Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The triad of gastric epithelioid leiomyosarcoma, functioning extra‐adrenal paraganglioma, and pulmonary chondroma

The triad of gastric epithelioid leiomyosarcoma, functioning extra‐adrenal paraganglioma, and pulmonary chondroma was found in two young female Mayo Clinic patients, and two of these tumors occurred in another two. Review of the world literature disclosed nine patients who probably had two or more of the three neoplasms. We are also aware of two other patients with two of the three tumors. The association of gastric epithelioid leiomyosarcoma, functioning extra‐adrenal paraganglioma, and pulmonary chondroma may well constitute a syndrome because of 1 the improbability of the coincidental occurrence of this triad of tumors, 2 the multicentricity of the tumors in the organs or system affected, and 3 the development of the tumors at a young age. Because two of the components of the triad are potentially lethal, it is important that patients less than 35 years of age who have any one of the three tumors be examined periodically to search for the others.
Privatization in the United States

In the United States, the two principal modes of producing local government services are inhouse provision by government employees and contracting out to private suppliers, also known as privatization. We examine empirically how United States counties choose their mode of providing services. The evidence indicates that state clean- government laws and state laws restricting county spending encourage privatization, whereas strong public unions discourage it. The evidence is inconsistent with the view that efficiency considerations alone govern the provision mode, and points to the important roles played by political patronage and taxpayer resistance to government spending in the privatization decision.
DISTRIBUTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE CITY: DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS IN TWO MIXED ISRAELI CITIES

The socio-economic inferiority of the Arab minority compared to the Jewish majority and the unequal distribution of resources between Jewish and Arab towns in Israel are well known facts. However, so far there has been no evidence establishing whether unequal resource allocation also occurs within mixed Jewish-Arab cities. Based on high-resolution sociodemographic and infrastructure data, this paper examines the access that populations of differing socio-economic levels and ethnic identity have to green spaces in the mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Ramla and Lod. Results show that the Arab minority in these cities has much less access to green spaces than the Jewish majority. The findings produced in this study can serve as a basis for public debates concerning injustice in the distribution of urban services and help urban planners achieve a more balanced and fair allocation. It can also serve as a powerful tool for empowering minorities, social organisations and NGOs and motivating them to act against spatial inequality and social discrimination. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.
Changing Workplace Practices

Argues that organizational rules have developed over time to serve the needs of both workers and managers. Unfortunately, it is being found that rules are double‐edged; they restrict both the rule maker and the potential rule breaker. It is clear that many existing workplace rules do not serve the needs of anyone involved. Discusses several reasons why rules are difficult to change and suggests ways in which to facilitate changes in workplace rules. Concludes that, in order for rules governing existing workplace practices to change, all the relevant stakeholders must expect to gain from their revision.
Germ-line msh 6 Mutations in Colorectal Cancer Families 1

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma (HNPCC) is due primarily to inherited mutations in two mismatch repair genes, MSH2 and MLH1, whereas germ-line mutations in other mismatch repair genes are rare. We examined the frequency of germ-linemsh6 mutations in a population-based series of 140 colorectal cancer patients, including 45 sporadic cases, 91 familial non-HNPCC cases, and 4 HNPCC cases. Among the 91 population-based familial non-HNPCC cases, germ-line msh6 mutations were found in 6 patients (7.1% of probands analyzed; median age at diagnosis, 61 years). These mutations included a splice site mutation, a frameshift mutation, two missense mutations that were demonstrated to be loss of function mutations, and two missense mutations for which functional studies were not possible. In contrast, germ-linemsh6 mutations were not found in any of the 45 sporadic cases and the 4 HNPCC cases in the population-based series or in the second series of 58 clinic-based, primarily HNPCC families. Our data suggest that germ-line msh6 mutations predispose individuals to primarily late-onset, familial colorectal carcinomas that do not fulfill classic criteria for HNPCC.
Tumor Cells Enhance Their Own CD44 Cleavage and Motility by Generating Hyaluronan Fragments*

Hyaluronan (HA) is an extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan that interacts with cell-surface receptors, including CD44. Although HA usually exists as a high molecular mass polymer, HA of a much lower molecular mass that shows a variety of biological activities can be detected under certain pathological conditions, particularly in tumors. We previously reported that low molecular weight HAs (LMW-HAs) of a certain size range induce the proteolytic cleavage of CD44 from the surface of tumor cells and promote tumor cell migration in a CD44-dependent manner. Here, we show that MIA PaCa-2, a human pancreatic carcinoma cell line, secreted hyaluronidases abundantly and generated readily detectable levels of LMW-HAs ranging from ∼10- to 40-mers. This occurred in the absence of any exogenous stimulation. The tumor-derived HA oligosaccharides were able to enhance CD44 cleavage and tumor cell motility. Inhibition of the CD44-HA interaction resulted in the complete abrogation of these cellular events. These results are consistent with the concept that tumor cells generate HA oligosaccha-rides that bind to tumor cell CD44 through the expression of their own constitutive hyaluronidases. This enhances their own CD44 cleavage and cell motility, which would subsequently promote tumor progression. Such an autocrine/paracrine-like process may represent a novel activation mechanism that would facilitate and promote the malignant potential of tumor cells.
The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Social Security Contributions: The Case of Zimbabwe

Significant early retirement from work due to HIV/AIDS-related illness is reducing the gainfully employed population and threatening the viability of the statutory social security schemes run by the National Social Security Authority in Zimbabwe. The economy has been in recession for a decade, with high inflation and significant job losses also impacting negatively on contributions to the National Pension and Other Benefits Scheme (NPOBS), and government imposes ceilings on insurable earnings from which contributions are drawn. There are currently no consistent strategies to mitigate attritional effects of these factors on the social security schemes. The aim of this study was to prospectively project the potential impact of HIV/AIDS and imposed ceilings on NPOBS revenue in the presence of high inflation. It was found that HIV/AIDS will reduce projected contributions to the scheme by more than 30 per cent by 2030. Policy strategies to adjust and frequently review levels of growth of imposed ceilings on insurable earnings in line with inflation growth and to invest in HIV/AIDS prevention could be adopted to ameliorate the negative impact of HIV/AIDS and/or ceiling caps on social security contributions in Zimbabwe.
Craniodental Affinities of Southeast Asia's “Negritos” and the Concordance with Their Genetic Affinities

Abstract Genetic research into Southeast Asia's “negritos” has revealed their deep-rooted ancestry, with time depth comparable to that of Southwest Pacific populations. This finding is often interpreted as evidence that negritos, in contrast to other Southeast Asians, can trace much of their ancestry directly back to the early dispersal of Homo sapiens in the order of 70 kya from Africa to Pleistocene New Guinea and Australia. One view on negritos is to lump them and Southwest Pacific peoples into an “Australoid” race whose geographic distribution had included Southeast Asia prior to the Neolithic incursion of “Mongoloid” farmers. Studies into Semang osteology have revealed some hints of Southwest Pacific affinities in cranial shape, dental morphology, and dental metrical “shape. ” On the other hand, the Andamanese have been shown to resemble Africans in their craniometrics and South Asians in their dental morphology, while Philippine negritos resemble Mongoloid Southeast Asians in these respects and also in their dental metrics. This study expands the scope of negrito cranial comparisons by including Melayu Malays and additional coverage of South Asians. It highlights the distinction between the Mongoloid-like Philippine negritos and the Andamanese and Semang (and Senoi of Malaya) with their non-Mongoloid associations. It proposes that the early/mid-Holocene dispersal of the B4a1a mitochondrial DNA clade across Borneo, the Philippines, and Taiwan may be important for understanding the distinction between Philippine and other negritos.
Cost Efficiency of Dairy Farming in New Zealand: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Research on the efficiency of dairy farming in New Zealand is limited and has focused predominantly on technical efficiency. We contribute to the literature on empirical analysis by examining cost efficiency of New Zealand dairy farms. We construct simplified translog stochastic cost frontiers based on an unbalanced panel of 824 farms. Average cost efficiency is estimated at 83 percent for dairy farms in the North Island and 80 percent for farms in the South Island. Our analysis of the relationship between inefficiency and farm characteristics suggests significant associations between cost efficiency and capital intensity, livestock quality, and farm size.
Assessing port governance models: process and performance components

This paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates various relevant port performance components in a way that can be used for a comprehensive port evaluation and adjustment of existing port governance models. The paper presents a synthesis of the literature on port governance models and port performance, arguing that the process of change is a dynamic one, and that the performance outcome of a reform process influences the next round of reforms. It also explores the potential for decomposing performance into two different, although related, port performances components, namely efficiency and effectiveness. Bringing into the analysis concepts like the need to integrate users’ satisfaction in port performance assessment, the paper explores the content of each of these components and their relationship. This discussion, along with empirical evidence provided by port authorities, leads to the conclusion that governance decisions, both at firm and government levels, are largely based on a very limited assessment of port performance. The effectiveness of port reform is largely neglected, with user perspectives not being an integral part of an effort to improve performance by the port or as feedback to assess the effectiveness of the governance model imposed by the government's port policy.
Machine Translation of Bio-Thesauri

In this paper we describe how we applied a generalpurpose machine translation tool for translating biomedical thesauri. We used corresponding terms in parallel corpora to check the validity of the translations. The advantage of this approach is that a single corresponding set of terms can be verified where techniques to retrieve translations from a parallel corpus do not exploit the knowledge contained in current state of the art machine translation software.
Luxury fever : money and happiness in an era of excess

Acknowledgments ix 1. Money Well Spent? 1 2. The Luxury Spending Boom 14 3. Why Now? 3 4. The Price of Luxury 45 5. Does Money Buy Happiness? 6 6. Gains That Endure 7 7. Our Forgotten Future 94 8. Excellent, Relatively Speaking 107 9. Why Context and Position Are So Important 122 10. Smart for One, Dumb for All 146 11. Understanding Conspicuous Consumption 15 12. Self Help? 17 13. Other Failed Remedies 19 14. Luxury Without Apology 20 15. Equity Versus Efficiency: The Great Trade-Off? 227 16. We Can't Afford It? 25 17. Cash on the Table 266 Endnotes 281 References 295 Index 317
Ultrasound Imaging for Stellate Ganglion Block: Direct Visualization of Puncture Site and Local Anesthetic Spread: A Pilot Study

Background and Objectives. Stellate ganglion block (SGB) inhibits sympathetic innervation and is a common treatment for reflex sympathetic dystrophy. During the positioning of the needle, there is a risk of injury to the adjacent structures. The aim of the study was to develop an ultrasonographic imaging technique for the performance of SGB. Methods. Twelve patients (ASA I-II) underwent SGB first by using the blind standard technique (group A: 8 mL bupivacaine 0.25%) and a second time by using an ultrasonographic imaging technique (group B: 5 mL bupivacaine 0.25%). In group B a 10 MHz ultrasound scanning probe was used to identify the anatomic structures and to guide the needle toward the transverse process of C6. Results. Stellate ganglion block was satisfactory in 11 of 12 attempts by the blind technique. Ultrasonographic guidance (group B) resulted in a complete block in all patients. Onset of block was observed within 10 minutes in only 10 of 12 group A patients, while all patients in group B exhibited an adequate block after 10 minutes. During the imaging technique, the needle was inserted to an average depth of 22 ± 3 mm and the injection of 5 mL bupivacaine resulted in an anesthetic depot with a mean diameter of 14 ± 3 mm. Distance from the depot to the vagal nerve was 5 ± 3 mm and 5 ± 4 mm to the root of C6. All patients (n = 4) with a distance of <1 mm between anesthetic depot and the root of C6 developed paresthesia within the corresponding cutaneous segment. Blind technique resulted in hematoma formation in three study patients, with no hematoma occurring during imaging technique. Conclusions. Ultrasonographic guided SGB may improve safety and allows the visualization of the local anesthetic depot. Studying the local anesthetic spread might allow the avoidance of side effects as well as typical complications of SGB.
Are We Consuming Too Much?

This paper articulates and applies frameworks for examining whether consumption is excessive. We consider two criteria for the possible excessiveness (or insufficiency) of current consumption. One is an intertemporal utility-maximization criterion: actual current consumption is deemed excessive if it is higher than the level of current consumption on the consumption path that maximizes the present discounted value of utility. The other is a sustainability criterion, which requires that current consumption be consistent with non-declining living standards over time. We extend previous theoretical approaches by offering a formula for the sustainability criterion that accounts for population growth and technological change. In applying this formula, we find that some poor regions of the world are failing to meet the sustainability criterion: in these regions, genuine wealth per capita is falling as investments in human and manufactured capital are not sufficient to offset the depletion of natural capital.
Urbanization and Energy Use In Economic Development

Urbanization and industrialization are the most prominent features of economic development. The energy use changes brought by industrialization are well known, but urbanization also imposes major, if subtle, changes in energy use. Urbanization shifts production activities formerly undertaken in the home with little or no energy to outside producers who do use energy. One of the largest changes is the daily travel of urban residents, primarily but not exclusively, to work Personal transportation in rural areas generally entails little or no fuel use, while urban transportation does, particularly as incomes increase. Higher density living also induces substitutions of modem for traditional energy forms. Finally, food must be transported longer distances to urban consumers than to rural, agricultural consumers.
Contracts and Electricity Pool Prices

This paper provides a simple discussion of the interaction between forward contracts for electricity and electricity spot markets. Using a Cournot model of electricity pools, it is demonstrated that generators have a purely strategic incentive to sign forward contracts so as to raise their market share, by lowering price over the elastic portion of their individual demand curves. This, in turn, implies that the existence of the contract market lowers prices in pool markets and hence, over the industry. By mutually committing not to sign contracts, generator profits would be higher. But the existence of the contract market precludes such pre‐commitment. We demonstrate that when there are asymmetries between generators, contracting also allows efficient plants to operate relatively more, lowering the cost structure of the industry. Finally, we consider the effect of contracts on entry and find that it is possible that the existence of a contract market could deter otherwise efficient entry.
Commentary---Steps Toward Mastering Trade Promotions

The papers by Abraham and Lodish Abraham, M. M. , L. M. Lodish. 1987. Promoter: An automated promotion evaluation system. Marketing Sci.6 101--123. and Blattberg and Levin Blattberg, R. C. , A. Levin. 1987. Modelling the effectiveness and profitability of trade promotions. Marketing Sci.6 124--146. represent steps toward developing sufficient theory, sufficient algorithms, and sufficient data to manage the large expenditures trade promotions represent. In this comment, I'll focus on the stylistic differences in the two approaches, discuss the barriers to implementation within manufacturers, and comment on enhancements.
The monetary policy decisions of the ECB and the money market

The Eurosystem’s operational framework provides the key link between the ECB’s monetary policy strategy and the money market. The operational framework is the means to implement policy, which is based on the control of very short-term money market interest rates. The same applies in most industrial economies. For the European single monetary policy, it was recognised already in 1997 (see EMI (1997a)) that very short-term interest rates were to be regarded as the first step in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.
Flood Hazard Pricing and Insurance Premium Differentials: Evidence From the Housing Market

In this article, a model is developed of the rational consumer's willingness to pay for a marginal reduction in the probability of an undesirable state (flooding) occurring in the residential location decision. The model incorporates a hedonic price gradient for low-probability, high-loss flood hazards. Individuals can self-insure against flooding hazards by locating in residential areas where the probability of flooding hazard is relatively low and, all other things equal, consumers should pay more for houses located in relatively less hazardous areas. A relationship between housing price differentials and insurance premiums for housing located inside and outside of a hazard zone is developed, as well as tests for noninsurable costs. In an efficient market, property value differentials reflect the perceived probability of hazards. Sales price differentials on homes located in and out of a hazard zone should reflect the expected loss associated with the hazard occurring, as well as any market determined risk premium (assuming all other factors influencing price are held constant). If all costs associated with the hazard are insurable, the efficiency of market hazard pricing can be tested using insurance premium differentials associated with the hazard. In this article, a model characterizing the consumer's location decision is specified and estimated using data on individual housing transactions. ' Specifically, a methodology is developed for estimating consumer willingness to pay for a reduction in the probability of flooding hazard in an urban area.
Linear-to-Circular Polarization Reflector With Transmission Band

A new class of polarizing surface is proposed that in a given frequency band can reflect incident linearly polarized waves with circular polarization (CP) while at other frequencies is transparent allowing incident waves to transmit unaffected. The proposed structure consists of two parallel anisotropic frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) that independently interact with TE or TM waves, respectively. The FSSs are designed to, respectively, transmit TE and TM waves within the same transmission frequency range, so that the combined structure is transparent to all polarizations in this band. Likewise, the two arrays are designed to, respectively, reflect TE and TM incident waves in a common reflection band, so that all polarizations are fully reflected in this range; if the separation of the two arrays is such that the TE and TM components of an incident wave polarized at slant 45° experience a 90° phase shift, reflection will occur in CP. The concept and performance limitations are theoretically investigated using transmission line theory as well as full wave results. The predicted performance is validated by means of experimental results on a fabricated prototype. The proposed structure is pertinent for employment as a quasi-optical diplexer in CP dual-band systems such as reflector antennas.
A Measurement Theory Perspective on Business Measurement

ABSTRACT: During the last five centuries, the traditional accounting model has evolved into a wide set of business practices and measurement conventions. In general, these models have served business well, but are now gradually losing relevance. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (2011) consideration of a more informative audit report and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (2011) reconsideration of a more precise concept of income clearly illustrate a growing disconnect with the traditional model. This paper explores the possibility of enhancing financial reporting with a wider frame of business representations and measures. It begins by discussing business measurement from the perspective of measurement theory, and then considers the potential that contemporary information technology and data processing offers by providing more relevant, timely, and reliable financial information. For example, some of the possible changes could be implemented through modified XBRL tagging.
Substitution and crowding-out effects of active labour market policy

The search model contains two matching technologies, the public employment service (PES) with its type-specific registers for workers and vacancies, and the search market where firms advertise vacancies and unemployed who have not been placed by the PES search for jobs. The placement activity of the PES increases the bargained wages, reduces active job search, decreases the number of advertised vacancies, but - compared with the laissez- faire regime - increases employment and per capita consumption. Of all the instruments of ALMP, the probabilities of a match, the portion of unskilled not interested in a job, and the hiring subsidies generate crowding-out effects. The productivity of the unskilled, (re-employment)bonuses, penalties for violations of the search rule, and the stringency of the search rule cause crowdingin effects. Assistance for problem groups is less effective than promoting active job search.