Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Differences in Young Adults’ Beliefs About Sunscreen Use

This study employs focus group methodology to explore gender differences in sunscreen use. Guided by the theory of reasoned action, males and females were found to differ on each of the following constructs: behavior, behavioral beliefs, and normative beliefs. Males and females differed in their sunscreen use, with females adopting a more preventive style of sunscreen use and males a more reactive style. Males and females differed in their salient beliefs that motivated their sunscreen use, many of which were related to traditional American gender roles. In addition, although males and females were aware of both positive and negative sources of normative beliefs regarding sunscreen use, females received more encouragement from their mothers and peers than males. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the design of future interventions.
Optimization of Interface Properties in a-Si:H/c-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells

We report on the optimization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) heterojunction solar cells which were completely processed at temperatures below 230degC. Efficient solar cells based on both n-type and on p-type c-Si substrates were performed. In contrast to the approach from Sanyo no additional a-Si:H(i) buffer layer was used. Instead the conditions of the amorphous silicon preparation by conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were optimized and several wet- or plasma chemical treatments were applied to improve the interface properties. The highest efficiencies so far are 17.4 % on p-type c-Si wafers and 19.8 % on n-type c-Si wafers
Beyond conditionality: international institutions in postcommunist Europe after enlargement

According to the dominant incentive-based explanation, European Union (EU) conditionality has been particularly effective when the EU offered a credible membership incentive and when incumbent governments did not consider the domestic costs of compliance threatening to their hold on power. However, after the EU's eastern enlargement the influence of international institutions could then be expected to decrease in three different contexts: (i) the new member states after accession; (ii) the current candidate countries; and (iii) the postcommunist countries in the European neighbourhood policy. Yet although the incentive-based explanation receives support in some issue areas, in others, external influence is more enduring than predicted. To the extent that our understanding of the power of incentives is complicated by post-enlargement findings, there are new avenues for research into the full range of mechanisms that international institutions have at their disposal for influencing target states.
Who Takes the Parliamentary Floor? The Role of Gender in Speech-making in the Swedish Riksdag

Legislative speeches are an important instrument for parties and members of parliament (MPs) to signal their positions and priorities. This raises the question of who speaks when. We evaluate whether a MP’s presence on the floor depends on his or her gender. We hypothesize that female MPs give in general less speeches in parliament and that this pattern results from debates dealing with “harder” policy issues. Our expectations are supported when analyzing a new data set containing information on the number and content of speeches given in the Swedish Riksdag between 2002 and 2010.
The Short-run Demand for Transactions Balances in Australia

A characteristic of much research in monetary economics in the last few years has been a preoccupation with the stability of the demand for money function, as failure of stability undermines some of the central features of monetarism. A recent summing-up of this research has been that "authors in various countries report that money demand equations estimated in the conventional way have broken down in recent times" (Jonson, 1978, p. 29), with the evidence cited being Adams and Porter (1976) for Australia, Artis and Lewis (1979) for the United Kingdom and Goldfeld (1976) and Enzler et al. (1976) for the United States. Doubt must now exist about the validity of such a conclusion for the United Kingdom as a result of studies by Hendry (1980) and Hendry and Mizon (1978), and the proposition for the United States still seems an open question-see Laidler (1980) for a survey. For Australia, however, the above quotation seems to be the conventional wisdom, with Laidler citing Australian experience as an example of instability in conventionally estimated demand functions, and Davis and Lewis (1978), in their survey of Australian monetary economics, stating:
The Effect of Veterans Benefits on Education and Earnings

Veterans benefits that subsidize education and training constitute the largest federal program for student aid. Using data from the 1987 Survey of Veterans, the author presents estimates of the effect of veterans benefits on schooling completed since entering the military and on subsequent earnings. Veterans benefits are estimated to increase schooling by roughly 1.4 years, which implies annual earnings approximately 6% higher than would have been expected in the absence of the benefits. This premium appears to accrue primarily to the 77% of benefit users who attended college or graduate school.
International Survey of Audiologists' Attitudes Toward Telehealth.

Purpose A better understanding of the attitudes of audiologists toward teleaudiology and their willingness to use teleaudiology is required to progress the application of teleaudiology technologies and services into clinical practice. Audiologists around the world were surveyed on their attitudes toward teleaudiology and their willingness to use it. Method An online survey was sent to audiologists through professional associations' mailing lists. The survey included questions on the use of computer and video-conferencing technologies, awareness and previous use of teleaudiology, and willingness to use teleaudiology. Results Responses were provided by 269 people from 28 different countries, representing a wide cross-section of experience, qualification, and work settings; 77.8% of respondents were women. Almost all respondents had used PC-based video-conferencing; most had used related technologies and reported positive attitudes toward using these. However, less than 25% had used teleaudiology. Conclusions Despite positive attitudes toward telehealth and associated technology, the low number of audiologists who have used teleaudiology for services indicates limited clinical adoption.
Human Echolocation in Static Situations: Auditory Models of Detection Thresholds for Distance, Pitch, Loudness and Timbre

We investigated, by using auditory models, how three perceptual parameters, loudness, pitch and sharpness, determine human echolocation. We used acoustic recordings from two previous studies, both from stationary situations, and their resulting perceptual data as input to our analysis. An initial analysis was on the room acoustics of the recordings. The parameters of interest were sound pressure level, autocorrelation and spectral centroid. The auditory models were used to analyze echolocation resulting from the perceptual variables, i.e. loudness, pitch and sharpness. Relevant auditory models were chosen to simulate each variable. Based on these results, we calculated psychophysical thresholds for detecting a reflecting object with constant physical size. A non-parametric method was used to determine thresholds for distance, loudness, pitch and sharpness. Difference thresholds were calculated for the psychophysical variables, since a 2-Alternative-Forced-Choice Paradigm had originally been used. We found that (1) blind persons could detect objects at lower loudness values, lower pitch strength, different sharpness values and at further distances than sighted persons, (2) detection thresholds based on repetition pitch, loudness and sharpness varied and depended on room acoustics and type of sound stimuli, (3) repetition pitch was useful for detection at shorter distances and was determined from the peaks in the temporal profile of the autocorrelation function, (4) loudness at shorter distances provides echolocation information, (5) at longer distances, timbre aspects, such as sharpness, might be used to detect objects. We also discuss binaural information, movements and the auditory model approach. Autocorrelation was assumed as a proper measure for pitch, but the question is raised whether a mechanism based on strobe integration is a viable possibility.
Electrical stimulation of anterior visual pathways in retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE To explore electrically induced phosphenes in blind patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in comparison with healthy subjects and to develop a screening test for candidates for an optic nerve visual prosthesis implantation. METHODS Phosphenes are obtained by charge balanced biphasic pulse stimulations through a surface cathode over the closed eyelids and an anode near the opposite ear. The resulting strength-duration relationship for somatosensory, phosphene, and pain threshold has been recorded in five RP patients as well as in 10 healthy volunteers. RESULTS In sighted subjects, the average rheobase and chronaxy for phosphene perception are 0.28 mA and 3.07 msec, respectively. For pulse durations longer than 2 msec, phosphenes are usually obtained at current strengths below the level giving rise to any other electrically generated sensation. In RP patients, however, phosphenes are not so easily obtained. One in five had no visual response at all. Another patient reported a flash perception for the longest pulse durations only. Spontaneous phosphenes interfered heavily with the stimulation in a third person. Finally, despite the higher threshold, two patients displayed normally shaped strength-duration curves. CONCLUSIONS The surface stimulation has proven harmless, adequate, and very helpful to ascertain that the optic nerve can be electrically activated in completely blind individuals. Long-duration stimulation pulses yield very low phosphene thresholds in healthy subjects. Anterior visual pathways activation requires higher currents in RP patients.
Dividend Policy and Increasing Discount Rates: A Clarification

For almost a decade, Myron Gordon has argued repeatedly that an enterprise's dividend policy can affect its share price [2, 3, and 4]. The essence of his argument is that risk-averse investors are likely to perceive current dividends as less risky than future ones. Consequently, a corporate decision to reduce current, in favor of increased future, dividends will reduce share prices, even when the funds are invested to yield the firm's cost of capital.
Estrogen receptor gene polymorphism and generalized osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE Generalized osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease, more often affecting women than men. Although genetic factors are known to be the major risk factor, the genes related to its development are as yet undetermined. We investigated the association between estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms and generalized OA. METHODS Pvu II and Xba I restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of estrogen receptor gene were analyzed in 65 Japanese patients with generalized OA and in 318 healthy control women. The RFLP were represented as Pp(Pvu II) and Xx(Xba I), with capital and small letters signifying the absence and the presence of restriction sites, respectively. RESULTS Estrogen receptor genotype PpXx, with the combination of the Pvu II and Xba I RFLP, is a significant risk factor for the disease subset (odds ratio 1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.03-3.24; p = 0.039). The association of this genotype was more obvious in patients with severe radiographic changes and in younger patients. CONCLUSION Some variant of the estrogen receptor gene is a genetic marker for generalized OA. How this genotype affects development of the disease remains to be elucidated.
From Deprivation to Distribution: Is Global Poverty Becoming A Matter of National Inequality?

Summary This paper asks the following question: does the shift in global poverty towards middle-income countries (MICs) mean that global poverty is becoming a matter of national inequality? This paper argues that many of the world's extreme poor already live in countries where the total cost of ending extreme poverty is not prohibitively high as a percentage of GDP. And in the not-too-distant future, most of the world's poor will live in countries that do have the domestic financial scope to end at least extreme poverty and, in time, moderate poverty. This will likely pave the way for addressing poverty reduction as primarily a domestic issue rather than primarily an aid and international issue; and thus a (re)framing of poverty as a matter of national distribution and national social contracts and political settlements between elites, middle classes and the poor.
User Involvement in Information System Development: A Conflict Model and Empirical Test

This research explores the relationships among user participation, influence, conflict, and conflict resolution in the development of management information systems. Three stages of development are analyzed: initiation, design, and implementation. Results show that influence does result from user participation, and that influence leads to both conflict and resolution. Participation without influence, however, does not lead to successful conflict resolution in any of the three development stages.
Strategic Investment with Asymmetric Spillovers

This paper investigates the implications of asymmetric spillovers on noncooperative strategic investments in a duopoly with quadratic pay-offs. A unique equilibrium in the announcement of the leader/follower role exists in the case where one firm absorbs large spillovers while the other, at most, is able to receive only small spillovers. The leader in this equilibrium is the firm that absorbs the large spillovers. Other asymmetries in initial costs or efficiency in research and development do not affect this outcome.
Tissue-Spanning Redox Gradient-Dependent Assembly of Native Human Papillomavirus Type 16 Virions

ABSTRACT Papillomavirus capsids are composed of 72 pentamers reinforced through inter- and intrapentameric disulfide bonds. Recent research suggests that virus-like particles and pseudovirions (PsV) can undergo a redox-dependent conformational change involving disulfide interactions. We present here evidence that native virions exploit a tissue-spanning redox gradient that facilitates assembly events in the context of the complete papillomavirus life cycle. DNA encapsidation and infectivity titers are redox dependent in that they can be temporally modulated via treatment of organotypic cultures with oxidized glutathione. These data provide evidence that papillomavirus assembly and maturation is redox-dependent, utilizing multiple steps within both suprabasal and cornified layers.
Assessing Intercultural Competence

This survey seeks to learn about various outcomes of intercultural service experiences – the level of intercultural competence developed by volunteers, effects on their lifestyle choices, and their impact, in turn, on communities and other individuals after returning home. This information will help us better understand how participants contribute to EIL’s vision and mission. Hopefully, this initial survey will eventually be expanded to include all EIL alumni worldwide.
Market Integration in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Selected Vegetables in Indonesian Markets

Abstract Market integration has retained and increased in importance in the recent years, particularly in developing countries, where it has potential application to policy questions regarding government intervention in markets. Specifically, it provides evidence of competitiveness of the market, effectiveness of arbitrage and efficiency of pricing. In this study, selected vegetables in Indonesian markets are used as a case study. Indonesia, consisting of 17,000 islands and 182 million people, provides an interesting case study because of the importance of vegetable production and marketing in the rapidly growing economy. The results suggest that none of the markets are segmented. Short- and long-run market integration tests suggest that transportation and product perishability are important in explaining the speed of price transmission. Another important result is that market integration is directional.
Neonatal Sympathoadrenal Response to Acute Hypoxia: Impairment after Experimental Intrauterine Growth Retardation

ABSTRACT: Sympathoadrenal system function may be altered following intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) We tested the hypothesis that the growth-retarded newborn rat pup has increased basal sympathoadrenal activity under normoxic conditions and a blunted sympathoadrenal response to acute hypoxia. IUGR was established by uterine artery ligation on d 18 of gestation in Sprague-Dawley rats. Growth-retarded pups were chosen as those whose birth wt was more than 2 × SD below the mean birth wt of control pups delivered to sham-operated dams. At 24 ± 12 h of age cardiac sympathetic neuronal activity (CSNA) was determined by 3H-norepinephrine tracer and α -methyltyrosine techniques. Adrenal medullary catecholamine synthesis (CAT SYN) was measured by 14C-tyrosine precursor methods, and adrenal catecholamine release (CAT REL) was determined using α-methyl-tyrosine. IUGR and control pups were studied over a 120-min period of normoxia or hypoxia (Fio2=0.09). Under normoxic conditions, the IUGR pups had increased CSNA and increased adrenal CAT SYN CAT REL compared to controls. Adrenal CAT REL in normoxic IUGR pups was selective for epinephrine. In response to acute hypoxia, control pups had increased CSNA and increased adrenal CAT SYN and CAT REL compared to normoxic controls, with the proportion of norepinephrine and epinephrine released mimicking the ratio of the two amines in the adrenal. In contrast, in hypoxic IUGR pups CSNA and adrenal CAT SYN did not increase, and norepinephrine alone was released from the adrenal medulla. It is speculated that IUGR in the rat may lead to an acceleration of cardiac sympathetic innervation and premature establishment of neural regulation of adrenomedullary function, resulting in impaired sympathoadrenal responses to acute stresses such as hypoxia. Compromised sympathoadrenal system function in the IUGR fetus or newborn may contribute to the pathogenesis of the perinatal morbidities and the increased perinatal mortality known to occur in this high risk population.
Performance and Analysis of No-Insulation HTS Toroidal Magnet

As Tokamak toroidal field (TF) coils operate at a high magnetic field and experience a variety of transient heating loads, the applicability of no-insulation (NI) techniques to wind the TF coil is taken into consideration here in an effort to secure high current density and high thermal stability. This paper presents the construction and test results of a NI high temperature superconducting (HTS) toroidal magnet. We fabricated the magnet using BSCCO wire manufactured by Sumitomo. The magnet consists of ten racetrack double pancake (DP) coils. Each DP coil was tested separately in liquid nitrogen at 77 K to obtain its critical current and characteristic resistance, then, after assembly and soldering, the magnet was tested at 77 K to measure the variations in voltage and magnetic field during charging, discharging, and current disturbancing. Finally, we discuss the thermal runaway behavior of the toroidal magnet during overcurrent operation as well as the influence of the quenched coil on the other coils in the system.
The demand for Semi-Pro League football in Malaysia 1989–91: a panel data approach

This article arguments the literature on the demand for professional team sports by estimating a demand function for attendance at home matches in the Malaysian Semi-Pro Football League (MSPFL) between 1989 and 1991. A single-equation demand (attendance) function based on a pooled cross-section and time-series panel data set of 399 games is estimated by ordinary least squares, a fixed effects dummy variable covariance model and an error components model. Our findings confirm the importance of market size and championship prospects for the home team (but not the visiting team), as well as divisional status and ‘star’ players. The first match of the season and derby matches also increased attendance.
The dynamic relationships between world and domestic prices of rice under the regime of agricultural trade liberalization in Bangladesh

The article examines the dynamic relationship between the world and the domestic market price of rice for Bangladesh given agricultural trade liberalization. A Johansen multivariate cointegration test was used, followed by an error correction model. Results show that there exists a long-run unidirectional equilibrium relationship, meaning that the domestic prices adjust to the world prices but not vice versa. Our results highlight the dependence of the Bangladeshi rice market on the world rice market and underline the need for adequate policies which specifically address the issue of food security when world prices are very high. The goal of such policies should be to dampen or reduce domestic price volatility induced by the world market.
The role of global R%D networks in generating social capital for born-global bio-tech firms: a multi-case approach

The traditionally auspicious 'Big Pharma' business model in the pharmaceutical industry is rapidly evolving. Large pharmaceutical companies are re-configuring their business models to achieve operational efficiency. The preferred option appears to be out-sourcing science-related R%D as opposed to conducting the research in-house. This has marked the 'birth' of born-global bio-tech firms which operate as contract research organisations. The firms are owner-managed by entrepreneurial scientists who generate social capital in the form of scientific knowledge and technical know-how by participating in multifarious global R%D networks. In that sense, this empirical study utilises multiple cases of born-global bio-tech firms sampled from the East Midlands in the UK to investigate how various mechanisms in their knowledge supply-chain (global networks), including complex business and social relationships, shape their social capital generating strategies. By doing so, the study contributes to the concept of dynamic capabilities and networking. The study is also invaluable to a number of stakeholders including: large and small firms, other researchers, and policy makers.
On Deadlock Control Using Petri Nets and Siphons for Automated Manufacturing Systems

An effective control method is developed to prevent deadlocks from occurring in a class of nets, ES3PR, where deadlocks are related to unmarked siphons. Strict minimal siphons are divided into elementary and dependent ones. For each elementary siphon, a monitor is added to ensure it is sufficiently marked without generating emptiable control-induced siphons. The controllability of a dependent siphon is ensured by changing the control depth variables of its related elementary siphons, which leads to a liveness-enforcing supervisor for a plant model. Furthermore, by checking the redundancy of the additional monitors, some control-redundant monitors can be removed, which leads to a more permissive and structurally simple net supervisor. However, the resultant supervisor usually becomes a generalized net after controlling the emptiable siphons in ES3PR nets, which is difficult to conduct further analysis. Therefore, it is necessary to transform a generalized net supervisor into an ordinary one without changing its behavior properties such as liveness