Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Velocity of Circulation: Some new evidence on international integration

This study tests for the integration of money velocity movements among the major European Union countries. For this purpose, a new test is employed that allows one to confirm or reject integration on the basis of whether or not the first largest principal component, based on deviations of velocity growth rates from a base country, is stationary. Using monthly data covering the last 25 years, this study finds that integration was strongest during the 1970s and during 1983-92. These findings modify the institutionalist view that common financial developments have meant that velocities have moved together on an upward secular trend over the last 40 years. Developments with regard to currency substitution along with exchange rate policy and capital controls can affect relative interest rates and income movements and therefore the co-movements in money velocities.
COOL AMI EU pilot trial: a multicentre, prospective, randomised controlled trial to assess cooling as an adjunctive therapy to percutaneous intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

AIMS We aimed to investigate the rapid induction of therapeutic hypothermia using the ZOLL Proteus Intravascular Temperature Management System in patients with anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) without cardiac arrest. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 50 patients were randomised; 22 patients (88%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 69-97%) in the hypothermia group and 23 patients (92%; 95% CI: 74-99) in the control group completed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at four to six days and 30-day follow-up. Intravascular temperature at coronary guidewire crossing after 20.5 minutes of endovascular cooling decreased to 33.6°C (range 31.9-35.5°C). There was a 17-minute (95% CI: 4.6-29.8 min) cooling-related delay to reperfusion. In "per protocol" analysis, median infarct size/left ventricular mass was 16.7% in the hypothermia group versus 23.8% in the control group (absolute reduction 7.1%, relative reduction 30%; p=0.31) and median left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 42% in the hypothermia group and 40% in the control group (absolute reduction 2.4%, relative reduction 6%; p=0.36). Except for self-terminating paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (32% versus 8%; p=0.074), there was no excess of adverse events in the hypothermia group. CONCLUSIONS We rapidly and safely cooled patients with anterior STEMI to 33.6°C at the time of coronary guidewire crossing. This is ≥1.1°C lower than in previous cooling studies. Except for self-terminating atrial fibrillation, there was no excess of adverse events and no clinically important cooling-related delay to reperfusion. A statistically non-significant numerical 7.1% absolute and 30% relative reduction in infarct size warrants a pivotal trial powered for efficacy.
The Yersinia Yop virulon: a bacterial system for subverting eukaryotic cells

The Yop virulon enables Yersinia spp. (Y. pestis, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica) to survive and multiply in the lymphoid tissues of their host. It is an integrated system allowing extracellular bacteria to communicate with the host cell's cytosol by the injection of effector proteins. It is composed of the following four elements. (i) A contact or type III secretion system called Ysc, which is devoted to the secretion of Yop proteins. This secretion apparatus, comprising some 22 proteins recognizes the Yops by a short N‐terminal signal that is not cleaved off during secretion. (ii) A system designed to deliver bacterial proteins into eukaryotic target cells. This system is made of YopB, YopD and possibly other Yops such as LcrV. (iii) A control element (YopN). (iv) A set of effector Yop proteins designed to disarm these cells or disrupt their communications (YopE, YopH, YpkA/YopO, and YopM). The whole virulon is encoded by a 70 kb plasmid designated pYV. Transcription of the genes is controlled both by temperature and by contact with a eukaryotic cell.
The Value of the Designated Market Maker

Abstract The proliferation of electronic limit order books operating without dealers raises questions regarding the need for intermediaries with affirmative obligations to maintain markets. We develop a simple model of dealer participation and test it using a sample of less liquid firms that trade on the Paris Bourse. The results indicate that firms with designated dealers exhibit better market quality, and that younger firms, smaller firms, and less volatile firms choose a designated dealer. Around the announcement of dealer introduction, stocks experience an average cumulative abnormal return of nearly 5% that is positively correlated with improvements in liquidity. Overall, these findings emphasize the potential benefits of designing better market structures, even within electronic limit order books, and suggest that purely endogenous liquidity provision may not be optimal for all securities.
RT-Mover: a rough terrain mobile robot with a simple leg–wheel hybrid mechanism

There is a strong demand in many fields for practical robots, such as a porter robot and a personal mobility robot, that can move over rough terrain while carrying a load horizontally. We have developed a robot, called RT-Mover, which shows adequate mobility performance on targeted types of rough terrain. It has four drivable wheels and two leg-like axles but only five active shafts. A strength of this robot is that it realizes both a leg mode and a wheel mode in a simple mechanism. In this paper, the mechanical design concept is discussed. With an emphasis on minimizing the number of drive shafts, a mechanism is designed for a four-wheeled mobile body that is widely used in practical locomotive machinery. Also, strategies for moving on rough terrain are proposed. The kinematics, stability, and control of RT-Mover are also described in detail. Some typical cases of rough terrain for wheel mode and leg mode are selected, and the robot’s ability of locomotion is assessed through simulations and experiments. In each case, the robot is able to move over rough terrain while maintaining the horizontal orientation of its platform.
Summer Evolution of the North Polar Cap of Mars as Observed by OMEGA/Mars Express

The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) visible-infrared imaging spectrometer extensively observed regions of Mars with latitudes above 70°N in late 2004 (heliocentric longitude from Ls 93° to Ls 127°). The extent of water ice at the surface and the size of ice grains were monitored as a function of time. Bright, small-grained frost, which initially covered a large fraction of the polar cap, waned in favor of large-grained ice. In outlying regions, dominated by large-grained ice, the albedo increased over the period. Evaluating the dust content was model dependent. However, contamination of ice by dust was low.
Let's talk: an analysis of the “vote vs. negotiated withdrawal” decision for social activist environmental health shareholder resolutions

Social and environmental shareholder activists engage in a form of corporate social governance by submitting proxy resolutions for a specific change in corporate behavior deemed to be harmful to society. Using a unique data-set for environmental health shareholder resolutions filed by shareholder activists at 70 different companies during 2006–2011, we examine the success rate of resolutions and characteristics affecting the “vote vs. negotiated withdrawal” decision. Supporting a self-interest hypothesis, resolutions targeting specific consumer/retail companies, with regard to chemicals in products or product safety issues, are more likely to be negotiated and withdrawn, while firms with entrenchment-related governance characteristics are more likely to be voted on. Examining wealth effects, consumer/retail companies with a resolution vote experience a −0.38% stock price reaction surrounding the annual meeting date, resulting in a significant economic average loss of −$453.5 million.
Does Information Asymmetry Matter to Equity Pricing? Evidence from Firms’ Geographic Location

The scarcity of suitable proxies for asymmetric information has impeded empirical research from providing reliable evidence on whether information risk shapes equity pricing. In re-examining this unresolved question, we rely on firms’ geographic distance from financial centers to gauge information asymmetry. We provide strong, robust evidence supporting the prediction that equity financing is cheaper for firms nearer central locations, implying that investors rationally require more compensation when information asymmetry is worse. The equity pricing role of geographic proximity is economically large with our coefficient estimates translating into firms located within 100 kilometers of the city center of the nearest of six major financial centers, or in their metropolitan statistical areas, enjoying equity financing costs that are 7 basis points lower. Our inferences are insensitive to measuring both the cost of equity capital and distance in several ways, controlling for corporate governance quality, and addressing endogeneity. Collectively, our analysis suggests that investors discount the price that they pay for their securities to reflect the greater information asymmetry that ensues when firms are far from major financial centers.
Functional analysis and functional communication training in individuals with Angelman syndrome

Objective: To assess the functions of challenging behaviour in four children with Angelman syndrome (AS) and to study the effects of functional communication training (FCT) with precursor-based prompting. This study builds on and extends the study of Allen et al. Method: Experimental functional analysis assessed behavioural functions. FCT was implemented within an ABAB design and effect sizes were calculated. Burst analyses depict tendencies in (precursor) behaviours surrounding target behaviours. Results: Results show challenging behaviour to be aimed at receiving attention, tangibles or escape. Burst analysis designated physical and eye contact and reaching for tangibles as precursors. Effects of FCT ranged from small to large. Conclusion: Behavioural functions for challenging behaviour were found and FCT was effective in reducing its frequency, when precursors were used as the onset of prompting. Functional equivalence between challenging and communicative behaviour was found. Implementing treatment for challenging behaviour based on precursors is advised.
Managing the tensions between maintaining academic standards and the commercial imperative in a UK private sector higher education institution

In a changing landscape of higher education, universities have been moving towards a market-led approach to strategic management. This paper examines the case of a UK private sector education provider that gained degree-awarding powers following changes made in 2004 by the UK Government to the accreditation criteria for recognised degree-awarding bodies. The management team, driven by the need to be seen as a legitimate organisation within the sector, made changes to the academic infrastructure to align more closely with those of the existing players in the market. This isomorphic pressure to become similar for reasons of legitimacy created tensions between maintaining academic standards and business objectives. The management of these tensions resulted in a reconciliation of the dual objectives – not a rationalisation or satisficing, but a realisation in action that the academic and business aims were in fact compatible rather than competing.
A Time-Series Analysis of the Demand for Life Insurance Companies in Australia: An Unobserved Components Approach

We systematically explore the time-series properties of life insurance demand using a novel statistical procedure that allows multiple unobservable (but interpretable) components to be extracted. This methodology allows the data to be modelled in new and innovative ways. We find univariate series decomposition allows us to more easily explain the behaviour of life insurance demand over the sample period (1981–2003), than would otherwise be possible. A multivariate model (including a number of variables thought to influence demand) produces quite pleasing results overall. A SUTSE model involving demand and each of the explanatory variables in turn shows evidence of common components in all cases but one. Finally, an out-of-sample forecast comparison shows the univariate model to outperform the multivariate model for accuracy.
The Market Valuation of Environmental Capital Expenditures by Pulp and Paper Companies

The objective of this study is to examine the market valuation of environmental capital expenditure investment related to pollution abatement in the pulp and paper industry. The total environmental capital expenditure of $8.7 billion by our sample firms during 1989-2000 supports the focus on this industry. In order to be capitalized, an asset should be associated with future economic benefits. The existing environmental literature suggests that investors condition their evaluation of the future economic benefits arising from environmental capital expenditure on an assessment of the firms' environmental performance. This literature predicts the emergence of two environmental stereotypes: low-polluting firms that overcomply with existing environmental regulations, and high-polluting firms that just meet minimal environmental requirements. Our valuation evidence indicates that there are incremental economic benefits associated with environmental capital expenditure investment by low-polluting firms but not high-polluting firms. We also find that investors use environmental performance information to assess unbooked environmental liabilities, which we interpret to represent the future abatement spending obligations of high-polluting firms in the pulp and paper industry. We estimate average unbooked liabilities of $560 million for high-polluting firms, or 16.6 percent of market capitalization.
China's unfinished economic revolution

China's Unfinished Economic Revolution offers a fundamentally different interpretation of China's economic reform. The common view that China's gradualistic approach has served it well overlooks the fact that state-owned banks for the last two decades have channeled a large share of sharply rising household savings into what are mostly unreformed, money-losing companies. The result is that several of China's largest financial institutions now are insolvent. To avoid a major domestic banking crisis the book argues that China must recapitalize and restructure its domestic banking system and end the long-standing practice of making lending decisions based on political rather than economic criteria. Nicholas Lardy explains that this course will inevitably be costly in political terms, in part because it will lead for a time to a slower rate of economic growth. But the alternative is even less attractive --permanently slower growth, continued macroeconomic instability, an inability to meet the expectations of the international community for the opening of its domestic financial markets, and insufficient resources to deal with severe environmental deterioration, growing water shortages, and a rapidly aging population. This timely book also analyzes the new reform initiatives China has launched in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, suggests additional steps that must be taken, and evaluates the implications for U.S. policy.
Disassociation of Met-Mediated Biological Responses In Vivo: the Natural Hepatocyte Growth Factor/Scatter Factor Splice Variant NK2 Antagonizes Growth but Facilitates Metastasis

ABSTRACT Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) stimulates numerous cellular activities capable of contributing to the metastatic phenotype, including growth, motility, invasiveness, and morphogenetic transformation. When inappropriately expressed in vivo, an HGF/SF transgene induces numerous hyperplastic and neoplastic lesions. NK1 and NK2 are natural splice variants of HGF/SF; all interact with a common receptor, Met. Although both agonistic and antagonistic properties have been ascribed to each isoform in vitro, NK1 retains the full spectrum of HGF/SF-like activities when expressed as a transgene in vivo. Here we report that transgenic mice broadly expressing NK2 exhibit none of the phenotypes characteristic of HGF/SF or NK1 transgenic mice. Instead, when coexpressed in NK2-HGF/SF bitransgenic mice, NK2 antagonizes the pathological consequences of HGF/SF and discourages the subcutaneous growth of transplanted Met-containing melanoma cells. Remarkably, the metastatic efficiency of these same melanoma cells is dramatically enhanced in NK2 transgenic host mice relative to wild-type recipients, rivaling levels achieved in HGF/SF and NK1 transgenic hosts. Considered in conjunction with reports that in vitro NK2 induces scatter, but not other activities, these data strongly suggest that cellular motility is a critical determinant of metastasis. Moreover, our results demonstrate how alternatively structured ligands can be exploited in vivo to functionally dissociate Met-mediated activities and their downstream pathways.
Heme oxygenase1 (HSP‐32) is induced in myelin‐phagocytosing Schwann cells of injured sciatic nerves in the rat

Schwann cells participate in myelin phagocytosis in the early stage of Wallerian degeneration, prior to the recruitment of macrophages. This is the first report that Schwann cells induce heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1), a 32‐kDa heat shock protein, only when they have transformed into myelin‐phagocytosing cells from myelinating cells (days 2–3) immediately after crush injury of rat sciatic nerves. Double immunofluorescent labelling for HO‐1 and transferrin receptors revealed that HO‐1‐immunoreactive Schwann cells also expressed transferrin receptors suggesting activation of iron metabolism. The transient induction of HO‐1 in Schwann cells may contribute to the adaptive function in an altered environment when the cells have lost contact with axons, and may play a crucial role in the ensuing regeneration.
Firm Complexity and Board of Director Composition

This paper examines the relationship between firm complexity and board of director composition. Utilising the board typology of Baysinger and Zardkoohi (1986 ), we classify board members either as insiders, business experts, support specialists, or community influentials, and examine board composition in relation to firm internal and external complexity. Internal complexity refers to the sophistication of internal work processes (proxied by firm RD Coles "et al.", 2005 ; Gillan "et al.", 2003 ; Linck "et al.", 2005 ), by providing a unique lens in examining board characteristics that goes beyond the traditional insider/independent classification. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Cumulative Voting: Investor Protection or Antitakeover? Evidence from Family Firms in China

Manuscript Type. Empirical. Research Question/Issue. The Chinese government regulates on the adoption of cumulative voting (CV) in order to protect minority shareholders by allowing them to elect a dissident director. However, adopting CV may deter potential acquirers, reducing the effectiveness of corporate takeover as a governance mechanism. Even worse, lacking enforcement of CV adoption allows firms to adopt CV when they need to deter potential acquirers. Research Findings/Insights. First, we find CV adopters have better governance overall, but also have tightened control such as higher ownership concentration. This evidence hints that when a firm adopts better governance to signal the market, it may tighten control in other ways such as increasing shareholder power and adopting CV. Second, we distinguish the role of CV in investor protection by examining its competing effects on tunneling and antitakeover. We find that CV does not reduce tunneling but lowers the probability of CEO turnover and of the firm becoming a takeover target. These results indicate that CV is used as an antitakeover measure in family‐controlled listed companies. Finally, we find that adopting CV has no impact on company performance. Theoretical/Academic Implications. Our evidence sheds light on the incentives embedded in the ownership structure that can determine the governance mechanism in family firms. Practitioner/Policy Implications. Since 2002, the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission requires firms with a controlling shareholder holding more than 30 percent of shares to adopt CV. Our study shows that this policy has unintended consequences and does not always protect minority shareholders.
The thalamus and multiple sclerosis

The paired thalamic nuclei are gray matter (GM) structures on both sides of the third ventricle that play major roles in cortical activation, relaying sensory information to the higher cortical centers that influence cognition. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the human CNS that affects both the white matter (WM) and GM. A number of clinical observations as well as recent neuropathologic and neuroimaging studies have clearly demonstrated extensive involvement of the thalamus, basal ganglia, and neocortex in patients with MS. Modern MRI techniques permit visualization of GM lesions and measurement of atrophy. These contemporary methods have fundamentally altered our understanding of the pathophysiologic nature of MS. Evidence confirms the contention that GM injury can be detected in the earliest phases of MS, and that iron deposition and atrophy of deep gray nuclei are closely related to the magnitude of inflammation. Extensive involvement of GM, and particularly of the thalamus, is associated with a wide range of clinical manifestations including cognitive decline, motor deficits, fatigue, painful syndromes, and ocular motility disturbances in patients with MS. In this review, we characterize the neuropathologic, neuroimaging, and clinical features of thalamic involvement in MS. Further, we underscore the contention that neuropathologic and neuroimaging correlative investigations of thalamic derangements in MS may elucidate not heretofore considered pathobiological underpinnings germane to understanding the ontogeny, magnitude, and progression of the disease process.
Attracting private investment to contaminated properties: The value of public interventions

We employ a mail survey of private developers that uses conjoint choice experiments and Likert-scaled attitudinal questions to examine preferences for policy instruments and incentives intended to encourage brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. Our analysis suggests that developers judge public hearing requirements at brownfield redevelopments unattractive, but that they place a relatively high value on liability relief-from both cleanup costs and claims by third parties. Reimbursement of environmental assessment costs is not particularly attractive. We also find considerable heterogeneity among developers in the value they place on these incentives, depending on their experience with contaminated sites. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management