Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Where Does the Demand for Regulation Come from? The State’s Return to the Retail Trade in Russia

From the beginning of economic reform in 1992, the retail trade sector was one of the most liberalized market segments in the Russian economy. However, the state was suddenly brought back in during the late 2000s. A restrictive Federal trade law passed after continuous and furious debates in December 2009. It created a new precedent of administrative regulation imposed on a highly competitive industry. Where did the demand for state regulation come from? What interest groups stood behind this new helping hand policy? Which arguments in a course of political and expert debate were used to justify the state intervention? Who has benefited from the new formal institutional arrangements? The author addresses these issues by revealing the para-political practices of formal institutional building in the trade sector, which has been largely neglected by scholarly research. This paper uses data collected from two series of in-depth interviews with key market actors and political experts in 2008-2009 together with records from the expert meetings arranged by several Federal Ministries in which the author took part. Survey data of 512 retailers and suppliers collected in five Russian urban areas in 2010 are also employed to reveal interest groups that have benefited from the new regulatory policy. In conclusion, this paper argues that public officials used a liberal rhetoric of the competition protection to develop new instruments of political and administrative control over large and medium-sized businesses, and finds that the actual results of state intervention deviate remarkably from the declared goals.
Evaluation of topical pharyngeal anesthesia for upper endoscopy including factors associated with patient tolerance.

BACKGROUND Topical pharyngeal anesthesia is generally used as a pretreatment for upper endoscopy. However its efficacy has not been established. METHODS A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was undertaken. Subjects were 201 patients who underwent upper endoscopy and gave informed consent. Relative risks (RR) of patient discomfort were calculated for pharyngeal anesthesia, anxiety, and other potential confounding factors by using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS The RR of patient discomfort on intubation was 0.56 for the anesthesia versus the placebo group (95% CI, 0.31-1.01). RR was higher in patients aged 39 or younger than in those 40 or over (RR = 2.22, 95% CI, 1.04-4.74). With subgroup analysis in those examinees less than 40 years old, the RR of patient discomfort was 0.21 for the topical anesthesia (95% CI, 0.04-0.99) versus the placebo group and 4.93 for patients undergoing upper endoscopy for the first time (95% CI, 1.13-21.60). In the first-time patients, the RR was lower in the topical anesthesia than in the placebo group (RR = 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04-0.93); it was higher in patients with a trait-anxiety score higher by 10 points than in those with a lower score (RR = 3.35, 95% CI, 1.01-11.15). With the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing of data, statistical significance is indicated by a CI of 97.5% in the subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS Topical pharyngeal anesthesia appears to be effective in patients less than 40 years old and in those undergoing the procedure for the first time. A high trait-anxiety score could be a predictor of discomfort in first-time examinees.
Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters

"Little else is required to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things. " So wrote Adam Smith a quarter of a millennium ago. Using the tools of modern political economics and combining economic theory with a bird's-eye view of the data, this book reinterprets Smith's pillars of prosperity to explain the existence of development clusters--places that tend to combine effective state institutions, the absence of political violence, and high per-capita incomes. To achieve peace, the authors stress the avoidance of repressive government and civil conflict. Easy taxes, they argue, refers not to low taxes, but a tax system with widespread compliance that collects taxes at a reasonable cost from a broad base, like income. And a tolerable administration of justice is about legal infrastructure that can support the enforcement of contracts and property rights in line with the rule of law. The authors show that countries tend to enjoy all three pillars of prosperity when they have evolved cohesive political institutions that promote common interests, guaranteeing the provision of public goods. In line with much historical research, international conflict has also been an important force behind effective states by fostering common interests. The absence of common interests and/or cohesive political institutions can explain the existence of very different development clusters in fragile states that are plagued by poverty, violence, and weak state capacity.
The Local Governance of Crime: Appeals to Community and Partnerships

1. Introduction 2. The Genesis of the Partnership Approach and Appeals to Community in Crime Control 3. The Shifting Social and Political Context: Questions of Legitimacy and Responsibility 4. Partnerships, Conflicts, and Power Relations 5. The Contestable Nature of Community 6. Fragmentation of the State? 7. Questions of Accountability 8. Local or Social Justice? 9. Towards Conclusions
2nd Australia–China Biomedical Research Conference (ACBRC2009) Niemann–Pick disease Type C: From molecule to clinic

1. Niemann–Pick Type C disease (NPC) is an incurable cholesterol-storage disorder that stems from inherited deficiencies of lysosomal proteins involved in intracellular lipid-trafficking proteins. The condition manifests as progressive neurological impairment and leads to death at an early age. 2. To improve clinical recognization and investigate therapeutic strategies, recent studies using molecular and genetic approaches have led to significant advances in the creation of animal models of NPC, as well as in the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of NPC. 3. Patients with NPC are divided into four groups based on age at presentation, whereas the clinical features of NPC can be divided into five categories based on the severity of the disease. Progressive neuronal loss, especially of cerebellar Purkinje cells, is a hallmark of NPC. Ballooned neurons, axonal abnormalities and astroglyosis are among the pathological changes seen. Severe demyelination is also present in the mouse model of NPC. 4. Mutations in the NPC1 gene cause approximately 95% of cases of NPC, whereas mutations in the NPC2 gene account for the remainder of cases. NPC1 is a transmembrane protein and NPC2 is a soluble protein involved in lipid trafficking in lysosomes. Loss-of-function mutations in the NPC1 gene lead to a failure of the calcium-mediated fusion of endosomes with lysosomes, resulting in the accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids in late endosomes and lysosomes. 5. The present review updates the disorders of NPC from clinical features to animal models and molecular mechanisms.
Radiological features of central haemangioma of the jaws.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiological and clinical features of central haemangioma of the jaws. METHODS A total of 86 cases (84 from the English-language literature and two new cases) were studied and critically evaluated with emphasis on the radiological features. RESULTS Age at time of initial diagnosis ranged from 0 to 74 years (mean 23 years, median 17 years). There was approximately equal distribution between females and males. The ratio between the mandible and maxilla was 3.3:1. Of the lesions, 69% were located in the posterior region of the jaws. Lesions were radiolucent in 96% of cases. Of the lesions, 66% were multilocular, 33% unilocular, and 1% not loculated. Borders were described in 41 cases, as well defined in 32% and diffuse in 68%. Tooth resorption was described in 23% of the lesions and tooth displacement in 16%, both more common in the mandible. The inferior alveolar nerve canal was involved in 15% of the mandibular lesions and the sinus in 35% of the maxillary lesions. CONCLUSIONS Central haemangioma has a marked variability in its radiological appearance and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of many unilocular or multilocular radiolucent lesions of the jaws, especially in the mandible. Some radiographic patterns, such as the spoke-like and sunray appearance frequently described in the literature, are actually extremely rare.
Psychopathy Checklist–Revised Use and Reporting Practices in Sexually Violent Predator Evaluations

We surveyed evaluators who conduct sexually violent predator evaluations (N = 95) regarding the frequency with which they use the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R), their rationale for use, and scoring practices. Findings suggest that evaluators use the PCL-R in sexually violent predator cases because of its perceived versatility, providing information about both mental disorder and risk. Several findings suggested gaps between research and routine practice. For example, relatively few evaluators reported providing the factor and facet scores that may be the strongest predictors of future offending, and many assessed the combination of PCL-R scores and sexual deviance using deviance measures (e.g., paraphilia diagnoses) that have not been examined in available studies. There was evidence of adversarial allegiance in PCL-R score interpretation, as well as a “bias blind spot” in PCL-R and other risk measure (Static-99R) scoring; evaluators tended to acknowledge the possibility of bias in other evaluators but not in themselves. Findings suggest the need for evaluators to carefully consider the extent to which their practices are consistent with emerging research and to be attuned to the possibility that working in adversarial settings may influence their scoring and interpretation practices.
A radiographic method for measuring the effect of exogenous hormone therapy on uterine involution in ewes

Twenty-six pluriparous Suffolk ewes were used to monitor the effects of four hormone treatments on the rate of uterine involution, which was assessed by means of radio-opaque markers and radiography. The close correlation between measurements of the genital tract in live sheep and after slaughter indicated that this method of monitoring uterine involution was acceptably accurate. Uterine involution was complete by about 29 days after lambing. None of the hormone treatments with progesterone, oestradiol-17 beta, prostaglandin F2 alpha or an oxytocin analogue, administered shortly after lambing, had any effects on the rate of uterine involution. There was no correlation between the duration of increased plasma concentrations of 13.14 dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2 (PGFM) and the rate of uterine involution.
Do Buyers Really Know Prices? An International Perspective on Price Knowledge

Price knowledge is a complex mental process that involves implicit and explicit memory, conducting to special representation of price information. The present paper outlines the coordinates of mental processing of price, as numerical stimulus, necessary to understand buying behaviour. According to this process, there were designed several research methods that investigate the way in which price knowledge is operationalized. There were also identified the main factors that influence price knowledge, factors related to characteristics of buyer, of product category, of store type or to other specific situations. In the paper are analysed some studies conducted in several countries that report different results concerning price knowledge. These differences might be caused by the methodology used, by product category, by buyer's personal characteristics or by other factors, specific to each buying context. The main idea of these studies is buyers have a low level of price knowledge, irrespective of country they belong, even when they were exposed to price information very short time before the research interview. These findings are opposite to general belief that shoppers know well prices and do buying decisions dominated by rationality. There are some managerial implications of price knowledge research, related to price format, to the ways used to communicate price changes or to the manner in which is suitable to set price ranges within product category.
HAEMOPOIETIC INHIBITORS IN APLASTIC ANAEMIA—A REVIEW

&NA; Haemopoietic failure in aplastic anaemia is thought to be the result of a decreased flow of cells from the pluripotential stem cell (PSC) compartment into the morphologically identifiable proliferative compartments of erythropoiesis, granulopoiesis, monocytopoiesis and thrombopoiesis. In most cases there is probably a quantitative decrease in the size of the PSC reserve, in some the PSC might be qualitatively abnormal, while in a few the defect may reside not in the PSC itself but in the microenvironment in which it has to proliferate. In a significant proportion of patients with acquired aplastic anaemia PSC damage follows exposure to a drug or chemical, but in the remainder the aetiology is obscure.1 Although marrow transplantation offers promise for younger patients with suitable donors, treatment for the remainder will continue to be unsatisfactory until more is known of the cause or causes of PSC damage in ‘idiopathic’ aplastic anaemia. Until recently a major obstacle to progress has been our inability to study or quantitate haemopoietic stem cells in man. In the last decade however in vitro techniques have been developed for the study in human marrows of primitive granulopoietic progenitors, possibly the second‐generation stem cells committed to granulopoiesis (CFU‐C), and of primitive erythropoietic progenitors (or committed erythropoietic stem cells or CFU‐E). There have been few reports of successful techniques for studying human PSC in vitro, and most laboratories have concentrated on studies using CFU‐C and/or CFU‐E. Although interesting data have emerged, one needs constantly to keep in mind the fact that these analyses do not look at the PSC itself.
Identi®cation and characterization of the Staphylococcus carnosus nitrate reductase operon

Physiological and genetic characterization of Staphylococcus carnosus nitrate reductase-negative mutants led to the identi®cation of the nitrate reductase operon, narGHJI. Transcription from the nar promoter was stimulated by anaerobiosis, nitrate, and nitrite. This is in accordance with the nitrate reductase activities determined with benzyl viologen as electron donor. However, in the presence of oxygen and nitrate, high transcriptional initiation but low nitrate reductase activity was observed. Since the ab complex of the nitrate reductase formed during anaerobic growth was insensitive to oxygen, other oxygen-sensitive steps (e.g., posttranscriptional mechanisms, molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis) must be involved. The nitrate-reducing system in S. carnosus displays similarities to the dissimilatory nitrate reductases of Escherichia coli. However, in the S. carnosus nar promoter, no obvious Fnr and integration host factor recognition sites are present; only one site that is related to the E. coli NarL consensus sequence was found. Studies to determine whether the E. coli proteins NarL and Fnr are functional at the S. carnosus narGHJI promoter indicated that the promoter is not functional in E. coli.
Clinical use of a New Method for Visual Field Damage Classification in Glaucoma

This new method, based on the use of MD and CPSD (or CL V) visual field indices, can instantly classify not only the stage of glaucomatous visual field damage, but also the type of defect (localized, generalized or mixed). This system was used to study glaucomatous visual field defects in 500 automated tests, performed with either Humphrey 30-2 or Octopus G1 threshold tests. The most common defects found were mixed, and purely local defects were very unusual, especially in advanced glaucoma.
Salivary gland material from the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis has an inhibitory effect on macrophage function in vitro

Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated that the infectivity of the protozoan parasite Leishmania major was enhanced in mice if the infecting inoculum contained salivary gland lysates from the sand fly vector Lutzomyia longipalpis. The present study was designed to address the hypothesis that sand fly salivary gland material may function by inhibiting the host immune response. Results indicated that sand fly saliva inhibited the ability of macrophages to present leishmanial antigens to parasite‐specific T cells.
VIX, Gold, Silver, and Oil: How do Commodities React to Financial Market Volatility?

We examine how implied and contemporaneous equity market volatility influence gold, silver, and oil commodities futures returns. Our measure of implied volatility is the VIX index, and the measure of contemporaneous volatility uses aggregated squared intraday S&P 500 index returns. We find that Gold and silver futures returns respond to changes in implied, but not contemporaneous, volatility in a manner consistent with their properties as a safe haven. Oil has a statistically negative response to implied volatility and a marginally negative response to contemporaneous volatility. These effects are amplified during recessionary periods and robust after controlling for a dollar index.
Differences in the Transduction of Canonical Wnt Signals Demarcate Effector and Memory CD8 T Cells with Distinct Recall Proliferation Capacity

Protection against reinfection is mediated by Ag-specific memory CD8 T cells, which display stem cell–like function. Because canonical Wnt (Wingless/Int1) signals critically regulate renewal versus differentiation of adult stem cells, we evaluated Wnt signal transduction in CD8 T cells during an immune response to acute infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Whereas naive CD8 T cells efficiently transduced Wnt signals, at the peak of the primary response to infection only a fraction of effector T cells retained signal transduction and the majority displayed strongly reduced Wnt activity. Reduced Wnt signaling was in part due to the downregulation of Tcf-1, one of the nuclear effectors of the pathway, and coincided with progress toward terminal differentiation. However, the correlation between low and high Wnt levels with short-lived and memory precursor effector cells, respectively, was incomplete. Adoptive transfer studies showed that low and high Wnt signaling did not influence cell survival but that Wnt high effectors yielded memory cells with enhanced proliferative potential and stronger protective capacity. Likewise, following adoptive transfer and rechallenge, memory cells with high Wnt levels displayed increased recall expansion, compared with memory cells with low Wnt signaling, which were preferentially effector-like memory cells, including tissue-resident memory cells. Thus, canonical Wnt signaling identifies CD8 T cells with enhanced proliferative potential in part independent of commonly used cell surface markers to discriminate effector and memory T cell subpopulations. Interventions that maintain Wnt signaling may thus improve the formation of functional CD8 T cell memory during vaccination.
Innovation and Spillovers: Evidence from European Regions

The importance of innovation for the economic performance of industrialized countries has been largely stressed recently by the theoretical and empirical literature. Moreover the intensity of knowledge externalities in generating innovation, is the key parameter in determining sustained growth in a model with endogenous technological change. This paper takles the extremely important task of identifying and estimating a "production function" of innovation for European regions using Patent and R&D data, 1977-1995. After correcting for the endogeneity bias we find that the elasticity of innovative output to R&D employment is around 1, while knowledge externalities exist, are geographically localized in an area of 200 kms and are significant. Nevertheless these externalities are not strong enough to generate sustained growth, and therefore European regions' innovative activity is better represented by a model as Jones (1995) than by one as Romer (1990). Knowledge spillovers could be due to the similar technological specialization of close regions, as we find significant spillovers also in technological space.
Quality of care in systemic lupus erythematosus: the association between process and outcome measures in the Lupus Outcomes Study

Objectives Although process measures to assess quality of care in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are available, their relationship to long-term outcomes has not been studied. Using a prospective, longitudinal cohort study, we examined the associations between high-quality care and two important SLE outcomes, disease activity and damage. Methods Data were derived from the University of California, San Francisco Lupus Outcomes Study. Participants were followed from 2009 through 2013, responding to yearly surveys. Primary outcomes in this study were clinically meaningful increases in disease activity and damage, assessed by the Systemic Lupus Activity Questionnaire (SLAQ) and the Brief Index of Lupus Damage (BILD), respectively. Using multivariable regression, we examined the relationship between high performance on 13 validated quality measures (receipt of ≥85% of quality measures), and disease outcomes, adjusting for disease status, sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare services and follow-up time. Results The 737 participants were eligible for a mean of five quality measures (SD 2, range 2–12). There were 155 and 162 participants who had clinically meaningful increases in SLAQ and BILD, respectively. In our models, we found no statistically significant relationship between performance on quality measures and changes in SLAQ. However, receiving higher-quality SLE care was significantly protective against increased disease damage (adjusted OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.7), even after adjusting for covariates. Discussion In this community-based cohort, we illustrate for the first time a strong link between processes of care, defined by SLE quality measures, and the subsequent accumulation of disease damage, an important outcome.
In The Eyes of the Beholders

This article examines how funders and the nonprofit organizations they support view current feedback practices and explore the similarities and differences in their perspectives. A survey of funders and nonprofit service providers in a six-county area in south-central New York State found that funders value feedback as a way to verify that funded activities have been completed and to assess outcomes, whereas providers use feedback to improve service and to ensure that their organizations are responsive to clients. Some funders were uncertain about how providers use feedback, some providers were uncertain about how funders use it, and some respondents in both categories were not confident about the capacity of their own organizations to use feedback information. Many funders and providers discuss feedback results and implications with each other, but funders and providers collaborate less in other aspects of the feedback process. These findings have implications for theory and practice and for future research.