Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A lysine‐ and glutamic acid‐rich protein, KERP1, from Entamoeba histolytica binds to human enterocytes

Contact‐dependent cytolysis of host cells by Entamoeba histolytica is an important hallmark of amoebiasis that points out the importance of molecules involved in the interaction between the parasite and the human cells. To decipher the molecular and cellular mechanisms supporting the invasion of the intestinal epithelium by E. histolytica, we analysed proteins involved in the interaction of the parasite with enterocytes. Affinity chromatography revealed several amoebic proteins interacting with purified brush border of differentiated Caco2 cells. Among them were found the intermediate subunit of the Gal/GalNAc lectin, an α‐actinin‐like protein and two new proteins KERP1 and KERP2 rich in lysine and glutamic acid. In silico analysis revealed the presence of KERP2 in the closely related non‐pathogenic amoeba species Entamoeba dispar but not of KERP1. In additon, polymerase chain reaction analysis allowed to suggest the absence of kerp1 homologous gene in E. dispar. Therefore, we concentrated on the cellular analysis of KERP1. Cloning of the KERP1‐encoding gene, production of a recombinant protein in Escherichia coli and production of a specific antibody allowed us to show the following properties: (i) purified KERP1 binds to epithelial cell surface, (ii) KERP1 is located on the plasma membrane and in vesicles of trophozoites and (iii) KERP1 is delivered in the interstitial area between the trophozoites and the intestinal cells.
A Social Network Analysis of the Literature on Management Control

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the literature on management control published in accounting and management journals. Social network analysis of citation data from the 25-year period 1981–2005 enables us to examine topics and ties among researchers. Social ties have important consequences for the development of the literature, shaping topics, research methods, and the diffusion of knowledge. We observe minimal communication between the two disciplines, appearing as two distinct communities despite similar interests. This lack of communication includes citations and authoring across the two disciplines. When citations across disciplines occur, it is almost exclusively accounting authors citing management authors, not vice versa. There is virtually no joining of accounting and management scholars within social networks. Within the two broader communities, there also exist smaller research clusters. While we cannot determine the impact this has on our understanding of management control, we discuss possibl.
The Performance of Australian Superannuation Funds

This paper analyses the investment performance of Australian superannuation funds and their managers over the period from January 1973 to June 1981. The analysis indicated that both the funds and the managers performed poorly over the first two and a half years. It was found that the poor performance during these years outweighed the improved performance in subsequent years, resulting in an overall poor performance over the total period studied. Only one manager displayed a superior investment ability and this appears to be attributable to his ability to adjust the beta of his portfolio to suit market conditions.
Agronomic phosphorus imbalances across the world's croplands

Increased phosphorus (P) fertilizer use and livestock production has fundamentally altered the global P cycle. We calculated spatially explicit P balances for cropland soils at 0.5° resolution based on the principal agronomic P inputs and outputs associated with production of 123 crops globally for the year 2000. Although agronomic inputs of P fertilizer (14.2 Tg of P·y−1) and manure (9.6 Tg of P·y−1) collectively exceeded P removal by harvested crops (12.3 Tg of P·y−1) at the global scale, P deficits covered almost 30% of the global cropland area. There was massive variation in the magnitudes of these P imbalances across most regions, particularly Europe and South America. High P fertilizer application relative to crop P use resulted in a greater proportion of the intense P surpluses (>13 kg of P·ha−1·y−1) globally than manure P application. High P fertilizer application was also typically associated with areas of relatively low P-use efficiency. Although manure was an important driver of P surpluses in some locations with high livestock densities, P deficits were common in areas producing forage crops used as livestock feed. Resolving agronomic P imbalances may be possible with more efficient use of P fertilizers and more effective recycling of manure P. Such reforms are needed to increase global agricultural productivity while maintaining or improving freshwater quality.
The greying of the global population and its macroeconomic consequences

Population ageing is emerging as a major demographic trend in many countries, with potentially important implications for a variety of macroeconomic issues. Notwithstanding these challenges, population ageing will likely have a comparatively modest effect on economic growth. Although the changed age distribution would be expected to cause the labour force participation rate to decrease, the ratio of labour force to population will actually increase in most countries. This will occur because the lower youth dependency rate and the increased rate of female labour force participation—both of which may reasonably be expected to follow from the fertility rate declines that are driving population ageing—will counterbalance the shifting of adults toward older ages at which labour force participation and savings rates are lower. Behavioural and policy responses to population ageing—including higher savings for retirement, a higher rate of human capital accumulation, alternate pension funding plans, and (possibly) increased migration from labour-abundant to labour-scarce countries—also suggest that population ageing need not necessarily significantly impede economic growth.
THE IMPACT OF BEQUEST MOTIVES ON THE SAVING BEHAVIOR OF THE AGED IN JAPAN

In this paper, we use micro data from the 1996 and 1998 administrations of the Survey on the Financial Asset Choice of Households, conducted every two years since 1988 by the Institute for Posts and Telecommunications Policy of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the Government of Japan, to analyze (1) the strength and nature of bequest motives in Japan and (2) the impact of bequest motives on the economic behavior of parents and children in Japan (in particular, on the saving (dissaving) behavior of parents and on whether children coreside with, and/or provide nursing care and financial assistance to, their aged parents. Our findings suggest that bequest motives are weak in Japan both absolutely and relative to the U.S. and that bequests are, to a large extent, unintended bequests arising from lifespan uncertainty or a quid pro quo for care and financial assistance received from their children during old age. Moreover, we find that a large proportion of the aged dissave in Japan and that planned bequests have a significant negative impact on the rate of decumulation of the aged. Thus, our findings strongly suggest that the life cycle model is the dominant model of household behavior in Japan and that it is far more applicable in Japan than it is in the U.S.
The greying population: A wasted human capital or just a social liability?

O ver the coming decades, the size and age-profile of the population in OE CD countries will undergo substantial changes because of lower fertility rates and longer life expectancy. The proportion of elderly people is forecast to increase dramatically in all industrialized countries, and the size of the population to decrease in many of them. The growing proportion of elderly people raises concerns about the financial sustainability of pension and health-care systems and a possible reduction in economic growth. To counterbalance these effects, some international institutions and national governments have advocated an increase in the length of working life through a postponement of the retirement age. While this policy would reduce the financial pressure on welfare systems, its effects on the labour market are less clear-cut. In many industrialized countries, particularly in Europe, the current level of unemployment is quite high already, so there is concern that an increase in the labour supply of elderly workers could result in even higher unemployment for young workers. Furthermore, increasing the labour force participation of elderly people would not necessarily translate into higher overall employment levels if demand does not adjust to the increase. The aims of this article are, in the first part, to analyse the labour market effects of ageing and, in the second, to discuss the main policy measures needed to cope with this trend. The opening part consists of five sections, the first of which examines projected population and labour force dynamics in the major OE CD countries over the next few decades. The second section discusses the short-run impact of a reduction in the labour force on the unemployment rate, while the third and fourth extend the analysis to the long run by looking at the effects of
The effectiveness of combinations of antileukemic agents in inducing and maintaining remission in children with acute leukemia.

1. Combinations of effective agents produce at least an additive increase in complete remission rates over that which can be achieved when the agents are used individually. 2. Patients who do not achieve complete remission with initial treatment have a significantly shorter survival. 3. Alternating MTX and 6-MP at 28-day intervals during remission does not prolong the duration of remission over that of combined concurrent 6-MP and MTX. 4. The administration of folic acid antagonists intrathecally at 28-day intervals during antimetabolite maintained remission did not prolong the duration of remission. Meningeal leukemia, however, occurred significantly less frequently in these patients. 5. The duration of combined 6-MP and MTX maintained remission is not greater than that of 6-MP maintained remission. 6. The toxicity of 6-MP and MTX in combination in patients in remission is additive. The above conclusions were drawn from this comparative study of combinations of chemotherapeutic agents in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Diversity of spectrum sensing over frequency selective Rayleigh fading channels

In cognitive radio systems, diversity of missed detection probability reflects the reliability of spectrum sensing. In this paper, we quantify the diversity order of missed detection probability over a Rayleigh frequency-selective channel with independent taps. We show that the diversity order is equal to the rank of the primary user's code matrix. If the secondary user gets enough samples from the primary user's signal, the spectrum sensing performance can be improved due to multipath diversity. Also our simulations approve the analytical results.
Is an automatic pump suspension feature safe for children with type 1 diabetes? An exploratory analysis with a closed-loop system.

OBJECTIVES It has been proposed that the first step towards a closed-loop artificial pancreas might be to use a continuous glucose sensor to automatically suspend the basal insulin delivery based on projected low sensor glucose values. METHODS We reviewed our recent experience with an artificial pancreas system, utilizing a proportional-integrative-derivative (PID) algorithm, in 17 adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to assess the safety and efficacy of this maneuver. RESULTS During 34 h of closed-loop automated insulin delivery, 18 pump suspensions > or =60 min (90 +/- 18 min) occurred in eight subjects. Sensor glucose levels fell from 159 +/- 42 mg/dL to a nadir of 72 +/- 13 mg/dL. Corresponding plasma glucose levels fell from 168 +/- 51 to 72 +/- 16 mg/dL, with values <60 mg/dL recorded in only four of the 18 events. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that automatic pump suspension using the PID algorithm may be an effective means to prevent hypoglycemia in youth with T1D.
Globalisation and the rise of 'economic nationalism': takeovers and regulation within the European Union

The globalisation of markets, particularly the liberalisation of financial markets, has facilitated merger and acquisition activity on a global scale. New financial instruments and the growth of sovereign wealth funds have raised questions regarding the national security and the loss of sovereignty over key economic sectors. The European Union in its ambitions to complete a single market set out to establish a level playing-field: to enhance competitive performance. Policies towards mergers and takeovers were agreed by member states after many years of negotiation. These have encountered institutionally, embedded national differences resulting in some cases in transposition into national law facilitating greater national protection. This article will review the evolution of competition policy and its recent modernisation in the context of liberalisation and the Lisbon agenda. It will analyse the difficulties of harmonisation with the recent extension of liberalisation to include utilities, which in the aforementioned global context of heightened anxieties, has engendered a revival of 'economic nationalism'. This is exemplified in the current French position towards restructuring in the energy sector and its continued protection of 'national champions'.
A method for estimating ice mass loss from relative InSAR observations: Application to the Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland

We present a new method for estimating ice mass loss from glaciers and ice sheets using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time‐series data. We use a linear inversion method based on observations of nearby bedrock uplift and a solution for surface loading of an elastic half‐space. The method assumes that mass loss is focused on lower elevation terminal regions of the glacier or ice sheet, and that there is an exponential decrease in thinning rate toward the higher elevation interior. We apply the method to uplift rates between 1995 and 2009 near Vatnajökull, Iceland. The data reveal up to 13 mm/yr relative line‐of‐sight (LOS) velocity around the south‐western edge of Vatnajökull. We find an ice mass loss rate of 6.8−0.7+0.8 Gt/yr, in approximate agreement with other estimates. Ice loss since 1995 is twice as fast as the loss rate estimated for the rest of the 20th century.
Structural Adjustment Intensity, Vulnerability and Poverty in Africa

Nigeria has implemented structural adjustment policies for the past twenty years, with the intensity of reforms increasing each year. However, there is an ongoing debate as to whether strong adjustment is more effective than weak reforms in alleviating poverty in African economies. In this article, we use primary socio-economic data collected from two surveys, one conducted in 2001 and the other in 2007, of residents in the village of Umulwe in Southeastern Nigeria, to examine whether the intensity of structural adjustment policies has led to poverty reduction in the village. Specifically, we use changes in the poverty headcount index and the poverty gap index, as well as non-income measures to analyze the dynamics of poverty in the village. A cross-sectional OLS regression on the survey data does not indicate a direct link between structural adjustment and the poverty reduction observed in the village over time. By linking structural adjustment to changes in household behaviour, the article provides a micro-foundation for the analysis of the impact of structural adjustment on poverty.
Impact of Sustained Use of Insecticide-Treated Bednets on Malaria Vector Species Distribution and Culicine Mosquitoes

Abstract Insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) significantly reduce malaria vector populations. Susceptibility to ITNs differs by vector species, and culicine mosquitoes have not been shown to be significantly affected by the use of ITNs. We examined the impact of 2–4 yr of ITN use on malaria vector species distribution and culicine mosquitoes. Routine entomological surveillance was conducted in adjacent areas with and without ITNs from November 1999 to January 2002. Use of ITNs reduced the proportion of Anopheles gambiae Giles relative to Anopheles arabiensis Giles. The number of culicines per house was significantly lower in the ITN area than in the neighboring area. Changes in the An. gambiae sibling species distribution may help to explain apparent mosquito behavioral changes attributed to ITNs. Reductions in culicines by ITNs may have implications for community perceptions of ITN effectiveness and for control of other diseases such as lymphatic filariasis.
Critical Role of Nucleostemin in Pre-rRNA Processing*

Nucleostemin is a nucleolar protein widely expressed in proliferating cells. Nucleostemin is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, and both depletion and overexpression of nucleostemin induce cell cycle arrest through the p53 signaling pathway. Although the presence of p53-independent functions of nucleostemin has been previously suggested, the identities of these additional functions remained to be investigated. Here, we show that nucleostemin has a novel role as an integrated component of ribosome biogenesis, particularly pre-rRNA processing. Nucleostemin forms a large protein complex (>700 kDa) that co-fractionates with the pre-60 S ribosomal subunit in a sucrose gradient. This complex contains proteins related to pre-rRNA processing, such as Pes1, DDX21, and EBP2, in addition to several ribosomal proteins. We show that the nucleolar retention of DDX21 and EBP2 is dependent on the presence of nucleostemin in the nucleolus. Furthermore, the knockdown of nucleostemin delays the processing of 32 S pre-rRNA into 28 S rRNA. This is accompanied by a substantial decrease of protein synthesis as well as the levels of rRNAs and some mRNAs. In addition, overexpressed nucleostemin significantly promotes the processing of 32 S pre-rRNA. Collectively, these biochemical and functional studies demonstrate a novel role of nucleostemin in ribosome biogenesis. This is a key aspect of the role of nucleostemin in regulating cell proliferation.
2012 Olympic Games Decision Making Technologies for Taekwondo Competition

Leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games the demands for transparency and correctness in referee decision making in the sport of taekwondo increased dramatically to the extent where differing technologies were implemented for the first time at the Olympic level in London. This post Olympic research examines the impacts of those technologies on one sector of the sport’s stakeholders – referees. The study was conducted through discussion groups and interviews with elite level international referees (n=31). The findings present that via the diligent use and application of the technologies, provided mechanisms to greatly improve the correctness of decisions by being an effective aid to the referee’s decision making process, which contributed to the success of the event. Further it can be seen that with the implementation and use of these technologies, competition can now be provided on a fairer platform, in turn leading to a greater improvement in player performance and providing a more attractive competition. These findings provide a platform for further studies including trials utilizing more advanced technologies to further increase the transparency and correctness of referee decision making.
A comparison of Dutch and US public housing regeneration planning: the similarity grows?

Based on a comparison of HOPE VI and Big Cities Policy in the United States and the Netherlands, we argue that despite major differences in context, there has been a convergence in regeneration strategies in the two countries. In both countries the neighbourhoods look better, are safer and have a better reputation. However, in the Netherlands shopping facilities have improved more than in the United States. In both countries, most of the original residents have a better quality of life after than before the policies were implemented, whether they live on-site or have relocated. However, the needs of multi-problem families are not being met by either HOPE VI or Big Cities Policy. Finally, there is no evidence that the original residents have become more self-sufficient in either country as a result of the regeneration.
DNA double-strand breakage and removal of cross-links in Deinococcus radiodurans

Mitomycin C-sensitive mutants of Deinococcus radiodurans were isolated which were either resistant to or only moderately sensitive to far UV (254 nm) or gamma rays. They were also sensitive to irradiation at 365 nm in the presence of 4,5',8-trimethylpsoralen. They were classified into seven complementary groups (mtcA through mtcG) by transformation experiments. Interstrand cross-links in the DNA duplex induced by mitomycin C were removed in the cells of two mutants (mtcD and mtcE) as in the wild type, whereas the other mutants were deficient in this repair. After a sublethal dosage of mitomycin C, single- and double-stranded cuts of cross-linked DNA were observed in the wild-type cells during postincubation. This removal of cross-links in DNA seems to be indispensable for the cells since their colony-forming ability was markedly reduced if they were postincubated under an inhibitory condition for repair of these lesions.
The Value of USDA Situation and Outlook Information in Hog and Cattle Markets

This study investigates the impact of six major USDA reports in hog and cattle markets: Cattle; Cattle on Feed; Cold Storage; Hogs and Pigs; Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook (LDPO); and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). A TARCH-in-mean model, with dummy variables to measure the impact of USDA reports and other external factors, is used to model close-to-open live-lean hog and live cattle futures returns from January 1985 through December 2004. The analysis revealed a statistically significant impact of all but Cattle and Cold Storage reports in live/lean hog futures, and all but Cold Storage reports in live cattle futures. Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live/lean hog returns by increasing conditional standard deviation 96%. Cattle, Cattle on Feed, and Hogs and Pigs reports had the highest impact on live cattle returns by increasing conditional standard deviation between 26% and 37.5%.