Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Academic Enterprise and Regional Economic Growth

This paper examines the potential and actual contributions to regional development and growth that UK higher education institutions can make through their ‘third mission’ activities. The authors adopt a case study approach and qualitative methods to analyse the details of academic activities, especially those related to business sectors and the welfare of local communities. Their data and analysis show that university-wide academic enterprise activities are not systematically organized or coordinated. The very concept of ‘academic enterprise’ has not been well received by the majority of academic staff. The findings have two major policy and managerial implications. First, there needs to be a reduction in the reliance on income from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in response to the progressive decrease in unit funding. Second, universities need to enhance employer-led curriculum development both through the creation of new businesses and by improving university-business links.
A comparison of faculty and administrator perceptions of the merger of Kentucky's community colleges and vocational/technical institutes.

A COMPARISON OF FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATOR PERCEPTIONS OF THE MERGER OF KENTUCKY'S COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND VOCATIONAL/TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Jason D. Warren December 17, 2008 One of the most nationally-recognized, two-year legislative reform initiatives in the U.S. began in Kentucky with the passage of the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997 (RBI). This exploratory, cross-sectional, correlational study was administered at the lO-year anniversary of the RBI-legislated formation of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), which originally combined 13 community colleges formerly governed by the University of Kentucky and 25 vocational/technical institutes previously governed by the Kentucky Cabinet for Workforce Development. This dissertation examined faculty and administrator perceptions of the merger of Kentucky's community colleges and vocational/technical institutes that resulted from HB 1. Two research questions guided the study. The first sought to determine whether significant differences in perceptions of merger were found between Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) administrators and faculty. The second research question explored that, if there was a difference between the perceptions of the two groups concerning merger, could that difference be explained through five control variables which were gleaned from the research literature: (a) type of institutional
Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money

A new form of government is sweeping across America: the initiative process, available in half the states and hundreds of cities. Where once most state laws were passed by legislatures, now voters decide directly on such explosive issues as drugs, affirmative action, casino gambling, assisted suicide, and human rights. Ostensibly driven by public opinion, the initiative process is, in reality, manipulated by moneyed interests, often funded by out-of-state millionaires pursuing their own agendas. In this highly controversial book David Broder tells how this revolution came about. A movement that started with Proposition 13 in California is now a multimillion-dollar business in which lawyers, campaign consultants, signature gatherers, and advertising agencies sell their expertise to interest groups or to do-gooders with private agendas. Broder takes the reader into the heart of these battles as he talks with the field operatives, lobbyists, PR spinners, labor leaders, and business executives, all of whom can manipulate the political process. A James H. Silberman Book
Apolipoproteins and Apolipoprotein Mimetic Peptides Modulate Phagocyte Trafficking through Chemotactic Activity*

Background: The anti-inflammatory properties of apolipoproteins are incompletely defined. Results: Apolipoprotein A-I and E mimetic peptides suppress CXCR2-dependent neutrophil migration in vivo. Mimetic L-37pA itself induces formyl peptide receptor-2-dependent chemotaxis. Conclusion: Apolipoprotein mimetics display complex structure-activity relationships to multiple chemotactic receptors. Significance: Apolipoproteins and their mimetics regulate leukocyte migration. The plasma lipoprotein-associated apolipoproteins (apo) A-I and apoE have well described anti-inflammatory actions in the cardiovascular system, and mimetic peptides that retain these properties have been designed as therapeutics. The anti-inflammatory mechanisms of apolipoprotein mimetics, however, are incompletely defined. Whether circulating apolipoproteins and their mimetics regulate innate immune responses at mucosal surfaces, sites where transvascular emigration of leukocytes is required during inflammation, remains unclear. Herein, we report that Apoai−/− and Apoe−/− mice display enhanced recruitment of neutrophils to the airspace in response to both inhaled lipopolysaccharide and direct airway inoculation with CXCL1. Conversely, treatment with apoA-I (L-4F) or apoE (COG1410) mimetic peptides reduces airway neutrophilia. We identify suppression of CXCR2-directed chemotaxis as a mechanism underlying the apolipoprotein effect. Pursuing the possibility that L-4F might suppress chemotaxis through heterologous desensitization, we confirmed that L-4F itself induces chemotaxis of human PMNs and monocytes. L-4F, however, fails to induce a calcium flux. Further exploring structure-function relationships, we studied the alternate apoA-I mimetic L-37pA, a bihelical analog of L-4F with two Leu-Phe substitutions. We find that L-37pA induces calcium and chemotaxis through formyl peptide receptor (FPR)2/ALX, whereas its D-stereoisomer (i.e. D-37pA) blocks L-37pA signaling and induces chemotaxis but not calcium flux through an unidentified receptor. Taken together, apolipoprotein mimetic peptides are novel chemotactic agents that possess complex structure-activity relationships to multiple receptors, displaying anti-inflammatory efficacy against innate immune responses in the airway.
Factors Stimulating Initial Export Activity

ABSTRACT This paper explores the key factors stimulating initial export activity among Nigerian firms against the backdrop of previous findings from studies undertaken in more advanced economies. Based on a sample of seventy-eight SMEs and a factor analysis procedure, it finds support for the view that proactive stimuli, including growth aspirations, opportunity search and managerial interest, predominantly trigger initial export activity among Nigerian firms. This diverges from the pre-eminent position of external-reactive stimuli, notably the receipt of fortuitous foreign orders, in North American and other Western studies, and adds to earlier calls for caution in generalising empirical findings across different geo-economic contexts. The possible reasons for the identified divergence are discussed in this paper, along with the policy and managerial issues raised by the nature of initial export stimulation among the study firms.
ON THE Lp-MINKOWSKI PROBLEM

A volume-normalized formulation of the Lp-Minkowski problem is presented. This formulation has the advantage that a solution is possible for all p ≥ 1, including the degenerate case where the index p is equal to the dimension of the ambient space. A new approach to the Lp-Minkowski problem is presented, which solves the volume-normalized formulation for even data and all p ≥ 1. The Minkowski problem deals with existence, uniqueness, regularity, and stability of closed convex hypersurfaces whose Gauss curvature (as a function of the outer normals) is preassigned. Major contributions to this problem were made by Minkowski [M1], [M2], Aleksandrov [A2], [A3], [A4], Fenchel and Jessen [FJ], Lewy [Le1] [Le2], Nirenberg [N], Calabi [Cal], Pogorelov [P1], [P2], Cheng and Yau [ChY], Caffarelli, Nirenberg, and Spruck [CNS], and others. Variants of the Minkowski problem were presented by Gluck [Gl1] and Singer [Si]. The survey of Gluck [Gl2] still serves as an excellent introduction to the problem. In this article we consider a generalization of the Minkowski problem known as the Lp-Minkowski problem. This generalization was studied in [Lu1] and [LuO]. See Stancu [St1], [St2] and Umanskiy [U] for other recent work on the Lp-Minkowski problem. In [Lu1] a solution to the even Lp-Minkowski problem in R was given for all p ≥ 1 (the case p = 1 is classical), except for p = n. The solution to the even LpMinkowski problem was one of the critical ingredients needed to obtain the sharp affine Lp Sobolev inequality [LuYZ1]. The lack of a solution for the case p = n is troubling. In this article we present a new volume normalized form of the classical Minkowski problem. This problem has a natural Lp analog that can (and will) be solved for all p ≥ 1 for the even data case. It must be emphasized that, except for the critical case p = n, both the Lp-Minkowski problem and the volume normalized Lp-Minkowski problem are equivalent in that a solution to one will quickly and trivially provide a solution to the other. The road to the solution given here to the even volume normalized Lp-Minkowski problem is quite different from the path taken in [Lu1] in solving the even Lp-Minkowski problem. The solution to the volume-normalized even LpMinkowski problem for all p ≥ 1 is needed in [LuYZ2]. A compact convex subset of Euclidean n-space R will be called a convex body. Associated with a convex body K is its support function h(K, · ) : Sn−1 → R which, for u ∈ Sn−1, is defined by h(K,u) = max{u · x : x ∈ K}. For each Received by the editors May 16, 2001 and, in revised form, April 16, 2003. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 52A40. This research was supported, in part, by NSF Grants DMS–9803261 and DMS–0104363. c ©2003 American Mathematical Society
The Relationship between Personality Traits and Psychological Resilience among the Caribbean Adolescents

This cross-sectional study investigated the relationships between the big five personality traits:(conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, extraversion) and psychologicalresilience among 397 Caribbean secondary school adolescents. Pearson Product Moment Correlation andStepwise Multiple Regressions were conducted to analyse the data. Results revealed statistically significantpositive relationships between the personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience,extraversion) and psychological resilience, while neuroticism was negatively correlated with psychologicalresilience. The personality traits also jointly contributed 32% (R square = 0.324) of the variance being accountedfor in psychological resilience and this was found to be statistically significant with conscientiousness being thebest predictor while agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience were other significant predictors,however, extraversion did not contribute significantly. These results are discussed in the light of healthypersonality beefing up and promoting adolescents’ psychological resilience.
Evaluation of center of mass acceleration during quiet standing in patients with stroke

The postural instability was observed in patients following-stroke during standing, showing an altered center of mass acceleration (COMacc). This study aimed to investigate the effects of stroke on fluctuation and complexity of COMacc during quiet standing. Eleven stroke survivals and eleven gender- and age-matched healthy subjects participated in this experiment. The COMacc series in anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions during quiet standing with vision condition (VC) and non-vision condition (NVC) were recorded by a three-dimensional motion analysis system (BTS Bioengineering Corp, Italy). The standard deviation (SD) and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) of COMacc were calculated under two vision conditions. Stroke patients showed increased SD of AP-COMacc (VC: p < 0.01; NVC: p < 0.001), increased αdfa of COMacc in AP under NVC (p < 0.05) and in ML under VC (p < 0.05) and NVC (p < 0.001) compared to healthy subjects. Significant differences were found between VC and NVC in the SD of ML-COMacc of healthy subjects (p < 0.05), and in œdfa of ML-COMacc of post-stroke patients (p < 0.01), respectively. The increased fluctuation and decreased complexity of COMacc implied postural balance control mechanism during standing in hemiplegic patients, which may be conducive to improve the rehabilitation strategy of standing balance for poststroke patients.
Rapid flare development evoked by current frequency-dependent stimulation analyzed by full-field laser perfusion imaging

We analyzed, with a new imaging technique, the rapid axon reflex flare responses in human skin upon transcutaneous delivery of electrical stimuli at 1, 5, 10 and 50 Hz in single bursts of five pulses each. Two-dimensional perfusion images covering an area of 8×8 cm2 were captured at 25 Hz and their averages saved at 0.5 Hz. The stimulation caused an axon reflex flare (maximum 3 cm2, 20 s after stimulation) that gradually resolved within 2 min. Maximum flare responses developed at 5 Hz, whereas pain ratings increased with stimulation frequency. The highest neuropeptide release at 5 Hz correlates to the discharge characteristics of mechanoinsensitive C-fibers, whereas the maximum pain intensity at 50 Hz may be attributed to the activation of A-delta fibers.
Exogenous Glycine Nitrogen Enhances Accumulation of Glycosylated Flavonoids and Antioxidant Activity in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

Glycine, the simplest amino acid in nature and one of the most abundant free amino acids in soil, is regarded as a model nutrient in organic nitrogen studies. To date, many studies have focused on the uptake, metabolism and distribution of organic nitrogen in plants, but few have investigated the nutritional performance of plants supplied with organic nitrogen. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), one of the most widely consumed leafy vegetables worldwide, is a significant source of antioxidants and bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, ascorbic acid and tocopherols. In this study, two lettuce cultivars, Shenxuan 1 and Lollo Rossa, were hydroponically cultured in media containing 4.5, 9, or 18 mM glycine or 9 mM nitrate (control) for 4 weeks, and the levels of health-promoting compounds and antioxidant activity of the lettuce leaf extracts were evaluated. Glycine significantly reduced fresh weight compared to control lettuce, while 9 mM glycine significantly increased fresh weight compared to 4.5 or 18 mM glycine. Compared to controls, glycine (18 mM for Shenxuan 1; 9 mM for Lollo Rossa) significantly increased the levels of most antioxidants (including total polyphenols, α-tocopherol) and antioxidant activity, suggesting appropriate glycine supply promotes antioxidant accumulation and activity. Glycine induced most glycosylated quercetin derivatives and luteolin derivatives detected and decreased some phenolic acids compared to nitrate treatment. This study indicates exogenous glycine supplementation could be used strategically to promote the accumulation of health-promoting compounds and antioxidant activity of hydroponically grown lettuce, which could potentially improve human nutrition.
Four decades of research on product diversification: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to gain new insight into the true nature of the relationship between product diversification and performance, as well as to explore the roles the home country environment and time can play on this relationship.Design/methodology/approach – The study reviews a large part of the research that has addressed the relationship between product diversification and performance over the last four decades.Findings – This study identifies the main views (models) that can help scholars to adequately understand, both theoretically and empirically, the potential effect of product diversification on performance: the premium diversification model; the discount diversification model; and the U‐inverted model. The study confirms a wide diversity of results. Drawing from the institutional‐based view, it is argued that a significant part of this heterogeneity stems from the effect of two factors that have often been ignored: the home country environment and time period. The review of rec.
Retrieval of autobiographical memories: The mechanisms and consequences of truncated search

Five studies examined the extent to which autobiographical memory retrieval is hierarchical, whether a hierarchical search depends on central executive resources, and whether retrieving memories that are “higher” in the hierarchy impairs problem‐solving ability. The first study found that random generation (assessed using a button‐pressing task) was sensitive to changes in memory load (digit span). The second study showed that when participants fail to retrieve a target event, they respond with a memory that is higher up the hierarchy. The third study showed that memory is more generic only when participants use low imageable cues under cognitive load. The final two experiments showed that experimental manipulation of memory specificity affects problem solving (MEPS performance). The data are consistent with Conway and Pleydell‐Pearce's hierarchical retrieval model of autobiographical memory, and suggest that overgeneral memory in nonclinical participants is associated with reduced executive capacity only when retrieval is “top‐down” (generative).
Associations of circulating 25‐hydroxyvitamin D with prostate cancer diagnosis, stage and grade

Epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D protects against prostate cancer, although evidence is limited and inconsistent. We investigated associations of circulating total 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) with prostate specific antigen‐detected prostate cancer in a case‐control study nested within the prostate testing for cancer and treatment (ProtecT) trial. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) quantifying the association between circulating total 25(OH)D and prostate cancer. In case‐only analyses, we used unconditional logistic regression to quantify associations of total 25(OH)D with stage (advanced vs. localized) and Gleason grade (high‐grade (≥7) vs. low‐grade (<7)). Predetermined categories of total 25(OH)D were defined as: high: ≥30 ng/mL; adequate: 20 – <30 ng/mL; insufficient: 12 – <20 ng/mL; deficient: <12 ng/mL. Fractional polynomials were used to investigate the existence of any U‐shaped relationship. We included 1,447 prostate cancer cases (153 advanced, 469 high‐grade) and 1,449 healthy controls. There was evidence that men deficient in vitamin D had a 2‐fold increased risk of advanced versus localized cancer (OR for deficient vs. adequate total 25(OH)D = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.26, 4.28) and high‐grade versus low‐grade cancer (OR for deficient vs. adequate total 25(OH)D = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.15, 2.77). There was no evidence of a linear association between total 25(OH)D and prostate cancer (p = 0.44) or of an increased risk of prostate cancer with high and low vitamin D levels. Our study provides evidence that lower 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with more aggressive cancers (advanced versus localized cancers and high‐ versus low‐Gleason grade), but there was no evidence of an association with overall prostate cancer risk.
Knowledge, attitude and practices of parents of children with febrile convulsion.

CONTEXT Parental anxiety and apprehension is related to inadequate knowledge of fever and febrile convulsion. AIMS To study the knowledge, attitude, and practices of the parents of children with febrile convulsions. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Prospective questionnaire based study in a tertiary care centre carried over a period of one year. SUBJECTS AND METHODS 140 parents of consecutive children presenting with febrile convulsion were enrolled. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED Chi-square test. RESULTS 83 parents (59.3%) could not recognise the convulsion; 90.7% (127) did not carry out any intervention prior to getting the child to the hospital. The commonest immediate effect of the convulsion on the parents was fear of death (n= 126, 90%) followed by insomnia (n= 48, 34.3%), anorexia (n= 46, 32.9%), crying (n= 28, 20%) and fear of epilepsy (n= 28, 20%). Fear of brain damage, fear of recurrence and dyspepsia were voiced by the fathers alone (n= 20, cumulative incidence 14.3%). 109 (77.9%) parents did not know the fact that the convulsion can occur due to fever. The long-term concerns included fear of epilepsy (n= 64, 45.7%) and future recurrence (n= 27, 19.3%) in the affected child. For 56 (40%) of the parents every subsequent episode of fever was like a nightmare. Only 21 parents (15%) had thermometer at home and 28 (20%) knew the normal range of body temperature. Correct preventive measures were known only to 41 (29.2%). Awareness of febrile convulsion and the preventive measures was higher in socio-economic grade (P< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The parental fear of fever and febrile convulsion is a major problem with serious negative consequences affecting daily familial life.
The relationship between internal and external service quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide experimental evidence supporting the view that internal service quality has a direct effect on external service quality.Design/methodology/approach – The study focuses on the restaurant industry in Greece. Waiters are considered as internal customers and kitchen personnel as internal suppliers. Inferential analysis included factor analysis on individual waiter and customer data as well as canonical correlation analysis on a restaurant level.Findings – Factor analysis of external service quality revealed six factors including product, organizational image, safety and choice, empathy, reliability as well as responsiveness. Internal service quality factors, additional to those found in external service quality research, included professionalism and internet. Canonical correlation revealed that the internal service quality dimensions of safety, reliability and internet exert a direct positive influence on the external service quality dimensions of organization.
Health Expenditure Trends in OECD Countries, 1970-1997

This article provides an overview of current trends in health expenditures in 29 OECD countries and recent revisions of OECD health accounts. U.S. health expenditures are compared with those of other OECD countries. The interactions of cost-containment measures with changes in the public-private mix of financing and in the composition of health care spending are discussed.
The dynamic relation between financial positions and investment: evidence from company account data

A key feature of recent financial business cycle theories is the existence of a two-way dynamic relation between financial factors and investment: over time firms' financial positions are affected by, and in turn affect, investment decisions. This paper investigates the dynamic interaction between financial conditions and investment by estimating and testing vector autoregressions on company account panel data for US manufacturing firms, while considering explicitly sectional and time heterogeneity. The results show that indicators of liquidity and solvency contain significant predictive information for investment at the firm level. We also find evidence of both cross-sectional and time heterogeneity: the role played by financial factors is significantly more important for highly leveraged than for low-debt firms, capital market frictions are shown to have asymmetric effects over the business cycle, displaying a larger impact in contractions than in expansions. Overall, the evidence supports the hypothesis that capital market imperfections have an important role in explaining aggregate cyclical dynamics. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.