Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship between Levels of PCBs and Pesticides in Human Hair and Blood: Preliminary Results

Human hair as a biologic measure of exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has some advantages over the more commonly used blood and adipose tissue samples. However, one of the primary limitations is the difficulty in distinguishing between exogenous and endogenous contamination. In addition, there are currently no standardized methods for hair sample collection, washing, and chemical analysis. There is also very limited information describing the correlation between levels of organic contaminants in hair and other body compartments. To explore levels of POPs in blood and hair, samples from 10 volunteers were collected and analyzed for select organochlorine pesticides and 57 individual polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners. We demonstrated that the method for analyzing organic contaminants in human hair was reliable and reproducible. Washing hair with shampoo decreased levels of PCBs, pesticides, and lipids by 25–33% on average and up to 62% for low-chlorinated congeners. The percentage of lipids and the levels of organochlorines in hair were higher than in serum. We found strong correlation (r = 0.8) between p,p′-DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene) levels in hair and blood and moderate correlations for the more persistent PCB congeners, but no correlations or weak correlations for other organochlorines. The present study provides preliminary evidence on the utility of hair analysis for POPs; however, further larger studies are recommended before hair analysis can be successfully applied in epidemiologic studies on POPs.
Corporate Governance and Financial Distress: Evidence from Taiwan

Prior empirical evidence supports the wealth expropriation hypothesis that weak corporate governance induced by certain types of ownership structures and board composition tends to result in minority interest expropriation. This in turn reduces corporate value. However, it is still unclear whether corporate financial distress is related to these corporate governance characteristics. To answer this question, we adopt three variables to proxy for corporate governance risk, namely, the percentage of directors occupied by the controlling shareholder, the percentage the controlling shareholders shareholding pledged for bank loans (pledge ratio), and the deviation in control away from the cash flow rights. Binary logistic regressions are then fitted to generate dichotomous prediction models. Taiwanese listed firms, characterised by a high degree of ownership concentration, similar to that in most countries, are used as our empirical samples. The evidence suggests that the three variables mentioned above are positively related to the risk for financial distress in the following year. Generally speaking, firms with weak corporate governance are vulnerable to economic downturns and the probability of falling into financial distress increases.
Financial engineering for Australian annuitants

The past few decades have witnessed a global move towards private provision for retirement through individual defined contribution pensions at the expense of publicly provided and employer-sponsored defined benefit pensions. As a consequence, workers and retirees are becoming increasingly exposed to uncertainties in financial, labour and economic markets. The contributors to this book analyse the implications for retirement income policy, workers and retirees in view of the current climate of heightened exposure to scary markets. The implications of a broad range of scary market scenarios are presented, and novel solutions prescribed. Retirement incomes across a number of countries including the US, the UK, Japan and Australia are explored.
The combination of plumbagin with androgen withdrawal causes profound regression of prostate tumors in vivo

Hormonal ablation is the standard treatment for disseminated androgen‐dependent prostate cancer. Although tumor growth is controlled at first, the tumor invariably recurs in the form of castration‐resistant prostate cancer. This study assessed the efficacy of a new therapeutic strategy that combines plumbagin, a naturally occurring naphthoquinone, with androgen ablation.
Extracellular Vesicles from Human Liver Stem Cells Reduce Injury in an Ex Vivo Normothermic Hypoxic Rat Liver Perfusion Model

Background The gold standard for organ preservation before transplantation is static cold storage, which is unable to fully protect suboptimal livers from ischemia/reperfusion injury. An emerging alternative is normothermic machine perfusion (NMP), which permits organ reconditioning. Here, we aimed to explore the feasibility of a pharmacological intervention on isolated rat livers by using a combination of NMP and human liver stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles (HLSC-EV). Methods We established an ex vivo murine model of NMP capable to maintain liver function despite an ongoing hypoxic injury induced by hemodilution. Livers were perfused for 4 hours without (control group, n = 10) or with HLSC-EV (treated group, n = 9). Bile production was quantified; perfusate samples were collected hourly to measure metabolic (pH, pO2, pCO2) and cytolysis parameters (AST, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase). At the end of perfusion, we assessed HLSC-EV engraftment by immunofluorescence, tissue injury by histology, apoptosis by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay, tissue hypoxia-inducible factor 1-&agr;, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 RNA expression by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results During hypoxic NMP, livers were able to maintain homeostasis and produce bile. In the treated group, AST (P = 0.018) and lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.032) levels were significantly lower than those of the control group at 3 hours of perfusion, and AST levels persisted lower at 4 hours (P = 0.003). By the end of NMP, HLSC-EV had been uptaken by hepatocytes, and EV treatment significantly reduced histological damage (P = 0.030), apoptosis (P = 0.049), and RNA overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-&agr; (P < 0.0001) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (P = 0.014). Conclusions HLSC-EV treatment, even in a short-duration model, was feasible and effectively reduced liver injury during hypoxic NMP.
The Formation of Expected Future Price: A Reference Price for Forward-Looking Consumers

Among numerous possible reference prices, expected future price is important. A consumer's expectation of the future price of a brand plays a crucial role in the decision to buy now or later. Failure to characterize reference price as a forward-looking concept, a common practice in the reference pricing literature, violates premises of neoclassical economic theory and leads to questionable modeling applications. Explicit measures of future price expectations were obtained and used to test various models of expectations formation, providing insight into the effect of expected future price on consumers' responses to price promotions and brand choice decisions. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.
The Impact of Liberalization on Cooperative Strategies

This paper deals with the diffusion of cooperative strategies under uncertainty conditions. Starting from a Resource Dependence approach, we analyze the impact of liberalization on alliance formation in the public utilities industry in Italy between 1999 and 2001. The study is based on a longitudinal analysis conducted using social network analysis methods. Results show a growing diffusion of strategic alliances both at aggregate level and per different classes of alliances, besides a tendency of local public utilities to strengthen ties with partners of previous alliances. Based on these findings, we highlights some limits of Resource Dependence approach in explaining the diffusion of strategic alliances, suggesting an integration with the market power approach and the resource based view.
Imposing and Testing Curvature Conditions on a Box-Cox Cost Function

We present a new method for imposing and testing concavity of a cost function using asymptotic least squares, which can easily be implemented even for cost functions which are nonlinear in parameters. We provide an illustration on the basis of a (generalized) Box-Cox cost function with six inputs: capital, labor disaggregated in three skill levels, energy, and intermediate materials. A parametric test of the concavity of the cost function in prices is presented, and price elasticities are compared when curvature conditions are imposed and when they are not. The results show that, although concavity is statistically rejected, the estimates are not very sensitive to its imposition. We find that substitution is stronger between the different types of labor than between any other pair of inputs.
The Influence of Stare Decisis on the Votes of United States Supreme Court Justices

Theory: We test arguments from the legal model claiming that United States Supreme Court justices will follow previously established legal rules even when they disagree with them; i.e., that they are influenced by stare decisis. Hypothesis: Because of the institutional features facing Supreme Court justices, we argue that justices who dissent from or otherwise disagree with Supreme Court precedents established in landmark cases are free not to support those decisions in subsequent cases. Methods: A systematic content analysis of the votes and opinions of dissenting Supreme Court justices in a random sample of landmark decisions and their progeny. Results: Overwhelmingly, Supreme Court justices are not influenced by landmark precedents with which they disagree. We replicate the research for nonlandmark decisions and find similar results. Alone among the justices studied, only Potter Stewart and Lewis Powell show any systematic support for stare decisis at all.
Interest Groups and the Demand for Agricultural Research

This paper applies a model of the demand for public goods to explain cross-sectional differences in public allocations to agricultural research in the United States. The model postulates that demanders of agricultural research on the state level--primarily farmers and firms producing agricultural inputs--contribute voluntarily to lobbying activity either by voting or by making campaign contributions in order to induce research allocations. A "concentration effect" is derived, in which political participation by the relatively large demanders increases relative to participation by the relatively small demanders, as group size becomes large. The implications of the model are found to be consistent with American data on agricultural research allocations in 1969.
The ‘Employability Gap’: Long-Term Unemployment and Barriers to Work in Buoyant Labour Markets

We analyse the main barriers limiting the employability of long-term unemployed job seekers within a local labour market characterised by generally high levels of demand. We use four key elements of employability (employability assets, the deployment of assets, the presentation of assets, and context) as an analytical framework in order to analyse the manner in which job seekers' personal characteristics, social and family circumstances, and perceptions of the labour market affect their ability to pursue employment opportunities. The results of interviews carried out with 115 long-term unemployed job seekers show that individual and family circumstances and attitudes towards work and job seeking are likely to be increasingly important barriers given the context of a relative lack of demand-side problems and the availability of lower-skilled jobs in expanding industries. In particular, many long-term unemployed job seekers were reluctant to seek jobs in the expanding service sectors of the local economy. Although the concept of employability provides a useful theoretical and policy framework for analysing long-term unemployment issues, models based upon an employability framework should be expanded to incorporate the role of employers and so integrate supply-side and demand-side perspectives.
The asymmetric behaviour of stock returns and volatilities: evidence from Chinese stock market

This article investigates the partial adjustment process with asymmetries on Chinese stock index returns and volatilities. Rolling sample windows method is proper to capture evolving asymmetric behaviours of Chinese emerging stock market. The empirical evidence shows that index returns do have asymmetric adjustment behaviours in most of periods and the market tends to overreact to information contained in negative returns. No asymmetry volatility effect was present at the initial stages of the stock market. Along with the development of the market, the leverage effect are present.
The clinical characteristic and risk of capsule incomplete and retention in Crohn's disease.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate capsule endoscopy in terms of incomplete examinations and capsule retentions, to describe the characteristic of these events and to find risk factors for these events. METHODS This retrospective and consecutive case-control study includes data of 204 capsule enteroscopy examinations in patients with Crohn's Disease, performed at the first hospital affiliated to zhejiang university medical school from June 2003 to April 2014. RESULTS The frequency of complete examinations was 56.9%. Male gender (OR=2.48, P=0.026), abdominal pain (OR=2.88, P=0.002), melena/bloody stools/OB+ (OR=3.34, P=0.009) were risk factors for an incomplete examination. Capsule retention occurred in 8.33% (n=17). The ratio of male and female was 12:5. While the average age of these patients was 42.2±16.2, and the average course of disease was 52.5±46.6 months. Of the seventeen cases of retained capsules, four patients chose to undergo surgery to remove the capsule for occurring symptoms of intestinal obstruction, spontaneous passage occurred in twelve patients after medical treatment, and one patient still have the capsule retained after 16 months of expectation. The longest capsule retained time in patients was four years. Risk factors for capsule retention was abdominal distention (OR=8.45, P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS The majority of capsule endoscopy retention develops into spontaneous passage after medical treatment. Therefore capsule endoscopy is considered a safe procedure, although obstructive symptoms and serious complications due to capsule retention can be found in patients with known Crohn's disease.
A critical ‘critical inquiry’ proposition in Health and Physical Education

A critical inquiry approach is one of five key charateristics that have shaped the development of the new Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (AC: HPE). However, what this means is open to interpretation. In the various documents leading to the consultation draft AC: HPE and in this document itself, critical inquiry is used in varying ways with differing intentions. In this paper, we examine the conditions of possibility for particular understandings of critical inquiry in the AC: HPE and the shifts in meaning over time in the AC: HPE documentation that has been publicly available for consultation. We examine the potential for particular versions of critical inquiry to be translated from curriculum documents to classroom teaching through an examination of how critical inquiry has been deployed by HPE preservice teachers in their teaching during their final professional experience.
Explaining Interest Groups' Articulation of Policy Preferences in the European Commission's Open Consultations: An Analysis of the Environmental Policy Area

Why do some interest groups express more policy preferences than others during open consultations organized by the European Commission? This article examines this question by testing an explanatory framework that emphasizes the inter-organizational context in which lobbying takes place and interest groups' resource endowment. The empirical analysis focuses on environmental policy-making. The findings show that interest groups' preference articulation behaviour is largely influenced by the number of inter-organizational linkages they have with other stakeholders. Resource endowment matters in that resource-rich interest organizations are found to be less likely to articulate their preferences via open consultations. Interest groups' organizational form is also a relevant predictor of the likelihood they articulate preferences: in consultations, European federations voice more preferences than national or individual organizations.
Differences between incarcerated and non-incarcerated patients who die in community hospitals highlight the need for palliative care services for seriously ill prisoners in correctional facilities and in community hospitals: A cross-sectional study

Background: Incarcerated populations worldwide are aging dramatically; in the United States, prisoner mortality rates have reached an all-time high. Little is known about the incarcerated patients who die in community hospitals. Aim: Compare incarcerated and non-incarcerated hospital decedents in California. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting/participants: All state hospital decedents (N = 370,831) from 2009 to 2013, decedent age over time examined with additional data (2001–2013). Results: Overall, 745 incarcerated and 370,086 non-incarcerated individuals died in California hospitals. Incarcerated decedents were more often male (93% vs 51%), Black (19% vs 8%) Latino (27% vs 19%), younger (55 vs 73 years), had shorter hospitalizations (13 vs 16 days), and fewer had an advance care plan (23% vs 36%, p < 0.05). Incarcerated decedents had higher rates of cancer, liver disease, HIV/AIDs, and mental health disorders. Cause of death was disproportionately missing for incarcerated decedents. The average age of incarcerated decedents rose between 2001 and 2013, while it remained stable for others. Conclusion: Palliative care services in correctional facilities should accommodate the needs of relatively young patients and those with mental illness. Given the simultaneous growth in the older prisoner population with the rising age of incarcerated hospital decedents, community hospital clinicians should be prepared to care for seriously ill, incarcerated patients. Significant epidemiologic differences between incarcerated and non-incarcerated decedents in this study suggest the importance of examining the differential palliative care needs of incarcerated patients in all communities.
Workplace Learning Among Library Professionals of University Libraries in Kerala

The purpose of this study is to investigate the workplace learning among the library professionals in university libraries in Kerala. Structured questionnaires were employed to collect data from a representative sample of 100 library professionals from the central libraries of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, and University of Calicut. The analysis shows that majority of the library professionals are engaged in workplace learning. It is found that formal learning methods contribute much for workplace learning in the libraries. The library professionals engage in workplace learning to keep them up-to-date. Most of the professionals are self motivated and they acquire the skills for digital library development through these learning interventions. dx.doi. org/10.14429/djlit.35. 5.8586
Health-Related Quality of Life of Laotian Migrant Workers in Thailand

The aim of this paper is to explore how migrant workers from the Lao People's Democratic Republic conceptualized their health-related quality of life while they worked and lived in Thailand. Seventy workers took part in the study. Data collected from participant observation and in-depth interviews were examined using content analysis. The findings showed that nearly all the workers perceived health-related quality of life as a state of general well-being expressed in the vernacular as u suk sabai. Living, social and employment conditions exerted variable effects on their perceptions of health-related quality of life.
Asynchronous computer conferencing in the MBA classroom

Two asynchronous conferencing systems were used in subsequent years in a management skills course. These systems had comparable technological features but were not equally effective in supporting the course. This paper examines differences in the systems and their deployment that led to the success of one and the failure of the other. Data from student surveys show differences in user behaviors and attitudes toward the two systems. Qualitative data help to reveal the importance of pedagogy, technology, systems implementation and user behavior as determinants of successful technological innovation. A model for technological innovation in the classroom is proposed.
Welfare reform and recession: past labour market responses to job losses and the potential impact of Employment Support Allowance

The job losses which occurred as a result of deindustrialisation in the 1980s resulted in a large growth in male economic inactivity, and particularly an increased number claiming Invalidity, subsequently Incapacity Benefit (IB). This created high rates of IB claiming which have never been satisfactorily addressed by subsequent policies. In October 2008, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced for new claimants to replace Incapacity Benefit. Between 2009 and 2013 those claiming under the old Incapacity Benefit will also be progressively transferred to the new regime. The changes were designed to both reduce on-flows to the benefit, as well as increase off-flows. The reforms mean that job losses in the present recession will largely feed directly into unemployment, which is likely to remain relatively high for a prolonged period, particularly in old industrial areas where it is currently growing most rapidly and where employment levels are predicted to recover most slowly. This will make it much more difficult to achieve Government targets of significant reductions in the numbers on sickness benefits, as these groups will find it increasingly difficult to compete for jobs with the newly unemployed. It is therefore argued that more thought needs to go into the balance of policy between supply and demand-side interventions in the labour market.
The Life Cycle Hypothesis and Rational Expectations: Some Further Empirical Results

In an innovative and important paper Hall (1978) demonstrated that the assumption of rational expectations when applied to the life cycle or permanent income hypothesis would, given a number of further assumptions such as constancy of the real rate of interest, imply that real consumption follows a martingale. Thus in logarithmslog C - log C- 1 = α + ∊where C is real consumer expenditure, α is a constant which allows for real growth in the economy and ∊ is a white noise error term.Hall presented empirical evidence for the U.S. economy which was broadly consistent with the hypothesis. However, subsequent work by a number of authors (eg Muellbauer (1983) and Hendry and von Ungern-Sternberg (1980)) appears to be inconsistent with the hypothesis. Past values of economic variables, such as consumption or income, are significant determinants of the first difference of the logarithm of consumption which violates the hypothesis.
Nationwide survey for primary sclerosing cholangitis and IgG4‐related sclerosing cholangitis in Japan

We previously conducted nationwide surveys for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in Japan, and demonstrated several characteristic features of Japanese PSC patients, yet patients with IgG4‐related sclerosing cholangitis (IgG4‐SC) might be misdiagnosed as PSC. Since the clinical diagnostic criteria of IgG4‐SC were established in 2012, we again conducted a nationwide survey to investigate the characteristics of PSC and IgG4‐SC lacking pancreatic involvement.