Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Core journals: A reappraisal of the Diamond list

One component of research assessment has been, and will continue to be, the explicit (or implicit) ranking of journals. Despite the obvious limitations, citations data are generally used to generate rankings as they provide one of the few quantifiable aspects of a journal's performance. Previous ranking schemes based on multiple performance measures constructed from citations data, such as the 'Diamond core,' can be criticized for their use of arbitrary weighting schemes to generate their final rankings. This paper addresses this problem by applying ranking techniques, namely, data envelopment analysis and integer programming, which systematically allow for multiple performance measures. Copyright 1995 by Royal Economic Society.
ProP Is Required for the Survival of Desiccated Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Cells on a Stainless Steel Surface

Consumers trust commercial food production to be safe, and it is important to strive to improve food safety at every level. Several outbreaks of food-borne disease have been caused by Salmonella strains associated with dried food. Currently we do not know the mechanisms used by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to survive in desiccated environments. The aim of this study was to discover the responses of S. Typhimurium ST4/74 at the transcriptional level to desiccation on a stainless steel surface and to subsequent rehydration. Bacterial cells were dried onto the same steel surfaces used during the production of dry foods, and RNA was recovered for transcriptomic analysis. Subsequently, dried cells were rehydrated and were again used for transcriptomic analysis. A total of 266 genes were differentially expressed under desiccation stress compared with a static broth culture. The osmoprotectant transporters proP, proU, and osmU (STM1491 to STM1494) were highly upregulated by drying. Deletion of any one of these transport systems resulted in a reduction in the long-term viability of S. Typhimurium on a stainless steel food contact surface. The proP gene was critical for survival; proP deletion mutants could not survive desiccation for long periods and were undetectable after 4 weeks. Following rehydration, 138 genes were differentially expressed, with upregulation observed for genes such as proP, proU, and the phosphate transport genes (pstACS). In time, this knowledge should prove valuable for understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in pathogen survival and should lead to improved methods for control to ensure the safety of intermediate- and low-moisture foods.
Can Australia Compete Internationally? The Old Question Revisited in the Light of New Evidence

Recent empirical studies established that Australian multinational corporations (MNCs) have been unsuccessful in international markets and explained the reasons behind this lack of success. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on issues that flow from this recent empirical work. We develop propositions to stimulate further research into the economic consequences of international diversification in the Australian context. We also discuss the implications of the evidence for managers of MNCs and industry policy.
Association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase intron 4a/b polymorphism and aortic dissection.

OBJECTIVES The genetic risk factors that contribute to the risk of developing aortic dissection (AD) have been studied. We assessed the association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism with AD. STUDY DESIGN Patients who underwent surgery with the diagnosis of AD and survived after the operation in our center between May 2007 and June 2011 were recruited retrospectively. The eNOS intron 4a/b polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using oligonucleotide primers (sense: 5'-AGGCCCTATGGTAGTGCCTTT-3'; antisense: 5'-TCTCTTAGTGCTGTGGTCAC-3') that flank the region of the 27 bp VNTR in intron 4. RESULTS Thirty-nine patients (88%) had type A AD, while the remainder (12%) had type B AD. The distribution of eNOS4 a/b gene polymorphism differed significantly from the control group, with higher frequencies of eNOS 4a/a and 4a/b genotypes in the AD group (x(2)=7.16, p=0.03). CONCLUSION In this study, the distribution of eNOS genotypes differed between the AD and control groups; however, this polymorphism was not found to be an independent factor for the development of AD.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SURVEY OF RECENT WORK

This article surveys recent work on the construction of performance indicators in higher education, focusing particular attention on degree results, student wastage and research output. Performance indicators ought to provide measures of value added by the various institutions under review. As such crude measures of output, which fail to take account of input differences across institutions, are inappropriate. So it is necessary to investigate what factors underlie inter-institution differences in measured output, in order to correct for input variations in assessing overall performance. The absence of market prices for teaching and research outputs severely hinders the construction of composite measures of the performance of higher education institutions, since in their absence no objective weights can be assigned to the different roles of these institutions. The resource implications of performance measurement exercises need to be clarified if rankings exercises are to have the desired incentive effects. Copyright 1992 by Oxford University Press.
Time on the Job and Time with Their Kids: Cultures of Teaching and Parenthood in the US

This study uses time diary and telephone survey data from a nonrandom sample of 310 US public, elementary school teachers in 46 schools and four school districts to analyze the sources of time for employed parents to devote to their children in the US. Comparing parent and nonparent teachers for a 24-hour working day reveals that American parents spend significantly less time on work, personal time, passive leisure, and exercise, and significantly more time on child care and housework. Even so, the parent workday is far longer than the employment contract stipulates. Mild evidence suggests that supportive supervisors, shorter contractual hours, and low levels of student poverty are linked to increased parental time for children among the teachers. Evidence is found for a time transfer of work from parents to nonparents in schools with higher proportions of women teachers. Less direct evidence suggests this time transfer is voluntary.
Equity, Justice and Standards: Assessment Decision Making in Higher Education.

Recent concerns about ‘fairness’ in university entrance have highlighted the need to review existing practices in admissions processes. The agendas for equity and social inclusion, however, must also apply to the processes and outcomes of higher education, where considerations of ‘standards’ are additionally crucial. As principles underpinning the assessment process, ‘equity’ and ‘justice’ and ‘academic standards’ are part of taken‐for‐granted cultures and practices which impact on decisions about progression, eligibility for awards and degree classification for individual students. Changing discourses of academic standards have given rise to contrasting decision‐making processes rooted in the role and operation of assessment boards. Contrasting models of assessment board cultures are developed to highlight how practices are beset by conceptual confusions about what is being assessed and the basis for judgements about success and failure in higher education. There is a strong case, not only for critical r.
The Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle: Implementing a Standards-Based Approach to Professional Development

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory By Ed Tobia In a class I teach for prospective administrators, a student shared the story of one school where the principal announced that this year they were “doing” professional learning communities (PLCs). The principal gave everyone a book to read about effective instruction, told teachers when they were to meet, and let them self-organize to implement the book’s ideas. This example is not unusual. For some schools, the term “professional learning community” means getting groups of teachers together to talk about instruction, with little guidance about what they actually do or how to move from talking together to implementing changes in practice. Guidance does exist but is too often seen as a way to get a group started through reading a book or hosting a workshop; professional learning resulting in application is minimal (Hord, 2004). In Moving NSDC’s Staff Development Standards into Practice: Innovation Configurations, Roy and Hord (2003) provide an in-depth guide for designing and delivering quality professional learning opportunities. The authors discuss an underlying premise of the NSDC standards: “the day-to-day professional conversations focused on instructional issues . ” form the basis for powerful professional development. Additionally, the terms “collaboration” and “collaborative” can be found in the description of almost every standard. While this book provides many clues on what collaborative professional conversations about teaching and learning look like in practice, what teachers actually do when they come together to design lessons or talk about student progress varies greatly. Some teacher teams discuss books, some research ways to teach particular concepts, and The Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle: Implementing a Standards-Based Approach to Professional Development
Essays on Exporting Behavior of Firms and on Inflation Persistence

This paper employs firm-level panel data from the Czech Republic to investigate the empirical relevance of the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. To provide convincing estimates, one must be able to disentangle learning-byexporting from changes in company management that induce the company to both start exporting and introduce productivity increasing measures. Therefore, I compare estimates that do not control for potential management changes to estimates based on an instrumental variables strategy. Specifically, I focus on firms that start exporting due to changes in the industry-specific exchange rate and industry-specific ratio of producer prices on domestic and foreign markets. The results suggest that different kinds of productivity enhancements can be attributed to learning-byexporting on one side and managerial effects on the other side.
Mimicking Portfolios and Exact Arbitrage Pricing

The authors characterize the sets of mimicking positions whose returns can serve in place of factors in an exact K-factor arbitrage pricing relation for a set of N assets. All of the sets are K-dimensional nonsingular linear transformations of each other. The authors interpret three examples of such transformations and discuss empirical considerations. They also provide conditions under which the mimicking positions can be expressed as portfolios and characterize the relation between mimicking portfolios and the minimum-variance frontier. Copyright 1987 by American Finance Association.
Quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant Enterococcus faecium on chicken and in human stool specimens.

BACKGROUND The combination of the streptogramins quinupristin and dalfopristin was approved in the United States in late 1999 for the treatment of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium infections. Since 1974, another streptogramin, virginiamycin, has been used at subtherapeutic concentrations to promote the growth of farm animals, including chickens. METHODS To determine the frequency of quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant E. faecium, we used selective medium to culture samples from chickens purchased in supermarkets in Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, and Oregon and stool samples from outpatients. RESULTS Between July 1998 and June 1999, samples from 407 chickens from 26 stores in four states were cultured, as were 334 stool samples from outpatients. Quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant E. faecium was isolated from 237 chicken carcasses and 3 stool specimens. The resistant isolates from stool had low-level resistance (minimal inhibitory concentration [MIC], 4 microg per milliliter; resistance was defined as a MIC of at least 4 microg per milliliter). The resistant isolates from chickens in general had higher levels of resistance (MICs ranging from 4 to 32 microg per milliliter; MIC required to inhibit 50 percent of isolates, 8 microg per milliliter). CONCLUSIONS Quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant E. faecium contaminates a large proportion of chickens sold in U.S. supermarkets. However, the low prevalence and low level of resistance of these strains in human stool specimens suggest that the use of virginiamycin in animals has not yet had a substantial influence. Foodborne dissemination of resistance may increase, however, as the clinical use of quinupristin-dalfopristin increases.
Lack of Association between the C3435T Polymorphism in the Human Multidrug Resistance (MDR1) Gene and Response to Antiepileptic Drug Treatment

Summary: Purpose: P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) has been implicated in the causation of refractory epilepsy. The expression and efflux efficiency of P‐gp is influenced by a polymorphism (C3435T) in the encoding gene (MDR1). Recent evidence suggests that the homozygous C‐variant, which is associated with higher expression and increased activity of P‐gp, is more common in patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. We have investigated the prevalence of this polymorphism in a series of patients attending a specialist epilepsy clinic.
Survivors' reactions to downsizing: the importance of contextual factors

Downsizing has been a recurrent theme in corporate life for the last 20 years. Literature in this area has evolved sporadically and covers many aspects of it. Although this has resulted in rich data, there is a lack of robust research that integrates the strategic and operational elements of downsizing. Furthermore, downsizing results in negative outcomes such as loss of skills, learning and innovation. It can also result in negative emotions including anger, frustration and guilt. However, there is insufficient data about the specific conditions or contextual factors that influence survivors reactions. This article presents the findings of a study conducted in four large organisations in the UK that have undergone downsizing. It proposes a theoretical model encapsulating the organisational context, and argues that the two key factors that determine the context are frequency of downsizing and the degree of control that the organisation exercises in making the decision to downsize. A broad set of propositions is presented as to the likely reactions of ‘survivors’ in the various organisational contexts of downsizing.
Outbreaks in Distinct Regions Due to a Single Klebsiella pneumoniae Clone Carrying a blaVIM-1 Metallo-β-Lactamase Gene

ABSTRACT From December 2004 to March 2005, 27 Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates that were positive by the imipenem-EDTA double-disk synergy test and that exhibited a single macrorestriction pattern were recovered in two distinct Greek hospitals. The isolates carried a transferable blaVIM-1 metallo-β-lactamase gene in a class 1 integron. Reverse transcriptase PCR showed that the gene was similarly expressed in low- and high-level carbapenem-resistant isolates, indicating the existence of additional resistance mechanisms. The clonal spread of VIM-1-producing K. pneumoniae strains in distinct regions where up to now blaVIM-2 and blaVIM-4 alleles were common is worrisome.
Consumer concerns about food safety in Australia and Japan

Food safety, always an important issue, has recently gained a higher profile following a number of highly publicised incidents in Australia and overseas. Consumers in Australia and Japan were surveyed to obtain information on a range of issues including food safety. This paper presents the findings of this survey and shows that Japanese consumers tended to score lower on the measure of confidence in food safety, suggesting that they are less confident about the safety of the food they consume than Australian consumers. Other demographic factors that have a significant impact on consumer confidence in both countries are identified.
Olfactory Response of the Predatory Bug Orius laevigatus (Hemiptera:Anthocoridae) to the Aggregation Pheromone of Its Prey, Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Abstract Herbivore natural enemies base their foraging decision on information cues from different trophic levels but mainly from plant odors. However, the second trophic level (i.e., the herbivorous prey) may also provide reliable infochemical cues for their natural enemies. We have evaluated the role of the aggregation pheromone from Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) as a potential kairomone for its natural enemy, the predatory bug Orius laevigatus (Fieber). For this purpose, we have analyzed the response of O. laevigatus to (R)-lavandulyl acetate and neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate, the two major components of the thrips aggregation pheromone. These compounds have been offered to O. laevigatus adult females and nymphs of the predatory bugs both in separate and as specific (1:1 or 1:2.3) blends, in experiments involving a dual choice Y-tube olfactometer. None of the compounds attracted adults or nymphs when they were individually supplied. Conversely, they were significantly attracted to both adults and nymphs when offered as a blend. A 1:2.3 (R)-lavandulyl acetate:neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate blend was attractive to both nymphs and adults, while a 1:1 blend elicited response only in nymphs. These results suggest that specific blends of these compounds from the aggregation pheromone may be used as an attractant to O. laevigatus. The results of this work highlight the importance of studying olfactory responses of natural enemies for a better understanding of their foraging behavior. Potential uses of these results in future studies are discussed.
Consumer Normal Price Estimation: Market versus Personal Standards

In reference-price models, internal reference price is typically estimated from actual market prices. Given the generally poor price knowledge consumers have exhibited in prior research, the question is whether it is reasonable to use actual market prices to estimate consumers' internal reference-price standards. The initial answer provided in this research, surprisingly, is yes. Although internal reference prices are measurable and do affect consumer price perception, the gains in measuring and using those standards in predicting brand choice for frequently purchased products may not be worth the costs. Reasons why the surrogate price measure may work and implications for the measurement of internal reference-price standards are considered. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.
The effect of biogas digestion on the environmental impact and energy balances in organic cropping systems using the life-cycle assessment methodology

Abstract A life-cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to compare the environmental performance of different organic cropping systems with and without digestion of slurry and crop residues. The aims of the present study are: (1) to compare the environmental performance of organic farming dairy systems with the currently prevalent animal housing systems [solid farmyard manure (FYM) versus liquid slurry] as the main reference systems; (2) to analyze the effect of the implementation of a biogas digestion system on the consumption of fossil fuels and production of electrical energy; (3) to quantify the effects of the implementation of a biogas digestion system on the environment; and (4) to compare the obtained net energy yields with other means of obtaining energy by using the farmland area. The considered impact categories are greenhouse gas (GHG) balances, acidification, eutrophication and groundwater pollution. LCA results indicated that total emissions in systems based on FYM are much higher than in liquid slurry systems for most of the considered impact categories. The benefits of digestion of stable wastes in comparison with the reference system without digestion are mainly (1) the net reduction of the emissions of GHG and (2) energy recovery from produced biogas, while the disadvantages can be higher emissions of NH3 after spreading. The effects of additional biogas digestion of biomass such as crop residues (e.g., straw of peas and cereals) and cover crops are: (1) an optimization of the N-cycle and therewith higher yields; (2) higher energy production per unit arable land; (3) a further reduction of the GHG balance; but (4) higher N-related environmental burdens like eutrophication and acidification. The offsets of fossil fuel emissions were the largest GHG sink in most of the biogas digestion systems. The inclusion of a biogas plant into organic cropping systems and the use of the available wastes for production of energy largely increased the overall productivity of the farming system and matched very well the basic principles of organic farming such as a high self-sufficiency of the cropping system and reducing as much as possible the environmental impact of farming.
Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with octreotide: a randomised controlled study

Background—Standard treatment of inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma has not been established. Somatostatin has been shown to possess antimitotic activity against a variety of non-endocrine tumours. Aims—To assess the presence of somatostatin receptors in human liver and to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with the somatostatin analogue, octreotide. Methods—Somatostatin receptors were measured in liver tissue homogenates from patients with acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Fifty eight patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma were randomised to receive either subcutaneous octreotide 250 μg twice daily, or no treatment. Groups were comparable with respect to age, sex, Okuda classification, presence of cirrhosis, and liver biochemistry and virology. Results—Various amounts of somatostatin receptors were identified in liver tissue of all patients including those with hepatocellular carcinoma. Treated patients had an increased median survival (13 months versus four months, p=0.002, log rank test) and an increased cumulative survival rate at six and 12 months (75% versus 37%, and 56% versus 13% respectively). Octreotide administration significantly reduced α fetoprotein levels at six months. When a multivariable Cox’s proportional hazards model was fitted, variables associated with increased survival were: treatment administration, absence of cirrhosis, increased serum albumin, and small tumours. Treated patients clearly had a lower hazard (0.383) in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions—Octreotide administration significantly improves survival and is a valuable alternative in the treatment of inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma.