Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Entry-Level Technical Skills That Teachers Expected Students to Learn through Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs): A Modified Delphi Study.

Supervised experiences are designed to provide opportunities for the hands–on learning of skills and practices that lead to successful personal growth and future employment in an agricultural career (Talbert, Vaughn, Croom, & Lee, 2007). In the Annual Report for Agricultural Education (2005–2006), it was stated that 91% of the respondents (i.e., students) indicated they did not have an SAE. This finding was not surprising entirely because some scholars and practitioners of agricultural education have reported empirically and anecdotally that the SAE component of the model was perhaps losing ground in many agricultural education programs (Dyer & Osborne, 1995; Wilson & Moore, 2006). The decline in delivery of this component of the model has implications regarding agricultural education’s role in the preparation of students for entry–level jobs in the agricultural industry. This study used a modified Delphi technique to coalesce the views of an expert panel of agricultural education teachers on the role of SAEs in preparing students for entry–level careers in the agricultural industry. In some instances, the learning experiences being taught in secondary agricultural education may not be congruent with today’s agricultural industry standards. This incongruence may be contributing to the decline in students who participate actively in SAEs.
Game Shows and Economic Behavior: Risk-Taking on “Card Sharks”

This paper studies individual risk-taking behavior with a unique data set: risky decisions of contestants during the threeyear history of the television game show, "Card Sharks. " In the bonus round of the game, individuals choose how much to wager on positive expected-value gambles with known and varying probabilities, and large possible payouts. Since no special skills or knowledge are involved, empirical analysis is not complicated by a contestant's superior information about her own abilities. Stakes can reach $16,000 and average $3,200; few experimental budgets permit even one observation of this magnitude. First, I simply estimate how risk-averse contestants behave. Under the assumption of expected-utility maximization, I estimate a lower bound for the coefficient of absolute risk aversion of 0.00031, which when multiplied by per capita U. S. personal income gives an estimate of relative risk aversion of 4.8. This estimate is higher than most econometric estimates of risk aversion. Contestants, however, do not act in a manner consistent with expected-utility maximization, so this number should not be given a structural interpretation. Rather, it is simply a useful way to summarize average willingness to bear risk of individuals on the show. Second, I explore how individual behavior is inconsistent with expected-utility theory. The amount a contestant wishes to wager depends critically on the amount of wealth she has accumulated in the bonus round and therefore, on the size of the stakes. This is at odds with expected-utility theory since the size of the stakes, although far from insignificant, is small relative to a person's wealth. Contestants should then have close to constant absolute risk aversion with respect to accumulated winnings in the game. A more striking result deals with contestants who had previ-
Returns and Volatility of Low-Grade Bonds 1977–1989

This paper examines the risks and returns of long-term low-grade bonds for the period 1977-89. The authors find (1) low-grade bonds realized higher returns than higher-grade bonds and lower returns than common stocks, and low-grade bonds exhibited less volatility than higher-grade bonds due to their call features and high coupons; (2) there is no relation between the age of low-grade bonds and their relaxed returns; cyclical factors explain much of the observed reaction between default rates and bond age; and (3) low-grade bonds behave like both bonds and stocks. Despite this complexity there is no evidence that low-grade bonds are systematically over- or under-priced. Copyright 1991 by American Finance Association.
Coping with changes : Causes, findings, and strategies

There is no engineering of successful systems without any changes; they are the rule and not the exception in product development. To uncover the problems, rationales and goals associated with changes during the life cycle of a system, an exploratory case study in German industry was conducted. Causes and reasons for changes are described, as well as five strategies to cope with changes and the related methods. One example will show how to successfully prevent and front-load changes. Though the preferred strategies to cope with changes are prevention and front-loading, it is concluded that, in today's dynamic business environments, changes are necessary to stay competitive. Therefore, it is proposed to make late changes cost-efficient by implementing changeability within system architectures. Managing changes has to be understood as a major practice for developing successful systems. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Syst Eng 3: 169–179, 2000
Alterations in uterine calcium ions during induction of the decidual cell reaction in pseudopregnant mice.

The present study exploited the deciduogenic actions of concanavalin A (Con A) in pseudopregnant Quackenbush strain mice to assess whether alterations in uterine Ca2+ status accompany stromal cell transformations that culminate in the decidual cell reaction and the establishment of pregnancy. It was found that the introduction of 15 blastocyst-size Con-A-coated Sepharose beads, but not lectin-free Sepharose beads, into the lumen of the left uterine horn of pseudopregnant mice on day 3 or 4 induced a decidual response that was virtually indistinguishable from that produced by blastocysts during normal pregnancy. The right uterine horn received no treatment and served as a control. Although the simultaneous administration of 45CaCl2 (1 mmol l-1, 200 mCi mmol-1) on day 3 of pseudopregnancy impeded this response, the deciduogenic potential of the Con-A-coated beads was not disrupted when these agents were simultaneously administered on day 4. This experiment with 45CaCl2 produced discrete areas of decidualization, as shown by the pontamine sky blue reaction on day 5 of pseudopregnancy. The decidualized areas contained significantly greater amounts of 45Ca2+ than did the non-decidualized interjacent areas, indicating that the beads preferentially stimulated the rate of influx of the cation into these sites. Much of this cellular 45Ca2+ content was lost in the early afternoon of day 5 of pseudopregnancy at a time when the luminal epithelium undergoes autolytic breakdown. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Health Policy Prior to the German Federal Election of 2013: The Party Political Marginalisation of a Previously Central Topic in Election Campaigns

The discussion on how to finance the Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) repeatedly appeared prominently in the political discussions of previous election campaigns for the German Bundestag. However, in 2013 this topic remained only marginal. The recent marginalisation of health policy is closely linked to the political processes and results inherent to a health ministry having the FDP at its helm from 2009 to 2013. The effects of several fundamental reforms introduced during this period closely follow the disputed market orientation of the liberal democratic thought and rendered the corresponding results. However, this was hardly perceived in public and the political discussion was distracted from health policy. The most ambitious project of the FDP and of parts of the Christian parties was the introduction of a health premium. Actually the CSU opposed its realisation. Other policies even contrasted the goals of the FDP.
The impact of “green‐collar workers” on organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the presence of “green‐collar workers” in organizations, including whether their perception of the organization with regard to environmental activities would affect their willingness to recommend the employer to others. It also aims to analyse generational differences with regard to this phenomenon.Design/methodology/approach – The study used a survey developed from other research on green‐collar workers. It was distributed electronically and the data analysed using primarily χ2 and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings – There were differences in knowledge levels regarding environmental topics such as the Kyoto treaty and the Green‐Collar Jobs Act. Significant correlations were also found among the variables of generation, willingness to recommend employer, and importance of school/workplace being environmentally friendly.Research limitations/implications – The use of an online survey was a limitation due to the need for technolo.
Gain‐of‐function mutations in SMAD4 cause a distinctive repertoire of cardiovascular phenotypes in patients with Myhre syndrome

Myhre syndrome is a rare, distinctive syndrome due to specific gain‐of‐function mutations in SMAD4. The characteristic phenotype includes short stature, dysmorphic facial features, hearing loss, laryngotracheal anomalies, arthropathy, radiographic defects, intellectual disability, and a more recently appreciated spectrum of cardiovascular defects with a striking fibroproliferative response to surgical intervention. We report four newly described patients with typical features of Myhre syndrome who had (i) a mildly narrow descending aorta and restrictive cardiomyopathy; (ii) recurrent pericardial and pleural effusions; (iii) a large persistent ductus arteriosus with juxtaductal aortic coarctation; and (iv) restrictive pericardial disease requiring pericardiectomy. Additional information is provided about a fifth previously reported patient with fatal pericardial disease. A literature review of the cardiovascular features of Myhre syndrome was performed on 54 total patients, all with a SMAD4 mutation. Seventy percent had a cardiovascular abnormality including congenital heart defects (63%), pericardial disease (17%), restrictive cardiomyopathy (9%), and systemic hypertension (15%). Pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy are associated with high mortality (three patients each among 10 deaths); one patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy also had epicarditis. Cardiomyopathy and pericardial abnormalities distinguish Myhre syndrome from other disorders caused by mutations in the TGF‐β signaling cascade (Marfan, Loeys–Dietz, or Shprintzen–Goldberg syndromes). We hypothesize that the expanded spectrum of cardiovascular abnormalities relates to the ability of the SMAD4 protein to integrate diverse signaling pathways, including canonical TGF‐β, BMP, and Activin signaling. The co‐occurrence of congenital and acquired phenotypes demonstrates that the gene product of SMAD4 is required for both developmental and postnatal cardiovascular homeostasis. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
How a competing environment influences newsvendor ordering decisions

We conduct an experimental study on the decision biases in a scenario in which two newsvendors compete for a common market. If stock-out occurs at one newsvendor, the unsatisfied demand is reallocated to the competitor. Following the existing theory, an experiment of competing games with high- and low-profit settings is conducted with a control experiment of a standard newsvendor scenario for reference. The results indicate that compared with the single scenario, a competing environment can cause participants to significantly increase their ordering levels in the high-profit group and increase their ordering oscillations in the low-profit group. In addition, we propose a behavioural model by combining the logit choice rule and mental accounting. The model fits the experimental data satisfactorily, and the estimation of the parameters indicates that the participants in the high-profit group tend to ignore distractions from competitors, while the participants in the low-profit group are highly influenced by their competitors. Observations from this study suggest that managers should pay careful attention to different profit-margin products in a competing environment.
What Workers Say: Employee Voice in the Anglo-American Workplace

Excerpt] This book is about employee voice in the workplaces of the highly developed Anglo-American economies: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. These are among the most economically successful countries in the world. Despite being located in three different geographic areas, the Anglo-American countries have a common language and legal tradition, have close economic and political ties, and are linked by flows of people, goods, and capital. Many of the same firms operate in each country. The unions in each pay more attention to their counterparts within the group than to unions in other countries. The Anglo-American brand of capitalism – market oriented and open to competition, with modest welfare sates and income transfer systems – differentiates the countries from countries in the “social dialogue” model of the European Union (although the United Kingdom and Ireland are part of the Union) and from the highly unionized labor system in Scandinavia.
Equity Valuation Using Multiples in the Emerging Market of the United Arab Emirates

This study offers some preliminary results about stock valuation in the emerging market of the United Arab Emirates. It examines the determinants of three valuation multiples in the period from 1996–2001, the price sales (PS), the price book value (PBV) and the price earnings (PE). Consistent with economic theory it is found that (1) the PS is positively significantly related to net profit margin; (2) the PBV is positively significantly related to return on equity; and (3) PE is positively significantly related to the payout ratio. The PE proved to be the most difficult to model because of the existence of outliers. These outliers can be explained by two extreme cases: Case 1, companies that have very low payout and growth rates, and still achieve the highest PE ratios; Case 2, companies that tend to pay far more in dividends compared to what they achieved in profit. Abu Dhabi Islamic bank seems to be trading at higher PE and PS multiples compared with commercial banks due to its clientele appreciation of its services rather than the net profit margin achieved or the dividends paid. Judged by R2 and statistical evidence, the PBV and PS valuation models stand a better chance of explaining and possibly predicting prices in the UAE than the PE model.
Mechanisms of ligand-induced desensitization of the 5-hydroxytryptamine(2A) receptor.

We have examined the cellular processes underlying the desensitization of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(2A) receptor induced by agonist or antagonist exposure. Treatment of C6 glioma cells with either 5-HT or the 5-HT(2A) receptor antagonist ketanserin resulted in an attenuation in 5-HT(2A) receptor function, specifically the accumulation of inositol phosphates stimulated by the partial agonist quipazine. 5-HT-induced desensitization of the 5-HT(2A) receptor involved receptor internalization through a clathrin- and dynamin-dependent process because it was prevented by concanavalin A, monodansylcadaverine, and by expression of the dominant negative mutants beta-arrestin (319-418) and dynamin K44A. Although short-term (i.e., 10 min) 5-HT and ketanserin exposure resulted in the same degree of desensitization, ketanserin-induced desensitization was not prevented by these agents and did not involve receptor internalization. In contrast, prolonged ketanserin exposure (i.e., 2 h) resulted in 5-HT(2A) receptor internalization through a clathrin- and dynamin-dependent process, as was observed after agonist treatment. Inhibitors of protein kinase C or calcium-calmodulin kinase II did not attenuate or prevent 5-HT-induced desensitization of the receptor. 5-HT(2A) receptor desensitization induced by 5-HT and prolonged ketanserin treatment, but not by short-term ketanserin treatment, was prevented by the expression of the dominant negative mutant of G protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK)2, GRK2-K220R, and by an anti-GRK2/3 antibody. Our data indicate a dual mechanism of early and late desensitization by the antagonist ketanserin. Short-term ketanserin treatment reduced the specific binding of the agonist radioligand [(125)I](+/-)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane ([(125)I]DOI) and the ability of 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate to attenuate this binding, suggesting that at the early stage of antagonist-induced desensitization the capacity of the 5-HT(2A) receptor to couple to G protein is impaired.
Effects of chronic nicotine treatment on expression of diverse nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes. I. Dose- and time-dependent effects of nicotine treatment.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) exist as a diverse family of physiologically important ligand-gated ion channels active in classic, excitatory neurotransmission and perhaps in more novel forms of neurochemical signaling. Because of their critical functional roles centrally and peripherally, nAChRs are ideal targets for the regulation of nervous system function. nAChRs also are targets of nicotine, which acts acutely like acetylcholine to stimulate nAChR function. Here, we report studies using model cell culture systems testing the general hypothesis that more chronic nicotine exposure has unique effects on nAChRs. Chronic nicotine treatment induces increases in numbers of human muscle-type nAChRs containing alpha-1, beta-1, gamma and delta subunits, a human ganglionic nAChR subtype containing alpha-3 and beta-4 subunits and a human ganglionic nAChR containing alpha-7 subunits in intracellular and (except for alpha-7 nAChRs) in cell surface pools. However, the half-maximal potency with which nicotine has these effects differs across these nAChR subtypes, as do rates and magnitudes of the "nicotine-induced nAChR up-regulation. " These changes in nAChR numbers are not attributable to either transient or sustained changes in nAChR subunit mRNA levels. Nicotine exposure more potently, more rapidly, and with nAChR-subtype specificity, induces two phases of losses in functional responsiveness of muscle-type nAChRs and alpha-3 beta-4 nAChRs, including a "persistent inactivation" that is distinct from classicly defined "desensitization. " Based on these results, we hypothesize that chronic nicotine treatment induces persistent functional inactivation and numerical up-regulation of all nAChR subtypes via distinct post-transcriptional mechanisms and with potencies, at rates and with magnitudes that are nAChR-subtype specific. We also hypothesize that chronic nicotine exposure produces long-lasting changes in nervous system function, at least in part, by disabling rather than activating nicotinic cholinergic signaling.
The effect of off‐farm employment on the decisions of households to rent out and rent in cultivated land in China

Purpose - Developing nations need good cultivated land rental markets to foster rational resource use and to enhance productivity and equity. Can cultivated land rental markets emerge in the face of rapidly developing off-farm labor markets? The purpose of this paper is to measure the correlation between the emergence of off-farm employment and cultivated land rental in China. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a panel data from 2000 and 2008, the authors constructed econometric models to identify the impact of off-farm employment on the decisions of households to rent out and rent in cultivated land. Findings - This paper finds that the emergence of off-farm employment has significant and positive impacts on stimulating household to rent out cultivated land. The effect is less prominent for renting-in decisions. Originality/value - The paper empirically estimates the impacts of off-farm employment on cultivated land rent markets based on a unique panel data set from a national representative sample.
Mentorship for students on teaching practice in Zimbabwe: Are student teachers getting a raw deal?

Teaching practice is a very important component of any teacher-training programme. A student teacher is given the opportunity to try the art of teaching and face the real world of work before joining the profession. This study makes a closer scrutiny of mentorship, an approach currently in use by most teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe, where student teachers on teaching practice are attached to qualified and experienced teachers who work as their mentors. The study sought to : (a) find out the student teachers views on the effectiveness of the role played by their mentors in developing them to be experts in teaching; (b) determine the mentors' level of preparedness for their role of assisting and guiding students under their care to professionally grow, and (c) assess the implications for teacher education in Zimbabwe. This study used 222 student teachers who had been on a teaching practice stint and teachers who worked as mentors in 31 Zimbabwean primary schools. The study revealed that in the majority of cases student teachers showed that they had not benefited very much from mentorship. The mentors themselves appeared not to be aware of their role in mentoring student teachers attached to them. There is no doubt that experienced and qualified teachers in schools require constant and thorough workshopping to enable them to help student teachers professionally grow.
Globalization, wage shares and income distribution in Turkey

Globalization is often observed to result in greater labour flexibility and decreased labour bargaining power; thus, imposing a downward pressure on wages, especially in the sectors producing tradable goods. This would result then in a deterioration of the wage share and rising inequality within developing countries. In 1980s, Turkey implemented liberalization policies to promote globalization of the Turkish economy by raising trade and capital flows. Using a sectoral panel data, this paper shows that low-wage competition followed by trade liberalization reduced the wage shares in the manufacturing industry. The analysis also exhibits that the financial liberalization and rising capital flows hurt workers by increasing macroeconomic volatility, leading to financial crises that affected the functional income inequality. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.