Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential expression of EGFR during early reparative phase of the gastric mucosa between young and aged rats

Liu, Lei, Jerrold R. Turner, Yingjie Yu, Ahmed J. Khan, Richard Jaszewski, Suzanne E. G. Fligiel, and Adhip P. N. Majumdar. Differential expression of EGFR during early reparative phase of the gastric mucosa between young and aged rats. Am. J. Physiol. 275 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 38): G943–G950, 1998. —Aging is associated with decreased reparative ability of the gastric mucosa. Our recent data suggest a role for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the mucosal reparative processes. Thus we examined changes in EGFR tyrosine kinase activity as well as expression and subcellular localization of EGFR and its ligand transforming growth factor-a (TGF-a) in the gastric mucosa of young (4-mo-old) and aged (24-mo-old) Fischer 344 male rats during the early reparative phase after acute injury induced by 2 M NaCl. Within 240 min of injury, significant epithelial restitution was observed in the gastric mucosa of young but not of aged rats. Expansion of the neck region and initiation of foveolar cell migration could be seen within 45 min of injury in young rats but not until 90 min in aged rats. In young rats mucosal EGFR tyrosine kinase activity increased at 45 min after injury and subsequently fell to basal levels. Mucosal EGFR mRNA increased throughout the reparative phase as did content of the EGFR ligand TGF-a. In contrast, although the basal tyrosine kinase activity and levels of EGFR mRNA and TGF-a were elevated in the gastric mucosa of aged rats, injury did not cause increases in these parameters. Immunofluorescent localization suggests that internalization and/or degradation of EGFR may be higher in aged than in young rats. We suggest that diminished induction of EGFR tyrosine kinase activity and increased EGFR internalization after injury may in part be responsible for the age-related decrease in the reparative capacity of the gastric mucosa.
Diversification Opportunities through Fixed-income Managed Funds in Eastern Europe

In measuring the performance characteristics of fixed-income mutual funds in the emerging economies of Eastern Europe, we use a sample of funds domiciled in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, finding failure to surpass passive benchmarks even before considering the impact of expenses on overall returns. Market timing on the part of fund managers is found but in higher moment testing, being overwhelmed though by seemingly full replication of passive benchmark strategies followed. Results are negatively influenced by stock market returns in the relative markets, while public information variables appear to enclose informational content proven useful to fund managers. JEL Classification: G11, G15, G23
California shrugged: fountainhead of the Great Recession

California was the epicentre of the current Great Recession. Due to its economic structure, open economy, political institutions and other factors, it has a starring role in the four-fold US crisis underway--housing, urban, industrial and fiscal. First, California was a disproportionately large player in US mortgage markets and its banks engaged in the worst excesses of the housing bubble. Second, California exhibited disproportionate activity in the housing sector among the 50 states and had the most unaffordable housing, making borrowers susceptible to mortgage overreach. Third, the state is the country's largest subeconomy at the forefront of technological innovation, but it manifests troubling elements of industrial decline. And fourth, its fiscal crisis is among the worst of any state. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.
Bankruptcy Probabilities Inferred from Option Prices

In times of financial crisis, solvency concerns are reflected in market prices for financial instruments. Credit default swap (CDS) spreads provide a direct measure of the market’s (risk-neutral) expectation regarding a firm’s probability of bankruptcy. The options market is another place where investors’ projections of future credit conditions can be seen, in high prices for deep out-of-the-money puts, for example. Although CDS spreads are available for horizons of 1 to 10 years and more, option maturities are much shorter, offering a window onto short-term expectations. Moreover, unlike CDS, the availability of market prices for multiple options with the same expiration but different strike prices allows an entire risk-neutral density (RND) for the future stock price to be extracted. In this article, the authors extend the strategy of fitting the RND as a mixture of two lognormals by adding a discrete probability of bankruptcy. Applying the approach to analyze the RNDs from equity options on Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and AIG in the run-up to their 2008 credit events (two of which ended in forced mergers and the other two in insolvency), the authors find that the mixture of lognormals plus bankruptcy RND fits the options market data better than alternative models. They also show that the implied short-run bankruptcy probabilities from equity options aligned perfectly with the one-year CDS spreads and also that the RND default probabilities for J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, which took over the failing Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, respectively, were much lower than for the four firms that experienced credit events.
Barriers to the efficient and effective use of information technology

Examines the efficiency and effectiveness of a prescriptive systems development methodology in practice. The UK Government’s mandatory structured systems analysis and design method (SSADM) was examined to determine its value to software projects. The evidence was collected from interviews with 17 project managers, discussions with participants on three large SSADM projects and from observing 90 end users in training. The conclusions are that prescriptive information systems methodologies are unlikely to cope well with strategic uncertainty, user communication or staff development. The recommendations are to focus more on soft organisational issues and to use approaches tailored to each project.
Something left to lose? Network preservation as a motive for protectionist responses to foreign takeovers

Abstract International market integration reduces the overlap between economic and political borders, but what, exactly, does that imply? According to some rational choice accounts, it means that globalization will eventually undermine itself by triggering protectionist backlashes. Previous scholarship has highlighted flaws in the underlying assumption that elected politicians prioritize local stakeholders over anonymous shareholders. The present article adds that, regarding foreign takeovers, levels of protectionism would vary even if governments did prioritize local stakeholders, because stakeholder preferences vary across corporate governance regimes. Where, as in the UK, coordination relies more on market mechanisms than on networks, foreign acquisitions are less disruptive, and political mobilization against them is weaker. To the extent that the internationalization of corporate ownership spreads outsider governance by destroying networks, resistance therefore declines as the market expands. Quantitative correlational evidence is supplemented by case studies of bids for three British companies that provoked unusual levels of political mobilization.
Design of a Novel Efficient Human–Computer Interface: An Electrooculagram Based Virtual Keyboard

The aim of this paper is to present the design and application of an electrooculogram (EOG) based on an efficient human-computer interface (HCI). Establishing an alternative channel without speaking and hand movements is important in increasing the quality of life for the handicapped. EOG-based systems are more efficient than electroencephalogram (EEG)-based systems in some cases. By using a realized virtual keyboard, it is possible to notify in writing the needs of the patient in a relatively short time. Considering the biopotential measurement pitfalls, the novel EOG-based HCI system allows people to successfully communicate with their environment by using only eye movements. Classifying horizontal and vertical EOG channel signals in an efficient interface is realized in this study. The new system is microcontroller based, with a common-mode rejection ratio of 88 dB, an electronic noise of 0.6 μV (p-p), and a sampling rate of 176 Hz. The nearest neighborhood algorithm is used to classify the signals, and the classification performance is 95%. The novel EOG-based HCI system allows people to successfully and economically communicate with their environment by using only eye movements.
The emergence of the mainland Chinese outbound travel market and its implications for tourism marketing

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current trends of the mainland Chinese outbound travellers to Hong Kong. According to the World Tourism Organisation’s forecasted figures, China will be the fourth largest generator of outbound tourists in the world. In 2000, China generated about 29 per cent of the total tourists to Hong Kong, and was the biggest market for Hong Kong. Given the importance of this market, this study attempts to find out how the trend of outbound travel and market performance has been developed; what the main social, economic and political factors are affecting the emergence of the China outbound market; and what the policy implications are for the tourism industry in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region.
Reliability of the Foot Function Index: A Report of the AOFAS Outcomes Committee

Background: There currently is no widely used, validated, self-administered instrument for measuring musculoskeletal functional status in individuals with nonsystemic foot disorders. The purpose of this paper was to report on the assessment of reliability of one of these instruments. We wanted to determine if the Foot Function Index (FFI), which has been validated in rheumatoid patients without fixed foot deformity or prior foot surgery, would be reliable for a population of patients with foot complaints without systemic disease. Methods: Patients were recruited from five orthopaedic offices where the physicians were members of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. Patients were asked to complete the FFI at the time of their initial office visit and then were givena second copy to complete and return by mail 1 week after their visit. Results: Ninety-six patients completed the first questionnaire, and 54 patients completed the second. Reliability in this population was acceptable with an average of 23.5% of the patients providing retest values within one point of the initial response and an average of 45.3% of the patients providing the same response, for a total of 68.8% of all respondents answering within one point between their initial and second questionnaire. In two of the three categories, there were frequent nonresponses or no applicable responses. Four questions, two in the pain section and two in the activity limitation section, generated 20% or more of the nonapplicable answers. Conclusions: The FFI appears to be a reasonable tool for low functioning individuals with foot disorders. It may not be appropriate for individuals who function at or above the level of independent activities of daily living.
Understanding the Endogeneity between Firm Value and Shareholder Rights

I explore the relation between firm value and the shareholder rights-based Governance Index “G,” which has become a popular measure of governance quality among researchers and investors. I show that the relation is not spuriously driven by unobservable firm heterogeneity or an assortment of observable firm characteristics, such as firm growth potential and profitability. The causality seems to run from G to firm value, rather than from firm value to G. My results suggest that granting more rights to shareholders could be an effective way to reduce agency costs and enhance firm value.
Energy metabolism in cultured human fibroblasts during aging in vitro

To explore the relationship between energy metabolism and the limited replicative life span of cultured human fibroblasts, we studied several bioenergetic parameters in normal fibroblasts at early passage (young cells) and at late passage (old cells) and early passage cells from a subject with the Hutchinson‐Gilford (progeria) syndrome. Old cells consumed more glucose and produced more lactate during growth, but O2 consumption, both basal and following maximum uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation by SF‐6847, was the same as in young cells. Progeria cells produced the most lactate but did not consume more glucose, while their basal and uncoupled O2 consumption was similar to that of young and old cells during both log and confluent states. Consumption of glutamine, a source of both oxidative energy and lactate, was approximately the same in all three cell types as was 14CO2 production from 2‐14C‐pyruvate and 5‐14C‐glutamate. ATP and ADP concentrations were similar in all cell types with a rise in the ATP/ADP ratio during growth from log to confluent state. Thus, old and progeria cells, in contrast to young cells, produce more lactate during growth consistent with a rise in energy demand and/or inefficiency of oxidative phosphorylation. Although limitations in total energy output do not appear to be causal to the loss of replicative capacity in normal cells after serial passage, they could play a role in the curtailed replicative capacity of progeria cells.
Effect of Latitude on Vitamin D Levels

Abstract Context Vitamin D levels have been linked to bone health and to numerous diseases; however, an element that lacks substantial direct data and limits the evidence basis regarding whom to screen for vitamin D deficiency is the effect of latitude on vitamin D levels. Objectives To determine whether latitude influences vitamin D levels and to investigate the influence of other factors that may affect vitamin D levels, including sex, race, skin type, and body mass index. Methods Osteopathic medical students were recruited from campuses in Bradenton, Florida, and Erie, Pennsylvania. Surveys were administered to obtain demographic information, and blood samples were drawn to measure total vitamin D levels. Two-sample t tests, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression was used to assess differences in total vitamin D levels between the 2 locations. Results A total of 359 medical students (aged 22-57 years) were included in the study, 194 at the Bradenton campus and 214 at the Erie campus. The mean (SD) vitamin D level was 34.5 (11.8) ng/mL among participants in Bradenton and 28.1 (12.4) ng/mL among participants in Erie. Logistic regression models revealed an adjusted OR of 3.3 (95% CI, 1.73-6.4) for deficient total vitamin D among Erie students. Non-white race, male sex, and high body mass index were also statistically significant risk factors for vitamin D deficiency in regression models (P<.05). Conclusion Latitude was found to be a statistically significant risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, the findings suggest that persons with darker skin tone and, to a lesser degree, men and persons who are overweight or obese are also at increased risk for vitamin D deficiency. Physicians should be cognizant of these risk factors when deciding whom to screen.
THE INCIDENCE OF INFORMATIONAL CASCADES AND THE BEHAVIOR OF TRADE INTERARRIVAL TIMES DURING THE STOCK MARKET BUBBLE

This paper investigates the possible formation of informational cascades by traders in a random sample of 8,000 NYSE stock-days experiencing extreme price changes during 1998–2001. Our cascade measure is designed to detect informational cascades in high-frequency stock market prices. First, we find evidence of cascades on approximately 12% of the days when the NYSE experiences, on average, large price increases. This percentage increases to about 20% on days experiencing large price decreases, on average. Second, we find evidence that the interarrival times of trades in those stocks exhibiting significant informational cascades are generated by a nonlinear stochastic process. Third, the evidence supporting cascades is largely confined to smaller stocks and to stocks followed by fewer security analysts. Last, the occurrence of cascades appears to correlate with the incorporation of fundamental information into security prices.
State-Level Business Cycles and Local Return Predictability

This study examines whether local stock returns vary with local business cycles in a predictable manner. Our key conjecture is that local stock prices would decline and the average future returns would rise during local recessions as local risk aversion increases and local risk sharing abilities decline. Consistent with this conjecture, we find that U.S. state portfolios earn higher future returns when state-level unemployment rates are higher and housing collateral ratios are lower. During the 1978 to 2009 period, geography-based trading strategies that exploit this predictable pattern earn an annualized risk-adjusted performance of about five percent. This abnormal performance can be attributed to time-varying portfolio exposures to U.S. systematic risk factors and mispricing generated by coordinated local trading. Consistent with the mispricing explanation, the evidence of predictability is stronger among firms with low visibility and high local ownership. Nonlocal domestic and foreign investors arbitrage away the predictable patterns in local returns in about a year.
Tourism as a determinant of long‐run economic growth

This study investigates the relationships between tourism and economic growth. It does this by examining the South Tyrolean economy using the Johansen cointegration test to obtain a cointegrated vector among the relevant variables and the Granger causality test to investigate causality. Annual GDP data from 1980 to 2006, the number of foreign visitors to South Tyrol, and the relative prices (RP) between South Tyrol and Germany (the source of more than 60% of foreign tourists) are used. The Johansen cointegration test shows that the estimated long‐run elasticity of the real GDP with respect to tourism demand is 0.29 and the Granger causality test shows that causality goes unidirectionally from tourists and RP to real GDP. Therefore, the tourism‐led growth hypothesis is supported empirically in the case of South Tyrol. In other words, in South Tyrol, tourism reinforces long‐run economic growth but economic growth does not reinforce tourism. Impulse response analysis shows that a shock to the number of tourists and RP produces a continuous and sustained positive effect.
Political Use of the Internet, Political Attitudes and Political Participation

This study aims to clarify the interrelationships among political attitudes, Internet use, and political participation, and to develop a path model in which interrelationships among various concepts can be clarified and modified to provide a more integrated theoretical formulation. The study tested two path models. The first model assumed that demographics lead to political attitudes, then to the political use of the Internet, and eventually to political participation. The second model assumed that political use of the Internet precedes political attitudes, and then attitudes lead to political participation. The results show that the data correspond better to the second model than to the first; political use of the Internet promotes political interest and feelings of trust and efficacy, and makes an individual more likely to participate in campaigns and politics. The paper also discusses directions for future research.
Environmental Escherichia coli: ecology and public health implications—a review

Escherichia coli is classified as a rod‐shaped, Gram‐negative bacterium in the family Enterobacteriaceae. The bacterium mainly inhabits the lower intestinal tract of warm‐blooded animals, including humans, and is often discharged into the environment through faeces or wastewater effluent. The presence of E. coli in environmental waters has long been considered as an indicator of recent faecal pollution. However, numerous recent studies have reported that some specific strains of E. coli can survive for long periods of time, and potentially reproduce, in extraintestinal environments. This indicates that E. coli can be integrated into indigenous microbial communities in the environment. This naturalization phenomenon calls into question the reliability of E. coli as a faecal indicator bacterium (FIB). Recently, many studies reported that E. coli populations in the environment are affected by ambient environmental conditions affecting their long‐term survival. Large‐scale studies of population genetics revealed the diversity and complexity of E. coli strains in various environments, which are affected by multiple environmental factors. This review examines the current knowledge on the ecology of E. coli strains in various environments with regard to its role as a FIB and as a naturalized member of indigenous microbial communities. Special emphasis is given on the growth of pathogenic E. coli in the environment, and the population genetics of environmental members of the genus Escherichia. The impact of environmental E. coli on water quality and public health is also discussed.
Pseudouridine in RNA: What, Where, How, and Why

Pseudouridine (5-ribosyluracil) is a ubiquitous yet enigmatic constituent of structural RNAs (transfer, ribosomal, small nuclear, and small nucleolar). Although pseudouridine (psi) was the first modified nucleoside to be discovered in RNA, and is the most abundant, its biosynthesis and biological roles have remained poorly understood since its identification as a "fifth nucleoside" in RNA. Recently, a combination of biochemical, biophysical, and genetic approaches has helped to illuminate the structural consequences of psi in polyribonucleotides, the biochemical mechanism of U-->psi isomerization in RNA, and the role of modification enzymes (psi synthases) and box H/ACA snoRNAs, a class of eukaryotic small nucleolar RNAs, in the site-specific biosynthesis of psi. Through its unique ability to coordinate a structural water molecule via its free N1-H, psi exerts a subtle but significant "rigidifying" influence on the nearby sugar-phosphate backbone and also enhances base stacking. These effects may underlie the biological role of most (but perhaps not all) of the psi residues in RNA. Certain genetic mutants lacking specific psi residues in tRNA or rRNA exhibit difficulties in translation, display slow growth rates, and fail to compete effectively with wild-type strains in mixed culture. In particular, normal growth is severely compromised in an Escherichia coli mutant deficient in a pseudouridine synthase responsible for the formation of three closely spaced psi residues in the mRNA decoding region of the 23S rRNA. Such studies demonstrate that pseudouridylation of RNA confers an important selective advantage in a natural biological context.
The Role of the Sympathetic Nervous System in the Thymus in Health and Disease

The existence of a network of immunoneuroendocrine interactions that results in the reciprocal modulation of the classical functions of each system is well established at present. Most of the evidence derives from studies on secondary lymphoid organs, such as the spleen and lymph nodes. In this article, several aspects relevant to understand the role of the sympathetic nervous system in the establishment of these interactions in the thymus are discussed. At present, the sympathetic innervation of the thymus, the expression of adrenergic receptors in thymic cells, particularly of β-adrenergic receptors, and the effect of sympathetic neurotransmitters, although mainly derived from in vitro or pharmacological studies, seem to be relatively well studied. However, other aspects, such as the relevance that immune-sympathetic interactions at the thymic level may have for certain diseases, specially autoimmune or other diseases that primarily involve the activation of the immune system, as well as how the integration of sympathetic and hormonal signals at local levels may affect thymic functions, certainly deserve further investigation.