Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Keeping Up with the Neighbours: Diffusion of Norms and Practices Through Networks of Employer and Employee Organizations in the Eastern Partnership and the Mediterranean

Using social network analysis and logistic regression, we analyse how inter-organizational networks facilitate co-operation and the transfer of best practice from EU-based organizations to organizations in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries. More specifically, we examine networks of employer and employee organizations that participate in the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership and in TRESMED, a Mediterranean project. We find that networks are successful at disseminating principles and good practices of economic and social partnership, but also that dissemination proceeds slowly. In addition, we detect more co-operation among employer than among employee organizations, which reflects collective action difficulties facing organized labour more generally. Last, we find that inter-organizational co-operation is more intense in the Southern than in the Eastern neighbourhood, which is explained by contextual differences as well as by the EU's longer-term engagement with the Mediterranean than with the countries on its Eastern frontier.
Assessing determinants of customer loyalty in an online news service context

News consumption has become a central aspect of everyday life in modern societies and in recent years online news websites have become an increasingly popular source. This thesis examines online news consumption and customer loyalty to online news websites. Using the underlying theoretical perspective developed from the debate between social constructionist and technical determinist stances in technology acceptance and usage, this thesis examines the application of domestication theory to online news service consumption and loyalty. Based on loyalty literature and the conjecture from Oliver (1999) that customers can be enveloped in a community of loyalty which will aid and direct their (purchase) decisions, this thesis additionally looks into the role of an online news site’s community in fostering loyalty. A research model to test the effect of online community participation on the previously empirically supported link between perceived value and loyalty was created. Constructs to support the community variable were derived from literature and refined through exploratory research and are introduced in this thesis. Furthermore, measures for domestication stages were derived from the literature and further developed through exploratory research with online news site users and are also introduced in this research. This research examines the use of domestication theory in understanding news service consumption and adds to the growing body of domestication literature as well as adding to the emerging literature on, and increasing the understanding of acceptance and usage of online news services. The study helps to close a gap in the literature by employing a perceived value – community – loyalty model to identify which perceived value components have an influence on user loyalty to online news services. The loyalty enhancing value of an online community was also tested and supported in a news site context.
Genotypic assessment of isoniazid and rifampin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a blind study at reference laboratory level

Progress in understanding the basis of resistance to isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RMP) has allowed molecular tests for the detection of drug-resistant tuberculosis to be developed. Consecutive isolates (n = 95) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, from a Spanish reference laboratory investigating outbreaks of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, were coded and sent to two external laboratories for genotypic analysis of INH and RMP resistance by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of specific regions of four genes: part of the coding sequence of katG and the promoter regions of inhA and ahpC for INH and the RMP resistance region of rpoB. After correction for the presence of outbreak strains and multiple isolates from single patients, RMP resistance was detected successfully by PCR-SSCP in > 96% of the RMP-resistant strains. PCR-SSCP had a sensitivity of 87% for INH resistance detection, and mutations in katG, inhA, katG-inhA, ahpC, and katG-ahpC were identified in 36.8, 31.6, 2.6, 13.2, and 2.6%, respectively, of the unique strains. Specificity was 100%. Molecular detection of resistance to the two main antituberculous drugs, INH and RMP, can be accomplished accurately by using a strategy which limits analysis to four genetic regions. This may allow the expedient analysis of drug resistance by reference laboratories.
Outlook for Remittance Flows 2008-2010 : Growth Expected to Moderate Significantly, But Flows to Remain Resilient

The outlook for remittances for the rest of 2008 and 2009-10 remains as uncertain as the outlook for global growth, oil and non-oil commodity prices, and currency exchange rates. In the past, remittances have been noted to be stable or even counter-cyclical, during an economic downturn in the recipient economy, and resilient in the face of a slowdown in the source country. This time, however, the crisis has affected all countries, creating additional uncertainties.
Multicenter Evaluation of the BACTEC MGIT 960 System for Recovery of Mycobacteria

ABSTRACT We evaluated the BACTEC MGIT 960 system, which is a fully automated, noninvasive system for the growth and detection of mycobacteria with a capacity to incubate and continuously monitor 960 7-ml culture tubes. We studied 3,330 specimens, 2,210 respiratory and 1,120 nonrespiratory specimens, collected from 2,346 patients treated at six sites. Processed specimens were inoculated into the BACTEC MGIT 960 and BACTEC 460 TB systems, as well as onto Lowenstein-Jensen slants and Middlebrook 7H11/7H11 selective plates. From all culture systems, a total of 362 isolates of mycobacteria were recovered; these were recovered from 353 specimens collected from 247 patients. The greatest number of isolates of mycobacteria (289, or 80% of the 362 isolates) was recovered with the BACTEC MGIT 960, followed by the BACTEC 460 TB (271, or 75%) and solid media (250, or 69%). From all culture systems a total of 132 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex were recovered. The greatest number of isolates of M. tuberculosis complex was recovered when liquid medium was combined with conventional solid media; the number recovered with BACTEC 460 TB plus solid media was 128 (97%), that recovered with BACTEC MGIT 960 plus solid media was 121 (92%), that recovered with BACTEC 460 TB was 119 (90%) and that recovered with all solid media combined was 105 (79%). The recovery with BACTEC MGIT 960 alone was 102 (77%). The mean times to detection (TTD) for M. tuberculosis complex were 14.4 days for BACTEC MGIT, 15.2 days for BACTEC 460 TB, and 24.1 days for solid media. The numbers of isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) recovered were 172 (100%) for all systems, 147 (85%) for BACTEC MGIT 960, 123 (72%) for BACTEC 460 TB, and 106 (62%) for all solid media combined. The TTD for MAC in each system were 10.0 days for BACTEC MGIT 960, 10.4 days for BACTEC 460 TB, and 25.9 days for solid media. Breakthrough contamination rates (percentages of isolates) for each of the systems were 8.1% for BACTEC MGIT 960, 4.9% for BACTEC 460 TB, and 21.1% for all solid media combined.
Measuring Planning: Indicators of Planning Restraint and its Impact on Housing Land Supply

There has been renewed interest in the impact of planning controls on housing land supply and the housing market, and particularly in their effects on supply elasticity and the type of land and housing supplied. But incorporation of planning in econometric models of housing is hampered by the lack of readily available and easily interpretable measures of planning policy restraints. In this paper a range of quantitative and qualitative measures of planning restraint developed in the context of cross-sectional modelling of housing supply in England are examined. These indicators are assessed, first, in a priori terms, second, in terms of their interrelationships, and, third, in terms of their performance in statistical explanation of variations in a number of outcomes relating to the supply of land with planning permission for housing, new housebuilding, the share of urban land, density, and house prices. The geography of restraint in England is described and some features of the planning process affecting the transmission of policies into outcomes are discussed. The paper concludes with some observations on the use of such measures in modelling housing supply.
Inventories in the Keynesian Macro Model

An otherwise conventional Keynesian macro model is modified to include inventories of final goods by (1) drawing a distinction between production and final sales, and (2) allowing for a negative effect of the level of inventories on production. Two models are presented: one in which the labor market clears and one in which it does not. Both models are stable only if the negative effect of inventories on production is "large enough. " Both models also imply that real wages move counter cyclically -- in direct contrast to the usual implication of Keynesian models. Detailed analysis of the market-clearing model show that there should be negative correlation between the levels of inventories and output, and between changes in inventories and changes in output, over the business cycle. However, inventory change should be positively correlated with the level of output.
Insulin Increases the Association of Akt-2 with Glut4-containing Vesicles*

Expression of a constitutively active, membrane-associated Akt-1 (PKB α) construct in 3T3L1 adipocytes was shown to induce glucose uptake in the absence of insulin by stimulating Glut4 translocation to the plasma membrane (Kohn, A. D., Summers, S. A., Birnbaum, M. J., and Roth, R. A. (1996)J. Biol. Chem. 271, 31372–31378). However, in rat fat cell the vast majority of Akt-1 is cytosolic and shows no re-distribution to the plasma membrane in response to insulin. On the other hand, little work has been done with other Akt family members such as Akt-2 (PKB β) or Akt-3 (PKB γ). In this report, an analysis of the subcellular distribution of Akt-2 in rat adipocytes shows that Akt-2 is present in significant amounts in various membrane compartments, as well as in the cytosol, and the former include the light microsomes where Glut4 is present in the basal state. The distribution of Akt-2 in resting adipocytes was found to substantially overlap with that of Glut4 when light microsomes were subfractionated by a sucrose velocity gradient indicating possible co-localization. We confirmed co-localization of Akt-2 and Glut4 in the basal state by immunopurification of Glut4 vesicles, which exhibited a 5.5-fold increase in Akt-2 in response to insulin relative to the amount of Glut4. These results are consistent with the possibility that Akt-2 may be involved in Glut4 vesicle translocation.
Contracting Out, Public Policy and Entrepreneurship

Relatively little is known about the impact of public policies on the decisions of firms to contract out parts of their production, despite widespread growth in this practice. The present paper uses a simple principal-agent model to explore the effects of various public policies which affect employers' incentives to outsource by re-grading their employees as independent self-employed contractors. Minimum wages are predicted to increase contracting out, as are payroll and income taxes under several plausible conditions, including worker preferences exhibiting constant relative risk aversion.
Ethnicity and family relationships within and between ethnic groups: an analysis using the Labour Force Survey

This paper outlines the ethnic composition of families in Britain today using the Labour Force Survey household data. That is, it explores whether adults from different ethnic groups are living with someone from the same ethnic group (co-ethnic or ‘same race’ partnerships) or are living with someone from a different ethnic group (inter-ethnic or ‘mixed race’ partnerships), or are living on their own. It also looks at the experience of children living with parents of the same or different ethnic groups (to each other and to the child). Given the growth of those defining themselves in terms of mixed or multiple ethnicities, the prevalence of adults and children of mixed ethnicity is also summarised. Religious affiliation as well as ethnicity may also be a point of similarity or difference within couples. The report also considers the extent to which men and women of different religious affiliations are in co-religionist and interreligionist partnerships. Finally, some indication of trends is given by comparison with earlier analyses of family composition and ethnic group. The key patterns and findings are highlighted in the Overview and summary which follows. This overview draws on the 34 tables which form the bulk of this report and which are preceded by a description of the data source from which they are derived, key definitions and an introduction setting out the rationale for the analysis which follows.
Possible molecular target therapy with rapamycin in MDS

The authors previously reported the mRNA expression of Glutathione S-transferases theta (GSTT)-1, wild type (623 bp) and mutant (500 bp) in MDS patients. The deletion of 123 bp creates a sequence that is homologues to mammalian target of repamycin (mTOR). To analyse the function of mutant GSTT-1 gene, stable transformants for the mutant and wild-type GSTT-1 gene, respectively, were established. In this study, the expression of wild and mutant type GSTT-1 gene of those stable tramsformants and bone marrow cells from MDS patients by RT-PCR was observed in the presence or absence of rapamycin. In result, exposure of rapamycin led to the disappearance of just the mutant gene band. This phenomenon possibly indicates that rapamycin only attacked the mutant GSTT-1 expressing clone.
Measuring the welfare of sub-groups subject to premature mortality: The new welfare measures

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to provide an exposition of the concepts relevant to measuring the economic effect of premature mortality and the conception of how the social loss from premature mortality can be incorporated into social welfare measurement. None of the conventional welfare measures currently pick up this welfare signal. Design/methodology/approach - – Various concepts are examined in the conventional and “new” literatures of welfare measurement. Six Venn diagrams show how various concepts “fit together”. Findings - – This paper outlines a framework for measuring the economic effect of premature mortality in a conceptually appropriate way. Thus the paper shows how the welfare loss associated with premature mortality can be incorporated into social welfare measurement. Research limitations/implications - – Accurate premature mortality measurement is difficult but this data problem hardly limits this exercise. Sensitivity analyses can alleviate this measurement problem. Practical implications - – The main practical implication is that empirical applications are feasible. Time series data can be analysed from this conceptual framework to determine whether the problem of the social loss from premature mortality is improving through time, or worsening. Social implications - – Knowing the size of the welfare impact of premature mortality is useful not only on policy fronts concerning premature mortality prevention. Originality/value - – “New welfare measurement” has not yet been applied to the notion of the social loss from premature mortality.
When Policies and Marketing Systems Explode: An Assessment of Food Marketing in the War-Ravaged Balkans and Implications for Recovery, Sustainable Peace, and Prosperity

The authors examine forces, policy failures, and the ensuing war and devastation of the marketing system of the former Yugoslavia. They provide an overview of the region and discuss food marketing's contributions to recovery. The authors then describe food-marketing institutions that have emerged from destruction and suggest some successful cases and best practices that can be leveraged to sustain peace and prosperity in the war-ravaged Balkans, as well as the broader global community.
Creating a Satisfying Internet Shopping Experience via Atmospheric Variables

The purpose of this research was to identify the atmospheric variables that contributed to satisfaction for internet consumers with different orientations toward shopping. Atmospheric categories that were proposed for studying internet environments included external and internal variables, layout and design, point-of-purchase, and customer services. Some consumers had a convenience orientation toward shopping on the internet, while others were apprehensive, apathetic, and highly involved in internet shopping. A segment of internet consumers also exhibited positive orientations toward store shopping. Results showed that some atmospheric variables influenced satisfaction for all consumers, regardless of their shopping orientation; however, some variables were contributors of satisfaction for specific shopping segments.
High-order finite difference methods with subcell resolution for hyperbolic conservation laws with stiff reaction terms : preliminary results

The motivation for this research stems from the high-speed chemical reacting flows which have stiff reaction terms, where the chemical time scales are often much smaller than the fluid dynamics time scales. It is usually too expensive to resolve all the spatial/temporal scales if we are only interested in the main flow. On the other hand, insufficient spatial/temporal resolution will cause the speed of propagation of discontinuities to be incorrectly predicted for many numerical methods. This numerical phenomenon was first observed by Colella et al. (1986). Then LeVeque & Yee (1990) showed that a similar spurious propagation phenomenon can be observed even with scalar equations. Colella et al. (1986) and Majda & Roytburd (1990) have successfully applied the random choice method of Chorin (1976, 1977) for the solution of under-resolved detonation waves. However, it is difficult to eliminate completely the numerical viscosity in a shock-capturing scheme. Fractional step methods are commonly used for allowing an under-resolved mesh size with a shock-capturing method. Chang (1989, 1991) applied the subcell resolution method of Harten (1989) to the finite volume ENO method in the convection step, which is able to produce a zero viscosity shock profile in nonreacting flow. The time evolution is advanced along the characteristic line. Correct discontinuity speed was obtained in the one-dimensional scalar case. However, it is difficult to extend this approach to multi-dimensions and to system of equations because of the reliance on the exact time evolution via characteristics. Engquist & Sjögreen (1991) proposed a simple temperature extrapolation method based on finite difference ENO schemes with implicit Runge-Kutta time discretization, which uses a first-/second-order extrapolation of the temperatures from outside the shock profile. The method is easy to extend to multi-dimensions. Their method is not a fractional step method. It does not seem to work well when the spatial scales are under-resolved. Other first-/second-order methods that are based on the fractional step method have been proposed by Bao & Jin (2000, 2001) and Tosatto & Vigevano (2008). Our objective in this study is to develop a high-order finite difference method which can capture the correct detonation speed in an under-resolved mesh and will maintain highorder accuracy in the smooth part of the flow. The first step of the proposed fractional step method is the convection step which solves the homogeneous hyperbolic conservation law in which any high-resolution shock-capturing method can be used. The aim in this step is to produce a sharp wave front, but some dissipativity is allowed. The second
Human Capital and Economic Growth: Cross-Section Evidence for OECD Countries

This paper explores the applicability of the Nelson-Phelps approach to the modeling of human capital in economic growth for the sample of OECD countries. A case is made for confining the approach to the technology diffusion component and for combining it with the Lucas approach. For such a hybrid model, both the favoured interpretation of the Nelson-Phelps approach, as well as the Lucas approach, are supported by the evidence. The sensitivity of the findings is assessed with regard to the use of alternative human capital data sets, including quality (adjusted) measures, and with regard to data outliers.
Intellectual capital disclosure (ICD): A comparison of Italy and the UK

Purpose – To explore the hypothesis that differences in intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) practices can be explained, if in part, by industrial sector (traditional; knowledge intensive) and nationality of origin (Italy; UK). Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis of the annual reports of two reasonably matched samples of both high‐technology and traditional non‐financial firms in Italy and the UK. Univariate and multivariate analyses are then used to test the hypothesis proposed.Findings – Size and industrial sector are found to be predictors of levels of ICD; the hypothesis relating nationality of origin to ICD is not supported.Research limitations/implications – The main limitation relates to sample size due to the onerous nature of this form of research. Further research following this matched‐sample methodology should attempt to maximise sample sizes allowing for the incorporation of more specific nationally of origin factors.Practical implications – Owing to the increasing importance of in.
CORRELATION OF PAIRWISE GENETIC AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTANCE MEASURES: INFERRING THE RELATIVE INFLUENCES OF GENE FLOW AND DRIFT ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF GENETIC VARIABILITY

Attempts to relate estimates of regional FST to gene flow and drift via Wright's (1931) equation FST ≈ 1/ (4Nm + 1) are often inappropriate because most natural sets of populations probably are not at equilibrium (McCauley 1993), as assumed by the island model upon which the equation is based, or ineffective because the influences of gene flow and drift are confounded in the product Nm. Evaluations of the association between genetic (FST) and geographic distances separating all pairwise populations combinations in a region allows one to test for regional equilibrium, to evaluate the relative influences of gene flow and drift on population structure both within and between regions, and to visualize the behavior of the association across all degrees of geographic separation. Tests of the model using microsatellite data from 51 populations of eastern collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris collaris) collected from four distinct geographical regions gave results highly consistent with predicted patterns of association based on regional differences in various historical and ecological factors that affect the amount of drift and gene flow. The model provides a prerequisite for and an alternative to regional FST analyses, which often simply assume regional equilibrium, thus potentially leading to erroneous and misleading inferences regarding regional population structure.