Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality assurance in PET: evaluation of the clinical relevance of detector defects.

UNLABELLED Defective detector blocks in PET may cause serious image artifacts. To estimate the influence of malfunctioning detectors on image quality, a method is described for transferring the actual detector defect onto previously acquired scans. METHODS Consequences of detector defects of varying types and extensions were simulated in phantom studies as well as in clinical 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose investigations. First, a condition frame was obtained by dividing the sinogram of a blank measurement, obtained with rod sources on the defective PET camera, by the sinogram of a reference blank acquired before the appearance of the defect. Second, the sinogram of a previously acquired typical patient study was multiplied by the condition frame and reconstructed. Thereafter, images from corrupted sinograms were compared visually with their originals. For repairing defective sinograms, linear interpolation and the constrained Fourier space method were tested. RESULTS The effects of detector defects can be simulated accurately in patient studies. The correction methods applied are especially helpful in cases of (a) several neighboring defective detectors and small study objects, (b) small hot artifacts and (c) several nonadjacent defective detectors. Linear interpolation is faster than the constrained Fourier space method; it is more widely applicable and provides similar results. CONCLUSION The proposed approach allows specific evaluation of clinical consequences of detector defects. This technique simplifies the decision as to whether a planned patient study can be performed or must be postponed. Even in cases of serious detector problems, sinogram repair may help eliminate image artifacts and minimize the loss of image quality.
Estimating computer depreciation using online auction data

Personal computer prices decline rapidly with age. The price of a four-year-old used computer is almost one tenth of the price of a new one. This paper provides new evidence on why prices of personal computers decline so rapidly as they age, using online auction data from eBay. An innovative feature of the dataset is that it contains actual transaction prices for both desktops and notebooks, as well as exact age in days. By using a sample of used Dell computers, we examine the causes of this rapid decline. We find that age is not important due to minimal physical deterioration. Prices decline because used computers have inferior technical characteristics compared to new ones. In addition, a computer loses about 20–25 percentage points of its value the instant that it is sold. Finally, some auction characteristics are significant.
Challenging Cognitive Control by Mirrored Stimuli in Working Memory Matching

Cognitive conflict has often been investigated by placing automatic processing originating from learned associations in competition with instructed task demands. Here we explore whether mirror generalization as a congenital mechanism can be employed to create cognitive conflict. Past research suggests that the visual system automatically generates an invariant representation of visual objects and their mirrored counterparts (i.e., mirror generalization), and especially so for lateral reversals (e.g., a cup seen from the left side vs. right side). Prior work suggests that mirror generalization can be reduced or even overcome by learning (i.e., for those visual objects for which it is not appropriate, such as letters d and b). We, therefore, minimized prior practice on resolving conflicts involving mirror generalization by using kanji stimuli as non-verbal and unfamiliar material. In a 1-back task, participants had to check a stream of kanji stimuli for identical repetitions and avoid miss-categorizing mirror reversed stimuli as exact repetitions. Consistent with previous work, lateral reversals led to profound slowing of reaction times and lower accuracy in Experiment 1. Yet, different from previous reports suggesting that lateral reversals lead to stronger conflict, similar slowing for vertical and horizontal mirror transformations was observed in Experiment 2. Taken together, the results suggest that transformations of visual stimuli can be employed to challenge cognitive control in the 1-back task.
Public Value Management

The aim of this article is to clarify the nature of the management style most suited to the emergence of networked governance. The paradigms of traditional public administration and new public management sit uncomfortably with networked governance. In contrast, it is argued the public value management paradigm bases its practice in the systems of dialogue and exchange that characterize networked governance. Ultimately, the strength of public value management is seen to rest on its ability to point to a motivational force that does not solely rely on rules or incentives to drive public service practice and reform. People are, it suggests, motivated by their involvement in networks and partnerships, that is, their relationships with others formed in the context of mutual respect and shared learning. Building successful relationships is the key to networked governance and the core objective of the management needed to support it.
Internet Job Search and Labor Market Outcome

Abstract This study examines the effect of the use of internet job search (IJS) on individual wages. The data utilized in the study are obtained from the Internet and Computer Use Dictionary in the Current Population Survey of September 2001 and October 2003. An Oaxaca Decomposition is used to examine the extent to which wage differences are influenced by IJS. The results show that accessibility to the internet is a crucial factor in the decision of an individual to utilize the internet for job search activities. However, no clear evidence exists that IJS increases individual wages. Additionally, the study also demonstrates that IJS is subject to self-selection bias. Thus, failure to control for self-selection bias results in a very serious bias in estimation.
The Arabic language and national identity : a study in ideology

Considering the communicative and symbolic roles of language in articulating national identity, Yasir Suleiman provides a fresh perspective on nationalism in the Middle East. The links between language and nationalism are delineated and he demonstrates how this has been articulated over the past two centuries. Straddling the domains of cultural and political nationalism, Suleiman examines the Arab past (looking at the interpretation and reinvention of tradition, and myth-making); the clash between Arab and Turkish cultural nationalism in the 19th and early 20th century; readings of canonical treatises on the topic of Arab cultural nationalism, the major ideological trends linking language to territorial nationalism; and provides a research agenda for the study of language and nationalism in the Arab context. This the first full-scale study of this important topic and will be of interest to students of nationalism, Arab and comparative politics, Arabic Studies, history, cultural studies and sociolinguistics.
Help, risk and deceit: microentrepreneurs talk about microfinance

Microenterprise lending has emerged as an important development strategy internationally. Its goal is to support micro and small businesses as motors for impoverished local economies and to build sustainable microfinance organizations to serve these businesses. This article explores the experiences of microentrepreneurs in Sucre, Bolivia to probe the relationships underlying the microenterprise lending process. This study illustrates how these ostensibly commercial transactions were grounded in complex assumptions about social development, external assistance and power. The article illustrates the divide between 'developers' and the 'developed' in their shared quest to 'help businesses grow', and concludes that building strong lending institutions does not automatically translate into broad-based benefits for microentrepreneurs or their businesses. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Portraying the Nature of Corruption Using an Explorative Case Study Design

What is the nature of corruption in Western democracies? To answer this research question, the authors study 10 Dutch corruption cases in depth, looking at confidential criminal files. The cases allow them to sketch a general profile of a corruption case. The authors offer nine propositions to portray the nature of corruption. They conclude that corruption usually takes place within enduring relationships, that the process of becoming corrupt can be characterized as a slippery slope, and that important motives for corruption, aside from material gain, include friendship or love, status, and the desire to impress others. The explorative multiple case study methodology helps to expand our understanding of the way in which officials become corrupt.
The Effect of Financial Constraints, Investment Policy, Product Market Competition and Corporate Governance on the Value of Cash Holdings

This study empirically investigates the value shareholders place on excess cash holdings and how shareholders’ valuation of cash holdings is associated with financial constraints, firm growth, cash-flow uncertainty and product market competition for Australian firms from 1990 to 2007. Our results indicate that the marginal value of cash holdings to shareholders declines with larger cash holdings and higher leverage. However, firms that are more financially constrained, that have higher growth rates and that face greater uncertainty exhibit a higher marginal value of cash holdings. These findings are consistent with the explanation that excess cash holdings are not necessarily detrimental to firm value. Firms with costly external financing and that also save more cash for current operating and future investing needs find that the market values these cash hoarding policies favourably. Finally, there is limited evidence of an association between various corporate governance measures and the value of cash holdings for a shorter sample period.
Experiences of female partners of masculine-identifying trans persons

This paper explores the intimate relationship experiences of the cisgender (i.e., not transgender) female partners of masculine-identifying transgender persons, with a particular focus on these partners' self-understanding of their sexual orientation. Limited research about this topic has been conducted to date. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight South African women who are or have been cisgender female partners of masculine-identifying trans persons. Although the interviews showed that the relationship experiences of female partners of masculine-identifying trans persons are diverse, several common themes emerged in the narratives. The way that participants labelled their sexual orientation did not change from before to after their relationship with a transgender partner. The participants reported varied family and community responses to their relationships. Specific emotional and informational support needs for women with transgender partners were identified.
Effective organisation and management of public sector volunteer workers: Police Special Constables

Increasing numbers of people internationally are volunteering their time and expertise to a wide range of public sector and not‐for‐profit organisations. This resource needs to be organised and managed effectively to realise the potential benefits. Surveys 1,226 male and female volunteer Special Constables and regular officers from five UK police forces. Reports their motivations, experiences, preferences, deployment, training, relationships with full‐time officers, reasons for leaving and factors influencing the decision to rejoin. Identifies demographic factors associated with length of service. Managerial and organisational implications are discussed, particularly the need for detailed, up to date information on the volunteers and their experiences and aspirations to aid recruitment, retention and effective deployment.
Neural Population Decoding Reveals the Intrinsic Positivity of the Self

Abstract People are motivated to hold favorable views of themselves, which manifests as a positivity bias when evaluating their own performance and abilities. However, it remains an open question whether positive affect is an essential component of people's self‐concept. Prior functional neuroimaging research demonstrated that similar regions of the brain support positive affect and self‐referential processing, although a direct test of their shared representation has yet to be examined. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with multivariate pattern analysis in a cross‐domain neural population decoding paradigm. We found that a multivariate pattern classifier model trained to dissociate neural responses to viewing positively and negatively valenced images can dissociate thinking about oneself from a close friend during a lexical trait‐judgment task commonly used in the study of self‐referential processing. Cross‐domain classification accuracy was found to be highest in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC), a region previously implicated in both self‐referential processing and positive affect. These results show that brain responses during self‐referential processing can be decoded from multi‐voxel activation patterns in the vMPFC when viewing positively valenced material, thereby providing evidence that positive affect may be a central component of the mental representation of the self.
From education-to-work : opportunities and challenges in the West Bank and Gaza

Young Palestinians face serious employment challenges upon graduation. In 2009, unemployment among youth 15-24 years old was 28 percent for men and 36 percent for women in West Bank and 57 percent for men and 68 percent for women in Gaza. To better understand the reasons behind these poor labor market indicators, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) in collaboration with the World Bank conducted focus group discussions with concerned stakeholders in March 2011. This quick note provides a summary of the presentation on the patterns of education-to-work transitions of youth in the West Bank and Gaza (WBG) made by the World Bank team to the focus group meetings. It also incorporates a summary of the subsequent discussions.
The Choice of Stripping for a Living

Examination of the relevant theoretical and research literature suggests two distinct, and even contrasting, approaches have been used in the study of occupational choice processes. Katz and Martin (1962) have used the term adventitious to refer to the approach which views occupational decision-making as essentially accidental, nonrational, spontaneous, and based on situational contingencies. In the adventitious approach, pressures external to work effect a fortuitiously derived occupational choice. The second approach, stressed in the works of Ginzberg et al. (1951) and Blau et al. (1956), conceives of occupational selection as the end product of a more or less series of previously made rational decisions. Proponents of the purposive approach believe occupational choice to be a compromise between reward preferences and opportunities to enter specific occupational positions. In sum, whereas rational considerations
Variation in amino acid digestibility of rapeseed meal studied in caecectomised laying hens and relationship with chemical constituents

1. The objectives were to study the variation in amino acid (AA) digestibility of rapeseed meal in laying hens and to investigate whether the variation in AA digestibility can be explained by chemical constituents of the rapeseed meal. Nine rapeseed meals from different processing plants operating in Germany were used. The crude protein and crude fibre concentrations of the meals ranged from 367 to 410 and 137 to 175 g/kg dry matter (DM), respectively. The concentrations of total glucosinolates varied between 5·1 and 12·9 mmol/kg DM. Each meal was included in one of the experimental diets at an inclusion level of 200 g/kg at the expense of maize starch. 2. A total of 16 Lohmann Brown laying hens were used for this experiment and were surgically caecectomised. They were housed individually in metabolism cages. Each of the 10 diets was fed to at least 6 hens in 4 periods of two weeks duration. Excreta were collected during the last 5 d of each period. The digestibility coefficient of AA was calculated for each diet. The digestibility of the rapeseed meals was calculated by multiple linear regression analysis. 3. Mean essential AA digestibility of rapeseed meals varied between 0·78 and 0·84. Among the essential amino acids, the highest level of digestibility was found for arginine (0·88) and methionine (0·87), and the lowest for lysine (0·74) and threonine (0·75). The highest variation between rapeseed meals in digestibility was found for threonine (0·68 to 0·79) and lysine (0·68 to 0·78). The concentration of neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen of the rapeseed meals was negatively correlated with the digestibility of lysine, but was not significantly correlated with digestibility of any other AA. Glucosinolate concentration was significantly correlated with valine digestibility. 4. Multiple regression analysis showed that the concentrations of crude protein and ash together were the major factors considered to explain variation in digestibility of essential AA. Additional consideration of neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen and total glucosinolates improved the goodness of fit only marginally and was unlikely to be of practical significance.
Blood Vessel Epicardial Substance (Bves) Regulates Epidermal Tight Junction Integrity through Atypical Protein Kinase C*

Background: The regulatory mechanisms of Bves in tight junction integrity is not fully understood. Results: Both aPKC and Bves are indispensable for claudin expression in cell membrane of zebrafish keratinocytes. Conclusion: Bves works in coordination with aPKC to regulate claudin formation and stability. Significance: Bves may play an important role in regulating tight junction integrity through aPKC. Bves is widely observed in the cell junction of the skin, epicardium, intestine, and cornea of both developmental embryos and mature adults. However, it is not clear how Bves confers its role in intercellular adhesion. Here, we identified the zebrafish bves (zBves) and found that the epidermal barrier function could be disrupted after knockdown of Bves, and these zBves morphants were sensitive to osmotic stress. A loss of zBves would affect the partitioning defective protein (PAR) junctional complex identified by the rescue experiment with tjp-2/ZO-2 or the PAR complex (par-3, par-6, and prkci/atypical (a)PKC) mRNAs, in which the survival rate of embryos increased 11, 24, 25, and 28%, respectively, after injection with junctional components; the tjp-2 and aPKC mRNA-rescued embryos also had 24 and 45% decreases in the defective rate. Immunofluorescent studies demonstrated that the aggregation of aPKC around the cell junctions had disintegrated in zBves morphants. However, the expression and assembly of zBves were not influenced by aPKC-MO. These results indicate that a loss of zBves affects the proteins involved in the pathway of the PAR junctional complex, especially aPKC, and both aPKC and Bves are indispensable to claudin expression.
The Growth of the Utilities Industries in Italy, 1861–1913

This article presents new estimates of the Italian utilities industries' production from 1861 to 1913. The improvements over the currently available series include the restriction of the electricity series to the production of the electric utilities, the extrapolation of the gas production series to 1861, and the calculation of production series for the water supply industry. These new estimates suggest that the existing aggregate production series significantly overstates the utilities' growth rate. The existing utilities series for other countries do not incorporate separate estimates for the water supply industry, and also appear to overstate the industryapos;s growth rate.
Finance and Growth: A Macroeconomic Assessment of the Evidence from a European Angle

This paper reviews the literature on the finance-growth nexus within a neoclassical growth framework, placing an emphasis on the policy implications in the current European environment, that has placed financial reforms high on the policy Agenda. While more research is needed to establish causality and verify the theoretical channels linking access to finance and growth, firm-level, industry-level, macro, and country-specific studies all tend to show a significant correlation between financial efficiency and economic performance. The empirical evidence hint that in underdeveloped and emerging countries financial development fosters aggregate growth mainly by lowering the cost of capital, while in advanced economies by raising total-factor-productivity. JEL Classification: G00, O00
An ecological perspective on entrepreneurship in industrial districts

The model of industrial districts postulates that business foundings are driven by co–operative and competitive processes. These dynamic processes reflect inter–firm learning, operational flexibility, and constant innovation, and are seen as the source of a district's economic vitality. However, empirical studies have usually followed static research designs and investigators have tended to make dynamic inferences from cross–sectional data. In this study, the author draws on organizational ecological theory to test hypotheses concerning temporal variations in the relationship between co–operation, competition, and business founding rates in a textile–clothing district in Germany.
Gastrin‐Releasing Peptide, Immune Responses, and Lung Disease

Gastrin‐releasing peptide (GRP) is produced by pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs), with highest numbers of GRP‐positive cells present in fetal lung. Normally GRP‐positive PNECs are relatively infrequent after birth, but PNEC hyperplasia is frequently associated with chronic lung diseases. To address the hypothesis that GRP mediates chronic lung injury, we present the cumulative evidence implicating GRP in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the chronic lung disease of premature infants who survive acute respiratory distress syndrome. The availability of well‐characterized animal models of BPD was a critical tool for demonstrating that GRP plays a direct role in the early pathogenesis of this disease. Potential mechanisms by which GRP contributes to injury are analyzed, with the main focus on innate immunity. Autoreactive T cells may contribute to lung injury late in the course of disease. A working model is proposed with GRP triggering multiple cell types in both the innate and adaptive immune systems, promoting cascades culminating in chronic lung disease. These observations represent a paradigm shift in the understanding of the early pathogenesis of BPD, and suggest that GRP blockade could be a novel treatment to prevent this lung disease in premature infants.