Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fcgamma receptor polymorphisms in relation to periodontitis.

OBJECTIVES Evidence suggests functional relevance for polymorphisms in FcgammaR in relation to inflammatory and infectious diseases. The present aim was to investigate genetic polymorphisms in three FcgammaR in relation to susceptibility and severity of periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study population consisted of 68 periodontitis patients and 61 controls (Northern European Caucasian background, mean ages 44 and 42 years, respectively). Among the patients, 12 subjects were diagnosed with aggressive periodontitis (AgP) and 56 individuals were diagnosed with chronic periodontitis (CP). Radiographic bone levels were scored for all teeth in the patients. Subjects were typed for the following genes (alleles): FcgammaRIIa (R131 or H131), FcgammaRIIIa (V158 or F158) and FcgammaRIIIb (NA1 or NA2). RESULTS Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium criteria were fulfilled for the different genotypes at the three genes investigated. The frequency of the FcgammaRIIIa-V158 allele in the patient population (53%) was higher than in the control group (39%) (OR 1.73 [1.06-2.85], p=0.034). The V158 carriage rate in AgP was even higher (63%). The frequency of the FcgammaRIIa-H131 allele in the total periodontitis population was 58%; for AgP this was 79%, compared with 51% in the control population (OR 3.68 [1.29-10.5], p=0.013). Also, the frequency of the FcgammaRIIa-H/H131 genotype was significantly higher in AgP patients than in controls (OR 9.07 [1.29-63.56], p=0.026, adjusted for smoking status and other potential confounders). Moreover, patients with the FcgammaRIIa-H/H131 genotype had more severe radiographic bone loss than patients with the other FcgammaRIIa genotypes. CONCLUSION The current study of relative small sample size suggests that the FcgammaRIIa-H/H131 genotype may be a putative susceptibility and severity factor, and the FcgammaRIIIa-V158 allele a putative susceptibility factor for periodontitis in Northern European Caucasians. These results need further verification and the biological importance of these findings needs further investigation.
Patient Satisfaction and Change in Medical Care Provider: A Longitudinal Study

Longitudinal data from The Rand Corporation's Health Insurance Experiment were used to test the hypothesis that provider continuity can be modeled as one behavioral consequence of patient satisfaction. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, prior use of services, health status, and health insurance plan) supported our hypotheses. A multivariate linear probability function indicated that a 1-point decrease on a general satisfaction scale was associated with a 3.4 percentage-point increase in the probability of provider change. The relationship between satisfaction scores and continuity during the following year appears to be roughly linear; we observed no “threshold” satisfaction level at which the probability of provider change increased markedly. We discuss needed improvements in the measurement of provider continuity and the need for further study of other behavioral consequences of patient satisfaction.
Return lead–lag and volatility transmission in shipping freight markets

This study investigates the return lead–lag and volatility transmission between dry bulk shipping and container shipping freight markets over the period before, during and after the 2008 financial tsunami. Both cointegration analysis and the Granger causality test are applied to explore the lead–lag relationship between the Baltic dry index (BDI) and the China containerized freight index (CCFI). Besides, in the study we employed GARCH–BEKK model, which allows for transmission in freight volatility. On the whole, the empirical results show that the BDI reflects the economic climate earlier than the CCFI during the financial tsunami, whereas the CCFI leads the BDI after the financial tsunami. The price formation hypothesis could well explain the relationship. Moreover, volatility spillovers are found in most subperiods. The dynamics of the conditional volatilities differ, but causality links in the variance are found to be strong and bidirectional in normal periods, and unidirectional during the financial tsunami. Therefore, the occurrence of the financial tsunami could be regarded as an interference factor.
Inflationary Effects in the Capital Investment Process: an Empirical Examination

IT HAS BEEN SHOWN that correct capital budgeting decisions only can be made based on the real net present value (NPV) derived from inflation-adjusted cash flows and discount rates and that disregarding such inflationary impacts will result in suboptimal decisions in capital budgeting [2, 3, 12]. In regard to inflationary impacts on the amount invested by firms under a specific assumption that both cash revenue and costs are in exactly the same proportion as the general price level, Nelson [10] has recently stated that "The optimal level of capital investment will depend in general on the rate of inflation. The amount invested will typically be smaller the higher the rate of inflation. " The principal reason for this decreasing investment under inflation is the overstatement of net income before taxes due to historical depreciation charges. Since there will be an additional tax, so called inflation tax, on this inflated income, the nominal cash flow does not increase in proportion to the general price level. Therefore the real NPV becomes less than before, thereby projects become less attractive. Under this perfect net operating income (NOI) sensitivity to inflation assumption, Nelson's analysis is correct. In general, economic activities are more sluggish in periods of deflation than inflation. A mild inflation (say, 3%) has been thought of as a driving force to booming economic and investment activities. These observations indicate that the ceteris paribus negative relationship between the rate of inflation and the amount of investment shown by Nelson may not hold true in the real world. It is the intention of this paper to theoretically and empirically investigate the inflation-investment relationship under more general conditions. The hypothesis that wages, which take a large portion of cash costs, lag behind the general price level is well known even though Kessel and Alchian [7] conclude that this hypothesis remains untested. Under the validity of the wage-lag hypothesis or for some reasons such as output excess demand, net operating income may increase at a higher rate than the rate of inflation and such an increase also may be large enough to offset any adverse inflationary effects of depreciation on investments. Van Horne and Glassmire [13] have noticed, in their analysis of inflationary impacts of depreciation, NOI, and others on the value of the firm, that the inflationary impact of NOI is more significant than the negative impact of depreciation. In this paper the assumption of the perfect NOI sensitivity to inflation is relaxed and then a model regarding the inter-firm differences in investment activities under inflation is developed and empirically tested. In the next section
The emergence of the Classical Gold Standard

This paper asks why the Classical Gold Standard (1870s - 1914) emerged: Why did the vastmajority of countries tie their currencies to gold in the late 19th century, while there was onlyone country â€“ the UK â€“ on gold in 1850? The literature distinguishes a number of theories toexplain why gold won over bimetallism and silver. We will show the pitfalls of these theories(macroeconomic theory, ideological theory, political economy of choice between gold andsilver) and show that neither the early English lead in following gold nor the German shift togold in 1873 were as decisive as conventional accounts have it. Similarly, we argue that thesilver supply shock materializing in the early 1870s was only the nail in the coffin of silverand bimetallic standards. Instead, we focus on the impact of the 1850s gold supply shock (dueto the immense gold discoveries in California and Australia) on the European monetarysystem. Studying monetary commissions in 13 European countries between 1861 and 1874,we show that the pan-European movement in favour of gold monometallism was motivatedby three key factors: gold being available in sufficient quantities to actually contemplate thetransition to gold monometallism for a larger number of countries (while silver had becomeextremely scarce in the bimetallic bloc, which was the single most important currency area interms of GDP), widespread misgivings over the working of bimetallism and the fact that goldcould encapsulate substantially more value in the same volume than silver (i.e. coinconvenience). In our view, then, the emergence of the Classical Gold Standard was imminentin the late 1860s; which European country would move first â€“ which is often erroneouslyattributed to Germany â€“ is of secondary importance.
Employment relations in SMEs

Most of the HRM literature is based on large firms despite the growing significance now accorded to smaller firms. In this paper, we explore employment relations in SMEs and argue that the existing literature tends to polarise into a “small is beautiful” or “bleak house” perspective. The paper examines some of the key issues in relation to employment relations in SMEs.
Is Unemployment Really Scarring? Effects of Unemployment Experiences on Wages

This paper looks at the effects of unemployment on re-employment wage for men using the first seven waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) conducted over the period 1991- 1997. In particular, how the effect of an interruption changes over time, and whether the type of interruption itself matters or not for re-employment wage, are addressed. The issue of sample selection and unobserved heterogeneity are also addressed in the analyses. This study finds that, unemployment does have a scarring effect on individuals who experience it, in terms of earnings losses on re-employment jobs. In particular it finds that, an unemployed individual on returning to work will earn about 6% less than an otherwise equivalent individual who makes an employment to employment transition, during the first year of employment. This differential is estimated to increase to about 14% in the fourth year before starting to decline. In addition, the first spell of unemployment is estimated to have the largest effect with repeat incidences causing a further scarring. Separations due to redundancy are found to be less scarring relative to other causes. The worst affected were men aged over 45 with no educational qualifications. The study could not find any significant effects of unemployment duration on subsequent wages in addition to the incidence effect.
The Interaction of Local Context and Cultural Background: Somalis' Perceived Possibilities in Nordic Capitals' Housing Markets

Immigrants' housing position is often explained by (lack of) resources or differences in cultural backgrounds. Recent studies have included the importance of local context. The aim of this paper is to examine Somalis' perceptions of their possibilities in four Nordic capitals' housing markets: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. The approach is an interview study based on immigrants' own explanations of what they strive for and how they assess the impact of local conditions and cultural background for their possibilities. We found that local context and cultural background intertwine and sometimes conflict with each other, but that the negotiation between cultural background and local context was individual. The conclusion is that local context and cultural background are important factors for understanding differences between Somalis on different housing markets, thus emphasising that local context and cultural background have to be studied together to understand perceived housing possibilities.
The Impact of Deregulation and Financial Innovation on Consumers: The Case of the Mortgage Market

We develop a technique to assess the impact of changes in mortgage markets on households, exploiting an implication of the permanent income hypothesis: The higher a household's expected future income, the higher its desired consumption, ceteris paribus. With perfect credit markets, desired consumption matches actual consumption and current spending forecasts future income. Because credit market imperfections mute this effect, the extent to which house spending predicts future income measures the "imperfectness" of mortgage markets. Using micro-data, we find that since the early 1980s, mortgage markets have become less imperfect in this sense, and securitization has played an important role. Copyright (c) 2009 the American Finance Association.
Collaborative exercise on the use of FISH chromosome painting for retrospective biodosimetry of Mayak nuclear-industrial personnel

Purpose : To investigate within the framework of a multilaboratory study the suitability of FISH chromosome painting to measure so-called stable translocations in peripheral lymphocytes of Mayak nuclear-industrial workers (from the Southern Urals) and their use for retrospective biodosimetry. Material and methods : Chromosome analyses were carried out from 69 workers who had received protracted occupational radiation exposures (0.012-6.065 Gy) up to ~40 years before blood sampling. Twenty-one unexposed people living in the same area were controls. A multicolour FISH-painting protocol with the target chromosomes 1, 4 and 8 simultaneously with a pan-centromeric probe was used to score potentially transmissible chromosome-type aberrations (reciprocal translocations 2B and related 'one-way' patterns I-III according to the S&S classification). Results : Individual biodosimetry estimates were obtained in terms of these potentially long-term surviving aberration types based on the linear component of a low dose-rate γ-ray calibration curve produced using identical staining and scoring protocols. For comparison, the workers' personal and total background doses were converted to red bone marrow doses. The estimated doses were mainly lower than would be predicted by the calibration curve, particularly at accumulated higher dose levels. Conclusions : Owing to the limited life-time of circulating T-lymphocytes, the long-term persistence of translocations in vivo requires the assumption of a clonal repopulation of these naturally senescing cells from the haemopoietic stem cell compartments. Obviously such a replacement cannot be fully achieved, leading to a temporal decline even of the yield of transmissible aberrations types. Assuming further a highly selective capacity of stem cells against any type of chromosomal damage and the fact that one must rely on partial genome findings, the potential of FISH chromosome painting for retrospective dose reconstruction is probably limited to a decade or so after high-level protracted radiation exposure.
The Neighborhood Nestwatch Program: Participant Outcomes of a Citizen‐Science Ecological Research Project

Formal education is not enough to ensure scientific literacy in a world where ideas and technology are changing rapidly (Hacker & Harris 1992). Projects that invite citizens to be involved in ecological research in their own backyards or neighborhoods may provide rich opportunities for community members of all ages to improve their science literacy (Trumbull et al. 2000; Brewer 2002b) and their sense of place. This learning about, and awareness of, the local environment may translate into tangible participant action on a local scale. Yet relatively few data are available regarding science education outcomes of ecological research projects conducted with the help of citizen research assistants in informal settings (Layton et al. 1986). Programs that have been assessed (e.g., several conducted by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Krasny & Bonney [2005]) have focused on science process and biological knowledge, not on attachment to an ecological “place” and the potential implications of that attachment to conservation behaviors. The Neighborhood Nestwatch (NN) program engages citizen scientists in the collection of scientific data and fosters scientific literacy and increased attachment to place in their local natural environment. Here, we define science literacy as both an understanding of scientific content and ways of thinking such that citizens can make better sense of our increasingly technical and scientific world. Skills of a scientifically literate citizen include critical and independent thinking, ability to interpret evidence and data, and understanding the role of uncertainty (AAAS 1993). But scientific literacy alone is not sufficient for understanding the influence of humans on ecological systems. People need to know about the places in which they live. We suggest that a sense of one’s place has four primary components: knowledge, skills, awareness, and disposition to care. The first two components are aspects of science literacy. Moreover, there are many feedback loops between these four components.
Industry Clockspeed and the Pace of New Product Development

Recent empirical literature describes an industry's clockspeed as a measure of the evolutionary life cycle, which captures the dynamic nature of the industry. Among other factors, the rate of new product development is found to be associated with an industry's clockspeed. Yet the notion of an industry clockspeed and the essential factors driving suitable decision making in this area have remained relatively unexplored. We develop a simple definition and a corresponding analytic model which explains the interdependent relationship between a firm's own new product development activities and an industry clockspeed. Results from the single firm model show the conditions under which particular firms have an incentive to accelerate their new product development activities. Moreover, we link the single firm's NPD clockspeed decisions to the industry level by creating appropriate metrics which characterize different types of industries. Examples from high‐tech industries such as the personal computer and aerospace industries are included to illustrate our findings. Our intention is not only to offer analytical insights into factors driving the clockspeed for these industries, but also to establish a fundamental structured decision making approach, thereby stimulating future research on this important topic.
Assessment of personal qualities in selection of medical radiation science students.

UNLABELLED It is increasingly acknowledged that, in addition to prior academic achievement, there is a need to seek evidence for the abilities and personal qualities of applicants to health professional programs at a university. The aim of this study was to determine the specific abilities and personal qualities required for excellence in practice in the relevant professional domains of medical radiation science (MRS). METHODS A focus group, consisting of MRS academic staff, developed a questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to senior MRS practitioners throughout Australia and 213 were returned for analysis. Respondents were asked to rate 40 specific abilities and qualities (referred to as "elements") on a 5-point scale. RESULTS Two hundred thirteen completed questionnaires were returned, a 53% response rate. One hundred twelve respondents (52%) indicated they currently worked in diagnostic radiography (DR), 57 (27%) worked in radiation therapy (RT), and 44 (21%) worked in nuclear medicine (NM). The duration (mean +/- SD) of the respondents' professional practice in MRS was 14.5 +/- 10 y, with durations ranging from 1 to 43 y. Raw scores and mean scores were examined for any influence of the variable "Number of Years in Practice. " DISCUSSION No major differences were found between the ratings provided by the practitioners from the 3 different MRS professional domains of NM, RT, and DR. Factor analysis indicated the existence of 3 orthogonal factors in the questionnaire data: (a) treat others professionally and ethically, (b) engage with and be open to others, and (c) problem-solving ability. Qualitative analysis of the respondents' comments provided similar themes: (a) the need for professional competence (knowledge and abilities), (b) ethical behavior, (c) the need for a technology and a people orientation, and (d) MRS should be the first choice of MRS students and not a second choice to other professional degrees. CONCLUSION Senior medical radiation scientists identified professionalism, ethical behavior, engagement with and openness to others, intrinsic specific motivation, and an orientation to people and technology as nonacademic qualities required for excellence in the practice of the professions embraced by MRS.
CD8+ T cells control Th2‐driven pathology during pulmonary respiratory syncytial virus infection

BALB/c mice vaccinated with vaccinia virus expressing the major surface glycoprotein G of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) develop lung eosinophilia during RSV challenge. The G protein is remarkable in that it induces CD4+, but no CD8+ T cells in this mouse strain. Studies using passive T cell transfers show that co‐injection of CD8+ T cells greatly reduces the Th2‐driven lung eosinophilia caused by G‐specific CD4+ T cells. By contrast, vaccination with the fusion protein (F) induces both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, but not lung eosinophilia during RSV infection. These observations suggest that CD8+ T cells play a crucial role in preventing Th2‐driven pathology. We therefore depleted mice with anti‐CD8 antibodies in vivo. This treatment allowed lung eosinophilia to develop in F‐primed mice. Depletion of interferon (IFN)‐γ had a similar effect, suggesting that secretion of this cytokine is the mechanism by which CD8+ T cells exert their effect. To test whether similar effects occurred in other strains of mice, RSV‐infected C57BL/6 mice (which do not develop eosinophilia after sensitization to G) were treated with anti‐IFN‐γ. Again, these mice developed eosinophilia. In this strain, genetic deletion of CD8‐α, β2‐microglobulin or genes coding for the transporter associated with antigen presentation (which in each case eliminates CD8+ T cells) caused lung eosinophilia during RSV infection. These studies show the critical roles that CD8+ T cells and IFN‐γ production play in regulating Th2‐driven eosinophilia and provide a unifying explanation for previous studies of lung eosinophilia. We propose that vaccines designed to enhance CD8+ T cell recognition might avoid disease caused by CD4+ Th2 cells.
Determinants of Hotel Employment in Hong Kong

Abstract This study of 32 hotels in Hong Kong investigated the importance that human-resources managers accord to economic and social factors that drivehotel employment levels, as well as looked at employees' personal attributes that may influence hiring. Senior managers place a strong emphasis on firm-specific factors such as occupancy rate, revenue, and service standards. More general industry-specific factors were perceived to be relatively less important in managers' decisions on hiring levels, while non-industry-specific factors (including macroeconomic measures) had the least impact on hotel hiring levels. In terms of personal attributes, it was found that an employee's attitude was perceived to be the most important criterion in a manager's selection decision.