Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The N‐terminal fragment of the β‐amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer's disease (N‐APP) binds to phosphoinositide‐rich domains on the surface of hippocampal neurons

The function of the β‐amyloid precursor protein (APP) of Alzheimer's disease is poorly understood. The secreted ectodomain fragment of APP (sAPPα) can be readily cleaved to produce a small N‐terminal fragment (N‐APP) that contains heparin‐binding and metal‐binding domains and that has been found to have biological activity. In the present study, we examined whether N‐APP can bind to lipids. We found that N‐APP binds selectively to phosphoinositides (PIPs) but poorly to most other lipids. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2)‐rich microdomains were identified on the extracellular surface of neurons and glia in primary hippocampal cultures. N‐APP bound to neurons and colocalized with PIPs on the cell surface. Furthermore, the binding of N‐APP to neurons increased the level of cell‐surface PI(4,5)P2 and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5‐trisphosphate. However, PIPs were not the principal cell‐surface binding site for N‐APP, because N‐APP binding to neurons was not inhibited by a short‐acyl‐chain PIP analogue, and N‐APP did not bind to glial cells which also possessed PI(4,5)P2 on the cell surface. The data are explained by a model in which N‐APP binds to two distinct components on neurons, one of which is an unidentified receptor and the second of which is a PIP lipid, which binds more weakly to a distinct site within N‐APP. Our data provide further support for the idea that N‐APP may be an important mediator of APP's biological activity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Enzymatic intracrine regulation of white adipose tissue

Abstract Abdominal fat formation has become a permanent risk factor for metabolic syndrome and various cancers in one-third of the world’s population of obese and even lean patients. Formation of abdominal fat involves additional mechanisms beyond an imbalance in energy intake and expenditure, which explains systemic obesity. In this review, we briefly summarized autonomous regulatory circuits that locally produce hormones from inactive precursors or nutrients for intra-/auto-/paracrine signaling in white adipose depots. Enzymatic pathways activating steroid and thyroid hormones in adipose depots were compared with enzymatic production of retinoic acid from vitamin A. We discussed the role of intracrine circuits in fat-depot functions and strategies to reduce abdominal adiposity through thermogenic adipocytes with interrupted generation of retinoic acid.
On the Relative Importance of Corporate Working Capital Determinants: Findings from the EU Countries

The corporate finance literature traditionally abounds in both theoretical discussion and empirical research concerning financing and long-term investment decisions. Managing short-term resources appears to be a much less remarkable issue, despite this resource’s significant share of a firm’s balance sheet and the time and effort required to manage the current assets and liabilities. This article provides insights into the relative importance of the selected working capital determinants from the European Union perspective. The determinants considered in the study include both external and internal factors, specifically the country in which a company operates, its industrial classification and the firm size. Using more than 10,000 aggregated observations from a sample of firms from 13 industries, 9 countries and 3 group sizes, covering the period 2000-2009, the findings provide evidence that corporate working capital is most affected by country-specific factors, followed by industrial factors and firm size.
An assessment of grower perceptions and factors influencing adoption of IPM in commercial cranberry production

Abstract A survey was developed and distributed to the Massachusetts cranberry grower community in 1999 to identify biological, educational, social and political barriers to the adoption of available integrated pest management (IPM) practices. The response rate for the 450 growers who received the survey was 54%. Approximately 80% of respondents claimed to practice IPM frequently and 16% identified themselves as occasional practitioners. Most growers practiced IPM because they agreed with IPM philosophy (80%) and believed it had environmental benefits (73%). Ninety-two percent agreed that more IPM-related research and education programs would encourage them to adopt practices they are not currently using. A significant percentage of respondents used multiple IPM component practices, with practices involving monitoring and detection of pests along with judicious use of pesticides being most common. Factor analysis was used to condense 104 potential responses to 22 factors, which were then used as predictors with six demographic variables (IPM adoption, education level, age, experience, farm size and work status). Demographic factors influenced a grower's tendency to incorporate IPM into routine farm activities. Full-time, highly experienced growers in charge of large operations tended frequently to use more IPM practices than less experienced growers who worked part-time and managed smaller farms. A large proportion of respondents agreed that IPM can reduce pesticide residues in food (92%) and the environment (96%), and can help to preserve beneficial insects (96%). Although many growers held the perception that IPM can pose measurable economic risk (and subsequently act as a barrier to adoption), growers appeared to feel less strongly about the economic benefits than potential environmental ones.
Anatomical, functional and metabolic imaging of radiation‐induced lung injury using hyperpolarized MRI

MRI of hyperpolarized 129Xe gas and 13C‐enriched substrates (e.g. pyruvate) presents an unprecedented opportunity to map anatomical, functional and metabolic changes associated with lung injury. In particular, inhaled hyperpolarized 129Xe gas is exquisitely sensitive to changes in alveolar microanatomy and function accompanying lung inflammation through decreases in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of alveolar gas and increases in the transfer time (Ttr) of xenon exchange from the gas and into the dissolved phase in the lung. Furthermore, metabolic changes associated with hypoxia arising from lung injury may be reflected by increases in lactate‐to‐pyruvate signal ratio obtained by magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging following injection of hyperpolarized [1‐13C]pyruvate. In this work, the application of hyperpolarized 129Xe and 13C MRI to radiation‐induced lung injury (RILI) is reviewed and results of ADC, Ttr and lactate‐to‐pyruvate signal ratio changes in a rat model of RILI are summarized. These results are consistent with conventional functional (i.e. blood gases) and histological (i.e. tissue density) changes, and correlate significantly with inflammatory cell counts (i.e. macrophages). Hyperpolarized MRI may provide an earlier indication of lung injury associated with radiotherapy of thoracic tumors, potentially allowing adjustment of treatment before the onset of severe complications and irreversible fibrosis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transnational Industrial Relations as Multi‐Level Governance: Interdependencies in European Social Dialogue

Processes of transnationalization of industrial relations have been redrawing and increasing the complexity of the industrial relations map, adding new levels, actors and institutions, and creating new horizontal and vertical relationships and interdependencies. To capture these changes, we propose a multi-governance perspective enriched by due attention to power relations. We then apply this perspective to analyse the evolution of European social dialogue (ESD), showing that the conventional reading of ESD moving from dependency to autonomy is a false one: negotiated regulation emanating from the ESD rests on two-directional relations, between the European and national levels involving autonomy and dependency at the same time. It also involves differing forms of horizontal interdependency between private actors and the public authorities. To show its wider applicability, we also briefly relate this approach to International Framework Agreements and European Works Council agreements.
Habit Formation, Incomplete Markets, and the Significance of Regional Risk for Expected Returns

This paper introduces a consumption-based capital asset pricing model (CCAPM) that combines undiversifiable income shocks and external habit formation. Using US state-level data, the paper provides realistic estimates for preference parameters when the external habit of the state investors is based on the consumption of the four Census regions. The model also implies four asset pricing factors: the cross-sectional means of consumption growth and habit growth (capturing national systematic risk) and the cross-sectional variances of consumption growth and habit growth (capturing regional systematic risk). This four-factor model has greater power in explaining expected returns than the CCAPM described in Breeden (1979). , Oxford University Press.
Glass Ceilings or Glass Doors? The Role of Firms in Male‐Female Wage Disparities

I use Canadian linked employer-employee data to examine whether women face a glass ceiling in the labour market. I also measure the extent to which the glass ceiling comes about because women are segregated into lower-paying firms, or because they are segregated into lower-paying jobs within firms. I find clear evidence that women experience a glass ceiling that is driven by their disproportionate sorting across firm types (glass doors) rather than within firms. I find no evidence that these results are supply-driven. However, my results are consistent with predictions of an efficiency wage model where high-paying firms discriminate against females.
Tinnitus in cochlear implant patients—a comparison with other hearing-impaired patients: Acufeno en pacientes con implante coclear-una comparación con otros pacientes hipoacusicos

As part of a quality of life study, 84 patients who received multichannel intra-cochlear cochlear implants (CIs) were evaluated regarding tinnitus problems by a questionnaire. As controls, 60 hearing aid (HA) users and 35 non-operated CI candidates were used. The prevalence of tinnitus in the CI group was 70%, and that of troublesome tinnitus was 35%. In the two other groups, the prevalences of tinnitus were 40% (HA) and 74% (non-CI). Twenty-three per cent of HA users and 51% of non-operated CI candidates had troublesome tinnitus. CIs were found to be superior to HAs in reducing tinnitus, 54%) of the CI patients with tinnitus experiencing a reduction in tinnitus when using a CI. In the other two groups, 4% of HA users and 23%) of non-operated CI candidates experienced a reduction in tinnitus when using an HA. Eight per cent of the CI patients with tinnitus experienced an increase in tinnitus when using their implant. Not having paid employment was independently associated with troublesome tinnitus in all three groups. Sumario: Como parte de un estudio de calidad de vida, se evaluó por medio de un cuestionario a un grupo de 84 pacientes, a quienes se les había colocado un implante coclear multicanal (IC), investigando sus problemas de acúfeno (tinnitus). Se integró un grupo control de 60 usuarios de auxiliares auditivos (HA) y a 35 candidatos para IC, aún no operados. La prevalencia del acúfeno en el grupo de IC fue del 70%) y la del acúfeno molesto fue del 35%. En los otros dos grupos, la prevalencia del acúfeno fue del 40%> (HA) y de 74%, (no-lC). El 23%. de los usuarios de auxiliar auditivo y el 51%) de los candidatos a IC no operados sufrian de un acúfeno molesto. Se encontró que los IC eran más eficientes para reducir el acúfeno que los auxiliares auditivos. El 54%o de los pacientes con IC y con acúfeno experimentaron una reducción del mismo cuando usaban su IC. En los otros dos grupos, el 41% de los usuarios de auxiliar auditivo, y el 23%) de los candidatos a IC no operados experimentaron una reducción de su acúfeno cuando usaban su auxiliar auditivo. El 8% de los pacientes con IC y acúfeno experimentaron un incremento de su acúfeno cuando usaban el implante. El no tener empleo con remuneración tuvo una asociación independiente con el acúfeno molesto en los tres grupos.
Is there Really Divergence Across Turkish Provinces? Evidence From the Lagrange Multiplier Unit Root Tests

Using data on per capita income among 67 provinces in Turkey over the period 1975–2001, regional stochastic convergence is evaluated. This study employees the LM unit root test to endogenously determine the number and location of structural breaks for each province. On the contrary, convergence literature on Turkish provinces, both univariate and panel LM tests provide strong evidence for convergence except for the provinces of Bitlis and Erzurum when structural breaks are taken into account. Our empirical results are in accordance with the neoclassical model.
The Potential Application of Qualitative Evaluation Methods in European Regional Development: Reflections on the Use of Performance Story Reporting in Australian Natural Resource Management

Vanclay F. The potential application of qualitative evaluation methods in European regional development: reflections on the use of Performance Story Reporting in Australian natural resource management, Regional Studies. This paper argues that qualitative evaluation methods potentially have a useful role in the assessment of regional development projects in Europe. It outlines several evaluation methods used in outcomes assessment, specifically Most Significant Change Technique, Performance Story Reporting and Collaborative Outcomes Reporting. An example of the practical application of these methods in Australia is provided along with a consideration of their applicability in the European context. The paper discusses issues related to the evaluation of rural and regional development programmes and concludes that qualitative evaluation using story-based approaches provides a rigorous way of assessing the performance of projects and programmes.
How European Unification Has Shaped the Debate on Measuring International Financial Integration

In this paper we analyse a chronicle of economic theory on international financial integration post-WWII to the present date. Our focus is on theories that have somehow quantify the state and speed of international financial integration. We are able to contrast and compare three distinct strands that have brought forward conditions for its measurement. It is shown that European unification provides much of the empirical testing ground for these measures of international financial integration from the late 1980s. It is also shown that European unification in its more progressed and recent state of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has reinvigorated the research field with the emergence of new measures and as such continues to shape the debate.
Entrepreneurship as Radical Change in the Family Business: Exploring the Role of Cultural Patterns

This article explores the relationship between organizational culture and the entrepreneurial process that is viewed as radical change in the context of the family business. Drawing on results from two in-depth family business case studies, the authors develop a conceptual model for understanding organizational culture and its impact on entrepreneurial activities. The model is built around the extent to which the culture is connected to one dominant family member or several family members, the degree of cultural explicitness, and the degree of cultural openness. It is argued that whereas some cultural patterns tend to preserve the traditional way of doing business, others tend to facilitate entrepreneurial change. The conclusion is that to support entrepreneurial processes, managers need to foster a process of high-order learning in which old cultural patterns are continuously questioned and changed. To accomplish this, the organizational culture needs to be highly explicit and open.
An Evaluation of Inertia Models of Unemployment

Two approaches have been used to model unemployment. The first, conventional, approach involves linking the unemployment outcome to observed indices of productivity, structural factors and discrimination such as educational attainment, location and birthplace. The second approach, the inertia model, involves using a person's labor market history as a way of including in unemployment models information on the "unobservables" that influence employability. This paper evaluates the performance of both models of unemployment. The results provide unambiguous support for the inertia model when modelling unemployment. The inertia model has higher explanatory power, higher within-sample prediction rate success and fewer out-of-sample forecasting errors than the conventional model. The estimates from the inertia model can be used to provide quite accurate predictions of the risk of becoming unemployed. This is important if individuals at high risk of becoming unemployed are to be targeted for labor market assistance.
Gubernatorial Tools: Formal vs. Informal

RECENT INCREMENTS in the visibility and scope of state executive functions have contributed to a renewed scholarly interest in the role of the governor. Much of this interest continues to focus on the primary task of the governor-that of chief legislator. The success or failure of a governor to achieve his legislative program has been the test of that role. A common assumption is that the success of a governor is dependent upon his ability to use the many powers at his disposal, yet there has been limited empirical analysis concerning the relative importance of the powers, tools, and strategies available to him. The existing research has usually incorporated a state-by-state case study approach and, as a result, little systematic data are available upon which to make generalizations on a governor's use of his powers to achieve success in the legislative process. One possible exception is Joseph A. Schlesinger's comparative state study of the governors' formal powers, in which he uses gubernatorial power in four areas (veto, budget, appointment, and tenure) to develop an index that measures the relative position of each of the fifty governors and their potential for legislative leadership.1 This index has served as a stimulus for additional research on formal
On the Presence of Speculative Bubbles in Stock Prices

Abstract We examine empirically the existence of speculative bubbles in U.S. stock prices and, by building on West's procedure, propose direct and computationally simple tests of the “nobubble” hypothesis. These tests are likely to be close to their nominal size in small samples and to have small sample power against a wide class of bubbles including those orthogonal to the dividend process. We apply the tests to long-term annual U.S. stock market data for the 1871–1981 and 1871–1988 periods. Contrary to West, we do not reject the “no-bubble” hypothesis. We offer an explanation as to the cause of discrepancy between the two results.
Ste p Two in Benefit Segmentation: Learning the Benefits Realized by Major Travel Markets

The benefits realized from product use may differ widely for different market segments. The benefits experienced from traveling to the same vacation destination by three different national samples are reported. Canadian visitors most often reported rest and relaxation as the major benefit realized from their Hawaii visits, mainland Americans reported cultural experiences, andJapanese visitors reported family togetherness as major benefits realized. Different marketing positioning strategies are recommended for each national market segment based on the results of the study. Travel research on the benefits realized by different visitor markets is recommended.
Dialysis dose and the effect of gender and body size on outcome in the HEMO Study.

BACKGROUND Gender and body size have been associated with survival in hemodialysis populations. In recent observational studies, overall mortality was similar in men and women and higher in small patients. The effect of dialysis dose in each of these subgroups has not been tested in a clinical trial. METHODS The HEMO Study was a controlled trial of dialysis dose and membrane flux in 1846 hemodialysis patients followed up for 6.6 years in 15 centers throughout the United States. We examined the effect of dialysis dose on mortality and on selected secondary outcomes in subgroups of patients. RESULTS Adjusting for age only, overall mortality was lower in patients with higher body weight (P < 0.001), higher body mass index (P < 0.001), and higher body water content determined by the Watson formula (Vw) (P < 0.001), but was not associated with gender (P= 0.27). The RR of mortality comparing the high dose with the standard dose group was related to gender (P= 0.014). Women randomized to the high dose had a lower mortality rate than women randomized to the standard dose (RR = 0.81, P= 0.02), while men randomized to the high dose had a nonsignificant trend for a higher mortality rate than men randomized to the standard dose (RR = 1.16, P= 0.16). Analysis of both genders combined showed no overall dose effect (R = 0.96, P= 0.52), as reported previously. Vw was greater than 35 L in 84% of men compared with 17% of women. However, the RR of mortality for the high versus standard dose remained lower in women than in men after adjustment for the interaction of dose with Vw or with other size parameters, including weight and body mass index. Conversely, the dose effect was not significantly related to size parameters after controlling for the relationship of the dose comparison with gender. CONCLUSION The data suggest that mortality and morbidity might be reduced by increasing the dialysis dose above the current standard in women but not in men. This effect was not explained by differences between men and women in age, race, or in several indices of body size. Because multiple comparisons were considered in this analysis, the role of gender on the effect of dialysis dose is suggestive and invites further study.
Entrepreneurial by Design: Theorizing the Entrepreneurial Transformation of Contemporary Universities

Recent national and regional innovation policies have both catalysed and compounded the entrepreneurial tendency in higher education, redefining the traditional roles of universities. While academic debate has for some time addressed the importance of universities to regional economic development, more recent literature has focused explicitly on how universities engage directly with (regional) economies. Such engagement is entirely contingent on the capacity of universities and, since not all universities are equal, this presents a considerable challenge for academic debate and policy makers alike. In other words, public policy and institutional design need to maximize the impact of the ‘Third Mission’ by understanding better the factors that underpin it, irrespective of context. This paper introduces entrepreneurial architecture (EA) as both a theoretical bridge and a practical approach that unites endogenous – and mutable – determinants of the entrepreneurial university. First, the paper presents a contextual overview of the academic literature and situates the contribution of EA in contemporary debates. This is followed by development of the conceptual foundations of EA; and the third section concludes with the academic and policy implications of the concept and outlines avenues for future research.