Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relating the acoustic space of vowels to the perceptual space in cochlear implant simulations

In automatic speech recognition, speech features are measured and used as reference templates for machine learning and recognition. The differences between these features can be used to calculate relative acoustic distances between phonemes. However, when speech signals are spectrally degraded, as in electric hearing with cochlear implants, it is unclear whether these acoustic distances can predict speech recognition performance. The present study measured acoustic distances between spectrally degraded vowel tokens and investigated the relation between acoustic vowel space and perceptual vowel space. After processing vowel tokens using a cochlear implant simulation, the Mel-frequency cepstrum was extracted from each token; features were then time aligned and the weighted Euclidean distance was calculated between all tokens. Results demonstrate a significant correlation between vowel perception data and averaged acoustic distance between vowel tokens, for a variety of experimental conditions. These results suggest that acoustic distance between phonemes may well predict the recognition performance of spectrally degraded speech.
Effect of Normal Pregnancy Followed by Lactation on Long-Term Maternal Health in a Mouse Model

Although it has been widely accepted that pregnancies with complications are associated with increased maternal cardiovascular risk later in life, there is no consensus if noncomplicated pregnancy followed by lactation plays a protective role or is a risk factor. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of normal pregnancy and lactation on long-term maternal health in a mouse model. CD-1 mice were allocated to breeding (primigravid [PG]) and nonbreeding (nulligravid [NG]) groups. The PG group proceeded through normal pregnancy and delivery. Using a telemetry system, blood pressure (BP) was analyzed in the PG group at 6 months postpartum and in age-matched NG mice. Serum analytes, gene expressions, and protein levels were determined using appropriate analysis methods. Primigravid mice had significantly lower systolic and diastolic BP and fasting glucose levels. Circulating oxytocin (OXT) levels were significantly higher in PG mice. Oxt gene expression was significantly higher in the heart and aorta and lower in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) from PG mice. The oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) gene expression was significantly higher in the heart, aorta, and VAT from PG animals. The level of Oxtr DNA hypermethylation and the expression of mmu-miR-29a were significantly lower in the hearts of PG mice. In PG VAT, glucose transporter-4 expression was significantly higher. Our study demonstrates that a history of normal pregnancy followed by lactation was associated with lower maternal cardiovascular risk factors later in life in female mouse.
Evidence On The Market For Professional Directors

Using the temporary increase in the supply of directors associated with successful tender offers, we examine characteristics of directors who are valuable in the market for board seats. We find that after a takeover, professional directors are three times more likely to receive new appointments than other types of directors released from their respective boards. We find that the proportion of professional directors in above-average performing targets is significantly greater than that in underperforming targets. Our results indicate that professional directors generally have valuable general human capital that more than offsets the costs of multiple directorships. 2005 The Southern Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.
Secondhand smoke in psychiatric units: patient and staff misperceptions

Background Mental health units have usually been exempted from complete smoke-free policies. The aim of this study was to compare the self-reported level of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) of patients and staff in psychiatric units to objective measures, and examine preference for different types of smoking bans. Methods Cross-sectional survey about ban preferences and self-reported exposure to SHS by means of a self-administered questionnaire administered to patients and staff from 65 inpatient psychiatric units in Catalonia (95.5% of all units). We measured air concentrations of particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5 in µg/m3) as a marker of SHS in these units. Results 600 patients and 575 professionals completed the questionnaire. 78.7% of them were objectively exposed to SHS (PM2.5>10 μm/m3) but 56.9% of patients and 33.6% of staff believed they were not exposed at all and 41.6% of patients and 28.4% of staff believed the environment was not at all unhealthy. Nurses had a higher smoking prevalence than psychiatrists (35.8% vs 17.2%; p<0.001), and nurses had a higher perception of being moderately highly exposed to SHS (40.3% vs 26.2%; p<0.001). PM2.5 levels were significantly different depending on the type of smoking ban implemented but unrelated to the perception of SHS levels by both patients and staff. Only 29.3% of staff and 14.1% of patients strongly supported total smoking bans. Conclusions Patients and staff have substantial misperceptions about the extent of their exposure to SHS and low awareness about the harmful environment in which they stay/work. This might have an influence on the preference for less restrictive smoke-free bans. It is particularly noteworthy that less that one-third of mental health staff supported smoke-free units, suggesting an urgent need for further education about the harmful health effects of SHS.
A Social Comparison Theory Meta-Analysis 60+ Years On

These meta-analyses of 60+ years of social comparison research focused on 2 issues: the choice of a comparison target (selection) and the effects of comparisons on self-evaluations, affect, and so forth (reaction). Selection studies offering 2 options (up or down) showed a strong preference (and no evidence of publication bias) for upward choices when there was no threat; there was no evidence for downward comparison as a dominant choice even when threatened. Selections became less differentiable when a lateral choice was also provided. For reaction studies, contrast was, by far, the dominant response to social comparison, with ability estimates most strongly affected. Moderator analyses, tests and adjustments for publication bias showed that contrast is stronger when the comparison involves varying participants’ standing for ability (effect estimates, −0.75 to −0.65) and affect (−0.83 to −0.65). Novel personal attributes were subject to strong contrast for ability (−0.5 to −0.6) and affect (−0.6 to −0.7). Dissimilarity priming was associated with contrast (−0.44 to −0.27; no publication bias), consistent with Mussweiler (2003). Similarity priming provided modest support for Collins (1996) and Mussweiler (2003), with very weak assimilation effects, depending on the publication bias estimator. Studies including control groups indicated effects in response to upward and downward targets were comparable in size and contrastive. Limitations of the literature (e.g., small number of studies including no-comparison control conditions), unresolved issues, and why people choose to compare upward when the most likely result is self-deflating contrast are discussed.
Dynamic Selective Exposure during Decision-Making

ABSTRACT To understand dynamic changes in the likelihood that people would access and selectively expose themselves to information online, the present study examined the checking of account balances during simulated gambling. Sixteen participants played 120 hands of computer Blackjack for points, at higher or lower levels of risk (different point multipliers), and after each win or loss the computer recorded if participants checked their account balances. There were individual differences in checking rates. Participants who were more likely to check balances exhibited a selectivity of exposure to decision consonant information after a win at low risk. Although it was expected that people would seek to maintain positive mood, data were better explained in terms of Cognitive Dissonance. The effects of Cognitive Dissonance are liable to extend beyond single static decisions into dynamic online environments.
Transformational Leadership Education and Agency Perspectives in Business School Pedagogy: A Marriage of Inconvenience?

We critique transformational leadership education in university business schools based on a literature review, a study of the websites of 21 leading business schools, and an analysis of two presentations to business school students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University by the former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch. Our critique draws attention to the unresolved tension between two motivating ideas that underpin much teaching in business schools: collective interest ideas that permeate transformational leadership education; and self-interest ideas derived from agency theory. Transformational leadership tends to be depicted as a process by which leaders exert a ‘top-down’ influence over the activities of others, while simultaneously asserting that their organizations have a common purpose and pursue a collective interest. We highlight the risk that business schools are producing graduates who will attempt to appeal to common needs (guided by precepts of transformational leadership) but who will simultaneously enact contradictory performance management systems (guided by agency theory). We encourage business school educators in leadership to adopt approaches which are more critical, relational and reflexive. We suggest some general directions for an alternative leadership prospectus, based on followership, the promotion of critical upward communication within organizations, and the recognition of leadership as a contested, discursive and co-constructed phenomenon.
Intrahousehold Allocation of Education Expenditure: The Case of Sri Lanka

This article uses conventional Engel curve demand analysis, as well as a double hurdle model, to explore whether there are intrahousehold differentials in the allocation of education expenditure between boys and girls in rural Sri Lanka. Contrary to the case in most developing countries, in Sri Lanka, there was a significant bias favoring girls for 1990–91 and 1995–96 for age group categories 8–9, 14–16, and 17–19, and in 2000 for age group categories 14–16 and 17–19. Significant differences in enrollment favoring girls aged 17–19 explain part of the girl bias observed in 1990–91 and 2000–2001, but most of the bias is driven by positive expenditure given enrollment. The biases favoring girls are observed at critical stages of the schooling career in the run‐up to key national exams. The 8–9 age group captures the run‐up to the year 5 scholarship exams that are used to gain entry to the better‐performing secondary schools. The 14–16 and 17–19 age groups capture those who read for important national‐level qualifications that are vital for the job market. This article also looks at various possible explanations for the bias.
Human resource management and firm performance in Europe through the lens of business systems: best fit, best practice or both?

This study uses the lens of Business Systems theory to explore the importance of geographic context on the link between human resource management and organizational performance. Basing the analysis on ‘HRM bundles of competitive advantage’, drawing evidence from a large-scale survey of European private sector businesses, and using multiple methodologies, we find three distinct geographic regions and 21 ‘HRM bundles of competitive advantage’. Of those bundles 10 were significantly related to performance in one or more regions. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of HRM-performance research and have implications for the standardization of HRM policies and practices within internationally operating organizations.
On the causes of the shrinking of Lake Chad

Over the last 40 years, Lake Chad, once the sixth largest lake in the world, has decreased by more than 90% in area. In this study, we use a hydrological model coupled with a lake/wetland algorithm to simulate the effects of lake bathymetry, human water use, and decadal climate variability on the lake’s level, surface area, and water storage. In addition to the effects of persistent droughts and increasing irrigation withdrawals on the shrinking, we find that the lake’s unique bathymetry—which allows its division into two smaller lakes—has made it more vulnerable to water loss. Unfortunately the lake’s split is favored by the 1952–2006 climatology. Failure of the lake to remerge with renewed rainfall in the 1990s following the drought years of the 1970s and 1980s is a consequence of irrigation withdrawals. Under current climate and water use, a full recovery of the lake is unlikely without an inter-basin water transfer. Breaching the barrier separating the north and south lakes would reduce the amount of supplemental water needed for recovery.
The Business Model in Practice and its Implications for Entrepreneurship Research

While the term “business model” has gained widespread use in the practice community, the academic literature on this topic is fragmented and confounded by inconsistent definitions and construct boundaries. In this study, we review prior research and reframe the business model with an entrepreneurial lens. We report on a discourse analysis of 151 surveys of practicing managers to better understand their conceptualization of a business model. We find that the underlying dimensions of the business model are resource structure, transactive structure, and value structure, and discuss the nature and implications of dimensional dominance for firm characteristics and behavior. These findings provide new directions for theory development and empirical studies in entrepreneurship by linking the business model to entrepreneurial cognition, opportunity co–creation, and organizational outcomes.
De Gustibus Disputandum Est: Non-Linearity in Public Transportation Service Quality Evaluation

ABSTRACT User perceptions of service quality are essential to promote public transport ridership and trigger positive externalities. Therefore, research efforts need to analyze service quality from the point of view of users. This article builds on the stream of works studying perceptions of public transport service quality but shifts the focus towards user heterogeneity. Using a discrete choice experiment this article attempts to disentangle different dimensions of decision heterogeneity for bus services. Among the main findings the article discusses the implications of different types of decision heterogeneity, such as non-linear preferences, and relates this to the formulation of bus service contracts.
Spatial markets and the potential for economic integration between Canadian and U.S. regions

Abstract. The potential for further economic integration among Canadian and American regions is measured by comparing province-to-state trade with state-to-state trade, where the latter is used as a benchmark of integration. To accomplish this, an attraction constrained gravity model is derived from micro foundations and estimated. The analysis demonstrates that after controlling for variations in output, distance, wages, productivity, and localization economies, the border remains a significant barrier to trade, although much less than previous estimates of the border effect using internal Canadian trade as a benchmark. The model's results also indicate that the border's influence varies across sectors, and the influence appears to be, in part, related to the presence of tariff and non-tariff barriers.
When Winning Is Really Losing: Teaching Awards and Women Political Science Faculty

ABSTRACT Based on a recent survey of political science professors in the United States, women tend to win teaching awards at higher rates than their male counterparts. This may seem like good news for female faculty, particularly amid continuing reports of gender gaps in publications and citations as well as the “leaky pipeline” phenomenon within promotions. However, a closer look at these findings suggests that in cases in which such awards might be most beneficial to women, they are less likely than their male colleagues to receive such acknowledgments. In fact, women are more likely than men to receive these awards only in institutional contexts in which research output is more important for tenure and promotion than teaching. Thus, the achievement of teaching excellence may have an overall negative impact on the advancement of female faculty by reducing their time and focus available for research.
Microsporidia and Coccidia as Causes of Persistence Diarrhea Among Liver Transplant Children: Incidence Rate and Species/Genotypes

We determined species/genotype(s) of enteric microsporidia and coccidia causing diarrhea among 44 liver transplant children in Shiraz Nemazee hospital using acid-fast-trichrome staining and polymerase chain reaction-sequencing techniques. Enterocytozoon bieneusi (genotype D), Cryptosporidium (parvum and meleagridis) were detected in 6.81% and 11.36% of the children, respectively.
Pension Fund Manager Tournaments and Attitudes Towards Corporate Characteristics

This paper explores the relationship between the tournament incentives of pension fund managers and the characteristics of equities they choose to hold. Using a comprehensive data set on pension fund portfolio holdings, we determine the intensity of fund manager tournaments by sorting pension funds into portfolios based on the number of concurrent managers each pension fund employs. We then investigate which corporate characteristics are preferred by each of these portfolios by estimating share selection models that include a range of corporate characteristics that are expected to shape the returns to investment in stocks over the short and long run. We find that the intensity of the tournament faced by fund managers plays a significant role in shaping preferences over corporate characteristics. Managers facing more intense tournaments exhibit significantly weaker preferences for attributes associated with long run payoffs, such as social performance and growth potential, and significantly stronger preferences for short term attributes, such as operational efficiency, when compared to managers that face weak or no tournament incentives.
Purchase and Redemption Patterns of Us Equity Mutual Funds

I decompose net flows into purchase and redemption rates for a sample of equity funds. I find a strong relation between purchase rates and redemption rates indicating a significant clientele of rapid fund traders. I also find that investors punish poor performance with higher redemptions. Over my sample period, index funds display lower redemption rates than do actively managed funds. I find that load fund investors base fund-trading decisions on previous performance to a greater extent than do no-load fund investors. This result suggests that investment advisors and brokers play a significant role in increased mutual fund trading activity.
The role of market orientation in the business success of MNCs' UK subsidiaries

Purpose - The paper aims to explore the role of market orientation in the multinational company's subsidiary's business performance. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on a questionnaire survey/analysis of a sample of 252 foreign subsidiaries in the UK. Findings - The paper finds that market orientation is a key driver for business performance at foreign subsidiaries. However, the strength of its impact on performance depends on the subsidiary role. Originality/value - This is the first systematic investigation of the role of market orientation in multinational companies' subsidiaries.
Leg Muscles Differ in Spatial Activation Patterns with Differing Levels of Voluntary Plantarflexion Activity in Humans

Background/Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differential activity between and within individual muscles commonly grouped as plantarflexors. Much of the previous information gathered on plantarflexor activity has been attained using electromyographic recordings. In this study, we used magnetic resonance imaging which allowed us to look at spatial differences in activation. Methods: Twenty-two human subjects exercised under four different conditions – combinations of loads of 25 or 65% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and the direction of plantarflexion at a sagittal and off-sagittal angle. Before and after each exercise condition, T2-weighted magnetic resonance images were collected. Regions of interest were drawn around the lateral gastrocnemius (LG), medial gastrocnemius (MG), soleus (SOL), peroneus longus (PER) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles and analyzed for differences. Results: Significant increases in T2 relaxation times during 25% MVC conditions were found for PER and, during the 65% MVC, for all four muscles considered plantarflexors (LG, MG, SOL, PER). No significant differences were found between sagittal and off-sagittal conditions. Within LG and MG, greater increases in T2 times with exercise were found in proximal regions compared with distal regions. Conclusion: These results are consistent with suggestions that individual members of muscle groups are capable of differential activity and that for at least some muscles, such differential activity may exist within subvolumes of individual muscles.
Thought Contagions in the Stock Market

The evolutionary epidemiology of ideas, or thought contagion theory, is introduced and applied to possible examples in the stock market. It is suggested that differences in transmissivity, receptivity, and longevity of belief may contribute numerous irrational influences on the stock market, generating sources of inefficiency. These include a wide variety of mechanisms that may generate both positive and negative market overreactions. The soaring prices of Internet stocks during 1998-1999 are used as an example of how investment ideas correlating with new communication behaviors may affect share prices, and how contagion effects in general can affect the broader market. New avenues of empirical investigation are proposed to test the types of hypotheses presented.
Differential inhibition by NG‐monomethyl‐l‐arginine of vasodilator effects of acetylcholine and methacholine in human forearm vasculature

1 We compared the effects of NG‐monomethyl‐l‐arginine (l‐NMMA), an NO synthase inhibitor, on vasodilatation produced by acetylcholine and methacholine in human forearm vasculature. 2 Acetylcholine (83 nmol min−1) infused into the brachial artery of 8 healthy volunteers caused a submaximal increase in forearm blood flow, measured by venous occlusion plethysmography, from 3.3 ± 0.5 (mean ± s.e.mean) to 13.3 ± 1.7 ml min−1 100 ml−1. 3 Co‐infusion of l‐NMMA (4 μmol min−1) with acetylcholine (83 nmol min−1) over 6 min resulted in a 58% ± 12% fall in the response to acetylcholine whereas during co‐infusion of saline over the same time period in the same subjects (n = 8) on a different day the response to acetylcholine fell by only 9% ± 17% (P < 0.01). 4 Methacholine (1.5 and 15 nmol min−1) increased forearm blood flow from 2.5 ± 0.4 to 5.9 ± 0.9 and from 3.2 ± 0.4 to 17.0 ± 1.9 ml min−1 100 ml−1 respectively. 5 Co‐infusion of l‐NMMA (4 μmol min−1) had no significant effect on the response to methacholine (1.5 or 15 nmol min−1) when compared with saline control (n = 8). Co‐infusion of a higher dose of l‐NMMA (8 μmol min−1) with methacholine (1.5 nmol min−1) did not significantly inhibit the vasodilator response (n = 7). 6 These results suggest that, in human forearm vasculature, methacholine acts predominantly through mechanisms other than the l‐arginine/nitric oxide pathway.