Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Business students' conceptions of sustainability

In the field of higher education, the role of sustainability is increasingly seen as an important capability of successful graduates, one of a group of higher-level dispositions that is particularly important for students’ future professional roles. Discussion of sustainability often assumes that all participants understand the term in the same way, and different understandings can make meaningful dialogue difficult. This article presents an empirical investigation of the ways in which students from a business faculty at a large metropolitan university view sustainability in the specific context of their tertiary education. While some students viewed the notion in quite naive ways—for example, the idea of ‘keeping themselves going’—others talked about much broader views incorporating ideas of inter-generational justice. Investigation of such views provides important evidence for dialogue on sustainability with the next generation of professional leaders in business.
Complex Multifactorial Nature of Significant Hyperbilirubinemia in Neonates

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), uridine-diphosphoglucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1), and hepatic solute carrier organic anion transporter 1B1 (SLCO1B1) gene variants occur at greater frequency in neonates with significant hyperbilirubinemia. METHODS: Infants with gestational ages of ≥37 weeks and ages of <7 days were studied. Case subjects had ≥1 bilirubin level above the 95th percentile (high-risk zone), whereas control subjects had bilirubin levels of <40th percentile (low-risk zone) at study entry. RESULTS: A total of 153 case subjects (median bilirubin level: 15.7 mg/dL) and 299 control subjects (median bilirubin level: 4.6 mg/dL) were evaluated. There were no statistical differences in the frequencies of G6PD, UGT1A1, and SCLO1B1 gene variants between case and control subjects (G6PD: 5.2% vs 3.3%; UGT1A1: 14.4% vs 9.4%; SLCO1B1: 73.2% vs 73.6%). However, coexpression of the G6PD African A− mutation with UGT1A1 and/or SLCO1B1 variants was seen more frequently for case subjects. Case subjects more often demonstrated ≥2 factors contributing to hyperbilirubinemia, including ABO blood group heterospecificity in which the mother had blood group O (47.7% vs 11.4%), positive direct Coombs test results (33.3% vs 4%), sibling treated with phototherapy (16.3% vs 5.4%), maternal circulating blood group antibodies (10.5 vs 0.7%), maternal diabetes mellitus (13.1% vs 6.4%), and maternal East Asian ethnicity (6.5% vs 1.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical contributors to hyperbilirubinemia were identified more frequently for case subjects but individually G6PD, UGT1A1, and SLCO1B1 variants were not. Coexpression of the G6PD African A− mutation with UGT1A1 and SLCO1B1 variants was seen more often for case subjects.
INTEGRATION OF GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKETS: AN EMPIRICAL EXPLORATION

It is generally argued that with lifting of barriers to the flow of capital across countries by respective governments, the capital markets have come closer and are now more integrated. This paper examines the existence (or absence) of integration among stock indices of 11 developed and emerging stock markets from three continents: Asia, Europe and America. Using synchronous weekly closing index values from November, 1990 through December, 2001, the study found that all the 11 stock markets are cointegrated. The cointegration analysis was carried out using an error correction vector autoregression (VECM) model. The study goes further to test whether there are any causal relationships among the indices and has used a hitherto empirically untested methodology to explore the causal relationships. Results show that capital market indices from European countries and the USA are not Granger caused by any index. On the other hand, causality effects are much pronounced in Asian capital markets. The capital market in Hong Kong "leads" the other markets in Asia. This learning would help fund managers in managing their exposure in Asian capital markets. The regulators may use the causality results to identify the markets driving movements in a country's capital market and take corrective measures.
Serum alpha-fetoprotein measurement in predicting clinical outcome related to autologous cytokine-induced killer cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergone minimally invasive therapy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving potentially curative minimally invasive therapy, autologous cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells were used to reduce recurrence. In this study we observed the changes in serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) after the treatment with CIK cells to explore if AFP could serve as a marker for predicting immunotherapeutic clinical outcome. METHODS A total of 122 patients with HCC and elevated AFP (>25 ng/mL) received a curative treatment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus radiofrequency ablation (RFA) at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Of these patients, 83 patients without residual tumor or extrahepatic metastasis and with AFP level less than 1.5 times the normal range (AFP<37.5 ng/mL) were randomly assigned to the study group (n=42) and the control group (n=41). In the study group, CIK cells were transfused intravenously or via common hepatic arteries every week for at least 4 times, and the T-lymphocyte subset data before and after CIK cell infusions was examined by flow cytometry. All the two groups of patients were screened by tomography every 2 months to observe tumor recurrence. Serum AFP was collected at baseline and at different time points after treatment in parallel with radiologic response and clinical outcome. RESULTS Two patients in the control group were lost to follow-up after treatment. After CIK cell infusions, the downtrend of the AFP level was observed in the study group and not in the control group. There was a significant difference in the level of AFP between different time points after CIK infusions in both groups. The 1-year recurrence rate was 7.14% for the study group and 23.1% for the control group (P=0.044). In subgroup analysis, for patients with a slightly high level of AFP (25 ng/mL<AFP<37.5 ng/mL) after curative TACE plus RFA treatment, the 1-year recurrence rate was 28.57% for the study group and 80% for the control group. The time to recurrence in the study group was also longer than that in the control group (mean 10.2 months vs. 6.8 months). After CIK cell infusions, the percent of CD3+CD4+ T cells and CD4+ /CD8+ T cells increased from 28.1+/-5.9% and 0.9+/-0.3% to 32.7+/-3.6% and 1.2+/-0.2% (P<0.001 and=0.004, respectively), while the percent of CD3+CD8+ T cells decreased from 32.9+/-8.4% to 28.8+/-2.2% (P=0.046). Also the percentage of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA content less than 1x10(3) copies/mL was 73.5% in the study group and 9.1% in the control group. CONCLUSIONS CIK cells transfusion may reduce the level of serum AFP and anti-HBV and decrease the 1-year recurrence rate of patients with HCC after curative TACE plus RFA. Serum AFP decrease after CIK cell treatment may serve as a useful marker for predicting immunotherapy clinical outcome in patients with HCC undergone curative minimally invasive therapy.
Economics of insecticides usage among cowpea farmers in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

This study carried out an economics of insecticides usage among cowpea farmers in Kaduna State. Specifically, the study estimated insecticides marginal productivity; the degree of response of demand for insecticides to changes in its prices and the return to cowpea production due to insecticides usage. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 150 cowpea farmers who used insecticides in controlling pest in cowpea production in the study area. Information collected includes those of inputs quantities and prices as well as quantity of cowpea output and its farm prices. The logistic specification of the damage control model and its corresponding demand function were used to estimate insecticides marginal productivity and the degree of demand’s response to changes in insecticides prices respectively. A budgetary analytical model was used to estimate the return to cowpea production. The study showed that insecticide marginal value product was N310.06 and the ratio of MVP to insecticide price was 0.48. This is an indication that insecticides were not efficiently utilized. The demand elasticities for the various insecticides were greater than unity indicating that demand for insecticides used in cowpea production in the area studied was own price elastic. The study also found that a return of N787.52 per hectare was obtained due to insecticide usage.
A comparison of the efficacy and safety of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma

Since its development in the early 1950% glucocorticosteroid (GCS) therapy has been an important and often life-saving form of therapy in patients with severe asthma. The long-term use of systemic GCS therapy is, however, limited by major unwanted effects These include adrenal suppresdion, adverse changes in skin, bone and other connective tissues, and growth impairment in children. The severe systemic side-effects of long-term oral GCS therapy stimulated the development of GCS preparations that could be inhaled, in the hope of achieving a local effect in the lungs without a significant risk of unwanted systemic effects The initial inhaled therapy with compounds such as dexamethasone proved disappointing because the GCSs used had inadequate topical potency, and they were not rapidly metabolised to inactive compounds by the liver. The balance of wanted and unwanted effects changed greatly when the topically potent inhaled GCSs such as beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) and budesonide (BUD) were introduced. This shows especially where high firstpass metabolism to inactive compounds in the liver has been demonstrated, as with BUD and fluticasone propionate (FP). The high safety margin of inhaled therapy with GCSs has encouraged an increasingly widespread use of these compounds in patients with moderate to severe asthma over the past 20 years Many S. Pedersen', P. O'Byme2
Mechanic’s hands and hiker’s feet in antisynthetase syndrome

A previously healthy 64-year-old man presented to hospital after five weeks of progressive shortness of breath on exertion, proximal muscle weakness, symmetric polyar-thralgias in the hands, and thickening of the skin over both palms and soles ([Figure 1][1]). He had substantial hyperkeratosis over
Income dynamics in Tamil Nadu, India from 1971 to 2003: changing roles of land and human capital

This article examines the changing role of physical and human capital in income dynamics in Tamil Nadu, India, using detailed daily records of farming households from 1971 to 2003. We find that income growth until the early 1990s is attributed to the rice Green Revolution and the associated development of nonrice farm sector. Further growth after the 1990s became possible due to the rapid nonfarm sector development that has been stimulated by the liberalization of Indian economy since 1991. In accordance with this change in income structure, the importance of physical and human capital has changed. Human capital was important in the early 1970s to take advantage of the rice Green Revolution technology. Once the new technology became standard among farmers, human capital became an insignificant factor. The importance of human capital has revived in a different manner in recent years firstly because it has increased farmers' access to nonfarm job opportunities, and secondly because farm management has become more knowledge intensive in the face of increasing scarcity of labor and water. The contribution of physical capital increased during the Green Revolution period, while it started declining after that. The changing mechanism is characterized as the shifting importance from physical to human capital in accordance with the changing engines of income growth from the Green Revolution to the development of nonfarm sector.
MDS and AML with trisomy 8 as the sole chromosome aberration show different sex ratios and prognostic profiles: A study of 115 published cases

A number of chromosome aberrations occur nonrandomly as the sole aberration in malignant and premalignant hematological disorders. They imply very different prognoses. For most of them the survival consequences have been established. For trisomy 8, which is the most frequent numerical aberration in myeloid disorders, the prognostic implications have not been investigated. In order to clarify survival in patients with trisomy 8 as the sole aberration, the literature was searched for such cases. In 115 patients survival data were available. In 103 (89.6%), a myeloid disorder had been diagnosed. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) occurred in 100 cases (87.0%). The median survival was found to be 17.1 months. On multivariate survival analysis (Cox), age above 60 and a leukemic diagnosis were found to be independent adverse prognostic indicators. MDS patients survived significantly longer (median 21 months) than AML patients (median 15 months). In MDS age and in AML the trisomy 8 clonal size was an independent prognostic factor. An unexpected observation was a clear male preponderance in trisomy 8 MDS (about two‐thirds of cases). In trisomy 8 AML an approximate 1:1 ratio was found. Browsing of Mitelman's catalog confirmed these ratios. Am. J. Hematol. 56:224–229, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Regulation of Skin Pigmentation*

Visible pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes depends primarily on the functions of melanocytes, a very minor population of cells that specialize in the synthesis and distribution of the pigmented biopolymer melanin. Melanocytes are derived from precursor cells (called melanoblasts) during embryological development, and melanoblasts destined for the skin originate from the neural crest. The accurate migration, distribution, and functioning of melanoblasts/melanocytes determine the visible phenotype of organisms ranging from simple fungi to the most complex animal species. In human skin, melanocytes are localized at the dermal/epidermal border in a characteristic regularly dispersed pattern. Each melanocyte at the basal layer of the epidermis is functionally connected to underlying fibroblasts in the dermis and to keratinocytes in the overlying epidermis. Those three types of cells are highly interactive and communicate with each other via secreted factors and their receptors and via cell/cell contacts to regulate the function and phenotype of the skin.
Electric vehicle adopters in Lisbon: motivation, utilization patterns and environmental impacts

The introduction of alternative vehicle technologies as a response to pressure regarding fossil fuel dependency in the transportation sector poses several questions regarding their impact on travel and driving behaviour and also on the environment. This project aims to assess electric vehicle users’ motivations, daily patterns and vehicle operation and management. Promoted by EMEL – Lisbon’s mobility and parking municipal company – the project was publicized among Lisbon’s electric vehicle users, who were offered, as an incentive, a green permit which allowed them to park the vehicles for free on the street within the city’s metropolitan central area. Data were gathered over a period of one year from 25 users (private and fleet drivers) through interviews and on-board diaries, comprising a total of 5,132 trips, 49,785 km travelled and a total of 8,529 kWh charged related to 831 charges. The results indicate that environmental and economic (lower running costs) factors are the main drivers for electric vehicle adoption by private users, whereas fleet drivers mention their company’s image as the motive behind the deployment of this technology in fleets. Private users’ energy consumption and CO2 emissions were also estimated. When compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel, electric vehicles reveal considerable reductions in both energy consumption and CO2 emissions in a Well-to-Wheel life cycle approach. These decreases are between 35–43% for energy consumption and 58–63% for CO2 emissions.
The impact of exponential smoothing forecasts on the bullwhip effect

An important phenomenon often observed in supply chain management, known as the bullwhip effect, implies that demand variability increases as one moves up the supply chain, i.e., as one moves away from customer demand. In this paper we quantify this effect for simple, two-stage, supply chains consisting of a single retailer and a single manufacturer. We demonstrate that the use of an exponential smoothing forecast by the retailer can cause the bullwhip effect and contrast these results with the increase in variability due to the use of a moving average forecast. We consider two types of demand processes, a correlated demand process and a demand process with a linear trend. We then discuss several important managerial insights that can be drawn from this research. c 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 47: 269{286, 2000
The analysis of grounding system under lightning surge currents

A simulation model based on finite-element method is presented to analyze the soil ionization phenomenon around the grounding system under the impulse current. In this method, The non-linear characteristic of soil under an accidental short circuit or a stroke of lightning is taken into account by setting the resistivity of soil element varying with the electric field intensity of every element; open boundaries of earth environment are processed by introducing a spatial transformation. Meanwhile, the simulation impulse experiments are carried out on a real small grounding system. The suggested modeling is validated by compare the calculated results with experimental tests results and simulations results found in literature.
The Irrelevance of the Mm Dividend Irrelevance Theorem

Contrary to Miller and Modigliani (1961), payout policy is not irrelevant and investment policy is not the sole determinant of value, even in frictionless markets. MM ask "Do companies with generous distribution policies consistently sell at a premium above those with niggardly payouts? " But MM's analysis does not address this question because the joint effect of their assumptions is to mandate 100% free cash flow payout in every period, thereby rendering "niggardly payouts" infeasible and forcing distributions to a global optimum. Irrelevance obtains, but in an economically vacuous sense because the firm's opportunity set is artificially constrained to payout policies that fully distribute free cash flow. When MM's assumptions are relaxed to allow retention, payout policy matters in exactly the same sense that investment policy does. Moreover, (i) the standard Fisherian model is empirically refutable, predicting that firms will make large payouts in present value terms, (ii) only when payout policy is optimized will the present value of distributions equal the PV of project cash flows, (iii) the NPV rule for investments is not sufficient to ensure value maximization, rather an analogous rule for payout policy is also necessary, and (iv) Fischer Black's (1976) "dividend puzzle" is a non-puzzle because it is rooted in the mistaken idea that MM's irrelevance theorem applies to payout/retention decisions, which it does not.
Transportation, Telecommunication and Economic Development in Pakistan

Transport and communication sector are the two major sectors of any economy having significant influence on economic growth through enhancing economies of scale in the production process and by connecting people. Present study aspires by inspecting the influence of transportation and communication on economic development using Solow growth model. For that purpose, the authors have gathered time series data for the periods from 1972 to 2010. Autoregressive models are drawn on as an estimation technique for reliable results. The research has come across with the causal association between two sets of variables like; Capital and GDP; and Telecommunication and GDP. Findings uncover Capital and Transportation (roads km) as the dynamics establishing encouraging for the economic development of Pakistan. While Communication (telephone line) has deduced as the aspect depressing economic development. It is proposed that Govt. should provide training programs to educate the labor in terms of technical skills.
Presidents and the Prospective Voter

The economy being the key to presidential popularity, what is the economic intelligence inspiring the approval judgments of American voters? According to one school of thought, the public relies on the current performance of the economy (the retrospective voter), while a rival makes the case for expectations about the future economy (the prospective voter). I conduct a time-series analysis combining consumer surveys and presidential approval polls (1960-1993). The results unequivocally reject the prospective claim and confirm the retrospective one. Depending on the measure used, economic expectations either prove too sensitive to political interventions (change in the White House, wars, and scandals) to shape presidential approval; or else, economic expectations do no more than encapsulate information about the current state of the economy. The research bears out the wisdom and the fairness of the retrospective calculus. To judge a president's performance in office is not a question about things to come but about things done.
PRICE IMPACTS OF BLOCK TRADING ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

IN AN EFFICIENT market, prices reflect underlying values. This insures the proper allocation of new funds to the most productive areas of the economy. Additionally, individual investors benefit by knowing that prices at which they trade are not subject to forces which have little or nothing to do with the underlying value of the company. Extensive empirical tests which tend to support the efficiency of the stock market have been carried out in the past. ' Until recently, however, no tests have been carried out to assess directly the impact of institutional investors on the efficiency of the stock market.2 The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which block trading by institutional investors contributes to or detracts from efficient markets. A block trade can be defined as a transaction involving a larger number of shares than can readily be handled in the normal course of the auction market.
Participatory and Integrated Management of Biosphere Reserves Lessons from Case Studies and a Global Survey

This article investigates if the recommendations provided in the statutory documents of the UNESCO MAB (Man and Biosphere) Programme introducing the World Network of Biosphere Reserves to follow a participatory management approach are implemented in practice. We discuss the results of two different empirical data sets: First, in a global setting we show how and why conservation professionals and managers of biosphere reserves regard partici- pation as one of the most important success factors for manage- ment. Second, these findings are amplified by results from a comparative case study analysis of three biosphere reserves in Finland, Estonia, and Germany. Biosphere reserve centres have the potential of becoming parallel learning organisations foster- ing participatory management across all relevant sectors at the specific sites. Training and capacity building are necessary pre - requisites for the successful application of participatory methods. Several innovative tools can be applied to involve even larger numbers of people. q r p