Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase II trial of sorafenib in metastatic thyroid cancer.

PURPOSE Based on the pivotal role of Ras-Raf-MAP-ERK signaling and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), we conducted a phase II clinical trial of sorafenib targeting RAF and VEGF receptor kinases in PTC. PATIENTS AND METHODS The primary end point was the objective response rate. Secondary end points included response correlation with serum thyroglobulin (Tg); functional imaging; tumor genotype; and signaling inhibition in tumor biopsies. Using a Simon minimax two-stage design, 16 or 25 chemotherapy-naïve metastatic PTC patients were to be enrolled in arm A (accessible tumor for biopsy). Arm B patients had other subtypes of thyroid carcinoma or prior chemotherapy, and did not require tumor biopsies. Patients received 400 mg orally twice per day of sorafenib. Response was assessed every 2 months using RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors). RESULTS Of 41 PTC patients, six patients had a partial response (PR; 15%; 95% CI, 6 to 29) and 23 patients (56%; 95% CI, 40 to 72) had stable disease longer than 6 months. Median duration of PR was 7.5 months (range, 6 to 14). Median progression-free survival was 15 months (95% CI, 10 to 27.5). In 14 (78%) of 18 Tg-assessable PTC patients, Tg declined more than 25%. Common grade 3 adverse events included hand-foot skin reaction, musculoskeletal pain, and fatigue. BRAF mutation was detected in 17 (77%) of 22 PTCs analyzed. Four of 10 paired tumor biopsies from PTC patients showed a reduction in levels of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor phosphorylation, ERK phosphorylation, and in VEGF expression during sorafenib therapy. No PRs were noted among non-PTC patients. CONCLUSION Sorafenib is reasonably well-tolerated therapy with clinical and biologic antitumor activity in metastatic PTC.
An Evolutionary Approach for Survivable Network under SRLG Constraints

In this paper, a hierarchical evolutionary approach is proposed for an NP-complete telecommunication problem– all optical WDM mesh network survivability under shared-rish-link-group (SRLG) constraints. A parameterized greedy heuristic is proposed at first to construct solutions of the telecommunication problem. A specific estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) searches for optimal parameters of the greedy heuristic, and thereafter to construct the optimal solution. Experimental results show that the proposed approach performs significantly better than the best-known evolutionary-based algorithm in 25 out of 30 test instances in terms of solution quality and CPU times.
GROSS AND MICRO-ANATOMICAL OBSERVATIONS ON Fulani Zebu PLACENTOME AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME FOETAL PARAMETERS

This study aims to investigate the gross and micro-anatomy of the placentome of Fulani zebu (Bos indicus) and its relationship with some foetal parameters over the gestation period. Eighteen pregnant uteri of the Fulani zebu cow were collected from slaughtered pregnant cows. The foetal age was estimated using Richardson’s formula. Other foetal parameters such as the foetal sex, location in the uteri, foetal weight, placentome weight, total number of placentomes and placentome size were taken. The Placentome counts showed a great deal of variability from 51 to 128. The distribution of pregnancies was (66.6% in the right horn and 33.3% in the left horn). Regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between the estimated age and other foetal parameters. The regression analysis yielded a statistically significant relationship (r 2 = 0.4549; p 0.01) with the number of placentome. In conclusion, this study has shown that the Fulani zebu placenta is synepitheliochorial with convex Placentomes. The placentome size increases with gestation age in response to greater nutrient/metabolic requirement of the foetus, as the pregnancy progresses.
Understanding the Attitude-Behavior Gap for Renewable Energy Systems Using Behavioral Reasoning Theory

Consumer adoption of renewable energies is an important step towards less carbon-intensive and more sustainable energy systems. But despite growing ecological awareness and articulated preferences for green products, renewable energies face slow rates of diffusion in consumer markets. This has been hard to explain given consumers’ favorability to the concept of products that lower one’s impact on the natural environment. This study uses data from 254 homeowners in Ireland to investigate the psychological process of adopting a renewable energy system – solar energy panels. Applying Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT), this research examines a proposed model in which reasons both for and against adopting solar panels mediate the relationship between consumers’ attitudes, values and adoption intentions. Results suggest the model is generally supported with both reasons for adoption and reasons against adoption having countervailing influences in the psychological processing of adoption intentions. These findings suggest that researchers and marketers should include mediating constructs, such as (i) reasons for adoption, (ii) reasons against adoption, and (iii) attitudes toward a technology when attempting to explain how consumers think about the adoption of renewable energy systems.
On Unstable Beta Risk and its Modelling Techniques for New Zealand Industry Portfolios

This paper adds to the literature a study on the time-varying beta risk of the New Zealand industry portfolios. The previous analyses of three major modelling techniques are extended to include the stochastic volatility model and the Schwert and Seguin approach based on the stochastic volatility model. Evidence generated clearly indicates that the betas of all the NZ industry portfolios are also unstable. It is found that, in the case of in-sample forecasting, the stochastic volatility model is the optimal technique, while the GARCH model is most favoured for out-of-sample forecasting, unlike prior work on other countries which suggests that the Kalman filter approach is preferred.
Trade, Structural Reform, and Institutions in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Sub‐Saharan African countries have traditionally lagged the rest of the developing world in terms of overall trade relative to gross domestic product. But, there is growing interest among these countries to initiate trade policies and improve quality of institutions as a way to promote trade and boost foreign direct investment. This article extends the gravity model of trade to include proxies for trade reform policy and institutional quality among the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for data spanning 1984–2006. Alternative methods of estimation based on ordinary least squares, Heckman two‐step procedure, and Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood produce predictions that are consistent with the standard gravity model. They further highlight the evidence of restrictive trade policies and weak institutions that contribute to the failure of ECOWAS countries to boost bilateral trade.
Outsider Assistance as a Knowledge Resource for New Venture Survival

An emerging theory of outsider assistance as a knowledge resource suggests that new ventures obtain a unique blend of tacit and explicit knowledge through the judicious use of outside assistance. Using data from a longitudinal study of one outsider assistance program at a point in time four to eight years beyond the provision of startup counseling assistance, we present evidence supporting the theory. Results suggest that the ventures studied enjoyed survival rates in excess of those in the general population. More importantly, logistic regression analysis indicates a positive, curvilinear relationship between survival and the time spent in venture preparation under the direction of an outside counselor, a proxy measure of new knowledge acquired. We conclude with a discussion of the directions future research should take to test more fully the relationships implied by the theory.
Can Ecotourism Interpretation Really Lead to Pro-Conservation Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour? Evidence from the Galapagos Islands

Proponents of ecotourism within protected areas believe that tour design and interpretation can help mitigate the negative impacts of tourism, human and environmental, and build an educated and motivated constituency that supports environmental conservation and social improvements. However, ecotourism's claims to achieve those objectives are largely untested, and linkages between tourism's operational characteristics and positive changes in tourists” environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are largely unexplored. This exploratory research investigated the efforts of one Galapagos National Park tour operator to explore whether a well-conceived interpretation/ecotourism product could influence tourists” educational outcomes and support of environmental conservation. Results suggest that well-designed and delivered interpretation during the ecotourism experience can increase knowledge of the host-protected area, supportive attitudes towards resource management issues facing the host-protected area, general environmental behavioural intentions and philanthropic support of conservation.
Designing Corporate Ventures in the Shadow of Private Venture Capital

“The search for innovation needs to be organizationally separate and outside of the ongoing managerial business. Innovative organizations realize that one cannot simultaneously create the new and take care of what one already has. They realize that maintenance of the present business is far too big a task for the people in it to have much time for creating the new, the different business for tomorrow. They also realize that taking care of tomorrow is far too big and difficult a task to be diluted with concern for today. Both tasks have to be done. But they are different. Innovative organizations, therefore, put the new into separate organizational components concerned with the creation of the new. “—Peter Drucker
The influence of interest groups in the European Parliament : does policy shape politics?

For a long time, the European Parliament (EP) was viewed as a lobbying sideshow mainly to be targeted if interest groups were unsuccessful at getting their demands included in the European Commission’s proposal. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have a reputation for being particularly open to diffuse interests who, due to their limited resources, use ‘friendly’ MEPs to put pressure on the European Commission and the Council. The notion of the EP representing diffuse interests conflicts with the broader political science literature on interest groups, which dwells on business bias. There are, however, good reasons to doubt the EP’s reputation as a defender of diffuse interests. Much of our current knowledge about the EP’s interest group politics stems from a time when the EP’s legislative powers were more limited. Within the last twenty years, the EP has evolved from a ‘multilingual talking shop’ to a genuine co-legislator with the Council. The increased powers of the EP raise the question of whether EP interest group politics has normalised, whereby the assumptions of the interest group literature would seem to reflect the reality of the EP. A common assumption in the interest group literature is that diffuse interests carry limited weight in decision-making because their resources and interests remain subordinate to that of business. However, business influence differs across policy fields depending on how the costs and benefits related to policies are distributed. The aim of my thesis is to investigate how the distribution of costs and benefits of legislative proposals influence interest groups’ likelihood of winning particular conflicts in the EP. This is done by examining four legislative dossiers in the areas of employment, consumer, and environmental policies. The thesis draws on the process-tracing of EU documents, and 144 interviews with MEPs, EP officials, and interest groups.
The Cme Quanto Nikkei Future: Does it Reveal International Market Segmentation?

The CME Nikkei 225 "Quanto" futures contract settles against the Nikkei Index but taken to refer to US dollars. This is intended for the convenience of US investors wanting to take exposure to the Japanese Market. In contrast, the corresponding "Vanilla" instruments trading on SIMEX (Singapore) and the OSE (Osaka, Japan), settle in Yen. We study whether the pricing of this Quanto contract reveals international market segmentation; in particular, whether its returns are correlated with the returns to the S&P500 future, which also trades on the CME, after controlling for the returns of either of the Vanilla contracts, and any currency exposure. Our first test is an OLS regression, including the one period ahead Vanilla return, to account for the time lag between the CME and SIMEX or the OSE, and this suggests that there is a segmentation effect. However, we show that this test suffers from an errors-in-variables problem, and is biased. We construct an unbiased GMM type test, which reveals that there is no segmentation effect, and supports the notion that the Quanto contract pricing is efficient. We also show empirically, and justify theoretically, that the Quanto and Vanilla futures contracts to not differ in their currency exposure, if the Yen cash flows from the Vanilla contract are immediately converted into dollars.
Retraction : “A Conceptual Model of the Relationship Between Market Orientation and Supply Chain Performance”

Addressing a lack of research on the relationship between marketing and supply chain management, a new conceptual framework incorporates organizational learning, supply chain innovation, trust, supply chain management strategy, commitment, and collaboration as mediating factors in the relationship between market orientation and supply chain performance. Only by identifying the dimensions of effective performance and assessing their impact on each other can organizational leaders strengthen the bonds among partners in the supply chain toward generating the efficiencies that improve its management and performance. The proposed framework can also be used to facilitate further research into the link between market orientation and supply chain performance. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Exact Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement: Recent Advances

Although often depicted as rigid structures, proteins are highly dynamic systems, whose motions are essential to their functions. Despite this, it is difficult to investigate protein dynamics due to the rapid timescale at which they sample their conformational space, leading most NMR-determined structures to represent only an averaged snapshot of the dynamic picture. While NMR relaxation measurements can help to determine local dynamics, it is difficult to detect translational or concerted motion, and only recently have significant advances been made to make it possible to acquire a more holistic representation of the dynamics and structural landscapes of proteins. Here, we briefly revisit our most recent progress in the theory and use of exact nuclear Overhauser enhancements (eNOEs) for the calculation of structural ensembles that describe their conformational space. New developments are primarily targeted at increasing the number and improving the quality of extracted eNOE distance restraints, such that the multi-state structure calculation can be applied to proteins of higher molecular weights. We then review the implications of the exact NOE to the protein dynamics and function of cyclophilin A and the WW domain of Pin1, and finally discuss our current research and future directions.
Feeder-pig Producers and Finishers: Who Should Contract?

The purpose of this study is to determine the minimum level of contract payments required to produce hogs under a production contract. Required payments needed for contract growing to be preferred to independent production for the average-profit, slightly risk-averse, feeder-pig producer and for the high-profit, moderately to strongly risk-averse, feeder-pig producer are found to be similar to those currently offered by contractors. Feeder-pig finishers with average profit levels would either have to be strongly risk-averse or expect economic profits to fall to zero to prefer contracting over independent production. Low-profit feeder-pig finishers who are moderately to strongly risk-averse would prefer contracting. Feeder-pig finishers who historically have experienced above-average profits would require payments substantially above current contract rates to prefer contracting. L'objet de cette etude est de determiner le seuil de paiement contractuel requis pour inciter les producteurs de porcs a passer des contrats de production. Nous avons constate que les niveaux de paiement actuellement affert par les contracteurs correspondent aux niveaux requis pour rendre la production sous-contrat referable a la production libre, tant aux yeux du naisseur de porcs d'engraissement qui recherche un profit moyen sans trop de souci pour les risques que de celui qui espere un niveau de profiteleve avec le moins de risques possibles. Quant aux engraisseurs a niveau de profit moyen, il faudrait soit qu'il soit completement ennemi du risque ou qu'ils envisagent que leur rentabilite puisse descendre a zero pour les inciter a produire ous-contrat. En revanche les engraisseurs a faible niveau de rentabilite et moderement a fortement soucieux des risques prefereraient la production sous-contrat. Les engraisseurs qui auparavant ont enregistre des benefices superieurs a la moyenne auraient besoin de paiements contractuels sensiblement superieurs aux taux en vigueur pour les inciter a adopter la
Reconstruction of the evolutionary history of the DHA1 family of yeast multidrug resistance transporters of the major facilitator superfamily

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is frequently mediated by the action of drug-efflux pumps, which are able to catalyze the active expulsion of several unrelated cytotoxic compounds out of the cell or their intracellular partitioning. A group of transporters involved in MDR belongs to the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) which, based on protein topology, phylogeny and function, divides into two families: 12-spanner drug:H+ antiporter-1 (DHA1) and 14-spanner drug:H+ antiporter-2 (DHA2). The evolutionary history of 422 DHA1 proteins identified in twenty-four hemiascomycetous genomes was reconstructed. The phylogenetic tree divided the DHA1 genes into 21 clusters, twelve containing no Saccharomyces cerevisiae members. Inclusion of gene neighbourhood data allowed to scrutinize the orthologous, paralogous, and ohnologous status of these genes, and also to identify ten main DHA1 gene lineages, spanning the whole hemiascomycetes clade. The DHA1 proteins of seven pathogenic Candida spp. were phylogenetically characterized.
The Displacement Cardiograph

The displacement cardiograph (DCG) is a non-contacting electromagnetic instrument for the recording of heart movement. Its field penetrates deep into the body and is extremely sensitive thereby allowing the recording of myocardial movement from patients regardless of body shape or posture even by paramedical personnel. A summary of recordings from normal subjects, patients and animals is described here showing the DCG's flexibility as a diagnostic tool and as a device for basic physiological studies into the kinetics of organs.
The Feeding Of The Nine Billion — A Case For Technology Transfer In Agriculture

This paper studies technology creation and transfer of 95 Russian research and technology organisations (RTOs) into producer organisations in agriculture and mining. Previous findings suggested that in agriculture, the barriers for technology adaption are particularly high due to technological conservatism and the atomic structure of the industry. Although RTOs in agriculture publish more and register more patents, they struggle to translate their success into transfer activities. While technology transfer in mining goes well hand in hand with applied research, RTOs in agriculture either build on new technologies or generate revenues through ready-to-use services. The explanation for this rather short-term oriented demand for services of Russia's RTOs lies in the financial situation of client organisations. The vast majority complain about their dire lack of financial means to pay for new technologies. Consequently, agricultural producers do not generate enough revenues to pursue future opportunities, with far reaching consequences. The situation could get better if the RTOs and the client would agree to longer-lasting relationships.
The Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders

The treatment literature on offender rehabilitation is reviewed with the purpose of deriving further direction for researchers and clinicians in the field of correctional psychology. After addressing the measurement of recidivism and other indicators of effectiveness, this empirically guided article reviews individual studies and meta-analyses on effectiveness of psychosocial correctional treatment for adult offenders and specialized treatment for substance abuse offenders and sexual offenders. A foundation in the general principles of offender intervention is established; principles such as risk, need, and responsivity are upheld; and common themes including the use of cognitive-behavioral interventions and the importance of treatment integrity emerge. However, questions move beyond “what works” to detailed queries about the nuances of effective service delivery, including client motivation. Well-controlled clinical studies and detailed process evaluations are still required. Other new directions include the application of positive psychology to offender treatment and the improvement of conditions under which community reentry is more likely to succeed. Directions for further research on correctional treatment are suggested.
European Agricultural Biotechnology Preferences and Policy: Growth and Trade Implications

European Union policies effectively prohibit the production and consumption of genetically modified agricultural products. This paper examines the prohibition's effects on research and development, innovation, trade flows, and economic growth using a Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson trade model with a neo- Schumpeterian approach. Restrictive European Union policies on biotechnology production and consumption result in: an effective export subsidy of capital to the South; changing trade flows; North America being the dominant producer of biotechnology research and development; the South being a dominant producer of biotechnology products; and the European Union being the dominant producer of traditional agricultural products.
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer in Mammals (1938-2013)

In the second half of the twentieth century, scientists learned how to clone some species of mammals. Scientists have applied somatic cell nuclear transfer [6] to clone human and mammalian embryos as a means to produce stem cells [7] for laboratory and medical use. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technology applied in cloning [8], stem cell research, and regenerative medicine [9]. Somatic cells are cells that have gone through the differentiation [10] process and are not germ cells. Somatic cells donate their nuclei, which scientists transplant into eggs after removing their nucleuses (enucleated eggs). Therefore, in SCNT, scientists replace the nucleus [11] in an egg [12] cell with the nucleus [11] from a somatic cell [13].
The Debt Puzzle in Dhaka’s Slums: Do Poor People Co-hold for Liquidity Needs?

We observe the usage of the flexible savings-and-loan accounts offered by SafeSave, a microfinance institution serving poor slum dwellers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We find that 59% of the clients borrow at high interest rates and simultaneously hold low-yield liquid savings. Our main finding is that this apparent behavioural anomaly cannot be attributed to liquidity needs. In contrast, we show that co-holders are more likely to be workers subject to low-income risk. An alternative explanation is that co-holders take up costly loans they do not need to escape forced solidarity vis-a-vis family members and friends.