Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cultural scenes, the creative class and development in Spanish municipalities

In addition to human capital and creativity, cultural consumption opportunities play an important role in explaining local development and growth. They promote the attraction of visitors, as well as the attraction of the creative class, improving local income and wages. This paper analyses the relative importance of cultural consumption opportunities, as cultural scenes, explaining income differences among Spanish municipalities. Indices to measure talent, creative class, and different kinds of opportunities for cultural consumption at the local level are proposed, using multivariate regression analysis to show their complementary impact on local income. In addition to human capital and the creative class, the main results show that different kinds of opportunities for cultural consumption (cultural scenes) have an independent impact on local income.
On the Relationship between Accounting Risk and Return: Is There a (Bowman) Paradox?

Bowman's (1980, 1982, 1984) finding of a negative relationship between the means and variances of accounting returns (the Bowman Paradox) spurred a considerable literature analyzing this phenomenon. The sign of the relationship between the mean return on equity (ROE) and its standard deviation remains unresolved. Concerns were raised about ROE measurement and statistical techniques used in establishing the paradox. The papers critiquing (and supporting) it were mostly limited in scope, studied only short periods of time and provided limited robustness checks. In addition, no paper considered the effect of issuances and repurchase of stocks on the measurement of ROE. This study revisits the Paradox and addresses the above mentioned deficiencies in prior research. We use data from longer periods, control for size and leverage and provide additional robustness checks. We conclude that a positive relationship between mean ROE and its standard deviation is far more likely than a negative one.
Cytotoxicity of carbon nanotube variants: A comparative in vitro exposure study with A549 epithelial and J774 macrophage cells

Abstract While production of engineered carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has escalated in recent years, knowledge of risk associated with exposure to these materials remains unclear. We report on the cytotoxicity of four CNT variants in human lung epithelial cells (A549) and murine macrophages (J774). Morphology, metal content, aggregation/agglomeration state, pore volume, surface area and modifications were determined for the pristine and oxidized single-walled (SW) and multi-walled (MW) CNTs. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by cellular ATP content, BrdU incorporation, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and CellTiter-Blue (CTB) reduction assays. All CNTs were more cytotoxic than respirable TiO2 and SiO2 reference particles. Oxidation of CNTs removed most metallic impurities but introduced surface polar functionalities. Although slopes of fold changes for cytotoxicity endpoints were steeper with J774 compared to A549 cells, CNT cytotoxicity ranking in both cell types was assay-dependent. Based on CTB reduction and BrdU incorporation, the cytotoxicity of the polar oxidized CNTs was higher compared to the pristine CNTs. In contrast, pristine CNTs were more cytotoxic than oxidized CNTs when assessed for cellular ATP and LDH. Correlation analyses between CNTs’ physico–chemical properties and average relative potency revealed the impact of metal content and surface area on the potency values estimated using ATP and LDH assays, while surface polarity affected the potency values estimated from CTB and BrdU assays. We show that in order to reliably estimate the risk posed by these materials, in vitro toxicity assessment of CNTs should be conducted with well characterized materials, in multiple cellular models using several cytotoxicity assays that report on distinct cellular processes.
Optimized network data storage and topology control

This thesis addresses two key challenges for network data-storage systems: optimizing data placement for highly efficient and robust data access, and constructing network topologies that facilitate data transmission scalable to both network sizes and network dynamics. It focuses on two new topics—data placement using erasure-correcting codes, and topology control for nodes in normed spaces. The first topic generalizes traditional file-assignment problems, and has the distinct feature of interleavingly placing data in networks. The second topic emphasizes the construction of network topologies that achieve excellent global performance in comprehensive measurements, through purely local decisions on connectivity. The results of the thesis deepen the current understanding on these important and intriguing topics, and follow a mathematically rigorous approach.
Predictability in Financial Analyst Forecast Errors: Learning or Irrationality?

In this paper, we propose a rational learning-based explanation for the predictability in financial analysts' earnings forecast errors documented in prior literature. In particular, we argue that the serial correlation pattern in analysts' quarterly earnings forecast errors is consistent with an environment in which analysts face parameter uncertainty and learn rationally about the parameters over time. Using simulations and real data, we show that the predictability evidence is more consistent with rational learning than with irrationality (fixation on a seasonal random walk model or some other dogmatic belief).
Effects of children on divorce probabilities and of divorce on fertility: the case of Finland 1984

As a follow-up to a recent paper (The Demographic Dimensions of Divorce: The Case of Finland, by W. Lutz, A.B. Wils, and M. Nieminen, in "Population Studies" 1991), this study looks explicitly at the interactions between childbearing and divorce. Specifically, the study looks at the effects of parity and age of the youngest child on divorce probabilities controlling duration of marriage, and the effect of marital status and the duration since divorce on parity-specific birth probabilities. Generally, controlling for other demographic covariates tends to change the usually considered bivariate associations between childbearing and divorce. For instance, when considering marital duration divorce probabilities are highest for childless women and lowest for women with two or three children, whereas the bivariate perspective shows a peak for party one women.
Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is as safe and feasible as open procedure: a meta-analysis.

AIM To evaluate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) compared with open distal pancreatectomy (ODP). METHODS Meta-analysis was performed using the databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science and BIOSIS Previews. Articles should contain quantitative data of the comparison of LDP and ODP. Each article was reviewed by two authors. Indices of operative time, spleen-preserving rate, time to fluid intake, ratio of malignant tumors, postoperative hospital stay, incidence rate of pancreatic fistula and overall morbidity rate were analyzed. RESULTS Nine articles with 1341 patients who underwent pancreatectomy met the inclusion criteria. LDP was performed in 501 (37.4%) patients, while ODP was performed in 840 (62.6%) patients. There were significant differences in the operative time, time to fluid intake, postoperative hospital stay and spleen-preserving rate between LDP and ODP. There was no difference between the two groups in pancreatic fistula rate [random effects model, risk ratio (RR) 0.996 (0.663, 1.494), P = 0.983, I² = 28.4%] and overall morbidity rate [random effects model, RR 0.81 (0.596, 1.101), P = 0.178, I² = 55.6%]. CONCLUSION LDP has the advantages of shorter hospital stay and operative time, more rapid recovery and higher spleen-preserving rate as compared with ODP.
Copulas and Coherence

Traditional portfolio theory assumes that risk factors are elliptically distributed, when most real-world risk factors do not satisfy this condition. The lack of ellipticality poses two problems: First, correlation-based approaches to statistical dependence become unreliable, and second, conventional risk measures such as the standard deviation and value at risk also become unreliable. These problems can be dealt with by using copulas to handle dependence and by using coherent risk measures. The advantages of using copulas are demonstrated in an example that shows that traditional portfolio theory can also be misleading in a non-elliptical context.
Safety and Efficacy of Sorafenib in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and Child-Pugh A versus B Cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND We performed a retrospective analysis of data from a phase II study evaluating sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to assess differences in safety and efficacy based on Child-Pugh (CP) status (A/B). METHODS Patients received sorafenib 400 mg PO bid. We analyzed safety, pharmacokinetic (PK), and efficacy data in the two CP groups. RESULTS Ninety-eight patients were CP A; 38 were CP B, with a median duration of therapy of 4 and 1.8 months, respectively. Grade 3/4 adverse events in the CP A and B groups, respectively, included hyperbilirubinemia (14% and 53%), ascites (3% and 5%), and encephalopathy (3% and 13%). Median overall survival (OS) in the CP A group was 9.5 months, compared with 3.2 months in the CP B population. Responses were limited in both groups. AUC and C(max) values were comparable between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Due to the lack of randomization against placebo or no therapy in this study, it is unclear if the more frequent worsening of liver cirrhosis and outcome of CP B patients are drug related or due to disease progression, or both. As expected, outcome was poorer in patients with CP B than in those with CP A cirrhosis. The hyperbilirubinemia seen in both groups may be at least partly related to inhibition of UGT1A1 by sorafenib. PK profiles were similar in the two groups. More data are needed to confirm and more fully understand the safety and efficacy of sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC and CP B cirrhosis.
Complex Partial Epileptic-Like Signs Contribute Differential Sources of Variance to Low Self-Esteem and Imaginings

64 university men and 55 university women displayed correlations (r = 0.40) between two psychometric inventories that have been employed to study subclinical complex partial epileptic-like signs in normal and traumatically brain-injured people. Although psychometric inferences of self-esteem and reports of childhood memories and imaginings were not significantly associated, both indicators of complex partial epileptic-like signs showed significantly positive associations with fantasy-prone behavior but significantly negative correlations with self-esteem. Subsequent analyses supported the vectorial hemisphericity model that elevated mesiobasal limbic activity may enhance imaginings while frequent intrusions into awareness of right-hemispheric indicators would be also associated with lower self-esteem. Lower self-esteem was correlated significantly with reported fears and phobias for the women but not for the men.
Heparin-Binding Epidermal Growth Factor-Like Growth Factor: Hypoxia-Inducible Expression In Vitro and Stimulation of Neurogenesis In Vitro and In Vivo

Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is found in cerebral neurons, and its expression is increased after hypoxic or ischemic injury, which also stimulates neurogenesis. To investigate the possible role of HB-EGF in hypoxic–ischemic induction of neurogenesis, we measured its expression, effects, and target receptors in embryonic murine cerebral cortical cultures and in adult rat brain. Hypoxia increased HB-EGF expression by ∼50% in cortical cultures, where expression was associated with mature and immature neurons. HB-EGF (5–100 ng/ml) stimulated by ∼80% the incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) into cultured cells that expressed the HB-EGF receptors epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/avian erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 1 (ErbB1) and N-arginine dibasic convertase (NRDc). Intracerebroventricular administration of HB-EGF in adult rats increased BrdU labeling in the subventricular zone and in the subgranular zone of dentate gyrus, where EGFR/ErbB1 and NRDc were also expressed and where ischemia-induced neurogenesis is observed. We conclude that HB-EGF stimulates neurogenesis in proliferative zones of the adult brain that are also affected in ischemia and that it does so by interacting with EGFR/ErbB1 and possibly NRDc. Therefore, HB-EGF may help to trigger proliferation of neuronal precursors in brain after hypoxic or ischemic injury.
Alterations in lung expansion affect surfactant protein A , B , and C mRNA levels in fetal sheep

Lines, A. , L. Nardo, I. D. Phillips, F. Possmayer, and S. B. Hooper. Alterations in lung expansion affect surfactant protein A, B, and C mRNA levels in fetal sheep. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 20): L239–L245, 1999. — Obstruction of the fetal trachea is a potent stimulus for fetal lung growth, and it has been suggested that this procedure may be used therapeutically to reverse lung growth deficits in human fetuses with lung hypoplasia. However, little is known about the effects of increased lung expansion on other aspects of lung development. Our aim was to determine the effect of increased and decreased lung expansion on the mRNA levels encoding surfactant protein (SP) A, SP-B, and SP-C in ovine fetal lungs. Lung tissue samples were collected from fetuses exposed to 2, 4, or 10 days of increased lung expansion caused by tracheal obstruction. The mRNA levels for SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C were determined by Northern blot analysis with specific ovine cDNA probes; SP-A protein levels were determined by Western blot analysis. Compared with age-matched (128-day gestational age) control fetuses, SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C mRNA levels in fetal lung tissue were significantly reduced at 2 days of tracheal obstruction and remained reduced at 4 and 10 days. However, SP-A protein levels were not reduced at 2 days of tracheal obstruction, tended to be reduced at 4 days, and were almost undetectable at 10 days. In contrast to tracheal obstruction, 7 days of lung liquid drainage significantly increased SP-C, but not SP-A, mRNA levels in fetal lung tissue compared with age-matched control fetuses. Our results demonstrate that increases in fetal lung expansion, induced by obstruction of the fetal trachea, cause large simultaneous reductions in SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C mRNA levels in the fetal lung as well as a decrease in SP-A protein levels. These data suggest that expression of the genes encoding SPs in the fetal lung are specifically responsive to the degree of lung expansion.
Characteristics of Missing Physical Activity Data in Children and Youth

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of missing physical activity (PA) data of children and youth. Method: PA data from the Chinese City Children and Youth Physical Activity Study (N = 2,758; 1,438 boys and 1,320 girls; aged 9–17 years old) were used for the study. After the data were sorted by the weekday (WD) and recording day (RD), the missing ratio (MR) was calculated by gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). Chi-square tests were used to determine the effect of WD and RD on missing data. The joint impact (WD × RD) on the MR, as well as their interactions with age, gender, and BMI, were also analyzed. Results: Out of a total of 19,306 records, 5,400 (28.0%) were missing. The total MR significantly differed by WD and RD. There were more missing data during weekend days than during WDs, with the highest being on Sunday (36.2%). Older youth (aged 15–17 years old) had more missing data than did the 9- to 11-year-old group and 12- to 14-year-old group. In terms of RD, the 7th day had the most total missing data (36.0%), and again, older youth (15–17 years old) had more missing data than did the other 2 age groups. Gender and BMI had no impact on missing data by WD or RD. When the joint effect of WD and RD was examined, it was found that providing the measurement devices on Thursday and collecting data from Friday onward resulted in the lowest amount of missing data (18.5%). Conclusion: This study examined missing data characteristics with different sorting orders, which may help design more effective measures to prevent missing data in future PA measurement using accelerometers.
Toward a Theory of Gentrification A Back to the City Movement by Capital, not People

Abstract Consumer sovereignty hypotheses dominate explanations of gentrification but data on the number of suburbanites returning to the city casts doubt on this hypothesis. In fact, gentrification is an expected product of the relatively unhampered operation of the land and housing markets. The economic depreciation of capital invested in nineteenth century inner-city neighborhoods and the simultaneous rise in potential ground rent levels produces the possibility of profitable redevelopment. Although the very apparent social characteristics of deteriorated neighborhoods would discourage redevelopment, the hidden economic characteristics may well be favorable. Whether gentrification is a fundamental restructuring of urban space depends not on where new inhabitants come from but on how much productive capital returns to the area from the suburbs.
Econometric analysis of interest rate pass-through

The econometric analysis of interest rate pass-through is examined. It is noted a number of recent studies have employed a procedure that underestimates the extent of interest rate pass-through. This issue is highlighted via an analysis of pass-through from the U.S. Federal Funds rate to the U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate. In contrast to work of Payne (2006), which draws an inference of incomplete interest rate pass-through, the adoption of an unbiased method leads to the conflicting conclusion that it is complete. The importance of adopting an unbiased method is noted given the central role of interest rate pass-through in the effectiveness and transmission of monetary policy.
Proteomic Analysis of Perfusate from Machine Cold Perfusion of Transplant Kidneys: Insights Into Protection from Injury

Background Machine cold perfusion is beneficial to the preservation of kidneys for transplantation. At the end of preservation, the perfusion solution contains many proteins. Using a proteomics approach, we searched for useful biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets in the perfusate. Our program is unique in that all transplant kidneys (even living donor kidneys, LKD) are placed on machine cold perfusion prior to transplantation. Material/Methods Perfusates from donation after neurological and circulatory determination of death (DNDD and DCDD respectively) and LKD were collected (n=41) and analyzed for LDH, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) as markers of injury. Perfusate from each kidney was subjected to 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, then analyzed using software to identify those spots which are significantly different between the 3 groups. Mass spectrometry was used to identify the proteins and their identity was confirmed with Western blot. Results The highest levels of MMP-2, LDH, and NGAL were seen for the DCDD kidneys, followed by the DNDD kidneys and then LDK. Peroxiredoxin-2, NGAL, and alpha-1-antitrypsin were identified as significantly different between the different types of donor kidneys, and their role and possible therapeutic strategies are discussed. Collagen fragments, albumin, and immunoglobulin were also identified as possible byproducts of the injury and may be useful is assessing the degree of injury. Conclusions Comparison of the perfusates from the different types of kidneys has allowed us to identify proteins that will be useful in future research into reducing injury in transplant kidneys.
Interactive Multimedia Instruction Versus Traditional Training Programmes: Analysis of their Effectiveness and Perception

Abstract In this article, the practicability of introduction of computer multimedia as an educational tool was compared with the traditional approach for training sugarcane growers in ratoon management practices in three villages of Tamil Nadu state, India using pre-test, post-test control group experimental design. A CD-ROM was developed as a multimedia resource to support the training process using Macromedia Flash as the authorware. Three modes of message delivery—traditional lecture alone, lecture followed by multimedia and multimedia alone were analyzed for their effectiveness in terms of knowledge gain, learning index and extent of adoption. The group which was exposed to lecture followed by multimedia had better knowledge gain and learning index. Farmers perceived that the use of different multimedia building blocks made it an interesting and educative tool. The message, when given through lecture alone was perceived as boring and monotonous with limited attention span. The extent of adoption of ratoon management practices was almost on par; however the group which had received instructions through lecture followed by computer multimedia had a better adoption rate. Such a comparative analysis is an opportunity for a better understanding of the role that multimedia could play in technology transfer to farmers.
Examining Local Government Service Delivery Arrangements Over Time

While scholars of local service delivery arrangements are fully aware the process is dynamic, research has tended to take the form of cross-sectional studies that are inherently static in nature. In this article, the authors model the determinants of production mode accounting for past delivery decisions. They find, not surprisingly, that there are strong inertial effects; previous delivery mode is a strong predictor of the current service delivery arrangement. More interestingly, the impact of the transaction cost nature of services on production choice is conditioned on past decisions, such as the extent of contracting and the type of vendors used. There is also evidence that contract management capacity and the competitiveness of the contracting environment are influential.
Comparative analysis of the effect of aminoglycosides on bacterial protein synthesis in vitro.

The effect of aminoglycoside antibiotics on bacterial protein synthesis in an initiating system was investigated. Three classes of compounds can be differentiated as to their response. (1) Antibiotics (streptomycin, bluensomycin and hygromycin B) which inhibit polypeptide synthesis in a monophasic way indicating a single major inhibitory site. Polypeptides made under partially inhibitory conditions possess the same size as those produced without the drug. (2) Compounds containing 2-deoxystreptamine in a diglycosylated form (gentamicins B, C1, C1a and C2; sisomicin; kanamycin; neomycin; tobramycin; lividomycin A and paromomycin) inhibit protein synthesis in the triphasic way recently reported for gentamicin C complex which indicates multiple interactions of these antibiotics with the ribosome. These compounds also share the property of promoting the synthesis of longer than normal peptides due to termination errors. (3) The disaccharidic sisomicin and lividomycin cleavage products, garamine and lividamine respectively, give a biphasic response, namely stimulation of the rate of polypeptide synthesis at low concentration and inhibition at increasing concentrations. Aminoglycosides of class 2 (when present at second-phase concentration) can revert the inhibition of protein synthesis caused by each of the class 1 compounds. Concomitantly, ‘read-through’ products are accumulated.