Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NSAID use and risk of leukaemia: a population‐based case‐control study

The use of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with a reduced risk of developing colorectal and lung cancer. Studies suggesting similar associations in leukaemia have been small and underpowered. We have conducted a large population‐based case‐control study to determine whether the use of NSAIDs is associated with a reduced risk of acute and chronic leukaemias, and whether their use has any impact on survival in these patients.
Asthma Status and Waning of Measles Antibody Concentrations after Measles Immunization

Background: Asthmatics have increased risks of common and serious microbial infections including vaccine preventable diseases. Little is known about whether asthma influences waning of humoral immunity. We assessed whether asthma status influences waning of anti-measles virus antibody concentrations over time. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional study cohort of healthy children who had been immunized with 1 dose of MMR-II at age approximately 15 months. Between 5 and 12 years of age, measles vaccine virus-specific antibody (IgG) values were measured by enzyme immunoassay and considered seropositive if the enzyme immunoassay index unit was ≥ 1. The medical records were reviewed to determine asthma status during the first 18 years of life by applying predetermined criteria for asthma. A least squares regression model was used to evaluate the effect of asthma status on the relationship between measles antibody titer and time elapsed between the initial measles vaccination and measurement of measles antibody concentrations. Results: Of the 838 eligible children, 281 (34%) met criteria for asthma. Measles antibody waned over time (r = −0.19, P < 0.001), specifically more rapidly in asthmatics (r = −0.30, P < 0.001, a decrease of −0.114 unit per year) than non-asthmatics (r = −0.13, P = 0.002, a decrease of −0.046 unit per year; P value for interaction = 0.010). This differential waning rate resulted in a lower mean (SD) measles antibody concentration [1.42 (0.67) vs. 1.67 (0.69), P = 0.008] and lower seropositivity rate (73% vs. 84%, P = 0.038) in asthmatics than non-asthmatics starting around 9.3 years after the initial measles vaccination. Conclusion: Asthma status is associated with waning kinetics of measles antibody among children.
The impact of climate change on agro-ecological zones: evidence from Africa

Abstract This study predicts the impact of climate change on African agriculture. We use a generalized linear model (GLM) framework to estimate the relationship between the proportion of various Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) in a district and climate. Using three climate scenarios, we project how climate change will cause AEZs to shift, causing changes in acreage and net revenue per hectare of cropland. Our results predict that Africa will suffer heavy annual welfare losses by 2070–2100, ranging between US$14 billion and US$70 billion, depending on the climate scenario and cropland measure considered.
Is the Yen/Dollar Exchange Rate Really Responsible for East Asia's Export and Business Cycles? A Commentary on Mckinnon and Schnabl (2003)

In a paper published in The World Economy, Ronald McKinnon and Gunther Schnabl claim that fluctuations in the nominal yen/dollar exchange rate are the principal causal factor behind the export and business cycles in East Asian countries (McKinnon and Schnabl, 2003). Their econometric work, however, suffers from at least two important difficulties. First, while McKinnon and Schnabl preclude industry shocks as an explanation for the East Asian countries' macroeconomic fluctuations, cyclical fluctuations in the global electronics industry have a significant impact on their short-run export and output dynamics. Second, although McKinnon and Schnabl assume that the relative industrial competitiveness of Japan and other East Asian countries moves in tandem with fluctuations in the nominal yen/dollar exchange rate, the empirical validity of this assumption is not indisputable. Once these two issues are taken into account properly, it becomes very difficult to make a convincing case for the yen/dollar exchange rate being the main driver of East Asia's macroeconomic instability. A brief critique will also be made of another paper that has appeared recently in The World Economy (Doraisami, 2004), which models Malaysia's pre-crisis export dynamics using the nominal yen/dollar exchange rate as a proxy for the country's export competitiveness.
Turnover externalities with marketplace trading

This article considers equilibrium decentralized trade when there is a marketplace where buyers and sellers meet costlessly. Since buyers have idiosyncratic match payoffs for each seller's good, some buyers, rather than trade with the current stock of sellers, wait for new sellers to enter the marketplace to obtain a good they like. A turnover externality exists where all traders are better off with higher entry rates of new traders. Furthermore, this turnover externality supports multiple Pareto-rankable equilibria. This provides new insights into similar results obtained in the random-matching literature. Copyright 1999 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Clinical and laboratory factors associated with mortality in dengue

Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries, giving rise to an increased number of deaths in the last five years in the South-East Asian region. We report our findings from a retrospective study of adults admitted with confirmed dengue at our institution. We studied the clinical and laboratory parameters associated with mortality in these patients. Of the 172 hospitalised patients studied, 156 (90.69 %) recovered while 16 (9.3%) died. Univariate analysis showed altered sensorium on presentation, lower haemoglobin and haematocrit levels, higher serum creatinine, higher serum transaminase and lower serum albumin levels to be significantly associated with mortality in dengue. Further, using stepwise multivariate logistic regression, altered sensorium (P = 0.006) and hypoalbuminemia (P = 0.013) were identified as independent predictors of mortality in dengue. Identification of these parameters early in the course of disease should prompt intensification of treatment in dengue cases.
Optimum futures hedge in the presence of clustered supply and demand shocks, stochastic basis, and firm's costs of hedging

In a doubly stochastic jump‐diffusion economy with stochastic jump arrival intensity and proportional transaction costs, we develop a five‐factor risk‐return asset pricing inequality to model optimum futures hedge in the presence of clustered supply and demand shocks, stochastic basis, and firm's costs of hedging. Concave risk‐return tradeoff dictates a hedge ratio to be substantially less than the traditional risk‐minimization one. The ratio now comprises a positive diffusion, a positive jump, and a negative hedging cost component. The faster jumps arrive, and the more hedging costs, the more pronounced are the respective jump and hedging cost effects. Empirical validation confirms that actual industry hedge ratios vary significantly across firm's costs of and efficiency in hedging and are significantly lower than what risk‐minimization dictates. The model also can be used to compute a threshold production level for determining if a firm should hedge. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 23:1209–1237, 2003
The globalization of Chinese telecom corporations: strategy, challenges and HR implications for the MNCs and host countries

This paper investigates the motives of internationalization of two leading Chinese multinational corporations, their entry strategy and strategic responses to overcome internationalization barriers. In particular, we explore the political strategy and the corresponding political behaviour these two firms adopt to facilitate their internationalization process. We also examine the business strategy and human resource strategy they deploy in their internationalization endeavour and what impacts these may have on host country development, including human capital development and employment creation.
Managing Organisational Culture: Fantasy Or Reality?

Emmanuel Ogbonna, who is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Cardiff Business School, offers a critique of the burgeoning literature on managing organisational culture. He asks whether, after ten years of ‘sanctimonious devotion’, we are any closer to understanding culture; whether we are yet in a position to generate a conceptual model of managing organisational culture; or whether we have simply succeeded in e xposing the inherent weaknesses of such a notion.
Quasi Purchasing Power Parity: Structural Change in the Mexican Peso/US Dollar Real Exchange Rate

This paper analyzes whether the real exchange-rate of the Mexican peso/US dollar revert to a long-run equilibrium value, and whether this value is unique. We use a method for testing stationarity, that allows for an unknown number of structural breaks in the level of the series. Using a long span of annual data covering the period 1925-1994, our results provide evidence favouring long-run Quasi-Purchasing Power Parity. In particular, we find that the real peso/dollar exchange rate has fluctuated stationarily around a 70 year long-run level, perturbed by a series of events, both domestic and external, in or around 1981.
Entrepreneurship barriers and entrepreneurial inclination among Malaysian postgraduate students

Purpose – Postgraduate students who are more mature and have greater job experience are more likely to be inclined towards entrepreneurship. However, postgraduate students face various barriers such as lack of funds, fear of failure and lack of social networking that may hinder their entrepreneurial inclination. The barriers faced by these postgraduate students may also exhibit different dimensions compared with barriers faced by existing entrepreneurs. This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived barriers to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial inclination.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a survey‐based methodology, data were collected from a sample of 267 postgraduate students from various Malaysian universities. Respondents' perception towards five barriers to entrepreneurship (aversion to risk, fear of failure, lack of resources, lack of social networking, and aversion to stress and hard work) and their entrepreneurial inclination were assessed.Findings – The model R‐squared ind.
BANK, STOCK MARKET AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION TOWARDS ECONOMIC GROWTH. AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IN MALAYSIA FROM 2000 TO 2009

The study aims to examine the relationship between economic growth with banking system, stock market system, inflation, and interest rate in short run and long run. Effort is also taken to determine whether banking system is a complement or substitute to stock market system in influencing economic growth. The monthly secondary data ranging from 2000 to 2009 obtained from Bank Negara Reports, Malaysian Financial Report and Bursa Malaysia Reports were used. The Ordinary Least Square estimation results reveal that R-squared is high. F-test shows the data fits the model. But the estimated Durbin Watson value indicates that the data set has an autocorrelation problem. In Unit Root Test results, all the variables have a unit root problem at the level form, but the variables are found to be integrated at first order. Next, VAR(p) model determines that the optimal lag length of 1. Moreover, cointegration test shows that bank credit and market capitalization are found to be significant in affecting economic growth in long run while inflation and interest rate are insignificant. Bank credit is found to have negative and greater effect on the economic growth while market capitalization has the positive and less effect. Therefore, banking system acts as a substitute to stock market system in affecting economic growth. Furthermore, the result indicates that there is no short run relationship between dependent variable and independent variables in the Vector Error Correction model. Finally, the results from Impulse Responses Function and Variance Decomposition also support the findings. In conclusion, some recommendations and future study are discussed.
Inhibitory neurons in the anterior piriform cortex of the mouse: Classification using molecular markers

The primary olfactory cortex (or piriform cortex, PC) is attracting increasing attention as a model system for the study of cortical sensory processing, yet little is known about inhibitory neurons in the PC. Here we provide the first systematic classification of GABA‐releasing interneurons in the anterior PC of mice, based on the expression of molecular markers. Our experiments used GAD67‐GFP transgenic mice, in which gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)‐containing cells are labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP). We first confirmed, using paired whole‐cell recordings, that GFP+ neurons in the anterior PC of GAD67‐GFP mice are functionally GABAergic. Next, we performed immunolabeling of GFP+ cells to quantify their expression of every possible pairwise combination of seven molecular markers: calbindin, calretinin, parvalbumin, cholecystokinin, neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, and vasoactive intestinal peptide. We found that six main categories of interneurons could be clearly distinguished in the anterior PC, based on the size and laminar location of their somata, intensity of GFP fluorescence, patterns of axonal projections, and expression of one or more of the seven markers. A number of rarer categories of interneurons could also be identified. These data provide a road map for further work that examines the functional properties of the six main classes of interneurons. Together, this information elucidates the cellular architecture of the PC and provides clues about the roles of GABAergic interneurons in olfactory processing. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:1670–1687, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Equitable and Efficient Federal Structures with Decentralized Leadership, Spillovers, and Attachment of Heterogeneous Labor

Relying on differentiability assumptions and on conditions that guarantee interior solutions, we show that a federation featuring decentralized leadership, interregional spillovers, and labor attachment allocates resources efficiently under two sets of circumstances. The first is when the center is Rawlsian. The second is when individual utilities are quasi-linear, regional welfare functions are Benthamite, and the center's objective function is a Bergson-Samuelson transformation of regional welfare levels, which also satisfies conditions needed for the center to view regional welfare levels as normal goods. In both sets of circumstances, efficient behavior follows from incentive equivalence promoted by the center's egalitarian transfers. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Challenges in pediatric renal transplantation in developing countries

Purpose of studyThe present review summarizes the findings of most important reports on pediatric transplants from the developing world and highlights the challenges and results of the activity. Recent findingsIn the past 3 years, 10 reports appeared in the literature on pediatric renal transplantation and further six more in the past 5 years. The experience ranges from 1 to 28 years for 11–300 transplants. Recipients were older than 6 years and donors were living relatives in more than 94% of the series. Cyclosporine, azathioprin and steroids are the mainstay of immunosuppression and in many centres the high costs of drugs resulted in noncompliance and discontinuation of immunosuppression. Therefore, acute rejection rates were high, more than 40% in half of the series. One-year and 5-year survival rates for grafts were 89–98% and 67–84% and for patients 88–98% and 65–90%, respectively. Major causes of graft loss were chronic rejection, acute rejection and infection and for the patients, it was infection. Growth analysis is not generally reported but when reported the deficit remains or gets worse. SummaryPediatric transplantation activity in the developing world is limited to older children using mostly living related parental donors. High rejection and infection rates result in poor patient and graft survival.
Visual fatigue diversity research of static and dynamic lighting environment

This study attempts to investigate the visual fatigue diversity in the static and dynamic lighting environment for the VDT work. Two experiments were conducted in the current study. Five graduate students (4 males and 1 female) were recruited as participants to perform VDT work in this two simulated lighting conditions and detected targets in front of the eye tracker after 30 min, each person 6 times repeated in different environment. The study results showed that, (1)the change of blinking frequency, eyelids open size and pupil diameter was significantly different between this two simulated lighting conditions, (2) both lighting environments also had significant effect on the diversity of the subjective visual fatigue and accommodation-vergence time. Based on these findings, the study implies that the static and dynamic lighting conditions are important for people to prevent visual fatigue effectively.
Inspiring Creativity in Organisations, Teachers and Learners through Open Educational Resources

The design of educational material has a history of allowing people to present an individual expert view (the researcher as academic teacher) and a published base of knowledge (the academic teacher as text book writer). As learning has moved online and has now become more open a new dynamic of communication is emerging from the teacher to the learner, from the teacher to the teacher, and from the organisation to the world. In exploiting these new dynamics there are changes in motivations for creating and designing materials, but are there also chances to embrace a new creativity? In this paper we use an activity theoretic approach to look at three sources of evidence for impact from taking an open approach to learning resources. First impact on an organisation to identify its role as an enabler for creativity and change. Second on the educator and the way reuse of content allows selection of new patterns of design. Third impact is on the learner as open educational resources blends content with social. The cases present evidence that seeing open resources as change agents can lead to the release of creativity for organisations, for teachers and for learners.
Wildlife management, illegal hunting and conflicts. A bioeconomic analysis

ABSTRACT The paper analyzes the conflict between illegal and legal exploitation of wildlife species in an East African context. In the model there are two agents, an agency managing a national park of fixed area and a group of local people living in the vicinity of the park. The park agency has the legal right to exploit the wildlife, while the local people hunt illegally. Because of the property rights, the park agency has incentives to invest in the stock of wildlife, while the behaviour of the local people is steered by short-term considerations. The model is analyzed in two steps. Firstly, the market solution is studied. Next, the model is examined when user and property rights are given to the local people.
Costs and Benefits: The Impact of Cathedral Tourism in England

England has 42 Anglican cathedrals, many of which are major visitor attractions and which together welcome around 10 million visitors per year. Cathedrals generate substantial local economic benefits of some £150 million per annum within their urban economies and employ 1885 people on a full-time basis. Cathedral visitors spend approximately £30 a day on a visit to a cathedral city, but unfortunately very little of this revenue is received by the cathedral as donations. This short paper, which forms part of a larger research project examining different aspects of religious tourism, looks at the economic significance of English cathedrals within their urban contexts, arguing that the rising cost of conserving and maintaining the fabric of cathedrals is likely to result in increased need to raise revenue from visitors.
Principal-Principal Conflicts: Is It a Big Problem in ASEAN 4 Markets

This paper examines the issue of principal-principal (PP) conflicts in large public listed companies in four ASEAN countries. The PP conflicts are regarded as a major problem in emerging markets and have attracted considerable attention. The percentage of cash dividend of total assets is used to measure the expropriation depicted in PP conflicts. A sample of companies with total assets of US$1 billion are filtered to select those with single/multiple block holders of shareholdings concentration equal to or greater than five percent. A regression model is estimated with PP conflicts as the dependent variable. The findings confirm the existence of PP conflicts, suggesting that large shareholders do expropriate company wealth by paying higher cash dividends. This expropriation occurs through agency perspective and makes it apparent that PP conflicts are a major problem in ASEAN markets.
On the Virtues of Multilateral Trade Negotiations

Phasing out distortionary government subsidies and barriers to international trade will yield extraordinarily high benefits relative to any adjustment costs, notwithstanding the considerable reforms that have already taken place over the past two decades. The present paper surveys recent estimates, using global economy-wide simulation models, of the benefits of reducing remaining distortions by means of unilateral reform, multilateral trade negotiations and preferential trading arrangements. Distortionary trade policies harm most the economies imposing them, but the worst of them (in agriculture and clothing) are particularly harmful to the world's poorest people. Opportunities to reduce remaining distortions, including by means of the WTO's Doha Development Agenda as compared with subglobal preferential reform, are examined, before drawing out the implications of liberalisation for poverty and the environment.
Housing and the Creation of Home for Refugees in Western Australia

Abstract Safe, appropriate housing is vital for the successful settlement of refugees, since establishing a home is part of the process of redeveloping a sense of ontological security. However humanitarian entrants in Australia have a far greater likelihood of moving multiple times in the early years of settlement and are far less likely to be purchasing their homes compared to other migrants. Using data from interviews, focus groups and a photovoice exercise, positive home-building experiences of refugees are illustrated, while factors leading to negative outcomes are also identified. The more positive story came from the photovoice exercise with images of the remaking of home as a place of connection with others, of personal pride, of comfort and leisure, of family and commensality. Interview and focus group data focused on structural issues including the cost of housing, limited choice in the rental market, lack of public housing, poor quality, negative attitudes of real estate agents, lack of access to services, and complex tenancy procedures which are key factors influencing insecurity of tenure. The effects on refugees’ sense of ontological security are discsused.