Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, Innovation and Productivity Gains across European Regions

Capello R. and Lenzi C. Knowledge, innovation and productivity gains across European regions, Regional Studies. This paper studies the relationship between knowledge, innovation and productivity in European regions, looking for the sources of spatial heterogeneity across regions in the type of knowledge needed for innovation and in the propensity to innovate, which mostly depend upon specific and systemic context conditions. The conceptual framework of analysis is based on the strong belief that different modes of innovation characterize regions, according to the presence/absence of some context conditions that allow for the creation and/or adoption of knowledge and innovation. Given the differences in knowledge and innovation intensity that characterize each mode/pattern of innovation, expectations are formulated on the achievement of productivity gains in regions characterized by different innovation patterns. Empirical evidence supports the conceptual expectations and shows that in regional innovation patterns based on local scientific knowledge-creation processes there are positive returns to scientific knowledge. However, in less knowledge-intensive patterns considerable productivity gains can also be achieved by local actors exploiting non-scientific knowledge and innovative capacity. Importantly, whereas the benefits accruing from knowledge appear rather selective and concentrated in a relatively small number of regions, the benefits generated by innovation seem more pervasive and beneficial, even in regions with a low endowment of scientific knowledge. These results have considerable implications for the current design of European Union innovation policies at the regional level.
Political Risk, Economic Risk, and Financial Risk

Given the increasingly global nature of investment portfolios, an understanding of country risk is very important. This article addresses the economic content of five different measures of country risk: four measures from the International Country Risk Guide's political-, financial-, economic-, and composite-risk indexes and one from Institutional Investor's country credit ratings. We explored whether any of these measures contain information about future expected stock returns. We conducted time-series/cross-sectional analysis linking these risk measures to future expected returns. Finally, we analyzed the links between fundamental attributes such as book-to-price ratios within each economy and the risk measures. The results suggest that the country-risk measures are correlated with future equity returns. In addition, such measures are highly correlated with equity valuation measures. This finding provides some insight into the reason that value-oriented strategies generate high average returns.
Entrepreneurial endeavors: (re)producing neoliberalization through urban agriculture youth programming in Brooklyn, New York

Driven by social and environmental criticism of the neoliberalization of agro-food systems, urban agriculture today enjoys renewed interest throughout the United States as a primary space to engage the politics of food. Using Brooklyn, New York as a case study, I employ mixed qualitative methods to investigate the contradictions that arise in tensions between the goals of urban agriculture and its practice. Education and youth development programming figure prominently in Brooklyn’s urban agriculture movement and provide insights into understanding the neoliberalization of food politics, especially an emphasis on market mechanisms as central to human well-being and the disciplining of youth in the skills and modes of conduct required by the neoliberal economy. Although current trends indicate that urban agriculture youth programming works to (re)produce neoliberalism and undercuts the political efficacy of Brooklyn’s urban agriculture, these projects simultaneously produce openings for building political solidarities.
Fish oil improves anxiety‐like, depressive‐like and cognitive behaviors in olfactory bulbectomised rats

Depression is increasingly present in the population, and its pathophysiology and treatment have been investigated with several animal models, including olfactory bulbectomy (Obx). Fish oil (FO) supplementation during the prenatal and postnatal periods decreases depression‐like and anxiety‐like behaviors. The present study evaluated the effect of FO supplementation on Obx‐induced depressive‐like behavior and cognitive impairment. Female rats received supplementation with FO during habituation, mating, gestation, and lactation, and their pups were subjected to Obx in adulthood; after the recovery period, the adult offspring were subjected to behavioral tests, and the hippocampal levels of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), serotonin (5‐HT) and the metabolite 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic (5‐HIAA) were determined. Obx led to increased anxiety‐like and depressive‐like behaviors, and impairment in the object location task. All behavioral changes were reversed by FO supplementation. Obx caused reductions in the levels of hippocampal BDNF and 5‐HT, whereas FO supplementation restored these levels to normal values. In control rats, FO increased the hippocampal level of 5‐HT and reduced that of 5‐HIAA, indicating low 5‐HT metabolism in this brain region. The present results indicate that FO supplementation during critical periods of brain development attenuated anxiety‐like and depressive‐like behaviors and cognitive dysfunction induced by Obx. These results may be explained by increased levels of hippocampal BDNF and 5‐HT, two major regulators of neuronal survival and long‐term plasticity in this brain structure.
Altered expression of endothelin receptors in failing human left ventricles.

BACKGROUND Endothelin signaling is activated in failing human hearts, and may contribute to progressive myocardial dysfunction and remodeling. However, the behavior of endothelin receptor systems (ET(A) and ET(B)) in failing human hearts is not well understood. METHODS AND RESULTS (125)[I]-endothelin-1 binding assays conducted in the presence of a non-hydrolyzable guanine nucleotide to uncouple agonist binding demonstrated that membranes prepared from nonfailing left ventricles (LVs) exhibit a mixed pattern of ET(A) ( approximately 60%) and ET(B) ( approximately 40%) receptor protein expression. Chronic LV failure from either idiopathic dilated (IDC) or ischemic (ISC) cardiomyopathy was accompanied by a significant (P<0.001) increase in ET(A) receptor density, to approximately 80% of the total population, and a significant (P<0.02) decrease in ET(B) receptor density. Ribonuclease protection assays demonstrated an increase in ET(A) mRNA abundance in IDC and ISC LVs, and a significant (P<0.04) increase in ET(B) mRNA abundance in ISC LVs. Enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays demonstrated a significant increase in tissue immunoreactive endothelin-1 concentration in IDC (P=0.01) and in IDC+ISC LVs (P=0.02), but receptor subtype protein or mRNA level was not significantly correlated with tissue ET-1 across all LVs. In situ reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in LV sections demonstrated that in both failing and nonfailing LVs the ET(A) gene is expressed in cardiac myocytes, vascular smooth muscle and endothelium; the ET(B) gene is expressed in cardiac myocytes, fibroblasts and endothelium; and the prepro-endothelin-1 gene is expressed in myocytes and interstitial cells. CONCLUSIONS In chronically failing human LVs, ET(A) receptor density is increased to become the dominant subtype while ET(B) receptor density is decreased. The ET(A), but not the ET(B) density change is accompanied by cognate regulation of mRNA abundance. Both receptor genes and prepro-endothelin-1 are expressed in cardiac myocytes. Finally, based on a lack of correlation with endothelin-1 tissue levels, it is unlikely that the failure-related changes in ET(A) and ET(B) receptor protein and mRNA expression result from homologous regulation by agonist exposure.
Interaction between age and aerobic fitness in determining heart rate dynamics

Heart rate variability (HRV) and phase-rectified signal averaging (PRSA) estimates of heart rate dynamics are diminished in older people compared with younger people. However, it is not fully elucidated whether these differences are related to age per se or to the concomitant influence of aerobic fitness. Aerobic fitness (peak oxygen uptake, gas exchange threshold, oxygen uptake kinetics, exercise economy) was assessed in 70 healthy adults (41 male) aged 18–57 years. Participants also underwent a 24 h, ambulatory ECG for the derivation of HRV and PRSA variables. HRV was most sensitive to age and aerobic fitness when measured during the morning period (6 am–12 pm). HRV and PRSA were both diminished with age and were higher in aerobically superior participants. The decline in HRV with age was predominantly attributable to age itself (33%), with aerobic fitness representing an additional modulating factor. The present study also provides tentative evidence that assessment of the influence of aerobic fitness should not rely on O2peak alone. These findings demonstrate that age per se is an important factor in determining HRV. However, given the clinical importance of diminished HRV and the immutable nature of aging, the potential significance of physical activity/training to enhance cardiac regulatory function should not be underestimated.
Patterns of Economic Inequality in Western Democracies: Some Facts on Levels and Trends

A large body of research has documented comparative levels of inequality among nations and also the substantial change in inequality across and within nations. Political scientists, sociologists, and economists have used these databases to make a number of claims about changes in inequality and their interrelations with economic and political life, patterns of redistribution, social institutions, and social and individual wellbeing more generally.
Level of Economic Development and Capital-Labor Ratios in Manufacturing

INCE World War II, many developing countries have adopted a strategy of rapid industrialization to accelerate economic development and presumably to absorb unemployed or underemployed labor from the traditional sector. In spite of these efforts, the rate of economic growth has been far from satisfactory and unemployment has been persistent. Several authors 1 point to the adoption of more capital-intensive techniques of production as being responsible for the low rate of labor absorption. The objective of the present study is to examine the capital-intensity of the manufacturing sector for a cross section of developing countries, compared with a cross section of developed countries. We suggest that the capital-intensity of developing countries is relatively too high given factor endowments and market size. The hypothesis to be examined is as follows: The capital-intensity of output in the manufacturing sectors of developing countries behaves differently from that of developed countries. In general it tends to be higher than that of developed countries given respective levels of development.
Arithmetic Asian Options under Stochastic Delay Models

Abstract Motivated by the increasing interest in past-dependent asset pricing models, shown in recent years by market practitioners and prominent authors such as Hobson and Rogers (1998, Complete models with stochastic volatility, Mathematical Finance, 8(1), pp. 27–48), we explore option pricing techniques for arithmetic Asian options under a stochastic delay differential equation approach. We obtain explicit closed-form expressions for a number of lower and upper bounds and compare their accuracy numerically.
Assessing the quality of clinical data in a computer-based record for calculating the pneumonia severity index.

OBJECTIVE This study examined whether clinical data routinely available in a computerized patient record (CPR) can be used to drive a complex guideline that supports physicians in real time and at the point of care in assessing the risk of mortality for patients with community-acquired pneumonia. SETTING Emergency department of a tertiary-care hospital. DESIGN Retrospective analysis with medical chart review. PATIENTS All 241 inpatients during a 17-month period (Jun 1995 to Nov 1996) who presented to the emergency department and had a primary discharge diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia. METHODS/MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The 20 guideline variables were extracted from the CPR (HELP System) and the paper chart. The risk score and the risk class of the Pneumonia Severity Index were computed using data from the CPR alone and from a reference standard of all data available in the paper chart and the CPR at the time of the emergency department encounters. Availability and concordance were quantified to determine data quality. The type and cause of errors were analyzed depending on the source and format of the clinical variables. RESULTS Of the 20 guideline variables, 12 variables were required to be present for every computer-charted emergency department patient, seven variables were required for selected patients only, and one variable was not typically available in the HELP System during a patient's encounter. The risk class was identical for 86.7 percent of the patients. The majority of patients with different risk classes were assigned too low a risk class. The risk scores were identical for 72.1 percent of the patients. The average availability was 0.99 for the data elements that were required to be present and 0.79 for the data elements that were not required to be present. The average concordance was 0.98 when all a patient's variables were taken into account. The cause of error was attributed to the nurse charting in 77 percent of the cases and to the computerized evaluation in 23 percent. The type of error originated from the free-text fields in 64 percent, from coded fields in 21 percent, from vital signs in 14 percent, and from laboratory results in 1 percent. CONCLUSION From a clinical perspective, the current level of data quality in the HELP System supports the automation and the prospective evaluation of the Pneumonia Severity Index as a computerized decision support tool.
The effects of different types of taxes on soft-drink consumption

Monthly data from GfK Consumerscan Scandinavia for the years 2006 – 2009 are used to estimate the effects of different tax scenarios on the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB’s). Most studies fail to consider demand interrelationships between different types of soft-drinks when the effects of taxation are evaluated. To add to the literature in this aspect we estimated a two-step censored dynamic almost ideal demand system where we include the possibilities that consumers have to substitute between diet and regular soft-drinks, between discount and non-discount (normal) brands as well as between different container sizes. Especially the large sizes and discount brands provide considerable value for money to the consumer. Three different type of taxes is considered; a tax based on the content of added sugar in various SSB’s, a flat tax on soft-drinks alone and a size differentiated tax on soft-drinks that remove the value for money obtained by purchasing large container sizes. The scenarios are scaled equally in terms of obtained public revenue. Largest effect in terms of reduced intake of calories and sugar are obtained by applying the tax on sugar in all beverages, even though detrimental health effects in terms of increased intake of diet soft-drinks has to be considered. A flat tax on soft-drinks decreases the intake of sugar, but implies a small increase in total calorie intake due to substitution with other SSB’s. A tax aimed at removing the value added from purchasing large container sizes increase sugar and total calorie intake due to substitution towards discount brands. Hence the results show the importance of considering substitution between different sizes, brands and discount versus normal brands when simulating the effects of soft-drinks taxation and point toward a tax on the sugar content of SSB’s as the most effective in the regulation of obesity.
Experimental evaluation of urinary bladder marsupialization in male goats.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the outcome of urinary bladder marsupialization in male goats. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, experimental study. ANIMALS Six healthy mixed-breed male goats. METHODS After experimentally induced urethral obstruction, 6 male goats had urinary bladder marsupialization. Renal ultrasonography, complete blood count, and serum biochemical analysis were evaluated preoperatively (day 0), at 7 postoperative days, and then at 30-day intervals until 180 days. Stomal diameter was recorded immediately postoperatively and at each postoperative interval. Necropsy examination was performed on day 180 or when stomal stricture or death occurred. RESULTS Stomal stricture occurred in 1 goat at 120 days. Another goat was found dead at 150 days; severe, suppurative cystitis was identified on necropsy. All goats had mild urine scald dermatitis. Serum biochemical values remained within normal limits, but significant decreases in white blood cell count, serum creatinine concentration, and stomal diameter occurred. At necropsy, all bladders were tubular in shape. Histological evidence of chronic suppurative cystitis and chronic, mild lymphoplasmacytic pyelitis occurred in all goats. Bacterial culture of renal tissue yielded growth in 3 goats, and bladder mucosal swabs yielded bacterial growth in all goats. CONCLUSIONS Although clinical signs of ascending urinary tract infection were not observed in goats with patent stomata, urinary bladder marsupialization may result in ascending urinary tract inflammation or infection. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Based on our results, urinary bladder marsupialization should be recommended with caution as the primary method for management of urinary tract obstruction in clinical cases.
Jobless Growth in the Central and East European Countries: A Country-Specific Panel Data Analysis of the Manufacturing Industry

This paper estimates a labor demand equation based on the panel data of the manufacturing industries in the Central and East European countries of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Romania. It tests the effect of domestic factors (wages and output) and international factors (exports, imports, and foreign direct investment, or FDI) on employment during the era of posttransition recovery. The findings indicate that employment does not respond to wages in more than half the cases. The output elasticity of labor demand is mostly positive, but low; in a number of cases, employment is completely delinked from output. An impressive speed of integration to the European economic sphere through FDI and international trade has not prevented job losses in the manufacturing industry. There are very few cases of positive effects, but insignificant effects of trade and FDI dominate the findings, with some evidence of negative effects as well.
Human cytomegalovirus UL102 gene

We have identified and characterized the transcript for the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL102 gene. The UL102 gene product is proposed to encode the primase-associated factor. The primase-associated factor is one of the three components of the helicase-primase complex, along with UL105 (helicase) and UL70 (primase). In order to characterize the UL102 transcription unit we used single-stranded antisense RNA probes to identify an abundant 2.7-kb transcript originating from the UL102 region. This transcript can be initially detected at 24 h postinfection and in the presence of phosphonoformic acid but not in the presence of cycloheximide. A 2.7-kb cDNA clone containing this transcript was isolated from a 72-h HCMV (strain Towne) cDNA library. Sequence analysis of this clone revealed a continuous unspliced transcript between the region of UL101X and UL102; the only in-frame translational stop codon is 2,619 bp downstream from the first ATG in the message. Genome sequencing of the UL102 region from strains AD169 and Towne revealed that the UL101X stop codon TAA was actually TAC and that the cDNA and genomic sequences were in agreement. The cDNA clone starts 5 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the UL101X ATG, continues through the putative ATG of UL102, and ends 97 nt downstream of the putative termination codon of the UL102 open reading frame. Primer extension analysis indicated a transcriptional start site 23 nt upstream of the UL101X open reading frame.
The effect of CP96,345 on the expression of tachykinins and neurokinin receptors in acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a life‐threatening condition that involves an acute inflammatory process in the pancreas. The involvement of tachykinins and neurokinin receptors in acute pancreatitis has been described only recently, despite their long‐established role in inflammatory conditions. Among these, substance P (SP) is believed to play a central role in exacerbating the inflammatory process by acting through neurokinin‐1 receptor (NK1R). Treatment with the NK1R antagonist, CP96,345, results in protection against caerulein‐induced acute pancreatitis in mice. However, the mechanism by which NK1R and SP worsen the condition is still unclear. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of NK1R blockage on the expression of preprotachykinin genes and neurokinin receptors in acute pancreatitis. In the pancreas, CP96,345 treatment resulted in suppression of the elevation of SP concentration, preprotachykinin‐A gene (PPT‐A) mRNA expression, and NK1R mRNA and protein expression. In the lungs, the antagonist was found to suppress the increase in SP concentration, PPT‐A mRNA expression and preprotachykinin‐C gene (PPT‐C) mRNA expression. However, the antagonist treatment further promoted the accumulation of pulmonary NK1R mRNA and protein expression. Neurokinin‐2 receptor (NK2R) mRNA expression was not detected in normal pancreas. However, up‐regulated expression of the mRNA for this receptor was observed during acute pancreatitis and treatment with CP96,345 further increased this expression. Pulmonary NK2R mRNA expression was found to be reduced during acute pancreatitis and CP96,345 treatment normalized this reduction. Neurokinin‐3 receptor (NK3R) mRNA expression was absent in both pancreas and lung. These data have provided valuable information regarding the regulation of tachykinins and neurokinin receptors during acute pancreatitis. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
GARCH and volatility swaps

This article discusses the valuation and hedging of volatility swaps within the frame of a GARCH(1,1) stochastic volatility model. First we use a general and flexible partial differential equation (PDE) approach to determine the first two moments of the realized variance in a continuous or discrete context. Next, and also the main contribution of the paper, is a closed-form approximate solution for the so-called convexity correction, when the risk-neutral process for the instantaneous variance is a continuous time limit of a GARCH (1,1) model. Following this, we provide a numerical example using S&P 500 data.