Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Bovine Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor on the Development of Pneumonia Caused by Mannheimia haemolytica

The role of recruited neutrophils in Mannheimia haemolytica infection is controversial. We hypothesized that the neutrophilia induced by recombinant bovine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) would lead to rapid bacterial clearance and less severe lesions after infection with M. haemolytica. Two experiments (A and B) were conducted in which four calves per experiment were treated daily with 5 μg/kg GCSF and four calves per experiment were treated with saline. All 16 calves were challenged with 5 × 109 colony-forming units (cfu)/ml (experiment A) or 4.5 × 108 cfu/ml (experiment B) of M. haemolytica bacteria, into the right bronchus by bronchoscope-placed catheter. The mean maximal blood neutrophil counts in non-GCSF-treated and GCSF-treated calves before bacterial challenge were 5.6 ± 0.7 × 109/liter and 25.4 ± 2.7 × 109/liter, respectively. Two untreated calves became neutropenic and were euthanatized 2 days after infection because of severe respiratory distress. GCSF-treated calves had a 37% reduction in lung lesions compared with nontreated calves, and this difference was significant (P = 0.04) when the effect of previous antibody titre to leukotoxin was considered. The effect of GCSF treatment on the severity of clinical signs seemed to be influenced by the antibody titre to M. haemolytica leukotoxin, although this effect could not be conclusively addressed. In conclusion, GCSF induced neutrophilia and partially protected calves against experimental infection with M. haemolytica. These results imply that increased numbers of neutrophils may, under some circumstances, protect against severe pneumonia caused by M. haemolytica.
Earnings Management, Asset Restructuring, and the Threat of Exchange Delisting in an Earnings-Based Regulatory Regime

This study examines the effect of an earnings-based listing regulation on corporate financial reporting management. In 2001, China revised its listing standards requiring compulsory stock suspension for firms reporting three-year consecutive losses. Suspended stocks are further delisted if they continue to report losses in the year of stock suspension. Our results show that firms approaching the delisting procedure use more earnings management, although the effect is minor. Meanwhile, we observe that delisting risk induces extensive performance-enhancing asset restructuring activities. For firms turning losses into profits, our evidence suggests a negative relationship between earnings management and asset restructuring. This study extends the earnings management literature by suggesting that earnings management to avoid losses is likely to increase with the severity of the losses and decline with asset restructuring activities. In addition, this research adds to the literature on the economic consequences of the delisting process. The study provides evidence that an earnings-based delisting regulation is a double-edged sword which leads to either earnings management or performance-enhancing asset restructuring activities. By pointing out the earnings management and restructuring effects of the Chinese delisting regime, we may inform policy makers of the economic consequences of an earnings-based regime. This adds to prior evidence on the effects of market-based delisting thresholds. In addition, the study highlights that the earnings-based delisting regulation does not create a level playing field, since state-controlled firms are at an advantage to use more government-led asset restructurings through state-owned shareholders in order to avoid delisting.
Incorporating sustainability criteria into credit risk management

Does a commercial debtor's economic, environmental and social performance in terms of sustainability affect its credit risk rating? Does adding criteria aimed at assessing a lender's environmental, social or sustainability practices provide added value to traditional financial rating criteria? Many analyses have reported that a correlation exists between companies' environmental and their financial performance. We checked out the assertion that it ‘pays to be sustainable’ by analyzing the role that criteria pertaining to sustainability and environmental orientation play in the commercial credit risk management process. Our results show that sustainability criteria can be used to predict the financial performance of a debtor and improve the predictive validity of the credit rating process. We conclude that the sustainability a firm demonstrates influences its creditworthiness as part of its financial performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Individual Preferences for Trade Partners in Taiwan

This article investigates economic factors and non‐economic factors of individual attitudes toward free‐trade agreements with different countries. Based on the Stolper–Samuelson theorem, highly skilled workers in Taiwan should be more supportive of free trade with China and less supportive of free trade with the United States than should unskilled workers in Taiwan. Using survey data from Taiwan, we find that highly educated people in Taiwan are more supportive of free trade with both the United States and China, and the effects of education are much stronger with respect to free trade with China. We also find that individual risk attitudes, national identity, and ethnicity play important roles in explaining trade preferences.
Clinical Practice Guidelines Decrease Unnecessary Echocardiograms Before Hip Fracture Surgery

Background: Preoperative assessment of geriatric patients with a hip fracture may include transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), which increases resource utilization and cost and may delay surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate preoperative TTE utilization at a single institution in order to determine (1) how often TTE is ordered in accordance with clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), (2) how frequently TTE reveals cardiac disease that may alter medical or anesthesia management, and (3) whether following CPGs reduces unnecessary TTE utilization without potentially missing important disease. Methods: A retrospective review of data on 100 geriatric patients with a hip fracture who had undergone preoperative TTE was performed. Charts were reviewed to evaluate if TTE had been obtained in accordance with the published CPGs from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA). TTE reports were reviewed for the presence of disease that was important enough to cause modifications in anesthesia or perioperative management, including new left ventricular systolic or diastolic dysfunction, moderate or severe valvular disease, and pulmonary hypertension. Finally, the sensitivity and specificity of accordance with the ACC/AHA CPGs for predicting which patients would have TTE that identified important disease were calculated. Results: The TTE was ordered in accordance with the published ACC/AHA CPGs for 66% of the patients. TTE revealed disease with the potential to modify anesthesia or medical management in 14% of the patients—for all of whom the TTE had been indicated according to ACC/AHA guidelines (i.e., the guidelines were 100% sensitive). In this study population, following the ACC/AHA guidelines could have prevented the performance of TTE in 34% of the patients without missing any disease (40% specificity). Conclusions: Preoperative TTE for patients with a hip fracture is frequently obtained outside the recommendations of established CPGs. Utilization of CPGs such as the ACC/AHA guidelines should be considered, as it may decrease variability in care and reduce unnecessary resource utilization without adversely affecting patient outcomes.
Incremental Value Relevance of Disaggregated Book Values and Disaggregated Earnings: Evidence from Nigeria

The link between accounting information and firm value has attracted the attention of accounting and finance researchers since the seminar work of Ball and Brown (1968) and Beaver (1968). The association of accounting information with firm value is value relevance research. Value relevance is the degree to which accounting information captures information impounded in stock prices. Ohlson (1995) provided the conceptual linkage between accounting information and firm value. Since then, value relevance research has increased in volume and diversity. A trend in this line of enquiry is to determine if disaggregated accounting information is incrementally value relevant beyond bottom line accounting information. The objective of this paper was to ascertain if disaggregated accounting information has more value relevance compared to bottom line measures for firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market. We specifically investigated the value relevance of disaggregated accounting information for Nigerian listed firms, using a sample of 940 firm-years from 1994 to 2013. The study contributes to the extant value relevance literature by employing a methodology that accounts for documented inefficiencies of the Nigerian capital market. Given the analysis conducted, findings indicate that disaggregated earnings are incrementally value relevant beyond bottom line earnings. Besides, disaggregated book value is found to be more value relevant compared to book value. In the light of these findings, both investors and analysts should shift emphasis from bottom line accounting information, like earnings and book value to disaggregated accounting numbers to improve the quality of investment decisions they make. Besides, regulatory authorities must improve on the corporate governance environment in order to mitigate incidences of window dressing, creative accounting and other corporate malfeasances
Mothers on the margins

Every year Anglicare Victoria conducts a survey of its Emergency Relief and Financial Counselling clients to assess the level and extent of hardship and to highlight a contemporary problem facing people on low income. In the light of the Australian Government’s recent decision to move principal parents from parenting support payments to unemployment payments when the youngest child reaches the age of eight (single parents) and six (parents in couple relationships) years, the aim of the 2013 Survey was to record the struggles experienced by women with dependent children who sought assistance from Anglicare Victoria due to financial hardship as well as the challenges they face in moving from welfare to a situation of self-reliance. Data collected on 325 clients, including 104 mothers, across 25 Victorian service locations revealed: An unacceptably high proportion of women with children were unable to afford items that most Australians would consider ‘essential living needs’ Mothers accessing welfare services, regardless of partner status, experienced more disadvantage than all other clients All clients in the labour force (employed and unemployed) experienced a high number of barriers to employment A significantly higher proportion of mothers compared to other clients cited a lack of available child care and the cost of child care as barriers to employment.
Dual control of C‐reactive protein gene expression by interleukin‐1 and interleukin‐6.

Human C‐reactive protein (CRP) is the major acute phase reactant during acute inflammation. The human CRP promoter is expressed in an inducible and cell‐specific manner when linked to the bacterial CAT gene and transfected into human hepatoma cell cultures. In this paper we analyze the effect of several recombinant cytokines or CRP promoter inducibility in human Hep3B cells. When cytokines are tested singly the major inducer of CRP‐CAT fusions is interleukin‐6 (IL‐6). Maximal CAT gene expression, however, is only achieved when both interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1 beta) and IL‐6 are present. The response to the two cytokines is cooperative. Cooperativity is maintained when the CRP promoter is linked to a different coding region, that of the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase II gene. With a series of 5′ and 3′ deletions we show the existence of two distinct and independent regions responsive to IL‐6 and located upstream to the TATA box. The IL‐1 effect is exerted at the level of downstream sequences that are probably important for optimal mRNA translatability or nuclear‐cytoplasmic transport. Inducibility is not influenced by the activation of protein kinases C or A and does not require new protein synthesis.
Differential Effects of Levofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin on the Risk for Isolation of Quinolone-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Due to the greater in vitro activity of ciprofloxacin than that of levofloxacin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the likelihood of isolating a clinical strain of quinolone-resistant (QR) P. aeruginosa might be greater after exposure to levofloxacin than ciprofloxacin. We examined the risk of isolating QR P. aeruginosa in association with prior levofloxacin or ciprofloxacin exposure. A case-case-control study was conducted. Two groups of cases, one with nosocomial QR P. aeruginosa infections and one with nosocomial quinolone-susceptible (QS) P. aeruginosa infections, were compared to a control group of hospitalized patients without P. aeruginosa infections. Bivariable and multivariable analyses were used to determine risk factors for isolation of QR P. aeruginosa and QS P. aeruginosa. One hundred seventeen QR P. aeruginosa and 255 QS P. aeruginosa cases were identified, and 739 controls were selected. Exposures to ciprofloxacin were similar among all three groups (8% for controls, 9.4% for QR P. aeruginosa cases, and 7.5% for QS P. aeruginosa cases; P ≥ 0.6). Levofloxacin use was more frequent in the QR P. aeruginosa cases than in the controls (35.9% and 22.1%, respectively; odds ratio [OR] = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3 to 3.0) and less frequent in QS P. aeruginosa cases (14.1% of QS P. aeruginosa cases; OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4 to 0.9). In multivariable analysis, levofloxacin, but not ciprofloxacin, was a significant risk factor for isolation of QR P. aeruginosa (OR for levofloxacin = 1.7 [95% CI = 1.0 to 2.9]; OR for ciprofloxacin = 1.2 [95% CI = 0.6 to 2.5]). Levofloxacin was associated with a reduced risk of isolation of QS P. aeruginosa (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4 to 0.9), whereas ciprofloxacin had no significant effect (OR = 1.0; 95% CI = 0.6 to 1.8). In conclusion, the use of levofloxacin, but not ciprofloxacin, was associated with isolation of QR P. aeruginosa.
On the integration of European capital markets

Purpose - The paper aims to investigate European equity market integration by analyzing volatility spillover effects between selected indices of high liquidity from the major regulated European equity markets. Design/methodology/approach - In undertaking the empirical analysis, data for major European stock market indices were utilised. The conditional variance of the VAR-GARCH model for each pair of indices is examined. Findings - The results provide evidence on strong EU equity market integration. The findings in general suggest a high degree of European equity market interconnection. This situation is depicted through strong effects from one European equity market to the other, as well as through significant feedback effects between them. Originality/value - The high level of interconnection found among the EU stock markets exerts significant influence on the efficient operation of each market and on asset and index pricing, which has therefore to be taken into account by investors and traders as market prices are set in common.
Gallic Acid Is an Active Component for the Anticarcinogenic Action of Grape Seed Procyanidins in Pancreatic Cancer Cells

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of a grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE) on proliferation and apoptosis in the pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line MIA PaCa-2 and identify the components of the extract with higher activity. The effects of the extract were analyzed on the proliferation and apoptosis processes in MIA PaCa-2 cells, as well as in the levels of the apoptosis markers Bcl-2 and Bax, the mitochondrial membrane potential, and reactive oxygen species levels. Finally, the components of the extract with higher effects were elucidated using enriched fractions of the extract and pure compounds. The results showed that GSPE inhibits cell proliferation and increases apoptosis in MIA PaCa-2 cells, which is primarily mediated by the downregulation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane. GSPE also reduced the formation of reactive oxygen species. The component of the extract that possesses the highest antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity was gallic acid. In conclusion, GSPE acts as anticarcinogenic in MIA PaCa-2 cells, with gallic acid as the major single active constituent of the extract.
Determination of the location of the fovea on the fundus.

PURPOSE To evaluate whether the distance between optic nerve head and fovea in healthy eyes determined by scanning laser ophthalmoscope may facilitate estimation of the location of the fovea relative to the optic disc in patients with macular disease. METHODS The angular distance was measured, in horizontal and vertical directions, between the center of the optic nerve head and the fovea in 104 eyes of 104 healthy probands. For additional evaluation of intraindividual variation in 70 of these persons the contralateral eye was measured as well. RESULTS The distance between the optic disc and the fovea differed vertically more than horizontally (-1.5 +/- 0.9 degrees [-3.65 to +0.65 degrees ] vs. 15.5 +/- 1.1 degrees [13.0-17.9 degrees ]). There was a mean angle between the fovea and the center of the optic disc versus the horizon of -5.6 +/- 3.3 degrees. The intraindividual difference between right and left eyes was markedly lower, with average angles being 0.2 +/- 1.3 degrees vertically and 0.0 +/- 1.1 degrees horizontally. CONCLUSIONS The distance between the optic nerve head and the fovea does not allow for a meaningful determination of the location of the fovea in eyes in which morphologic changes have occurred. The angle of rotation of the fovea relatively to the center of the optic nerve head is relatively stable. Therefore, the size of a central scotoma can be determined by movement of the blind spot according to the change of the preferred retinal locus (PRL). In addition, the knowledge of the location of the fovea enables determination of the position in the contralateral eye of the same patient.
Competitive advantage and entrepreneurial power: The dark side of entrepreneurship

Purpose --To show that the inability to adapt to a seriesof crises caused by business development is one of the principal causes offailure for all organisations and that one of the primary components in smallbusiness success must be the managerial competence of the principal actors,inevitably the owner-manager. Design/methodology/approach --This paper examines the divergence between theprescribed and assumed models of entrepreneurial behaviour provided bycontemporary management theorists and the real, observed and reported behaviourof small business practitioners and owner-managers. It reports on case studyexamples and highlights the dichotomy between expected and actual behaviour intypical management situations. Findings --The paper suggests that the almost egotistical attitude displayedby many entrepreneurs constitutes an abuse of the trust and the power placed inthe hands of small business owner-managers and that in extreme instances, theabuse of entrepreneurial power may lead directly to the failure of the smallfirm. Originality/value -- Many surveys of small business failure and sub-optimalpeformance often suggest situational and operational causes and explanations.This paper offers a different perspective for future research because the causemay be seen to lie with the apparently non-rational behaviour of theentrepreneur or owner-manager who does not adhere to the "rules" andexpectations of classical management theory. (Publication abstract)
Government Debt Management

Standard optimal Debt Management (DM) models prescribe a dominant role for long bonds and advocate against issuing short bonds. They require very large positions in order to complete markets and assume each period that governments repurchase all outstanding bonds and reissue (r/r) new ones. These features of DM are inconsistent with US data. We introduce incomplete markets via small transaction costs which serves to make optimal DM more closely resemble the data : r/r are negligible, short bond issuance substantial and persistent and short and long bonds positively co-vary. Intuitively long bonds help smooth taxes over states and short bonds over time. Solving incomplete market models with multiple assets is challenging so a further contribution of this paper is introducing a novel computational method to find global solutions. JEL codes: C63, E43, E62, H63
The Crash of ʼ87: Was It Expected? The Evidence from Options Markets

Transactions prices of S&P 500 futures options over 1985-1987 are examined for evidence of expectations prior to October 1987 of an impending stock market crash. First, it is shown that out-of-the-money puts became unusually expensive during the year preceding the crash. Second, a model is derived for pricing American options on jump-diffusion processes with systematic jump risk. The jump-diffusion parameters implicit in options prices indicate that a crash was expected and that implicit distributions were negatively skewed during October 1986 to August 1987. Both approaches indicate no strong crash fears during the 2 months immediately preceding the crash. ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN WHAT caused the stock market crashes around the world in October 1987 have suffered from the paucity of major economic developments occurring around that time that could have triggered the crashes. Shifting expectations regarding monetary policy, foreign investors' fears of a dollar decline, increasing riskiness of assets-none of these appeared major enough, if present at all, to explain the magnitude of the crashes. And although portfolio insurance strategies could conceivably magnify the effects of a jump in fundamentals, the initiating jump in fundamentals appears to be lacking.
The timing of conflict violence: Hydraulic behavior in the Ugandan civil war

Researchers generally examine how variables directly affect events in war. Some variables, however, may not simply increase or decrease conflict events but may instead displace them. In wartime, this dynamic may result from the conditional decision-making made by militaries constrained, at least partially, by time. When there is a necessary regularity to military operations, decision-making may be complicated by factors such as inclement weather, and this regularized pressure to act may produce a hydraulic relationship between inclement weather and events. In this dynamic, today’s inclement weather, such as rain, may displace today’s events. Conversely, yesterday’s rain may increase today’s, with planned events postponed. Similarly, tomorrow’s rain may also increase today’s events, with planned activities moved forward. We test this hydraulic argument with geo-referenced data from the recent Ugandan civil war and find significant evidence that conflict events are fluid in time. Inclement weather constrains and also displaces events.
Do Work Conditions Affect Individual Health? - An Economic Valuation of Job Stressors and the Work-Life Balance

We estimate the impact of qualitative job characteristics on self-rated general health and the prevalence of specific illnesses. Using panel data and controlling for individual- specific effects and pre-existing health, we find that the perceived risk of unemployment, but not unemployment per se, and an imbalanced work-life have major detrimental effects on health. We calculate compensating income variations ranging from about 10 to 50 percent for a negative work condition. Our results call for an intervention at the workplace to reduce the number of ill-days and prevent long-term health damages.