Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis C, insulin resistance and diabetes: clinical and pathogenic data

Epidemiological data indicate a strong risk for development of insulin resistance (IR), and, ultimately, overt diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Steatosis, or fatty liver, is closely linked with IR in persons without HCV, such as those with metabolic syndrome, primarily due to increased visceral fat leading to altered adipokine production and increased free fatty acid (FFA) release. Moreover, there is evidence that liver fat can have an impact on the development of hepatic IR independently of changes in adipose tissue. Multiple mechanisms can account for the development of IR in patients with chronic HCV. In particular, there is evidence for a triangular interaction between steatosis, inflammatory processes and IR. In patients infected by the genotype 1 virus, steatosis is strongly related to IR, leading to a metabolic steatosis, while, in genotype 3 patients, steatosis is related to viral load in the context of a viral steatosis. Chronic inflammatory processes in the liver may be mediated by persistently activated macrophages and other immune cells, with concomitant overproduction of pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor‐α. Activation of inflammatory pathways, together with increased levels of FFAs, can disrupt hepatocyte intracellular pathways and inhibit insulin signalling, leading to IR. Molecular studies have also shown that the HCV core protein can directly inhibit the insulin signalling pathway and increase reactive oxygen species production, both of which can further exacerbate IR. The available data provide an understanding of chronic HCV whereby chronic inflammatory processes, steatosis and IR contribute to each other, leading to an increased risk of DM, and its associated poor outcomes, in persons with chronic HCV.
Do exchange-rate forecasters herd? A note on the zloty/dollar and yen/dollar exchange rate

We used the foreign-exchange rate forecasts of the Consensus Economics Inc. poll to analyze whether exchange-rate forecasters herd or anti-herd. Forecasters herd (anti-herd) if their forecasts are biased towards (away from) the consensus. Upon implementing a robust empirical test developed by Bernhardt, Campello, Kutsoati (2006), we found that forecasters anti-herd.
Targeting of the tail-anchored peroxisomal membrane proteins PEX26 and PEX15 occurs through C-terminal PEX19-binding sites

Tail-anchored proteins contain a single transmembrane domain (TMD) followed by a short C-terminal domain extending into the organellar lumen. Tail-anchored proteins are thought to target to the correct subcellular compartment by virtue of general physicochemical properties of their C-termini; however, the machineries that enable correct sorting remain largely elusive. Here we analyzed targeting of the human peroxisomal tail-anchored protein PEX26. Its C-terminal-targeting signal contains two binding sites for PEX19, the import receptor for several peroxisomal membrane proteins. One PEX19-binding site overlapped with the TMD, the other was contained within the luminal domain. Although the PEX19-binding site containing the TMD targeted to peroxisomes to some extent, the luminal site proved essential for correct targeting of the full-length protein, as it prevented PEX26 from mislocalization to mitochondria. Its function as a targeting motif was proved by its ability to insert a heterologous TMD-containing fragment into the peroxisomal membrane. Finally we show that PEX19 is essential for PEX26 import. Analysis of the yeast tail-anchored protein Pex15p revealed that it also harbors a luminal PEX19-binding site that acts as a peroxisomal-targeting motif. We conclude that C-terminal PEX19-binding sites mark tail-anchored proteins for delivery to peroxisomes.
Preferences and willingness to pay for bird-watching tour and interpretive services using a choice experiment

This study identifies the activity and experience preferences of bird-watchers and estimates their willingness to pay (WTP) for bird-watching-related ecotourism tour and interpretive services using choice experiment methods. An on site survey was conducted of tourists attending the Cheonsuman International Birdwatching Fair, South Korea's most popular bird-watching festival. Results indicate that respondents are more likely to prefer intermediate length bird-watching courses, interpretive opportunities and services, seeing special birds, and lower admission fees. WTP for bird-watching interpretive services is approximately $10.14 per person per visit, whereas WTP for additional diversity in bird species is $12.64. Courses with bus tours are preferred to courses with no bus tours, but long tours are not preferred. WTP is $14.24 for an intermediate length tour and $8.09 for a longer tour compared with the no bus tour. It appears that as the levels of service attributes associated with the bird-watching ecotourism resources increase, the respondents are more satisfied and willing to pay more for bird-watching tours than if the levels of service attributes are lower.
Valid and reliable measurements for sustainable non-financial reporting

The discrepancy between the high importance of intangibles and the general inability to measure and account for these types of assets constitutes a growing challenge for business and society, in particular within the framework of Non-Financial Reporting. Traditional financial reporting typically does not provide good predictions of future financial performance. The malfunctioning of risk capital markets partly depends on the lack of reliable information on intangibles. Thus, measurements of intangibles must be significantly improved. The information on intangibles needs to be based on the right measurements, it needs to be comparable (i.e. based on common guidelines, or even standards), and it needs to be verifiable and understood by the users. This paper reviews the situation with reference to measuring intangibles for non-financial reporting. It comments on various related research projects and R&D activities initiated by accounting organizations. It emphasizes the possible importance of various Best Practice measurement programs, such as ACSI and EPSI Rating. Finally, it identifies a number of requirements to be fulfilled to achieve and operationalize the relevance and reliability of stakeholder measurement.
Family orientation in family firms: a model and some empirical evidence

Attention has been drawn recently to the differences which exist between family and non‐family firms, but Ward indicates that there are different types of family firms. More specifically, as Dunn puts it, “in some families it is evident that the business serves the family, as opposed to the family serves the business”. For some families in business, economic rationality dominates decision making, yet for others a “family first” ethos is to the fore, while a third group recognises the need to respond to economic and family considerations. In this paper firms which pay attention to both family and business are not investigated. However, Ward’s model of the characteristics of family firms is discussed and data based on a Scottish and Irish sample of 234 firms which put family first when business and family objectives clash, and 830 firms which focus on business objectives, are presented. Results suggest that the former exhibit several of the characteristics defined by Ward. This suggests that a considerable number of family firms may be lifestyle – as opposed to growth‐oriented businesses. These results have major implications for policy makers. If a substantial number of family firms differ from rational economic ventures by their methods of operation, then policy makers should be flexible with regard to the methods of intervention required to support this important section of the SME community. Policy issues in connection with family firms in Britain are considered in the light of our findings.
Dominance Effects from Local Competitors: Setting Institutional Parameters for Employment Relations in Multinational Subsidiaries; A Case from the Spanish Supermarket Sector

Dominance effects are normally associated with multinational corporations (MNCs). However, we argue that a strong local competitor can create ‘dominance effects’ setting the institutional parameters for employment relations in multinational subsidiaries. Moreover such an effect can be persistent. In this case the Spanish-owned El Corte Ingles (ECI) used its power and influence to establish an employer's federation and two ‘yellow unions’. These yellow unions infiltrated the French-owned MNC Carrefour and most of the Spanish supermarket sector by the early 1980s and continue to dominate collective bargaining rounds and works council elections, marginalizing the main independent trade unions. This has resulted in poor pay and working conditions and a lack of effective employee representation across most of the Spanish supermarket sector. The fact that Carrefour established an international framework agreement to observe union rights in 2001 has as yet not changed this situation.
State and Regional Patterns in American Manufacturing. By Albert W. Niemi Jr., Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1974. Pp. xiii + 209. $11.00

such errors. For the most part, the monograph stresses developments in Washington and several key states. The sad tale of Edgar Brown, a client of National City Company, is spread over three pages. The same amount of space detailing the impact of the crisis and the bank holiday on the average bank customer and the public at large would have been even more useful in rounding out the subject. Though flawed by neglect of relevant insights provided by the important subsequent analyses of monetary economists, all in all Dr. Kennedy's study offers a valuable, well-documented overview of the greatest banking crisis in American history.
Highly Educated Immigrants and Native Occupational Choice

Economic debate about the consequences of immigration in the US has largely focused on how influxes of foreign-born labor with little educational attainment have affected similarly-educated native-born workers. Fewer studies analyze the effect of immigration within the market for highly-educated labor. We use O*NET data on job characteristics to assess whether native-born workers with graduate degrees respond to an increased presence of highly-educated foreign-born workers by choosing new occupations with different skill content. We find that highly-educated native and foreign-born workers are imperfect substitutes. Immigrants with graduate degrees specialize in occupations demanding quantitative and analytical skills, whereas their native-born counterparts specialize in occupations requiring interactive and communication skills. When the foreign-born proportion of highly-educated employment within an occupation rises, native employees with graduate degrees choose new occupations with less analytical and more communicative content.
Extending the input–output model with assets

Abstract In this paper, the input–output model is extended with assets. It allows us to examine the various assets that are held and used in production. The requirements of assets that must be held by each sector can thus be specified. Extending the input–output model with assets provides a better alternative to the capital stock matrix in the standard Systems of National Accounts. The input–output model is extended by taking the depreciation of fixed assets into full account. This extension allows for the calculation of total holding coefficients that express the amount of assets that are required to be held in each sector in order to satisfy a unit of final demand. In addition, a dynamic version of the extended model is presented. The extended input–output model has been widely applied in China for various purposes.
On the Stability of Multimarket Collusion in Price-Setting Supergames

In this paper we examine how trade liberalization affects collusive stability in the context of multimarket interactions. The model we consider is a segmented-markets duopoly with differentiated goods in which price-setting firms pool their incentive constraints across markets to sustain their most collusive outcome. We find that, when goods are very close substitutes and trade costs are sufficiently high, a marginal reduction in trade costs facilitates collusion. Exactly the opposite is true if, for any given degree of product substitutability, trade costs are sufficiently low. We also study the dependence of multimarket collusion on product differentiation.
Financing the Celtic Tigress: Venture financing and informal investment in Ireland

Abstract This study explores gender differences in entrepreneurship and informal investment in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in the developed world. Females in Ireland are less likely than males to be engaged in either the demand for (as entrepreneurs), or the supply of (as informal investors), entrepreneurial finance. Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data from a telephone survey of nearly 6 000 individuals, we present a comparative analysis of 73 female and 172 male nascent entrepreneurs, and 40 female and 91 male informal investors. We find no differences in the planned absolute financial capitalization of new ventures of female and male nascent entrepreneurs or in the investments made by female and male informal investors. We compare the full sample (from which we identified the nascent entrepreneurs) and find that females, when compared to males, are less likely to report perceiving opportunities, less likely to perceive they have the skills and knowledge required to start a business, and are less likely to know a recent entrepreneur. We argue that this might suggest that there may be less demand for start-up capital from females. We conclude by suggesting that policies that focus narrowly on the provision of finance to female entrepreneurs may have limited impact on the levels of female entrepreneurial activity.
Do the SEC's Safe Harbor Provisions Encourage Forward-Looking Disclosures?

Recent surveys indicate that CEOs are reluctant to make disclosures of forward-looking information because they believe these disclosures expose them and their firms to stockholder litigation. Partly as a result of these claims, the SEC has recently called for testimony on whether the current safe harbor provisions are effective in encouraging corporate managers to disclose voluntarily forward-looking information. Evidence from the voluntary disclosure literature suggests that legal liability concerns have important effects on managers' voluntary disclosure choices and that these concerns often prevent managers from issuing earnings forecasts. By strengthening the safe harbor provisions to reduce the expected legal costs of disclosure, the SEC can increase the extent to which managers voluntarily disclose forward-looking information.
A study of rheumatic fever and streptococcal infection in different social groups in Melbourne

1. Hospital records of 1469 cases of rheumatic fever (including chorea) up to the age of 14 years were used to study the social distribution of the disease in Melbourne. On this evidence the incidence of rheumatic fever was three times greater in low than in high rental districts. 2. The results of throat-swab surveys and Dick tests on schoolchildren living in different districts showed that children in the poor districts contracted streptococcal infections more frequently than those in well-to-do districts. 3. One factor associated with the carrier rate of Streptococcus pyogenes in the various social groups was the incidence of tonsillectomy. In the better class districts where the tonsillectomy rate was high (60%) the Str. pyogenes carrier rate was 12.5%, whereas the rates in poor areas were 35 and 25.3% respectively. 4. Differences in social incidence of rheumatic fever might therefore be explained by differences in social incidence of streptococcal infection, which, in turn, might be influenced by the incidence of tonsillectomy. We wish to thank the many persons who so willingly assisted in the collection of data for this study, particularly Dr H. L. Stokes and Dr M. M. Wilson, and Dr R. E. O. Williams for advice on presentation. This work was supported by a grant to one of us (Dr M. C. Holmes) from the Commonwealth Research Fund from the University of Melbourne.
Exports, imports and economic growth in China: an ARDL analysis

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the export-led growth, growth-led export, import-led growth, growth-led import and foreign deficit sustainability hypothesis in the case of China, using annual time series data from 1978-2009. Design/methodology/approach - For estimation evidence this study employs the Phillips Perron unit root tests to examine the level of integration and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach is employed to determine the long run relationship, and the direction of long run and short run causal relationship is examined by using modified Granger causality test. Findings - The results confirm the bidirectional long run relationship between the economic growth and exports, economic growth and imports, and exports and imports. These findings guided the authors to conclude that the exports-led growth, growth-led exports, imports-led growth and growth-led imports hypothesis is valid, and foreign deficit is sustainable for China. The long run elasticities are as follows: the elasticity of economic growth with respect to exports is 0.591, and elasticity of exports with respect to economic growth is 1.635. The elasticity of economic growth with respect to imports is 0.621, and elasticity of imports with respect to economic growth is 1.392. Further more the elasticity of exports with respect to imports is 1.322, and imports elasticity with respect to exports is 0.975. Originality/value - This study utilizes the relative new cointegration method of ARDL approach. The empirical findings of this study are vital for policy makers of China in the formulation of trade policies.
A mouse sensor and a 2-pixel motion sensor exposed to continuous illuminance changes

Considerable attention has been paid during the last decade to navigation systems based on the use of visual optic flow cues, especially for guiding autonomous robots designed to travel under specific lighting conditions. In the present study, the performances of two visual motion sensors used to measure a local 1-D angular speed, namely (i) a bio-inspired 2-pixel motion sensor and (ii) an off-the-shelf mouse sensor, were tested for the first time in a wide range of illuminance levels. The sensors' characteristics were determined here by recording their responses to a purely rotational optic flow generated by rotating the sensors mechanically and comparing their responses with an accurate rate gyro output signal. The refresh rate, a key parameter for future optic flow-based robotic applications, was also defined and tested in these two sensors. The bio-inspired 2-pixel motion sensor was found to be more accurate indoors whereas the mouse sensor was found to be more efficient outdoors.
INFLATION AND THE MARKET VALUE OF THE FIRM: THEORY AND TESTS

INFLATION CAUSES WEALTH TRANSFERS among different sectors of the economy, consisting of business firms, households and the government. Where they affect business profits, these transfers take place over and above the nominal increase in the value of the firm that follows from a general price level change. In the absence of the distortions represented by these transfers, classical theory of macroeconomic equilibrium would require that nominal equity values increase in exactly the same proportion as the price level'. Under such ideal conditions, a 10% increase in the general price level, for example, would involve a 10% increase in the nominal value of all assets. Firms would neither enjoy capital gains nor suffer losses, in real terms, as a consequence of the price level change. This is consistent with the fact that real returns from capital are dependent only on production functions and factor proportions, which are invariant to price levels. However, the presence of wealth transfers due to inflation would imply that this fundamental postulate need no longer hold: the market value of the firm would not be homogeneous of degree one in the price level. These considerations naturally raise the perennial question of whether or not common stocks are a good hedge against inflation. More generally: what is the statistical relation between inflation and stock prices? Past studies have been concerned mainly with the relation between aggregate stock market levels and inflation rates, and the results have been varied and sometimes inconclusive.2 Less attention has been paid to the fact that inflation can affect individual firms in vastly different ways. Firms differ from one another in capital structure, asset composition, and the method of reporting income for tax purposes. These variations cause differential effects of inflation on their stock prices. This paper studies these differential effects. It is important to distinguish the monetary assets and the real assets of a firm. A monetary asset is one whose amount is independent of price level changes. It includes cash, marketable securities and receivables as positive assets and debt and
Role in neuronal cell migration for high‐threshold potassium currents in the chicken hindbrain

We have investigated the influence of voltage‐dependent, potassium conductances on the migration of embryonic neurons, using a culture preparation taken from the acoustico‐vestibular anlage long before the onset of electrical excitability and synaptic function. Whole‐cell patch clamp recordings from migrating neuroblasts at Hamburger‐Hamilton stage 28 (E 5.5) revealed the exclusive expression of voltage‐dependent, high‐threshold, outward currents, activating at potentials positive to ‐20 mV. These currents were completely suppressed by the potassium channel blockers, 1.0 mM tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) or 1.0 mM 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP). In control media, the active migration of individual neuroblasts was recorded at 27 ± 6 μm per hr. Within minutes after adding either drug to the culture, normal migration completely stopped for several hours. Calcium channel blockers, ω‐conotoxin (3 μM) or cadmium chloride (100 μM), slowed, but did not halt, migration, while nickel chloride (100 μM) or N‐methyl‐D‐glucamine (1 mM) had no effect. However, within 8 hr after TEA exposure, migratory activity usually returned. This recovery was associated with the appearance of a previously undetected, low‐threshold and 4‐AP‐ sensitive potassium conductance. We suggest that high‐threshold, TEA/4‐AP‐sensitive potassium channels may normally support the migration of these neurons, while their chronic blockade can be compensated by the appearance of novel potassium channels. Potassium currents may act in concert with N‐type calcium channels to regulate neuronal migration. J. Neurosci. Res. 58:805–814, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Accessibility and functionality of the corporate web site: implications for sustainability reporting

This paper explores the development of the corporate web site as a medium for sustainability reporting. Drawing upon survey data of corporate web sites in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom and the experiences of six companies, it seeks to identify how issues of accessibility and functionality of the web site affect web based sustainability reporting. The study highlights the diversity of approaches to sustainability reporting on the internet and identifies a number of hurdles faced by managers responsible for sustainability reporting. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.