Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapy options for retinitis pigmentosa

Introduction: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which occurs about 1 in 4,000 people worldwide, is a hereditary retinal degeneration that leads to legal blindness. The condition is characterized by a degeneration of the photoreceptors caused by a variety of responsible genes. Investigations of photoreceptor cell death in RP have provided clues on potential therapeutic targets. In this article, our current understanding of the mechanisms responsible for photoreceptor cell death is briefly summarized and strategies for preventing or retarding the progression of RP are discussed by specifically focusing on its putative therapeutic options. Areas covered: The clinical features, genetic backgrounds and molecular basis for photoreceptor cell death in RP are presented. Since the mechanisms for retinal degeneration appear to be extremely complicated, a variety of possible therapeutic targets have been proposed, with some having been applied clinically. Expert opinion: Because RP is genetically heterogeneous, mechanisms for photoreceptor cell death are known to be complex, partially dependent on individual causative genes. These pathways include oxygen stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, increased Ca2+ uptake by photoreceptor cells, caspase-dependent and/or -independent pathways of apoptosis, parthanatos (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase-1-dependent cell death), epigenetic factors, neurotrophic factors and autophagy, among others. In order to effectively achieve photoreceptor protection therapy, it is necessary to develop proper combinations of various treatment methods, in addition to creating new gene therapy and cell or tissue replacement strategies.
The role of bulls in pioneering new habitats in an expanding muskox population on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) occurred on the Seward Peninsula historically but were rare or extinct at the time of European exploration. The species was reintroduced in 1970 and the population numbered at least 527 animals in 1988. Previous authors concluded that the adult bulls observed away from centers of muskox concentration were lost from the population. Twenty-four male and 15 female muskoxen were radio collared and monitored during 1981–1986 to compare the fate of these mobile animals with those remaining on traditional range and to determine the significance of distant movements to the population. Radio-collared bulls were classified as migratory or sedentary. Success in acquiring harems was compared between these classifications and according to the locations of bulls during breeding periods. Migrating bulls were as successful in acquiring harems over the course of observation as sedentary bulls. Harem bulls were 4–9 years old; older or younger bulls were not successful. Bulls were observed alone .
Rainfall, geology and landscape position generate large-scale spatiotemporal fire pattern heterogeneity in an African savanna

Fire is considered a critical management tool in fire prone landscapes. Often studies and policies relating to fire focus on why and how the fire regime should be managed, often neglecting to subsequently evaluate management's ability to achieve these objectives over long temporal and large spatial scales. This study explores to what extent the long-term spatio-temporal fire patterns recorded in the Kruger National Park, South Africa has been influenced by management policies and to what extent it was dictated by underlying variability in the abiotic template. This was done using a spatially explicit fire-scar database from 1941 to 2006 across the 2 million ha Park. Fire extent (ha burnt per annum) 1) is correlated with rainfall cycles 2) exhibits no long-term trend and 3) is largely non-responsive to prevailing fire management policies. Rainfall, geology and distance from the closest perennial river and the interactions between these variables influence large-scale fire pattern heterogeneity: areas with higher rainfall, on basaltic substrates and far from rivers are more fire prone and have less heterogeneous fire regimes than areas with lower rainfall, on granitic substrates and closer to rivers. This study is the first to illustrate that under a range of rainfall and geological conditions, perennial rivers influence long-term, landscape-scale fire patterns well beyond the riparian zone (typically up to 15 km from the river). It was concluded that despite fire management policies which historically aimed for largely homogeneous fire return regimes, spatially and temporally heterogeneous patterns have emerged. This is primarily because of differences in rainfall, geology and distance from perennial rivers. We postulate that large-scale spatio-temporal fire pattern heterogeneity is implicit to heterogeneous savannas, even under largely homogenizing fire policies. Management should be informed by these patterns, embracing the natural heterogeneity-producing template. We therefore suggest that management actions will be better directed when operating at appropriate scales, nested within the broader implicit landscape patterns, and when focusing on fire regime parameters over which they have more influence (e.g. fire season).
The Impact of Anonymity on Unsophisticated Liquidity and Changing Information Asymmetry

This paper finds that in Nasdaq Helsinki where brokers can voluntarily reveal or conceal identities, unsophisticated traders are less willing to trade after anonymous trades than non-anonymous trades. Using intraday order and trade data of large-cap stocks to which the voluntary anonymity model applies, I find that on earnings announcement days, before announcements, the duration-until-next-unsophisticated-order (DUNUO)—a novel unsophisticated liquidity measure—following an anonymous trade is 21 seconds longer than that following a non-anonymous trade. However, this difference reduces to 8 seconds when earnings information is disclosed, implying a reduction in the negative impact of anonymity caused by lower information asymmetry. Moreover, unsophisticated traders are found to be increasingly unwilling to trade as the degree of anonymity—whether the preceding trade is non-, half-, or fully anonymous—increases.
Any way the wind blows ‐ frequent wind dispersal drives species sorting in ephemeral aquatic communities

Despite an upsurge of interest in spatial interactions between communities and in the impact of dispersal on ecological and evolutionary processes, dispersal patterns and dynamics in natural metacommunities remain poorly understood. Although passive aerial dispersal of freshwater invertebrates is generally accepted, the frequency and relative importance of wind as a vector is still subject of considerable debate. We assessed the importance of wind dispersal in an invertebrate metacommunity in a cluster of 36 temporary rock pools on an isolated mountaintop in South Africa. Wind dispersal was quantified every four days using nine windsocks (about 1.5 m above rock base), placed in the field during one month. Distance to the nearest pool varied from 2 up to 16 m. Wind direction and speed were monitored for the entire period. About 850 propagules (mostly resting eggs) of 17 taxa were captured. The presence of water in the pools (level of exposure of the dormant propagule bank) and the dominant wind direction were the key factors affecting the yield. Wind speed was much less important. Our results suggest that wind dispersal of propagules from temporary aquatic systems is more frequent than previously thought. This may stabilise the metacommunity by mediating gene flow among populations and facilitating rapid (re)colonisation of patches. On the other hand, wind erosion of the dormant propagule bank may lead to egg bank depletion and local extinction. The measured frequent wind dispersal most likely fuels strong species sorting processes ultimately shaping the structure of the local communities as observed in an earlier study. To elucidate the link between local dispersal rates and their contribution to long range dispersal is a major challenge for future research on aerial dispersal of aquatic invertebrates.
Compensation Differences and Merger Outcomes

We find that differences in the compensation of acquirer and target firms' management teams negatively affect the outcomes of mergers. Larger differences in top management pay are associated with lower returns to the acquiring firm after the announcement of the merger and negative combined wealth effects. Larger pay differences also increase the likelihood of employee layoffs. Overall, our results suggest that differences in executive compensation are indicators of integration problems at merging firms, which in turn negatively affect merger outcomes.
Economic Challenges and Consequences of the EU Enlargement for Trade and Development of Candidate States

In this paper we intended to analyse the effects that the incorporation of the candidate states to the EU will have over their economies. As far as the EU has evolved towards a single market, we studied their foreign trade with the EU member states (intra and inter industrial trade…). We also studied the role that foreign direct investment (FDI) has played in these countries. As a stone yard, we used the evolution of the countries that joined the UE in previous enlargements processes and that, at that moment, had also an unfavourable economic situation.
EFFECT OF ROCKY INTERTIDAL AMPHIPODS ON ALGAL RECRUITMENT: A FIELD STUDY 1

Evidence about the potential of mobile marine invertebrates to act as algal spore dispersal agents is presently circumstantial. Using a field correlational and experimental protocol, our study tested the hypothesis that amphipods can increase the spore recruitment of the red alga Iridaea laminarioides Bory. Iridaea laminarioides spore recruitment onto glass slides was measured at a site with high amphipod abundance and a site with low density of amphipods. To evaluate the effect of an Ulva canopy on recruitment, replicated glass slides with and without a surrounding Ulva canopy were installed at both sites. The number of I. laminarioides spores recruited on the glass slides was four to eight times higher at the high amphipod abundance site than at the low density site. However, the presence of an Ulva canopy covering the glass slides did not significantly increase the recruitment of I. laminarioides. Because the abundance of I. laminarioides, the proportion of cystocarpic plants, and the percentage of open cystocarps only differed slightly between the low and high abundance amphipod sites, we suggest that the variation in recruitment between the sites is due to the differences in amphipod abundance (and their movements) and not to differences in spore production. Moreover, the presence of I. laminarioides cystocarps showing amphipod grazing scars was significantly higher at the high amphipod density site than at the low density site.
Stock Market Volatility and Equity Returns: Evidence from a Two-State Markov-Switching Model with Regressors

This paper proposes a two-state Markov-switching model for stock market returns in which the state-dependent expected returns, their variance and associated regime-switching dynamics are allowed to respond to market information. More specifically, we apply this model to examine the explanatory and predictive power of price range and trading volume for return volatility. Our findings indicate that a negative relation between equity market returns and volatility prevails even after having controlled for the time-varying determinants of conditional volatility within each regime. We also find an asymmetry in the effect of price range on intra- and inter-regime return volatility. While price range has a stronger effect in the high volatility state, it appears to significantly affect only the transition probabilities when the stock market is in the low volatility state but not in the high volatility state. Finally, we provide evidence consistent with the ‘rebound’ model of asset returns proposed by Samuelson (1991), suggesting that long-horizon investors are expected to invest more in risky assets than short horizon investors.
An Empirical Study of OmniAmerican Bancorp’s Merger with and into Southside Bancshares

In this paper, we investigate the short- and long-term wealth effect of OmniAmerican Bancorp’s merger with and into Southside Bancshares. Given that OmniAmerican Bancorp made a ‘take-me-over’ announcement four months before the merger negotiations commenced, which may have given rise to market anticipation, we have employed a longer short-term testing window in order to capture the price run-ups. We show that this acquisition increased OmniAmerican Bancorp’s shareholder wealth by $35.44 million whereas decreased Southside Bancshares’ shareholder wealth by $25.61 million. However, statistically insignificant abnormal returns were found in both the short and long terms for the shareholders of the combined entity, indicating the acquisition’s overall value-neutral nature. This finding appears consistent with the (on average) non-value-destroying results documented in the post-crisis merger wave, but it seems inconsistent with the value-enhancing results observed in intra-state commercial bank mergers. Assuming that gains from the revaluation of the combined value of the bidder and target stocks typically come from the merged entity’s incremental earnings, we conclude that the market’s value-neutral assessment was correct in terms of predicting no significant profit enhancement of the merged entity when full integration of OmniAmerican Bancorp into Southside Bancshares was achieved.
Examining Success

Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code presumes that managers will remain in possession and control of a corporate debtor. This presents an obvious agency problem: these same managers may have gotten the company into trouble in the first place. The Bankruptcy Code thus includes checks and balances in the reorganization process, one of which is supposed to be an “examiner,” a private individual appointed to investigate and report on the debtor’s collapse. We study their use in practice. Extending prior research, we find that examiners are exceedingly rare, despite the fact that they should be “mandatory” in large cases ($5 million in debt), and are recommended in all, if “in the interests of creditors. ” Using a hand-collected dataset (n=1225) of chapter 11 bankruptcies from 1991-2010, we find that they are sought in less than 9% of cases (104), and appointed in fewer than half of those (48, or 3.9% of the sample). We offer three observations about the under-use of examiners. First, regression modeling shows that the factors that predict when an examiner will be appointed have little to do with the agency problems that concerned Congress, such as fraud or mismanagement. Instead, the timing of an examiner request and case venue appear to be the most important factors in the rare cases where they appear. Second, governance in reorganization has changed significantly since Congress enacted chapter 11, yet agency problems persist. Rather than reorganize “in place” with operational management, troubled companies are increasingly captured by sophisticated distress investors (e.g., hedge funds), who use “turnaround managers” to enhance their recoveries. Examiners could tell us whether this change has net social costs or benefits — if they were used. Third, we offer preliminary evidence that examiners should be used more frequently, because the rare case with one is likely to be more “successful” in a variety of ways than a case without one. Our findings inform looming fights about amending the Bankruptcy Code to eliminate the position of examiner entirely, and larger debates about how to define and achieve “success” in chapter 11 reorganizations. We borrow from literature on “experimentalism” in regulatory design to propose that bankruptcy courts use “mini-examinations” in order to learn more about examiners’ effects on the reorganization process. Sensitive to concerns about cost, we propose that some or all of these mini-examinations be funded out of bankruptcy court filing fees, which we estimate will be around $150 million in 2015.
Banks are Not Intermediaries of Loanable Funds — Facts, Theory and Evidence

In the loanable funds model, banks are modelled as resource-trading intermediaries that receive deposits of physical resources from savers before lending them to borrowers. In the financing model, banks are modelled as financial intermediaries whose loans are funded by ex-nihilo creation of ledger-entry deposits that facilitate payments among nonbanks. The financing model predicts larger and faster changes in bank lending and greater real effects of financial shocks. Aggregate bank balance sheets exhibit very high volatility, as predicted by financing models. Alternative explanations of volatility in physical savings, net securities purchases or asset valuations have almost no support in the data.
Why Aren’t Sri Lankan Women Translating Their Educational Gains into Workforce Advantages?

This paper focuses on Sri Lanka, a country with a long record of gender equality in education enrollment and high female completion rates, which has also been characterized by low and stagnant female labor force participation. It remains a puzzle why Sri Lanka has been unable to translate its high girls’ education gains into female labor force participation. This paper examines whether clues to the answer lie in (1) gender differences in skill acquisition, which have implications for education policy; (2) differences in the way the labor market values identical skills in men and women, with implications for labor market policy interventions or (3) in the gender division of labor in the household, which has implications for family-friendly and social policies. The paper analyses the 2012 World Bank STEP Skills Measurement survey, a rich dataset that includes self-reported measures of cognitive and non-cognitive skills for all individuals of working age, to address these questions. <br><br>The results indicate that women have higher measured cognitive skill than men and are not very different than men in terms of possession of non-cognitive skills that the market values. Rather, the results show that the market treats men and women with the same skills differently: Men get paid more. In addition, among labor market entrants, women have no earnings returns to cognitive skills, suggesting a role for policy intervention in the labor market. <br>
All in the genes? — young people's understanding of the nature of genes

This paper reports on young people's understanding of genes as they near the end of their compulsory science education in the UK. A sample of 482 school students aged 14–16, drawn from across the ability range, took part in this study. Findings, based mainly on written responses to written questions, but supported by interview data, show that this sample had only a very limited understanding of the most basic ideas relating to function, structure, and location of genes. It is argued that these findings are not atypical for this population of school students. The implications for teaching the more complex genetic concepts demanded by the National Curriculum —genetic engineering, for example — are considered.
Resurgence of pandemic A/H1N1 2009 viruses during influenza season 2013-2014.

In April 2009, the world has known an emergence of a triple-reasserting influenza virus, pandemic A/H1N1, causing a pandemic around the world. The virus has continued to circulate during influenza seasons from 2010 to 2013, but with low frequencies. However, during the influenza Review Article season 2013-2014, we have assisted to the resurgence of this same virus worldwide. A comparison of the 2009-2010 and the 2013-2014 influenza seasons revealed a notable change regarding the epidemiology of this virus, in term of hospitalizations and deaths associated with pandemic A/H1N1: A gradual transition of hospitalizations and deaths for older ages related to influenza has been reported. The resurgence of pandemic A/H1N1 is critical and its explanation is still difficult, but could be related to the viral genetic and/or the host susceptibility. Therefore, the best management of the disease and the effective control of the virus can be attempted by vaccination of all persons without contraindications and strengthening the surveillance systems of influenza.
The Effect of Noise in a Performance Measure on Work Motivation: A Real Effort Laboratory Experiment

This paper reports the results of an individual real effort laboratory experiment where subjects are paid for measured performance. Measured performance equals actual performance plus noise. We compare a stable environment where the noise is small with a volatile environment where the noise is large. Subjects exert significantly more effort in the volatile environment than in the stable environment. This finding is in line with standard agency theory and contrasts a distinct element of expectancy theory; noisier performance measures do not lower work motivation.
On Ambiguity-Seeking Behavior in Finance Models with Smooth Ambiguity

Ambiguity-seeking behavior is universally disregarded in a large theoretical finance literature with smooth ambiguity preferences. This paper questions the three rationales for this practice. First, smooth ambiguity models are not ill-defined under ambiguity-seeking. Second, a representative investor need not be ambiguity-averse when an average individual trader is ambiguity-averse. Third, individual traders need not be ambiguity-averse when a representative investor is ambiguity-averse. Our constructive suggestion is that researchers should calculate the allowed levels of ambiguity-seeking for which their model is wellposed, and then let the data speak for themselves whether ambiguity-seeking or ambiguity-aversion can better explain empirical evidence.
Five years of HOPE : the hierarchical open-ended corn breeding system

The hierarchical, open-ended corn (Zea mays L.) breeding system (HOPE) is designed to enhance genetic diversity and breeding potential by continually introgressing a wide range of germplasm into breeding populations concurrently subjected to increasingly stringent recurrent selection procedures. This research evaluated the response to selection after 5 yr. The HOPE breeding system involves two heterotic (A and B) sets of four open-ended populations based on a hierarchy of performance: elite (E), high (H), intermediate (I), and low (L). The 5 yr of selection included two cycles of reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS) at the E level, five cycles of modified ear-to-row (ME) selection at the H and I levels, and five cycles of stratified mass selection at the L level. Selection was for performance index (PI) grain yield ÷ grain moisture. About 90% of the 408 introductions added to HOPE during this period were to the L level. In EA, RRS reduced grain moisture 2.7% per year relative to CO; this was offset by a decrease in grain yield of 3.2% per year. In EB, PI and grain yield increased by 2.0 and 2.7% per year, respectively. In the cross EA × EB, only grain moisture was improved. At the H level of performance, ME selection produced increases of 2.8 and 4.6% per year for PI, 1.4 and 6.9% per year for grain yield, and −0.9 and 1.8% per year for grain moisture, relative to CO, in HA and HB, respectively. At the I level, ME selection improved PI by 3.2% per year and reduced grain moisture by 2.2% per year in IA relative to CO. In IB, only grain moisture was improved. At the L level, mass selection increased PI by 4.0 and 2.1% per year and reduced grain moisture by 2.2 and 1.0% per year relative to CO in LA and LB, respectively. Five years of HOPE resulted in genetic gains, suggesting that selection in open-ended populations, arranged in a hierarchical structure, is a viable breeding strategy. Par ot a thesis by the senior author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.