Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age‐related expression of σ1 receptors and antidepressant efficacy of a selective agonist in the senescence‐accelerated (SAM) mouse

The σ1 receptor is a unique intracellular receptor whose activation results in an efficient modulation of several neurotransmitter responses. Its role as a target for the rapid nongenomic effects of neuro(active)steroids and the age‐related diminutions in steroid levels suggested that targeting the σ1 receptor might allow alleviation of age‐related neuronal dysfunctions. We examined here the expression and behavioral efficacy of σ1 receptors in the senescence‐accelerated (SAM) mouse model. The σ1 receptor mRNA expression was measured by using comparative RT‐PCR in the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cortex, or cerebellum of senescence‐prone SAMP/8 and senescence‐resistant SAMR/1 control animals. No difference was observed between substrains in 6‐, 9‐, and 12‐month‐old (m.o.) mice. The σ1 protein expression was analyzed by using immunohistochemical techniques. Labeling was intense in the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and midbrain of both SAMR/1 and SAMP/8 mice, and the distribution appeared unchanged in 6‐, 9‐, and 12‐m.o. animals. The receptor's in vivo availability was examined by using in vivo [3H](+)‐SKF‐10,047 binding. No age‐related difference was observed in the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem of 6‐ or 12‐m.o. SAMR/1 or SAMP/8 mice. The antidepressant efficacy of the selective agonist igmesine was examined in the forced‐swimming test. The compound decreased significantly the immobility duration at 60 mg/kg in 6‐ and 12‐m.o. SAMR/1 and in 6‐m.o. SAMP/8 mice. In 12‐m.o. SAMP/8 mice, the drug efficacy was facilitated; a significant effect was measured at 30 mg/kg. Decreased neurosteroid levels, particularly of progesterone, were seen in 12‐m.o. SAMP/8 mice that might explain the enhanced efficacy of igmesine. Preserved σ1 receptor expression and enhanced behavioral efficacy of σ1 agonists were measured in SAM animals, confirming the therapeutic opportunies for selective ligands against age‐related mood disorders. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Maxillofacial trauma in Tamil Nadu children and adolescents: A retrospective study

Aim: The aim of this retrospective study is to describe the incidence, aetiology, complexity and surgical indications of maxillofacial injuries in children and adolescents population of Tamil Nadu state of india during period of 4 years. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was conducted among 500 children and adolescents patients of age group 6 years to 16 years suffered or suffering with maxillofacial and skull fractures presenting to ten Level I trauma centers over a 4 year period.The data collected for this study included age, gender, etiology, associated maxillofacial trauma, anatomic site of fracture and treatment. Results and Conclusion: In our study the most common cause of trauma was traffic 35%, followed by falls 24% and sports 22%. Mandible was commenest bone prone to fracture, followed by maxilla and nasal bone. Mandible fractures accounted for 72% of all maxillofacial fractures.
The FCC and Indecency: Local Television General Managers' Perceptions

Since the 2004 Super Bowl, the Federal Communications Commission has issued a record number of fines for televised indecency. Local television stations perceive themselves as having little control over network programming, which is usually the source of controversial material. A mail survey of 453 local network affiliate general managers (GMs) was conducted to identify opinions about this situation. Most of the respondents felt it unfair local stations were held accountable for the programming of national networks, but did not want more government regulations to control network programming. GMs felt their hands were tied because of network affiliation agreements that limit the number of allowable preemptions at the local level. A significant number of respondents were not able to describe their own personal criteria of broadcast indecency.
Optimal Insurance Design: What Can We Do Without Expected Utility?

This paper provides a survey on optimal insurance when insurers and policy holdes have symmetric information about the distribution of potential damages. When transaction costs are proportional to transfers, we show that 1)there is at least one state of the world where no indemnity is paid, 2) the indemnity schedule is deterministic, implying in particular umbrella policies are optimal, and 3) the optimal contract contains a straight deductible. This is proven without assuming expected utility. The use of expected utility generates additional results, e.g. in the case of nonlinear trnsaction costs.
Benchmarking culture and performance in Chinese organizations

Purpose – To show differences in organizational performance, management style and systems, resulting from cultural differences in three organizational types: foreign‐owned, joint ventures, and Chinese‐owned and operated.Design/methodology/approach – A survey method was used to assess the management systems, leadership and styles within the cultural contexts of the three types of organizations using Hofstede's four cultural dimensions. Organizational performance was measured using balanced scorecard method and factors suggested by other authors. Performance measures were compared across the three types of organizations.Findings – Foreign‐owned and operated companies performed significantly better than their joint venture (JV) and Chinese‐owned and operated organizations as measured by financial perspective, customer perspective, internal business perspective, innovation and learning perspective and technological assessment. There was clear evidence of benchmarking among Chinese‐owned and operated organizat.
Strategic Alliances and Corporate Governance in Newly Public Firms: Evidence from Venture Backed IPOs

We investigate the corporate governance of venture capital (VC) backed IPOs that enter into strategic alliances. Startups can have alliances with outside strategic partners and with parents of corporate VCs (CVCs), who primarily invest in startups for strategic reasons. Both CVCs and outside strategic alliance partners can influence an IPO firm’s corporate governance. We find that firms with strategic alliances have greater independent director representation, more staggered boards and forced CEO turnovers and smaller percentage of new shares and secondary share sales. Comparing the governance of startups with strategically oriented CVCs backing to those with outside strategic alliance partners shows stronger effects in firms backed by CVCs.
Walking the Tightrope: An Assessment of the Relationship between High-Performance Work Systems and Organizational Ambidexterity

This study explores central questions related to the connections between a firm's human resources (HR) system and its ability to exhibit "organizational ambidexterity. " We build from existing work on the behavioral view of ambidexterity to assess the extent to which the utilization of certain HR practices may be linked to a context marked by discipline, stretch, trust, and support. We further argue that these disparate practices may be combined into a single high-performance work system (HPWS), which allows the firm to achieve both the alignment and the adaptability necessary to produce ambidexterity. Thus, we examine HPWS as a systematic tool for enhancing organizational ambidexterity. We explore this link using data from 215 high-tech small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and find that HPWS utilization is positively related to a measure of organizational ambidexterity. In turn, ambidexterity mediates the relationship between HPWS utilization and firm growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Strategic resources and performance: a meta‐analysis

Resource-based theory (RBT) has emerged as a key perspective guiding inquiry into the determinants of organizational performance. Since the early 1990s, numerous studies have examined RBT's assertion that the extent to which organizations possess strategic resources is positively related to performance. Although many studies appear to support this assertion, there is no consensus regarding how strongly strategic resources relate to performance. To help resolve this issue, we meta-analyze 125 studies of RBT that collectively encompass over 29,000 organizations. Our conservative estimate is that the effect size of the strategic resources–performance relationship is rc = 0.22. Moderator tests suggest that the resources-performance link is stronger (1) when resources meet the criteria laid out in RBT and (2) for those performance measures that are not affected by potential value appropriation. When resources meet RBT's criteria and when performance measures are not affected by potential appropriation, the strength of the relationship grows to rc = 0.29. This suggests that the identification, development, and distribution of value from strategic resources should be a primary consideration for scholars, managers, and shareholders. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: a clinical study of 23 cases.

OBJECTIVE To describe the etiologies, clinical features and diagnosis of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. METHODS We reviewed the records of 23 patients admitted with a documented diagnosis of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis from 1991 through 1999 in the Beijing Tiantan Hospital. RESULTS Infection was the major condition associated with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome was the most common manifestation, while hemiplegia, seizure and unconsciousness may occur alone or in association. The diagnostic sensitivity of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and digital subtract angiography (DSA) were 59%, 86% and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity of MRI with magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) reached 96%. CONCLUSION As the clinical findings were found to be nonspecific, CT combined with DSA, or MRI with MRA turns out to be valuable for the early diagnosis of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.
Antecedents of MNE performance: blinded by the obvious in 35 years of literature

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize theoretical insights about key antecedents of multinational enterprise (MNE) performance and to review and synthesize empirically researched antecedents of MNE performance.Design/methodology/approach – Dominant strategic management approaches to explaining the performance of firms in general are the market‐based view and the resource‐based view. The dominant theory of the MNE from the field of international business is internalization theory. Integrating these three perspectives, this paper elaborates where key antecedents of MNE performance can be expected. Furthermore, this paper reviews empirical research on antecedents of MNE performance published in three top business journals of major importance to the field of international business between 1976 and 2010, thereby synthesizing the most widely accepted knowledge about antecedents of MNE performance.Findings – The paper reveals that theory suggests that key antecedents of MNE performance can be expec.
Anticardiolipin antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis: their relation to rheumatoid nodules and cutaneous vascular manifestations

One hundred and seventy‐three consecutive patients with rheumatoid arthritis were examined for the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA), and for the clinical relevance and the relation of these antibodies to skin manifestations. Abnormally elevated IgG‐ and/or IgM‐ACA levels were detected by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in the sera of 55 (32%) patients. There was no statistical evidence of an association between ACA and a history of thrombosis in these patients. However, ACA were statistically significantly linked to the presence of rheumatoid nodules, which were found in 36 (21%) patients. In three patients, ACA were associated with vascular manifestations, including livedo reticularis, thrombophlebitis, and leucocytoclastic vasculitis. Our findings suggest that, although a subset of ACA may be linked to cutaneous vascular conditions, the major fraction of ACA in rheumatoid arthritis may have a different specificity than in other diseases, in which ACA are often linked to thrombotic events.
Sectoral Balance Sheet Mismatches and Macroeconomic Vulnerabilities in Colombia, 1996-2003

We employ an extended version of the Allen et al. (2002) Balance Sheet Approach to examine macroeconomic vulnerabilities in Colombia between 1996 and 2003, based on an unusually rich data set. We find that vulnerabilities existing prior to Colombia's 1999 recession - high levels of private debt, a large negative foreign currency position of the corporate sector, and banks' exposure to stretched households and companies - receded subsequently. New vulnerabilities emerged, however, especially the high level of public debt accumulated until end-2003, and growing exposure of the financial sector to the sovereign.
Spring Forward or Fall Back? The Post-Crisis Recovery of Firms

This paper studies corporate performance in the aftermath of the global crisis by examining 6,581 manufacturing firms in 48 developed and developing countries in 2010, identifying factors of resilience as well as vulnerability. Based on a cross-sectional analysis, the results show that pre-crisis leverage and short-term debt have had negative effects on the speed of the recovery, while asset tangibility has had positive effects. The negative effect of leverage is non-linear, being particularly strong in firms with high pre-crisis leverage. Furthermore, the effects are different for advanced and emerging market economies. The paper also shows that the macroeconomic framework critically matters for firm growth. In particular, in countries that have allowed the exchange rate to depreciate, firms have had a faster recovery in sectors highly dependent on trade.
Geographic variations in cystic fibrosis: An analysis of the U.S. CF Foundation Registry

Emerging evidence suggests that the prevalence of pathogens common in cystic fibrosis (CF) may be unevenly distributed across the United States (U.S.). However, very little is known regarding the U.S. distribution of other CF modifiers such as medication usage and patient demographics. Therefore, we sought to determine if regional differences exist in the distribution of demographic variables and patient disease characteristics in the U.S. that may play a role in differential CF outcomes.
Informativeness of Order Flow: The Role of Institutions vs. Individuals

This paper uses a dynamic model of orders and stock prices, to assess the informativeness of order flows of individuals and institutions. Our unique transactions, orders and quotes dataset on the highly liquid order driven Taipei Stock Exchange, specifies the identity of traders, for limit and market order data for over 400 individual stocks. We suggest a new unit-informativeness measure which is independent of the volume of orders. We compare it to the relative informativeness measure of Hasbrouck (1991a, b). Because of their dominance in terms of trading volume, the relative informativeness metric implies that the individual's order flows are more informative than those of institutions. For institutional order flows, informativeness rises with company size, and has an inverse U-shaped intraday pattern. All such features are inverted when using our preferred unit informativeness measure.
Life-Cycle Theory and Free Cash Flow Hypothesis: Evidence from Dividend Policy in Thailand Author

This paper examines dividend policy of Thai listed companies over the period 2002-2013. The results show that larger and more profitable firms with higher free cash flows and retained earnings to equity tend to pay higher dividends. In addition, the evidence indicates that firms with higher growth opportunities, proxied by market-to-book ratio, tend to pay lower dividend payout ratio but higher dividend yield. Collectively, the findings from this paper provide much support for the free cash flow and life-cycle hypotheses. Further, it is found that financial leverage is positively related to dividend payouts, a finding which casts doubt whether Thai firms rely on debt to pay dividends.
Assessment of FDI impact on Thailand's production sectors: implications for investment promotion activities

This paper examines the overall and sectoral economic impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the Thai economy using the economic data from 2005-2013. In assessing the overall economic impact, it is found that FDI has contributed positively to Thailand's economic growth. However, when analyzing the sectoral details, the empirical results indicate that FDI has a varying impact on the productive sectors in Thailand. Out of the 9 sub-sectors covered by this study, 5 sub-sectors (manufacturing, construction, financial, wholesale, retail trade, and agriculture) show strong statistically-significant positive effects of FDI on the relevant sector's value-added output. Based on these findings, it is suggested that policy-makers, including the Board of Investment, should aim to promote FDI with special consideration of the sectoral impact that would enable Thailand's FDI promotion policies to be more productive and beneficial for the Thai economy.
Uganda's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective

Uganda has made substantial progress on its infrastructure agenda in recent years. The early and successful ICT reform detonated a huge expansion in mobile coverage and penetration resulting in a highly competitive market. Power sector restructuring has paved the way for a rapid doubling of power generation capacity. Uganda is doing well on the water and sanitation MDGs, and has made effective use of performance contracting to improve utility performance. However, a number of important challenges remain. Despite reforms, the power sector continues to hemorrhage resources due to under-pricing and high distribution losses, while electrification rates are still very low. Providing adequate resources for road maintenance remains a challenge, and further investment is needed to increase rural connectivity and improve road safety. Addressing Uganda's infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of around $1.4 billion per year over the next decade, strongly skewed towards capital expenditure. Uganda already spends approximately $1 billion per year on infrastructure, equivalent to about 11 percent of GDP. A further $0.3 billion a year is lost to inefficiencies, the bulk of which are associated with underpricing and distribution losses in the power sector. Uganda's annual infrastructure funding gap is about $0.4 billion per year, most of which is associated with irrigation as well as water and sanitation infrastructure.
Value of a Protective Abandon Put Option for Investors of Small and Large Firms with Different Capital Structures

This paper investigates the value of protective abandon put option from the equity holder’s perspective of a large and a small company. Motivation for this topic arises from the perception that certain market imperfections related to corporate and personal taxes tend to favor a large firm and its investors if there is a risk of a loss or even bankruptcy. Using a flow-to-equity model this paper investigates how these market imperfections affect the project value with and without a protective put option with different capital structures. Because the put option causes asymmetry to the project payoff, semivariance is used as a risk measure instead of the commonly used variance. The results of the analysis indicate that a protective put option is more valuable to small company investors because it narrows the downside risk and thus enables better capital structure and mitigates certain imperfections of taxation. However, as long as there is a risk of loss, large firms and their investors have a tax advantage and thus they value a similar project as being more valuable.
Perception, attitude and opinion of Spanish tourists about episodes of extreme heat.

Here we present the perception, attitude, opinion and behaviour of Spanish tourists when faced with an episode of extreme heat, with temperatures similar to those forecast for summers at the end of the 21 st century. The study was based on personal questionnaires, 351 of which were issued after a holiday period to university students in their role as tourist consumers, following the Lexis stratified random sampling method. The results show that, for the geographic area of study, tourists largely perceive the extreme phenomenon as an event that could affect tourism in Spain. However, they also believe that the Spanish tourist sector is capable of devising strategies to mitigate possible negative effects. The attitude and behaviour of the tourists also show their capacity to adapt; they assess the measures introduced by the sector to date in the different destinations, while highlighting some shortcomings. This information should help to fill the current gap regarding knowledge of how tourist–citizens perceive certain extreme episodes and behave when faced with them, which could be highly important given that such episodes may become ‘normal phenomena’ as a result of climate change. This information may be useful in devising strategies for the adaptation and future sustainability of tourist destinations.
Market Orientation and Learning Orientation in Improving Innovativeness and Organizational Performance of Medium Sized Industrial Businesses

The purposes of this research were to develop and examine the goodness of fit of a causal model market orientation and learning orientation effecting Innovativeness and organizational performance of medium sized industrial businesses to the empirical data The research findings were as follows : A causal model market orientation and learning orientation effecting innovativeness and organizational performance of medium sized industrial businesses fitted to the empirical data. Indicated by the Chi-square = 53.221, p = 0.079, df = 40, GFI = 0.970, AGFI = 0.932 and RMR = 0.009. The variables that direct affect organizational performance the most was learning orientation, next was innovativeness and market orientation respectively. And the variables that direct affect innovativeness are market orientation and learning orientation respectively. The variables in the model accounted for 94%, 72% and 47% of organizational performance, innovativeness and learning orientation respectively.
Effects of Medicare Part D coverage gap on medication adherence.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of the Medicare Part D coverage gap on pharmacy use among a national sample of Medicare beneficiaries and on medication adherence among 2 subsamples with heart failure and/or diabetes. STUDY DESIGN Pre-post design, with comparison group and propensity score weighting. METHODS We used a 5% random sample of elderly Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in stand-alone Part D plans in 2007. The comparison group had full coverage in the gap, whereas the 2 study groups had either no coverage or generic-only coverage in the gap. Main outcomes included probability of filling a prescription, monthly pharmacy spending and number of prescriptions filled, and adherence measured by medication possession ratios. RESULTS Relative to the comparison group, beneficiaries without drug coverage in the gap reduced the number of prescriptions filled per month by 16.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.5%-16.5%); those with generic drug coverage in the gap reduced it by 10.8% (95% CI, 10.3%-11.4%). Most of the reduction was attributable to reduced use of brand-name drugs. Beneficiaries with heart failure reduced adherence to heart failure drugs by 3.6% (95% CI, 2.9%-4.2%) and beneficiaries with diabetes reduced antidiabetic medication adherence by 10.3% (95% CI, 9.4%-11.3%). CONCLUSIONS Medicare beneficiaries reduced medication use (mainly brand-name drugs) after entering the coverage gap. This result suggests that while beneficiaries' financial burden would continue because of the coverage gap, the gap would not result in a large reduction in medication adherence for essential drugs for diabetes and heart failure.