Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring Green Consumers’ Mind‐Set toward Green Product Design and Life Cycle Assessment

Businesses are increasingly interested in exploring the key concepts of industrial ecology (IE), particularly within the context of market‐oriented sustainability. However, few studies have researched how green consumers perceive production as having relevant product design and life cycle assessment (LCA) dimensions. In this article, we explore green consumers’ mind‐set toward such system tools of IE by conducting 18 in‐depth interviews with Brazilian and Portuguese green consumers. We propose a simplified theoretical framework for achieving market‐oriented sustainability based on the multidisciplinary potential between IE and marketing. Our analysis suggests that there are still important gaps between what green consumers demand and what businesses are currently able (or willing) to supply. Our findings support the idea that businesses interested in following IE within the context of market‐oriented sustainability should spend greater effort in understanding the green consumer's production‐related mind‐set. In particular, we propose (1) avoiding consumer skepticism and dissatisfaction with greenwashing and (2) establishing credibility and information transparency. Both seem to act as preconditions to better align the product design and LCA processes with green consumer needs within the emerging paradigm of market‐oriented sustainability.
Distance Education: A Review of the Contemporary Literature

This paper provides an overview of the distance education literature, including a review of the definitions, theories, and major issues related to distance education. We introduce a research model for distance education constructs, and review the literature outside accounting within each of the model constructs. Finally, in an effort to advance accounting research in this area, we articulate several important research questions within each of the constructs of the model, and provide suggestions for accounting educators interested in pursuing distance education pedagogy.
The Final Frontier Safety By Design: Emerging Standards and Designs In Low-Voltage Motor Control Assemblies

Over the past several years a growing focus on improved electrical safety has arisen. A better understanding of both electrical shock and arc flash hazards faced by personnel working on or near energized equipment has led to consensus standards such as the NFPA-70E. These standards deal primarily with safe work practices - designed to identify and quantify the hazard, then assure that personnel are clothed with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce the risk. Consensus opinion among safety experts is that the best method to reduce the risk of injury is by designing the hazards out. The next frontier in reducing electrical injuries will arise from improved designs of electrical products which mitigate hazards by design. One primary product area of interest is the low-voltage motor control center used for control of motors rated 1000 volts and below. In process applications such as cement, pulp & paper and petroleum & chemical plants, maintenance personnel often find it necessary to work on, or near, energized motor control centers while performing maintenance and operational activities. This paper will review work in progress by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Working Group 1683 "Standard for Motor Control Centers Rated up to 1000 volts with Requirements Intended to Reduce Injuries" Working Group. This group was initially formed by the IEEE Industry Applications Society Petroleum & Chemical Industry Committee and is working on ideas to improve the functional design and test requirements for motor control centers rated up to 1000 volts ac 50/60 Hz with specified safety and reliability features. The paper will briefly review the emerging standard and advise engineers that are interested in how to get involved to offer inputs for improving the standard. Information on new safety based low-voltage motor control center designs that have been recently introduced by several manufacturers will be reviewed. The review will show how the industry is responding to the product need articulated by the user community and the IEEE 1683 Working Group for product safety by design.
Pancreatic islet cell tumor metastasis in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1: correlation with primary tumor size.

BACKGROUND Islet cell tumor (ICT) metastasis is one of the potentially lethal outcomes of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1). Management of ICT in patients with MEN 1 is controversial; some advocate resection based on biochemical evidence of progression, whereas others use tumor size to predict the risk of metastasis and the need for resection. This study correlates the size of primary ICT with the presence of metastases. METHODS Forty-eight patients with MEN 1 with ICT, from 34 kindreds followed up in our multiple endocrine neoplasia program, were evaluated; 43 of the 48 have been explored for ICT. Metastases to the lymph nodes and liver were documented. RESULTS Thirty-three percent of patients with pancreatic tumors less than 1 cm in greatest diameter had metastatic disease at surgery and in follow-up, whereas 34.8% of patients with tumors greater than 2 cm in diameter had metastases to lymph nodes or liver. The 2 patients with liver metastases each had primary tumors greater than 2 cm. Follow-up revealed subsequent metastasis in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS The size of primary tumors in MEN 1 does not correlate with metastatic potential. This is not a good criterion for exploration. Continued follow-up of these patients will be necessary to define the effect of operation on the course of ICT in MEN 1.
Sources of older parents' ambivalent feelings toward their adult children: the case of rural China.

OBJECTIVES Relying on the concept of sociological ambivalence, this study investigated the sources of intergenerational ambivalence in rural China, a traditional society that undergoes dramatic demographic, economic, and social changes. METHODS Data were derived from a survey of 1,162 older adults and their 4,396 children in rural Anhui province. Two-level mixed-effects model was carried out to predict ambivalent feelings reported by the older parents toward their adult children. RESULTS The findings yielded both similar and distinctive predictors of intergenerational ambivalence among the Chinese elderly population compared with their Western counterparts. The Chinese elderly population reported greater ambivalence toward sons than toward daughters. Adult children's higher socioeconomic status, represented by a more prestigious job and an urban household registry status (hukou), was associated with reduced ambivalence among parents. Parents' monetary support to children and assistance with childcare, which is common in rural China due to the massive out-migration, were also associated with higher levels of ambivalent feelings. DISCUSSION We interpreted the findings in the larger social context of strong son preference, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and rigid rural-urban division in China due to the household registration system. Our findings demonstrate that individual feelings of ambivalence are culturally structured and are determined within complex social environment.
Radio-Over-Fiber 16-QAM, 100-km Transmission at 5 Gb/s Using DSB-SC Transmitter and Remote Heterodyne Detection

By using a double-sideband suppressed carrier (DSB-SC) optical transmitter and a remote self-heterodyned (RSH) detection method, we experimentally and analytically proved the feasibility of a radio-over-fiber system using a 16-QAM signal at 5 Gb/s and 18 GHz, with a transmission distance of 100 km between a mobile service center and a base station. The transmission system performance was carefully analyzed by considering optical amplifier noise, fiber nonlinearity, phase noise, frequency response, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) quantization noise. The 18-GHz, 16-QAM signal can be radiated from the base station to a remote antenna port without any upconverter, and the remote antenna port consists of a downconverter and high-speed digital signal processors (DSPs) to recover the 16-QAM signal. The high-speed DSP, which partially compensates the intersymbol-interference (ISI) and phase-noise-induced system penalties, was enabled by 20-Gs/s ADCs. The algorithms used in the DSP blocks were also described in details.
Poly[[pentaaquabis(μ3-hydrogen squarato)barium] monohydrate]

The crystal structure of the title compound, {[Ba(C4HO4)2(H2O)5]·H2O}n, consists of discrete double chains propagating along [010]. The chains are formed by BaII ions linked by bridging hydrogen squarate ligands in a trans-bis-monodentate mode. In addition, the bridging hydrogen squarate ligands connect the chains into a ladder structure via a third coordinating O atom. The remaining coordination sites are occupied by five aqua ligands and a second mondendate hydrogen squarate ligand, forming a slightly distorted tricapped trigonal–prismatic geometry. O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the chains and solvent water molecules into a three-dimensional network.
Migration policy challenges at the new Eastern borders of the enlarged European Union: the Ukrainian case

With the enlargement of the European Union, new bordering countries emerged in the East which are characterized by comparatively low incomes and living standards, incomplete democratization and a number of latent political conflicts. Against this background it can be expected that migrations from these countries into the European Union will be growing, although a considerable part of the expected movements might be temporary or circular. Focussing on the Ukraine which shares borders with four European Union countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania) and which entertains migration relations with a number of European Union member states, this study identifies the new migration challenges at the Eastern borders of the enlarged European Union. The study reveals, that some European Union states are particularly addressed by Ukrainian labour migrations. Whereas high income differences and a lack of job opportunities in the home country trigger these movements in general, they are additionally based on traditional migration patterns and network relations in states such as Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and the Slovak Republic. In other EU member states, such as Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, the demand for low-skilled labour in segmented markets, particularly in the nontraded goods sectors of the economy seems to have primarily supported the movement of Ukrainian labour migrants. Although the European Union has recently undertaken some efforts to develop common migration regulations, many of the proposed policy measurements are still indeterminate, particularly in the case of lowskilled labour movements.
Quantitative assessment of promoter methylation profiles in thyroid neoplasms.

CONTEXT Cancer-specific molecular markers are needed to supplement the cytopathological assessment of thyroid tumors, because a majority of patients with cytologically indeterminate nodules currently undergo thyroidectomy without a definitive diagnosis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was the quantitative assessment of promoter hypermethylation and its relation to the BRAF mutation in thyroid tumors. DESIGN Quantitative hypermethylation of Rassf1A, TSHR, RAR-beta2, DAPK, S100, p16, CDH1, CALCA, TIMP3, TGF-beta, and GSTpi was tested on a cohort of 82 benign and malignant thyroid tumors and five thyroid cancer cell lines. SETTING The study was conducted at a tertiary research hospital. PATIENTS Patients underwent surgical resection for a thyroid tumor from 2000 to 2003 at our institution. INTERVENTIONS There were no interventions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Final surgical pathology diagnosis was the main outcome measure. RESULTS Thyroid tumors showed hypermethylation for the following markers: Rassf1A, TSHR, RAR-beta2, DAPK, CDH1, TIMP3, and TGF-beta. A trend toward multiple hypermethylation was evident in cancer tissues, with hypermethylation of two or more markers detectable in 25% of hyperplasias, 38% of adenomas, 48% of thyroid cancers, and 100% of cell lines. A rank correlation analysis of marker hypermethylation suggests that a subset of these markers is epigenetically modified in concert, which may reflect an organ-specific regulation process. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the BRAF mutation and RAR-beta2, and a negative correlation was found between the BRAF mutation and Rassf1A. CONCLUSIONS Methylation-induced gene silencing appears to affect multiple genes in thyroid tissue and increases with cancer progression. Additional markers with better discriminatory power between benign and malignant samples are needed for the diagnostic assessment of cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules.
Fostering Regulatory Compliance: The Role of Environmental Self-Auditing and Audit Policies

This paper examines the effect of voluntary efforts to self-audit on compliance with Clean Air Act regulations. It also examines the effect that state audit privilege and immunity laws have on the incentives for auditing and for improving compliance. Using data for a sample of S&P 500 firms, we correct for the endogeneity of the environmental audit decision by estimating a bivariate probit model with 'compliance status’ and 'decision to self-audit’ as two discrete choice variables. Our empirical analysis controls for compliance and self-auditing incentives created by regulatory and community-based pressures. We find that those facilities belonging to firms that have been subject to inspections in the past, that face a stronger threat of liabilities for Superfund sites, and that are more visible due to size are more likely to undertake an environmental audit. State audit privilege and immunity laws are not found to have a statistically significant effect on incentives for self-auditing. Facilities that self-audit are more likely to be in compliance with Clean Air Act regulations. However, audit privilege policies are found to have a statistically significant negative impact on compliance while audit immunity laws are found to have an insignificant impact on compliance.
A Life Cycle Analysis of Housing Affordability Options for First Home Owner-Occupiers in Australia

This paper presents a life cycle analysis of several policies for improving housing affordability for first home owner-occupiers in Australia: the First Home Owner Grant, housing equity partnerships and deposit loans. The analysis is by simulation of a housing tenure choice model in which a representative adult household makes a lifetime plan concerning the timing of the first home purchase, and the amount of housing and non-housing consumption in each period. An insight from the life cycle framework is that policies to improve housing affordability can have a life cycle timing effect on housing demand and house prices.
Strategic Information Revelation

We analyze the problem in which agents have non-public information and are to play an asymmetric information game. The agents may reveal some or all of their information to other agents prior to playing this game. Revelation is via exogenously specified certifiable statements. The equilibria resulting from various revelation strategies are used to determine equilibrium revelation of information. Sufficient conditions are provided for complete revelation of all private information. A number of examples are provided illustrating when revelation will or will not occur in commonly analyzed games.
NETWORK SAMPLING

Motivated by the central role of social networks in the diﬀusion of information, the study of network valued data where nodes and/or edges have attributes, which modulate the dynamics of both network evolution, and information ﬂow on the network itself, has witnessed signiﬁcant research interest across multiple disciplines. A key ingredient of this general area comprises probabilistic network models that incorporate (a) heterogeneity in edge creation across diﬀerent attribute groups; (b) temporal network evolution and (c) popularity bias. Such models are then used to understand a host of domain speciﬁc questions, including bias in network sampling, Page-rank and degree centrality scores and their impact in network ranking and recommendation algorithms. Despite signiﬁcant interest, for these network models, the main network functional amenable to analysis has so far been degree distribution asymptotics.
Sex-specific associations of maternal prenatal testosterone levels with birth weight and weight gain in infancy

Associations between maternal salivary testosterone at 36 weeks’ gestation with birth weight and infant weight gain through 6 months of age were examined in a group of 49 healthy, pregnant women and their offspring. The diurnal decline of maternal testosterone was conserved in late pregnancy, and levels showed significant day-to-day stability. Elevated maternal morning testosterone level was associated with lower birth weight Z-scores adjusted for gestational age and sex, and greater infant weight gain between birth and 6 months. Although maternal testosterone levels did not differ by fetal sex, relations were sex-specific such that maternal testosterone had a significant impact on weight for male infants; among female infants associations were nonsignificant. Results highlight the opposing influence of maternal androgens during pregnancy on decreased growth in utero and accelerated postnatal weight gain.
Iron‐regulated DNA binding by the AFT1 protein controls the iron regulon in yeast.

Iron deprivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae induces transcription of genes required for high‐affinity iron uptake. AFT1 mediates this transcriptional control. In this report, the 5′‐flanking region of FET3, which encodes a copper‐dependent oxidase required for iron transport, was analyzed and found to contain a DNA sequence responsible for AFT1‐regulated gene expression. AFT1 was capable of interacting specifically with this DNA sequence. A core element within this DNA sequence necessary for the binding of AFT1 was also determined. In vivo footprinting demonstrated occupancy of the AFT1 binding site in cells deprived of iron and not in cells grown in the presence of iron. Thus, the environmental signal resulting from iron deprivation was transduced through the regulated binding of AFT1 to the FET3 promoter, followed by the activation of transcription. A regulon of genes under the control of AFT1 could be defined. AFT1 was able to bind to a consensus binding site (PyPuCACCCPu) in the 5′ region of FRE1, FRE2, FTR1, FTH1 and CCC2.
Subunit swapping in the Mex-extrusion pumps in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes three sets of antibiotic extrusion proteins designated as MexA,B.OprM, MexC,D-OprJ and MexE,F-OprN regulated by the nalB, nfxB and nfxC genes, respectively. MexB,D,F, OprM, J,N and MexA,C,E function as the inner membrane pumps, the outer membrane channels and the membrane fusion proteins, respectively. To investigate the possibility of subunit interchangeability, we constructed the following combinations of chimeric pumps: MexA,D-OprM/delta MexB, MexC,B-OprM/delta MexA, and MexA,B-OprJ/delta OprM. The strains producing MexA,D-OprM/delta MexB and MexC,B-OprM/delta MexA failed to restore the antibiotic resistance shown in the strains producing the natural combinations of the subunit proteins. These results suggested that the inner membrane components cannot be interchanged. In contrast, the stains producing MexA,B-OprJ/delta OprM exhibited higher resistance to several antibiotics than the mutant lacking OprM and lower resistance than the strain overexpressing OprM. This result suggests that OprJ may complement the OprM function partially. A spectrum of antibiotics, of which the minimum inhibitory concentrations were restored partially by the complementation, was the same as the spectrum to which the nalB type mutant shows resistance. We surmised from these results that the MexA/MexB unit sustains the substrate specificity of the MexA,B-OprM machinery.
Immigrants in the Labour Market: Transnationalism and Segmentation

Various theories speak towards the labour market segmentation of an immigrant workforce. Theoretical frameworks such as Dual Labour Market Theory or Hierarchy Theory provide some value in outlining why immigrants are often found in the least desirable forms of employment. However, most theories do not consider the phenomenon of immigrant transnationalism and how forces at multiple scales shape labour market trajectories. In this paper we argue that traditional theories primarly consider socioeconomic factors in destination countries, and focus on factors at the local or national scale of analysis. In contrast, the literature on transnationalism illustrates how socioeconomic processes that operate at the global scale also influence the employment trajectories of immigrants. The integration of transnationalism with traditional labour market theories therefore provides a more complete picture when trying to understand the segmentation of an immigrant workforce.
Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: low expression of NCAM (CD56) is associated with downregulation of VEGF‐D production by tumour cells

The expression of NCAM was investigated in tissue sections of 61 cases of papillary carcinoma and in 14 lymph node metastases using immunohistochemistry. Tumour cells of 18 primary tumours were not stained, whereas in the remaining 43 cases, NCAM was expressed in less than 5% tumour cells. Similar results were obtained when NCAM expression was evaluated at the RNA level. Reduced expression of NCAM is an early event since 6/15 cases (40%) of micro‐carcinoma were NCAM‐negative. NCAM‐positive tumour cells were more often located at the invasion front of the tumour. It has been reported that NCAM expression may affect lymphangiogenesis. In tissue sections immunostained for podoplanin, it was found that lymphatic vessels were extremely rare inside the body of the tumour, and were mostly associated with foci of chronic inflammation and/or of reparative fibrosis. Lymphangiogenesis is sustained by VEGF‐C, VEGF‐D, and FGF2. Analysis of micro‐dissected samples of the tumour and of the paired normal thyroid tissue revealed that RNA transcripts for VEGF‐D were significantly less numerous in the tumour tissue (p = 0.001). The potential role of NCAM in tumour cell biology was investigated by silencing the NCAM gene in the TPC1 thyroid papillary carcinoma cell line. It was found that NCAM down‐regulation caused a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the expression of both VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D mRNAs. In addition, NCAM‐silenced TPC‐1 cells were more adhesive to different extracellular matrix components, and were less efficient in cell migration (59% reduction; p < 0.05) and invasiveness (68% reduction). These latter results confirm that modifications of NCAM expression cause profound alterations in the adhesive and migratory properties of tumour cells, but are in apparent discrepancy with the observation that loss of NCAM is usually associated with increased tumour invasiveness in vivo. Copyright © 2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Why Do Populist-Outsiders Get Elected? A Model of Strategic Populists

The existence of populist regimes led by outsiders is not new in history. In this paper a simple framework is presented that shows how and why a populist outsider can be elected to office, and under what conditions he is more likely to be elected. The results show that countries with a higher income and wealth concentration are more likely to elect populist outsiders than countries where income and wealth are more equally distributed. It is also shown that elections with a runoff are less likely to bring these populist outsiders into office.