Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selegiline: A Reappraisal of Its Role in Parkinson Disease

AbstractSelegiline at the doses used in Parkinson disease is a selective irreversible monoamine oxidase type B inhibitor, which potentiates dopaminergic function in the brain, and is used as monotherapy in early Parkinson disease or in combination with levodopa in more advanced disease. A renewed interest in monoamine oxidase type B inhibitors in the treatment of Parkinson disease has emerged after recent clinical trials of agents in this class.The use of selegiline monotherapy in early Parkinson disease is supported by the results of a large well-controlled trial in 800 patients (DATATOP) and several other studies, which demonstrated a symptomatic benefit, a reduction in disability, and a delay in the need to start levodopa therapy. Administered with levodopa in studies of up to 5 years’ duration in patients with more advanced disease, selegiline improved disease-related disability, reduced the end-of-dose motor fluctuations, and also led to a reduction of the dose and dose frequency of levodopa required.Selegiline was the first drug to be investigated as a possible neuroprotective agent in patients with Parkinson disease, based on preclinical studies indicating protection of dopaminergic neurons from damage. The results of the extensive body of clinical trials, including delayed and lower levodopa requirements, may indeed suggest that selegiline, in addition to conferring symptomatic benefit, may have other effects on disease progression. Selegiline is well tolerated, and initial fears of increased mortality with the drug have not been borne out by subsequent robust meta-analyses.
An Empirical Analysis of Service Orientation and its Impact on Employee Job Performance in Upscale Hotels

This research investigated the service orientation of employees of upscale hotel properties. Employees (N = 355) and supervisors/managers (N = 41) of three full-service hotels located in a large metropolitan market in the Midwest participated. Significant differences were found in the employee empathy and sensitivity components of the Service Orientation Index (SOI). High customer contact employees, as determined by their own self-rating, had significantly higher scores on the sensitivity component of the SOI than employees who rated themselves as having low contact with guests. Results suggested that position-defined contact could predict employee self-rated job performance, but the interaction of the position-defined contact and SOI scores did not moderate employee self-rated job performance. Findings indicated that supervisor/manager ratings of employee job performance cannot be predicted from SOI scores, and the interaction of position-defined contact did not moderate supervisor/manager ratings of employee job performance in predicting service orientation.
Firm-household interrelationships on Dutch dairy farms

In this article an agricultural household model is developed in which production and consumption decisions are non-separable. On the basis of this model the importance of coupling production and consumption decisions is investigated for the Dutch dairy sector both before and after the introduction of a milk quota. Its importance is determined by comparing farm-profit elasticities that are based on both types of decisions with those that are based on production decisions only. It turns out that the differences between these elasticities are quite small. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
15 Choice of Renal Replacement Therapy and Role of Haemodialysis in the Intensive Care Unit Marlies

Renal replacement therapy (RRT) has become an established component of modern critical care. Approximately 60 70% of critically ill patients with severe acute kidney injury (AKI) are treated with RRT which represents ~5% of all intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (Ostermann & Chang, 2008; Uchino et al., 2005). Thirty years ago, intermittent haemodialysis for the critically ill patient with AKI was typically delivered three times weekly using dialysis machines without accurate volumetric control, acetate-based dialysate and unmodified cellulosic membrane dialysers. Peritoneal dialysis was performed with hard catheters and low dwell volumes. Since then, the types of RRT used in ICU and the available kits have advanced significantly. Despite its worldwide use, the practice of RRT is variable. The main reasons are differences in expertise of nursing and medical staff, local availability of machines and lack of robust clinical data to support one technique over another (Pannu et al., 2008). Several important aspects related to the management of RRT, including mode, optimal indications and timing are the focus of ongoing discussion and opposing views.
Small Lodging Operations in Costa Rica

This study examined seven small, randomly selected lodging operations in San Jose, Costa Rica. Managers were interviewed, facilities were toured, and operations were observed using a structured outline. It appears that factors which relate to the success of small lodging operations in San Jose include location, facilities, price, low debt, solid management, market positioning, promotion, advertising, guest-room comfort, service, guest relations, cleanliness, quiet rooms, security, and ambience. Since most managers of small properties have direct control over their facility's key success factors (other than specific location), good management stands out as the most important factor. In this study, good management decisions allowed properties with less-than-prime locations to outperform properties with superior locations.
Optimal Portfolios for the Long Run

There is surprisingly little agreement among academics about the existence of time diversification, which we define as the anomaly where equities become less risky over longer investment periods. This study provides the most thorough analysis of time diversification conducted, using 113 years of historical data from 20 countries (over 2,000 years of total return data). We construct optimal portfolios for 20 different countries based on varying levels of investor risk aversion and time horizons using both overlapping and distinct historical time periods. We find strong historical evidence to support the notion that a higher allocation to equities is optimal for investors with longer time horizons, and that the time diversification effect is relatively consistent across countries and that it persists for different levels of risk aversion. We also note that the time diversification effect increased throughout the 20th century despite evidence of a declining risk premium. Although time diversification has been criticized as inconsistent with market efficiency, our empirical results suggest that the superior performance of equities over longer time horizons exists across global equity markets and time periods.
The effect of the great recession on foreign direct investment: global empirical evidence with a gravity approach

This article estimates the effect of the present global systemic banking crisis on foreign direct investment (FDI) using the gravity equation on a sample of 161 countries over the period 2003 to 2010. Systemic banking crises, through demand shocks and credit constraints, may impact FDI in two ways: aggregate monetary flows and individual projects count. Since gravity equations account for output variations, our research relies on the financial constraints channel. We find that the great recession, through credit constraints on home supply markets, has reduced the number of FDI projects, but not their size, forcing investors to become more selective on their international endeavours.
Why is the World Short of Democracy? A Cross-Country Analysis of Barriers to Representative Government

This study first uses a set of graphs and tables to present the pattern of democracy in the world, using the Gastil Index. Then a statistical analysis is conducted by two techniques: Regression techniques are used to analyze the effect on democracy of a handful of variables. It shows that poverty, Communism and the Muslim culture are the main barriers to democracy. It then uses Bayesian probability methods to make explicit the concept of the “risk” of countries being ndemocratic. The analysis focuses on the dynamics of the income effect and of the democratic deficit of the Muslim countries to see if it is stationary or transitory. It is unstable, so it may be transitory, but it has been rising.
Public Information Arrival

The authors develop a measure of public information flow to financial markets and use it to document the patterns of information arrival, with an emphasis on the intraday flows. The measure is the number of news releases by Reuter's News Service per unit of time. The authors find that public information arrival is nonconstant, displaying seasonalities and distinct intraday patterns. Next they relate their measure of public information to aggregate measures of intraday market activity. The authors' results suggest a positive, moderate relationship between public information and trading volume but an insignificant relationship with price volatility. Copyright 1994 by American Finance Association.
Trade Diversity and Stages of Development–Evidence on EU Countries

The paper presents the dynamics of trade diversification with respect to stages of development in the European context. The analysis focuses on EU27 countries observed across the years 1988–2010 and compared to a sample of 136 international economies at all levels of income per capita. We will use product level statistics (six digit HS0) and confront export and import patterns of absolute diversification/concentration. The results show that in line with \‘stages of diversification\’ approach [Imbs and Wacziarg, 2003], EU27 countries are characterized by a high degree of trade diversity (on average, EU27 countries export 78% and import 90% of goods effectively exported and imported at the world level) and within the analyzed period most of them registered a reconcentration of trade structures. Obtained estimation results confirm a positive relationship between trade diversity and economic development levels (conditional mainly upon the size of the country) with a possibility of reconcentration at higher stages of development (observable in nonparametric estimates).
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus ORF57 Functions as a Viral Splicing Factor and Promotes Expression of Intron-Containing Viral Lytic Genes in Spliceosome-Mediated RNA Splicing

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) ORF57 facilitates the expression of both intronless viral ORF59 genes and intron-containing viral K8 and K8.1 genes (V. Majerciak, N. Pripuzova, J. P. McCoy, S. J. Gao, and Z. M. Zheng, J. Virol. 81:1062-1071, 2007). In this study, we showed that disruption of ORF57 in a KSHV genome led to increased accumulation of ORF50 and K8 pre-mRNAs and reduced expression of ORF50 and K-bZIP proteins but had no effect on latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). Cotransfection of ORF57 and K8β cDNA, which retains a suboptimal intron of K8 pre-mRNA due to alternative splicing, promoted RNA splicing of K8β and production of K8α (K-bZIP). Although Epstein-Barr virus EB2, a closely related homolog of ORF57, had a similar activity in the cotransfection assays, herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP27 was inactive. This enhancement of RNA splicing by ORF57 correlates with the intact N-terminal nuclear localization signal motifs of ORF57 and takes place in the absence of other viral proteins. In activated KSHV-infected B cells, KSHV ORF57 partially colocalizes with splicing factors in nuclear speckles and assembles into spliceosomal complexes in association with low-abundance viral ORF50 and K8 pre-mRNAs and essential splicing components. The association of ORF57 with snRNAs occurs by ORF57-Sm protein interaction. We also found that ORF57 binds K8β pre-mRNAs in vitro in the presence of nuclear extracts. Collectively our data indicate that KSHV ORF57 functions as a novel splicing factor in the spliceosome-mediated splicing of viral RNA transcripts.
Are Debt and Incentive Compensation Substitutes in Controlling the Free Cash Flow Agency Problem

This paper investigates the governance implications of a firm's capital structure and managerial incentive compensation in controlling the free cash flow agency problem. The results suggest: debt and executive stock options act as substitutes in attenuating a firm's free cash flow problem; failure to incorporate the substitutability and endogeneity leads to underestimates of the magnitude and economic implication of the disciplinary role of both mechanisms; firm characteristics differ across the prevalence of debt usage versus option usage, suggesting the heterogeneity in the costs and benefits of the monitoring devices; and all the above effects are more pronounced in firms that tend to have more severe agency problem.
Predictors of discharge to home during the first year after right hemisphere stroke

Objectives – The aim of this study was to explore predictive factors of the length of hospital stay at the acute stage of right hemisphere stroke. Special attention was paid to the possible role of anosognosia for hemiparesis and anosognosia for neglect in this prediction. Patients and methods– A consecutive series of 57 patients having their first right hemisphere stroke were examined at the acute phase. Forty‐nine patients were included in this study and followed‐up for 12 months. The examinations were conducted within 2 weeks of onset. The outcome variable was the time (days) from stroke to discharge to home. The predictors were age, gender, size of infarct, neglect, hemiparesis, verbal memory, unawareness of illness, anosognosia for neglect, anosognosia for hemiparesis and presence of a relative at home. Results– Hemiparesis and unawareness of illness lengthened the duration of the hospital stay, the presence of a relative reduced it. Neglect was the best single predictor of poor outcome, but it had no additional value in the combination of the three predictors above. Neither anosognosia for hemiparesis nor anosognosia for neglect were important predictors. Conclusion– Hemiparesis, unawareness of illness and presence of a relative at home were the best predictors of the time from right hemisphere stroke to discharge to home.
Corporate governance in an emergent economy: a case of Ghana

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine corporate governance practices in an emerging economy. It focusses on how ownership control and board control systems operate in corporate organisations in an emergent economy, assuming that these systems are essential for enhancing good corporate governance practices in emerging countries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on descriptive multiple-case study with multiple units of analysis to divulge how ownership control and board control systems function to ensuring effective corporate governance in publicly listed corporate organisations in Ghana. A criterion-based sampling technique is used to select the companies. Thereafter, three techniques of data collection are used to gather data from the companies: archival records, semi-structured interviews and observation. Findings – By linking the gathered data to the paper’s theoretical propositions, the study highlights that all the companies are characterised by the presence of large sharehol.
TEER Measurement Techniques for In Vitro Barrier Model Systems

Transepithelial/transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) is a widely accepted quantitative technique to measure the integrity of tight junction dynamics in cell culture models of endothelial and epithelial monolayers. TEER values are strong indicators of the integrity of the cellular barriers before they are evaluated for transport of drugs or chemicals. TEER measurements can be performed in real time without cell damage and generally are based on measuring ohmic resistance or measuring impedance across a wide spectrum of frequencies. The measurements for various cell types have been reported with commercially available measurement systems and also with custom-built microfluidic implementations. Some of the barrier models that have been widely characterized using TEER include the blood–brain barrier (BBB), gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and pulmonary models. Variations in these values can arise due to factors such as temperature, medium formulation, and passage number of cells. The aim of this article is to review the different TEER measurement techniques and analyze their strengths and weaknesses, determine the significance of TEER in drug toxicity studies, examine the various in vitro models and microfluidic organs-on-chips implementations using TEER measurements in some widely studied barrier models (BBB, GI tract, and pulmonary), and discuss the various factors that can affect TEER measurements.
Loss Function Assumptions in Rational Expectations Tests on Financial Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

Prior research concludes that financial analysts do not process public information efficiently in generating their earnings forecasts. The OLS regression-based tests used in prior studies assume implicitly that analysts face a quadratic loss function. In contrast, we argue that analysts likely face a linear loss function, and hence, try to minimize their absolute forecast errors. We conduct and compare rational expectations tests using these two alternative loss functions. We reproduce most prior findings of forecast inefficiency with OLS regressions, but find virtually no evidence of forecast inefficiency with Least Absolute Deviation regressions, where we explicitly assume a linear loss function.
Use of child booster seats in motor vehicles following a community campaign: a controlled trial.

CONTEXT Once children have outgrown car seats, booster seats protect from injury better than lap and shoulder belts alone. However, the majority of children aged 4 to 8 years use only an adult seat belt. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a multifaceted community booster seat campaign in increasing observed booster seat use among child passengers in motor vehicles. DESIGN Prospective, nonrandomized, controlled community intervention trial. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The campaign was initiated in 4 communities in the greater Seattle, Wash, area between January 2000 and March 2001. Eight communities in Portland, Ore, and Spokane, Wash, served as control sites. We observed 3609 booster-eligible children (those aged 4-8 years and weighing 18-36 kg [40-80 lb]). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Observed booster seat use 15 months after the start of the campaign. RESULTS Before the campaign began, 13.3% of eligible children in the intervention communities and 17.3% in the control communities were using booster seats, adjusting for child age, driver seat belt use, and sex of driver. Fifteen months after the start of the campaign, adjusted booster seat use had increased to 26.1% in the intervention communities and 20.2% in the control communities (P =.008 for the difference in time trends between intervention and control communities). CONCLUSION These data suggest that a multifaceted community education campaign can significantly increase the use of child booster seats.
Empirical evidence on opportunity recognition behaviours of informal traders

This study provides empirical evidence on the nature of entrepreneurship in the informal sector. By interrogating opportunity recognition behaviour, motives for start-ups and perceptions of community support, better understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset is achieved. Informal traders were surveyed in a wide range of businesses of varying age and size. Results suggest that opportunity recognition behaviours are mixed and these informal traders are motivated by a variety of reasons for business start-ups. Additionally many respondents find community norms not to be suitable to entrepreneurial activity. Moreover, business size, but not age, accounts for significant variation across the study variables. Customised interventions are recommended, where informal businesses can be formalised and expanded, to enable them to take full advantage of opportunities. Implications are that as part of government’s initiative to enhance the skills of informal traders, policies should encourage the development of specific behavioural skills of which opportunity recognition is central. Key words: Informal sector, entrepreneurship, new firms, start-up motives, South Africa.
Women's struggles to access and control land and livelihoods after fast track land reform in Mwenezi District, Zimbabwe

Women's access to land and the shaping of livelihoods after fast track land reform should be viewed with a new social and economic lens in Zimbabwe. This paper examines the extent to which negotiations and bargaining by women with the family, state, and traditional actors has proved to be useful in accessing land in one semi-arid district, Mwenezi, in southern Zimbabwe. Based on multi-site ethnography, it shows the complex and innovative ways women adopted in accessing land and shaping non-permanent mobile livelihoods. I challenge the assumption that Western notions of individual rights to land are the best mechanisms for women in Africa; rather it is the negotiated and bargaining processes that exist in patriarchal structures that lead to cultural contracts enabling women's land access. Off-farm activities involving trading in South Africa became a major activity undertaken by the women. Trips to South Africa intensified due to land acquisition, leading to new market searches beyond national borders. The role of collective action and women's agency in overcoming the challenges associated with trading in South Africa is examined within the ambit of the livelihoods analysis.
Adding value: investigating the discourse of professionalism adopted by vocational teachers in further education colleges

This article is set in the broad context of debates about the nature of professionalism, in particular the professionalism of teachers in the post‐compulsory sector. The focus is on teachers of vocational subjects in further education (FE) in England and on their perceptions of their role and work in preparing their learners for employment. In the context of recent changes to the vocational education curriculum, we sought to ascertain how well they believed they were able to do this work and what constraints and opportunities they experienced in the college. Semi‐structured interviews were carried out with 22 respondents, drawn from a range of five colleges. All were teachers of either engineering, health and social care, or hospitality and catering. Data analysis involved the identification of key narratives that were used by the respondents to support a discourse (Parker, 1990) of professionalism in vocational teaching. Four frequently occurring narratives are identified, including the need to ‘add value’ or go beyond the syllabus in particular ways (e.g. to enhance theoretical understanding or to achieve job satisfaction as teachers). The ways in which these narratives position both vocational teachers and employers are discussed (for example, the positioning of vocational teachers as more concerned than employers with the development and well‐being of the ‘whole person’). Some of the implications of the teachers' discourse for policy and practice in vocational education are briefly considered.