Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase II trial of paclitaxel and carboplatin in the treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma.

PURPOSE Both paclitaxel and carboplatin have single-agent activity against carcinoma of the urothelium. We evaluated the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin in the treatment of advanced cancers of the urothelium. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with cancers of the urothelium who had no prior chemotherapy (prior adjuvant chemotherapy > 6 months allowed) were eligible for treatment. Eligibility requirements were performance status of 2 or less, creatinine level less than 2.0 mg/dL, granulocyte count (AGC) 1,500/microL or greater, platelet count 100,000/microL or greater, and total bilirubin level less than 1.5 mg/dL. Paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 followed by carboplatin (area under the curve [AUC] 5, Calvert formula) were administered every 21 days. Patients were evaluated for toxicity weekly and assessed for response every 6 weeks. RESULTS Thirty-six patients were entered onto the study and 35 patients were assessable for response. A total of 184 cycles were administered (median, six cycles per patient). Nine patients required one dose reduction, and seven patients required two dose reductions for a nadir AGC less than 500/microL, with only one episode of febrile neutropenia and sepsis. Myalgias and arthralgias of grades 1 to 2 occurred in 16 patients and usually lasted 2 to 3 days after treatment. There were no treatment delays because of toxicity. There were 18 responses; seven complete responses (CRs) and 11 partial responses (PRs) (response rate 51.5%; 95% confidence interval, 35 to 68). Median response durations for CR and PR were 6 and 4 months, respectively. Overall median survival was 9.5 months. CONCLUSION The combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin is an active and well-tolerated regimen for the treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma. Because of the modest toxicity of this combination, paclitaxel and carboplatin should be considered for addition to other agents with activity in urothelial carcinomas.
Altruistic and private valuations of risk reduction

To remedy the neglect of altruism in benefit assessments for risk regulation programs, this article reports the findings of a new survey of 785 consumers regarding their valuation of two pairs of risks from insecticide. The risk-dollar tradeoffs revealed by consumers averaged $2,080 and $3,680 per injury pair prevented within the household; they were willing to pay $5.01 and $9.06 per 1000 injury pairs prevented in the rest of the state and $1.72 and $2.39 for each 1000 injury pairs avoided elsewhere in the United States. The summed altruistic values for other individuals exceeded the private valuations, which suggests that altruism may be an important benefit component.
Is Leasing a Substitute or Complement to Debt?

Prior empirical research has produced conflicting findings on the lease–debt relation. Although some studies provide evidence that leases substitute for debt, other studies have shown the lease–debt relation to be complementary. This study investigates the lease–debt relation in a sample of 233 restaurant and retail firms from 2006 to 2008. Using a comprehensive measure of leasing that includes both capital and operating leases and other control variables, the results show that leasing and debt are significantly and inversely related. On average, $1.00 of leasing displaced approximately $0.50 of debt. The results are robust to alternative specifications of the regression models and provide additional evidence that growth opportunities and firm size are important determinants of leasing.
SME GROWTH STRATEGIES: ORGANIC OR NON-ORGANIC?

This paper focuses on factors affecting the growth and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The aim was to identify strategic factors differentiating two types of growth firms, organic growth SMEs and acquisition growth SMEs. The comparison was based on the empirical data of 20 acquisition growth SMEs and 90 organic growth SMEs, The analysis revealed strategic differences, with important implications, between the two groups. The most noteworthy differences were related to their scale of operation, firm age, founders, and product and customer structures. The results increase our understanding of the factors affecting SME growth and performance in two different contexts of growth strategies. They suggest that firm growth pattern is associated with SME characteristics, and thus has managerial implications.
Assessment of bacterial communities of black soybean grown in fields

ABSTRACT Since the domestication of soybean (Glycine max) about 4,500 years ago, thousands of local cultivars have been developed around the world. In Japan, black soybeans grown in the mountainous region of central Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures, called the Tamba region, are well known for large seeds and palatability. The yields of black soybean in the Tamba region of Kyoto have decreased during the past few decades, and the involvement of rhizosphere microbes in the yield decline has been suggested. We analyzed bacterial communities of the soybean rhizosphere on 7 farms managed under different strategies. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed shifts of bacterial communities from bulk to rhizosphere soil and the difference among the farms. The relative abundance of the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes was higher in rhizosphere soil than in bulk soil, whereas that of the Acidobacteria was higher in bulk soil. To clarify the possible relationship between bacterial communities and soybean growth, we used ConfeitoGUIplus software (version 1.2.0), based on the Confeito algorithm, which is designed to detect highly interconnected modules in a correlation network by using a unique inter-modular index with network density. One module was extracted from the rhizosphere soil community and two from bulk soil communities, suggesting the involvement of these bacteria in soybean growth.
Exchange Rate Pass-Through into Import Prices in Jordan

Abstract: This paper investigates the exchange rate pass-through into import prices on aggregate and disaggregates data levels in Jordan. We employ the bounds testing approach to cointegration and error correction model in a sample of annual data over the period 1976–2011. This fundamental topic has considerable policy implications. The current paper concludes that nominal exchange rate fluctuations and oil prices are the core determinants of import prices either on aggregate or disaggregate data level. The short-run and long-run nominal exchange rate pass-through elasticities coefficients in Jordan are incomplete and equal to 0.13. Besides, in the short-run, oil prices have larger effect on Jordan’s import prices compared to nominal exchange fluctuations.
Depth-based classification for functional data

Classification is an important task when data are curves. Recently, the notion of statistical depth has been extended to deal with functional observations. In this paper, we propose robust procedures based on the concept of depth to classify curves. These techniques are applied to a real data example. An extensive simulation study with contaminated models illustrates the good robustness properties of these depth-based classification methods.
Inertial Sensor-Based Stride Parameter Calculation From Gait Sequences in Geriatric Patients

A detailed and quantitative gait analysis can provide evidence of various gait impairments in elderly people. To provide an objective decision-making basis for gait analysis, simple applicable tests analyzing a high number of strides are required. A mobile gait analysis system, which is mounted on shoes, can fulfill these requirements. This paper presents a method for computing clinically relevant temporal and spatial gait parameters. Therefore, an accelerometer and a gyroscope were positioned laterally below each ankle joint. Temporal gait events were detected by searching for characteristic features in the signals. To calculate stride length, the gravity compensated accelerometer signal was double integrated, and sensor drift was modeled using a piece-wise defined linear function. The presented method was validated using GAITRite-based gait parameters from 101 patients (average age 82.1 years). Subjects performed a normal walking test with and without a wheeled walker. The parameters stride length and stride time showed a correlation of 0.93 and 0.95 between both systems. The absolute error of stride length was 6.26 cm on normal walking test. The developed system as well as the GAITRite showed an increased stride length, when using a four-wheeled walker as walking aid. However, the walking aid interfered with the automated analysis of the GAITRite system, but not with the inertial sensor-based approach. In summary, an algorithm for the calculation of clinically relevant gait parameters derived from inertial sensors is applicable in the diagnostic workup and also during long-term monitoring approaches in the elderly population.
ICRS: an intelligent collaborative recommender system for electronic purchasing

Finding the right product that satisfies the user's needs and wants in e-purchasing is a challenging problem. We design and implement an Intelligent Collaborative Recommender System (ICRS) to map users' needs to the products that can satisfy them. A methodology is used to dynamically update the accuracy factor based on user intelligence. The different approaches for recommendation are categorised as memory-based and model-based approaches. Memory-based systems suffer from data sparsity and scalability problems, whereas model-based approaches tend to limit the range of users. Hence, by integrating both these approaches, we overcome the shortfalls. In our paper, we smooth the sparse data and apply the collaborative filtering approach for recommendations. Recommendations are made more accurate by applying regression to weighted aggregated predictions. The system that is considered here is the book recommendation system. The metric that is considered for measuring the performance of our system is the Mean Absolute Error (MAE). In terms of the computation time, clustering similar users is done offline, which greatly reduces the time for computation. This approach thus alleviates scalability and sparsity problems and offers accurate recommendations. Finally, our system is developed for an online book purchasing application and tested by our college students.
Staggering and Synchronization in Price-Setting: Evidence from Multipro-Duct Firms

Most of the theoretical literature on price-setting behavior deals with the special case in which only a single price is changed. At the retail-store level, at least, where dozens of products are sold by a single price-setter, price-setting policies are not formulated for individual products. This feature of economic behavior raises a host of questions whose answers carry interesting implications. Are price setters staggered in the timing of price changes? Are price changes of different products synchronized within the store? If so, is this a result of aggregate shocks or of the presence of a store- specific component in the cost of adjusting prices? Can observed small changes in prices be rationalized by a menu cost model? We exploit the multiproduct dimension of the dataset on prices used in Lach and Tsiddon (1992a) to explore several of these and other issues. To the best of our knowledge this is the first empirical work on this subject.
The value of oral history in natural resource management: the Balcombe Estuary Reserve, Mount Martha, Victoria

Abstract This study investigates the benefits of using oral history as a tool for the sustainable management of estuaries. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate oral history records for the Balcombe Estuary Reserve, a small estuary in a periurban zone on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. These interviews establish a more complete picture of changes in land use and ecological change to the estuary since European settlement of the area, and document community values. The interviews were followed with a survey to further explore management issues in the area. Use of oral history was found to be an effective approach to assist holistic estuarine management, especially when complemented by other sources of information.
Genetic variation of Cryphonectria hypoviruses (CHV1) in Europe, assessed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers

A total of 72 hypovirus‐infected isolates of the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica were sampled from nine European countries between 1975 and 1997. The double‐stranded RNA of the Cryphonectria hypoviruses (CHV1) was isolated and reverse transcription (RT)–PCR products were obtained for two different regions of the viral genome (ORF A and ORF B) using primer sequences of the type species CHV1‐EP713. Both PCR products of each viral isolate were digested with four restriction endonucleases recognizing sequences of four nucleotides. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis revealed 41 genetically distinct RFLP types of CHV1 with 10 types occurring more than once. Identical RFLP types were detected nine times among viruses collected in the same location. Cluster analysis based on the RFLP banding patterns separated the viral isolates into five CHV1 clusters or subtypes. Most viral isolates (64 out of 72) grouped into one large cluster which comprised all viruses from Italy (including CHV1‐EP747), Switzerland, Crotia, Bosnia, Hungary, Greece, and the French island Corsica, as well as five out of 11 isolates from continental France. Two additional subtypes of CHV1 were found in France (one related to CHV1‐EP713) and one each in Spain and Germany. The Swiss samples collected over a period of 20 years showed that very little RFLP variation has evolved during this time. The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis of multiple introductions of CHV1 into Europe.
High-Performance 90-nm Dual-Gate nMOSFETs With Field-Plate Technology

In this letter, high-performance 90-nm dual-gate nMOSFETs with field-plate (FP) metal were demonstrated for high-power and low-frequency noise device applications. The pro posed dual-gate nMOSFETs with FP metals had a higher maximum oscillation frequency (fMAX)>; a lower noise power spectral density, and a higher output power (Pout) than traditional dual gate architecture. These improvements were obtained because two extra FP-induced depletion regions were present, and the total electrical field was suppressed, yielding high output resistance and higher output power. These FP-induced depletion regions also pushed the carriers into deeper channels and reduced the number of opportunities for carriers to be trapped by surface states between gate and drain terminals. Based on the dependence of the normalized noise power spectral density (SID/ID2) on the gate voltage, the FP dual gate had a low noise power spectral density and a low range of Hooge factors at high current.
Enhancing English Reading Comprehension by Integrating Direct Access to Digital Materials and Scaffolded Questionings in Paper Prints

This paper presents an augmented paper-based reading system which incorporated digital materials and the reading strategy of scaffolded questioning into printed materials to enhance students¡¦ English reading comprehension. QR codes were printed on paper prints to provide direct access to digital resources and scaffolded questions, smart phones were used to scan the QR codes and display digital learning materials. The results showed that the reading strategy of scaffolded questioning significantly improved students¡¦ English reading comprehension, but direct access to digital materials using QR codes did not. Implications of the study shed light on the future development of the system.
Financial Liberalisation and International Trends in Stock, Corporate Bond and Foreign Exchange Market Volatilities

This paper is one of four in this Working Paper series, focusing on financial liberalisation, along with those by Miller and Weller, Driscoll, and Blundell-Wignall and Browne. It examines the historical volatilities of stock, bond and foreign currency markets over alternative periods differing roughly by the degree of financial innovation and globalisation. It characterises trends in gross volatility, and the degree and manner in which volatility in financial markets has changed, the real economic consequences of transitory periods of excess volatility, and discusses some of the financial policies proposed to limit volatility. The results suggest that the past two decades have coincided with a world-wide increase in the average levels of volatility in stock returns, corporate bond yields and exchange rates, accompanied by a general increase in the strength of the positive correlations among national stock returns and the conditional volatilities of these returns. Evidence suggests . Le present document constitue l'une des quatre etudes de cette Serie consacree a la liberalisation financiere avec celles de Miller et Weller, de Driscoll, et de Blundell-Wignall et Browne. Il examine le concept de volatilite historique observee sur les marches d'actions, d'obligations et de change au cours de plusieurs periodes caracterisees par un etat d'avancement different du processus d'innovation et de globalisation financiere. Il cherche a caracteriser les tendances de la volatilite brute, l'ampleur et la forme des changements survenus dans la volatilite sur les marches financiers, les consequences sur l'economie reelle des periodes temporaires de volatilite excessives. Il traite egalement de quelques unes des politiques financieres proposees pour restreindre la volatilite. Les resultats suggerent que les deux dernieres decennies ont coincide avec une augmentation mondiale du niveau moyen de la volatilite de la rentabilite des actions, du rendement des obligations .
Effect of pressure on hydrogen bonding in glycerol: A molecular dynamics investigation

We report results of a molecular dynamics study of liquid glycerol at the experimental density and at a series of elevated densities corresponding in our model to pressures of up to 0.7 GPa. We find that the degree of hydrogen bonding increases with increasing pressure over the range studied, and that the width of the hydrogen bond angle distribution increases with increasing pressure. The relevance to the experimental finding by Cook et al. [R. L. Cook, H. E. King, C. A. Herbst, and D. R. Herschbach, J. Chem. Phys. 100, 5178 (1994)] that the fragility of glycerol increases with increasing pressure is discussed.
Firm‐level Determinants of Export Performance: A Meta‐analysis

A review article on the determinants of export performance seeking to extend the pioneering work of Aaby and Slater (1989). Applies the meta‐analytic vote‐counting method to a set of 100 studies of export performance published during 1978 to 1991. Identifies those elements of Aaby and Slater′s “strategic export model” which are significant and provides confidence intervals for the effect size of the most frequently studied variables.
Phase I Study of S-1 Combined with Irinotecan (CPT-11) in Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose, recommended dose and dose-limiting toxicities of irinotecan plus S-1 in advanced colorectal cancer. Patients and Methods: S-1 was administered orally at 80 mg/m2/day for 21 consecutive days followed by a 2-week rest. CPT-11 was given intravenously on days 1 and 15 of each course, at an initial dose of 60 mg/m2/day, stepping up to 80, 100, 120 or 140 mg/m2/day. Courses were repeated every 5 weeks, unless disease progression or severe toxicities were observed. Results: A total of 20 patients were entered in this study. The maximum tolerated dose of CPT-11 was considered to be 100 mg/m2, because 2 of 3 patients developed dose-limiting toxicities, such as anorexia, fatigue and diarrhea. Therefore, the recommended dose of CPT-11 was set at 80 mg/m2. Tumor responses were seen in 8 of 14 patients with measurable lesions. Conclusion: A combination of S-1 with CPT-11 is safe and can be recommended for further phase II studies in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.
Conjoint implications on job preferences: the moderating role of involvement

Attracting qualified staff is pivotal for organizational competitive advantages. However, little is known about which employer characteristics mainly drive job choice, or about how applicants evaluate certain organizational characteristics. Moreover, recent recruitment research hints that the influential weight of organizational characteristics on job choice may be contingent upon applicants' involvement. By using conjoint analysis, we test the impact of different organizational and job characteristics as well as the moderating role of involvement. The results suggest that involvement increases soft factors, while decreasing the effect of payment on job choice.
TAK1 regulates multiple protein kinase cascades activated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide

During inflammation the balance between cell activation and cell death is determined by the tight regulation of multiple intracellular enzyme cascades. Key regulatory steps often involve protein kinases. We show that the prototypical pro‐inflammatory molecule, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, activates multiple protein kinases such as p38, JNK, IKK‐β, and PKB/Akt via transforming growth factor β‐activated kinase‐1 (TAK1). We also show that TAK1 plays an important role in similar activation pathways triggered by interleukin‐1. Thus TAK1 must be considered as an important component of intracellular signaling pathways in cells involved in host responses to physiological and/or environmental stress signals during inflammation.
International Specialization and the Return to Capital Catia Batista

International Specialization and the Return to Capital How does factor accumulation affect the pattern of international specialization and returns to capital? We provide a new integrated treatment to this question using a panel of 44 developing and developed countries over the period 1976-2000. We confirm the HeckscherOhlin prediction that, with sufficient differences in country endowments, there is no factor price equalization and countries specialize in different subsets of goods. Innovatively, we obtain the returns to capital implied by this model: these are consistent with the Lucas paradox, which we explain after accounting for cross-country differences in the cost of capital goods. We also find that, along their development path, countries have often experienced structural change in the form of intra-industry specialization. Our findings are consistent with Ventura’s hypothesis that growth can be promoted in this way through ”beating the curse of diminishing returns” – indeed we find no decrease in the return to capital at any given capitallabor ratio despite capital accumulation by most countries within a cone of diversification. JEL Classification: F11, F21, O40