Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: The Value of Low Purchase Intention Consumers to Product Pricing

Hypothetical bias is a common research problem in measuring intentions. This study examines differences in individuals' hypothetical and nonhypothetical willingness to pay (WTP) based on purchase intention level. The purpose of Study 1 is to see if hypothetical bias is affecting all groups of individuals when segmented by purchase intentions. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to assess to individuals' purchase intentions and hypothetical WTP for an environmentally friendly (EF) offering. Individuals then participated in an auction that required them to bid on the same offering, thus requiring an actual monetary commitment. Through segmenting individuals into three purchase intention groups (high, moderate, and low), WTP biases were found to be positively related to stated intention level. High and moderate purchase intenders significantly overstated their hypothetical WTP. However, low purchase intenders did not. Further, no significant differences existed in nonhypothetical WTP between the three groups. The price that low purchase intenders were willing to pay through the CVM represented closely what they and the rest of the market were willing to pay in practice. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine several reasons why higher purchase intenders may be overstating their hypothetical WTP, with normative pressure and social desirability bias taken into consideration. Individuals indicated their purchase intentions and hypothetical WTP for an EF and a non-EF product, and then participated in an auction. The higher purchase intenders again overstated their actual WTP for both products, whereas low purchase intenders did not. Results suggest that both normative pressure and social desirability bias contribute to hypothetical bias for products that carry a normative dimension (EF products). Controlling for these two factors eliminated the differences between hypothetical and nonhypothetical WTP. For products that did not have a normative component (non-EF products), controlling for social desirability eliminated the gap between the hypothetical and nonhypothetical WTP amounts. A main implication from this research is that hypothetical bias is not a universal phenomenon and does not operate equally in all groups of purchase intenders. Marketers may want to consider only using lower purchase intenders in their pricing estimates for new products, especially for those that carry a normative component. Further, the CVM has received much criticism for measuring hypothetical WTP. However, estimates produced by the CVM were nearly exact for the low purchase intender group and were reliable when controlling for social desirability bias and normative pressure for the higher purchase intenders.
Sediment Retention in Constructed Wetland Ponds—A Laboratory Study

Abstract Laboratory experiments on sediment removal and particle settlement were conducted in a hydraulic laboratory model scaled 1:1 to study processes and mechanisms governing sediment transport under well defined and reproducible conditions. Parameters governing particle settling were varied and their effect studied ceteris paribus. These governing parameters were flow velocity, TSS input concentration, presence of plants, vegetation density, and the presence of wind. Changes in sediment removal due to different parameters were analyzed by means of deposition curves in main flow direction. We found that particle settling is enhanced by increased inflow concentrations of suspended solids in the absence of plant stems (substance used: kaolin), whereas deposition is reduced by wind shear. The presence of plant stems strengthens vertical mixing and, consequently, does not generally result in enhanced deposition of suspended solids. Higher plant densities tend to be associated with lower settling rates. The effect of flow velocity on particle settling is small for the present experimental set-up.
Receptor depletion and replenishment processes: in vivo regulation of gonadotropin receptors by luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and ethanol in rat testis.

The effect of in vivo injections of human lutemnizing hormone (hLH), human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) and ethanol on gonadotropin receptor sites in rat testes was studied. We found that hLH (32 IU) and hFSH (30 IU) reduced the number of their respective binding sites shortly after administration. The hLH was more rapid and effective in its action than hFSI-I. Hormone specificity was also evident in the depletion process. The hLH could not effectively deplete testicular hFSH receptors during the first 3 days and vice versa. Prolonged administration of ethanol (5 ml of 20% v/v ethanol in saline/injection; 2 injections! day for 7 days) also led to depletion of gonadotropmn receptor sites in rat testes but without the specificity displayed by hLH and hFSH. The receptor replenishment process commenced when ethanol was withdrawn and was essentially complete by Day 20 (or 13 days after ethanol withdrawal). The ability of ethanol to reduce gonadotropmn binding through receptor depletion may be a possible cause of testicular atrophy, reduced steroidogenesis and impotency, problems frequently encountered in chronic alcoholics.
A Molecular Surveillance Reveals the Prevalence of Vibrio cholerae O139 Isolates in China from 1993 to 2012

ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae serogroup O139 was first identified in 1992 in India and Bangladesh, in association with major epidemics of cholera in both countries; cases were noted shortly thereafter in China. We characterized 211 V. cholerae O139 isolates that were isolated at multiple sites in China between 1993 and 2012 from patients (n = 92) and the environment (n = 119). Among clinical isolates, 88 (95.7%) of 92 were toxigenic, compared with 47 (39.5%) of 119 environmental isolates. Toxigenic isolates carried the El Tor CTX prophage and toxin-coregulated pilus A gene (tcpA), as well as the Vibrio seventh pandemic island I (VSP-I) and VSP-II. Among a subset of 42 toxigenic isolates screened by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), all were in the same sequence type as a clinical isolate (MO45) from the original Indian outbreak. Nontoxigenic isolates, in contrast, generally lacked VSP-I and -II, and fell within13 additional sequence types in two clonal complexes distinct from the toxigenic isolates. In further pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (with NotI digestion) studies, toxigenic isolates formed 60 pulsotypes clustered in one group, while the nontoxigenic isolates formed 43 pulsotypes which clustered into 3 different groups. Our data suggest that toxigenic O139 isolates from widely divergent geographic locations, while showing some diversity, have maintained a relatively tight clonal structure across a 20-year time span. Nontoxigenic isolates, in contrast, exhibited greater diversity, with multiple clonal lineages, than did their toxigenic counterparts.
Tumor cell cytotoxicity of a novel metal chelator.

We have synthesized a novel six-coordinate metal chelator from the triamine cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane by the addition of a 2-pyridylmethyl pendant arm on each nitrogen, which we term tachpyr. The experiments described here were designed to explore whether this compound exhibits potential antitumor activity. When added to MBT2 or T24 cultured bladder cancer cells, tachpyr was profoundly cytotoxic, with an IC50 of approximately 4.6 micromol/L compared with 70 micromol/L for desferioxamine. To explore the mode of action of tachpyr, several metal complexes were prepared, including Fe(II), Ca(II), Mn(II), Mg(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) tachpyr complexes. Of these, the Zn(II), Cu(II), and Fe(II) complexes were without toxic effect, whereas the Ca(II), Mn(II), and Mg(II) complexes remained cytotoxic. To further probe the role of Zn(II) and Cu(II) chelation in the cytotoxicity of tachpyr, sterically hindered tachpyr derivatives were prepared through N-alkylation of tachpyr. These derivatives were unable to strongly bind Fe(III) or Fe(II) but were able to bind Zn(II) and Cu(II). When added to cells, these sterically hindered tachpyr derivatives were nontoxic, consistent with a role of iron depletion in the cytotoxic mechanism of tachpyr. Further, the addition of tachpyr to proliferating cultures resulted in an early and selective inhibition of ferritin synthesis, an iron storage protein whose translation is critically dependent on intracellular iron pools. Taken together, these experiments suggest that tachpyr is a cytotoxic metal chelator that targets intracellular iron, and that the use of tachpyr in cancer therapy deserves further exploration.
The death of gold in early Visayan societies

There is a scanty amount of literature about gold of Philippine societies in the last one thousand years. Much of what we know about the people’s use of the metal comes from ethnographic and ethnohistoric sources. More so, the literature becomes even scantier when we delve deeper into how early Filipinos viewed their use of gold. Hence, the paper tries to survey vast sources of information in order to elucidate the reasons behind the apparent use of gold in death and burial practices of the early inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago, especially of the early Visayan societies. Indeed, burial sites comprise most of the archaeological sources in the area; thus, the study also concerns itself with how mortuary analyses through archaeological methodologies and inferences, could provide concrete evidences for these accounts. Focusing on the early Filipinos’ concepts of death, dying and the afterlife, the paper argues that gold, as a distinct material, is deemed important in this stage of people’s life. The paper introduces the concept of object-soul, an animist explanation why certain materials were buried together with the dead. However, beyond the consideration of nature spirits in such perspective, the study argues that material objects in Visayan death and burial, like gold, were conceived as having soul, thus undergo the same separation and transition that happens to the deceased. Not with standing that there were prevailing justifications on the use of gold in death and burial during the protohistoric period in the Philippines, and that this deliberate use was predominantly attributed to consensual spiritualism, the persevering question of why is there a limited archaeological evidence of gold in burials still posits a problem a problem.
Marital stress worsens prognosis in women with coronary heart disease: The Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study.

CONTEXT Psychosocial stress has been associated with incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in men, but the prognostic impact of such stress rarely has been studied in women. OBJECTIVE To investigate the prognostic impact of psychosocial work stress and marital stress among women with CHD. DESIGN AND SETTING Population-based, prospective follow-up study conducted in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. PARTICIPANTS A total of 292 consecutive female patients aged 30 to 65 years (n = 279 working or cohabiting with a male partner) who were hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris between February 1991 and February 1994. Patients were followed up from the date of clinical examination until August 1997 (median, 4.8 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Recurrent coronary events, including cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, and revascularization procedures, by marital stress (assessed using the Stockholm Marital Stress Scale, a structured interview) and by work stress (assessed using the ratio of work demand to work control). RESULTS Among women who were married or cohabiting with a male partner (n = 187), marital stress was associated with a 2.9-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-6. 5) increased risk of recurrent events after adjustment for age, estrogen status, education level, smoking, diagnosis at index event, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, smoking, triglyceride level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, and left ventricular dysfunction. Among working women (n = 200), work stress did not significantly predict recurrent coronary events (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 0.8-3.3). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that marital stress but not work stress predicts poor prognosis in women aged 30 to 65 years with CHD. These findings differ from previous findings in men and suggest that specific preventive measures be tailored to the needs of women with CHD.
Academic engagement and disengagement as predictors of performance in pathophysiology among nursing students

Abstract Connecting students with learning activities to promote academic engagement has been a focus of higher education over the past decade, partly driven by an increasing rate of student participation in part-time employment, and a growing concern about the quality of the student experience. Using a prospective survey design, this study selected three elements of academic engagement (homework completion, lecture attendance, and study hours) and academic disengagement (part-time work), to identify predictors of academic performance in a pathophysiology subject in 126 second year nursing students. Homework completion emerged as the strongest positive predictor of academic performance, followed by lecture attendance; however, time spent studying was not a significant predictor of academic performance. Of concern was the finding that the amount of part-time work had a significant and negative impact on academic performance. Combining all elements of academic engagement and disengagement, and controlling for age and ethnicity, the multiple regression model accounted for 34% of the variance in the academic performance of second year nursing students studying pathophysiology. Results from these findings indicate the importance of active learning engagement in influencing academic success, and provide some direction for nursing academics to design effective learning approaches to promote academic engagement of nursing students.
The influence of human resource management practices on the retention of core employees of Australian organisations : an empirical study

Employee retention is one of the challenges facing many business organisations today. For many organisations, strategic staffing has become a concern because the ability to hold on to highly talented core employees can be crucial to future survival. This empirical study examined the current human resource management (HRM) practices of Australian organisations in the retention of their core employees. In particular, the research identified the core elements of HRM practices, which strongly influence the decision for core employees to stay. The study comprise three phases: (1) a preliminary investigation, utilising the Delphi Technique to obtain the opinions of an expert panel of thirteen, (2) in-depth interviews, involving twelve human resource managers of Australian organisations and (3) a quantitative survey of 800 employees from nine Australian organisations. The findings revealed greater insights into the HRM-retention relationship and provided empirical validation of the relationship. More specifically, the research identified eight retention factors that influence the decision of core employees to stay. These specific factors consisted of two bundles of practices: HR factors (e.g., person organisational fit, remuneration, reward and recognition, training and career development, challenging job opportunities) and Organisational factors (e.g., leadership behaviour, company culture and policies, teamwork relationship and satisfactory work environment). The outcome of the HRM-retention relationship was examined through organisational commitment and turnover intention using multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study revealed positive significant co-relationships between the eight factors and organisational commitment. Moreover, it was highlighted that commitment acted as a partial mediator of remuneration, recognition and reward, training and career development and work environment on intent to stay. Commitment fully mediated the relationship person organisational fit, teamwork relationship, culture and policies and intention to stay. The study produced a model suitable for use by human resource practitioners as a guide in determining what initiatives an organisation should adopt to retain their critical employees. This research has also made a contribution by illuminating the current employment relationships in Australian organisations and providing relevant empirical evidence to support the theoretical model of Human Resource Architecture, developed by Lepak and Snell (1999) and, as a result, creating a configuration for an Australian Human Resource Architecture model.
Accurate processing and amplification of cloned germ line copies of ribosomal DNA injected into developing nuclei of Tetrahymena thermophila

The ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila contains a chromosomally integrated copy of the rRNA genes (rDNA) in its germinal (micronuclear) genome. These genes are excised from the chromosome through a process involving site-specific DNA breakage, become linear palindromic molecules with added telomeres, and are greatly amplified during development of the somatic nucleus (macronucleus). In this study, we cloned a 15-kilobase segment of the germ line DNA containing these genes and injected it into developing macronuclei of T. thermophila. Up to 11% of injected cells were transformed to the paromomycin-resistant phenotype specified by the injected DNA. Transformation efficiency was dependent on the developmental stages of the injected cells and the integrity of the injected DNA but not the DNA concentration or conformation. The injected DNA was apparently processed and amplified correctly to produce rDNA molecules with the expected linear palindromic structure which carried the appropriate physical markers. Thus, the 15-kilobase DNA contained all cis-acting sequences sufficient for the DNA-processing events leading to rDNA amplification in T. thermophila.
Correlations Between Change Scores of Measures for Muscle Strength and Motor Function in Individuals with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Types 2 and 3

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the correlations between change scores on the Manual Muscle Test for muscle strength and the Gross Motor Function Measure for motor function in individuals with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and type 3. The specific aims were to reveal any differences in correlations between younger (children) and older (adolescents and adults) individuals and also between walkers and nonwalkers with spinal muscular atrophy. DesignA total of 56 individuals with spinal muscular atrophy aged 5 to 41 yrs were recruited. Muscle strength and motor function were measured three times at 6-mo intervals. The Manual Muscle Test scores of 36 muscle groups and Gross Motor Function Measure scores were obtained. Differences in these scores over time (baseline to 6 mos and baseline to 12 mos) were calculated. ResultsChanges in Manual Muscle Test scores correlated positively to changes in Gross Motor Function Measure scores over 12 mos (r = 0.35, P = 0.01). Significantly positive correlations between the change scores over 12 mos were evident in the older group (r = 0.48, P = 0.02) and in nonwalkers (r = 0.47, P < 0.001). ConclusionsThe correlations between change scores on Manual Muscle Test and on Gross Motor Function Measure suggest that these two measures are suitable for representing concurrent changes in muscle strength and motor function in spinal muscular atrophy within 12 mos.
Commitment and Timing of Environmental Policy, Adoption of New Technology and Repercussions on R&D

We investigate the interplay between environmental policy, incentives to adopt new technology, and repercussions on R&D. We study a model where a monopolistic upstream firm engages in R&D and sells advanced abatement technology to polluting downstream firms which are subject to regulation. We consider for different timing and commitment regimes of environmental tax and permit policies: ex post taxation (or issuing permits) ex interim commitment to a tax rate (a quota of permits) after observing R&D success but before adaption, and two types of ex ante commitment before R&D activity. We study the second best tax and permit rules and rank the policies with respect to welfare.
Serotonin 2A Receptor Inverse Agonist as a Treatment for Parkinson's Disease Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Serotonin 2A Receptor Negative Modulators.

BACKGROUND There is uncertainty about the efficacy and tolerability of serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor negative modulators for Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP). OBJECTIVE This is the first meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) testing negative modulators of the 5-HT2A receptor as a treatment for PDP. METHODS The primary outcome was the Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS)-hallucinations (H) and -delusions (D) scores (SAPS-H+D). Other outcome measures were SAPS-H, SAPS-D, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part II and III (UPDRS-II+III), discontinuation rates, and individual adverse events. RESULTS Four RCTs were identified that met inclusion criteria, all assessing the 5-HT2A inverse agonist pimavanserin (including 417 drug-treated and 263 placebo-treated PDP patients). Pimavanserin significantly decreased SAPS-H+D scores compared to placebo [weighted mean differences (WMD) = -2.26, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = -3.86 to -0.67, p = 0.005, I2 = 30% , N = 4 studies, n = 502 patients]. Moreover, pimavanserin was superior to placebo for reducing SAPS-H (WMD = -2.15, 95% CI = -3.45 to -0.86, p = 0.001, I2 = 0% , N = 2, n = 237) and SAPS-D scores (WMD = -1.32, 95% CI = -2.32 to -0.32, p = 0.010, I2 = 0% , N = 2, n = 237). Pimavanserin was associated with less orthostatic hypotension than placebo (risk ratio = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.15-0.75, p = 0.008, I2 = 0% , number needed to harm = 17, p = 0.01, N = 3, n = 476). There were no significant differences in rates of all-cause discontinuation, adverse events, and death, UPDRS-II+III scores, and incidences of individual adverse events (other than orthostatic hypotension) between pimavanserin and placebo groups. CONCLUSIONS Pooled RCT results suggest that pimavanserin is beneficial for the treatment of PDP and is well tolerated. We did not identify other negative modulators of the 5-HT2A receptor for the treatment of PDP.