Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Quantitative and Qualitative Network Effects in B2B Platform Competition

This article aims at investigating how quantitative and qualitative (indirect) network effects impact pricing and trading decisions on a Business-to-Business marketplace. Using an original data set collected on MFG.com, one of the most prominent B2B platforms in the U.S.A. , we find that the market share of a marketplace depends on both the quantity and quality of suppliers, but that quality effects tend to substitute for quantity effects as the size of the marketplace increases. These results suggest that while the quantity of suppliers on board is crucial during the early stage of a marketplace, supplier quality matters much more in the mature stage.
Interest Parity Conditions as Indicators of Financial Integration in East Asia

Market participants and policymakers have a growing interest in the development of East Asian financial markets, and to the extent to which these markets are open and influenced by world markets. This paper examines the information contained in interest parity conditions about the international integration of a wide range of economies in East Asia. Legal restrictions on the capital account and tests of covered, uncovered and real interest parity are presented in some detail. Using standard regressions, cointegration analysis and error decompositions, it is argued that uncovered interest parity tests reveal a surprisingly large amount of information about financial openness. For example, McCallum’s (1994) model of the interaction of uncovered interest parity and a monetary policy reaction function can be used to explain striking anomalies that arise between countries. Openness and the importance of foreign interest rate shocks appear to have increased in most countries, although Korea remains an important exception. Four policy implications are discussed in the conclusion.
Serum Hyperchloremia as a Risk Factor for Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with St-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

A high serum chloride concentration has been associated with the development of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients. However, the association between hyperchloremia and acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients admitted with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown. A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients admitted with the diagnosis of STEMI and treated with PCI was performed. Subjects were classified as having hyper- or normochloremia based upon their admission serum chloride level. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed for the primary and secondary outcomes. The primary analysis evaluated whether high serum chloride on admission was associated with the development of AKI after adjusting for age, diabetes mellitus, admission systolic blood pressure, contrast volume used during angiography, Killip class, and need for vasopressor therapy or intraaortic balloon pump. The secondary analyses evaluated whether high serum chloride was associated with sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. Of 291 patients (26.1% female, mean age of 59.9 ± 12.6 years, and mean body mass index of 29.3 ± 6.1 kg/m2), 25 (8.6%) developed AKI. High serum chloride on admission did not contribute significantly to the development of AKI (odds ratio, 95%; confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.24). In addition, serum chloride on admission was not significantly associated with sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. In conclusion, our study demonstrated no association between baseline serum hyperchloremia and an increased risk of AKI in patients admitted with STEMI treated with PCI.
Prenatal diagnosis of monosomy 1p36: A focus on brain abnormalities and a review of the literature

Monosomy 1p36 is an increasingly recognized chromosomal anomaly. We describe two patients with monosomy 1p36 who had brain abnormalities detected on prenatal ultrasound. The first patient was ascertained prenatally with ultrasound abnormalities, including ventriculomegaly, a single umbilical artery, a unilateral club foot, a ventricular septal defect, and intra‐uterine growth retardation. Amniocentesis showed a normal karyotype. A postnatal MRI showed moderate to severe non‐obstructive hydrocephalus, bilateral colpocephaly, and abnormal myelination of the anterior limb of the internal capsule. A postnatal karyotype demonstrated a deletion of 1p36.3 that was not detected prenatally due to low resolution. Molecular studies by array comparative genome hybridization (CGH) identified a terminal deletion of ∼10 Mb. Our second patient was a fetus who had brain abnormalities suggestive of holoprosencephaly identified on prenatal ultrasound. Amniocentesis showed 46,XX,der(1)t(1;20)(p36.1;p12.2), that was found to be maternally inherited. Fetal autopsy demonstrated hydrocephalus, focal polymicrogyria, and cerebellar hypoplasia. However, holoprosencephaly was not confirmed. In addition to describing two patients with monosomy 1p36 who had abnormal brain anatomy on prenatal ultrasounds, we review the literature of other prenatally detected patients with monosomy 1p36 and review brain abnormalities seen both prenatally and postnatally. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Anatomy of Market Power in Electricity Markets With Hydropower as Dominating Technology

The problem of optimal management of a water reservoir by a hydropower producer is necessarily a dynamic one since water can be transferred between periods. A hydropower producer being a monopolist cannot reduce output in the classical way without spilling water. He will follow a strategy of setting marginal revenues equal between time periods and thus shift water from relatively inelastic periods to relatively elastic ones. If the monopolist has thermal capacity the strategy is the same, but the utilization of thermal capacity is reduced. If the monopolist has control over external trade import is reduced and export increased compared with the social solution. Technical constraints of limited reservoir and interconnector capacity and a competitive fringe may reduce markedly the consequences of exercising market power.
Challenges Affecting Intake 35 - Diploma in Education Students' Progress and Success in Action Research Projects: Perceptions of Research Students at Morgan Zintec Teachers' College in Zimbabwe

A survey of 150 purposively sampled third year Intake 35 Action Research Students was undertaken on 6 October 2010 at Morgan ZINTEC Teachers’ College one of the twelve semi-open and distance learning teacher education institutions in Zimbabwe. Respondents were asked to identify and explain institutional and student-related factors that negatively affect their progress and success in action research project. Major factors found to impact negatively on students’ progress included financial problems, lack of books and journals, poor communication and poor supervision by some tutors. Personal and domestic factors were found not to be significant. Among other recommendations, it was suggested that supervisors and markers of action research projects need thorough training. Libraries should offer more books, journals and internet facilities. The college needs to consider giving action research project students research theory lectures at least three times a term each time they (students) are resident at the college.
Factors contributing to preterm infant engagement during bottle-feeding.

BACKGROUND Preterm infants have difficulty maintaining engagement throughout early oral feedings, which can lead to less efficient feeding and prolonged feeding skill development. OBJECTIVE To examine contributions of the infant, mother, and feeding context to infant engagement during bottle-feeding. METHODS Bottle-feedings of very-low-birthweight infants (n = 22) by their mothers were observed. Infant and maternal behaviors were coded and synchronized with physiologic measures. At completion of the feeding, the mothers were interviewed, and their working model of feeding coregulation was scored. Feedings were subdivided into feeding episodes (n = 114). Using multilevel linear regression analyses, four dyadic characteristics (working model of the caregiver's role as coregulator, birthweight, postconceptional age, baseline oxygen saturation) and five episode characteristics (readiness at episode onset, episode baseline oxygen saturation, mean oxygen saturation during the episode, maternal feeding behavior, and phase of feeding) were examined as potential predictors of feeding episode engagement. RESULTS Conditions observed during the feeding observation explained most of the variation in engagement. Engagement was more likely to occur during the early phase of feeding (p <.05), during feeding episodes that began with infant readiness (p <.05), and during feeding episodes with higher mean oxygen saturation during the episode (p <.05). Feeding episodes with less jiggling of the nipple had a significantly greater amount of engagement (p <.05). CONCLUSIONS The ability of the preterm infant to maintain engagement during bottle-feeding cannot be explained by characteristics of the infant or by the prefeeding condition of the infant alone. Rather, engagement is coregulated by the caregiver and the infant throughout the feeding. Strategies to assist infants in maintaining physiologic stability during bottle-feeding and further study of effective and contingent caregiver feeding behaviors are needed.
Commodity prices and the US money supply in the long run

Theoretically commodity prices are expected to overshoot the money supply in the short run but to vary with unit proportionality in the long run. This follows from the observation that consumer prices are sticky and that commodity prices, set in auction markets are fully flexible. There is empirical evidence in the literature that commodity indexes are indeed anchored in the long run to the money supply with unit proportionality. However there is a dearth of research on the long-run behaviour of individual commodities with respect to the money supply. This paper fills this gap in the literature. When 48 individual commodity series and six commodity indexes series are studied over the monthly period 1980/2011, there is fairly strong evidence for unit proportionality to money supply. Individual regressions and panel regressions are both supportive of unit proportionality. The preconception that commodity prices move haphazardly is hence rejected.
Incentive Payments to Encourage Farmer Adoption of Water Quality Protection Practices

Farmers can be encouraged to voluntarily adopt environmentally sound management practices through the use of incentive payments. This paper uses both a bivariate probit with sample selection model and a double hurdle model on data from a survey of farmers to predict farmer adoption of the practices as a function of the payment offer. The five management practices addressed here are integrated pest management, legume crediting, manure testing, split applications of nitrogen, and soil moisture testing. Also estimated are models that predict the acreage on which these practices would be applied given the decision to accept the incentive payments estimated. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.
Rapid enumeration of sulphate-reducing bacteria from aquatic environments using real-time PCR

We describe a rapid and simple enumeration method for sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) from aquatic environments using a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in combination with a rapid DNA isolation method. Enumeration of SRB in the sediment and water samples was performed by quantifying the copy number of the dsrA gene coding for the α-subunit of the dissimilatory sulphite reductase using real-time PCR with the SYBR Green I assay. Using dsrA-specific primers, we demonstrated that quantification of SRB in known numbers of SRB assemblages can be achieved. We compared DNA isolation methods using commercial DNA extraction kits and a published technique. We found two commercial kits were of advantage for extraction of DNA from water or sediment samples, where a large number of samples could be processed at the same time. We showed this newly developed qPCR technique targeting dsrA is rapid, simple and reproducible for the quantification of SRB numbers in situ and is superior to the use of culture-dependent techniques.
Determinants of C2C e-commerce: an empirical analysis of the use of online auction websites among Europeans

E-commerce has opened up new commercial opportunities for businesses and consumers. In consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online markets, not only can individuals buy from other individuals but also sell. This article investigates the socio-economic factors shaping individuals’ decisions to undertake C2C e-commerce. By means of a multinomial logit model and a unique data set of individuals across the full European Union, C2C purchasing and selling online patterns are analysed. This is an area where empirical evidence has usually focused on consumers’ purchasing behaviour and less is known about sellers. Interestingly enough, results point out that the profile of sellers and buyers differs greatly, except for gender. Hence, certain socio-economic features, social online networks and the breath of internet use show different effects over e-selling and e-buying. Moreover, cross-region differences in incomes appear to be correlated with consumers’ e-commerce use.
Towards a ‘Pooled Sovereignty‘ in Community Planning in Scotland?

Integrated working in the public sector to achieve greater efficiencies and effectiveness in policy implementation is now a clear political objective. In practice integration of policy and institutional action requires vertical and horizontal synergies to realise its full potential. The question then arises as to how to secure these ambitions. Drawing on the experience of community planning in Scotland the paper explores the case for adopting a more formal and contractualised approach to integrated working based on devising operational agreements within the public sector.
Bank Borrowing and Corporate Risk Management

We examine whether banks better protect themselves against risk-shifting as compared to non-bank lenders by comparing risk management polices across firms that borrow from different lenders using a unique, hand-collected data set of hedging and borrowing practices. Consistent with banks being effective monitors, we find hedging is positively associated with the proportion of bank debt amongst firms with large risk-shifting incentives. We present descriptive evidence showing that banks use covenants as one of the channels to mitigate risk-shifting.
Logistics service quality and buyer–customer relationships: the moderating role of technology in B2B and B2C contexts

Logistics service quality (LSQ) concentrates on the results of the company's performance in the process of bringing merchandise and information from the company's warehouse to customers' home. There is neither consensus about its dimensions nor on how it might be influenced by technological solutions. The present article aims at identifying the main antecedents of LSQ, examining the influence of technology and its effects in terms of customer commitment and loyalty in B2B and B2C contexts. As a result, similar patterns are observed in the relationships of LSQ–commitment–loyalty with mixed evidence about the moderating role of information technology.
Regulation of Endothelial CD73 by Adenosine: Paracrine Pathway for Enhanced Endothelial Barrier Function1

During episodes of inflammation, multiple cell types release adenine nucleotides in the form of ATP, ADP, 5′-AMP, and adenosine. In particular, following activation, polymorphonuclear leukocytes release larger quantities of 5′-AMP. Extracellular 5′-AMP is metabolized to adenosine by surface-expressed 5′-ectonucleotidase (CD73). Adenosine liberated by this process activates surface adenosine A2B receptors, results in endothelial junctional reorganization, and promotes barrier function. We hypothesized that adenosine signaling to endothelia provides a paracrine loop for regulated expression of CD73 and enhanced endothelial barrier function. Using an in vitro microvascular endothelial model, we investigated the influence of 5′-AMP; adenosine; and adenosine analogues on CD73 transcription, surface expression, and function. Initial experiments revealed that adenosine and adenosine analogues induce CD73 mRNA (RT-PCR), surface expression (immunoprecipitation of surface biotinylated CD73), and function (HPLC analysis of etheno-AMP conversion to ethenoadenosine) in a time- and concentration-dependent fashion. Subsequent studies revealed that similar exposure conditions increase surface protein through transcriptional induction of CD73. Analysis of DNA-binding activity by EMSA identified a functional role for CD73 cAMP response element and, moreover, indicated that multiple cAMP agonists induce transcriptional activation of functional CD73. Induced CD73 functioned to enhance 5′-AMP-mediated promotion of endothelial barrier (measured as a paracellular flux of 70-kDa FITC-labeled tracer). These results provide an example of transcriptional induction of enzyme (CD73) by enzymatic product (adenosine) and define a paracrine pathway for the regulated expression of vascular endothelial CD73 and barrier function.
Opportunities to Divert, Firm Value, and Taxation: Theory and Evidence from European Firms

We study the relationship between opportunities for managerial diversion, corporate tax system parameters, and the return on shareholder funds. Theoretically, in a simple game between corporate insiders and outsiders, higher costs of diversion increase the return. European firm-level data lend support to these results. Further, in civil-law countries an increase in the corporate tax rate has a positive effect on shareholder value, whereas in common-law countries it has a negative effect.
Transporte y precio del trigo en el siglo XIX: creación y reordenación de un mercado nacional

RESUMEN El propósito de este trabajo es estudiar el proceso de integración del mercado del trigo en España en el siglo XIX. Básicamente, la integración fue creciente hasta mediados de siglo, y decreciente con posterioridad. El incremento de la producción agrícola y la reductión de los costes del transporte explican la mejora de la integración de los años 1830/50. El proceso de desintegración resulta más enigmático, pero no parece que la construcción del ferrocarril haya contribuido a construir el mercado nacional. Al contrario, pudo haber sido la causa de esa desintegración, si bien, en algunos casos, mejoró la conexión entre algunos mercados ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to study the process of integration of the XIX century Spanish market of wheat Basically, integration grew until the middle of the XIX century, and decreased from then. The growth of agricultural production and the reduction of transport costs explain the improvement of integration in the period 1830/50. The process of disintegration is more enigmatic, but the advent of railway does not seem to have contributed to building the national market On the contrary, it could be the cause of diat disintegration, in spite of the fact that it improved die connection of some markets.
THE FIRST ULTRA-COOL BROWN DWARF DISCOVERED BY THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER

We report the discovery of the first new ultra-cool brown dwarf (BDs) found with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The object's preliminary designation is WISEPC J045853.90+643451.9. Follow-up spectroscopy with the LUCIFER instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope indicates that it is a very late-type T dwarf with a spectral type approximately equal to T9. Fits to an IRTF/SpeX 0.8–2.5 μm spectrum to the model atmospheres of Marley and Saumon indicate an effective temperature of approximately 600 K as well as the presence of vertical mixing in its atmosphere. The new BD is easily detected by WISE, with a signal-to-noise ratio of ∼36 at 4.6 μm. Current estimates place it at a distance of 6–10 pc. This object represents the first in what will likely be hundreds of nearby BDs found by WISE that will be suitable for follow-up observations, including those with the James Webb Space Telescope. One of the two primary scientific goals of the WISE mission is to find the coolest, closest stars to our Sun; the discovery of this new BD proves that WISE is capable of fulfilling this objective.
Managing and partnering with external stakeholders

Executive Overview The weakening of the traditional management hierarchy, the hollowing out of corporations, and an increasing management emphasis on boundarylessness have created a new mind set concerning external stakeholders. Increasingly, organizations are moving beyond traditional stakeholder management techniques to partnering tactics that lead to the achievement of common goals. In spite of these trends, there has been very little effort in the management literature to tie stakeholder management and partnering tactics. This article demonstrates how successful partnerships with stakeholders create such valued benefits as increased product success rates, increased manufacturing efficiency, the development of distinctive competencies arising from partnerships with local communities or government agencies, reduced unfavorable litigation, reduced levels of negative publicity, and favorable regulatory policies.