Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Organization and Decision Making In North American Bison: Implications For Management

Social organization varies widely among herbivores, and the level of social organization in bison is widely debated. I hypothesized that when mother-daughter relationships are allowed to develop, bison form long-term associations. In my study, 25 treatment mothers were selected from a free-ranging herd and kept together with their calves, while 25 control females had their calves forcefully removed. Treatment mothers and offspring had by far the greatest number of associations with a greater percentage of individuals with a half weight index (HWI) > 0.50. The strongest associations (HWI > 0.31) were among treatment mothers and their offspring. Moreover, these associations persisted over multiple generations. Group coordination requires group decisions and these can vary between extremes. I hypothesized bison utilized both democratic and despotic decisions. I examined movement initiation and direction decisions following rest periods. For direction decisions older cows repeatedly made decisions despotically for the group; in 93% of the choices, group directions were within 95% confidence intervals. For movement initiation, bison used a more democratic decision-making process; group movements did not begin until an average of 47% of adult cows exited the group. Interestingly, the oldest females led this final post-rest movement behavior in 81% of the decisions. Presumably, living in properly functioning social groups has many benefits, including reduced stress. I hypothesized levels of stress was related to animal density. Consequently, yearling bison males were weaned and placed in either 1) tight confinement (TC), 2) loose (LC) confinement, or 3) free-ranging (FR, returned to herd). I measured fecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) as an index of stress. Fecal samples were collected in each group every 2 weeks from January to April 2009. Fecal cortisol levels were lowest for FR (23 ng/g DM), intermediate for LC (39 ng/g DM), and highest for TC (63 ng/g DM; P
Communication research in Hong Kong: Problematics, discoveries and directions 1

This paper first analyses the communication research environment in Hong Kong in regard to its socio‐political context, the media industry and more direct factors such as research freedom, financial‐institutional support, incentives, size and quality of trained personnel While the overall environment is facilitative, the small size of the research community in Hong Kong is limiting the volume of research output and scope of specialization. In reviewing researches in the last decade, it is found that commercial researches are generally more concerned about opinion distribution and media consumption. Government policy researches‐centre around media evaluations, preferences, programme standards and other regulatory issues. Academics pay most attention to political communication, international communication and, less so, information technology. As to future research, the author argues for more frequent use of longitudinal and comparative methods, the search for an original theoretical contribution to communic.
Pesticides, Productivity, and Farmer Health: A Philippine Case Study

Production data from a farm-level survey were integrated with health data collected from the same population of farmers to measure the impacts of pesticide use on farmer health and the impacts of farmer health on productivity in two rice-producing regions of the Philippines. The relationships were then used in a simulation analysis to investigate the health and productivity tradeoffs implied by a policy to restrict pesticide use. Results show that pesticide use has a negative effect on farmer health, that farmer health has a positive effect on productivity, and that there are likely to be social gains from a reduction in insecticide use in Philippine rice production. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings for pesticide policy in developing countries and for allocation of resources in agricultural research.
Utilizing Biotinylated Proteins Expressed in Yeast to Visualize DNA–Protein Interactions at the Single-Molecule Level

Much of our knowledge in conventional biochemistry has derived from bulk assays. However, many stochastic processes and transient intermediates are hidden when averaged over the ensemble. The powerful technique of single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has made great contributions to the understanding of life processes that are inaccessible when using traditional approaches. In single-molecule studies, quantum dots (Qdots) have several unique advantages over other fluorescent probes, such as high brightness, extremely high photostability, and large Stokes shift, thus allowing long-time observation and improved signal-to-noise ratios. So far, however, there is no convenient way to label proteins purified from budding yeast with Qdots. Based on BirA–Avi and biotin–streptavidin systems, we have established a simple method to acquire a Qdot-labeled protein and visualize its interaction with DNA using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. For proof-of-concept, we chose replication protein A (RPA) and origin recognition complex (ORC) as the proteins of interest. Proteins were purified from budding yeast with high biotinylation efficiency and rapidly labeled with streptavidin-coated Qdots. Interactions between proteins and DNA were observed successfully at the single-molecule level.
Smart Housing and Social Sustainability: Learning from the Residents of Queensland's Research House

One fifth of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia are generated by the everyday activities of households (Commonwealth of Australia 2005a). Higher consumer awareness of the impact of housing on the environment (Commonwealth of Australia 2003, 2005b) and of sustainable housing alternatives (The State of Queensland 2005a) is essential. One of the drawbacks to mainstreaming ecologically sustainable housing designs is consumer resistance, based on perceptions of eco- or green- housing as being less aesthetically pleasing, and less economically attractive for resale than traditional housing (Minnery et al. 2003). This paper reports findings from a small social study about the experiences of a family who lived in ‘Research House’, Australia, for a two year period monitoring product performance and household economies in a sustainable house. Residents reported satisfaction and improved feelings of safety when living in the spacious, airy and secure home, providing feedback to enable product improvement and assist consumer decision-making about sustainable housing.
The Entrenchment of Urban Dispersion: Residential Preferences and Location Patterns in the Dispersed City

The paper portrays three aspects of urban dispersion: urban structure, residents' location and land-use preferences, and social ecology. To explain the dynamic inherent in this form of urbanisation, it suggests an explanatory model concentrating on shifts in the respective importance of space, place and proximity associated with the passage from traditional monocentric to dispersed urban form. The paper draws its empirical substance from the Kitchener Census Metropolitan Area, one of the most dispersed metropolitan regions in Canada. The Kitchener case study highlights the defining characteristics of a dispersed urban structure: high automobile dependence, a scattering of origins and destinations, and a resulting absence of pronounced accessibility gradients. The paper also reports the results of a survey which indicates a harmonisation of residents' preferences with the main features of dispersion. The case study ends by mapping the residential location patterns of two groups with a disproportionate influence on new urban development: high income households and families with children. Their concentric distribution is consistent with survey results. In the light of the prevailing transport-land-use relation and of residents' location choices and expressed preferences, the paper foresees a further entrenchment of the dispersed urban structure. The paper closes by explaining the limited success of most intensification policies and by exploring the possibility of injecting more diversity into the dispersed landscape in order to accommodate a growing variety of lifestyles.
A State-Preference Model of Optimal Financial Leverage

IN COMPLETE and perfect capital markets, Hirshleifer [6, 7], Robichek and Myers [13], and Stiglitz [15] have shown that the firm's market value is independent of its capital structure. Although firms may issue conventional types of complex securities, such as common stocks and bonds, if the number of distinct complex securities equals the number of states of nature, individuals are able to create primitive securities. A primitive security represents a dollar claim contingent on the occurrence of a specific state of nature and can be created by purchasing and selling short given amounts of complex securities. Since in a perfect market the firm is a price taker, the market prices of these primitive securities are unaffected by the firm's financing mix. Therefore, given the firm's capital budgeting decisions which determine the firm's returns in each state, the firm's market value is independent of its capital structure. The market value of the firm equals the summation over states of the product of the dollar return contingent on a state and the market price of the primitive security representing a dollar claim contingent on the occurrence of that state. The proof of the Modigliani-Miller [8] independence thesis in a statepreference framework does not depend upon the assumption that the firm will earn its debt obligation with certainty. The firm may not earn the "promised" return on its bonds in some states of the world and would be bankrupt. In these states the firm's bonds are claims on the residual value of the firm. Although the firm's financing mix determines the states in which the firm is insolvent, the value of the firm is not affected since bankruptcy penalties would not exist in a perfect market. Therefore, sufficient conditions for the Modigliani-Miller independence thesis are complete and perfect capital markets. The taxation of corporate profits and the existence of bankruptcy penalties are market imperfections that are central to a positive theory of the effect of capital structure on valuation. A tax advantage to debt financing arises since interest charges are tax deductible. Assuming that the firm earns its debt obligation, financial leverage decreases the firm's corporate income tax liability and increases its after-tax operating earnings. However, a corporate bond is not merely a bundle of contingent claims but is a legal obligation to pay a fixed
Adult idiopatic occlusion of Monro foramina: Intraoperative endoscopic reinterpretation of radiological data and review of the literature

Abstract Adult idiopathic occlusion of the foramen of Monro (AIOFM) is a rare condition, with only few cases described in the modern literature. We propose that AIOFM may result from unilateral or bilateral occlusion of Monro foramina, as well as from progression of a monolateral hydrocephalus. Different surgical strategies may be required for effective treatment according to the type of occlusion. To date, only 12 cases of AIOFM have been reported in the literature. We report the cases of two patients, aged 20 and 47 years respectively, who presented with intracranial hypertension secondary to bilateral ventricular dilatation due to obstruction at the level of the foramen of Monro. Both patients were successfully treated with endoscopic fenestration of the primarily obstructed foramen of Monro and, in one patient, fenestration of the septum. We propose that septum pellucidum displacement could play a role in the occlusion of the second foramen of Monro. AIOFM can, therefore, result also from unilateral stenosis of Monro. The difference in AIOFM (i.e. unilateral vs bilateral) will be useful in guiding the most suitable surgical approach in this rare condition.
Sustainable Tourism Development in Developing Countries: Some Aspects of Energy Use

Tourism has, in recent years, received increasing attention as a low-impact, non-consumptive development option, in particular for developing countries. This positive view contrasts with the fact that major parts of the tourist industry have remained harmful to the environment and that some aspects, like the use of energy and its global consequences have virtually been excluded from the discussion on sustainable tourism development. In this article, the evolution of tourism paradigms is reviewed with a focus on developing countries. It is shown that tourism has become of prime economic importance for many developing countries, in particular small island states. However, as the cash income generated by tourism is mainly derived from visitors coming from industrialised countries, who have to rely on air travel to arrive at their destination, the issue of energy use is analysed from an ecological perspective. It is shown that the tourism-related use of fossil fuels is significant and has detrimental environmental consequences. Afforestation programmes are discussed as a strategy to overcome the negative effects associated with the emission of greenhouse gases. Overall, it is claimed that energy use is an issue that urgently needs to be integrated into the discourse on sustainable tourism development.
THE EFFECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS ON PARENTAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE GIVERS AND THE RECEIVERS

ABSTRACT The labour market and the welfare state have been the main institutions responsible for economic welfare in the Nordic countries, whereas the family's role has been mostly complementary. However, this may be changing as the welfare state's role weakens due to cost-containment goals. Based on data sets covering two generations, this study shows that well educated parents in particular are supporting their adult children financially especially while they are studying. Overall, the results suggest that the interaction between the parents' socio-economic position and parental financial backing is stronger than previous studies have indicated. This could lead to diminishing egalitarianism in education alongside class reproduction even in the Nordic welfare states. The results are based on questionnaire data obtained from families across two generations: baby boomers and their adult children. The former data set comprised 1,115 randomly selected Finns born in 1945–1950, and the latter consisted of 1,435 adult children. Merged data was obtained from 911 adult children who were identifiable as offspring of specific parents from the baby boomers' data set. Multinomial logistic regression was used in the analysis.
Turkish consumers purchase attitude and behaviours towards Kahramanmaras type ice cream as a local branded product

The consumption trends of Kahramanmaras type ice cream of Turkish consumers have been considerably increasing for the last decade due to improvements related to the consumers’ purchase powers, a rapid progress in ice cream technology, and dietary and health concerns. The aim of the study is to determine the main factors affecting the consumers’ perception and preferences of Kahramanmaras type ice cream, and to analyze their purchase attitude and behaviours towards it. The results of the study showed that the nutritional quality and information, brand prestige, sensorial quality attributes, trust to manufacturer, ice cream mixture attributes, local brand satisfaction and social statute had the major effects on the preference and acceptance of the product. And also the share of the ice cream expenditure within total food, monthly income, age, education, family size, occupation of the consumers played the important roles on the amounts of their consumption, respectively. These findings could provide some important information to its manufacturers, retailers and marketers, and this information could be used to develop the deterministic marketing tactics and strategies, and to design a new ice cream based on the marketing mix for the target consumer segments. Key words: Factor analysis, Kahramanmaras type, ice cream attributes, MRCanalysis, Turkish consumer’s attitudes.
ETHICS EDUCATION IN MARKETING: ARE STAKEHOLDERS' INTERESTS OVER­ SHADOWING SHAREHOLDERS'?

Ethics education in marketing is sufficiently important that the Marketing Education Review (Fall 2004) dedicated an entire issue to it. Yet not one of the articles in the issue cited the late Milton Friedman’s (Nobel Laureate 1976) pronouncement on business ethics: “there is one and only one social responsibility of business ‐ to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its [shareholders’] profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud” (1962, p. 133). 1 The absence of Friedman’s view in a journal issue devoted to business ethics led us to speculate: What roles are shareholders’ interests assigned in ethics education in marketing? 2 Here we present evidence that in marketing education shareholders’ interests are diminished relative to those of “stakeholders” and reflect upon the implications of replacing shareholder with stakeholder interests .
Trade Policymaking in a Land‐Locked Developing Country: The WTO Review of Nepal

Sandwiched between India in the south, east and west and the People's Republic of China in the north, Nepal is a small landlocked developing country. Its trade policy autonomy is constrained by land‐lockedness and open border with India. Despite opening up the economy, it has not fully benefited from openness, perhaps partly due to poor governance and partly due to transit and customs‐related problems. Although these are crucial issues for trade competitive, The Trade Policy Review of Nepal 2012 (TPRN‐2012) is either very polite or lacks a comprehensive analysis on most of these. Since transit‐related costs faced by landlocked developing countries can be substantial, just evaluating the progress made in liberalising tariffs and nontariff barriers can provide a distorted picture of the overall business climate. The future WTO review reports on these countries should have a separate section on transit‐related issues to contribute to policy debate on the problems of landlocked developing countries. Despite this, the publication of TPRN‐2012 is very timely given the emphasis placed in the current policy debate in the WTO and other international forums on the problems of landlocked developing countries.
Effect of conformation of the distal portion of the femur and proximal portion of the tibia on the pathogenesis of cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate mediolateral radiographic views of stifle joints to identify conformational differences between athletically sound dogs and dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD). SAMPLE POPULATION Radiographic images of 50 stifle joints of 43 dogs with surgically confirmed CCLD and 50 stifle joints of 38 dogs without clinical signs of stifle joint disease. PROCEDURES Mediolateral radiographic views of stifle joints were obtained, and long axes of the femur, tibia, and femoral condyles were measured. Angles between long axes of the femur and femoral condyle and between long axes of the femur and tibia were measured. Circles were drawn representing the joint surface of femoral condyles (circle 1), area of contact on the tibial plateau (circle 2), and femoral trochlea (circle 3). Radii of circles 1, 2 (line F), and 3 were measured. Distances between midpoints of circles 1 and 2 (line K) and between midpoint of circle 2 and most cranial aspect of the tibial tuberosity (line G) were measured. To evaluate differences in conformation that could lead to CCLD, quotients derived from measurements were created for comparison; angles were compared between dog groups. RESULTS Significant differences were found in the quotients created by the lengths of lines G and F and lines G and K between dogs with and without CCLD. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE No anatomic differences were detected in the distal portion of the femur between dogs with and without CCLD. Development of the tibial tuberosity and shape (convexity) of tibial condyles may be relevant in the pathogenesis of CCLD.
Patterns of Pediatric Mandible Fractures in the United States.

IMPORTANCE The mandible is arguably the most frequently fractured facial bone in children. However, facial fractures are rare in children compared with adults, resulting in few large studies on patterns of pediatric facial fractures. OBJECTIVE To report the patterns, demographics, and cause of pediatric mandible fractures across the United States. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A retrospective analysis was conducted of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's National Emergency Department Sample from January 1 to December 31, 2012, using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, codes for mandible fractures (802.20-802.39) among patients 18 years and younger who presented to emergency departments. Demographics, fracture site, and fracture mechanism were analyzed to identify factors associated with fractures. Analysis was conducted from July 9 to July 28, 2015. RESULTS There were 1984 records, representing a weighted estimate of 8848 cases of pediatric mandible fracture. The mean patient age was 14.0 years (95% CI, 13.6-14.3). The male to female ratio was 4:1 and females were comparatively younger, with a mean age of 12.5 years (95% CI, 11.8-13.1; P < .001). The most frequently fractured sites were the condyle, in 1288 patients (14.6% [95% CI, 12.6%-16.5%]), and the angle, in 1252 patients (14.1% [12.4%-15.9%]). Associated intracranial injuries occurred in 756 patients (8.5% [7.1%-10.0%]), and cervical spine fractures occurred in 393 (4.4% [3.5%-5.4%]). The fracture site and mechanism of injury varied with age and sex. For patients 12 years and younger, the most frequent fracture site was the condyle, accounting for 636 fractures (27.9% [24.2%-31.6%]), and the most frequent cause was falls, accounting for 692 fractures (30.3% [25.9%-34.8%]). In teenaged patients (13-18 years), the angle was the most frequent fracture site, accounting for 1157 fractures (17.6% [15.6%-19.6%]), and the most frequent cause was assault, accounting for 2619 fractures (39.9% [36.4%-43.3%]). For male patients, the angle was the predominant site, accounting for 1053 fractures (15.0% [13.1%-16.8%]), and the leading cause was assault, accounting for 2360 fractures (33.5% [30.2%-36.9%]). For female patients, the condyle was the most frequent site, accounting for 369 fractures (20.3% [16.0%-24.6%]), and the leading cause was falls, accounting for 422 fractures (23.2% [18.6%-28.0%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this study, age and sex disparities among pediatric mandible fractures were identified. Younger patients and female patients tend to have condyle fractures caused more commonly by falls while older patients and male patients tend to have angle fractures caused by assault. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA.