Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Split Liver Transplantation Using Hemiliver Graft in the MELD Era: A Single Center Experience in the United States

Under the “sickest first” Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) allocation, livers amenable to splitting are most often allocated to patients unsuitable for split liver transplantation (SLT). Our experience with SLT using hemilivers was reviewed. From April 2004 to June 2012, we used 25 lobar grafts (10 left lobes and 15 right lobes) for adult‐sized recipients. Twelve recipients were transplanted with primary offers, and 13 were transplanted with leftover grafts. Six grafts were shared with other centers. The data were compared with matched whole liver grafts (n = 121). In 92% of donors, the livers were split in situ. Hemiliver recipients with severe portal hypertension had a greater graft‐to‐recipient weight ratio than those without severe portal hypertension (1.96% vs. 1.40%, p < 0.05). Hemiliver recipients experienced biliary complications more frequently (32.0% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.01); however, the 5‐year graft survival for hemilivers was comparable to whole livers (80.0% vs. 81.5%, p = 0.43). The secondary recipients with leftover grafts did not have increased incidences of graft failure (p = 0.99) or surgical complications (p = 0.43) compared to the primary recipients. In conclusion, while routine application is still controversial due to various challenges, hemiliver SLT can achieve excellent outcomes under the MELD allocation.
TIME LAG IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE, WAR, AND POPULATION RELATIONSHIP: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract Wars became more frequent in a cold climate at the macro-historical scale. However, war peaks and their associated population collapses appeared ~20–30 years after the commencement of a cold climate. Following Zhang et al.'s (2007a) conceptual model, this paper sought to further examine the climate-war-population time lag by using mathematical means. Result was: the relatively slow natural population adjustment to the climate-induced fluctuations in agricultural production generated the time lag between the climate, war, and population cycles in historical agrarian societies. This finding may lend a new dimension to the classic Malthusianism and have current implications to the less developed countries near the tropics.
Quantifying Inflation Expectations with the Carlson-Parkin Method - a Survey-Based Determination of the Just Noticeable Difference

This paper presents a new methodology for the quantification of qualitative survey data. Traditional conversion methods, such as the probability approach of Carlson and Parkin (1975) or the time-varying parameters model of Seitz (1988), require very restrictive assumptions concerning the expectations formation process of survey respondents. Above all, the unbiasedness of expectations, which is a necessary condition for rationality, is imposed. Our approach avoids this assumptions. The novelty lies in the way the boundaries inside of which survey respondents expect the variable under consideration to remain unchanged are determined. Instead of deriving these boundaries from the statistical properties of the reference time-series (which necessitates the unbiasedness assumption), we directly queried them from survey respondents by a special question in the Ifo World Economic Survey. The new methodology is then applied to expectations about the future development of inflation obtained from the Ifo World Economic Survey.
Waste Prevention and Social Preferences: The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations

Though reduction is at the top of the waste management hierarchy, EU policies have historically introduced waste management incentives mainly concerning waste recovery and recycling, in addition to actions aimed at reducing disposal in landfills. Only very recently have EU policies started defining targets for waste reduction. Against this backdrop, we aim to examine whether individual behavior towards waste reduction is more strongly driven by extrinsic motivations such as social norms, or intrinsic motivations such as purely altruistic preferences. We exploit a large new survey that covers thousands of individuals for the EU27, to test the role of motivations when people are faced with collective management of the public good. We find that diverse motivations are behind the reduction of food waste: extrinsic motivations nevertheless increase the likelihood of producing more waste. Green consumption/recycling-oriented attitudes and individualistic thinking about waste management relate to ‘waste producers'. This shows that in order to go beyond a recycling-oriented society towards reduction of the source of waste externality - its generation - the nature of social preferences matters. Behavior patterns leading to waste reduction are less socially oriented, less exposed to peer pressure and more reliant upon purely ‘altruistic' social attitudes. Policy makers should learn from the relevant insights on social behavior we here address if our societies aim to fully integrate the idea of waste reduction alongside recycling in the future.
Subunit-specific Interactions of Cyanide with the N-Methyl-d-aspartate Receptor*

Cyanide can potentiateN-methyl-d-aspartate receptor-mediated physiological responses in neurons. Here we show that this phenomenon may be attributable to a subunit-specific chemical modification of the receptor directly by the toxin.N-Methyl-d-aspartate (30 μm)-induced whole cell responses in mature (22–29 daysin vitro) rat cortical neurons were potentiated nearly 2-fold by a 3–5-min treatment with 2 mm potassium cyanide, as did a similar treatment with 4 mm dithiothreitol. A 1-min incubation with the thiol oxidant 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (0.5 mm) readily reversed the potentiation induced by either cyanide or dithiothreitol. Cyanide did not increase further currents previously potentiated by dithiothreitol nor was it able to potentiate responses during brief co-application with the agonist. Transient expression studies in Chinese hamster ovary cells with wild-type and mutated recombinantN-methyl-d-aspartate subunits (NR) demonstrated that cyanide selectively potentiated NR1/NR2A receptors, presumably via the chemical reduction of NR2A. In contrast, currents mediated by NR1/NR2B receptors were somewhat diminished by the metabolic inhibitor. Some of the effects of cyanide on NR1/NR2B receptors may be mediated by the formation of a thiocyanate adduct with a cysteine residue located in NR1. Cyanide thus is able to distinguish chemically between two different N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subtypes and produce diametrically opposing functional effects.
An Analysis of the Laffer Curve

The Laffer curve shows the relationship between tax revenue and the personal income tax rate, with tax revenue being a presumably concave function of the tax rate and equal to zero at tax rates of zero percent and 100 percent. If the personal income tax rate is reduced, then tax revenue will decrease (increase) if the economy is on the positively (negatively) sloped section of the Laffer curve. This paper derives a sufficient condition for the economy to be on the positively sloped section of the Laffer curve. In light of the current knowledge of the elasticities of supply of labor and supply of saving, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that a decrease in U.S. personal income tax rates will decrease tax revenue.
A Review of Clinical Characteristics and Residential Treatments for Adolescent Delinquents with Mental Health Disorders

As treatment systems throughout the country have deinstitutionalized, under-use of community-based residential treatment systems has escalated. Reliance on juvenile justice systems for the care of the mentally ill adolescent has increased. There is considerable overlap between the mentally ill adolescent population within the community-based mental health systems and the offender population within the juvenile justice systems. With the inconsistent epidemiological prevalence and longitudinal treatment data, mental health treatment providers have also begun addressing this problem. This is currently being done by designing and implementing community-based residential mental health programs for delinquent adolescents of the juvenile justice system as well as nondelinquent adolescents within the mental health treatment systems. Providers have relied on both systems’ literature in establishing theoretical treatment programs. The authors review critical treatment components currently used by both the treatment and juvenile justice systems. A promising integrative program is described.
Federal Deposit Insurance, Regulatory Policy, and Optimal Bank Capital

This paper seeks to explain the combination of explicit and implicit pricing for deposit insurance employed by the FDIC. Essentially, the FDIC sells two products-insurance and regulation. To span the product space, it must and does set two prices. We argue that the need to establish regulatory disincentives to bank risk-taking is the heart of the controversy over the adequacy of bank capital and that the ability to close risky banks before exhausting their charter value (i.e., the value of their right to continue in business) stands at the center of these disincentives and in front of the FDIC's insurance reserves. JUST AS A BOOK shouldn't be judged by its cover, a government agency shouldn't be judged by the words behind its initials. With the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), the agency's name describes only part of its formal operations: the FDIC is quasi-governmental, has a regional structure and sells deposit insurance. However, the initials fail to convey the FDIC's critical place in the governmental regulatory structure as the sole federal overseer of the approximately 8900 state-chartered commercial banks that have chosen not to belong the Federal Reserve System. ' Reflecting the Federal Reserve's membership problem, the number of these banks is growing year by year. Besides selling deposit insurance at bargain explicit rates, the FDIC performs four regulatory functions: (1) Entry regulation. It passes on new banks' applications for deposit insurance and on branch and merger proposals as well, thereby protecting the value of existing bank charters; (2) Examination. Two-thirds of FDIC employees are concerned with inspecting bank records and supervising managerial activity; (3) Regulation of deposit rates and conditions for withdrawal. By tradition, FDIC policies on these matters conform entirely with regulations applicable to Federal Reserve member banks; and (4) Disposition of failed banks. When an insured bank fails, the FDIC usually chooses not to liquidate it.2
Income Tax Evasion in a Unionised Labour Market

Labour market outcomes can depend on tax evasion since the returns from working are affected by the amount of taxes paid. In this paper, unionised workers are assumed to select the income which they declare. The rational trade union takes this decision into account. It is shown that the employment effects of a linear income tax are not altered qualitatively by tax evasion if the fine for evasion is a function only of the evaded tax. Moreover, the consequences of changes in the tax enforcement system are determined by the ability to choose evasion activities optimally. The existence of unrestricted tax evasion opportunities lowers wages.
Scottish Entrepreneurial Networks in the International Context

The research note reports findings of a study into the personal contact networks of Scottish entrepreneurs, and compares these to results already published for other countries (Canada, Greece, Japan, Italy, Northern Ireland, Sweden and the USA). The findings show that variable network behaviour across borders exists. Entrepreneurs from the North East of Scotland exhibit a tendency towards small, tightly-integrated networks.
Signal processing techniques for microwave imaging of the breast

Microwave imaging has grown in recent years as a promising technique for breast cancer detection. Its physical principle exploits the different dielectric characteristics of normal and tumoral breast tissues. In 2007 a study evaluated the dielectric properties of normal (adipose, glandular and fibroconnective), malignant (invasive and non-invasive ductal and lobular carcinomas) and benign (fibroadenomas and cysts) breast tissue samples obtained from cancer surgeries and breast reduction. The analyses showed that the contrast in the microwave-frequency dielectric properties between malignant lesions and glandular/fibroconnective tissues in the breast is no more than 10%. It is therefore fundamental to add to the electromagnetic issues signal processing reconstruction techniques that could improve the capability to correctly reconstruct the dielectric profile of the examined tissue. In this work we present different signal processing algorithms applied on microwave imaging of a phantom of the breast, analyzing their performances in order to migrate to clinical test campaigns on patients.
Revenue Recognition, Earnings Management, and Earnings Informativeness in the Semiconductor Industry

SYNOPSIS: Manufacturers that sell products to distributors experience product return and pricing adjustment uncertainties until the products are resold to end-customers. Such manufacturers recognize revenue when products are delivered to distributors (sell-in), when distributors resell products (sell-through), or under some combination of these methods (sell-in for some distributor sales and sell-through for others). This study examines the implications of these revenue recognition methods for a sample of semiconductor firms during 2001–2008. Semiconductor firms face rapid product obsolescence, declining prices over product life cycles, and unexpected industry downturns, which naturally lead to product return and pricing adjustment uncertainties. I find that sell-through and combination firms are less likely to manage earnings compared to sell-in firms. I also find that earnings are more informative for sell-through firms compared to both sell-in and combination firms. These findings suggest that manufact.
Inconsistencies in air quality metrics: ‘Blue Sky’ days and PM10 concentrations in Beijing

International attention is focused on Beijing’s efforts to improve air quality. The number of days reported as attaining the daily Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Standard for cities, called ‘Blue Sky’ days, has increased yearly from 100 in 1998 to 246 in 2007. However, analysis of publicly reported daily air pollution index (API) values for fine particulate matter (diameter≤10 µm, PM10), indicates a discrepancy between the reported ‘Blue Sky’ days (defined as API≤100, PM10≤150 µg m−3) and published monitoring station data. Here I show that reported improvements in air quality for 2006–2007 over 2002 levels can be attributed to (a) a shift in reported daily PM10 concentrations from just above to just below the national standard, and (b) a shift of monitoring stations in 2006 to less polluted areas. I found that calculating daily Beijing API for 2006 and 2007 using data from the original monitoring stations eliminates a bias in reported PM10 concentrations near the ‘Blue Sky’ boundary, and results in a number of ‘Blue Sky’ days and annual PM10 concentration near 2002 levels in 2006 and 2007 (203 days and ∼167 µg m−3 calculated for 2006—38 days fewer and a PM10 concentration ∼6 µg m−3 higher than reported; 191 ‘Blue Sky’ days and ∼161 µg m−3 calculated for 2007—55 days fewer and a PM10 concentration ∼12 µg m−3 higher than reported; 203 days and 166 µg m−3 were reported in 2002). Furthermore, although different pollutants were monitored before daily reporting began and less stringent standards were implemented in June 2000, reported annual average concentrations of particulate (diameter≤100 µm, TSP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) indicate no improvement between 1998 and 2002. This analysis highlights the sensitivity of monitoring data in the evaluation of air quality trends, and the potential for the misinterpretation or manipulation of these trends on the basis of inconsistent metrics.
The Rise of Popular Literacy in Victorian England: The Influence of Private Choice and Public Policy

In early Victorian England, there was an intense debate about whether government involvement in the provision of popular elementary education was appropriate. Government did in the end become actively involved, first in the administration of schools and in the supervision of instruction, then in establishing and administering compulsory schooling laws. After a century of stagnation, literacy rates rose markedly. While increasing government involvement would seem to provide the most obvious explanation for this rise, this study seeks to demonstrate that, in fact, popular demand was also an important force behind the growth in literacy. The author compares the relative importance of the rise of popular demand for literacy and the development of education policy measures by the Church and state as contributing factors that led to the rise of working-class literacy during the Victorian period. He considers the initial demand of the working classes for literacy and how much that demand grew. He also examines how literacy rates were influenced by the development of a national system of elementary school provision and by the establishment of compulsory schooling laws.
Labor conditions in the Spanish hotels and restaurants industry.

The tourism and hotels and restaurants industries fall within the service sector and employ many people with different skills and capacities. As in other sectors, it is important to monitor employment and working conditions in this sector. However, there has not been any empirical systematic research into employment and wage conditions in the Spanish hotels and restaurants sector, partly because of the complexity and size of the sector. All studies that exist on salary levels in the tourism industry emphasize the fact that the hotels and restaurants sector is among the lowest paid business sectors and it employs a large proportion of women and nonqualified labor. Such characteristics generate lower pay and greater risk of gender discrimination. The aim of this article is to analyze these two negative aspects of labor market conditions in the hotels and restaurants industry in Spain and to discuss regional differences comparing tourism regions and nontourism regions. We show that low-wage incidence in the hotels and restaurants industry disappears with the tourism development of the sector, that is, it is lower in the tourism regions. Nevertheless, gender discrimination does not depend on the tourism or nontourism characterization of regions.
Agency Problems, Auditing, and the Theory of the Firm: Some Evidence

This paper examines the history of auditing in the U.K. and the U.S. to test whether audits of companies arose as the consequence of governmental regulation or as a voluntary monitoring activity to reduce agency costs and increase firm value. The paper finds that audits existed early in the development of the modern corporation (as early as 1200) and evolved gradually into the type of audit required by the first English companies act (1844). The evidence suggests that the audit's monitoring activity is important, if not crucial, to the formation of firms. The audit's long survival suggests it is a part of the efficient technology for organizing firms. Differences in the timing of the evolution of professional auditors in the U.K. and U.S. prior to legally required auditing appear to reflect differences in the timing of capital market development in the two countries.
User-Preferred Position of Computer Displays: Effects of Display Size

Objective: Effects of display size and dual display setting on preferred display and keyboard positions were evaluated. Background: User-preferred display position may vary as its size changes or when multiple displays are used. It is also not known whether the use of larger displays or multiple displays would influence positioning of the keyboard. Method: Participants (N = 19) who had normal visual acuity (20/30 or better) determined preferred positions of the display and the keyboard during a data entry task in four display setups (19, 24, 27.5, and dual 19 in.). The size of capital characters (3.2 mm high) was kept consistent between setups. Results: Preferred viewing distance ranged from 0.68 m (19-in. display) to 0.76 m (27.5-in. display). No significant differences in viewing distance and display height were found between the single 19-in. display and dual 19-in. displays setups. The preferred position of the keyboard was consistent between display setups. Conclusion: Participants placed larger displays farther and lower while maintaining the display top at or near eye height. Preferred position of the dual displays in landscape setting did not differ from that of a single display. It appears that the preferred display position varies with the vertical dimension of the overall viewable area of the display. Application: The results of this study can be used to determine the dimensions or adjustability of computer workstations for larger displays or multiple displays settings.
Inter-Firm Technological Collaboration: The Case of Japanese Biotechnology

International trends towards collaboration among firms in the development and commercialization of new technologies are most evident in biotechnology. The optional forms of collaborative approaches – research contracts, minority equity investments, technology licensing, corporate alliances and joint ventures – are discussed in this paper with specific reference to their applicability in the biotechnology industry. Japanese practices in these areas are reviewed in depth, discussing the rationale for Japanese preferences in the use of inter–firm collaboration. Synopses of industrial data gathered on 100 firms involved in biotechnology are presented.
Spectacular New Gliding Species of Ecnomiohyla (Anura: Hylidae) from Central Panama

Abstract We describe a new species of Ecnomiohyla from the vicinity of El Valle de Anton, Cocle, Panama. This is a large species that differs from similar species in the genus by details of the prepollex, webbing, and by the presence of a distinct expanded crista lateralis with medial proximal point. We provide descriptions of the adult and subadult, as well as the tadpole. We provide natural history information including observations of individuals gliding from the forest canopy, reproduction in tree holes, and male territoriality and care of the tadpoles. This species is currently known only from the immediate vicinity of El Valle de Anton, and we have observed numbers of this species in the wild to decrease dramatically following the recent epidemic of amphibian chytridiomycosis in the region.
Collateral Regulation and IPO-Specific Liberalization: The Case of Price Limits in the Athens Stock Exchange

This paper uses a unique testing ground on the effect of price limits upon IPO pricing and initial returns. The Athens Stock Exchange offers the opportunity for this new experiment, as three substantial changes in limit regulations were implemented in a short period of eight years. The results indicate significant differences in initial returns. Effective price limits reduce underpricing in all market segments, without visible diminution of IPO activity. The introduction of mandatory book-building after price limits were phased out in Athens also led to reduced underpricing in the main market segment. Nevertheless, the existence of an independent effect of price limits explains why some regulators continue to use them to the present day.