Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Choice without Awareness: Ethical and Policy Implications of Defaults

Defaults have such powerful and pervasive effects on consumer behavior that they could be considered “hidden persuaders” in some settings. Ignoring defaults is not a sound option for marketers or consumer policy makers. The authors identify three theoretical causes of default effects—implied endorsement, cognitive biases, and effort—to guide thought on the appropriate marketer and policy maker responses to the issues posed for consumer welfare and consumer autonomy, including proposals for benign “nudges” of behavior. Defaults can be a preferred form of decision architecture; that is, other nonconscious influences on choice and an absence of established preferences can mean that active choice is not always the better alternative. The authors propose “smart defaults” as welfare-enhancing and market-oriented alternatives to the current practice of generally ignoring default effects. Their analysis highlights the importance of considering the process as well as the outcomes of consumer decision making and taking responsibility for consumers' mistakes arising from misuse of defaults. The authors conclude by reflecting on the ethical and policy implications of techniques that influence consumer choice without awareness.
Poly(lactic acid)/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer blend composites with wood flour and wollastonite: Physical properties, morphology, and biodegradability

In the present study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a biodegradable plastic, was melt‐blended with five weight percentages (10–50 wt%) of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer, a non‐biodegradable plastic, having a vinyl acetate content of 19 wt% and a melt flow index of 530 g/10 min, on a twin screw extruder, followed by an injection molding. The blends at 10 and 20 wt% EVA revealed a noticeably increased impact strength and strain at break over the pure PLA, and the blend at 10 wt% EVA exhibited the highest impact strength and strain at break. The 90/10 (wt%/wt%) PLA/EVA blend was then selected for preparing either single or hybrid composite with wood flour (WF) and wollastonite (WT). The filler loading was fixed at 30 parts by weight per hundred of resin throughout the experiment, and the WF/WT weight ratios were 30/0, 20/10, 15/15, 10/20, and 0/30. The prepared composites were examined for their mechanical and thermal properties, melt flow index, flammability, water uptake, and biodegradability as a function of composition. All the composites showed a filler‐dose‐dependent decrease in the impact strength and strain at break, but an increase in the tensile and flexural modulus (optimal at 0/30 WF/WT) and tensile and flexural strength (optimal at 30/0 WF/WT) as compared with the neat 90/10 (wt%/wt%) PLA/EVA blend. In addition, the melt flow index, char residue, anti‐dripping ability, water uptake, and biodegradability of the composites were also higher than those of the neat blend. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL. , 25:313–327, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers
Are You Paying Your Employees to Cheat? An Experimental Investigation

Abstract We compare, through a laboratory experiment using salient financial incentives, misrepresentations of performance under target-based compensation with those under both a linear piece-rate and a tournament-based bonus system. An anagram game was employed as the experimental task. Results show that productivity was similar and statistically indistinguishable under the three schemes. In contrast, whether one considers the number of overclaimed words, the number of work/pay periods in which overclaims occur, or the number of participants making an overclaim at least once, target-based compensation produced significantly more cheating than either of the other two systems. While earlier research has compared cheating under target-based compensation with cheating under non-performance-based compensation, which offers no financial incentive to cheat, this is the first study that compares cheating under target-based schemes to cheating under other performance-based schemes. The results suggest that cheating as a response to incentives can be mitigated without giving up performance pay altogether.
SOME HISTOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF LYMPHOID TISSUE IN GERMFREE ANIMALS: II. STUDIES ON PHAGOCYTOSIS IN VIVO

Studies on phagocytosis in germfree animals have been concerned mainly with the phagocytic activity of blood leukocytes for bacteria in vitro. Differences in the phagocytic activity of circulating leukocytes from germfree and control rats were observed by J. P. Doll of the Lobund Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. , for certain, but not all, types of bacteria tested (personal communication). Wagner, elsewhere in this monograph, reports agglutinins for Micrococcus epidermidis, but not for Escherichia coli in germfree rats, and has confirmed similar observations in germfree mice (personal communication). The parallelism between the results obtained by these investigators indicates that the observed differences in phagocytic activity between germfree and control rats probably depended on the presence or absence of antibodies for the bacteria tested. A few unpublished studies about the reticuloendothelial system of germfree animals in vivo have been made by C. Hyman of the University of California, Los Angeles, Cal. (unpublished data) and by H. A. Gordon of the Lobund Institute. These investigators have found that the Kupffer cells of the liver in germfree animals were quite capable of taking up substances such as Evans blue and Thorotrast. * Biozzi et ul. ' have shown that, in normal animals, the rate ,,of phagocytosis for a standardized homogeneous carbon suspension of 250 A particle size is dependent on the dose of the intravenously injected carbon. The rate of phagocytosis is expressed with thc aid of a phagocytic index, K. This factor K is related to the concentration of carbon in the blood a t various times after the carbon injection according to the equation Cc = Co-k' and therefore can be calculated graphically. If the injected dose of carbon is kept constant, K is a measure of the phagocytic activity of the reticuloendothelial system (RES). K depends on the combined relative weights of liver and spleen according to the equation a = (body weight/weight liver and s p l e e n ) q z . This factor a is a measure for the phagocytic activity of the RES as corrected for organ weight and has been found to vary little among different control mice for a given dose of carbon. The clearance of heat-killed Pm-labeled bacteria from the blood stream, however, has been found to be relatively independent of the injected dose of bacteria. It is more subject to the influence of serum factors of which specific antibodies are the most important and act as a limiting factor.2
The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices

Applying a geographic lens to mutual fund performance, this study finds that fund managers earn substantial abnormal returns in nearby investments. These returns are particularly strong among funds that are small and old, focus on few holdings, and operate out of remote areas. Furthermore, we find that while the average fund exhibits only a modest bias toward local stocks, certain funds strongly bias their holdings locally and exhibit even greater local performance. Finally, we demonstrate that the extent to which a firm is held by nearby investors is positively related to its future expected return. Our results suggest that investors trade local securities at an informational advantage and point toward a link between such trading and asset prices.
Effects and Value of Verifiable Information in a Controversial Market: Evidence from Lab Auctions of Genetically Modified Food

"Food products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients have entered the market over the past decade. The biotech industry and environmental groups have disseminated conflicting private information about GM foods. This paper develops a unique methodology for valuing independent third-party information in such a setting and applies this method to consumers' willingness to pay for food products that might be GM. Data are collected from real consumers in an auction market setting with randomized information and labeling treatments. The average value of third-party information per lab participant is small, but the public good value across U.S. consumers is shown to be quite large. " ("JEL" C91, D12, D82) Copyright 2007 Western Economic Association International.
THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MAGNESIUM ALLOYS Mg-Li-RE AFTER THE PROCESS OF CASTING AND EXTRUSION

The article presents tests results of the influence of extrusion process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of magnesium alloy with lithium and rare earth elements with symbols LAE442 and LAE842. Microstructures of magnesium alloys after extrusion were compared with microstructure after casting and homogenisation. Presented results show the mechanical properties marked in static compression test in room temperature. It was stated that alloy LAE842 is characterised with better plasticity than the alloy LAE442.
Distinct Properties of Hexameric but Functionally Conserved Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transcription-Repair Coupling Factor

Transcription coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) is involved in correcting UV-induced damage and other road-blocks encountered in the transcribed strand. Mutation frequency decline (Mfd) is a transcription repair coupling factor, involved in repair of template strand during transcription. Mfd from M. tuberculosis (MtbMfd) is 1234 amino-acids long harboring characteristic modules for different activities. Mtbmfd complemented Escherichia coli mfd (Ecomfd) deficient strain, enhanced survival of UV irradiated cells and increased the road-block repression in vivo. The protein exhibited ATPase activity, which was stimulated ∼1.5-fold in the presence of DNA. While the C-terminal domain (CTD) comprising amino acids 630 to 1234 showed ∼2-fold elevated ATPase activity than MtbMfd, the N-terminal domain (NTD) containing the first 433 amino acid residues was able to bind ATP but deficient in hydrolysis. Overexpression of NTD of MtbMfd led to growth defect and hypersensitivity to UV light. Deletion of 184 amino acids from the C-terminal end of MtbMfd (MfdΔC) increased the ATPase activity by ∼10-fold and correspondingly exhibited efficient translocation along DNA as compared to the MtbMfd and CTD. Surprisingly, MtbMfd was found to be distributed in monomer and hexamer forms both in vivo and in vitro and the monomer showed increased susceptibility to proteases compared to the hexamer. MfdΔC, on the other hand, was predominantly monomeric in solution implicating the extreme C-terminal region in oligomerization of the protein. Thus, although the MtbMfd resembles EcoMfd in many of its reaction characteristics, some of its hitherto unknown distinct properties hint at its species specific role in mycobacteria during transcription-coupled repair.
Importin-α-Mediated Nucleolar Localization of Potato Mop-Top Virus TRIPLE GENE BLOCK1 (TGB1) Protein Facilitates Virus Systemic Movement, Whereas TGB1 Self-Interaction Is Required for Cell-to-Cell Movement in Nicotiana benthamiana1[OPEN]

Interaction of the potato mop-top virus movement protein with importin-α facilitates nucleolar passage and virus systemic movement. Recently, it has become evident that nucleolar passage of movement proteins occurs commonly in a number of plant RNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm. Systemic movement of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) involves two viral transport forms represented by a complex of viral RNA and TRIPLE GENE BLOCK1 (TGB1) movement protein and by polar virions that contain the minor coat protein and TGB1 attached to one extremity. The integrity of polar virions ensures the efficient movement of RNA-CP, which encodes the virus coat protein. Here, we report the involvement of nuclear transport receptors belonging to the importin-α family in nucleolar accumulation of the PMTV TGB1 protein and, subsequently, in the systemic movement of the virus. Virus-induced gene silencing of two importin-α paralogs in Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in significant reduction of TGB1 accumulation in the nucleus, decreasing the accumulation of the virus progeny in upper leaves and the loss of systemic movement of RNA-CP. PMTV TGB1 interacted with importin-α in N. benthamiana, which was detected by bimolecular fluorescence complementation in the nucleoplasm and nucleolus. The interaction was mediated by two nucleolar localization signals identified by bioinformatics and mutagenesis in the TGB1 amino-terminal domain. Our results showed that while TGB1 self-interaction is needed for cell-to-cell movement, importin-α-mediated nucleolar targeting of TGB1 is an essential step in establishing the efficient systemic infection of the entire plant. These results enabled the identification of two separate domains in TGB1: an internal domain required for TGB1 self-interaction and cell-to-cell movement and the amino-terminal domain required for importin-α interaction in plants, nucleolar targeting, and long-distance movement.
Remote sensed and in situ constraints on processes affecting tropical tropospheric ozone

We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to evaluate the consistency of satellite measurements of lightning flashes and ozone precursors with in situ measurements of tropical tropospheric ozone. The measurements are tropospheric O 3 , NO 2 , and HCHO columns from the GOME satellite instrument, lightning flashes from the OTD and LIS satellite instruments, profiles of O 3 , CO, and relative humidity from the MOZAIC aircraft program, and profiles of O 3 from the SHADOZ ozonesonde network. We interpret these multiple data sources with our model to better understand what controls tropical tropospheric ozone. Tropical tropospheric ozone is mainly affected by lightning NO x and convection in the upper troposphere and by surface emissions in the lower troposphere. Scaling the spatial distribution of lightning in the model to the observed flashes improves the simulation of O 3 in the upper troposphere by 5–20 ppbv versus in situ observations and by 1–4 Dobson Units versus GOME retrievals of tropospheric O 3 columns. A lightning source strength of 6±2 Tg N/yr best represents in situ observations from aircraft and ozonesonde. Tropospheric NO 2 and HCHO columns from GOME are applied to provide top-down constraints on emission inventories of NO x (biomass burning and soils) and VOCs (biomass burning). The top-down biomass burning inventory is larger than the bottom-up inventory by a factor of 2 for HCHO and alkenes, and by a factor of 2.6 for NO x over northern equatorial Africa. These emissions increase lower tropospheric O 3 by 5–20 ppbv, improving the simulation versus aircraft observations, and by 4 Dobson Units versus GOME observations of tropospheric O 3 columns. Emission factors in the a posteriori inventory are more consistent with a recent compilation from in situ measurements. The ozone simulation using two different dynamical schemes (GEOS-3 and GEOS-4) is evaluated versus observations; GEOS-4 better represents O 3 observations by 5–15 ppbv, reflecting enhanced convective detrainment in the upper troposphere. Heterogeneous uptake of HNO 3 on aerosols reduces simulated O 3 by 5–7 ppbv, reducing a model bias versus in situ observations over and downwind of deserts. Exclusion of HO 2 uptake on aerosols increases O 3 by 5 ppbv in biomass burning regions, reducing a model bias versus MOZAIC aircraft measurements.
Identification and Characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Dihydrosphingosine-1-phosphate Phosphatase*

We have identified the yeast sphingosine resistance gene (YSR2) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as encoding a protein that specifically dephosphorylates dihydrosphingosine 1-phosphate (DHS-1-P), and we refer to this protein as dihydrosphingosine-1-phosphate phosphatase. Overexpression of YSR2 conferred sphingosine resistance to the dihydrosphingosine-1-P lyase-defective mutant (JS16) of S. cerevisiae, which is hypersensitive to sphingosine. Theysr2Δ deletion mutant of S. cerevisiaeaccumulated DHS-1-P compared with its wild type strain upon labeling withd-erythro-[4,5-3H]dihydrosphingosine, whereas overexpression of YSR2 increased dephosphorylation of DHS-1-P. An epitope-tagged fusion protein (YSR2-Flag) was partially purified and found to specifically dephosphorylate DHS-1-P to yield dihydrosphingosine. YSR2 failed to dephosphorylate ceramide 1-phosphate or phosphatidic acid. Functionally, the mutant bearing theysr2Δ deletion decreased labeling of sphingolipids and increased labeling of glycerolipids dramatically following in vivo labeling withd-erythro-[3H]dihydrosphingosine, but it slightly affected labeling of sphingolipids with inositol. Taken together, these results identify YSR2 as dihydrosphingosine-1-phosphate phosphatase. They also raise the intriguing possibility that phosphorylation followed by dephosphorylation is required for incorporation of exogenous long chain sphingoid bases into sphingolipids.
Fluorescent Peptidyl Substrates as an Aid in Studying the Substrate Specificity of Human Prohormone Convertase PC1 and Human Furin and Designing a Potent Irreversible Inhibitor (*)

The substrate specificities of two human prohormone convertases, furin and PC1, were examined with a series of 7-amino-4-methylcoumarinamide (MCA) containing peptidyl substrates. Using acetyl-Arg-Ser-Lys-Arg-MCA as model, P4 Arg substitution by Lys or Orn resulted for furin in a 538- and a 280-fold lower kcat/Km value, but only in a 14- and 18-fold decrease for PC1. Substitution of P3 Ser by either Pro, Glu, or Lys does not modify significantly the kcat/Km value for PC1, whereas furin activity is seriously impaired by the Glu substitution. Elongating the peptidyl sequence up to the P8 position decreases the kcat/Km value for furin but not for PC1. In both the P3 or P5 Glu substitution, the decrease of kcat/Km was due primarily to lower kcat rather than higher Km, possibly because of the presence of a negatively charged side chain. Finally, an octapeptidyl chloromethane derivative proved to be a potent irreversible inhibitor of either PC1 and furin. The 811-fold difference in the apparent Kapp/[I] (1.63 × 106 s−1M−1), and kcat/Km determined with the corresponding peptidyl MCA substrate (2.01 × 103 s−1M−1), supports the proposal that cleavage of the acylenzyme represents the rate-limiting step for PC1 and furin.
New young planetary nebulae in IPHAS

Aims. We search for very small-diameter galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) representing the earliest phases of PN evolution. The IPHAS catalogue of Hα-emitting stars provides a useful basis for this study since all sources present in this catalogue must be of small angular diameter. Methods. The PN candidates are selected based on their location in two colour−colour diagrams: IPHAS (r � − Hα )v s. (r � − i � ), and 2MASS (J − H )v s. (H − Ks). Spectroscopic follow-up was carried out on a sample of candidates to confirm their nature. Results. We present a total of 83 PN candidates. We were able to obtain spectra or find the classification from the literature for 35 candidates. Five of these objects are likely to be new PNe, including one large bipolar PN discovered serendipitously close to an emission-line star. PN distances deduced from extinction-distance relations based on IPHAS field-star photometry are presented for the first time. These yield distance estimates for our objects in the range 2 kpc and 6 kpc. From the data in hand, we conclude that four of the discovered objects are probably young PNe.
On Balanced CSPs with High Treewidth

Tractable cases of the binary CSP are mainly divided in two classes: constraint language restrictions and constraint graph restrictions. To better understand and identify the hardest binary CSPs, in this work we propose methods to increase their hardness by increasing the balance of both the constraint language and the constraint graph. The balance of a constraint is increased by maximizing the number of domain elements with the same number of occurrences. The balance of the graph is defined using the classical definition from graph theory. In this sense we present two graph models; a first graph model that increases the balance of a graph maximizing the number of vertices with the same degree, and a second one that additionally increases the girth of the graph, because a high girth implies a high treewidth, an important parameter for binary CSPs hardness. Our results show that our more balanced graph models and constraints result in harder instances when compared to typicaI random binary CSP instances, by several orders of magnitude. Also we detect, at least for sparse constraint graphs, a higher treewidth for our graph models.
Circulating Autoantibodies against the Apolipoprotein B-100 Peptides p45 and p210 in Relation to the Occurrence of Carotid Plaques in 64-Year-Old Women

Objectives Immune responses against oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) play a key role in atherosclerosis. Previous studies have indicated inverse associations between autoantibodies to epitopes in oxidized LDL and cardiovascular disease. In this study we investigated the associations between autoantibodies against the apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) peptides p45 and p210 and occurrence of carotid plaques. Design The study cohort consisted of a population-based sample of 64-year-old women with varying degrees of glucose tolerance (n=594). To identify and record the occurrence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques ultrasonography was used. Measurements of plasma IgM and IgG autoantibodies against the native and malondialdehyde (MDA)-modified apoB-100 peptides p45 and p210 were performed by ELISA. Results Women with carotid plaques were found to have lower levels of IgM MDA-p210 autoantibodies compared to plaque-free women. The number of carotid plaques in each subject and the total carotid plaque area correlated inversely with IgM MDA-p210 levels (r=-0.11, P=0.009 and r=-0.11, P=0.013, respectively). Furthermore, levels of IgM MDA-p210 above the lowest tertile were associated with an odds ratio of 0.55 (95% CI 0.38-0.79, P=0.001) for occurrence of carotid plaques, independently of other risk markers and statin treatment. Associations between apo-B100 peptide autoantibodies and cardiovascular risk factors were generally weak but subjects with impaired glucose tolerance had higher levels of IgM against MDA-p210. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that high levels of IgM against MDA-p210 are associated with less severe carotid disease in women. These findings provide additional support for a role of immune responses against oxidized LDL in cardiovascular disease.