Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microgeographic Spatial Structuring of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Populations using Wing Geometric Morphometry in the Argentine Chaco

ABSTRACT We investigated the occurrence of spatial structuring in Triatoma infestans (Klug) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) populations 12 yr after the last community-wide insecticide spraying campaign in rural Pampa del Indio, in the Gran Chaco of northeastern Argentina. In total, 172 male and 149 female right wings collected at 16 georeferenced sites with at least 10 individuals of the same sex were analyzed using geometric morphometry. Mean female body length and wing centroid size (CS) were significantly larger than for males. Log-transformed CS and length were significantly and positively correlated both for males and females. Males collected in domiciles had significantly smaller CS than those collected in peridomestic structures both closed (kitchens or storerooms) or open (chicken coops), in agreement with our previous results elsewhere in the dry Argentine Chaco. Female wing CS was not significantly different between ecotopes. Wing shape analyses showed the occurrence of significant geographic structuring in males and females combined and in males only. Male wings showed a strong association between Mahalanobis distance and geographic distance. In general, Mahalanobis distances were significantly different between collection sites located >4 km apart. For collection sites located <4 km apart, the greater the geographic distance the larger the difference in wing shape variables. Among females, only a partial correspondence between geographic groups and Mahalanobis distances was recorded. The strong spatial structuring found in T. infestans populations may be useful for the identification of putative reinfestation sources after vector control interventions.
Tubularised, incised plate urethroplasty for distal hypospadias.

BACKGROUND Overtheyears our results of urethroplasty for hypospadias were dissatisfactory. We have used different surgical methods for repair of hypospadias and we had had about 76% fistula formation, urethroplasty break-down. For this reason, we are looking for surgical procedures which can improve our results such as less complications and good cosmetic appearance of the glans. The tubularised, incised plate urethroplasty for distal hypospadias described in the literature is a very attractive procedure with few reported complications and good cosmetic results. OBJECTIVE To describe the distal urethroplasty and glanuloplasty procedure, a modification of the Thiersh-Dupley method to determine indications, outcome and complications. DESIGN Prospective clinical study. SETTING Paediatric Surgical Unit, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS Twenty patients aged one and a half to seven years with coronal, subcoronal and midshaft penile hypospadias variant underwent Thiersh-Duplay procedure with Snodgrass modification. RESULTS Meatal stenosis occurred in two boys. In one patient, meatal stenosis responded to one dilatation. In the second patient a meatotomy was performed. Fistulae developed in four patients. In one patient the fistula closed spontaneously after one month on its own. CONCLUSION The advantages of distal hypospadias repair using a tubularised, incised urethral plate are: it gives an excellent cosmetic and functional result and a decreased risk of urethroplasty breakdown, fistula formation and meatal stenosis.
Public Infrastructure Investment, Inter-State Spatial Spillovers and Manufacturing Costs

Effects of public infrastructure investment on the costs and productivity of private enterprises have proven difficult to quantify empirically. One piece of this puzzle that has received little attention is spatial spillovers. We apply a cost-function model to 1982-1996 state-level U.S. manufacturing data, to untangle the private cost-saving effects of inter- and intrastate public infrastructure investment. We implement two spatial adaptations-including a spatial spillover index in the theoretical model, and allowing for spatial autocorrelation in the stochastic structure. Recognizing such spillovers both increases the estimated magnitude and significance of cost savings from intrastate public infrastructure, and augments these productive effects. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Supportive work–family environments: implications for work–family conflict and well-being

Work–family conflict (WFC) remains a growing type of stress and concern for many employees. Recognizing these difficulties, organizations are offering various formal programs (e.g. on-site childcare, flextime, compressed work week, telecommuting and so on.) to help their employees in balancing both work and family life. However, many employees are hesitant to use them due to ‘stigmas’ attached to them. A work environment that is supportive of such programs is likely a contributing factor in the success and effectiveness of these programs. This study tested a model that examines the availability of work–family programs and work–family culture (i.e. in terms of managerial support, organizational demands and career consequences) as predictors of WFC. The model also examined the effects of WFC on individual's well-being (i.e. life satisfaction and work engagement). Data were collected from 112 employees, and the overall fit of the model was good (i.e. the model was reasonably consistent with the data). Results demonstrated that the availability of work–family benefits promoted a supportive work–family culture, which was inversely related to WFC. WFC contributed negatively to both life satisfaction and work engagement. That is, employees who reported more WFC were less satisfied with their life and were less inclined to be engaged at work. Results of the study highlight the importance of inculcating an accommodating work environment, and will be discussed.
Anti‐VEGFR agents ameliorate hepatic venous dysregulation/microcirculatory dysfunction, splanchnic venous pooling and ascites of NASH‐cirrhotic rat

Antivascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) agents improve hepatic fibrosis and portal hypertension in cirrhosis. Detail interactions among recruited/activated leucocytes, hepatic angiogenesis and fibrogenesis, splanchnic blood pooling, decreased hepatic veins to fluctuated splanchnic blood volume (hepatic venous dysregulation), portal hypertensive syndrome and ascites have never explored in cirrhosis. Our study used two anti‐VEGFR agents – brivanib and sorafenib – to elucidate the relationship between above abnormalities of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)‐cirrhotic rats.
Adsorption of dyes on carbon nanomaterials from aqueous solutions

The removal of methylene blue (MB), a cationic dye and orange II (OII), an anionic dye, from aqueous solution by using carbon nanomaterials as multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNF) as adsorbents was studied in batch experiments. The effect of pH, temperature and surface modification of adsorbent on the removal of MB and OII was also investigated. The removals of OII and MB by adsorption on MWNT were maximum at pH 3.0 and pH 7.0, respectively. However, in the case CNF was employed as adsorbent, the optimum values of pH were 9.0 and 5.0 for OII and MB, respectively. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms are applied to fit the adsorption data of both dyes. Equilibrium data were well described by the typical Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Overall, the study demonstrated that MWNTs and CNFs can effectively remove cationic and anionic dyes as MB and OII from aqueous solutions under these experimental conditions.
Do Substantial Horizontal Mergers Generate Significant Price Effects? Evidence From The Banking Industry

This study examines the price effects of recent U.S. bank mergers that substantially increased local market concentration. Using the deposit interest rates that banks offer their customers as their price measure, the authors find that, over the 1991-94 time period, deposit rates offered by participants in substantial horizontal mergers and their local market rivals declined by a greater percentage than did deposit rates offered by banks not operating in markets in which such mergers took place. The authors interpret their results as evidence that these mergers led to increased market power. Copyright 1998 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
HOW DOES RELATIVE DEPRIVATION INFLUENCE EMPLOYEE INTENTION TO LEAVE A MERGED COMPANY? THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION

Recognizing the importance of postmerger integration from a human resource management perspective, this study explores the relationship between employee perceptions of relative deprivation during a merger and acquisition (M&A) process and their turnover intentions. Drawing on social identity theory, we investigate whether the relationship between relative deprivation and turnover intention can be mediated by employee organizational identification. The results, based on a two-phase survey of 222 employees in a merged Korean company, show that egoistic relative deprivation, defined as people's feelings of deprivation due to their dissatisfaction with their position as an individual, predicts employee turnover intention. Moreover, employee identification with the postmerger organization was found to fully mediate the relationship between egoistic relative deprivation and turnover intention. The article concludes with theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions
Market states and disposition effect: evidence from Taiwan mutual fund investors

We study the disposition effect across market states in the context of mutual fund investors in Taiwan. Using mutual fund data at the fund and individual levels during July 2001 to October 2008, we find that the disposition effect varies across market states. Our results suggest that investors redeem their mutual fund units more under a bear market than a bull market when they have extreme capital losses. When investors have moderate capital gains, they are less active in redeeming their mutual fund units under a bull market relative to a bear market. Under a neutral market, investors actively redeem mutual fund units in both winner and loser mutual funds except when they have extreme capital losses. Thus, disposition effect is not uniform; it varies by market condition. In addition, the disposition effect phenomenon also exists for Taiwan mutual fund investors as well. Our findings are robust to aggregate and individual investor levels.
A High-Density Genetic Map of Wild Emmer Wheat from the Karaca Dağ Region Provides New Evidence on the Structure and Evolution of Wheat Chromosomes

Wild emmer (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) is a progenitor of all cultivated wheat grown today. It has been hypothesized that emmer was domesticated in the Karaca Dağ region in southeastern Turkey. A total of 445 recombinant inbred lines of T. turgidum ssp. durum cv. ‘Langdon’ x wild emmer accession PI 428082 from this region was developed and genotyped with the Illumina 90K single nucleotide polymorphism Infinium assay. A genetic map comprising 2,650 segregating markers was constructed. The order of the segregating markers and an additional 8,264 co-segregating markers in the Aegilops tauschii reference genome sequence was used to compare synteny of the tetraploid wheat with the Brachypodium distachyon, rice, and sorghum. These comparisons revealed the presence of 15 structural chromosome rearrangements, in addition to the already known 4A-5A-7B rearrangements. The most common type was an intra-chromosomal translocation in which the translocated segment was short and was translocated only a short distance along the chromosome. A large reciprocal translocation, one small non-reciprocal translocation, and three large and one small paracentric inversions were also discovered. The use of inversions for a phylogeny reconstruction in the Triticum–Aegilops alliance was illustrated. The genetic map was inconsistent with the current model of evolution of the rearranged chromosomes 4A-5A-7B. Genetic diversity in the rearranged chromosome 4A showed that the rearrangements might have been contemporary with wild emmer speciation. A selective sweep was found in the centromeric region of chromosome 4A in Karaca Dağ wild emmer but not in 4A of T. aestivum. The absence of diversity from a large portion of chromosome 4A of wild emmer, believed to be ancestral to all domesticated wheat, is puzzling.
Professional identity formation and voluntary sector social work

At its core, ‘Flexible Learning’ provision in Northern Ireland lacks a coherent developmental focus. Conversely, this paper presents an evaluation of a dedicated Voluntary Sector ‘Flexible Learning’ Programme, which demonstrates the efficacy of facilitating student social workers in critically reflecting upon the formation of their respective professional identities with explicit reference to the economic determinants of social justice. Moreover, Programme participants registered their strong support for a strengthened role for the Voluntary Sector in formal social work education. Consequently, and modeling key design features of this Programme, this paper proposes a systematic reform of ‘Flexible Learning’ provision premised upon a dedicated focus on professional identity formation. The latter may usefully also inform a critical re-positioning of social work’s core curricula, anchored by an explicit anti-poverty focus, to ensure that the profession’s commitment to social justice is tangibly embedded in the developmental journeys of students.
Deletion of spoIIAB blocks endospore formation in Bacillus subtilis at an early stage

During an early stage of endospore formation in Bacillus subtilis, the cell divides asymmetrically into two compartments that follow different developmental paths. The differential expression of genes in these two compartments is controlled in part by the production of compartment-specific transcription factors, sigma G and sigma K. It is not known how sigma G accumulation is restricted to one of the two compartments, the forespore. However, the observations that sigma F directs transcription of the structural gene for sigma G and that sigma F activity can be modified by the product of a gene, spoIIAB, has led us to investigate the role of spoIIAB during sporulation. We have isolated mutants that carry deletion alleles of spoIIAB. Electron microscopic examination of these mutants revealed that these mutations blocked endospore formation at an early stage before septation and caused extensive cell lysis. The spoIIAB deletion alleles caused hyperexpression of genes that are normally expressed exclusively in the forespore compartments of sporulating wild-type cells, whereas these alleles reduced expression of other genes, including spoIIE, which is expressed before septation in wild-type cells. These observations confirm that spoIIAB is essential for sporulation and are consistent with models in which the product of spoIIAB plays a role in regulating the timing and/or compartment specificity of sigma F- and sigma G-directed transcription.
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EUROPEANIZED FINANCIAL REGULATION

Over the past two decades, the European Union has become a central actor in financial regulation and has developed complex institutions to govern financial markets. Recent scholarship has detailed the functioning of these institutions and revealed their inner dynamics. At the same time, the political economy embeddedness of financial regulation, which had inspired early research on European financial integration, has increasingly dropped out of the picture. This article makes the case for making this embeddedness central once again and exploring how the Europeanization of financial regulation has affected the political economy make-up of Europe. To do so, scholars need to study finance not only as a service sector, but also as that facet of the economy that creates and allocates credit and financial investments. Beyond the evolution of socio-economic orders inside Europe, a focus on such links provides novel avenues for making sense of the European role in global financial governance.
Altruism and Relational Incentives in the Workplace

This paper studies how altruism between managers and employees affects relational incentive contracts. To this end, we develop a simple dynamic principal–agent model where both players may have feelings of altruism or spite toward each other. The contract may contain two types of incentives for the agent to work hard: a bonus and a threat of dismissal. We find that altruism undermines the credibility of a threat of dismissal but strengthens the credibility of a bonus. Among others, these two mechanisms imply that higher altruism sometimes leads to higher bonuses, whereas lower altruism may increase productivity and players' utility in equilibrium.
A NOTE ON COMPETITIVENESS, UNIT LABOR COSTS AND GROWTH: IS "KALDOR'S PARADOX" A FIGMENT OF INTERPRETATION?

This paper shows that unit labor costs (ulcs), the most widely used measure of competitiveness, can be interpreted as the labor share in output multiplied by a price-adjustment factor. This has three main implications. First, ulcs are not just a technical concept since they embody the social relations that affect the distribution of income between the social classes. Secondly, lower ulcs should not necessarily be interpreted as implying that an economy is more competitive, i.e., that it will grow faster, and vice-versa. In wage-led growth economies, an increase in the wage share leads to an increase in the equilibrium capacity utilization rate, which leads to an increase in the growth rate of the capital stock. Hence it is possible to find that the countries with fast-growing ulcs are the ones registering faster growth in exports or in GDP. Once one analyzes ulcs taking into account their functional distribution dimension, "Kaldor's paradox" ceases to be an anomalous result. Finally, one can define the concept of unit capital cost as a measure of competitiveness and shift the burden of lack of growth or loss of market share to capital.
The Rise and Fall of Discriminatory Zoning in Hong Kongt

By using a modified Cheung model of price control, we show that discriminatory zoning is economically an inefficient protectionist alternative to nondiscriminatory zoning. The exclusionary zoning on the Peak of Hong Kong arose in order to give Europeans a housing area free from economic price competition with the Chinese. Documentary evidence is adduced to support this view of the law. Such zoning collapsed after the Second World War when European owners needed to realize their capital. Land-transaction records of certain sites on the Peak are analysed to support this interpretation. Without claiming to offer an exclusive explanation as to the formation of discriminatory law, we advance the case that discrimination is economically inefficient and will be abolished once the favoured group ceases to benefit from its continuation.
Opening Up for Competitive Advantage – How Deutsche Telekom Creates an Open Innovation Ecosystem

When, on 21st September 2006, ‘The Economist’ compared incumbent telecommunication operators with dinosaurs that could soon face extinction, most readers were ready to agree. The mixture of declining revenues and fierce competition was believed to shake the market and soon to dethrone former national champions. However, there are ways to fight that extinction and one way is to open up for competitive advantage. This paper reflects on a case study at Deutsche Telekom, the German national telecommunication operator. The aim of this study is to analyse to what extent the open innovation paradigm has been embraced inside this now multinational company. Using empirical evidence from 15 in-depth interviews, we identify 11 open innovation instruments and detail their value contribution. We can show that Deutsche Telekom has successfully enhanced its innovation capacity by opening up its traditional development process and embracing external creativity and knowledge resources.
The linkage between HRM, CSR and performance outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look into the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource management (HRM) developments in Lithuania and to study the relationship between CSR, HRM and organisational performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 119 medium and large‐sized organisations (over 100 employees) in Lithuania was conducted to study CSR and HRM implementation in the country and to test the relationship between CSR, HRM and organisational performance outcomes.Findings – In total, 78.1 per cent of the respondent organisations have a written or unwritten HR strategy. Only 38.8 per cent have a CSR statement, but more than half of respondent organisations have a code of ethics, corporate values statement and diversity statement (respectively 65.4, 63.0 and 53.1 per cent). Research findings show that there is a linkage between HRM, CSR and performance outcomes – organisations with more developed HRM, i.e. those where HRM performs a strategic role and the H.
Bullwhip Effect in a Supply Chain

An important phenomenon in supplychain management, known as the bullwhip effect, suggests that demand variabilityincreases as one moves up a supply chain. This paper gives a review of bullwhip effect, from its causes to its consequences and finally cures, which can dampen its negative effects. Part of its causes can be attributed to demand variability and the lack of communicating the actual demand between a supply chain partners. The other part is linked with obstacles to coordination in a supply chain.We suggest that orientation towards common management of information and application of managerial levers to achieve coordination, can limit the bullwhip effect and make asupply chain more profitable
On the mystery of odd human capital values

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the feasibility of market based estimations of the value of human capital in firms.Design/methodology/approach – The concept of intangible assets and market‐based valuation of human capital is presented. Cases of extreme estimates of human capital values are presented. The possibility of extremely low or even negative human capital values is examined.Findings – It is demonstrated that odd human capital values can be explained by referring to principles of valuating fixed assets and intangible liability.Practical implications – The paper demonstrates that market‐based methods for estimating the value of human capital of the firm can be feasible despite the existence of very odd human capital values.Originality/value – The findings of the paper adds to the discussion of how to valuate human capital in intellectual capital accounts in general and human capital accounts in particular.