Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The importance of diabetic nephropathy in current nephrological practice.

BACKGROUND Diabetic nephropathy has become the major cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the western world and is forecast to become the most frequent cause of ESRD in the African continent and in developing countries in other areas. METHODS A discussion to achieve a consensus on key points relating to diabetic nephropathy. RESULTS Given the catastrophic consequences of diabetes not only for renal function but also for the cardiovascular system, major efforts should be aimed at prevention. The cornerstone of primary prevention (development of microalbuminuria) is a tight control of blood pressure and blood glucose. Although ACE inhibitors have proved effective in preventing the development of microalbuminuria in normotensive patients, this is not the case, in comparison with other classes of antihypertensive drugs, in those who are hypertensive but normoalbuminuric. Secondary prevention (transition to overt nephropathy) and tertiary prevention (progression of established nephropathy to ESRD) benefit from the use of inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system, whilst the role of tight glycaemic control is more controversial at these stages. Therapeutic lifestyle changes are also important. They should include body weight control combined with regular physical exercise, cessation of smoking and reduced salt intake. The pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and its association with hypertension, accelerating renal damage, is complex. It involves genetic factors, altered renal sodium handling with sodium retention, metabolic disturbances and oxidative stress with the formation of advanced-glycation end products (AGEs) and reactive oxygen species. CONCLUSIONS Although the awareness of the importance of normalizing blood pressure levels and tight glycaemic control have allowed improved survival of diabetic patients, the mortality excess remains unacceptably high in patients with diabetic nephropathy. New treatment strategies are under investigation, including inhibitors of AGE formation, protein kinase C inhibitors, antioxidants, glycosaminoglycans, PPAR-gamma agonists and COX-2 inhibitors.
Financing Victory

With access to inexpensive credit, states can finance wars without overburdening their constituents, and face relatively small short-term costs compared to states with poor credit access. As a result of these economic benefits, states with lower credit costs will be more likely to win their wars, ceteris paribus. However, lower borrowing costs provide states domestic political benefits, which I argue are more important for democracies than nondemocracies. Since expensive credit forces states to rely on its citizens for revenue, governments that are more sensitive to their citizens’ preferences are at a disadvantage. In sum, I argue that democracies are more sensitive to credit costs than authoritarian regimes. To test this theory, this article analyzes a data set of wars using logistic regressions and matching techniques, and examines the case of the Chaco War. The results demonstrate that the costs of borrowing have a substantial effect on war outcomes, and that these costs are more important for democracies than nondemocracies.
The where and when of wetter and drier: disappearing Arctic sea ice plays a role

Summer precipitation in northern Europe has been above average for each of the past six years (2007–2012), a pattern that is unprecedented in over a century. During these same years, the summer Arctic sea-ice cover has averaged about 40% below its typical extent prior to the 1950s and set two new record minima. Could there be a connection? This is the question that motivated the new study by Dr James Screen, a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK, that appears in this issue of ERL (2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 044015). Adding to the growing body of evidence linking rapid Arctic warming to changing weather patterns in the northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, he concludes that sea-ice loss and associated surface warming lead to large-scale circulation patterns that favor wet summers in northern Europe and dry summers along the northern Mediterranean.
Performance, Politics, and Representation: Aboriginal People and the 1860 Royal Tour of Canada

The 1860 tour of Canada made by the Prince of Wales not only provided an occasion for state officials and other non-Aboriginal people to appropriate and display Indians but it was also an opportunity for Native people themselves to claim public attention, affirm their own loyalism and cultural integrity, and demand redress of political grievances. For Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike, Native participation in the public performances provided reassurance of the ties of First Nations to the monarchy. At the same time it raised troubling issues of representation, such as whether Native participants in public spectacles should appear in ‘traditional dress’ or in ways that better signified their adaptation to the colonial world around them. Although the visit brought the First Peoples public attention, press reports reinforced stereotypical racial constructions of Indians, underscoring the formidable obstacles to the successful assertion of Native rights in mid-nineteenth-century Canada.
Derivatives in the Wake of Disintermediation: A Simultaneous Equations Model of Commercial and Industrial Lending and the Use of Derivatives by US Banks

Before the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the search for new revenue and profit streams by US banks contributed to a long-term trend towards disintermediation. Trading in derivatives might offer an alternative to traditional deposit-taking and lending business as a source of revenue and profit; or it might enable banks to increase their lending more rapidly, through improved risk management. A simultaneous equations model is developed for the growth in commercial and industrial lending, and the use of derivatives. Lending by derivatives users grew more slowly on average, and the likelihood of using derivatives was inversely related to the growth of lending. This suggests the use of derivatives was a substitute for traditional lending business. Dealing in derivatives creates new forms of systemic risk through complex and opaque patterns of exposure. The empirical results suggest a continuing need for careful regulatory oversight, and more transparent disclosure of banks' derivatives exposures.
Alternate child care, history of hospitalization, and preschool child behavior.

Background— With more single mothers entering the workforce due to welfare reform efforts, more hospitalized children from single-parent families will have experienced alternate child care arrangements where routine care is provided by adults other than the child’s mother. Objectives— To investigate with secondary analysis of data whether experience with alternate child care has a moderating effect on the relationship between hospitalization and behavior of preschool children living in female-headed single-parent families. Method— A sample of 60 preterm and 61 full-term children who were 3,4, or 5 years old was recruited for the larger longitudinal study. Behavior problems were measured with the Child Behavior Checklist. History of hospitalization and alternate child care arrangements were measured with the Life History Calendar. Results— Preschool children who experienced hospitalization without alternate child care experience had more somatic complaints, but those with both hospital and alternate child care experience had fewer aggressive behaviors than other children. For children with a history of hospitalization, aggressive behaviors decreased as the proportion of the child’s life in alternate child care increased. Conclusions— Experience with alternate child care may ameliorate some of the negative effects of hospitalization, and potentially other novel and negative experiences, for preschool children. This could be due to child care providing positive experiences with separation from the mother, a peer group with which to talk about the novel experience, or actual instruction about the novel experience.
Resilience in Practice: The 2006 Drought in Southeast England

Resilience is utilized in socioecological research as a powerful concept for understanding the dynamics of complex, nonlinear systems, especially in relation to adaptation to environmental stresses and climate change. In sociotechnical systems research, resilience is less well developed with the emerging debate indicating the need for understanding how resilience is defined by different sociopolitical agencies operating at different spatial and organizational scales. Using a case study of the 2006 drought in southeast England, we illustrate how resilience is invoked in the context of contemporary water management. The multiple meanings of resilience that emerge are broadly construed in accordance with market-environmental discourses and are aligned to the highly variable objectives of water managers, regulators, and households operating across regional and local scales. We highlight the relative influence of different sociopolitical constructions of resilience in defining the possibilities for more and less sustainable manifestations of water management practice.
Reducing nitrate leaching losses from a Taupo pumice soil using a nitrification inhibitor eco-n

The decline in water quality in Lake Taupo has been attributed to nitrogen (N) leaching from surrounding land areas. Pastoral agriculture has been identified as a significant contributor to this N transfer to the lake through animal urine deposition. There is therefore an immediate need for new management options to reduce N losses. The objective of this study was to measure the effectiveness of using a nitrification inhibitor (eco-n) to reduce nitrate leaching losses from a pasture soil of the Taupo region. A 3-year study was conducted using twenty lysimeters on Landcorp’s ‘Waihora’ sheep and beef farm, within 10 km of Lake Taupo. The results show that animal urine patches were the main source of nitrate leaching (>95% of the total annual loss) and that eco-n significantly (P<0.05) reduced nitrate leaching losses from urine treated lysimeters. When the lysimeter results were combined with a detailed GPS survey and GIS analysis of urine patch coverage of the farm it is concluded that eco-n reduced annual nitrate leaching losses by between 23 and 32%, with an average reduction of 27%. Thus eco-n represents a practical technology that pastoral farmers could adopt today, to assist them to meet new water quality standards in sensitive catchments near Lake Taupo and the upper Waikato River.
Organophosphorus and Organochlorine Pesticides Bioaccumulation by Eichhornia crassipes in Irrigation Canals in an Urban Agricultural System

A natural wetland in Mexico City Metropolitan Area is one of the main suppliers of crops and flowers, and in consequence its canals hold a high concentration of organochlorine (OC) and organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. There is also an extensive population of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), which is considered a plague; but literature suggests water hyacinth may be used as a phytoremediator. This study demonstrates bioaccumulation difference for the OC in vivo suggesting their bioaccumulation is ruled by their log Kow, while all the OP showed bioaccumulation regardless of their log Kow. The higher bioaccumulation factors (BAF) of the accumulated OC pesticides cannot be explained by their log Kow, suggesting that the OC pesticides may also be transported passively into the plant. Translocation ratios showed that water hyacinth is an accumulating plant with phytoremediation potential for all organophosphorus pesticides studied and some organochlorine pesticides. An equation for free water surface wetlands with floating macrophytes, commonly used for the construction of water-cleaning wetlands, showed removal of the pesticides by the wetland with room for improvement with appropriate management.
Overseas development aid as spatial fix? Examining South Korea’s Africa policy

Abstract This paper examines the extent to which South Korea’s developmental aid programme to Africa can be understood as a form of ‘aid as imperialism’. We argue against the depiction of a crude determinism between the ‘interests of capital’ and the international activism of the South Korean state through aid provision. Drawing on Harvey’s theory of the new imperialism, we argue that, while the structural transformations in the South Korean political economy explain Seoul’s ODA programme at a general level, it is strongly influenced by geopolitical objectives which often undermine South Korea’s ability to pursue distinctly mercantile aims.
Effect of restaurant discount coupon depth on re-consumption willingness: A moderating role of brand image

The discount depth of coupons often affects consumers’ re-consumption willingness. Furthermore, for products or services, brand image is considered as an important factor that influences consumers’ purchasing decisions. This study investigated whether discount depth affects consumers’ re-consumption willingness and if brand image moderates this effect. A two-factor between-subjects design was used for the laboratory (n = 250) and field (n = 184) experiments, which were analyzed with a series of moderated hierarchical regression analyses. The results from the laboratory experiments indicated that brand image moderates the relationship between the discount depth and the consumers’ re-consumption willingness. This study also employed a field experiment, and the empirical results were consistent with the data from the laboratory experiment. The findings of this study will be useful for restaurant marketing professionals when making promotional decisions.
VALUE-AT-RISK COMPUTATIONS IN STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY MODELS USING SECOND-ORDER WEAK APPROXIMATION SCHEMES

We explore the class of second-order weak approximation schemes (cubature methods) for the numerical simulation of joint default probabilities in credit portfolios where the firm's asset value processes are assumed to follow the multivariate Heston stochastic volatility model. Correlation between firms' asset processes is reflected by the dependence on a common set of underlying risk factors. In particular, we consider the Ninomiya–Victoir algorithm and we study the application of this method for the computation of value-at-risk and expected shortfall. Numerical simulations for these quantities for some exogenous portfolios demonstrate the numerical efficiency of the method.
Commitment, Involvement and Performance of Voluntary Sport Organization Board Members

Abstract This paper explores the relationships between board member commitment, involvement and perceived performance within voluntary sport organizations. The paper specifically examines these relationships within the context of country race clubs in Victoria, Australia. After controlling for the effects of board-member age, it was found that commitment and involvement accounted for 31% of the variance in perceived board member performance. Affective commitment was found to be the most significant predictor of perceived board member performance, followed by tenure and the number of hours individuals devote to their board member role. These findings further extend our understanding of the drivers of individual board member performance within voluntary sport organizations.
Complement and Adaptive Immunity: Roles for the Anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a in Regulating Tumor Immunity

Although a relationship between inflammation and some cancers is well-established, the complex role of the complement system in cancer development remains incompletely understood. The studies that have investigated this relationship have primarily reported that the diverse components of the complement system support tumor growth. However, some studies have demonstrated that components of the complement system support adaptive T cell-mediated responses in other diseases and could therefore potentially be beneficial in promoting tumor regression through supporting anti-tumor immune responses. In this review, the most recent evidence illustrating the role of the complement system in adaptive immunity and cancer will be discussed, and some questions will be raised as to whether some complement components can enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy due to their influence on adaptive immunity.
‘Freedom with Publicity’ — The Actuarial Profession and United Kingdom Insurance Regulation from 1844 to 1945

ABSTRACT From 1870, in the United Kingdom, a generally liberal legal framework for life insurance existed which commanded wide support, particularly from the actuarial profession. Despite its apparent liberalism, however, it is likely that the regulatory framework impeded market entry, particularly of mutual companies. The liberal framework broke down in a number of incremental steps from 1946. This paper traces the development of U.K. life assurance regulation for 101 years from the mid-Victorian period, analyses contemporary reflections on the legal framework within the actuarial profession, and examines the appropriateness of the legal framework for achieving specific economic objectives for long-term insurance regulation.
Marketing Metrics Use in a Transition Economy: The Case of Vietnam

ABSTRACT This article explores the use of marketing metrics by a sample of Vietnamese firms, providing an example of the use of marketing metrics in a “transition” economy as it grows and becomes more market and marketing driven. The analysis reports usage frequency and then develops a set of “correlation chains” linking firm characteristics, metric use, and various indicators of performance. Vietnamese managers generally report that several types of metrics are used. Ownership structure and industry also impact which metrics are utilized. An initial assessment of chains relating metric use to firm performance indicates that the impact is complex and indirect.
Service Quality, Relationship Outcomes, and Membership Types in the Hotel Industry: A Survey in Korea

With the ongoing attention to long-term relationships between service providers and customers, this study delved into such influential factors that include service quality and its relationship outcomes (trust, satisfaction, and continuance commitment), and those relationships among variables along with membership effects in the hotel industry. Survey data from 300 hotel customers in Korea were used to test hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Findings are as follows: interaction and environment service quality had a positive impact on trust, whereas outcome service quality had a positive impact on satisfaction. Additionally, trust was positively associated with satisfaction, and satisfaction was positively associated with continuance commitment. Memberships could strengthen the positive relationships between outcome quality and trust, interaction quality and customer satisfaction, and trust and continuance commitment. From these findings, hotels should improve service quality, generate customers' trust, satisfaction, and continuance commitment, and induce them to the membership programs for long-lasting relationships with them.
How Accurate is Urine Cytology?

Exfoliative urinary cytology was performed on 260 new cases of histologically proven urothelial cancer. The site, size, shape and histological grade of the tumours were documented, and they were classified by the TNM system. Overall, urine cytology was positive in 135 (52%), suspicious in 28 (11%) and negative in 97 (38%) cases. Malignant cells were found most often when the urothelial tumours were large, papillary and solid, moderately or poorly differentiated and invasive (T2–4). Most upper tract tumours and those situated in bladder diverticula had positive urinary cytology. This study confirms that exfoliative urinary cytology is useful in detecting the more malignant bladder tumours including in-situ carcinoma, and other tumours in less accessible parts of the urinary tract.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus risk behavior among gay men in small cities. Findings of a 16-city national sample.

BACKGROUND Most research on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome has been conducted in several of the country's largest cities, and little is known about the current level of human immunodeficiency virus risk taking among gay men in other geographical areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of risk behavior practices among gay men in smaller communities. METHOD A large sample of men who patronized gay bars in 16 small and moderate-size cities drawn from six states in four different regions of the country was surveyed to determine the frequency of high-risk behavior and factors influencing risk taking. Eighty-five percent of men in all cities' bars completed all survey measures. The community samples were 1991 men; mean age, 31.3 years; mean education, 10.6 years; 90% were white and 10% were of other ethnicities. All participants provided detailed information on their sexual behavior practices over the preceding 2 months and completed measures assessing their perceived peer norms concerning safer sex practices and risk avoidance, intentions to avoid risk, personal risk estimation, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome risk knowledge, perceived threat of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus, and serostatus testing history. RESULTS High-risk patterns were still common among gay men in these smaller cities; nearly one third of all men had engaged in unprotected anal intercourse an average of eight times in the past 2 months, usually outside monogamous relationships. High-risk behavior was most strongly associated with beliefs that safer sex practices would not be well accepted by peers, weak intentions to use condoms, underestimation of personal vulnerability to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, younger age, and higher levels of overall sexual activity. Nine percent of men tested said they were seropositive. CONCLUSIONS Growing human immunodeficiency virus prevalence and continued high rates of risk behavior indicate that a new "front line" for human immunodeficiency virus prevention among homosexually active men has shifted to the country's smaller cities. Community prevention efforts in these areas are urgently needed to avert sharp increases in future human immunodeficiency virus infections in this population.
An Empirical Study of Goodwin Growth Models

Three dynamic macroeconomic models have been econometrically tested for ten OECD countries. One of them is a classic model developed by R.M. Goodwin on the lines of Lotka-Volterra predator prey model of mathematical biology, the second is an extension developed by Desai incorporating inflation and the third is a model developed by van der Ploeg incorporating a generalized production function. We start with estimating parameters and equilibrium of the Goodwin growth model, we then discuss data issues and reasons of poor estimates in a well-known paper by Harvie. Next we analyze the impact of inflation on the bargaining power of the agents and on the equilibrium through Desai’s model. Finally, we estimate CES production function and equilibrium estimates of the van der Ploeg model. We find that the estimates of the van der Ploeg model are within the bounds of observed values for 6 out of 10 countries examined. Moreover, the error of the model is much less than suggested by previous studies. This implication is important and encouraging for further econometric estimation of generalized dynamical models in macroeconomics.