Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Market Integration and Economic Development: A Long-Run Comparison

How much of China's recent economic performance can be attributed to market-oriented reforms introduced in the last two decades? A long-run perspective may be important for understanding the process of economic development occurring today. This paper compares the integration of rice markets in China today and 270 years ago. In the 18th century, transport technology was non-mechanized, but markets were close to being free markets. We distinguish local harvest and weather from aggregate sources of price variation in a historical sample and in a similarly constructed contemporary sample. Findings indicate the degree of market integration in the 1720s is a very good predictor of per capita income in the 1990s. Moreover, the current pattern of interregional income in China is strongly linked to persistent geographic factors that were already apparent several centuries ago, well before the enactment of modern reform programs.
Business Analytics and Competitive Advantage: A Review and a Research Agenda

Business analytics has the potential to deliver performance gains and competitive advantage. However, a theoretically grounded model identifying the factors and processes involved in realizing those performance gains has not been clearly articulated in the literature. This paper draws on the literature on dynamic capabilities to develop such a theoretical framework. It identifies the critical roles of organizational routines and organization-wide capabilities for identifying, resourcing and implementing business analytics-based competitive actions in delivering performance gains and competitive advantage. A theoretical framework and propositions for future research are developed.
Toxic thresholds of cadmium and lead to oceanic phytoplankton: Cell size and ocean basin–dependent effects

Thresholds of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) toxic to oceanic phytoplankton were examined in natural communities from the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the North East Atlantic Ocean. At concentrations of added Cd and Pb greater than 0.11 µg L−1, cell abundances and growth rates decreased with increasing addition of Cd and Pb, for all phytoplankton populations. The lethal concentrations at which populations decreased by half (LC50s), ranged from 0.23 to 498.7 µg L−1 Cd for Atlantic Prochlorococcus and Black Sea picoeukaryotes, respectively, and from 20 to 465.2 µg L−1 Pb for Mediterranean Synechococcus and Black Sea nanoplankton, respectively. These lethal concentrations were significantly lower than those previously reported for phytoplankton cultures. The LC50s were strongly related to population cell size, increasing as cell size increased, indicating that oceanic picocyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus populations were the most sensitive, and the largest phytoplankton cells the most resistant. Based on this relationship, differences in sensitivity to Cd across systems were detected, with Black Sea phytoplankton communities being more resistant (up to 100 times) than similar sized phytoplankton of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012; 31: 1887–1894. © 2012 SETAC
Fluoride Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Ameloblasts Responsible for Dental Enamel Formation*

The mechanism of how fluoride causes fluorosis remains unknown. Exposure to fluoride can inhibit protein synthesis, and this may also occur by agents that cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. When translated proteins fail to fold properly or become misfolded, ER stress response genes are induced that together comprise the unfolded protein response. Because ameloblasts are responsible for dental enamel formation, we used an ameloblast-derived cell line (LS8) to characterize specific responses to fluoride treatment. LS8 cells were growth-inhibited by as little as 1.9–3.8 ppm fluoride, whereas higher doses induced ER stress and caspase-mediated DNA fragmentation. Growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible proteins (GADD153/CHOP, GADD45α), binding protein (BiP/glucose-responsive protein 78 (GRP78), the non-secreted form of carbonic anhydrase VI (CA-VI), and active X-box-binding protein-1 (Xbp-1) were all induced significantly after exposure to 38 ppm fluoride. Unexpectedly, DNA fragmentation increased when GADD153 expression was inhibited by short interfering RNA treatment but remained unaffected by transient GADD153 overexpression. Analysis of control and GADD153-/- embryonic fibroblasts demonstrated that caspase-3 mediated the increased DNA fragmentation observed in the GADD153 null cells. We also demonstrate that mouse incisor ameloblasts are sensitive to the toxic effects of high dose fluoride in drinking water. Activated Ire1 initiates an ER stress response pathway, and mouse ameloblasts were shown to express activated Ire1. Ire1 levels appeared induced by fluoride treatment, indicating that ER stress may play a role in dental fluorosis. Low dose fluoride, such as that present in fluoridated drinking water, did not induce ER stress.
Asymptotic Maturity Behavior of the Term Structure

Pricing and hedging of long-term interest rate sensitive products require to extrapolate the term structure beyond observable maturities. For the resulting limiting term structure we show two results by postulating no arbitrage in a bond market with infinitely increasing maturities: long zero-bond yields and long forward rates (i) are monotonically increasing and (ii) equal their minimal future value. Both results constrain the asymptotic maturity behavior of stochastic yield curves. They are fairly general and extend beyond semimartingale modeling. Hence our framework embeds arbitrage-free term structure models and imposes restrictions on their specification.
Maintenance cyclosporin monotherapy after renal transplantation--clinical predictors of long-term outcome.

BACKGROUND There is considerable debate about whether maintenance cyclosporin (CsA) monotherapy is advisable or not in renal transplantation. METHODS Between August 1984 and December 1989, 463 adult patients received a first cadaver graft. Initial immunosuppression was sequential: antilymphocyte or antithymocyte globulins (10-14 days), prednisone and azathioprine were combined and CsA was introduced (6-8 mg/kg/day) when the antilymphocyte or antithymocyte globulins were discontinued. When the graft function was stable and the peak of preformed lymphocytotoxic antibodies was < or = 25% and/or the number of rejection episodes was < or = 1, the steroid therapy was stopped within 1.5-3 months after transplantation, and azathioprine within 3-12 months. Patients with both anti HLA antibodies > 25% and more than one rejection episode were excluded. Cyclosporin doses were adapted for whole-blood trough levels between 100 and 200 ng/ml (monoclonal antibody radioimmunoassay or high-performance liquid chromatography). Cyclosporin monotherapy was attempted in 234 of the 463 patients. RESULTS At the end of the investigation in January 1993 (follow-up time > 36 months, mean 60.5 +/- 4.5 months), 135 patients were receiving CsA without steroids or azathioprine. The 99 CsA monotherapy failures were due to rejection episodes in 48 cases, CsA A nephrotoxicity in 26 cases, and other causes in 25 cases, including five deaths and four with poor compliance. Renal function was stable in patients with successful CsA monotherapy: mean creatininaemia was 124 +/- 10 mumol/l at the time of CsA monotherapy inclusion and 129 +/- 10 mumol/l at the end of follow-up (mean time of CsA monotherapy 52 +/- 6 months). The parameters for predicting monotherapy success were age (43.2 versus 37.8. P = 0.0014), timing of trial inclusion > or = 6 months post-transplant (7.9 +/- 3 versus 5.3 +/- 3.1 months, P = 0.04), and excellent and stable renal function at the time of inclusion (124 +/- 10 versus 145 +/- 32 mumol/l, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Maintenance CsA monotherapy was effective in 58% of low-immunological-risk first-graft patients and probably did not jeopardize overall results of our first grafts: patient and graft survival were respectively 90 and 73% at 6 years. We propose this policy to avoid long-term complications of glucocorticoid and azathioprine in selected compliant recipients with low immunological risk, follow-up time post-transplantation > 6 months, and stable creatininaemia levels.
Best practices for multidisciplinary integration of a DCIS genomic assay into clinical practice

Most newly diagnosed ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is treated with breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) ± radiation therapy (RT). A key challenge is deciding whether or not to include RT with BCS. This decision is often determined by the degree of risk associated with disease recurrence. However, methods for risk assessment have not kept pace with diagnostic advances. The DCIS Score is an independent predictor and quantifier of individualized recurrence risk in patients with DCIS. Although the test is the only available genomic classifier for DCIS, the degree of adoption is varied, and it has not yet been fully accepted as standard practice. Recognizing the importance of individualizing recurrence assessment in patients with DCIS, the authors convened to review relevant clinical data, share best practices, and establish recommendations regarding how the assay should be incorporated into the decision‐making process. Based on their clinical experiences, the authors concluded that effective integration of the DCIS Score should involve shared decision‐making between surgeons and other specialties (radiation oncologists, pathologists, patient navigators, and physician assistants), with the patient's preference being a primary consideration. This manuscript aims to provide easy‐to‐use, clear‐cut, and practical guidance to help physicians utilize the DCIS Score to improve risk assessment and inform treatment decisions for their patients with DCIS, including how to understand, run, interpret, and communicate the actionable results to patients.
Transformation and fusion of Streptococcus faecalis protoplasts

Nonconjugative plasmids were transferred by protoplast fusion among Streptococcus faecalis strains and from Streptococcus sanguis to S. faecalis. S. faecalis protoplasts were also transformed with several different plasmids, including the Tn917 delivery vehicle pTV1. Transformation was reproducible, but low in frequency (10(-6) transformants per viable protoplast). A new shuttle vector (pAM610), able to replicate in Escherichia coli and S. faecalis, was constructed and transformed into S. faecalis protoplasts. pAM610 was mobilized by the conjugative plasmid pAM beta 1 in matings among S. faecalis strains and from S. sanguis to S. faecalis. Chimeric derivatives of pAM610 were also transformed into S. faecalis.
Renal Cortical Deterioration in Children With Spinal Dysraphism: Analysis of Risk Factors

Abstract Background/Objective: Because hydronephrosis and reflux are reversible, we believe cortical loss represents true renal deterioration in children with spinal dysraphism. Our goal was to better define risk factors for cortical loss. Methods: After institutional review board approval, we reviewed the medical records of 272 children with spinal dysraphism. The following factors were evaluated: age, sex, renal and bladder imaging, urodynamic parameters, medications, catheterization program, continence, infections, and surgical history. Renal cortical loss was defined by scarring or a differential function greater than 15% using a nuclear scan. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to test the associations of specific variables with cortical loss. Results: Renal cortical loss was found in 41% of children with high-grade reflux vs 2% of children without reflux. Univariate analysis showed only high-grade reflux and female sex to be independent risk factors. Controlling for age and sex, reflux and initiation of catheterization after 1 year of age are significant risk factors. High bladder pressure and hydronephrosis in the absence of reflux were not associated with cortical loss. Multivariate analysis showed that girls with reflux have a 55-fold increased risk of cortical loss. Conclusion: By limiting the definition of renal deterioration to cortical loss, we identified relevant risk factors: reflux, female sex, and delayed initiation of clean intermittent catheterization. We have also discounted other suspected risk factors: hydronephrosis and elevated bladder pressure. Rather than continuing our focus on hydronephrosis and urodynamics, we believe more research and management debate should be afforded to females with reflux.
The effect of a programme of organised and supervised peer support on the initiation and duration of breastfeeding: a randomised trial.

BACKGROUND Peer support may improve breastfeeding rates but the evidence is inconclusive. Previous studies and reviews recommend trials in different healthcare settings. AIM To test if a specified programme of peer support affects the initiation and/or the duration of breastfeeding. DESIGN OF STUDY A two-group randomised controlled trial of peer support for breastfeeding with evaluation of breastfeeding initiation and duration on an intention-to-treat basis. SETTING General practice in Ayrshire, Scotland. METHOD Following informed consent, 225 women at 28 weeks gestation were allocated to control or peer support group by post-recruitment concealed allocation. All peer support and control group mothers received normal professional breastfeeding support. Additionally, those in the peer support group still breastfeeding on return home from hospital had peer support until 16 weeks. RESULTS Thirty-five of the 112 (31%) women in the peer support group were breastfeeding at 6 weeks compared to 33/113 (29%) in the control group, a difference of 2% (95% confidence interval = -10% to 14%). The median breastfeeding duration for all women in the peer support group was 2 days compared to 1 day for the control group and the Kaplan-Meier survival plot shows the peer support group overall breastfeeding slightly longer than the control group, with no statistically significant difference by logrank test (P = 0.5). The median breastfeeding duration among primagravidae in the peer support group was 7 days, compared to 3 days for the control group. Among women who started to breastfeed the medians were 72 days in the peer support group and 56 days in the control group. These differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Peer support did not increase breastfeeding in this population by a statistically significant amount.
Understanding traffic crash under-reporting: Linking police and medical records to individual and crash characteristics

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aligns to the body of research dedicated to estimating the underreporting of road crash injuries and adds the perspective of understanding individual and crash factors contributing to the decision to report a crash to the police, the hospital, or both. Method: This study focuses on road crash injuries that occurred in the province of Funen, Denmark, between 2003 and 2007 and were registered in the police, the hospital, or both authorities. Underreporting rates are computed with the capture–recapture method, and the probability for road crash injuries in police records to appear in hospital records (and vice versa) is estimated with joint binary logit models. Results: The capture–recapture analysis shows high underreporting rates of road crash injuries in Denmark and the growth of underreporting not only with the decrease in injury severity but also with the involvement of cyclists (reporting rates of about 14% for serious injuries and 7% for slight injuries) and motorcyclists (reporting rates of about 35% for serious injuries and 10% for slight injuries). Model estimates show that the likelihood of appearing in both data sets is positively related to helmet and seat belt use, number of motor vehicles involved, alcohol involvement, higher speed limit, and females being injured. Conclusions: This study adds significantly to the literature about underreporting by recognizing that understanding the heterogeneity in the reporting rate of road crashes may lead to devising policy measures aimed at increasing the reporting rate by targeting specific road user groups (e.g., males, young road users) or specific situational factors (e.g., slight injuries, arm injuries, leg injuries, weekend).
How do Hedge Fund "Stars" Create Value? Evidence fr om Their Daily Trades

I use transaction-level data to investigate the mag nitude and source of hedge funds' equity trading profits. Bootstrap simulations indicate tha t the trading profits of the top 10% of hedge funds cannot be explained by luck. Similarly, super ior performance persists. Outperforming hedge funds tend to be short-term contrarians with small price impacts, and their profits are concentrated over short holding periods and in thei r more contrarian trades. Further, I find that performance persistence is significantly stronger f or contrarian funds with small price impacts. My findings suggest that liquidity provision is an important channel through which outperforming hedge funds persistently create value . * Gatton College of Business and Economics, Universi ty of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506. Email: russell.jame@uky.edu. This paper was previously cir culated under the title: “How Skilled are Hedge Fun ds? Evidence from Their Daily Trades”. I would like to hank Allison Keane, Marsha Tracer, and ANcerno Ltd . for providing institutional trading data. I thank Danie l Moevius for excellent research assistance. I also thank Adam Aiken, Steve Dimmock, Will Gerken, Clifton Green, B young-Hyoun Hwang, Jay Shanken, Yue Tang, and Rob Tumarkin, as well as seminar participants at Massey University (Albany), Massey University (Manawatu), Temple University, the University of Georgia, the Universi ty of Kentucky, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Technology Sydney, for helpful commen ts. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre at Singapore Manageme nt University.
The breakdown of urea in cats not secreting gastric juice.

The presence of urease in suspensions of the gastric mucosae of dogs, cats, sheep, and bullocks, was first established by Luck (1924). Rigoni (1930), Martin (1932), Cardin (1933), Hollan (1947), Fossel (1947) and Glick (1949) showed the enzyme to be present also in human stomachs. FitzGerald (1946) claimed to have enzyme
Contraceptive counselling of women seeking abortion – a qualitative interview study of health professionals’ experiences

Abstract Objectives: A substantial proportion of women who undergo an abortion continue afterwards without switching to more effective contraceptive use. Many subsequently have repeat unintended pregnancies. This study, therefore, aimed to identify and describe health professionalś experiences of providing contraceptive counselling to women seeking an abortion. Methods: We interviewed 21 health professionals (HPs), involved in contraceptive counselling of women seeking abortion at three differently sized hospitals in Sweden. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Results: Three clusters were identified: ‘Complex counselling’, ‘Elements of counselling’ and ‘Finding a method’. HPs often experienced consultations including contraceptive counselling at the time of an abortion as complex, covering both pregnancy termination and contraceptive counselling. Women with vulnerabilities placed even greater demands on the HPs providing counselling. The HPs varied in their approaches when providing contraceptive counselling but also in their knowledge about certain contraception methods. HPs described challenges in finding out if women had found an effective method and in the practicalities of arranging intrauterine device (IUD) insertion post-abortion, when a woman asked for this method. Conclusions: HPs found it challenging to provide contraceptive counselling at the time of an abortion and to arrange access to IUDs post-abortion. There is a need to improve their counselling, their skills and their knowledge to prevent repeat unintended pregnancies.
Differential Time to Positivity and Quantitative Cultures for Noninvasive Diagnosis of Catheter-Related Blood Stream Infection in Children

Background: Accurate diagnosis of catheter-related blood stream infection (CRBSI) is necessary to make a decision about removal of the catheter. Differential time to positivity (DTP) and the ratio of quantitative cultures (RQC) between central and peripheral blood cultures have not been evaluated against a strict standard in children, namely catheter tip culture. Objective: Our aim is to compare DTP and RQC in the diagnosis of catheter tip-confirmed catheter-related infection in children. Method: Prospective study performed in 2 large hospitals in Santiago, Chile. Children with clinically suspected CRBSI had 2 peripheral and central vein blood samples obtained for automated culture in Bact/Alert and for quantitative cultures in 5% sheep blood agar plate. The catheter tip was cultured. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, likelihood ratios (LR), and accuracy of DTP and RQC were compared against catheter tip-confirmed CRBSI. Results: During a 3-year period, 344 clinically suspected CRBSIs were diagnosed in children of which 124 episodes met study criteria. Catheter tip culture-confirmed CRBSI in 25 (20%) of 124 episodes. A total of 34 microorganisms were cultured from 25 CRBSI; 8 of 25 (32%) episodes were polymicrobial. Staphylococcus aureus followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococcus were the most common microorganisms. For CRBSI, DTP and RQC reached a sensitivity of 75% versus 24% (P < 0.001), specificity of 86 versus 94%, positive predictive value of 58% versus 50%, negative predictive value of 93% versus 82%, LR of 5.48 versus 4.50, and accuracy of 0.84 versus 0.79. Conclusions: In children, DTP was better than RQC for diagnosis of catheter tip-confirmed CRBSI.
Errors in judging “offside” in association football: Test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis

Abstract The objective of this study was to analyse the correctness of the offside judgements of the assistant referees during the final round of the FIFA 2002 World Cup. We also contrasted two hypotheses to explain the errors in judging offside. The optical error hypothesis is based on an incorrect viewing angle, while the flash-lag hypothesis refers to perceptual errors associated with the flash-lag effect (i.e. a moving object is perceived as spatially leading its real position at a discrete instant signalled by a briefly flashed stimulus). Across all 64 matches, 337 offsides were analysed using digital video technology. The error percentage was 26.2%. During the first 15 min match period, there were significantly more errors (38.5%) than during any other 15 min interval. As predicted by the flash-lag effect, we observed many more flag errors (86.6%) than non-flag errors (13.4%). Unlike the predictions of the optical error hypothesis, there was no significant difference between the correct and incorrect decisions in terms of the positioning of the assistant referees relative to the offside line (0.81 and 0.77 m ahead, respectively). To reduce the typical errors in judging offside, alternative ways need to be considered to teach assistant referees to better deal with flash-lag effects.
Effects of caffeine in non‐withdrawn volunteers

Evidence for the behavioural effects of caffeine is prevalent in the literature. It is associated with increased subjective alertness, improved reaction time and enhanced encoding of new information. However, there is an on‐going debate as to whether such changes are in fact improvements or merely a reversal of the negative effects of caffeine withdrawal. Using participants who had consumed their normal daily quota of caffeine this study alleviated this potential confound as all participants were not withdrawn at the time of testing.