Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International Evidence on the Gender Gap in Education over the Past Six Decades: A Puzzle and an Answer to It

This paper presents novel worldwide evidence on the evolution of the gender gap in education over the past six decades. In every region of the world, I find that the gender gap increases from 1950 to 1975 and then decreases from 1975 to 2005. This path creates a puzzle since the existing explanations for the post-1975 boom in the higher education of women are not fully consistent with this evidence. To solve this puzzle, I highlight the missing element in the literature: the different nature of the forces behind the increases in the demand for education in the two periods.
Antileishmanial Physalins from Physalis minima

Three new physalins (1–3) and a new withanolide 7 have been isolated from the whole plant of Physalis minima, along with three known physalins: physalin H (4), isophysalin B (5), and 5β,6β‐epoxyphysalin B (6). Their structures were deduced on the basis of in‐depth spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1–6 showed significant in vitro leishmanicidal activities (0.92–19.4 μg/ml) against promastigotes of Leishmania major.
Inflation and real stock prices

A time series measure of expectations is used to demonstrate the existence of an inverse relationship between inflation and real stock prices, even after controlling for output shocks. This provides some evidence against Fama's famous conjecture (Fama, E., 1981, Stock returns, real activity, inflation, and money, American Economic Review, Sept, 545 - 565).
Cognitive Style and the Acceptance of Management Science Recommendations

The effective implementation of management science results depends upon a wide variety of technical and organizational factors. This paper examines the effects of cognitive style in the implementation process. Previous research in cognitive theory and implementation indicates that the nature of the researcher-manager interface may be related to measurable cognitive factors. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the influence of cognitive style and the style of written reports on the acceptance of management science recommendations. Graduate students and practicing managers participated in separate but identical experimental trials. The findings indicate that differences in acceptance rates are due not only to differences in cognitive style, but also to differences in the subject populations.
Heterozygosity for the S180L variant of MAL/TIRAP, a gene expressing an adaptor protein in the Toll-like receptor pathway, is associated with lower risk of developing chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Among T. cruzi-infected individuals, only a subgroup develops severe chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC); the majority remain asymptomatic. T. cruzi displays numerous ligands for the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are an important component of innate immunity that lead to the transcription of proinflammatory cytokines by nuclear factor-kappaB. Because proinflammatory cytokines play an important role in CCC, we hypothesized that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes that encode proteins in the TLR pathway could explain differential susceptibility to CCC among T. cruzi-infected individuals. METHODS For 169 patients with CCC and 76 T. cruzi-infected, asymptomatic individuals, we analyzed SNPs by use of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for the genes TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, TLR9, and MAL/TIRAP, which encodes an adaptor protein. RESULTS Heterozygous carriers of the MAL/TIRAP variant S180L were more prevalent in the asymptomatic group (24 [32%] of 76 subjects) than in the CCC group (21 [12%] of 169) (chi2=12.6; P=.0004 [adjusted P (Pc)=. 0084]; odds ratio [OR], 0.31 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.16-0.60]). Subgroup analysis showed a stronger association when asymptomatic patients were compared with patients who had severe CCC (i.e., patients with left-ventricular ejection fraction<or=40%) (chi2=11.3; P=.0008 [Pc=.017]; OR, 0.22 [95% CI, 0.09-0.56]) than when asymptomatic patients were compared with patients who had mild CCC (i.e., patients with left-ventricular ejection fraction>40%) (chi2=7.7; P=.005 [Pc=.11]; OR, 0.33 [95% CI, 0.15-0.73]). CONCLUSION T. cruzi-infected individuals who are heterozygous for the MAL/TIRAP S180L variant that leads to a decrease in signal transduction upon ligation of TLR2 or TLR4 to their respective ligand may have a lower risk of developing CCC.
Consumer preferences and product and process R&D

Firms often conduct both product and process R&D. Consumer preferences typically play a vital role in determining these R&D choices. The economics literature, however, has mostly ignored the interrelationship between the R&D choices of firms and consumer preferences. Istudy product and process R&D from the perspective of their relationship with consumer preferences. In doing so, I find a novel distinction between the two kinds of R&D. This distinction can explain several empirical observations regarding firms' choices of the two, and can also potentially enable us to better empirically identify the two.
Chinese FDI in the French and Australian Wine Industries: Liabilities of Foreignness and Country of Origin Effects

This paper explores the recent evolution of Chinese investment in the wine industries in the Bordeaux region of France and Western Australia (WA). The study identifies variations in the nature of the investments undertaken, which are not always consistent with existing theory. We explore how these differences impact on the liability of foreignness (LOF) experienced (Eden and Miller, 2004; Zaheer, 1995). We find evidence of all three of the categories of hazards identified by Eden and Miller (2004), with unfamiliarity being particularly significant, especially for wholly owned investments. We postulate that differences in context between home and host countries are a key factor explaining both the observed difficulties and the differences in experiences. The findings of our work on LOF, in terms of its nature and mitigating strategies, resonate well with existing theory, although we also find evidence of a Country of Origin (COO) effect, both in terms of Liability of Origin (LOR) and Assets of Foreignness (AOF). The variations in entry mode and LOF, however, are less consistent with existing research and pose questions in relation to the interaction between the home and host contexts, company strategy and LOF.
ADP-Ribosylation of Actin by the Clostridium botulinum C2 Toxin in Mammalian Cells Results in Delayed Caspase-Dependent Apoptotic Cell Death

ABSTRACT The binary C2 toxin from Clostridium botulinum mono-ADP-ribosylates G-actin in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells. This modification leads to depolymerization of actin filaments accompanied by cell rounding within 3 h of incubation but does not immediately induce cell death. Here we investigated the long-term responses of mammalian cell lines (HeLa and Vero) following C2 toxin treatment. Cells stayed round even though the toxin was removed from the medium after its internalization into the cells. No unmodified actin reappeared in the C2 toxin-treated cells within 48 h. Despite actin being completely ADP-ribosylated after about 7 h, no obvious decrease in the overall amount of actin was observed for at least 48 h. Therefore, ADP-ribosylation was not a signal for an accelerated degradation of actin in the tested cell lines. C2 toxin treatment resulted in delayed apoptotic cell death that became detectable about 15 to 24 h after toxin application in a portion of the cells. Poly(ADP)-ribosyltransferase 1 (PARP-1) was cleaved in C2 toxin-treated cells, an indication of caspase 3 activation and a hallmark of apoptosis. Furthermore, specific caspase inhibitors prevented C2 toxin-induced apoptosis, implying that caspases 8 and 9 were activated in C2 toxin-treated cells. C2I, the ADP-ribosyltransferase component of the C2 toxin, remained active in the cytosol for at least 48 h, and no extensive degradation of C2I was observed. From our data, we conclude that the long-lived nature of C2I in the host cell cytosol was essential for the nonreversible cytotoxic effect of C2 toxin, resulting in delayed apoptosis of the tested mammalian cells.
Does Social Interaction Destabilise Financial Markets?

With this paper, I propose a simple asset pricing model that accounts for the influence from social interaction. Investors are assumed to make up their mind about an asset’s price based on a forecasting strategy and its past profitability as well as on the contemporaneous expectations of other market participants. Empirically analysing stocks of the DAX30 index, I provide evidence that social interaction rather destabilises financial markets. Based on my results, I state that at least, it does not have a stabilising effect.
Patent Scope, Antitrust Policy, and Cumulative Innovation

In this article, I present a model of cumulative innovation to investigate what factors should influence a court's decision when a patentee alleges that another inventor has infringed the patent with an improved version of the patented product. The model reveals how the optimal patent would extend broad protection to those inventions that have very little value (standing alone) relative to the improvements that others may subsequently invent. I also examine whether courts should allow a patentee and competing inventors with improved versions of the patented product to enter collusive agreements. The model indicates that such a policy could create incentives for inefficient entry by imitators who "invent around" the original patent.
PACs, Issue Context, and Congressional Decisionmaking

Scholars have claimed that PAC influence on congressional behavior is more likely on certain types of issues. After considering both roll-call voting and committee participation, I argue that the conditions making PAC influence on voting most likely make influence on participation least likely, and vice versa. The analysis of 20 legislative proposals indicates that PACs are able to influence voting on non-ideological/non-visible issues, but are more likely to influence participation on ideological/visible issues. Unlike previous studies, these findings demonstrate that PACs can influence behavior across different contexts, but that the route to influence differs depending on the type of issue being considered.
Safety and immunogenicity of a live attenuated mumps vaccine

Background: Mumps, a communicable, acute and previously well-controlled disease, has had recent and occasional resurgences in some areas. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, controlled and multistep phase I study of an F-genotype attenuated mumps vaccine produced in human diploid cells was conducted. A total of 300 subjects were enrolled and divided into 4 age groups: 16–60 years, 5–16 years, 2–5 years and 8–24 months. The groups were immunized with one injection per subject. Three different doses of the F-genotype attenuated mumps vaccine, A (3.5 ± 0.25 logCCID50), B (4.25 ± 0.25 logCCID50) and C (5.0 ± 0.25 logCCID50), as well as a placebo control and a positive control of a licensed A-genotype vaccine (S79 strain) were used. The safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine were compared with those of the controls. Results: The safety evaluation suggested that mild adverse reactions were observed in all groups. No serious adverse event (SAE) was reported throughout the trial. The immunogenicity test showed a similar seroconversion rate of the neutralizing and ELISA antibody in the 2- to 5-year-old and 8- to 24-month-old groups compared with the seroconversion rate in the positive control. The GMT of the neutralizing anti-F-genotype virus antibodies in the vaccine groups was slightly higher than that in the positive control group. Conclusions: The F-genotype attenuated mumps vaccine evaluated in this clinical trial was demonstrated to be safe and have effective immunogenicity vs. control.
Willingness to pay for improved air quality in Sweden

The aim of the paper is to quantify individual willingness-to-pay measures of improved air quality in Sweden by using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Such measures are important for policy makers when deciding about public investments and policy instruments in order to regulate environmental impacts, e.g. from road transportation and industry. The mean willingness to pay (WTP) for a 50% reduction of harmful substances where the respondents live and work was about 2000 SEK/year, which is of the same order of magnitude as earlier stated preference studies in Nordic countries. Most parameters in the econometric analysis had the expected sign. WTP was increasing in income, wealth and education; it was larger for men, members of environmental organizations, people living in big cities (which are on average more polluted), and people who own their house or apartment. It was lower for retired people. However, the additional WTP for people in big cities, although significantly higher than for other people, was lower than expected, indicating a possible insensitivity-to-scope effect.
An Investigation of the Gains from Specialized Equity Claims

We investigate whether operating performance improves when a firm creates traded equity claims on a subsidiary without relinquishing control. We find that the change in a parent firm’s operating performance following an equity carve-out is negatively related to the fraction of subsidiary shares that the parent firm retains after a carve-out. Operating performance of parent firms improves only when the parent completely divests its ownership of the subsidiary. We also find no improvement in operating performance following the creation of tracking stock. We conclude that corporate restructuring without relinquishing control of assets does not enhance operating performance.
The Living Standards of the Low Income Self‐Employed

Poverty and inequality measurement in Australia has typically excluded the self‐employed because of concerns about a weak relationship between their measured incomes and their standard of living. At the same time, however, families containing self‐employed individuals receive substantial income support. Is this support well targeted? This paper compares the living standards of low income self‐employed and employee families using data from the ABS 1993–94 Household Expenditure Survey. The use of expenditure data for the measurement of living standards poses particular methodological problems, for which some new solutions are proposed. The paper concludes that the average living standards of low income self‐employed families and of self‐employed families receiving additional family payments are higher than those of comparable employee families. On the other hand, a greater proportion of self‐employed families have low consumption levels.
Earnings Surprise “Materiality” as Measured by Stock Returns

Ranked earnings surprise portfolios formed from First Call files for 1992–97 are used to assess the annual earnings surprise magnitude for an individual firm sufficient to expect a “significant market reaction. ” We find that, for an individual firm, the maximum probability of a gain from trading on prior knowledge of any surprise magnitude is . 622. The lack of probable trading gains is due to the S–shaped surprise/return relation and the large variance of returns for a given magnitude of surprise. In turn, we find that the S–shape is related empirically to the dispersion of analyst forecasts. Thus, factors underlying dispersion differences are related to the importance or “materiality” of earnings surprise as measured by stock returns and explain at least part of the S–shaped surprise/return relation.
An Alternative Testable Form of the Consumption CAPM

A model of asset prices is developed that is in principle testable even when agg regate consumption of goods and their market prices are only partiall y observable. The author shows that if there are m consumption goods, expected returns on securities can be expressed in terms of covarian ces of their returns with market prices of k consumption goods (k bei ng less than m) and aggregate consumption of the remaining goods. Thi s model provides researchers with some flexibility in choosing the se t of variables that measure riskiness of securities, which should lea d to more powerful tests of consumption CAPM. Copyright 1988 by American Finance Association.
The Militarization of Post-Khomeini Iran: Praetorianism 2.0

On June 4th of every year since 1989, the Islamic Republic of Iran holds a grand memorial to honor the passing of its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2010, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) organized and managed the memorial for the first time. As Khomeini’s grandson Hassan Khomeini, himself a cleric, stepped up to deliver a sermon, government supporters chanted in protest and booed him off the stage. The humiliation of Khomeini’s family vividly illustrates how Iran’s power structure has fundamentally changed, away from its unique clerical model toward a type of military dictatorship. In other words, the Islamic Republic is no longer a semiautocratic, clergy-led state which allows some form of citizen participation. The mass protests following the hotly contested June 12, 2009 election were indeed proof that the Islamic Republic has a vibrant civil society and that many Iranians still expect some level of electoral fairness. But Iran is now a military-led system or, in political-science terms, a ‘‘praetorian’’ state. From this perspective, one may interpret the June 12 election fiasco not as a struggle for power between reformist and hard-liner camps, but rather as an assertion of influence and a de facto coup by the emerging militant class and its preferred candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, against the clerical oligarchy that came to power through the 1978—79 Iranian Revolution. An analysis of the degree to which the IRGC Iran’s most powerful military entity has come to call the shots in the Islamic Republic reveals an Iran that is a bona fide praetorian state, one that represents a stronger and more stable form
Plasma nitric oxide levels and the expression of P-selectin on platelets in preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of plasma nitric oxide levels with the expression of P-selectin on platelets in preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN Plasma levels of nitrite and nitrate (the stable nitric oxide metabolites) and the expression of P-selectin on platelets (a platelet activation marker) were measured in 25 normal pregnant women and 25 women with preeclampsia. The effects of the inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis on the expression of P-selectin also was measured in vitro. RESULTS Plasma nitrate levels and the expression of P-selectin averaged 30.5 +/- 2.2 micromol/L and 8.9% +/- 1.1% (SEM), respectively, in preeclampsia, which was significantly higher than in normal pregnancy (P <.05). Nitric oxide synthesis inhibition in vitro significantly increased the expression of P-selectin in normal pregnancy by 284% (P <.05), which was significantly higher than in preeclampsia (156%, P <.05). CONCLUSION The inhibitory effects of increased nitric oxide on the expression of P-selectin is attenuated in preeclampsia, which may contribute partly to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.
Knowledge and attitudes about mental illness: a survey of middle school students.

OBJECTIVES Despite the many studies of public attitudes toward mental illnesses, relatively few have examined the views of the youngest generation of citizens. This study was intended to increase understanding of youths' views of mental illness by developing and administering measures of knowledge and attitudes of middle school students toward mental illnesses. METHODS Self-report questionnaires concerning knowledge, attitudes, and social distance related to mental illness were developed and pilot-tested to create an assessment tool appropriate for a juvenile sample. The measures were administered to 193 students at four middle schools in different parts of the United States between November 2008 and April 2009. RESULTS The students' knowledge about mental illness was inconsistent, but important gaps were evident, particularly with respect to the symptoms of specific disorders. Attitudes toward individuals with a mental illness were generally positive, but substantial numbers of students had less favorable attitudes. Social distance scores revealed considerable reluctance to interact closely with a person with mental illness. Most (65%) students were uncertain whether mental illnesses have a biological cause, and 37% believed that medication to treat mental illness is useful. CONCLUSIONS Attitudes toward individuals with mental illnesses may be more favorable among students than among adults. Nevertheless, stigma may persist as a problem for the next generation of citizens, and youths with a mental illness remain likely to experience misunderstanding and exclusion by peers. There is a need to educate children about specific disorders and about acceptance of individuals with mental illness.
Interaction of serum amyloid A with human cystatin C—identification of binding sites

Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a multifunctional acute‐phase protein whose natural role seems to be participation in many physiologic and pathological processes. Prolonged increased SAA level in a number of chronic inflammatory and neoplastic diseases gives rise to reactive systemic amyloid A amyloidosis, where the N‐terminal 76‐amino acid residue‐long segment of SAA is deposited as amyloid fibrils. Recently, a specific interaction between SAA and the ubiquitous inhibitor of cysteine proteases—human cystatin C (hCC)—has been described. Here, we report further evidence corroborating this interaction, and the identification of the SAA and hCC binding sites in the SAA–hCC complex, using a combination of selective proteolytic excision and high‐resolution mass spectrometry. The shortest binding site in the SAA sequence was determined as SAA(86–104), whereas the binding site in hCC sequence was identified as hCC(96–102). Binding specificities of both interacting sequences were ascertained by affinity experiments (ELISA) and by registration of mass spectrum of SAA–hCC complex. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Absence of the Book-to-Market Effect in the Taiwan Stock Market: A Decomposition Approach

This paper examines the absence of the book-to-market equity (BM) effect in the Taiwan stock market, applying the BM decomposition proposed by Daniel and Titman (2006). First, we do not observe a significantly negative correlation between future stock return and intangible return on research-and-development-intensive firms in Taiwan, which is inconsistent with the US evidence documented by Daniel and Titman. Second, undervaluation of research-and-development-intensive firms possibly leads to the absence of the BM effect. Those firms, most of which have low BM, perform well not only in the past, but also in the future, thereby obscuring the BM effect.