Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of polymorphisms in the &agr;‐subunit of the olfactory G‐protein Golf in lithium‐treated bipolar patients

Objective This study examines the &agr;‐subunit of the olfactory G‐protein (Golf) as a possible candidate gene for bipolar disorder. The &agr;‐subunit of the Golf gene maps to a region on chromosome 18p that has been implicated in several linkage studies as a potential site of a bipolar disorder susceptibility loci. Methods We investigated whether two polymorphisms in the &agr;‐subunit of the Golf gene (A→G in intron 3 and T→G in intron 10) are associated with bipolar disorder in a sample of 149 bipolar patients under lithium treatment compared with 139 healthy controls using haplotype analysis. Results There was no evidence for an association between the investigated polymorphisms in the Golf gene and bipolar disorders, as well as to response to lithium treatment or common side effects, like hand tremor, weight gain and cognitive dysfunction. Conclusion The results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that the Golf gene is a major susceptibility factor for bipolar disorders.
Forecasting air traffic and corresponding jet-fuel demande until 2025

This paper provides i) air traffic and ii) Jet-Fuel demand projections at the worldwide level and for eight geographical zones until 2025. The general methodology may be summarized in two steps. First, air traffic forecasts are estimated using econometric methods. The modeling is performed for eight geographical zones, by using dynamic panel-data econometrics. Once estimated from historical data, the model is then used to generate air traffic forecasts. Second, the conversion of air traffic projections into quantities of Jet-Fuel is accomplished using the ‘Traffic Efficiency’ method developed previously by UK DTI to support the IPCC (IPCC (1999)). One of our major contribution consists in proposing an alternative methodology to obtain Energy Efficiency coefficients and energy efficiency improvements estimates based on modeling at the macro-level. These estimates are obtained by directly comparing the evolution of both Jet-Fuel consumption and air traffic time series from 1983 to 2006. According to our ’Business As Usual’ scenario, air traffic should increase by about 100% between 2008 and 2025 at the world level, corresponding to a yearly average growth rate of about 4.7%. World Jet-Fuel demand is expected to increase by about 38% during the same period, corresponding to a yearly average growth rate of about 1,9% per year. Air traffic energy efficiency improvements yield effectively to reduce the effect of air traffic rise on the Jet-Fuel demand increase, but do not annihilate it. Thus, Jet-Fuel demand is unlikely to diminish unless there is a radical technological shift, or air travel demand is restricted.
Portfolio Optimization Under Solvency II: Implicit Constraints Imposed by the Market Risk Standard Formula

We consider the issue of optimizing an insurance company's asset allocation in the context of portfolio theory when the firm needs to adhere to the market risk capital requirements of Solvency II. The discussion starts with a brief review of the standard formula and the introduction of a parsimonious partial internal model. Subsequently, we estimate empirical risk-return profiles for the main asset classes held by insurers and run a quadratic optimization program to derive nondominated frontiers with budget, short-sale, and investment constraints. We then compute the respective capital charges under both solvency models and identify those efficient portfolio compositions that are permitted for an exogenously given amount of equity. Finally, we consider a systematically selected set of inefficient portfolios and check their admissibility, too. Our results document that the standard formula is unable to distinguish investments on the basis of risk-return profiles and does hence not produce economically sensible results. Therefore, the introduction of Solvency II in its current form might cause severe asset management biases in the European insurance sector.
Earnings Retention as a Specification Mechanism in Logistic Bankruptcy Models: A Test of the Free Cash Flow Theory

This paper explores the applicability of as a specification mechanism to improve forecasting methods in corporate bankruptcy. The study combines lessons from Jensen's Free Cash Flow Theory with a logisitic model of bankruptcy to improve forecasting accuracy. The model uses data from the Indian textile industry to show that data classification based on investment opportunities is yet another way of improving precision. The study also re-examines the Free Cash Flow Theory and concludes that in applying it to a bankruptcy scenario, its initial findings regarding retention policy hold true; that is, low growth firms should retain less of their earnings than their high growth counterparts. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.
A League of Their Own? Financial Analysts' Responses to Restatements and Corrective Disclosures

This study examines the response of First Call financial analysts to company restatements and corrective disclosures that lead to an allegation of securities fraud and compares this with the response of three other informed investor groups—insiders, short sellers, and institutions. The sample comprises 847 companies that have been sued in a federal securities class action from 1994 through 2001 with requisite stock price and company data. I document that the number of analysts covering a firm declines significantly in the months following a corrective disclosure. I also document that analysts are more likely to revise their forecasts down in the month of or up to six months following a corrective disclosure but not before. Similarly, analyst forecast error decreases significantly in the corrective disclosure month but not before. On the other hand, informed groups such as insiders, short sellers, and institutional managers are unusually active several months ahead of a corrective disclosure event. These individuals, apparently, take positions in anticipation of the news that may lead to such an event. Finally, a regression analysis indicates that after controlling for size, coverage, and other variables, analyst forecast error just prior to a corrective disclosure is reliably greater when predisclosure net insider selling and institutional holdings are higher and when the market reacts more negatively to the announcement.
Patent licensing of Stackelberg manufacturer in a differentiated product market

The present paper analyzes the patent licensing behavior of a Stackelberg leader of manufacturing firms with an in-house R&D division in a differentiated product market where the firm is able to choose between fixed-fee licensing and royalty licensing. The findings are compared with the conclusions reached on the Stackelberg competition model in a homogeneous product market, and those under Cournot competition in a differentiated product market. This paper also examines two-part tariff licensing and its findings are compared with those of previous studies.
The power of sport to unite a nation: the social value of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

For a number of years, economists have questioned the aggregate economic value of mega sporting events, arguing that fiduciary benefits rarely materialize for host cities and/or nations. In response, governments have made stronger claims about social impacts derived from such events [e.g., Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, Olympic Games, etc.]. Applying social identity and social capital theories, we examined the influence of national identity on social capital and tested whether the 2010 FIFA World Cup positively influenced the national identity of South African residents. Residents (N=3769) from five World Cup host cities in South Africa were sampled before and after the event, using a pre-experimental design consisting of a one-group pretest–posttest protocol (O–X–O). The results demonstrated that: (1) national identity was a statistically significant (albeit modest) predictor of social capital, and (2) the World Cup minimally influenced the varying components of resident national identity, both negative and positive.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenditure on Institutional Delivery in Rural Lucknow

Abstract Introduction: Promotion of reproductive health through institutional delivery has been adopted by government as a strategy for reducing maternal mortality rate but still about half of the deliveries have been conducted at home. Cost barrier is one of the major cause for preferring home delivery instead of institutional delivery. Not only the direct costs responsible for low institutional delivery but also indirect costs too accountable for less number of institutional births in the country. Aims & Objectives: To estimate the out of pocket expenditure incurred by households during delivery and its determinants. Materials and methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted during which a total 272 households having women who had recently delivered in government institutions were interviewed. Result : The mean out of pocket expenditure was found to be Rs. 1406.04 ± 103.27 including spending’s on drugs, travel, pathological tests and unofficial payments. Low socioeconomic class, residence outside the catchment area of delivery point, tertiary and secondary health care facilities as place of delivery and low literacy status of head of the family below high school were found to be significantly associated with out of pocket expenditure bivariate analysis (p<0.05). On multivariate analysis low socioeconomic (OR 22.40; 95% CI 9.44-53.15; p = 0.01) and residence (OR 13.07; 95% CI (1.58-116.55); p = 0.03) outside the catchment area of delivery point were found to be independent predictors of catastrophic out of pocket expenditure during delivery. Conclusions : Although government has been running lot of schemes for availing free of cost health services but still one has to pay from their pocket as medical expenses. In order to bear these expenses, they have to borrow money, sell their assets and securities due to which households suffer a lot. In the present study, unofficial payment was found prevalent in public institutions and these informal payments make the health service unaffordable for households.
Haemogregarines from western Palaearctic freshwater turtles (genera Emys, Mauremys) are conspecific with Haemogregarina stepanowi Danilewsky, 1885

SUMMARY The majority of Haemogregarina species have been based on the morphology of their erythrocytic stages and supposed strict host specificity. The quantity of species with a limited number of overlapping diagnostic traits has led to a considerable mess in haemogregarine taxonomy and significant synonymy. We analysed host specificity, intra- and interspecific variability, evolutionary relationships, and the distribution of the type species of the genus Haemogregarina – H. stepanowi. The morphology of blood stages and 18S rDNA sequences of this haemogregarine from four western Palaearctic hard-shelled freshwater turtles (Emys orbicularis, Mauremys caspica, Mauremys leprosa and Mauremys rivulata) were compared with Haemogregarina balli. Additional sequences of 18S rDNA of Haemogregarina-like isolates collected from three species of African hinged terrapins (genus Pelusios) were used to enlarge the dataset for phylogenetic analyses. Thirteen sequences (1085 bp) of Haemogregarina representing all four western Palaearctic turtle species were identical, corresponding to H. stepanowi, which is closely related to the Nearctic species H. balli. In our analyses, Haemogregarina spp. constituted a monophyletic clade sister to the genus Hepatozoon. Haemogregarina stepanowi possesses a wide distribution range from the Maghreb, through Europe, Turkey and the Middle East to Iran. We consider that the genus Haemogregarina has a low host specificity crossing the family level of its vertebrate hosts and that its distribution is likely to be linked to the vector and definitive host – the leech.
The use of third party logistics services by Swedish manufacturing firms: current situation and future prospects

The aim of this research is to examine the usage of TPL services by manufacturing firms in Sweden. The paper focuses on several key issues relating to the extent of usage of TPL services; decision-making process; the impact of using TPL services on user firms; specific TPL services that were used and future plans to use TPL services. More than half of the respondents were using TPL services and most of the users were satisfied with their service providers. While cost consideration was still critical, customer satisfaction reliability and service quality were becoming more crucial to decision-making and evaluation. This research provides results and analysis to practitioners by depicting the impacts of using TPL services. It also gives information to TPL service providers so they can better understand the current situation and future challenges.
A Matched Pairs Analysis of State Growth Differences

The American states have provided a rich laboratory in which to examine influences on economic growth, physical capital, human capital, and a variety of policy variables. Existing studies typically use broad cross sections of all states or particular regional subsamples. Pairwise matching is an alternative design for better controlling of omitted variables. We estimate a growth model of U.S. states for 1997–2005 before and after applying different pairwise matching techniques. Our results indicate that sample estimates based on pairwise matching substantially improve the overall ability of the growth model to identify the growth‐enhancing effects of lower tax burdens in general and lower individual income‐tax rates in particular. These effects are more pronounced with narrower matching criteria.
Does an Industry Effect Exist for Initial Public Offerings

We examine the impact of initial public offerings (IPOs) on rival firms and find that the valuation effects are insignificant. This insignificant reaction can be explained by offsetting information and competitive effects. Significant positive information effects are associated with IPOs in regulated industries and the first IPO in an industry following a period of dormancy. Significant negative competitive effects are associated with larger IPOs in competitive industries, those in relatively risky industries, those in high-performing industries, and those in the technology sector. IPO firms that use the proceeds for debt repayment appear to represent a more significant competitive threat to rival firms relative to IPO firms that use their proceeds for other purposes. Copyright 2003 by the Eastern Finance Association.
Emotional reactivity and the association between psychopathy-linked narcissism and aggression in detained adolescent boys

Abstract Different patterns of emotional reactivity characterize proactive and reactive functions of aggressive behavior, and theory also suggests a link of both types with narcissism. How people with narcissistic traits respond emotionally to competitive scenarios could influence their aggressiveness. Participants were 85 adolescent boys from a detention center. Several indices of emotional functioning were assessed, including attentional bias to negative emotional stimuli and psychophysiological responding. In addition, we included self-report and laboratory measures of aggression and measures of psychopathy-linked narcissism, callous–unemotional traits, and impulsivity. Psychopathy-linked narcissism was uniquely related to unprovoked aggression (i.e., proactive aggression) and to heightened attention to pictures depicting others’ distress. Compared with those scoring low on narcissism, those high on narcissism, who were the least physiologically reactive group, evinced greater proactive aggression, whereas those showing a pattern of coactivation (i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic reactivity) evinced greater reactive aggression. Results are consistent with descriptions of narcissistic individuals as being hypervigilant to negative cues and exhibiting poor emotion regulation. These characteristics may lead to aggressive and violent behavior aimed at maintaining dominance over others.
Estimation and Use of a Multivariate Parametric Model for Simulating Heteroskedastic, Correlated, Nonnormal Random Variables: The Case of Corn Belt Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Yields

This study develops a multivariate, nonnormal density function that can accurately and separately account for skewness, kurtosis, heteroskedasticity, and the correlation among the random variables of interest. The statistical attributes of the underlying random variables and correlation processes are examined. The potential applications of this modeling tool are discussed and exemplified by analyzing and simulating Corn Belt corn, soybean, and wheat yields. While corn and soybean yields are found to be skewed and kurtotic and exhibit different variances through time, wheat yields appear normal but also heteroskedastic. A strong correlation is detected between corn and soybean yields. Copyright 1997, Oxford University Press.
Macrochimerism in Intestinal Transplantation: Association With Lower Rejection Rates and Multivisceral Transplants, Without GVHD

Blood chimerism has been reported sporadically among visceral transplant recipients, mostly in association with graft‐vs‐host disease (GVHD). We hypothesized that a higher degree of mixed chimerism would be observed in multivisceral (MVTx) than in isolated intestinal (iITx) and isolated liver transplant (iLTx) recipients, regardless of GVHD. We performed a longitudinal prospective study investigating multilineage blood chimerism with flow cytometry in 5 iITx and 4 MVTx recipients up to one year posttransplant. Although only one iITx patient experienced GVHD, T cell mixed chimerism was detected in 8 out of 9 iITx/MVTx recipients. Chimerism was significantly lower in the four subjects who displayed early moderate to severe rejection. Pre‐formed high‐titer donor‐specific antibodies, bound in vivo to the circulating donor cells, were associated with an accelerated decline in chimerism. Blood chimerism was also studied in 10 iLTx controls. Among nonsensitized patients, MVTx recipients exhibited greater T and B cell chimerism than either iITx or iLTx recipients. Myeloid lineage chimerism was present exclusively among iLTx and MVTx (6/13) recipients, suggesting that its presence required the hepatic allograft. Our study demonstrates, for the first time, frequent T cell chimerism without GVHD following visceral transplantation and a possible relationship with reduced rejection rate in MVTx recipients.
Knowledge Networks and Technical Invention in America's Metropolitan Areas: A Paradigm for High-Technology Economic Development

The presence of high-technology jobs defined the regional winners in economic growth during the past decade. Countless communities around the United States tried to clone Silicon Valley to accelerate their own growth rates, but these programs consistently failed. This research demonstrates that all innovation is not tied to microchips and silicon. Seven other technologies are growing within the United States. Each of these technologies forms a “knowledge network” of innovations that resemble the Pareto distribution of national wealth, suggesting that technology behaves according to the principles of social networks. Patent data refute the folklore that small companies are more innovative than large ones. The principal distinction among innovative regions and less innovative regions is the number of large corporate research and development centers.
The Effects of Nested Primer Bindingg Sites on the Reproducibility of PCR: Mathematical Modeling and Simulation Studies

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become an indispensable tool in modern biological research. Although the application of PCR is a standard routine, we widely lack a theoretical understanding of the dynamic processes involved, especially with respect to the amplification of nonreproducible and/or unexpected amplification products. For one potential source of uncertainty, the presence of nested primer binding sites within an amplifyable DNA locus, we consider a simple stochastic model for the dynamics of PCR amplification of competing products. For commonly used thermostable DNA polymerases lacking a 5'-3'-exonuclease activity, we predict the relative amplification frequencies of competing PCR products dependent on the primer binding probability, the number of PCR cycles, and the number of initial DNA template molecules. At low primer binding probabilities and low numbers of initial DNA template molecules and PCR cycles, we expect the amplification of two products. At high primer binding probabilities and/or high copy numbers of initial template molecules only one main amplification product is predicted at increasing cycle numbers. Furthermore, by means of computer simulation studies we quantify the stochastic variation for the amplification frequencies of competing products.
First description of the male and redescription of the female of Parahiranetis salgadoi Gil-Santana (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Harpactorinae)

Abstract The male of Parahiranetis salgadoi Gil-Santana, 2015 is described for the first time, with a redescription of the female of this species based on additional specimens. Comments on possible mimicry and crypsis exhibited by adults and nymphs of this species, respectively, are provided.
R&D Outsourcing and the Effectiveness of Intangible Investments: Is Proprietary Core Knowledge Walking Out of the Door?

Intangible relationship-specific investments can be double-edged swords, as they facilitate not only the governance of business relationships but also undesired knowledge transfers. Building on transaction costs theory and the relational view of alliances, we analyse the effectiveness of these investments in R&D outsourcing agreements from the viewpoint of the client. We argue that, when outsourcing to business firms, the safeguards adopted by the clients to prevent spillovers may reduce the effectiveness of the supplier's specialized investments. Using original survey data from 170 European and US technology-intensive firms, we find that the contribution of these investments to client performance decreases the more a client's core knowledge is required to perform the service, except when outsourcing to non-profits. This suggests that as the appropriability hazards associated with outsourcing to business firms rise, the client is able to capture less value from the supplier's relationship-specific investments.