Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of Inventory System with Ramp Type Demand Rate and Shortage in The Light of Inflation–II

In this paper, we develop an order-level inventory system for deteriorating items under inflation with ramp type demand function and partial exponential type- backlogging function of time. Three costs are considered under inflation as significant: deterioration, holding, shortage. The backlogging rate is an exponentially decreasing, time- dependent function specified by a parameter. For this model we derive results, which ensure the existence of a unique optimal policy and provide the solution procedure for the problem. The method is illustrated by numerical example, and sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution with respect to the parameters of the system is carried out.
R&D Competition and Endogenous Spillovers

The paper examines firms’ choices between innovation and imitation in duopoly. We show that in the unique equilibrium asymmetric firms choose the same level of expenditure on imitation and the same ratio of innovative cost reduction to output. We evaluate the marginal contribution of innovation and imitation expenditure by small and large firms to consumer surplus and welfare, and discuss the desirability of differentiated R&D subsidies on innovation and imitation in terms of R&D tax rebates.
Intraindividual Reproducibility of Heart Rate Variability Before and During Postural Tilt in Patients with Syncope of Unknown Origin

Fast Fourier analysis (FFT) of heart rate may be used to characterize overall heart rate variability (HRV) as well as low (LF: 0.06–0.10 Hz) and high (HF: 0.15–0.40 Hz) frequency components, which are attributable to sympathetic and vagal influences. This study examined the reproducibility of the spectral characteristics of HRV before and during postural tilt in patients being evaluated for unexplained syncope. Twenty patients (14 men, age 55 ± 12 years) with a history of syncopal episodes underwent 2 tilt table tests (T1 and T2) 1 to 6 weeks apart. For purposes of analyses the patients were divided into 2 groups according to the results of tilt testing. In 11 patients (Group A: 7 men, mean age 53.5 ± 12 years) syncope was induced in 1 (5 patients) or both tilt tests. In the remaining 9 patients (Group R: 7 men, age 56.7 ± 14 years) syncope did not develop during either test. Spectral indexes (SI) of HRV were computed by FFT for 2‐minute segments derived from Holter recordings before and during 60° head‐up tilt. We compared the SI measured in the two tilt, tests during the following 2‐minute periods: P1, just before tilt at rest, in a supine position; P2, immediately after tilt; P3, just before the end of the tilt. Results: P1 and P2: There were no significant differences in SI between T1 and T2 for low frequencies, high frequencies, or total power in either Group. In Group A, LF at time of maximum tilt exposure (P3) tended to be slower during T2 than in T1 (5.58 ± 1.44 vs. 6.56 ± 1.11, P < 0.05). However, this difference primarily reflects the findings in the five patients in whom syncope did not occur during T2. When these 5 patients were excluded the LF were essentially identical (6.43 ± 0.97 vs 6.80 ± 1.30; P = NS). Conclusions: Spectral indexes of HRV before and during the early part of tilt testing are reproducible. The SI during the later part of the test are related to the patient's response. However, this response is not predictable on the basis of sympathetic or parasympathetic tone before or during the early part of the test.
Extracellular β-fructofuranosidase from Fusarium graminearum: stability of the spray-dried enzyme in the presence of different carbohydrates

Microbial enzymes have been used for various biotechnological applications; however, enzyme stabilization remains a challenge for industries and needs to be considered. This study describes the effects of spray-drying conditions on the activity and stability of β-fructofuranosidase from Fusarium graminearum. The extracellular enzyme β-fructofuranosidase was spray dried in the presence of stabilizers, including starch (Capsul) (SC), microcrystalline cellulose (MC), trehalose (TR), lactose (LC) and β-cyclodextrin (CD). In the presence of TR (2% w/v), the enzymatic activity was fully retained. After 1 year of storage, 74% of the enzymatic activity was maintained with the CD stabilizer (10% w/v). The residual activity was maintained as high as 80% for 1 h at 70°C when MC, SC and CD (5% w/v) stabilizers were used. Spray drying with carbohydrates was effective in stabilizing the F. graminearum β-fructofuranosidase, improved enzymatic properties compared to the soluble enzyme and demonstrated a potential use in future biotechnology applications.
Exploitation or Conservation: Can Wildlife Tourism Help Conserve Vulnerable and Endangered Species?

Wildlife tourism is increasingly utilising vulnerable and endangered species as tourist attractions. This paper uses the South African cage diving industry as a case study to assess the contributions that the tourism industry can make to the conservation of the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The study highlights that individual operators can make positive contributions using various mechanisms such as interpretation, education and contributing towards scientific research. However when the industry is examined as a collective whole then a number of paradoxes and complications emerge. The study demonstrates that operators face immense pressure when trying to reconcile conservation objectives with business profitability and client satisfaction. This can lead to the development of inappropriate business practices that are counter–productive to the overall aims of conserving target species such as the Great White Shark.
Syphilis Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes in HIV-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Patients in Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Background: Syphilis rates are rising in California, but the impact of HIV infection on syphilis infection remains uncertain. We describe differences between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients diagnosed with syphilis within Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Methods: We performed retrospective analyses of patients diagnosed with incident syphilis from 1995 to 2005 (622 cases/9989 HIV-infected patients and 3584/4,442,780 HIV-uninfected). Among cases, we ascertained demographic, clinical characteristics, and laboratory (including baseline labs and repeated RPR titers) data. We performed Poisson regression (incidence) and Cox proportional hazard modeling (reduction in RPR and serologic failure after syphilis therapy) adjusting for age, gender, and HIV status and among HIV-infected cases only by use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Results: HIV-infected patients had incident syphilis rates of 62.3/1000 person-years compared with 0.8/1000 HIV-uninfected patients, corresponding to an adjusted rate ratio of 86.0 (P <0.001); rate differences increased significantly over time. HIV-infected patients had a greater likelihood of reduction in RPR and serologic failure after syphilis therapy (HR = 2.5 and 2.6 respectively [P <0.001 both]). Among HIV-infected only, patients on ART had lower rates of infection but higher likelihood of reduction in RPR after syphilis therapy and serologic failure compared with patients not on ART. Conclusions: HIV-infected patients had greater rate of incident syphilis compared with HIV-uninfected, a disparity which increased over time. HIV-infected patients had greater likelihood of decline in RPR and serologic failure. HIV-infected patients should be screened for syphilis regularly.
Foreign Direct Investment and International Business Cycle Comovement

This paper investigates the relationship between bilateral FDI positions and cross-country business cycle correlations in the period 1982-2001. We find that countries that have comparatively intensive FDI relations also have more synchronized business cycles during 1995-2001. Before 1995, we also find a positive association between FDI linkages and output comovement, but this may partly reflect the effects of trade relations. Moreover, more intensive FDI links are also associated with a greater vulnerability to lagged output spillovers from abroad, whereas trade links are not. Policy implications of our research are (1) that there is an underlying tendency for business cycles to exhibit greater comovement in the future, and (2) that policy makers need to incorporate the FDI linkage among economies in their models and analytical framework for policy analysis.
Guidelines for treatment of candidiasis.

Peter G. Pappas, John H. Rex, Jack D. Sobel, Scott G. Filler, William E. Dismukes, Thomas J. Walsh, and John E. Edwards Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Manchester, Great Britain; Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan; Harbor–University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance, California; and Immunocompromised Host Section, Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
Learning to Forecast Price

We study learning in an individual choice price forecasting task in which subjects must learn coefficients of two independent variables in stationary linear stochastic processes. The 99 subjects each forecast in 480 trials with feedback. Learning is tracked by fitting individual forecasts to the independent variables. Results: (1) Learning is fairly consistent with respect to objective values, but with slight tendency toward overresponse. (2) Learning is noticeably slower than the Marcet-Sargent ideal. Two striking treatment effects are tendencies toward (3) overresponse with high background noise and (4) underresponse with asymmetric coefficients. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Radiotherapy for centrally recurrent cervical cancer of the vaginal stump following hysterectomy.

PURPOSE This study was performed to establish the classification and the treatment modality for recurrent cervical cancer of the vaginal stump after hysterectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Ninety patients with centrally recurrent cervical cancer of the vaginal stump following hysterectomy were treated with high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy with or without external irradiation. The intervals between primary surgery and vaginal recurrences varied from 3 months to 36 years. Tumor size of the vaginal stump was determined by bimanual rectovaginal examination at the time of recurrence and was classified into three groups, i.e., small (no palpable tumor), medium (less than 3 cm), and large (3 cm or more). RESULTS The 10-year survival rates for all patients were 52%. Survival was greatly influenced by the tumor sizes of the vaginal stump. The 10-year survival rates of patients with small, medium, and large size tumors were 72, 48, and 0%, respectively. All patients with large size tumors died within 5 years. Of 90 patients, 75 (83%) were determined by physical examination to be free of tumor on at least one visit within 2 months of the completion of treatment (CR). The remaining 15 patients (17%) had physical findings suggestive of residual tumor (Residual). The overall 10-year survival rate for all patients with CR was 63%, compared with 10% for the patients with Residual (P < 0.0001). The incidences of distant metastases of the patients with or without local failure were 55 and 13%, respectively (P < 0.0001). The patients with local failure had significantly higher incidence of metastases. Most patients with small size tumor were treated with brachytherapy alone, and the survival rates of these patients were not improved by combination with external irradiation. CONCLUSION These results suggest that tumor size was a significant prognostic factor for recurrent cervical cancer of the vaginal stump. Patients with small size tumors were recommended to be treated with brachytherapy alone.
The Instability Of Tax Revenue And The Missing Risk Premium

This paper attempts to estimate the implicit risk premium from fluctuating tax revenue. We provide a number of reasons for the absence of the risk premium from the public borrowing rate. One reason can be viewed as the value society places on the ability of the tax system to act as an automatic built-in stabilizer. Empirically the annual value of this implicit risk premium for the US is the estimated at 2.45 percent.
Market structure and price-cost margins in Philippine manufacturing industries

We test the hypothesis that variations in industry price-cost margins (PCM) performance are explained by sellers' various structure and conduct variables such as sellers' concentration (i.e., HHI for value added), capital-output ratio, barrier to entry, industry demand growth rate, import penetration export share, and degree of foreign participation (multinational) in four-digit Philippines Standard Industrial Classification manufacturing industries. The statistical analyses are a series of multiple regression equations relating the PCM to the previously-mentioned explanatory variables. Estimation results show a generally positive relationship between sellers' concentration, capital intensity, degree of foreign participation and the PCM. Industry growth rate may either increase or reduce PCM. Imports and exports lower PCM.
Tariffs and other trade costs: assessing obstacles to Mediterranean countries' access to EU-15 fruit and vegetable markets

This paper evaluates the role of tariffs in the overall trade barriers faced by Mediterranean countries that export fruit and vegetables to the European Union (EU), using a gravity model. With an annual specification, we measure the border effect faced by the Mediterranean countries on entering EU markets and show that trade costs other than transport costs and tariffs seriously hinder exports from Mediterranean countries. A second specification analyses the impact of seasonality on tariff sensitivity. Periods of the year during which liberalisation could have a greater impact on trade are identified.
Cisplatin prevents high mobility group box 1 release and is protective in a murine model of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury

The nuclear protein high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is an important inflammatory mediator involved in the pathogenesis of liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Strategies aimed at preventing its release from stressed or damaged cells may be beneficial in preventing inflammation after I/R. Cisplatin is a member of the platinating chemotherapeutic agents and can induce DNA lesions that are capable of retaining high mobility group proteins inside the nucleus of cells. In vitro studies in primary cultured rat hepatocytes show that nontoxic concentrations of cisplatin can sequester HMGB1 inside the nucleus of hypoxic cells. Similarly, the in vivo administration of nontoxic doses of cisplatin prevents liver damage associated with a well‐established murine model of hepatic I/R as measured by lower circulating serum aminotransferase levels, lower hepatic inflammatory cytokine levels including tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin‐6, lower inducible NO synthase expression, and fewer I/R‐associated histopathologic changes. The mechanism of action in vivo appears to involve the capacity of cisplatin to prevent the I/R‐induced release of HMGB1 as well as to alter cell survival and stress signaling in the form of autophagy and mitogen‐activated protein kinase activation, respectively. Conclusion: Low, nontoxic doses of cisplatin can sequester HMGB1 inside the nucleus of redox‐stressed hepatocytes in vitro and prevent its release in vivo in a murine model of hepatic I/R. Furthermore, cell survival and stress signaling pathways are altered by low‐dose cisplatin. Therefore, platinating agents may provide a novel approach to mitigating the deleterious effects of I/R‐mediated disease processes. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
An efficient replenishment model of deteriorating items for a supplier–buyer partnership in hi-tech industry

Due to rapid technological innovation and global competitiveness, the selling price of products in hi-tech industries usually declines significantly with time. This study develops a deteriorating inventory model for the product experiencing continuous decrease in unit price. This inventory model, from the perspective of supplier, proposes an efficient replenishment policy for a single-supplier-and-single-buyer supply chain in which the buyer conducts JIT through a realisation of multiple deliveries and the supplier performs one-time production. The objective of this model is, on the basis of the buyer's economic ordering decisions, to maximise the supplier's profit during a finite planning horizon and then to determine the optimal production cycle and product life cycle. A simple heuristic algorithm is developed to derive the optimal solution for the model. Numerical examples and sensitivity analyses confirm the performances of the proposed model and reveal some interesting managerial implications.
Philadelphia chromosome positive childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: clinical and cytogenetic characteristics and treatment outcome. A Pediatric Oncology Group study.

Among 3,638 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) entered on Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) protocols between June 1981 and April 1989, successful cytogenetic studies were available for 2,519, 58 (2.3%) of which had the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome detected. Features associated with the presence of the Ph chromosome were high leukocyte count (median, 33 x 10(9)/L), older age median, 9.6 years), a higher proportion of French-American-British L2 morphology, and a lower frequency of mediastinal mass. Immunologic marker studies at diagnosis in 56 Ph+ cases identified early pre-B ALL in 42 cases (75%), pre-B-cell in 9 (16%), and T-cell in 5 (9%). This distribution is similar to that found in Ph+ ALL. Intensive multiagent chemotherapy induced complete remissions in only 78% of eligible Ph+ patients compared with 96% of those without an identified Ph chromosome (P less than .001). Of 44 eligible Ph+ patients treated on POG frontline protocols for children with non-T, non-B-cell ALL, 27 have failed therapy, compared with 520 of 1,892 without an identified Ph chromosome (logrank P less than .001). Ph+ ALL is an aggressive form of acute leukemia that frequently presents in older children with a high leukocyte count, FAB L2 morphology, and a pseudodiploid karyotype, and becomes multidrug-resistant early. Thus, Ph+ cases require early identification to permit treatment with intensive induction regimens and experimental approaches such as bone marrow transplantation.
Implementing the Project Approach in Part- time Early Childhood Education Programs

This paper explores both the benefits and the difficulties of using the Project Approach in part-time early childhood education programs. Teachers of three different types of part-time programs share their experiences one year after taking a one-credit course in the Project Approach. The teachers' responses are organized by topic as follows: (1) curriculum, (2) assessment, (3) parent involvement, (4) time and space management, (5) lesson plans, and (6) program quality. The article notes that one year after initial training in the Project Approach, the teachers in these three part-day programs remain enthusiastic about the approach and have been fairly consistent in including it in their curriculum. They value the approach because it lends direction to their lesson planning, involves parents, helps with collection of samples for assessment, challenges children with diverse abilities, and provides for a more well-rounded "hands-on" curriculum.
The Role of Low Expectations in Health and Education Investment and Hazardous Consumption

Young people with little `social or health capital' may be more likely to take up hazardous consumption and shun investments in human capital, raising their likelihood of a `rags to rags' sequence. First, diminishing marginal utility could raise the marginal benefit of hazardous consumption and the cost of investment. But poor youths may also have lower expectations of future success, independent of the choices they make. Lower expectations of success could reduce the future cost of hazardous consumption and benefit of investment. We test the effect of expectations on decisions to smoke, drink hazardously, exercise, and complete high school, using a longitudinal study of youth in New Zealand. We find that 15-year-olds' expectations of success predict the subsequent onset of smoking, lack of exercise, and failure to complete high school, but not hazardous drinking. While some of the influence of expectations can be explained by low social and health capital, IQ, and other factors, expectations retain a direct effect on smoking and exercise once these other factors are controlled for.
Responsibility Cost Control System in China: The Han Dan Experience

Management accounting, initiated at some large manufacturing companies in North America around the beginning of the twentieth century, assists managers at various levels inside an organization to effectively make strategic and operational decisions (Atkinson et al., 1997; Gaumnitz and Kollaritsch, 1991; Johnson and Kaplan, 1987; Foster and Horngren, 1987; Schweikart,1986). Management accounting has made rapid progress since the Second World War , and become a multidisciplinary management tool comprising a series of practical techniques such as standard costing, budgeting, cost-volume-profit analysis, internal transfer pricing, variance analysis, responsibility accounting, performance evaluation and so on. Management accounting plays a fairly active part in the management of business in the industrialized world (Smith, 2000; Kaplan, 1998; Scapens, 1994; Mannino and Milani, 1992). Currently the application of management accounting in the less developed countries (LDCs) remains unsatisfactory and studies on this area are rare in the literature. This may be due to the relatively underdeveloped status of economic and business administration in LDCs. However, the demands for management-oriented accounting information are increasing following economic growths in LDCs which promote the adoption of management accounting in business management. There are, nonetheless, certain differences in the application procedures or techniques of management accounting in practice in the industrialized world and LDCs owing to varied economic, institutional and cultural settings concerned. This article reports the results of a field study on the ‘responsibility cost control system’ that has been operating at the Han Dan Iron and Steel Company in China since the beginning of the 1990s. Based on the theoretical framework of ‘institutional isomorphism’, we intend to investigate why business enterprises in a developing country like China would need to search for innovative accounting practices, and how advanced Western management accounting can be effectively applied in the specific Chinese business environment. Through field visits, personal interviews, on-site observations and documentation, we found that the company’s cost control system centred on responsibility cost targets and has integrated a series of Western management accounting techniques and procedures to improve productivity and profitability by reducing production