Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validating Business Simulations: Do Simulations Exhibit Natural Market Structures?

Studies of the size distributions of business firms to assist in the understanding of market structures have been undertaken for a number of years. The leading such study, undertaken by Buzzell (1981) as part of the ongoing stream of research reported on as part of the PIMS project, indicated that the market share size distributions of business firms within an industry followed a skewed distribution and firms had a size ratio, on average, of 0.6 relative to their next largest competitor. A major concern of simulation game users through the years has been how realistic are business simulation games and this has lead to numerous validation studies of business simulations. The market share size distributions of 509 different simulation companies competing within three different industry competitive structures (6, 9 and 12 firm competitions) within a business simulation game were examined to test conformity within this simulation environment to the real world findings as reported from the PIMS data. It was found that competitive structures within the business simulation industries exhibited a skewed market share distribution and exhibited a consistent size ratio as suggested by the PIMS findings. A notable difference was that the size ratios in the simulation were at the higher range as compared to real world industries (in the range of .90). It was also found that the size ratios increased modestly as the number of industry competitors increased.
BRAIN IMAGING: Brain MRI lesions and atrophy are related to depression in multiple sclerosis

It is unclear whether brain MRI lesions are associated with depression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Neurological dysfunction in depressed (n 19) and non-depressed (n 29) MS patients was rated by expanded disability status scale (EDSS). EDSS was weakly predictive of the presence of ( p 0.03) and severity of ( p 0.01) depression. After correcting for EDSS, the presence of depression was predicted by superior frontal and superior parietal hypointense T1 lesions ( p , 0.01); the severity of depression was predicted by superior frontal, superior parietal and temporal T1 lesions, lateral and third ventricular enlargement, and frontal atrophy ( p , 0.01). Depression was not related to bright T2 lesions or enhancement. We conclude that atrophy and cortical±subcortical disconnection due to frontal and parietal white matter destructive lesions may contribute to depression in MS. NeuroReport 11:1153±1158 & 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
An impedance matching technique of a UHF-band RFID tag on a high-impedance surface with parasite elements

In this paper, an impedance matching technique of a UHF RFID tag inlet antenna on a high impedance surface (HIS) with parasite elements is studied experimentally. It is shown that, regardless of the fact that the input impedance of the inlet antenna is affected by a vicinal HIS, parasite elements on the HIS can successfully recover the original input impedance and lead to a good matching to the IC chip without any modification to the tag antenna itself. A reading range of 4m, which is almost the same as that in free space, is demonstrated with a 953MHz band RFID tag inlet on a HIS with optimized parasite elements, and the validity and usefulness of the technique is confirmed experimentally using a commercial RFID system.
Human herpesvirus type 8 DNA sequences in biological samples of HIV‐positive and negative individuals in Sicily

Objective:To evaluate the circulation of a new human herpesvirus (HHV), HHV-8 or Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus in a geographical area where a high incidence rate of classical KS was already present before the appearance of the AIDS epidemic. Design and methods:The study was carried out by analysing: (i) bioptic samples from classic, AIDS-associated KS, and controls; (ii) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from classic KS, HIV-positive subjects with and without KS and healthy HIV-negative individuals; (iii) semen samples from heterosexual HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals affected or not by KS; and (iv) cervical swabs from HIV-negative healthy heterosexual females. All specimens were tested for the presence of HHV-8 DNA sequences by a two-step polymerase chain reaction. Results:Positive results were obtained in 90% of bioptic samples of classic KS and in 100% of AIDS-associated KS. Viral sequences were also present in 50% of PBMC of subjects with classic KS and AIDS-associated KS, in 10% of AIDS patients without the angiosarcoma, and in 11% of healthy HIV-negative individuals. Finally, HHV-8 DNA was detected in 13% of semen of HIV-negative heterosexual individuals and in 10% of AIDS patients without KS. Both PBMC and ejaculates from the same individual gave positive results. No HHV-8 sequences were found in cervical swabs. Conclusions:HHV-8 is widespread in the general population in Sicily since it was detected in PBMC and semen of heterosexual HIV-negative individuals and is not found only in high-risk groups. The viral load appears to be more elevated in a high-risk population and it may be ascribed to a viral reactivation. The higher incidence rates of KS in Sicily compared with northern Italy and other European countries might be related to the presence of HHV-8 in the general population.
Is The Carbon Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis Relevant For Genuine Income

This paper presents the first study that examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for not only GDP, but also genuine income (GI), in which depreciation of natural and produced capital is subtracted from GDP. GDP is a sound indicator of the total national economic activity, but an inadequate measure of sustainable economic performance (particularly in resource-intensive countries) (Neumayer, 2010). From the perspective of the policy maker interested in the sustainable improvement of living standards, GI may be a more apt independent variable to test the EKC hypothesis. Concretely, we test whether CO2-eq emission per capita is an inverted U-shape function of GDP per capita, on the one hand, and GI per capita, on the other hand. We use several econometric workhorse models for a balanced panel dataset of 153 countries from 1993 to 2008. Additionally, we separately consider the top 20 of oilproducing countries. Our study shows that the evidence of a carbon EKC with significant in-sample turning points could (arguably) exist for GDP, but disappears for GI.
Short communication: previous semen donors and their views regarding the sharing of information with offspring.

BACKGROUND The UK government has decided to introduce, from 2005, rules that will allow donor-conceived persons to have access to identifying information concerning their donor. This has led to many concerns regarding future gamete donor recruitment. METHODS Semen donors who had been recruited between 1988 and 2002 were invited to take part in a telephone interview. The interview sought these previous donors' views on issues associated with recruitment, attitudes regarding information sharing and views concerning the offspring. Responses regarding information sharing were compared with their views recorded at the time of recruitment. RESULTS All 32 donors were recruited altruistically. Eighteen (56%) held the same views concerning the provision of identifying information as they did at the time of recruitment. Of those who had changed their views, eight (25%) expressed a willingness to be more open and four (12%) now wished to be anonymous having previously been unsure. Half of the donors would still have donated if they had been required to be identified to offspring, one-quarter would not have and one-quarter were undecided, although the majority of these said they may have donated under an open system. CONCLUSION The study shows that it is possible to recruit identifiable donors at this clinic and this suggests that it may be possible for other clinics to do likewise.
When time is money: sideline jobs, ancillary income and legislative effort

ABSTRACT Moonlighting, the pursuit of (paid or unpaid) sideline jobs by democratically elected politicians, regularly evokes public outcry. This study provides an empirical test of the claim that moonlighting goes hand-in-hand with a lower degree of parliamentary effort. The article draws upon original data on the number of outside jobs and the remuneration received by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during the seventh legislative term (2009–2014). Controlling for key intervening variables that affect legislative effort, we find that higher ancillary income is associated with lower participation in roll-call votes, but that this relationship is mostly driven by a small circle of heavy moonlighters. However, our analysis demonstrates that representatives with a greater number of outside jobs are also more, instead of less, likely to draft committee reports. The findings have important normative implications and speak to policy debates about the regulation and transparency requirements of outside jobs in legislatures.
Selenoprotein A component of the glycine reductase complex from Clostridium purinolyticum: nucleotide sequence of the gene shows that selenocysteine is encoded by UGA

The gene encoding the selenoprotein A component of glycine reductase was isolated from Clostridium purinolyticum. The nucleotide sequence of this gene (grdA) was determined. The opal termination codon (TGA) was found in-frame at the position corresponding to the location of the selenocysteine residue in the gene product. A comparison of the nucleotide sequences and secondary mRNA structures corresponding to the selenoprotein A gene and the fdhF gene of Escherichia coli formate dehydrogenase shows that there is a similar potential for regulation of the specific insertion of selenocysteine at the UGA codon.
Pengaruh Kualitas Pelayanan Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan Pada JNE Cabang Bandung [The Influence of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction at JNE Branch in Bandung]

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Quality of Service Quality of Service Customer Satisfaction either simultaneously or partially on Cabang JNE Bandung. JNE is a freight company and documents that have been established since 1990. In 2004, JNE set up headquarters in Jakarta. The JNE Bandung has a branch office in Jalan Permata Kawaluyaan numbers 1-4 Soekarno Hatta, Bandung. The type of research used in this study was descriptive research type using a quantitative approach. The analysis technique used was descriptive analysis techniques and multiple linear regression. While the sampling technique used was Non Probability sampling using purposive sampling and number of samples of 78 people. The results of this research showed that the quality of service (X) consisting of Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness simultaneously had significant influence on satisfaction of customers with significant value (p value) of 0.003 < 0.05. Partial test results showed that the only variable that empathy has a partial effect on was customer satisfaction with the number of variables of significance (p value) amounted to 0.021 < 0.05.
Organ- and endotheliotropism of Nipah virus infections in vivo and in vitro

Summary Nipah virus (NiV) is a highly pathogenic paramyxovirus that was first isolated in 1999 during an outbreak in Malaysia. In contrast to other paramyxoviruses NiV infects many mammalian species. Because of its zoonotic potential, the high pathogenicity and the lack of therapeutic treatment, NiV was classified as a biosafety level 4 pathogen. In humans NiV causes a severe acute encephalitis whereas in some animal hosts respiratory symptoms are predominantly observed. Despite the differences in the clinical outcome, microvascular endothelial cell damage predominantly underlies the pathological changes in NiV infections in all sus-ceptible host species. NiV generally induces a pronounced vasculitis which is primarily characterised by endothelial cell necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration. For future developments of specific antiviral therapies or vaccines, a detailed understanding of the molecular basis of NiV pathogenesis is required.This article reviews the current knowledge about natural and experimental infections in different mammals, focusing on the main organ and cell tropism in vivo, and summarises some recent studies in cell culture on the role of ephrin-B2 and -B3 receptors in NiV infection of endothelial cells.
Optimising the multilateral netting of fungible OTC derivatives

Multilateral netting, carried out via a procedure known as ‘compression’, is used to reduce counterparty exposure in over-the-counter derivatives markets. In compression, market participants share trade information via a third-party company, which then proposes a set of trades which will use multilateral netting to reduce counterparty exposures. In this paper, we propose and analyse a set of multilateral netting algorithms based on exposure minimization. As we assume fungibility, these methods are appropriate for derivative markets with wide-scale product standardization. We find that these compression algorithms all perform extremely well across a range of criteria and we discuss their relative attributes. We strongly favour compressions based on the -norm as we find that they eliminate a high fraction of bilateral connections and retain the greatest common divisor of existing positions. We argue that multilateral netting is an effective counterparty risk mitigation technique in OTC derivative markets if done optimally, and the benefits increase with the number of participants.
Allospecific recognition of hemic cells in vitro by natural killer cells from athymic rats: Evidence that allodeterminants coded for by single major histocompatibility complex haplotypes are recognized

We have previously shown that large granular lymphocyte (LGL)‐enriched cell populations have the capacity to spontaneously recognize and kill allogeneic small lymphocytes and bone marrow cells (BMC) in vitro in certain strain combinations of rats. Here, we have studied the alloreactivity of natural killer (NK) cells from PVG nude (RT1c) rats against a panel of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) incompatible hemic cells. Both lymphocytes and BMC from the AO (RT1u), DA (RT1a), BN (RT1n) as well as the MHC‐congenic PVG‐RT1u (RT1u) rat strains were efficiently killed in vitro, whereas cells from syngeneic PVG rats were spared. The structures recognized on lymphocytes and BMC were probably similar since the two cell populations inhibited each other in cross‐competition experiments. A number of features aligned the alloreactive effector cells with NK cells and not T cells. (a) Only about 5% of the effector cells from nude spleens expressed the T cell antigens CD3, CD5 or T cell receptor (TcR) α/β whereas > 50% of the cells expressed markers present on NK cells (CD2, CD8, OX52 and the rat NK cell‐specific marker NKR‐P1 recognized by the monoclonal antibody 3.2.3). (b) The alloreactive cells were granular since pretreatment of nude spleen cells with the lysosomotropic agent L‐leucine methyl ester which eliminated LGL, simultaneously abolished the cytolysis of both allogeneic lymphocytes and YAC‐1 tumor cells. (c) Nude spleen cells stimulated with human recombinant interleukin 2 for 1 week in vitro generated large granular proliferating cells which were CD3−. CD5−, TcR α/β−, but > 95% 3.2. 3+. These cells efficiently killed allogeneic hemic cells from the same rat strains as did freshly isolated effector cells. (d) The cytolysis of allogeneic hemic cells could effectively be inhibited with unlabelled NK‐sensitive (YAC‐1 and K‐562), but not NK‐resistant (Roser leukemia) tumor cells.
Exposure to violence among urban school-aged children: is it only on television?

OBJECTIVE To measure exposure to different types of violence among school-aged children in a primary care setting. DESIGN Child interviews using an instrument measuring 4 types of exposure (direct victimization, witnessing, hearing reports, media). Violent acts measured include being beaten up, chased/threatened, robbed/mugged, stabbed/shot, killed. SETTING Pediatric primary care clinic of large urban hospital. PATIENTS Convenience sample of 175 children 9-12 years old and their mothers. A total of 53% of the children were boys, 55% were Hispanic, and 40% received public assistance. RESULTS All children had been exposed to media violence. A total of 97% (170/175) had been exposed to more direct forms of violence; 77% had witnessed violence involving strangers; 49% had witnessed violence involving familiar persons; 49% had been direct victims; and 31% had witnessed someone being shot, stabbed, or killed. Exposure to violence was significantly associated with being male. CONCLUSION Most school-aged children who visited a pediatric primary care clinic of a large urban hospital had directly experienced violence as witnesses and/or victims.
Dendritic Cells and CD28 Costimulation Are Required To Sustain Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses during the Effector Phase In Vivo

Although much is known about the initiation of immune responses, much less is known about what controls the effector phase. CD8+ T cell responses are believed to be programmed in lymph nodes during priming without any further contribution by dendritic cells (DCs) and Ag. In this study, we report the requirement for DCs, Ag, and CD28 costimulation during the effector phase of the CD8+ T cell response. Depleting DCs or blocking CD28 after day 6 of primary influenza A virus infection decreases the virus-specific CD8+ T cell response by inducing apoptosis, and this results in decreased viral clearance. Furthermore, effector CD8+ T cells adoptively transferred during the effector phase fail to expand without DC, CD28 costimulation, and cognate Ag. The absence of costimulation also leads to reduced survival of virus-specific effector cells as they undergo apoptosis mediated by the proapoptotic molecule Bim. Finally, IL-2 treatment restored the effector response in the absence of CD28 costimulation. Thus, in contrast to naive CD8+ T cells, which undergo an initial Ag-independent proliferation, effector CD8+ T cells expanding in the lungs during the effector phase require Ag, CD28 costimulation, and DCs for survival and expansion. These requirements would greatly impair effector responses against viruses and tumors that are known to inhibit DC maturation and in chronic infections and aging where CD28−/− CD8+ T cells accumulate.
Long-term safety of growth hormone replacement after CNS irradiation.

CONTEXT Radiotherapy is a central component in the treatment of many brain tumors, but long-term sequelae include GH deficiency and increased risk of secondary neoplasms. It is unclear whether replacement therapy with GH (GHRT) further increases this risk. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess the effect of GHRT on the incidence of secondary tumors and tumor recurrence after cranial irradiation. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted a retrospective matched-pairs analysis of previously irradiated patients, with and without GHRT, attending a tertiary center between 1994 and 2009. PATIENTS We reviewed the records for all patients undergoing GHRT at our institution over the study period. PATIENTS were included if they had received cranial irradiation, GHRT for at least 12 months, and records of serial magnetic resonance imaging data and data for dose and fractionation of irradiation were available. GH-naïve control patients were selected from a radiotherapy database of patients attending the same hospital. PATIENTS were matched for date of radiotherapy, age, site of primary diagnosis, radiation dose, and fractionation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The primary outcome measure was risk of tumor recurrence or secondary tumor. RESULTS Matched controls were identified for 110 GH-treated patients. Median follow-up was 14.5 yr. No significant differences were apparent in the number of tumor recurrences (six vs. eight, GHRT vs. control group) or secondary tumors (five vs. three, respectively) between groups. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates no increased risk for recurrent or secondary neoplasms in patients receiving GHRT, thus supporting a high safety profile of GHRT after central nervous system irradiation.
Does Auditor Gender Affect Issuing Going‐Concern Decisions for Financially Distressed Clients?

We investigate whether an audit partner's gender is associated with the likelihood of issuing a going‐concern opinion for a financially distressed client. Our analysis is based on data for a sample of Australian listed companies for the period 2003–2011. Our results from unrestricted and propensity score‐matched samples and a Heckman two‐stage model indicate that female audit partners are less likely to issue a going‐concern opinion for financially distressed clients. Our findings provide evidence of differential audit outcomes depending on the gender of the audit partner, thus implying that audit partner gender affects the decision‐making processes used when making the audit reporting decision. These behavioural differences have the potential to influence perceptions of financial reporting and audit quality.
Age-Related Dysregulation of CD8+ T Cell Memory Specific for a Persistent Virus Is Independent of Viral Replication1

The immune system devotes substantial resources to the lifelong control of persistent pathogens, which were hypothesized to play an important role in immune aging. Specifically, the presence of latent herpesviruses has been correlated with immune exhaustion and shorter lifespan in octogenarians. But neither the causality nor the mechanistic link(s) were established, and the relative roles of persistent antigenic stimulation and of virus-independent homeostatic disturbances in T cell aging remain unresolved. We longitudinally analyzed expansion, contraction, and long-term maintenance of CD8+ T cells responding to localized infection with a latent virus, HSV-1. Young mice exhibited the expected expansion and contraction of HSV-1-specific cells and the stable maintenance of memory T cells into advanced adulthood. However, upon entry into senescence, many (>40%) animals exhibited an accumulation in Ag-specific cells (memory inflation) which in some animals was comparable to that observed in acute infection. Inflation occurred to the same extent in control mice and mice continuously treated with the anti-HSV drug famciclovir, which inhibits viral replication and was able to reduce expression of the glycoprotein B. Age-related inflation was also found long after infection with an acute virus. The inflating cells largely maintained Ag-specific function, and exhibited typical central memory phenotype, with no signs of Ag-specific activation. They exhibited increased expression of CD122 and CD127, akin to the Ag-independent T cell clonal expansions found in old specific pathogen-free laboratory mice. This collectively suggests that, in this model, the inflating cells may be selected for high responsiveness to environmental cytokines largely in an Ag-independent manner.
The Effects of Government Spending on Real Exchange Rates: Evidence from Military Spending Panel Data

Using panel data on military spending for 125 countries, we document new facts about the effects of changes in government purchases on the real exchange rate, consumption, and current accounts in both advanced and developing countries. While an increase in government purchases causes real exchange rates to appreciate and increases consumption significantly in developing countries, it causes real exchange rates to depreciate and decreases consumption in advanced countries. The current account deteriorates in both groups of countries. These findings are not consistent with standard international business-cycle models. We investigate whether the difference between advanced economies and developing countries in the responses of real exchange rates to spending shocks can be explained by alternative hypotheses.