Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardio-respiratory ontogeny during chronic carbon monoxide exposure in the clawed frog Xenopus laevis.

The present study investigates the ontogeny of cardio-respiratory physiology in Xenopus laevis where O2 transport is obstructed. Animals were raised from eggs (NF stage 1) to metamorphic climax (NF stage 63), while maintained either in air or in chronic 2 kPa CO, which functionally ablates O2 transport by hemoglobin (Hb). Whole-animal rate of oxygen consumption (.MO2), whole-body lactate concentration, individual mass, heart rate (fh) and stroke volume (Vs) were measured. Additionally, cardiac output (.Q) and the ratio of the rate of oxygen consumption to the total rate at which oxygen is transported in the blood (.MO2/.QO2) were calculated to determine limitations imparted when O2 transport is impaired. Our data on early development suggest that the onset of convective blood flow occurs prior to the absolute need for convection to supplement diffusive transport. Values for . MO2, whole-body lactate concentration, mass and fh did not differ significantly between controls and CO-exposed animals. However, CO-exposed animals showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in Vs, . MO2/. QO2 and . Q compared with controls. These results indicate that limiting blood O2 transport is not deleterious to metabolism and development as a whole and that convective oxygen transport via Hb is not essential for normal cardiovascular or respiratory function during larval development.
Index futures leadership, basis behavior, and trader selectivity

Employing intraday data for futures and cash values for the S&P 500 over the 1993–1996 period, we attempt to characterize the lead–lag relationship between these two markets and their basis behavior. Our findings show evidence of pronounced futures leadership when markets are rising, with no feedback from the cash market. However, when markets are falling, futures leadership is less evident and significant feedback from the cash market is noted. We also provide evidence of a positive relationship between the basis and return volatility. We offer an explanation, based on trader selectivity, for the leadership‐asymmetry and the basis–volatility relationship. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 22:649–677, 2002
Calculating the benefits of vendor managed inventory in a manufacturer-retailer system

Firms such as Wal-Mart and Campbell's Soup have successfully implemented vendor managed inventory (VMI). Articles in the trade press and academic literature often begin with the premise that VMI is ‘beneficial’; but beneficial to which party and under what conditions? We consider in this paper a vendor V that manufactures a particular product at a unique location. That item is sold to a single retailer, the customer C. Three cases are treated in detail: independent decision making (no agreement between the parties); VMI, whereby the supplier V initiates orders on behalf of C; and central decision making (both vendor and customer are controlled by the same corporate entity). Values of some cost parameters may vary between the three cases and each case may cause a different actor to be responsible for particular expenses. Under a constant demand rate, optimal solutions are obtained analytically for the customer's order quantity, the vendor's production quantity, hence the parties’ individual and total costs in the three cases. Inequalities are obtained to delineate those situations in which VMI is beneficial.
Coordinated Regulation of Human Trophoblast Invasiveness by Macrophages and Interleukin 101

Abstract Trophoblast invasion and modification of the spiral arterioles are essential for the establishment of adequate uteroplacental blood flow during pregnancy. However, such vascular remodeling is deficient in preeclampsia. This disease is also associated with increased maternal levels of circulating proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and reduced levels of immunoregulatory cytokines such as interleukin 10 (IL10). We have previously shown that activated macrophages inhibit trophoblast invasiveness in vitro. The present study demonstrates that IL10 interferes with the invasion-inhibitory effect that activated macrophages exert on trophoblast cells. Co-culture experiments revealed that human lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages inhibited the ability of immortalized HTR-8/SVneo human trophoblast cells to invade through reconstituted extracellular matrix. This effect of activated macrophages on trophoblast invasiveness was paralleled by decreased expression of urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (PLAUR) on the surface of trophoblast cells, and by increased secretion of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (SERPINE1). Exposure of LPS-treated macrophages to IL10 prior to co-culture prevented their ability to inhibit trophoblast invasion, PLAUR expression, and to stimulate SERPINE1 secretion. Interleukin 10 prevented macrophage activation by LPS as determined by the lack of secretion of TNF in the culture medium, and a neutralizing TNF antibody completely blocked the effect of macrophages on trophoblast invasion. These results indicate that decreased circulating levels of IL10 associated with preeclampsia may contribute to inadequate trophoblast invasion and remodeling of the uterine spiral arterioles.
Efficiency and productivity of the US banking industry, 1998–2005: evidence from the Fourier cost function satisfying global regularity conditions

This paper provides estimates of bank efficiency and productivity in the United States, over the period from 1998 to 2005, using (for the first time) the globally flexible Fourier cost functional form, as originally proposed by Gallant (1982), and estimated subject to global theoretical regularity conditions, using procedures suggested by Gallant and Golub (1984). We find that failure to incorporate monotonicity and curvature into the estimation results in mismeasured magnitudes of cost efficiency and misleading rankings of individual banks in terms of cost efficiency. We also find that the largest two subgroups (with assets greater than 1 billion in 1998 dollars) are less efficient than the other subgroups and that the largest four bank subgroups (with assets greater than $ 400 million) experienced significant productivity gains and the smallest eight subgroups experienced insignificant productivity gains or even productivity losses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Introducing Recursive Partitioning for Financial Classification: The Case of Financial Distress

The purpose of this study is to present a new classification procedure, Recursive Partitioning Algorithm (RPA), for financial analysis and to compare it with discriminant analysis within the context of firm financial distress. RPA is a computerized, nonparametric technique based on pattern recognition which has attributes of both the classical univariate classification approach and multivariate procedures. RPA is found to outperform discriminant analysis in most original sample and holdout comparisons. We also observe that additional information can be derived by assessing both RPA and discriminant analysis results.
Estimating the efficacy and efficiency of cascade genetic screening.

Screening for genetic variants that predispose individuals or their offspring to disease may be performed at the general population level or may instead be targeted at the relatives of previously identified carriers. The latter strategy has come to be known as "cascade genetic screening. " Since the carrier risk of close relatives of known carriers is generally higher than the population risk, cascade screening is more efficient than population screening, in the sense that fewer individuals have to be genotyped per detected carrier. The efficacy of cascade screening, as measured by the overall proportion of carriers detected in a given population, is, however, lower than that of population-wide screening, and the respective inclusion rates vary according to the population frequency and mode of inheritance of the predisposing variants. For dominant mutations, we have developed equations that allow the inclusion rates of cascade screening to be calculated in an iterative fashion, depending upon screening depth and penetrance. For recessive mutations, we derived only equations for the screening of siblings and the children of patients. Owing to their mathematical complexity, it was necessary to study more extended screening strategies by simulation. Cascade screening turned out to result in low inclusion rates (<1%) when aimed at the identification of heterozygous carriers of rare recessive variants. Considerably higher rates are achievable, however, when screening is performed to detect covert homozygotes for frequent recessive mutations with reduced penetrance. This situation is exemplified by hereditary hemochromatosis, for which up to 40% of at-risk individuals may be identifiable through screening of first- to third-degree relatives of overt carriers (i.e., patients); the efficiency of this screening strategy was found to be approximately 50 times higher than that of population-wide screening. For dominant mutations, inclusion rates of cascade screening were estimated to be higher than for recessive variants. Thus, some 80% of all carriers of the factor V Leiden mutation would be detected if screening were to be targeted specifically at first- to third-degree relatives of patients with venous thrombosis. The relative cost efficiency of cascade as compared with population-wide screening (i.e., the overall savings in the extra managerial cost of the condition) is also likely to be higher for dominant than for recessive mutations. This notwithstanding, once screening has become cost-effective at the population level, it can be expected that cascade screening would only transiently represent an economically viable option.
Welfare-enhancing Export Subsidies

This paper shows that export subsidies on marginal goods and those on nonmarginal goods have opposite welfare effects for the country imposing these subsidies, where marginal goods are the ones that would be exported by only a small amount or not at all under free trade but whose export can be promoted considerably by export subsidies. The former enhances the imposing country's welfare, while the latter worsens it. The paper also throws light on related issues such as industrial targeting policy.
Managing Hospitality Innovation

Companies involved in new-product development use some or all of the following 15 steps to generate ideas and services: established objectives and strategies for developing new ideas (mission statement), the company's business structure, actual idea generation and screening, concept development, concept testing, business analysis, project authorization, product or service design and testing, process and system design and testing, marketing-program design and testing, personnel training, product or service testing, test-marketing, launch, and post-launch review. This article's four case studies, however, illustrate that firms do not typically need to follow all 15 steps. That is due to a number of factors, including product diversity resulting from the originality of the product or service; the level of legal protection available; the amount of capital investment available; and the maturity of the marketplace.
Labour markets of the future: the challenge to education policy makers

In addressing the complex issues of the relationship between new technologies and human resources, different methodological approaches can be applied. A rich source of studies exists at the micro level, i.e. enterprises and/or sectors which focus, in particular, on the qualitative changes taking place. Fewer studies exist on the macro level for this subject, given its complexity and lack of adequate data. This article addresses the issues from both perspectives, but findings from the micro perspective predominate. It is structured around developments and changes on the demand and supply side and their interaction. The final section identifies some principal policy issues for governments as they relate both to demand and supply measures, as well as the need to strengthen the database for a better understanding of the issues involved. It draws heavily on recent and ongoing work on the subject carried out within the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The importance of the 'human capital' component of national wealth has been recognised and analysed by many economists during the post-war period. During the 1980s there was also growing government interest in human resources development. Many national governments have started to address the issue of whether existing systems of education and training are adequately equipped to meet increasing international competition and the particular challenges posed by new technologies. To this has been added the fear in many quarters that new technologies might increase unemployment. Such fears have been sustained by an apparent paradox when looking at the economy in many OECD countries in more general terms, namely that many countries have seen economic growth over a long period along with very high unemployment. One school of thought has tried to explain this paradox in terms of an emerging 'jobless growth society' where the economy is growing without being able to create full employment as traditionally defined. Another approach to explaining the paradox has focused on seeing it as a temporary phenomenon that increased deregulation and free market forces would be able to solve over time.
Influence of homicide on racial disparity in life expectancy--United States, 1998.

Life expectancy (LE) is an important indicator of the health of populations. Since the early 1900s, when estimates of LE began to be tabulated in the United States, the LE of blacks has been lower than that of whites (1). Homicide, which disproportionately affects blacks, particularly young males, contributes to this difference in LE. To examine the associations between homicide, LE, and race, CDC analyzed 1998 mortality files from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate, that in 1998, the LE for blacks was approximately 6 years shorter than for whites and that, after heart disease and cancer, homicide was the next largest contributor to the 6-year discrepancy. Violence prevention strategies (e.g., programs for youth offenders) have been implemented for the general population. More research is needed to determine an approach to target the male black population and to reduce LE disparity.
Examining the effects of comorbidities on disease-modifying therapy use in multiple sclerosis

Objective: Comorbidities are common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and adversely affect health outcomes. However, the effect of comorbidity on treatment decisions in MS remains unknown. We aimed to examine the effects of comorbidity on initiation of injectable disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and on the choice of the initial DMT in MS. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational analysis using population-based health administrative and linked clinical databases in 3 Canadian provinces. MS cases were defined as any individual with ≥3 diagnostic codes for MS. Cohort entry (index date) was the first recorded demyelinating disease-related claim. The outcomes included choice of initial first-line DMTs and time to initiating a DMT. Logistic and Cox regression models were used to examine the association between comorbidity status and study outcomes, adjusting for sex, age, year of index date, and socioeconomic status. Meta-analysis was used to estimate overall effects across the 3 provinces. Results: We identified 10,698 persons with incident MS, half of whom had ≥1 comorbidities. As the total number of comorbidities increased, the likelihood of initiating a DMT decreased. Comorbid anxiety and ischemic heart disease were associated with reduced initiation of a DMT. However, patients with depression were 13% more likely to initiate a DMT compared to those without depression at the index date (adjusted hazard ratio 1.13; 95% confidence interval 1.00–1.27). Conclusions: Comorbidities are associated with treatment decisions regarding DMTs in MS. A better understanding of the effects of comorbidity on effectiveness and safety of DMTs is needed.
Impact of the IFRS and US‐GAAP on economic‐financial indicators

Purpose - The paper seeks to analyze the impact of differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (US GAAP) in the economic-financial indicators of English companies. Design/methodology/approach - The research is characterized as descriptive-quantitative, using regression and correlation analysis. The study was developed on 37 English companies that negotiate American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Documental research consisted of accounting statements (AS) from 2005 sent to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and to the NYSE. Findings - The research shows percentage differences in the economic-financial indicators of English companies, calculated based on AS sent to the LSE and the NYSE that suggest divergences between the IFRS and the US GAAP. However, analysis of regression and correlation indicate significant correlation between the differences of these indicators. Thus, it was concluded that the economic-financial indicators are not affected in a significant way by the divergences in the accounting standards considered. Research limitations/implications - As limitations, the economic-financial indicators chosen can be pointed out. Therefore, in the individual analysis of each indicator and of each company there are greater or lesser differences that are dependent on the existence of the elements that possess difference in the applicable norms and their sums. Originality/value - The focus of this study is the information asymmetry that results from the differences between accounting standards that are applied. It is intended to advance research with a study of the impact provoked in the economic-financial indicators from a sample of companies that release AS in IFRS and US GAAP.
Gender gap in educational attainment: evidence from rural India

Using a probit and censored ordered probit model of school completion we identify some state‐specific factors influencing primary and middle school graduation probabilities of male and female children in two north‐Indian states: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We find that education of the parents, economic and social status of the household and the village‐level factors affect the graduation probabilities differently in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Both states exhibit a common feature: females are less likely to graduate primary school and middle school, compared with the boys. We decompose the gap between male and female graduation probabilities into coefficient and characteristic effects. In both the states, the education of the parents and development of village infrastructure seem to be the most important channel of narrowing the schooling gap.
The Place of Money Capital in the Theory of Production

I. Outline of the problem of capital and of the need to reconcile its treatment by Austrian and neo‐classical theorists, as also to establish a link between economics and accountancy practice. II. Introduction to the concept of the money capital requirement function and the criteria of profit rate maximisation. III. Synthesis of divergent theories by full development of a new generalised money capital requirement function. IV. Comparison of the results here obtained with those of neoclassical theory. V. Summary.
Systemic effects of screening for retinopathy of prematurity.

AIMS: To detect systemic complications of screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), paying particular attention to the physical examination. METHODS: Oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and blood pressure were monitored before, during, and after 110 ROP screening examinations. RESULTS: Following topical mydriatics diastolic blood pressure was elevated by a mean of 6 (SD 7.2) mm Hg. Immediately after the examination there was a further rise in both systolic and diastolic pressure of 4.3 (14.5) mm Hg and 3.3 (11.6) mm Hg, respectively. Oxygen saturation and pulse rate remained stable during the control period and administration of eyedrops. Saturation fell by a median of 3% (95% confidence interval plus or minus 1.2%) after the examination while there was rise in pulse rate of 7 (SD 23.1) beats per minute. This change in pulse rate was not observed in infants on concurrent methylxanthine therapy. No infant had clinically significant changes at the end of the study. CONCLUSION: The initial changes in blood pressure may represent side effects of topical mydriatics but the later changes following the physical examination may be an additional response to the stress of ROP screening.
The scaffold protein IB1/JIP-1 is a critical mediator of cytokine-induced apoptosis in pancreatic β cells

In insulin-secreting cells, cytokines activate the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which contributes to a cell signaling towards apoptosis. The JNK activation requires the presence of the murine scaffold protein JNK-interacting protein 1 (JIP-1) or human Islet-brain 1(IB1), which organizes MLK3, MKK7 and JNK for proper signaling specificity. Here, we used adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to modulate IB1/JIP-1 cellular content in order to investigate the contribution of IB1/JIP-1 to β-cell survival. Exposure of the insulin-producing cell line INS-1 or isolated rat pancreatic islets to cytokines (interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β) induced a marked reduction of IB1/JIP-1 content and a concomitant increase in JNK activity and apoptosis rate. This JNK-induced pro-apoptotic program was prevented in INS-1 cells by overproducing IB1/JIP-1 and this effect was associated with inhibition of caspase-3 cleavage. Conversely, reducing IB1/JIP-1 content in INS-1 cells and isolated pancreatic islets induced a robust increase in basal and cytokine-stimulated apoptosis. In heterozygous mice carrying a selective disruption of the IB1/JIP-1 gene, the reduction in IB1/JIP-1 content in happloinsufficient isolated pancreatic islets was associated with an increased JNK activity and basal apoptosis. These data demonstrate that modulation of the IB1-JIP-1 content in β cells is a crucial regulator of JNK signaling pathway and of cytokine-induced apoptosis.