Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Have unincorporated businesses in the UK been constrained in their ability to obtain bank lending?

The extent to which bank lending policies - and in particular their requirement for firms to post collateral - have imposed constraints on the ability of unincorporated businesses to meet their demand for debt finance has been examined. It was found that for the period from 1982 through to the end of the data sample, variations in the level of bank lending to unincorporated businesses can be explained in terms of a more or less conventional demand function for bank finance - albeit one with a zero interest elasticity - though there is some evidence of the importance of collateral constraints in the shape of a significant positive effect from the growth in the real value of housing wealth. Prior to 1982 there was a sharp increase in the level of bank lending to unincorporated businesses which is much harder to interpret in these terms. Instead, this is seen as having been driven largely by changes in bank lending policies; in particular, by a drive to develop new markets in response to unfavourable conditions in their traditional lending markets.
Effects of Automatic Blood Volume Control over Intradialytic Hemodynamic Stability

Due to the crucial role of hypovolemia in the genesis of dialysis-induced hypotension, we have evaluated whether the automatic control of the intradialytic blood volume (BV) decrease along a preset trajectory might be beneficial to the hemodynamic stability during treatment. Five frequently hypotensive HD patients were studied and a 3-period-protocol (A1-B-A2) was adopted, each period lasting 6 sessions per patient. During the B periods the patient BV decrease was kept along a predefined profile, thanks to an automatic system with a retroactive control of both the ultrafiltration rate (UFR) and dialysate conductivity (DC); instead, during the A periods, conventional HD was performed, with linear UFR and constant DC, inducing a spontaneous decrease in BV. The intradialytic BV behaviour was much more stable during the B-periods (-10.2 ∓ 1.4% by the end of the treatment) than during the A1 (-11.2 ∓ 3%) and A2 periods (-11.5 ∓ 2.5%). Only one dialysis-hypotension episode was observed during the B periods, compared to 8 and 5 during the A1 and A2 periods, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). The automatic control of the BV changes during dialysis could improve the intra-treatment cardiovascular stability in critically-ill patients.
Policy Influence and Participation in the European Parliament

participate more in parliamentary votes. In addition to the impact of other variablesincluding the timing of votes, leadership cues, and the requirement that an absolute majority of members vote at certain stages-EP members are stimulated to participate more in votes on legislation where the EP's influence is greater. The implications of this result for legislative theory, and for our understanding of the EP, are discussed in the conclusion. How important are legislatures to the governing process? In the 25 years since Jean Blondel called for more serious comparative study to answer this question, our understanding has advanced considerably (Blondel 1970). While legislatures are ubiquitous, their influence in the policy process varies greatly across political systems, both in quantity and in type. ' A curiosity, however, is that a related and equally basic question remains unanswered. Despite numerous reminders from the new institutionalists that institutions can shape the behavior of political actors, we know almost nothing about whether the policy influence of a legislature affects the behavior of its members. Several studies suggest that legislative influence is positively related to membership retention: members are more likely to remain when they see there is important work to be done (Hibbing and Moore 1991; Shepsle 1988). But the more basic issue, how members of the legislature respond to the institution's policy influence when they are actually there, has been almost entirely neglected.2 This oversight is hardly trivial. A basic task of political science is to understand the motives and behavior of important political actors. Given that influence over policy is one of a legislature's defining characteristics, the response of its membership to the institution's level of policy influence is of fundamental significance. Understanding this response is central to developing an adequate theory of legislative behavior.
How the Zebra Got Its Stripes: Imprinting of Individuals and Hybrid Social Ventures

Hybrid organizations that combine multiple, existing organizational forms are frequently proposed as a source of organizational innovation, yet little is known about the origins of such organizations. We propose that individual founders of hybrid organizations acquire imprints from past exposure to work environments, thus predisposing them to incorporate the associated logics in their subsequent ventures, even when doing so requires deviation from established organizational templates. We test our theory on a novel dataset of over 700 founders of social ventures, all guided by a social welfare logic. Some of them also incorporate a commercial logic along with the social welfare logic, thereby creating a hybrid social venture. We find evidence of three sources of commercial imprints: the founder's own, direct work experience, as well as the indirect influence of parental work experiences and professional education. Our findings further suggest that the effects of direct imprinting are strongest from the early tenure of for-profit experience, but diminish with longer tenure. In supplementary analyses, we parse out differences between the sources of imprints and discuss implications for how imprinting functions as an antecedent to the creation of new, hybrid forms.
Altered Cerebellar Short-Term Plasticity but No Change in Postsynaptic AMPA-Type Glutamate Receptors in a Mouse Model of Juvenile Batten Disease

Abstract Juvenile Batten disease is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder of childhood. It is associated with mutations in the CLN3 gene, causing loss of function of CLN3 protein and degeneration of cerebellar and retinal neurons. It has been proposed that changes in granule cell AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) contribute to the cerebellar dysfunction. In this study, we compared AMPAR properties and synaptic transmission in cerebellar granule cells from wild-type and Cln3 knock-out mice. In Cln3Δex1–6 cells, the amplitude of AMPA-evoked whole-cell currents was unchanged. Similarly, we found no change in the amplitude, kinetics, or rectification of synaptic currents evoked by individual quanta, or in their underlying single-channel conductance. We found no change in cerebellar expression of GluA2 or GluA4 protein. By contrast, we observed a reduced number of quantal events following mossy-fiber stimulation in Sr2+, altered short-term plasticity in conditions of reduced extracellular Ca2+, and reduced mossy fiber vesicle number. Thus, while our results suggest early presynaptic changes in the Cln3 Δ ex1–6 mouse model of juvenile Batten disease, they reveal no evidence for altered postsynaptic AMPARs.
How important is exporting and ownership to productivity growth? Micro Evidence from a Small Open Economy

This paper links the literature that analyses the sources of productivity growth with that which explores differences between the characteristics of exporters and non-exporters to examine the contributions to aggregate labour productivity growth of both groups. The analysis used Irish manufacturing plant-level data for 1998, 2001 and 2004. Using two different decomposition techniques, we uncover the contributions to aggregate labour productivity of continuing, entering and exiting firms based on exporting and ownership status. We find that within-firm productivity growth of exporters drives overall productivity growth, with significant differences apparent between the productivity growth rates of foreign and domestic owned establishments.
Effect of L-Ascorbate on Chloride Transport in Freshly Excised Sinonasal Epithelia

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) occurs at high frequency in patients with cystic fibrosis, suggesting that the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride (Cl) ion channel might be involved in the development of chronic sinusitis in the general population. CFTR Cl ion transport controls the hydration of mucosal surfaces and promotes effective mucociliary clearance. Altered ion transport and, hence, disrupted mucociliary function, could play a role in the pathogenesis of sinus disease. L-Ascorbate is a metabolically active component of the nasal and tracheobronchial airway lining fluids and appears to serve as an important biological effector of CFTR-mediated chloride secretion. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of L-ascorbate on Cl ion transport in freshly excised sinonasal epithelia from normal controls and patients with CRS. Methods Four different types of sinonasal tissue (normal sinus mucosa, sinus mucosa from CRS, normal nasal mucosa, nasal mucosa from CRS) were obtained during endoscopic sinus surgery and mounted on sliders with open areas of 0.03–0.71 cm2 between Ussing hemichambers. Short-circuit current (Isc) was continuously recorded, and a serosa-to-mucosa-directed Cl gradient was applied to increase the electrochemical driving force. Results L-Ascorbate (500 μM) stimulated Cl currents (DeltaICl, μA/cm2) across sinonasal epithelia from normal and CRS patients. The Cl secretory response to L-ascorbate was effectively blocked by the Cl ion transport inhibitors glibenclamide and bumetanide. A maximal dose of L-ascorbate (at 1 mM) stimulated 53–70% of Cl currents elicited by the cAMP agonist forskolin. CRS sinonasal tissue was characterized by impaired Cl secretory responses to L-ascorbate that were reduced by 33% in sinus epithelial tissue and by 70% in nasal epithelial tissue when compared with normal subjects. In nasal epithelial tissue from normal subjects, Cl secretion was approximately twofold increased when compared with sinus epithelial tissue. In contrast, nasal versus sinus epithelial tissue from CRS patients showed no differences. Conclusion Topical administration of L-ascorbate to freshly excised sinus and nasal mucosa enhances chloride secretion. Given that decreased CFTR-mediated Cl secretion may contribute to the development of CRS, L-ascorbate may offer potential as a therapeutic agent for the improvement of mucociliary clearance.
Keeping up appearances: Experiments on cooperation in social dilemmas

We cooperate. To be precise: we help out others at a cost to ourselves, daily and at an astonishing scale; among family, strangers and enemies, whether we are foraging, negotiating or waging war. Why are we willing to reduce our own chances of survival and reproduction to augment those of others? This dissertation addresses such social dilemmas using laboratory experiments. It explores how we incorporate reputational concerns, whether imaginary competition with another group makes us more self-sacrificing, and why we behave more cooperatively if we can select our own partners. These institutions make us self-conscious of our appearance in comparison to others and boost cooperation in social dilemmas.
Agent-Based Simulations for Electricity Market Regulation Advice: Procedures and an Example

Summary This paper discusses the use of agent-based simulation models for regulatory advice in electricity market regulation. It briefly introduces the necessary procedures and the state-of-the-art of the methodology, and outlines its possible range of application. In a second part, the paper presents an agent-based simulation model developed by the authors. The model can be applied for analyzing different market designs and market structures in order to derive evidence for regulatory advice. This is exemplified through the analysis of two settlement rules in the balancing power market and of several divestiture scenarios of the German electricity sector.
Shaping educational attitudes and aspirations: the influence of parents, place and poverty: stage 1 report

An interim report of a study which aims to better understand the relationship between children’s aspirations in relation to education and employment, and the context in which they are formed. In particular, the study seeks to explore how parental circumstances and attitudes, the school as an institution, and the opportunity structures of the neighbourhood come together to shape aspirations in deprived urban areas. This report examines: • The assumptions of current policy that aspirations are a key ingredient of educational and labour market outcomes; • What aspirations are and how they can be understood; • What young people’s aspirations are for further and higher education and for future occupations in three secondary schools; • The main influences on those aspirations, including the roles of parents, schools and the neighbourhood context • Messages for the second stage of the research and emerging lessons for policy. The report provides some evidence to question the assumption among policy makers that there is a ‘poverty of aspirations’ among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
MyD88-Dependent Immune Activation Mediated by Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Encoded Toll-Like Receptor Ligands

ABSTRACT Immune activation is a major characteristic of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and a strong prognostic factor for HIV-1 disease progression. The underlying mechanisms leading to immune activation in viremic HIV-1 infection, however, are not fully understood. Here we show that, following the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy, the immediate decline of immune activation is closely associated with the reduction of HIV-1 viremia, which suggests a direct contribution of HIV-1 itself to immune activation. To propose a mechanism, we demonstrate that the single-stranded RNA of HIV-1 encodes multiple uridine-rich Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) ligands that induce strong MyD88-dependent plasmacytoid dendritic cell and monocyte activation, as well as accessory cell-dependent T-cell activation. HIV-1-encoded TLR ligands may, therefore, directly contribute to the immune activation observed during viremic HIV-1 infection. These data provide an initial rationale for inhibiting the TLR pathway to directly reduce the chronic immune activation induced by HIV-1 and the associated immune pathogenesis.
The firm demand for liquid assets in an inflationary environment

Measures of inflation and the price level are added to the standard model of liquid asset demand and estimated with cross-section data on Brazilian manufacturing firms over a four-year period characterized by substantial inflation (annual rates of 19, 23, 34 and 35%). Results indicate that economies of scale exist in a model that is stable over time. Interest rates have a strong and elastic impact on liquid asset demand when inflation is explicitly controlled for although this result is not consistent across all subsets of data used. The usual assumption of a unitary price level elasticity of liquid asset demand is rejected and firms appear to conserve on liquid asset holdings as the rate of inflation increases suggesting more careful management of payments flows. Some of these findings contradict those of Ungar and Zilberfarb (1980). There are also some difference in behaviour across ownership groups: Brazilian firms do not exhibit economies of scale while multinationals do; and Brazilian firms adjust actual to desired balances faster than multinational firms.
Complement activation by polyclonal immunoglobulin G1 and G2 antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and tetanus toxoid

To obtain information on effector functions of human immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2), we have measured the complement-activating properties of polyclonal IgG subclass antibodies against bacterial antigens. IgG1 and IgG2 were purified from serum samples from five healthy individuals, and complement activation was measured with different bacterial antigens. We used Staphylococcus aureus Wood 46 (STAW), which is a common antigen, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which is a common pathogenic microorganism in children, and formaldehyde-inactivated tetanus toxin (TT). Bacteria were incubated with antibodies and then incubated with sera from agammaglobulinemic patients as a complement source, and C3c deposition was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that anti-STAW IgG2 activated complement to a level similar to that of anti-STAW IgG1. Anti-Hib IgG1 complement activation was as much as seven times higher than that of anti-Hib IgG2 in four individuals. In one individual, anti-Hib IgG2 was more effective in complement activation than anti-Hib IgG1. Anti-TT antibodies showed patterns similar to those of anti-Hib. Our results indicate that IgG2 antibodies may contribute significantly to antibacterial defense. Also, individual differences in antibody effector functions should be taken into account when evaluating the immune status of patients and during early phase 1 studies of new vaccines.
Globalization, food quality and labor: the case of grape production in North-eastern Brazil.

This article investigates the consequences of the production of table grapes for export to corporate supermarkets in the global North on labor in a region of the Brazilian North-east. This production is destined to meet the growing demand for year-round food marketed as quality food. Quality food is required by supermarket chains to increase competitiveness and is guaranteed through third-party certification programs. Despite claims that certification not only maintains product quality but also safeguards the use of labor, the study demonstrates that the global production of quality grapes engenders negative consequences for workers. Laborers work longer for less pay, perform more sophisticated tasks, are employed mostly through temporary contracts, and experience new and more advanced forms of control. Additionally, the article illustrates the ways in which other salient actors, such as global food retailers, brokers and firms, operate in regard to labor and quality grape production. It is concluded that, despite various claims about the objectives of certification programs, the actual use of the certification processes at the local level does not translate immediately into better labor relations in the global South.
Stock returns and volatility: empirical evidence from fourteen countries

This is a pioneering effort to test in 14 countries the relationship between stock market returns and their forecast volatility derived from the symmetric and asymmetric conditional heteroscedasticity models. Both weekly and monthly returns and their volatility are investigated. An out-of-sample testing methodology is employed using volatility forecasts instead of investigating the relation between stock returns and their in-sample volatility estimates. Expected volatility is derived from the ARCH(p), GARCH(1,1), GJR-GARCH(1,1) and EGARCH(1,1) forecast models. Expected volatility is found to have a significant negative or positive effect on country returns in a few cases. Unexpected volatility has a negative effect on weekly stock returns in six to seven countries and on monthly returns in nine to eleven countries depending on the volatility forecasting model. However, it has a positive effect on weekly and monthly returns in none of the countries investigated. It is concluded that the return variance may not be an appropriate measure of risk.
Maximum oxygen uptake, anaerobic power and neuromuscular performance characteristics in bandy players of two different competitive levels.

Ten elite and eight other bandy players served as subjects in order to examine which characteristics in physical performance capacity might differentiate these two groups of bandy players representing a greatly different competitive level. The value of 60.0 +/- 4.8 ml.kg-1.min-1 for VO2max in the elite group was significantly (p less than 0.05) greater than that of 54.7 +/- 4.0 ml.kg-1.min-1 recorded for the control group. The elite players demonstrated, on average, greater values than the control group for the average anaerobic power output calculated during a 60 s maximal work period. The differences between the groups were significant (p less than 0.05) in the average power produced during the second (15-30 s) and third (30-45 s) work periods of the total 60 s period. No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in maximal isometric force and in the shapes of the average force-time and relaxation-time curves of the leg extensor muscles. In the total subject sample the individual values for VO2max had the highest correlation (p less than 0.01) with the individual playing ability in bandy. The present findings demonstrated that elite bandy players were differentiated from those players of a lower competitive level especially with regard to maximum oxygen uptake and also to maximal anaerobic power, while only minor differences were observed between the groups in various neuromuscular performance characteristics. The differences observed might be explainable both by the training background of the athletes and by the competitive physiological requirements of this sports event. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Essentials of Financial Risk Management

"New financial instruments are not created simply because someone on Wall Street believes that it would be 'fun' to introduce an instrument with more 'bells and whistles' than existing instruments. The demand for new instruments is driven by the needs of borrowers and investors based on their asset/liability management situation, regulatory constraints (if any), financial accounting considerations, and tax considerations. "' Frank J. Fabozzi and Franco Modigliani
A Different Desensitization Pattern of Cardiac β‐Adrenoceptor Subtypes by Prolonged In Vivo Infusion of Isoprenaline

(–)Isoprenaline was continuously administered to rats at a rate of 0.4 mg/kg/h for 7 days via subcutaneously (s.c.) implanted osmotic minipumps. This treatment induced cardiac hypertrophy and a marked decrease in basal as well as catecholamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in a ventricular plasma membrane fraction. The total number of (β-adrenoceptors was downregulated by one-half the amount of the receptor sites obtained in a control group. However, in the isoprenaline-treated group, the (β-adrenoceptors constituted a significantly smaller proportion of the total 4bT-adrenoceptor population (28%) than in the control group (50%). Transformation of these relative into absolute values indicates that prolonged isoprenaline treatment induced a significantly higher downregulation of β2- than of (β1-adrenoceptors. The fact of a different (β-adrenoceptor desensitization pattern in response to in vivo administration of nonselective β-adrenergic agonists therefore must be taken into consideration when desensitization is used as a method for determination of subtype selectivity of an agonist per se. However, we were unable to detect the “lost” (β-adrenoceptors in a light vesicular fraction. In our study, this fraction was not separable from plasma membranes, as substantiated by levels of plasma membrane markers as high as in the plasma membrane fraction and by a guanine nucleotide-dependent adenylate cyclase activity.