Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Assessment of Four Perspectives on the Declining Fortunes of the African-American Male

The authors use data from the Los Angeles Survey of Urban Inequality to empirically test the utility of four perspectives advanced to explain the declining social and economic fortunes of the African-American male over the past quarter century: the spatial isolation hypothesis, the cultural capital/employer preference hypothesis, the search-and-destroy hypothesis, and the social capital hypothesis. They assess the utility of these hypotheses by exploring the labor market experiences of African-American males in metropolitan Los Angeles, focusing specifically on the determinants of labor force participation and comparing their experiences with those of their white and Hispanic male counterparts.
Adverse reactions to gadolinium contrast media: a review of 36 cases.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the frequency, manifestations, and severity of reactions to gadolinium contrast media in patients who underwent MR imaging at a single institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS We reviewed the quality assurance records of 21,000 patients to whom gadolinium contrast media were administered at our institution between January 1990 and October 1994. Of these patients, 36 had adverse reactions. All 36 patients were evaluated by a radiologist at the time of the adverse reaction, and a written report of the findings was completed immediately. RESULTS We classified adverse reactions into four groups: mild nonallergic reactions (15 patients with nausea or vomiting), mild reactions resembling allergy (12 patients with hives, diffuse erythema, or skin irritation), moderate reactions resembling allergy (seven patients with respiratory symptoms), and life-threatening reactions resembling allergy (two patients with severe chest tightness, respiratory distress, and periorbital edema). Eleven of these 36 patients who had adverse reactions also had an unusual local reaction of skin discomfort in the extremity through which gadolinium was injected. Four of the 36 patients with adverse reactions had histories of adverse reactions to iodinated contrast media. All four of these patients and one of the remaining 32 patients with adverse reactions required treatment. No patients with adverse reactions died. CONCLUSION Although gadolinium contrast media are safe, we found that patients had adverse reactions at a frequency greater than we expected. Severe anaphylactoid reactions occurred in two patients (0.01%). This rate exceeds the rate of 0.0003% reported in the literature. The indexes of suspicion for the occurrence of reactions to gadolinium, and both the documentation and the management of adverse reactions, must be as rigorous for reactions associated with MR imaging contrast agents as they are for reactions associated with iodinated contrast media.
Perspectives on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal achievement

ABSTRACT Background: Elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). European and US guidelines now recommend lower LDL-C levels, particularly in high-risk patients. Although LDL-C treatment goals to reduce the risk of CHD are clear, many patients do not reach their LDL-C goals. Objectives: Examine consensus guideline targets for LDL-C lowering in patients at high or very high cardiovascular risk; examine cholesterol goal achievement in clinical practice; evaluate the effectiveness of ezetimibe/statin and other adjunctive lipid-lowering treatments in achieving LDL-C goals; and consider ongoing controversies and the randomized controlled trials that may help to resolve or better illuminate them. Methods: An English-language PubMed search was conducted to identify prospective randomized controlled trials, open-label studies, and retrospective and observational studies from 2001 (same year that the executive summary of the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III was published) to present for an analysis of the effects of adjunctive therapies on LDL-C lowering and goal attainment in patients at elevated cardiovascular risk. Results: Elevated LDL-C is the primary target of lipid-lowering therapy; aggressive lowering is of great benefit to those at high risk. Statins are recommended first-line lipid-lowering agents, with a long, well-regarded history of efficacy and safety. Not all patients, however, can achieve recommended LDL-C goals simply using starting doses of statins. For such patients, more intensive therapy utilizing high-dose statins or combination therapy, including statins combined with other lipid-lowering agents, such as ezetimibe, bile acid resins (BARs), or niacin, is warranted. Potential limitations of the present review include possible publication bias and the focus on pharmacotherapy rather than lifestyle modification and the important objective of multiple risk-factor modification to reduce absolute global cardiovascular risk. Conclusions: With a well-established link between elevated LDL-C and cardiovascular risk, aggressive LDL-C lowering becomes particularly important. Patients needing intensive LDL-C lowering to achieve goals will often require adjunctive treatments, including ezetimibe, BARs, or niacin along with statins. Given both their high mg: mg potency in lowering LDL-C and favorable tolerability and patient acceptance/adherence profile, ezetimibe/statin combination regimens arguably provide the greatest likelihood for patients to reach new, lower LDL-C targets; however, efficacy and safety data of any adjunctive treatment, along with drug costs and patient adherence to treatment (partly related to complexity of the regimen) all need to be considered when determining the optimal regimen to achieve LDL-C goals in individual patients according to their baseline absolute cardiovascular risk, LDL-C level, and consensus LDL-C targets.
Loss Harvesting

This article deals with loss harvesting, which has become a well-known tool for the management of taxable portfolios. By “harvesting” losses, the authors refer to the process of realizing capital losses which, for tax purposes, can be offset against any gains an investor may have. Often, this can bring the capital gains taxes down to zero or even create loss carryforwards for future tax years. How much is it worth to the taxable investor? Specifically, if one assumes no stock selection skill whatsoever, how much can we increase the after-tax returns on a portfolio by combining loss harvesting with otherwise passive portfolio management? The answer is that loss harvesting adds a great deal of value, far more than most active strategies can hope to achieve, net of trading costs and capital gains taxes. The authors find that loss harvesting is remarkably robust, adding substantial value over time, whether markets are volatile or quiet, strong or soft.
The emergence and functioning of innovation intermediaries in maturing innovation systems: the case of Chile

Innovation intermediaries that build linkages in innovation systems are reportedly needed in many Latin American countries and other developing and emerging countries around the world that are said to have an immature innovation system. This study analyses the types of innovation intermediaries that have emerged in Chile, and how these have contributed to the development of a more mature innovation system. The findings indicate that a great diversity of innovation intermediaries has emerged and that this has helped induce a shift towards more networked or open innovation processes. They have not, however, completely altered the relationships in the Chilean innovation system, but rather helped actors to better navigate the current system. They have been able to obtain a legitimate position but experience tensions in relation to how clients understand their role. These intermediaries have emerged in the context of a policy discourse emphasizing networked or open innovation, but clearer support policies and coordination of the innovation intermediary field could enhance their functioning and contribution. The broader implication relevant for developing and emerging countries is that building more mature innovation systems and making them function coherently calls for fostering an innovation intermediary subsystem in the national innovation system covering all the different integration levels in the system (national, regional, sectoral).
Measurement and determinants of food insecurity in northeast Nigeria: some empirical policy guidelines

The objectives of the study were to identify and analyze the food security measures of rural households in Borno State of Nigeria. Using multistage sampling techniques, 1,200 households spread across 30 communities located in four Local Government Areas of Borno State were selected through a random sample selection procedure. Cost-of-calories method and Logit model were used as analytical techniques for the study. Based on the recommended daily energy levels of 2250 kcal, a food insecurity line of N23,700.12 or US $176.87 per adult equivalent per year was obtained for the households. Over 58% of the sample households are therefore food insecure. The logit analysis revealed that the major determinants of food insecurity in the study area are household size, gender, educational level, farm size and type of household farm enterprise. A large household size was observed to affect household food insecurity. Therefore, the government should give adequate priority and attention to policy measures directed towards the provision of better family planning. In addition, there is the need for a policy to promote formal education at little or no cost as a means of enhancing efficiency in food crop production over the long-term period. In the short term, informal education could be effective, especially when targeted at farmers who have had limited formal educational opportunities. Also a policy, which provides adequately trained and equipped extension workers to disseminate improved agricultural technologies, has the potential to raise efficiency in food crop production and so enhance food security.
Solution structure and interaction surface of the C-terminal domain from p47: a major p97-cofactor involved in SNARE disassembly.

p47 is the major protein identified in complex with the cytosolic AAA ATPase p97. It functions as an essential cofactor of p97-regulated membrane fusion, which has been suggested to disassemble t-t-SNARE complexes and prepare them for further rounds of membrane fusion. Here, we report the high-resolution NMR structure of the C-terminal domain from p47. It comprises a UBX domain and a 13 residue long structured N-terminal extension. The UBX domain adopts a characteristic ubiquitin fold with a betabetaalphabetabetaalphabeta secondary structure arrangement. Three hydrophobic residues from the N-terminal extension pack closely against a cleft in the UBX domain. We also identify, for the first time, the p97 interaction surface using NMR chemical shift perturbation studies.
Manufacturing Descent? Labour Law and Union Organizing in the Province of Ontario

This paper examines the effect of labour law on union certification dynamics in Ontario during the period 1983 to 2006. Results reveal the independent, significant effects of the Progressive Conservative government's Bill 31 reforms and the recent Liberal government's Bill 144 upon certification success rates and aggregate volumes of new organizing, in expected directions. Results also reveal a massive decline in unfair labour practice complaints following the Bill 7 reforms in 1995, exacerbated by Bill 31, and which remains unaltered by Bill 144. Overall, the results suggest that labour law still has a significant effect upon union organizing over time, despite economic internationalization and/or shifts in industrial structure, and contradict the recent claim that a “pre-1990 equilibrium” in Ontario labour relations policy was recently restored. Rather, the current regime remains, both in formal legal terms and concrete effects, more restrictive of union growth than its pre-1990 form.
Cutaneous ciliated cyst on the cheek in a male

A 53‐year‐old man presented with a 2‐year history of a painless mass on the right cheek. On physical examination, the lump was a solitary, well‐demarcated, mobile lesion. There was no abnormality in the surrounding skin. Ultrasonography demonstrated a single, cystic, well‐defined, subcutaneous cyst, measuring 20 mm in diameter. Laboratory tests, including sex hormones, were within the normal range. The tumor was resected surgically under local anesthesia. The cyst had a slightly yellow wall and contained clear, watery fluid. The patient had no other medical problems and no history of other skin disease.
Pricing Software Upgrades: The Role of Product Improvement and User Costs

The computer software industry is an extreme example of rapid new product introduction. However, many consumers are sophisticated enough to anticipate the availability of upgrades in the future. This creates the possibility that consumers might either postpone purchase or buy early on and never upgrade. In response, many software producers offer special upgrade pricing to old customers in order to mitigate the effects of strategic consumer behavior. We analyze the optimality of upgrade pricing by characterizing the relationship between magnitude of product improvement and the equilibrium pricing structure, particularly in the context of user upgrade costs. This upgrade cost (such as the cost of upgrading complementary hardware or drivers) is incurred by the user when she buys the new version but is not captured by the upgrade price for the software. Our approach is to formulate a game theoretic model where consumers can look ahead and anticipate prices and product qualities while the firm can offer special upgrade pricing. We classify upgrades as minor, moderate or large based on the primitive parameters. We find that at sufficiently large user costs, upgrade pricing is an effective tool for minor and large upgrades but not moderate upgrades. Thus, upgrade pricing is suboptimal for the firm for a middle range of product improvement. User upgrade costs have both direct and indirect effects on the pricing decision. The indirect effect arises because the upgrade cost is a critical factor in determining whether all old consumers would upgrade to a new product or not, and this further alters the product improvement threshold at which special upgrade pricing becomes optimal. Finally, we also analyze the impact of upgrade pricing on the total coverage of the market.
TECHNOLOGICAL SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN GERMANY, JAPAN, AND THE UNITED STATES

In this paper we use a dynamic general equilibrium growth model to quantify the contribution to productivity growth from different technological sources in the three leading economies of the world: Germany, Japan, and the United States. The sources of technology are classified into neutral progress and investment-specific progress. The latter can be split into two different types of equipment: information and communication technologies (ICT) and non-ICT equipment. We find that in the long run, neutral technological change is the main source of productivity growth in Germany and Japan. For the United States, the main source of productivity growth arises from investment-specific technological change, mainly associated with ICT. We also find that a non-negligible part of productivity growth in the three countries has been due to the technology specific to non-ICT equipment.
A Microeconometric Analysis of Adapting Portfolios to Climate Change: Adoption of Agricultural Systems in Latin America

This paper develops a microeconometric analysis of adapting portfolios in response to climate change using information on South American farmers' adoption of agricultural systems taken from approximately 2,000 household surveys. The results show that farmers in a hotter climate prefer a mixed system over specialized systems either in crops or livestock. Under a hot and dry scenario, the land values of all three systems would fall, but the damage would be much smaller in the mixed system (−10%) than for the farms specializing in crops (−20%). Farmers are predicted to lose 8% of their land's value under the Canadian Climatic Center (CCC) scenario, but only 2% under the Parallel Climate Model (PCM). Losses would increase to 18% if they do not adapt.
Export Performance on the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Empirical Study

There has been a significant increase in the quantity and quality of international and export marketing research with respect to effective solutions toward export performance. However, an investigation on the impact of marketing strategy and export performance in a single industry is lacking. In addition, the influence of environmental factors to moderate the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance has received little agreement. This research aims to investigate the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry as well as the influence of the moderating role of environmental factors on the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance. Personal, mail, and phone interview methods were used to measure export marketing strategy, newly developed environmental factor variables (which consist of the global economic situation and certification), and export performance. The findings show that there is no direct relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance. Uniquely, the moderating effect of certification appears to moderate a few relationships between product and promotion adaptation, distribution strategy, design strategy, and target market specification on export performance. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
The Rising Share of British Industrial Exports in Industrial Output, 1700–1851

Ongoing research on British overseas trade does not support supply-side explanations of British industrialization. Contrary to widely publicized views, the share of British industrial exports in alternative measures of industrial output rose almost continuously throughout the period 1723 to 1851. This finding rests on the official values of British domestic exports, and it is confirmed by new annual estimates of Britain's domestic export, and it is confirmed by new annual estimates of Britain's domestic export values at current an constant prices form 1772 to 1821. Further research on prices, and on Britain's strikingly underutilized trade records, may lead to a more balanced perception of supply and demand forces during the Industrial Revolution.
Daily Short Interest, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Stock Returns

This paper examines the relation between short selling and returns and the impact of arbitrage costs on short sellers' behavior. Using daily UK short selling data, we find that stocks with low short interest levels experience significant positive returns on both an equal- and value-weighted basis. Economic theory predicts that short sellers avoid establishing positions in stocks with high idiosyncratic risk. Our results indicate a negative relation between short interest and returns among high idiosyncratic risk stocks and that short selling activity is mostly concentrated in low idiosyncratic risk stocks where it is less costly to arbitrage fundamental risk.
Defenders of Democracy? Legitimacy, Popular Acceptance, and the South African Constitutional Court

The question of how courts in newly emerging democracies are able to act in a “counter-majoritarian” fashion is of burning theoretical and practical importance. Consequently, we investigate the relationship between the legitimacy of the South African Constitutional Court and its success at generating acquiescence to its decisions even when they are unpopular. Based on a national survey, we begin by describing the institutional loyalty the Court enjoys among its constituents. We next consider the consequences of legitimacy by determining whether people are willing to acquiesce to an adverse Court decision on a civil liberties dispute. Our central hypothesis—that legitimate institutions are capable of generating acceptance of decisions, even when citizens find the policy highly disagreeable—receives only conditional support. What little legitimacy the Constitutional Court has acquired does not readily translate into acquiescence to its decisions. The apparent inability of the Court to perform the role of a “veto player” in South African politics has important consequences for that country's efforts to consolidate its democratic transition.
Office design for the multi‐generational knowledge workforce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact the workplace can have on knowledge working for a multi‐generational workforce.Design/methodology/approach – A case study analysis is undertaken of Leeds City Council (LCC) workplace in the UK.Findings – The findings from the study show that in the context of LCC there are some key differences between the generations regarding knowledge working preferences for formal/informal meeting spaces. In other aspects, such as knowledge sharing, the generations appear to agree on key aspects such as mentoring and team‐based working environments.Practical implications – Corporate real estate managers can use the research findings to assist them in providing a range of workplace settings to enhance multi‐generational interaction.Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in current research by evaluating workplace preferences based on generational differences.
European Union Agencies’ Vertical Relationships with the Member States: Domestic Sources of Accountability?

Abstract This paper analyzes the underexplored relationship between European Union agencies (EUAs) and the member states. It is argued that the vertical link constitutes a hitherto unexplored source of political accountability for EUAs. In particular, member states’ representation on the EUAs’ management boards (MBs) can be considered as an instance of vertical political accountability and, therefore, also as a possible substitute for input legitimacy — a feature EUAs are conventionally seen to be lacking. However, drawing on document analysis and survey data, the empirical results reveal a rather ambivalent picture of MBs’ vertical political accountability. The strong vertical political accountability relationships expected are only present for one EUA out of six. It can also be shown that more powerful EUAs are not held more accountable than less powerful ones.