Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why Do Repurchases Affect Share Prices? New Evidence from Closed-End Funds

Repurchases increase share prices, but there is no consensus as to why this happens. We provide new evidence by examining repurchases made by closed-end-fund companies, which have the advantage of prices and asset values that are transparent and publicly available. Short-term gains following repurchase announcements are modest and consistent with a market-timing arbitrage. Long-term gains are larger and are recorded for both price and operating (asset) performance. The gains are consistent with a signal from directors that, given repurchase authority, fund size, and hence fund management fees, will become conditional on fund performance. Governance is therefore an important element in explaining the repurchase puzzle for these companies.
Meta-Analysis of Mutations in the Ns5A Gene and Hepatitis C Virus Resistance to Interferon Therapy: Uniting Discordant Conclusions

Background Hepatitis C virus genotype 1B responds poorly to treatment with interferon, in contrast to the more interferon-sensitive genotypes 2 and 3. Studies on combination therapy regimens with PEG-interferon and ribavirin report sustained response rates that generally do not exceed 50%, in contrast to sustained response rates of 80% for genotype 2 and 3. In Japan, a correlation was found between the number of mutations in an ‘interferon sensitivity determining region’ (ISDR) and outcome of interferon treatment in genotype 1B-infected patients. However, an ongoing controversy on the existence of an ISDR in non-Japanese isolates resulted, as non-Japanese studies failed to confirm this association. The present study approached this issue by carrying out a meta-analysis of ISDR sequences and response to interferon treatment. Methods Twenty-seven studies were included, reporting 1351 ISDR sequence data of genotype 1B-infected patients and their virological response to interferon treatment. Both summary statistics and individual patient data were used systematically to explore the association between ISDR mutations and response to interferon. Results The ISDR effect on response was universally present but appeared to be stronger in Japan, with a relative risk of 5.73 for mutant viruses as compared to 4.66 for non-Japanese isolates. High interferon dose, in Japan administered more frequently, was associated with an increase in response rate only among patients infected with mutant isolates. Interaction between dose and ISDR type was confirmed in a logistic regression model. After stratifying for dose, differences in response rate between Japanese and non-Japanese patients were no longer present. Conclusion This study puts an end to a longstanding controversy by confirming the universal existence of an ISDR in genotype 1B-infected patients. Apparent discrepant findings from Japanese and non-Japanese studies can be explained by differences in dosing regimens and a dose-dependent differential effect of ISDR mutations on response to treatment.
UNDECIDABILITY OF CONSEQUENCE RELATION IN FULL NON-ASSOCIATIVE LAMBEK CALCULUS

Abstract We prove that the consequence relation in the Full Non-associative Lambek Calculus is undecidable. An encoding of the halting problem for 2-tag systems using finitely many sequents in the language {⋅,∨} is presented. Therefore already the consequence relation in this fragment is undecidable. Moreover, the construction works even when the structural rules of exchange and contraction are added.
Functional reconstruction of rabbit corneal epithelium by human limbal cells cultured on amniotic membrane.

PURPOSE To investigate the phenotype of fetal and adult human limbal cells cultured on human amniotic membrane and the ability of cultured adult human limbal cells to repair limbal stem cell deficiency in a rabbit model. METHODS Human adult and fetal limbal cells were isolated and cultured either on plastic plates or on human amniotic membrane. Connexin43, p63, and keratins 3 and 12 (K3 and K12) were detected by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR. Limbal stem cell deficiency was established in rabbits using chemical ablation and mechanical debridement. Cultured adult human limbal cells were transplanted onto rabbit corneas one month after injury, then fixed and imbedded in paraffin forty days later. Immunofluorescent staining of human-nuclear antigen, p63, K3, and connexin43 identified human-specific cells, progenitor cells, and differentiated corneal epithelial cells, respectively. RESULTS Adult and fetal cultured limbal cells appeared similar in morphology. RT-PCR results showed that cells cultured from the human adult and fetal limbal area expressed both p63 and K12, whereas cells from central adult epithelium expressed K12 only. Immunofluorescent staining showed that more cells were p63 positive when cultured on human amniotic membrane than on plastic. Double staining for p63 and connexin43 showed some p63-positive cells co-expressing connexin43. After transplantation of adult human limbal cells cultured on human amniotic membrane, injured rabbit corneas were completely reconstructed exhibiting epithelial integrity, improved corneal clarity, and little or no neovascularization. The majority of repopulated epithelial cells expressed anti-human nuclear antibody. Cells expressing p63 occurred throughout the new epithelium. CONCLUSIONS During healing, expression of p63 is not limited to epithelial stem cells but may also mark transient amplifying progenitor cells. Culture on human amniotic membrane suppresses differentiation of limbal epithelial cells and promotes the proliferation of p63 expressing cells. Amniotic membrane-cultured human limbal cells fully reconstructed rabbit corneas having limbal stem cell deficiency, with human cells providing most of the cells of the new epithelium. Expression p63 is distributed throughout the reconstructed tissue.
Exploring the Complex Structure of Labour Mobility Networks: Evidence from Veneto Microdata

This essay investigates the network st ructure of inter-firm worker mobility in Veneto, an industrial region of Northern Italy, using comprehensive employer-employe e matched data. The empirical network reveals a small world pattern that hinges critically upon a few hub firms. Main hubs are found to be: (1) long-established manufacturing companies; (2) wholesale companies; and (3) companies supplying workforce to third parties. The methodology of investigation provides a toolkit for monitoring labour market evolution, and should enable industry policies supporting labour reallocation mechanisms.
Uneven Tourism Development in South Africa: Another Ongoing Struggle

This article assesses to what degree South Africa’s marketing strategy has changed over the past decade and its potential to address a tourism space economy that is highly uneven. It is suggested that a decade after South Africa Tourism’s (SAT) commitment to a better distribution of tourists within the region, there remains a significant schism between the marketing strategies and marketing information presented by SAT relative to the stated objectives and mandate of the organisation. It is suggested that SAT is still not encouraging the redress of the uneven South African tourism space economy through its current marketing material.
Firm-Level Incentives and the Informativeness of Accounting Reports: An Experiment in Brazil

We complement recent research (Ball et al. 2003) which suggests that country-level incentives (i.e. legal origin and the level of capital market development) are the main determinants of the quality of financial reporting. Using a newly developed Brazilian Corporate Governance Index (BCGI) we perform an experiment in the poor quality accounting and governance Brazilian environment. We find that superior governance practices at the firm-level and cross-listing have a first-order effect on the informativeness of accounting reports. The earnings quality of Brazilian firms with good governance is similar to the quality previously reported for firms based in common law developed countries.
Expectations of sustained effects from scaled up pre-K : Challenges from the Tennessee study

State investments in center-based school readiness programs for preschoolers (pre-K), whether targeted for poor children or universally implemented, have expanded more rapidly than evaluations of their effects. Given the current interest and continuing expansion of state funded pre-K, it is especially important to be clear about the nature of the available evidence for the effectiveness of such programs. Despite widespread claims about proven benefits from pre-K, there is actually strikingly little credible research about the effectiveness of public pre-K programs scaled for statewide implementation.
Loss of DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) expression in gastric cancers.

PURPOSE DNA-PKcs is one of the DNA repair genes. It was recently found that hyperplasia and dysplasia of the intestinal mucosa and the production of aberrant crypt foci were developed in DNA-PKcs-null mice, and this suggests a suppressive role for DNA-PKcs in tumorigenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS To investigate the possible relationship between the clinico-pathologic characteristics and the survival of gastric cancer patients, the expression status of DNA-PKcs was determined in 279 consecutive gastric cancers. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to evaluate the expression levels of DNA-PKcs protein by using the tissue array method. RESULTS Out of 279 consecutive gastric cancers, 63 cases (22.6%) showed the loss of DNA-PKcs expression. The loss of DNA-PKcs expression was significantly associated with advanced cancer (p<0.001), lymphatic invasion (p=0.001), lymph node metastasis (p=0.009), and advanced pTNM stage (p=0.009). Univariate survival analysis revealed that patients with the loss of DNA-PKcs expression had significantly poorer survival than those patients with intact DNA-PKcs expression (p=0.004). Moreover, the loss of DNA-PKcs expression was identified to correlate with a lower survival in the subgroup of stage I gastric cancer patients (p=0.037). CONCLUSION The loss of DNA-PKcs expression was found in 23% of human gastric cancers and this was identified to significantly correlate with poor patient survival, especially for stage I gastric cancer patients.
Backprop as Functor: A compositional perspective on supervised learning

A supervised learning algorithm searches over a set of functions $A\rightarrow B$ parametrised by a space $P$ to find the best approximation to some ideal function $f:A\rightarrow B$. It does this by taking examples $(a, f(a))\in A\times B$, and updating the parameter according to some rule. We define a category where these update rules may be composed, and show that gradient descent-with respect to a fixed step size and an error function satisfying a certain property-defines a monoidal functor from a category of parametrised functions to this category of update rules. A key contribution is the notion of request function. This provides a structural perspective on backpropagation, giving a broad generalisation of neural networks and linking it with structures from bidirectional programming and open games.
Robust Filtering via Semidefinite Programming with Applications to Target Tracking

In this paper we propose a novel finite-horizon, discrete-time, time-varying filtering method based on the robust semidefinite programming (SDP) technique. The proposed method provides robust performance in the presence of norm-bounded parameter uncertainties in the system model. The robust performance of the proposed method is achieved by minimizing an upper bound on the worst-case variance of the estimation error for all admissible systems. Our method is recursive and computationally efficient. In our simulations, the new method provides superior performance to some of the existing robust filtering approaches. In particular, when applied to the problem of target tracking, the new method has led to a significant improvement in tracking performance. Our work shows that the robust SDP technique and the interior point algorithms can bring substantial benefits to practically important engineering problems.
Coyotes Nipping At Our Heels: A New Suburban Dilemma

In the 1970s, coyote attacks on humans in urban and suburban environments began to occur, primarily in Southern California. Such attacks have increased in number, and since the late 1980s coyote attacks on people have been reported from at least 16 additional states and 4 Canadian provinces. Attack incidents are typically preceded by a sequence of increasingly bold coyote behaviors, including attacks on pets during daylight hours. In suburban areas, coyotes can habituate to humans as a result of plentiful food resources, including increased numbers of rabbits and rodents, household refuse, pet food, water from ponds and landscape irrigation run-off, and intentional feeding. Cessation of predator control has also contributed to coyotes’ loss of wariness toward humans. Preventive (e.g., habitat modification) and corrective actions (e.g., hazing) can be effective if implemented before coyote attacks on pets become common. However, if environmental modification and changes in human behavior toward coyotes are delayed, then removal of offending coyotes is needed to resolve threats to human safety. Coyote attacks on humans in suburbia are largely preventable, but the long-term solution of this conflict requires public education, changes in residents’ behavior, and in some situations, the means to effectively remove individual offending animals.
Human resource management and organizational performance:evidence from the retail banking sector

Underpinned by the resource-based view (RBV), social exchange theory (SET), and a theory of intrinsic motivation (empowerment), I proposed and tested a multi-level model that simultaneously examines the intermediate linkages or mechanisms through which HPWS impact individual and organizational performance. First and underpinned by RBV, I examined at the unit level, collective human capital and competitive advantage as path-ways through which the use of HPWS influences – branch market performance. Second and-, underpinned by social exchange (perceived organizational support) and intrinsic motivation (psychological empowerment) theories, I examined cross and individual level mechanisms through which experienced HPWS may influence employee performance. I tested the propositions of this study with multisource data obtained from junior and senior customer contact employees, and managers of 37 branches of two banks in Ghana. Results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that (i) collective human capital partially mediated the relationship between management-rated HPWS and competitive advantage, while competitive advantage completely mediated the influence of human capital on branch market performance. Consequently, management-rated HPWS influenced branch market performance indirectly through collective human capital and competitive advantage. Additionally, results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) tests of the cross-level influences on the motivational implications of HPWS revealed that (i) management-rated HPWS influenced experienced HPWS; (ii) perceived organizational support (POS) and psychological empowerment fully mediated the influence of experienced HPWS on service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and; (iii) service-oriented OCB mediated the influence of psychological empowerment and POS on service quality and task performance. I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Rainfall Variability and Subsistence Systems in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific1

Subsistence systems in insular Southeast Asia and the western Pacific are geographically patterned: from west to east, grain crops disappear while root and tree crops become more important, and south of the Torres Strait no crops are grown. Previous explanations for these patterns have assumed either a historical cause (the expansion of root and tree crops before grain crops) or some form of environmental filter. Paralleling the agricultural pattern is a westtoeast pattern of increasing variability in interannual rainfall variation. I propose that this variability limited the utility of annual crops and increased reliance on longlived plants whose food production averages across longer periods. The range of human responses to these difficult conditions is illustrated by discussion of the anomalies represented by the unique qualities of the agricultural regimes of Botel Tobago and eastern Melanesia and by the distribution of crops and subsistence systems across the Torres Strait.
Long-term exposure to high corticosterone levels attenuates serotonin responses in rat hippocampal CA1 neurons.

Recent studies indicated that hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system is a considerable risk factor for the precipitation of affective disorders, most notably of major depression. The mechanism by which this hyperactivity eventually leads to clinical symptoms of depression is unknown. In the present animal study, we tested one possible mechanism, i.e., that long-term exposure to high corticosterone levels alters functional responses to serotonin in the hippocampus, an important area in the etiology of depression. Rats were injected daily for 3 weeks with a high dose of corticosterone; electrophysiological responses to serotonin were recorded intracellularly from CA1 pyramidal neurons in vitro. We observed that daily injections with corticosterone gradually attenuate the membrane hyperpolarization and resistance decrease mediated by serotonin-1A receptors. We next used single-cell antisense RNA amplification from identified CA1 pyramidal neurons to resolve whether the functional deficits in serotonin responsiveness are accompanied by decreased expression levels of the serotonin-1A receptor. It appeared that expression of serotonin-1A receptors in CA1 pyramidal cells is not altered; this result was supported by in situ hybridization. Expression of corticosteroid receptors in the same cells, particularly of the high-affinity mineralocorticoid receptor, was significantly reduced after long-term corticosterone treatment. The present findings indicate that prolonged elevation of the corticosteroid concentration, a possible causal factor for major depression in humans, gradually attenuates responsiveness to serotonin without necessarily decreasing serotonin-1A receptor mRNA levels in pyramidal neurons. These functional changes may occur by a posttranscriptional mechanism or by transcriptional regulation of genes other than the serotonin-1A receptor gene itself.
Normal Personality Characteristics in Schizophrenia: A Review of the Literature Involving the FFM

Schizophrenia is generally viewed as a disruption of normal functioning because of an underlying core illness. A number of theorists have speculated that this core illness may unilaterally disrupt normal personality functioning. However, recent data suggests that the relationship may be more complex and reciprocal than previously conceptualized. Furthermore, basic personality characteristics appear to be associated with numerous clinical phenomena. This article reviews the empirical literature pertaining to normal personality characteristics [structured around the five-factor model (FFM) of personality] in individuals with schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that certain personality characteristics may be uniquely related to the etiology of psychosis, as well as symptom severity, occupational functioning, cigarette smoking, substance use and violent behavior, social isolation, and suicidality in patients with schizophrenia. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Modulation of Plasmid DNA Vaccine Antigen Clearance by Caspase 12 RNA Interference Potentiates Vaccination

ABSTRACT The magnitude of the immune responses elicited by plasmid DNA vaccines might be limited, in part, by the duration of vaccine antigen expression in vivo. To explore strategies for improving plasmid DNA vaccine efficacy, we studied the apoptotic process in myocytes of mice vaccinated intramuscularly. We found that after vaccination, the proapoptotic protein caspase 12 (Casp12) was upregulated in myocytes coincident with the loss of vaccine antigen expression. To harness this observation to improve plasmid DNA vaccine efficacy, we used RNA interference technology, coadministering plasmid DNA expressing a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) of Casp12 with plasmid DNA vaccine constructs. This treatment with shRNA Casp12, administered twice within the first 10 days following vaccine administration, increased antigen expression 7-fold, the antigen-specific CD8+ T cell immune response 6-fold, and antigen-specific antibody production 5-fold. This study demonstrates the critical role for Casp12 in plasmid DNA vaccine-induced immune responses and shows that increased antigen expression mediated by down-modulation of Casp12 can be used to potentiate vaccine efficacy.
The innervation of the hip joint

Our understanding of the major features of the distribution of nerves to the hip joint has been taken for granted f o r many years. However, an examination of the reports of various investigators shows considerable difference in results, Cruveilhier (1844) stated that the obturator nerve gave a branch to the hip joint and that this branch was small or absent when that from the accessory obturator nerve was large. The latter he called the nerve of the coxo-femoral articulation. IIe also mentioned that the nerve to the quadratus femoris gave a branch which perforated the fibrous tissue of the joint capsule. Riidinger (1857) appears to have been the first to make a systematic study of the nerve supply of the hip joint. He stated that the nerves supplying it were small and that they arose from the femoral, obturator, sciatic and inferior gluteal nerves. He' described 2 or more branches from the nerve to the rectus femoris and from other muscular branches of the femoral nerve. These anastomosed frequently and gave twigs to the anterior and, to some extent, to the medial and posterior regions of the capsule. He also described an articular branch which arose from the obturator before this nerve reached the obturator foramen. The branch divided and spread out in the
Tourist Satisfaction with Hotel Services in Cape Coast and Elmina, Ghana

The touris m industry is an integrated industry made up of a nu mber of sectors such as accommodation, catering, transportation, visitor attractions, entertainment, travel intermed iaries, retailing and tourism-related public agencies. Tourists' satisfaction with each component invariably affects their overall satisfaction with the destination. One of the challenges that face small and mediu m touris m enterprises globally especially those in developing countries is customer satisfaction. Although, hotels are expanding globally, offering co mpetitive services and restructuring their services in order to satisfy the changing needs of customers, much has not been done to assess tourists' satisfaction with hotel services in peripheral areas such as Cape Coast and Elmina in Ghana. This study assessed the factors that influence overall tourist satisfaction with hotels and also examined the relationship between service quality, tourists' levels of satisfaction and revisit intentions in the hotel industry using the gap model. The study was conducted in Cape Coast and Elmina, two of the most popular tourist destinations in Ghana. The results revealed four main factors which influence tourists' satisfaction with hotel services. Also, there was a significant relationship between satisfaction and revisit intentions. It is reco mmended that management of these hotels should put in place strategies to improve emp loyee confidence, prompt delivery of service and materials associated with service.