Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic intrathecal administration of dexamethasone sodium phosphate: pharmacokinetics and neurotoxicity in an animal model.

OBJECTIVE Although corticosteroids have been used intraspinally for many years, long-term intrathecal administration has not been examined. We have assessed the stability, bioavailability, and safety of continuously delivering the prodrug dexamethasone sodium phosphate into the lumbar subarachnoid space. METHODS High-performance liquid chromatography studies were performed to determine whether dexamethasone sodium phosphate is degraded either in vials or in an infusion pump at 37 degrees C during a period of weeks. Rats then received implants with a combined intrathecal delivery and microdialysis sampling catheter to determine whether the prodrug is converted to free dexamethasone. A neurotoxicity study was performed in which rats received implants with an intrathecal catheter and were continuously infused with the corticosteroid during a 2-week period. RESULTS Dexamethasone sodium phosphate, diluted in saline, is stable at body temperature in vials and implantable infusion pumps for at least 2 weeks. When delivered into the cerebrospinal fluid as a bolus, virtually all of the prodrug is converted to free dexamethasone within 40 minutes. When administered continuously, most of the corticosteroid is in its active form at steady state. Low doses of corticosteroid (< or =12.5 ng/h) produced no side effects or neuropathology in the rats, but a higher dose (125 ng/h) was associated with inflammation in the lumbar subarachnoid space. CONCLUSION Dexamethasone sodium phosphate is a stable prodrug that is efficiently converted to free dexamethasone when delivered intrathecally. Low continuous intrathecal doses seem safe, but higher doses may lead to increased inflammation.
Between Culture, Policy and Industry: Modalities of Intermediation in the Creative Economy

Taylor C. Between culture, policy and industry: modalities of intermediation in the creative economy, Regional Studies. The creative economy has become one of the most internationally pervasive prescriptions for the future of regional spatial economies. Accounts of its characteristics and typical ways of working have pointed to the importance of intermediary agents. Intermediation in the creative economy has, however, been comparatively under-theorized. This paper aims to address this gap by focusing on the topic of intermediary efficacy, that is, by what powers does intermediation bring about effects both for and in the creative economy? It argues that a fuller account of intermediation needs to encompass its three principal modalities: the transactional, the regulatory and the strategic.
Do consumers care about food miles? An empirical analysis in France

We conducted two qualitative surveys to identify whether food miles, defined as the distance that foodstuff travels between the production location and the consumption marketplace, matter for French consumers. First, two focus groups with ‘conventional’ consumers show that distance is a multidimensional concept, both positively and negatively perceived, and that most consumers are not concerned by food miles and their subsequent environmental impact. Second, 10 face-to-face interviews with consumers of locally grown organic food demonstrate that these consumers purchase local food for other reasons than reducing ‘food miles’ and buy imported organic food in spite of increased food miles. We shed light on this situation using theoretical concepts from economics and psychology. Some implications for policymakers and marketers are stressed.
A comparison between domestic and international students’ trip characteristics: Evidence from an Australian university

Changes in the demographic structure of a population present opportunities and challenges for the provision of tourism products and services. One such change is the increased participation of domestic and international students in tertiary education that has occurred in many countries over the past 10 years. Despite the research interest in international students’ tourism behaviour, to date, few studies have compared domestic with international students. Drawing on the concepts of mobility and diaspora tourism a survey was conducted among both groups at an Australian university in 2009 to examine aspects of travel in the country in which they were studying. It was found that international students’ trip characteristics differed from those of domestic students and that longer periods of residence in the host country did not result in international students adapting to domestic students. Recommendations regarding market implications are made and further areas of research are suggested.
Factors determining household fuel choice in Guatemala

This paper discusses the factors guiding household choices of cooking fuels. This is crucial for policies to combat indoor air pollution. Household income is an important, but not the only, factor. Opportunity costs of firewood also play an essential role. Empirical results are based on the 2000 Guatemalan LSMS survey, which includes a detailed section on energy use. Patterns of fuel use, energy spending, Engel curves, multiple fuels, the extent of fuel switching, and the determinants of fuel choice are analyzed. It is common in Guatemala to use multiple fuels for cooking – 48 and 27 per cent of urban and rural households do so. Modern fuels are often used alongside traditional solid fuels; modern fuels thus fail to displace solid fuels in many cases, particular in rural areas and the urban bottom half. This is paradoxical since a significant share of firewood users buy wood from the market, incurring costs that are substantial, also in comparison with the costs of modern fuels.
Characterization of a New Subfamily of Winged-helix/Forkhead (Fox) Genes That Are Expressed in the Lung and Act as Transcriptional Repressors*

Epithelial gene expression in the lung is thought to be regulated by the coordinate activity of several different families of transcription factors including the Fox family of winged-helix/forkhead DNA-binding proteins. In this report, we have identified and characterized two members of this Fox gene family, Foxp1 and Foxp2, and show that they comprise a new subfamily of Fox genes expressed in the lung. Foxp1 and Foxp2 are expressed at high levels in the lung as early as E12.5 of mouse development with Foxp2 expression restricted to the airway epithelium. In addition, Foxp1 and Foxp2 are expressed at lower levels in neural, intestinal, and cardiovascular tissues during development. Upon differentiation of the airway epithelium along the proximal-distal axis, Foxp2 expression becomes restricted to the distal alveolar epithelium whereas Foxp1 expression is observed in the distal epithelium and mesenchyme. Foxp1 and Foxp2 can regulate epithelial lung gene transcription as was demonstrated by their ability to dramatically repress the mouse CC10 promoter and, to a lesser extent, the human surfactant protein C promoter. In addition, GAL4 fusion proteins encoding subdomains of Foxp1 and Foxp2 demonstrate that an independent and homologous transcriptional repression domain lies within the N-terminal end of the proteins. Together, these studies suggest that Foxp1 and Foxp2 are important regulators of lung epithelial gene transcription.
Could valproic acid be an effective anticancer agent? The evidence so far

Valproic acid is an inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases. Epigenetic therapies in cancer have been focus of a keen interest and histone deacetylase inhibitors, in particular, have been approved for certain types of hematologic malignancies. Valproic acid is an attractive candidate for cancer therapy due to its mechanism of action, its low cost and generally good clinical tolerability. In the following editorial, we will review its role as monotherapy for cancer, its place in combination epigenetic therapy, and its role as chemosensitizer, and cancer preventative agent.
The pathological spectrum associated with the ultrastructural finding of thin glomerular basement membrane: A tertiary medical city experience and review of the literature

ABSTRACT Background: Thin glomerular basement membrane (GBM) has been noted in several glomerular diseases including IgA nephropathy, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Fabry’s disease, and Alport’s syndrome. We conducted this study to investigate the pathological ultrastructural spectrum of thin GBMs, to identify associated diseases, and to measure the GBM thickness in thin GBMs in our adult population. Materials and methods: All renal biopsies with thin GBM, diagnosed between 2010 and 2016, were retrieved and reviewed. Results: Of 24 cases, 50.0% were diagnosed with FSGS, 12.5% with IgA nephropathy, 8.3% with tubulointerstitial nephritis, 4.2% with acute thrombotic microangiopathy, 4.2% with focal global sclerosis, 4.2% with lupus nephritis, and 16.7% with only thin GBM disease. Mean GBM thickness was 213.4 ± 24.7 nm. Mean interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy percentage (IF/TA) was 27.9 ± 22.2%. There was no significant correlation between GBM thickness and patients’ age or IF/TA percentage. Conclusion: The association of thin GBM with FSGS and IgA nephropathy is high. Morphometric analysis of the GBM thickness should be made routine, noting that ethnic variations in the GBM thickness are reported. Cases of thin GBM should be reported to facilitate proper diagnosis and institute the most appropriate treatment.
Glia: from ‘just glue’ to essential players in complex nervous systems: a comparative view from flies to mammals

Abstract In the last years, glial cells have emerged as central players in the development and function of complex nervous systems. Therefore, the concept of glial cells has evolved from simple supporting cells to essential actors. The molecular mechanisms that govern glial functions are evolutionarily conserved from Drosophila to mammals, highlighting genetic similarities between these groups, as well as the great potential of Drosophila research for the understanding of human CNS. These similarities would imply a common phylogenetic origin of glia, even though there is a controversy at this point. This review addresses the existing literature on the evolutionary origin of glia and discusses whether or not insect and mammalian glia are homologous or analogous. Besides, this manuscript summarizes the main glial functions in the CNS and underscores the evolutionarily conserved molecular mechanisms between Drosophila and mammals. Finally, I also consider the current nomenclature and classification of glial cells to highlight the need for a consensus agreement and I propose an alternative nomenclature based on function that unifies Drosophila and mammalian glial types.
ActuEating: Designing, Studying and Exploring Actuating Decorative Artefacts

Actuating, dynamic materials offer substantial potential to enhance interior designs but there are currently few examples of how they might be utilized or impact user experiences. As part of a design-led exploration, we have prototyped (Wizard-of-Oz) an actuating, dining table runner (ActuEater1), and then developed a fully-interactive fabric version that both changes shape and colour (ActuEater2). Four in-situ deployments of 'ActuEaters' in different dinner settings and subsequent 'design crits' showed insights into how people perceive, interpret and interact with such slow-technology in interesting (and often unexpected) ways. The results of our 'ActuEating' studies provide evidence for how an actuating artefact can be simultaneously a resource for social engagement and an interactive decorative. In response, we explore design opportunities for situating novel interactive materials in everyday settings, taking the leap into a new generation of interactive spaces, and critically considering new aesthetic possibilities.
Corporate Social Responsibility as Cultural Meaning Management: A Critique of the Marketing of ‘Ethical’ Bottled Water

To date, the primary focus of research in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been on the strategic implications of CSR for corporations and less on an evaluation of CSR from a wider political, economic and social perspective. In this paper, we aim to address this gap by critically engaging with marketing campaigns of so-called ‘ethical’ bottled water. We especially focus on a major CSR strategy of a range of different companies that promise to provide drinking water for (what they name as) ‘poor African people’ by way of Western consumers purchasing bottled water. Following Fairclough's approach, we unfold a three-step critical discourse analysis of the marketing campaigns of 10 such ‘ethical’ brands. Our results show that bottled water companies try to influence consumers' tastes through the management of the cultural meaning of bottled water, producing a more ‘ethical’ and ‘socially responsible’ perception of their products/brands. Theoretically, we base our analysis on McCracken's model of the cultural meaning of consumer goods, which, we argue, offers a critical perspective of the recent emergence of CSR and business ethics initiatives. We discuss how these marketing campaigns can be framed as historical struggles associated with neo-liberal ideology and hegemony. Our analysis demonstrates how such CSR strategies are part of a general process of the reproduction of capitalist modes of accumulation and legitimation through the usage of cultural categories.
The oxidative cost of unstable social dominance

High social rank is expected to incur fitness costs under unstable social conditions. A disruption of the oxidative balance may underlie such effects, but how markers of oxidative stress vary in relation to social rank and stability is unknown. We examined in mandrills whether the mating season characterized by social instability between males (but not between females) affected their oxidative balance differently according to their social rank. Outside the mating season, high-ranking males showed the lowest levels of oxidative damage, while during the mating season, they were the only males to experience increased oxidative damage. In contrast, the mating season increased oxidative stress in all females, irrespective of their social rank. These results support the hypothesis that the coupling between social rank and social stability is responsible for differential costs in terms of oxidative stress, which may explain inter-individual differences in susceptibility to socially induced health issues.
Internal audit function, board quality and financial reporting quality: evidence from Malaysia

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of the internal audit function (IAF), an increasingly common internal governance mechanism, on a firm's financial reporting quality. Specifically, this paper investigates the association between the quality of the IAF and abnormal accruals (as a proxy for financial reporting quality) and whether the board of directors play a role in moderating the relationship. Design/methodology/approach - – This paper uses a unique dataset of survey responses and archival data. Regression analysis was used to test their hypotheses. Findings - – Although their initial findings show an unexpected positive relationship between internal audit quality and abnormal accruals, this relationship is contingent on whether firms outsource their internal audit activities and/or whether they are politically linked. In estimations excluding outsourcing and political connections observations, this paper shows that the association between internal audit quality and abnormal accruals is negative and in particular internal audit organisational independence, financial focus audit activities and investment are associated with lower income-increasing (opportunistic) abnormal accruals. Next, when this paper interact board quality with internal audit quality, this paper finds although the lower ordered variables board quality and internal audit quality coefficients are negatively related to abnormal accruals, the interaction variable between these two variables is positively associated with abnormal accruals, indicating the possibility of a substitution relationship between board quality and internal audit quality. Research limitations/implications - – Their findings show that certain internal audit attributes play an important role in the financial reporting process and thus these findings are expected to inform the Institute of Internal Auditors and other regulatory bodies on the role of internal audit (being an important internal governance mechanism) in financial reporting, which in turn can assist in market/regulatory reforms/changes and inform the revised Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance. Originality/value - – This paper extends prior internal auditing literature by examining the relationship between internal audit quality and financial reporting quality in the context of a developing country, namely Malaysia, and whether the board of directors moderate the examined association.
Concurrent validation of Xsens MVN measurement of lower limb joint angular kinematics

This study aims to validate a commercially available inertial sensor based motion capture system, Xsens MVN BIOMECH using its native protocols, against a camera-based motion capture system for the measurement of joint angular kinematics. Performance was evaluated by comparing waveform similarity using range of motion, mean error and a new formulation of the coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC). Three dimensional joint angles of the lower limbs were determined for ten healthy subjects while they performed three daily activities: level walking, stair ascent, and stair descent. Under all three walking conditions, the Xsens system most accurately determined the flexion/extension joint angle (CMC > 0.96) for all joints. The joint angle measurements associated with the other two joint axes had lower correlation including complex CMC values. The poor correlation in the other two joint axes is most likely due to differences in the anatomical frame definition of limb segments used by the Xsens and Optotrak systems. Implementation of a protocol to align these two systems is necessary when comparing joint angle waveforms measured by the Xsens and other motion capture systems.
Adoption, Transfers and Incentives in a Franchise Network with Positive Externalities

We study franchise arrangements that allow franchisees with exclusive territories to own their customers. This permits franchisees to benefit from positive externalities in the franchise network through interfranchise transfers based on the purchases by their customers at other franchises on the network. Using the structure of a single franchisor and many franchisees, we show that, in general, interfranchise transfers between franchisees and incentives for franchisee investment in the expansion of their customer base are critical both to the size and to the benefits derived from the franchise network. Specifically, we find that when individual franchisees make investments in marketing effort to increase their customer base, the franchisor's setting of the interfranchise transfer trades off the positive effects on network size with the negative effects of removing franchisee incentive for investment. This result is due to the fact that interfranchise transfers encourage adoption, but discourage full investment in marketing effort. As compared to first-best franchisee investment, use of the royalty and the inter-franchise transfer directly dissipates franchisee profits, and indirectly dissipates franchisee profits through less than universal adoption, thereby causing franchisees to underinvest. As compared to traditional franchise systems, however, use of the interfranchise transfer results in franchises making greater investments than they otherwise would.
Endogenous Barriers to Entry into Credit Markets

Economic theory suggests that asymmetric information between incumbents and entrants can generate endogenous barriers to entry into credit markets. First, the entrants are more exposed to adverse selection than the incumbents because the pool of agents that apply for a loan to a newcomer contains all those not creditworthy would-be borrowers who were previously rejected by mature banks in the market. Second, incumbents' creditworthiness tests are likely to be more accurate than those run by the entrants because a substantial amount of the information used to screen loan applicants is generated through repeated interaction with the local business community. For both reasons entrants are likely to experience higher loan default rates than the incumbents. We test these theoretical predictions using a unique database of 7,275 observations on 729 individual banks' lending in 95 Italian local markets. We find that both adverse selection and informational disadvantage play a significant role in explaining entrants' loan default rates. We argue that these endogenous barriers can help to explain why entry in many local credit markets by domestic and foreign banks was slow, even after substantial deregulation.
Building a corporate network in a transition economy: the case of Slovenia

Post‐socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe underwent a massive programme of privatisation in the 1990s. Corporate networks that emerged from the privatisation process are a reflection of a particular privatisation model chosen. In Slovenia, as in developed economies, financial institutions play a central role in the corporate network. But whereas in Western economies these are mainly banks, investment banks, pension funds and insurance companies, the central role in Slovenia was given to privatisation investment funds and state funds. Owners and regulators in transition countries face the difficult task of balancing between governance issues and benefits that arise from co‐operation among companies.
EXCHANGE RATE VOLATILITY AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT: International Evidence

The assertion that exchange rate volatility has no real effects on trade volumes has been a contentious issue for over a decade. The European Union established the euro on the basis of a contrarian view to this assertion, and also maintained relatively fixed exchange rates following the collapse of the Bretton Woods exchange rate system in the early 1970s. Indeed, anecdotal evidence appears to support the view that there is an inverse relationship between trade volumes and exchange rate volatility. Business associations also consistently support more fixity in exchange rates, despite the existence of derivative markets for the purposes of hedging. While exports and imports appear on the current account of balance of payments, foreign direct investment appears on the capital account. Much of the world’s foreign direct investment (FDI) is undertaken by multinational enterprises (MNEs), about 60 percent on average during the 1990s. The nature of FDI flows is very unlike merchandise trade flows, as FDI largely consists of