Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Alternative Impasse Procedures on Bargaining: A Laboratory Experiment

This laboratory experiment compares the effects of two variations of conventional arbitration, two variations of final-offer arbitration, and a no-intervention or strike condition across two sets of negotiations. The results of the experiment suggest that the strike condition is more effective than arbitration in producing voluntary agreements, and that final-offer arbitration is more effective than conventional arbitration in encouraging the parties to narrow their differences. The latter result occurred, though, only after an impasse had been declared and when conventional arbitration involved the clear expectation that the arbitrator would split the difference in the parties' positions. The effectiveness of final-offer arbitration was also reduced when the parties expected the arbitrator to choose between last offers made before instead of after the close of negotiation.
Bureaucratic Hierarchy vs. Feudal Hierarchy: A Study on the Organizational Culture of China's SOEs

Bureaucratic Hierarchy and Feudal Hierarchy are two confusing concepts in organization literature, especially in the study of the organizational culture of enterprises in China. This article clarifies the two concepts in the first place. Ralston et al. (2006) and Tsui et al. (2006) suggested that the dominant organizational culture of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) was Bureaucratic Hierarchy, consistent with Quinn and Cameron (1983)’s “life cycles - criteria of effectiveness model”. However, according to Boisot and Child (1996)’s “Chinese and Western paths to modernization” model, China’s SOEs are dominated by Feudal Hierarchy culture. This article proposes that the dominant organizational culture of SOEs remains to be Feudal Hierarchy, and then critically examines the literature to support this proposition. Finally, it points to key obstacles in the codification/modernization process of China.
Implications of Domestic Support Disciplines for Further Agricultural Trade Liberalization

This paper employs the GTAP computable general equilibrium model and dataset to analyse the implications of domestic support reductions in the context of agricultural trade liberalisation. Three specific issues are addressed: overhang in domestic support, the accurate distinction of the boxes in the GTAP dataset and the treatment of market price support in the amber box. An extensive domestic support database is used to calculate the change in applied domestic support rates from a specified cut in bound rates, and to identify the impact on the different domestic support boxes and the required reductions in each support category. The GTAP model is extended to incorporate an explicit representation of the market price support element of the AMS. The results from these extensions of the standard database and model support the view that the impact of an agreement to reduce domestic support will be limited and lower than conventionally estimated. Results of simulations combining domestic support cuts with market access and export competition disciplines show that the effect of import tariff reductions dominate the gains from domestic support cuts once full account is taken of the issues addressed in this paper.
Are Venture Capitalists a Catalyst for Innovation?

In this paper we test two hypotheses concerning the presence of innovation in venture capital investments and the growth of innovative venture backed firms. To examine these hypotheses we considered sample of 37 Italian venture backed firms that went public on the Italian Stock Exchange between 1995 and 2004 and by a statistical matching procedure we picked 37 twin firms among the non-venture backed IPOs for the same period. Our evidence shows that innovation is an important factor during the selection phase but once the investment is made, the company does not promote continued innovation and concentrates all efforts to improve other economic and managerial aspects.
Coronary Vasodilation by Isoflurane: Abrupt Versus Gradual Administration

Background Under certain circumstances, isoflurane is associated with coronary artery vasodilation. The objective of the current study was to ascertain whether the rate of administration of isoflurane influences its vasodilating effect in the coronary circulation. Methods Seven open‐chest dogs anesthetized with fentanyl and midazolam were studied. The left anterior descending coronary artery was perfused via either of two pressurized (80 mmHg) reservoirs; reservoir 1 (control) was supplied with arterial blood free of isoflurane, and reservoir 2 was supplied with blood from an extracorporeal oxygenator, which was provided with 95% Oxygen2 /5% CO2 gas that passed through calibrated vaporizer. Coronary blood flow (CBF) was measured with Doppler flow transducer. In each dog, isoflurane was administered according to two protocols; abrupt (isoflurane‐A) or gradual (isoflurane‐G). In isoflurane‐A, the left anterior descending coronary artery was switched from reservoir 1 to reservoir 2 after the latter was filled with blood previously equilibrated with 1.4% (1 MAC) isoflurane. In isoflurane‐G, the left anterior descending coronary artery was switched to reservoir 2 with vaporizer set at 0% isoflurane; then the vaporizer was adjusted to 1.4% isoflurane, which produced a gradual increase in isoflurane concentration within reservoir 2 that reached a level equivalent to that in isoflurane‐A (as evaluated by gas chromatography) by 30 min. CBF during maximally dilating, intracoronary infusion of adenosine served as a reference to assess effects of isoflurane. Results Isoflurane‐A caused marked increases in CBF, which, at constant perfusion pressure, reflected pronounced reductions in vascular resistance. These increases in CBF were 80% of those with adenosine. Although isoflurane‐G also caused increases in CBF, the increases were only 45% of those caused by isoflurane‐A. Conclusions The current findings demonstrate that the extent of coronary vasodilation by isoflurane was not dependent only on its blood concentration but also on the rate at which this blood concentration was achieved; a gradual increase in blood concentration blunted the vasodilator effect. Differences in the rate of administration of isoflurane likely contributed to its widely variable coronary vasodilating effects in previous studies.
Family Ownership and Control, the Presence of Other Large Shareholders, and Firm Performance: Further Evidence

This article analyzes, using various econometric techniques, how family ownership, family control, and the presence of a second significant shareholder affect firm performance. The authors studied a panel of 118 nonfinancial Spanish companies (711 observations) from 2002 to 2008. Once endogeneity issues were considered, it was found that family ownership did not influence profitability. What seems to matter is family control. This study also reveals the importance of taking into account unobservable heterogeneity and endogeneity issues when analyzing firm performance and provides an interesting future avenue of research: the role played by other large shareholders in family firms.
Innovation cooperation: experiences from East and West Germany

This paper deals with innovation cooperation as a means to support the ongoing catch-up process of the East German economy. Against prevalent beliefs, it can be shown that East German enterprises are more often involved in innovation cooperation than West German firms, and differences in cooperation partner priorities only reflect the given structural differences between the two regions. While cooperating enterprises in East and West Germany are clearly more innovative than their non-cooperating counterparts, a productivity advantage of these firms is (so far) only observable in West Germany. Reasons for this surprising finding are discussed. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.
Patient and staff (doctors and nurses) experiences of abdominal hysterectomy in accelerated recovery programme. A qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION The accelerated recovery programme (ARP) is becoming commonplace in surgical specialties and has also been introduced to hysterectomy patients. Diagnostic, prognostic and other clinical indicators are well described. The aim of this article is to relay knowledge about the ARP, through the experiences of the women operated and the staff involved. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study is exploratory and descriptive, using qualitative methods. Seventeen women, with good health status, were consecutively selected from August to September 2001. The women were observed and ten were interviewed twice, at discharge and one month following their return home. The staff (n = 15) were interviewed individually and/or participated in focus group interviews before (February 2001) and following (November 2001) the introduction of the ARP. RESULTS The women experienced little difficulty with the ARP. They defined themselves as being good girls but expressed that when the hospital's ARP had expired the attention from the staff declined. The staff continued to be concerned about whether the women received the information and psychological care they needed but claimed that the ARP proved better for the women than they had expected. CONCLUSION The ARP did not appear to be a burden for the women involved in the study; however, it did not consider individual needs for psychological care. Future efforts should ensure a thorough introduction of the ARP to new staff as well as illustrative material for purposes of information relay and dialogue between staff and patients/family members. A nursing care ambulatory unit is recommended to support with information for women prior to and following hysterectomy in the ARP.
The interrelation between high- and low-molecular-weight forms of GM1-beta-galactosidase purified from porcine spleen.

1) Two forms of acid beta-galactosidase [EC 3.1. 23] with different molecular weights catalyzing the hydrolysis of GM1-ganglioside and p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactoside were separated and purified from porcine spleen. 2) The apparent molecular weights were 400,000-600,000 and 70,000-74,000 for the high (termed Am form) and low (termed A1 form) molecular weight forms, respectively. 3) On examination by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, both forms of the enzyme had a common protein band of molecular weight 63,000, and the Am form showed three additional protein bands with molecular weights of 31,000, 21,000, and 20,000. 4) Both forms of the enzyme had similar catalytic functions with regard to pH-optimum, Km, substrate specificity and sensitivity to substrate analogues and other substances such as detergents, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and NaCl. 5) Both forms of the enzyme were fairly stable upon preincubation at 45 degrees C at acidic pH (pH 4.5), but lost their activities at neutral pH (pH 7.0). 6) The A1 form was a monomer at neutral pH (pH 7.0) and formed a dimer at acidic pH (pH 4.5). However, most of the Am form could not be converted to a dimeric form on gel filtration at acidic pH.
A use-diffusion model of 3G services in China

Since use-diffusion (UD) theory is firstly presented in 2004, few studies about UD theory have been investigated to date. In order to enrich UD theoretical results and test the feasibility of this theory applied in different research fields, we study use-diffusion of 3G services in China. This paper modifies UD determinants and established 3G services use-diffusion model. A web-based survey was used in collecting data to test UD model in explaining the usage degree of consumer. The results show that: (1) Perceived usefulness, subjective norm, innovativeness and perceived cost are the determinants of significantly affecting the variety of use, rate of use is significantly affected by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived cost and perceived mobility; (2) Perception of UD determinants among four types of users is different; (3) There are significant differences among four typological users about satisfaction of 3G services and interest in future 3G services. Based on these findings, the study proposes some managerial implications and suggestions. Key words: Use-diffusion, variety of use, rate of use.
Initial Public Offerings and Underwriter Reputation

This paper examines the returns earned by subscribing to initial public offerings of equity. K. Rock (1986) suggests that initial public offerings of equity returns are required by uninformed investors as compensation for the risk of trading against superior information. The authors show that initial public offerings of equity with more informed investor capital require higher returns. The marketing underwriter's reputation reveals the expected level of "informed" activity. Prestigious underwriters are associated with lower risk offerings. With less risk there is less incentive to acquire information and fewer informed investors. Consequently, prestigious underwriters are associated with initial public offerings of equity that have lower returns. Copyright 1990 by American Finance Association.
Exploratory Study of Organizational Creativity in Creative Organizations

The creative industries represent an important and growing sector of the UK economy. This paper explores organizational creativity in firms within the creative industries. A questionnaire based on both Amabile's ‘Organizational Creativity’ model and Ekvall's ‘Creative Climate’ model was completed in ten firms in different sectors of the creative industries. Follow-up interviews with five firms were also conducted, to compare the outputs from each model as well as the variation in responses from firms in different sectors. The results indicate that both models of organizational creativity are complementary, although not necessarily fully applicable in the creative industries. Specific differences between firms in the graphic design/branding sector and firms in product design were also observed.
A Model of Lending Resumption after Default: Lessons from Capital Markets during the Nineteenth Century

This paper mines the experience of the nineteenth-century capital markets to propose an alternative interpretation of international defaults. The standard view - that sovereign default entails exclusion from markets - was often contradicted by reality: in some cases lending ceased, but in others it continued. This paper claims that lenders' responses to default stem from the additional knowledge about borrowers that is acquired during default episodes. Lending is modelled in a costly-state-verification environment where sovereigns have private information about their investment projects (good or bad). After default, lenders audit projects and interrupt lending only if the project is believed to be a ‘bad’ one.
Activation of muscarinic receptors elicits inotropic responses in ventricular muscle from rats with heart failure through myosin light chain phosphorylation

Background and purpose: Muscarinic stimulation increases myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity with no apparent inotropic response in normal rat myocardium. Increased myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity is a molecular mechanism promoting increased contractility in failing cardiac tissue. Thus, muscarinic receptor activation could elicit inotropic responses in ventricular myocardium from rats with heart failure, through increasing phosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC).
Are U.K. Stock Prices Excessively Volatile? Trading Rules and Variance Bounds Tests

The authors apply the original variance bounds tests to the present value model for the U.K. stock market and amend these tests to take account of revisions in the model's parameters. They show that variance bounds tests that correct for this are no longer violated. However, they claim there is excess volatility if agents, restricted to using only current information to compute a trading rule, could make excess profits. They show that a trading rule exists which yields, in the long run, more than twice the wealth from buying than holding a representative market portfolio. Copyright 1989 by Royal Economic Society.
Induction of superoxide anion production from monocytes and neutrophils by activated platelets through the P‐selectin–sialyl Lewis X interaction

Activated platelets expressing P‐selectin on their surface are known to adhere to monocytes and neutrophils. We examined the possibility that the leukocytes were activated by their adhesion to activated platelets and demonstrated that P‐selectin–dependent platelet adhesion to neutrophils and monocytes induced production of extracellular superoxide anion (O2 ‐) by these leukocytes. Leukocyte membrane glycoproteins containing Ser/Thr‐linked carbohydrate chains were responsible for the signal reception leading to the leukocyte activation. Cytokines were shown to influence these processes. For example, treatments of neutrophils with interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) or granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) potentiated the P‐selectin‐induced O2 ‐ production. Furthermore, interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) induced surface expression of P‐selectin on platelets in the presence of a low concentration of thrombin and consequently enhanced their adhesion capacity to leukocytes. These results indicated that the adhesion of activated platelets to the leukocytes through the interaction between P‐selectin and its carbohydrate ligand, sialyl Lewis X (Lex), was a crucial step for the activation of leukocyte function and supported the notion that activated platelets were actively involved in the inflammatory processes. J. Lcukoc. Biol. 56: 583–587; 1994.
Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to members of the United States Congress.

The authors examine the characteristics of threatening and otherwise inappropriate communications sent to members of the U.S. Congress by a sample of 86 subjects, 20 of whom threatened assassination. We quote excerpts from these letters and provide quantitative data on such variables as the volume, duration, form, and appearance of such communications; the enclosures; the subjects' perceived relationships to the recipients; the thematic content of the communications; and the messages and threats communicated. Comparisons between 43 subjects who pursued encounters with members of Congress and 43 who did not revealed 17 factors associated with such pursuit. In this population, threateners were significantly less likely to pursue an encounter than inappropriate letter writers who did not threaten, regardless of the type of threat or the harm threatened. Inappropriate letters to members of Congress are compared with those directed to Hollywood celebrities. Mentally disordered persons writing to public figures often mention and sometimes threaten public figures other than those to whom the letters are addressed, which raises important issues regarding notification of endangered third parties and the sharing of information among protective agencies.
Y-ers, X-ers and Boomers: Investigating the multigenerational (mis)perceptions in the hospitality workplace

Today’s hospitality workforce is more diverse than ever with the symbiotic co-existence of three different generations; Generation Y, Generation X and Baby Boomers. This co-existence poses numerous challenges for an industry that strives to achieve inter-generational comfort, thus avoiding conflict, an impediment to the effectiveness of even its most sophisticated organizations. Adopting a quantitative methodology, this article explores the occupational similarities and differences of the three prevailing generations, currently active in the diverse hospitality workplace, as well as investigating how each generation cohort is perceived by its own members in comparison to members of other generations. Findings, which provide invaluable insights of interest to hospitality stakeholders, confirm the vast perceptual inter-generational differences within a plethora of work-related issues.
Information Transmission—Cournot and Bertrand Equilibria

We examine how incentives for two duopolists to honestly share information change depending upon the nature of competition (Cournot or Bertrand) and the nature of the information structure. While in earlier papers uncertainty is about an unknown common demand intercept, in the present paper uncertainty is about unknown private costs. The different information structure reverses the incentives to share information. While with unknown common demand sharing is a dominant strategy with Bertrand competition and concealing is a dominant strategy with Cournot competition, with unknown private costs sharing is a dominant strategy with Cournot competition and concealing is a dominant strategy with Bertrand competition.
The spatial ecology of alcohol problems: niche theory and assortative drinking.

AIMS This paper summarizes several theoretical perspectives that serve to explain observed associations between concentrations of alcohol outlets and alcohol-related problems. A critique of each perspective discusses how each addresses the social etiology of these problems; that is, how, where and why these problems arise in association with alcohol outlets? METHODS This theoretical work is based upon mathematical and computational models of the ecology of alcohol-related problems developed in the 'Ecosystems Modeling Project', an advanced research project of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, United States. RESULTS Associations between outlets and problems are thought to arise from the concentration of individuals in drinking places ('flow models'), the attraction of some places for people at risk for problems ('gravity models'), or because outlets are located in high-risk neighborhoods and have negative social normative effects ('social contextual models'). None of these approaches explain how some outlets come to have more problems than others (e.g. violent outlets). An alternative social ecological model is introduced which asserts that the complementary processes of niche marketing and assortative drinking form the social dynamic that explains these relationships. Alcohol sellers 'niche market' to select social strata, drinkers return to establishments at which they find people like themselves, and consequent social stratification of the market-place increases the levels of related problems in some outlets. CONCLUSIONS The proposed mechanism is very general, and suggests that over-concentrations of outlets will lead to stratification of drinking groups and intensification of problems related to those outlets.
Party ideology and legislative agendas: Estimating contextual policy positions for the study of EU decision-making

This article introduces a novel approach for generating agenda-related estimates of the policy positions of political parties from party manifestos and expert surveys. We show that current party estimates provide for little variation across policy areas and over time. In response, we propose to relate the issue-specific ideological preference profiles of political parties to the legislative context. For the dimensional representation of policy positions of political parties our procedure weights the issue-specific preference profiles by their prominence on the agenda of each policy area. We apply this procedure to EU legislation and locate national political parties on a national/supranational and left/right dimension, which can be used for the analysis of Council decision-making.