Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physiological responses of growing pigs to high ambient temperature and/or inflammatory challenges

ABSTRACT Global warming is one of the major environmental threats facing the world in the 21st century. This fact will have a significant impact on pig production due to its direct effects on welfare, health, and performance of pigs. Besides, the effects of high temperatures will presumably become more important over the next decades due to the development of pig production in developing countries mainly located in tropical and subtropical areas, where animals are often exposed to ambient temperatures above [. ]
Low-Intensity Ultrasound Enhances Maturation of Callus after Segmental Transport

The purpose of this study was to determine whether low-intensity ultrasound can be used to enhance callus maturation. Fifteen-millimeter bone defects at the metatarsal bones of sheep were treated with a segmental bone transport for 16 days. The callus formations in the bone defects were allowed to mature for 63 days before the animals were sacrificed. Eighteen sheep were operated on and divided into two groups. One group was treated with low-intensity ultrasound for 20 minutes per day, whereas the other group served as an untreated control group. Biomechanical tests after removal of the metatarsals showed significantly higher axial compression stiffness and significantly higher indentation stiffness of callus tissue in the healing zone in the group treated with ultrasound. Also, histologic analysis of the cortical defect zone showed significantly more callus formation and more active zones of endochondral ossification in the group treated with ultrasound. Stimulation of callus maturation by ultrasound is possible, similar to stimulation of fresh fracture healing, and may be used to shorten clinical treatment times.
Do Managerial Behaviors Trigger Firm Exit? The Case of Hyperactive Bidders

This paper investigates the effects of managerial mergers- and acquisitions-related investment strategies on the exit risk of firms. Using a sample of hyperactive bidders, I show that managerial excessive acquisitiveness can precipitate firm exit. Overbidding is associated with weak corporate governance and lower disclosure quality within firms. I find that hyperactive bidders take more risk compared to conservative bidders. Such bidders also misallocate firms’ resources and dent firms’ reputational capital. Eventually, the external corporate control market is more effective compared to mechanisms such as bankruptcy reorganization, forced liquidation, leveraged buy-out, and expulsion from stock exchanges in disciplining hyperactive bidders by turning them into targets of takeover. These results suggest that a hyper acquisition-induced growth strategy is, on average, detrimental to the long-term survivability of firms and that the internal and external corporate-control mechanisms may not be effective enough to forestall falling value of an excessively acquisitive firm.
On the Complexity of Eliminating Fuel Subsidy in Indonesia: A Behavioral Approach

People’s attachment to a subsidy creates difficulties for the government to phase out, and eventually eliminate, the subsidy. Elimination of fuel subsidy scheme in Indonesia is a perfect example of such occurrence. The subsidy has been implementing to commodity as opposed to households, thus individuals may not necessarily realized that they have been enjoying the subsidy when they buy fuel. In this case people may feel as if they are endowed by the values from the provision of the policy. The elimination of the subsidy consequently may be perceived as a loss - as opposed to a foregone gain. This study aims to obtain the most acceptable exit strategy to eliminate the subsidy from the perspective of households by conducting a laboratory-based survey. The alternative exit strategies include methods of elimination of the subsidy and of reallocation of resources saved from eliminating the subsidy. The policy options have been derived using insight from behavioral economics ranging from endowment effect, status quo bias, to present biasness. The survey includes 335 subjects, who come from four different backgrounds: 1) households with no motor vehicle; 2) households with only motorcycle(s); (3) households with one car and; 4) households with one luxurious car or more than one car. Each subject faces 55 paired-wise policy alternatives and the method proposed by Dunn-Rankin (1983) has been used to derive the ordering of preferences. The result shows that gradual elimination of fuel subsidy and reallocation to earmarked programs were the most acceptable policy elements of the exit strategy. The survey, indirectly, showed that subjects’ valuation of losses is greater for direct elimination strategies than that of the equivalent gradual elimination strategies. The results also show that respondents chose “to pay” later at a smaller amount than “to pay” immediately of the equivalent total value. The reallocation of resources saved to earmarked programs is more acceptable than the reallocation to non-earmarked programs. In particular, respondents opted for a more immediate compensation from the elimination or reduction of the subsidy.
An assessment of the critical success factors for Six Sigma implementation in Indian industries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results from an empirical investigation of Six Sigma status in Indian industry, especially to highlight critical success factors (CSFs) of Six Sigma implementation in a developing economy like India.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on survey questionnaire suitable for Indian industries. The results of the study are based on descriptive statistics.Findings – The results of this exploratory empirical study reflect the impact of different CSFs of Six Sigma implementation in different sizes and sectors of Indian industries.Research limitations/implications – The major constraints of the study were the number of companies surveyed as well as time and budget. Moreover, a detailed impact of different CSFs of Six Sigma implementation in Indian industry by means of semi‐structured interviews could not be executed due to above constraints.Originality/value – Very little research has been carried out exploring the status of CSFs of Six Sigma imple.
Natural Killer Cell Function in Patients With Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Related Diseases

This review describes current knowledge of changes in natural killer (NK) cell function in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)‐related disorders, vis‐à‐vis associated abnormalities in NK cytolytic function, NK cell subset distribution, NK cytopathology, and lymphokine regulation. NK cells, which are closely associated with large granular lymphocytes, are spontaneously cytotoxic to tumor and virally infected targets. As such, they may play a role in natural resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1)‐associated disorders and other opportunistic infections. Yet, peripheral blood NK activity is frequently reduced in patients with HIV‐1‐induced disease. NK cells are heterogeneous both with respect to their expression of serologically defined membrane antigens and functional activity. In AIDS‐related syndromes, there appears to be a diminution of the NK pool (CD16+ cells) involved in cytolytic function, while there is an elevation of the NK pool that coexpresses NK (Leu 7+) and T (CD8+) cell markers, which show little or no involvement in cytolytic function. The impairment of in vitro NK function is not associated with a reduced frequency of lytic conjugates of effectors and target cells nor with the recycling capacity of these effector cells but rather is associated with defects in the NK cell lytic machinery following formation of such conjugates. NK cells in AIDS patients show an impairment in effector cell microtubule rearrangement following target cell interaction. The causes of NK cell dysfunction in AIDS‐related disorders remain unknown. NK cells do not appear to express the CD4 epitope of the HIV receptor, nor have they been demonstrated to be susceptible to infection by HIV‐1. There appears to be a preponderance of immature NK cells and a lymphokine imbalance in patients with HIV‐1 associated disease. Interleukin‐2 can partially restore diminished in vitro NK function. Elucidation of the involvement of the NK compartment in natural resistance to HIV‐1 merits further investigation.
The Rudd Government’s Employment Services Agenda: Is It Post-NPM and Why is That Important?

Perhaps the most potent symbol of the Howard Government’s faith in NPM was the Job Network. Interrogating the Rudd Government’s replacement package, this article assesses whether the recent restructuring of employment services constitutes a post-NPM environment. It is argued that there are major post-NPM elements, seen most clearly in: the softening of jobseeker sanctions; greater deliberation on policy direction and results; a more inclusive employment super-ministry and reliance on other ‘horizontal’ governance reforms; and enhanced government resources for multiple-disadvantage clients. However, categorising these changes as post-NPM is problematic because the steering mechanism remains the market-based contract, a central NPM characteristic. Theoretical difficulties in applying paradigmatic concepts to services provide additional barriers to conclusive assessments, though the Rudd Government’s employment services regime provides a basis for taking stock in the post-NPM debate.
Properties of international longevity evaluations and correlations with other traits

Longevity evaluations from 11 countries were examined, and correlations with other traits on each country s scale were obtained. Correlations of longevity with somatic cell score and conformation traits were fairly uniform across countries. Correlations with yield traits varied for countries that reported functional longevity and for those that reported true longevity. Some correlations of yield with functional longevity were higher than correlations of yield with true longevity. Improved definitions of effective daughter contribution and heritability were suggested for different types of statistical analysis currently in use. Estimates of genetic correlations and standard deviations may be sensitive to incorrect values because fewer bulls have evaluations with high reliability. A goal is that national and international reliability reflect true reliability for all evaluations.
Optimal Reaction Functions, Taylor's Rule and Inflation Targets: The Experiences of Dollar Bloc Countries

The central banks of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the US seem to have adopted somewhat different approaches to controlling inflation. This paper focuses on the empirical issue of whether a particular central bank can be said to be implementing a "strict" or a "flexible" inflation targeting policy. We test this for what we refer to as the dollar bloc countries by constructing and estimating small macro-models, whose parameter estimates we use to compute "optimal" reaction functions. These are then compared to empirically estimated reaction functions (extended Taylor rules) that the respective dollar bloc countries appear to have used since 1988. Our results indicate that, for the most part, dollar bloc central banks have had much in common. We find strong evidence that none of the central banks target inflation strictly (in the sense of Svensson). Our results suggest that the central banks control inflation as if they rely heavily on interest rate smoothing, but may place little weight on output variability. Nonetheless, we do find some differences in the policies pursued by each of the central banks. Timing and magnitudes of policy moves have differed. In particular, we find little evidence of a "made in the US" monetary policy. In addition, we find some differences in how the central banks of Canada, Australia and New Zealand reacted to exchange rate movements.
Large-Scale Vehicle Sharing Systems: Analysis of Vélib'

ABSTRACT A quantitative analysis of the pioneering large-scale bicycle sharing system, Vélib' in Paris, France is presented. This system involves a fleet of bicycles strategically located across the network. Users are free to check out a bicycle from close to their origin and drop it off close to their destination to complete their trip. The analysis provides key insights on the functioning of such systems and serves to inform policy makers in other urban communities wanting to explore bicycle-sharing systems. This article studies the Vélib' system from several aspects, including system characteristics, utilization patterns, the connection between public transit and bicycle-sharing systems, and flow imbalances between stations. Since flow from one station to another is seldom matched by flows in the reverse direction, the bicycle fleet can become spatially imbalanced over time. This leads to lower levels of service for users who must seek alternate stations to park or check out vehicles. Using a stochastic characterization of demand and a model developed in prior work, fleet-management strategies to deal with this flow asymmetry are presented. Reliability metrics using this characterization show the performance of the system and help identify stations with capacity bottlenecks. Utilization rates also suggest that close coupling of transit and vehicle-sharing systems are beneficial.
Perbandingan Pendapatan Usahatani Jagung Manis dan Padi di Subak Delod Sema Padanggalak Desa Kesiman Petilan Kecamatan Denpasar Timur

ABSTRACT Comparison of sweet corn and rice farm Income in Subak Delod Sema, Padanggalak Kesiman Petilan village, East Denpasar. Sweet corn as a farm commodities is a favorite food especially in town. Sweet corn cultivation has an opportunity to give high benefit if done by effective and efficient system. The election of research area is done by purposive because subak Delod Sema as a central of sweet corn in Denpasar. We take 35 sweet corn farmers and 15 rice farmers (opportunity cost) from 177 sweet corn farmers as our respondent and we use Slovin Theory. Than 56 rice farmers (opportunity cost) with proportional random sampling method. The purposes of this research are for knowing farmer income, marketing process, and farmer problems. The result of this research show that real income rate which got by farmer from sweet corn farm operations are Rp 9,263,218 /month/ha bigger that's all million that is Rp 6,727,102/month/ha (57,01%) get more by rice as opportunity cost Rp 2,536,116/month /ha. This situation show that advantages in the same wide area for sweet corn farm operations get more value than rice cultivation. There are two ways for distribution their sweet corn product such as: first, start from farmer as producer to collector further to consumer. Second, start from farmer as producer to collector than collector to retail in market further to consumer. There are problem faced by sweet corn farmer such as: climate change, exchange price, rare access to investor, and decrease of price information. Based this research we suggest to farmer that sweet corn farm operations as daily profession and more active browsing information in create farm operations. Last for farmers and subak management know how to exploit their groups become to be marketing area. Key words: sweet corn farm operations and subak delod sema
Vitamin D receptor genotype is associated with radiographic osteoarthritis at the knee.

Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are age-related disorders of the skeleton with genetic components. Low bone density is a risk factor for osteoporotic fracture while osteoarthritis is associated with increased bone density. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor (VDR) gene locus was previously found to be associated with bone density. We therefore studied the relationship between radiographic osteoarthritis at the knee and VDR genotype in a population-based sample (n = 846), using molecular haplotyping of anonymous intragenic DNA polymorphisms. Radiographic osteoarthritis was defined using the Kellgren score, which is based on the assessment of osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN). We show that one VDR haplotype allele is significantly overrepresented in individuals with knee osteoarthritis and associated with a 2.27-fold increased relative risk (95% confidence interval 1.46, 3.52). Adjustment for bone density at the femoral neck did not change these results, indicating that the association is not mediated by bone density. The association appeared to be largely explained by the presence of osteophytes rather than JSN. Our results indicate a role of the VDR gene in the pathogenesis of osteophytes while linkage disequilibrium with another nearby gene, i.e., the collagen type IIa1 gene encoding the most abundant protein in cartilage, might contribute to the association.
Exchange-Rate Volatility and Foreign Trade: Evidence From Thirteen LDC's

This article investigates empirically the impact of real exchange-rate volatility on the export flows of 13 less developed countries (LDC's) over the quarterly period 1973–1996. Estimates of the cointegrating relations are obtained using Johansen's multivariate procedure. Estimates of the short-run dynamics are obtained for each country using the error-correction technique. The major results show that increases in the volatility of the real effective exchange rate, approximating exchange-rate uncertainty, exert a significant negative effect on export demand in both the short-run and the long-run in each of the 13 LDC's. These effects may result in significant reallocation of resources by market participants.
Budgetary Participation in Turkey: The Effects of Information Asymmetry, Goal Commitment, and Role Ambiguity on Job Satisfaction and Performance

ABSTRACT: This study empirically investigates the antecedent, mediating, and outcome variables of budgetary participation in Turkey. Turkey is an interesting setting to investigate the impact of budgetary participation on job satisfaction and performance because of its unique cultural and institutional factors. We propose that the information asymmetry between superiors and subordinates creates the need for budgetary participation, and the outcomes of budgetary participation (i.e., job satisfaction and performance) will be mediated by goal commitment and role ambiguity. Based on a questionnaire survey of 194 mid-level managers in Turkey, we find that role ambiguity mediates the budgetary participation–job satisfaction and budgetary participation-performance relationships. The results are consistent with the view that the primary benefit of budgetary participation is to decrease role ambiguity, leading to more job satisfaction and better performance. Furthermore, we find that goal commitment mediates the .
Regulation of regional cerebral blood flow during and between migraine attacks

Cerebrovascular reactivity to voluntary hyperventilation, moderate hypertension, and physiological activation was studied in nine patients during induced migraine attacks and in four patients between their attacks. Regional cerebral blood flow was measured by the xenon 133 injection technique in 254 areas of one hemisphere. The partly hypoperfused hemisphere allowed for comparison of adjacent hypoperfused and normally perfused brain areas. During attacks the carbon dioxide reactivity was decreased to 2.8 ± 0.8% per mm Hg in the oligemic regions compared with 5.8 ± 0.8% per mm Hg in the normally perfused brain. Blood pressure autoregulation was normal in all brain regions. Regional blood flow increase in response to physiological activation was severely impaired in the hypoperfused brain areas, whereas neighboring normally perfused regions reacted normally. Confinement of the regulation abnormalities to the area of the oligemia supports our suggestion that the blood flow changes are caused by a change in local metabolism. Between attacks of migraine, the patients had normal regulation of brain circulation.
Calculated Affection? Charting the Complex Economy of Home Purchase

This paper highlights some widely cited but rarely elaborated ‘local factors’ influencing housing market dynamics. Adopting a microstructural perspective, the focus is on home purchase in order to complement a literature that often concentrates on the way properties are sold. Drawing from over 90 qualitative interviews from a single compact city, housing markets are characterised as collective calculating devices, whose networks of people, things, materials and relationships are engaged in the practice of price. It is argued that price is an affective as well as an economic affair, whose volatility is more an expression of sociality and emotional intelligence than an exercise in irrational exuberance.
The Delisting Decision: The Case of Buyout Offers with Squeeze-Out (BOSO)

In this paper, we exploit the specificity of going-private transactions that are initiated by the historic controlling shareholders (i.e. voluntary delistings). In Continental Europe, the majority of firms that become private do so following a buyout offer with squeeze-out (BOSO); using this mechanism, the controlling shareholder can cash out minorities and take the firm private. We argue that the decision to go private results from a cost–benefit analysis. Moreover, we pay particular attention to the consequences and the related costs of compliance resulting from the passage of the French Financial Security Law (FSL) in 2003. A quantitative study was performed using a unique dataset spanning 1997–2006. This data set consists of 140 French firms, of which 70 were voluntarily delisted via BOSO and 70 were industry-matched control firms. Univariate analysis and logistic regressions support the cost–benefit analysis: when listing benefits decrease because of weak liquidity and/or weak analyst coverage, it seems better for the firm to go private. Furthermore, the inherent characteristics of delisted firms (i.e. performance, leverage, and risk as measured by the beta factor) appear to be important driving factors of delisting. The passage of the FSL has strengthened the impact of these characteristics on the decision to go private. Mature firms that have weak performance and low specific risk and that are not financially constrained by debt will decide to go private because they cannot afford the listing status anymore. Finally, we show that the driving factors of delisting differ according to the identity of the controlling shareholder; specifically, the level of risk appears to be the strongest determinant for family firms, while non-family firms also consider their own financial structure.