Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Other financial institutions' portfolio behaviour and policy implications: A study of India

Abstract Applied literature has largely neglected the asset decision of other financial institutions (OFIs), though it may possess important policy implications. In this paper, portfolio behaviour of OFIs in India is modelled by using the annual flow of funds data for 1951/52 to 1993/94. The long-run model of the Almost Ideal Demand System and the allied concepts of cointegration generated economically and statistically plausible results. We find a strong influence of interest rates on portfolio behavior, thereby the role of interest rates on resource allocation. The paper concludes that the macroeconomic management through monetary policy actions may not be unnecessarily limited through the channel of OFIs in the post-financial reform regime in India.
Political Awareness and Partisan Realignment

Many attribute the demise of the solid South, and changes in party attachments outside the South, to elite-level changes in the parties’ positions on racial issues and an issue evolution of the party system. Support is also growing for the notion that, as the Republican Party became an acceptable alternative to the Democratic Party for racial issues in the South, a resurgence of class-based partisanship further fueled the exodus. By investigating whether political awareness mediates responsiveness to changes in the political environment, evidence that partisan evolution is concentrated among more aware citizens is uncovered, and the implications are examined.
Precise Diagnosis of Intraoperative Frozen Section Is an Effective Method to Guide Resection Strategy for Peripheral Small-Sized Lung Adenocarcinoma.

PURPOSE This study investigated the accuracy of intraoperative frozen section (FS) diagnosis for predicting the final pathology (FP) of peripheral small-sized lung adenocarcinoma and evaluated its usefulness in sublobar resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS The records of 803 patients with clinical stage I peripheral lung adenocarcinoma who underwent sublobar resection for FS diagnosis to guide surgical strategy were reviewed. The surgical extension was mainly based on FS. The FS were stratified into atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and invasive adenocarcinoma. The diagnostic accuracy of FS, the reasons for the discrepancy between FS and FP, and the clinical influence of the FS errors were evaluated. To assess the survival of patients with different subtypes after surgery, 301 patients were identified for prognosis evaluation. RESULTS The total concordance rate between FS and FP was 84.4%. When atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, AIS, and MIA were classified together as a low-risk group, the concordance rate was 95.9%. Most discrepant cases were the underestimation of AIS and MIA. The diagnostic accuracy of FS for tumors ≤ 1 cm and larger than 1 cm in diameter was 79.6% and 90.8%, respectively (P < .01). The FS errors had significant clinical impact on 0.9% of the 803 patients due to insufficient resection. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate (100%) was significantly better for the patients with AIS/MIA than for patients with invasive adenocarcinoma (74.1%, P < .01). CONCLUSION Frozen pathology has a high concordance rate with FP. Precise diagnosis by intraoperative FS is an effective method to guide resection strategy for peripheral small-sized lung adenocarcinoma.
Demand-pulled innovation under liquidity constraints

Using a panel of 211 Italian manufacturing firms for 1995–2001 and the Least Squares Dummy Variable Corrected (LSDVC) estimator recently discussed in the econometric literature, it is shown that demand-pull innovation is particularly significant in liquidity-constrained companies in both the short run and long run.
Hospital-based Surveillance to Evaluate the Impact of Rotavirus Vaccination in São Paulo, Brazil

Background: Brazil implemented routine immunization with the human rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix, in 2006 and vaccination coverage reached 81% in 2008 in São Paulo. Our aim was to assess the impact of immunization on the incidence of severe rotavirus acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Methods: We performed a 5-year (2004–2008) prospective surveillance at a sentinel hospital in São Paulo, with routine testing for rotavirus in all children less than 5 years of age hospitalized with AGE. Genotypes of positive samples were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: During the study, 655 children hospitalized with AGE were enrolled; of whom 169 (25.8%) were positive for rotavirus. In the postvaccine period, a 59% reduction in the number of hospitalizations of rotavirus AGE and a 42.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.6%–59.0%; P = 0.001) reduction in the proportion of rotavirus-positive results among children younger than 5 years were observed, with the greatest decline among infants (69.2%; 95% CI, 24.7%–87.4%; P = 0.004). Furthermore, the number of all-cause hospitalizations for AGE was reduced by 29% among children aged <5 years. The onset and peak incidences of rotavirus AGE occurred 3 months later in the 2007 and 2008 seasons compared with previous years. Genotype G2 accounted for 15%, 70%, and 100% of all cases identified, respectively, in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Conclusions: After vaccine implementation, a marked decline in rotavirus AGE hospitalizations was demonstrated among children younger than 5 years of age, with the greatest reduction in the age groups targeted for vaccination. The predominance of genotype G2P[4] highlights the need of continued postlicensure surveillance studies.
THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR INNOVATION: AN ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY PERSPECTIVE

What is the role of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) for a firm's innovativeness and absorptive capacity (ACAP)? Research shows that a firm's capacity to acquire and utilise relevant knowledge, i.e., its absorptive capacity, is decisive for innovation success. We develop a theoretical model that links the availability and usage of KMS with a firm's ACAP and its organisational knowledge to explain its contribution for a firm's innovation success. Using data from 222 manufacturing firms, we can show that the availability of a KMS in a firm affects its innovation success by contributing to its ACAP. Looking at the impact of different knowledge types on innovativeness, the results show that only technological knowledge is a substantial determinant of innovation success but not market knowledge.
Central Role of the Early Colonizer Veillonella sp. in Establishing Multispecies Biofilm Communities with Initial, Middle, and Late Colonizers of Enamel

ABSTRACT Human dental biofilm communities comprise several species, which can interact cooperatively or competitively. Bacterial interactions influence biofilm formation, metabolic changes, and physiological function of the community. Lactic acid, a common metabolite of oral bacteria, was measured in the flow cell effluent of one-, two- and three-species communities growing on saliva as the sole nutritional source. We investigated single-species and multispecies colonization by using known initial, early, middle, and late colonizers of enamel. Fluorescent-antibody staining and image analysis were used to quantify the biomass in saliva-fed flow cells. Of six species tested, only the initial colonizer Actinomyces oris exhibited significant growth. The initial colonizer Streptococcus oralis produced lactic acid but showed no significant growth. The early colonizer Veillonella sp. utilized lactic acid in two- and three-species biofilm communities. The biovolumes of all two-species biofilms increased when Veillonella sp. was present as one of the partners, indicating that this early colonizer promotes mutualistic community development. All three-species combinations exhibited enhanced growth except one, i.e., A. oris, Veillonella sp. , and the middle colonizer Porphyromonas gingivalis, indicating specificity among three-species communities. Further specificity was seen when Fusobacterium nucleatum (a middle colonizer), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (a late colonizer), and P. gingivalis did not grow with S. oralis in two-species biofilms, but inclusion of Veillonella sp. resulted in growth of all three-species combinations. We propose that commensal veillonellae use lactic acid for growth in saliva and that they communicate metabolically with initial, early, middle, and late colonizers to establish multispecies communities on enamel.
Boards of Directors, CEO Ownership, and the Use of Non-Financial Performance Measures in the CEO Bonus Plan

This study documents that boards choose performance measures that best reflect the CEO's contribution to firm value, taking into account the firm's monitoring environment. This study therefore has policy implications regarding the need for enhanced disclosure of CEO compensation to improve investor understanding of the alignment between executive pay and firm performance. Agency theory states that any costless performance measure providing incremental information about the agent's effort will improve the efficiency of the contract with the agent. In contrast with most of the literature in this area, which investigates pay-performance sensitivity and governance structure, we examine an important component of pay-for-performance plans used to align and compensate executive actions that might not be reflected in traditional financial performance measures. The results provide evidence that the use of non-financial performance measures in the CEO bonus plan varies predictably. Growth opportunities are positively associated with the firm's choice to integrate non-financial information into the CEO bonus plan. The results are also sensitive to our proxy for board independence and CEO ownership in firms with high growth opportunities. This study examines the associations between the board of director's choice to integrate non-financial performance measures into the CEO bonus plan and two other governance mechanisms board independence and CEO ownership in a sample of publicly traded Canadian firms.
Peptide sequences for sucrose splitting and glucan binding within Streptococcus sobrinus glucosyltransferase (water-insoluble glucan synthetase)

The gene encoding glucosyltransferase responsible for water-insoluble glucan synthesis (GTF-I) of Streptococcus sobrinus (formerly Streptococcus mutans 6715) was cloned, expressed, and sequenced. A gene bank from S. sobrinus 6715 DNA was constructed in vector pUC18 and screened with anti-GTF-I antibody to detect clones producing GTF-I peptide. Five immunopositive clones were isolated, all of which produced peptides that bound alpha-1,6 glucan. GTF-I activity was found in only two large peptides: one stretching over the full length of the GTF-I peptide and composed of about 1,600 amino acid residues (AB1 clone) and the other lacking about 80 N-terminal residues and about 260 C-terminal residues (AB2 clone). A deletion study of the AB2 clone indicated that specific glucan binding, which is essential for water-insoluble glucan synthesis, was lost prior to sucrase activity with an increase in deletion from the 3' end of the GTF-I gene. These results suggest that the GTF-I peptide consists of three segments: that for sucrose splitting (approximately 1,100 residues), that for glucan binding (approximately 240 residues), and that of unknown function (approximately 260 residues), in order from the N terminus. The primary structure of the GTF-I peptide, deduced by DNA sequencing of the AB1 clone, was found to be very similar to that of the homologous protein from another strain of S. sobrinus.
All the Right Noises: Background Variability Helps Early Word Learning

Abstract Variability is prevalent in early language acquisition, but, whether it supports or hinders learning is unclear; while target variability has been shown to facilitate word learning, variability in competitor items has been shown to make the task harder. Here, we tested whether background variability could boost learning in a referent selection task. Two groups of 2‐year‐old children saw arrays of one novel and two known objects on a screen, and they heard a novel or known label. Stimuli were identical across conditions, with the exception that in the constant color condition objects appeared on a uniform white background, and in the variable color condition backgrounds were different, uniform colors. At test, only children in the variable condition showed evidence of retaining label‐object associations. These data support findings from the adult memory literature, which suggest that variability supports learning by decontextualizing representations. We argue that these data are consistent with dynamic systems accounts of learning in which low‐level entropy adds sufficient noise to the developmental system to precipitate a change in behavior.
Deforestation mechanisms: a survey

Tropical deforestation continues at a very alarming rate. Certain forms of deforestation are economically desirable, but economic criteria alone are not sufficient for deciding whether a deforestation project is desirable. Previous studies on deforestation mechanisms are grouped into four general categories, i.e. Neo‐Malthusian, government‐failure, microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches. The Neo‐Malthusian approach sees population pressure as the underlying cause of tropical deforestation. The government‐failure approach looks at misdirected policies that result in unintended deforestation and government’s inability to preclude preventable deforestation. The microeconomic approach examines how, under various forms of market failure, an agent’s economic behaviours can lead to deforestation. The macroeconomic approach explores the possible links between debt and deforestation. We also present micro‐level evidence of a case where deforestation can be associated with farmers’ capital accumulation behaviour, and poverty is a deterrent to, not a cause of, deforestation.
Optimal Managerial Incentive Contracts and the Value of Corporate Insurance

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of managerial hedging on shareholder wealth when managers are able to choose the level of effort they expend in managing firms' investments. We demonstrate that shareholders will prefer managers to hedge observable unsystematic risks because they expect that this will induce managers to be more productive. We begin with the case where the risk being hedged is independent of managerial effort. In this case, we show that if shareholders are able to adjust incentive contracts either in anticipation of hedging or after observing hedging, but before managers expend effort, then they will benefit from that hedging. When the insurable risk is also dependent on managerial effort, then we have what we term an “embedded moral hazard” problem. In this case, the optimal contract may entail either over or under insurance by the manager, relative to that preferred by shareholders.
Performance of the Personality Inventory for Youth Validity Scales

Response sets as well as cognitive and academic deficits compromise the validity of child and adolescent self-report of emotional adjustment. Three studies using clinical and asymptomatic samples of 4th to 12th grade students detail applications of the four validity scales of the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY), namely, (a) Validity (VAL) a scale of six highly improbable statements, (b) Inconsistency (INC) consisting of pairs of highly correlated statements, (c) Dissimulation (FB) constructed of statements that were infrequent and characteristic of intentional distortion, and (d) Defensiveness (DEF) an extension of the Lie scale of the parent-report Personality Inventory for Children. The effects of minimizing, malingering, and random response sets on the PLY validity scales are reported. The importance of such validity scales derived from child and adolescent response is discussed.
The Dynamics of Political Party Activism in Ghana: A Comparative Study of the Activists of the NDC and NPP in Wa Centraland Lawra-Nandom Constituencies, (1992-2008).

Since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic on 7 January 1993, the NDC and NPP have dominated the electoral space. The thesis seeks to explain the motivational basis of political party activism in the Wa Central and Lawra-Nandom constituencies between 1992 and 2008. The research findings were obtained by the application of mixed methods. The study argues that some Ghanaians signed up for the membership of political parties, and became party activists, because of the selective and material incentives the parties dispensed to their members. Political party activism is the process of working to achieve collective party goals. Attitudinal and behavioural traits and the socio-economic status (SES) of activists enable us to group party activists into three categories: patron activists, platform activists, and party footsoldiers. Party activism operates in two spheres: the formal and informal structures of the parties. The key to understanding why citizens join political parties in Ghana and become active in them lies in a multiplicity of factors. Altruistic, collective, and selective incentives and social norms are the main reasons Ghanaians joined the NDC and NPP. Party activists become contributors to the overall party agenda because they expect the political parties to satisfy their material motives. Citizens who become active in the NDC and NPP understand the possible benefits of their activism and the ways of achieving such goals. Party activists have realized that their “resources” (time, money and civic skills) (cf. Verba, et al., 1995) are valuable, and that they can negotiate for material incentives. Indeed, material incentives stood out strongly as the motive for becoming active in the parties.
Ensuring Financial Stability: Financial Structure and the Impact of Monetary Policy on Asset Prices

This paper studies the responses of residential property and equity prices, inflation and economic activity to monetary policy shocks in 17 countries, using data spanning 1986-2006. We estimate VARs for individual economies and panel VARs in which we distinguish between groups of countries on the basis of the characteristics of their financial systems. The results suggest that using monetary policy to offset asset price movements in order to guard against financial instability may have large effects on economic activity. Furthermore, while financial structure influences the impact of policy on asset prices, its importance appears limited.
Blocking the Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1/CCR2 Chemokine Pathway Induces Permanent Survival of Islet Allografts through a Programmed Death-1 Ligand-1-Dependent Mechanism 1

Islet allografts are subject to rapid rejection through host cellular immune responses involving mononuclear cell recruitment and tissue injury. Interruption of leukocyte recruitment through chemokine receptor targeting is of therapeutic benefit in various experimental models, but little is known about the contribution of chemokine pathways to islet allograft rejection. We found that murine islets produce monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1; CCL2) in vitro and that islet allograft rejection was associated with intragraft expression of MCP-1 and its receptor, CCR2. We therefore investigated whether MCP-1 and CCR2 are required for the rejection of fully MHC-disparate islet allografts. Wild-type mice treated with blocking anti-MCP-1 mAb plus a brief, subtherapeutic course of rapamycin had long-term islet allograft survival, in contrast to the effect of treatment with either mAb or rapamycin alone. CCR2−/− mice treated with rapamycin also maintained islet allografts long-term. Both MCP/CCR2- and rapamycin-sensitive signals were required for maximal proliferation of alloreactive T cells, suggesting that MCP-1/CCR2 induce rejection by promoting alloreactive T cell clonal expansion and homing and migration. Prolonged islet allograft survival achieved by blockade of the MCP-1/CCR2 pathway plus rapamycin therapy was accompanied by a mononuclear cell infiltrate expressing the inhibitory receptor, programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligand (PD-L1, B7-H1), and prolongation of islet allograft survival was abrogated by anti-PD-L1 mAb therapy. These data show that the blockade of MCP-1 binding to CCR2 in conjunction with subtherapeutic immunosuppression can have profound effects on islet allograft survival and implicate the expression of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in the regulation of physiologic responses in vivo.
Pot as Pretext: Marijuana, Race, and the New Disorder in New York City Street Policing

Although possession of small quantities of marijuana has been decriminalized in New York State since the late 1970s, arrests for marijuana possession in New York City have increased more than tenfold since the mid-1990s, and remain high more than 10 years later. This rise has been a notable component of the city’s “Order Maintenance Policing” strategy, designed to aggressively target low-level offenses, usually through street interdictions known as “stop, question, and frisk” activity. We analyze data on 2.2 million stops and arrests carried out from 2004 to 2008, and identify significant racial disparities in the implementation of marijuana enforcement. These disparities, present in both stops and arrests, are robust to controls for social structure, local crime conditions, and stop levels more broadly. The racial imbalance in marijuana enforcement in black neighborhoods suggests a “doubling down” of street-level policing in places already subject to heightened scrutiny in the search for weapons, a link suggesting that the policing of marijuana may be a pretext in the search for guns. Despite these ties, however, we show no significant relationship between marijuana enforcement activity and the likelihood of seizing firearms or other weapons. We also show that a large proportion of marijuana enforcement lacks constitutional justification under either federal or New York law. Marijuana stops are more prevalent in precincts where “other” and “high-crime area” justifications are more likely to be reported, two factors that are constitutionally insufficient to justify a street stop. The racial skew, questionable constitutionality, and limited efficiency of marijuana enforcement in detecting serious crimes suggest that nonwhite New Yorkers bear a racial tax from contemporary policing strategy, a social cost not offset by any substantial observed benefits to public safety.
Cerebral Edema and Cerebral Hemorrhages in Interleukin-10-Deficient Mice Infected with Plasmodium chabaudi

ABSTRACT During a Plasmodium chabaudi infection in interleukin-10 (IL-10) knockout mice, there is greater parasite sequestration, more severe cerebral edema, and a high frequency of cerebral hemorrhage compared with infection of C57BL/6 mice. Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha treatment ameliorated both cerebral edema and hemorrhages, suggesting that proinflammatory responses contributed to cerebral complications in infected IL-10−/− mice.