Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrast-sensitivity functions of W-, X-, and Y-like relay cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of bush baby, Galago crassicaudatus.

1. This paper represents a continuation of our effort to examine the relationship between the physiology of distinct classes of primate lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells and spatial vision. The present study focuses on modeling the contrast-sensitivity functions (CSFs) of separate LGN cell classes, examining differences in the CSFs of different classes of LGN cells and comparing the results with behaviorally defined CSFs. 2. CSFs to drifting sinusoidal gratings were obtained from single LGN relay cells in the nocturnal primate, Galago crassicaudatus. The CSFs of 14 X-like, 27 Y-like, and 6 W-like cells with standard center-surround organization were well fit by a difference of Gaussians (DOG) model with small residual errors (mean error per data point +/- SEM = 0.008 +/- 0.002). The larger residual errors shown by a few of the Y-like cells were not due to nonlinearity of spatial summation. 3. The CSFs of eight cells that appeared to have nonstandard center-surround organization (primarily, a silent, suppressive surround) were also well fit by the DOG model. 4. The DOG curves that best fitted the data differed considerably between the three groups. As a group, X-like cells had a small center mechanism (Rc = 0.19 degrees) with high sensitivity (Kc = 76.53) and a small, sensitive surround (Rs = 0.71 degrees; Ks = 5.50). These parameters produced CSFs with high cutoff frequencies (Vcutoff = 2.5 c/deg) and low peak sensitivities (CSpk = 6.1) that occurred at 0.8 c/deg. 5. Y-like cells had a large center mechanism (Rc = 0.46 degrees) with low sensitivity (Kc = 21.16) and a large, insensitive surround (Rs = 2.38 degrees; Ks = 0.81). These parameters produced CSFs with lower cutoff frequencies (Vcutoff = 1.2 c/deg) and higher peak sensitivities (CSpk = 12.5) that occurred at 0.2 c/deg. 6. The few W-like cells that responded to gratings well enough to determine a CSF were quite variable. As a group they had a large center mechanism (Rc = 0.38 degrees) with intermediate sensitivity (Kc = 34.55) and a surround with intermediate size and sensitivity (Rs = 1.59 degrees; Ks = 1.59). These produced CSFs with intermediate cutoffs (Vcutoff = 1.6 c/deg) and low peak sensitivities (CSpk = 5.0) occurring at 0.4 c/deg. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Carbohydrates as recognition determinants in phagocytosis and in lectin‐mediated killing of target cells

Carbohydrate‐lectin interactions serve as the basis of recognition by phagocytic cells of particles and of various target cells. Such interactions occur in the following systems: between sugars on the surface of the phagocytic cells and lectins on the surface of other cells—the best studied example is the binding of mannose‐specific Escherichia coli and related organisms via their surface lectins to oligo‐mannose residues on macrophages; between lectins on the surface of phagocytic cells and sugars on particles or other cells—phagocytosis of zymosan and of sialidase‐treated erythrocytes, mediated respectively by mannose‐specific and galactose‐specific lectins on macrophages, belongs to this category; by extracellular lectins that form bridges between sugars on both types of cell—as shown by enhancement of phagocytosis of staphylococci by wheat germ agglutinin, and by lectin‐dependent killing of target cells by macrophages. These interactions may play an important role in the activities of phagocytic cells in vivo. They may provide an initial host defense mechanism immediately after microbial infection, operate in tissues where phagocytic activity is poor, and participate in tumor rejection.
IMPERFECT COMPETITION, UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT AND THE NON-NEUTRALITY OF MONEY: AN EXAMPLE

This paper provides a simple example of a multisector unionized economy with equilibrium unemployment and for which monetary policy has a standard Keynesian multiplier. In equilibrium, unions choose a wage that is a fixed markup over the nominal unemployment benefit level, which can lead to unemployment even when benefits are below the market clearing wage, resulting in endogenously fixed nominal wages and prices. In the long run, the government can restore full employment by monetary expansion or a cut in benefits; in the short run, however, monetary expansion is a superior policy instrument for Rawlesian or utilitarian governments. There is a continuum of employment levels attainable by macroeconomic policy, and this Copyright 1990 by Royal Economic Society.
Network Competition and Access Charge Rules

This paper presents a model of two competing local telecommunications networks which are mandated to interconnect. After negotiating the access charges, the companies engage in price competition. Given the prices, each consumer selects a network and determines the consumption of phone calls. Using a discrete/continuous consumer choice model, it is shown that a pure strategy equilibrium exists quite generally and satisfies desirable properties. This equilibrium can be implemented by a simple rule that sets the access charges at a common discount from the retail prices. It requires no information and the discount factor is chosen by the companies through negotiations. Finally, if the networks are highly substitute, the retail prices obtained by imposing this rule will approximate the efficient prices.
A Hotelling‐Faustmann Explanation of the Structure of Christmas Tree Prices

We examine the relationship between a tree price and a tree age (height) using a Hotelling-Faustmann type model of optimal plantation management, which accounts for the possibility of replanting and biological growth. The model predictions are tested using the data on Christmas tree prices in North Carolina collected in December 1997. The estimates show that, in general, the rates of change in prices between adjacent age cohorts reflect a competitive equilibrium in the capital market thus supporting the Hotelling-Faustmann paradigm. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.
Small Bowel Cancer in the United States: Changes in Epidemiology, Treatment, and Survival Over the Last 20 Years

Background:Previous studies have shown an increasing incidence of small bowel tumors in the United States. Our objective was to assess this increase by examining changes in histology-specific incidence, treatment, and survival. Methods:Patients with small bowel malignancies were identified from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB, 1985–2005) and the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER, 1973–2004) database. Age-adjusted incidence rates were calculated using SEER. Treatment and survival trends over time were examined using the National Cancer Data Base. Regression models were developed to assess survival over time. Results:Sixty-seven thousand eight hundred forty-three patients were identified with small bowel malignancies: 37.4% carcinoid, 36.9% adenocarcinomas, 8.4% stromal tumors, and 17.3% lymphomas. From 1973 to 2004, the incidence of carcinoid tumors increased more than 4-fold (2.1 to 9.3 per million), whereas changes in adenocarcinomas, stromal tumors, and lymphomas were less pronounced. From 1985 to 2005, utilization of surgery increased significantly for carcinoid tumors from 78.8% to 87.4% (P < 0.0001). Adjuvant chemotherapy utilization for adenocarcinoma increased from 8.1% in 1985 to 23.8% in 2005 (P < 0.0001). Treatment over time was generally unchanged for lymphoma and stromal tumors. Five-year survival after resection remained unchanged over time for all histologic subtypes even after adjusting for changes in patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment approaches. Conclusions:The overall incidence of small intestine malignancies has increased considerably, primarily because of carcinoid tumors which are now the most common small bowel cancer. With current treatments, survival has remained relatively unchanged over the last 20 years. Novel therapeutic options need to be investigated.
Lift generation by the avian tail

Variation with tail spread of the lift generated by a bird tail was measured on mounted, frozen European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in a wind tunnel at a typical air speed and body and tail angle of attack in order to test predictions of existing aerodynamic theories modelling tail lift. Measured lift at all but the lowest tail spread angles was significantly lower than the predictions of slender wing, leading edge vortex and lifting line models of lift production. Instead, the tail lift coefficient based on tail area was independent of tail spread, tail aspect ratio and maximum tail span. Theoretical models do not predict bird tail lift reliably and, when applied to tail morphology, may underestimate the aerodynamic optimum tail feather length. Flow visualization experiments reveal that an isolated tail generates leading edge vortices as expected for a low–aspect ratio delta wing, but that in the intact bird body–tail interactions are critical in determining tail aerodynamics: lifting vortices shed from the body interact with the tail and degrade tail lift compared with that of an isolated tail.
Knowledge of healthcare professionals about rights of patient’s images

Objective To assess knowledge of healthcare professionals about capture and reproduction of images of patients in a hospital setting. Methods A cross-sectional and observational study among 360 healthcare professionals (nursing staff, physical therapists, and physicians), working at a teaching hospital in the city of São Paulo (SP). A questionnaire with sociodemographic information was distributed and data were correlated to capture and reproduction of images at hospitals. Results Of the 360 respondents, 142 had captured images of patients in the last year, and 312 reported seeing other professionals taking photographs of patients. Of the participants who captured images, 61 said they used them for studies and presentation of clinical cases, and 168 professionals reported not knowing of any legislation in the Brazilian Penal Code regarding collection and use of images. Conclusion There is a gap in the training of healthcare professionals regarding the use of patient´s images. It is necessary to include subjects that address this theme in the syllabus of undergraduate courses, and the healthcare organizations should regulate this issue.
Linking internal market orientation and new service performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the first empirically tested model showing that internal marketing (IM) is a factor of success in new services development. It attempts to bridge internal market orientation (IMO) – the philosophical background of IM programs – with successful service innovations represented by new service performance (NSP). Design/methodology/approach – To explore the link between IMO and NSP a structural equations model was designed considering service quality and time‐to‐market as mediator variables. Data were gathered from business service firms' senior managers in Spain and Portugal (74 service companies based on a questionnaire). Findings – The results largely support the hypothesized theoretical relationship that organizational effort in the human resources area, supported by the marketing function and implemented through an IMO, is connected with increasing service quality and innovation success.Research limitations/implications – The results of this study are contex.
Enterprise orientations: a framework for making sense of fashion sector start‐up

Purpose – This paper aims to present an original conceptual model that captures the orientations of new business founders in the fashion design sector as they navigate the tension between creative endeavour and business practice.Design/methodology/approach – The start‐up experiences of 38 fashion designers from the four main fashion centres in New Zealand were examined using an interpretive narrative approach. The designers' enterprise development narratives were analysed using in‐depth literary and conceptual analyses to reveal the nature and context of their start‐up behaviour and the conceptual frameworks they employed to make sense of their start‐up behaviour.Findings – The designers were, to varying degrees, preoccupied with a perceived tension between creative processes and business practices. This tension was typically experienced as a disjunction between self‐identity and the identities supported by the business models designers worked within. Successfully navigating this tension could require sig.
Management earnings forecasts and adverse selection cost: good vs bad news forecast

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of management earnings forecasts on the level of information asymmetry around subsequent earnings announcement. Design/methodology/approach - Employing the adverse selection cost method suggested by George Findings - Consistent with Diamond and Verrecchia is the finding that the earnings announcement in non-forecasting years decreases information asymmetry during a three-day announcement period and increases in a post-announcement period up to seven days. No significant change in information asymmetry between pre- and post-announcement periods when firms released a “good” news forecast is found. The firms that previously released a “bad” news forecast experience a significantly lower information asymmetry than those that did not forecast during announcement or post-announcement days, and experience a decrease in information asymmetry in a five to seven-day post-announcement period. Originality/value - This paper provides the first empirical reports on the different information asymmetry changes around earnings announcements followed by a “good” news management forecast from those followed by a “bad” news forecast.
Cortical sulci and bipolar disorder

The width of cortical sulci in bipolar patients (n=19) and healthy controls (n=35) was examined using a novel automated technique involving magnetic resonance imaging. All sulci were wider for bipolar patients than for healthy controls. Bipolar–control differences were largest for the superior and intermediate frontal sulci, smallest for the occipital and cingulate sulci, and intermediate in magnitude for the other sulci (intraparietal, inferior frontal, and central sulci). The results were interpreted in terms of neurodegenerative-illness-related processes, which could produce cortical atrophy and result in wider sulci.
Adoption and Implementation Problems of E-Banking: A Study of the Managerial Perspective of the Banking Industry in Oman

Abstract This article explores the potential impeding factors that could inhibit the wide adoption and use of electronic commerce (EC) applications in the Omani banking industry. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire complemented with using semi-structured interviews, and review of internal banking documents. The participants in the study were IS executives and managers. The results provide a pragmatic picture on the adoption and use of EC applications in this country's core sector. One of the major inhibiting factors in this study is the lack of top management support. Information privacy and security issues were identified as serious inhibiting factors on the successful adoption and use of electronic banking applications in the financial sector. Other factors such as power relationships (e.g., conflict between managers that arise during the process of IS/IT adoption), and lack of investment in EC applications were found less significant as inhibiting factors. Although this is a context specific research, the findings should be relevant to other businesses in Arab countries in particular and developing countries in general when contemplating their EC strategies.
A Comparison of the Service Quality Perspectives Between Restaurant Customers and Restaurateurs in Taiwan

ABSTRACT The object of this study is to compare the different perspectives with regard to service quality between restaurant customers and restaurateurs in Taiwan. The sample included 1,084 restaurant customers and 117 restaurateurs. Seven domains of service quality perspectives were developed for restaurant customers and eight for restaurateurs. Restaurant customers and restaurateurs held different perspectives toward factors of service quality. Cluster analysis was conducted to explore travelers' and restaurateurs' perspectives of restaurant service quality and to homogeneously group the sample to different segments. The study also examined whether service quality perspectives differed across segments. Three mutually exclusive segments of restaurant customers were identified and found to differ in three service quality factors. Two restaurateurs' segments were identified and found there were significant differences. The managerial implications of these findings for the foodservice industry and researchers are discussed.
Relative audit fees and client loyalty in the audit market

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the stability or loyalty in the auditor-client relationship. It explores the association between audit fees and auditor loyalty. Specifically, it investigates whether clients paying less audit fees relative to other companies in their industries are more likely to be loyal to their auditors. Design/methodology/approach - Logistic and ordinal regression analyses are used to compare loyal clients to clients that switched audit firms after controlling for factors that are expected to be associated with client loyalty. Findings - Results show that relative audit fees have a significant effect on the degree of loyalty of clients to their audit firms. Additional analysis shows that the loyalty of clients that pay higher audit fees relative to similar clients in their industry are highly affected by increases in audit fees. However, the loyalty of clients who pay lower audit fees compared to similar clients in their industry is not affected by further increases in relative audit fees. Research limitations/implications - The study does not differentiate between auditor dismissal and auditor resignation in the classification of clients that switched auditors. It also does not classify auditor switches into auditor-initiated switches and client-initiated switches. Practical implications - It is cost effective for clients to stay with the same audit firm. Audit firms should be careful when adjusting their audit fees from one period to another, as there is a higher probability of losing a client, when increasing the audit fees, especially if this client is already paying higher audit fees relative to similar clients. Originality/value - The findings of this study increase the understanding of how relative audit fees affect client loyalty in the audit market.
Life-Cycles, Dynasties, Saving: Implications for Closed and Small, Open Economies

This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of life-cycle and dynastic saving behavior for closed and small, open economies. Using an extended version of Blanchard`s overlapping agents model, the analytical framework nests these two competing views, treating agents as either dynastic households or disconnected generations. Calibrating the life-cycle variant using empirical age-earnings profiles, the analysis compares the long-run effects of fiscal policy shocks under both perspectives. The results quantify the implications of life-cycle considerations for the effects of deficit finance on real interest rates and the capital stock or net foreign assets.
Governance for sustainability

textabstractSustainable development is rapidly moving from the periphery to the mainstream of politics, business, and science. Over the past several years, a strong consensus has started to emerge that some of the major global problems can only be overcome through large-scale concerted action. Recent additions to the debate include the reports by the International Panel on Climate Change, the Stern Report on the economics of climate change, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and, perhaps less known, the Potsdam Memorandum1. The latter communication was recently presented by a broad group of Nobel laureates and is titled “The Great Transformation. ” The statement pleads for fundamental changes in our economies and societies and asks,
Persistent activation of α7 nicotinic ACh receptors associated with stable induction of different desensitized states

GAT107 ((3aR,4S,9bS)‐4‐(4‐bromo‐phenyl)‐3a,4,5,9b‐tetrahydro‐3H‐cyclopenta‐[c]quinoline‐8‐sulfonamide) is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) and agonist of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)that can cause a prolonged period of primed potentiation of acetylcholine responses after drug washout. NS6740 is a silent agonist of α7 nAChRs that has little or no efficacy for activating the ion channel but induces stable desensitization states, some of which can be converted into channel‐active states by PAMs. Although GAT107 and NS6740 appear to stably induce different non‐conducting states, both agents are effective treatment for inflammation and inflammatory pain models. We sought to better understand how both of these drugs that have opposite effects on channel activation could regulate signal transduction.
Determining factors in founding university spin-offs

Focusing on university spin-offs, this article examines the question of why some nascent entrepreneurs are successful in creating new firms, while others quit their projects and abandon their business ideas. The frame of reference is derived from Sarasvathy (2001, p.243ff), who described two distinct approaches to the new-venture-creation process: causation and effectuation. The effects of these two decision-making strategies on the emergence of university spin-offs have not been previously studied. Thus, this study enters into new territory. In an exploratory setting, empirical data from 171 nascent spin-offs of German universities are analysed. The variables related to team characteristics, aspects of the business idea and the intensity of perceived problems have a good explanatory power. The fit of a multivariate model considering causation and effectuation, however, is very poor, which means that none of the indices representing the two types of decision-making processes is a significant determinant of spin-off creation. Furthermore, no significant effects of these decision strategies can be detected for different subgroups.
Effects of Aspirations and Habits on the Distribution of Wealth

We analyze how the introduction of habits and aspirations affects the distribution of wealth when the labor productivity of individuals is subject to idiosyncratic shocks and when bequests arise from a joy-of-giving motive. In the presence of either bequests or aspirations, labor income shocks are transmitted intergenerationally, and this transmission, together with contemporaneous shocks, determines the distribution of wealth. We show that the introduction of aspirations (habits) decreases (increases) the average wealth, and increases (decreases) both its intragenerational variability and the degree of intergenerational mobility. Therefore, a distinction between aspirations and habits is relevant because they involve different implications for the distribution of wealth.