Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PERSISTENCE IN MUTUAL FUND RETURNS: AN EXAMINATION OF U.S. GROWTH MUTUAL FUNDS FROM 1988-1996

There have been a number of studies examining whether mutual fund performance persists. Researchers using various models of regression analysis report conflicting findings. This study proposes a simpler approach – a direct annual examination of whether a fund beat the market proxy or not. As per prior research, the S&P 500 is chosen to represent the market. The sample consists of 943 mutual funds over the nine-year study period, with a low of 186 funds in 1988 to a high of 636 funds in 1996. A look at oneyear persistence shows both outperformance and underperformance from 1989 to 1996. It is seen that the percentage repeat winners exceeds repeat losers in 6 out of 8 years, the exceptions being 1990 and 1996. This result supports the earlier findings of a “hot hands” phenomenon reported by Hendricks, Patel and Zeckhauser (1993) and Goetzmann and Ibbotson (1994). The two years when losers are greater in repeat percentage, 1990 and 1996, are preceded by years in which the market benchmark had very high returns. The implication is two-fold: losers in really good years, on average, are far more likely to repeat their performance, and winners in really good years are less likely to repeat their performance. While survivorship bias is acknowledged, an examination of the 186 funds that have returns for the entire study period shows that 4 funds achieved a nine-year winning streak. The winning performance is still evident after adjusting for risk. The percentage of funds that have a perfect winning record are far higher than would be expected assuming that mutual fund performance is a random occurrence.
Partial amino-terminal sequences of the polyoma nonhistone proteins VP1, VP2, and VP3 synthesized in vitro

The three polyoma virus capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and VP3 were synthesized in vitro in the presence of several radiolabeled amino acids and, after purification on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, were subjected to sequential Edman degradation. The partial amino-terminal amino acid sequences obtained were compared with the sequence of amino acids predicted from the polyoma virus DNA sequencing (Arrand et al., J. Virol. 33:606--618, 1980). Together, these results showed that the 5' ends of the VP1, VP2, and VP3 coding sequences are located 1,217, 289, and 634 nucleotides, respectively, from the junction of HpaII restriction fragments 3 and 5.
Collagen Response and Glycoprotein VI Function Decline Progressively as Canine Platelets Age in vivo

Summary Clinical and experimental observations suggest that platelet function deteriorates quickly with cell age. However, efforts to define agedependent alterations have detected only modest biochemical changes occurring late in the cell life span. In this report, we demonstrate two significant alterations of the collagen response occurring during in vivo aging of canine platelets: a progressive increase in the EC50 for collagen types I, III and V and the emergence of a population of aged platelets which are refractory to collagen. Experiments with convulxin, a specific agonist for the collagen receptor glycoprotein VI (GPVI), also demonstrate an age-dependent decline in activation and the appearance of a non-reactive, aged population as observed with native collagens. Our studies indicate that canine platelets have two distinct binding levels for FITC-labeled convulxin and that the higher binding level disappears upon cell aging. During these studies one dog (#428) was identified whose platelets not only failed to demonstrate an age-dependent decrease in convulxin reactivity but also maintained a high convulxinbinding ability throughout their otherwise normal life span. Transfusion of biotinylated platelets from control dogs into dog #428 showed that the expected changes in collagen response and GPVI function did not occur in the transfused platelets. These observations demonstrate that the canine platelet response towards collagen is strongly dependent upon cell-age and suggest that this functional decline is at least partly due to an extrinsic-mediated alteration, possibly proteolytic, of GPVI. This work was supported in part by grants HL53585 and HL68129 from the National Institutes of Health (GLD) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SSMBS grant, LA; grant 31-52396.97, KJC). This work has been presented at the XVIII Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (Paris, 2001).
Retailer Corporate Social Responsibility Is Relevant to Consumer Behavior

With regard to the topicality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in retail practice, only a few studies have comprehensively analyzed the role of CSR in retail. Due to the specific role of a retailer as a gatekeeper between the producer and the consumer in the supply chain, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of consumer perceptions of CSR activities is of great relevance. Therefore, this study contributes information regarding the impact of CSR activities on retailer performance. Using a comprehensive conceptualization of CSR, the results of our customer survey (N = 3,313) suggest that CSR has positive implications as driver of customer loyalty and favorable consumer purchasing behavior. The authors demonstrate the CSR dimensions that are most important for retailers to influence positively consumer purchasing behavior. This study highlights the significance of the credibility of retailer CSR activities and show that consumers’ CSR orientation impacts the relationship between retailer CSR activities and consumer behavior.
Does downsizing really matter? Evidence from Japanese multinationals in the European manufacturing industry

This article empirically examines the antecedents and consequences of organizational downsizing using a sample of 67 Japanese multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries operating in the European manufacturing industry. To date, existing findings on the occurrence of downsizing at the subsidiary level are based on anecdotal accounts or simple descriptive surveys without any clear-cut conceptual framework that addresses factors and consequences of downsizing events. This study provides evidence that the macro-environmental (e.g. demand declines, international competition) and organizational factors (e.g. stagnant sales growth and poor profitability improvement of international competitiveness, development of stable management) were the central motivations for firms to engage in workforce reductions. Using the ordered probit and multiple regression techniques, a negative relationship was found between the adoption of downsizing by firms and perceived market and organizational performance, namely sales growth and employee motivation. This article also presents managerial implications and methodological limitations.
Corneal Thickness at High Altitude

Purpose: The eye, like other organs, is affected by the hypobaric hypoxia of high altitude. Corneal swelling is known to occur under hypoxic conditions at sea level, for instance when wearing contact lenses. The aim of this study was to measure central corneal thickness (CCT) in lowlanders ascending to altitude. Methods: The Apex 2 medical research expedition provided the opportunity to measure CCT in 63 healthy lowlanders. The subjects arrived in La Paz, Bolivia (3700 m), where they spent 4 days acclimatizing before being driven over 2 hours to the Cosmic Physics Laboratory at Chacaltaya (5200 m), where they stayed for 7 days. CCT was measured in the early afternoon by using ultrasound pachymetry on the first, third, and seventh day at 5200 m and before and after the expedition at sea level. Results: Mean CCT increased significantly from 543 μm at sea level to 561 μm on the first day at 5200 m (P < 0.001). This continued to increase to 563 μm on the third day and 571 μm on the seventh day but returned to 541 μm after descent to sea level. Conclusions: This study showed that altitude caused a significant increase in CCT in a large group of healthy lowlanders with normal corneas. This finding confirms the results of previous studies and is likely to be caused by endothelial dysfunction causing stromal swelling. This could potentially cause visual problems for high-altitude mountaineers among whom refractive surgery is popular.
Mechanism-Based Covalent Neuraminidase Inhibitors with Broad-Spectrum Influenza Antiviral Activity

Adding to the Antiviral Arsenal The envelope of influenza virus contains two immunodominant glycoproteins: hemagglutinin and neuraminidase (NA). Existing antivirals like zanamivir (Relenza) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu) target NA; however, the development of drug resistance is a problem. Kim et al. (p. 71, published online 21 February) now report a different class of NA inhibitors. NA catalyzes the removal of sialic acids from the surface of host cells to initiate entry. Discovery of a NA–sialic acid intermediate led to the production of sialic acid analogs that bound covalently to NA and inhibited its enzymatic activity. These compounds showed activity against a wide variety of influenza strains, inhibited viral replication in cell culture, and were able to protect mice against influenza infection. Protection of mice was equivalent to protection seen from zanamivir. Moreover, the compounds showed activity against drug-resistant strains in vitro. These compounds represent a potentially useful addition to the arsenal of antivirals used to treat influenza infection. Looking deeply into the mechanism of enzyme inhibition provides a clue for the development of new drugs to fight flu. Influenza antiviral agents play important roles in modulating disease severity and in controlling pandemics while vaccines are prepared, but the development of resistance to agents like the commonly used neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir may limit their future utility. We report here on a new class of specific, mechanism-based anti-influenza drugs that function through the formation of a stabilized covalent intermediate in the influenza neuraminidase enzyme, and we confirm this mode of action with structural and mechanistic studies. These compounds function in cell-based assays and in animal models, with efficacies comparable to that of the neuraminidase inhibitor zanamivir and with broad-spectrum activity against drug-resistant strains in vitro. The similarity of their structure to that of the natural substrate and their mechanism-based design make these attractive antiviral candidates.
Optimal Network Construction by Minimum Description Length

It has been established that the generalization ability of an artificial neural network is strongly dependent on the number of hidden processing elements and weights (Baum and Haussler 1989). There have been several attempts to determine the optimal size of a neural network as part of the learning process. These typically alter the number of hidden nodes and/or connection weightings in a multilayer perceptron by either heuristic methods (Le Cun et al. 1990; Fahlman and Lebiere 1990) or inherently via some network size penalty (Chauvin 1989; Weigend et al. 1991; Nowlan and Hinton 1992). In this note an objective method for network optimization is proposed that eliminates the need for a network size penalty parameter.
Assessing the impact of mega-events: A linkage model.

Mega-events are usually assessed in terms of the economic impact of the event itself with little attention given to the event as part of a broader process that can be investigated longitudinally. An adapted political economy model is proposed (because the mega-event is seen as essentially an economic initiative) that distinguishes three kinds of linkages. Forward linkages refer to the effects caused by the event itself. Backward linkages refer to the powerful background objectives which justify or rationalise the event. Parallel linkages are side-effects which are residual to the event itself and not directly under the control of event organisers. This longitudinal approach also distinguishes between pre-event, eventand post-eventimpacts so that unintended and unanticipated consequences can be identified. The model is applied to the issue of displacement as a parallel linkage and to other issues of housing and impacts on neighboring communities to the mega-event site.Itis concluded that impact assessment .
Extraocular Blood Flow and Endothelin-1 Plasma Levels in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

In order to evaluate whether plasma levels of the potent vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) are increased in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and whether these patients exhibit an ET-1-mediated vascular dysregulation, ET-1 plasma levels were measured in 30 patients with MS. Blood flow velocities in the ophthalmic artery, central retinal artery, central retinal vein, short lateral posterior ciliary artery, and short medial posterior ciliary artery were assessed in parallel. ET-1 plasma levels were significantly increased in MS patients when compared to sex- and age-matched healthy controls (2.0 ± 0.4 pg/ml, range 1.1–2.8 vs. 1.5 ± 0.2 pg/ml, range 0.9–2.0; p < 0.001). Moreover, the patients exhibited significant alterations of extraocular blood flow. The role of ET-1 in the inflammatory process remains to be clarified.
GC-MS analysis of Indigofera tinctoria and its protective effect on noise induced behavioral and biochemical alterations in rats

The aim of the present study is to investigate GC-MS analysis and protective effect of Indigofera tinctoria (I.tinctoria) on noise induced behavioral and biochemical changes in wistar albino rats. Noise stress was done by broadband white noise generator, 100 dBA, 4h daily for 15 days and Indigofera tinctoria (300 mg/Kg .b.w.) administered orally. Seven compounds were isolated via GC-MS analysis, out of which l-(+)-Ascorbic acid 2,6-dihexadecanoate, N-(3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) propionyl) piperidin-2-one and 3,6-diacetyl-9-ethylcarbazole have reported to exhibit antioxidant capacity. Upon exposure to the noise-stress, a significant (P? 0.001) increase in immobilization with decrease in rearing, grooming, and ambulation behavior are seen in open field. This outcome suggest that sub-acute stress affect locomotor activity in rat. Sub-acute noise stress significantly increased the level of glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, glutathione S transferase and decreased the level of superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione reductase, Vitamin C, protein thiols, suggesting that oxidative imbalance in immune organs when expose to sub-acute noise. However, Oral administration of I.tinctoria significantly prevented noise induced behavioral and biochemical changes. These results concluded that I.tinctoria supplementation could scavenge the noise induced free radical generation, suggesting its antioxidant property and can be regarded as an antistressor.
Antibiotic resistance in Enterotoxigenic and non-enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Antibiotic disk susceptibility tests were done on 220 strains of Escherichia coli belonging to serotypes reported in the literature to be associated with the production of enterotoxin. A total of 128 (58%) were resistant to one or more antibiotics, sulfa drugs, or chemotherapeutic agents. An analysis of these strains revealed primary, secondary, and tertiary drug resistance patterns that indicated a selective pattern in the formation of multiple drug resistance in E. coli. Resistances to certain antibiotics were more likely to occur in pairs and triads (secondary resistance patterns) that were often combined or coexisted in a single strain of E. coli to produce tertiary drug resistance patterns, conferring drug resistance to five or six different antibiotics. Among enterotoxin-associated serotypes, single and multiple drug resistance was less frequently associated with enterotoxin-produced strains than with strains from the same serotype that were not enterotoxigenic. Within the enterotoxigenic E. coli, single and multiple resistance to antibiotics was more frequent in strains producing only heat-stable enterotoxin (ST) than in strains producing only heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) or both. The number of resistances to different antibiotics per resistant strain averaged approximately 1.4 for LT plus ST or LT strains, and 3.9 for ST strains and nonenterotoxigenic strains. Phenotypic characterization of 170 strains for four usually plasmid-mediated characteristics showed that the number of antibiotics to which a strain was directly resistant varied with the type and number of plasmid-mediated characteristics present.
Educational Technology Research That Makes a Difference: Series Introduction

In a field as complex as educational technology, conflict is common; consensus is not. Yet there is widespread agreement on at least one point: We need a more organized and persuasive body of evidence on technology's benefits to classroom practice. Criticism of educational methods has accelerated in recent years, and the cost and complexity of implementing technology-based teaching strategies make them a favorite target. In the last decade, a diverse and growing collection of critics (e.g., Cordes & Miller, 1999; Cuban, 2001; Oppenheimer, 1997, 2003; Stoll, 1995) has been steadily making the case for reducing or eliminating the use of electronic technologies in teaching. At the same time, technology’s advocates have acknowledged an increasing need for research that could address these concerns and make a strong case for technology's pedagogical contributions.
Nonlinear electroelasticity: material properties, continuum theory and applications

In the last few years, it has been recognized that the large deformation capacity of elastomeric materials that are sensitive to electric fields can be harnessed for use in transducer devices such as actuators and sensors. This has led to the reassessment of the mathematical theory that is needed for the description of the electromechanical (in particular, electroelastic) interactions for purposes of material characterization and prediction. After a review of the key experiments concerned with determining the nature of the electromechanical interactions and a discussion of the range of applications to devices, we provide a short account of the history of developments in the nonlinear theory. This is followed by a succinct modern treatment of electroelastic theory, including the governing equations and constitutive laws needed for both material characterization and the analysis of general electroelastic coupling problems. For illustration, the theory is then applied to two simple representative boundary-value problems that are relevant to the geometries of activation devices; in particular, (a) a rectangular plate and (b) a circular cylindrical tube, in each case with compliant electrodes on the major surfaces and a potential difference between them. In (a), an electric field is generated normal to the major surfaces and in (b), a radial electric field is present. This is followed by a short section in which other problems addressed on the basis of the general theory are described briefly.
Job Satisfaction in The Public Service

Abstract What satisfies a public servant? Is it the money? Or is it something else, like an interesting and autonomous job, or serving the public interest? Utilizing non-panel longitudinal data from the International Social Survey Program on Work Orientations across different countries for 1997 and 2005, this article examines the effects of a selection of antecedents that are commonly related to job satisfaction. The respondents from different countries were found to share similarities in terms of what satisfies them in their jobs. The emphasis placed on these factors was however found to vary for some countries.
Long-term outcome after pulmonary thromboendarterectomy.

This study evaluated long-term outcome of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Survival, functional status, quality of life, health care utilization, and relationships between these parameters and postoperative pulmonary hemodynamics were assessed. Questionnaires were mailed to 420 patients who were more than 1 yr post-PTE; 308 responded (mean age, 56 yr [range, 19-89 yr]; mean years since PTE, 3.3 [range, 1- 16]). Survival after PTE was 75% at > 6 yr. After surgery, symptoms were markedly reduced. Median distance walked was 5,280 ft; 56 patients could walk "indefinitely. " Of the working population, 62% of patients unemployed before PTE returned to work. Post-PTE patients scored several quality of life components of the Rand SF-36 slightly lower than reported normals but significantly higher than did pre-PTE patients. Ten percent of patients used oxygen. Ninety-three percent were in NYHA Class I or II. Disease-related hospitalizations/ER visits were minimal. A relationship was shown between 48 h postoperative pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and walking and stair-climbing ability, NYHA class, dyspnea scores, and the physical function and general health quality of life components. These data indicate that PTE offers most CTEPH patients substantial improvement in survival, function, and quality of life, with minimal disease-related health care utilization.
Does Consumption Respond More to Housing Wealth than to Financial Market Wealth? If so, Why?

This paper uses long-run equilibrium relationship between consumption and different components of wealth to estimate the effect of changes in housing wealth and financial wealth on consumption. By exploiting this long-run property, it has been shown that a dollar increase in housing wealth increases consumption by seven cents, whereas, a corresponding dollar increase in financial wealth increases consumption by only three cents. This difference in the wealth effect arises because transitory shocks dominate variation in financial wealth, whereas permanent shocks account for most of the variation in housing wealth. This paper also shows that the relative importance of permanent component for housing wealth has witnessed an increase over the last thirty years. Therefore, housing wealth effect has also increased over time.
Care of Children Isolated for Infection Control: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study

BACKGROUND. Patients with community-acquired or nosocomial infections are often managed in a hospital with isolation precautions. Given the high prevalence and substantial inconvenience associated with implementation of isolation precautions in pediatric settings, we explored the impact of this intervention on the care provided to children and their families. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this work was to compare the quantity and quality of care received by isolated patients relative to nonisolated patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Sixty-five consecutive newly admitted inpatients in private rooms (24 isolated, 41 nonisolated) were recruited from the general pediatric service at the Hospital for Sick Children. Interactions between a medical team with patients and their families were observed. All of the participants were blinded to the study objectives. The medical team was observed during its morning rounds, and data were collected on the quantity and quality of care. Quantity of care was determined by the amount of time that the medical team spent interacting with the patient and parents and the number of organ systems examined by the attending physician during morning rounds. Quality of care was determined by using parental completion of the Pediatric Family Satisfaction Questionnaire. RESULTS. We found no significant difference in the average amount of time spent interacting with isolated compared with nonisolated patients (516 vs 480 seconds) or the number of organ systems examined in isolated compared with nonisolated patients (3 vs 4). Isolated and nonisolated groups gave high ratings to all of the items pertaining to the facility, doctors, and nurses. CONCLUSIONS. No large differences in quality or quantity of care were observed between isolated and nonisolated patients in the first 2 days of admission to a pediatric ward.