Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are universities specific organisations

A few decades ago, highlighting the organisational specificity of universities was a common exercise. Most publications – from the Merton school of writings stressing the exceptional character of the academic profession to the decision-making analysis led by J. March and his colleagues (Cohen, March and Olsen 1972) that characterized universities as organized anarchies in which the garbage can model of decision making prevails – concluded that universities were not organisations “like others”. While these authors outlined the organisational particularities of universities, others also stressed their diversity due to the original models which influenced them (humboldtian, Napoleonic, Anglo-Saxon.) and their national implementation. Thus universities were not only specific organisations: they moreover followed national patterns.
Employment Practices of Multinationals in the Spanish and German Quick-Food Sectors: Low-Road Convergence?

This article examines the labour relations practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the German and Spanish quick-food service sectors. The demand for greater profitability and lower costs is leading to a greater standardization of work methods across a widening range of food service operators, resulting in the gradual elimination of more expensive, skilled and experienced workers, and an increasingly non-union approach in employee relations practices. The outcome involves increasing standardization, union exclusion, low trust, low skills, and low pay. These sectoral characteristics appear to outweigh both country-of-origin and host-country effects. The findings therefore confirm continuing variation within national industrial relations systems and the importance of sectoral characteristics and organizational contingencies in understanding MNC cross-border behaviour.
Long working hours and risk for hypertension in Japanese male white collar workers

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association of long working hours with the risk for hypertension. DESIGN A five year prospective cohort study. SETTING Work site in Osaka, Japan. PARTICIPANTS 941 hypertension free Japanese male white collar workers aged 35–54 years were prospectively examined by serial annual health examinations. Men in whom borderline hypertension and hypertension were found during repeated surveys were defined as incidental cases of borderline hypertension and hypertension. MAIN RESULTS 336 and 88 men developed hypertension above the borderline level and definite hypertension during the 3940 and 4531 person years, respectively. After controlling for potential predictors of hypertension, the relative risk for hypertension above the borderline level, compared with those who worked < 8.0 hours per day, was 0.63 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.43, 0.91) for those who worked 10.0–10.9 hours per day and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.31, 0.74) for those who worked ⩾ 11.0 hours per day. The relative risk for definite hypertension, compared with those who worked < 8.0 hours per day, was 0.33 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.95) for those who worked ⩾ 11.0 hours per day. The multivariate adjusted slopes of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) during five years of follow up decreased as working hours per day increased. From the multiple regression analyses, working hours per day remained as an independent negative factor for the slopes of systolic blood pressure, DBP, and MABP. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that long working hours are negatively associated with the risk for hypertension in Japanese male white collar workers.
Nitric oxide increases cutaneous and respiratory heat dissipation in conscious rabbits.

The influence of systemic nitric oxide (NO) donor infusion and NO synthase inhibition on major thermoregulatory mechanisms was investigated under thermoneutral conditions (24 degrees C) in the conscious rabbit. Both low (25 nmol.min-1.kg-1) and high-dose (75 nmol.min-1.kg-1) infusion of the NO donors 3-morpholinosydnonimine-hydrochloride and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine augmented respiratory heat dissipation due to raised respiratory frequency (RF) and evaporative water loss (REWL). At the higher dose of NO donor, RF and REWL increased (from 107 +/- 16 to 156 +/- 19 breaths/min and from 7.12 +/- 0.97 to 11.29 +/- 1.29 mg.min-1.kg-1; P < 0.05), and, combined with a moderate rise in cutaneous heat dissipation (ear skin temperature increased from 29.03 +/- 1.76 to 33.29 +/- 2.71 degrees C; P < 0.05), deep body temperature was slightly reduced (-0.1 degrees C, P > 0.05) without a change in metabolic heat production. In contrast, blockade of endogenous NO synthesis induced a sustained rise in body temperature (0.2 degrees C, P < 0.05), concomitant with a reduction in both RF and REWL (from 131 +/- 11 to 94 +/- 12 breaths/min and from 10.86 +/- 1.14 to 8.70 +/- 0.88 mg.min-1.kg-1, P < 0.05), whereas metabolic heat production decreased slightly and cutaneous heat dissipation was minimally altered. The data indicate that, under thermoneutral conditions, systemically applied NO primarily influences body temperature in the conscious rabbit by modulating the rate of respiratory heat dissipation, whereas the roles of cutaneous heat dissipation and metabolic heat production are relatively minor.
Reproduction, Growth, and Development of Rats during Chronic Exposure to Multiple Field Strengths of 60-Hz Electric Fields

Abstract A study with multiple exposure groups and large group sizes was performed to establish whether exposure to 60-Hz electric fields would result in reproductive and developmental toxicity. A response model was developed from previous results and tested in groups of rats exposed to electric fields at various field strengths. Female rats were mated, and sperm-positive animals randomly distributed among four groups: sham-exposed or exposed to 10, 65, or 130 kV/m, 60-Hz vertical electric fields. Animals were exposed for 19 hr/day throughout the experiment. During gestation, exposure to the higher field strengths resulted in slightly depressed weight gains of dams. Offspring were born in the field and remained with their dams through the suckling period. Numbers of pups per litter and pup mortality did not differ among the exposure groups. Dams exposed at 65 kV/m lost slightly more weight through the lactation period than the control group. Male pups exposed to higher field strengths gained slightly less weight from 4 to 21 days of age than did sham-exposed animals. At weaning, two F1 females per litter (randomly selected) continued on the same exposure regimen were mated at 11 weeks of age to unexposed males, and euthanized at 20 days of gestation. Uterine contents were evaluated, and all liver fetuses were weighed and examined for external, visceral, and skeletal malformations. Fertility and gestational weight gain of F1 females were not affected by exposure, nor was prenatal viability or fetal body weight. No significant increase in the incidence of litters with malformations was observed. Although no developmental toxicity was detected, exposures produced physical changes in the dams, evidenced as a rust-colored deposit on the muzzle and ears (chromodacryorrhea) that increased in incidence and severity at 65 and 130 kV/m. Incidence of chromodacryorrhea was not significantly different between sham-exposed rats and those exposed at 10 kV/m.
An 8T Low-Voltage and Low-Leakage Half-Selection Disturb-Free SRAM Using Bulk-CMOS and FinFETs

In this paper, we present a new 8T design for static random access memory (SRAM) cell that is based on traditional Si technology and reduces leakage power considerably compared with a conventional design. Proposed design can be fully functional at smaller supply voltages over the conventional 6T SRAM cell. To verify the proposed design, a 32 kb SRAM is designed and simulated in 90 nm CMOS technology using the proposed 8T and conventional 6T SRAM cells. Operating at their VDDmin, simulations show improvement of 58% and 67% for write and read power per operation, respectively, for our design. To address the challenge of half-selection during write operation, a new low-power internal write-back scheme is presented. Finally, designing proposed cell using fin-shaped field effect transistors shows less sensitivity to variations and also improvement of 2.08× in read static noise margin at VDD = 1.0 V over bulk-CMOSbased SRAM cell.
Does Haptoglobin Phenotype Influence Postnatal Morbidity in Preterm Neonates?

Abstract Background Haptoglobin (Hp) is an acute phase protein with antioxidant, bacteriostatic, and anti-inflammatory activities. Hp proteins associated with the three major phenotypes differ in their proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory action. Inflammation and oxidative stress are both involved in most pathophysiological processes in premature infants. The objective of this study was to determine whether Hp phenotype influences clinical manifestations and sepsis incidence in the premature infants. Objective Infants born before 35 weeks gestational age were prospectively evaluated for Hp phenotype and clinical events, including sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and retinopathy of prematurity. The participants were observed until discharge. Methods A total of 122 preterm infants were enrolled in the study. Clinical events were not affected by the Hp phenotype. The expression of Hp protein was extremely low in the study population. More septic episodes were found in infants with a birth weight greater than 1,500 g, although, the difference was not statistically significant. Results Extremely low expression of Hp may explain the lack of a correlation between Hp phenotype and sepsis in preterm infants. Further research involving a larger neonatal population is required to better understand the role of the Hp phenotype in morbidity of premature infants.
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 in relation to CAG repeat length

Objective – The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between clinical characteristics of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) and CAG repeat length. Materials and methods – We examined clinical symptoms of 54 patients with SCA6. CAG repeat length was compared among subgroups divided by clinical manifestations. Results – The major symptom was progressive cerebellar ataxia. Truncal or limb ataxia, dysarthria, and nystagmus were observed in more than 80% of the patients. In analysis of CAG repeat length in patients with different types of nystagmus, CAG repeat length was the longest when both upbeat and downbeat nystagmus existed (P<0.01). In addition, CAG repeat length was longer when the initial symptom was ataxic gait and was shorter when the initial symptom was dysarthria or ocular symptom (P<0.05). Conclusion – Clinical features of SCA6 might be influenced by the length of abnormal CAG repeat.
The effect of pentamidine on melanoma ex vivo

Pentamidine is a small molecule inhibitor of the Ca2+-binding protein S100B and disrupts the S100B–p53 protein–protein interaction; this is thought to restore wild-type p53 tumour suppressor function in melanoma. Additional anticancer effects may be the result of inhibition of regenerating liver family phosphatases. In this study, we have used a standardized ATP-tumour chemosensitivity assay to investigate the effect of pentamidine on cells derived from 18 skin melanoma samples and one uveal melanoma sample. The cells were tested at six concentrations from which the IC50 and IC90 were calculated. To allow comparison between samples, an indexsum was calculated based on the percentage of tumour growth inhibition at each concentration. Of the skin melanoma samples tested, 78% exhibited an indexsum less than 300 indicating strong inhibition. The median indexsum of 237 also indicates considerable activity against these samples. The median IC90 (30.2 μmol/l) may be clinically achievable in a proportion of patients. The uveal melanoma sample exhibited an indexsum of 333 indicating moderate inhibition, and 86% inhibition at test drug concentration (37.96 μmol/l). These results show that pentamidine has activity against melanoma, and support the prospect of its development for therapeutic use.
Risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases among women attending family planning clinics in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Identification of risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) assists in development of treatment algorithms, which are potentially important components of STD control when microbiologic facilities are limited. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed to assess STD and HIV risk factors of 2285 women attending three family planning clinics in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania during 1991-92. Women were interviewed and examined for signs of STDs. Specimens were taken for laboratory diagnosis of HIV, other sexually transmitted organisms, and Candida albicans. RESULTS: The prevalence of gonorrhoea was found to be 4.2%, prevalence of trichomoniasis was 14.3%, and positive syphilis serology was found in 2.5% of women. Unmarried women were at increased risk of trichomoniasis (age-adjusted OR = 1.48 95% CI [1.12, 1.95]), gonorrhoea (age-adjusted OR = 1.81 95% CI [1.14, 2.86]) and syphilis (age-adjusted OR 1.5 [0.84, 2.68]). An increasing number of sexual partners in the past five years was associated with an increased risk of all STDs. Current use of the oral contraceptive pill was positively associated with gonorrhoea, multivariate OR = 1.75 95% CI [1.05, 2.93]. The prevalence of candidiasis was 11.5% and was not associated with any of the demographic or behavioural risk factors examined. Clinical diagnostic algorithms for STDs in this study population had relatively low sensitivity and low positive predictive value. CONCLUSION: Being unmarried and having a higher number of sexual partners were consistently associated with each STD, while the associations for other risk factors varied between STDs, emphasising the complexity of STD distribution. Further development of diagnostic algorithms and other methods for screening women for STDs are needed to reduce the impact of STDs and HIV in developing countries.
Financial sector reforms in Pakistan and a test for McKinnon and Shaw's transmission mechanism : 'Lessons from the last decade'

The study tests McKinnon & Shaw’s financial liberalisation paradigm by capturing the reform process of Pakistani financial sector in the last decade. The study showed that Pakistan witnessed significant financial development especially in the banking sector after 1990s. However, as the last decade was associated with one the poorest performance of the country on macro economic front, the study tries to find out the possible reasons for the failure of objective of the reform process. This is done by first establishing two legs of ‘McKinnon & Shaw’s transmission mechanism’, through which financial development is conduit to real economic activity. As a next step we employed Vector Autoregressive (VAR) analysis in order to regress these two legs and then we ran multiple causality tests on subsequent Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) equations. Such an approach not only allowed us to take on the critiques of McKinnon and Shaw in a debonair manner but also enabled us to pin point the shortcomings of the reform process itself.
Induction of Cell Death in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Macrophages and Resting Memory CD4 T Cells by TRAIL/Apo2L

ABSTRACT Because the persistence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in cellular reservoirs presents an obstacle to viral eradication, we evaluated whether tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo2L) induces apoptosis in such reservoirs. Lymphocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) from uninfected donors do not die following treatment with either leucine zipper human TRAIL (LZhuTRAIL) or agonistic anti-TRAIL receptor antibodies. By contrast, such treatment induces apoptosis of in vitro HIV-infected MDM as well as peripheral blood lymphocytes from HIV-infected patients, including CD4+ CD45RO+ HLA-DR− lymphocytes. In addition, LZhuTRAIL-treated cells produce less viral RNA and p24 antigen than untreated controls. Whereas untreated cultures produce large amounts of HIV RNA and p24 antigen, of seven treated CD4+ CD45RO+ HLA-DR− cell cultures, viral RNA production was undetectable in all, p24 antigen was undetectable in six, and proviral DNA was undetectable in four. These data demonstrate that TRAIL induces death of cells from HIV-infected patients, including cell types which harbor latent HIV reservoirs.
The Tax Impact on the Ex-Dividend Dates: Evidence from European Firms

In this paper we examine the behaviour of share prices around the ex-dividend dates across four major European countries: France, Germany, Italy and the UK. We analyse the tax system and tax reforms in each country and test the hypothesis that if taxation is the sole determinant of ex-day prices, then differences in ex-day returns across these countries should be directly related to each country's tax differentials between dividends and capital gains. We find that in all countries ex-day returns are positive and significant and in countries where the differential between dividends and capital gains is high (low), ex-day returns are high (low). We also find that changes in the tax systems that affect taxes on dividend and/or capital gains altered significantly ex-day returns. Further tests indicate that ex-day returns are not affected by transaction cost and market microstructure effects. Our results provide support for the tax hypothesis.
Consequences of Vertical Separation and Monopoly: Evidence From the Telecom Privatizations

Policy variation across countries on the use of mandatory vertical separation and statutory monopoly allows the assessment of their impact on basic telephone services (local, long distance, and international service). Panel data analysis from 56 countries during the 7-year period following the privatization of the main telephone provider indicates that vertical separation and monopoly harm the consumers that were supposed to benefit: the downstream users of international telephony and the upstream users of residential local telephony. Mandatory vertical separation reduces the usage of international telephone service and the number of fixed lines in service, whereas statutory monopoly reduces the amount of fixed lines in service and increases the price of local residential telephony.
Financial Management Attitude and Practice among the Medical Practitioners in Public and Private Medical Service in Malaysia

Doctors learn money management by trial and error and often realize the mistakes and shortfalls at later stages oflife. This study measured the levels of personal financial management attitude of the medical practitioners inMalaysia and identified their financial management practical trends, strengths and weaknesses. In this crosssectional study, a pre-tested questionnaire was used to conduct face to face interviews with randomly selectedmedical specialist and medical officers through a multistage sampling. A total of 402 (urban 46.0%, rural 54.0%)medical practitioners completed the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents were Malays (54.5%),followed by Indians (25.6%), Chinese (16.7%) and other ethnicity (3.2%). Medical officers comprised 64.2% ofthe respondents and 35.8% were specialists. 76.4% of the respondents had a positive attitude towards personalfinancial management but only 34.6% doctors in the country practice positive or favorable financial management.Retirement and estate planning practices are the most neglected area where only 3.8% respondents had highscores. In conclusion, this study found that overall the medical practitioners in Malaysia had a positive financialattitude, but lacked financial practice. This study sets groundwork for future research and calls for a strong needfor a financial education program to help medical practitioners make informed decisions for greater financialsatisfaction.
Evidence, Policy, and the Politics of Regional Development: The Case of High-Speed Rail in the United Kingdom

Geographers have often reflected on the impact of their research on policy making. Contributions usually focus on the (ir)relevance of research topics or on the pressures to ‘publish or perish’ that discourage academics from engaging with applied work. In this paper we will focus instead on the difficulty in engaging with the political process, even when the evidence appears robust and if policy implications are relatively clear. We use the example of high-speed rail and its impacts on territorial inequalities to reflect on the decision-making process in the UK, where the government is currently considering building a new high-speed line. We argue that, despite fairly strong evidence suggesting that high-speed rail is likely to deepen inequalities between the regions in the UK, currently this project is still being hailed as a strategy to spread economic activity and ‘rebalance’ the British economy. We identify some of the reasons for this perverse outcome.
Market Risk, Interest Rate Risk, and Interdependencies in Insurer Stock Returns: A System-GARCH Model

We examine market risk, interest rate risk, and interdependencies in returns and return volatilities across three insurer segments within a System-GARCH framework. Three main results are obtained: market risk is greatest for accident and health (AH interest rate sensitivity is negative and greatest for Life insurers; and interdependencies in returns are significant with the magnitude being strongest between P&C and A&H insurers. The implication is that greatest diversification benefits arise between Life and the other segments of the insurance industry. Market risk and interest rate risk for diversified firms are smaller than those for nondiversified firms for both product and geographic diversification.
A NOTE ON THE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS EFFECTS OF THE U.S. CAPITAL CONTROLS PROGRAMS: SIMULATION ESTIMATES

NONMARKET measures for controlling the international flows of capital were enacted during the 1960's in the United States to improve the balance of payments. The effectiveness of such capital control programs such as VFCR (the Voluntary Foreign Credit Restraint Program) on particular types of capital flows has been examined in empirical studies by a number of investi
Ownership Characteristics and Earnings Management in China

Chinese firms are characterized by multiple ownership and high ownership concentration. In this research, we conduct an intensive investigation into the determination of ownership characteristics in earnings management behaviors for Chinese domestic listed firms. Our results indicate that earnings management is determined by the motivations of different types of ownerships. In particular, when a state agency is the largest owner, firms are less likely to undertake earnings management, although the state ownership ratio is positively associated with earnings management. Tradable ownership and particularly concentrated tradable ownership reduce earnings management, while total ownership concentration fosters earnings management.
Prenatally Diagnosed Fetal Neck Teratoma

A case of fetal neck teratoma diagnosed at 32 weeks’ gestation is reported. Planning before delivery included consultations with the neonatologist, the anesthesiologist, the otolaryngologist and the social worker. Delivery by cesarean section under epidural anesthesia was carried out at 34 weeks because of preterm labor. The head was delivered and the fetus was intubated within 4½ min using a rigid bronchoscope. Magnesium sulfate and nitroglycerin provided uterine relaxation allowing fetal oxygenation via the uteroplacental circulation. Umbilical artery blood gases were satisfactory. The early neonatal course was complicated by hemorrhage from the teratoma externally as well as intratracheal bleeding and ventilatory problems. The baby died at 40 min of age in his mother’s arms.