Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association Between Local Area Unemployment Rates and Use of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Health Services

Background:Prior research indicates that federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health programs accelerated during the Great Recession. Objectives:To examine whether local unemployment was associated with utilization of Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VA) primary care, specialty care, and mental health services during 2004–2012. Research Design:We analyzed utilization of VA health services at the clinic level using fixed-effects negative binomial models. We stratified analyses by veterans’ copayment status (exempt and nonexempt) and age (under 65 and 65+) to account for differences in VA utilization because of Medicare eligibility. Subjects:A total of 11,041,855 veterans assigned to 892 clinics identified in the VA Primary Care Management Module, representing nearly all veterans receiving primary care from VA, were included. Measures:Clinic-level utilization was calculated quarterly as the total number of visits for patients assigned to a clinic. Local area unemployment rates were defined as quarterly unemployment rates within VA geographical planning sectors. Results:Higher local unemployment was associated with greater use of VA care in all categories among veterans exempt from copayments. The association between local unemployment and utilization differed by age group among veterans subject to copayments. Higher local unemployment was associated with lower use of primary and specialty care among Medicare-eligible veterans aged 65+, but greater use of primary care among veterans under age 65. Conclusions:Our findings highlight the importance of the state of the economy in interpreting and forecasting demand for government health programs including VA, particularly during periods focused on deficit reduction.
Notch inhibition induces mitotically generated hair cells in mammalian cochleae via activating the Wnt pathway

Significance Notch signaling is known as a fundamental pathway that regulates the cell-fate determination in the inner ear. In present study, we show that Notch signaling also acts as a negative regulator that inhibits the proliferation of Lgr5+ progenitors and maintains the homeostasis of cochlear sensory epithelium on cell numbers. More importantly, to our knowledge we provide the first piece of evidence illustrating the interaction between Notch and Wnt in the postal mouse cochlea: Notch inhibition activates the canonical Wnt pathway in the progenitor cells, which leads to mitotic generation of hair cells; but Notch inhibition induced direct supporting cell-to-hair cell transdifferentiation that is Wnt-independent. Our findings may be useful in dissecting the mechanisms regulating mammalian inner ear proliferation and hair cell generation. The activation of cochlear progenitor cells is a promising approach for hair cell (HC) regeneration and hearing recovery. The mechanisms underlying the initiation of proliferation of postnatal cochlear progenitor cells and their transdifferentiation to HCs remain to be determined. We show that Notch inhibition initiates proliferation of supporting cells (SCs) and mitotic regeneration of HCs in neonatal mouse cochlea in vivo and in vitro. Through lineage tracing, we identify that a majority of the proliferating SCs and mitotic-generated HCs induced by Notch inhibition are derived from the Wnt-responsive leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5+) progenitor cells. We demonstrate that Notch inhibition removes the brakes on the canonical Wnt signaling and promotes Lgr5+ progenitor cells to mitotically generate new HCs. Our study reveals a new function of Notch signaling in limiting proliferation and regeneration potential of postnatal cochlear progenitor cells, and provides a new route to regenerate HCs from progenitor cells by interrupting the interaction between the Notch and Wnt pathways.
The Effects of Horizontal Mergers on Competition: The Case of the Northern Securities Company

Several recent articles have studied the competitive effects of horizontal mergers by examining rival firms' stock price reactions to the merger announcement and subsequent antitrust challenge. These articles have consistently failed to find any evidence of anticompetitive effects. This article considers two alternative explanations for the previous findings, and it sheds some new light on the issue by presenting a case study of the merger that resulted in the formation of the Northern Securities Company in 1901.
Reciprocal Loyalty and Union Mediation

This study investigates the concept of loyalty in the employment relationship using a stated preference approach and a dataset obtained through purpose-built questionnaires. Reciprocal loyalty is defined as a gift exchange. Workers' good performance is rewarded by the employer by the provision of a job with a low likelihood of job loss. The study shows that such reciprocal employer–employee loyalty is highly rated by the workers as a desirable job attribute. Loyalty in the employer–employee relationship is differently valued by unionized and nonunionized workers. Overall, the evidence suggests that unionized workers are more receptive to arrangements involving reciprocal loyalty. This may be an outcome of adaptation to internalized norms of union behavior.
Heterogeneity of Preferences, Limited Commitment and Coalitions: Empirical Evidence on the Limits to Risk Sharing in Rural Pakistan

In this paper, we study the determinants of the value of informal risk sharing groups. In particular, we look at the effects of heterogeneity of preferences and of limited commitment constraints that restrict feasible allocations differently if individuals can deviate form risk sharing agreements in coalitions or not. We test empirically several predictable implications in rural Pakistan taking into account the heterogeneity of households' preferences. Our results show that exogenous size of risk sharing groups can be rejected or that only imperfect risk sharing is obtained within the village because of limited commitment and because of the risk of coalition formation that needs to be deterred.
The Economics of Controlling Stock Pollutants: An Efficient Strategy for Greenhouse Gases

Abstract Optimal control theory is applied to develop an efficient strategy to control stock pollutants such as greenhouse gases and hazardous waste. The optimal strategy suggests that, at any time, the marginal costs of abatement should be equated with the present value of the marginal damage of timely unabated emission. The optimal strategy calls for increasingly light abatement over time as the pollutant stock accumulates. The optimal policy applied to greenhouse gases suggests moderate abatement efforts, at present, with the potential for much greater future efforts.
Session 2 : Pathogenesis and Progression of Endometriosis 2

Ovarian endometrial cysts, one of the typical manifestations of endometriosis, are classified as tumor-like lesions rather than as neoplasms. Clonality analysis provides important information on the histogenesis and progression of neoplastic diseases. It is generally accepted that most neoplasms are monoclonal in origin, while the clonality of endometrial cysts remains uncertain. In our study, the clonality of endometrial cysts was analyzed by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on restriction fragment length polymorphism of the X chromosome-linked human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) and on random inactivation of the gene by methylation. We separated 21 fresh epithelial cell samples from 11 endometrial cysts and found that all were monoclonal in the methylation pattern of the human androgen receptor alleles. Moreover, in each of the five cysts where epithelial cells were sampled from multiple areas, the methylation patterns of all samples from a single cyst were identical. These data indicate that endometrial cysts are monoclonal in origin and suggest their neoplastic potential. Molecular Analysis of Clonality It is generally accepted that most neoplasms are monoclonal in origin [1, 2]. Studies by Mandel et al. [3] and Riggs and Pfeifer [4] have shown that, in females, during embryogenesis either the paternal or the maternal X chromosome in each cell is randomly inactivated by methylation of cytosine residues (fig. 1). This X chromosome inactivation is stably inherited by daughter progeny of each cell. Thus, in females, normal tissues are polyclonal and comprise a random mixture of paternally and maternally derived X chromosome inactivated cells. In contrast, in a neoplasm from a single somatic cell, all of the tumor cells retain a monoclonal pattern of X chromosome inactivation. Clonality analysis in females who are heterozygous for X chromosome-linked polymorphic markers has been widely used for the determination of tumor origin. A methylation-based clonality assay has recently been developed that takes advantage of a highly polymorphic trinucleotide repeat (CAG) in the coding region of the first exon of the human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) on the X chromosome [5–7]. This CAG repeat is closely linked to HpaII methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease sites. More than 90% of females are heterozygous for the number of CAG repeats. Presented at the 1st Japan Conference on Endometriosis, May 9, 1998 in Hakone, Japan.
The changing regulation of public leisure provision

There is much current international interest in the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of alternative mechanisms of public service delivery. In the UK, research has concentrated on Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT), both in terms of its impacts and the wider socio-political project which it represents. It has been argued that CCT has been less about getting the private sector into public leisure provision than it has about commercializing the public sector. However, it is evident that the ‘externalization’ of public leisure management functions has been encouraged by the legislation, meaning that a new marketplace has been created, characterized by the emergence of a number of private sector leisure management companies. With the potential advent of a new Best Value (BV) regime in place of CCT, it is argued that the significance of these companies could increase considerably. Here, this new dynamic of private capital into public leisure provision is analysed, through reviewing its structural natur.
Power Line Communication in Medium Voltage Systems: Characterization of MV Cables

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the development of a theoretical and experimental study on the characterization of medium voltage (MV) cables in the frequency range 25-200 kHz. Two transmission line configurations, line-ground and line-line, were considered in order to evaluate the main parameters, such as the characteristic impedance and the attenuation constant alpha. A simplified model of the line-ground configuration is proposed which allows one to evaluate the characteristic impedance and the attenuation constant by means of geometrical dimensions. The model was verified by experimental measurements on commonly used MV cables, RG7H1R, with an aluminium core of different sections, 95 mm2 and 185 mm2. Moreover, the experimental tests were carried out for the line-line configuration.
Maternal Depression and the Production of Infant Health

Depression is most prevalent among women of childbearing age and among low-income women, and the medical literature shows it to have adverse effects on infant health. Yet maternal depression has been overlooked in economic studies of infant health production. This research incorporates maternal depressive symptoms into a standard infant health production model and estimates both structural and reduced-form birth weight equations using samples of non-Hispanic white and black women from the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. A byproduct of this research is an empirical investigation into factors associated with maternal depressive symptoms. All results show that depressive symptoms have a negative effect on birth weight and that they may operate through several channels such as smoking and prenatal care.
Nuclear magnetic resonance in biology and medicine.

Since the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, this method has shown itself to be of great importance in the study of physical chemical problems. Examples arc given to show that nuclear magnetic resonance is a powerful tool in the study of numerous problems of medicine, biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. 54 references. (J.S.R.)
A Structural Model of Default Risk

The authors price corporate debt from a structural model of firm default. They assume that the capital market brings about efficient firm default when the continuation value of the firm falls below the value it would have after bankruptcy restructuring. This characterization of default makes the model more tractable and parsimonious than the existing structural models. The model can be applied in conjunction with a broad range of default-free interest rate models to price corporate bonds. Closed-form corporate bond prices are derived for various parametric examples. The term structures of yield spreads and durations predicted by this model are consistent with the empirical literature. The authors illustrate the empirical performance of the model by pricing selected corporate bonds with varied credit ratings.
Professional property services (PPS) marketing organisation: construct and propositions

While many marketing issues have been covered in the existing services marketing literature, there has been a clear lack of investigation into the structural organisation of the marketing function. This study attempts to achieve two things: to define the marketing organisation and its construct; and to identify factors responsible for influencing the way marketing function is organised in professional property services (PPS) firms and develop research propositions in relation to the identified factors and their impacts on the PPS marketing organisation. An exploratory research method is employed involving comparisons between literature‐based findings and field‐based findings. The results of the study show that size of firm, environmental uncertainty, business strategy and management attitude to marketing are important factors affecting the marketing organisation in PPS firms.
Mutations causing aminotriazole resistance and temperature sensitivity reside in gyrB, which encodes the B subunit of DNA gyrase

Certain mutations in gyrA and gyrB, the genes encoding the two subunits of DNA gyrase, are known to influence expression of the his operon (K. E. Rudd and R. Menzel, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:517-521, 1987). Such mutations lead to a decrease in tRNA(His) levels and consequently to an attenuator-dependent increase in his operon expression. This effect presumably is due to the dependence of the hisR promoter (hisR encodes tRNA(His) on supercoiling for maximal activity. We used a relaxed (Rel-) strain of Escherichia coli to isolate gyrB mutants by selecting for resistance to the histidine antimetabolite 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole and then screening for temperature-sensitive growth on rich medium. Rel- mutants, which generally have lower basal levels of ppGpp (a positive regulator of his operon transcription), are more sensitive than wild-type E. coli to aminotriazole. The chance of isolating spoT mutants, which can be selected with a similar procedure, was decreased by selecting in the presence of a multicopy plasmid that carries the wild-type spoT gene. Under these conditions, gyrB mutants were isolated preferentially. This scheme selects for loss of function of DNA gyrase, rather than for its alteration due to resistance to specific gyrase inhibitors, and thus a greater variety of gyrase mutations might be obtainable.
Exploring cultural dimensions as predictors of performance management preferences: the case of self-initiating expatriate New Zealanders in Belgium

Despite the large number of New Zealanders working overseas of their own volition, the expatriate management literature has largely ignored their performance management (PM) preferences. The need to consider followers' preferences has been established by evidence supporting a link between PM practices and national culture, and subsequent performance. This study utilised the semi-structured interview to explore and compare the PM preferences of self-initiating expatriate New Zealanders in Belgium, and Belgians. Content analysis revealed distinct similarities and differences in preferences that can be tentatively linked to elements of national culture, providing general support for related literature. Subgroups also emerged within the Belgian sample and individual differences emerged within both samples, emphasising the importance of cultural subgroups as well as individual variations when considering PM preferences. Findings have academic and practical implications, which may be further explored by the suggested avenues of future research.
Accelerating American Option Pricing in Lattices

This article describes a method of accelerating the pricing of American options in binomial lattices in a Black-Scholes environment. The standard backward induction method for solving an option valuation problem involves computations at every node of the binomial option price tree. We show that many of the intermediate calculations are actually unnecessary, and eliminating them leads to a dramatic increase in computational efficiency. Test cases demonstrate that valuing an American put option can be accelerated by at least an order of magnitude, while yielding the identical estimate given by the standard Cox, Ross, and Rubinstein binomial tree. In addition, we discuss how similar techniques may be applied to pricing American options on interest rate derivatives and options involving multiple assets.
The Association of Oxidative Stress with Hypertensive Retinopathy

This study was designed to answer the following questions: (i) Do levels of serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a marker of oxidative stress, change in hypertensive retinopathy (HR)? (ii) Is there any relation between degree of HR and GGT levels? This study included 80 hypertensive patients with HR. Group 1 comprised 40 patients with grade I HR, and group 2 comprised 40 patients with grade II HR. We selected 40 healthy subjects for the control group. Level of GGT in group 2 was significantly higher than in group 1 (P = 0.005) and control group (P = 0.001); it was also higher in group 1 than in control group (P = 0.025). Our study suggests that oxidative stress, mechanisms known to be involved in vascular lesions, may promote the development of HR.
Voltage self-balance method for series connected IGBTs by using clamping diodes

Series connected IGBTs provide a useful method to improve the voltage level, and which is a very important approach to achieve high-voltage power converters. However the imbalance of collector-emitter voltages across IGBTs is a key issue that must be addressed. This paper proposed a novel type of series connected IGBT circuit with voltage self-balance by using clamping diode and snubber capacitor, and an auxiliary circuit for energy feedback is designed. The operation principles and the various working states are analyzed in this paper. Furthermore the experiment prototype of three-phase inverter based on this topology is built. The experiment results validate the voltage self-balance performance of the series connected IGBTs.
Introduction: Postimperial sovereignty games in the Nordic region

Benevolence, homogeneity and peace has never been the full story of the Nordic region. Building on a critical review of myths of ‘Norden’ in international relations theory and beyond (international political economy, security studies, regional and European integration theory and postcolonialism), we develop the framework of postimperial sovereignty games for understanding contemporary Nordic foreign policy and regional dynamics. We shift focus from the ‘large’ Nordic countries to the remnants of Nordic empires: Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland. On the one hand, these polities struggle to enhance their independence – Iceland even after becoming a sovereign state; the other polities via self-government arrangements. On the other hand, the former colonies develop close relationships to a supranational European Union in their effort to achieve independent subjectivity. Contrasting the developments towards increased independence and European integration, the article demonstrates the importance of imperial legacies. Firstly, it challenges Norden as a model security community. Secondly, it questions the image of a harmonious Nordic welfare model based on equality and consensus in light of the experiences of Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland. Finally, it suggests that no theory of European integration is complete without taking imperial and postimperial processes into account.
Reactions to Dividend Changes Conditional on Earnings Quality

We investigate if market participants' reactions to dividend changes are related to “earnings quality,” defined as the extent to which a firm's past earnings are associated with its future cash flows. Consistent with predictions from analytical work (Holthausen and Verrecchia [1988]; Kim and Verrecchia [1991]), we find that, controlling for the firm's dividend change, information environment, investment opportunity set, operating risk, and dividend clienteles, the market reacts less to dividend increase announcements from firms with greater earnings quality. Controlling for the firm's dividend change, information environment, and the release of other information around the dividend declaration date, we also document that analyst forecast revisions are significantly lower for firms with higher earnings quality following dividend increases. In both the market reaction and analyst forecast revision tests, our results for dividend decreases are generally not statistically significant.
Path loss variation of on-body UWB channel in the frequency bands of IEEE 802.15.6 standard.

The wireless body area network (WBAN) has gaining tremendous attention among researchers and academicians for its envisioned applications in healthcare service. Ultra wideband (UWB) radio technology is considered as excellent air interface for communication among body area network devices. Characterisation and modelling of channel parameters are utmost prerequisite for the development of reliable communication system. The path loss of on-body UWB channel for each frequency band defined in IEEE 802.15. 6 standard is experimentally determined. The parameters of path loss model are statistically determined by analysing measurement data. Both the line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight channel conditions are considered in the measurement. Variations of parameter values with the size of human body are analysed along with the variation of parameter values with the surrounding environments. It is observed that the parameters of the path loss model vary with the frequency band as well as with the body size and surrounding environment. The derived parameter values are specific to the particular frequency bands of IEEE 802.15. 6 standard, which will be useful for the development of efficient UWB WBAN system.