Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Resource Based View of Privatization as Capabilities Development: Ownership and Networks

ABSTRACT Privatization is a complex phenomenon that can be viewed as a transformational strategy and a frame-breaking event. We focus on the resource based view as the driver in trade sale privatization, and we extend the concept into collaborative networks, in which the acquiring firm, the other network participants and the firm being privatized all contribute resources that enable the combined entity to gain a competitive advantage. We offer six framing propositions and provide empirical evidence from a field study of Telmex, the privatized Mexican telecommunications firm. RESUMEN. La Privatización es un fenómeno complejo que puede considerarse una estrategia de transformación, y un acontecimiento que rompe los marcos existentes. En este estudio enfocamos nuestro análisis en una perspectiva basada en que el recurso es un impulsor de la privatización a través de la venta de negocios, y ampliamos el concepto hasta incluir a las redes colaborativas mediante las cuales la empresa adquirente, la otra red participante y la empresa que está siendo privatizada contribuyen con recursos en unísono, que permiten que la entidad combinada adquiera una ventaja competitiva. Ofrecemos seis propuestas marco y pruebas empíricas de un estudio de campo de Telmex, la empresa mexicana de telecomunicaciones privatizada. RESUMO. A privatização é um fenômeno complexo que pode ser visto como uma estratégica de transformação e um evento de quebra de parâmetros. Concentramo-nos na visão resource-based como força motriz da privatização, e estendemos o conceito para networks colaborativas, nas quais a empresa compradora, os outros participantes da rede e a firma que está sendo privatizada, todos contribuem com recursos que capacitam a entidade combinada resultante a ganhar uma vantagem competitiva. Oferecemos seis proposições de modelo e apresentamos evidência empírica oriunda de uma pesquisa de campo sobre a Telmex, a empresa de telecomunicações mexicana privatizada.
Radiofrequency ablation treatment of refractory carcinoid hepatic metastases.

BACKGROUND Our institution has experienced excellent success using hepatic artery embolization for treating symptoms and slowing tumor progression for patients with unresectable hepatic metastases for carcinoid tumors. Our previous treatment strategies used hepatic artery embolization alone, examining control of symptoms and dependence on octreotide therapy. However, some patients exhibit hepatic metastases that are unresponsive to embolization. This report describes the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as salvage treatment for these refractory metastases. METHODS Thirteen patients with unresectable bilobar hepatic metastases from biochemically confirmed carcinoid tumors were treated with selective hepatic artery embolization using Lipiodol/Gelfoam between 1994 and 2000. Three patients developed symptoms resistant to embolization treatment resulting from progression of existing metastases or development of new metastases. These patients underwent surgical exploration and intraoperative ultrasound of their refractory lesions, followed by treatment with RFA. Tumor size, symptoms of carcinoid syndrome, and octreotide requirements were monitored postoperatively. RESULTS Median follow-up for the three patients treated with RFA was 6 months. During the first 3-month interval following RFA, all three patients demonstrated decrease in the size of treated lesions. Using our previously developed symptom scoring system, all three patients demonstrated decreased symptoms following treatment. One patient was able to discontinue octreotide treatment, and the other two patients required decrease octreotide dosages. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that utilization of RFA treatment for carcinoid metastases refractory to hepatic artery embolization may represent a useful adjunct for symptomatic control, decreased octreotide dependence, and slowing of disease progression.
Risk Factors for Clinically Diagnosed Alzheimer's Disease: A Case-Control Study of a Greek Population

Many efforts have been made to trace the causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There are, however, many points of controversy among reports from the same country as well as among reports from different countries. The current study is a case-control study to determine the risk factors in the development of AD in Greece. Sixty-five patients with AD and 69 age-matched controls were examined. All patients with AD fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for AD and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for probable AD. Demographic characteristics such as gender, current marital status, who he/she is living with, education, main place of residence in childhood, adulthood, and late life, occupational hazards, patient's medical history (history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension), life habits like alcohol consumption and smoking, and a history of head trauma, heart attack, stroke, parkinsonism, or depression were collected from the subject or from an informant. A family history of selected diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dementia, Parkinson's disease, Down's syndrome, stroke) was also elicited. Ages of father and mother at birth were also recorded. Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. The results (chi-square test) showed a statistically significant difference between patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type and controls as far as marital status (p = .04), the subject's history of major depressive episode (p = .02), and family history of dementia (p = .002) were concerned. Logistic regression analysis results produced a complex model of family aggregation of dementia, with patients with a history of depression and family history of dementia having an up to seven times higher risk of developing AD. These findings, especially a family history of dementia, are consistent with most of the literature.
RPE TEARS AFTER PEGAPTANIB TREATMENT IN AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

Purpose: To describe retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) tears in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) status post pegaptanib (Macugen) injection. Methods: Six eyes from six patients who developed RPE tears while undergoing treatment with pegaptanib for AMD-related fibrovascular pigment epithelial detachment (PED) and occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) were identified retrospectively. Diagnosis of pre-pegaptanib fibrovascular PED and post-pegaptanib RPE tears were made by clinical examination, fluorescein angiography (FA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the macula. Results: Four patients developed an RPE tear within 8 weeks after the first pegaptanib injection, while RPE tears were found in two patients following a second injection. Only one of the patients reported acute vision loss, although three of six eyes had a decrease in objective visual acuity in the affected eye to the count fingers level. All six cases displayed the classic clinical and angiographic appearance of RPE tears. In addition, OCT imaging showed an irregular, hyperreflective RPE layer with a focal defect. Conclusions: RPE tears are known to occur in the setting of PED spontaneously or after laser treatment, but have only recently been described in association with intravitreal pegaptanib. OCT imaging of eyes status post pegaptanib therapy may be helpful in identifying this complication. Patients with AMD, especially those with occult CNV and fibrovascular PED, receiving pegaptanib therapy should be monitored for RPE tears, which may warrant deferral of further injections.
Low fluences of ultraviolet irradiation stimulate hela cell surface aminopeptidase and candidate “TGFαase” activity

Several forms of perturbation result in the release of bioactive molecules into the microenvironment of injured cells to mediate the inflammatory or reparative reactions which restore normal tissue structure and function. Amongst other products, ultraviolet irradiation (UV) causes the release of the growth factor TGFα from a variety of epithelial cell sources, apparently by a post‐translational mechanism. Here we have explored the hypothesis that UV results in the activation of cell surface proteases which may then be capable of excising mature TGFα from its plasma membrane‐bound precursor. Using a recently described, sensitive assay of peptidase activity tailored to the substrate requirements for cleavage of the scissile bonds in proTGFα, we have found that nonlethal fluences of UV ( < 12 Jm−2) to HeLa cell cultures are followed by large increases in cell surface proteolytic activities. Amongst these, endopeptidase activity produces a similar product profile from the nonapeptide substrate to that of human leukocyte elastase, an enzyme previously shown to be capable of releasing a bioactive, mature form of TGFα from its cell‐bound precursor. However, in addition to this candidate “TGFase” activity, cell surface aminopeptidase activity was also very significantly increased. The increase in the two classes of peptidase function differed in the timing of their responses. Aminopeptidase activation occurred immediately following UV, peaking after some 15–20 h, whereas the increase in endopeptidase activity lagged 6 h behind, cresting after 20–24 h. No evidence for a role for aminopeptidase in the activation of the endopeptidase could be found. Also, there was no increase in the total proteolytic activity demonstratable in cell extracts following UV.
Health care during prolonged weightlessness in humans.

The demands for accumulation of knowledge about the human adaptation to weightlessness of long duration and the implications for the health and well-being of the astronaut have become increasingly important also for the international space programmes which are under development. The health care during long duration space-flights starts already with the selection where professional, psychological and medical criteria are considered. Space flights in low earth orbit have not been extended beyond 1 year, so the predictable value for long term space flights is limited, because e.g. Mission to Mars will last from 1.5 to 3 years, depending on the position of the planets, the space vehicle etc. The long duration and the enormous distance covered will induce very special and until now unknown effects on the human psychology which might be seen as the one single major factor which might be prohibitive for such long duration flights. The Moon base will bring further knowledge useful for long duration space flights in the field of medical care in general, but also with regard to the development of countermeasures against the adverse effects of weightlessness on the human body. The Moon's gravitational field of 0.16 G makes it possible to study this as a threshold in the adaptation processes.
Glucocorticoids Suppress Corneal Lymphangiogenesis

Purpose: To determine whether glucocorticoids suppress corneal lymphatic vessel growth (lymphangiogenesis) or induce lymphatic vessel regression. Methods: We measured human lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation and collagen-induced tubulogenesis in culture conditions with and without dexamethasone, a potent glucocorticoid. We developed a modification of the mouse corneal suture model that allowed us to visualize lymphatic vessel growth (with suture) or regression (suture removed) using immunofluorescence and microscopic techniques. We administered dexamethasone or vehicle control to mice with sutured corneas. We visualized and quantified the corneal lymphatic vessels. We measured vascular endothelial growth factor-C and tumor necrosis factor-α messenger RNA expression in unsutured or sutured corneas using quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction. Results: High-dose dexamethasone did not change the proliferation or tubulogenesis properties of human lymphatic endothelial cells in vitro. We demonstrated suppressed corneal lymphatic vessel growth rather than lymphatic vessel regression in mice treated with dexamethasone. Expressions of corneal vascular endothelial growth factor-C and tumor necrosis factor-α messenger RNA were similar in mice treated with or without dexamethasone. Conclusions: Dexamethasone suppressed new lymphatic vessel growth and did not induce lymphatic vessel regression. These findings identify a novel mechanism of glucocorticoid action: suppression of corneal lymphangiogenesis.
Disinvestment, Farm Size, and Gradual Farm Exit: The Impact of Subsidy Decoupling in a European Context

The recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which decouples farm subsidies from production, is expected to impact on farmers' production decisions. We perform a cross-country farm-level empirical analysis of farmers' production responses to these reforms using a panel dataset for the EU15 countries for the period 2001--2007. We apply quasi-experimental empirical methods and find that the probability of a farm disinvesting decreased due to the policy change for most farms. However, the policy change facilitated exit for farms engaged in livestock production and those that were already in the process of leaving the sector. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.
CDC Grand Rounds: the Future of Cancer Screening

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with 52% of deaths caused by cancers of the lung and bronchus, female breast, uterine cervix, colon and rectum, oral cavity and pharynx, prostate, and skin (melanoma). In the 1930s, uterine cancer, including cancer of the uterine cervix, was the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. With the advent of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test in the 1950s to detect cellular level changes in the cervix, cervical cancer death rates declined significantly. Since this first cancer screening test, others have been developed that detect the presence of cancer through imaging procedures (e.g., mammography, endoscopy, and computed tomography) and laboratory tests (e.g., fecal occult blood tests).
Identifying Druglike Inhibitors of Myelin-Reactive T Cells by Phenotypic High-Throughput Screening of a Small-Molecule Library

Inflammatory T cells that are reactive to myelin protein components of the CNS play a critical role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The authors have previously generated mice that predominantly harbor T cells transgenic for a T-cell receptor (TCR) that is specific to the myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151 and that spontaneously develop MS-like paralysis. T cells from healthy transgenic mice respond to stimulation with PLP139-151 in a highly specific manner by proliferation and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)—2 and interferon (INF)—γ in vitro. To identify druglike compounds that may inhibit inflammatory T-cell responses, the authors have developed a high-throughput screening assay with primary T cells from PLP TCR transgenic mice. They have screened 41,184 small-molecule compounds that follow Lipinski's rules for their inhibitory activity on the proliferation and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in PLP-reactive T cells. To this end, the screen identified 6 nontoxic compounds with a molecular weight <500 that inhibited inflammatory responses in PLP-reactive T cells in a concentration-dependent fashion. The identified compounds represent valid leads that may be developed into novel therapeutics for MS that could be administered orally. (Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2007:481-489)
The Social Charter: Whatever Next?

This paper traces the development of the Social Charter since its adoption in December 1989. We examine and evaluate the more important policy instruments. It is shown that the mandatory and often ambitious ‘minimum standards’ set by the Commission are difficult to justify in efficiency terms by reference to market failure. Furthermore, the imposition of uniformity on states that are diverse in their patterns of regulation will retard competition between social systems. It is also likely that the countervailing moves taken by firms in reaction to the imposition of arbitrary standards will frustrate the redistributive aims of the policy.
Pharmacodynamics of daptomycin and vancomycin on Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated by studies of initial killing and postantibiotic effect and influence of Ca2+ and albumin on these drugs

The pharmacodynamics of daptomycin and vancomycin on Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 were investigated by studying the postantibiotic effect (PAE) and initial killing. The influence of Ca2+ and albumin on these drugs was also evaluated. The PAE was studied by use of bioluminescence assay of bacterial ATP. Daptomycin at clinically achievable concentrations produced a dose-dependent PAE on E. faecalis (0.6 to 6.7 h) and S. aureus (1.0 to 6.3 h). The long PAE of daptomycin was seen simultaneously with a potent dose-dependent initial killing assayed by viable count determination. The initial change in bacterial ATP was not as extensive as the decrease in viability. Vancomycin at corresponding concentrations produced shorter PAEs on E. faecalis (0.5 to 1.0 h) and S. aureus (1.3 to 1.8 h). This coincides with a weak non-dose-dependent initial change in viability and intracellular ATP. The MICs of vancomycin were not influenced by different Ca2+ concentrations or by the addition of albumin to the broth. The MICs of daptomycin for both strains were lowered, and the PAEs were prolonged with increasing concentrations of Ca2+ in the broth. The PAE of daptomycin was Ca2+ dependent to the same extent as the MIC was. In the presence of physiological concentrations of albumin and free Ca2+, the PAEs of daptomycin on both strains were reduced and the MICs were increased in comparison with the results obtained in pure Mueller-Hinton broth with approximately the same free Ca2+ concentration. This decrease in daptomycin activity was considered to be due to the albumin binding of daptomycin. Despite the albumin binding of daptomycin, the PAE produced on E. faecalis and S. aureus in the presence of a physiological free Ca2+ concentration was still over 6 h at clinically achievable concentrations.
Industry Self‐Regulation: An Institutional Perspective

Throughout the advanced countries of the world self-regulatory regimes are being introduced. This article suggests that, at least in some contexts, industry self-regulation can be an effective and efficient means of social control that has been largely ignored by economics (which has a focus on individual rather than group behavior) and prematurely discounted by mainstream regulatory theory. The article examines the strengths and to a lesser extent the weaknesses of industry self-regulation from five closely related yet distinct vantage points: mediating institutions; industrial morality; institutionalizing responsibility; institutions responding to external pressure; and the roles of the state and third parties.
Risk, uncertainty, and learning in adoption of a crop innovation

Risk and uncertainty have often been suggested as causes of poor adoption of rural innovations, but empirical evidence has been scarce. This study focuses on a new crop-type, chickpeas, in Western Australia to gather such evidence. The empirical models developed are based on a theoretical framework that conceptualizes adoption as a dynamic decision process involving information acquisition and learning-by-doing by growers who vary in their managerial abilities, risk preferences, and their perceptions of the profitability and riskiness of the innovation. Learning encompasses improvements in skill as well as reductions in uncertainty. An annual face-to-face survey of over 100 farmers was conducted over 3 years, eliciting the farmers' risk attitudes and their subjective distributions of yields and prices. Two limited dependent variable models, Tobit and Probit, are used to estimate the empirical model. There is a high degree of goodness-of-fit for both models. The study provides strong empirical support for the primarily economic character of the adoption decision, and highlight the importance of economic risk in the process. The two risk-related factors with greatest impact on the adoption decision were risk aversion and relative riskiness of the innovation. Risk aversion tended to reduce adoption, and to do so to a greater extent as relative riskiness and scale increased. Results also reveal the key role that trialing of the innovation plays in adoption. Copyright 2005 International Association of Agricultural Economics.
Optimal group size with joint liability group lending strategy

Purpose - – This paper aims to offer a theory on optimal group size. To overcome the problems of institutional credit facilities to the poor and marginal people, Joint Liability Group Lending (JLGL) is often considered as a better option. However, the literature in the field is surprisingly silent about the issue of group-size. This paper tries to fill the vacuum in a theoretical framework. Design/methodology/approach - – Using a standard theoretical model, this paper shows that even with costless peer monitoring, there exists an upper bound on the size of group, and this upper bound is exactly pinned down by the strength of the social sanction. Findings - – This paper shows that under reasonable specification of effort cost, as group size increases, both optimal cooperative effort level and the deviation incentive from that effort level rise monotonically for any individual borrower. Thus, given the strength of social sanction, the rising incentive for deviation uniquely determines the optimal group size even in absence of free riding in peer monitoring. Research limitations/implications - – The theoretical results derived in the paper require empirical verification which is, however, tricky because of the problems associated with quantifying social sanctions. Practical implications - – This paper argues that the group size should be larger in more integrated communities which have better social cohesion among its members. Originality/value - – This paper shows that, for a given extent of joint liability the borrowers need to bear, the group size in joint liability group lending should be designed according to the strength of social sanction prevailing in the society to achieve social efficiency.
HAPPINESS OVER SPACE AND TIME

Hedonic theory assumes that changes in land prices and wage rates eliminate the utility advantages of differing locations. Using happiness data from the German socio-economic panel this paper empirically tests whether regional utility differences exist and if so whether utility levels show any tendency to converge over time. Empirical analysis reveals substantial differences in utility over different regions of Germany. Analysing a panel of data indicates that even if individual utility levels are at any one moment in disequilibrium they are rapidly converging over Germany for all types of individuals.