Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Density of Octaarginine Stimulates Macropinocytosis Leading to Efficient Intracellular Trafficking for Gene Expression*

The mechanism of the arginine-rich peptide-mediated cellular uptake is currently a controversial issue. Several factors, including the type of peptide, the nature of the cargo, and the linker between them, appear to affect uptake. One of the less studied factors, which may affect the uptake mechanism, is the effect of peptide density on the surface of the cargo. Here, we examined the mechanism of cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking of liposomes modified with different densities of the octaarginine (R8) peptide. Liposomes modified with a low R8 density were taken up mainly through clathrin-mediated endocytosis, leading to extensive lysosomal degradation, whereas those modified with a high R8 density were taken up mainly through macropinocytosis and were less subject to lysosomal degradation. Furthermore, the high density R8-liposomes were able to stimulate the macropinocytosis-mediated uptake of other particles. When plasmid DNA was condensed and encapsulated in R8-liposomes, the levels of gene expression were three orders of magnitude higher for the high density liposomes. The enhanced gene expression by the high density R8-liposomes was highly impaired by blocking uptake through macropinocytosis. The different extents of gene expression from different densities of the R8 peptide on the liposomes could be explained principally by the existence of an intracellular trafficking route, but not by the uptake amount, of internalized liposomes. These results show that the density of the R8 peptide on liposomes determines the uptake mechanism and that this is directly linked to intracellular trafficking, resulting in different levels of gene expression.
Effect of Vortioxetine vs. Escitalopram on Sexual Functioning in Adults with Well-Treated Major Depressive Disorder Experiencing SSRI-Induced Sexual Dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION Sexual dysfunction is common with serotonergic antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and does not resolve in most patients. Vortioxetine, an antidepressant with a multimodal mechanism of action, has shown low rates of sexual dysfunction in previous major depressive disorder (MDD) trials. AIM This study compared the effects of vortioxetine and escitalopram on sexual functioning in adults with well-treated MDD experiencing treatment-emergent sexual dysfunction (TESD). METHODS Participants treated with, and responding to, citalopram, paroxetine, or sertraline were randomized to switch to either vortioxetine (10/20 mg; n = 225) or escitalopram (10/20 mg; n = 222) for 8 weeks. Sexual function was assessed using the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire Short Form (CSFQ-14), and antidepressant efficacy was assessed using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale, and Profile of Mood States brief form (POMS-brief). Safety and tolerability were also assessed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary endpoint was change from baseline in the CSFQ-14 total score after 8 weeks of treatment. The MADRS, CGI, and POMS-brief were used to assess antidepressant efficacy. Safety was assessed via adverse events, vital signs, electrocardiograms, laboratory values, weight, and physical examination findings. RESULTS Vortioxetine showed significantly greater improvements in CSFQ-14 total score (8.8 ± 0.64, mean ± standard error) vs. escitalopram (6.6 ± 0.64; P = 0.013). Benefits vs. escitalopram were significant on four of five dimensions and all three phases of sexual functioning assessed by the CSFQ-14 (P < 0.05). Antidepressant efficacy continued in both groups, with similar, but slight, improvements in MADRS and CGI scores. Vortioxetine and escitalopram had similar clinical efficacy profiles in this study, with safety profiles similar to previous trials. Nausea (n = 9, 4.0%) was the most common treatment-emergent adverse event leading to discontinuation of vortioxetine. CONCLUSION Switching antidepressant therapy to vortioxetine may be beneficial for patients experiencing sexual dysfunction during antidepressant therapy with SSRIs.
Why and how innovations get adopted: a tale of four models

Scholars studying innovation have proposed several different models of the adoption process. This essay identifies two broad dimensions which differentiate the principal models: the strength of the evidence regarding an innovation's efficacy and the extent of increasing returns. In this essay, we propose that differences across these dimensions map to four models of the adoption/diffusion process prominent in the literature. We then analyze the diffusion patterns of six well-studied innovations in terms these variables, and discuss which models seems to fit them best. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
Market Emergence and Transition: Arbitrage, Transaction Costs, and Autarky in China's Grain Markets

Using trimonthly Chinese provincial grain prices from 1988 to 1995, we estimate a parity-bounds model of interregional trade for four subperiods to characterize how multiple aspects of market performance change during the process of economic transition. For each period, we estimate the extent to which arbitrage opportunities are realized by traders, the transaction costs between location pairs, and the likelihood that regions do not trade. Trade restrictions cannot explain the pattern of uneven market development over time. Infrastructure bottlenecks, managerial incentive reforms, and production specialization policies, all were likely important factors affecting market performance.
Vegetable crop emergence and weed control following amendment with different Brassicaceae seed meals

Abstract Brassicaceae seed meals produced through the oil extraction process release biologically active glucosinolate secondary products and may be useful as a part of biological weed control systems. Before meal can be used most efficiently, recommendations for suitable planting dates that maximize weed control but reduce crop injury must be determined. Our objectives were to determine the impact of 1 and 3% (w/w) meal applications of Brassica napus L. (canola), Brassica juncea L. (oriental mustard) and Sinapis alba L. (yellow mustard) on crop emergence and weed biomass in a growth chamber and field study. Results from the growth chamber experiment indicated that lettuce emergence was reduced by at least 75% when planted into 3% S. alba-amended soil earlier than 5 weeks after meal application. After 5 weeks, emergence was not different among treatments. Crop emergence was not reduced by any meal treatment as compared to the no-meal treatment in year 1 of the field study. In year 2, crop emergence in each 1.2-m row was inhibited by all meal treatments and ranged from 16 plants in the 3% B. juncea treatment to 81 plants in the no-meal treatment. The difference between emergence results in year 1 and year 2 is likely due to differing climatic conditions early in the season prior to irrigation, and the method of irrigation used. Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) biomass was 72–93% lower in 1% B. juncea and 3% treatments relative to the no-meal control in the first weed harvest of year 1. These same treatments had 87–99% less common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) biomass. By the second weed harvest, redroot pigweed biomass in meal treatments (0.02–1.6 g m−2) was not different from that in the no-meal treatment (0.97 g m−2). Redroot pigweed biomass in 3% B. juncea plots was reduced by 74% relative to the no-meal treatment in the first harvest of year 2. This treatment also reduced common chickweed [Stellaria media (L.) Vill. ] biomass by 99% relative to the 1% meal treatments. While pigweed biomass was reduced by 3% B. juncea in the early part of the season, by the second harvest this same treatment had the greatest pigweed biomass. Despite significant variability between years, 3% B. juncea did provide early season weed control in both years. Repeated meal applications, however, may be necessary to control late season weeds. Inhibition of crop emergence appears to be highly dependent on the amount and distribution of water and needs to be further studied in field settings.
The Mass Disruption of Oort Cloud Comets

We have calculated the number of dormant, nearly isotropic Oort cloud comets in the solar system by (i) combining orbital distribution models with statistical models of dormant comet discoveries by well-defined surveys and (ii) comparing the model results to observations of a population of dormant comets. Dynamical models that assume that comets are not destroyed predict that we should have discovered ∼100 times more dormant nearly isotropic comets than are actually seen. Thus, as comets evolve inward from the Oort cloud, the majority of them must physically disrupt.
An effect of technology innovation activity on firm value and a mediation effect of leverage: evidence from Korean firms

This paper examines a relation between technology innovation activity (TIA) and firm value. Using a simultaneous equation approach, we focus on a mediation effect of leverage, an indirect effect of TIA on firm value via its effect on firm leverage. This paper finds evidence that an increase in TIA of Korean firms leads to not only a direct increase in firm value but also to an indirect decrease in the value via a reduction in leverage. Conditional quantile regressions indicate that the direct effect of TIA on firm value is greater at the upper quantiles of firm value (Tobin's Q) whereas it is stronger at the lower quantiles. This study captures up a distinctive, negative mediation effect of leverage, irrespective of firm value and a leverage level.1
DISUTILITY, OPTIMAL RETIREMENT, AND PORTFOLIO SELECTION

We study the optimal retirement and consumption/investment choice of an infinitely‐lived economic agent with a time‐separable von Neumann–Morgenstern utility. A particular aspect of our problem is that the agent has a retirement option. Before retirement the agent receives labor income but suffers a utility loss from labor. By retiring, he avoids the utility loss but gives up labor income. We show that the agent retires optimally if his wealth exceeds a certain critical level. We also show that the agent consumes less and invests more in risky assets when he has an option to retire than he would in the absence of such an option.
Engagement with disability: analysis of annual reports of Indian organizations

Anchored in institutional theory, our aim in the present study was to understand how large and economically successful organizations in India engage with the issue of disability within and outside of their organizational boundaries, and communicate such engagements through their annual reports. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the organizations' annual reports for the year 2009–2010, we examined if these organizations spoke about recruitment and other organizational treatment of people with disabilities (internal focus), and if they engaged with issues related to disability in the realm of corporate social responsibility (external focus). We found that, despite no institutional pressures, organizations engaged with disability-specific issues both internally and externally. While we found differences with respect to organizational age and sector (public and private sector), we did not find any differences in the engagement and communication of activities based on organizational industry type and global presence. We discuss implications for research and practice.
Fighting over Oil: Introducing a New Dataset

Recent research on armed civil conflict has suggested that oil-producing countries tend to experience conflict more often than their non-oil-producing counterparts. However, this research relies on weak and incomplete measures of petroleum resources. To facilitate more rigorous research on the possible links between hydrocarbons and conflict, this paper presents and describes a new global dataset, PETRODATA. The dataset includes 890 onshore and 383 offshore locations with geographic coordinates and information on the first oil or gas discovery and production year. PETRODATA allows researchers to control for both the spatial and temporal overlap of regions with hydrocarbon reserves and armed conflict. To illustrate the use of data, we conduct a duration analysis on the types of armed civil conflict. The results suggest that oil and gas located in conflict area lengthen governmental conflicts but have no effect on conflicts over territory.
The Substitutability of Real Estate Assets

This paper investigates the degree of substitutability between securitized real estate assets and real estate assets whose prices are appraisal-based. Given the insensitivity of unsecuritized asset's returns to the returns on stock market indices, equilibrium asset pricing models cannot be used to compare these two avenues of investment. Two assets are deemed substitutable if the information sets underlying unbiased, minimum error variance estimates of their pricing parameters are identical. The empirical evidence shows that the prices of the transactions-based assets-real estate investment trusts and the stock price index of the home building industry-follow a random walk while the prices of the appraisal-based assets-FRC/NCREIF indices-do not. The variance decompositions of the vector autoregressions also show that the level of economic activity helps predict the price indices of appraisal-based assets while the stock market index and the term structure of interest rates are better predictors of the prices of transactions-based assets Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Examining E-Relationship Marketing Features on Hotel Websites

Abstract This study developed and tested a progressive five-level e-Relationship marketing (e-RM) model. The authors examined e-RM web features of the top 127 hotel companies. The results indicate that the hotel companies in the study did not extensively utilize higher-level (Accountable, Proactive, and Partnership) e-RM features on their websites although they employed many lower-level (Basic and Reactive) features. The study also reveals that the extent to which a hotel company employed e-RM website features was positively associated with the size of the hotel company but negatively associated with the number of brands held by the company. This article provides an in-depth e-RM literature review and discusses practical marketing implications as well.
A Novel Read Scheme for Read Disturbance Suppression in 3D NAND Flash Memory

A new read scheme is proposed to suppress read disturbance in unselected strings of three-dimensional (3D) vertical channel flash memories. This new scheme decreases the channel potential difference between select word-line (WL) and adjacent WL by more than 20% and the read disturb due to hot carrier injection in adjacent WL of selected WL is suppressed effectively by about 95%. Meanwhile, boosted channel potential during read operation has been preserved to improve soft programming read disturbance by more than 85% in non-adjacent unselected memory cells, owing to the reduced electric field across tunnel oxide. Compared with the conventional scheme, the proposed scheme leads to a significant improvement in read disturbance characteristics with a shorter read period as well as a simplified waveform of read operation.
Creative destruction? Evidence that buyouts shed jobs to raise returns

Building on the work of Cressy, Munari, and Malipiero (2007a) which showed that buyouts have higher operating profitability in the post-buyout period than matched companies, the paper examines contradictory popular claims that private equity (PE)-backed leveraged buyouts (LBOs) generate or destroy jobs as a result of the process of ‘rationalisation’. Using a sample of up to 57 UK whole-company buyouts and a matched sample of up to 83 controls over the period 1995–2000 we run loglinear employment regressions for one to five years after the buyout with buyout year variables as regressors. A PE dummy represents companies that have PE backing while other variables control for initial employment, gearing, investee size and profitability together with industry and macro effects. We find that there is no PE-‘choice’ effect: in the buyout year there are no significant differences between buyout companies and controls in terms of employment. But in the post-buyout regressions the PE dummy is highly significant and negative reaching a peak of 23% per annum after four years. So to achieve efficiency gains, buyouts bring about quick and substantial reductions in employment in target companies during the initial period of ‘rationalisation’. However, initial profitability, three-year average post-buyout profitability and three-year sales growth have positive elasticities with respect to future employment suggesting that buyouts, by generating higher operating profits from job cuts, may ultimately be associated with compensating job creation. This, however, is the subject for future research.
Behavioral disturbances differentiate frontotemporal lobar degeneration subtypes and Alzheimer's disease: evidence from the Frontal Behavioral Inventory

Behavioral assessment is useful for the diagnosis of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). We explored the ability of the Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBI) to discriminate between patients with distinct subtypes of FTLD and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as the influence of demographic variables on FBI scores.
A Study of Corporate Disclosure Practice and Effectiveness in Hong Kong

The recent economic turmoil in Asia has led to a wider recognition of the importance of corporate transparency and disclosures in financial dealings. The objective of this study is to provide comprehensive and up-to-date evidence of current practice and perceived effectiveness of corporate disclosure of listed companies in an emerging economy—Hong Kong. The study compares the perceptions of chief financial officers (CFOs) and financial analysts about a variety of information flow, disclosure and capital market efficiency issues. It also seeks to determine whether there is a perceived need for increased financial reporting regulations and to what extent this and other alternative means might improve market functioning. While both subject groups believed that a majority of firms only adopt a conservative one-way disclosure strategy and the existence of a communication gap, analysts perceived a much higher need than CFOs for increased financial reporting regulations. Neither group thought that enhancing disclosure requirements alone would suffice to close this gap. Instead, they suggested an improvement in the quality of the communication and disclosure processes through means such as choosing more appropriate communication media, formulating a more proactive disclosure strategy, enhancing investor relationship, and voluntarily reporting more information desired by users.
International Diversification and Forecast Optimism: The Effects of Reg FD

SYNOPSIS: Research shows that analysts following companies with a higher portion of foreign operations provide more optimistic forecasts, presumably to maintain favorable relations with management and thereby obtain improved access to information. We examine the effect of the introduction of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) on analyst forecast bias for internationally diversified firms. We hypothesize that analysts’ incentives to issue optimistic forecasts for such firms should be reduced in the post-Reg FD era, because Reg FD prohibits firms from selectively disclosing management information to analysts. First, we demonstrate that average forecast bias decreases for our full sample of multinational firms. Second, we show that the positive relation between forecast optimism and international diversification significantly declines (and even disappears) in the post-Reg FD period. Reg FD appears to have been successful in reducing analysts’ optimistic bias and in reducing the effect of forecasting complex.
Length of stay after vaginal birth: sociodemographic and readiness-for-discharge factors.

BACKGROUND The impact of reductions in postpartum length of stay have been widely reported, but factors influencing length of hospital stay after vaginal birth have received less attention. The study purpose was to compare the sociodemographic characteristics and readiness for discharge of new mothers and their newborns at 3 discharge time intervals, and to determine which variables were associated with postpartum length of stay. METHODS The study sample comprised 1,192 mothers who were discharged within 2 postpartum days after uncomplicated vaginal birth at a tertiary perinatal center in the midwestern United States. The sample was divided into 3 postpartum length-of-stay groups: group 1 (18-30 hr), group 2 (31-42 hr), and group 3 (43-54 hr). Sociodemographic and readiness-for-discharge data were collected by self-report and from a computerized hospital information system. Measures of readiness for discharge included perceived readiness (single item and Readiness for Discharge After Birth Scale), documented maternal and neonatal clinical problems, and feeding method. RESULTS Compared with other groups, the longest length-of-stay group was older; of higher socioeconomic status and education; and with more primiparous, breastfeeding, white, married mothers who were living with the baby's father, had adequate home help, and had a private payor source. This group also reported greater readiness for discharge, but their newborns had more documented clinical problems during the postbirth hospitalization. In logistic regression modeling, earlier discharge was associated with young age, multiparity, public payor source, low socioeconomic status, lack of readiness for discharge, bottle-feeding, and absence of a neonatal clinical problem. CONCLUSIONS Sociodemographic characteristics and readiness for discharge (clinical and perceived) were associated with length of postpartum hospital stay. Length of stay is an outcome of a complex interface between patient, provider, and payor influences on discharge timing that requires additional study. Including perceived readiness for discharge in clinical discharge criteria will add an important dimension to assessment of readiness for discharge after birth.
A new process combining adsorption and enzyme reaction for producing higher‐fructose syrup

A process for producing a higher‐fructose syrup containing more than 50% fructose was developed that involves a new system combining selective adsorption of fructose and an immobilized glucose isomerase reaction. Continuous countercurrent contact of the liquid stream with the solid adsorbent is simulated by advancing adsorption columns against the fixed inlets and outlet of liquid streams without actual movement of the solid adsorbent, while the immobilized enzyme reactors are stationary. Two mathematical models, an intermittent moving‐bed and a continuous moving‐bed model, are presented for calculation the concentration profiles of glucose and fructose in the system. The validity of the models is experimentally confirmed, and a criterion for good production in the system is presented. This system requires less desorbent than a process using a fixed‐bed adsorber and a simulated moving‐bed process to produce the syrup with 45−65% fructose content, the level desired in food manufacture.
The Optimal Duration of Real Estate Listing Contracts

The length of the real estate listing contract is examined as a means of providing an incentive for brokers to act in the best interest of home sellers. A limitation on the duration of the contract accomplishes this objective by imposing a cost (namely, the foregone commission) on brokers who fail to complete a sale before the contract expires. The seller's optimal contract duration balances the benefits of improved incentives against the expected cost of renegotiating a new contract in the event of a failure bv the broker. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.