Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agriculture and the WTO: Creating a Trading System for Development

This publication explores the key issues and options in agricultural trade liberalization from a developing country perspective. Chapters cover market access, domestic support, export competition, quota administration methods, food security, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, agricultural trade under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA), and many other subjects, always focusing on the question of how the outcome of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations can be made pro-development. Material is covered in summary and in comprehensive detail with supporting data tables, text boxes, figures, and a detailed table of contents. Many chapters have a substantial bibliography, listings of online resources, and tables summarizing the major points of WTO member country proposals that deal directly with each chapter topic.
Do Learning Communities Matter?: An Examination Of The Retention Of At-Risk African American Students At An Urban, Commuter, Research University

DO LEARNING COMMUNITIES MATTER? : AN EXAMINATION OF THE RETENTION OF AT-RISK AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AT A PUBLIC, URBAN, COMMUTER, RESEARCH UNIVERSITY by CHERYL DEON NEWTON WHITE May 2015 Advisor: Dr. Monte Piliawsky Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Degree: Doctor of Education The effectiveness of learning community participation on the retention of at-risk, African American students at a public, urban, primarily commuter, research institution was the focus of this research. A nonexperimental, retrospective, descriptive, cohort research design was used with a sample of 318 first time in any college (FTIAC) African American students enrolled in the Alternative Admission Division (AAD) of Metropolitan Urban University (MUU) starting in the fall 2006 semester. The primary research hypothesis was that African American students who were admitted into the AAD at MUU in the fall 2006 semester would have greater academic outcomes (e.g. grade point average and credit hours earned) and persistence (retention and graduation rates) in a six-year period than African American AAD students who did not participate in a learning community in the fall 2006 semester. Three research questions were used to test the hypothesis: 1. Among alternative admissions college students, is there a difference in the six-year retention rates for students who participated in learning communities as compared to students who did not participate in a learning community?
Mode-mode competition and unstable behavior in a homogeneously broadened ring laser.

We present theoretical and experimental evidence for a new type of multimode instability in a homogeneously broadened ring-laser system. The unstable behavior discussed in this paper is the result of multimode competition and can manifest itself either through self-pulsing or hysteretic behavior of the bistable type in the laser output intensity and operating frequency. We have verified some of our predictions with the help of a CO/sub 2/ laser whose observed bistable behavior is in good qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions.
The relationship between organisational culture and service quality through organisational learning framework

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between organisational culture and service quality through the organisational learning framework in knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). This study set independent variables as four types of organisational cultures (group culture, developmental culture, rational culture, and hierarchical culture) from Quinn's competing values model. The dependent variable is KIBS quality based on SERVQUAL and the mediating variables that connect between organisational cultures and service quality are three types of learning orientation and organisational learning behaviours (OLBs) based on an organisational learning framework. We apply structural equation model to measure how much effort to provide in order to improve the service quality of the service provider. Our findings indicated that group, developmental, and rational cultures influenced learning orientation, but hierarchical culture did not. Also, three types of learning orientation influenced OLB, and this behaviour ultimately influenced KIBS quality. By extending the existing organisational learning framework by integrating it with a competing values model (CVM), we suggested a new framework on the logical flow between organisational culture and service quality. This paper also provides a direction on the appropriate type of organisational culture for KIBS to improve service quality.
Inhibition of Hematopoietic Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Augments and Prolongs ERK1/2 and p38 Activation

The hematopoietic protein tyrosine phosphatase (HePTP) is implicated in the development of blood cancers through its ability to negatively regulate the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) ERK1/2 and p38. Small-molecule modulators of HePTP activity may become valuable in treating hematopoietic malignancies such as T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Moreover, such compounds will further elucidate the regulation of MAPKs in hematopoietic cells. Although transient activation of MAPKs is crucial for growth and proliferation, prolonged activation of these important signaling molecules induces differentiation, cell cycle arrest, cell senescence, and apoptosis. Specific HePTP inhibitors may promote the latter and thereby may halt the growth of cancer cells. Here, we report the development of a small molecule that augments ERK1/2 and p38 activation in human T cells, specifically by inhibiting HePTP. Structure-activity relationship analysis, in silico docking studies, and mutagenesis experiments reveal how the inhibitor achieves selectivity for HePTP over related phosphatases by interacting with unique amino acid residues in the periphery of the highly conserved catalytic pocket. Importantly, we utilize this compound to show that pharmacological inhibition of HePTP not only augments but also prolongs activation of ERK1/2 and, especially, p38. Moreover, we present similar effects in leukocytes from mice intraperitoneally injected with the inhibitor at doses as low as 3 mg/kg. Our results warrant future studies with this probe compound that may establish HePTP as a new drug target for acute leukemic conditions.
Use Of Earnings Information For Stock Pricing In Different Market Cycles: The Effect Of Discretionary Accruals

This study examines the association between stock prices and discretionary accruals in different stock market cycles and presents evidence about the discrepancy in prior research that investors were able to identify earnings management in some cases, but not in some other cases. We argue that investors’ reaction to the true nature of EPS changes may be different in different market cycles. We suggests that investors pay less attention to the nature of EPS changes in an optimistic cycle, and are more critical in neutral and pessimistic cycles. Therefore, investors are more likely to detect and count for any earnings management in a neutral or pessimistic cycle than in an optimistic cycle. Using the U.S. quarterly data from July 01, 1997 to June 29, 2001, three market cycles were identified: optimistic, neutral and pessimistic. The test results indicated that the association between discretionary accruals and abnormal stock returns were insignificant in the neutral market cycle, significant and positive in the optimistic cycle and significant and negative in the pessimistic cycle. These findings indicate that investors tend to ignore the income-increasing effect of discretionary accruals on EPS changes in an optimistic market. The finding suggests that a more delegate and technical analysis of EPS changes is required when earnings information is used for stock pricing. It also suggests that a consideration of market cycle effect on investors’ use of EPS could improve the earnings-based ratio analysis. The findings propose that researchers interested in investigating the association between stock prices and earnings management should control for the effect of the market cycle during which their samples are drawn.
Editorial: sepsis in cirrhosis – there may be trouble ahead; authors' reply

patients with cirrhosis is improving in the critical care environment. Clearly, such changes are to be welcomed. However, although the overall mortality from sepsis may be falling, the types of infection encountered may reflect this more aggressive medical management. While pneumonia and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) rates fell or remained static, the rates of urinary tract, soft tissue and Clostridium difficile infections all increased. Although speculative, this may be explained by more frequent urinary catheterisations, increased use of intravenous cannulae and the prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The pattern of sepsis in cirrhosis may be changing to that of nosocomial infection. This change may be accompanied by a more fearful spectre; that of antibiotic resistance. Multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteraemia is already leading to increasing therapeutic challenges in the ICU and is being reported in patients with cirrhosis. Sepsis is likely to remain a major problem in cirrhosis and we need to consider strategies other than simply giving more or different antibiotics. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Declaration of personal and funding interests: None.
T-Cell Assays to Determine Disease Activity and Clinical Efficacy of Immune Therapy in Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus results from a T cell-mediated autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic β cells in genetically predisposed individuals. Therapies directed against T cells have been demonstrated to halt the disease process and prevent recurrent β-cell destruction after islet transplantation. Less is known about the nature and function of these T cells, the cause of the loss of tolerance to islet autoantigens, why the immune system apparently fails to suppress autoreactivity, and whether (or which) autoantigen(s) are critically involved in the initiation or progression of disease. Autoreactive T cells have proven to be valuable targets to study pathogenic or diabetes-related processes. Measuring T-cell autoreactivity also provided critical information to determine the fate of islet allografts transplanted to type 1 diabetic patients. Furthermore, these studies have provided proof of operational immunologic tolerance to islet allografts as well as valuable information to improve and customize immunosuppressive therapy. Currently, technologies to detect T-cell auto- and alloreactivity in type 1 diabetic recipients of islet allografts are applied to monitor islet allograft survival in relation with various immunosuppressive therapies and to guide tapering of these therapies after successful restoration of insulin production. Although it is generally appreciated that studies on cellular auto- and alloimmunity are hampered by the complex nature of such immune responses and the required technical and physical skills, it has been a worthwhile quest to unravel the role of T cells in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and islet allograft destruction.
Intracellular diversion of glycoprotein GP160 of human immunodeficiency virus to lysosomes as a strategy of AIDS gene therapy

A potential gene therapy strategy against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) is to disrupt the intracellular transport of viral proteins. We report here the binding and transporting of HIV‐1 glycoprotein gp160 to lysosomes as a result of the expression of fusion genes consisting of soluble CD4 and lysosome targeting domains. The effective lysosome targeting domain tested includes a lysosomal protease zymogen, procathepsin D, and the COOH‐terminal domains of three lysosome membrane proteins: lamp‐1, lamp‐2, and lysosomal acid phosphatase. We demonstrated that cell fusion (syncytium), caused by the transport of gp160 to the surface of HeLa‐CD4+ cells, was completely abolished by the expression of these fusion genes. The lysosomal localization of gp160 in HeLa cells coexpressing CD4‐fusion genes was also established. From pulse‐chase experiments, we observed that gp160 and the fusion proteins were degraded, as expected of lysosomal activities. Additionally, T lymphoblastoid cells transiently and permanently expressing these fusion genes strongly retarded the propagation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Thus, these fusion genes can deprive HIV of newly synthesized envelope protein gp160 for the assembly of new virions and are potentially useful in gene therapy against AIDS. —Lin, X. , Dashti, A. , Schinazi, R. F. , Tang, J. Intracellular diversion of glycoprotein GP160 of human immunodeficiency virus to lysosomes as a strategy of AIDS gene therapy. FASEB J. 7: 1070‐1080; 1993.
Tiny, Poor, Land-locked, Indebted, but Growing: Lessons for Late Reforming Transition Economies from Laos

There are few countries where “initial conditions” are as unfavourable as those of Laos. It is a very poor, least developed country. It is land-locked, sharing its international borders with five neighbours. It has the world's highest per capita stock of unexploded ordinance, a legacy of the Indo China war. It has yet to recover from the loss of most of its entrepreneurial class and over half of its tertiary educated population in the aftermath of that war. It is heavily indebted, with substantial Soviet era obligations still outstanding. Its institutions are weak and property rights ill defined. Yet, its reform efforts over the past two decades have been largely successful, with accelerating growth and the beginnings of a relatively smooth transition from plan to market. This examination of the Lao reform programme and the subsequent outcomes suggests that, contrary to some of the prevailing pessimism, late-comers can engage with the international economy, providing their reforms are reasonably effective and credible. Neighbourhood effects have obviously been supportive in the Lao case, but their importance should not be overstated.
Price response in multiple item choice: spillover effects of reference price

In this thesis, we develop a SKU level market basket model and apply the model to investigate cross-category reference price effects. This research extends previous work on the category-level multivariate logit model (Russell and Petersen 2000). Our model is a generalization of the multivariate logit model which allows for both complementarity and substitution effects at the brand level. The modeling effort in this thesis allows us to use conditional probability distributions of individual items to construct the final joint-distribution of all possible basket selections. The resulting model is very flexible and accommodates a large variety of market structure patterns. The model structure implies that the changes in brand-level marketing variables directly affect category incidence (by altering category attractiveness) and indirectly determine market basket composition. Because the model can be written in a closed form manner, we can easily study the pattern of brand price competition by computing a matrix of cross-price elasticities. We use scanner panel data for the yogurt category to demonstrate the structural flexibility of the model. The results from this application reveal asymmetric competition consistent with price-tier competition literature. We use this model to investigate how consumers’ responses to reference prices within a category spillover into their choices across multiple categories. The notion is that a consumer’s subjective judgment of the fairness of the price levels in one category influences the choice decisions of related items in other categories. We begin with building within-category SKU-level model based on previous findings from single category reference price models (i.e., internal versus external reference prices, asymmetric response due to loss aversion, and heterogeneity in response across consumers). We then develop four alternative model specifications for cross-category spillover effects and test competing theories about those effects. Using scanner panel
Entrepreneurial potential in Business and Engineering courses … why worry now?

Research on entrepreneurship potential targeting university students is emerging. However, it is in general focused on one school-one course. Few studies analyze the differences in entrepreneurial propensity between students of different subjects. In this paper we analyze the magnitude of this propensity in engineering and economics/business courses. The reason for such focus is that traditionally these courses are viewed as the ones concentrating individuals that are more likely to create new ventures. The empirical results, based on a large-scale survey of 2430 final-year students, reveal that no statistical difference exists in entrepreneurial potential of economics/business and engineering students, and that these two latter groups have lower entrepreneurial potential than students from other courses. This result proves to be quite unfortunate given the focus that previous studies have placed on these two majors, and the fact that a substantial part of entrepreneurial education is undertaken in business and engineering schools.
Antimicrobial properties and isotope investigations of South African honey

The therapeutic potential of honey for the treatment of wound infections is well documented. However, South African (SA) honey has been poorly explored as an antimicrobial agent and given the well‐established antimicrobial properties of the indigenous plant species from SA, there is the potential that honey from this geographical region may exhibit noteworthy anti‐infective properties. In this study, the antimicrobial properties of 42 SA honey samples were determined.
Thyroid Incidentalomas: Prevalence by Palpation and Ultrasonography

Background: Thyroid nodules are commonly identified on autopsy examination. There are relatively few descriptions, however, of the frequency with which thyroid nodules are encountered incidentally during the course of other investigations. Method: Prospective study to examine the prevalence of thyroid nodules in asymptomatic North American subjects, with palpation findings compared with findings on high-resolution ultrasonography. Results: Palpable nodules were identified in 21 (21%) of 100 subjects, with nine solitary nodules (9%) and 12 multiple nodules (12%). In comparison, only 33 subjects were found to be free of any nodules by ultrasonography. Of the 67 subjects with abnormal ultrasound findings, 22 had solitary nodules (22%) and 45 had multiple nodules (45%). The prevalence of nodules was greater in women (72%) than in men (41%) ( P Conclusions: The data indicate that thyroid abnormalities are very common incidental findings, emphasizing the need for a conservative approach when such lesions are encountered incidentally. (Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:1838-1840)
What Determines Job Quality in Nursing Homes?

Using data from interviews and a 1991 survey of Massachusetts nursing homes, the author examines employment practices across establishments for the entry-level job of nursing assistant. Practices characteristic of good jobs came in bundles: wages, benefits, employer-provided training, and opportunities for advancement were correlated. High-quality jobs were more likely in nursing homes serving differentiated customer markets and in nursing homes with professionalized management. Unions and chain ownership were also associated with higher-quality jobs.
Geopolitics and the effect of foreign aid on economic growth: 1970-2001

Previous aid effectiveness research often claims that foreign aid has been unsuccessful in increasing growth rates. This result could be due either to methodological weaknesses, or to genuine aid efficiency losses. Empirically, the author finds that once the best available techniques are employed, aid has a significant but moderate average effect on growth over the period 1970-2001. A promising explanation of why the estimated returns to aid are not larger is that bilateral aid had no significant effect on growth during the Cold War (pre-1990), but had a significant and sizeable effect thereafter. In contrast, multilateral aid seems to have had sizeable and significant effects throughout. These results imply that the negative conclusions drawn by earlier research should be interpreted in their proper historical context, rather than as a necessary condemnation of current aid effectiveness. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intestinal epithelial wound healing assay in an epithelial–mesenchymal co‐culture system

Rapid and efficient healing of epithelial damage is critical to the functional integrity of the small intestine. Epithelial repair is a complex process that has largely been studied in cultured epithelium but to a much lesser extent in mucosa. We describe a novel method for the study of wound healing using a co‐culture system that combined an intestinal epithelial Caco‐2/15 cell monolayer cultured on top of human intestinal myofibroblasts, which together formed a basement membrane‐like structure that contained many of the major components found at the epithelial–mesenchymal interface in the human intestine. To investigate the mechanism of restitution, small lesions were generated in epithelial cell monolayers on plastic or in co‐cultures without disturbing the underlying mesenchymal layer. Monitoring of wound healing showed that repair was more efficient in Caco‐2/15–myofibroblast co‐cultures than in Caco‐2/15 monolayers and involved the deposition of basement membrane components. Functional experiments showed that the addition of type I collagen or human fibronectin to the culture medium significantly accelerated wound closure on epithelial cell co‐cultures. This system may provide a new tool to investigate the mechanisms that regulate wound healing in the intestinal epithelium.
Corporate social responsibility in a total quality management context: opportunities for sustainable growth

The aim of this paper is to explore how quality management can act as a foundation and key catalyst for developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) within organizations. CSR is an emergent discourse within organizational research and praxis. It has parallels to sustainable development, environmental protection, social equity and economic growth. Although some organizations consider CSR to be a peripheral and sector specific issue, it is becoming increasingly mainstream, supported by government legislation. Key questions arising are, is there a conflict between profit earning and CSR? How can CSR be implemented without impairing business performance? Can CSR build on existing quality management based business initiatives from a philosophical and practical manner? The critique and case study analysis within this paper shows how the ethical basis of quality management can be used to develop CSR within organizations. Quality management models and methodologies established on the broad principles of quality are seen as a foundation and catalyst for effective CSR in organizations.