Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Matching, Quality, and Comparative Advantage: A Unified Theory of Heterogeneous Firm Trade

This paper develops a model of the two-sided heterogeneity of firms engaging in international trade. The central facts on exporting firms, importing firms, and prices of traded goods are explained in the first unified framework from the assortative matching of firms by quality, fixed trade costs, and Ricardian comparative advantage. The model explains the previously puzzling fact that even firms not using imported intermediates improves productivity after liberalization of intermediates, demonstrates a new mechanism of productivity gains from liberalization through resource reallocation toward some productive nonglobalized firms, and shows an unexplored impact of trade on inequality among nonglobalized firms. (100 words) ∗I am grateful to Donald Davis for his constant encouragement. I also thank Ronald Findlay, Amit Khandelwal, Eric Verhoogen, Jonathan Vogel, and David Weinstein for their helpful discussions, and JaeBin Ahn, Kyle Bagwell, Takakazu Honryo, Jota Ishikawa, Alexander McQuoid, Hitoshi Sato, Guru Sethupathy, Hitoshi Shigeoka, Kensuke Teshima, Catherine Thomas, and seminar participants at Boston College, Columbia University, Erasmus University, Hitotsubashi University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Stockholm School of Economics, and Waseda University for their comments. This research received financial supports from the Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Foundation and the Tore Browaldhs Foundation. †Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden;Tel: +46-8-736-9254; E-mail:yoichi.sugita@hhs.se
Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on Information Technology

Imagine thinking about your company's information technology in the same way that you think about its investment portfolio: as a bundle of assets that--when managed right--will generate revenues and savings. Here's just such a framework for leveraging IT (technology, networks, data, and software)--one that enables business managers to make the important decisions about the potentially confounding mix of high-technology that influences near- and long-term planning, affects the ability to support customers, and dictates the flow of daily operations. Drawing upon their rigorous research with more than 100 top multinationals, the authors present a rich and varied range of examples of IT investment strategies that have reaped rewards for firms such as Citibank, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Ralston Purina, the Development Bank of Singapore, and Telstra. This hands-on resource, compete with benchmarks and case studies, creates the common ground where both management and IT can meet, communicate their goals, and agree on the best plan for getting there.
Reaching out to the African American community through innovative strategies.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's African American Cancer Program, including innovative strategies that were used, barriers that were encountered, an evaluation of each component, and future directions and implications. DATA SOURCES Published articles, references from bibliographies, census data, personal contact, unpublished data. DATA SYNTHESIS Cancer morbidity and mortality is higher among African Americans than Caucasians. The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute pilot-tested four interventions to increase awareness, provide education and early detection opportunities, and overcome barriers to cancer care among African Americans. CONCLUSION Constant presence, cultural sensitivity, and repetition are necessary to overcome the barriers to increased awareness and behavioral changes in the African American community. A more formalized evaluation component is necessary to draw definitive conclusions. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE To develop cancer prevention and education programs that meet the unique needs of African Americans, nurses must be aware of barriers and cultural differences.
The impact of culture on own-label brands performance

The performance of own-label brands varies enormously across countries, with high penetration in Western countries but limited success in Eastern countries. The common explanations for this state are related to market factors such as the development of big retailer chains or the power balance between retailers and manufacturers. However, the role of culture has been overlooked to explain this situation. This study aims to provide insights into the impact of culture on own-label brands performance. This thesis formulates and tests a conceptual framework linking Hofstede s (1980, 2001) five cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance & long-term orientation) to retail market development (size of the retail market) and own-label brands performance, controlling for three socio-economic variables: GDP per capita, Gini index and Government expenditure. Relevant literature is reviewed in order to develop hypotheses. The conceptual model is then tested upon a sample of 65 countries, utilising data collected via secondary sources and the application of structural equation modelling techniques. The results of this study indicate that three out of five Hofstede s cultural dimensions, power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance, have a significant impact on retail market development, which in turn, significantly influences own-label brands performance. Moreover, results show that individualism and long-term orientation have a significant direct impact on own-label brands performance. Past studies on this domain are restricted to one or two cultural dimensions and generally involve a limited number of countries. This research therefore pioneers in investigating the five national cultural dimensions across a high number of nations. The findings are important for retailers and may help them to adapt their own-label strategy according to the culture of the nation they are operating in.
What Determines SMEs’ Funding Obstacles to Bank Loans and Trade Credits?

A Comparative Analysis of EU-15 and NMS-13 Countries This paper analyses bank credits and trade loans as the two most important sources of external finance of firms and identifies particular firm and country characteristics that determine the ease with which both external funding sources can be accessed. It focuses on SMEs in EU Member States and uses ECB/EU SAFE microdata, which differentiate between various degrees of external funding constraints. The results show that innovators of both products and processes have a harder time raising sufficient funds from banks. Further, smaller and younger firms and firms that are part of an enterprise are more likely to face stronger obstacles from banks. Moreover, it points to the important role previous bank loan and trade credit histories plays for successful application processes and demonstrates that banks and suppliers respond asymmetrically to changes in a firm’s financial and economic situation. Finally, it points to the importance of the state and structure of a country’s banking sector for successful bank loan and trade credit application processes.
Internal Capital and Investment: Evidence from 2012 Pension Relief

We exploit pension funding relief enacted in 2012 to estimate the effects of a positive shock to internal liquidity on market prices and investment. Measuring unexpected increases in internal liquidity using a priori expected pension contributions disclosed under FAS132R, we report positive market returns around the date of Congressional approval for financially constrained firms and find that weak institutional monitoring attenuates these returns. We estimate the likelihood firms will benefit from reductions in mandatory contributions and find that financially constrained firms increase R&D expenditures in the months following the legislation and increase capital expenditures in the year following the enactment date. Overall, we provide evidence that pension disclosures provided useful information to investors in assessing the benefits of pension relief and our results shed light on the importance of capital adjustment costs for capital expenditures vis-a-vis R&D.
Self-Interest on Mutual Fund Management: Evidence from the Portuguese Market

Institutional investors manage an increasingly substantial share of securities in the developed markets. Previous research has concluded that mutual funds’ clients do have asymmetric reactions, for they increase capital flows to mutual funds that are winners in performance, but fail to move away from performance losers. Such an asymmetric behavior gives the mutual fund manager the opportunity to optimize the fund’s own interests, not the participants’. In this paper we investigate self-interest on Portuguese equity mutual fund management. Our results show that, in Portugal, mutual funds tend to exhibit biased portfolios, i.e., financial assets of the group’s parent company outweigh other financial asset holdings. This cannot be explained by performance, risk or securities' characteristics, and is consistent with the hypothesis of the existence of self-interest on mutual fund management.
Impaired liver cytochrome P450 2C11 activity after dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel in rats

Abstract 1. Aspirin (ASA) and clopidogrel (CLP) are used in combination as dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for acute coronary syndrome based on their complementary mechanisms for platelet aggregation inhibition. However, the pharmacokinetics of such drug combination usage has not been thoroughly investigated. 2. In the current study, an LC–MS/MS method was developed to simultaneously determine the plasma concentrations of ASA and its metabolite salicylic acid (SA) with CLP and its metabolites, clopidogrel carboxylic acid (CLPM) and clopidogrel active metabolite derivative (CAMD). The pharmacokinetics of ASA, SA, CLP, CLPM and CAMD in rats receiving two-week DAPT with ASA and CLP were then determined. 3. After two-week DAPT with ASA and CLP in rats, the activities of aspirin esterase and rCyp2c11, enzymes mediating rat metabolism of ASA and CLP, respectively, in prepared rat liver microsomes were measured followed by further determination of rCyp2c11 mRNA expressions. The results demonstrated that DAPT led to minimal impact on aspirin esterase activity but significant decrease in rCyp2c11 activity and mRNA expression. 4. In conclusion, our findings on impairment in rCyp2C11 activity and mRNA expression by DAPT in rats could provide guidance on its safe clinical use with other CYP 2C19 substrates.
Optical-to-virial velocity ratios of local disc galaxies from combined kinematics and galaxy–galaxy lensing

In this paper, we measure the optical-to-virial velocity ratios V_(opt)/V_(200c) of disc galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at a mean redshift of 〈z〉 = 0.07 and with stellar masses 10^9 < M* < 10^(11) M_⊙. V_(opt)/V_(200c), the ratio of the circular velocity measured at the optical radius of the disc (∼10 kpc) to that at the virial radius of the dark matter halo (∼150 kpc), is a powerful observational constraint on disc galaxy formation. It links galaxies to their dark matter haloes dynamically and constrains the total mass profile of disc galaxies over an order of magnitude in length scale. For this measurement, we combine Vopt derived from the Tully–Fisher relation (TFR) from Reyes et al. with V200c derived from halo masses measured with galaxy–galaxy lensing. In anticipation of this combination, we use similarly selected galaxy samples for both the TFR and lensing analysis. For three M* bins with lensing-weighted mean stellar masses of 0.6, 2.7 and 6.5 × 10^(10) M_⊙, we find halo-to-stellar mass ratios M_(200c)/M_* = 41, 23 and 26, with 1σ statistical uncertainties of around 0.1 dex, and V_(opt)/V_(200c) = 1.27 ± 0.08, 1.39 ± 0.06 and 1.27 ± 0.08 (1σ), respectively. Our results suggest that the dark matter and baryonic contributions to the mass within the optical radius are comparable, if the dark matter halo profile has not been significantly modified by baryons. The results obtained in this work will serve as inputs to and constraints on disc galaxy formation models, which will be explored in future work. Finally, we note that this paper presents a new and improved galaxy shape catalogue for weak lensing that covers the full SDSS Data Release 7 footprint.
The Influence of Customer-Supplier Linkages on Stock Returns

Investors in firms with concentrated supplier or customer bases should not assume that idiosyncratic shocks to an economically linked firm disappear in a well-diversified portfolio. Customer-supplier linkages between firms are a channel by which shocks to a single firm can influence the stock returns of other, linked firms. When the distribution of connectivity in a firm’s economic network is fat-tailed, individual firm-level shocks do not average out in aggregate. Consequently, firms with concentrated supplier or customer bases have higher average returns than firms with more diversified supplier or customer exposures.
Determination of Immunodominant Antigens of Dicrocoelium Dendriticum by Hyperimmune Sera

Dicrocoeliasis caused by the small liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum (syn. D.lanceolatum), which live in the bile ducts and gall bladder of wild and domesticated mammals, particularly livestock farming. Parasitological methods are not reliable enough for diagnosis of this trematode infection. In the present study, the sera from rabbits immunized with somatic and excretory-secretory antigens of D.dendriticum were assayed with immunoblot technique. Adult worms were collected from infected livers of sheep at a local abattoir. The excretory-secretory product and somatic antigens were prepared through homogenization and incubation of trematodes, respectively. Polyclonal antibodies were raised in rabbits after inoculation of the two antigens with emulsified Freunds adjuvant followed by booster injection. Comparative study between D.dendriticum antigens and those of Fasciola, cysticercus tenuicollis and hydatid cyst fluids antigens was carried out. SDS-PAGE of antigens was performed and for immunoblotting analysis, hyperimmune sera were obtained from immunized rabbits of case and control groups. Immunoblot analysis of rabbits antisera against somatic and excretory-secretory antigens of D.dendriticum were showed six and four protein bands ranging from 25 to more than 170 and 25 to 70 kDa molecular weights, respectively. However cross-reaction with other specific proteins was observed in Fasciola excretory-secretory, hydatid cyst and cysticercus tenuicollis fluid antigens. The results demonstrated that the 25-27 kDa proteins were strongly recognized by both hyperimmune sera and was common in both somatic and excretory-secretory antigens. According to the results of this study performed with two antigens of D.dendriticum shows that the 25-27 kDa polypeptide as immunodominant protein, could be considered for the immunodiagnosis of dicrocoeliasis and it probably induces protective immunity against Dicrocoelium infection.
Small-sized colorectal cancer cells harbor metastatic tumor-initiating cells

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is heterogeneous and contains different-sized cells. Recent studies have shown that tumor-initiating cells (TICs) are involved in cancer initiation, recurrence and metastasis. However, connections between cancer cell size and stem-like properties are largely unknown. Here we purified large- and small-sized CRC cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) based on forward scatter (FSC), and demonstrated that small CRC cells possess higher holoclone- and sphere-forming capacity in vitro, tumor-initiating capacity in vivo and form more lung metastases compared with large CRC cells. Furthermore, we found that down-regulated YAP1 (yes-associated protein 1) decreased tumor-initiating and metastatic capacity in small CRC cells but not in large CRC cells. More importantly, our results showed that the expression of YAP1 positively correlated with the poor prognosis in CRCs. Collectively, our findings suggest that small CRC cells enrich for metastatic TICs, and YAP1 is one of the potential therapeutic targets of metastatic TICs, the small CRC cells.
Outcomes of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy in Childhood and the Influence of Phenotype: A Report From the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry

Background— Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) has been associated with poor prognosis in childhood. The goal of the present analysis was to use the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry to analyze outcomes of childhood RCM, with a focus on the impact of phenotype comparing pure RCM with cases that have additional features of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods and Results— We analyzed the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry database (1990–2008; N=3375) for cases of RCM. Cases were defined as pure when RCM was the only assigned diagnosis. Additional documentation of HCM at any time was used as the criterion for RCM/HCM phenotype. RCM accounted for 4.5% of cases of cardiomyopathy. In 101 (66%), pure RCM was diagnosed; in 51 (34%), there was a mixed phenotype. Age at diagnosis was not different between groups, but 10% of the pure RCM group was diagnosed in infancy versus 24% of the RCM/HCM group. Freedom from death was comparable between groups with 1-, 2-, and 5-year survival of RCM 82%, 80%, and 68% versus RCM/HCM 77%, 74%, and 68%. Transplant-free survival was 48%, 34%, and 22% and 65%, 53%, and 43%, respectively (P=0.011). Independent risk factors at diagnosis for lower transplant-free survival were heart failure (hazard ratio 2.20, P=0.005), lower fractional shortening z score (hazard ratio 1.12 per 1 SD decrease in z score, P=0.014), and higher posterior wall thickness in the RCM/HCM group only (hazard ratio 1.32, P<0.001). Overall, outcomes were worse than for all other forms of cardiomyopathy. Conclusions— Transplant-free survival is poor for RCM in childhood. Survival is independent of phenotype; however, the RCM/HCM phenotype has significantly better transplant-free survival. Clinical Trials Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique Identifier: NCT00005391.
Inflammatory and structural biomarkers in acute traumatic spinal cord injury

Abstract The paralysis of an acute spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a catastrophic condition for which there are currently no effective treatments. While the diagnosis of acute traumatic SCI is typically quite easy to make, distinguishing the exact degree of severity and prognosticating the extent of neurologic recovery are challenging. Functional neurologic measures are currently used to stratify injury severity and predict neurologic outcome. However, these measures are often impossible to determine in acutely injured patients. Additionally, for patients deemed to be of a specific injury severity, the variability in spontaneous neurologic recovery is high. Both of these issues severely impair the ability to perform clinical trials in novel therapies for SCI. Biomarkers that could more precisely define the severity of injury and better predict neurologic outcome would be extremely valu-able. Furthermore, biological surrogate outcomes measures would be very useful in small preliminary clinical trials of novel therapies if they could inform decisions around the therapeutic regimen for subsequent larger clinical trials. This review highlights our ongoing work in establishing biomark-ers for SCI using cerebrospinal fluid samples from acutely injured patients.
The Interplay between Dividends and Leverage inside Commercial Banks

The paper analyzes the dividends paid by a large sample of commercial banks in the United States during 2006-2011. The most interesting findings arise after the end of 2008. Our measures for the probability of paying dividends and for the dividend payout ratio are positively related to the banks´ non-deposit leverage. Conversely, banks´ dividends correlate negatively to deposit leverage. We argue that during the crisis of 2007-2009 the liquidity needs of banks resorted more to deposits, than to non-deposit debt. This, in turn, had an impact on banks´ dividend policies, to the extent that firms which could raise deposits preferred to preserve their financial stability, and did not pay huge dividends.
Bone mineral density among cirrhotic patients awaiting liver transplantation

Osteoporosis is an important and common complication in patients with chronic liver disease. The goal of this study was to determine the bone mineral density (BMD) in different subgroups among pretransplant cirrhotic patients. BMD of the lumbar vertebrae (L) and femoral neck (F) were obtained in 104 consecutive cirrhotic patients. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the BMD among various groups. The mean BMD in males (n = 54) and females (n = 50) at L were 1.28 ± 0.25 g/cm2 and 1.13 ± 0.20 g/cm2, respectively (P = .001); at F they were 1.03 ± 0.14 and 0.91 ± 0.17, respectively (P < .0001). Among males, BMD at L in Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh class B and C were 1.40 ± 0.21 and 1.13 ± 0.20, respectively (P = .001); at F they were 1.11 ± 0.10 and 0.93 ± 0.13, respectively (P < .0001). Among females, BMD at L in Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh class B and C were 1.27 ± 0.18 and 1.05 ± 0.16, respectively (P = .0003); at F they were 1.02 ± 0.16 and 0.83 ± 0.12, respectively (P = .001). The BMD in premenopausal females (n = 15) and postmenopausal females (n = 35) at L were 1.20 ± 0.19 and 1.11 ± 0.20, respectively (P = .15); at F they were 0.97 ± 0.17 and 0.88 ± 0.16, respectively (P = .12). The BMD in postmenopausal females on hormone replacement therapy (n = 19) and on no hormone replacement therapy (n = 16) at L were 1.07 ± 0.17 and 1.14 ± 0.23, respectively (P = .29); at F they were 0.85 ± 0.15 and 0.91 ± 0.18, respectively (P = .33). The BMD values between etiologic groups were not significantly different. The overall prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis were 34.6% and 11.5%, respectively, being significantly higher in females than in males. In conclusion, significant difference in BMD values exists between males and females, as well as between Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh class B and C patients with cirrhosis. In addition, there is no significant influence of menopausal status, hormone replacement therapy, and etiology of cirrhosis on BMD. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:648–653.)
Biochemical properties of a keratan sulphate/chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan expressed in primate pluripotent stem cells *

We previously identified a pericellular matrix keratan sulphate/chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan present on the surface of human embryonal carcinoma stem cells, cells whose differentiation mimics early development. Antibodies reactive with various epitopes on this molecule define a cluster of differentiation markers for primate pluripotent stem cells. We describe the purification of a form of this molecule which is secreted or shed into the culture medium. Biochemical analysis of the secreted form of this molecule shows that the monomeric form, whilst containing keratan sulphate, resembles mucins in its structure and its modification with O‐linked carbohydrate. Immunofluorescence and immunoblotting data show that monkey and human pluripotent stem cells react with antibodies directed against epitopes on either carbohydrate side chains or the protein core of the molecule.