Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Breastfeeding Practices and Reasons for Success in a Military Community Hospital

The authors’ objectives were (1) to assess factors associated with breastfeeding rates in the early postpartum period and (2) to assess factors contributing to successful breastfeeding among an active-duty and military-dependent population. In September 2002, a baseline breastfeeding survey was administered to women presenting for infant or postpartum care in a military health care facility. A lactation service was then established, and between May and September 2004, a cross-sectional survey was subsequently conducted. Surveys assessed demographics, breastfeeding history and practices, and perceived reasons for success and discontinuation. A total of 934 surveys were collected. Ninety-two percent of women initiated breastfeeding. Eighty-five percent were breastfeeding at 1 week. The rate was 67.0% at 6 weeks and 61.7% at 6 months. Prior breastfeeding experience predicted continued breast-feeding at 6 weeks (OR 2.04); higher education level predicted breastfeeding at 6 months (OR 2.55). Breastfeeding rates increased after the establishment of a lactation service.
Motor foundations of higher cognition: similarities and differences in processing regular and violated perceptual sequences of different specificity

Processing perceptual sequences relies on the motor system, which is able to simulate the dynamics of the environment by developing internal representations of external events and using them to predict the incoming stimuli. Although it has previously been demonstrated that such models may incorporate predictions based on exact stimulus properties and single stimulus dimensions, it is not known whether they can also support abstract predictions pertaining to the level of stimulus categories. This issue was investigated within the present event‐related functional magnetic resonance imaging study, which compared the processing of perceptual sequences of different specificity, namely those in which the sequential structure was based on the order of presentation of individual stimuli (token), and those in which such structure was defined by stimulus categories (type). The results obtained indicate a comparable engagement of the basic premotor–parietal network in processing both specific and categorical perceptual sequences. However, type sequences additionally elicited activations within the lateral prefrontal, occipital and posterior temporal regions that supported categorization in this task context. Introducing sequential deviants into token sequences activated parietotemporal and ventrolateral frontal cortices, whereas a less pronounced overall response, dominated by lateral prefrontal activation, was elicited by violations introduced into type sequences. Overall, the findings obtained suggest that, although forward models in perception may be able to incorporate expectations of lower specificity when compared to the motor domain, such processing is crucially dependent on additional contributions from lateral prefrontal as well as inferior occipital and temporal cortices that support categorization occurring in such a dynamic context.
Labor History Symposium

David Ost is one of the foremost scholars of contemporary Eastern European politics and labor relations. His latest book, The Defeat of Solidarity, is a masterful analysis of the wrenching changes in Eastern Europe from the fall of communism to the present day. Through a sympathetic portrayal of the everyday experiences of working people in Poland, Ost explains how the early victories of Solidarity quickly gave way to a politics of anger that has made the transition to political democracy and a market economy a tortuous one. With critical essays that draw on Ost’s analysis to comment on conditions facing working people across Eastern Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Germany and the US, this symposium will be of interest to all readers of this journal.
The effect of setting goals and emotions on asset allocation decisions

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to conduct a controlled experiment to examine the effect of goal setting and affect framed feedback on repeated asset allocation investment decisions. Design/methodology/approach - The design of the experiment is a 2×2 between subject design. Subjects allocated monies among four investments for 20 periods. One manipulation varied whether subjects received performance feedback in the form of a happy or sad face, while another manipulation varied whether subjects set a financial goal for themselves and received goal attainment performance feedback. Findings - The main findings include: subjects initially allocate assets in a manner roughly consistent with their stated preference for risk; prior year asset performance leads subjects to make significant changes in portfolio asset allocation in a manner consistent with beliefs of positive autocorrelation in asset returns; and the addition of happy or sad faces to performance feedback information leads to even greater changes in asset allocation. Originality/value - Using ideas from the theory on the self-regulation of behavior and the role of affect in decision making, the authors develop an original framework to account for the results.
An empirical model of choice of one-time corporate cash disbursement methods

Purpose – This paper aims to extend the work by Vafeas and Lie and Lie by developing an empirical model of choice among four alternative mechanisms for distributing cash from corporations to shareholders: a fixed-price self-tender offer, a Dutch auction self-tender offer, an open market share repurchase, and a special dividend. Design/methodology/approach – A multinomial logit (MNL) model adapted for choice-based sampling is used to examine the factors that influence a firm's choice among the four methods. Findings – Firms with a high degree of heterogeneity in shareholder valuations tend to select an open market repurchase, while firms with low levels of heterogeneity choose a special dividend. Firms already paying high dividends are more likely to issue a special dividend than institute an open market repurchase. A firm with poor stock performance prior to the announcement is more likely to choose a fixed-price self-tender offer or open market share repurchase. On the other hand, firms are more likely to follow strong performance with a special dividend. Contrary to Persons' model, it is found that firms facing a takeover threat are more likely to choose a fixed-price tender offer than a Dutch auction. Practical implications – It is shown that the ownership structure, current payout level; the size of the distribution, and the degree of stock undervaluation are among the most important determinants of a firm's choice among alternative payout methods. Originality/value – This study adds to the existing literature by developing the first empirical model of choice among all four one-time (or infrequent) corporate cash disbursement methods. It is also the first to adjust the MNL estimates for the choice-based sampling method used to collect the data.
Does Endogenously Determined Ownership Matter on Performance? Dynamic Evidence from the Emerging Taiwan Market

This paper reexamines the relationship between ownership and firm performance. Using an unbalanced panel data in the emerging Taiwan market, we adopt a simultaneous equations framework to explore the persistence of the relationship across the life cycle of firms over time. Empirical results suggest that firm performance is a function of institutional ownership, especially in the mature stage. Through dynamic specification, evidence appears to account for lack of persistence of the impacts of ownership on performance over time. To alleviate a potential simultaneity issue, we construct a lagged specification to examine the sensitivity of our results. Consequently, the main results are found to be robust.
ECMS as a realization of Pontryagin's minimum principle for HEV control

An analytical derivation of the Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) for energy management of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is presented, based on Pontryagin's minimum principle. The derivation is obtained using a generic formulation of the energy management problem in HEVs and is valid for any powertrain architecture. Simulation results obtained for a series HEV are also provided.
Using Functionings to Estimate Equivalence Scales

Equivalence scales are used to enable welfare comparisons across heterogeneous households. In this paper, we propose to use the achievement of a certain level of functioning as the identifying assumption for the derivation of equivalence scales. This will allow us not only to deal with welfare comparisons between households of different size and composition, but will also enable us to incorporate other characteristics (such as location and employment status) in the creation of equivalence scales for welfare comparisons. The paper applies this approach to create equivalence scales for the functioning “shelter” using Belgian and Italian data. The analysis shows that the income differences associated with different characteristics only play a small role in explaining differences in functionings. An important policy message is therefore that compensating people for functioning shortfalls in monetary terms may not be sensible.
SAR interferometry and Speckle tracking approach for glacier velocity estimation using ERS-1/2 and TerraSAR-X spotlight high resolution data

Glacier retreat and advance is general phenomenon in Himalayan region due to change in climatic conditions. For quantifying the global warming effects on local scale glacier system monitoring and estimating its dynamic geophysical parameters viz. movement and volume change are important. In this study glacier movement estimation is attempted in north western Himalayan region using spaceborne InSAR technique, which is based on preserving the coherence between two acquisitions of the same scene. It is observed that ERS-1/2 tandem data give high correlation over Gangotri glacier and Siachen glacier and movement in LOS direction is deciphered. However, with the use of SAR Speckle tracking method two dimensional (Azimuth and range directions) velocities of glaciers can be obtained. In this study attempt has been made to measure 2-D velocity components of Gangotri glacier. New generation TerraSAR-X (TS-X) high resolution spotlight mode (HS), single look slant range complex (SSCs) data of 28th August, 2008, 08th September, 2008, 19th September, 2008 and 30th September, 2008 are exploited for this study. Interferogram, coherence image and intensity image are generated. It is observed that Interferometric SSC data of 28th August, 2008 and 08th September, 2008 give some fringes outside glacier area and complete decorrelation is shown on the Gangotri glacier due to high movement of glacier.
Determinants and Consequences of Moving Decisions for Older Americans

The lore on whether older Americans move is mixed. While the familiar stereotype is that retirees flock to Florida or Arizona, prior studies have found that their home equity rises modestly over time, suggesting that they tend to stay put. This paper examines moving trends, determinants, and consequences using the original cohort of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We find that a full 30 percent of homeowners in the HRS cohort move over the 1992-2004 period, but most moves occur close to home. Overall, two types of movers emerge from the analysis ? n those who affirmatively plan to move and those who react to changing circumstances. As proxies for these two types, this study uses the presence or absence of a negative shock, such as death of a spouse or entry into a nursing home. Our results show that the factors that help determine a move are similar for both groups, while the consequences of a move vary. Homeowners with shocks are more likely to discontinue homeownership and reduce net equity, supporting the hypothesis that households may view housing wealth as insurance against catastrophic events. Finally, while movers in both groups of homeowners experience improvements in psychological well-being, movers with shocks are impacted most by the shocks themselves.
Topology-aware VSDN embedding approach on shared software defined networks

Cloud data center is becoming more and more important for tenants because cloud resources and associated services can be shared by multi-tenant. Although resource isolation and traffic control, which are effective ways to protect the QoS of tenants, have been used extensively, the topology of the network needs to be further studied extensively. In this paper, combining VN with SDN, a topology-aware VSDN embedding approach, named ToVSDN, is proposed to enhance the topology management. Extensive experimental evaluations have been conducted and the results verify that the proposed ToVSDN has improved embedding efficiency and obtained a higher revenue/cost ratio in comparison of correlative algorithms.
Measuring the performance of social media marketing in the charitable domain

Social media services offer a new avenue for non-profit organizations (NPOs) to initiate viral and word-of- mouth marketing. Due to the widespread adoption of these sites, there is the potential for this type of marketing to reach a large audience. The emergence of social media as a new marketing platform leads to fresh challenges in that the online nature of it creates difficulties in attributing actions of intent on social media to real, meaningful action that can help NPOs. This paper provides an interdisciplinary approach to discovering the relationship between actions on social media and the performance of NPOs’ social media marketing campaign. A framework is proposed which distinguishes, tracks and measures different stages of social media marketing activity in order to determine its success. The framework provides a number of metrics - taking into account the disciplines of computer science and management - that can be used to assess performance of NPO campaigns, and is tested on two sample charities. Future research directions for this project are then discussed
Science for Local Needs? Research and Policy Implications of National and International Malaria Efforts

Countries are unlikely to solve a particular problem unless they have some level of research invested in the effort. The approach in this paper is to use malaria research as a proxy for effective exploitation of local scientific knowledge. We study the malaria-related research output in two countries, Brazil and India, with among the most advanced science and pharmaceutical capabilities in the developing world. We assess local relevance of science and also its integration with international research by looking at almost 60 years of scientific publications on malaria between 1945-2003. While scientific publications are only one measure of scientific output, they are an important one. This research confirms previous findings of underrepresentation of developing countries in international science and its databases. In addition, we use a variety of indicators to demonstrate that while both countries together show substantial scientific output relative to their combined global share of malaria incidence, each shows low local relevance of malaria-related science using country and journal comparisons, relatively low rates of increase in published outputs and insignificant private sector effort. Finally, both show practically no collaboration with each other, while each is more likely to collaborate with a few advanced industrialised countries. The findings raise questions for both national and international scientific programs aimed at stimulating research for malaria and other neglected diseases.
Union Representation Elelctions and Firm Profitability

Union representation elections are associated with significant declines in firm profitability. In addition to the significant mean effect of union elections on the equity value of firms, there exists substantial variation in the magnitude of equity losses across individual election events. Cross-sectional variation in shareholder equity losses can be explained by the labor intensity of the firm, the size of the union wage premium and fraction of workers organized in “the firm's industry,. ” the presence or absencse of right-to-work lows in the state where the election is held, the member of workers covered in the representaion election, and the number of previous union representation election in the firm. The empirical results indiacte the equity losses are the greatest in industries where union wage gain are the highest and unionization rates are the largest, and in the most labor-intensive firms, independent of the size of the bargaining unit involved in the election. The latter result indicates the presence of union spillover effects.
Characterization of a unique type IA topoisomerase in Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus topoisomerase IIIβ (bcTopo IIIβ) has been cloned, overexpressed and biochemically characterized. This enzyme exhibits 64% and 33% sequence identity to Bacillus subtilis topoisomerase III (bsTopo III) and Escherichia coli topoisomerase III (ecTopo III) respectively. The enzymatic properties of bcTopo IIIβ differ substantially from other bacterial type IA topoisomerases, including E. coli type IA topoisomerases and B. cereus topoisomerase I (bcTopo I) and IIIα (bcTopo IIIα). bcTopo IIIβ only partially relaxes negatively supercoiled DNA and appears incapable of generating fully relaxed topoisomers. In contrast to ecTopo III and bcTopo IIIα, bcTopo IIIβ is not a decatenase. bcTopo IIIβ is unable to compensate the loss of ecTopo III in vivo. Therefore, bcTopo IIIβ is a unique prokaryotic type IA topoisomerase that is different from previously characterized topoisomerases.
S-Nitrosylation of Ascorbate Peroxidase Is Part of Programmed Cell Death Signaling in Tobacco Bright Yellow-2 Cells1[OPEN]

S-Nitrosylation of ascorbate peroxidase is part of the signaling pathway for programmed cell death induction in plants. Nitric oxide (NO) is a small redox molecule that acts as a signal in different physiological and stress-related processes in plants. Recent evidence suggests that the biological activity of NO is also mediated by S-nitrosylation, a well-known redox-based posttranslational protein modification. Here, we show that during programmed cell death (PCD), induced by both heat shock (HS) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright Yellow-2 cells, an increase in S-nitrosylating agents occurred. NO increased in both experimentally induced PCDs, although with different intensities. In H2O2-treated cells, the increase in NO was lower than in cells exposed to HS. However, a simultaneous increase in S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), another NO source for S-nitrosylation, occurred in H2O2-treated cells, while a decrease in this metabolite was evident after HS. Consistently, different levels of activity and expression of GSNO reductase, the enzyme responsible for GSNO removal, were found in cells subjected to the two different PCD-inducing stimuli: low in H2O2-treated cells and high in the heat-shocked ones. Irrespective of the type of S-nitrosylating agent, S-nitrosylated proteins formed upon exposure to both of the PCD-inducing stimuli. Interestingly, cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (cAPX), a key enzyme controlling H2O2 levels in plants, was found to be S-nitrosylated at the onset of both PCDs. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that S-nitrosylation of cAPX was responsible for the rapid decrease in its activity. The possibility that S-nitrosylation induces cAPX ubiquitination and degradation and acts as part of the signaling pathway leading to PCD is discussed.
Beyond the Food Web Connections to a Deeper Industrial Ecology

Industrial ecology is a school of thought based, in part, upon a simple analogy between industrial systems and ecological systems in terms of their material and energy flows. This article argues for a more sophisticated connection between these diverse systems based on the fact that they are all complex self‐organizing systems, operating far from thermodynamic equilibrium. As such, industrial and ecological systems have in common certain constraints and dynamic properties that move beyond the central metaphor of industrial ecology and could align these systems under a more comprehensive analytical framework. If incorporated at a fundamental level, the complex systems framework could add depth and sophistication to the field of industrial ecology.
Understanding Vacationing Motorist Niche Markets

This article builds on the travel market segmentation research by examining outdoor recreation, sightseeing, and cultural activities as tourism niche markets. Unique to this research is the replication analyses using Manitoba and Arizona as the cases. Results suggest that the nature of a vacation appears to be different across generally accepted niche markets in two distinct vacation destinations.
Going Local: Exploring Consumer Behavior and Motivations for Direct Food Purchases

Perhaps the greatest evidence of momentum in the local food movement is the recognition of “Locavores” as the 2007 word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. Defined as “a local resident who tries to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius,” the term identifies the growing ranks of environmentally and edibility-conscious consumers who deliberately seek out locally produced food and beverages. Moreover, the market has witnessed considerable growth in the numbers of farmers using direct marketing strategies, a doubling of U.S. farmers’ markets over the past decade, and strong growth in Community Supported Agriculture organizations (CSAs), in which shareholders directly pay farmers for a proportion of output (USDA Ag Census 2002; USDA AMS 2008; Lass et al. 2003). Furthermore, national media outlets, including Time, have dubbed “Local the New Organic” (Cloud 2007). However, despite the apparent growth in demand for local foods, there has been a paucity of research results regarding the motivation of consumers to seek out and pay a premium for local produce offerings, the role of direct markets in consumer shopping choices, and buying profiles of consumers who frequent direct channels (Brown 2002; Zepeda and Li 2006). In this article, we summarize much of the authors’ research on preferences of direct consumers of fresh produce in the context of a theoretical model regarding product and source choice. A particular focus is how local source and product attribution may connect with perceived private and public good dimensions
Marriage Dissolution in Australia: Models and Explanations

Interest in rising rates of marriage dissolution has been accompanied by curiosity concerning structural as well as temporal predictors of dissolution. Many factors may play a part: characteristics of the bride and groom; the circumstances surrounding the marriage, such as the length of periods of previous cohabitation; and situational factors within the marriage, such as the births of children and wives' employment. We examine the association between these factors and marriage dissolution, and use event-history data from a nationally representative sample survey of Australian women. The risk of marriage dissolution increased dramatically over the lives of our respondents. Year of birth, and age at marriage provide the most parsimonious characterization of the temporal correlates of marriage dissolution. Characteristics that were fixed by the time of marriage provide additional explanatory leverage. However, the most potent predictors of marriage dissolution are related to characteristics of the unfolding.