Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the target cell receptor for IgE. II. Polyacrylamide gel analysis of the surface IgE receptor from normal rat mast cells and from rat basophilic leukemia cells.

Purified rat peritoneal mast cells (RMC) and cultured rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells were surface labeled with 125I by using lactoperoxidase, incubated with unlabeled rat monoclonal IgE and subjected to solubilization by treatment with Nonidet P-40 (NP-40). With both cell types significant amounts of radioiodinated material could be specifically precipitated by a "sandwich" system consisting of rabbit anti-rat epsilon-chain and goat anti-rabbit Ig. The precipitates were dissociated with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and urea and subsequently analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With RMC three radioactive bands were seen. One corresponded to IgE present on the RMC at the time of isolation. A small band migrating in the region of light chain was seen with both sepcific (anti-IgE) and control precipitates. It showed no demonstrable relationship to IgE. The major radioactive band corresponded to a m.w. of 62,000. This band was dependent upon the presence of IgE and was not found when non-IgE binding control cells were used. With RBL cells, only the IgE-dependent 62,000 dalton peak was present. Saturation of the IgE receptor sites of the RMC or RBL cells before lactoperoxidase labeling almost totally eliminated this radioactive band, indicating that cell-bound IgE rendered this membrane component inaccessible to the radiolabel. These results strongly suggest that this cellular component is identical, at least in part, with the target cell surface receptor for reaginic antibody. The data also further support the hypothesis that the neoplastic RBL cells have a normal surface receptor for IgE.
The Japanese Economy and Economic Policy in Light of the East Asian Financial Crisis

The depth and breadth of the East Asian financial crisis has added a sense of acute urgency for some concrete and credible measures by policy-makers to revitalise the Japanese economy. While steps to be taken for the long-run competitiveness and economic revitalisation of the Japanese economy are clear (with the only doubt being about whether and how effectively they will be implemented), those needed to boost aggregate demand in the shortrun are far less obvious. Given the near-zero nominal interest rates in Japan, most observers argue that an expansionary monetary policy would be ineffective. However, as with Krugman (1998a,b), we argue that once a distinction is made between real and nominal interest rates, it is logically possible for monetary policy to be effective in raising demand if it is able to create inflationary expectations. This could probably be effected through explicit announcements by the Bank of Japan of the intention to target a certain inflation rate in the future.
Curbing emissions through (efficient) carbon liabilities: A note from a climate skeptic's perspective

We propose a new climate policy that is efficient, robust, and asks for payments proportional to realized climate damage. In each period, countries are made liable for their share of the responsibility in the current damage. Efficiency follows from countries' anticipations of climate change, hence of future payments. Robustness is achieved thanks to the introduction of a market for carbon liabilities. Rather than being based on the expected discounted sum of future marginal damage (as with a carbon tax or tradable emission permits) our proposal relies only on observed realized damage and on the well-documented emission history of countries.
Energy shocks and emerging alternative energy technologies

Since the availability of cheap and suitable energy underpins in many ways both developed and developing economies, it is crucial that national economies are prepared for potential energy shocks. Shocks may arise from physical constraints, such as a peak in the national and global production rate of oil, or from institutional constraints, such as economic incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This article reviews the potential and implications of alternative energy technologies intended to avoid or alleviate such shocks. It is suggested that system-wide analysis is required to properly assess all alternatives.
Norepinephrine or isoproterenol stimulation of pineal N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin content in the Syrian hamster is restricted to the second half of the daily dark phase.

Seven experiments were performed to investigate the sensitivity of the hamster pineal gland to exogenously administered norepinephrine (NE). In these studies NE (1 mg/kg) administration was preceded (10 min earlier) by the injection of the catecholamine uptake inhibitor desmethylimipramine (DMI; 5 mg/kg). When DMI and NE were given at night, the hamsters were exposed to light to depress pineal N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin values to low levels; the drugs were then given 20 (DMI) and 30 (NE) min later, and the subsequent changes in pineal N-acetyltransferase and melatonin were monitored. The combination of DMI and NE administration anytime during the normal light period or during the first 4 h of the normal dark period failed to stimulate either pineal N-acetyltransferase activity or melatonin levels. Conversely, DMI followed by NE (injected either intraperitoneally or subcutaneously) in the second half of the dark phase typically stimulated pineal melatonin production. Likewise, the NE agonist isoproterenol promoted pineal melatonin production only in the latter half of the dark phase. If hamsters were exposed to continual light at night or if they were superior cervical ganglionectomized, a procedure which sympathetically denervates the pineal gland, the stimulatory effect of NE on melatonin production was significantly suppressed. Thus, the hamster pineal gland is sensitive to NE only during the latter half of the normal dark period and both darkness and an intact sympathetic innervation to the pineal gland are required for the gland to develop maximal sensitivity to the catecholamine. Also, the hamster pineal seems not to exhibit a supersensitivity response to NE following a period of reduced exposure to the catecholamine. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Does Traditional Guanxi Matter for Smallholders in Modern Markets? A Structural Equation Modeling

The aim of this study is to investigate the role smallholders? personal relationships on their market behavior in China. A survey with 167 vegetable farmers showed that guanxi networks have significant effects on interpersonal trust and transaction specific investments for smallholders. Guanxi networks also help smallholders to get access to modern high-value market outlets (such as supermarkets and international markets) and encourage relationshipbased transactions. Furthermore, smallholders? high-value market participation will be further enhanced by trust buyer-seller relationships. Integrated buyer-seller relationships increase the contracts application in vegetables business in China.
Attention and depressive symptoms in chronic phase after traumatic brain injury

Objective: To study whether attention deficits differ between TBI (traumatic brain injury) patients with and without depressive symptoms. Method: The study group (n= 61, mean age = 59 years) consisted of symptomatic TBI patients injured on average 30 years earlier. They were studied with a broad range of attention tasks including computerized methods. The patients were divided into those with depressive symptoms (n= 32) and those without (n= 29), according to the short form of the Beck depression scale with a cut-off score of 5. In addition, a diagnosis of major depression was applied according to the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) (n= 6). The groups with depression or depressive symptoms were compared with the non-depressed TBI patients and with an age- and education-matched healthy control group (n= 31). Results: Cognitive methods that require flexibility (Trail making B, Card sorting, Word fluency) and working memory (Subtraction test) were sensitive to discriminate TBI patients without depressive symptoms from the control subjects (p< 0.001). Only a few methods were able to discriminate the TBI patients with depressive symptoms from those without (p< 0.001 for Simple reaction time, p< 0.003 for Vigilance test). The depressed TBI patients (assessed by SCAN) did not differ from the non-depressed TBI patients in attention functions. Conclusions: The results suggest that problems in complex attention processing are more specific to TBI, while slowness in simple psychomotor speed and impaired sustained attention may be mostly related to depressive symptoms in patients with chronic TBI sequelae.
To Guide Or Not to Guide? Causes and Consequences of Stopping Quarterly Earnings Guidance

In recent years, quarterly earnings guidance has been harshly criticized for inducing managerial short-termism and other ills. Managers are, therefore, urged by influential institutions to cease guidance. We examine empirically the causes of such guidance cessation and find that poor operating performance - decreased earnings, missing analyst forecasts, and lower anticipated profitability - is the major reason firms stop quarterly guidance. After guidance cessation, we do not find an appreciable increase in long-term investment once managers free themselves from investors' myopia. Contrary to the claim that firms would provide more alternative, forward-looking disclosures in lieu of the guidance, we find that such disclosures are curtailed. We also find a deterioration in the information environment of guidance stoppers in the form of increased analyst forecast errors and forecast dispersion and a decrease in analyst coverage. Taken together, our evidence indicates that guidance stoppers are primarily troubled firms and stopping guidance does not benefit either the stoppers or their investors.
Src kinase inhibitors induce apoptosis and mediate cell cycle arrest in lymphoma cells

Src kinases are involved in multiple cellular contexts such as proliferation, adhesion, tumor invasiveness, angiogenesis, cell cycle control and apoptosis. We here demonstrate that three newly developed dual selective Src/Abl kinase inhibitors (SrcK-I) (AZM559756, AZD0530 and AZD0424) are able to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in BCR–ABL, c-KIT and platelet-derived growth factor-negative lymphoma cell lines. Treatment of DOHH-2, WSU-NHL, Raji, Karpas-299, HUT78 and Jurkat cells with SrcK-I revealed that the tested substances were effective on these parameters in the cell lines DOHH-2 and WSU-NHL, whereas the other tested cell lines remained unaffected. Phosphorylation of Lyn and in particular Lck were affected most heavily by treatment with the SrcK-I. Extrinsic as well as intrinsic apoptosis pathways were activated and elicited unique expressional patterns of apoptosis-relevant proteins such as downregulation of survivin, Bcl-XL and c-FLIP. Protein levels of c-abl were downregulated and Akt phosphorylation was decreased by treatment with SrcK-I. Basal expression levels of c-Myc were notably lower in sensitive cell lines as compared with nonsensitive cell lines, possibly providing an explanation for sensitivity versus resistance against these novel substances. This study provides the first basis for establishing novel SrcK-I as weapons in the arsenal against lymphoma cells.
An EMF-based toolkit for reasoning on web services evolution

During the last years, the area of Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME) is one of those fields that have benefit from the advantages brought by Model-Driven Engineering in terms of leveraging the abstraction level at which software is conceived, designed or even implemented. One of the key issues in SSME is evolution, given the non-trivial nature of updating widely distributed and heterogeneous systems. In this context, this work introduces an EMF-based toolkit that bundles different DSLs, injectors/extractors and transformations to put into practice and explore some formal theories on the evolution of Web Services.
Product market objectives and the formation of research joint ventures

In this paper we extend the existing literature on research and development (R&D) investments and research joint ventures (RJVs) in two important ways. First, we analyze and compare the case where firms collude in the product market to the benchmark case of competition in the output market. Second, we allow firms to form coalitions endogenously as a separate stage in the game. We develop profit functions that depend on the partition of firms into joint ventures and the nature of product competition between venture partners. Our results illustrate the restrictive nature of some assumptions made in the literature. Typically multiple RJVs of different sizes form in equilibrium. In general, RJVs should not be promoted if they entail product market collusion. Given the information available to policy-makers, it is unlikely that an R&D policy more refined than analyzing and allowing RJVs on a case-by-case basis is feasible. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Surgical Treatment of Cholesteatoma: The Role of Staging in Closed Operations

It has been proposed that closed operations on cholesteatomatous ears should be performed on a two-stage basis in order to detect disease left behind at the first operation and to correct developing retraction pockets. Two groups of patients who had closed operations performed in two stages, 100 combined approach tympanoplasties and 100 mastoid obliterations with tympanoplasty, were observed for 10 years after the second stage. A much greater than expected incidence of eventual cholesteatoma recurrence suggests that even with staging, closed techniques may provide a less than reliable outcome in surgical control of the disease, and long-term observation of ears thus treated is desirable.
Formation of a protective layer during IEC(b) test of epoxy resin loaded with silica nanoparticles

The erosion resistance of materials against partial discharges (PD) is a useful first indicator of their suitability for use as high voltage insulators. Epoxy resin-based composites loaded with different concentrations of silica nanoparticles were exposed to high voltage stress via an IEC(b) electrode. Laser scanning analysis was used to investigate the eroded volume and the erosion depth. The aged samples were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), which show the formation of a protective layer of partially fused nanoparticles. The results suggest that improved erosion resistance against PD using the IEC(b) electrode is caused by the in situ formation of a protective layer consisting of sintered nanoparticles.
Convergence and divergence issues in strategic management – Indonesia's experience with the Balanced Scorecard in HR management

Globalization pressures escalate competitiveness and, in response, global companies tend to adopt a handful of Western management practices. One of these is the Balanced Scorecard. However, empirical evidence assessing the transferability and effectiveness of Western best practices into Asian countries is scarce. In particular, empirical evidence relating to the effectiveness of Balanced Scorecard implementations is limited, as is the impact of Asian Balanced Scorecard contextual variables. This article contributes to this gap through the study of a Central Bank of Indonesia (BI) Balanced Scorecard implementation within a conceptual framework that explores convergence and divergence of global management practices. The lessons learned discuss how divergent factors such as national culture, leadership styles, organizational culture and human resource management practices can influence Asian context Balanced Scorecard implementations.
The Theory of Allocation and Its Implications for Marketing and Industrial Structure: Why Rationing Is Efficient

MICROECONOMICS is concerned with the efficient allocation of goods. It is typical for economists to focus on the price system as the mechanism used to achieve this efficient allocation. An impersonal auction system is often in the back of most economists' minds when they think of efficient resource allocation. Other mechanisms to allocate goods, such as rationing, are usually considered inferior to a price system and are not given much attention. ' The economist's exclusive focus on price comes from an implicit assmption that use of the price system is costless. After all, if it is costless to use the price system to achieve an efficient allocation, why not use it? This article explains that economists' faith in the price system is misplaced from the viewpoint of both theory and evidence. Prices alone should not be viewed as the most efficient way of allocating goods in many industries. The article identifies a cost of using the price system and then develops a general theory of allocation that has significant implications for optimal allocation and industrial organization. The theory explains the role of market making and marketing-and thereby provides an explanation for important features of the modern corporation, such as
Minimally Invasive Total Knee Replacement through a Mini-midvastus Incision: An Outcome Study

Total knee replacement traditionally has been done through an anterior incision approximately 18 cm long, using a capsular incision that separates the interval between the rectus femoris and vastus medialis musculature. Although giving excellent exposure, this incision also disrupts the suprapatellar pouch and may lead to adhesions and difficulty with rapidly regaining flexion. It is hypothesized that, by using a more minimally invasive incision, there will be a more rapid return of flexion and the patient will require fewer narcotic medications postoperatively. This retrospective review compared 32 total knee replacements done through a minimally invasive mini-midvastus approach with 26 total knee replacements done through the standard medial parapatellar approach. Preoperative Knee Society scores and postoperative functional outcomes were compared. Postoperative flexion was measured daily during hospitalization and at a 6-week and 3-month followup. Pain was assessed by a visual analog scale and the amount of pain medication used during hospitalization. Implant position was measured. The MIS group had an average skin incision length of 12.8 cm. Passive flexion on a daily basis was significantly higher in the MIS group compared with the standard group. At 6 weeks postoperatively, the change in Knee Score was statistically higher in the MIS group and the average visual analog pain score and the total amount of pain medication was lower. The radiographic alignment and position of all the components was normal in all patients in both groups. The limited disruption of the extensor mechanism results in more rapid restoration of the quadriceps muscle control.
Synthesis of Radiation Patterns in Arbitrary Geometry Antenna Arrays

A novel algorithm is presented for determining the complex excitations in antenna arrays that are required to have a standard or a non-standard power pattern and where the individual antennas can have arbitrary locations and arbitrary patterns. The technique is simple and overcomes many of the disadvantages of traditional approaches such as those based on stochastic optimisation or least squares formulations. Our approach is iterative and involves repeatedly finding and reducing the peak pattern error. The method is particularly suited to large arrays with severe requirements such as those involving multiple beams with a mix of wide-angle flat-top and narrow regions, multiple attenuation zones with different specifications as well as shaped transition regions. Examples are presented demonstrating the effectiveness of the method.
Incentives and Other Factors Associated With Employee Participation in Health Risk Assessments

Objectives:Investigate factors associated with employee participation rates in health risk assessments. Methods:This cross-sectional study using multiple regression analyzed data from 124 employers with 882,275 eligible employees who completed 344,825 health and productivity assessments (HPAs). Results:Incentive value and Communications and Organizational Commitment Level (Com/Org Level) were the strongest predictors of HPA completion rates. Employer size and a Gateway Model were also significant predictors. In addition, a correlation of variables showed other important relationships. To achieve a 50% HPA completion rate, employers with a low Com/Org Level will need an incentive value of approximately $120 whereas employers with a high Com/Org Level only need approximately $40—a difference of $80 dollars. Conclusion:This applied study offers empirical evidence to help employers increase their employees' participation in health risk assessments.
Nanoscintillator Conjugates as Photodynamic Therapy-Based Radiosensitizers: Calculation of Required Physical Parameters

Abstract Morgan, N. Y. , Kramer-Marek, G. , Smith, P. D. , Camphausen, K. and Capala, J. Nanoscintillator Conjugates as Photodynamic Therapy-Based Radiosensitizers: Calculation of Required Physical Parameters. Radiat. Res. 171, 236–244 (2009). The recent demonstration of nanoscale scintillators has led to interest in the combination of radiation and photodynamic therapy. In this model, scintillating nanoparticles conjugated to photosensitizers and molecular targeting agents would enhance the targeting and improve the efficacy of radiotherapy and extend the application of photodynamic therapy to deeply seated tumors. In this study, we calculated the physical parameters required for these nanoparticle conjugates to deliver cytotoxic levels of singlet oxygen at therapeutic radiation doses, drawing on the published literature from several disparate fields. Although uncertainties remain, it appears that the light yield of the nanoscintillators, the efficiency of energy transfer to the photosensitizers, and the cellular uptake of the nanoparticles all need to be fairly well optimized to observe a cytotoxic effect. Even so, the efficacy of the combination therapy will likely be restricted to X-ray energies below 300 keV, which limits the application to brachytherapy.