Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CSR disclosures in the banking industry. Empirical evidence from Poland

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in banks and integrated reporting, a review of the literature on the subject and the author’s own research results. The author’s research was designed to identify information on CSR included in the management commentaries of selected banks operating in Poland and to evaluate the disclosures with regard to their quality, diversity and the ways they change over time. Design/methodology/approach - – The author formulates three hypotheses relating to the social and environmental disclosures and verifies them using a disclosure index approach based on the analysis of 84 management commentaries of 12 banks operating in Poland in 2005-2011. Findings - – Banks tend to include CSR disclosures in the management commentary. They present CSR information in a diverse manner, focusing mainly on community involvement. The quality of CSR disclosures in 2011 was higher as compared with 2005. None of the banks in the sample produced integrated reports. Research limitations/implications - – The study concentrates on CSR disclosures only in management commentaries and relies on the review of information presented by a limited number of banks. Originality/value - – The study contributes to the scarce literature on social responsibility disclosures by financial institutions in Central and Eastern Europe; it also discusses a new integrated reporting model.
Comparison of Conventional and Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses for Bullous Keratoplasty

Purpose. To compare the efficacy and safety of conventional lenses and silicone hydrogel lenses in the treatment of bullous keratopathy. The silicone hydrogel bandage contact lenses used were Focus NIGHT & DAY and PureVision. The conventional lens used was Sauflon 85%. Methods. This was a prospective, comparative study of 22 patients with painful bullous keratopathy in one eye. Patients visited a specialty contact lens department and were fitted with all three different lens types in their affected eye for 1 month each, for a total duration of 3 months. The main outcome measures were comfort and pain relief, which patients scored on a scale that ranged from 1 to 5, with 1 being very poor and 5 being excellent. Doctors assessed the fit of the lens, its movement, and any deposit buildup. The statistical tests applied were the Kruskal–Wallis test and the Mann–Whitney test. Results. Sixteen of the 22 patients (24 eyes) successfully completed 1 month’s wear of all three bandage contact lenses. The median comfort score was 3.9 for PureVision, 3.8 for Focus NIGHT & DAY, and 2.8 for Sauflon 85%; there was a statistical significance among the three groups (P=0.031). Silicone hydrogel lenses performed better than conventional lenses for comfort. The Mann–Whitney test showed that there was no statistically significant difference for comfort scores of Focus NIGHT & DAY versus PureVision (P<0.782) or of Focus NIGHT & DAY versus Sauflon 85% (P<0.073). However, there was a statistically significant difference for comfort scores of PureVision versus Sauflon 85% (P<0.0136). The median pain relief score was 3.8 for PureVision, 3.7 for Focus NIGHT & DAY, and 3.2 for Sauflon 85%. There was no significant difference among the three lenses for pain relief score. All three lens types were similarly good with regard to contact lens fit, movement, and deposit buildup. Conclusions. The use of silicone hydrogel lenses are a safe and effective alternative to conventional contact lenses for the treatment of bullous keratopathy.
RNA Secondary Structure in the Coding Region of Dengue Virus Type 2 Directs Translation Start Codon Selection and Is Required for Viral Replication

ABSTRACT Dengue virus is a positive-strand RNA virus and a member of the genus Flavivirus, which includes West Nile, yellow fever, and tick-borne encephalitis viruses. Flavivirus genomes are translated as a single polyprotein that is subsequently cleaved into 10 proteins, the first of which is the viral capsid (C) protein. Dengue virus type 2 (DENV2) and other mosquito-borne flaviviruses initiate translation of C from a start codon in a suboptimal context and have multiple in-frame AUGs downstream. Here, we show that an RNA hairpin structure in the capsid coding region (cHP) directs translation start site selection in human and mosquito cells. The ability of the cHP to direct initiation from the first start codon is proportional to its thermodynamic stability, is position dependent, and is sequence independent, consistent with a mechanism in which the scanning initiation complex stalls momentarily over the first AUG as it begins to unwind the cHP. The cHP of tick-borne flaviviruses is not maintained in a position to influence start codon selection, which suggests that this coding region cis element may serve another function in the flavivirus life cycle. Here, we demonstrate that the DENV2 cHP and both the first and second AUGs of C are necessary for efficient viral replication in human and mosquito cells. While numerous regulatory elements have been identified in the untranslated regions of RNA viral genomes, we show that the cHP is a coding-region RNA element that directs start codon selection and is required for viral replication.
European Monetary Union - a quantum leap

The main statements contained in this paper can be summed up as follows: 1. The single market created a supranational economic area. It is only logical from an economic point of view that the single market should also give rise to a single currency. 2. In order to improve Europe's competitive position vis-à-vis Japan and the USA, the dollar must be rivalled by a European currency having equivalent clout. 3. The convergence criteria are economically justified. Stable prices, low interest rates, the reduction of dramatically inflated national debts and the elimination of competitive devaluations stimulate investment, jobs and growth. 4. The European Central Bank will assume the status of a European monetary government. If an equal effort is to be made to achieve employment and social policy objectives, then an economic government and a social government are also required. 5. The task of an economic government, in the form of a harmonised economic policy for the EU Member States, is to promote job-creating investment in new technologies and modern infrastructure projects. 6. The task of a social government, in the form of Union-wide coordinated trade union representation, is to safeguard social standards, participation rights and wage claims. 7. Only the trio of Monetary, Employment and Social Union make sense and entail genuine legitimacy. 8. In the light of the ongoing trend towards globalisation, the cost of failure and the associated re-establishment of putatively wholly sovereign nation states would be counter-productive for all countries in Europe.
Adalimumab for treatment of moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis of the hands and feet: efficacy and safety results from REACH, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy, safety, and sustainability of response to adalimumab therapy for moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis involving hands and/or feet. DESIGN Sixteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of adalimumab therapy for moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis involving the hands and/or feet with a 12-week open-label extension (Randomized Controlled Evaluation of Adalimumab in Treatment of Chronic Plaque Psoriasis of the Hands and Feet [REACH]). SETTING Multicenter outpatient study in the United States and Canada. PARTICIPANTS Patients with chronic plaque psoriasis on the hands and/or feet with a Physician's Global Assessment of hands and/or feet (hfPGA) score of "moderate" or above. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized 2:1 to adalimumab (80 mg at week 0, then 40 mg every other week starting at week 1) or to matching placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Percentage of patients achieving an hfPGA score of "clear" or "almost clear" at week 16. RESULTS Seventy-two patients (adalimumab [n = 49];placebo [n = 23]) were evaluated. Baseline percentages of patients with moderate and severe hfPGA scores were 76% and 24%, respectively, for the adalimumab group and 74% and 26%, respectively, for the placebo group. At week 16, 31% and 4% of patients randomized to adalimumab and placebo, respectively, achieved an hfPGA score of clear or almost clear (P = .01). At week 28, 80% of the hfPGA clear or almost clear response was maintained from week 16 (25% for patients randomized to adalimumab). Adverse events in both groups were generally mild to moderate. In both periods combined, nasopharyngitis (27% and 13% for adalimumab- and placebo-treated patients, respectively) was most frequently reported. CONCLUSION Adalimumab is efficacious and well tolerated for treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis of hands and/or feet, with efficacy largely maintained to 28 weeks. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00735787.
An Automated LNA/PPA Characterization System

In the competitive market of RFICs, components test plays a key role. In order to reduce the critical factor time to market, the main objective is to test the most products possible in the least amount of time, for the lowest cost and the highest accuracy. Automated tests help reaching this goal, for example for LNA/PPA measurements. A fully automated modular test system in industrial environment has been developed for RF and I/O products. This paper presents a part of this global test system and focuses on LNA/PPA measurements capabilities. Automatic LNA/PPA setup switching, multiple die testing, automatic RF generators calibration, temperature control, automatic report generation, traceability, large modularity, enhanced accuracy, multiple instruments choice, friendly interface, re use strategy are ones of the main features of this system. Using this solution, the measured improvement in terms of characterization time is a factor of 5 (Noise Figure measurements), 8 (Adjacent Power Channel Ratio measurements), 16 (S-Parameters measurements), 32 (Intermodulation measurements). Increasing traceability, avoiding errors and inaccuracies, the quality of the results has been deeply increased by the way. In the future, this system will be extended to other types of RF/PLL/mixed measurements to provide complete characterization solutions in a wide spectrum of applications.
E-Learning for Rare Diseases: An Example Using Fabry Disease

Background: Rare diseases represent a challenge for physicians because patients are rarely seen, and they can manifest with symptoms similar to those of common diseases. In this work, genetic confirmation of diagnosis is derived from DNA sequencing. We present a tutorial for the molecular analysis of a rare disease using Fabry disease as an example. Methods: An exonic sequence derived from a hypothetical male patient was matched against human reference data using a genome browser. The missense mutation was identified by running BlastX, and information on the affected protein was retrieved from the database UniProt. The pathogenic nature of the mutation was assessed with PolyPhen-2. Disease-specific databases were used to assess whether the missense mutation led to a severe phenotype, and whether pharmacological therapy was an option. Results: An inexpensive bioinformatics approach is presented to get the reader acquainted with the diagnosis of Fabry disease. The reader is introduced to the field of pharmacological chaperones, a therapeutic approach that can be applied only to certain Fabry genotypes. Conclusion: The principle underlying the analysis of exome sequencing can be explained in simple terms using web applications and databases which facilitate diagnosis and therapeutic choices.
US shipping policy under conditions of a new world economic and political environment

The maritime policy of the US has evolved over more than 100 years from the support of US shipping through mail and fleet auxiliary contracts before the turn of the century, to the present array of direct and indirect Government aids and regulations based on the assumption that a strong maritime industry composed of both US-flag shipping and US-shipbuilding capacity is essential for the economic well-being and defence of the country. Notwithstanding massive direct and indirect aid to the US merchant marine, amounting to well over a billion dollars a year in recent years, US shipping and shipbuilding has declined dramatically and now comprises less than 3% of world shipping. Only 2.8% of US foreign trade by volume and 6% by value is today carried in US flag ships. Government aids constitute well over 33% of total revenues of US-flag shipping. The traditional argument for US Government support has been the need for cost parity to permit US-flag shipping to compete effectively in international trade against .
Membrane potential governs calcium influx into microvascular endothelium: integral role for muscarinic receptor activation

Endothelial function in resistance vessels entails Ca2+ and electrical signalling to promote vasodilatation and increase tissue blood flow. Whether membrane potential (Vm) governs intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) of the endothelium remains controversial. [Ca2+]i and Vm were evaluated simultaneously during intracellular current injection using intact endothelial tubes freshly isolated from mouse skeletal muscle resistance arteries. [Ca2+]i did not change during hyperpolarization or depolarization under resting conditions. However in the presence of 100 nM ACh (∼EC50), [Ca2+]i increased during hyperpolarization and decreased during depolarization. These responses required extracellular Ca2+ and were attenuated by half with genetic ablation of TRPV4 channels. In native microvascular endothelium, half‐maximal stimulation of muscarinic receptors enables Vm to govern [Ca2+]i by activating Ca2+‐permeable channels in the plasma membrane. This effect of Vm is absent at rest and can be masked during maximal receptor stimulation.
Poverty and Inequality in The Soeharto Era: An Assessment

This paper surveys the evidence on trends in poverty and inequality during the years of Soeharto's presidency. That Indonesia saw a decline in the incidence of poverty, and improvements in other welfare indicators such as infant mortality rates and literacy rates over these years, seems indisputable. Comparative studies show that by the latter part of the 1980s, the headcount measure of poverty in Indonesia was below that in the Philippines although above that in Malaysia and Thailand. But relative poverty has declined more slowly, and indeed increased in some urban areas between 1987 and 1996. The paper also examines evidence on the determinants of rural poverty in Indonesia in 1993, and suggests that rural development programs targeted to the specific needs of poor people in poor areas will be essential if rural poverty is to be further reduced in future years.
Journal of Globalization and Development Europe : How Deep Is a Crisis ? Policy Responses and Structural Factors Behind Diverging Performances

The effects of the current crisis on the level of output, and consequently on unemployment and poverty, are likely to be deep and long lasting; they should not be underestimated, especially now that some timid signs of recovery are appearing. The crisis was triggered by the US financial sector, but its roots are real, and can be traced to the deepening income inequality of the last three decades, which led to a chronic deficiency of aggregate demand. In the Unites States, the center of the crisis, the policy reaction has been bold, and as a consequence the effects of the crisis are less important than in the eurozone, where only France has a comparable performance. The policy inertia of the eurozone countries, in fact, is more structural, and is related to the institutions for the economic governance of Europe. The statute of the ECB and the Stability and Growth Pact, that reflect a doctrine opposed to discretionary macroeconomic policies, constrain eurozone governments and its monetary policy. The relatively better performance of France can in fact be explained with these lenses: on one side it has a well developed system of automatic stabilizers, and on the other it suffered less than other OECD countries the deepening of income inequality.
Demographic diversity in the measurement and meaning of unintended pregnancy

Unintended pregnancy is a major and persistent public health issue in the United States. Almost half of the 6.7 million pregnancies occurring each year are estimated to be unintended, and this figure has remained virtually unchanged in the past decade. A potential barrier to preventing unintended pregnancies and their associated adverse health outcomes is that women’s pregnancy intentions are not straightforward to measure and interpret. Indeed, an unresolved paradox is that women frequently report feeling happy about pregnancies they also classify as unintended (i.e. they have incongruent intentions and feelings). Understanding whether such incongruence is a reflection of ambivalence or happiness at the idea of pregnancy despite strong desire to prevent conception is particularly important for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in unintended pregnancy, since Latinas are more likely to report incongruent intentions and feelings than non-Hispanic whites.
Relationship of envelope antigens of animal influenza viruses to human A2 influenza strains isolated in the years 1957-68.

This study demonstrates relationships in envelope antigens of 4 human influenza A2 strains isolated during the period 1957-68 (including A2/Hong Kong/68), 2 strains of A/Equi-2/63 and 7 avian influenza viruses isolated in Europe, North America, and the Ukraine in the years 1960-67.Antigenic relationships among the strains were determined on the basis of haemagglutination-inhibition, virus-neutralization, strain-specific complement-fixation, and neuraminidase-inhibition tests.North American avian influenza strains, Turkey/California/64, Turkey/Massachusetts/65, Turkey/Wisconsin/66, Turkey/Ontario/6828/67, and the Italian strain Duck/Italy/574/66 are antigenically related to human A2 influenza viruses by haemagglutinin and/or neuraminidase. None of these viruses is antigenically related to the A/Equi-2/63 strains, Duck/Ukraine/2/60, Duck/Ukraine/1/63 or A2/Hong Kong/68. However, A2/Hong Kong/68 has neuraminidase similar to other A2 strains from previous years.A definite relationship was shown between the haemagglutinin of A/Equi-2/63, A2/Hong Kong/68, Duck/Ukraine/2/60 and Duck/Ukraine/1/63 strains by the use of hyperimmune sera in 3 different serological tests. Related neuraminidase was demonstrated only between A/Equi-2/63 and both duck strains from the Ukraine.The significance of these findings and their interpretation with respect to the ecology of influenza viruses are discussed.
Tributação da receita de juros, política monetária otimizada e volatilidademacroeconômica

RESUMO: Este ensaio estuda políticas monetárias discricionárias otimizadas como extensão do novo modelo básico Keynesiano, o qual incorpora tributação da receita de juros, focando no efeito das mudanças na alíquota da receita de juros sobre volatilidade macroeconômica. Simulações mostram que altos níveis de tributação aumentam a volatilidade da inflação, do gap de produção, e a expectativas incondicionais da função de perda do banco central.
Engineering a clinically-useful matrix for cell therapy

The design criteria for matrices for encapsulation of cells for cell therapy include chemical, biological, engineering, marketing, regulatory, and financial constraints. What is required is a biocompatible material for culture of cells in three-dimensions (3-D) that offers ease of use, experimental flexibility to alter composition and compliance, and a composition that would permit a seamless transition from in vitro to in vivo use. The challenge is to replicate the complexity of the native extracellular matrix (ECM) environment with the minimum number of components necessary to allow cells to rebuild a given tissue. Our approach is to deconstruct the ECM to a few modular components that can be reassembled into biomimetic materials that meet these criteria. These semi-synthetic ECMs (sECMs) employ thiol-modified derivatives of hyaluronic acid (HA) that can form covalently crosslinked, biodegradable hydrogels. These sECMs are “living” biopolymers, meaning that they can be crosslinked in the presence of cells or tissues to enable cell therapy and tissue engineering. Moreover, the sECMs allow inclusion of the appropriate biological cues needed to simulate the complexity of the ECM of a given tissue. Taken together, the sECM technology offers a manufacturable, highly reproducible, flexible, FDA-approvable, and affordable vehicle for cell expansion and differentiation in 3-D.
t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia with trilineage phenotype diagnosed by electron microscopy

AML-M2 is a common subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), usually associated with translocation t(8;21) and often accompanied by eosinophilia [1]. Bone marrow (BM) basophilia is a rarely encountered finding in this type of AML, and a single case of acute basophilic leukemia (ABL) with t(8;21) was recently reported [2]. Increased number of basophils and eosinophils, and the presence of hybrid eosinophil–basophil granulocytes are well known features in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and AML associated with inv16(p13q22) [3]. We describe here a patient with AML and t(8;21), in whom electron microscopic (EM) studies of the leukemic blasts uncover the presence of granules specific for each one of the granulocytic lineages suggesting AML with very unusual hybrid trilineage phenotype. A 33-year-old previously healthy man was admitted because of fever and altered vision in October 2005. Retinal hemorrhage along with a few petechiae on the legs was found. Hemoglobin was 5.6 g/dL, leukocyte count 7.66 10/L and platelet count 816 10/L. A blood smear revealed 30% blasts with occasional Auer rods. BM aspirate showed infiltrate by small and middle size blasts with a large nucleus containing a nucleolus and pale basophilic cytoplasm. In most of the blasts small azurophilic granules were observed, and in a few of them Auer rods were identified. Numerous eosinophils in different stages of maturation were also observed. Myeloperoxidase staining was strongly positive in the blasts as was ASD-chloroacetate specific esterase, while non-specific alpha-naphthyl esterase was negative. Toluidine blue staining for demonstration of metachromatic granules was negative. On immunophenotyping, the blasts expressed HLA-DR, CD33 and CD34 antigen, whereas CD3, CD1, CD19, CD13, CD10, CD117, CD41 antigens and glycophorin were not detected. The karyotype was t(8;21)-y. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed AML1-ETO gene rearrangement. PCR for c-kit gene mutation was negative. Ultrastructural studies of BM blasts revealed the presence of cytoplasmic neutrophilic, eosinophilic and basophilic granules. In some sections the simultaneous presence of the three types of granules was detected (Figure 1). The basophilic granules exemplified the known variable morphologic appearance already described [4], including theta granules, as well as tissue mast cell-like structures. Most of the eosinophilic granules were primary ones showing a uniform and strongly electron dense appearance and a few large ones had multiple core structures surrounded by a matrix. Each one of the three types of granules showed the usual pattern of myeloperoxidase staining, which was also strongly positive in the endoplasmic reticulum (Figure 2). The small neutrophilic granules showed a characteristic uniform strong reaction, whereas the large basophilic ones had a typical patchy appearance. The primary eosinophilic granules showed a uniform strong reaction and in the secondary eosinophilic granules