Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Theory of Southern Factionalism

Although the political significance of factionalism has been appreciated since the publication of Key's Southern Politics, there have been few attempts to explain southern factionalism. Drawing on 175 Democratic primaries waged in the South from 1920 through 1980, this paper develops and tests a theory of factionalism in which multifactionalism is viewed as the "natural" mode of intraparty competition once a party's reputation for competitiveness or predominance in general elections is firmly established. It is argued that deviations from the expected pattern of multifactionalism generally require the presence of one or more of three structuring factors (listed in order of importance): the presence of an incumbent governor among the field of candidates, the use of single rather than dual primaries, and the presence of a successful durable faction. The persistence of southern multifactionalism is explained as the product of (1) high rates of multifactionalism found in circumstances which reinforce the norm of multifactionalism combined with (2) large percentages of campaigns possessing such reinforcing circumstances.
The flexibility and benefits of operating a diverse fleet: an analysis using real options

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a simple model illustrating the benefits of operating a diverse fleet of aircraft.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is theoretical. It describes how real options are beneficial to the firm in both capital budgeting and risk management. It illustrates the use of real options in the airline industry, and how real options are used as a risk management tool. Then the model is developed which illustrates how a diverse fleet can provide an airline protection against fuel price risk.Findings – The results of the model show that a diverse fleet is value enhancing to an airline during periods when fuel prices are high or uncertain. Furthermore, this paper shows that a diverse fleet provides an airline with an operational hedge to jet fuel prices. Though the paper focuses on the airline industry, the results are applicable to those industries vulnerable to volatile input costs, and prohibitive abandonment and re‐entry costs.Originality/value – The paper uses r.
An Improved Speech Processing Strategy for Cochlear Implants Based on an Active Nonlinear Filterbank Model of the Biological Cochlea

The purpose of this study was to improve the speech processing strategy for cochlear implants (CIs) based on a nonlinear time-varying filter model of a biological cochlea. The level-dependent frequency response characteristic of the basilar membrane is known to produce robust formant representation and speech perception in noise. A dual resonance nonlinear (DRNL) model was adopted because it is simpler than other adaptive nonlinear models of the basilar membrane and can be readily incorporated into the CI speech processor. Spectral analysis showed that formant information is more saliently represented at the output of the proposed CI speech processor compared to the conventional strategy in noisy conditions. Acoustic simulation and hearing experiments showed that the DRNL-based nonlinear strategy improves speech performance in a speech-spectrum-shaped noise.
From Collective Bargaining to Social Justice Certification: Workers’ Rights in the American Meatpacking Industry

This article examines the economic and political forces that shape the characteristics of jobs in the meatpacking industry and assesses worker- and consumer-based strategies to improve pay and working conditions. I analyze one example of each strategy: first, the mid-twentieth century United Packinghouse Workers of America labor union and second, ongoing efforts to create a social justice certification program for kosher meat products. I argue that neoliberal patterns of economic organization and policy have undercut labor unionism and supported consumer-based strategies, but that these latter strategies have a limited potential to restructure power relations in the meatpacking industry and may even contribute to market fragmentation and worker exclusion. These programs are contradictory in their effort to use market mechanisms to resolve the exploitative conditions created by the market, and they raise important questions about the relationship between political rights and economic democracy in contemporary American society.
The Sand Rat Model for Disc Degeneration: Radiologic Characterization of Age-Related Changes: Cross-sectional and Prospective Analyses

Study Design. This report is composed of two studies, one cross-sectional and one prospective cohort study, that analyze the radiologic features of disc degeneration in the sand rat (Psammomys obesus). Objectives. To statistically assess progressive disc degeneration in this useful animal model in terms of a cross-sectional study and a prospective monthly evaluation of individual animals. Summary of Background Data. P. obesus is an attractive small rodent model for spontaneous age-related disc degeneration. Because disc degeneration is spontaneous, the model avoids use of chemonucleolysis or surgical injury to cause disc degeneration. Little is understood, however, about specific details of the progressive disc deterioration. Methods. This study statistically assessed 158 animals in a cross-sectional study and 22 animals in a longitudinal study, which followed individual animals to 12 months of age. Radiologic features involving irregular disc margins, disc wedging, disc narrowing, endplate calcification, subchondral sclerosis, ligament calcification, and osteophyte formation were studied. Results. Significant age-related cross-sectional changes were present for all features (P ≤ 0.005). Males showed a statistically greater incidence of wedging at 6 and 12 months, wedging at 2 and 6 months, and endplate calcification at 2 months than did females. By 6 months of age, however, endplate calcification had a higher incidence in females than in males. Prospective analysis showed that wedging, narrowing, endplate calcification, and irregular disc margins were more common at 12 months of age than at 2 months (P = 0.0001). By the age of 12 months, all lumbar sites of both males and females showed endplate calcification and the majority of animals showed narrowing and wedging. Conclusions. Radiographic signs of degeneration were evident by age 2 months; wedging, narrowing, irregular disc margins, and endplate calcification were the most common degenerative changes in older animals. These data show that the sand rat provides a reliable, useful model of spontaneous disc degeneration.
The 2007 Polish Parliamentary Election: Some Structuring, Still a Lot of Chaos 1

The parliamentary election of 21 October 2007 was an early election, held two years ahead of schedule. The two years between the autumn of 2005 and the decision in July 2007 by Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, or PiS) to break up the coalition with two populist and xenophobic allies – the Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, or SRP) and the League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin, or LPR), was by far the most turbulent period of Polish party politics, both between the incumbents and opposition and within the coalition. In fact, fierce conflicts were the trademark of this ‘coalition’. Polish electoral history was presented in the September 2006 volume of West European Politics (see Markowski 2006), and at this point let us just reiterate that the 2007 parliamentary election was run – just as the previous 2005 one had been – under the PR system with ‘open lists’, votes transferred into seats by the d’Hondt formula, in 41 districts, and established in 1993 thresholds of 5 and 8 per cent for parties and coalitions, respectively.
Polychlorinated biphenyls in blood plasma among Swedish female fish consumers in relation to low birth weight.

The authors examined the hypothesized association between the body burden of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in women and the risk of low birth weight for their infants. In Sweden, a main exposure route for PCBs and other persistent organochlorine compounds is through the consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea (on the Swedish east coast). A previous comparison between a cohort of consumers of large quantities of fish from the Swedish east coast and a reference population, together with a following analysis based on questionnaire data from a case-control study within the east coast cohort, supported the hypothesized association. In 1995, blood samples were collected from the wives and ex-wives of fishermen from the Swedish east coast (n = 192) who had given birth during the period 1973-1991. Cases (n = 57), i.e., infants with low birth weight (1,500-2,750 g), were matched with controls (n = 135; birth weight, 3,250-4,500 g) on gender, parity, and calendar year of birth. The concentration of 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) in plasma was analyzed; it has been suggested that CB-153 is a relevant biomarker of exposure to PCBs. The concentration of CB-153 in the plasma of mothers during the year of childbirth was "estimated" using some alternative plausible kinetic models. For two alternative estimated exposure datasets, which were focused on separately, an increase in the risk of a low birth weight was observed at a CB-153 concentration of 300 and 400 ng/g lipid weight, respectively (adjusted odds ratios of 2.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-4.7) and 2.3 (95% CI 0.9-5.9)). The present results strengthen the findings reported previously for this study population.
Considerable interest in pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake among men who have sex with men recruited from a popular geosocial-networking smartphone application in London

ABSTRACT Men who have sex with men (MSM) who use smartphone applications (apps) to meet sexual partners represent a high-risk subset of MSM. As such, the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) may be highly suitable. The purpose of the study was to evaluate awareness of and willingness to use PrEP among 179 HIV-uninfected MSM recruited in London who use these apps. Regression models were fit to assess the associations between perceived barriers and willingness to use PrEP in the future. Most (84.9%) had heard of PrEP and more than half (57.1%) were willing to use PrEP in the future if it were to become available. Low perceived risk for acquiring HIV (prevalence ratio (PR): 0.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04, 0.33) and concerns about PrEP-related side effects (PR: 0.01; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.04) were associated with being unwilling to use PrEP. Efforts to make PrEP widely available should be continued. Uptake interventions should focus on correcting self-perceptions of HIV risk and educate MSM about the potential side effects of PrEP use so that MSM can make more informed decisions about prevention options.
The Role of News Media in Intelligence Oversight

Abstract This article explores the role of the news media in overseeing intelligence services and their work. As an informal mechanism, how do they fit into the wider landscape of intelligence oversight? By drawing on examples of US counter-terrorism efforts in the post-9/11 era, the article identifies three roles for the news media in intelligence oversight: as an information transmitter and stimulator for formal scrutinizers, as a substitute watchdog and as a legitimizing institution. Yet there is a danger of the news media acting merely as a lapdog. Other limitations include the impact of regulatory frameworks, government secrecy and the media strategies of intelligence services. The article concludes that the news media play an important role in the wider intelligence oversight landscape, but that their ability to scrutinize is uneven and ad hoc and as a result the picture they produce is blurred.
Characteristics of Adjunct Faculty Teaching Online: Institutional Implications.

Over the last decade, there has been a steady increase in online learning enrollments. The proportion of college students taking at least one online course is at an all-time high and 66% of higher education institutions indicate that online learning is critical to their long-term strategy (Allen & Seaman, 2014). Universities are increasingly relying on adjunct faculty to meet this need; as such, it is important for institutions to understand the unique motivations, characteristics and needs of online adjunct faculty to better support teaching effectiveness. A survey of 603 adjunct faculty teaching online courses provides an overview of characteristics of modern online adjunct faculty and highlights institutional adaptations necessary to accommodate a changing faculty body.
Gender ratio and cycles in population health costs

Everyone ‘knows’ that the gender ratio at birth is around 51.2% males (105 males per 100 females) – at least that is as far as a superficial understanding of the topic would lead to. However Figure 1 shows what appears to be an amazing long-term cycle in the gender ratio for births in Scotland during the month of August (conception in December) between 1974 and 2009. The gender ratio is certainly not constant.
Isolation and Characterization of a New Trypsin Inhibitor from Crotalaria paulina Seeds

A new trypsin inhibitor (CPTI) has been isolated from Crotalaria paulina seeds. Purification of the inhibitor was carried out by gel filtration, ion‐exchange chromatography, and subsequent reversed‐phase HPLC. The presence of a single polypeptide chain, with a molecular mass of 20 kDa and isoelectric point 4.0, was detected. The trypsin inhibitor had a K i value of 4.5 X 10 ‐8 M and was capable of acting on human, bovine, and porcine trypsin and weakly on bovine chymotrypsin. Amino acid analysis showed that CPTI has a high content of aspartate, glutamate, leucine, serine, and glycine, having 177 amino acid residues in its composition. These data suggest that the protein belongs to the Kunitz‐type trypsin inhibitors.
Hydrophobin Fusions for High-Level Transient Protein Expression and Purification in Nicotiana benthamiana1[W][OA]

Insufficient accumulation levels of recombinant proteins in plants and the lack of efficient purification methods for recovering these valuable proteins have hindered the development of plant biotechnology applications. Hydrophobins are small and surface-active proteins derived from filamentous fungi that can be easily purified by a surfactant-based aqueous two-phase system. In this study, the hydrophobin HFBI sequence from Trichoderma reesei was fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens infiltration. The HFBI fusion significantly enhanced the accumulation of GFP, with the concentration of the fusion protein reaching 51% of total soluble protein, while also delaying necrosis of the infiltrated leaves. Furthermore, the endoplasmic reticulum-targeted GFP-HFBI fusion induced the formation of large novel protein bodies. A simple and scalable surfactant-based aqueous two-phase system was optimized to recover the HFBI fusion proteins from leaf extracts. The single-step phase separation was able to selectively recover up to 91% of the GFP-HFBI up to concentrations of 10 mg mL−1. HFBI fusions increased the expression levels of plant-made recombinant proteins while also providing a simple means for their subsequent purification. This hydrophobin fusion technology, when combined with the speed and posttranslational modification capabilities of plants, enhances the value of transient plant-based expression systems.
The European Policy for the Development of an Information Society: the Right Path?

The end of 2005 marked the closure of one stage in the European strategy for the promotion of the information society (the "e"Europe programme) and the start of the next one (i2010). This seems to be a good time for assessing the results achieved to date by the community policy in this area and analysing whether the correct approach has been adopted. Despite the satisfaction shown in certain official appraisals, the picture resulting from consulting different classifications globally measuring the adaptation of countries to the information society is not that optimistic. Only the European Union leaders in this field (the Nordic countries) have improved their positions, broadening the gap with the rest: western European countries have lost ground (or at least have not improved) in the rankings, the southern countries do not seem to have corrected their deficiencies and the indices for the new Member States have not evolved as expected or have even deteriorated in some cases. Even though becoming one of the most competitive and dynamic "knowledge-based" economies in the world was the first "Leitmotiv" of the Lisbon strategy, the interpretation of the documents connected to the definition of the new stage in the strategy led to doubts over whether the European Union has a clear notion on the course of action to take in order to make progress on the information society a matter of priority. Copyright (c) 2008 The Author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Late‐onset optic atrophy, ataxia, and myopathy associated with a mutation of a complex II gene

Genetic defects affecting the mitochondrial respiratory chain are an important cause of neurological disease. Previously, we identified a family with complex II deficiency and late‐onset neurodegenerative disease with progressive optic atrophy, ataxia, and myopathy. The affected family members are now shown to carry a C‐to‐T transition in one allele of the nuclear gene encoding the flavoprotein subunit of complex II. Mutation of the equivalent base in Escherichia coli generates an inactive enzyme unable to bind flavin adenine dinucleotide covalently. Compatible with these findings, our patients have an approximate 50% decrease in complex II and succinate dehydrogenase activity. These results suggest that genetic defects of nuclear‐encoded subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory chain can result in late‐onset neurodegenerative disease. Ann Neurol 2000;48:330–335
WHEN AND HOW THE FIGHTING STOPS: EXPLAINING THE DURATION AND OUTCOME OF CIVIL WARS

Previous research has shown that the duration of a civil war is in part a function of how it ends: in government victory, rebel victory, or negotiated settlement. We present a model of how protagonists in a civil war choose to stop fighting. Hypotheses derived from this theory relate the duration of a civil war to its outcome as well as characteristics of the civil war and the civil war nation. Findings from a competing risk model reveal that the effects of predictors on duration vary according to whether the conflict ended in government victory, rebel victory, or negotiated settlement.
Self-Dealing by Corporate Insiders: Legal Constraints and Loopholes

Insiders (managers and controlling shareholders) can extract (tunnel) wealth from firms using a variety of methods. This article examines the different ways in which U.S. law limits, or fails to limit, three types of self-dealing transactions – cash flow tunneling, asset tunneling, and equity tunneling. We examine how U.S. corporate, securities, bankruptcy, and tax law, accounting rules, and stock exchange rules impact each form of self-dealing, and identify weaknesses in these rules. We argue that a variety of complex asset and equity transactions, as well as equity-based executive compensation, can escape legal constraints. We propose changes in corporate, disclosure, and shareholder approval rules to address the principal gaps that emerge from our analysis. For an extended version of this article, including case studies illustrating how these loopholes are exploited, see Atanasov, Black, and Ciccotello, Law and Tunneling (2011), 37 Journal of Corporation Law 1-49, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1444414.
Effects of Plyometric Training on Explosive Strength, Speed and Kicking Speed in Female Soccer Players

Abstract The aim of the present study was to examine how to speed, explosive strength, and kicking speed are affected by a 10-week plyometric training (PT) program in elite female soccer players. Twenty adult players from Women First League (age=19.3±1.6year, height=163.3±4.7cm, body mass=56.6±6.1kg) were divided into plyometric group (PG) and control group (CG). Both the groups performed technical and tactical training and matches together. PG performed PT 2 times per week for 10 weeks. No significant difference was found between the groups at pretest variable (p>0.05). The significant improvement was found in the posttest of both groups (p<0.05), except for 10-20-m sprint test in the CG (p>0.05). Sprint, counter movement jump, standing broad jump, peak power and kicking speed test values were all significantly improved in the PG, as compared with the CG (p<0.05). The results indicated that safe and effective PT can be useful to strength and conditioning coaches for explosive strength.
CYP3A5 genotype is associated with elevated blood pressure

The present study aimed to determine whether a polymorphism in CYP3A5, encoding the major CYP3A enzyme in the human kidney, is associated with blood pressure in Caucasians. A homogenous group of 115 young, white male students with normal or mildly elevated, but untreated blood pressure was included. Blood pressure was recorded by ambulatory 24-h blood pressure-monitoring and compared between individuals with high (*1/*3) and low CYP3A5 expression (*3/*3). Moreover, genotype-dependent differences in parameters associated with the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system were evaluated. Twenty-four hour diastolic blood pressure values were not significantly different between the two groups. However, individuals with the CYP3A5*3/*3 genotype had significantly higher 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure values compared to subjects with the CYP3A5*1/*3 genotype (129±10 versus 124±9, P<0.05). There was no association of CYP3A5 genotype with angiotensin II plasma concentrations, renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate, urinary sodium excretion and parameters determined by echocardiography, but the *3/*3 group had significantly lower serum aldosterone concentrations compared to the individuals with the *1/*3 genotype (101±29 versus 117±29 pg/ml, P<0.05). These data, as generated with a homogenous population of young Caucasians, indicate that the CYP3A5 genotype affects blood pressure in humans possibly by genotype-dependent differences in renal, CYP3A5-mediated metabolism of cortisol and/or aldosterone. We interpret the lower serum aldosterone concentration in the genotype group with the elevated systolic blood pressure as a counter-regulatory mechanism to attenuate the increased blood pressure associated with the CYP3A5*3/*3 genotype.