Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A note on relative violation arguments in expected penalty functions for permit noncompliance

Models of firm noncompliance under imperfectly enforced standards and permit regimes normally include a level violation argument in the firm's expected penalty function, analogous to the constraint term in a Lagrangian function. This article suggests that a relative violation argument may be more appropriate in many cases and demonstrates how this can change our predictions about firm behaviour under permit regimes.
Labor Market Shifts and the Price Puzzle Revisited

This paper examines the relationship between price growth and skill intensity across 150 manufacturing industries between 1989 and 1995. There are two main findings. First, wage growth and intermediate goods price increases are passed through to final product prices roughly in proportion to their factor shares. Second, product prices have grown relatively less in sectors that more intensively utilize less-skilled labor. The latter finding is consistent with the Stolper-Samuelson theory of expanded trade with countries that are abundant in less-skilled workers, as well as with some models of technological change.
Clinicopathological characteristics of signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach

Background: Signet ring cell (SRC) carcinoma of the stomach is characterized by its poor prognosis and potential to infiltrate the wall of stomach, although survival studies comparing carcinomas with and without SRC features have yielded inconsistent results. This study compared the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with SRC carcinoma with those with non‐signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach (NSRC).
Role of Quorum Sensing and Antimicrobial Component Production by Serratia plymuthica in Formation of Biofilms, Including Mixed Biofilms with Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT We have previously characterized the N-acyl-l-homoserine lactone-based quorum-sensing system of the biofilm isolate Serratia plymuthica RVH1. Here we investigated the role of quorum sensing and of quorum-sensing-dependent production of an antimicrobial compound (AC) on biofilm formation by RVH1 and on the cocultivation of RVH1 and Escherichia coli in planktonic cultures or in biofilms. Biofilm formation of S. plymuthica was not affected by the knockout of splI or splR, the S. plymuthica homologs of the luxI or luxR quorum-sensing gene, respectively, or by the knockout of AC production. E. coli grew well in mixed broth culture with RVH1 until the latter reached 8.5 to 9.5 log CFU/ml, after which the E. coli colony counts steeply declined. In comparison, only a very small decline occurred in cocultures with the S. plymuthica AC-deficient and splI mutants. Complementation with exogenous N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone rescued the wild-type phenotype of the splI mutant. The splR knockout mutant also induced a steep decline of E. coli, consistent with its proposed function as a repressor of quorum-sensing-regulated genes. The numbers of E. coli in 3-day-old mixed biofilms followed a similar pattern, being higher with S. plymuthica deficient in SplI or AC production than with wild-type S. plymuthica, the splR mutant, or the splI mutant in the presence of N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone. Confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis of mixed biofilms established with strains producing different fluorescent proteins showed that E. coli microcolonies were less developed in the presence of RVH1 than in the presence of the AC-deficient mutant.
Salvinorin A pretreatment preserves cerebrovascular autoregulation after brain hypoxic/ischemic injury via extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase in piglets.

BACKGROUND Cerebral hypoxia/ischemia during infant congenital heart surgery is not uncommon and may induce devastating neurologic disabilities persistent over the lifespan. Hypoxia/ischemia-induced cerebrovascular dysfunction is thought to be an important contributor to neurological damage. No pharmacological agents have been found to prevent this. Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), including extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun-N-terminal kinase, and p38, is thought to contribute to ischemic preconditioning. We investigated whether pretreatment with salvinorin A, the only natural nonopioid κ receptor agonist, could preserve autoregulation of the pial artery via MAPK. METHODS The response of the pial artery to hypotension and hypercapnia was monitored in piglets equipped with a closed cranial window before and after hypoxia and ischemia in the presence or absence of U0126, an inhibitor for the protein kinase upstream of ERK, sp600125, an inhibitor of c-Jun-N-terminal kinase or sb203580, an inhibitor of p38. Salvinorin A (10 μg/kg IV) was administered 30 minutes before hypoxia/ischemia in salvinorin-treated animals. Cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected before and 30 minutes after salvinorin A administration for the measurement of MAPK. Data (n = 5) were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS Pial artery dilation to hypercapnia and hypotension was blunted after hypoxia/ ischemia but preserved well by pretreatment with salvinorin A. U0126, but not sp600125 or sb203580, abolished the preservative effects of salvinorin A on cerebral vascular autoregulation to hypotension and hypercapnia. The ratio of pERK/ERK in cerebrospinal fluid increased significantly in salvinorin-treated animals, which was inhibited by U0126. CONCLUSIONS Salvinorin A pretreatment preserves autoregulation of the pial artery to hypotension and hypercapnia after hypoxia/ischemia via ERK in a piglet model.
Social and landscape effects on food webs: a multi-level network simulation model

One source of complexity in ecological systems is the hierarchical organization of parallel biological processes. Our ‘horizontal’ knowledge describing different levels is quite massive, but the understanding of their vertical interactions is very poor. We present a toy model linking social networks, food webs and a landscape graph. Horizontal processes refer to population, community and metacommunity dynamics, while vertical processes connect the three organizational levels. The model is stochastic and individual-based. We parametrized it by using reasonable empirical values found in the literature. Sensitivity analysis shows how the parameters describing the dynamics of a particular species (e.g., probability of social tie formation with conspecific individuals, or migration rate) can affect metapopulation size and spatial heterogeneity of all food web species. Changing the values of various parameters at any of the three levels have commensurable effects on the population size of all species. In contrast to the general intuition, community dynamics do not dominate population biology; social and landscape processes can trigger greater effects than food web interactions. More rapidly changing social relationships lead to a decrease in social network cohesion, thus impairing the feeding efficiency of consumers. In food webs, trophic specialization provides an advantage when it contributes to avoid competition, being detrimental otherwise. Highest migration rates result in a more heterogeneous metapopulation distribution of the generalist consumer, indirectly supporting its specialist competitor. We discuss conceptual and methodological aspects of the model, demonstrating the importance of an integrative view. We also emphasize the relevance of vertical connections, suggesting how such a modelling framework could support conservation biology. Further studies should focus on methods to approximate external pressures with changes in model parameters, thus allowing to characterize possible impacts on ecological systems.
An Experiment to Investigate the Externalities of Search

This paper presents an experiment to investigate the impact of information externalities in a search model. The model implies that information spillovers create an initial delay in action by agents, followed by a flurry of activity once some public information is revealed. Conversely, this experiment reveals a shorter delay prior to the first subject moving than the model suggests. Furthermore, the subsequent increase in activity is greater than predicted. However, as the sessions progress, the subjects exhibit a degree of learning in each treatment. They prolong their search for higher payouts and, hence, their behaviour approaches that of the model's optimal strategy.
Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Mutation Spectra and Resistance to Quinolones in Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis with a Mutator Phenotype

ABSTRACT Resistance to quinolone antibiotics has been associated with single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) of gyrA. Mutations in the gyrA gene were compared by using mutant populations derived from wild-type Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and its isogenic mutS::Tn10 mutator counterpart. Spontaneous mutants arising during nonselective growth were isolated by selection with either nalidixic acid, enrofloxacin, or ciprofloxacin. QRDR SNPs were identified in approximately 70% (512 of 695) of the isolates via colony hybridization with radiolabeled oligonucleotide probes. Notably, transition base substitution SNPs in the QRDR were dramatically increased in mutants derived from the mutS strain. Some, but not all, antibiotic-resistant mutants lacking QRDR SNPs were resistant to tetracycline and chloramphenicol, consistent with alterations in nonspecific efflux pumps or other membrane transport mechanisms. Changing the selection conditions shifted the mutation spectrum. Selection with ciprofloxacin was least likely to yield a mutant harboring either a QRDR SNP or chloramphenicol resistance. Selection with enrofloxacin was more likely to yield mutants containing Ser83→Phe mutations, whereas selection with ciprofloxacin or nalidixic acid favored recovery of Asp87→Gly mutants. Fluoroquinolone-resistant Salmonella strains isolated from veterinary or clinical settings frequently display a mutational spectrum with a preponderance of transition SNPs in the QRDR, the pattern found in vitro among mutS mutator mutants reported here. Both the preponderance of transition mutations and the varied mutation spectra reported for veterinary and clinical isolates suggest that bacterial mutators defective in methyl-directed mismatch repair may play a role in the emergence of quinolone and fluoroquinolone resistance in feral settings.
European minority languages: endangered or revived?

A diagnosis is offered of language learning factors that contribute to the revival of European minority languages. In this paper four frameworks will be discussed. [1] The theory of Reversing Language Shift (Fishman 1991, 2001). The "family-home-neighborhoodcommunity-nexus" is the central stage for language learning in the GIDS-scale of degrees of 'disruption' of minority language communities. [2] The Euromosaic study (Nelde, Strubell and Williams 1996), is a comparative study of minority language groups in the European Union. It offers a theoretical framework which gives a central place to reproduction and production of language groups through language learning as first and as second language. An important outcome is the ranking of language groups. [3] The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe (1998). The Charter provides a formal division into social fields which are relevant for the promotion of learning of minority languages. [4] The Unesco Ad hoc expert group on language endangerment (2003) has proposed a set of nine factors to assess the vitality of a particular threatened language, where continued language learning is of crucial importance. These four approaches will be compared on the dimension of language learning.
Evidence that implementation intentions reduce single-occupancy car use in a rural population: moderating effects of compliance with instructions

Implementation intentions have successfully changed a range of behaviours, but remain relatively untested in populations that might be less compliant with instructions than students. Four hundred and fifteen rural dwellers were randomly allocated to receive questionnaires only or a questionnaire furnished with an implementation intention instruction. Three hundred and fifty-two were successfully contacted again and provided follow-up data. The main outcome measure was single-occupancy car use; theory of planned behaviour variables were used as secondary outcome measures. Findings revealed that, across the full sample, implementation intentions successfully arrested an increase in single-occupancy car use, F(1, 365) = 4.62, p < 0.05, = 0.01. Compliance with the instructions was low (25%) and significantly affected the findings: Whereas the single-occupancy car use of compliers significantly decreased, F(1, 51) = 7.39, p < 0.01, = 0.13, the single-occupancy car use of non-compliers significantly increased, F(1, 155) = 12.14, p < 0.01, = 0.07. Non-compliers were significantly less motivated to change their behaviour at baseline, F(5, 179) = 6.11, p < 0.01, = 0.15. The findings provide support for the use of implementation intentions to promote pro-environmental behaviour in a rural population, but further research into the causes and consequences of non-compliance is required.
Growth performance and range shift of the subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) in the Qinling Mountains, China

Trees in the subalpine environment, a particularly vulnerable area being the first to reflect climate changes, are most likely to show strong effects of climate variability. The aim of this study was to identify growth responses of subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) to climate variability, and investigate range shifts along an altitudinal gradient in the subalpine region of the Qinling Mountains, China. Standard correlation functional analysis showed different growth responses of fir trees to climatic variables between north and south aspects. In the north aspect, radial growth was significantly positively correlated with temperatures in early spring (February–April) and summer (July) of the current year, while radial growth was significantly positively correlated with temperatures in November and December of the previous year and early spring (February–April) of the current year in the south aspect. Analysis of age structure distribution displayed a decrease in number of mature fir trees and an increase in number of saplings along the altitudinal gradient on both aspects. Fir saplings/seedlings only occur in the treeline environment, and this fir population was significantly younger than that at lower elevations. Thus, fir trees show different radial growth patterns in response to climatic variability between north and south aspects, and age-class distributions along the altitudinal gradient imply an upward shift in range in the subalpine region during the past century in the Qinling Mountains of China.
Travelling people in England: Regional comparisons

Sibley D. (1985) Travelling people in England: regional comparisons, Reg. Studies 19, 139–147. This study is an account of spatial variation in the numbers of Traveller families in England. Counts of caravans compiled by the Department of the Environment for district authorities are analysed, using exploratory data methods. Mean numbers, variability and periodicity are examined for the national data and for three standard regions. The results provide some information on rural-urban differences, migration patterns and the impact of sites on movement patterns. The use made of such information is considered to be an important ethical question.
R&D, public innovation policy, and productivity: The case of danish manufacturing

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between private R&D, public innovation support transferred to the private sector, and productivity in Danish manufacturing. Two main conclusions are established. First, public innovation support has a positive and significant effect on private R&D expenditures with an estimated elasticity of 0.062. Second, the indirect effect on productivity from public innovation support is reflected in a positive point estimate which is found to be robust to different specifications of R&D capital.
Understanding the Relationship between Financial Development and Monetary Policy

In this paper we summarize the results of a broad exploratory empirical analysis where we relate the level of financial development with the effectiveness of monetary policy. The analysis is based on a panel of countries for which we calculate measures both of financial development and of monetary policy effectiveness. We look for statistically significant relationships between the indicators of financial development, the effectiveness coefficients, and other macroeconomic characteristics by estimating dynamic panels and performing a cluster analysis. We present our results in the form of a list of stylized facts that we consider deserve further attention.
Openness and censorship in the European Union: An interrupted time series analysis

This study examines transparency and censorship in the Council of Ministers of the European Union from 1999 to 2009. We measure transparency by considering the timeliness of record release and the levels of censorship applied to records when (and if) they are released. We show that legislation introduced in 2001 (Regulation 1049) triggered a massive shift towards greater transparency, in line with its intention. However, we also show that the trend towards greater transparency has been interrupted by the enlargement rounds in 2004 and 2007. We attribute this fact to inexperience on the part of the new member states and the resulting need for censorship while these states adjusted to the negotiation styles in the Council.
The effects of environmental risk information on auditors' decisions about prospective financial statements

This study tests a model of how auditors make decisions when presented with environmental risk information in the context of a task that requires their professional opinion on a company's forecasted information. Auditing provided a small-world context where declarative and procedural knowledge have been well documented in terms of the rules for analysing financial information. This research uses a conceptual modelling approach to determine auditors' perceptions of environmental risk information and the effects on their judgement and decision choices when issuing an examination report supporting forecasted financial statements. Auditors were provided with environmental risk information that they had to process and integrate in their decision-making. The results demonstrated that auditors act on unfamiliar declarative knowledge using their standard procedural knowledge. The results from eighty-four senior auditors displayed evidence that auditors' perception of environmental risk information is downplayed compare to the traditional accounting information during their judgement and decision choice phases. When confronted with conflicting information, auditors tend to place more reliance on financial rather than environmental risk information. One of the implications of this study is that auditors should be trained to handle non-traditional information, such as environmental risk.
CLINICAL FEATURES OF PARAFFIN POISONING

Of the different external causes of death from unintentional injury among children between the ages of 1 to 14 years in 2000/2001, poisonings ranked fourth after road traffic accidents, fires and drowning (Taft, Paul, Consunji & Miller, 2002). Paraffin (known as kerosene in some countries) poisoning by ingestion is known to be the most common cause of acute unintentional poisoning in the South African black paediatric population (De Wet et al., 1994; Ellis, Krug, Robertson, Hay & MacIntyre, 1994; Joubert, 1990).
Advanced Vaccine Research Methods for the Decade of Vaccines

Predatory prokaryotes have evolved a unique strategy of obtaining energy and biosynthetic materials from their surroundings: acquiring them from other living bacterial cells. These types of microbes have been found in a diverse variety of environments, and may play an important role in modulating microbial population structure and dynamics, as has been hypothesized for marine viruses and possibly protists. Only one genus of predatory bacterium, Bdellovibrio, has been extensively described and studied, though several other examples have been reported in the literature. In this review, the four basic strategies used by currently described predatory prokaryotes will be discussed: ‘‘wolfpack’’ group predation, epibiotic attachment, direct cytoplasmic invasion, and periplasmic invasion. Special adaptations to each approach will be considered, and compared overall to the genetic and biochemical characteristics of symbiotic or pathogenic prokaryotes living within eukaryotic cells. Two specific examples of predatory microbes, Bdellovibrio and Ensifer, will be described in terms of predation strategy, association with host cells, and host range. The prospects for bringing to bear the tools of molecular microbial genetics to the study of predatory prokaryotes will be explored, using current research with Bdellovibrio and Ensifer as examples.
Usual risk factors do not predict venous thromboembolism in newly diagnosed myeloma treated with immunomodulatory drugs

grade of fibrosis (0–3; Fig. 1, panel A) and for 2016 WHO revised diagnosis (preMF vs overt MF; Fig. 1 panel B). The data strengthen the impact of fibrosis grade on overall survival (OS): OS was not reached in grade 0, 14.7 years in grade 1, 6.7 years and 7.2 years in grade 2–3, with statistically significant differences between grade 0 (used as reference) and grade 1 (HR 3.9, 95%CI 1.4-10.9) and grade 2 (HR 7.3, 95%CI 2.7-20.0) and 3 (HR 8.7, 95%CI 3.1-24.2). When preMF (fibrosis grade 0 and 1) and overt MF (grade 2 and 3) were compared each other, OS was significantly shorter in the latter category of patients (HR 2.4, 95%CI 1.7-3.3). In summary, the re-analysis of our series after including patients with grade 0 fibrosis and adopting the 2016 WHO criteria to distinguish preMF and overt MF, as suggested by Drs Elliott and Tefferi, confirm the negative prognostic impact of higher grades of fibrosis and highlight clinical and molecular uniqueness of preMF in comparison to overt MF, indirectly reinforcing the rationale at the basis of the revised WHO diagnostic criteria.
Who Trades Futures and How: Evidence from the Heating Oil Futures Market

Dividing the 223 largest traders of heating oil futures between June 1993 and March 1997 into 11 different line-of-business groupings, we document their trading activity. We find substantial and significant differences between the 11 trader types in their propensity to take long, short, or spread positions; the terms-to-maturity of their holdings; their turnover rates; and the size of their positions. We also find that both trading volume and open-interest positions are dominated by potential hedgers but that it is not appropriate to treat traders whom the Commodity Futures Trading Commission classifies as commercials as hedgers.
Overeducation and earnings: some further paneldata evidence

It is generally found that overeducated workers earn less than adequately educated workers with similar years of education. We investigate whether this finding may be attributed to worker heterogeneity on the basis of panel data for Flemish school leavers and job analysis measurement. The estimated overeducation penalty at labour market entry diminishes but remains statistically significant after the inclusion of individual fixed effects. Yet, this penalty is found to drop with years of work experience. Our outcomes suggest that this drop results at least partly from the selection of overeducated individuals into better paying industries and firms.