Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Ballistic Bench Press on Upper Body Power Output in Professional Rugby Players

Abstract West, DJ, Cunningham, DJ, Crewther, BT, Cook, CJ, and Kilduff, LP. Influence of ballistic bench press on upper body power output in professional rugby players. J Strength Cond Res 27(8): 2282–2287, 2013—The use of heavy resistance exercise provides an effective preload stimulus for inducing postactivation potentiation (PAP) and increasing peak power output (PPO). However, this approach has limited application in many sporting situations (e.g., incorporation in a precompetition warm-up); and therefore, more practical strategies for inducing PAP need to be investigated. The aim of the present study was to compare the PPO changes after performing a preload stimulus of either a ballistic exercise or a traditional heavy resistance exercise. Twenty professional rugby union players completed 3 testing sessions, each separated by 48 hours. On the first occasion, subjects underwent a 3 repetition maximum (3RM)–bench press testing session. On the next 2 occasions, subjects performed a ballistic bench throw at baseline (30% of 1RM), followed by a preload stimulus of either heavy resistance training (HRT) (heavy bench press: 3 sets of 3 repetitions at 87% 1RM) or BBP (3 sets of 3 repetitions at 30% on 1RM) followed by ballistic bench throw after 8 minutes recovery. The trials were randomized and counterbalanced. Both preload stimuli protocols increased PPO compared with baseline (BBP baseline 892 ± 108 vs. 8 minutes 924 ± 119 W, p < 0.001; HRT baseline 893 ± 104 vs. 8 minutes 931 ± 116 W; p < 0.001). There were no conditional differences between PPO at 8 minutes (p = 0.141); moreover, the change in PPO from baseline was also similar between conditions (BBP &Dgr; + 33 ± 18; HRT &Dgr; + 38 ± 21 W; p = 0.112). In conclusion, a ballistic exercise provided an effective method of inducing PAP and increasing upper-body PPO; moreover, this elicited similar increases in PPO as a traditional heavy resistance exercise preloading stimulus.
Diagnosis Of Motile Aeromonas Sobria From Cat Fishes With Septicemia By PCR

Aeromonas septicemia is a life threatening bacterial infection in fishes, concurrently in human with weakened immune systems. Present research work aims to isolate and identify the virulent strains of motile Aeromonas species linked with the septicemia in 12 fresh water cat fishes (Clarius batrachus) in the locality of Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu. A total of 72 samples consisting of intestinal contents, spleen, kidney, gills, liver and skin were collected aseptically from the infected cat fishes. Upon detailed bacteriological investigation, 56(77.78%) isolates were tentatively identified as A. sobria. All these isolates were further screened for hemolysin gene (ahh1), A. hydrophila aerolysin gene (area), A. sobria hemolysin gene (asa1) and A. caviae hemolysin gene (cav1) by polymerase chain reaction. In PCR, 43(76.78%) of 56 isolates, were found positive for single asa1 gene, while, 3(5.35%) were also positive for both asa1 and ahh1 genes. None of the isolates were positive for aerA and cav1 genes. PCR result suggested the presence of virulence genes in 46(82.14%) isolates of A. sobria. The asa1 gene has proven to be the predominant virulence factor in A. sobria associated with Aeromonas septicemia in cat fish. PCR based identification of virulent strains of A. sobria appeared to be very useful, sensitive and less time consuming method than traditional microbiological identification system.
The managerial revolution revisited: the moderating impact of top managers’ social class position

This article draws on early sociological critiques of the managerialist thesis to develop a new conceptualization of corporate ownership and control which is used here to inform an analysis of the propensity of large corporations to complete diversifying acquisitions in the 1960s. We categorize firms on the basis of the social class position of their top managers, focusing primarily on three types of firms, those run by: established capitalist owners, new capitalist owners and autonomous professional managers. We develop theoretical arguments that lead to two sets of predictions. First, we predict that firms run by new capitalist owners and autonomous professional managers exhibited a greater tendency than firms run by established capitalist owners to complete diversifying acquisitions in the 1960s. Second, we predict that the relationship between a firm’s financial, organizational and managerial capacities to pursue diversifying acquisitions, on the one hand, and the rate at which it completed such acquisitions, on the other, was stronger among firms run by new capitalist owners and autonomous professional managers than among firms run by other types of top managers. Finally, we conduct discrete-time event history analyses of the likelihood that firms completed diversifying acquisitions in the 1960s, which generate results that are largely consistent with our predications.
Seasonal Effects on Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Six Economically Important Brassica Vegetables

Research on natural and bioactive compounds is increasingly focused on their effects on human health, but there are unexpectedly few studies evaluating the relationship between climate and natural antioxidants. The aim of this study was analyze the biological role of six different Brassica vegetables (Brassica oleracea L. and Brassica rapa L.) as a natural source of antioxidant compounds. The antioxidant activity may be assigned to high levels of L-ascorbic acid, total phenolics and total flavonoids of each sample. The climate seasons affected directly the concentration of bioactive components and the antioxidant activity. Broccoli inflorescences and Portuguese kale showed high antioxidant activity in Spring-Summer whilst turnip leaves did so in Summer-Winter. The Brassica vegetables can provide considerable amounts of bioactive compounds and thus may constitute an important natural source of dietary antioxidants.
On the strategic use of representative democracy in international agreements

We consider as endogenous the choice of the delegation rule in an international agreement between two countries. We study three potential types of delegation: strong, weak or no delegation, the latter case corresponding to direct democracy. We show that populations decide to bind themselves by delegating the national policy decision-making to a “powerful conservative representative,” in order to improve their bargaining position. These noncooperative behaviors of countries when they decide on their delegation rule induce negative political externalities between countries, which cancel the gains achieved by the internalization of economic externalities in the case of political integration. We then examine the consequences of ratification by referendum. We conclude that a Pareto improvement of the international agreement would be to incorporate an ex post referendum.
Adult trainers in Greece: qualifications, teaching effectiveness, and competency-based selection

Abstract The purpose of the research has been to investigate the views of adult education trainers with regards to the qualifications which form part of the ‘effective adult trainer profile. ’ Trainers in Adult Education were asked to express their views on the specific qualifications (e.g. work experience, studies, etc.) which increase (and to what extent) their effectiveness, while they perform their training duties. Moreover, since these trainers have participated in several selection processes when they seek work, they have been asked to express their views regarding the extent to which the specific selection tools they have encountered, have measured their competences in a reliable and valid manner. The question was whether they trust the tools (such as gleaning qualifications from application forms and transcripts, interviews, references, etc.) that Adult Education organisations employ during their selection processes. The research has followed an interdisciplinary approach, combining the Adult Education and Human Resource Management fields. This is an original approach, given that these issues have not been addressed to any significant extent by the academic community in Greece. The research has followed a quantitative approach (questionnaires administered to a sample of 271 adult trainers), deriving its data from an EU subsidised programme called ‘Adult Education in basic information technology skills, Heron-2. ’ This programme took place in Greece nationwide and was effective from November 2008 to November 2011. The research showed that the qualification that adult trainers value the most is their teaching experience within the groups of adult trainees. It also showed that among all tools of personnel selection, they consider that the process of gleaning qualifications from application forms and transcripts is the most reliable and valid way to measure their ability to teach.
Determinants and performance effect of TQM practices: An integrated model approach

An integrated model approach is proposed to investigate the determinants and performance effects of total quality management (TQM) practices. Applying structural equation modelling to archival and survey data from 209 firms, the results support the expectation that firm size and degree of competition are positively associated with the implementation of TQM, and that leverage and product diversity are negatively associated with TQM implementation. We then find that TQM implementation has a positive effect on non-financial performance (NFP), and NFP and financial performance (FP) are also positively related. Our results suggest that TQM's direct effect on NFP mediates TQM's indirect effect on FP.
Measuring the Relative Importance of Service Dimensions in the Formation of Price Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction: A Case Study in the Hotel Industry

Service quality, customer satisfaction and price are important selection criteria for the guests and key determinants of post‐purchase behavior such as word‐of‐mouth and repurchase. Using structural equation modelling, the authors of this study investigate the drivers of service and price satisfaction, and the impact of service and price satisfaction on loyalty. The results show that the five dimensions of service satisfaction differ in their relative importance as drivers of overall satisfaction and as drivers of price satisfaction, and that price satisfaction and service satisfaction influence guest loyalty to a different extent. This relationship is strongly moderated by the guests' nationality, indicating cross‐cultural differences in the importance of service dimensions. This study also investigates the three‐factor theory of customer satisfaction and shows that the relative impact of the service dimensions can be asymmetric.
DETERMINANTS OF RETAIL PRICE AND SALES VOLUME OF CATFISH PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED STATES: AN APPLICATION OF RETAIL SCANNER DATA

Catfish market research is important in terms of the viability and sustainability of the catfish aquaculture industry in the U.S. Analysis of market trends, retail level price and sales volume have particular importance in the context of the industry's efforts to promote and market their products. Using retail level scanner data, this study examined the market trends of different catfish product forms. The study also investigated the factors affecting prices and sales for frozen catfish products. The present study is a pioneer in using market/city level retail scanner data to study marketing behavior of catfish products under different product categories (i.e., breaded, unbreaded and entrees). The results of the study highlight a need for a non-price competition strategy for catfish retail market. This includes several activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales.
The U.S. Agricultural Sector and the Macroeconomy

The effects of the exchange rate, the U.S. agricultural price, the domestic income, and the interest rate on the U.S. net farm income are investigated in a cointegration framework. For this purpose, the Phillips-Hansen fully-modified cointegration (FM-OLS) procedure is applied to annual data for the period 1957-2008. Results suggest that there exists the long-run equilibrium relationship between the U.S. net farm income and the selected macroeconomic variables. We also find that the exchange rate and U.S. agricultural price are more important than other variables in determining the U.S. net farm income.
The effect of service failure types and service recovery on customer satisfaction: a mental accounting perspective

Service failure recoveries play an important role in the service process. Previous research on service recovery has focused on the development of classification schemes, such as service failure types (e.g. outcome- or process-related failure), service recovery attributes (e.g. psychological or tangible recovery), and failure magnitude. Few studies in the literature have developed a theory-driven model of customer satisfaction that considers whether different types of service failure warrant different types of service recovery. This article, which reports the results of two studies, draws on mental accounting theory to examine the effect of the relationship between service failure and service recovery on customer satisfaction. The results of Study 1 show that customer satisfaction is greater when service recovery efforts truly make up for what customers have lost and that prior experience of service failure has a significant influence on the effectiveness of those efforts. The results of Study 2 indicate that the magnitude of a service failure also has an impact on the effectiveness of service recovery efforts.
Migration, the Life Cycle, and State Benefits: How Low Is the Bottom?

I show that among women likely to use welfare, movers move to higher‐benefit states. I also find that the probability likely welfare users will move at all is lower in higher‐benefit states. This effect is concentrated early in the life cycle, as theory predicts. I construct a theoretical framework to measure the impact of welfare migration on optimal state benefits. Simulation results suggest little impact in higher‐benefit states, but possibly a more substantial impact in other states. Finally, evidence suggests little reason for concern (due to welfare migration) in using cross‐state variation in welfare generosity to identify incentive effects of the welfare system on other outcome variables.
Savings–Investment Correlations: Transitory versus Permanent

In this paper, the authors investigate the difference between the short-run and the long-run savings-investment correlation coefficient, in order to shed light both on the validity of the Feldstein-Horioka regression as a means of measuring the degree of capital mobility and on its implications. Using quarterly U.K. data, they also examine the effectiveness of the abolition of exchange control which, in October 1979, ended a long period of restrictions on capital flows between the United Kingdom and the international economy. The authors find that, consistent with the logical implication of the Feldstein-Horioka regression, the short-run correlation is significantly higher than the long-run correlation. In contrast with much of the literature employing the Feldstein-Horioka interpretation, however, the results suggest that the United Kingdom is highly financially integrated with the global economy post 1979. Copyright 1998 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
To Serve or Create? Strategic Orientations toward Customers and Innovation

This article reviews a central tension in management—the relationship between customers and innovation. It explores the contrast between serving and creating customers and examines the sometimes uneasy relationship between an innovation orientation and a customer orientation. From this discussion, the article develops a model that provides an inclusive paradigm of the different strategies that firms have used to resolve the tension and explores the dynamics of the change process for several well-known companies. It concludes by developing the managerial implications of the model, with a particular emphasis on how new technology is changing the desirability of alternative strategies.
The Policy Tools of Securitization: Information Exchange, EU Foreign and Interior Policies

This article takes up where securitization theory left off, arguing that securitization can occur or evolve without the assent of an identifiable audience. To explain this puzzle, the article proposes that rather than investigating the construction of threats at the level of discourse, we should focus on the functions and implications of policy instruments used to meet a public problem (e.g. terrorism). In order to substantiate the framework offered here, the article examines the primary tool in the EU's fight against terrorism, information exchange. The conclusion suggests that the consequences of counter-terrorism have been de-politicization, intelligence-led policing and cross-pillarization.
Ontogenetic and Structural Variation of Mineralizations and Ossifications in the Integument within Ceratophryid Frogs (Anura, Ceratophryidae)

Ceratophryidae represent a monophyletic group of terrestrial and aquatic frogs inhabiting lowlands of South America where they are more diverse in semiarid environments of the Chaco region. Adult morphology of ceratophryids presents some features associated to terrestrial and fossorial life such as hyper‐ossified skulls, spade feet for digging, among others. For anurans, different mineralized structures have been described in the integument as calcium reservoirs and related to the terrestrial life and water balance (e.g., the calcified layer and dermal ossifications). We describe the ontogeny of the integument in the three genera of ceratophryids (Chacophrys, Ceratophrys, and Lepidobatrachus) that inhabit in semiarid environments. Data obtained demonstrated the early acquisition of metamorphic transformations in the integument layers in larvae of Ceratophrys cranwelli and Lepidobatrachus spp. and a continuous increment in the thickness of them up to old postmetamorphic stages. The integument of ceratophryids develops calcium deposits as the calcified layer during postmetamorphic stages. Furthermore, dorsal shields are also present in adult stages independently of terrestrial versus aquatic lifestyles. While the calcified layer seems to be a feature of a fully developed integument, in which their layers have acquired the adult thickness, dorsal shields develop at premetamorphic stages in L. llanensis and postmetamorphic individuals of C. cranwelli. In ceratophryids, similar to other studied taxa (e.g., Brachycephalus spp.) dorsal shields develop via an intramembranous ossification in which the calcified layer does not precede its differentiation. Within anurans, the occurrence of dorsal shields in the monophyletic ceratophryids suggested a distinctive evolutionary history in the lineage. Anat Rec, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Segmented Trend Line of Highest Life Expectancies

The well-known Oeppen-Vaupel straight line of maximum female life expectancies showed that the highest life expectancy observed in a given year increased linearly from 1840 to 2000. Their analysis fueled major controversy, especially when used to extrapolate future improvements in life expectancy at the same pace. We improve on the empirical analysis by enriching the dataset, expanding the period to 1750-2005, and considering both maximum life expectancy at birth and lowest age-specific survival rates. It clearly appears that the original Oeppen-Vaupel straight line must be divided into several segments characterized by different slopes and that each segment corresponds to a major advance in the health transition. There is room to push life expectancy higher, but unless some new breakthrough increases the human "life span", progress will very likely decelerate as mortality reduction affects individuals at older and older ages. The main key to the future lies not in knowing whether the observed straight line can be extrapolated but in anticipating the next major health improvement that will lead to an additional increase in life expectancy. Copyright (c) 2009 The Population Council, Inc.
Mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein 1 Overexpression Increases Yield in Nicotiana tabacum under Drought Stress by Improving Source and Sink Metabolism

Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) sustain mitochondrial respiration independent of intracellular ATP concentration. Uncoupled respiration is particularly beneficial under stress conditions, during which both photosynthesis and respiration may be impaired. Sustaining carbon fixation during the reproductive phase is essential for plants to develop viable pollen grains and for seed setting. Here, we examined whether UCP1 overexpression (UCP1-oe) would help tobacco plants cope with drought stress during reproductive development. We observed that WT and UCP1-oe plants lost water at the same rate under moderate drought stress, but that UCP1-oe lines regained water faster upon rewatering. UCP1-oe plants maintained higher levels of respiration and photosynthesis and decreased H2O2 content in the leaves during the drought stress period. We examined whether UCP1-oe impacts reproductive tissues and seed production by monitoring the progress of flower development, focusing on the early stages of pollen formation. UCP1-oe lines induced the expression of mitochondrial genes and increased mtDNA content in reproductive tissues, which increased the consumption of carbohydrates and reduced H2O2 content and pollen disturbances. Finally, the beneficial impact of UCP1-oe on the source and sink organs resulted in an increased seed size and number under both control conditions and drought stress.
FENOMENA PERGANTIAN AUDITOR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA

ABSTRAK Fenomena pergantian auditor atau pergantian Kantor Akuntan Publik ( auditor switching) sering terjadi di Indonesia khususnya di Bursa Efek Indonesia. Pergantian ini merupakan wujud konflik yang terjadi antara agen dengan prinsipalnya. Hubungan ini dibahas secara mendalam dalam teori agensi. Pelaksanaan general audit berfungsi untuk mengurangi konflik keagenan dengan konsekuensi munculnya biaya monitoring. Studi ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan bukti empiris mengenai pengaruh opini auditor, ukuran KAP, pergantian manjemen dan financial distress pada pergantian auditor. Data yang digunakan adalah data skunder dalam bentuk laporan keuangan periode 2008-2011 yang diperoleh dengan mengakses situs resmi Bursa Efek Indonesia. Studi dibatasi hanya pada perusahaan manufaktur dengan pertimbangan yaitu menghindari adanya industrial effect . Total amatan sebanyak 132 sampel yang diperoleh dengan metode purposive sampling. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah regresi logistik. Berdasarkan hasil analisis diketahui bahwa variabel pergantian manjemen dan financial distress berpengaruh positif dan signifikan pada terjadinya pergantian auditor. Variabel opini auditor dan ukuran KAP tidak mendukung pada terjadinya pergantian auditor. Kata Kunci: fenomena Pergantian Auditor