Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The GASB No. 34 Impact of Budget-to-Actual Variances on Bond Ratings: Evidence from U.S. Cities

ABSTRACT: We investigate the managerial incentives and debt cost effects associated with budget-to-actual variance disclosures required by the GASB No. 34 reporting model. Empirically, we document associations between variances and municipal bond ratings in a sample of large U.S. cities over the period 2003–2006. We find a disproportionate share of favorable variances for revenues, expenditures, and the net (i.e., surplus/deficit). Further, we show that revenue variances in either direction are associated with lower bond ratings, i.e., precision is important in predicting revenues. In contrast, favorable expenditure variances are associated with higher bond ratings, i.e., imprecision may be tolerated if the variance is favorable. These associations exist despite indirect evidence of managerial incentives to create budgetary slack for both revenues and expenditures. The findings suggest that these disclosures required in the GASB No. 34 financial reporting model indicate factors that influence municipal de.
Bioresponsive polymer coated drug nanorods for breast cancer treatment

Ineffective drug release at the target site is among the top challenges for cancer treatment. This reflects the facts that interaction with the physiological condition can denature active ingredients of drugs, and low delivery to the disease microenvironment leads to poor therapeutic outcomes. We hypothesize that depositing a thin layer of bioresponsive polymer on the surface of drug nanoparticles would not only protect drugs from degradation but also allow the release of drugs at the target site. Here, we report a one-step process to prepare bioresponsive polymer coated drug nanorods (NRs) from liquid precursors using the solvent diffusion method. A thin layer (10.3 ± 1.4 nm) of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) polymer coating was deposited on the surface of camptothecin (CPT) anti-cancer drug NRs. The mean size of PCL-coated CPT NRs was 500.9 ± 91.3 nm length × 122.7 ± 10.1 nm width. The PCL polymer coating was biodegradable at acidic pH 6 as determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. CPT drugs were released up to 51.5% when PCL coating dissolved into non-toxic carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Trastuzumab (TTZ), a humanized IgG monoclonal antibody, was conjugated to the NR surface for breast cancer cell targeting. Combination treatments using CPT and TTZ decreased the HER-2 positive BT-474 breast cancer cell growth by 66.9 ± 5.3% in vitro. These results suggest effective combination treatments of breast cancer cells using bioresponsive polymer coated drug delivery.
Glove leakage rates as a function of latex content and brand: caveat emptor.

HYPOTHESIS That water leakage rates and protection against blood-borne pathogens should not vary as a function of latex content among Food and Drug Administration-approved gloves, allowing avoidance of unnecessary latex exposure. DESIGN AND METHODS Eighteen different glove types were purchased and tested using the American Society for Testing Methods Standard Test for Detecting Holes in medical gloves, which involves mounting the glove on a plastic tube, pouring a liter of tap water into the glove, and visually inspecting the glove initially and after 2 minutes. Half of the gloves were tested straight from the package and half after a standardized manipulation. SETTING A university hospital. RESULTS Eleven sterile glove types (5 high latex content, 4 low latex content, and 2 nonlatex content), and 7 nonsterile examination glove types (2 high latex content, 2 low latex content, and 3 nonlatex content) were tested (total tested, 3720 gloves). Leakage rates were greater for examination than for surgical gloves (relative risk [RR], 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.96), for manipulated than for unused gloves (RR, 2.89, 5% CI, 1.98-4.22), and for low latex content surgical gloves (RR, 2.58, 95% CI, 1.35-4.92) or nonlatex content surgical gloves (RR, 4.93, 95% CI, 2.35-10.32) than for high latex content surgical gloves. Significant differences were observed among low latex content surgical gloves (P</=.001) and all types of examination gloves (P =.0015) especially after the standardized manipulation (leakage rates ranging from 0%-30%). CONCLUSIONS Food and Drug Administration approval should not be interpreted as suggesting equality of different manufacturers' products. Some low latex and nonlatex content gloves are very resistant to leakage and should provide an effective barrier for preventing exposure to blood-borne pathogens, while others may not.
The Effects of Involvement and Social Support on Frontline Employee Outcomes: Evidence From the Albanian Hotel Industry

Using data from the Albanian hotel industry, this study developed and tested a model that examined the relationships of psychological involvement and social support with frontline employees' outcomes. The results revealed that family involvement and family support increased family satisfaction, while job involvement and work support amplified job satisfaction. Contrary to our predictions, work support did not significantly affect family satisfaction and family support did not demonstrate any significant relationship with job satisfaction. The results lent empirical support to the significant negative effects of both work and family support on turnover intentions. The results also showed that lower job satisfaction led to higher turnover intentions. In contrast, family satisfaction was found to exacerbate employees' turnover intentions. Implications of the results and future research directions are presented in the study.
Onycholysis Associated with Weekly Administration of Paclitaxel

OBJECTIVE: To report an unusual reaction associated with weekly administration of paclitaxel. CASE SUMMARIES: Onycholysis was seen in four women with recurrent ovarian cancer being treated with low-dose, weekly paclitaxel. Two of the patients had previously received higher doses of paclitaxel on an every-three-week schedule without similar reactions. Onycholysis developed between weeks 10–13 of treatment in three of the patients. In the fourth patient, it developed shortly after initiation of weekly paclitaxel. None of the reactions required dose adjustments or discontinuation of therapy. Direct toxicity to the nail bed or inhibition of angiogenesis are possible mechanisms for this reaction. DISCUSSION: Onycholysis, separation of the nail from the nail bed, is an infrequent adverse effect of drug therapy. Antineoplastic drugs have previously been reported to cause onycholysis, pigmentation, bands, thickening or thinning of the nail bed, and nail shedding. Nail changes with the taxanes, primarily docetaxel, are reported in up to 30–40% of patients. Paclitaxel is not commonly associated with dermatologic reactions, although localized skin reactions and tissue necrosis have been reported. Nail changes, pigmentation or discoloration of the nail bed, occur in 2% of patients receiving paclitaxel. CONCLUSIONS: Onycholysis is an uncommon reaction that may occur in some patients receiving weekly, low-dose paclitaxel therapy. The reaction is not life-threatening and does not warrant discontinuation of therapy. However, clinicians should be aware of the possibility of this effect and be prepared to advise patients who develop signs of nail changes.
Cost‐effectiveness of human papillomavirus vaccination for adolescent girls in Punjab state: Implications for India's universal immunization program

Introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for adolescent girls is being considered in the Punjab state of India. However, evidence regarding cost‐effectiveness is sought by policy makers when making this decision. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the incremental cost per quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs) gained with introduction of the HPV vaccine compared with a no‐vaccination scenario.
Health travel motivation and activities: insights from a mature market – Switzerland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate predictors (stated motivation and reported leisure activities) of health travel as opposed to a control group incorporating all other travel of the Swiss resident population, a well‐matured market.Design/methodology/approach – An a priori segmentation of more than 11,000 trip cases (health travel as opposed to non‐health travel) was chosen as means of methodological concept, and stepwise logistic regressions of 25 types of motivations and 72 types of activities towards group membership served as means of analysis.Findings – There appears to be a mature perception of health travel in the developed Swiss market, comprising rewarding elements of beauty, indulgence, and regeneration combined with demanding elements such as (challenging and stimulating) sports, including mountain biking, hiking, and golf.Originality/value – The paper enhances the still slim body of knowledge on health travel.
Implementation of an annotation service on the WWW-Virtual Notes

We present the implementation of Virtual Notes, an annotation service on the World Wide Web using only standard Internet technology. Therefore Virtual Notes are immediately usable by anyone on the WWW without preparation. This makes the solution especially suited for environments lacking a coherent workgroup, e.g. teaching or research. Also described are the user interface, several use cases and the administrative side of the annotation service, where the overhead for employing Virtual Notes has been minimized.
Valuation of final-salary pension schemes

1.1 On coming into pensions consultancy after many years in a life office I looked for an indication of current thinking on the valuation of funded pension schemes. Official guidance by the profession is confined to the 1969 booklet from the Institute and Faculty; the memorandum on professional conduct concerns itself with independence and how we present ourselves. The Institute's examination textbooks pass over the main objectives lightly and concentrate on detail. While there have been papers on many aspects of pensions, they all seem to skirt the fundamental principles of valuing final salary schemes. 1.2 This paper attempts to go some way to filling the gap. It provides an opportunity to review and discuss current practice. I have found it particularly illuminating to compare the way in which practice between the United Kingdom and North America diverges.
A fractional order PID tuning algorithm for a class of fractional order plants

Fractional order dynamic model could model various real materials more adequately than integer order ones and provide a more adequate description of many actual dynamical processes. Fractional order controller is naturally suitable for these fractional order models. In this paper, a fractional order PID controller design method is proposed for a class of fractional order system models. Better performance using fractional order PID controllers can be achieved and is demonstrated through two examples with a comparison to the classical integer order PID controllers for controlling fractional order systems.
Eight new species of Siphoderina Manter, 1934 (Digenea, Cryptogonimidae) infecting Lutjanidae and Haemulidae (Perciformes) off Australia

We report nine species, eight of which are new, of cryptogonimids belonging to Siphoderina Manter, 1934 from the intestine and pyloric caeca of five species of Lutjanidae (Lutjanus adetii, L. argentimaculatus, L. carponotatus, L. fulviflamma and L. russelli) and one species of Haemulidae (Plectorhinchus gibbosus) recovered from Heron and Lizard Islands off the Great Barrier Reef, Moreton Bay and Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. We also report the metacercariae of two species from an atherinid fish, Atherinomorus capricornensis, from near Heron Island. Morphological analysis of the species reported here was augmented by DNA sequence analyses utilizing data from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2, large subunit (LSU) and 5.8S nuclear ribosomal DNA to explore the integrity of the species and their biogeographic distributions. The analysis found strong support for the integrity of Siphoderina and found that it is the sister-taxon to Beluesca Miller et Cribb, 2007. Sequencing included multiple replicates and no intraspecific variation was observed between any of the taxa over the rDNA regions examined. Sequence data from the ITS and LSU regions were analysed with that of species of Beluesca, Caulanus Miller et Cribb, 2007, Chelediadema Miller et Cribb, 2007, Latuterus Miller et Cribb, 2007, Neometadena Hafeezullah et Siddiqi, 1970 and Retrovarium Miller et Cribb, 2007 which all also infect lutjanids or haemulids. Some closely related species of Siphoderina infect only distantly related fishes among the haemulids and lutjanids whereas others form clusters in association with clusters of closely related lutjanids. This pattern suggests a history of some co-evolutionary divergence together with significant host switching. Pseudallacanthochasmus Velasquez, 1961 is considered a synonym of Siphoderina and the new combinations S. grandispinus (Velasquez, 1961) n. comb. and S. magnivesiculum (Gaevskaya et Aljoshkina, 1985) n. comb. are proposed. As a result of the new species described here and these new combinations, Siphoderina now contains 43 species, making it by far the largest genus of the Cryptogonimidae.
Antibodies to Conserved Pneumococcal Antigens Correlate with, but Are Not Required for, Protection against Pneumococcal Colonization Induced by Prior Exposure in a Mouse Model

ABSTRACT In mice following intranasal exposure to Streptococcus pneumoniae, protection against pneumococcal colonization was independent of antibody but dependent on CD4+ T cells. Nonetheless, concentrations of antibodies to three conserved pneumococcal antigens correlated with protection against colonization. Concentrations of antibodies to conserved pneumococcal antigens may be correlates of protection without being effectors of protection.
Transmit mode selection schemes for distributed coordinated transmission of data traffic

Coordinated Multi-Point transmission schemes have a large potential to increase spectral efficiency in cellular networks. While the physical layer aspects of coordinated transmission received a lot of attention, its integration into higher layers yet remains to be investigated. In this work, we analyze the transmit mode selection for coordinated and uncoordinated transmission of data traffic. We propose two transmit mode selection schemes to decide whether to use coordinated transmission for an object or not. One scheme is based on object size, the other one is based on queue state. We derive the optimal parameter settings for our selective coordination schemes and show how they improve system performance.
Economic Impact of Tourism on Fiji's Economy: Empirical Evidence from the Computable General Equilibrium Model

Tourism is Fiji's largest industry, earning over F$500 million in foreign exchange and employing around 40,000 people. The tourism industry over the last decade has grown at an annual rate of 10–12%. The expansion of tourism, which generates more expenditure in the economy, is likely to have implications for other industries. In this paper, the aim is to delineate the long-run impact of a 10% increase in tourist expenditure on Fiji's economy. To achieve this, the author uses a computable general equilibrium model. Among the key findings are that a 10% increase in tourist expenditure in Fiji will increase GDP by 0.5% and contribute to an improvement in the balance of payments, real consumption will increase by 0.72% and real national welfare will increase by 0.67%. It is also found that an expansion of tourism will lead to an appreciation of the exchange rate, together with an increase in domestic prices and wage rates, and so traditional export sectors will experience a decline in their export competitiveness. In Fiji's case there is evidence that the increases in tourism and non-traditional exports outweigh the fall in non-traditional exports caused by an expansion of tourism.
Orexin modulates brown adipose tissue thermogenesis

Abstract Non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays an important role in thermoregulation. In addition, activations of BAT have important implications for energy homeostasis due to the metabolic consumption of energy reserves entailed in the production of heat in this tissue. In this conceptual overview, we describe the role of orexins/hypocretins within the central nervous system in the modulation of thermogenesis in BAT under several physiological conditions. Within this framework, we consider potential neural mechanisms underlying the pathological conditions associated with the absence of the central orexinergic modulation of BAT thermogenesis and energy expenditure. Overall, the experimental basis for our understanding of the role of central orexin in regulating body temperature and energy homeostasis provides an illustrative example that highlights several general principles and caveats that should help guide future investigations of the neurochemical regulation of thermogenesis and metabolism.
On the Optimality of Restricting Credit: Inflation Avoidance and Productivity

The paper presents a model in which the consumer uses up resources in order to avoid the inflation tax through the use of exchange credit. In an example economy without capital, the credit tax is optimal when the resource loss from credit use dominates the productivity effect and the inefficiency of substitution towards leisure as a result of the credit tax. The paper also examines second-best inflation policy in this context, given a credit tax. It then extends the economy to an endogenous growth setting and shows how restricting inflation avoidance can increase productivity.
Distributed Relay Selection Scheme in Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Systems

Conventional cooperative relaying schemes usually process the network CSI in a centralized way by setting one central node where decisions, such as relay selection, are made by relying on information from all channels. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed relay selection scheme for Decode-and- Forward networks. In this scheme, each relay decides to participate in cooperation based on link status of its own, thereby eliminating the need for relay coordination. Outage performance of the proposed distributed system is then investigated and general results applicable to an arbitrary number of relays are provided in closed-form.
Effect of glycosylation on the structure of Erythrina corallodendron lectin

The three‐dimensional structure of the recombinant form of Erythrina corallodendron lectin, complexed with lactose, has been elucidated by X‐ray crystallography at 2.55 Å resolution. Comparison of this non‐glycosylated structure with that of the native glycosylated lectin reveals that the tertiary and quaternary structures are identical in the two forms, with local changes observed at one of the glycosylation sites (Asn17). These changes take place in such a way that hydrogen bonds with the neighboring protein molecules in rECorL compensate those made by the glycan with the protein in ECorL. Contrary to an earlier report, this study demonstrates that the glycan attached to the lectin does not influence the oligomeric state of the lectin. Identical interactions between the lectin and the non‐covalently bound lactose in the two forms indicate, in line with earlier reports, that glycosylation does not affect the carbohydrate specificity of the lectin. The present study, the first of its kind involving a glycosylated protein with a well‐defined glycan and the corresponding deglycosylated form, provides insights into the structural aspects of protein glycosylation. Proteins 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
EXPLICIT METHODS FOR DERIVED CATEGORIES OF SHEAVES

These notes aim to complement the lecture notes of Căldăraru by providing an introduction to explicit methods in the study of derived categories in algebraic geometry. The bounded derived category of coherent sheaves on certain very simple algebraic varieties is equivalent to the bounded derived category of finitely generated modules over an algebra. We provide an introduction to this circle of ideas with a focus on explicit examples.
The Community-household: Responding to Housing Abandonment in New York City

Abstract A flood of landlord-abandoned property fell to city ownership in New York; in response, the city developed programs transferring ownership to tenants, community groups, and screened landlords. A study of tenants in buildings sold through those programs revealed different patterns of response among the more successful cooperatives, co-ops still in crisis, and rental buildings; there were some similarities as well. Gender, race, and age affected tenant response. We conducted 87 intensive interviews, primarily with black Harlem residents, used additional data from 131 survey respondents, and then developed a Community-Household Model based on resource sharing among households, combined with community and government supports. We discuss the implications of the model for planning practice.
Effect of a FastSkin suit on submaximal freestyle swimming.

PURPOSE Nine male collegiate swimmers swam three 183-m freestyle trials at "moderate, moderately hard, and hard" paces while wearing a traditional brief-style suit and on another occasion while wearing a newly designed suit covering the torso and legs with a material designed to reduce drag (FS). METHODS Postswim blood lactate concentration, V0(2), and rating of perceived exertion were measured. Average stroke length and rate, and breakout distance were determined for each swimming trial. Passive drag and buoyant force were also determined on swimmers while wearing both suits. RESULTS Swimmers swam at a higher mean velocity while wearing the FS (pooled mean % difference = 2%), but this was accompanied by a significant increase in V0(2) (4% difference, P< 0.05) and blood lactate concentration (10% difference, P< 0.05). Comparison of physiological responses at standardized freestyle swimming speeds of 1.4 and 1.6 m.s revealed no significant difference between the two suit conditions. Passive drag of the swimmers while being towed was not significantly different between the suits. Swimmers were significantly more buoyant while wearing the brief-style suit than the FS suit (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION These findings provide no evidence of either physical or physiological benefits of wearing these suits during submaximal freestyle swimming.
Color contrast processing in human striate cortex

Color constancy refers to the unchanging nature of the perceived color of an object despite considerable variation in the wavelength composition of the light illuminating it. The color contrasts between objects and their backgrounds play a crucial role in color constancy. We tested a patient whose right striate cortex had been removed and demonstrated that he made no use of color contrast in judging color appearance but instead made judgments based simply on wavelength comparison. This was shown by presenting pairs of colored stimuli against a background color that gradually changed across space. When presented with such displays, both normal observers and those with cerebral achromatopsia (cortical color blindness) judge the color appearance of such stimuli on the basis of the chromatic contrast the stimuli make against their background rather than on the physical wavelengths of the light emitted from them. However, our patient made no such use of color contrast but, instead, made color discriminations simply on the basis of wavelength composition. This is consistent with recent findings from monkey electrophysiology that identify cells in early cortical visual areas that signal local contrast and so contribute to the likely mechanism for achieving color constancy.