Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atrophy of the stria vascularis as a cause of sensorineural hearing loss

Correlations were made between pure‐tone thresholds and computer‐aided cross‐sectional measurements of the stria vascularis on histological sections of postmortem cochleas from 24 subjects who had reliable audiometric records. The criterion for selection was strial atrophy as the predominant pathological change in 17 experimental ears and normal hearing for seven control ears. Losses in the summed cross‐sectional areas of stria vascularis showed a direct correlation with hearing loss. The cause for the strial atrophy is presumed to be a genetically determined predisposition for early cellular decay. The mechanism by which strial atrophy causes hearing loss is speculative.
Trend Breaks and the Unit-Root Hypothesis for Newly Industrializing and Newly Exporting Countries

We examine trend breaks and unit roots in aggregate and per capita real GDP for nine newly industrializing (NIC) and newly exporting (NEC) countries in east and southeast Asia. In 15 of the 18 cases, we reject the unit-root hypothesis in favor of trend stationarity with breaks. Our findings allow us to trace the growth paths of these NICs and NECs. While the shifts are due to both external and internal factors, most of the breaks are country specific and can be partly attributed to changes in government policies. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
The role of AMP‐activated protein kinase in the expression of the dystrophin‐associated protein complex in skeletal muscle

Stimulation of AMPK induces the expression of dystrophin‐associated protein complex (DAPC) components in skeletal muscle, whereas reductions in AMPK are associated with DAPC dysfunction. We sought to determine whether AMPK was necessary for the maintenance of DAPC expression in skeletal muscle. Fast, glycolytic extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and slow, oxidative soleus (Sol) muscles from wild‐type mice and from littermates with skeletal muscle‐specific knockout of the AMPK β1 and β2 subunits (AMPK β1 β2M‐KO; MKO) were analyzed. DAPC mRNA and protein expression were similar between genotypes, with the exception of elevated neuronal nitric oxide synthase expression at the sarcolemma in MKO muscles. The content of transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulators of the DAPC was also not affected by the loss of AMPK. However, MyoD and myogenin expression was diminished in MKO muscles, consistent with previous reports of myopathy in these animals. Furthermore, we observed decrements in extrasynaptic utrophin expression selectively in MKO Sol muscles, likely due to the adaptive accumulation of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ coactivator‐1α at the sarcolemma of MKO EDL muscles. Collectively, the evidence indicates that AMPK is sufficient but not essential for the maintenance of DAPC expression in skeletal muscle, yet it is required for preserving extrasynaptic utrophin levels in slow oxidative muscles. —Dial A. G. , Rooprai, P., Lally, J. S. , Bujak, A. L. , Steinberg G. R. , Ljubicic V. The role of AMP‐activated protein kinase in the expression of the dystrophin‐associated protein complex in skeletal muscle. FASEB J. 32, 2950–2965 (2018). www.fasebj. org
Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact

Widely praised in its first edition fourteen years ago and now thoroughly updated in a new edition, "Judicial Policies" assesses the implementation, impact, and consequences of judicial rulings. It systematically explores the effects of judicial decisions on the people who carry them out, and the individuals and organizations who feel their impact. This second edition discusses and responds to the significant research that has been published since the first edition appeared. Arguing that judicial policies in the United States are substantially influenced by how the courts and other political actors respond, authors Canon and Johnson employ a heuristic model of different populations and their responses to judicial decisions as a means of: explaining the implementation of judicial policies as a political process, examining the events that usually follow judicial decisions, and organizing the literature in the field. The concluding chapter addresses the important question of whether the judiciary actually makes a difference in the American political system. Canon and Johnson delineate examples where the courts have clearly had an impact and those where they have had little influence.
Managerial Talent and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): How Do Talented Managers View Corporate Social Responsibility?

Motivated by the ongoing debate on the costs and benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR), we explore how talented managers view CSR investments. Based on nearly 20,000 observations across 17 years, our evidence reveals a nonmonotonic effect of managerial talent on CSR. Exploiting a novel measure of managerial ability, we find that talented managers view CSR investments favorably. However, only those with especially strong talent are in favor of CSR investments. For executives ranked above the 75th percentile in terms of managerial talent, an increase in managerial ability leads to more CSR investments, suggesting that these strongly talented managers perceive CSR as enhancing firm performance. In contrast, for those with weaker talent, CSR investments are negatively associated with managerial ability, implying that these weakly talented managers view CSR as a wasteful deployment of resources. Further evidence shows that our conclusion is unlikely confounded by endogeneity.
A culture of fatalism in IT projects? The curious case of the (lack of) risk management

Risk management is an established and mainstream part of project management, with the main authorities on the subject devoting substantial attention to risk. It was surprising, then, to find that in a sample of IT project managers, a third undertook little or no management of risk in their projects. Rather, they developed a number of strategies to avoid thinking about risk, or ignored it altogether. This was the starting point for our analysis of risk management in IT projects. It led us to consider the nature of projects in general and, taking a critical perspective, we hypothesized that project managers could easily find themselves alienated and disempowered in projects. Using Mary Douglas’ grid/group cultural theory, we established that, on such projects, a fatalist environment might emerge, where risk was seen as inevitable and beyond the control of the project managers. We suggest that this would account for our observations.
Capitalism, Governance, and Authority: The Case of Corporate Social Responsibility

The career of corporate social responsibility (CSR) indicates that it evolved into a field of private and self-regulation that bears all the hallmarks of new governance. Accordingly, this review offers an analysis of CSR as a reflection on the governance turn in sociolegal studies. It relies on the literature to show (a) that socially responsible corporate practices developed in response to public critique of corporate powers and (b) that the emergent field of CSR shows capitalism's ability to transform critique into commercial and managerial assets. Devoting specific attention to the role of academic research and theory in consolidating the framework of new governance, the review reflects upon the trajectory of law in latter-day capitalism and theorizes governance as the privatization of the sources and instruments of authority.
Peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide activate PLCγ2, leading to enhanced cytokine production in macrophages and dendritic cells

In macrophages and monocytes, microbial components trigger the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokine through Toll‐like receptors (TLRs). Although major TLR signaling pathways are mediated by serine/threonine kinases, including TAK1, IKK and MAP kinases, tyrosine phosphorylation of intracellular proteins by TLR ligands has been suggested in a number of reports. Here, we demonstrated that peptidoglycan (PGN) of a Gram‐positive bacterial cell wall component, a TLR2 ligand and lipopoysaccharide (LPS) of a Gram‐positive bacterial component, a TLR4 ligand induced tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase Cγ‐2 (PLCγ2), leading to intracellular free Ca2+ mobilization in bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMMφ) and bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells (BMDC). PGN‐ and LPS‐induced Ca2+ mobilization was not observed in BMDC from PLCγ2 knockout mice. Thus, PLCγ2 is essential for TLR2 and TLR4‐mediated Ca2+ flux. In PLCγ2‐knockdown cells, PGN‐induced IκB‐α phosphorylation and p38 activation were reduced. Moreover, PLCγ2 was necessary for the full production of TNF‐α and IL‐6. These data indicate that the PLCγ2 pathway plays an important role in bacterial ligands‐induced activation of macrophages and dendritic cells.
Oil Industry Consolidation and Rened Product Prices: Evidence from US Gasoline Terminals, 2000{2008 ;y

Our objective in this paper is to quantify the impact of petroleum industry consolidation on rened product prices, controlling for other important factors that could also impact prices. Our empirical analysis focuses on the US petroleum rening industry using data on industry consolidation and wholesale gasoline prices collected over the interval 2000{2008. We match renery units to wholesale city-terminal gasoline markets, and then estimate pooled cross-section time-series regressions to quantify the impact of petroleum industry consolidation on wholesale gasoline prices at city-specic terminals. The results of the empirical analysis of mergers are mixed, showing that some petroleum industry mergers resulted in statistically signicant increases in rened product prices; others resulted in statistically signicant declines and still others had no statistical impact at all. Our analysis of the eects of measures of market concentration|one at the level of cityspecic wholesale terminals and another at the level of regional spot markets|found evidence that less concentrated markets are associated with lower price levels.
Conational Drivers Influencing Brand Preference Among Consumers

Consumers recognize brands by building favorable attitude towards them and through the purchase decision process. Brand preference is understood as a measure of brand loyalty in which a consumer exercises his decision to choose a particular brand in presence of competing brands. This study aims at discussing the cognitive factors that determine brand preference among consumers based on empirical research. Brand attributes including emotions, attitudes, personality, image, reputation, and trust that influence consumer perceptions and temporal association with brands are critically examined in the study. The study reveals that higher brand relevance and brand trust build strong association of consumers with the brand in long-run.
Differential Audit Quality, Propensity Score Matching and Rosenbaum Bounds for Confounding Variables

Via propensity score matching (PSM) and Rosenbaum Bounds (RB), this paper reports new evidence on the premiums charged by big 4 and the top 4 mid-tier (mid 4) auditors relative to their smaller counterparts in the private corporate market. The results demonstrate that big 4 and mid 4 premiums are in accord with theoretical predictions on auditor quality differences; and that these premiums are relatively insensitive to potential hidden bias when gauged by the RB method for appraising confounding variables under bounded uncertainty. Given the limitations of conventional methods, PSM is being increasingly adopted in accounting studies to estimate treatment effects. Employing paired and simultaneous multi-sample PSM premium estimates, we provide a comprehensive evaluation and illustration of the RB method, together with the advantages and limitations of PSM, on which RB is predicated, when compared to alternative estimators. We demonstrate that PSM, when coupled with RB, provide novel empirical evidence for premiums estimated across three different matched audit quality tiers, to those estimated in prior studies which employ Heckman methods, to hidden bias equivalents and to the sensitivity of the bounds parameters to the omission of covariates employed in the study. New evidence on premiums across size quartiles, and quantile regression estimates over audit fee percentiles, support the PSM findings.
Brain Metastases in Patients With Germ Cell Tumors: Prognostic Factors and Treatment Options--An Analysis From the Global Germ Cell Cancer Group.

PURPOSE To define characteristics, treatment response, and outcomes of men with brain metastases (BM) from germ cell tumors (GCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS Data from 523 men with BM from GCT were collected retrospectively from 46 centers in 13 countries by using standardized questionnaires. Clinical features were correlated with overall survival (OS) as the primary end point. RESULTS BM were present at initial diagnosis in 228 men (group A) and at relapse in 295 men (group B). OS at 3 years (3-year OS) was superior in group A versus group B (48% v 27%; P < .001). Multiple BM and the presence of liver or bone metastasis were independent adverse prognostic factors in both groups; primary mediastinal nonseminoma (group A) and elevations of α-fetoprotein of 100 ng/mL or greater or of human chorionic gonadotropin of 5,000 U/L or greater (group B) were additional independent adverse prognostic factors. Depending on these factors, the 3-year OS ranged from 0% to 70% in group A and from 6% to 52% in group B. In group A, 99% of patients received chemotherapy; multimodality treatment or high-dose chemotherapy was not associated with statistically improved survival in multivariable analysis. In group B, only 54% of patients received chemotherapy; multimodality treatment was associated with improved survival compared with single-modality therapy (hazard ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.73; P < .001), as was high-dose compared with conventional-dose chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.70; P = .001). CONCLUSION Men with BM from GCT have poor OS, particularly if additional risk factors are present. High-dose chemotherapy and multimodality treatment seemed to improve survival probabilities in men with BM at relapse.
VERTICAL RESTRAINTS WITH INCOMPLETE INFORMATION

When a firm contracts with a privately informed retailer, vertical restraints may be insufficient to eliminate distortions arising from having to induce truthful reporting. With franchise fee contracts (which are equivalent to any other "quantity forcing" contract), two distortions arise. The first is the need to transfer surplus to the retailer and the second is a reduction in the marginal return to production. With retail price maintenance contracts, the "first best" outcome of vertical integration is obtainable if the retailer observes private information only about the state of demand. If the retailer observes also private information about retailing costs, both distortions persist. Copyright 1991 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Structural and relational interdependence and entrepreneurial orientation in small and medium-sized enterprises: The mediating role of internal knowledge-sharing

This article examines the intermediary role of internal knowledge-sharing in the relationship between two aspects of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) internal organisational context: structural and relational interdependence and their entrepreneurial orientation (EO). With a sample of 146 SMEs, the structural equation modelling results show that higher levels of internal knowledge-sharing associate with stronger EO, and that such knowledge-sharing derives from higher levels of task and reward interdependence, as well as from higher levels of social interaction and trust. The findings also reveal that internal knowledge-sharing fully mediates the relationships between SMEs’ task interdependence and trust with EO. The article contributes to research by highlighting several features of SMEs’ internal environment that can be used to enhance their entrepreneurial postures.
Maternal nutrition knowledge versus schooling as determinants of child micronutrient status

This study considers the demand for child micronutrient status (represented by hemoglobin concentration). A central focus concerns the distinct roles of maternal schooling versus maternal nutrition knowledge as determinants of micronutrient status. Applying both parametric and non-parametric techniques to Indonesian household data, the study finds that critical determinants include: child gender and age, household expenditure levels, access to water, and maternal nutrition knowledge. Maternal schooling contributes to child micronutrient directly, but also through its effects on nutrition knowledge and household expenditures. Maternal nutrition knowledge substitutes for schooling, particularly at lower levels of income and schooling.
Selection Criteria for a Microeconometric Model of Labour Supply

In this paper we develop a set of selection criteria for the specification of a female labour supply model for microdata. We look at both economic and statistical criteria in assessing various models, paying particular attention to the flexibility of the economic model and the stochastic specification of unobservable factors. Using these criteria, a model is selected from a sample of United Kingdom Family Expenditure Survey data.
Does Money Motivate Employees? Empirical Study of Private and Public Financial Sector in Kazakhstan

Purpose: The paper analyzes the financial and non-financial factors impacting employees’ performance ofdifferent financial institutes currently operating in Kazakhstan.Methodology: The survey was conducted by using questionnaire with five-point Likert scale for assessing givenstatements regarding financial and non-financial motivators at the different organizational and demographiclevels for employees at the chosen financial institutes. Additionally was considered different perception ofmotivational factors within different demographic categories.Findings: This study proved sustainability Maslow theory of motivation and Herzberg’s motivation and hygienefactors at the workplace. Money still is the strongest and compulsory factor for employees, which can satisfyonly basic needs. But in isolation of other non-financial motivational factors money are not able to encouragestaff to do go beyond their duties and increase their productivity. Job security, internal relationship andtransparency were defined by interviewees as the most important non-financial motivation factors. Also there isan advantage of Corporation “B” which is Government public financial company over private bank – which isbank “A” is higher level of satisfaction of its employees with financial motivation.Research limitations: The study was limited by only two financial institutes study, meanwhile in Kazakhstanthere are 42 commercial banks.Practical implications: The paper analyzes the financial and non-financial factors impacting employees’performance of different financial institutes currently operating in Kazakhstan. The results can be used as avaluable feedback for improvement Strategic HR Policies in considered financial institutes and will be useful forthose who are interested in HR Management in Kazakhstan in general.
Rapid improvement of static compliance after surfactant treatment in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome

Respiratory mechanics were measured in 20 preterm infants before and in the 24‐hr period after treatment with surfactant. All infants were enrolled in the rescue clinical trial with Curosurf® carried out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They received a dose of 200 mg/kg lipid surfactant intratracheally after birth. Static compliance of the respiratory system (Crs) was measured by the single breath occlusion technique during both spontaneous and mechanical ventilation. Resistance of the respiratory system (Rrs) and expiratory time constant (Trs) were also measured. As early as 3 hr after surfactant administration a significant improvement of 45% in Crs measured during mechanical ventilation (CrsV) was noted (0.40 ± 0.14 vs 0.58 ± 0.17 mL/cm H2O/kg, P < 0.001), together with a significant improvement of the arterial/alveolar O2 tension ratio (Pa/Ao2) (0.12 ± 0.03 vs 0.30 ± 0.16. P < 0.01). The improvement of CrsV and Pa/Ao2 was confirmed 24 hr later (0.55 ± 0.15 mL/cm H2O/kg and 0.33 ± 0.18, respectively). A significant correlation was found between Crs and Pa/Ao2 ratio (r = 0.56, P < 0.001). Time constant values were significantly higher after surfactant treatment (0.15 ± 0.07 vs 0.09 ± 0.03 sec; P < 0.01). Rrs remained unchanged. These data indicate that Curosuf® given intratracheally after birth determines a rapid improvement of respiratory mechanics as soon as 3 hr after dosing, together with the improvement of oxygenation. From the findings obtained with the present study we show evidence that respiratory system mechanics may be a useful physiological measure to guide ventilatory strategy following surfactant therapy. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sense of community in long-term care: the views of family caregivers of elderly military veterans

ABSTRACT Background: Family involvement in long-term care (LTC) is important but it can prove challenging and result in conflict with staff if families do not feel connected to the LTC facility or if they believe that their contributions are undervalued. According to McMillan & Chavis (1986), sense of community (SOC) refers to a feeling of belonging, having influence, having needs met, and having an emotional connection to individuals in a community, and may be particularly essential for family caregivers of military veterans in LTC. This is the first study that evaluates SOC among family caregivers in LTC. Methods: Semi-structured interviews and self-report questionnaires assessing caregiver demographics, caregiving variables, and SOC were administered to 46 family caregivers. Results: Caregivers endorsed a SOC that was positively related to key caregiving variables, such as family adjustment and satisfaction with care, and was negatively related to conflict with staff. Notably, caregivers’ connections to the military community were positively related to SOC in LTC. Multiple regression analyses indicated that satisfaction with care accounted for the most variance in SOC (32.7%). Conclusions: This is the first study that examines SOC among family caregivers of military veterans in LTC, a subgroup of family caregivers with unique histories and needs. Although there are measures designed to assess family members’ level of satisfaction with different facets of LTC, SOC provides unique information about whether family members feel part of the LTC community as valued partners in care. SOC is an important yet understudied construct that could contribute substantially to our understanding of family-focused care.
Emerging innovative networks and milieux: the case of the furniture industry in the Lahti region of Finland

Abstract A crisis might be a start for something new. Loss of competitive edge in a major Finnish furniture industry agglomeration was observed in connection with the downward trends on the domestic market. This, combined with severe recession, was reflected in bankruptcies and job loss. Many advantages of the agglomeration were not utilized, partly because of distant or arm's‐length relations between different actors in the local milieu. During the recession, the value of the closer relationships was discovered, whereas the processes to unlearn some old institutions have only just begun. These processes of innovative network development, as well as problems and prospects connected to them, are analyzed in this article.