Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of retail cigarette marketing practices on youth smoking uptake.

OBJECTIVE To examine the differential associations of cigarette retail marketing practices on youth smoking uptake. DESIGN Analyses from annual, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the United States. SETTING The February 1999 through June 2003 Monitoring the Future surveys involved 109,308 students and data on retail cigarette marketing collected from 966 communities in which the students reside, as part of the Bridging the Gap Initiative: Research Informing Practice and Policy for Healthy Youth Behavior. PARTICIPANTS A total of 26,301 students were selected for this study. MAIN EXPOSURES Point-of-sale advertising, promotions, prices, and placement. OUTCOME MEASURE Using a smoking uptake measure to account for stages that identify the process by which adolescents begin smoking, we calculated odds ratios and confidence intervals through generalized ordered logit analyses, with weighted data that controlled for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and accounted for clustering at the community level. RESULTS Higher levels of advertising, lower cigarette prices, and greater availability of cigarette promotions were associated with smoking uptake. Advertising increased the likelihood of youth initiating smoking, price increased the likelihood of smoking at most levels of uptake, and availability of promotions increased the likelihood that youth will move from experimentation to regular smoking. CONCLUSIONS Cigarette retail marketing practices increase the likelihood of smoking uptake. These findings suggest that specific restrictions on retail cigarette marketing may reduce youth smoking.
Short Selling, Agency, and Corporate Investment

We study the effects of short selling activities on corporate investment. In a model with short-term managerial incentives, we show that short sellers can cause firms to overinvestment. The overinvestment is more severe for managers with low productivity and/or with high short-term incentives. Empirically, we find that short interest is strongly and positively associated with subsequent corporate investment. The impact of short selling activities on investment is greater when a firm's investment prospect is poor and/or when the sensitivity of a CEO's compensation to stock price performance is strong. Additionally, both short interest and corporate investment are negatively associated with subsequent stock returns.
The Effect of Level of Intra Industry Competition and the Intensity of Role of Global Investors Toward Degree of Capital Market Integration in ASEAN

By the integration of the ASEAN capital markets, global investors need to diversify among industries in the ASEAN capital markets with the consideration that there is no relevancy regarding to diversify among countries. One way to measure the degree of integration in addition to cointegration techniques are already widely used is the correlation. The use of correlation is done not only to show different degree of integration but also intended to identify the determinant of market integration which starting from theory of stock market interdependence as proposed by Pretorius (2002). The first finding of this study is the different degree of integration at the country and industry levels in the ASEAN which reflects the difference in the benefits of international diversification among industries and countries as well as supporting the concept of time-varying integration of Bekaert and Harvey (1995). The second finding as the important result for this study is the effectiveness of the entropy index of Ruefli (1990) as a proxy for the level of intra industry competition in Singapore. The implication is global investors need to consider the dynamics of competition among firms within the industry in Singapore as the industry risk for conducting their international diversification strategy. The latest finding is Malaysian bourse still protective so that global investors need to be more active penetration by networking through the local brokerages in accordance to advice of Dvorak (2005).
A comparison of histocompatibility antigens in dermatitis herpetiformis and adult coeliac disease

The incidence of histocompatibility antigens HL‐A, 4a and 4b was studied in thirty‐eight patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and thirty‐six patients with adult coeliac disease (ACD). The 4b antigen was found in all the DH and ACD patients. HL‐A 8 was found in 89% of patients with ACD similar to the incidence reported in previous studies—and in 79% of patients with DH, a higher incidence than in previous studies which may be due to stricter criteria being used here to diagnose DH. There was no significant difference in the incidence of HL‐A 8 between those patients with DH whose small intestinal biopsies appeared macroscopically abnormal and those with a normal macroscopic appearance. These findings suggest that patients with DH form a single disease group and do not support the concept previously postulated that there are two groups of patients with DH, one with an increased incidence of HL‐A 8 antigen similar to that in ACD who have a gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE), and another with a normal incidence of HL‐A 8 antigen and without enteropathy.
Serum cholesterol assay using a stable Liebermann-Burchard reagent.

A single stable Liebermann-Burchard reagent was prepared and studied for the rapid and accurate determination of total cholesterol in serum. The preparation, stability, and developed spectral character of the proposed reagent were assessed. Reproducibility, recovery, and interference studies on pure standard and patient sera were performed using the Abell-Kendall method as reference. The influence of water, protein, bilirubin, hemoglobin, and other serum constituents was evaluated.
When to use qualitative methods: a new approach

Explores the application of qualitative research as a plausibility check for quantitative research. Uses the case example of a survey conducted by American LIVES for Douthit Communications, looking into aspects of the house purchase process. Outlines a typology of five categories of people in the real estate market, which was developed from the survey. Concludes that neither qualitative nor quantitative techniques have universal applicability, but the use of qualitative techniques can bring quantitative information to life.
Comparable outcome of stem cell transplant versus bortezomib-based consolidation in myeloma patients after major response to induction

Abstract High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) has been established as standard treatment for eligible patients with myeloma. However, whether this approach is still beneficial with new therapy is yet to be determined. Consolidation of effective therapy may be an alternative to ASCT following major response to initial induction. This retrospective case-series analysis included a total of 48 patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. All these patients achieved complete response or very good partial response to bortezomib-based induction and were eligible for ASCT; 24 of these patients proceeded with ASCT, and other 24 patients opted out of ASCT and received two additional cycles of bortezomib therapy as consolidation. With a median follow-up of 28.5 months in ASCT group and 29 months in non-ASCT group, no significant difference was seen in progression-free survival, 39 versus 32 months, P = 0.82. Median overall survival had not been reached, and the estimated 3-year overall survival rates were 87.5 and 67.5% in ASCT and non-ASCT, respectively, P = 0.97. This study provides an initial assessment of survival outcome of ASCT in comparison with non-ASCT consolidation. The additional study is required to establish the efficacy of non-ASCT consolidation.
Antioxidant action of the hexahydropyridoindole SMe1EC2 in the cellular system of isolated red blood cells in vitro

Abstract Objectives The subject of this study was the hexahydropyridoindole compound SMe1EC2 with reported antioxidant and neuroprotective effects and low toxicity. In this study, the antioxidant action of SMe1EC2 was investigated in a greater detail in the system of isolated rat erythrocytes. Methods First, the compound was subjected to the DPPH test. Second, the overall antioxidant action of the compound was studied in the cellular system of isolated rat erythrocytes oxidatively stressed by free radicals derived from either the hydrophilic azoinitiator AAPH or the lipophilic t-BuOOH, and compared with reference antioxidants. Results The DPPH test revealed significant antiradical activity of SMe1EC2 comparable with that of the standard trolox. In the cellular system, SMe1EC2 protected red blood cells against free radical-initiated hemolysis. The overall antioxidant efficacy of SMe1EC2 relative to the reference antioxidant stobadine was strongly affected by the lipophilicity of the initiating free radical species. Conclusions The results proved high antiradical efficacy of SMe1EC2. In the system of t-BuOOH/isolated erythrocytes, a model cellular system of endogenously generated peroxyl radicals, SMe1EC2 significantly exceeded the parent stobadine in its antioxidant action. Considering the reported results of preclinical studies of SMe1EC2 showing its profound neuroprotective effects and low toxicity, the compound represents an example of a potential pharmacologically practicable antioxidant drug.
Exploring the Phenomenon of Customers' Desired Value Change in a Business-to-Business Context

Increasingly, organizations are pushed to adopt customer value strategies in order to grow profits and ensure long-term survival. Yet little is known about the dynamic nature of how customers perceive value from suppliers. The authors present findings from a grounded theory study conducted in a business-to-business context that sheds light on the nature of customers' desired value change and related contextual conditions. The authors discover that the phenomenon of customers' desired value change typically occurs in an emotional context, as managers try to cope with feelings of tension. The phenomenon extends well past the change itself into strategies customers use to motivate suppliers to meet their changed needs. Customers' value change provides a reason for customers to seek, maintain, or move away from relationships with suppliers.
CDDUX: A Disease-specific Health-related Quality-of-life Questionnaire for Children With Celiac Disease

Objective: The development of a disease-specific, health-related, quality-of-life questionnaire for children ages 8 to 18 with celiac disease (CD), together with a parent-as-proxy version. Materials and Methods: We used a focus-group method (bottom-up approach) to investigate the impact of CD on children's everyday lives and selected 24 items to create a preliminary disease-specific questionnaire. This questionnaire, together with the complementary generic quality-of-life questionnaire DUX-25, was sent to 756 children with CD in the Netherlands and was returned by 530 of them. With the help of statistical analyses (Cronbach α, factor analysis, Pearson correlation, Student t test, paired samples t test, and item response theory), we tested the psychometric performance of the 24 items. Results: We reduced the questionnaire to 12 items: the Celiac Disease DUX (CDDUX). The CDDUX has 3 subscales: “Communication” (3), “Diet” (6), and “Having CD” (3). This questionnaire proved to be reliable, valid, and feasible and able to discriminate between perception of severity in cases of CD as assessed by parents. Conclusions: Children with a better perception of their own health status have a higher score on the CDDUX questionnaire. The whole group seems to have a lower quality of life than the healthy reference group on all domains of the DUX-25. The new disease-specific questionnaire CDDUX provides information about how children with CD think and feel about their illness. The questionnaire may enable researchers and clinicians to determine the consequences of this illness and the effects of clinical interventions on several aspects of daily living.
Additional shear resistance from fault roughness and stress levels on geometrically complex faults

The majority of crustal faults host earthquakes when the ratio of average background shear stress τb to effective normal stress σeff is τb/σeff≈0.6. In contrast, mature plate‐boundary faults like the San Andreas Fault (SAF) operate at τb/σeff≈0.2. Dynamic weakening, the dramatic reduction in frictional resistance at coseismic slip velocities that is commonly observed in laboratory experiments, provides a leading explanation for low stress levels on mature faults. Strongly velocity‐weakening friction laws permit rupture propagation on flat faults above a critical stress level τpulse/σeff≈0.25. Provided that dynamic weakening is not restricted to mature faults, the higher stress levels on most faults are puzzling. In this work, we present a self‐consistent explanation for the relatively high stress levels on immature faults that is compatible with low coseismic frictional resistance, from dynamic weakening, for all faults. We appeal to differences in structural complexity with the premise that geometric irregularities introduce resistance to slip in addition to frictional resistance. This general idea is quantified for the special case of self‐similar fractal roughness of the fault surface. Natural faults have roughness characterized by amplitude‐to‐wavelength ratios α between 10−3 and 10−2. Through a second‐order boundary perturbation analysis of quasi‐static frictionless sliding across a band‐limited self‐similar interface in an ideally elastic solid, we demonstrate that roughness induces an additional shear resistance to slip, or roughness drag, given by τdrag=8π3α2G∗Δ/λmin, for G∗=G/(1−ν) with shear modulus Gand Poisson's ratio ν, slip Δ, and minimum roughness wavelength λmin. The influence of roughness drag on fault mechanics is verified through an extensive set of dynamic rupture simulations of earthquakes on strongly rate‐weakening fractal faults with elastic‐plastic off‐fault response. The simulations suggest that fault rupture, in the form of self‐healing slip pulses, becomes probable above a background stress level τb≈τpulse+τdrag. For the smoothest faults (α∼10−3), τdrag is negligible compared to frictional resistance, so that τb≈τpulse≈0.25σeff. However, on rougher faults (α∼10−2), roughness drag can exceed frictional resistance. We expect that τdrag ultimately departs from the predicted scaling when roughness‐induced stress perturbations activate pervasive off‐fault inelastic deformation, such that background stress saturates at a limit (τb≈0.6σeff) determined by the finite strength of the off‐fault material. We speculate that this strength, and not the much smaller dynamically weakened frictional strength, determines the stress levels at which the majority of faults operate.
Excess Behavioral Loyalty for High-Share Brands: Deviations from the Dirichlet Model for Repeat Purchasing

Small market-share brands are known to suffer from two specific disadvantages compared with high-share brands: they tend to have fewer buyers than high-share brands, and they also tend to be bought less often (Ehrenberg, Goodhardt, and Barwise 1990). The authors consider a third important advantage for high-share brands: unusually high behavioral loyalty (e.g., degree of repeat purchasing). We show, across many product-markets in both Japan and the U.S., that high-share brands have significantly greater loyalty than the levels that would be expected on the basis of a popular consumer purchase model (the Dirichlet model). Several possible causes for this effect are examined, including four key assumptions that underlie the Dirichlet model. The most likely source appears to be the existence of distinct consumer segments, which may emerge through the distribution strategies pursued by both large brands and small retailers. The authors discuss other possible causes of this market-share premium as well as several of its managerial implications.
Soil Acidification Aggravates the Occurrence of Bacterial Wilt in South China

Soil acidification is a major problem in modern agricultural systems and is an important factor affecting the soil microbial community and soil health. However, little is known about the effect of soil acidification on soil-borne plant diseases. We performed a 4-year investigation in South China to evaluate the correlation between soil acidification and the occurrence of bacterial wilt. The results showed that the average soil pH in fields infected by bacterial wilt disease was much lower than that in non-disease fields. Moreover, the proportion of infected soils with pH lower than 5.5 was much higher than that of non-infected soils, and this phenomenon became more obvious as the area of bacterial wilt disease increased at soil pH lower than 5.5 from 2011 to 2014. Then, in a field pot experiment, bacterial wilt disease developed more quickly and severely in acidic conditions of pH 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5. These results indicate that soil acidification can cause the outbreak of bacterial wilt disease. Further experiments showed that acidic conditions (pH 4.5–5.5) favored the growth of the pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum but suppressed the growth and antagonistic activity of antagonistic bacteria of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus cereus. Moreover, acidic conditions of pH 5.5 were conducive to the expression of the virulence genes PopA, PrhA, and SolR but restrained resistance gene expression in tobacco. Finally, application of wood ash and lime as soil pH amendments improved soil pH and reduced the occurrence of bacterial wilt. Together, these findings improve our understanding of the correlation between soil acidification and soil-borne plant diseases and also suggest that regulation of soil acidification is the precondition and foundation of controlling bacterial wilt.
Communication Strategies in Marketing Channels: A Theoretical Perspective

Though the marketing literature acknowledges that communication plays a vital role in channel functioning, it provides no integrated theory for channel communication. The authors build a theoretical model to help understand the role of communication in marketing channels. They propose a contingency theory in which communication strategy moderates the impact of channel conditions (structure, climate, and power) on channel outcomes (coordination, satisfaction, commitment, and performance). When a communication strategy matches the channel conditions, channel outcomes will be enhanced in comparison with the outcomes when a communication strategy mismatches channel conditions.
SPERM COMPETITION, MALE FITNESS, AND REPEATED MATING BY FEMALE DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Females of many insect species store large numbers of sperm after mating, and mate numerous times, sometimes before sperm already stored is exhausted. The coincidence of these events results in sexual selection on males. Adaptations of a male which increase the probability that his sperm, and not the sperm of some other male, is used by a female to inseminate her eggs will be favored by selection. Such adaptations may include behavioral and physiological characteristics of the male as well as competitive properties of the sperm itself. Examples of such adaptations include 1) preand postcopulatory guarding behavior, 2) mating plugs, 3) chemical or physical characteristics of the ejaculate which reduce receptivity to remating, 4) sperm displacement (i.e. the replacement at a subsequent mating of the stored sperm of a previous mating), which could be effected either by the male during copulation or by some competitive aspect of the ejaculate, and 5) sperm precedence (i.e. nonrandom use). Parker (1970), in his stimulating review of this subject, has used the term "sperm competition" to describe the selection pressures operating on males to produce these adaptations. Note that adaptations arising in response to these pressures are not restricted in their mode of operation to properties of the sperm, per se, but can involve any feature of reproductive biology affecting sperm transfer or use. Studies of adaptations for sperm competition in Drosophila have focused on sperm displacement and, to a lesser extent, sperm precedence and the effect of
Selected rapporteur summaries from the XX world congress of psychiatric genetics, Hamburg, Germany, october 14–18, 2012

The XXth World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), sponsored by The International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG) took place in Hamburg, Germany on October 14–18, 2012. Approximately 600 participants gathered to discuss the latest findings in this rapidly advancing field. The following report was written by student travel awardees. Each was assigned sessions as rapporteurs. This manuscript represents topics covered in most, but not all, oral presentations during the conference, and some of the major notable new findings reported at this 2012 WCPG. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Derivation of 3D coordinate templates for searching structural databases: Application to ser‐His‐Asp catalytic triads in the serine proteinases and lipases

It is well established that sequence templates (e.g., PROSITE) and databases are powerful tools for identifying biological function and tertiary structure for an unknown protein sequence. Here we describe a method for automatically deriving 3D templates from the protein structures deposited in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. As an example, we describe a template derived for the Ser‐His‐Asp catalytic triad found in the serine proteases and triacylglycerol lipases. We find that the resultant template provides a highly selective tool for automatically differentiating between catalytic and noncatalytic Ser‐His‐Asp associations. When applied to nonproteolytic proteins, the template picks out two “non‐esterase” catalytic triads that may be of biological relevance. This suggests that the development of databases of 3D templates, such as those that currently exist for protein sequence templates, will help identify the functions of new protein structures as they are determined and pinpoint their functionally important regions.
Predictors of Attrition in a Longitudinal Study of Substance Abusers

Abstract Previous research has emphasized the importance of minimizing attrition in longitudinal studies. The authors examined the influence of demographic, clinical, and process factors on attrition from a longitudinal study of 286 substance abusers recruited at a central intake unit. Univariate tests showed that those who completed three, six, and 12 month interviews had higher baseline alcohol and drug use and were more likely to provide three or more contacts when recruited, to be female, to have been married, and to have previously received substance abuse or psychiatric treatment. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that complete data participants (those who completed all three ASI interviews) were nearly three times more likely to have previously received psychiatric treatment and twice as likely to have completed an early engagement interview. In addition, they were twice as likely to be female, and nearly twice as likely to be employed, own a residence, have completed high school, and be married. Procedures that may help decrease study attrition are discussed.