Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonmarket response strategies: a typology of market and nonmarket strategy interrelatedness

With the growing prevalence of nonmarket forces in the private sector, this manuscript sheds light on the different types of response strategies and their association with existing strategic management processes. Employing an inductive, case-based study of 30 firms operating in developing country contexts, this manuscript presents a typology of firm strategic response to nonmarket forces based on the degree to which market and nonmarket strategies intersect in the strategy formulation and strategy implementation processes. Four approaches are presented each accompanied by important and unique challenges along with guidance on how to overcome them.
The envelope gene and long terminal repeat sequences contribute to the pathogenic phenotype of helper-independent Friend viruses

Friend murine leukemia virus (F-MuLV) and Friend mink cell focus-inducing virus (Fr-MCF) are helper-independent murine retroviruses which induce a rapidly fatal erytholeukemia in NIH Swiss mice. Amphotropic clone 4070 (Ampho) is a murine retrovirus which does not cause leukemia in these animals. Mice inoculated with Ampho, an Fr-MCF/Ampho pseudotype, or F-MuLV developed leukemia in 0, 50, and 100% of animals, respectively. To identify the F-MuLV and Fr-MCF sequences responsible for leukemia, we constructed hybrid viral genomes between these viruses and Ampho, using subgenomic fragments of molecularly cloned viral DNA. Transfection of these hybrid viral DNAs into fibroblasts produces recombinant retroviruses. These new viruses are assayed in vivo for their ability to cause leukemia. Recombinant viruses constructed between the Ampho genome and the Fr-MCF envelope gene do not cause leukemia. Similarly, viruses constructed by using either the Fr-MCF long terminal repeat U3 region or the F-MuLV long terminal repeat U3 region and the remainder of the Ampho genome do not cause leukemia. However, if the Fr-MCF envelope gene plus the Fr-MCF U3 region are joined to Ampho, the resulting virus causes erythroleukemia in 14% of mice. Recombinant viruses made between the Fr-MCF envelope gene, the F-MuLV U3 region, and the remainder of the Ampho genome cause erythroleukemia in 38% of mice. This study demonstrates that both the envelope gene of Fr-MCF and the U3 regions of Fr-MCF and F-MuLV contain sequences which contribute to the leukemic phenotype of helper-independent Friend viruses.
Incorporating opportunity costs in strategic management research: The value of diversification and payout as opportunities forgone when reinvesting in the firm

This article explores the theoretical and empirical implications of incorporating forgone opportunities in strategic management research. Drawing on the well-studied literature examining whether firms should reinvest in focused businesses or pursue alternatives of diversifying and/or paying out excess cash to shareholders, hypotheses are developed for when diversification and payout policy, as the opportunity costs of reinvesting in the firm’s original businesses, will present firms with higher and lower opportunity costs. Empirical results suggest that the value of reinvestment in existing businesses is higher for firms facing lower opportunity costs of forgoing other alternatives (e.g. diversification and paying out) than for firms that have much higher opportunity costs of forgoing these same alternatives. Implications for incorporating opportunity costs into the diversification literature and the broader strategic management literature are also explored.
Achieving hemostasis in dermatology – Part 1: Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative management

As dermatological procedures continue to become increasingly complex, improved methods and tools to achieve appropriate hemostasis become necessary. The methods for achieving adequate hemostasis are variable and depend greatly on the type of procedure performed and the unique characteristics of the individual patient. In Part 1 of this review, we discuss the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative management of patients undergoing dermatologic surgery. We address oral medications and supplements that affect hemostasis, hemostatic anesthesia, and intraoperative interventions such as suture ligation and heat-generating cautery devices. In Part 2 of this review, we will discuss topical hemostats. The authors conducted an extensive literature review using the following keywords: “hemostasis,” “dermatology,” “dermatological surgery,” “dermatologic sutures,” “electrosurgery,” “hemostatic anesthesia,” and “laser surgery. ” Sources for this article were identified by searching the English literature in the Pubmed database for the time period from 1940 to March 2012. A thorough bibliography search was also conducted and key references were examined.
Common and rare variants of microRNA genes in autism spectrum disorders

Abstract Objectives. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators that have been shown to be involved in disease susceptibility. Here we explore the possible contribution of common and rare variants in miRNA genes in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods. A total of 350 tag SNPs from 163 miRNA genes were genotyped in 636 ASD cases and 673 controls. A replication study was performed in a sample of 449 ASD cases and 415 controls. Additionally, rare variants in 701 miRNA genes of 41 ASD patients were examined using whole-exome sequencing. Results. The most significant association in the discovery sample was obtained for the miR-133b/miR-206 cluster (rs16882131, P = 0.00037). The replication study did not reach significance. However, the pooled analysis (1,085 cases and 1,088 controls) showed association with two miRNA clusters: miR-133b/miR-206 (rs16882131, permP = 0.037) and miR-17/miR-18a/miR-19a/miR-20a/miR-19b-1/miR92a-1 (rs6492538, permP = 0.019). Both miR-133b and miR-206 regulate the MET gene, previously associated with ASD. Rare variant analysis identified mutations in several miRNA genes, among them miR-541, a brain-specific miRNA that regulates SYN1, found mutated in ASD. Conclusions. Although our results do not establish a clear role for miRNAs in ASD, we pinpointed a few candidate genes. Further exome and GWAS studies are warranted to get more insight into their potential contribution to the disorder.
Testing the Sustainability of Current Account Deficits in Developing Economies: Evidence from Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia

Sustaining balanced current accounts is a tremendous challenge that faces many developing countries. The growing gap between burgeoning imports for domestic consumption and investment needs and exports from uncompetitive export sectors in many of these countries usually generate current account deficits. This paper tests the long-run sustainability of current account deficits in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia using the bounds testing approach to cointegration. While the bounds test detects cointegration between exports and imports in three countries, the estimated coefficients of imports variables are correctly signed and statistically significant only in cases of Egypt and Tunisia. Additionally, the null hypothesis of unity coefficient of imports variable is strongly rejected in cases of Egypt and Morocco, suggesting that current account deficits are unsustainable in these two countries. The implication is that countries that violate their long-run intertemporal budget constraints may face painful adjustments in their economies that can result either in sudden exchange rate crisis or foreign debt accumulation.
Adaptive pooling over multiple trajectory attributes for action recognition

We present a new approach for feature pooling in human action recognition. Instead of partitioning videos at predefined uniform intervals in a spatial-temporal volume as done with spatial pyramid matching, our method adaptively partitions in a pooling attribute space, defined by multiple trajectory-based cues. The pooling attributes include individual spatial and temporal coordinates of a trajectory, as well as its motion saliency, curvature, and scale. To determine partitions of the attribute space in an adaptive manner, we utilize KD-trees that separate trajectories based on their distributions within the attribute space. The generated pooling volumes are jointly utilized for action recognition via SVM weights learned by Multiple Kernel Learning. Through extensive experimentation on major benchmarks, it is shown that this adaptive pooling over multiple trajectory attributes leads to significant improvements in recognition performance.
The effect of satellite entry on cable television prices and product quality

How has the entry of satellite television affected the pricing and product quality of incumbent cable firms' programming packages? I estimate a model in which firms compete over both price and product quality (as determined by what channels are offered). Satellite entry typically causes cable firms to raise quality and lower price. However, in some markets, cable optimally responds by raising both price and quality or by lowering both price and quality. A counterfactual scenario that eliminates quality competition results in, on average, softer price competition and lower aggregate consumer surplus, but greater surplus for consumers with weaker preferences for quality. Copyright (c) 2010, RAND.
The monoclonal antibody SH-2, raised against human mesenchymal stem cells, recognizes an epitope on endoglin (CD105).

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent cells resident in the bone marrow throughout adulthood which have the capacity to differentiate into cartilage, bone, fat, muscle, and tendon. A number of monoclonal antibodies raised against human MSCs have been shown to react with surface antigens on these cells in vitro. A protein of molecular mass 92 kDa was immunoprecipitated using the SH-2 monoclonal antibody. This was purified and identified by peptide sequencing analysis and mass spectrometry as endoglin (CD105), the TGF-beta receptor III present on endothelial cells, syncytiotrophoblasts, macrophages, and connective tissue stromal cells. Endoglin on MSCs potentially plays a role in TGF-beta signalling in the control of chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs and also in mediating interactions between MSCs and haematopoietic cells in the bone marrow microenvironment.
The Causes of Trade Globalization: A Political-Economy and World-Systems Approach

Although the sociological discipline has produced a rich literature on globalization during the past half-century, sociologists are no closer today to agreeing on the causes of trade globalization than they were in decades past. Thus, the main purpose of this dissertation is to study the causes of trade globalization from a political-economy and world-systems approach through an empirical assessment of the main sociological theories of globalization: network society, global capitalism, world-system, and world polity.The empirical evidence shows that the network society, world-system, and world polity approaches, provide the most consistent explanation of trade globalization. That is, the fluctuations in trade integration experienced since the early-1800s is largely the result of: advancements in technology and their ability to decrease the cost of freight; the geopolitical stability and free trade policies endorsed by hegemonic nation-states; and the expansion of influential international governmental organizations (IGOs) such as the United Nations and its propensity to decrease uncertainty and malfeasance by fostering trust, empathy, and sympathy, between states.In addition, the debate between world-system and world polity theories is given particular attention given the heated nature of the debate. The evidence shows that the effect of hegemony on trade globalization does not decrease during the postwar period as suggested by world polity theorists. Instead, the world-system perspective offers the most consistent and robust explanation of trade globalization regardless of the time-period examined. Additionally, the effect of IGOs on trade does not increase after World War II as argued by students of the world polity perspective. Contrary to their assertions, the expansion of IGOs is not found to be an important predictor of trade globalization.
Artificial Noise Injection for Securing Single-Antenna Systems

We propose a novel artificial noise (AN) injection scheme for wireless systems over quasi-static fading channels, in which a single-antenna transmitter sends confidential messages to a half-duplex receiver in the presence of an eavesdropper. Different from classical AN injection schemes, which rely on a multiantenna transmitter or external helpers, our proposed scheme is applicable to the scenario, where the legitimate transceivers are very simple. We analyze the performance of the proposed scheme and optimize the design of the transmission. Our results highlight that perfect secrecy is always achievable by properly designing the AN injection scheme.
Predicting Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

This paper investigates what predicts corporate governance in emerging markets. Specifically, we examine what predicts governance changes and the level of governance itself. To conduct this study, we utilize a unique dataset from AllianceBernstein that consists of monthly firm-level corporate governance ratings for 24 emerging market countries for almost seven years. Since the AllianceBernstein ratings are time-series data, they allow us to determine the direction of change in a firm’s corporate governance, and the timing of these changes. Using these data, we find two main results. First, as firms grow they are more likely to improve their governance. Second, the level of political risk where the firm resides is negatively and significantly related to the level of firm governance but positively and significantly related to changes in firm governance. Hence, firm governance is better in countries with lower political risk but firms are more likely to improve their governance in countries with higher political risk.
Chicken homolog of the mos proto-oncogene

We compared the sequence and properties of the chicken mos homolog with the previously characterized mouse and human c-mos genes. Sequence analysis revealed one major open reading frame of 1,047 base pairs encoding a protein of 349 amino acids. Both the nucleotide sequence and the deduced amino acid sequence showed 62% overall homology to mouse and human c-mos, but regions of higher conservation (approximately 70%) occurred in the putative ATP-binding and kinase domains. We detected mos transcripts by Northern (RNA) analyses in RNA prepared from chicken and quail ovaries and testes. Evidence for low levels of mos RNA expression in adult chicken heart, kidney, and spleen and in the entire embryo was obtained by S1 nuclease protection experiments. In contrast to the low transforming efficiency of human c-mos when linked to a mouse retroviral long terminal repeat element, chicken c-mos transformed NIH 3T3 cells as efficiently as mouse c-mos did. We also show that chicken primary embryo fibroblasts were morphologically altered when infected with an avian retroviral vector containing the chicken c-mos coding region.
CONSUMPTION STRATIFICATION IN CHINA: AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN STIRRING UP ECONOMY

China is experiencing a transition from a planned to a market economy and undertak ing institutional reform. During this period, it is hard to use occupation and income as the major indicators for conducting social stratification, given the fact that a dual-track system remains in income distribution and that hidden (or invisible) income is perme ating. Obviously, consumption structure is rising to be a more reliable indicator depicting the real condition of society. Based on a survey conducted in 1999 in Chongqing, a municipality in southwestern China, the authors of the article analyzed the social stratification condition in some elementary consumption fields, and worked into the relationship between consumption stratification and other social stratification, thus making a conclusion that educational background is the major factor among many exerting influence on consumption stratification. Therefore, while making the policy to accelerate economic development through stimulating consumption, varied measures should be taken to target different social strata according to their orientation of con sumption.
Marked reduction in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients: causes and consequences.

BACKGROUND The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in hemodialysis (HD) patients has decreased significantly in the course of the past decade in most HD units. The objective of this study is to analyze the causes of this reduction and obtain additional information for the near future that could be of use for health services planning. METHODS All patients who underwent HD in the Province of Cordoba, Spain, between January 1992 and December 2002 were studied. We analyzed annual exclusions from the HD program of HCV-positive patients (deaths and kidney transplantations) and inclusions (predialysis patients, patients with chronic graft rejection, and HD patients with acute HCV infection). The trend in the time series of measurements was calculated by means of exponential smoothing with 2 parameters. RESULTS In December 1992, the prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) was 24% (N = 54), whereas by December 2002, it had decreased to 9.2% (N = 35). Of 657 predialysis patients included in the maintenance HD program, 2.8% (n = 19) were positive for anti-HCV. Annual mean incidence of acute HCV infection was 0.5%, and the median was 0.32%. Mean crude annual mortality rates were 12.2% for anti-HCV-positive patients versus 9.9% for anti-HCV-negative patients. The trend in this time series suggests that by 2006, the prevalence of anti-HCV in HD patients will be approximately 2.5%. CONCLUSION Causes implicated in the reduction in prevalence of HCV infection in HD patients are a greater mortality rate, stabilization of the incidence of acute HCV infection, and a low percentage of HCV infection in predialysis patients. By the end of 2006, the rate of HCV infection in HD patients will be very close to that of the predialysis population.
Towards a gaze-independent hybrid-BCI based on SSVEPs, alpha-band modulations and the P300

In recent years it has been shown to be possible to create a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) using non-invasive electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements of covert visual spatial attention. For example, that both Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP) and parieto-occipital alpha band activity have been shown to be sensitive to covert attention and this has been exploited to provide simple communication control without the need for any physical movement. In this study, potential improvements in the speed and accuracy of such a BCI are investigated by exploring the possibility of incorporating a P300 task into an SSVEP covert attention paradigm. Should this be possible it would pave the way for a gaze-independent hybrid BCI based on three somewhat independent EEG signals. Within a well-established SSVEP-based attention paradigm we show that it is possible to make a binary classification of covert attention using just the P300 with an average accuracy of 71% across three subjects. We also validate previously published research by showing robust attention effects on the SSVEP and alpha band activity within this paradigm. In future work, it is hoped that by integrating the three signals into a hybrid BCI a significant improvement in performance will be forthcoming leading to an easily usable real time communication device for patients with severe disabilities such as Locked-In Syndrome (LIS).
Study of the Relation between Sleep Disorder and Depression at Late Stage of Pregnancy

Women are subject to depression during pregnancy in the childbearing age, which is associated with serious complications for the mother, fetus, infant and the family. Its cause is not known. Recently, sleep disorder has been on the focus as causing depression. This study was conducted to determine the relation between sleep disorder and depression during pregnancy. This prospective describe-analytical study was conducted on the population of women admitted hospital of Tamin Ejtemaee in city of Hamedan in west of Iran in 2010. The study sample included161 normal (non depressed confirmed by the beck test) pregnant woman who were selected by convenient non-probability methods. With a gestational age of 28-30 weeks, they were divided into two groups of sleep disorder and normal sleep by The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire. They were homogenized as for the confounders. On 38-40 weeks, sleep disorder was measured again and they completed the beck Questionnaire. 11.4% of women with normal sleep and 56.2% of women with sleep disorder (measured on the 28-30 weeks) were found depressed on 38-40 weeks and sleep disorder had increased the chances of depression by 9 times. (p<0/001) 14.6% of women with normal sleep and 56.9% of women with sleep disorder (measured on the 38-40 weeks) were found depressed and sleep disorder had increased the chances of depression by 7 times. (p<0/001) our findings indicated that sleep quality at early third trimester and late third trimester in pregnancy predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms at later stage in pregnancy.
Rare Disease Discovery: An Optimized Disease Ranking System

The initial diagnosis of rare diseases is difficult because they are infrequent and doctors do not often see or recognize their symptoms. Developing tools to assist in this diagnosis would provide a way to facilitate medical practice in this area. The broader goal of this project is to develop such a tool, which we name rare disease discovery (http://disease-discovery.udl.cat). This tool is designed to identify rare diseases on the basis of a patient's symptoms. To create it, several software entities were designed and integrated. First, a database of symptoms associated with every human rare disease known was designed and implemented. This database was derived from information available from Orphanet. Orphanet provides gold-standard data regarding rare diseases in the world. Second, a user-friendly website was also designed, implemented, and connected to the database. This website connects the users, the database, and the third software entity, a disease prediction engine. Overall, we create an accurate, efficient, and user-friendly diagnosis tool that can be quickly learnt and handled by medical doctors for the prediction of rare diseases.