Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of plant species richness on stand structure and productivity

Aims Aboveground biomass production commonly increases with species richness in plant biodiversity experiments. Little is known about the direct mechanisms that cause this result. We tested if by occupying different heights and depths above and below ground, and by optimizing the vertical distribution of leaf nitrogen, species in mixtures can contribute to increased resource uptake and, thus, increased productivity of the community in comparison with monocultures. Methods We grew 24 grassland plant species, grouped into four nonoverlapping species pools, in monoculture and 3- and 6-species mixture in spatially heterogeneous and uniform soil nutrient conditions. Layered harvests of above- and belowground biomass, as well as leaf nitrogen and light measurements, were taken to assess vertical canopy and root space structure.
Capturing the effects of coupon promotions in scanner panel choice models

The authors develop a logit modeling approach, designed for application to UPC scanner panel data, to assess the effects of coupon promotions on consumer brand choice. The effects of coupon promotions are captured via two measures: the prevailing level of availability and the prevailing face value of coupons for each brand. Both of these measures are derived from coupon redemptions of a separate sample of households. The approach captures both the advertising effect and the price discount incentive of a coupon. It also avoids drawbacks of previous choice models which have incorporated coupon effects by subtracting the value of a redeemed coupon from the price of the brand purchased. The authors illustrate their modeling approach on data for two product categories: catsup (light coupon usage) and liquid laundry detergent (heavy coupon usage). Findings are reported for coupon users and non‐users as well as across latent segments.
Subtractive Hybridization Reveals a Type I Polyketide Synthase Locus Specific to Mycobacterium ulcerans

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium ulcerans causes Buruli ulcer, the third most prevalent mycobacterial infection of immunocompetent humans after tuberculosis and leprosy. Recent work has shown that the production by M. ulcerans of mycolactone, a novel polyketide, may partly explain the pathogenesis of Buruli ulcer. To search for the genetic basis of virulence in M. ulcerans, we took advantage of the close genetic relationship between M. ulcerans and Mycobacterium marinum by performing genomic suppressive subtractive hybridization of M. ulcerans with M. marinum. We identified several DNA fragments specific to M. ulcerans, in particular, a type I polyketide synthase locus with a highly repetitive modular arrangement. We postulate that this locus is responsible for the synthesis of mycolactone in M. ulcerans.
The Corporation in Finance

The nature of the firm and its financing are closely interlinked. To produce significant net present value, an entrepreneur has to transform her enterprise into one that is differentiated from the ordinary. To achieve the control that will allow her to execute this strategy, she needs to have substantial ownership, and thus financing. But it is hard to raise finance against differentiated assets. So an entrepreneur has to commit to undertake a second transformation, standardization, that will make the human capital in the firm, including her own, replaceable, so that outside financiers obtain control rights that will allow them to be repaid. I argue that the availability of a vibrant stock market helps the entrepreneur commit to these two transformations in a way that a debt market would not. This helps explain why the nature of firms and the extent of innovation differ so much in different financing environments.
Long-term follow-up of patients with chronic pancreatitis in Italy

Background: We investigated the epidemiologic, clinical, and radiologic aspects of a mixed medicosurgical series of chronic pancreatitis patients observed at the University of Verona Centre for the Study of Pancreatic Diseases over the period 1971-1995. Methods: Even though the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis has yet to be clarified and the classification is still debatable, the patients were subdivided in accordance with the Marseilles-Rome classification into those with alcoholic, obstructive, familial, and idiopathic forms of the disease. A total of 715 patients were analysed with a median follow-up period of 10 years (range, 1-25 years). Results and Conclusions: At the end of follow-up the dropout rate amounted to 7.1% (51 patients), and 176 patients (24.6%) had died. Data are reported about the type of chronic pancreatitis, sex, and age distribution at the onset of the disease, drinking and smoking habits before onset and during follow-up, and incidence of calcifications, pain, diabetes, steator.
Ex-vivo antiretroviral potency of newer integrase strand transfer inhibitors cabotegravir and bictegravir in HIV type 1 non-B subtypes

Objective: To determine the antiretroviral activity of the integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), raltegravir (RAL), elvitegravir (EVG), dolutegravir (DTG), cabotegravir (CAB) and bictegravir (BIC), against different subtypes as well as primary and acquired drug resistance mutations (DRMs) in a patient-cohort infected with diverse subtypes. Design: Biochemical and virological drug sensitivity analyses using patient-derived HIV type 1 (HIV-1) genes and cross-sectional/longitudinal clinical study. Methods: Assays for 50% inhibition of 3′-end processing (IC50-3EP), strand transfer (IC50-ST) and drug sensitivity for five INSTIs were done using patient-derived integrase or gag-pol genes from subtypes A1, B, C, 01_AE and 02_AG. Integrase from INSTI-naive (n = 270) and experienced (n = 96) patients were sequenced. Results: RAL had higher IC50-ST than the other INSTIs for all subtypes. EVG had higher IC50-ST for HIV 1 subtype C (P < 0.05) and 02_AG (P < 0.05) than HIV 1 subtype B (HIV-1B). DTG showed lower IC50-ST in HIV 1 subtype C than HIV-1B (P = 0.003). In CAB , the non-B subtypes showed lower IC50-ST (P < 0.05) than HIV-1B. In BIC, lower IC50-ST in 01_AE (P = 0.017) and 02_AG (P = 0.045) than HIV-1B. In drug sensitivity assay, inhibiting virus replication by 50% for DTG [median (IQR) 2.14 (1.3–2.56)], CAB [1.68 (1.34–2.55)] and BIC [1.07 (0.22–2.53)] were lower than RAL and EVG. One patient had a primary DRMs (0.3%, 1/270), but 17 (6.3%) had one major accessory DRM, of which 12 were E157Q. Conclusion: The equal or higher potency in non-B subtypes of DTG, CAB and BIC compared with RAL and EVG confirms their suitability for use in countries dominated by non-B subtypes. Any impact of the high prevalence of major accessory mutations, especially E157Q, requires long-term follow-up studies.
Clinical Uncertainty and Healthcare Disparities

The Institute of Medicine Report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities, affirms in its first finding: “Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare exist and, because they are associated with worse outcomes in many cases, are unacceptable. ” The mechanisms that generate racial and ethnic disparities in medical care operate at the levels of the healthcare system and the clinical encounter. Research demonstrates the role of healthcare system factors, including differences in insurance coverage and other determinants of healthcare access, in producing disparities. Research also shows, however, that even when insurance status and other measures of access are controlled for by statistical methods, racial and ethnic disparities persist. These disparities remain when researchers try by various methods to control for patients’ clinical characteristics. Disparities are especially well documented through comparisons between white patients and African Americans and Latinos, but they are believed to affect other minority groups. As a result, many members of minority racial and ethnic groups receive less or inferior care.
Extent of knowledge of farm women on nutrition.

Malnutrition and under nutrition is a serious problem in both urban and rural India.This can be solved through approaches like Institution of specific feeding programme to overcome malnutrition and to Increase food availability; to improve environmental sanitation and impart nutrition education to the women and increase their income. A study was conducted in Samastipur district of Bihar state to know the extent of knowledge rural women in relation to nutrition and to ascertain the extent of gain of knowledge of rural women through nutrition training programme. The findings of this study highligths that there is a significant gain in knowledge of all the components of nutrition domain included in the training programme. It can be suggested that for greater generalization of the findings of this study, similar type of training programmes should be conducted at different parts of the country and over a wide geographical area.
Reasons for selecting an initial route of heroin administration and for subsequent transitions during a severe HIV epidemic.

AIM To identify the most important reasons for selecting a particular route of heroin administration and for subsequent transitions during a period of epidemic HIV transmission. To study temporal trends in these reasons. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. PARTICIPANTS Nine hundred heroin users in three Spanish cities: 305 in Seville, 297 in Madrid and 298 in Barcelona. MEASUREMENTS A separate analysis was made of the reasons for five types of behaviour: (a) selecting injection as the initial usual route of heroin administration (URHA); (b) changing the URHA to injection; (c) never having injected drugs; (d) selecting the smoked or sniffed route as the initial URHA; and (e) changing the URHA to a non-injected route. Subjects were invited to evaluate the importance of each reason included in a closed list. Spontaneously self-perceived reasons were also explored in an open-ended question for each of the five types of behaviour studied. FINDINGS The primary reason selected for each type of behaviour was: (a) pressure of the social environment; (b) belief that injection is a more efficient route than smoking or sniffing heroin; (c) concern about health consequences (especially fears of HIV and overdose), and fear of blood or of sticking a needle into one's veins; (d), pressure of the social environment and (e) concern about health consequences and vein problems. For women, having a sexual partner who injected heroin played a decisive role in initiating or changing to injection. Few people spontaneously mentioned market conditions for purchasing heroin as an important reason for any behaviour, nor did many mention risk of overdose as reasons for (c) or (d). CONCLUSIONS These findings should be considered when designing interventions aimed at preventing initiation of injecting or facilitating the transition to non-injected routes.
Nuclear‐Targeted Multifunctional Magnetic Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy

The pursuit of multifunctional, innovative, more efficient, and safer cancer treatment has gained increasing interest in the research of preclinical nanoparticle‐mediated photothermal therapy (PTT). Cell nucleus is recognized as the ideal target for cancer treatment because it plays a central role in genetic information and the transcription machinery reside. In this work, an efficient nuclear‐targeted PTT strategy is proposed using transferrin and TAT peptide (TAT: YGRKKRRQRRR) conjugated monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles, which can be readily functionalized and stabilized for potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles exhibit high photothermal conversion efficiency (≈37%) and considerable photothermal stability. They also show a high magnetization value and transverse relaxivity (207.1 mm−1 s−1), which could be applied for magnetic resonance imaging. The monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with TAT peptides can efficiently target the nucleus and achieve the imaging‐guided function, efficient cancer cells killing ability. Therefore, this work may present a practicable strategy to develop subcellular organelle targeted PTT agents for simultaneous cancer targeting, imaging, and therapy.
Does Advertising Lower Consumer Prices?

Critics of advertising maintain that advertising raises consumer prices by increasing manufacturers’ selling prices in several ways. Not only must the cost of the promotion be added to the product's cost, but by limiting entry, advertising leads to concentration and oligopolistic pricing. This article contends that even if these assertions are valid, advertising lowers consumer prices. A theory of the relationship between advertising and prices is presented and is illustrated by data from the marketing experience of the toy industry.
A Study of the Nutritional Status of Under-5 Children of Low-Income Earners in a South-Western Nigerian Community

This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the nutritional status of children aged 6-59 months, of low-income earners in Ipokia local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria, in order to establish and provide baseline information on the health and nutritional status of the target group. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric measurements of height, weight, chest and arm circumference, and was compared with NCHS standards. Dietary assessment was based on weighed inventory method and 24 h recall obtained from their mothers. The nutrient intakes were compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). A structured pretested questionnaire was utilised to gather information on the socio- demographic and economic characteristics, household food purchase and infant feeding practices of the children's mothers. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight of the subjects were used in calculating weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. Data was analysed using SPSS version 12.0. There were no significant differences between the males and females except for males having a significant higher Lean Body Mass (LBM) than the females. Using weight-for-age, 82.13% of the Under-5 children were underweight, 33.52% were stunted while 85.15% were wasted. The intakes of protein, iron, calcium and vitamin A were inadequate in both males and females. Majority of mothers of the children were uneducated (80.7%) and earned a paltry monthly income in the range of N1, 500-N5, 900. The findings show that the nutritional status of Under-5 children in the study location which happens to be a rural area, was quite poor. Also from the results, it is evident that malnutrition is still a major public health problem among young children due to the poor socio- economic status (poverty and poor educational background) of their parents, and thus, there is a need for better nutrition of the Nigerian child.
Reliable Behavioural Factors in the Information Security Context

Users do often not behave securely when using information technology. Many studies have tried to identify the factors of behavioural theories which can increase secure behaviour. The goal of this work is to identify which of the factors are reliably associated with secure behaviour across multiple studies. Those factors are of interest to information security professionals since addressing them in security awareness and education campaigns can help improving security related processes of users. To attain our goal, we conducted a systematic literature review and assessed the reliability of the factors based on the effect sizes reported in the literature. Our results indicate that 11 out of the 14 factors from well established behavioural theories can be associated with reliable effects in the information security context. These factors cover very different aspects: influence of the users skills, whether the environment makes it possible to exhibit secure behaviour, the influence of friends or co-workers, and the perceived properties of the secure behaviour (e.g. response cost). Also, we identify areas, where more studies are needed to increase the confidence of the factors' reliability assessment.
Changing Motives for Share Repurchases

Net share repurchases have increased both in absolute terms and relative to cash dividends. Share repurchases during 1975-87 were predominantly fixed price tender offers and Dutch auctions, mainly signaling undervaluation. By 1994 open market repurchases (OMRs) represented over 95% of repurchase activity. Event returns were 10% to 15% for the early period. OMRs during the 1980s had initial event returns of about 3.5%, but had four-year buy-and- hold returns of 12% and higher. By the mid 1980s share repurchases took the form of multi- year programs with annual levels as high as $2-$3 billion. Econometric studies of the 1990s are consistent with the hypothesis that a major motive was to offset the dilution effects of the exercise of stock options. Dividend patterns were related to permanent components of cash flow patterns while share repurchases were associated with more transitory cash flow changes. Dividend paying firms were almost two-third of publicly traded, non- financial, nonutility firms in 1978, but declined to 20.8% in 1999. Non-dividend paying firms were characterized by higher investment rates, higher R&D rates, higher market-to-book ratios, and relatively small size. Firms which began share repurchases in the 1990s have similar characteristics. The use of stock options enabled these firms to make cash payouts based on the discounted values of optimistic expectations of future net cash flows and stimulated the use of share repurchases as documented. In contrast, dividend paying firms with earning increases accounted for a high concentration of payouts, were large and more mature, and were responsible for the secular rise in aggregate dividend payouts. Thus share repurchases did not substitute for dividends but performed different functions.
Emerging Perspectives on Self Service Technologies in Retail Banking

This paper attempts to critically examine the available literature on the subject, discuss a model that provides a managerial framework for analyzing the variables associated with customer value, and to identify potential research areas. The discussion draws conceptual impetus from new technologies in banking services through self service technologies in banking as a tool for optimizing profit. The discussion in the paper also analyzes the main criteria for successful internet-banking strategy and brings out benefits of e-banking from the point of view of banks, their technology and customer values and tentatively concludes that there is increasing returns to scale in the bank services in relation to the banking products, new technology and customer value.
Factors Affecting the level of Trust and Commitment in Supply Chain Relationship

Keywords: Environment uncertainty, Intra-organizational facilitators, Inter-organizational relationships, Information Sharing, Information Quality, Information Availability, Trust, Commitment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of information sharing, information quality, and information availability in the development of trust and commitment in supply chain relationships. Samples of the auto-parts industry is one of the major business sectors in Taiwan from The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). There are about 2,500 auto parts companies in Taiwan, and most of them are small to medium sized companies. Its annual export value, aftermarket parts account for about 80% and international automakers’ OE parts make up the rest. Samples were gathered from samples in using a field questionnaire. Multiple regression and SEM were used to analyze the data. It was found that low level of environmental uncertainty with higher level of intra-organizational facilitators and inter-organizational relationships will have influence on the level of information sharing, quality, and availability. As expected, it was found that there is a positive relationship between the level of information sharing, quality, and availability, and the level of trust. Additionally, it was also found that there is a positive relationship between levels of trust and commitment in supply chain relationships.
Nogo-B receptor promotes the chemoresistance of human hepatocellular carcinoma via the ubiquitination of p53 protein

Nogo-B receptor (NgBR), a type I single transmembrane domain receptor is the specific receptor for Nogo-B. Our previous work demonstrated that NgBR is highly expressed in breast cancer cells, where it promotes epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important step in metastasis. Here, we show that both in vitro and in vivo increased expression of NgBR contributes to the increased chemoresistance of Bel7402/5FU cells, a stable 5-FU (5-Fluorouracil) resistant cell line related Bel7402 cells. NgBR knockdown abrogates S-phase arrest in Bel7402/5FU cells, which correlates with a reduction in G1/S phase checkpoint proteins p53 and p21. In addition, NgBR suppresses p53 protein levels through activation of the PI3K/Akt/MDM2 pathway, which promotes p53 degradation via the ubiquitin proteasome pathway and thus increases the resistance of human hepatocellular cancer cells to 5-FU. Furthermore, we found that NgBR expression is associated with a poor prognosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. These results suggest that targeting NgBR in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs, such as 5-FU, could improve the efficacy of current anticancer treatments.
Relationship between marketing and community involvement: two significant factors for tourism strategies

In considering the development of tourism destinations in a competitive market, a comprehensive viewpoint to tourism strategies is vital and valuable. A significant element of successful tourism strategies is the ability to recognize and concentrate a wide range of key factors and their interaction. Literature relating to relationship marketing and community involvement were reviewed and revealed that the concepts of relationship marketing, as well as communities’ involvement, have been the subject of much research, but from a distinct perspective. Research pertaining to the linkage between relationship marketing and community involvement for strategies of tourism development is rather limited. This work is summarized in this article and the interrelation of the two most important issues for strategies of tourism development is discussed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of relationship marketing and community involvement and their noticeable interaction for tourism strategies.
An efficient algorithm for the calculation of a constant Q transform

An efficient method of transforming a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) into a constant Q transform, where Q is the ratio of center frequency to bandwidth, has been devised. This method involves the calculation of kernels that are then applied to each subsequent DFT. Only a few multiples are involved in the calculation of each component of the constant Q transform, so this transformation adds a small amount to the computation. In effect, this method makes it possible to take full advantage of the computational efficiency of the fast Fourier transform (FFT). Graphical examples of the application of this calculation to musical signals are given for sounds produced by a clarinet and a violin.