Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over Posterior Parietal Cortex Disrupts Transsaccadic Memory of Multiple Objects

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) plays a role in spatial updating of goals for eye and arm movements across saccades, but less is known about its role in updating perceptual memory. We reported previously that transsaccadic memory has a capacity for storing the orientations of three to four Gabor patches either within a single fixation (fixation task) or between separate fixations (saccade task). Here, we tested the role of the PPC in transsaccadic memory in eight subjects by simultaneously applying single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the right and left PPC, over several control sites, and comparing these to behavioral controls with no TMS. In TMS trials, we randomly delivered pulses at one of three different time intervals around the time of the saccade, or at an equivalent time in the fixation task. Controls confirmed that subjects could normally retain at least three visual features. TMS over the left PPC and a control site had no significant effect on this performance. However, TMS over the right PPC disrupted memory performance in both tasks. This TMS-induced effect was most disruptive in the saccade task, in particular when stimulation coincided more closely with saccade timing. Here, the capacity to compare presaccadic and postsaccadic features was reduced to one object, as expected if the spatial aspect of memory was disrupted. This finding suggests that right PPC plays a role in the spatial processing involved in transsaccadic memory of visual features. We propose that this process uses saccade-related feedback signals similar to those observed in spatial updating.
Stock Option Compensation Incentives and R&D Investment Returns

This study investigates the effects of risk-taking incentives (i.e., the sensitivity of CEO wealth to stock return volatility, or vega) on the profitability of research and development (R&D) investment. While prior research documents that vega encourages managers to invest in higher levels of R&D, we show that the profitability of that R&D is also sensitive to vega. Based on models predicting that higher levels of option compensation can induce risk-aversion, we show that the return on R&D investment is a concave function of vega, implying that moderate (excessive) levels of vega increase (reduce) the return on R&D investments. We also find that investor pricing of R&D conditional on vega reflects a similar non-linear relation. As expected, these relations are concentrated among firms with less investor oversight. Our evidence is consistent with executive stock options encouraging managers to invest in risky, but profitable projects, with the caveat that excessive levels of risk-taking incentives lead to diminishing returns on investment.
An Approach to ICT-based School Education in Tanzania

Introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in school education needs the development of a framework by the policy-making authorities. In this work an approach has been suggested based on survey conducted by the authors and an implemented model in another developing country. The main focus of this approach is the use of ICT in schools (both primary and secondary) in Tanzania considering resource constraint as a major factor. African Journal of Finance and Management Vol.12(2) 2004: 88-97
Employee Experiences of High-performance Work Systems: An Analysis of Sectoral, Occupational, Organisational and Employee Variables

An overall assessment of work quality in New Zealand has rarely been attempted. This paper explores the extent to which a sample of 1004 New Zealand employees experience a range of organisational processes and managerial practices associated with 'high performance work systems' (HPWSs). Particular attention is given to occupational and sectoral differences but the study also includes organisational and participant controls. The big picture is that New Zealand workers - across both sectors and occupations - perceive themselves as relatively empowered. On the other hand, there are some interesting differences in workplace experiences. Private-sector workers perceive themselves as having better chances of internal promotion than those in the public sector, and professionals, technicians, and associate professionals in the private sector feel much better informed than their public sector counterparts. Employees in larger firms see themselves as having a better internal labour market but they do not, in any other respect, see themselves as experiencing more HPWS processes than those in small firms. Older workers and those with longer tenure experience greater autonomy at work and the better paid feel both better informed and better rewarded. Those in unionised firms perceive better opportunities for training and development but do not otherwise experience higher levels of the HPWS variables we measure. The key implication for the productivity debate is that while empowerment levels are healthy in New Zealand, organisational performance and employee commitment would likely be higher if the links between empowerment, training, rewards and communications were stronger.
Developmental changes in plasma catecholamine concentrations during normoxia and acute hypoxia in the chick embryo

1 In the mammalian fetus, the cardiovascular responses to acute hypoxaemia include a redistribution of the cardiac output away from the periphery towards the adrenal, myocardial and cerebral circulations. A component of the peripheral vasoconstriction is mediated by increased release of catecholamines into the fetal circulation during acute hypoxaemia. Previously, we have shown that the chick embryo also shows an increase in peripheral vascular resistance during acute hypoxaemia and that this response becomes progressively larger towards the end of the incubation period. However, the ontogeny of the catecholaminergic response to acute hypoxaemia has not been investigated in this species. 2 Fertilised chicken eggs were studied on days 10, 13, 16 and 19 of incubation (hatching is at 21 days). At each stage of incubation, blood samples were obtained from the chorioallantoic artery of the chick embryos during normoxia and after 5 min of hypoxaemia for measurement of plasma concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline by HPLC. 3 Basal plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations by the end of the incubation period were much higher in the chick embryo than values reported for mammalian fetuses during late gestation. During normoxia, basal plasma noradrenaline concentration remained unchanged during development but plasma adrenaline concentration showed a developmental increase from < 25.1 pmol l−1 at day 10 to 3 nmol l−1 at day 19 of incubation. Acute hypoxaemia caused an increase in plasma noradrenaline and adrenaline from day 13 and day 16 of incubation, respectively. In addition, the increase in plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline and in the ratio of plasma adrenaline to noradrenaline during acute hypoxaemia became progressively larger by the end of the incubation period. 4 These data show an ontogenic increase in basal plasma catecholamines and in the catecholaminergic response to acute hypoxaemia in the chick embryo during the last third of the incubation period.
Characterization of Mycobacteria from a Major Brazilian Outbreak Suggests that Revision of the Taxonomic Status of Members of the Mycobacterium chelonae-M. abscessus Group Is Needed

ABSTRACT An outbreak of postsurgical infections caused by rapidly growing mycobacteria has been ongoing in Brazil since 2004. The degrees of similarity of the rpoB and hsp65 sequences from the clinical isolates and the corresponding sequences from both the Mycobacterium massiliense and the M. bolletii type strains were above the accepted limit for interspecies variability, leading to conflicting identification results. Therefore, an extensive characterization of members of the M. chelonae-M. abscessus group was carried out. The M. abscessus, M. chelonae, M. immunogenum, M. massiliense, and M. bolletii type strains and a subset of clinical isolates were analyzed by biochemical tests, high-performance liquid chromatography, drug susceptibility testing, PCR-restriction enzyme analysis of hsp65 (PRA-hsp65), rpoB, and hsp65 gene sequencing and analysis of phylogenetic trees, DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH), and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the 16S rRNA gene (RFLP-16S rRNA). The clinical isolates and the M. abscessus, M. massiliense, and M. bolletii type strains could not be separated by phenotypic tests and were grouped in the phylogenetic trees obtained. The results of DDH also confirmed the >70% relatedness of the clinical isolates and the M. abscessus, M. massiliense, and M. bolletii type strains; and indistinguishable RFLP-16S rRNA patterns were obtained. On the contrary, the separation of clinical isolates and the M. abscessus, M. massiliense, and M. bolletii type strains from M. chelonae and M. immunogenum was supported by the results of PRA-hsp65, DDH, and RFLP-16S rRNA and by the rpoB and hsp65 phylogenetic trees. Taken together, these results led to the proposition that M. abscessus, M. massiliense, and M. bolletii represent a single species, that of M. abscessus. Two subspecies are also proposed, M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and M. abscessus subsp. massiliense, and these two subspecies can be distinguished by two different PRA-hsp65 patterns, which differ by a single HaeIII band, and by differences in their rpoB (3.4%) and hsp65 (1.3%) sequences.
The Modular Adaptor Protein Autosomal Recessive Hypercholesterolemia (ARH) Promotes Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor Clustering into Clathrin-coated Pits*

Autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia is characterized by a cell type-specific defect in low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) endocytosis. LDLR-mediated uptake of LDL is impaired in the liver, but not in fibroblasts of subjects with this disorder. The disease is caused by mutations in ARH, which encodes a putative adaptor protein that interacts with the cytoplasmic tail of the LDLR, phospholipids, and two components of the clathrin endocytic machinery, clathrin and adaptor protein-2 (AP-2) in vitro. To determine the physiological relevance of these interactions, we examined the effect of mutations in the ARH on LDLR location and function in polarized hepatocytes (WIF-B). The integrity of the FDNPVY sequence in the LDLR cytoplasmic tail was required for ARH-associated LDLR clustering into clathrin-coated pits. The phosphotyrosine binding domain of ARH plus either the clathrin box or the AP-2 binding region were required for both clustering and internalization of the LDLR. Parallel studies performed in vivo with the same recombinant forms of ARH in livers of Arh-/- mice confirmed the relevance of the cell culture findings. These results demonstrate that ARH must bind the LDLR tail and either clathrin or AP-2 to promote receptor clustering and internalization of LDL.
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPETITION: IS CONVERGENCE OF COMPETITION LEGISLATION ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES?

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF COMPETITION: IS CONVERGENCE OF COMPETITION LEGISLATION ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES? KAYIHAN ÜNAL, Lerzan Ph.D., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevilay KAHRAMAN September 2013, 237 pages The purpose of this study is to examine the right approach to deal with the internationalization of competition law and policy. The study particularly questions whether convergence of competition legislation of nations as a strategy is enough to deal with the international anticompetitive practices in the absence of a global competition regime. This search surely involves the increased and enhanced cooperation efforts in between and among states. The internationalization of competition law and policy stems from the necessity to fill the gap in between the domestic competition regimes and the international business activities. In this context, this study refers to a three level analysis; the venue search for international competition matters at the multilateral level, the unilateral application of competition legislation, and the bilateral and regional cooperation efforts. All these three levels together compose the internationalization process itself. To this end, this study argues that a global competition regime can be achieved if only grounded on a good understanding of the process of the internationalization of competition law and policy. Indeed, the nature of this inquiry necessitates new insights from other disciplines. Thereof, this study displays that particularly international relations theories would shed a light on the conceptualization of the internationalization process in question.
AdrenergicReceptors and Adenylate Cyclase Activity in Hepatocytes of the Streptozotoon-Diabetic Rat

Effects of short and long exposure to the diabetic state induced by an injection of streptozotocin to young female rats on glucagonand catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity and adrenergic receptors of hepatic membranes have been studied. The short period of exposure to the diabetic state exhibited an increase in the sensitivity of the enzyme to isoproterenol without changes in the affinity and the number of ƒÀ-adrenergic receptors. The increased response of adenylate cyclase activity to isoproterenol was accompanied with a greater GTP-induced lowering of the affinity to the ƒÀ-adrenergic agonist in diabetic membranes than in the controls. The chronic diabetic state produced a decrease in the adenylate cyclase activity to hormonal or non-hormonal stimuli with a fall in the number of ƒ¿and ƒÀ-adrenergic receptors. These results suggest that the observed effects of the diabetic state on hormonally sensitive adenylate cyclase activities and their receptor binding sites of the hepatic membranes would vary depending on the duration and/or severity of the diabetic state experimentally induced.
Academics and their online networks: Exploring the role of academic social networking sites

The rapid rise in popularity of online social networking has been followed by a slew of services aimed at an academic audience. This project sought to explore network structure in these sites, and to explore trends in network structure by surveying participants about their use of sites and motivations for making connections. Social network analysis revealed that discipline was influential in defining community structure, while academic seniority was linked to the position of nodes within the network. The survey revealed a contradiction between academics use of the sites and their position within the networks the sites foster. Junior academics were found to be more active users of the sites, agreeing to a greater extent with the perceived benefits, yet having fewer connections and occupying a more peripheral position in the network.
Correlation between periodontal disease indices and lung cancer in Greek adults: a case-control study.

AIM The aim of the present case-control study was to examine the possible associations between periodontal disease indices and the risk of lung cancer development in a sample of Greek out-patients referred to a medical and a dental private practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 200 individuals were interviewed and underwent an oral clinical examination, and 64 of them were suffered from several histological types of lung cancer. The estimation of the possible associations between lung cancer as a dependent variable and periodontal disease indices as independent ones was carried out by using a multiple regression analysis model. RESULTS Probing pocket depth (odds ratio (OR) = 2.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-7.06), clinical attachment loss (OR = 3.51, 95% CI 1.30-9.47) bleeding on probing (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 0.98-3.81) were significantly associated with the risk of developing lung cancer. Smoking (OR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.20-5.17) was significantly associated with the mentioned risk, whereas it was consisted as a confounder regarding the estimated associations between moderate/severe clinical attachment loss and presence of bleeding on probing with the risk of developing lung cancer. CONCLUSION Probing pocket depth as an index for periodontal disease severity was statistically significantly associated with the risk of developing lung cancer.
Emphasis on Pro Forma Versus Gaap Earnings in Quarterly Press Releases: Determinants, Sec Intervention, and Market Reactions

Earnings press releases provide managers a forum to present their firm's quarterly financial information and perhaps influence perceptions of the firm's stakeholders. We explore the use of managerial emphasis as a disclosure tool and contribute to the debate over pro forma earnings. We examine (1) the determinants of emphasis placed on pro forma and GAAP earnings within quarterly earnings press releases, (2) whether there has been a shift away from emphasizing pro forma earnings toward GAAP earnings, and (3) whether stock market reactions to earnings news were influenced by emphasis placed on metrics within the press release. We find that firms emphasize metrics that are more value‐relevant and portray more favorable firm performance. We also find that the extent of a firm's media coverage affects managers' emphasis decisions. Further, our results indicate a highly significant shift toward GAAP emphasis and away from pro forma emphasis in 2002 relative to 2001. Finally, our stock market tests suggest that.
A Study on the Failure Mechanism of a Phase-Change Memory in Write/Erase Cycling

Using a phase-change memory (PCM) device composed of Ge2Sb2e5 (GST), we studied the mechanism of the SET-stuck failure (SSF), a constantly low-resistance state during write/erase (W/E) cycling. The SSF state was characterized with increased RESET current and decreased threshold voltage, which were thought to be due to depletion of Ge and enrichment of Sb inside the active volume of GST. Moreover, we found that device characteristics of an SSF-PCM could be recovered by reversing bias polarity and the repaired device could endure many W/E cycles, implying that field-induced ion migration was the major cause of the SSF of a PCM.
Creating and managing value in collaborative networks

This is a theoretical paper that examines the interplay between individual and collective capabilities and competencies and value transactions in collaborative environments. The theory behind value creation is examined and two types of value are identified, internal value (Shareholder value) and external value (Value proposition). The literature on collaborative enterprises/network is also examined with particular emphasis on supply chains, extended/virtual enterprises and clusters as representatives of different forms and maturities of collaboration. The interplay of value transactions and competencies and capabilities are examined and discussed in detail. Finally, a model is presented which consists of value transactions and a table which compares the characteristics of different types of collaborative enterprises/networks. It is proposed that this model presents a platform for further research to develop an in-depth understanding into how value may be created and managed in collaborative enterprises/networks.
How Does “3-D Negotiation” Move Beyond in a Dimension of a Win–Win–Win Approach for Integrated Bargaining Solution Analysis of Vertical Cooperative Advertising Campaigns?

The research aim of this study was to examine the possibility to investigate win–win–win Spais-Papakonstantinidis model in order to develop an integrated bargaining solution analysis for vertical advertising campaigns under the prism of the “3-D Negotiation. ” First, the author provided some summary points of the critical case of Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and Wal-Mart. Second, the utility functions were extended based on author's previous works and the findings of the critical case study. The author considered a simplified situation where a brand manufacturer and an independent retailer are renegotiating, assuming that the negotiations occur in an incomplete and asymmetric information environment.
IT Security Controls Quality and Firm Performance: A Strategic Liability Lens

The information systems literature and the public press has called for organizations to more closely scrutinize their information technology (IT) security controls; however, little more than anecdotal evidence exists on the business value of IT security investments, beyond regulatory compliance. Drawing on the strategy and accounting literature, we (a) advance a strategic liability perspective to the question of information systems security value; and (b) use the unique setting provided by the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) to investigates the relationship between IT security controls quality and both accounting earnings (a contemporaneous measure of firm performance) and market value (a forward looking measure of firm performance). Using a data set that provides audited annual assessments of the effectiveness of both IT and non-IT internal controls for a cross-section of companies as mandated by SOX, we find that firms that report an IT internal control weakness (ICW) have lower accounting earnings and lower earnings response coefficient compared to firms with strong IT internal controls. These results are sustained even after controlling for non-IT ICW and firm-specific potential determinants of ICW. The results are also robust to econometric corrections for potential simultaneity and self-selection bias using Heckman’s two-stage procedure. Overall, our results provide empirical evidence which suggests that information systems security is a strategic necessity and that information systems risk is priced by the capital markets.
Crossing the Communication Barrier: Facilitating Communication in Mixed Groups of Deaf and Hearing Students

Teachers of introductory technical courses such as statistics face numerous challenges in the classroom, including student motivation and mathematical background, and difficulties in interpreting numerical results in context. Cooperative learning through small groups addresses many such challenges, but students for whom spoken English is not their primary language – which may include international, first generation Americans, and deaf or hard of hearing students – are less likely to benefit from group work. This paper examines two possible approaches to improve communication in groups where there is a mix of deaf or hard of hearing students and hearing students for whom English is their native language.
CUSTOMER RETENTION THROUGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION REVISITED IN FRAMEWORK OF RETAIL MARKETING

In the new global economy, customer retention has become a central issue for business survival. Customer retention lies under the umbrella of relationship marketing. This study is an endeavor to revisit customer retention in context of retail marketing through customer satisfaction. A review of pertinent literature is conducted to explore the relationship of customer retention with customer satisfaction in context of retail marketing with dimension such as brand community, shopping convenience, and personalization of service. A research framework is suggested with review of pertinent literature that takes customer retention as independent variable, retail marketing as dependent through mediation of customer satisfaction.
Industrial Clusters and Social Upgrading in Developing Countries: Towards An Analytical Framework

In this article, we explore the relationship between industrial clusters and social upgrading in developing countries. Our article focuses on the hitherto little-considered influence of the economic and regulatory environment on the social upgrading of a cluster and on its governance system. In doing so, we develop an analytical framework that seeks to explain how the enabling environment and different actors in cluster governance can either facilitate and/or hinder the process of social upgrading in cluster settings in developing countries. Finally, the conclusion outlines our main findings, the research and policy implications of our analysis.