Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attitudes and Factual Considerations of Regional Actors Towards Experience Industries and The Tourism Industry: A Swedish Case Study

Abstract This paper examines the attitudes towards experience industries and tourism in the Gnosjö region of Sweden. The investigation is based on a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with politicians and chief executive officers (CEOs) within manufacturing industries. The results show that the politicians have more knowledge of experience industries and a more positive attitude towards these new types of industries than the CEOs. Both groups consider both these industries of significance for the region's future. While the politicians believe in experience industries as a whole, and particularly suggest more active work in favour of tourism and design, the second group just welcomes directly and indirectly a possible cooperation with design companies. A minor share of the CEOs is interested in either running businesses with features of experience industries or having a sense of it in their businesses. Despite differences, these attitudes facilitate cross-fertilisation between the manufacturing industry and experience industries in the future. The study suggests that the region needs to develop more knowledge and competence directed towards the experience industries, in particular tourism and design, and a cooperation between the manufacturing industry, local political parties, and enterprises within tourism, design and culture in this respect.
Co-constructing the Brand and the Product

How do brand and product development processes interact? How do brands and branding strategies influence product development? Moreover, does a branding strategy facilitate or impede the development process? So far, research on product development has focused on the development of new products and services, whereas research on marketing and especially branding has emphasized what types of line extensions to create rather than on how to integrate brands and product development processes.The present models of the product development process mostly distinguish between the process of innovation and that which follows, and also distinguish between the company as a sender and the user as a receiver of the communicated values. In the present study we suggest an alternative understanding of the innovation process: A network process perspective (NPP) as derived from the actor network theory (ANT), is used to explore the co-created relationship between the new product development process and branding.The network process perspective is used to analyse and understand the innovation process and represents a constructivist theory that departs from an ontological assumption that the 'world' is the relations and networks among heterogeneous human and non-human actors and that these networks are not per se stable, but are created, negotiated and dynamic. This theory is especially suitable for comprehending 'branding' where the 'ing' underscores the dynamic nature of this concept and to explore the dynamics in innovation.The empirical analysis identified four incidents as critical to the co-construction of the product and the brand in two companies. The effects are measured using the framework provided by Kapferer. The present analysis indicates that branding and innovation processes are interrelated in more subtle and complex ways than indicated in prior research on the subject. It further shows that even with well-organized marketing departments, consistent branding strategies and skilled project managers, the product development process is not easily managed. The brand and the branding strategies are non-human actors among other actors in the process, and it requires skill, persistence and energy if the 'brand' wants to become an influential 'actor'. Sometimes, the processes may even be reversed.
Carnitine Supplementation Effects on Nonenzymatic Antioxidants in Young Rats Submitted to Exhaustive Exercise Stress

Abstract Bucioli, SA, de Abreu, LC, Valenti, VE, and Vannucchi, H. Carnitine supplementation effects on nonenzymatic antioxidants in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress. J Strength Cond Res 26(6): 1695–1700, 2012—Previous studies have demonstrated that exercise stress increases oxidative stress in rats. However, antioxidant supplement therapy effects on reactive oxygen substances are conflicting. We evaluated the effects of carnitine on renal nonenzymatic antioxidants in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress. Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups: (a) control group (not submitted to exercise stress), (b) exercise stress group, and (c) exercise stress and carnitine group. The rats from group 3 were treated with gavage administration of 1 ml of carnitine (5 mg·kg−1) for 7 consecutive days. The animals from groups 2 and 3 were submitted to a bout of swimming exhaustive exercise stress. Kidney samples were analyzed for reactive substances to thiobarbituric acid by malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and vitamin-E levels. Carnitine treatment attenuated MDA increase caused by exercise stress (1: 0.16 ± 0.02 vs. 2: 0.34 ± 0.07 vs. 3: 0.1 ± 0.01 mmmol per milligram of protein; p < 0.0001). It also increased the renal levels of GSH (1: 23 ± 4 vs. 2: 23 ± 2 vs. 3: 58 ± 9 &mgr;mol per gram of protein; p < 0.0001); however, it did not change renal vitamin E (1: 24 ± 5 vs. 2: 27 ± 1 vs. 3: 28 ± 5 &mgr;M per gram of tissue; p < 0.001). In conclusion, carnitine improved oxidative stress and partially improved the nonenzymatic antioxidant activity in young rats submitted to exhaustive exercise stress.
GE's Ecomagination Challenge: An Experiment in Open Innovation

This GE ecomagination Challenge case study takes place in 2010 when Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of General Electric, was planning a meeting with GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt. The pair plan to discuss the company's ecomagination Challenge, an open innovation process that solicited energy ideas from individuals and startups to identify potential ventures in green and renewable energy areas for GE to invest in. By 2011, the ecomagination Challenge had resulted in $140 million (out of its allocated $200 million) of investments in 23 ventures. However, the scale of these results was dwarfed by GE's $37 billion energy business. So the time has come for Comstock to evaluate the results of the ecomagination Challenge more carefully and decide on whether and how to continue this kind of activity within GE's energy business, or in other GE businesses. How should GE measure ecomagination's results in order to justify its existence and possible future investments? What new processes and structures would be required to make sure that some of the Challenge's investments would pay off for GE down the road? Based on the program's results to date, was the program a good investment for GE and something GE should repeat, or was it a noble experiment that should be discontinued?
Poor Background or Low Returns? Why Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in the Programme for International Student Assessment

Abstract Student performance of natives and immigrants differed greatly in the Programme for International Student Assessment 2000 in Germany. This paper analyses the gap in test scores by estimating educational production functions, using an extension study with imputed data. The difference in test scores is assigned to various effects, using a Juhn–Murphy–Pierce decomposition. The analysis reveals that German students have a more favourable family background, particularly in the lower part of the test score distribution. The later enrolment of immigrant students and preferences of parents are more important than parents’ education or the family setting for explaining the score gap. Differences in returns have no significant effect.
Pulmonary expression of CXC chemokine ligand 13, CC chemokine ligand 19, and CC chemokine ligand 21 is essential for local immunity to influenza

CXC chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13), CC chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21), and CCL19 are constitutively expressed in secondary lymphoid organs, where they control the placement of lymphocytes and dendritic cells. However, these chemokines are also inducibly expressed in the lung after influenza infection. Here we show that, in the absence of spleen and lymph nodes, the expression of homeostatic chemokines in the lung is essential for local B and T cell responses to influenza and for the development and organization of inducible bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (iBALT). Surprisingly, despite the association between local CXCL13 expression and the formation of ectopic lymphoid tissues, the loss of CXCL13 in the lung had minimal impact on either the development or function of iBALT. In contrast, the loss of CCL19 and CCL21 impaired iBALT formation as well as B and T cell responses. These results demonstrate that the local expression of homeostatic chemokines in nonlymphoid organs, such as the lung, plays an important role in protective immune responses.
Are Stocks Riskier than Bonds?

Many economics principles textbooks mention that stocks and bonds are substitutes, and some textbook authors state that stocks are riskier than bonds. Most people seem to believe this idea. Whenever the stock market is volatile, money flows from the stock market into the safe haven of the bond market. This notion, however, is not accurate and might lead people to make incorrect investment decisions. In this paper, we examine how economics textbooks treat this question and if their treatment is accurate. We find that the notion that stocks are riskier than bonds is inaccurate. The textbooks that provide students with this notion might lead them to make faulty investment decisions. We also provide a case where this inaccurate notion could lead to an irrational behavior of investors in financial markets.
Community knowledge networks: an action-orientated approach to energy research

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK to reducing carbon emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. With household emissions constituting more than a quarter of current total energy use in the UK, energy practices in the home have taken on increased policy attention. In this paper, we argue that the UK government's approach is founded upon a variant of methodological individualism that assumes that providing greater energy information to individuals will effect behaviour change in relation to energy use. Such an approach is potentially limited in its effectiveness and does not afford appropriate recognition to all those affected by energy policy. In contrast to this approach, we set out an alternative perspective, a community knowledge networks approach to energy and justice which recognises the contexts and relationships in which people live and use energy. Such an approach emphasises situated knowledge and practices in order to gain a greater understanding of how individuals and communities use energy, but, importantly, offers a means for affording greater recognitional justice to different social groups.
An Exploration of Marginal Attachment to the Australian Labour Market

One of the key factors that affects the extent to which changes in labour demand affect other macroeconomic variables, such as wage inflation, is the degree of matching between potential employees and available jobs. The pool of potential employees is usually measured as the pool of unemployed workers. However, this ignores an important group of people who are not officially unemployed, but do represent potential labour supply the marginally attached workforce, which can be broadly defined as the people who are not currently in the labour force, but want to work and are available to take up employment. The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which the labour market behaviour of marginally attached workers is similar to that of the unemployed. We use longitudinal data from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns (SEUP), which provides detailed information on the characteristics of individuals as well as their labour market experiences, to compare dynamic behaviour across labour market groups, for example, the probability of moving into employment. We find that in some respects the dynamic behaviour of the marginally attached is similar to that of the unemployed, but in others it is quite different. Accordingly, the most appropriate measure of labour supply depends on the policy question, and consequently a range of measures should be considered.
Industrial development and international trade : technological capabilities and collusion

This thesis presents a theoretical analysis of industrialization. Two kinds of models are developed. The first type incorporates the following features: 1) Oligopohstic behaviour and strategic interaction. 2) Endogenous technological capability and market structure. 3) A general equilibrium framework. 4) A dualistic structure (characteristic of many developing countries). 5) Asymmetries in initial conditions. In part I, chapter 2 develops the benchmark model in autarky. Chapter 3 opens the economy. Under symmetry, trade is welfare improving. Asymmetric initial conditions imply that a backward nation may not benefit from trade with an advanced country, while the advanced nation will always benefit from trade with the backward nation. Subsidizing technological capability allows the backward economy to catch-up with the advanced economy's wage. The subsidy is welfare improving if funded with a lump-sum tax. In part II we extend the models from part I to variable intensity of competition. Chapter 4 does this for autarky, chapter 5 for the open economy. We encompass intensities of competition ranging from individual to joint profit maximization. In the open economy, intensities of competition lower than individual profit maximization generate a separating surface for the wage rate. Below the surface, trade yields a higher wage rate than autarky (the reverse holds above the surface). The separating surface provides a positive basis for differential trade policy between industries. The second type of model (chapter 6) is a Big-Push framework with multiple equilibria, and industrialization refers to the transition between these. A Cournot (upstream) industry features endogenous technological capability and vertical linkages to a competitive (downstream) industry. The wage rate depends on whether the economy can fit through a 'window of opportunity' whilst on the transition path. One of the central results is that if the wage rate grows too steeply, the window will be missed and the economy may end up in a lower (post transition) level of development.
Transferring the Toyota lean cultural paradigm into India: implications for human resource management

This paper argues that the successful international transference of Japanese lean manufacturing practices in general, and the Toyota Way and Toyota Production System (TPS) in particular, is in varying degrees contingent upon the sociocultural, historical and environmental context of the host nations into which such transfer occurs. This has significant implications for human resource management policies and practices. The paper contends that lean manufacturing is not simply a set of concepts, techniques and methods that can be implemented by command and control. In the course of transferring lean practices from Japan into overseas affiliates, either an absence of due consideration or disregard for a host nation's unique sociocultural and environmental factors could lead to unproductive organisational outcomes for the parent company. This viewpoint is examined through a case study analysis of the Indian affiliate of the Japanese automobile industry giant Toyota Motor Corporation, namely Toyota Kirloskar Motors, located at Bidadi, near Bangalore, India.
Carry Trades, Monetary Policy and Speculative Dynamics

We ask when currency carry trades are associated with destabilizing dynamics in the foreign exchange market, and investigate the role of monetary policy rules in setting of such dynamics. In a model where the exchange rate has a long-term fundamental anchor, we find that carry trades can be stabilizing or destabilizing at shorter horizons, depending on the propensity of capital inflows to overheat the recipient economy. In the destabilizing case, we solve for a unique equilibrium that exhibits the classic pattern of the carry trade recipient currency appreciating for extended periods, punctuated by sharp falls.
New therapeutic target in primary headaches – blocking the CGRP receptor

The primary headaches are among the most prevalent neurological disorders, afflicting up to 16% of the adult population. The associated pain originates from intracranial blood vessels that are innervated by sensory nerves storing several neurotransmitters. In primary headaches, there is a clear association between the headache and the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), but not other neuronal messengers. The specific purpose of this review is to describe CGRP in the human cranial circulation and to elucidate a possible role for a specific antagonist in the treatment of primary headaches. Acute treatment with administration of a 5-HT1B/1D agonist (triptan) results in alleviation of the headache and normalisation of the CGRP level. The mechanism of action of triptans involves vasoconstriction of intracranial vessels and a presynaptic inhibitory effect of sensory nerves. The central role of CGRP in migraine and cluster headache pathophysiology has led to the search for small-molecule CGRP antagonists, which are predicted to have fewer cardiovascular side effects in comparison to the triptans. The initial pharmacological profile of such a group of compounds has recently been disclosed. These compounds have high selectivity for human CGRP receptors and are reportedly efficacious in the relief of acute attacks of migraine.
Parent Abuse by Young People on the Edge of Care: A Child Welfare Perspective

This article reports on parent abuse by 112 young people within a sample of 209 families with adolescent children who were receiving family support services, presenting both young people and parents’ accounts of this abuse. Drawing on an analysis of quantitative data, it also reports on the characteristics, histories and circumstances of the young people and families and examines the predictors of parent abuse. Lone mothers were more likely to be victims of this abuse. Many of the young people had experienced maltreatment and those who had witnessed domestic violence were more likely to be violent to parents.
What are the Costs of Meeting Distributional Objectives for Climate Policy?

Abstract This paper develops an analytical model to quantify the costs and distributional effects of various fiscal options for allocating the large rents created under proposed cap-and-trade programs to reduce domestic, energy-related CO2 emissions. The trade-off between cost effectiveness and distribution is striking. The welfare costs of different policies, accounting for linkages with the broader fiscal system, range from negative $6 billion/year to a positive $53 billion/year in 2020 (or from -$12 to almost $100 per ton of CO2 reductions). The least costly policy involves auctioning all allowances with revenues used to cut income taxes, while the most costly policies involve recycling revenues in lump-sum dividends or grandfathering emissions allowances. The least costly policy is regressive, however, while the dividend policy is progressive. Grandfathering permits is both costly and regressive. A distribution-neutral policy entails costs of $18 to $42 per ton.
Expected Returns Across Time Scales

This paper studies the role of fluctuations in the aggregate price-earning ratio at different time scales for predicting stock returns and explore the channels through which returns are predicted. Using U.S. quarterly and international monthly data, we find that cycles in the price-earning ratio are strong and better predictors of future returns at short and intermediate horizons than the aggregate price-earning ratio and several other popular forecasting variables. Moreover, this predictability is economically profitable. The proposed method, based on a wavelet multiscaling framework, explicitly accounts for the variations at different time scales in expected cash-flow growth and expected returns.
An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Value of Risk Changes

This paper reports detailed empirical tests of how an individual's valuation of a risk change varies with the level of the baseline risk. The findings reject the conventional hypothesis and indicate that the estimated marginal valuation of a risk change decreased with increases in the level of risk. They also indicate that the direction of the risk change and perceived entitlements to safety affect the reported marginal valuations. The specific application involves a contingent valuation analysis based on the responses of a representative sample of households in suburban Boston to proposed reductions in the risks of exposure to hazardous wastes.
The Three Domains of Urban Planning for Health and Well-being

Urban planning has an important role to play in supporting human health. While this is increasingly recognized in a burgeoning interdisciplinary body of literature, there remains an ongoing need to clarify and conceptualize the relationship between planning and health. This is especially the case from the perspective of built environment professionals, as they increasingly focus on health and well-being issues. The key contribution of this article is such a conceptualization—a framework to group and review the literature in this rapidly expanding area of research. We suggest three domains where urban planning can most effectively focus support for health and well-being. These domains address the principle risk factors for contemporary chronic disease—physical inactivity, obesity, and social isolation. Our framework is then used to review an evidence base that supports the development, prioritization, and implementation of healthy built environment practice. This article concludes with a critical discussion of theoretical and practical tensions identified as potential impediments to the progression of this new and exciting interdisciplinary area of research.
Why Do They Choose a SPA Destination? The Case of Japanese Tourists

The purpose of this study is to segment Japanese spa tourists according to push motivation using a factor-cluster market segmentation approach. The study examines why these tourists choose spa destinations from among the numerous available tourism options, and what kind of attractiveness they seek. The authors derive 7 factors from 44 motivation items by factor analysis and the tourists are segmented into five clusters. Their analysis reveals that these tourists chose spa destinations when they were in search of a ‘soothing’ experience, one of the seven factors considered specific to spas. The answer to the question on the kind of attractiveness sought varied by segment.