Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Goals, Trust, Participation, and Feedback: Linking Internal Management With Performance Outcomes

Much recent work in the study of public administration has emphasized new challenges and relatively unusual aspects of management. However, it is likely that the core features of traditional public administration play a crucial role, particularly regarding the delivery of performance. The most venerable of these aspects of public management have to do with “internal” management. We focus here on a cluster of key, intertwined management practices: setting challenging but feasible goals, building trust through credible commitments, encouraging employee participation, and providing feedback. We examine the relationship between such internal management at the mid-level, as perceived by subordinates rather than the managers themselves, and educational performance for more than 1,100 schools in the New York City school system over a 3-year period. The results indicate that internal management matters, often sizably, for delivering educational outcomes. The findings are robust to autoregressive specifications and the purging of halo effects, and they hold across multiple performance measures. Managers’ setting challenging goals appears to be especially important in generating educational results.
Rotation matrix from the mean dynamical equator and equinox at J2000.0 to the ICRS

Recommendation VII of Resolution A4 of the XXIst General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU 1992) states, in part, ". that the principal plane of the new conventional celestial reference system be as near as possible to the mean equator at J2000.0 and that the origin in this principal plane be as near as possible to the dynamical equinox of J2000.0, . " The resulting International Celestial Reference System (ICRS), however, has a small, but significant, offset requiring a rotation matrix. The solutions for the offset between the mean dynamical pole of the Earth at J2000.0 and the pole of the ICRS determined by Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) differ by several σ. Similarly, two different definitions have traditionally been used for the position of the mean equinox. Which of these poles and equinoxes should be used is application dependent. We have shown how the rotation matrix for the rotation from the mean dynamical equator and equinox at J2000.0 to the ICRS changes depending on the various assumptions made in constructing it.
Industrial districts: something more than a neighbourhood

The expansion of globalization has led to the relocation of many industrial activities. In particular, this process has affected industrial districts in the traditional industries. However, different districts vary in their capacity to retain activities. The robustness of industrial districts and, in consequence, their capacity to retain core activities at home and thus avoid painful relocations can be analysed by means of the relational capital developed at the district level. The relational structure within the district affects and determines the capacity of innovation of the district firms. This paper analyses the extent to which innovation depends on the amount of relational capital developed at the district level. We have addressed this proposition using internal human mobility, shared vision and trusting co-operation as indicators of the amount and quality of relational capital. In order to support theoretical propositions we have conducted empirical research comparing different industrial districts.
Motivation in Work Organizations

For more than twenty years, Edward E. Lawler III has had worldwide influence in the areas of management and organization design. This landmark book, one of the most-cited volumes on the topic of motivation in the workplace, defines Lawler's basic philosophy: in order to have effective organizations, we must understand how to motivate and encourage effective individual performance. Time-tested theories have been the basis for nearly all of Lawler's subsequent work in the areas of pay and reward systems, employee involvement, organization design, and organizational change.In his new introduction to this classic edition, he shows how his original emphasis on work design and reward systems is especially relevant to the current emphasis on creating high performance work organizations through new organization design and management approaches. Lawler's theories continue to help us understand the world around us today, forming the basis for many successful managerial practices found in today's workplace, and continue to prove that no matter what organization design or approach is used, it cannot succeed if it fails to motivate employees to perform well.
“Another Weekend Away Looking for Dead Bodies…”: Battlefield Tourism on the Somme and in Flanders

This article reports a phenomenological investigation into the perspectives and experiences of battlefield tourists visiting the landscapes of the Western Front, the setting of trench warfare in the Great War of 1914–1918. Based on a small scale, participant observational methodology the study provides insights into the appeals of the First World War landscapes to visitors in the 1990s, suggests how these appeals may differ in quality and intensity among different groups, and how the tourism preferences of groups may be intrinsically linked to other aspects of their life experiences and leisure behaviour.
Posted Prices and Bid Affiliation: Evidence from Experimental Auctions

In most experimental auctions, researchers ask participants to bid on the same item in multiple potentially binding rounds, posting the price submitted by the top bidder or bidders after each of those rounds. If bids submitted in later rounds are affiliated with posted prices from earlier rounds, this practice could result in biased value estimates. In this article, we discuss the results of an experiment designed explicitly to test whether posted prices affect bidding behavior. We find that for familiar items, high posted prices lead to increased bids in subsequent rounds. Our results have implications for researchers conducting experimental auctions. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
Truck Drivers’ Experiences and Perspectives Regarding Factors Influencing Traffic Accidents

Traffic accidents are a major public health problem, leading to death and disability. Although pertinent studies have been conducted, little data are available in Iran. This study explored the experiences of truck drivers and their perspectives regarding factors contributing to traffic accidents. Eighteen truck drivers, purposively sampled, participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A main theme, lack of ability to control stress, emerged as a factor influencing the incidence of traffic accidents. This main theme was found to have three subthemes: poor organization of the job, lack of workplace facilities and proper equipment, and unsupportive environment. Although several factors were found to contribute to traffic accidents, their effects were not independent, and all were considered significant. Identifying factors that contribute to traffic accidents requires a systematic and holistic approach. Findings could be used by the transportation industry and community health centers to prevent traffic accidents.
Antiviral Activity of Favipiravir (T-705) against a Broad Range of Paramyxoviruses In Vitro and against Human Metapneumovirus in Hamsters

ABSTRACT The clinical impact of infections with respiratory viruses belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae argues for the development of antiviral therapies with broad-spectrum activity. Favipiravir (T-705) has demonstrated potent antiviral activity against multiple RNA virus families and is presently in clinical evaluation for the treatment of influenza. Here we demonstrate in vitro activity of T-705 against the paramyxoviruses human metapneumovirus (HMPV), respiratory syncytial virus, human parainfluenza virus, measles virus, Newcastle disease virus, and avian metapneumovirus. In addition, we demonstrate activity against HMPV in hamsters. T-705 treatment inhibited replication of all paramyxoviruses tested in vitro, with 90% effective concentration (EC90) values of 8 to 40 μM. Treatment of HMPV-challenged hamsters with T-705 at 200 mg/kg of body weight/day resulted in 100% protection from infection of the lungs. In all treated and challenged animals, viral RNA remained detectable in the respiratory tract. The observation that T-705 treatment had a significant effect on infectious viral titers, with a limited effect on viral genome titers, is in agreement with its proposed mode of action of viral mutagenesis. However, next-generation sequencing of viral genomes isolated from treated and challenged hamsters did not reveal (hyper)mutation. Polymerase activity assays revealed a specific effect of T-705 on the activity of the HMPV polymerase. With the reported antiviral activity of T-705 against a broad range of RNA virus families, this small molecule is a promising broad-range antiviral drug candidate for limiting the viral burden of paramyxoviruses and for evaluation for treatment of infections with (re)emerging viruses, such as the henipaviruses.
Impact of Price fairness on Price Satisfaction, Customer satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in Iran Telecommunication Market (Case: MTN Irancell Company)

Price fairness and price satisfaction is one the most important fields in pricing and also in customer satisfaction. In this research, first the dimensions of price fairness, price satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty is extracted from marketing literature, then 5 hypotheses is developed. In proposed model, price fairness has direct impact on price satisfaction, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty; also price satisfaction has direct impact on customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction has direct impact on customer loyalty. Statistical Society of this research is University of Tehran’s Student and the number of samples is 379. Students are selected accidently for answering the questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling is applied in this research. The results show that all of the hypotheses are strongly supported. It means that price fairness is one of the building blocks of the price satisfaction, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. It’s recommended to assess the customer perception of the price fairness. Also some directions for future researches are indicated.
The Archaeology of Jerusalem — Between Post-Modernism and Delegitimization

Abstract The study of the motivations, influences, and agendas of Israeli archaeology has always been the centre of heated debate, the profession today finding itself under the full, and usually highly critical, glare of modern archaeological theory and/or political polemics. This paper addresses the motivations of some these critics and from under the mesh of often over-stated argumentation, tries to provide a more level appreciation of current archaeological work in Jerusalem. Quite contrary to the impression given by some of the recent scholarship, it is argued that the great majority of the published and excavated archaeology of Jerusalem of the past decades presents the finds of the multiplicity of periods of the city’s history, quite divorced from overt and even covert influence of the surrounding volatile political situation.
Firm Efficiency: Domestic Owners, Coalitions, and FDI

In this paper we analyze the evolution of firm efficiency in the Czech Republic. Using a large panel of more than 190,000 Czech firm/years we study whether firms fully utilize their resources, how firm efficiency evolves over time, and how firm efficiency is determined by ownership structure. We employ a panel version of a stochastic production frontier model for the period 1996–2007 with time-varying efficiency. We differentiate among various degrees of ownership concentration and domestic or foreign origin. In a two-stage set-up we first estimate the degree of firm inefficiency and then the effect of ownership structure on the distance from the efficiency frontier. Our results support the hypothesis that concentrated ownership is positively related to efficiency. FDI has beneficial effects at the microeconomic level. However, we show that a simple majority is not necessarily the best structure to improve efficiency. We further analyze the effects of ownership coalitions and shed light on many other subtleties of how ownership and the specific industry affect firm efficiency.
Markets, Bureaucracy and Public Management: Competitive Tendering and Best Value in Local Government

The Government has introduced legislation to replace compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) with a new regime of Best Value (BV) in local government. Although CCT is to be abolished, competitive tendering is retained as part of the BV framework. The specific role of competitive tendering in BV has not been identified—what are the circumstances that determine whether councils should provide services themselves or seek external suppliers? The authors develop a theoretical framework that may help central and local policy-makers to answer this question. The framework emphasises the joint importance of organizational performance and contracting costs. Practical issues that arise in the application of the framework are also identified.
Effect of intraoperative glucose fluctuation and postoperative IL-6, TNF-α, CRP levels on the short-term prognosis of patients with intracranial supratentorial neoplasms.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of intraoperative glucose fluctuation and postoperative interlukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on the short-term prognosis of patients with intracranial supratentorial neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eighty-six patients undergoing intracranial excision were selected in The Second Hospital of Jilin University. According to the condition of glucose fluctuation, the patients were divided into group A (glucose fluctuation <2.2 mmol/L, n=57) and group B (glucose fluctuation ≥2.2 mmol/L, n=29). Glucose was assessed by drawing 2 mL blood from internal jugular vein in two groups in the following time points, namely fasting blood glucose 1 d before operation (T0), 5 min after anesthesia induction (T1), intraoperative peak glucose (T2), intraoperative lowest glucose (T3), 5 min after closing the skull (T4), immediately after returning to intensive care unit (ICU) (T5) and 2 h after returning to ICU (T6). 1 d before operation and 1, 3 and 6 d after operation, serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels were detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and CRP level with immunoturbidimetry. Additionally, postoperative adverse reactions were monitored. RESULTS There was no statistical significance between two groups regarding the operation time, anesthesia time, amount of intraoperative bleeding and blood transfusion (P>0.05). The glucose levels in both groups at T1~T6 went up conspicuously compared with that at T0 (P<0.01), and those in group B at T2, T4, T5 and T6 were significantly higher than in group A (P<0.01). Serum IL-6, TNF-α and CRP levels in both groups 1, 3 and 6 d after operation increased markedly compared with 1 d before operation (P<0.01), but the increased range in group A was notably lower than in group B (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Postoperative incidences of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia and myocardial ischemia in group A were significantly lower than in group B (P<0.05), and respiratory support time obviously shorter than in group B (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The glucose fluctuation of patients undergoing intracranial excision is related to postoperative IL-6, TNF-α and CRP levels and those with small range of glucose fluctuation have better prognosis.
Nonparametric Productivity Analysis with Undesirable Outputs: Reply

Hailu and Veeman (2001) (henceforth HV) use both primal nonparametric (DEA) and dual nonparametric frontiers that include undesirable outputs. The dual frontier provides the tightest nonparametric outer-bound to the unknown underlying technology while the DEA frontier provides the tightest innerbound to the technology (Varian, Banker and Maindiratta, Chavas and Cox). All previous nonparametric analyses incorporating undesirable outputs had been based on the DEA model, and HV highlighted the limitations of this one-sided approach by confronting the results from the DEA model with those from the dual model. The DEA model was found to be very poor in terms of discriminating between observations. As indicated in HV, this is a problem that has also been noted by several other researchers in the conventional productivity literature. Before I provide specific responses to some of the comments by Fare and Grosskopf (FG), I would like to make the following general remarks. First, HV use input-based measures and a variable returns-to-scale formulation of the DEA model. However, FG support their arguments using output-possibility frontiers, output-based measures and constant returnsto-scaleassumptionsthatwerenotusedinHV. It is well known that a DEA model with constant returns to scale has different characteristics and provides different results compared to those with variable returns. Second, and more importantly, it should be noted that the DEA model with constant returns to scale does not qualify as the inner nonparametric bound that is the subject of HV’s article. Third, the major difference between the weakly disposable and HV DEA frontiers becomes irrelevant for measures of efficiency that explicitly penalize extrabadoutput.InFG’sfigure1,forexample, the area east of line bc is irrelevant in the HV
Expressed Emotion and Family Interactions in Mexican Americans With Schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia who are exposed to family environments high in expressed emotion (EE) are at increased risk of relapse. EE is usually measured by an interview with one family member and does not include a direct assessment of family interaction. To understand better the key processes that underlie the relationship between EE and course of illness, we applied a well-validated measure of family interaction, the Structural Family Systems Ratings (SFSR), to 28 Mexican-Americans with schizophrenia and their families. The relationships among EE indices, SFSR components, and relapse were examined. Although measures of EE and family interactions were not related, both EE and one component of the SFSR, family resonance, were associated with a psychotic relapse within 1 year of the assessment. The results suggest that Mexican Americans with schizophrenia benefit from living with families that are able to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances and needs of their ill relatives.
Electrostatic interactions, but not the YGNGV consensus motif, govern the binding of pediocin PA-1 and its fragments to phospholipid vesicles

The purpose of this study was to characterize in detail the binding of pediocin PA-1 and its fragments to target membranes by using tryptophan fluorescence as a probe. Based on a three-dimensional model (Y. Chen, R. Shapira, M. Eisenstein, and T. J. Montville, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:524-531, 1997), four synthetic N-terminal pediocin fragments were selected to study the mechanism of the initial step by which the bacteriocin associates with membranes. Binding of pediocin PA-1 to vesicles of phosphatidylglycerol, the major component of Listeria membranes, caused an increase in the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence intensity with a blue shift of the emission maximum. The Stern-Volmer constants for acrylamide quenching of the fluorescence of pediocin PA-1 in buffer and in the lipid vesicles were 8.83 +/- 0.42 and 3.53 +/- 0.67 M-1, respectively, suggesting that the tryptophan residues inserted into the hydrophobic core of the lipid bilayer. The synthetic pediocin fragments bound strongly to the lipid vesicles when a patch of positively charged amino acid residues (K-11 and H-12) was present but bound weakly when this patch was mutated out. Quantitative comparison of changes in tryptophan fluorescence parameters, as well as the dissociation constants for pediocin PA-1 and its fragments, revealed that the relative affinity to the lipid vesicles paralleled the net positive charge in the peptide. The relative affinity for the fragment containing the YGNGV consensus motif was 10-fold lower than that for the fragment containing the positive patch. Furthermore, changing the pH from 6.0 to 8.0 decreased binding of the fragments containing the positive patch, probably due to deprotonation of His residues. These results demonstrate that electrostatic interactions, but not the YGNGV motif, govern pediocin binding to the target membrane.
Anatomical Markers of Activity in Neuroendocrine Systems: Are we all ‘Fos‐ed out’?

It has now been nearly 15 years since the immediate early gene, c‐fos, and its protein product, Fos, were introduced as tools for determining activity changes within neurones of the nervous system. In the ensuing years, this approach was applied to neuroendocrine study with success. With it have come advances in our understanding of which neuroendocrine neurones respond to various stimuli and how other central nervous system components interact with neuroendocrine neurones. Use of combined tract‐tracing approaches, as well as double‐labelling for Fos and transmitter markers, have added to characterization of neuroendocrine circuits. The delineation of the signal transduction cascades that induce Fos expression has led to establishment of the relationship between neurone firing and Fos expression. Importantly, we can now appreciate that Fos expression is often, but not always, associated with increased neuronal firing and vice versa. There are remaining gaps in our understanding of Fos in the nervous system. To date, knowledge of what Fos does after it is expressed is still limited. The transience of Fos expression after stimulation (especially if the stimulus is persistent) complicates design of experiments to assess the function of Fos and makes Fos of little value as a marker for long‐term changes in neurone activity. In this regard, alternative approaches must be sought. Useful alternative approaches employed to date to monitor neuronal changes in activity include examination of (i) signal transduction intermediates (e.g. phosphorylated CREB); (ii) transcriptional/translational intermediates (e.g. heteronuclear RNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), prohormones); and (iii) receptor translocation. Another capitalizes on the fact that many neuroendocrine systems show striking stimulus‐transcription coupling in the regulation of their transmitter or its synthetic enzymes. Together, as we move into the 21st Century, the use of multiple approaches to study activity within neuroendocrine systems will further our understanding of these important systems.
Electoral authoritarianism and democracy: A formal model of regime transitions

Building on the formal literature on democratization, this paper models a dictator’s choice between closed authoritarianism, electoral authoritarianism, and democracy in the shadow of violent revolt. Under autocracy, the dictator controls policy but lacks information on the policy demands of citizens and thus the likelihood of popular revolt. Electoral authoritarianism enables the dictator to tie policy choice to an electoral signal from citizens, which may be advantageous even if elections make revolt more likely to succeed. Implications are drawn for how economic inequality, regime strength, and uncertainty predict regime type, policy concessions, and political violence. A key result is that electoral authoritarianism is chosen for middle values of inequality and uncertainty.