Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Catalog of Software Development Rules for Agile Methods

Background: Software Development is typically complex, unpredictable and dependent on knowledge workers. Software Processes are an attempt to handle development complexity by defining a set of elements such as workflows, roles, templates and rules. This paper focuses on software development rules which are restrictions applied to software process. Rules are often described in natural language and spread among many documents. Representing software development rules in natural language has at least two drawbacks: (a) Following rules become hard since it depends on the expertise of the workers and (b) Compliance checking which is the act of verify whether rules are properly followed is often performed without the support of specialized systems. The lack of a computational solution to guide the team or to support compliance checking is a problem since these activities performed manually are more error-prone, costly and less scalable if compared with automatic or semiautomatic approaches. Problem: Any automation initiative starts with the formal representation of compliance elements and a structured catalog that presents software development rules prone to formal verification is still missing. Aim: This study aims at identifying a set of software development rules based on agile methods and that may be susceptible to a formal verification. Method: A literature review as well as semi-structured interviews with practitioners were conducted to identify a set of agile software development rules. Result: We identified a set of 10 rules for agile methods that were considered relevant according to research criteria. The rules are presented in a structured catalog.
Linking unlearning and Relational Capital through organisational relearning

Although unlearning in organisations has been considered necessary for organisational learning, little is known about how unlearning takes place. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of Individual Unlearning (IUL) on the organisational relearning and its effects on the creation of Relational Capital (RC) through an empirical investigation of 130 SMEs in the Spanish telecommunicasector using structural equation modelling validated by factor analysis. Results support that IUL has an indirect effect on RC through organisational relearning.
Physical and chemical composition of some walnut (juglans regia L) genotypes grown in Turkey

SUMMARY Physical and chemical composition of some walnut (Juglans regia L) genotypes grown in Turkey. Walnut (Juglans regia L.) samples were collected during the 2000 and 2001 harvests from different selections of trees grown in Turkey. Important physical and biochemical properties of fruit were examined in these walnut types. At the end of this study, 10 types were selected and nut and kernel properties, fatty acid composition and the proximate composition of these selections which are commonly grown in Turkey were evaluated. Physical properties are attributed to the quality criteria of nuts. Investigated genotypes showed good quality according to the test results. The total oil content ranged from 61.97 to 70.92% while the crude protein ranged from 15.17 to 19.24%. Ash ranged from 1.26 to 2.06% while the moisture was found between 3.25-3.91% of the kernel. The total carbohydrate was calculated as between 8.05-13.23%. The oleic acid content of the oils ranged from 21.18 to 40.20% of the total fatty acids, while the linoleic acid content ranged from 43.94 to 60.12% and the linolenic contents from 6.91 to11.52%. It was found that palmitic acid was between 5.24 and 7.62%, while stearic acid ranged from 2.56 to 3.67%.
Solving the Forward Discount Bias Puzzle in a Small Open Developing Economy

This article tests the validity of a Forward Discount Bias Puzzle, in a small open developing economy (SODE)—Sri Lanka—by employing first an unstructured vector autoregression (VAR) model and then a structured VAR model. The author argues that empirical examinations concerning SODEs cannot merely replicate methodology followed in testing developed economies, and identifies the need to disentangle capital flows from interest rate changes by including both capital flow and monetary policy variables. The article finds no evidence of a Forward Discount Bias Puzzle in Sri Lanka, and that perfect capital mobility is a too strong assumption. Hence, it proves that empirically more appropriate approach is to assume some capital mobility and incorporate capital flow data to accommodate for this change, in the analysis of UIRP.
Influence of gender on the course of neuromuscular block following a single bolus dose of cisatracurium or rocuronium

Background and objective There is increasing evidence of gender differences in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of aminosteroid neuromuscular blocking agents. Compared to males, females are more susceptible, requiring approximately 30% less rocuronium to achieve the same degree of neuromuscular block. However, little information is available whether this difference is applicable to modern benzylisoquinolines (cisatracurium). Methods In all, 848 patients (423 males, 425 females) undergoing general surgery under total intravenous anaesthesia with muscle relaxation, tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation were studied. Patients were randomized to receive a single bolus dose of cisatracurium (0.1 mg kg−1, 221 males and 199 females) or rocuronium (0.6 mg kg−1, 202 males and 226 females). The onset time for 95% depression of T1, clinical duration until 25% recovery and recovery index (T1 from 25% to 75%) were determined with an NMT electromyographic module of the Datex‐Ohmeda S/5 Anaesthesia Monitor. The data for male and female groups were compared with appropriate statistical tests (unpaired t‐test, Mann–Whitney rank sum test and Fisher's exact test). Results In both groups (cisatracurium and rocuronium), males were significantly taller (P < 0.001) and heavier (P < 0.001) than females, but the body mass index was comparable. For rocuronium, the onset time was shorter 91.7 ± 14.3 s vs. 108.0 ± 14.6 s (P < 0.001) and the clinical duration was increased in females 43.3 ± 7.8 min vs. 31.3 ± 5.5 min (P < 0.001). In the cisatracurium group, both onset times (248.9 ± 60.7 s for males vs. 253.4 ± 70.9 s for females) and clinical duration (42.6 ± 6.9 min for males vs. 43.1 ± 6.9 min for females) were similar. The recovery index was identical for males and females in both groups. Conclusions Females were more sensitive than males to a single bolus dose of rocuronium. Under the study conditions described, the onset time was shorter and the clinical duration was increased in female patients. This suggests that the routine dose of rocuronium should be reduced in females compared to males. On the contrary, we could demonstrate no gender differences in the onset time or clinical duration of cisatracurium.
Effect of cue–target interval on the N2pc

The N2pc component of the event-related potential occurs when participants must select and process a lateralized visual target, often in the presence of one or more distractors. The goal of this research was to determine whether the N2pc reflects unique processing related to the treatment of the target or whether it reflects processing related to the presence of a distractor. The selection cue for the target was presented 100 ms earlier, at the same time as, or 100 ms later than the target itself. An earlier cue allowed earlier spatial selection, leading to less interference from the distractor. The results indicated that the offset of the N2pc was delayed when more interference from the distractor was expected.
Diversification, Refocusing and Firm Value

At any point in time a firm faces three restructuring choices: diversify, refocus, or do nothing. This study analyses the causes and the consequences of these actions in a unified framework using the appropriate methodologies. Various factors, such as firm's characteristics and multinational nature, its industry's characteristics, its exchange and index inclusion, and divested (or acquired) segment(s)' industry conditions, are considered as the determinants of the diversifying and the refocusing decisions. The estimation results from the corresponding multinomial logit model suggest that refocusing occurs generally due to firm-specific reasons, and diversification due to outside factors, such as industry and economic conditions. Added or dropped segment's industry profitability, its relationship to the core business of the firm, and its relatedness to the businesses of the conglomerate's other segments have a nontrivial effect on either decision. In a related analysis, the paper explicitly models and estimates the valuation consequences that are sustained by the firm after it undertakes a refocusing or a diversification action. To isolate the changes in firm's value that are due to these decisions only, a 2SLS estimation is used to control for endogeneity that arises because the factors that affect a firm's value are likely to have also induced the firm to make the corresponding decision. The novelty of my approach is in its inclusion of variables measuring the consequences due to both actions, the diversification and the refocusing, in the same valuation equation. Contrary to some earlier findings, I find no evidence of ‘diversification discount’ or ‘refocusing premium. ’ The choice of this paper to analyse all corporate restructuring decisions in a unified framework yields valuable business insights into the reasons for undertaking such corporate events.
Verdoorn's law and increasing returns to scale: country estimates based on the cointegration approach

The Johansen approach to estimating long-run cointegration vectors is used with the Penn World Tables data to estimate returns to scale. Thus, this approach has the advantages of including a measure of capital, it overcomes the simultaneity problems associated with the single-equation Verdoorn law, and it involves estimating a correctly specified dynamic model in which is embedded the long-run solution(s). The results indicate that there is substantial evidence that increasing returns are the norm for the majority of countries.
MARITAL STATUS, NATION MARITAL STATUS COMPOSITION, AND SELF-ASSESSED HEALTH

ABSTRACT This study examines to what extent the often found association between marital status and self-assessed health is influenced by the marital composition of the country people live in. Four hypotheses explaining why the national marital status composition may be influential are derived and tested. Whereas earlier research in this field solely focused on divorce rates, this study includes six different indicators of the national marital status composition to provide a comprehensive test of our expectations. We employ data on 29 European countries (European Social Survey 2002, 2004, and 2006, N=97,797). Multilevel regression analyses demonstrate that both the strength of the relationship between marital status and health, and which unmarried group is most disadvantaged, vary across European countries. Living in a country with a high proportion of married people appears to be beneficial to the health of never married persons, but detrimental for widowed people. Additionally, our findings contradict the argument that divorced, widowed, and never married persons may be best off when living in countries with high proportions of people who are in the same situation. Finally, our results show that the never married are worst off in countries with a high proportion of cohabitants. This may reflect stronger health selectivity into cohabitation in countries where cohabitation is more common. We conclude that the ways through which the marital status composition influences the association between marital status and health appear to be complex and highly dependent on the exact marital status groups that are examined.
Investigation of the Social Predictors of Competitive Behavior and the Moderating Effect of Culture

Research has shown that Competition is a powerful intrinsic motivator of behavior change. However, little is known about the predictors of its persuasiveness and the moderating effect of culture. In this paper, we investigate the predictors of "the persuasiveness of Competition" (i.e. Competition) using three social influence con-structs: Reward, Social Comparison and Social Learning. Using a sample of 287 participants, comprising 213 individualists and 74 collectivists, we explored the interrelationships among the four social influence constructs and how the two cultures differ and/or are similar. Our global model, which accounts for 46% of the variation in Competition, reveals that Reward has the strongest influence on Competition, followed by Social Comparison. However, the model shows that Social Learning has no significant influence on Competition. Finally, our multigroup analysis reveals that, for our population sample, culture does not moderate the interrelationships among the four constructs. Our findings suggest that designers of gamified applications can employ Reward, Social Comparison and Competition as co-persuasive strategies to motivate behavior change for both cultures, as the susceptibilities of users to Reward and Social Comparison are predictors of their susceptibility to Competition.
Fate of heterologous deoxyribonucleic acid in Bacillus subtilis

CsCl density gradient fractionation of cell lysates was employed to follow the fate of Escherichia coli, phage T6, and non-glucosylated phage T6 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) after uptake by competent cells of Bacillus subtilis 168 thy minus trp minus. Shortly after uptake, most of the radioactive Escherichia coli or non-glucosylated T6 DNA was found in the denatured form; the remainder of the label was associated with recipient DNA. Incubation of the cells after DNA uptake led to the disappearance of denatured donor DNA and to an increase in the amount of donor label associated with recipient DNA. These findings are analogous to those previously reported with homologous DNA. By contrast, T6 DNA, which is poorly taken up, appeared in the native form shortly after uptake and was degraded on subsequent incubation. The nature of the heterologous DNA fragments associated with recipient DNA was investigated with Escherichia coli 2-H and 3-H-labeled DNA. Association of radioactivity with recipient DNA decreased to one-fourth in the presence of excess thymidine; residual radioactivity could not be separated from recipient DNA by shearing (sonic oscillation) and/or denaturation, but was reduced by one-half in the presence of a DNA replication inhibitor. Residual radioactivity associated with donor DNA under these conditions was about 5% of that originally taken up. Excess thymidine, but not the DNA replication inhibitor, also decreased association of homologous DNA label with recipient DNA; but, even in the presence of both of these, the decrease amounted to only 60%. It is concluded that most, or all, of the Escherichia coli DNA label taken up is associated with recipient DNA in the form of mononucleotides via DNA replication.
Report of a Workshop on Respiratory Viral Infections: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

Abstract An international workshop to review the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of respiratory viral infections was held in Turku, Finland, in May 1991. This workshop emphasized the following points. (1) In epidemiological studies of influenza virus, serological, clinical, and gene-sequencing methods have been used to produce a full picture of genetic evolution. Less complete information exists about other viruses, although new data on respiratory syncytial virus are emerging. (2) Tools for the diagnosis of respiratory viral infections have been developed in conjunction with the use of solid-phase immunoassays. A role remains for tissue culture in surveillance and epidemiological studies. Detection of bacterial involvement in respiratory infections has been more difficult. (3) Treatment of infections due to respiratory viruses has advanced with the use of amantadine and aerosolized ribavirin. On the other hand, many viruses remain refractory to treatment. Means for preventing influenza are established, but barriers to the development of other viral vaccines—including the existence of multiple serotypes, imperfect natural immunity, and paradoxical hypersensitivity—have proven difficult to surmount.
Correlation between Central and Lateral Neck Dissection in Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

Objective: To determine the histopathological correlation between central and lateral neck metastasis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and its potential therapeutic impact. Although the central neck dissection (CND) is recommended in differentiated thyroid carcinoma, the indication for lateral neck dissection (LND) remains controversial. Design: Retrospective study. Methods and Main Outcome Measures: Pathological analysis of systematic ipsilateral central neck dissection (CND) and LND performed with total thyroidectomy in differentiated thyroid carcinoma was retrospectively reviewed according to “side” and to “patient”. Results: A total of 56 sides (46 patients) were suitable for analysis. Analysis by “side” revealed that CND and LND dissection samples were both negative in 15 cases, both positive in 32, CND was positive and LND was negative for 8 cases and CND was negative and LND was positive in 1 case. The combined presence of positive LND and positive CND was therefore observed in 32/40 “sides” and 26/46 “patients”. Analysis by “side” of the impact of the treatment decision to perform ipsilateral LND only in patients with positive CND and vice versa demonstrated a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 97%, 65%, and 84%, respectively. Conclusions: In most cases, the presence of positive LND was associated with positive ipsilateral CND. The very low prevalence of positive LND in patients with negative CND may justify LND as a second step procedure only in patients with positive CND, except in the case of documented lateral neck metastasis.
Stress Tests of Capital Requirements

This paper examines the performance of the leading methods for setting capital requirements for securities firms' trading books. Tests are conducted on a large sample of UK equity market makers' books over a substantial number of periods of equity market stress from 1985 to 1995. The comprehensive and building-block approaches, favoured by US and European regulators, fail to provide effective cover. Only portfolio-based, value-at-risk type models are efficient in providing appropriate levels of capital to cover the position risk of equity trading books. This paper was presented at the Financial Institutions Center's October 1996 conference on "
The impact of office environments on employee performance: The design of the workplace as a strategy for productivity enhancement

One of the fundamental human requirements is a working environment that allows people to perform their work optimally under comfortable conditions. Given that buildings and air conditioning systems are designed on the basis of a certain level of discomfort, this raises the key question ‘What is the effect of the level of comfort on the productivity of people working in office environments? ’ The purpose of this paper is to quantify this relationship as an aid to making choices regarding the working environment at strategic level within the facilities management process, with particular emphasis on thermal conditions.
The alveolar process of the edentulous maxilla in periodontitis and non-periodontitis subjects.

BACKGROUND Early implant failures may document that the bone tissue or the wound-healing process following installation surgery was compromised. Subjects who have lost teeth for periodontal reasons exhibit more earlier implant failures than subjects who had experienced tooth loss for other reasons. AIM To describe the tissue of the fully healed extraction sites in subjects who had lost teeth as a result of periodontitis or for other reasons. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-six otherwise healthy, partially dentate subjects with fully healed edentulous portions in the posterior maxilla were included. Nineteen of these subjects had lost teeth because of advanced periodontitis (group P) and 17 for other reasons (group NP). Using a trephine drill, a 4-6 mm long hard tissue specimen was harvested. The biopsies were decalcified, embedded in paraffin, sectioned, stained and examined. RESULTS The edentulous posterior maxilla was comprised of 47.1 ± 11% lamellar bone, 8.1 ± 7.1% woven bone, 4.3 ± 3.1% osteoid and 16.5 ± 10.4% bone marrow. There were no significant differences in the tissue composition of post-extraction sites of (i) P and NP subjects and (ii) premolar and molar sites. CONCLUSION More than 50% of the edentulous maxilla was comprised of mineralized bone (lamellar and woven bone). The bone trabeculae frequently appeared to have a random orientation. The direction of the trabeculae rather than the lack of mineralized bone tissue may explain the clinical impression that the bone in the posterior maxilla provides limited resistance to mechanical instrumentation.
Europarties and party development in EU-candidate states: The case of Bulgaria

Abstract This article examines the direct impact of Europarties on domestic party development, taking the case of Bulgaria when it was a European Union (EU) candidate country. It combines arguments from party theory and the Europeanisation literature and focuses on the overlap of these two fields of study and it investigates the direct impact of Europarties on the choice of electoral strategies made by political parties in candidate states. The study begins by proposing an analytical model that explains the electoral behaviour of political parties based on traditional propositions in comparative party studies. Then it proposes to view international impact as an additional constraint on that behaviour. The main argument is that, in certain situations, Europarties have intervened in domestic party politics and have played a role in the decision of parties to choose certain electoral strategies. It is suggested therefore, that viewing party electoral behaviour purely from the perspective of domestic politics would not only be misleading, but would also lead us to expect behaviour that might not have been a possible alternative for the parties at a given point in time.
Technical Progress, Urban Unemployment and Heterogeneous Firms

We construct a general equilibrium model of urban unemployment with a continuum of heterogeneous urban firms producing differentiated products in a monopolistic competitive market. We introduce a notion of pattern of technical progress among the heterogeneous urban firms and show that this pattern plays a crucial role in determining the effects of urban technical progress in a developing economy. In particular, we show that the possibility of immiserizing technical progress depends on the pattern of progress among the heterogeneous urban firms.
α-Synuclein disrupts stress signaling by inhibiting polo-like kinase Cdc5/Plk2

Parkinson disease (PD) results from the slow, progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Alterations in α-synuclein (aSyn), such as mutations or multiplications of the gene, are thought to trigger this degeneration. Here, we show that aSyn disrupts mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-controlled stress signaling in yeast and human cells, which results in inefficient cell protective responses and cell death. aSyn is a substrate of the yeast (and human) polo-like kinase Cdc5 (Plk2), and elevated levels of aSyn prevent Cdc5 from maintaining a normal level of GTP-bound Rho1, which is an essential GTPase that regulates stress signaling. The nine N-terminal amino acids of aSyn are essential for the interaction with polo-like kinases. The results support a unique mechanism of PD pathology.