Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Memory in a Bisensory Selective Attention Task

Theories of selective attention differ with respect to the amount of processing alleged to be undergone by non-attended material. “Early” selection theorists have argued that only physical properties of the non-attended material are extracted whereas “late” selection theorists have claimed that all inputs are fully analysed with selection taking place at the output stage. Recent attempts to investigate these theories have investigated memory for non-attended material. The present experiment was designed to investigate memory for physical and semantic properties of non-attended material. Subjects shadowed words presented aurally and were tested for recall of simultaneously presented visual material. The visual stimuli consisted of either patches of colour or the names of those colours, the former containing only physical properties and the latter requiring semantic processing. Different shadowing conditions were employed in which subjects shadowed either colour names or unrelated words. Recall of the colours was found to be superior to recall of the colour names and recall of both classes of material was found to be superior when subjects shadowed colour names than when they shadowed unrelated words. The results were interpreted as providing evidence for the existence of a post-iconic visual memory store based primarily on physical properties of the input.
PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY AND THE AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT GRANTS PROCESS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF NEW SOUTH WALES LOCAL GOVERNMENT *

This paper addresses the role of the Australian local government grants system in promoting efficiency, and examines whether or not the intergovernmental grants process, along with institutional, structural and environmental characteristics, exerts an influence on the efficient provision of local public services. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to obtain measures of technical and scale efficiency across three local government functions; namely, library services, waste management services, and planning and regulatory services. When grant relativities are regressed against these efficiency indices using simultaneous equation tobit models, the results generally indicate that the desired objective of effort (or policy) neutrality is maintained. However, failure to address issues of optimal scale size, amongst others, may force local councils to provide an inappropriately funded scale of operations. The findings also suggest that deviations from the distribution of financial assistance solely on the basis of horizontal equalisation may be a further influence on inefficient outcomes in the local public sector.
Synthesis of cholera toxin is positively regulated at the transcriptional level by toxR.

We have cloned a positive regulatory gene ( toxR ) from Vibrio cholerae that controls cholera toxin transcription. This was done by first constructing a genetic fusion consisting of the lacZ gene fused to the promoter of the cholera toxin operon ctxAB . This operon fusion was used to screen a V. cholerae genomic library for genes that could activate the ctx promoter in Escherichia coli. This method allowed the identification of a gene, toxR , that increases ctx expression by more than 100-fold. Complementation analysis indicated that certain hypotoxinogenic mutants of V. cholerae 569B probably have mutations in the toxR gene. Southern blot analysis suggests that all V. cholerae, including nontoxinogenic strains, have the toxR gene. Moreover, nontoxinogenic strains not only lack the structural genes for cholera toxin but also sequences associated with the larger 7-kilobase ctx genetic element.
Does Entrepreneurship Capital Matter?

Economics has identified three types of capital as the drivers of economic growth—physical capital, human capital, and knowledge capital. This article introduces the concept of entrepreneurship capital and suggests that it is also an important factor shaping the economic performance of an economy. We define entrepreneurship capital as those factors influencing and shaping an economy's milieu of agents in such a way as to be conducive to the creation of new firms. The hypothesis that entrepreneurship capital is positively linked to economic growth is then tested by examining the relationship between several different measures of entrepreneurship capital and regional economic performance, measured as per–capita income for Germany. The empirical evidence suggests that there is indeed a positive link between entrepreneurship capital and regional economic performance. These results suggest a new direction for public policy that focuses on instruments to enhance entrepreneurship capital.
Detection of switching cointegration rank allowing for switching lag structure: an application to money-demand function

A new method is developed for detecting regime switches between cointegration and no-cointegration at unknown times allowing for switching lag structure. In this method, time-series observations are divided into several segments, and a regression model with or without cointegration is fitted to each segment. The goodness of fit of the global model composed of these local models is evaluated using the corresponding modified information criterion, and the division which minimizes this criterion defines the best model. Simulation results suggest that the proposed method works well. Empirical results indicate that money demand is well described by the proposed method in Canada, UK and Japan.
Desensitization of postsynaptic glutamate receptors contributes to high-frequency homosynaptic depression of aplysia sensorimotor connections.

Withdrawal reflexes of Aplysia are mediated in part by a monosynaptic circuit of sensory (SN) and motor (MN) neurons. A brief high-frequency burst of spikes in the SN produces excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) that rapidly decrease in amplitude during the burst of activity. It is generally believed that this and other (i.e., low-frequency) forms of homosynaptic depression are entirely caused by presynaptic mechanisms (e.g., depletion of releasable transmitter). The present study examines the contribution that desensitization of postsynaptic glutamate receptors makes to homosynaptic depression. Bath application of cyclothiazide, an agent that reduces desensitization of non-NMDA glutamate receptors, reduced high-, but not low-frequency synaptic depression. Thus, a postsynaptic mechanism, desensitization of glutamate receptors, can also contribute to homosynaptic depression of sensorimotor synapses.
Promoting Learner Autonomy: Student Perceptions of Responsibilities in a Language Classroom in East Asia.

Literature Review With the advent of communicative language teaching in East Asia, the idea of learner autonomy has become a topic of discussion and a goal among language teachers. The idea of autonomy raises important questions that need to be further explored, particularly in terms of students’ taking responsibilities for learning. Autonomy has been characterized in different ways by researchers, but Littlewood (1999, p.71) summarizes two main features of learner autonomy included in the definition proposed by previous researchers:
Nation Branding in Central Asia: A New Campaign to Present Ideas about the State and the Nation

RELAXING IN A LUXURY HOTEL ROOM IN PARIS, WORLD TRAVELLERS are exposed to TV commercials for Kazakhstan, a ‘land of democracy’ located in the ‘Heart of Eurasia’. Similar advertisements have been featured since the 1990s on CNN, the BBC, and ABC, in the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and other Western mass media outlets. During their public speeches Kazakhstan’s diplomats distribute hundreds of leaflets about the latest economic developments and political achievements in their country. Such public relations campaigns aimed at building an international identity pose a new public policy challenge in post-Soviet states. This goal has not yet been met, but the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are seeking to make the world more aware of their countries. This essay examines the national images that Central Asian states are trying to present to international audiences. Since 1991 all Central Asian states have created national ideologies, but only three—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan—have programmes in place to capture the attention of foreign businessmen, politicians and tourists. Following the pattern of crafting national ideologies for domestic audiences in all three states, the ruling elites have led the effort to create a unique national ‘brand’ identity for their country. The process has become a means of public diplomacy for embassy officials, as ruling elites seek to raise their country’s prestige, primarily among international businesses and the global political community. Indeed, the creation and promotion of nation images serve as a new form of communication among countries, marketing to the needs of the globalised economy and international politics. It is a highly politicised activity involving stakeholders, usually national governments and local businesses interested in allocating funds to promote the brand (Akutsu 2008, pp. 209–11). Using three case studies, this article discusses the international experience of the nascent process of nation branding, outlines emerging academic debates in the field, and analyses a few existing nation brands. The three Central Asian countries differ in the way they propagate their messages. While Kazakhstan disseminates similar narratives for both domestic and international audiences, the Uzbekistani regime EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES Vol. 61, No. 7, September 2009, 1123–1136
Opposing roles for JNK and Aurora A in regulating the association of WDR62 with spindle microtubules

ABSTRACT WD40-repeat protein 62 (WDR62) is a spindle pole protein required for normal cell division and neuroprogenitor differentiation during brain development. Microcephaly-associated mutations in WDR62 lead to mitotic mislocalization, highlighting a crucial requirement for precise WDR62 spatiotemporal distribution, although the regulatory mechanisms are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the WD40-repeat region of WDR62 is required for microtubule association, whereas the disordered C-terminal region regulates cell-cycle-dependent compartmentalization. In agreement with a functional requirement for the WDR62–JNK1 complex during neurogenesis, WDR62 specifically recruits JNK1 (also known as MAPK8), but not JNK2 (also known as MAPK9), to the spindle pole. However, JNK-mediated phosphorylation of WDR62 T1053 negatively regulated microtubule association, and loss of JNK signaling resulted in constitutive WDR62 localization to microtubules irrespective of cell cycle stage. In contrast, we identified that Aurora A kinase (AURKA) and WDR62 were in complex and that AURKA-mediated phosphorylation was required for the spindle localization of WDR62 during mitosis. Our studies highlight complex regulation of WDR62 localization, with opposing roles for JNK and AURKA in determining its spindle association.
Knowledge Management and Performance of Small and Medium Entities in Indonesia

Past researches showed that successful knowledge management programs can produce more returns, thus indicating that knowledge management might also have a positive effect on firm performance. This study examines the determinant of knowledge management and its effect on Small and medium entities (SMEs) performance by conducting quantitative study on empirical data of SMEs in Surabaya – East Java, Indonesia. The result shows that knowledge is managed on people-based-approach in Small and medium enterprises. Given SMEs characteristics – mainly owned by local people, labor intensive, workers and entrepreneurs are low educated, and financing their operations from personal savings – knowledge management capability in SMEs are mainly achieved by networking with other organization such as companies, universities, technical colleges, and government agencies through alliances. This study found that organizational learning and competitive strategy have positive correlation with knowledge management while family orientation has a negative correlation. It means that the lower the family orientation, the more they open to other knowledge to improve company’s performance.
Orchestrating the Tumor Microenvironment to Improve Survival for Patients With Pancreatic Cancer: Normalization, Not Destruction

AbstractPancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The microenvironment of pancreatic cancer could be one of the “perfect storms” that support the growth of a cancer. Indeed, pancreatic cancer may be the poster child of a problem with the microenvironment. In this article, we review the rationale and attempts to date on modifying or targeting structural proteins in the microenvironment including hyaluronan (HA) (in primary and metastases), collagen, and SPARC (secreted protein, acidic, and rich in cysteine). Indeed, working in this area has produced a regimen that improves survival for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (nab-paclitaxel + gemcitabine). In addition, in initial clinical trials, PEGylated hyaluronidase appears promising. We also review a new approach that is different than targeting/destroying the microenvironment and that is orchestrating, reengineering, reprogramming, or normalizing the microenvironment (including normalizing structural proteins, normalizing an immunologically tumor-friendly environment to a less friendly environment, reversing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and so on). We believe this will be most effectively done by agents that have global effects on transcription. There is initial evidence that this can be done by agents such as vitamin D derivatives and other new agents. There is no doubt these opportunities can now be tried in the clinic with hopefully beneficial effects.
Aid policies and growth: in search of the holy grail

In this paper we consider the hypothesis that aid effectiveness can be linked to 'good policies' and thus that aid, if it is to have maximum impact, should be directed at countries following good policies. This is an idea which we have considerable sympathy with in principle and have built upon in the past. Indeed at one level it is almost a truism and yet in practice we find little empirical evidence in support of it when we restrict good policies to mean free market policies. 'Good policies' appear to matter in stimulating growth, but they do not appear to impact on aid effectiveness. Unlike much of other recent work the analysis is of a simultaneous system of equations of which growth is just one. The results suggest a complex interaction between macroeconomic variables and good policies, but it also suggests the need to widen our definition of good policies to increase both the theoretical and empirical relevance of the hypothesis. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The establishment of a somitomeric pattern in the mesoderm of the gastrulating mouse embryo.

Mesoderm formation in the mouse embryo begins at 6.5-6.75 days p.c. (postcoitum) when a primitive streak is formed along the posterior side of the egg cylinder. Epiblast cells in a localized region separate from one another and spread laterally between the primitive endoderm and the rest of the epiblast. The newly formed mesoderm contributes to both embryonic and extraembryonic regions. When the endoderm is removed, a definitive somitomeric pattern is first observed in the lateral sings of mesoderm of the mid-primitive-streak-stage embryo. The sequential appearance and the placement of somitomeres in the gastrulating mouse embryo are closely related to the general changes in physical dimensions and to the pattern of tissue growth which occur during the maturation of the egg cylinder. By the late-primitive-streak stage, about four somitomeres are present in the paraxial mesoderm on either side of the embryonic axis. These somitomeres will undergo morphogenesis and give rise to the cranial segments and head mesenchyme of neurulating embryos (Meier and Tam, 1982). The midline or axial mesoderm, consisting of prechordal plate and notochord, is derived from the head process mesoderm originating from the anterior end of the primitive streak. Cells of the head process are compact and adherent to the endoderm. The early presence of a somitomeric pattern which persists and is added to throughout subsequent phases of mesoderm formation suggests that spreading mesodermal cells have relatively stable neighbor relationships. This morphological evidence supports the idea that the expansion of the mesoderm during gastrulation results from tissue growth and progressive deposition of cells from the primitive streak. Cell migration may be limited principally to nonsomitomeric mesodermal cells found in the leading edge of the spreading lateral wings.
Focal and contextual components of price history as determinants of expected price

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how consumers adjust their price expectations for brands in response to previously encountered prices. The effects of two distinct components of price history, focal and contextual, are examined. The focal component represents the role of a brand's own previous price(s) in determining future price expectations. In contrast, the contextual component represents the impact of the prices of previously considered competing brands.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 60 subjects were enrolled to participate in a longitudinal, quantitative, survey‐based study that required them to provide information on brand perceptions, price expectations, brand consideration and choice.Findings – Empirical comparison of several model formulations confirms that both components are crucial in explaining how consumers adjust their price expectations in response to the prices of considered brands. Consistent with a wide body of research, a brand's own previous price exerts the greatest.
Stock Market Reaction to Dividend Announcements: Evidence from the Greek Stock Market

This study investigates the market reaction to cash dividend announcements for the period 2000-2004 employing data from the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). In particular, the paper examines both the stock price and trading volume response to dividend distribution announcements. Dividend distributions in Greece demonstrate noticeable differences to those of the US, the UK and other developed markets. First, dividends in Greece are paid annually rather than quarterly or semi-annually. Second, the Greek corporate laws 2190/1920 and 148/1967 specifically designate the minimum amount for distribution from the taxed corporate profits. Third, neither tax on dividends nor on capital gains was imposed during the period under examination. Fourth, Greek listed firms are characterized by high ownership concentration where major owners are usually involved in management and therefore have less need for dividend announcements as an information source. Despite this neutralized information and tax environment, we document significant market reaction to dividend change announcements, lending support to the "information content of dividends hypothesis".
Insular projections to the parahippocampal region in the rat

The insular cortex is involved in the perception of interoceptive signals, coding of emotional and affective states, and processing information from gustatory, olfactory, auditory, somatosensory, and nociceptive modalities. This information represents an important component of episodic memory, mediated by the parahippocampal‐hippocampal region. A comprehensive description of insular projections to the latter region is lacking. Previous studies reported that insular projections do not target any of the subdivisions in the hippocampal formation (the dentate gyus, the cornu ammonis [CA] fields 1, 2, and 3 and the subiculum), but, in contrast, target the parahippocampal region (perirhinal, postrhinal, lateral and medial entorhinal cortices, and pre‐ and parasubiculum). The present study examined the topographical and laminar organization of insular projections to the parahippocampal region in the rat with the use of anterograde tracing. Notably, our results corroborated the absence of hippocampal projections. We further showed that the perirhinal and the lateral entorhinal cortices received extensive projections from the insular cortex, primarily from its agranular areas. With the exception of a weak projection to the postrhinal cortex, projections to the remaining parahippocampal areas were either absent or very sparse. The projections to the lateral entorhinal cortex displayed a preference for the deep layers of its most lateral subdivisions, known also to receive hippocampal inputs. Projections to the perirhinal cortex primarily targeted the superficial layers with a preference for its ventral subdivision, referred to as area 35. Our findings indicate that only processed information, reflecting emotional and affective states, but not primary gustatory and viscerosensory information, has direct access to the parahippocampal‐hippocampal system. J. Comp. Neurol. 523:1379–1398, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
What causes intra-week regularities in stock returns? Some evidence from the UK

The calendar anomaly associated with negative stock returns over the weekend is investigated. It is argued that such effects may be caused by a number of institutional features. Using Datastream's daily stock returns index for the UK over the period 1980-1993, it is shown that after allowing for three institutional factors there is no residual weekend anomaly to be explained. These factors are: (i) financing discontinuities associated with the account settlement period; (ii) the relative scarcity of funds while finance is held in banks suspense and transmission accounts on Settlement Day; and (iii) firms reluctance to hold money during non-trading periods.
The Safety and Efficacy of Topical Retapamulin Ointment Versus Placebo Ointment in the Treatment of Secondarily Infected Traumatic Lesions: A Randomized, Double-blind Superiority Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether retapamulin 1% is clinically superior to a placebo in the treatment of patients with secondarily infected traumatic lesions. DESIGN: The study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase 3 study. SETTING: Patients were recruited from 5 countries. PATIENTS: The aforementioned patients were all 2 months or older and diagnosed with secondarily infected traumatic lesions. INTERVENTIONS: Study medication was applied twice daily for 5 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary end point: clinical response (success/failure) at follow-up. Secondary efficacy end points included clinical and microbiological outcomes at end of therapy (on days 7–9); microbiological and therapeutic responses at follow-up. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 508 patients were recruited for the study; 359 patients were included in the primary efficacy analysis population (246 received retapamulin; 113 received the placebo). Secondarily infected abrasions were the most common secondarily infected traumatic lesions present (56.3%), Staphylococcus aureus being the most frequently isolated pathogen at baseline (60.1%); 15.1% infections were methicillin-resistant. At follow-up, patients receiving retapamulin had higher clinical success rates than those receiving the placebo (74.8% vs 66.4%, respectively) in the primary efficacy analysis population; however, the treatment difference was not statistically significant (8.4%; 95% confidence interval, −1.6 to 18.4). The proportion of patients experiencing adverse events, which were typically mild or moderate in severity, was similar between the retapamulin (5.6%, 19/342) and placebo groups (4.8%, 8/165). CONCLUSION: Clinical success rates were higher with retapamulin versus placebo in the treatment of patients with secondarily infected traumatic lesions, but the difference between treatment groups was not significant. Retapamulin was well tolerated.