Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of motivational climate on sportspersonship among competitive youth male and female football players

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of perceived motivational climate and gender on sportspersonship behavior of competitive youth football players. Participants were 512 boy and 202 girl Norwegian youth football players (12–14 years old) competing in an international football tournament. A 2×2×2 (gender, mastery climate high and low, performance climate high and low) MANOVA produced no multivariate or interaction effects, but main effects for gender, performance climate, and mastery climate did emerge. Post hoc analyses of the simple main effects found that boys and girls were different in sportspersonship, but only in that boys were more sportspersonlike than girls on one of the four sportspersonship dimensions. Players perceiving a high mastery climate endorsed sportspersonship more than those players perceiving a low mastery climate, and players perceiving a high performance climate were less likely to endorse sportspersonship than players perceiving a low performance climate. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that a strong mastery climate was positively associated with commitment, respect for social conventions, and respect for rules and officials. A strong performance climate was negatively associated with respect and concern for social conventions and respect for rules and officials, while a positive association emerged for respect and concern for the opponent. The results of our study suggest that both boys and girls may well perceive the coach emphasizing similar criteria of success and failure and thereby a similar culture of sportspersonship, while in general a strong mastery climate leads to a higher sportspersonship orientation.
Sensing the Worst: Neurophenomenological Perspectives on Neutral Stimuli Misperception in Schizophrenia Spectrum

While investigating social cognitive impairments in schizophrenia, prominent evidence has been found that patients with schizophrenia show a tendency to misclassify neutral stimuli as negatively valenced. Within this population, patients presenting delusions are more prone to this phenomenon. In a previous study, Schizophrenia spectrum (SzSp) patients rated positive, negative and neutral stimuli that were multimodally presented, while assessed with a checklist exploring anomalous subjective experiences and evaluated for positive and negative symptomatology. In the present work, we aimed to further explore the relationship between neutral stimuli misperception, anomalous experiences and positive/negative symptoms in SzSp patients. To this end, we adopted a dimensional approach by reconstructing from available data: (1) four a priori scales representing essential dimensions of SzSp experiential pathology following Parnas et al. (2005); and (2) five clinically meaningful factors to describe illness severity derived by Toomey et al. (1997). Results showed that although overall patients correctly recognized the target emotions, those who misinterpreted neutral auditory cues as negatively valenced also presented higher scores in Perplexity (PY), Bizarre Delusions (BD) and Disorganization (Di) dimensions. Moreover, a positive association between BD and both PY and Self-Disorder (SD) dimensions emerged, suggesting that psychotic symptoms may be directly linked to patients’ subjectivity. In an attempt to comprehensively capture the multilayered neutral stimuli misperception phenomenon in SzSp, we aimed at bridging phenomenology and neurobiology by connecting the levels of molecular neurochemistry (i.e., altered dopaminergic neurotransmission), system neuroscience (aberrant salience of perceptual details) and psychopathology (the chain involving hyper-reflexivity, self-disorders and the emergence of delusions).
Measuring Growth-CO2 Emission Trade-offs for Climate Change Responses and Compensation Policies: The Case of Korea

In response to growing concerns about global warming and climate change, numerous energy scenario or CGE models have been developed worldwide to provide alerts, mitigation, adaptation, financial and sustainability policy options (IPCC, 2010; UNFCCC, 2010). In the case of Korea, limited work on national action plans and mitigation policies has also been reported (Oh, 2008; Yoo, 2008). However, rigorous economic analysis of the trade-off between CO2 emissions and economic growth for credible climate change policies is still limited globally (Stern, 2004; Ruijven et al., 2008). To improve analysis, debate and policies in this field with Korea as a special case-study, the paper develops a new top down endogenous growth-CO2 multi-equation model with an endogenous environmental Kuznets curve to provide robust empirical findings on the trade-off and subsequent credible responses and compensation policies. The outcomes are useful to global warming researchers, climate change negotiators, and national policy-makers. JEL
Metrology Issues and Solutions in THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy: Noise, Errors, Calibration

This paper reviews metrology aspects of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Noise is discussed together with its effects on system performance, including frequency-dependent dynamic range, signal-to noise ratio, and the measurement bandwidth. Sources of uncertainties are addressed, as are measurement errors arising from system design and from interactions with the object under test. Finally, techniques of system calibration are described. Commonly encountered issues are addressed and simple practical solutions suggested. Existing literature on the subject is reviewed.
The association between stress, resilience, and emotional symptoms in Norwegian adolescents from 13 to 18 years old

This study investigated associations between stress, resilience factors, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a cross-sectional sample of 1183 adolescents 13–18 years old. The results showed a positive significant association between stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Personal competence was significantly negatively associated with depression and anxiety, whereas social support was significantly negatively associated with anxiety. Significant interaction effects were found between gender by personal competence and gender by structured style in relation to anxiety, with stronger associations for girls. A compensatory role of resilience was found on the relation between stress and emotional symptoms.
P2X receptor subtype‐specific modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs in the rat brainstem

The role of P2 receptors in synaptic transmission to the rat medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) was studied in an in vitro brain slice preparation. Whole‐cell patch recordings were made and spontaneous synaptic responses studied under voltage clamp during application of P2X receptor agonists. ATPγS (100 μm) had no effect on holding current, but facilitated spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) frequency in 41% of recordings and facilitated spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) in 20% of recordings. These were blocked by the P2 receptor antagonist suramin (100 μm). α,β‐meATP also facilitated sEPSC and sIPSC frequency, while l‐β,γ‐meATP facilitated only sIPSCs. The sEPSC facilitation by ATPγS was blocked by TTX (but did not block facilitation of sIPSCs). sEPSC facilitation was blocked by PPADS (30 μm) and the selective P2X3 receptor antagonist A‐317491 (3 μm), suggesting that modulation of sEPSCs involves P2X3 receptor subunits. α,β‐meATP‐facilitated sIPSCs were also recorded in wild‐type mouse MNTB neurones, but were absent in the MNTB from P2X1 receptor‐deficient mice demonstrating a functional role for P2X1 receptors in the CNS.
Interactions of human replication protein A with oligonucleotides.

Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric, single-stranded DNA binding protein that is essential for eukaryotic DNA replication. In order to gain a better understanding of the interactions between RPA and DNA, we have examined the interactions of human RPA with single-stranded oligonucleotides. Our analysis of RPA.DNA complexes demonstrated that RPA binds as a heterotrimer. Stoichiometric binding reactions monitored by fluorescence quenching indicated that the binding site size of human RPA is 30 nucleotides and that between 20-30 nucleotides of DNA directly interact with RPA. The binding of RPA to DNA of different lengths was systematically examined using deoxythymidine-containing oligonucleotides. We found that the binding affinity of RPA for short oligonucleotides was length dependent. The apparent association constant of RPA varied over 200-fold from approximately 7 x 10(7) M-1 for oligo(dT)10 to approximately 1.5 x 10(10) M-1 for oligo(dT)50. Human RPA binds to oligonucleotides with low cooperativity; the cooperativity parameter (omega) for RPA binding was estimated to be approximately 15.
A historical institutionalist explanation of the EU's responses to the euro area financial crisis

ABSTRACT How can we understand the European Union's responses to the euro area financial crisis? This contribution examines this question through a historical institutionalist (HI) lens. First it reviews the design of existing institutions. With the help of HI it examines what challenges the institutional design posed on the European Union (EU) when the crisis hit. Next, the responses to the crisis by member state leaders and by EU-level actors are reviewed. An analysis is made of selected new EU institutions created to address the crisis: the European Financial Stability Facility; the European Stability Mechanism; the Six-Pack and Two-Pack; the European Semester; and the Fiscal Compact. Four ideal types – ‘displacement’, ‘layering’, ‘drift’ and ‘conversion’ – are examined and found not to fit well. In some cases institutions were ‘layered’ on top of existing institutions. Perhaps an amendment could be made by offering the ideal type ‘copying’ in those cases where new institutions that borrow from earlier institutions. Although no complex problem can be truly understood by looking at it through one single theoretical lens, this contribution argues that a large of part of the problems that emerged, and the solutions adopted, can be understood by examining it through an HI lens.
The Signaling Role of Accounting Conservatism in Debt Contracting

TThere has been debate over the economic consequences of accounting conservatism in debt contracting. We contribute to this debate by arguing that the prospect of signaling project return may give rise to the demand for conservative accounting, even though it may not improve contracting efficiency ex post. The empirical evidence of the negative correlation between interest rates and conservative accounting may be explained by the heterogeneity among firms, such as riskiness, leverage and the strength of balance sheet. While debt covenants may also serve as a signaling device, they lead to a lower Type-I error, but a higher Type-II error, than signaling via accounting conservatism. Our results further indicate that conditional conservatism may either alleviate or amplify the distortion required for the signaling purpose.
The unpredictability of standard back propagation neural networks in classification applications

This note offers an extension of Tam and Kiang (Tam, K. Y., M. Y. Kiang. 1992. Management applications of neural networks: The case of bank failure predictions. Management Sci. 38(7) 926--947. ). First the weakness of the standard back propagation neural network learning algorithm is discussed, and then a warning is issued regarding applications of artificial neural networks in the management science field. Also suggested is a possible way of improving the performance of neural networks in managerial applications.
Economic impacts of integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria

ThispaperassessesthepotentialeconomicimpactsofIntegratedAgriculturalResearchforDevelopment(IAR4D) conceived to address observed low productivity, prevailing poverty level, slow growth and general underperformance of the agricultural sector associated with the traditional agricultural and rural development (ARD) approach. The economic surplus analysissuggestedthatIAR4Dresearchandextension,withrespecttomaizeproduction,couldachievereturnsrangingfrom30to 38 per cent and a maximum adoption of 25 to 50 per cent for the conservative and baseline scenario, respectively. Similarly, with the same range of maximum adoption, the approach could yield returns ranging from 22 to 29 per cent for the conservative and baseline scenario, respectively in millet production. However, the same range of adoption could result in 29 to 37 per cent for the conservativeandbaselinescenario,respectivelyinsorghumproduction.Theestimatedbenefitsaresensitivetoexpectedadoption rates but much less so to changes in research and extension costs. However, the estimates indicate that the production of all the crops was socially profitable under the IAR4D option. Our results were consistent with earlier economic analyses which showed that IAR4D was more productive, profitable and acceptable to farmers than the conventional Research for Development (R&D) approach.
Market power in power markets in Europe : the Cases in French and German woholesale electricity markets

The two last centuries have witnessed an exceptional revolution in the organization of electric power markets worldwide. The industry's organization has changed from vertically integrated monopolies under regulation to unbundled structures that favor market mechanisms; known as reform process in Europe. The shift to reliance on market prices, given concentrated structures and particular characteristics of electricity industry, raises a possibility that some firms could influence the market prices by exercising their market power. The issues of "market power" in a given industry have been abundantly employed in the literatureof Industrial Organization since the late 1970s but theoretical and empirical studies of "market power in electricity markets" have only been developed recently. In this thesis, we attempt to carry out an insight research around market power questions in deregulated wholesale electricity markets in Europe, as regarding the way of defining and measuring it. We carry out empirical studies in two of the biggest liberalized electricity markets in Europe: France (2009-2012's data) and Germany (2011's data), using econometric regressions and electricity simulation models as main methodologies. The subject is particularly relevant inthe context of energy transition in Europe (transition energetique in France and Energiewende in Germany).
International Asset Pricing under Mild Segmentation: Theory and Test

This paper conducts a theoretical and empirical investigation of the pricing (and portfolio) implications of investment barriers in the context of international capital markets. The postulated market structure-labelled "mildly segmented"-leads to the existence of "super" risk premiums for a subset of securities and to a breakdown of the standard separation result. The empirical study uses an extended data base including LDC markets and provides tentative support for the mild segmentation hypothesis. THE QUESTION AS TO whether the international capital market is integrated or segmented appears particularly elusive. Indeed, the difficulties surrounding this important issue abound, as was made vividly clear by Solnik [20]. At the risk of tackling too ambitious a task, we undertake here to build a model and develop an empirical methodology to provide at least a partial answer to the
Auditor appointment in compulsory audit tendering

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine what auditor and audit environmental attributes affect auditor appointment decisions in compulsory audit tendering, and whether the attributes affecting appointment of a new auditor (rotation) are consistent with or different from those affecting reappointment of the incumbent (retention). Design/methodology/approach - New South Wales (NSW) local council finance managers were surveyed for importance ratings of 48 attributes. An hypothesis for differential ratings between rotators and retainers was formulated. Confirmatory factor analysis, tests of mean differences and logistic regression were used. Findings - Consistent with the sample's high retention rate, the most important attributes for all respondents related to the quality of previous experience with the incumbent. Consistent with hypothesis, attributes proxying for a quality auditor (technical competence, independence and reputation) were more important for rotators. Research limitations/implications - The authors proxied rotation/retention by intention. Given the importance of audit quality attributes in the appointment decision and the high retention rate in compulsory audit tendering, future research could examine the relation between audit service quality attributes and retention. Originality/value - This is the first study to examine attributes affecting auditor appointment decisions in a mandatory choice setting. NSW local councils provide a unique opportunity to do so as it is one of few jurisdictions in which compulsory audit tendering operates. Compulsory tendering may be implemented if current legislation aimed at improving audit independence and quality through mandatory partner rotation proves infeasible.
Cointegration with Structural Breaks: An Application to the Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle

This paper revisits the well known Feldstein-Horioka saving-investment correlation puzzle from a time series perspective using a sample of 21 OECD countries. We argue that the strong positive correlation between saving and investment as originally identified by Feldstein and Horioka (1980) arises due to the neglect of the nonstationary properties of the variables as well as the failure to account for potential instabilities in the long run relationship between them. Our methodology is based on instability tests recently proposed in Kejriwal and Perron (2006a) as well as the cointegration test in Arai and Kurozumi (2005) extended to allow for multiple breaks under the null hypothesis of cointegration. Our empirical results show that for all countries except Mexico and the U.K., the cointegrating relationship has changed over time; in most cases, the change being towards a lower saving-investment correlation regime. This is perfectly consistent with the recent evidence on international diversification and integration of world capital markets. Finally, we find that while the saving-investment link bears a close relationship with the degree of openness of the country, there seems to be very little evidence in favour of the commonly held view that the correlation varies with the size of the country.
Multiple BGPs in a Growth Model with Habit Persistence

This paper establishes multiple balanced growth paths in an otherwise standard, competitive growth model without externality or distortions and with households' preference dependent upon how his/her consumption compares to a habit stock formed by his/her own past consumption. The key feature in our model is that consumption forms habits in combination with existing habits. This model establishes multiple equilibria because habit persistence induces an internal, intertemporal complementarity effect among consumption flows, with current consumption reinforcing future consumption. As a result, there exist two balanced-growth paths, with one path exhibiting low consumption and habits and high economic growth, and the other path exhibiting high consumption and habits and low growth that is not necessarily a development trap. Both steady states are saddles, but global indeterminacy arises where a high balanced growth path co-exists with a low balanced growth path where the two equilibrium paths cannot be pareto ranked and history need not matter for the selection of the equilibrium path. Copyright 2007 The Ohio State University.
Antimicrobial Peptoids Are Effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms

ABSTRACT The resistance of biofilms to conventional antibiotics complicates the treatment of chronic cystic fibrosis (CF). We investigated the effects of peptoids, peptides, and conventional antibiotics on the biomass and cell viability within Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. At their MICs, peptoids 1 and 1-C134mer caused maximum reductions in biomass and cell viability, respectively. These results suggest that peptoids of this class could be worth exploring for the treatment of pulmonary infections occurring in CF patients.
Risk-Sharing in Seaport Terminal Concessions

Over the last two decades, infrastructure development has often been supported by public–private partnerships, particularly under concession arrangements. This paper addresses terminal concession contracts in the seaport sector, and especially the problem of risk-sharing. An effective allocation of risks is the base for the well functioning of the market, and for the success of the ‘landlord’ model. Under this model, the relationship between concessionaires and port authorities is fully dependent on a contract that should be in force for the period of the concession (20, 30 or more years). Based on several Portuguese concession contracts, this paper addresses the issue of risk-sharing agreements. Some policy implications are drawn, namely, alternative contract arrangements to decrease opportunistic behaviour by concessionaires, and to provide incentives to improve efficiency.
Do Rooms Managers Exhibit Expense Preference Behavior in Nevada Casinos?

Within the hospitality industry, the largest expense is payroll, and it is often considered one of the most controllable. Expense preference theory postulates that managers may focus more on maximizing their own utility by overspending as opposed to firm profit maximization. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if hotel managers in Nevada casinos exhibit expense preference behavior by overstaffing. Results of various regression models show that occupied rooms is positively and significantly related to rooms payroll. In one model, there is a modestly significant relationship between market concentration and rooms payroll. Results also show that after accounting for other variables, there is no significant relationship between a recession and rooms payroll.
Construction and Characterization of a Full-Length Infectious Simian T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 3 Molecular Clone

ABSTRACT Together with their simian T-cell lymphotropic virus (STLV) equivalent, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), HTLV-2, and HTLV-3 form the primate T-cell lymphotropic virus (PTLV) group. Over the years, understanding the biology and pathogenesis of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 has been widely improved by the creation of molecular clones. In contrast, so far, PTLV-3 experimental studies have been restricted to the overexpression of the tax gene using reporter assays. We have therefore decided to construct an STLV-3 molecular clone. We generated a full-length STLV-3 proviral clone (8,891 bp) by PCR amplification of overlapping fragments. This STLV-3 molecular clone was then transfected into 293T cells. Reverse transcriptase PCR experiments followed by sequence analysis of the amplified products allowed us to establish that both gag and tax/rex mRNAs were transcribed. Western blotting further demonstrated the presence of the STLV-3 p24gag protein in the cell culture supernatant from transfected cells. Transient transfection of 293T cells and of 293T-long terminal repeat-green fluorescent protein cells with the STLV-3 clone promoted syncytium formation, a hallmark of PTLV Env expression, as well as the appearance of fluorescent cells, also demonstrating that the Tax3 protein was expressed. Virus particles were visible by electron microscopy. These particles are infectious, as demonstrated by our cell-free-infection experiments with purified virions. All together, our data demonstrate that the STLV-3 molecular clone is functional and infectious. This clone will give us a unique opportunity to study in vitro the different pX transcripts and the putative presence of antisense transcripts and to evaluate the PTLV-3 pathogenicity in vivo.