Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The pharmacokinetics and tissue penetration of ceftazidime and cefamandole in healthy volunteers.

Eight healthy male volunteers received either 1 g of ceftazidime or cefamandole as an intravenous bolus injection. Serial blood samples were taken over the following 8 h. Urine samples were collected over 24 h. Tissue fluid levels of the antibiotics were studied using a cantharides blister technique. Both drugs achieved high serum levels after intravenous injection (ceftazidime 83.3 mg/l, cefamandole 77.7 mg/l at 0.25 h). The serum half-lives were ceftazidime 1.8 h (S.D. 0.22), cefamandole 0.8 h (S.D. 0.07). The mean apparent volume of distribution of ceftazidime was greater than cefamandole (13.6 l compared with 9.8 l, respectively). The total clearance of ceftazidime was 111 ml/min (S.D. 16.6) compared to 216 ml/min (S.D. 30.1) for cefamandole. The maximum concentration of each drug in blister fluid was greater after ceftazidime (44.7 mg/l) than cefamandole (20.2 mg/l). The terminal half-life of ceftazidime in blister fluid (2.1 h) was similar to that in serum but the blister fluid halflife of cefamandole (1.22 h) was slightly prolonged compared with that in serum. suggested that ceftazidime attains levels in this tissue fluid model after a 1 g intravenous dose which might be sufficient to treat infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as the common Gram-negatives.
Agricultural Growth, Landlessness, Off-Farm Employment, and Rural Poverty in the Philippines

Rapid agricultural growth has been suggested as an alternative development strategy for less-developed countries. The paper shows that rapid agricultural growth, as demonstrated by the Philippine experience in the 1960s and 1970s, is not enough to pull the rural poor out of poverty. Economic structures and the economic policy environment must likewise have to be conducive to a rapid growth of productive employment opportunities, particularly in the nonagricultural sector, for the fast growing labor force. The paper also provides a consistent set of poverty estimates which are used to reinterpret (or question) a number of commonplace claims in the Philippine development literature concerning the association between economic growth, income distribution, and poverty as well as the characteristics of the rural poor.
Viscous fingering in liquid crystals.

We have studied the Saffman-Taylor instability in a Hele-Shaw cell containing the nematic liquid crystal 4, 4'-n-octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB). Air injected into the center of the cell gives rise to viscous fingering patterns, which show a sequence of dense-branching, dendritic, dense-branching morphologies as a function of temperature. A qualitative explanation of these morphological transitions is given in terms of the flow alignment of the director field and the resulting anisotropic viscosity in the nematic phase of the liquid crystal. The fingering patterns were digitized; analysis of the resulting data shows that while the perimeter of the pattern is fractal, the pattern itself is not. The extent to which the pattern is space filling depends on the morphology and this quantity may serve to indicate the morphological transitions.
Comparative Study of NOTES Versus Endoscopic Ultrasound Gastrojejunostomy in Pigs: A Prospective Study

Background. Surgical gastrojejunal anastomosis (GJJ) is considered the standard palliative option for gastric outlet obstruction. The use of endoscopic GJJ has generated a lot of attention and has enlarged the horizon for patients with open surgery contraindications. Our study aimed to assess and compare 2 purely endoscopic GJJ approaches using a lumen-apposing hot tip double-flanged metal stent, with focus on technical and clinical success rates on experimental animals. Methods. Two endoscopic GJJ techniques using a double-flanged self-expandable metal stent were compared on 8 pigs. Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) was used on 4 pigs, while the other group was subjected to an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) balloon-guided approach. Results. On a 21-day follow-up, both EUS and NOTES-GJJ were technically successful in all experimental animals, and necropsy confirmed full integrity of the anastomosis. Adhesions were confirmed only on 2 pigs after NOTES procedure. The mean time for GJJ-NOTES completion was 31.375 ± 2.03, whereas EUS-GJJ was completed with a median time of 20.275 ± 0.65. The stent distance from the stomach varied; in NOTES-GJJ it was 47.8 ± 11.13 cm away from the pylorus, whereas in EUS-GJJ was at 37 ± 1.85 cm. Conclusion. No major complications were encountered during both procedures. EUS-GJJ balloon-guided approach might be a more attractive technique by using sonographic guidance, because of less endoscopic instrument changing as well as in achieving the desired anastomotic distance.
Living on the Other Side of the Tracks: An Investigation of Public Housing Stereotypes

Many ascribe to the concept of “home sweet home”; however, this is an increasingly elusive end state. The economic recession and depressed housing market have resulted in unprecedented numbers of displaced homeowners and an insufficient supply of affordable housing options. As a result of these circumstances, the homeless rate in the United States is at an all-time high, and many jurisdictions report long waiting lists for temporary shelters and subsidized, or “public,” housing. According to research, public housing is often stigmatized, and there are several widely held, negative stereotypes of public housing residents. The authors examine the perceptions of residents when the occupants are renters and the landlord is a governmental entity (i.e., public housing). The authors propose a conceptual model that examines public housing resident stereotypes based on perceivers’ prior knowledge, the propensity to seek out cultural diversity, and demographic characteristics. The findings from an experiment suggest that public housing stereotypes are a function of prior knowledge and diversity-seeking tendencies and that consumers’ diversity-seeking tendencies can be altered in response to certain external, situational stimuli. The authors discuss implications for public policy and consumer welfare.
Ingredient branding in sports markets: the case Makrolon and UVEX

Ingredient branding is a special form of alliance that exists between two brands that cooperate in designing and delivering the product, with a particular emphasis on the possibility of recognising and identifying the components used in the final product. This case describes the development of such a branding strategy adopted by Bayer AG, a chemical and pharmaceutical company, and UVEX, a family-run enterprise for sports equipment. This case study highlights the marketing strategy formed by insights gained from these two companies. In particular, the driving factors for success are described. The study seeks to answer the question on how to proceed with ingredient branding strategy. What could be learned from Bayer's relationship with UVEX, what is required from new potential partners and what can be transferred to future relationships in terms of new applications, branches, countries and markets?
INDUSTRY AND STRATEGIC GROUP DYNAMICS: COMPETITIVE STRATEGY IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY, 1970–84

This article focuses upon dynamic aspects of strategic groups in the context of the US insurance industry from 1970–84. It examines the longitudinal structure of industry strategic groups and identifies the strategic patterns followed by these strategic groups over time. the mobility rates of firms between strategic groups are also assessed. It appears that three dominant groups are present throughout the period of the study while other group positions emerge and disappear over time. the evidence suggests that the quantum theory of strategic adaptation (i.e. dramatic and concerted change) satisfactorily models the processes of strategic group change. And, a low level of firm mobility is found to exist between strategic groups consistent with the presence of inertia and mobility barriers.
An Insight into the Mechanism and Kinetics of Reactions In BOF Steelmaking: Theory vs Practice

A thermodynamic (equilibrium) model is developed for the BOF process. The predictions of this model show the trend of reactions when the process is considered to be at thermodynamic equilibrium. In the case of a real process, however, some tuning and adaptation becomes necessary to make more accurate predictions. A dynamic model is developed in which the kinetics of scrap dissolution is also incorporated. A comparison of the results of the equilibrium and dynamic models (made with some tuning parameters) reveals that mixing is the prime factor which can alter the course of reaction at any particular instant. Mixing is greatly affected by oxygen flow rate, lance height and the nature of scrap. The understanding of the secrets of process dynamics becomes clearer with this approach, providing a good insight into the process.
The genetic background of Parkinson's disease: current progress and future prospects

Almost two decades of genetic research in Parkinson's disease (PD) have remarkably increased our knowledge regarding the genetic basis of PD with numerous genes and genetic loci having been found to cause familial PD or affect the risk for PD. Approximately 5–10% of PD patients have monogenic forms of the disease, exhibiting a classical Mendelian type of inheritance, however, the majority PD cases are sporadic, probably caused by a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. Nowadays, six genes, alpha synuclein, LRRK2, VPS35, Parkin, PINK1 and DJ‐1, have definitely been associated with an autosomal dominant or recessive PD mode of inheritance. The advent of genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) and the implementation of new technologies, like next generation sequencing (NGS) and exome sequencing has undoubtedly greatly aided the identification on novel risk variants for sporadic PD. In this review, we will summarize the current progress and future prospects in the field of PD genetics.
Bedfellows, Hostages, or Perfect Strangers? Global Capital Markets and the Catalytic Effect of IMF Crisis Lending

During the 1990s, the concept of catalytic official finance (COF) gained prominence in policy debates. The concept revolves around the idea that the propensity of investors to lend to a country increases when the IMF provides its seal of approval - backed up by only limited official financing - on the country's economic program. COF aims at avoiding, on the one hand, the massive use of public money to bail out private investors; on the other, the recourse to coercive bailing-in mechanisms. The paper concludes that COF, while possibly useful in other contexts, is less reliable when used to manage capital account crises.
Molecular Mechanisms of Increased Heart Rate in Shenxianshengmai-treated Bradycardia Rabbits

Background: The molecular mechanisms of Shenxianshengmai (SXSM), a traditional Chinese medicine, on bradycardia have been incompletely understood. The study tried to investigate the gene expression profile and proteomics of bradycardia rabbits’ hearts after SXSM treatment. Methods: Twenty-four adult rabbits were randomly assigned in four groups: sham, model, model plus SXSM treatment, and sham plus SXSM treatment groups. Heart rate was recorded in all rabbits. Then, total RNA of atria and proteins of ventricle were isolated and quantified, respectively. Gene expression profiling was conducted by gene expression chip, and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to confirm the results of gene expression chip. We used isobaric tags for elative and absolute quantitation and Western blotting to identify altered proteins after SXSM treatment. Results: There was a constant decrease in the mean heart rate (32%, from 238 ± 6 beats/min to 149 ± 12 beats/min) after six weeks in model compared with that in sham group. This effect was partially reversed by 4-week SXSM treatment. Complementary DNA microarray demonstrated that the increased acetylcholinesterase and reduced nicotinic receptor were take responsibility for the increased heart rate. In addition, proteins involved in calcium handling and signaling were affected by SXSM treatment. Real-time RT-PCR verified the results from gene chip. Results from proteomics demonstrated that SXSM enhanced oxidative phosphorylation and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in ventricular myocardium to improve ATP generation. Conclusions: Long-term SXSM stimulates sympathetic transmission by increasing the expression of acetylcholinesterase and reduces the expression of nicotinic receptor to increase heart rate. SXSM also restored the calcium handling genes and altered genes involved in signaling. In addition, SXSM improves the ATP supply of ventricular myocardium by increasing proteins involved in TCA cycle and oxidation-respiratory chain.
AN INVESTIGATION OF TECHNICAL INEFFICIENCIES OF PRODUCTION OF WHEAT FARMERS IN FOUR DISTRICTS OF PAKISTAN

A new, single stage model for estimating technical inefficiencies of production in a stochastic frontier production function is applied in the analysis of panel data on wheat farmers in selected districts of Pakistan. The technical inefficiency effects are highly significant, implying that the traditional production function model is inadequate for the analysis of wheat production of the four districts involved. In the district of Faisalabad, for example, technical inefficiencies of production tend to be smaller for older farmers and those with greater formal schooling. In addition, the levels of wheat production for farmers in Faisalabad tend to approach their potential frontier production levels over time, although there is no evidence of technical change. The technical efficiencies of the wheat farmers show considerable variation over time within each district, such that the mean technical efficiencies range from 57 per cent to 79 per cent in the four districts.
Disturbance and implementation of IC practice: a public sector organisation perspective

Purpose – This paper seeks to discuss how an environmental change for an organisation can be a catalyst for the take‐up of intellectual capital (IC). In particular, it uses Laughlin's “colonizing” model of organisational change to understand the catalyst for change, being an ageing workforce, and the resultant formation of an accounting of IC.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a case study of an Australian public sector organisation, which has created and implemented IC practice.Findings – In this case, the impending retirements of the “baby boomer” generation were an environmental disturbance and a catalyst that allowed for an accounting of IC, especially its human capital.Research limitations/implications – This case study is limited to the presentation of findings of a phenomenon within a particular organisation within the Australian public sector context. Other forces may also have had an effect on the organisation, if not for the presence of the “ageing workforce” disturbance.Originali.
On the Road to Food Security ? Vehicle Ownership and Access to Food By

The ability to obtain adequate food is an indicator of a household‘s capacity to meet its basic consumption needs. We consider the relationship between vehicle ownership and food-related outcomes, including food expenditures and indicators of food distress, using state-level changes in the treatment of vehicles for AFDC/TANF eligibility as an instrument for vehicle ownership. While our results do not uniformly reach statistical significance, they are suggestive that vehicle owners spend less on food, spend more of their food budget on food consumed at home, and experience less food distress. The magnitude of some of our estimates suggests economic conditions and policy trends may bias our estimates. We find our results suggestive of an important role for vehicles to overcome problems with access to food but more work needs to be done to better measure the true effect of vehicle ownership on food-related outcomes before strong policy recommendations can be made. We would like to thank Constance Newman, Laura Tiehen, and Jessica Todd for helpful discussions. The views expressed are the authors‘ and should not be attributed to ERS or USDA. All errors are our own.
Collisions of small ice particles under microgravity conditions

Planetisimals are thought to be formed from the solid material of a protoplanetary disk by a process of dust aggregation. It is not known how growth proceeds to kilometre sizes, but it has been proposed that water ice beyond the snowline might affect this process. To better understand collisional processes in protoplanetary disks leading to planet formation, the individual low velocity collisions of small ice particles were investigated. The particles were collided under microgravity conditions on a parabolic flight campaign using a purpose-built, cryogenically cooled experimental setup. The setup was capable of colliding pairs of small ice particles (between 4.7 and 10.8 mm in diameter) together at relative collision velocities of between 0.27 and 0.51 m s ^-1 at temperatures between 131 and 160 K. Two types of ice particle were used: ice spheres and irregularly shaped ice fragments. Bouncing was observed in the majority of cases with a few cases of fragmentation. A full range of normalised impact parameters (b/R = 0.0-1.0) was realised with this apparatus. Coefficients of restitution were evenly spread between 0.08 and 0.65 with an average value of 0.36, leading to a minimum of 58% of translational energy being lost in the collision. The range of coefficients of restitution is attributed to the surface roughness of the particles used in the study. Analysis of particle rotation shows that up to 17% of the energy of the particles before the collision was converted into rotational energy. Temperature did not affect the coefficients of restitution over the range studied.
The Politics of Index-Linked Bonds

In this paper we will seek to provide a political economy explanation for the government issuance of indexed bonds. We will show that the issuance of nominal bonds decreases inflation whenever the bondholders' constituency is stronger than the taxpayers' constituency. We then assume that public debt management is influenced by the Central Bank. Contrary to what is predicted by the traditional time-inconsistency approach, we show that when the creditor constituency is more powerful than the taxpayers' constituency, by offering inflation protection through the issuance of indexed bonds the Central Bank reduces the creditors' efforts against inflation and thereby raises equilibrium inflation. Copyright 1999 Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
A Model of Technology Transfer in Japan's Rapid Economic Growth Period

Why did the Japanese economy stagnate beforeWorldWar II, how did it achieve rapid economic growth after the war, and why did it stagnate again after the 1970s? To answer these questions, I developed a two-country trade model with technology transfer, where firms in a developed country (the U.S.) transfer technology to the competitors in a developing country (Japan) if it is profitable to do so and where the technology transfer is the engine of economic growth. In this model, among multiple equilibria, the equilibrium with low labor cost in Japan was chosen during the rapid growth period. Then, the firms in the developed country transferred technology to the firms in the developing country, resulting in rapid growth. However, during the other periods, the equilibrium with high labor cost in Japan was chosen, which caused stagnation. The model is quantitatively consistent with the per capita GDP relative to the U.S., the purchasing power parity-exchange rate ratio, and to some degree, the swings in labor share of postwar Japan.
Project Grow-2-Gether: A Study of the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Child Eating and Obesity

Abstract “Project Grow-2-Gether” is a child nutrition study of same-sex, 3- to 7-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. The study attempts to bridge two bodies of literature that have rarely interfaced with respect to obesity and ingestive behavior: the first being behavioral genetic approaches to obesity-related traits, and the second being developmental approaches focusing on parent–child relationships. The overarching aim of Project Grow-2-Gether is to disentangle genetic from potential home-environmental influences on child eating behavior and body fat. This paper reviews the rationale for Project Grow-2-Gether, its procedures, and core phenotypic measurement battery. A focus of the study is acquisition of controlled food intake measurements obtained in the laboratory, measurement of specific home environmental variables, and multi-method evaluation of parent–child feeding relations. Future directions may involve longitudinal assessment of child growth and molecular analyses for specific genes that influence child eating behavior.
The Effects of Clients' Controversial Activities on Audit Pricing

SUMMARY: We examine the effects of clients' involvement in controversial corporate activities on audit pricing. Clients' involvement in controversial activities raises concerns about management integrity and ethics. Moreover, clients involved in such activities are perceived to have higher risk of adverse financial performance. As a result, there is greater potential for financial misstatement, which increases the auditor's perceived business risk. We hypothesize that, given the higher perceived business risk, auditors charge higher fees to clients engaged in controversial activities. Using a unique dataset from Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini, we identify clients that engage in controversial activities related to consumers, employees, the community, and the environment. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that clients involved in controversial corporate activities pay higher audit fees compared to clients not involved in such activities.
New Zealand necessity entrepreneurs

The necessity entrepreneur (NE) is someone who never considered starting or owning a business until there was no other option. Using the methodology of the global entrepreneurship monitor, this paper examines New Zealand necessity entrepreneurs in the light of propositions cited in the literature that NE is associated with three factors: positively with economic growth (real GDP growth rate); positively with unemployment (unemployment rate); negatively with a generous welfare system (expenditures on social security). Factor 1 is confirmed through the GEM data; Factors 2 and 3 are not supported by the data. Immigration is seen as a possible contributory factor to the moderately high NE rates in New Zealand. In addition, unique characteristics of migrant necessity entrepreneurs pave ways for initiatives and intervention by local governments.
Leader-member exchange and employee work outcomes in Chinese firms: the mediating role of job satisfaction

This study investigates the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX) and employee work outcomes in Chinese firms, namely, organizational commitment and intention to leave. Based on the data collected from the four manufacturing firms based in China, the hierarchical regression analyses strongly support our theoretical predication that job satisfaction fully mediates the relationships between LMX and employees’ organizational commitment and intention to leave. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.