Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finance and Growth: New Evidence from Meta-Analysis

Purpose – In a meta-study, we have bridged the gap between the pros and cons of a questionable finance-growth nexus. Design/methodology/approach – Over 20 fundamental characteristics that have influenced the debate over the last decades have been examined. The empirical evidence is based on 196 outcomes from 20 studies. We assess the degree of heterogeneity and identify causes of the observed differentiation. Findings – Our findings also show evidence of publication bias. Overall, a genuine effect exists between financial development and economic growth. A finance-growth nexus might not be appealing in our era because of: endogeneity-based estimations, publication bias and, effects of financial activity. A historical justification has also been discussed. Practical implications – Encouraging the publication of results with findings that are not consistent with the mainstream positive finance-growth nexus should provide new scholarly insights into the relationship. Depending on the specific context of sampled countries, the role of policy has also been to encourage financial development through measures that may expose countries to negative external shocks like financial crises. Policy makers that have been viewing the challenges of development exclusively from this point of view for the rewards of growth may not be getting the financial dynamics correctly. Originality/value – Very few meta-analysis studies have focused on the finance-growth nexus.
Auctions: The Social Construction of Value

Long the preferred method of exchange for antiques and horseflesh, auctions are used today to sell everything from bestselling books to real estate, government bonds to abandoned automobiles. As sociologist Charles Smith reveals, the mechanical law of supply and demand rarely governs the auction process. Rather value is determined by a complex social process combining both the beliefs and actions of the auction participants and the assumptions and practices on the auction floor. Based on years of participation in and observation of different types of auctions and interviews with hundreds of auctioneers, Smith gives us not only a theoretical understanding of the auction process but the sights and sounds as well.
Pluripotent Nontumorigenic Adipose Tissue-Derived Muse Cells Have Immunomodulatory Capacity Mediated by Transforming Growth Factor-β1.

: Adult mesenchymal stromal cell-based interventions have shown promising results in a broad range of diseases. However, their use has faced limited effectiveness owing to the low survival rates and susceptibility to environmental stress on transplantation. We describe the cellular and molecular characteristics of multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells derived from adipose tissue (AT), a subpopulation of pluripotent stem cells isolated from human lipoaspirates. Muse-AT cells were efficiently obtained using a simple, fast, and affordable procedure, avoiding cell sorting and genetic manipulation methods. Muse-AT cells isolated under severe cellular stress, expressed pluripotency stem cell markers and spontaneously differentiated into the three germ lineages. Muse-AT cells grown as spheroids have a limited proliferation rate, a diameter of ∼15 µm, and ultrastructural organization similar to that of embryonic stem cells. Muse-AT cells evidenced high stage-specific embryonic antigen-3 (SSEA-3) expression (∼60% of cells) after 7-10 days growing in suspension and did not form teratomas when injected into immunodeficient mice. SSEA-3+-Muse-AT cells expressed CD105, CD29, CD73, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I, CD44, and CD90 and low levels of HLA class II, CD45, and CD34. Using lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages and antigen-challenged T-cell assays, we have shown that Muse-AT cells have anti-inflammatory activities downregulating the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α. Muse-AT cells spontaneously gained transforming growth factor-β1 expression that, in a phosphorylated SMAD2-dependent manner, might prove pivotal in their observed immunoregulatory activity through decreased expression of T-box transcription factor in T cells. Collectively, the present study has demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of obtaining Muse-AT cells that can potentially be harnessed as immunoregulators to treat immune-related disorders. SIGNIFICANCE The present study reports on a simple, low-cost, and reproducible method for the generation of multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring cells from human adipose tissue lipoaspirates without the aid of cell sorting and genetic manipulation methods. This stem cell population does not form teratoma in vivo when injected into immunodeficient mice and has immunomodulatory properties with potential therapeutic effects on immune disorders.
The Consumer Psychology of Mail-In Rebates: A Model of Anchoring and Adjustment

Consumers who buy a product intending to use an accompanying mail-in rebate often do not redeem the rebate. To explain this behavior, we argue that consumers use an anchoring and adjustment approach to predicting the likelihood of redeeming a rebate. In keeping with previous research on anchoring and adjustment, for instance, we show that when presented with a desirable product, consumers anchor on scenarios of successful redemption and adjust insufficiently for things that could go wrong in the redemption process. However, we also propose this anchoring and adjustment process is impacted by a consumer's motivation to purchase the rebated product. In particular, we propose the anchor employed will be driven by the valence of a consumer's underlying motivation. Specifically, a consumer that is motivated to purchase the product will anchor on scenarios of successful redemption while a consumer that is motivated to avoid purchasing will anchor on scenarios of failed redemption. We also propose that the degree of adjustment consumer's employ will be driven by their strength of motivation - i.e., the stronger the motivation, the less the adjustment to the motivational anchor. Consequently, mail in rebates either can serve to enhance or to dampen purchase intention depending on a consumer's underlying motivation. In other words, rebates offer consumers a means to justify a preferred course of action. Across a series of three studies, we show this to be the case.
Static quark-antiquark free energy and the running coupling at finite temperature

We analyze the free energy of a static quark-antiquark pair in quenched QCD at short and large distances. From this we deduce running couplings, g{sup 2} (r, T), and determine the length scale that separates at high temperature the short distance perturbative regime from the large distance nonperturbative regime in the QCD plasma phase. Ambiguities in the definition of a coupling beyond the perturbative regime are discussed in their relation to phenomenological considerations on heavy quark bound states in the quark gluon plasma. Our analysis suggests that it is more appropriate to characterize the nonperturbative properties of the QCD plasma phase close to T{sub c} in terms remnants of the confinement part of the QCD force rather than a strong Coulombic force.
Revisiting the ‘Missing Middle’ in English Sub-National Governance

In the light of the new Coalition Government's proposed ‘rescaling’ of sub-national governance away from the regional level, it is an opportune time to re-consider the strength and weaknesses of the city or sub-regional approach to economic development and to search, once more, for the ‘missing middle’ in English Governance. In this context, the article initially assesses the case for city or sub regions as tiers of economic governance, before examining the lessons to be learnt from the experiences of the existing city regions in the North East of England. It argues that while contemporary plans to develop Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) can be usefully considered within the context of the emerging city regional developments under the previous Labour Governments, a number of important challenges remain, particularly in relation to ensuring accountable structures of governance, a range of appropriate functions, adequate funding, and comprehensive coverage across a variety of sub-regional contexts. While the proposals of the new Government create the necessary ‘space’ to develop sub-regional bodies and offer genuine opportunities for both city and county LEPs, the scale of the sub-regional challenge should not be underestimated, particularly given the context of economic recession and major reductions in the public sector.
Factors related to truth-telling practice of physicians treating patients with cancer in Turkey.

BACKGROUND In the practice of oncology, effective communication between physician and patient is very important. Although many studies have indicated that a large majority of physicians, especially from Western countries, tell the truth about diagnosis and prognosis, little is known about attitudes of physicians in Turkey toward truth-telling. OBJECTIVE In this study, we tried to determine the truth-telling practice of physicians and explore potential related factors with a self-reported questionnaire. DESIGN Using a questionnaire, 131 cancer specialists were interviewed during the 15th National Oncology Meeting in April 2003. RESULTS The percentage of physicians who never, rarely, generally, and always prefer truthtelling about a cancer diagnosis were 9%, 39%, 45%, and 7%, respectively. In univariate logistic regression analysis for the truth-telling practice, significant variables included "do not tell" requests from family, experiences from medical training and clinical practice, and medical specialty. In the multivariate analysis, "do not tell" requests from relatives and medical training factors retained their significance. CONCLUSION Professional training in breaking bad news is important and is associated with the self-reported truth-telling practices of physicians.
Location Determinants of New Firms: Does Skill Level of Human Capital Really Matter?

This paper is about the role played by stock of human capital on location decisions of new manufacturing plants. We analyse the effect of several skill levels (from basic school to PhD) on decisions about the location of plants in various industries and, therefore, of different technological levels. We also test whether spatial aggregation level biases the results and determine the most appropriate areas to be considered in analyses of these phenomena. Our main statistical source is the Register of Manufacturing Establishments of Catalonia (REIC), which has plant-level microdata on the locations of new manufacturing plants. Keywords: agglomeration economies, industrial location, human capital, count-data models, spatial econometrics.
Liver regeneration and the effect of exogenous putrescine on regenerative activity after partial hepatectomy in cirrhotic rats

There are conflicting data regarding the ability of the liver to regenerate after partial hepatectomy in animals and humans with cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to document liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in a carbon tetrachloride rat model of cirrhosis and to determine whether exogenous putrescine, a polyamine that has been reported to stimulate liver regeneration in animal models of acute liver failure, enhances regenerative activity in cirrhosis. Liver fibrosis and cirrhosis were produced by weekly intragastric gavage with carbon tetrachloride in 130 adult male rats. Vehicle‐gavaged rats (n = 12) served as healthy controls. At surgery and at 4 and 8 hr after 70% hepatectomy, rats received normal saline solution or 1 or 10 mg/kg putrescine by intraperitoneal injection. Another group (n = 32) of carbon tetrachloride‐treated rats was given putrescine (100 mg/kg) or normal saline solution twice daily for 10 days before partial hepatectomy and at 0, 4 and 8 hr after partial hepatectomy. Liver regeneration was documented 24 and 48 hr after partial hepatectomy on the basis of restitution of liver mass, ornithine decarboxylase activity and [3H]thymidine incorporation into liver DNA. Automated image analysis of the resected liver specimens separated carbon tetrachloride‐treated rats into two subgroups: those with bridging fibrosis (fibrotic group) and those with micronodular cirrhosis (cirrhotic group). Restitution of liver mass and ornithine decarboxylase activity at 24 and 48 hr after partial hepatectomy were similar to carbon tetrachloride‐treated rats (both fibrotic and cirrhotic) and vehicle‐treated healthy controls. Hepatic DNA synthesis, however, was significantly impaired at 48 hr in fibrotic rats (42.1 ± 20.6 dpm/ng DNA; p < 0.05) and at 24 and 48 hr in cirrhotic rats (22.9 ± 9.6 and 27.0 ± 11.3 dpm/ng DNA, respectively; p < 0.005 and p <0.001) compared with vehicle‐treated healthy controls (52.6 ± 9.2 and 78.3 ± 6.9 dpm/ng DNA at 24 and 48 hr, respectively). Putrescine therapy after or before and after partial hepatectomy did not alter restored liver mass, ornithine decarboxylase activity or DNA synthesis at 24 or 48 hr after partial hepatectomy in fibrotic or cirrhotic rats compared with their respective saline solution‐treated controls. The results of this study indicate that hepatic DNA synthesis is impaired in rats with fibrosis and cirrhosis after partial hepatectomy and that exogenous putrescine does not enhance liver regeneration in this model of chronic liver disease.
The Revenue-Sharing Rule for Interconnection Charges

In this paper we explore the economic principle behind the revenue-sharing rule for interconnection charges. Our main finding is that symmetric firms can collude by splitting the revenues equally. We further characterize the optimal revenue-sharing ratio and discuss the relationship between optimal ratio and the optimal access price. We also show that the revenue-sharing rule can have the perverse effect of inducing a firm to raise its own costs in order to gain a higher share of revenues.
Characterizing dementia with Lewy bodies by means of diffusion tensor imaging

Objective: To investigate patterns of in vivo white matter tract change using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we conducted a cross-sectional study of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in comparison with Alzheimer disease (AD) and normal aging. Methods: The study included 106 subjects (35 with DLB, 36 with AD, and 35 elderly controls) who underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessment and diffusion tensor MRI. We used tract-based spatial statistics to investigate patterns of reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD) across the entire white matter tract skeleton and also investigated correlations with clinical features. Results: Areas of reduced FA in subjects with DLB vs controls were found primarily in parieto-occipital white matter tracts; in AD, the changes were much more diffuse. DLB was also associated with reduced FA in the pons and left thalamus, in comparison with AD. The pattern of MD increase was diffuse in AD and DLB. We found an association between DTI parameters and impaired episodic memory, letter fluency, and severity of motor parkinsonism in DLB. Conclusions: Despite a similar level of dementia severity, patterns of DTI changes in AD and DLB differed significantly. The selective involvement of the visual association areas and subcortical structures and the significant clinical correlations highlight the potential importance of white matter tract change in the pathogenesis of DLB. DTI may be a useful technique to investigate early and possible preclinical changes in DLB and warrants further investigation.
Climate, Niche Conservatism, and the Global Bird Diversity Gradient

We tested the proposition that there are more species in the tropics because basal clades adapted to warm paleoclimates have been lost in regions now experiencing cool climates. Molecular phylogenies were used to classify species as “basal” and “derived” based on their family, and their richness patterns were contrasted. Path models also evaluated environmental predictors of richness patterns. As predicted, basal clades are more diverse in the lowland tropics, whereas derived clades are more diverse in the extratropics and high‐altitude tropics. Seventy‐four percent of the variation in bird richness was explained by environmental variables, but models differed for basal and derived groups. The overall gradient is described by the spatial pattern of basal clades, although there are differences in the Old and New Worlds. We conclude that in ecological time, the global richness gradient reflects birds’ responses to climatic gradients, partially operating via plants. Over evolutionary time, the gradient primarily reflects the extirpation of species in older clades from parts of the world that have become cooler in the present. A strong secondary effect arises from dispersal of clades from centers of origin and subsequent radiations. Overall, the diversity gradient is well explained by niche conservatism and the “time‐for‐speciation” hypothesis.
Advances in Serological Diagnosis of Chagas' Disease by Using Recombinant Proteins

Chagas’ disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, mainly occurring in American countries where the parasite vector bug, Triatoma infestans, is widespread. One hundred million individuals are currently under threaten of infection, as well as 16 million people are considered affected by the illness in Latin America alone. (Editorial, 2009) Considering indicators such as the disability-adjusted life years, DALY, and from a social point of view, Chagas’ disease accounts for the third most important tropical illness of the World, following malaria and schistosomiasis. (Bitran et al., 2009) Moreover, Chagas disease epidemiology nowadays impacts in non-endemic regions due to globalization, being the infection disseminated all over the world (Gascon et al. 2009). Certainly, the non-vectorial disease transmission (mother to child, transfusional and by organ transplantation) is the way the illness spreads in Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia, because many infected people have migrated from endemic regions to distant cities. (Bowling & Walter, 2009; Lescure et al., 2009; Yadon & Schmunis, 2009) The parasite distribution and living habits of rural Latin-American people have determined that the main transmission route is the vectorial one (via Triatoma infestans), leading to up 80% of human infection. (WHO, 2003) The main contagion way in urban areas arise from blood-transfusion, being responsible for 5-20% of the reported cases, while vertical transmission (mother-to-child) accounts for 2-10% of the infections. (Carlier & Torrico, 2003) The infection transmission by oral route because of consumption of contaminated food and drinks is lower than that reported for the previously-mentioned routes. (Dias et al., 2011) However, it has to be taken into account that the success of the non-oral infection prevention has increased the importance of the oral route of transmission. (Dias et al., 2011; Nobrega et al., 2009) It is noteworthy that the acute outcome of the oral infection is particularly severe. (Bastos et al 2010). From the clinical point of view, the illness presents variable unspecific symptoms, depending on its stage: the acute one, shortly after primary infection, and the chronic stage, which may last many years if the individual is not treated. Human infection typically
Reconstructing Bronzeville: Racial Nostalgia and Neighborhood Redevelopment

Much of the existing work on heritage tourism emphasizes downtown or citywide tourism development. Yet, an increasing number of African American neighborhoods are using racial heritage tourism to revitalize their long neglected inner-city neighborhoods. This article examines the use of heritage in black neighborhoods and analyzes its use as a political resource. The development of heritage tourism encourages black communities to construct notions of authentic racial community, which they draw upon to legitimize both the processes of, and their role in, neighborhood redevelopment.
Multiple Effects of Cadmium on the Photosynthetic Apparatus of Avicennia germinans L. as Probed by OJIP Chlorophyll Fluorescence Measurements

Abstract The toxic effects of cadmium on the photosynthetic apparatus of Avicennia germinans were evaluated by means of the chlorophyll fluorescence transient O-J-I-P. The chlorophyll fluorescence transients were recorded in vivo with high time resolution and analyzed according to the OJIP-test that can quantify the performance of photosystem II. Cadmium-treated plants showed a decrease in yield for primary photochemistry, TR0/ABS. The performance index of photosystem II (PSII), PIABS, decreased due to cadmium treatment. This performance index is the combination of the indexes of three independent parameters: (1) total number of active reaction centers per absorption (RC/ABS), (2) yield of primary photochemistry (TR0/ABS), and (3) efficiency with which a trapped exciton can move an electron into the electron transport chain (ET0/TR0). Additionally, the F0/Fv registered the highest sensitivity to the metal, thus indicating that the water-splitting apparatus of the oxidizing side of PSII is the primary site of action of cadmium. In summary, cadmium affects several targets of photosystem II. More specifically the main targets of cadmium, according to the OJIPtest, can be listed as a decrease in the number of active reaction centers and damage to the activity of the water-splitting complex.
Treatment of a case of phonological alexia with agraphia using the Auditory Discrimination in Depth (ADD) Program

Phonological alexia and agraphia are acquired disorders characterized by an impaired ability to convert graphemes to phonemes (alexia) or phonemes to graphemes (agraphia). These disorders result in phonological errors typified by adding, omitting, shifting, or repeating phonemes in words during reading or graphemes when spelling. In developmental dyslexia, similar phonological errors are believed to result from deficient phonological awareness, an oral language skill that manifests itself in the ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual sounds in words. The Auditory Discrimination in Depth (ADD) program has been reported to train phonological awareness in developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia. We used a multiple-probe design to evaluate the ADD program's effectiveness with a patient with a mild phonological alexia and mixed agraphia following a left hemisphere infarction. Large gains in phonological awareness, reading and spelling nonwords, and reading and spelling real words were demonstrated. A follow-up reassessment, 2 months posttreatment, found the patient had maintained treatment gains in phonological awareness and reading, and attained additional improvement in real word reading. (JINS, 1998, 4, 608–620.)
COMPUTABILITY AND THE CONNES EMBEDDING PROBLEM

Abstract The Connes Embedding Problem (CEP) asks whether every separable II1 factor embeds into an ultrapower of the hyperfinite II1 factor. We show that the CEP is equivalent to the statement that every type II1 tracial von Neumann algebra has a computable universal theory.