Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conflicting Attitudes Toward Inter-basin Water Transfers in Bulgaria

Abstract Sofia, Bulgaria has suffered from chronic water shortages in recent decades. Since the 1970s, government officials have advocated the construction of a massive complex of dams, tunnels, and diversion structures to transfer water from the Rila Mountains to meet the city's needs. These inter-basin water transfers have been highly controversial, sparking protests by citizens in water export areas, water scientists, and environmentalists. Using a qualitative approach employing focus groups and interviews, this study describes and analyzes the attitudes of ordinary citizens, water scientists, environmental NGO leaders, and government officials toward inter-basin water transfers between the Rila Mountains and Sofia. Apart from government officials, there is little enthusiasm for inter-basin water transfers. Citizens living in water export areas are generally opposed to any water management actions that do not address their needs for a regulated water supply, while those living in Sofia see water transfers as being unnecessary and prohibitively expensive. A high degree of polarization exists between government officials, who view water transfers as being an important tool in water management, and water scientists and environmentalists, who view inter-basin transfers as being unnecessary, prohibitively expensive, and detrimental to local populations and the environment. All participants in the study agree that Sofia's present water supply network is highly inefficient and needs to be modernized. In spite of the shortages, water conservation methods have not widely implemented.
Interactivity-as-Product and Interactivity-as-Process

This article attempts to clarify the murky conceptual water of “interactivity,” arguing that the term refers to two distinct phenomena: interactivity between people and interactivity between people and computers or networks. The former orients research on the process of interactivity. The latter orients research on the product of interactivity. That two distinct phenomena have been labeled with the same term causes problems when one wants to move from theorizing about interactivity in the abstract to investigating what effects interactivity has and then to operationalizing measurement terms. Studying interactivity-as-process entails a research focus on human interaction. Studying interactivity-as-product entails a research focus on user interactions with technology. In wading into the murky waters of what interactivity is, we must not lose sight of why it matters. In research focused on the opportunities and constraints for citizen participation in the political process afforded by communication technology, for example, interactivity is a variable of importance.
Trade, FDI, and the Organization of Firms

New developments in the world economy have triggered research designed to better understand the changes in trade and investment patterns, and the reorganization of production across national borders. Although traditional trade theory has much to offer in explaining parts of this puzzle, other parts required new approaches. Particularly acute has been the need to model alternative forms of involvement of business firms in foreign activities, because organizational change has been central in the transformation of the world economy. This paper reviews the literature that has emerged from these efforts. The theoretical refinements have focused on the individual firm, studying its choices in response to its own characteristics, the nature of the industry in which it operates, and the opportunities afforded by foreign trade and investment. Important among these choices are organizational features, such as sourcing strategies. But the theory has gone beyond the individual firm, studying the implications of firm behavior for the structure of industries. It provides new explanations for trade structure and patterns of FDI, both within and across industries, and has identified new sources of comparative advantage.
Sensori-motor Learning in Movement-Sound Interactive Systems: a Review

The literature on gesture-sound interactive system and sensori-motor learning is scattered in separate different research domains and communities, such as Sound and Music Computing, Neurosciences, Interactive Sound Design, Sonification, Rehabilitation, Sport Sciences. The large majority of neuroscience papers on the human motor system deals with visual, haptic and vestibular sensory inputs and rarely mention the auditory modality. Historically most of papers that report on auditory-motor mechanisms concerned speech learning and production. On one hand, due to promising applications in movement learning (mostly in sport) and rehabilitation, there is an increasing number of studies showing the potential interest of auditory feedback. The technology used in these types of applications remains generally rudimentary. On the other hand, the most advance interactive gesture-sound systems are found in the music and computing field, but lack of systemic studies evaluating these systems. Moreover, no studies are reported on sensori-motor learning. The aim of this document is to review the literature related to the use of gesture-sound interactive system linked to different applications, namely sonification for movement learning, motor rehabilitation with auditory feedback, digital musical instruments and sonic interaction design. The document starts with a short review of important concepts and definition related to sensorimotor control and feedback. Due to the constantly increasing number of papers published in these area, we considered this document as a work in progress.
Risk Mitigation and Sharing in Motorway PPPs: A Comparative Policy Analysis of Alternative Approaches

Abstract The detailed contracts between private parties and public sector project sponsors that provide for the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure are often referred to as public–private partnerships (PPPs). Risk-mitigation and risk-sharing arrangements are critical to the long-term success or failure of transportation PPPs. This article examines the distribution of the key risks inherent in a PPP across public sector and private sector partners in road infrastructure PPPs. It draws lessons from the use of alternative risk-mitigation mechanisms across several countries, focusing on how aspects of PPP concession contracts allocate risks on both demand and cost sides of an infrastructure facility.
Variability of the Ocular Component Measurements in Children Using A-Scan Ultrasonography

Knowledge of the precision with which the various ocular components can be measured with available techniques is vital to our ability to track changes in the anatomy of the eye in relation to the development of refractive error. Corneal touch A-scan ultrasound measurements were obtained by either an instrument-mounted or by a hand-held method on 469 children aged 6 to 11 years at their enrollment into the Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial. Variability of measurements was calculated for overall axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth. The mean variability of overall axial length was 0.062 ± 0.043 mm and 0.061 ± 0.056 mm for the right and left eyes, respectively. Mean variability of the ocular component measures was similar. The mean variability was not influenced by the age, gender, level of myopia, or residual accommodation of the subjects. Statistically significant differences between the instrument-mounted and the hand-held method and among certain ethnic groups were found, but the differences were not of a magnitude to be clinically significant. A-scan ultrasonography is sensitive to changes in the axial length and vitreous chamber depth equivalent to 0.25 D and is therefore a useful technique to assess changes in these ocular components in children. The precision of lens thickness is poorer than the equivalent of 1.0 D, and, therefore, A-scan may not be sufficiently precise to be useful in studies of active accommodation or lens growth.
Glial Cell Lineages in the Rat Cerebral Cortex

I have traced the fates of glial cell progenitors in the rat cerebral cortex marked with a recombinant retrovirus throughout most of the period of corticogenesis, from embryonic (E) day 14 to postnatal (P) day 14. Discrete clusters of clonally related glia were examined in serially cut sections, and their phenotypes identified using reliable light and electron microscopic criteria. Analysis of a large number of clones marked with retrovirus at various stages of embryonic life contained, with very few exceptions, either all astrocytes or all oligodendrocytes. This observation suggests that the ventricular zone contains separate progenitor cells for the two glial cell types. Oligodendrocyte clones were rarely seen in the cortices injected with retrovirus at the early stages of corticogenesis (E14-E16), suggesting that there is a very small number of oligodendrocyte progenitors in the ventricular zone at these early stages. Their frequency increased significantly at later embryonic ages. At these later stages, ventricular zone cells also give rise to progenitor cells that make up the subventricular zone in early postnatal life. Injections of retrovirus in this proliferative zone shortly after birth resulted in the generation of labeled astrocyte and oligodendrocyte clones in the cortical gray and white matter, with the astrocyte clones being in the majority. Injections at increasingly later stages resulted in the presence, predominantly in the white matter of both hemispheres and in the corpus callosum, of progressively more oligodendrocyte clones and fewer astrocyte clones. Injections at P14 generated only oligodendrocyte clones in the white matter of both hemispheres. A small number of clusters (<10%) generated after subventricular zone injections contained both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, suggesting that single subventricular zone cells can differentiate into both glial cell types.
Initiation Sites Are Distributed at Frequent Intervals in the Chinese Hamster Dihydrofolate Reductase Origin of Replication but Are Used with Very Different Efficiencies

ABSTRACT Previous radiolabeling and two-dimensional (2-D) gel studies of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) domain of Chinese hamster cells have suggested that replication can initiate at any one of a very large number of inefficient sites scattered throughout the 55-kb intergenic spacer region, with two broad subregions (ori-β and ori-γ) preferred. However, high-resolution analysis by a PCR-based nascent strand abundance assay of the 12-kb subregion encompassing ori-β has suggested the presence of a relatively small number of fixed, highly efficient initiation sites distributed at infrequent intervals that correspond to genetic replicators. To attempt to reconcile these observations, two different approaches were taken in the present study. In the first, neutral-neutral 2-D gel analysis was used to examine replication intermediates in 31 adjacent and overlapping restriction fragments in the spacer, ranging in size from 1.0 to 18 kb. Thirty of 31 fragments displayed the complete bubble arcs characteristic of centered origins. Taking into account overlapping fragments, these data suggest a minimum of 14 individual start sites in the spacer. In the second approach, a quantitative early labeled fragment hybridization assay was performed in which radioactive origin-containing DNA 300 to 1,000 nucleotides in length was synthesized in the first few minutes of the S period and used to probe 15 clones distributed throughout the intergenic spacer but separated on average by more than 1,000 bp. This small nascent DNA fraction hybridized to 14 of the 15 clones, ranging from just above background to a maximum at the ori-β locus. The only silent region detected was a small fragment lying just upstream from a centered matrix attachment region—the same region that was also negative for initiation by 2-D gel analysis. Results of both approaches suggest a minimum of ∼20 initiation sites in the spacer (two of them being ori-β and ori-γ), with ori-β accounting for a maximum of ∼20% of initiations occurring in the spacer. We believe that the results of all experimental approaches applied to this locus so far can be fitted to a model in which the DHFR origin consists of a 55-kb intergenic zone of potential sites that are used with very different efficiencies and which are separated in many cases by a few kilobases or less.
Evidence on Irish financial directors' views about dividends

Purpose - This study aims to provide a modern perspective on the role of dividends in smaller developed countries such as Ireland by examining views regarding the determinants of payout levels, the role of taxation and the relevance of conventional signalling theory. Design/methodology/approach - The study employs semi-structured interviews with the financial directors of 20 leading Irish companies. Findings - The results suggest support for the notion that dividend policy affects share valuations. However, views regarding this issue – and the role of taxation and signalling theory – vary markedly between quoted and unquoted firms as well as depending on firms' dividend histories. Research limitations/implications - The study suffers from the problem that in interview-based research the participants are necessarily a self-selecting group. Notwithstanding this point, the evidence suggests that the views of managers in a nation with a small, but highly developed, stock market are in line with those in countries with much larger exchanges. Further research could usefully extend the analysis and establish whether similar views exist in other countries with relatively small stock markets, but where the exchange is in an “emerging” rather than “developed” state. Originality/value - The contribution of the paper comes from the uniqueness of the Irish setting: the Irish market is relatively small but, unlike many similarly sized markets, it is highly-developed, with long-term historical links to the London Stock Exchange. The results, therefore, provide evidence about the extent to which earlier findings based on the world's largest developed markets also prevail in those that are more modestly sized.
Chemotherapy for osteosarcoma – Where does it come from? What is it? Where is it going?

Introduction: Although chemotherapy is currently indispensable for the treatment of osteosarcoma, chemotherapy for this rare cancer has not been developed based on multicentre randomised prospective trials with many subjects. The therapeutic outcomes of chemotherapy have been improved in large part through the efforts and innovation of physicians who treated patients with osteosarcoma and conducted detailed examinations of a small number of subjects. It is important to understand how chemotherapy for osteosarcoma has changed to achieve further development. Areas covered: This article discusses the changes in chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, including adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and focuses on four key anticancer drugs: methotrexate, adriamycin, cisplatin, and ifosfamide. This article also discusses the problems of research on osteosarcoma treatment, from the perspective of osteosarcoma as a rare disease, and the challenges to be addressed. Expert opinion: Approximately 30 years have passed since the key anticancer drugs were introduced. The development of new therapeutic drugs for osteosarcoma has stagnated. Given that osteosarcoma is a rare cancer, it would be difficult to expect that drug development will be led by pharmaceutical companies. Thus, it is very important to create a system for more efficient drug development based on innovations from various academic and medical institutions.
Regime Shifts in Resource Management

Resource management has to take account of the possibility of tipping points and regime shifts in ecological systems that provide the resources. This article focuses on the typical model of regime shifts in the ecological literature and analyzes optimal management and common-property issues when trade-offs occur between the loss of ecosystem services and the benefits of the activities that may lead to a regime shift. Regime shifts are uncertain. This article also analyzes optimal management in the case of a potential future regime shift. Research on regime shifts is rapidly developing, and the issue is studied from many different angles. This article is restricted to some standard economic analyses, but in the presence of regime shifts. It focuses on examples like lakes, fisheries, and climate change but provides a framework of analysis that can be used for many environmental issues facing us today.
THE RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF VARIOUS PORTFOLIOS: SOME FURTHER EVIDENCE

THE MARKET PORTFOLIO OF risky assets has long played a central role in equilibrium theories of the capital markets. In the original one-period, meanvariance world of Sharpe, all investors would hold the market portfolio of risky assets in conjunction with a positive or negative investment in the riskfree asset. Fama [3] and more recently Ross [8] and Roll [7] have shown that a necessary and sufficient condition for the validity of the Sharpe-Lintner capital asset pricing model is that the market portfolio of risky assets be efficient. Despite this central role of the market portfolio, none of the prior tests of the capital asset pricing model, such as [1], [2], or [4], has really grappled with the potential biases associated with errors in measuring the return on the market portfolio. Recently, Roll [7] has reminded the profession of this omission and has speculated that these prior tests of the capital asset pricing model may be extremely sensitive to such errors. The purpose of this paper will be to provide some evidence on the relative efficiency of a bond portfolio, a stock portfolio, and various combinations of these two portfolios, including market-weighted combinations. A portfolio will be termed relatively more efficient than an alternative portfolio if, in conjunction with a position in the riskfree asset, it permits an investor to obtain a greater expected utility than would be possible with the alternative. This definition of relative efficiency encompasses two decisions: the selection of the risky portfolio and the determination of the position in the riskfree asset, or, in short, the allocation decision. In traditional performance studies of efficient portfolios,' the relative efficiency of different risky portfolios would be measured by the ratio of the expected risk premium (expected return less the riskfree rate) to its standard deviation-the so-called Sharpe measure. Because of separation, the allocation to the riskfree asset is a mere detail and can be ignored in determining relative efficiency. Implicit in this use of the Sharpe measure is the assumption that the underlying distributions of returns are known. If these distributions were not known, the next section will argue that the Sharpe measure would no longer provide an
Transcripts Accumulating during Cold Storage of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Tubers Are Sequence Related to Stress-Responsive Genes

During the adaptation of plants to low temperature, changes in gene expression can be induced in a variety of tissues. Low-temperature-regulated gene expression was studied in cold-stored potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers by two-dimensional electrophoresis of in vitro translation products. As a response to cold treatment, the relative amount of mRNA encoding at least 26 polypeptides changed. By differential screening of a cDNA library, 16 clones corresponding to cold-inducible transcripts were isolated. They were classified into four non-cross-hydridizing groups.RNA hybridizations using representative clones from each group revealed different temporal accumulation patterns for the cold-inducible transcripts. mRNAs homologous to the cDNA clones were first detectable after 1 to 3 d of cold treatment, and the highest level of expression was reached after 3 to 7 d. Transcripts corresponding to cDNA clones Cl13 and Cl19 were transiently expressed, whereas the steady-state level remained high for cDNA clones Cl7 and Cl21 during the cold storage period of 4 weeks.The DNA sequences of two cDNA clones, Cl7 and Cl19, have been determined. The polypeptide predicted from the DNA sequence of Cl19 is sequence related to small heat-shock proteins from other plant species. The deduced protein sequence of Cl7 exhibits strong homology to the dehydrin/RAB group of dehydration stress- and abscisic acid-inducible polypeptides and to cold-induced proteins from Arabidopsis and spinach.
Putting the Parts Together: Trade, Vertical Linkages, and Business Cycle Comovement WEB APPENDIX

GDP Intensity Intensity311 Food products 0.054 0.057 0.053 0.195 0.150313 Beverages 0.068 0.066 0.006 0.022 0.524314 Tobacco 0.029 0.027 0.005 0.105 0.082321 Textiles 0.133 0.087 0.022 0.313 0.481322 Wearing apparel, except footwear 0.093 0.064 0.020 0.106 0.678323 Leather products 0.034 0.046 0.003 0.273 0.517324 Footwear, except rubber or plastic 0.045 0.049 0.001 0.017 0.709331 Wood products, except furniture 0.076 0.080 0.008 0.323 0.204332 Furniture, except metal 0.078 0.082 0.002 0.014 0.571341 Paper and products 0.228 0.094 0.008 0.301 0.312342 Printing and publishing 0.069 0.064 0.003 0.081 0.685351 Industrial chemicals 0.126 0.086 0.030 0.421 0.192352 Other chemicals 0.095 0.075 0.014 0.141 0.355353 Petroleum reﬂneries 0.079 0.063 0.036 0.084 0.060354 Misc. petroleum and coal products 0.040 0.040 0.001 0.012 0.498355 Rubber products 0.082 0.066 0.004 0.064 0.563356 Plastic products 0.131 0.093 0.004 0.070 0.570361 Pottery, china, earthenware 0.126 0.086 0.001 0.052 0.146362 Glass and products 0.119 0.091 0.002 0.088 0.282369 Other non-metallic mineral products 0.104 0.085 0.004 0.118 0.193371 Iron and steel 0.155 0.087 0.016 0.236 0.258372 Non-ferrous metals 0.150 0.086 0.015 0.606 0.195381 Fabricated metal products 0.109 0.076 0.014 0.103 0.433382 Machinery, except electrical 0.045 0.048 0.045 0.088 0.545383 Machinery, electric 0.068 0.053 0.031 0.327 0.268384 Transport equipment 0.071 0.047 0.107 0.368 0.580385 Professional & scientiﬂc equipment 0.056 0.047 0.009 0.043 0.423390 Other manufactured products 0.045 0.056 0.011 0.060 0.533AVERAGE 0.090 0.068 0.017 0.165 0.393
The order of economic liberalization : financial control in the transition to a market economy

Can knowledge of financial policies in developing countries over four decades help the socialist economies of Asia and Eastern Europe become open market economies in the 1990s? In all these countries the loss of fiscal and monetary control has often resulted in high inflation that undermines the liberalization process itself. In the second edition of The Order of Economic Liberalization, Ronald McKinnon builds on his influential work on the liberalization of financial markets in less developed countries and outlines the progression necessary to move from a "repressed" to an open economy. New to this edition are chapters that contrast the gradual Chinese approach to liberalizing domestic and foreign trade with the "big bang" approach followed by some Eastern European countries and republics of the former Soviet Union. Financial control and macroeconomic stability, McKinnon argues, are more critical to a successful transition than is any crash program to privatize state-owned industrial assets and the banking system.