Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Labour Market Structure and Inequality: A Comparison of Italy and the U.S.

Markets with rigid labour regulations and centralized wage setting are often thought to be inefficient but egalitarian. Using a model of off- and on-the-job search and event-history, individual-level data for Italy and the U.S., we show that while the cross-sectional wage distributions of young Italian males are much more compressed than are the comparable distributions for young white U.S. males, the estimated search model implies that the distribution of lifetime welfare is no more disperse in the U.S. than it is in Italy. Our model implies that the high frequency of movements between labour market states leads to both a relatively equitable distribution of "long run" welfare in the U.S. and a high level of cross-sectional inequality. Copyright 2002, Wiley-Blackwell.
The Effect of Information on Uncertainty and the Cost of Capital

It is widely held that better financial reporting makes investors more confident in their predictions of future cash flows and reduces their required risk premia. The logic is that more information leads necessarily to more certainty, and hence lower subjective estimates of firm “beta” or covariance with other firms. This is misleading on both counts. Bayesian logic shows that the best available information can often leave decision makers less certain about future events. And for those cases where information indeed brings great certainty, conventional mean-variance asset-pricing models imply that more certain estimates of future cash payoffs can sometimes bring a higher cost of capital. This occurs when new or better information leads to sufficiently reduced expected firm payoffs. To properly understand the effect of signal quality on the cost of capital, it is essential to think of what that information says, rather than considering merely its “precision,” or how strongly it says what it says.
An investigation of cointegration between energy consumption and economic growth: Dynamic evidence from East Asian countries

Abstract This paper aims to investigate the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for 11 East Asian countries over the period 1971–2005 by taking into account their strong relationships. Based on fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) approaches, while there exists a strong relation running from economic growth to energy consumption, it is observed that the strong relationship which runs from energy consumption to economic growth is overwhelmingly rejected for all cases except Indonesia and the Philippines. Moreover the inverse relation between two variables is observed for these two countries.
Examining How Country Image Influences Destination Image in a Behavioral Intentions Model: The Cases of Lloret De Mar (Spain) and Cancun (Mexico)

ABSTRACT Understanding the importance of a country’s image in the behavioral intentions of tourists is essential for sun-and-sand destinations. This study examines an integrated model of behavioral intentions regarding two international tourist destinations, namely Cancun (Mexico) and Lloret de Mar (Spain). The results indicate that country image influences destination image; destination image influences value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions; value influences satisfaction; and satisfaction influences behavioral intentions. These findings confirm that the country and destination images are different constructs, and that destination image is the key to attracting tourists. Additionally, there are some differences in the relationships hypothesized in the model among the destinations.
Epidemiological, Molecular, and Clinical Features of Enterovirus Respiratory Infections in French Children between 1999 and 2005

ABSTRACT Enteroviruses (EVs) can induce nonspecific respiratory tract infections in children, but their epidemiological, virological, and clinical features remain to be assessed. In the present study, we analyzed 252 EV-related infection cases (median age of subjects, 5.1 years) diagnosed among 11,509 consecutive children visiting emergency departments within a 7-year period in the north of France. EV strains were isolated from nasopharyngeal samples by viral cell culture, identified by seroneutralization assay, and genetically compared by partial amplification and sequencing of the VP1 gene. The respiratory syndromes (79 [31%] of 252 EV infections) appeared as the second most common EV-induced pediatric pathology after meningitis (111 [44%] of 252 cases) (44 versus 31%, P < 10−3), contributing to lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in 43 (54%) of 79 EV respiratory infection cases. Bronchiolitis was the most common EV-induced LRTI (34 [43%] of 79 cases, P < 10−3) occurring more often in infants aged 1 to 12 months (P = 0.0002), with spring-fall seasonality. Viruses ECHO 11, 6, and 13 were the more frequently identified respiratory strains (24, 13, and 11%, respectively). The VP1 gene phylogenetic analysis showed the concomitant or successive circulation of genetically distinct EV respiratory strains (species A or B) during the same month or annual epidemic period. Our findings indicated that respiratory tract infections accounted for the 30% of EV-induced pediatric pathologies, contributing to LRTIs in 54% of these cases. Moreover, the concomitant or successive circulation of genetically distinct EV strains indicated the possibility of pediatric repeated respiratory infections within the same epidemic season.
Australian industrial relations in the 1980s

Australian Industrial Relations in the Eighties provides a critical and analytical commentary on the major macro-level developments of the 1980s. It examines the centralized wage determination system known as wage indexation at the beginning of the decade, its demise in 1981, the operation of decentralized wage determination in 1981 and 1982, and the Fraser government's wages freeze introduced in late 1982. The book then examines the corporatist or consensus policies associated with the election of the Hawke government in March 1983. Information is presented on the Accord negotiated between the ALP and ACTU, the April 1983 National Economic Summit Conference and the subsequent reintroduction of wage indexation. When the July 1985 Taxation Summit failed to reach agreement on taxation reform, the economy experienced major balance of payments problems. Fears associated with Australia becoming a 'banana republic' led to the negotiation of the Accord Mark II, the demise of the second wage indexation experiment and the eventual introduction of a two-tiered system in March 1987. The meaning of reform is examined, and a detailed account of the 1985 Hancock Report is presented. The 'New Right' have advocated a policy of management militancy and an associated need to take on, if not destroy, unions and industrial tribunals. Their ideas concerning 'The Club', common law actions, the role of industrial tribunals and markets are presented and examined. Details of the ill-fated 1987 Industrial Relations Bill are presented, as well as the Trade Development Council/ACTU document Australia Reconstructed with its Swedish-style corporatist blueprint for Australia, and proposals concerning industrial relations changes to the Australian Constitution recommended by a Constitutional Commission.
N‐feruloylserotonin in preventive combination therapy with methotrexate reduced inflammation in adjuvant arthritis

Many of disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs often have side effects at high doses and/or during long‐term administration. Increased efficacy without increased toxicity is expected for combination therapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of the study was to examine the effect of N‐feruloylserotonin (N‐f‐5HT) and methotrexate (MTX) in monotherapy and in combination therapy on disease progression and inflammation in arthritic rats. Adjuvant arthritis was induced by intradermal injection of Mycobacterium butyricum in incomplete Freund′s adjuvant in Lewis rats. The experiment included healthy animals, arthritic animals without any drug administration, arthritic animals with administration of N‐f‐5HT in the oral daily dose of 15 mg/kg b.w. , arthritic animals with administration of MTX in the oral dose of 0.3 mg/kg b.w. twice a week and arthritic animals treated with the combination of N‐f‐5HT and MTX. N‐f‐5HT in monotherapy reduced only activation of NF‐κB and did not have any significant effect on other parameters monitored. Low‐dose treatment of MTX decreased the level of IL‐1β and MCP‐1 on day 14 and activation of NF‐κB in liver without significant effect on other parameters. N‐f‐5HT and MTX combination showed both the anti‐arthritic (hind paw volume and arthritic score) and anti‐inflammatory effect (plasmatic levels of IL‐1β, IL‐17, MCP‐1, CRP, and activation of NF‐κB in liver). In combination with MTX, N‐f‐5HT markedly potentiated the therapeutic effect of MTX low dose, which resulted in significant improvement of all parameters measured. The findings showed that the combination therapy simultaneously decreased multiple markers of inflammation, a result crucial for future therapy of RA.
Effects of Fedotozine on Gastrointestinal Motility in Dogs: Mechanism of Action and Related Pharmacokinetics

Abstract— The effects of fedotozine, (+)‐(1R)‐1‐phenyl‐1‐[(3,4,5‐trimethoxy)benzyloxymethyl]‐N,N‐ dimethyl‐n‐propylamine, on motility of the antrum and small intestine were investigated in dog. In fasted dogs, following i.v. administration, fedotozine at 1 and 2 mg kg−1 stimulated and at 5 mg kg−1 inhibited antral motility. Between 1 to 5 mg kg−1, fedotozine exhibited a sustained and potent stimulatory effect on the small intestine inducing 1 to 4 phases III of the migrating motor complex (MMC) lasting up to 32 min in the duodenum and migrating to the jejunum. Following oral administration, fedotozine at 2–5 and 5 mg kg−1 constantly stimulated both antrum and small intestinal motility. In fed dogs, fedotozine i.v. (2 mg kg−1) increased antral motility and induced phase III of MMC in the place of postprandial pattern. Naloxone (0.3 mg kg−1 i.v.) and naloxone methylbromide (2 mg kg−1 i.v.) inhibited the stimulatory effects of fedotozine on gastrointestinal motility indicating a peripheral opiate site of action of the drug whereas phentolamine, hexamethonium, propranolol and methysergide were inactive. In‐vitro fedotozine showed submicromolar affinity for opiate receptors with a weak specificity for the μ‐receptors in guinea‐pig brain and myenteric plexus preparations. Plasma concentrations in dogs receiving fedotozine administered orally at 2.5 mg kg−1 (and in all dogs except one at 5 mg kg−1) were below the detection limit (< 20 ng g−1). In contrast, tissue concentrations in the muscle and mucosal layers of the gut were above 1 μg g−1. Concentrations in gastric juice after i.v. injection of fedotozine were 10 to 20 times higher than in the plasma, indicating passage of the drug from the blood into the lumen. These results indicate that fedotozine between 1 to 5 mg kg−1 orally or i.v. stimulates gastrointestinal motility in dog through peripheral opiate receptors. This peripheral activity is related to a high distribution of the drug at the target organ.
Environmental regulation, foreign direct investment and pollution

Since the 1990s, a close relationship has been established between domestic environmental policies and trade policies, and has rapidly given rise to a debate on trade and environment. A key aspect of this debate is related to the impact of environmental regulations' stringency differences between countries on the international competitiveness and location of firms. This issue has been largely studied in literature and is known as the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. However, it has not yet been explicitly proven. A second major issue related to the debate on trade and environment, however neglected in literature, is the effect of these differentiated regulations on pollution levels. In this thesis, organized into four chapters, both issues are investigated. In the first chapter, countries' environmental policies are examined with accuracy, their heterogeneity constituting the foundation of the pollution haven hypothesis. The second chapter develops a theoretical model highlighting the impact of environmental regulation on firms' location decisions. In the third chapter, this theoretical model is tested, and results show a significant effect of environmental policies on the location decisions of French firms. Finally, the last chapter empirically assesses the impact of the different mechanisms at play on pollution emissions. It appears that an increase of foreign direct investment increases pollution emissions in host countries but is consistent with a reduction of pollution intensity.
The modulating effect of glucocorticoids and opioid system on anxiety related behavior in young and adult rats

One of the main components of the stress system is hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Acute activation of µ-opioid receptors increases the activity of the HPA axis, leading to release of ACTH and corticosterone. Glucocorticoids can change behaviors, depend on age but there were no evidences about the interaction between age, opioid system and glucocorticoids. In this experiment, effects of dexamethasone (1mg/kg) and RU486 (20mg/kg) as an agonist and antagonist of glucocorticoid receptors, morphine (5mg/kg) and naloxone (20mg/kg) as an agonist and antagonist of the opioid system on anxiety in young and adult male Wistar rats were examined. The percentage of time in the open arms of plus maze was evaluated for anxiety behavior also percentage of the number of entries in closed arms was evaluated for locomotor activity. The results showed that morphine (5mg/kg) and dexamethasone (1mg/kg) had an anxiolytic effect on both young and adult rats while just in young rats reduced locomotor activity. RU486 could prevent the anxiolytic effect of morphine, and the anxiolytic effect of dexamethasone had been inhibited by naloxone in young but it wasn't seen in adult rats. These results show an interactive effect between glucocorticoids and the opioid system on mediating anxiety that can be influenced by age.
Angiogenic factors in multiple myeloma: higher levels in bone marrow than in peripheral blood.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To study the role of some soluble factors in the process of angiogenesis that accompanies multiple myeloma (MM). DESIGN AND METHODS The concentrations of three well-known angiogenic peptides, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were evaluated by an ELISA method. All of these factors were measured in the plasma obtained from peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) aspirates of 34 patients affected by plasma cell disorders. This series included one patient with a solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma, 17 patients with MM at diagnosis, and 16 with previously treated MM. RESULTS In all the patients, the concentration of each angiogenic factor was higher in bone marrow than in peripheral blood. Mean values of the three angiogenic factors in BM or in PB were lower in stage I than stage II-III. One patient with extramedullary solitary myeloma had high levels of VEGF and bFGF but this increase was not found in the other 6 patients with extramedullary disease when compared with patients without extramedullary disease. VEGF and bFGF did not correlate with each other while HGF showed a weak correlation with VEGF and a stronger one with bFGF. Moreover, VEGF correlated with features of disease activity, such as C-reactive protein, and 2-microglobulin, while both bFGF and HGF showed an inverse correlation with albumin level. No correlation was found between VEGF, bFGF and HGF levels and age, M protein level, osteolytic lesions, or percentage of BM plasma cells. Since angiogenic factors may be released by normal cells in response to hypoxia, we also evaluated erythropoietin (EPO) levels (which correlate with the hypoxic stimulus) both in PB and BM plasma of these patients but none of the measured angiogenic factors correlated with EPO levels. Interpretation and Conclusions. Several soluble factors may play a role in the angiogenic activity described in MM but their contribution to the progression of disease may be different. The finding of higher levels of these factors in BM than in PB might indicate that the bone marrow environment is their major source. Concentrations of angiogenic factors parallel the activity of disease and are independent of the hypoxic stimulus.
Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business

Companies are increasingly asked to provide innovative solutions to deep-seated problems of human misery, even as economic theory instructs managers to focus on maximizing their shareholders' wealth. In this paper, we assess how organization theory and empirical research have thus far responded to this tension over corporate involvement in wider social life. Organizational scholarship has typically sought to reconcile corporate social initiatives with seemingly inhospitable economic logic. Depicting the hold that economics has had on how the relationship between the firm and society is conceived, we examine the consequences for organizational research and theory by appraising both the 30-year quest for an empirical relationship between a corporation's social initiatives and its financial performance, as well as the development of stakeholder theory. We propose an alternative approach, embracing the tension between economic and broader social objectives as a starting point for systematic organizational inquiry. Adopting a pragmatic stance, we introduce a series of research questions whose answers will reveal the descriptive and normative dimensions of organizational responses to misery.
Determinants of strategic planning effectiveness for information systems in SMEs

Although the relationship between various factors and the effectiveness of Information Systems Strategic Planning (ISSP) has been extensively studied, ISSP in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) has seldom been studied empirically. This study examines the factors influencing the effectiveness of ISSP from the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) perspectives. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey sent to 800 high-tech manufacturing SMEs in Taiwan. The statistical results show that some TOE factors influencing ISSP effectiveness. The implications of the findings for Information System (IS) practice are discussed. Moreover, this study provides a valuable reference for business managers conducting ISSP exercises and for researchers interested in ISSP.
Middle-Class Entrepreneurship and the Effect of Social Capital

This paper surveys Ecuadorian entrepreneurs to ascertain the differences between middle-class and upper-class entrepreneurs and identify the variables associated with the "success" of a business. The paper also explores the variables that can determine the probability of upward intergenerational mobility. The paper finds that, although the level of social capital among Ecuadorian entrepreneurs is weak, it positively affects the chances of being a dynamic entrepreneur.
Digging Deep for Meaning: A Critical Hermeneutic Analysis of CEO Letters to Shareholders in the Oil Industry

In this paper, we analyze Chief Executive Officers' letters to shareholders in the United States petroleum industry during the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on the industry's turbulent relationship with OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). We discuss and deploy the methodology of critical hermeneutics. The "texts" of the CEO letters, when juxtaposed against the "context" of key historical events, suggest that these letters were deployed to produce a certain attitude toward OPEC among their readers that deflected attention from the crisis of legiti macy faced by the oil companies domestically. We suggest that the trope of Orien talism helps us understand what exactly the texts sought to achieve through their pronouncements about OPEC.
Integrated Marketing Communication and Postmodernity: An Odd Couple?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, under conditions of postmodernity, the market is too complex to be responded to with an IMC‐framework. While the desire of IMC scholars and practitioners to reinstate order and predictability in an increasingly disordered and fragmented world is understandable, such a mission may be misguided. The paper seeks to discuss the possibility that such attempts instead precipitate the production of complexity of an even more unpredictable nature.Design/methodology/approach – The paper proceeds through a critical juxtaposition of postmodernity and IMC, arguing that the latter – with its ambition to impose order and control – fails to understand important dimensions of contemporary markets.Findings – Rather than imposing a monological and hegemonic identity on markets and organizations – an identity that will unavoidably be challenged by consumers and employees – contemporary marketers and managers need to realize that organizational change and adaptabili.
Assessment of Pancreatic Islet Mass after Islet Transplantation Using In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging

Background. Pancreatic islet transplantation is an emerging therapy for type 1 diabetes, but it is difficult to assess islets after transplantation and thus to design interventions to improve islet survival. Methods. To image and quantify islets, the authors transplanted luciferase-expressing murine or human islets (by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer) into the liver or beneath the renal capsule of immunodeficient mice and quantified the in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of mice using a cooled charge-coupled device camera and digital photon-counting image analysis. To account for variables that are independent of islet mass such as transplant site, animal positioning, and wound healing, the BLI of transplanted islets was calibrated against measurement of luminescence of an implanted bead emitting a constant light intensity. Results. BLI of mice bearing islet transplants was seen in the expected anatomic location, was stable for more than 8 weeks after transplantation, and correlated with the number of islets transplanted into the liver or kidney. BLI of the luminescent bead and of transplanted islets in the kidney was approximately four times greater than when transplanted in the liver, indicating that photon emission is dependent on optical absorption of generated light and thus light source location. Conclusion. In vivo BLI allows for quantitative, serial measurements of pancreatic islet mass after transplantation and should be useful in assessing interventions to sustain or increase islet survival of transplanted islets.
Spinal GABAB-receptor antagonism increases nociceptive transmission in vivo

GABAB receptors modulate primary afferent fibre evoked responses of spinal neurones. Here effects of the selective GABAB receptor antagonist, CGP-35348, on electrically-evoked responses of spinal neurones in control and carrageenan-inflamed rats were studied. Spinal CGP-35348 (0.1–10 μg/50 μl) did not alter Aβ- or Aδ-fibre evoked neuronal responses in control rats, although C-fibre evoked responses and post discharge responses of spinal neurones were significantly facilitated by 3.0 and 10.0 μg/50 μl CGP-35348 (p < 0.05). In carrageenan-treated animals, spinal CGP-35348 did not alter electrically evoked responses of spinal neurones at any dose. Our data suggest that following acute peripheral inflammation there is loss of endogenous GABAB receptor mediated inhibition of C-fibre transmission at the level of the spinal cord.