Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SCREENING OF LOCAL AND EXOTIC ONION (ALLIUM CEPA L.) CULTIVARS FOR SEED PRODUCTION POTENTIALITY

Original scientific paper Izvorni znanstveni ~lanak SUMMARY An experiment was conducted aiming to find out the seed production potentiality of 19 local and exotic onion cultivars. The analysis of variance showed significant differences among the genotypes for all characters except sprouting percentage, number of flowers per umbel and number of umbel per bulb. Maximum number of days to 50% bolting (52.67) was exhibited by the genotype G2 and minimum by G6 (27.00 days). The larger bulb size after harvest was obtained from G14 and G19 (18.11 g). Genotypes G4 and G11 required the maximum (16.66) and the minimum (9.00) days for 100% sprouting, respectively. The highest stalk length was found in the genotype G1 (67.23 cm) and the lowest in G8 (38.47 cm). Maximum number (5.75) of stalk was produced by the genotype G7 and minimum number (2.09) of stalk by the genotype G11. The genotype G1 produced the highest number of seeds per umbel (1395.92) and seed yield per plant (4.29 g). The lowest (0.45 g) seed yield per plant and maximum bulb weight was obtained by the genotype G8.
The Quality of Record Keeping and Racial Differences in Validated Turnout

The election administration studies and the vote validation studies conducted as part of the 1986 and 1988 National Election Studies are employed to determine whether the tendency of blacks more often to overreport voting than whites results from the poor quality of record keeping in election offices where black registration and voting records are maintained. Both objective indicators of record-keeping quality and the subjective assessments by the Survey Research Center field staff are employed. The analysis suggests that the tendency of blacks to overreport voting does not result from inferior record keeping in areas where blacks live.
Macroautophagy Is Required for Multicellular Development of the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum *

Macroautophagy is a mechanism employed by eukaryotic cells to recycle non-essential cellular components during starvation, differentiation, and development. Two conjugation reactions related to ubiquitination are essential for autophagy: Apg12p conjugation to Apg5p, and Apg8p conjugation to the lipid phosphatidylethanolamine. These reactions require the action of the E1-like enzyme, Apg7p, and the E2-like enzymes, Apg3p and Apg10p. InDictyostelium, development is induced by starvation, conditions under which autophagy is required for survival in yeast and plants. We have identified Dictyostelium homologues of 10 budding yeast autophagy genes. We have generated mutations inapg5 and apg7 that produce defects typically associated with an abrogation of autophagy. Mutants are not grossly affected in growth, but survival during nitrogen starvation is severely reduced. Starved mutant cells show little turnover of cellular constituents by electron microscopy, whereas wild-type cells show significant cytoplasmic degradation and reduced organelle number. Bulk protein degradation during starvation-induced development is reduced in the autophagy mutants. Development is aberrant; the autophagy mutants do not aggregate in plaques on bacterial lawns, but they do proceed further in development on nitrocellulose filters, forming defective fruiting bodies. The autophagy mutations are cell autonomous, because wild-type cells in a chimaera do not rescue development of the autophagy mutants. We have complemented the mutant phenotypes by expression of the cognate gene fused to green fluorescent protein. A green fluorescent protein fusion of the autophagosome marker Apg8 mislocalizes in the two autophagy mutants. We show that the Apg5-Apg12 conjugation system is conserved inDictyostelium.
Demand for Hospital Care and Private Health Insurance in a Mixed Public-Private System: Empirical Evidence Using a Simultaneous Equation Modeling Approach

This paper examines the determinants of hospital stay intensity, the decision to seek hospital care as a public or private patient and the decision to purchase private hospital insurance. We describe a theoretical model to motivate the simultaneous nature of these decisions. For the empirical analysis, we develop a simultaneous equation econometric model that accommodates the count data nature of length of stay and the binary nature of the patient type and insurance decisions. The model also accounts for the endogeneity of the patient type and insurance binary variables. The results indicate that there is no evidence of endogeneity between the decision to purchase insurance on the type and intensity of hospital care use. We find some evidence of moral hazard effects of private hospital insurance on the intensity of private hospital care. The results also indicate that the length of hospital stay for private patients is shorter than for public patients.
Corporate brand reputation and the adoption of innovations

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how the strength of a corporate brand influences the adoption of an innovative service, and the main components of the construct: corporate brand (CB). Design/methodology/approach – A real‐world, online, information acceleration experiment was conducted where the marketing mix and competitive environment was held constant for a new service from three different CBs. Respondents indicated their likelihood of buying from each of these and their perceptions of them.Findings – The study finds that there was a significant relationship between CB strength and respondents' likelihood of adoption of the service. The CB construct was found to comprise two factors: conative and cognitive, where the former was more influential on adoption probability.Research limitations/implications – A limited set of variables commonly associated with brands was taken to be representative of CB. Further research would be needed to more generalise the findings and more fully examine the CB con.
"Children of the fence" : the maintenance of extra-marital children under law and practice in Botswana

This study is concerned with the laws regulating compensation for extramarital pregnancy and maintenance of extramarital children in Botswana. More specifically, it aims to comprehend the reasons for the increase in extramarital reproduction and its seeming tolerance by the society; to make an in-depth review of the customary, Roman-Dutch and statutory laws relating to extramarital pregnancy and their relationship to each other; to find out the extent and manner in which these laws are used in practice, and their effectiveness; to comprehend the interaction between these plural sources of law, both at the institutional and grassroots level; and to draw theoretical and practical conclusions, with a view to recommending changes in the law which are relevant to its consumers' social reality and day-to-day lives. Data come from statutes and legal texts, decisions of the superior courts, decisions of two local courts, viz. the chief's court and the magistrate's court in Kanye, the traditional capital of the Ngwaketse, a survey of 178 unmarried mothers in Kanye carried out in 1989, and interviews and courtroom observations.
The Social Management of Rural Nature: Understanding Agrarian-Based Rural Development

There is a growing realisation that agriculture is a central mechanism for delivering sustainable rural development in Europe. However, agro-industrial and postproductivist logics and dynamics have largely tended to marginalise its significance. In this paper we explore some of the conceptual parameters needed to develop the rural development dynamic. This is one which recentralises agriculture and farm-based activities and provides a basis for countering the growing crisis in rural and agricultural policymaking. In order to further embed the rural development dynamic, however, new alliances need to be attached to the struggles that are currently underway in rural areas. This will involve the state and social scientists playing a greater constructive role in developing the social infrastructure around which current exemplars of agrarian-based rural development can become more mainstream.
Efficacy of prolonged antimicrobial chemotherapy for brucellar spondylodiscitis.

The standard treatment of brucellar spondylitis with a combination of two antibiotics for 6-12 weeks is associated with high rates of treatment failure and relapse. The present study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of a treatment strategy based on the prolonged administration of a triple combination of suitable antibiotics. Eighteen patients with brucellar spondylitis were treated with a combination of at least three suitable antibiotics (doxycycline, rifampin, plus intramuscular streptomycin or cotrimoxazole or ciprofloxacin) until the completion of at least 6 months of treatment, when clinical, radiological and serology re-evaluation was performed. If necessary, the treatment was continued with additional 6-month cycles, until resolution or significant improvement of clinical and radiological findings, or for a maximum of 18 months. At presentation, the median age was 66 years (range, 42-85 years) with male predominance. The median duration of therapy was 48 weeks (range 24-72 weeks). Treatment was discontinued early because of side-effects in only one patient. Surgical intervention was required for three patients. At the end of treatment all patients had a complete response. After completion of treatment, all patients were followed up with regular visits. During the follow-up period (duration 1-96 months, median 36.5 months), no relapses were observed. In conclusion, prolonged (at least 6 months) administration of a triple combination of suitable antibiotics appears to be an effective treatment for brucellar spondylitis.
Mapping quantitative trait loci for body weight on the X chromosome in mice . I . Analysis of a reciprocal F # population

Evidence of a large sex-linked effect accounting for 25% of the divergence between mouse lines selected for body weight has been described previously. A marker-based study was undertaken to determine the number and map positions of the putative X-linked quantitative trait loci (QTLs). An F # population was generated from a reciprocal F " between an inbred low line derived from the low selection line and the high selection line. To enable inference of marker-associated QTL effects on the X chromosome, an analytical technique was developed based on the multiple regression method of Haley and Knott. The analysis of data on 10 week weight indicated a single QTL of large effect situated at about 23 cM from the proximal end of the chromosome, with a peak LOD score of 24±4. The likelihood curve showed a single well-defined peak, and gave a 95% confidence interval for the QTL location of 8 cM. The estimates for the additive genotypic effects in males and females (half the differences between hemizygous males and between homozygous females) were 2±6 g in both cases, or 17% and 20% of the 10 week body weight in males and females respectively. Dominance effects in the females were found to be non-significant. No significant Xlinked effect on carcass fat percentage was detected, but a single X-linked QTL appears to explain almost the entire X-linked body weight effect.
Secure wireless communications via cooperative relaying and jamming

We consider secure wireless communications between a source and a destination aided by a multi-antenna relay, in the presence of an eavesdropper. In particular, two cooperation schemes of the relay are explored: cooperative relaying (CR) and cooperative jamming (CJ). We first investigate the transmit weight optimization of CR and CJ, for both cases with and without the eavesdropper's channel state information (ECSI). Then, for the case with ECSI, we derive the conditions under which CR achieves a higher secrecy rate than CJ; for the case without ECSI, we compare the secrecy rates of CR and CJ in high transmit power regimes. Building on this, we propose a novel hybrid scheme in which the relay utilizes both CR and CJ, and study the power allocation of the relay between CR and CJ for maximizing the secrecy rate.
SME Survey Methodology: Response Rates, Data Quality, and Cost Effectiveness

Cost effective data collection is an important methodological issue for small and medium enterprise (SME) researchers. There is a generally held view that mail surveys are the most efficient means of collecting empirical data, despite the potential difficulties associated with low response rates. To enhance the usefulness of mail surveys, researchers have suggested a variety of strategies aimed at improving response rates. While previous studies have examined the effect on response rates of many of these strategies, their impact on data quality and on the cost effectiveness of data collection is less well understood. This study evaluates four response–inducing strategies (printing the survey instrument on colored paper, telephone pre–notification, payment of a monetary incentive, and a follow–up mailing) in terms of their effect on data quality, response rates, and cost effectiveness for a population of SMEs.
Comparative Immunology. Active Immunization of Young Alligators with Hemocyanin.∗

Summary and conclusions Alligators can be actively immunized with hemocyanin, a protein antigen, and the circulating antibody consists of at least 2 kinds of immunoglobulin that differ in electrophoretic mobility and perhaps size. Results indicate that alligators, in contrast to other reptiles, may possess a primitive type of immunological memory. Although the production of circulating antibody by the alligator was not unexpected, the nature of the immune response and of the anti-KLH immunoglobulins in the alligator appear to differ enough from that reported for other poikilotherms to warrant further study, especially from an evolutionary standpoint.
Fibrin‐based stem cell containing scaffold improves the dynamics of burn wound healing

For severe burn injuries, successful medical intervention is accomplished by rapidly and safely providing physical barriers that can cover damaged skin tissues, thereby preventing critical danger of extensive bleeding and infection. Despite availability of a large assortment of wound coverage options, the etiology of wound healing is rather complex leading to significant defects in skin repair. The use of cell‐mediated treatment approaches in combination with bioengineered wound coverage constructs may provide the missing tool to improve wound healing outcomes. In this study, we have used an engineered 3D PEGylated fibrin (P‐fibrin) gel as a scaffold for adipose derived stem cells (ASCs) delivery into the burn injury model. We were able to confirm the presence of ASCs in the wound site two weeks after the initial injury. Delivery of ASCs‐containing gels was associated with improved vascularization of the injured area at early time points accompanied by an increased abundance of mannose receptor expressing cells. Moreover, the application of P‐fibrin biomaterial exhibited positive effects on early mononuclear cell recruitment and granulation tissue formation without negatively affecting wound closure kinetics or extent of connective tissue deposition. Collectively, our data support the feasibility of using P‐fibrin gels in wound dressing applications requiring controlled delivery of viable cells.
Migrants, Economic Mobility and Socio-Economic Change in Rural Areas

This article evaluates the contribution of Immigrants Working in Agriculture (IWA) and their socio-economic mobility over time. Up to the present, European and Greek literature has focused on immigrants' impact on metropolitan areas, in part due to the relatively insignificant role of agriculture in the European economies. Moreover, concerning the socio-economic mobility of IWA only snapshot views are available in the literature. Through field-work carried out in the northern Greek countryside, reinforced by analysis of the FADN database, we argue that the influx of immigrants in the early 1990s constituted a driving force in the development of the Greek countryside in a period during which long-term structural problems in the rural sector had condemned it to relative immobility. Immigrants' contribution is articulated at three levels. First, they enabled farmers who had abandoned agriculture to re-enter the sector and, at the same time, keep their non-agricultural jobs, thus increasing their sources of income. Additionally, IWA helped active farmers to expand their holdings, and to enrich and diversify their cultivations. Second, IWA have not displaced familial agricultural employment, as this was in decline prior to their arrival. Last, their employment allowed for a more flexible combination and specialization of capital and labour in the production process. Moreover, contrary to many developed countries, immigrants in the Greek countryside have displayed upward economic mobility over time.This is due mainly to occupational mobility in the agricultural sector and a movement to non-agricultural jobs, as well as spatial mobility between rural regions, which has increased the number of days of employment and income.
The Interaction of Financing and Investment Decisions When the Firm Has Unused Tax Credits

MUCH OF THE finance literature has assumed that firms are endowed with exogenous tax rates. Although these rates may be different from the full corporate tax rate because of tax losses, they are nevertheless assumed to be invariant with any individual investment or financing decision. In this paper, we describe and compare various mechanisms for exploiting the tax losses of the firm. These include both financial and real asset transactions. Given costs to financial transactions and an inelastic supply of real assets, we show that the "effective" tax rate for the firm with tax losses is less than the full tax rate and is endogenous to the firm's current and future-set of real assets and financial transactions; the latter include financial leasing, acquisitions and lending decisions. As a result, the value of any asset can only be calculated simultaneously with the firm's optimal choice of both real assets and financial transactions. In section one, we describe the equilibrium when tax motivated financial transactions are costless and unrestricted. In this case, all tax losses will be absorbed by tax-paying companies as long as aggregate corporate income is positive. In section two, we describe the costs and restrictions which prevent the achievement of this ideal. Section three converts the firm's real asset choice problem to an equivalent linear program. The main result is that the firm with tax losses should make choices as if income on projects is taxed when incurred and losses from projects receive tax rebates when incurred, but at "effective" tax rates which are specific to particular future states. The "effective" tax rates arise as shadow prices in the solution to the decision problem, and thereby are
The Economical Feasibility of Combined Heat and Power Systems in Energy Markets Based on Reliability, Using Dynamic Game Theory

The issue of economic and technical analysis of the combined heat and power systems (CHP) is one of the important steps in the feasibility study, installation, and policy implementation of cogeneration systems. Aside from improving the reliability of systems, the major goal of CHP technical feasibility studies is maximizing profits. This article is a proposal assessing the impacts of the energy reliability indices on the economic parameters of CHPs in a deregulated environment applying dynamic game. The reliability indices such as energy not supplied are applied to assess the effects of reliability on the economic feasibility of CHPs through the Monte-Carlo simulation. Also, the article studies the impacts of improving gas/water distribution networks, electrical/thermal repair rate reinforcements and reducing electrical/thermal failure rates on economic feasibility parameters such as nt present valu or initial rate of return. This article can be applicable for the generation companies who desire to invest and participate rationally in energy markets.
Rapid naming, not cancellation speed or articulation rate, predicts reading in an orthographically regular language (Italian)

This study examined the influence of rapid automatization naming (RAN) measures on various parameters of reading performance in children who were native speakers of a language with a shallow orthography (Italian). Participants included 281 children enrolled in first-to-sixth grade. They were given a Naming test, in which they had to name rapidly matrices of colors, objects, or digits, a Cancellation test, using the same stimulus materials, and an oral Articulation test. Performance on all tests improved steadily across ages tested. Performance on the Naming test, but not on the Cancellation and Articulation tests, predicted speed and accuracy in reading; none of these measures reliably predicted the reading comprehension measure. Data on a Blending test were also available for a subsample of first- and third-graders. Both RAN and phonological ability contributed independently to the prediction of reading ability (accuracy and speed) in these participants. The results extend observations on RAN to an orthographically shallow language (Italian) and suggest an element of continuity between languages with opaque and transparent orthographies.
Comparison of the visual outcomes and OPD-scan results of AMO Tecnis toric and Alcon Acrysof IQ toric intraocular lenses.

PURPOSE To compare the visual outcomes and wavefront analyses of patients who underwent cataract surgery with the implantation of a Tecnis toric intraocular lens (IOL) (Abbott Medical Optics) with those patients who received an Acrysof IQ toric IOL (Alcon Laboratories Inc). METHODS The study included 40 eyes from 26 patients with regular corneal astigmatism between 1.00 and 3.00 diopters (D) who were undergoing phacoemulsification with implantation of a toric IOL. Patients were randomized into two groups (20 eyes in each group): one group received the Tecnis toric IOL (Tecnis group) and one group received the Acrysof IQ toric IOL (Acrysof group). Over a 2-month follow-up period, the main outcome measures were uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), spherical equivalent refraction, residual astigmatism, rotational stability of the IOL, and higher order aberrations, measured with a dynamic retinoscopy aberrometer. RESULTS At 2-month follow-up, UDVA, CDVA, spherical equivalent refraction, and residual astigmatism showed no statistically significant between-group differences (P=.834, P=.178, P=.447, and P=.166, respectively). No eye had IOL rotation >10°. The toric IOL axis misalignment was similar in both groups (3.15°±2.62° in the Tecnis group and 3.25°±2.04° in the Acrysof group, P=.265). No statistically significant between-group differences were noted for all ocular aberrometry values, except for spherical aberration, which was higher in the Acrysof group (P=.029). CONCLUSIONS Both studied IOLs promoted good postoperative UDVA, CDVA, and refractive results. Rotational stability was excellent for both IOLs. Postoperative spherical aberration was higher for the Acrysof toric IOL; however, this difference did not seem to affect overall visual quality.
Destination Brand Personality: An Application to Spanish Tourism

In the current economic climate, destinations increasingly attempt to differentiate themselves. Brand personality (BP) is a useful tool for understanding differentiation in terms of identity and image perceptions. The authors are unaware of any prior study that develops and analyses to what extent Jennifer Aaker's BP scale is reliable and valid in destination branding. This paper studies UK visitors to two specific Spanish destinations: Granada and Torremolinos. The study concludes that the BP model is second-order. The results help to more adequately establish the personality trait dimensions that create favourable evaluations of tourism destinations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.