Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic, autotrophic, sulfite-reducing and disproportionating deltaproteobacterium isolated from a shallow-sea hydrothermal vent.

A thermophilic, anaerobic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium, strain SH388T, was isolated from a shallow, submarine hydrothermal vent (Kuril Islands, Russia). Cells of strain SH388T were Gram-stain-negative short rods, 0.2-0.4 µm in diameter and 1.0-2.5 µm in length, and motile with flagella. The temperature range for growth was 25-58 °C (optimum 50 °C), and the pH range for growth was pH 5.0-7.0 (optimum pH 6.0-6.5). Growth of strain SH388T was observed in the presence of NaCl concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 % (w/v) (optimum 2.0-2.5 %). The strain grew chemolithoautotrophically with molecular hydrogen as electron donor, sodium sulfite as electron acceptor and bicarbonate/CO2 as a carbon source. It was also able to grow by disproportionation of sulfite and elemental sulfur but not thiosulfate. Sulfate, Fe(III) and nitrate were not used as electron acceptors either with H2 or organic electron donors. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate belonged to the class Deltaproteobacteria and was most closely related to Dissulfuribacter thermophilus and Dissulfurimicrobium hydrothermale (91.6 % and 90.4 % sequence similarity). On the basis of its physiological properties and results of phylogenetic analyses, strain SH388T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is SH388T (=DSM 100025T=VKM B-2960T). It is the first thermophilic disproportionator of sulfur compounds isolated from a shallow-sea environment.
Quantifying scatter in Shack-Hartmann images to evaluate nuclear cataract.

PURPOSE Quantify and localize lenticular forward scatter using Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing (SHWS) as single-valued metrics and a scatter map, and to examine the relationships between forward scatter and backscatter metrics and visual acuity. METHODS We obtained SHWS images from 148 patients in the Texas Investigation of Cataract Optics study. Patient age was 22 to 84 years, with Lens Opacities Classification System III (LOCS III) nuclear opalescence (NO) scores ranging from 0.8 to 5.6. Visual acuities were measured at photopic (280 cd/m2) high (VA(PHC)) and low contrast (VA(PLC)) and mesopic (0.75 cd/m2) high (VA(MHC)) and low contrast (VA(MLC)). Scattering was described in a scatter map and by five single-valued metrics characterizing SHWS lenslet point spread functions. The relationships between scatter and visual acuity were tested using linear regression. RESULTS Visual acuities decreased proportional to both LOCS III NO (R2=up to 39%) and scatter metrics (R2=up to 21%). Stepwise multiple linear regression improved visual acuity prediction by including a backscatter and a forward scatter metric (R2 up to 51.2%). For the subjects over age 60 years (N=46, 68.8+/-6.12 years), the forward scatter metrics explain as much variance in visual acuities (R2=up to 29%) as LOCS III NO (R2=up to 26%). Combined they accounted for up to 48.8% of visual acuity variance. CONCLUSION Forward light scatter can be quantified using SHWS and the resulting metrics explain significant variance in visual acuity, especially in the aging eye. Together with a backscatter metric they explain approximately 50% of the variance in VA.
Equity-based Compensation of Outside Directors and Corporate Disclosure Quality

We examine the relation between a firm’s disclosure quality and equity-based compensation of independent members of the board of directors. The dimensions of disclosure quality we focus on are management’s earnings guidance and information flow through financial analysts. Using both levels and changes specifications, we find the average ratio of equity-based pay to total pay of independent board members to be positively related to a firm’s disclosure quality. Our findings are robust to the inclusion of management's equity-based compensation, other governance measures, and financial controls, and robust to instrumental variable tests of endogeneity. Furthermore, we find directors' equity-based compensation to be negatively associated with the firm's cost of equity capital. Our results are consistent with equity-based compensation providing incentives to independent directors to push for better disclosure quality.
Corporate governance variables: lessons from a holistic approach to Central‐Eastern European practice

Purpose – In Central Eastern Europe (CEE) the transition to market democracy significantly influenced the emerging corporate governance practice. The region, however, demonstrates much more diversity in corporate governance than expected in generally similar transition economies and the variables and their impacts only partially overlap with the variables of corporate governance in other regions. This research aims to focus on how to help discover and explain these similarities and differences.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a review of the secondary literature. The review is carried out with the intention of providing an opportunity to map out new terrains or provide critiques of the direction of a research field. The majority of literature reviewed in the paper is published in refereed journals, but other resources like book chapters, conference papers, reports and in certain cases unpublished materials are added. The paper discusses the key topics and variables according to the requirements.
“They Get a C-Section . . . They Gonna Die”: Somali Women’s Fears of Obstetrical Interventions in the United States

The authors explore sources of resistance to common prenatal and obstetrical interventions among 34 Somali resettled adult women in Rochester, New York. Results of individual interviews and focus groups with these women revealed aversion to or outright fear of cesarean sections because of fear of death and substantial resistance regarding other obstetrical interventions. Because Somali women expressed resistance to many common U.S. prenatal/obstetrical care practices, educating health professionals about Somali women’s fears and educating Somali women about common obstetrical practices are both necessary to improve maternity care for non-Bantu and Bantu Somali women.
Welfare Regimes and Education Regimes: Equality of Opportunity and Expenditure in the EU (and US)

Abstract Education is crucially important for later outcomes but has received limited attention in comparative research on welfare states. In light of this, we present an exploratory analysis of education systems across fourteen EU countries and the US. This builds on existing work on educational institutions, educational outcomes and welfare regimes. We focus on institutional features associated with inequality of educational opportunity, including academic selection, tracking and public/private provision; on educational outcomes; and on education expenditure. Our quantitative analysis identifies four clusters of countries: the Nordic, Continental, Mediterranean and English-speaking, which bear similarities to those identified in the welfare states literature. Each ‘education regime’ is associated with particular institutional features, educational outcomes and levels of public expenditure. Our analysis suggests that further comparative research on education, viewed as a key component of the welfare state, is warranted.
Effects of Working Memory Demand on Neural Mechanisms of Motor Response Selection and Control

Inhibitory control commonly recruits a number of frontal regions: pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), frontal eye fields (FEFs), and right-lateralized posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), dorsal anterior insula (DAI), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and inferior frontal junction (IFJ). These regions may directly implement inhibitory motor control or may be more generally involved in executive control functions. Two go/no-go tasks were used to distinguish regions specifically recruited for inhibition from those that additionally show increased activity with working memory demand. The pre-SMA and IFG were recruited for inhibition in both tasks and did not have greater activation for working memory demand on no-go trials, consistent with a role in inhibitory control. Activation in pre-SMA also responded to response selection demand and was increased with working memory on go trials specifically. The bilateral FEF and right DAI were commonly active for no-go trials. The FEF was also recruited to a greater degree with working memory demand on go trials and may bias top–down information when stimulus–response mappings change. The DAI, additionally responded to increased working memory demand on both go and no-go trials and may be involved in accessing sustained task information, alerting, or autonomic changes when cognitive demands increase. DLPFC activation was consistent with a role in working memory retrieval on both go and no-go trials. The inferior frontal junction, on the other hand, had greater activation with working memory specifically for no-go trials and may detect salient stimuli when the task requires frequent updating of working memory representations.
Making fiscal policy more stabilising in the next upturn: Challenges and policy options

While New Zealand's fiscal framework has been relatively successful overall, this paper suggests that it gives insufficient emphasis to macro stabilisation during upturns in the business cycle, especially once the debt target has been met. Options for making fiscal policy ‘more stabilising’ in future economic upturns include: revising the Public Finance Act so as to increase the importance that is placed on avoiding pro-cyclical fiscal policy; more focus on sticking to ex-ante spending plans; or a stabilisation fund to safeguard revenue windfalls until the following downturn. The potential role of an independent fiscal council is also touched upon.
Access to special education for exceptional students in French immersion programs: An equity issue

Exceptional pupils enrolled in Canadian French immersion programs rarely have access to the same range of special education programs and services that are available to students in the regular English program. More often than not, students with special needs are encouraged to transfer to English programs to access necessary support services. This counselling-out process perpetuates the elitist status commonly attributed to French immersion programs. From a critical pedagogy perspective, this inquiry examines the lack of incentive on the part of multiple French immersion stakeholders to accommodate students with special needs. It further attempts to unveil the myths created by these stakeholders to better understand this discriminatory educational practice. The impact of federal and provincial funding models on access to special education programs and services is discussed, and the application of funding allocations by English-language district school boards is explored. The inquiry concludes with recommendations to promote more inclusionary practices.
Make, Buy or Ally? Theoretical Perspectives on Knowledge Process Outsourcing Through Alliances

Outsourcing knowledge and innovation activities offer cost savings and superior performance, but can also put a firm's unique resources and capabilities at risk. Characterizations of outsourcing as a make-or-buy decision do not fit well with decisions on knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). KPO is a make-or-ally decision, as firms seek a governance structure that will both protect and leverage their strategic knowledge assets, with the final decision often coming down to a choice between different alliance forms. Our new conceptualization provides an integrated perspective on resource integration and transaction specificity in the knowledge governance decision. The model illustrates the dynamics and learning involved in knowledge outsourcing by identifying two distinct paths to KPO alliances.
Why Don't U.S. Issuers Demand European Fees for IPOs?

We compare fees charged by investment banks for conducting IPOs in the U.S. and Europe. In recent years the “7% solution”, as documented by Chen and Ritter (2000), has become even more prevalent in the U.S., and is now the norm for IPOs raising up to $250m. The same banks dominate both markets but European IPO fees are roughly three percentage points lower, are much more variable, and have been falling. We review explanations for the gap in spreads and find the evidence consistent with strategic pricing. U.S. issuers could have saved over $1bn a year by paying European fees.
Strategic Information Sharing in Competing Channels

We investigate strategic information sharing in two competing channels. The retailer in a channel can ex post decide whether to share private demand information with his upstream manufacturer after the content of information becomes known. We find that a retailer discloses low demand and withholds high demand to induce lower wholesale prices from his manufacturer. We show that a retailer should share less information when the retail market becomes more competitive, but should disclose more information when his capability to acquire information improves. When a decentralized supply chain competes with an integrated channel, we show that firms in the supply chain benefit from the rival channel's effort to improve information capability, that the incentive for the retailer in the supply chain to improve his information capability increases with the intensity of competition and with the rival channel's information capability, and that the retailer may not want to pursue perfect information acquisition even when doing so is costless. Extensive numerical studies demonstrate that similar results also hold for two decentralized supply chains competing with each other.
A Compact Dual-Polarized 4-Port Eleven Feed With High Sensitivity for Reflectors Over 0.35–1.05 GHz

We present significant improvements to the circular Eleven feed technology for a dual-reflector system operating over 0.35-1.05 GHz as a backup for the square kilometer array (SKA) project Band 1. In this work, the number of the feed ports is reduced to 4 from the previous 8 for dual polarization using a novel geometry at the center. The design is carried out by optimizing with a social civilization algorithm. The resulting improvements include a reflection coefficient below $-12\;\text{dB}$, an aperture efficiency above 70% at the upper end of the band, a maximum cross-polar level under -15 dB, and an ohmic loss about 0.05 dB. A prototype based on this design has been manufactured and the design simulations have been verified against measurements. A simulated sensitivity of the dual-reflector receiver system for the SKA project based on the measured data is also presented in this communication.
Discontinuation of Orthokeratology and Myopic Progression

Purpose. To report the effect of stopping orthokeratology (ortho-k) lens wear on the changes in refractive errors and axial elongation in a girl who has been wearing ortho-k lenses for myopic control for over 2 years. Case Report. A girl with a history of fast myopic progression enrolled in ortho-k treatment when she was 6 years old. She switched to spectacle wear after receiving ortho-k treatment for 38 months and then switched back to ortho-k lens wear. Refractive errors and axial lengths were monitored for 8 months with ortho-k lens wear, followed by about 6½ months of lens discontinuation and spectacle wear, and finally another 6 months of resumed ortho-k lens wear. The residual refractive errors in the 8 months before discontinuation of ortho-k lens wear were not more than ±0.25 diopter (D) and −0.50 D in spherical and cylindrical powers, respectively, and the average increases in axial length were 0.02 mm (OD) and 0.03 mm (OS) per month. Myopia increased by 0.75 D (OD) and 1.25 D (OS) during the lens discontinuation period, with corresponding axial elongations of 0.06 mm (OD and OS) per month. No significant changes were observed in axial elongation or residual refractive errors during the 6-month period of resumed lens wear. Conclusions. When a child who had been wearing ortho-k lenses for myopic control for over 2 years ceased lens wear, small net amounts of axial elongation were observed during the subsequent months with spectacle wear. These changes took place at a faster rate relative to the ortho-k lens wear period. Ortho-k lens wear appeared to slow myopic progression for this child.
Trying Harder and Doing Worse: How Grocery Shoppers Track in-Store Spending

Abstract All over the world the economic crisis has raised the number of households which are below the poverty line. A careful tracking of expenditures has become increasingly necessary to avoid financial distress. Models of spending behavior often implicitly assume that budget shoppers know how much they spend while shopping. As demonstrated here, this assumption is the exception rather than the rule
Detection of colorectal lesions: lower-dose multi-detector row helical CT colonography compared with conventional colonoscopy.

PURPOSE To compare the performance of lower-dose multi-detector row helical computed tomographic (CT) colonography with that of conventional colonoscopy in the detection of colorectal lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred fifty-eight patients underwent multi-detector row helical CT colonography (beam collimation, 4 x 2.5 mm; table feed, 17.5 mm/sec; voltage, 140 kV; and effective dose, 10 mAs) followed by conventional colonoscopy. Conventional colonoscopy served as the reference standard. Two radiologists interpreted CT colonographic images to assess the presence of polyps or carcinomas. Sensitivity was calculated on both a per-polyp and a per-patient basis. In the latter, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were also calculated. Weighted CT dose index was calculated on the basis of measurements obtained in a standard body phantom. Effective dose was estimated by using commercially available software. RESULTS CT colonography correctly depicted all 22 carcinomas (sensitivity, 100%) and 52 of 74 polyps (sensitivity, 70.3%). Sensitivity for detection was 100% in all 13 polyps 10 mm or larger in diameter, 83.3% in 20 of 24 polyps 6-9 mm, and 51.3% in 19 of 37 lesions 5 mm or smaller. With regard to the per-patient analysis, CT colonography had a sensitivity of 96.0%, a specificity of 96.6%, a positive predictive value of 94.1%, and a negative predictive value of 97.7%. The total weighted CT dose index for combined prone and supine acquisitions was 2.74 mGy. The simulated effective doses for complete CT colonography were 1.8 mSv in men and 2.4 mSv in women. CONCLUSION Lower-dose multi-detector row helical CT colonography ensures substantial dose reduction while maintaining excellent sensitivity for detection of colorectal carcinomas and polyps larger than 6 mm in diameter.
Liver adenomatosis: classification of MR imaging features and comparison with pathologic findings.

PURPOSE To retrospectively compare the clinical manifestation and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features of liver adenomatosis with pathologic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study had institutional review board approval, and informed consent was waived. Twenty patients were classified on the basis of pathologic findings into three groups: those with a steatotic, those with a peliotic, and those with a mixed (steatotic and peliotic) form of liver adenomatosis. MR images were reviewed in consensus by two abdominal radiologists, and findings were compared with the pathologic classification. Statistical evaluation was performed with the Student t test. RESULTS All patients were women (mean age, 39 years +/- 10 [standard deviation]). Lesions of the steatotic form (n = 7) showed (a) a mean diameter of 6.3 cm +/- 1.7, (b) slightly hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images, (c) hyper- or isointense signal on T1-weighted images with a signal dropout with fat suppression sequences, and (d) moderate enhancement at the arterial phase with no delayed enhancement. Lesions of the peliotic form (n = 7) showed (a) a somewhat larger size (8.3 cm +/- 3.6), (b) markedly hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images, (c) iso- or hyperintensity on T1-weighted images with no signal dropout with fat suppression sequences, and (d) strong arterial enhancement and persistent enhancement at the portal and delayed phase. Lesions of the mixed form (n = 6) included a combination of imaging features of the steatotic and peliotic forms. Lesions, however, were significantly larger in the mixed form than in the steatotic form (10.3 cm +/- 4, P < .05). CONCLUSION There are three patterns of MR imaging features of liver adenomatosis that are associated with three pathologic forms (steatotic, peliotic, and mixed).
The Relative Effects of Local Authority Financial Assistance Policies

The provision of financial assistance to industry has formed a growing and important part of the economic development policies of many local authorities. However, assessments of these policies have suffered from a number of drawbacks. In particular, they have tended to focus on the employment effect of the local authority's assistance policy as a whole, and there have been few attempts to isolate the factors bearing on the success of these policies or to compare their effectiveness with schemes pursued by other agencies. This paper examines the effect of local authority financial assistance on the operation and employment of establishments over the period 1980-84, using data collected as part of a survey of 201 establishments located in the North-East of England. These policies are compared with the two major instruments of regional policy: regional development grant (RDG) and regional selective assistance (RSA), and with national selective assitance (NSA). Different purposes of project are also examined using log-linear models. The results show that local authority assisted projects perform well when compared with RDG, but that RSA/NSA assisted projects perform even better. Much of the local authority assistance has been directed towards new company start-ups, but the research shows that nearly two-thirds of these projects would have gone ahead without being assisted. In general, projects concerned with machinery and equipment were most effective in employment terms and they also had a range of other beneficial impacts upon assisted establishments.
Perfil do consumo de álcool e drogas ilícitas entre adolescentes escolares de uma capital brasileira

Este articulo describe y analiza la exposicion de adolescentes escolares a las bebidas alcoholicas y drogas ilegales a partir de los datos de la Investigacion Nacional de Salud del Escolar (PeNSE) 2012. Delineamos el perfil de consumo de esas substancias en la ciudad de Goiânia-GO, segun el sexo y tipo de escuela. El porcentaje de consumo precoz, consumo actual de bebidas alcoholicas y episodios de embriaguez fueron ligeramente mayores entre las chicas. En los colegios privados, el porcentaje de consumo inicial de bebidas alcoholicas fue mayor y en los colegios publicos el de embriaguez fue mayor. Los estudiantes de sexo masculino y de colegios publicos presentaran mayor porcentaje de consumo inicial de drogas ilegales. Esos resultados generan evidencias para orientar las politicas publicas de salud centradas en los adolescentes.