Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short-term daily or weekly administration of micronutrient Sprinkles™ has high compliance and does not cause iron overload in Chinese schoolchildren: a cluster-randomised trial

Abstract Objectives To examine consumption rates and serum ferritin (SF) concentrations (as a marker of safety) among schoolchildren (3–6 years) provided with daily and weekly micronutrients. Design and methods Micronutrients were provided for one school term (13 weeks) to a kindergarten in northern China as single-dose SprinklesTM sachets containing 30 mg of iron as encapsulated ferrous fumarate, 5 mg zinc gluconate, 50 mg vitamin C, 300 μg vitamin A, 7.5 μg vitamin D3 and 150 μg folic acid. Sixteen classrooms were randomly assigned to: (1) daily supplements for 5 days a week (daily group); (2) weekly supplements (weekly group); or (3) no supplements (control group). Consumption of sachets was monitored for each child and SF concentrations were measured at the end of study. Random effects general linear models and graphs were used to compare the groups. Results A total of 415 children from 16 classrooms entered the study. At the end of the study, mean consumption rates per child were 86% (daily group; standard deviation (SD) 12%) and 87% (weekly group; SD 16%). Median SF concentrations were 71 μg l−1 (range 27–292 μg l−1; daily group), 55 μg l−1 (range 11–299 μg l−1; weekly group) and 54 μg l−1 (range 7–327 μg l−1; control group); the overall difference was not significant (P = 0.06). However, the daily group was significantly different from the control (P = 0.02); daily and weekly groups had higher SF at lower percentiles and similar SF at higher percentiles compared with the control group. Conclusion The high consumption rates and appropriate SF concentrations in the supplemented groups suggest that a short-term school programme with Sprinkles is an efficient and safe way to provide micronutrients (including iron).
Comparative Evaluation of the Corneal and Anterior Chamber Parameters Derived From Scheimpflug Imaging in Arab and South Asian Normal Eyes

Purpose: To evaluate the differences in the normal corneal and anterior segment Scheimpflug parameters in Arab and South Asian eyes. Methods: This hospital-based study was performed at a cornea and refractive surgery service in Abu Dhabi. A total of 600 consecutive normal candidates of South Asian (group 1, n = 300) and Arab (group 2, n = 300) origins underwent Scheimpflug imaging (Sirius; Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, Italy). One eye was randomly selected for evaluation. Results: The age and sex distributions in both groups were comparable. The pachymetric variables were statistically higher in group 2 (group 2 vs. group 1, 544.3 ± 32.2 &mgr;m vs. 535.1 ± 31.4 &mgr;m for central corneal thickness, 541.0 ± 32.6 &mgr;m vs. 531.9 ± 31.5 &mgr;m for minimum corneal thickness, 571.7 ± 43.2 &mgr;m vs. 558.1 ± 42.3 &mgr;m for apical thickness, and 58.1 ± 4.2 vs. 57.3 ± 4.3 mm3 for the corneal volume; P < 0.05). The anterior chamber volume (group 2 vs. group 1: 166.4 ± 16.4 vs. 161.6 ± 20.5 mm3) and angle (group 2 vs. group 1: 44.6 ± 6.2 vs. 43.5 ± 5.8 degrees) were also higher for group 2 (P < 0.05). Central corneal curvature and apical corneal curvature (apex K) were higher in group 1 (P < 0.05) with comparable astigmatism. The flat keratometry (K), steep K, and apex K were 43.6 ± 2.2 diopters (D), 44.9 ± 1.8 D, and 45.7 ± 1.8 D for group 1, and 43.1 ± 2.2 D, 44.5 ± 2 D, and 45.2 ± 1.9 D for group 2. The effect size (Cohen d) for significant parameters ranged from 0.2 to 0.3. Conclusions: Normal eyes of Arab ethnicity tend to have statistically thicker and flatter corneas and less-crowded anterior segments than those of the South Asian counterparts. These epidemiological differences have a mild to moderate biological effect size (Cohen d), but they should be considered when evaluating these eyes for anterior segment or corneal procedures.
Demand for on-farm permanent hired labour on family holdings: a comment

This comment critically discusses the theoretical and empirical treatment of corner solutions in the analysis of labor decisions on farm households. As more and more labor decisions are analyzed jointly, the more ambitious becomes the theoretical justification of empirical applications. "Cutting corners" in theoretical models puts the validity of empirical conclusions in doubt. In such cases relying on intuitive theoretical justification of empirical modeling is preferred.
Contextualisation of the function of investor relations from an institutional and private investor perspective

Abstract There has been a lot of uncertainty and instability in world financial markets in recent times. National economies have slowed down and stock markets have been on the downturn globally, leading to the current ‘global financial meltdown’. In an attempt to address this crisis, national governments were forced to respond with acts such as the National Credit Act in South Africa, and the federal bailout of banks and corporates such as Goldman Sachs and General Motors in the United States. This global crisis has had a huge impact on how investors screen organisations before they decide where to invest their money. Investors or shareholders have very specific information needs. They control the resources that enable a company to operate and expand. The aim of this study is to contribute toward contextualising the function of investor relations from an institutional and private investor perspective, by assessing what the needs of this community are, other than financial performance. This study adopts a quantitative approach where a questionnaire was developed and 40 large institutional and private investors responded on what they believe are the most important non-financial aspects of an organisation's communication with the investment community.
The Role of Social Capital in Risk-Sharing

This article evaluates the role of social capital as a risk-coping device in India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Focusing on children’s nutritional outcomes, we test whether social capital serves as an informal insurance mechanism and helps households minimize the negative effect of shocks. We examine the impact of two kinds of income shocks, idiosyncratic and covariant, and the potentially risk-mitigating role of two types of social capital, structural and cognitive, measured first at the individual and second at the community level. The econometric methods we employ include fixed effects, random effects, and a Hausman-Taylor specification. We find that individual-level structural and community-level cognitive social capital significantly mitigate the negative effect of idiosyncratic shocks, suggesting that persons with stronger social networks and/or living in more closely-knit communities are better informally insured against individual income shocks. On the other hand, community-level structural social capital appears to fulfil a similar role in the aftermath of covariant shocks. The underlying rationale might be that communities with more social organization are better able to negotiate with public authorities to receive help after community-wide disasters. We conclude by considering the findings within the local context of Andhra Pradesh and drawing relevant policy recommendations.
Corporate social responsibility and strategic management: the prospects for converging discourses

The discourse of strategy is an ongoing project, as evidenced by recent attempts to introduce a sociological element to research and practice by the European academy in response to perhaps more traditional epistemologies rooted in rational economic thought. This paper proposes that the development of strategy from its rational roots has seen increasing prospects for convergence with the developing discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through notions of stakeholder management, knowledge management and the meta-narratives of collaboration and complexity. It is further proposed that such a convergence offers prospects for a holistic approach to CSR arguably lacking in the predominantly discipline-based lenses currently deployed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Structure of a Protein Photocycle Intermediate by Millisecond Time-Resolved Crystallography

The blue-light photoreceptor photoactive yellow protein (PYP) undergoes a self-contained light cycle. The atomic structure of the bleached signaling intermediate in the light cycle of PYP was determined by millisecond time-resolved, multiwavelength Laue crystallography and simultaneous optical spectroscopy. Light-induced trans-to-cis isomerization of the 4-hydroxycinnamyl chromophore and coupled protein rearrangements produce a new set of active-site hydrogen bonds. An arginine gateway opens, allowing solvent exposure and protonation of the chromophore's phenolic oxygen. Resulting changes in shape, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic potential at the protein surface form a likely basis for signal transduction. The structural results suggest a general framework for the interpretation of protein photocycles.
Tissue-Specific Progenitor and Stem Cells Developing a Novel Two-Dimensional Culture System to Enrich Human Prostate Luminal Progenitors That Can Function as a Cell of Origin for Prostate Cancer

Elucidating the cell of origin of cancer has great significance in stratifying patients into appropriate treatment groups and for developing novel targeted therapies. Early studies demonstrate that only stem-like basal cells in the normal human prostate (NHP) can function as the cell of origin for prostate cancer (PCa). Here,we showthat theorganoidsderived frombulkNHP luminal cells canalsobe tumorigenically transformed.We further show that theWITmedium,which is used to culture humanmammary epithelial progenitor cells, when combined with the ROCK inhibitor, can readily propagate a population of progenitor-like cells from the primary NHP luminal cell isolates. Such functionally defined luminal progenitors can be transformed by distinct sets of genetic perturbations (i.e., AR+AKT/ ERG or c-MYC+PTEN knockout) to form tumor glands. Genome-wide RNA-Seq analysis of freshly purified unperturbed human benign prostatic basal and luminal cells and culture-expanded lineagespecific stem/progenitor populations reveals that the luminal progenitors possess a distinct gene expression profile that is greatly enriched in advanced, castration-resistant, and metastatic PCa, and it associates with poor patient survival. The ability of the simple two-dimensional culture system reportedherein to greatly enrichNHPprogenitor-like cells should facilitate biological andbiochemical studies as well as high-throughput screening in these cells and in progenitor-like PCa cells. STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 2016;5:1–13
Noroviruses Distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 Histo-Blood Group Antigens for Binding

ABSTRACT Norovirus (NoV) is a causative agent of acute gastroenteritis. NoV binds to histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs), namely, ABH antigens and Lewis (Le) antigens, in which type 1 and type 2 carbohydrate core structures constitute antigenically distinct variants. Norwalk virus, the prototype strain of norovirus, binds to the gastroduodenal junction, and this binding is correlated with the presence of H type 1 antigen but not with that of H type 2 antigen (S. Marionneau, N. Ruvoen, B. Le Moullac-Vaidye, M. Clement, A. Cailleau-Thomas, G. Ruiz-Palacois, P. Huang, X. Jiang, and J. Le Pendu, Gastroenterology 122:1967-1977, 2002). It has been unknown whether NoV distinguishes between the type 1 and type 2 chains of A and B antigens. In this study, we synthesized A type 1, A type 2, B type 1, and B type 2 pentasaccharides in vitro and examined the function of the core structures in the binding between NoV virus-like particles (VLPs) and HBGAs. The attachment of five genogroup I (GI) VLPs from 5 genotypes and 11 GII VLPs from 8 genotypes, GI/1, GI/2, GI/3, GI/4, GI/8, GII/1, GII/3, GII/4, GII/5, GII/6, GII/7, GII/12, and GII/14, to ABH and Le HBGAs was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based binding assays and Biacore analyses. GI/1, GI/2, GI/3, GI/4, GI/8, and GII/4 VLPs were more efficiently bound to A type 2 than A type 1, and GI/8 and GII/4 VLPs were more efficiently bound to B type 2 than B type 1, indicating that NoV VLPs distinguish between type 1 and type 2 carbohydrates. The dissociation of GII/4 VLPs from B type 1 was slower than that from B type 2 in the Biacore experiments; moreover, the binding to B type 1 was stronger than that to B type 2 in the ELISA experiments. These results indicated that the type 1 carbohydrates bind more tightly to NoV VLPs than the type 2 carbohydrates. This property may afford NoV tissue specificity. GII/4 is known to be a global epidemic genotype and binds to more HBGAs than other genotypes. This characteristic may be linked with the worldwide transmission of GII/4 strains. GI/2, GI/3, GI/4, GI/8, GII/4, and GII/7 VLPs bound to Lea expressed by nonsecretors, suggesting that NoV can infect individuals regardless of secretor phenotype. Overall, our results indicated that HBGAs are important factors in determining tissue specificity and the risk of transmission.
Employee ownership motivation and individual risk-taking behaviour: a cross-level analysis of Taiwan's privatized enterprises

Privatization has long been a prevailing strategy worldwide for promoting economic liberalization. During privatization of state-owned enterprises employees are often encouraged, as part of policy design, to become equity shareholders through buying priority shares reserved for them with the goal of expediting privatization and building employees' organizational identification. Using risk-taking behaviour as a lens to observe individual-level entrepreneurial orientations after privatization, this study, in a sample of 328 employees in 14 privatized firms in Taiwan, aims to examine the behavioural consequences of two distinct types of motivation behind employee ownership and the contextual influences on such relationships. Because of the hierarchical nature of the individual- and firm-level data, we use the hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) method to test the hypotheses and find that intrinsic motivation ex ante for employee ownership can cultivate innovative behaviour ex post, whereas extrinsic motivation yields the similar effect only in the presence of a climate of self-determination and the absence of environmental hostility.
Distribution of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water on the warming continental shelf of the West Antarctic Peninsula

We use autonomous underwater vehicles to characterize the spatial distribution of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) on the continental shelf of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) and present the first near-synoptic measurements of mesoscale features (eddies) containing UCDW on the WAP. Thirty-three subsurface eddies with widths on the order of 10 km were detected during four glider deployments. Each eddy contributed an average of 5.8 x 1016 J to the sub-pycnocline waters, where a cross-shelf heat flux of 1.37 x 1019 J yr−1 is required to balance the diffusive loss of heat to overlying winter water and to the near-coastal waters. Approximately two-thirds of the heat coming onto the shelf diffuses across the pycnocline and one-third diffuses to the coastal waters; long-term warming of the sub-pycnocline waters is a small residual of this balance. Sixty percent of the profiles that contained UCDW were part of a coherent eddy. Between 20 and 53% of the lateral onshore heat flux to the WAP can be attributed to eddies entering Marguerite Trough, a feature in the southern part of the shelf which is known to be an important conduit for UCDW. A northern trough is identified as additional important location for eddy intrusion.
Profit Persistence in Globalizing Forest Industry Companies

SUMMARY This study analyzes profit persistence and scale economies of globalizing forest industry using panel data from 49 companies in the US, Canada, Europe and the group of emerging countries between years 1996–2005. Size and profitability of forest industry companies were found to be only weakly related, and there were clear geographical and period specific differences in the data. Time series-cross section unit root tests indicated that on the global scale there were no persistent firm-specific profits among the largest forest industry companies. However, there was some evidence of geographical differences as for the Canadian companies some indication of profit persistence was found, but this could not be fully confirmed as it could be also derived from this sample. The main policy implication of this study is that in the absence of profit persistence, streamlining of operations and cutting down smaller and less profitable production units will likely continue in the forest industry with investors and stock markets valuing short-term economic performance. As this will inevitably have an adverse impact on job opportunities and local livelihoods of rural communities in forestry dependent areas, examining interaction between corporate social and economic performance will become more important.
Monetary Policy and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Chinese Micro Data

This paper investigates how a firm's characteristics restrict the influence of monetary policy changes on its investment behavior. Focusing on China's listed companies for a sample period from the first quarter of 2002 to the first quarter of 2011, we find that quantity‐oriented and price‐based monetary policies have heterogeneous impacts on corporate investment behavior, but the influence of monetary policies is constrained by the liquidity, inventory, size and asset–liability ratio of a firm. Firms with higher liquidity, lower inventory level and lower asset–liability ratios are less sensitive to the impact from two kinds of monetary policies. The larger the size of the firm, the less it is subject to influence from quantity‐oriented monetary policy; it responds more to price‐based monetary policy. The policy implication is that the monetary authorities should pay attention to the importance of policy‐making based on the monetary demand of microeconomic entities.
Economies of superscale in commercial banking

Most previous studies of scale economies in banking have excluded banks larger than $1 billion in assets. Thus study, by contrast, estimates cost functions for the 100 largest US commercial banks. ‘Hedonic’ terms are incorporated to correct for the aggregated nature of the Call Report data available for these banks. In addition, we attempt to quantify the cost benefit of diversification in the model. We estimate efficient bank scale to range from $15 billion to $37 billion in total assets, a thousandfold increase over some previous findings. These results are supported by comparison of actual average costs, as well as by casual historical observation and the level of widespread concern over interstate banking. Our findings suggest some cost incentive or benefit to expansion or consolidation among large regional banks, including interstate expansion or consolidation.
MIGRATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT: A DYNAMIC GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS APPLIED TO TANZANIA

IN this paper we present and test an analytic model of the Tanzanian labour market. The results conflict radically with the generally accepted 'Todaro hypothesis' [12] which predicts that urban job creation will increase the size of the urban informal sector. We argue that this is not due to some quirk of Tanzanian experience, but rather that the Harris-Todaro [5] and Todaro [11] models which are used to derive this result are an inadequate and untested framework in which to analyse rural-urban labour market interactions. In Section II we present a dynamic general equilibrium model which incorporates five major changes to the Harris-Todaro framework. Heterogeneity is introduced into both the stock of the unemployed and the flow of migrants. Second, the reservation price of job seekers is treated as a function of the length of job search. Third, existing wage employees are assumed to have priority over new job seekers if they seek alternative wage employment. Fourth, the urban non-wage sector is disaggregated into the activities of casual wage labour, self-employment, and unemployment. Finally, migrants and the unemployed are stratified by age, sex, and educational characteristics. In Section III the model is tested on Tanzanian data for the period 1969-75. The only successful empirical test of the Harris-Todaro model is that done by Barnum and Sabot [1] using Tanzanian data for the period 1955-71. However, important as this work is, it represents only a limited test for it is exclusively focused upon explaining the rate of migration. The level of urban unemployment is used as an exogenous explanatory variable. In contrast the Harris-Todaro model is primarily a theory explaining unemployment, migration being only a temporary occurrence. In testing our alternative model we use the migration function estimated by Barnum and Sabot to predict the changes in urban employment, under-employment and incomes in Tanzania during 1969-75, this being the only empirical test specifically related to urban unemployment known to the author. Having demonstrated that the model successfully predicts these changes, in Section IV we quantify the impact of four major government policies,
Cabergoline therapy for prolactinomas: is valvular heart disease a real safety concern?

Dopamine agonists (DAs) are the first-line therapy for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia, with cabergoline, an ergot-derived selective D2-receptor agonist, being the preferred and most widely used drug. Recent studies reported cardiac valve regurgitations in patients with Parkinson’s disease treated with high doses of DA, raising concerns about the safety of cabergoline in patients with hyperprolactinemia. To date, seven case–control studies have examined the potential association between cardiac valvular abnormalities and cabergoline therapy in patients with hyperprolactinemia. Overall, a total of 463 patients exposed to low doses of cabergoline (mean cumulative doses: 204–443 mg) for a mean duration of 45–79 months have been included in these studies. Patients in all the studies were asymptomatic without clinical signs of cardiac disease. Six studies did not show any association between cabergoline therapy and clinically relevant valvular regurgitation, whereas one study found an increased rate of moderate tricuspid regurgitation. In this report, we review and discuss the results of these studies and emphasize the limitations of the methodology used in the published literature. The clinical significance of the present findings has yet to be confirmed by future larger prospective studies with rigorous echocardiographic protocols and prolonged duration of follow-up.
ARE THERE GOODWIN EMPLOYMENT-DISTRIBUTION CYCLES? INTERNATIONAL EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

El modelo depredador-presa de Goodwin predice ciclos en el sentido del reloj en el planoempleo-distribucion. Se presenta evidencia cualitativa de comportamiento no lineal parauna muestra de 67 paises, algunos con ciclos como los de Goodwin. Los centrosestimados yacen por fuera de los ciclos observados. El tipo de ciclo (en el sentido delreloj, contrario o atipico) parece relacionarse con el tipo de capitalismo del pais.Economias con capitalismo de mercado o europeo, y las economias en transicion nopresentan ciclos de demanda; los paises en desarrollo con capitalismo mediterraneo nopresentan ciclos de Goodwin.