Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
α-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone Stimulates Prolactin Secretion through Melanocortin-3 Receptors Expressed in Mammotropes in the Mouse Pituitary

The intermediate lobe of rodent pituitaries is involved in the regulation of prolactin (PRL) secretion from the anterior lobe. In a previous study, we demonstrated the stimulatory effect of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) on PRL release and the expression of melanocortin-3 receptors (MC3-Rs) in cultured mouse pituitary cells. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether α-MSH directly stimulates PRL release through the MC3-Rs by determining the cell type of MC3-R-expressing cells in the mouse pituitary anterior lobe. Northern blot analysis revealed a 2.7-kb transcript for MC3-R mRNA in the anterior and neurointermediate lobes of pituitary glands of adult male and female mice. Dual cellular localization of MC3-R mRNA and PRL or growth hormone (GH) in the mouse pituitary glands was performed by in situ hybridization analysis of MC3-R mRNA followed by immunocytochemical detection of PRL or GH. MC3-R mRNA was detected in most mammotropes and some somatotropes. α-MSH increased PRL release and stimulated DNA replication in mammotropes, and these effects were blocked by SHU9119, an antagonist of MC3-R and MC4-R. These results indicate that α-MSH stimulates PRL release and proliferation of mammotropes through MC3-Rs, and suggest that α-MSH from intermediate lobes can regulate mammotrope functions in the mouse pituitary.
Prediction of survival in patients with metastases in the spinal column

Adequate prediction of survival is important in deciding on treatment for patients with symptomatic spinal metastases. The authors reviewed 342 patients with painful spinal metastases without neurologic impairment who were treated conservatively within a large, prospectively randomized radiotherapy trial. Response to radiotherapy and prognostic factors for survival were studied.
Coronavirus Causes Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Less Frequently Than RSV in Hospitalized Norwegian Children

Background: We have described occurrence and clinical manifestations of human coronaviruses (HCoV) in hospitalized Norwegian children with respiratory tract infection (RTI) and compared them with a group of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-infected children. Methods and Population: We used in-house TaqMan multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction to test nasopharyngeal samples from 536 RTI episodes in 452 children who were admitted during the 2006–2007 winter. Twenty-one viruses, including HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, and RSV were tested. The amount of viral nucleic acid was recorded semiquantitatively based on the cycle threshold value. Results: A total of 665 positive polymerase chain reaction tests were recorded in 536 nasopharyngeal specimens. Coronavirus was found in 68 (12.7%): HCoV-OC43, n = 44 (8.2%), and HCoV-NL63, n = 24 (4.5%). Only RSV and rhinovirus were detected more frequently. Neither HCoV-229E nor HCoV-HKU1 was detected. Among children with HCoV-OC43, 73.0% tested positive for at least one other virus, compared with 41.2% with HCoV-NL63 and 40.3% with RSV (P = 0.03 and P < 0.01, respectively). Children with HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 were older than children with RSV (median age, 19 vs. 10 months, P = 0.01). Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) was half as common in children with HCoV-OC43 (48.6%) and HCoV-NL63 (47.1%) as in children with RSV (82.3%) (both P < 0.01). After adjusting for age, chronic disease, LRTI, and co-detection of other viruses in a multiple logistic regression analysis, HCoV was associated with a shorter fever period and shorter hospitalization time than RSV. Conclusions: HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 are common among hospitalized Norwegian children with RTI. Children with HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 have LRTI less frequently and may need a shorter hospital stay than children with RSV.
Testing for cointegration between international stock prices

This paper re-examines the evidence for cointegration between international stock prices. It applies Johansen's maximum likelihood (ML) cointegration method and likelihood ratio (LR) tests for cointegration to stock prices. In monthly data it finds at most one cointegrating vector and in quarterly data finds no cointegrating vectors. Using the small-sample corrections or the small-sample critical values it finds no evidence of cointegration. Johansen's LR tests for cointegration are sensitive to the lag length specification in the VAR model. In general it finds more evidence of cointegration in higher order VAR models. The paper shows that some of the previous empirical results can be explained by the small-sample bias and size distortion of Johansen's LR tests for cointegration. It finds that international stock prices are not cointegrated.
Beyond Technocratic Debates: The Significance and Transience of Political Incentives in the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)

type="main"> The Malawi FISP resurrected debates about the role of subsidies in African agricultural policy. Recent literature has highlighted the social and political interests that influence the distribution of input-subsidy vouchers, often tending to reduce the efficiency with which such programmes contribute to poverty reduction. Taking the FISP as a case study, this article examines the political incentives that have driven programme implementation. Two streams of rents associated with the FISP were used to generate support for the first-term government of President Mutharika (2005–9), with very different implications for programme efficiency. One then stopped abruptly in 2009. The Malawi case demonstrates both the importance of political incentives in determining subsidy outcomes and how they can change dramatically over time.
Benefiting from Public Sector Innovation : the Moderating Role of Customer and Learning Orientation

This article examines whether the payoff from engaging in innovation-generating activities is contingent on an organization's level of customer and learning orientation. The authors suggest that innovative activity is associated with higher public service quality when the level of customer and learning orientation within the focal organization is high. They test this hypothesis by drawing on a novel panel data set covering all public nonspecialist hospital organizations in England. Using dynamic panel data estimation techniques, the authors find strong support for a direct relationship between innovative activity and public service quality and for a moderating role of both customer and learning orientation. These findings call for a contingency perspective on public sector innovation and highlight some of the boundary conditions that need to be in place if public service organizations are to benefit fully from their innovative activities.
Financing Social Reproduction: The Gendered Relations of Debt and Mortgage Finance in Twenty-first-century America

This article addresses a gap in the international political economy (IPE) literature on housing finance by highlighting the ways in which the deepening of mortgage debt is part of a broader attempt to individualise and (re)privatise relations of social reproduction under neoliberalism. While the extension and deepening of debt has been underpinned by policies and discourses that assume the formal equality of individuals, the attempt to erase the gendered subject in the context of ongoing inequalities in paid labour markets, in asset ownership and in the division of unpaid labour has served to reproduce various overlapping social divisions and inequalities. In linking social reproduction to financial markets, the promotion of homeownership in the US has also rendered the social reproduction of present and future generations increasingly insecure. This work contributes to feminist and other critical IPE debates by highlighting the ways in which accumulation in financial markets has been based on the perpetuation of divisions and inequalities between social classes, between men and women and along certain racial and ethnic lines. It also centralises the role of the state in conditioning these processes.
Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase Activities in Diabetic Cataract

The oxidative stress which is associated with diabetes mellitus, might play an important role in the initiation and progression of diabetic complications (1). It has been suggested that free oxygen radicals trigger cataract, one of the degenerative manifestations of diabetes (2, 3). The toxic effects of the reactive oxygen species are neutralized in the lens by antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, vita-
THE EFFECT OF ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING ON PUERTO RICAN WOMEN'S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION IN THE FORMAL SECTOR

The joint effort by the U.S. government and the political elite of Puerto Rico to industrialize the island created increased demand for female labor and a decline in the number of jobs traditionally held by men. The authors examine whether women's labor force participation in the formal sector responds to improving opportunities for women, declining opportunities for men, or the household's changing opportunity structures. Specifically, they examine a woman's return to work after the birth of her first child as the initial point of conflict between productive and reproductive work. The data used in these analyses are from the 1982 Puerto Rican Fertility and Family Planning Assessment (PRFFPA), an islandwide, representative sample of never-married and ever-married women between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine. The authors estimate a series of nested logistic regression models to evaluate the influence of occupational expansion or contraction on the timing of return to work after the first birth. Their findings offer selective support for the idea that women's lives are affected primarily by the occurrence of growing labor demand for women's labor.
Early T2 changes predict onset of radiographic knee osteoarthritis: data from the osteoarthritis initiative

Objective To evaluate whether T2 relaxation time measurements obtained at 3 T MRI predict the onset of radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and methods We performed a nested case–control study of incident radiographic knee OA in the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort. Cases were 50 knees with baseline Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) grade of 0 that developed KL grade of 2 or more over a 4-year period. Controls were 80 knees with KL grade of 0 after 4 years of follow-up. Baseline T2 relaxation time measurements and laminar analysis of T2 in deep and superficial layers were performed in all knee compartments. The association of T2 values with incident OA was assessed with logistic regression and differences in T2 values by case–control status with linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other covariates. Results Baseline T2 values in all compartments except the medial tibia were significantly higher in knees that developed OA compared with controls and were particularly elevated in the superficial cartilage layers in all compartments. There was an increased likelihood of incident knee OA associated with higher baseline T2 values, particularly in the patella, adjusted OR per 1 SD increase in T2 (3.37 (95% CI 1.72 to 6.62)), but also in the medial femur (1.90 (1.07 to 3.39)), lateral femur (2.17 (1.11 to 4.25)) and lateral tibia (2.23 (1.16 to 4.31)). Conclusions These findings suggest that T2 values assessed when radiographic changes are not yet apparent may be useful in predicting the development of radiological tibiofemoral OA.
Pricing Multi-Asset Cross Currency Options

This paper develops a general pricing method for multi-asset cross currency options, whose underlying asset consists of multiple different assets, and the evaluation currency is different from the ones used in the most liquid market of each asset; the examples include cross currency options, cross currency basket options and cross currency average options. Moreover, in practice, fast calibration is necessary in the option markets relevant for the underlying assets and the currency, which is also achieved in this paper. Furthermore, we investigate the implied correlations in the cross currency markets on the dates before and after the events, Lehman Shock and Tohoku Earthquake.
Pricing Visitor Preferences for Temporary Art Exhibitions

This paper focuses on the initiatives that museum managers may implement to maximize the profits of museums located in tourist destinations and that host temporary art exhibitions. These initiatives have direct effects on visitor demand and indirect effects on the tourist destination. Classifying visitors into residents, excursionists and tourists, the authors evaluate their preferences and willingness to pay for managerial initiatives. They focus specifically on for-profit museums that host temporary exhibitions in medium and small tourist destinations. Visitor preferences are priced through discrete choice experiments submitted to a sample of (actual and potential) visitors to Castel Sismondo Museum in Rimini, Italy.
The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Performance: A Study of Small‐Sized Service Retailers Using MARKOR Scale

Conventional marketing wisdom holds that a market orientation provides a company with a better understanding of its customers, competitors, and environment, which subsequently leads to superior firm performance. While researchers have explored the relationship between market orientation and business performance in different organizations, such studies in small‐sized service retailers are scarce. This study investigates potential influences of market orientation on small‐sized service retailer performance. Data for this study were collected through personal interviews, and Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar's market orientation scale was used to specify the dimensions of a market‐oriented organization. Results indicated that Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar's market orientation scale provided a good measure of market orientation in this setting. Also, the results of analyses indicated a significant link between market orientation and small‐sized service retailer performance. The managerial implications are discussed.
The northern physical environment and the well-being of the elderly aged over 65 years

Abstract Objectives. The purpose was to describe the significance of the physical environment in supporting the well-being of the elderly aged over 65 years. The aim was to produce knowledge that will complement the knowledge-base of gerontologic nursing. Study design. The study was qualitative. Thirty-nine home-dwelling elderly persons aged over 65 were interviewed. Methods. The interviews (n = 39) were conducted with the thematic method. The data were analysed with methods of inductive content analysis. Results. The main threats of the northern physical environment to the well-being of the elderly are seasonal variation, temperature, snow, light variation and distances. The supportive characteristics of the northern environment are the natural environment, space, amiliarity with the physical space, cleanliness and safety. Conclusion. The characteristics of the northern physical environment seem to be significant for both urban and rural elderly people living in the northern part of Finland. The different aspects of the natural environment provide opportunities to relax, meet other people and do physical exercise, all of which are important factors of health promotion. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2005; 64(3):246–256)
Distributed Q-Learning for Aggregated Interference Control in Cognitive Radio Networks

This paper deals with the problem of aggregated interference generated by multiple cognitive radios (CRs) at the receivers of primary (licensed) users. In particular, we consider a secondary CR system based on the IEEE 802.22 standard for wireless regional area networks (WRANs), and we model it as a multiagent system where the multiple agents are the different secondary base stations in charge of controlling the secondary cells. We propose a form of real-time multiagent reinforcement learning, which is known as decentralized Q-learning, to manage the aggregated interference generated by multiple WRAN systems. We consider both situations of complete and partial information about the environment. By directly interacting with the surrounding environment in a distributed fashion, the multiagent system is able to learn, in the first case, an efficient policy to solve the problem and, in the second case, a reasonably good suboptimal policy. Computational and memory requirement considerations are also presented, discussing two different options for uploading and processing the learning information. Simulation results, which are presented for both the upstream and downstream cases, reveal that the proposed approach is able to fulfill the primary-user interference constraints, without introducing signaling overhead in the system.
Prenatal genetic counseling for hemoglobinopathy carriers: a comparison of primary providers of prenatal care and professional genetic counselors.

Health personnel trained in medical genetics are insufficient to meet the demand for genetic services. Methods must be found to enable primary care providers to offer commonly needed genetic services themselves. In our recently reported community-wide prenatal screening program for hemoglobinopathies, 36% of women detected to have a hemoglobinopathy did not come to a tertiary center for counseling and thus may have not benefited from testing. To determine whether the efficiency of the program could be increased if counseling were provided by the prenatal care provider (obstetrician or family practitioner), we developed a pilot training program on the basis of our experience in offering such services and enlisted 68% of regional prenatal care providers to participate. The proportion of patients detected to have a hemoglobinopathy who received counseling was similar in the primary and tertiary provider groups: 59% versus 50%, respectively, for sickle trait, and 69% versus 66%, respectively, for beta-thalassemia trait. Knowledge after counseling was also similar for the primary and tertiary provider groups: 64% versus 66% (mean % correct), respectively, for sickle trait, and 79% versus 78%, respectively, for beta-thalassemia trait. However, the two provider groups significantly differed with regard to whether or not the patient had her partner tested. For sickle trait, it was 25% for the primary providers but 49% for the tertiary providers (P < .001). For beta-thalassemia trait, it was 47% for the primary providers but 78% for the tertiary providers (P < .001). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Service vs. manufacturing: how to address more effectively eco-innovation public policies by disentangling the different characteristics of industries

Eco-innovation is actually a fashionable topic, and several researchers are working on understanding the defining characteristics of firms that consider the environment as a priority when innovating. To date most of these studies have been carried out on manufacturing industries. This article investigates the similarities and differences among service and manufacturing firms. An empirical analysis of a sample of 5509 Spanish companies shows that the variables affecting the eco-innovative orientation of firms are quite similar. Results reveal that manufacturing firms have higher orientation toward the environment than service firms. Furthermore, highly polarized positions in environmental aspects can be found. Despite the limitations of the study, conclusions may help public policy to encourage environmental proactivity in service industry and innovation.
Second-Best Pollution Taxes and the Structure of Preferences

We characterize optimal taxes on polluting and nonpolluting goods in Ramsey and Mirrlees second-best environments. The polluting good tax differs from the Pigouvian tax by Ramsey terms in the first and by Stiglitz/Mirrlees plus another adjustment term in the second. These terms can be positive, negative, or zero. If preferences are weakly separable in public and private goods, with the private good subutility weakly separable in labor and produced goods, nonpolluting goods are taxed uniformly and the concept of a tax differential between polluting and nonpolluting goods is well defined. The differential is then less than the Pigouvian tax in the Ramsey framework, but it can be greater, equal to, or smaller than the Pigouvian tax in the Mirrlees second best. In Mirrlees second best, if preferences are separable in labor supply and other goods, the second-best tax differential is identical to the Pigouvian tax.
Social responsibility and reputation influences on the intentions of Chinese Huitang Village tourists: Mediating effects of satisfaction with lodging providers

Purpose – This study aims to model and test the relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate reputation, customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 451 complete questionnaires were obtained from randomly approached ethnic Chinese leisure tourists. Following a two-step approach, a measurement model was estimated and then a structural model analyzed to test proposed hypotheses. Findings – CSR and reputation significantly impacted customer satisfaction, which, in turn, affected repurchase and word-of-mouth intentions. Customer satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between CSR and behavioral intentions in addition to corporate reputation. Research limitations/implications – The study considered only a limited number of lodging customers in a specific geographic area in China. Additional investigation across hospitality business types and cultures is needed. Practical implications – Investments in CSR activities in a Chinese hospit.
Is There an Association Between Variables of Postural Control and Strength in Prepubertal Children?

Granacher, U and Gollhofer, A. Is there an association between variables of postural control and strength in prepubertal children? J Strength Cond Res 26(1): 210–216, 2012—The risk of sustaining falls and sports-related injuries is particularly high in children. Deficits in balance and muscle strength represent 2 important intrinsic fall and injury-risk factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between variables of static and dynamic postural control and isometric and dynamic muscle strength and to find out whether there is an association between measures of postural control and muscle strength in prepubertal children. Thirty children participated in this study (age 6.7 ± 0.5 years; body mass index 16.0 ± 1.8 kg·m−2). Biomechanic tests included the measurements of maximal isometric torque and rate of force development (RFD) of the plantar flexors on an isokinetic device, jumping power and height (countermovement jump [CMJ]) on a force plate, and the assessment of static and dynamic posture during bipedal stance on a balance platform. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. No significant associations were observed between variables of static and dynamic postural control. Significant positive correlations were detected between the RFD of the plantar flexors and CMJ height (r = 0.425, p < 0.01). No statistically significant associations were found between measures of postural control and muscle strength. The nonsignificant correlations between static and dynamic postural control and muscle strength imply that primarily dynamic measures of postural control should be incorporated in fall and injury-risk assessment and that postural control and muscle strength appear to be independent of each other and may have to be trained in a complementary manner for fall and injury-preventive purposes.