that the level of underpricing is negatively associated with both board size and institutional ownership, indicating that these two governance mechanisms play important roles in mitigating information asymmetry between the issuer and potential investors. Ownership concentration is insignificant in explaining the first-day returns. When the type of corporate control is taken into account, it is revealed that government-controlled companies tend to experience higher underpricing. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the IPO underpricing literature since the influence of corporate governance mechanisms on initial returns is relatively under-researched, particularly within the context of emerging markets.
The relative information content of cash flows and earnings affected by their extremity : UK evidence

Purpose - – Many studies examine the relative information content of earnings and cash flows from operations. Most studies find that earnings have higher information content than cash flows. An interesting question that follows is whether these findings hold after controlling the extremity of earnings and cash flows. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative information content of earnings and cash flows in the following four different cases: first, moderate earnings vs moderate cash flows, second, extreme earnings vs moderate cash flows, third, moderate earnings vs extreme cash flows, and fourth, extreme earnings vs extreme cash flows. Design/methodology/approach - – To assess the relative information content of earnings and cash flows for each of the four cases mentioned above, the authors compare the explanatory power for regression of returns on unexpected earnings relative to regression of returns on unexpected cash flows. Therefore, the author compares the adjusted Findings - – The results show that: first, when both earnings and cash flows are moderate, earnings are more highly associated with stock market price changes than cash flows, second, when both earnings and cash flows are extreme, earnings also have greater relative information content than cash flows, third, when the extremity differs between earnings and cash flows, the moderate variable is superior to the other extreme variable in explaining security returns. These results suggest that earnings are definitely more value relevant than cash flows. However, only in cases when cash flows from operations are moderate and earnings are extreme, cash flows possess higher information content than earnings. Practical implications - – The explanatory power for stock returns will be higher for earnings or cash flows depending on which is more highly persistent. This result reverses the conventional finding of the superiority of earnings over cash flows in explaining security returns. Originality/value - – In contrast to previous studies, the authors control for the extremity of earnings and cash flows when evaluating the relative information content of earnings and cash flows from operations.
Knowledge management practices and innovation performance in Finland

Purpose – Recent empirical studies have suggested that knowledge-based issues are closely related to companies’ innovation performance. However, the majority of research seems to be focused either on static knowledge assets or knowledge processes such as knowledge creation. The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on the conscious and systematic managerial activities for dealing with knowledge in firms (i.e. knowledge management (KM) practices), which aim at innovation performance improvements through proactive management of knowledge assets. The study explores the impact that KM practices have on innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide empirical evidence on how various KM practices influence innovation performance. The results are based on survey data collected in Finland during fall 2013. The authors use partial least squares to test the hypothesized relationships between KM practices and innovation performance. Findings – The authors find that firms are capable of s.
Destination avoidance and inept destination sets

This research investigates how different destination choice sets are defined, particularly with respect to the reasons for choosing not to visit a destination. The paper discusses the idea of limited sets which consumers may hold when making decisions to travel, and outlines the inept sets of destinations held by a sample of New Zealanders for both domestic and international travel. Inept sets of destinations are those consciously rejected by the respondent as a destination to visit. The dimensions which the current sample indicate as reasons for including destinations in their inept set are outlined; examples for domestic locations include perceived expense and crowding, and examples for international destinations include perceived expense, danger and cultural differences.
The Liquidity Consequences of the Euro Area Sovereign Debt Crisis

We examine the liquidity effects of the euro area sovereign debt crisis, including its effects on euro area banks as a group, on intra-euro area financial flows, on the supply of and demand for collateral, and on international liquidity. The lending capacity of the euro area banking system has been much weakened, despite the remarkable growth of the operations of the Eurosystem, including its greatly increased lending, its intermediation between national central banks in surplus and deficit countries and its collateral policy. The euro crisis has also created international liquidity stresses. We find that central bank swap lines have only had limited effectiveness in alleviating the stresses, probably owing to some stigma being attached to their use.
Entry and Markup Dynamics in an Estimated Business Cycle Model

How do changes in market structure affect the US business cycle? We estimate a monetary DSGE model with endogenous firm/product entry and a translog expenditure function by Bayesian methods. The dynamics of net business formation allow us to identify the extent to which desired price markups and inflation decrease when entry rises. We find that a 1% increase in the number of competitors lowers desired markups by 0.17%. While markup fluctuations due to sticky prices or exogenous shocks account for a large proportion of US inflation variability, endogenous changes in desired markups also play a non-negligible role.
Effect of acetate and propionate on fasting hepatic glucose production in humans.

OBJECTIVE Short chain fatty acids (SCFA, e.g. acetate and propionate) produced from bacterial colonic fermentation may be involved in the improvement of fasting glucose concentration observed with high dietary fibre diets. Because fasting blood glucose is related to hepatic glucose production, we have tested the effect of propionate and acetate on hepatic glucose production. SETTING The study was carried out in the Clinical Research Center for Human Nutrition. SUBJECTS Six healthy young volunteers. INTERVENTIONS The subjects received, in a random order: acetate (12 mmol/h), or propionate (4 mmol/h), or acetate+propionate (12 mmol/h + 4 mmol/h), or an isotonic sodium salt solution (saline) in 3 h gastric infusions. Blood glucose and plasma insulin was monitored. Hepatic glucose production was measured with an isotopic method using [6,6-2H2] glucose. RESULTS No changes were observed in blood glucose, plasma insulin concentrations or hepatic glucose production with any of the infused solutions. An increase in free fatty acid (FFA) plasma concentration related to the fasting state was observed with the saline solution, but not with the SCFA infusions (P < 0.05). There was also an increase in beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration with the saline and the acetate solutions, but not with the propionate or acetate+propionate solutions. CONCLUSIONS SCFA, administered at a rate calculated on the basis of a continuous daily fermentation of 30 g dietary fibres, do not change hepatic glucose production or fasting blood glucose. Propionate and acetate decrease plasma FFA, and further studies are needed to explore this effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.
Are Retrenchment Decisions Rational? The Role of Information in Times of Budgetary Stress.

In recent years, slow economic growth, recession, and a cutback in public spending have forced organizations to contract. Like many others, educational organizations have also experienced decline [42]. Moreover, many predictions about the future of colleges and universities foresee continuous conditions of decline and financial difficulties [13, 19]. In declining organizations, under diminishing resources, allocation decisions are critical. For some organizational units, allocation decisions determine their very continuation and existence. Almost always, extensive information search and analysis precede decision making. In institutions of higher education, for example, review processes, selfstudies, academic program assessments and planning processes are the mechanisms for the generation, collection and analyzing of information. Yet, retrenchment decisions are relatively new to administrators in these institutions. Discussing inhibitors to managing decline in institutions of higher education, Cameron [8], among others, indicates lack of experience and insufficient organizational theory and research that could assist practitioners who face decline. What is implied in Cameron's claim is that there is a need to clarify and develop further organizational theory and research on declining organizations.
The Trading Behavior of Institutions and Individuals in Chinese Equity Markets

This paper employs a unique data set to analyze the trading behavior of 4.74 million individual and institutional investors across Mainland China. Results show that groups of individual investors with varying trade values (as proxies for wealth levels) engage in different trading strategies. Chinese institutions are momentum investors, while less wealthy Chinese individual investors at large are contrarian investors. The results also indicate that a small group of wealthiest Chinese individuals tend to behave like institutions when they buy stocks, and behave like less wealthy individuals when they sell. Furthermore, only the trading activities of institutions and of wealthiest individuals can affect future stock volatility, but those of Chinese individual investors at large have no predictive power for future stock returns.
The value relevance of consolidated financial statements in an emerging market

Purpose - India is one of the few countries where companies are required to give both consolidated financial statements (CFS) as well as parent-only financial statements. While parent-only statements have been in existence for a long time, CFS was introduced recently. The purpose of this paper is to examine the value relevance of CFS in India. Design/methodology/approach - The value relevance of CFS is examined through an empirical study. The study examines the relationship between market values and consolidated earnings and parent-only earnings is analysed. The study uses four years data of 59 companies whose subsidiary earnings are more than 20 per cent of consolidated revenue. Findings - Initial results show that annual CFS are not value relevant, whereas annual parent-only financial statements are value relevant. However, wherever quarterly financial statements are available, CFC are found to be value relevant and parent-only financial statements are not value relevant. Practical implications - While CFS and parent-only financial statement on an annual basis are mandatory, companies have the option to publish parent-only financial statement on a quarterly basis while not reporting quarterly consolidated financial statements. This inconsistency in the regulation causes confusion to investors who receive parent-only quarterly financial statements for three quarters and suddenly consolidated financial statements at the end of the year. The paper shows how market reacts to such reporting practices. Originality/value - In addition to examining the value relevance of CFS, the paper also examines the impact of incomplete regulations of financial reporting on asset pricing.
Double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial of the interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, tocilizumab, in European patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had an incomplete response to methotrexate.

OBJECTIVE To establish the safety and efficacy of repeat infusions of tocilizumab (previously known as MRA), a humanized anti-interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antibody, alone and in combination with methotrexate (MTX), for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS The study group comprised 359 patients with active RA in whom the response to MTX was inadequate. During a stabilization period, these patients received their current dose of MTX for at least 4 weeks. Following stabilization, they were randomized to 1 of 7 treatment arms, as follows: tocilizumab at doses of 2 mg/kg, 4 mg/kg, or 8 mg/kg either as monotherapy or in combination with MTX, or MTX plus placebo. RESULTS A 20% response (improvement) according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20 response) was achieved by 61% and 63% of patients receiving 4 mg/kg and 8 mg/kg of tocilizumab as monotherapy, respectively, and by 63% and 74% of patients receiving those doses of tocilizumab plus MTX, respectively, compared with 41% of patients receiving placebo plus MTX. Statistically significant ACR50 and ACR70 responses were observed in patients receiving combination therapy with either 4 mg/kg or 8 mg/kg of tocilizumab plus MTX (P < 0.05). A dose-related reduction in the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints was observed from week 4 onward, in all patients except those receiving monotherapy with 2 mg/kg of tocilizumab. In the majority of patients who received 8 mg/kg of tocilizumab, the C-reactive protein level/erythrocyte sedimentation rate normalized, while placebo plus MTX had little effect on these laboratory parameters. Tocilizumab was mostly well tolerated, with a safety profile similar to that of other biologic and immunosuppressive therapies. Alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase levels followed a sawtooth pattern (rising and falling between infusions). There were moderate but reversible increases in the nonfasting total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and reversible reductions in the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and neutrophil levels. There were 2 cases of sepsis, both of which occurred in patients who were receiving combination therapy with 8 mg/kg of tocilizumab plus MTX. CONCLUSION These results indicate that targeted blockade of IL-6 signaling is a highly efficacious and promising means of decreasing disease activity in RA.
Disclosures and Asset Returns

Public information to financial markets often arrives through the disclosures of interested parties who have a material interest in the reactions of the market to the new information. When the strategic interaction between the sender and the receiver is formalized as a disclosure game with verifiable reports, market prices observed in equilibrium can be given a simple characterization that relies only on the fact value of the announcement. Also, this characterisation predicts that the return variance following a bed outcome is higher than it would have been if he outcome were good. When investors are risk averse, this leads to negative serial correlation of asset returns.
The political economy of soil erosion in developing countries

Argues for combining the study of physical and social processes to study the political economy of soil erosion; the study must include a 'place-based' analysis of soil erosion, where it actually occurs, where flooding and siltation caused by soil erosion in one place affects another, and where land users have been spatially displaced to and from areas. It must also include 'non-place- based' analysis of the relations of production under which land is used including land tenure, rents, prices of agricultural inputs and outputs. Bringing these two analyses together, a 'bottom-up' approach is outlined in which the focus is first directed to the smallest unit of decision making in the use of land, the family and the household, up to the government and administration. At the latter level, it looks at where power lies and how it is used.
The Queensland Election of 17 February 2001: Reforging the Electoral Landscape?

The 2001 general election for the Queensland Legislative Assembly's fiftieth Parliament will stand as a watershed in Queensland electoral politics. The Beattie Labor government, elected with minority status in 1998, subsequently elevated to a majority of one later that year, and once again reduced to a technical minority at the end of 2000 amid the controversy generated by the Shepherdson Inquiry into allegations of vote rorting, managed not only to survive but to increase its vote in a record primary swing of 10.0% that reduced the non-labor parties to a rump (ECQ 2001). In taking 66 of the Assembly's 89 seats, the ALP achieved its greatest share of electorates since Forgan-Smith's 1935 landslide (Campbell 1996). This election was remarkable for several other reasons. First, it was the first poll since 1992 to return a majority government in Queensland; second, it second, it seemed eminently possible on election night that both the National Party leader, Rob Borbidge, and Liberal Party leader, David Watson, would lose their respective seats; third, a record number of women members (33, or 37%) now sit in the Legislative Assembly; and, fourth, the election saw a dramatic reduction in the hitherto-strong One Nation vote.
Floral Evolution: Attractiveness to Pollinators Increases Male Fitness

Because availability of resources often limits seed or fruit set, increased visits by pollinators may not always lead to increases in maternal reproduction. This observation has led evolutionary biologists to hypothesize that a plant's ability to attract pollinators may have its primary impact on male fitness achieved through the fertlization of ovules. This interpretation of angiosperm reproductive ecology is supported by field experiments. Pollinating insects strongly discriminated between two Mendelian petal-color morphs in Raphanus raphanistrum, a widespread, self-incompatible crucifer. In experimental populations composed of petal-color homozygotes. color discrimination by naturally occurring pollinators had no statistically significant effect on relative maternal function (fruit and seed production) in the two morphs. In contrast, yellow-flowered individuals were far more successful as fathers (pollen donors) than were the less visited whites. These results suggest that the evolution of floral signals such as petal color may be driven primarily by selection on male function.
Inhibition of intracellular growth of Histoplasma capsulatum yeast cells by cytokine-activated human monocytes and macrophages

Human monocytes/macrophages (M psi) were infected with Histoplasma capsulatum yeast cells, and intracellular growth was quantified after 24 h of incubation in medium alone or in medium containing cytokines. Yeast cells multiplied within freshly isolated monocytes, cultured M psi, and alveolar M psi with intracellular generation times of 14.2 +/- 1.4, 18.5 +/- 2.1, and 19.9 +/- 1.9 h (mean +/- standard error of the mean), respectively. Monocytes and M psi inhibited the intracellular growth of yeast cells in response to cytokine supernatant; maximum inhibition was obtained when cytokines were added to cell monolayers immediately after infection. Opsonization of yeast cells in normal serum or in H. capsulatum-immune serum did not affect the intracellular generation time of yeast cells in either control M psi or cytokine-activated M psi.
The relationship between succession issues and business performance

Researchers widely argue that the most significant difference between family controlled and non‐family business concerns the way in which executive succession occurs, and more specifically, unique aspects of the process of intergenerational family business transfer. The importance of this study is acknowledged by the fact that it offers researchers and practitioners empirical evidence that links succession issues and the state of performance in UK‐based small‐ and medium‐sized family businesses. The article commences with a review of the conceptual framework that relates to the critical factors influencing the succession process, followed by an introduction of the methodology. Then the article proceeds with a detailed statistical analysis based on a stratified randomly selected sample (169 small‐ and medium‐sized family controlled businesses). In summary, the article concludes with a set of tentative recommendations. It is anticipated that this study will enable a deep debate of the issues surrounding the succession practice and raise a wide awareness of the critical factors shaping the ownership transition.