Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Task Characteristics and the Contextual Interference Effect

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the influence of blocked and random practice on the acquisition and retention of a criterion multisegment motor task practiced alongside either two similar-distractors tasks or two different-distractors tasks. The random-practice similar-distractors group made more decision-making errors and performed the criterion task more slowly than the blocked-practice similar-distractors group during the acquisition phase. Following a brief filled retention interval, the blocked-practice similar-distractors group demonstrated a loss of acquired performance capabilities, whereas the random-practice similar-distractors group did not. The blocked- and random-practice different-distractors groups performed similarly throughout the experiment. Results are interpreted within Glenberg's component-levels theory, in which it was argued that random practice must stimulate the differential storage of multilevel contextual components associated with the multiple motor tasks being learned to produce a contextual interference effect. The theoretical and practical implications of differential storage versus nonrepetition as a function of random practice are discussed.
Assessing Patient’s Satisfaction using SERVQUAL Model: A Case of Sunyani Regional Hospital, Ghana

The interaction between patients and healthcare providers is critical as it influences patients’ satisfaction. This encounter provides the patient with the opportunity to assess and evaluate service quality and conversely it offers the provider an opportunity to manage patients’ perceptions and service quality. This study was conducted at Sunyani Regional Hospital in Ghana to assess patients’ satisfaction using SERVQUAL model by Parasuraman et al., (1988). The SERVQUAL instrument was adapted and modified to capture the relevant data. A total of 214 patients were employed in the study. Data were analysed using SPSS (version 16.0) for descriptive statistics and patients’ satisfactions were determines by the service quality gap model. The result indicated that the overall satisfaction of patients concerning the service quality of the hospital was good. On the other hand the gap scores showed negative gaps for four of the service quality dimensions out of six used in the study, indicating that patients were not satisfied with the service quality in relation to those dimensions. This therefore calls for management action to improve service delivery in those areas. These dimensions were Reliability, Communication/interpersonal relationship, Assurance, and Responsiveness. On the contrary, Tangibility and Empathy dimensions scored positive which affirms patients’ impression about the service.
Utveckling av miljöredovisning i svenska börsbolag : praxis, begrepp, orsaker

Before 1990 environmental reporting in Sweden was a marginal and unsystematic activity undertaken by a small number of large companies in high-profile industries. The 1990's have witnessed a dramatic increase in environmental reporting practice, and today a large number of companies in almost all industries annually report considerable amounts of environmental information. Increasingly, companies are publishing this information in separate annual environmental reports. The thesis provides a detailed survey of Swedish listed companies' environmental reporting practices for the years 1990 through 1996. Following this survey the thesis presents a study of possible causes of the development of the environmental reporting trend, and a detailed analysis of financial environmental reporting concepts disclosed by companies. The study of concepts shows that this type of environmental reporting is uncommon in practice and confirms that it is highly problematic. In part, this is due to the difficulty in separating environmental activities from other business activities. The study also shows that these concepts may be disclosed and interpreted in a number of ways, thus limiting their usefulness. The study of possible causes shows that size and industry are prerequisites for environmental reporting during the early part of the period. Pressure by environmental groups has been a direct cause of disclosure in certain companies, but various internal organizational factors determine how a particular company reacts to such pressures. The rapid diffusion of environmental reporting practice may partly be explained by the tendency of companies to mimic the behaviour of their peers and competitors. In this sense, environmental reporting has become a reporting norm among listed companies. It is also an interesting example of how such norms develop through mimetic behaviour among report-makers, rather than as a result of professional debate among accounting regulators. (Less)
Going global : Chinese oil and mining companies and the governance of resource wealth

lished by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center's mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wil-son Center Press, dialogue radio and television, and the monthly newsletter Center-point. For more information about the Center's activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter. org.
Stimulation of the pentose phosphate pathway and glutathione levels by dehydroascorbate, the oxidized form of vitamin C

Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, generally functions as an antioxidant by directly reacting with reactive oxygen intermediates and has a vital role in defenses against oxidative stress. However, ascorbic acid also has pro‐oxidant properties and may cause apoptosis of lymphoid and myeloid cells. The present study shows that dehydroascorbate, the oxidized form of vitamin C, stimulates the antioxidant defenses of cells, preferentially importing dehydroascorbate over ascorbate. While 200‐800 μM vitamin C caused apoptosis of Jurkat and H9 human T lymphocytes, pretreatment with 200‐1000 μM dehydroascorbate stimulated activity of pentose phosphate pathway enzymes glucose 6‐phosphate dehydrogenase, 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and transaldolase, elevated intracellular glutathione levels, and inhibited H2O2‐induced changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and cell death. A 3.3‐fold maximal glutathione elevation was observed after 48 h stimulation with 800 μM dehydroascorbate. In itself, dehydroascorbate did not affect cytosolic or mitochondrial reactive oxygen intermediate levels as monitored by flow cytometry using oxidation‐sensitive fluorescent probes. The data reveal a novel mechanism for increasing glutathione levels through stimulation of the pentose phosphate pathway and identify dehydroascorbate as an antioxidant for cells susceptible to the pro‐oxidant and proapoptotic properties of vitamin C. —Puskas, F. , Gergely, P., Jr., Banki, K. , Perl, A. Stimulation of the pentose phosphate pathway and glutathione levels by dehydroascorbate, the oxidized form of vitamin C. FASEB J. 14, 1352–1361 (2000)
Estimation of unmeasurable parameters of a UAV (quadrotor)

This paper describes the estimation of the unmeasurable variables that are needed for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle during a flight or for developing control strategies. During these processes, not all the necessary variables can be measured directly by the sensors on board. Some of them need to be estimated or calculated using other measurable variables and numerical calculus.
Fine‐scale diversity and specificity in the most prevalent lineage of symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium, Dinophyceae) of the Caribbean

The success of coral reefs is due to obligate mutualistic symbioses involving invertebrates and photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts belonging to the genus Symbiodinium. In the Caribbean, the vast majority of octocorals and other invertebrate hosts associate with Symbiodinium clade B, and more selectively, with a single lineage of this clade, Symbiodinium B1/B184. Although B1/B184 represents the most prevalent Symbiodinium in the Caribbean, there is little evidence supporting fine‐scale diversity and host–alga specificity within this lineage. We explored simultaneously the questions of diversity and specificity in Symbiodinium B1/B184 by sequencing the flanking regions of two polymorphic microsatellites from a series of Symbiodinium clade B cultures along with Symbiodinium B1/B184 populations of the octocorals Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae, P. bipinnata and Gorgonia ventalina. Seven unique sequence variants were identified based on concatenation of the two loci. Phylogenetic analyses of these variants, which we refer to as phylotypes, recognized five as belonging to B1/B184, thus providing the first evidence of distinct taxa within this Symbiodinium lineage. Furthermore, sympatric P. elisabethae and P. bipinnata at San Salvador in the Bahamas were found to harbour distinct Symbiodinium B1/B184 phylotypes, demonstrating unequivocally the existence of fine‐scale specificity between Caribbean octocorals and these algae. Taken together, this study exemplifies the complex nature of Symbiodinium biodiversity and specificity.
Low Inflation: High Default Risk and High Equity Valuations

Almost all firms in developing countries have fewer than 10 workers, with the modal firm consisting of just the owner. Are there potential high-growth entrepreneurs with the ability to grow their firms beyond this size? And, if so, can public policy help alleviate the constraints that prevent these entrepreneurs from doing so? A large-scale national business plan competition in Nigeria is used to help provide evidence on these two questions. The competition was launched with much fanfare, and attracted almost 24,000 entrants. Random assignment was used to select some of the winners from a pool of semi-finalists, with US$36 million in randomly allocated grant funding providing each winner with an average of almost US$50,000. Surveys tracking applicants over three years show that winning the business plan competition leads to greater firm entry, higher survival of existing businesses, higher profits and sales, and higher employment, including increases of over 20 percentage points in the likelihood of a firm having 10 or more workers. These effects appear to occur largely through the grants enabling firms to purchase more capital and hire more labor.
The Relationship between Competitive Strategy and Firm Performance in Micro and Small Businesses in Ghana: The Moderating Role of Managerial and Marketing Capabilities

This study investigates the role of managerial and marketing capabilities in moderating the relationship between competitive strategy and firm performance using data from 581 micro and small businesses (MSBs) in Ghana. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis the findings indicate that while differentiation strategy is related to performance, cost leadership strategy does not influence performance after controlling for several firm-specific factors. The findings further show that both managerial capability and marketing capability moderate the relationship between competitive strategy (cost leadership and differentiation) and performance for MSBs in Ghana. However, managerial capability strengthens the influence of cost leadership strategy on performance, while it weakens the impact of differentiation on performance. Moreover, marketing capability augments the impact of differentiation on performance, while it diminishes the influence of cost leadership on performance. The findings indicate a contingency approach to the implementation of competitive strategy by MSBs.
Niche firms and marketing strategy

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how internationally oriented niche firms define and choose their markets and customers and how they position their products, and thereby add to the limited research knowledge regarding niche marketing.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents exploratory research based on structured in‐depth interviews of key informants in five firms.Findings – Niche firms do not seem to follow the STP‐process. The selection of customers and markets is the result of tradition, chance or the firm's production philosophy, and the firms make few attempts to position their products. The firms rely on resource‐based advantages, high‐quality products and personal relationships when competing in the market.Research limitations/implications – The selected methodology makes these results alone unfit for generalising to a larger population. Improved theoretical models are needed for generating more knowledge about niche firms and their efforts in crafting marketing strategies, possibly by.
Leaf demography of Festuca pallens in dry grassland communities

Leaf blade parameters and leaf demography of Festuca pallens Host were studied in two types of dry grasslands. The field work was carried out in the Považský Inovec Mts (Western Carpathians) during 1993–1995. The permanent plot in the Poo badensis-Festucetum pallentis was located on a steep, strongly eroded S-facing slope covered with dolomite outcrops, scree and sparse vegetation (20%) dominated by Festuca pallens. The permanent plot in the Festuco pallentis-Caricetum humilis was located on the even ridge plateau with shallow stony soil and vegetation covering about 70% dominated by Carex humilis and Festuca pallens.In comparison to other grasses Festuca pallens had a very low rate of leaf turnover. The highest leaf birth rates and the lowest leaf death rates were observed in June. Leaf mortality was uniformly distributed in time without a distinct minimum or maximum. For the surviving tillers the leaf production exceeded the leaf mortality during the whole growing season. The steady net gain of leaves in tillers was not interrupted by the parallel process of tillering. Among the leaf cohorts the leaves produced in May had the longest leaf blades. Leaves grew during the whole year. The winter cold and summer drought might slow down the growth rate or interrupt the growth. The growth of a leaf blade took five to eight weeks. Leaf life span was estimated to 150–200 days (time from leaf appearance at the apex to the complete loss of its green assimilating parts). In comparison to other grasses Festuca pallens belongs to the species with the longest leaf life span. The effect of environmental factors on leaf demography was followed by the comparison of two populations belonging to two phytosociological associations differing mostly in habitat xericity. Differences were revealed in the following characteristics: length of leaf blade in cohorts born during May and June, maximum length of a leaf blade in a tiller and daily increments in May and June. The course of leaf natality and mortality was similar in the studied populations.
Refractory Rhinosinusitis Complicating Immunosuppression: Application of N-Chlorotaurine, a Novel Endogenous Antiseptic Agent

Severe infections are a frequent complication in immunosuppression following transplantations. In the case reported here, a heart-transplanted patient was treated for refractory rhinosinusitis with a combination of sinus surgery and rinsing with N-chlorotaurine (NCT). The daily rinse was well tolerated and effective. The combination of functional endonasal sinus surgery and topical treatment with NCT appeared effective and well tolerated in antibiotic-resistant sinusitis under immunosuppression.
ADAPTIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF FLOWER COLOR AND INTER‐TRAIT CORRELATIONS IN AN IPOMOPSIS HYBRID ZONE

Flower color is often viewed as a trait that signals rewards to pollinators, such that the relationship between flower color and plant fitness might result from its association with another trait. We used experimental manipulations of flower color and nectar reward to dissociate the natural character correlations present in a hybrid zone between Ipomopsis aggregata and Ipomopsis tenuituba. Isozyme markers were used to follow the male and female reproductive success of these engineered phenotypes. One field experiment compared fitnesses of I. aggregata plants that varied only in flower color. Plants with flowers painted red received more hummingbird visits and sired more seeds than did plants with flowers painted pink or white to match those of hybrids and I. tenuituba. Our second field experiment compared fitnesses of I. aggregata, I. tenuituba, and hybrid plants in an unmanipulated array and in a second array where all flowers were painted red. In the unmanipulated array, I. aggregata received more hummingbird visits, set more seeds per flower, and sired more seeds per flower. These fitness differences largely disappeared when the color differences were eliminated. The higher male fitness of I. aggregata was due to its very high success at siring seeds on conspecific recipients. On both I. tenuituba and hybrid recipients, hybrid plants sired the most seeds, despite showing lower pollen fertility than I. aggregata in mixed donor pollinations in the greenhouse. Ipomopsis tenuituba had a fitness of only 13% relative to I. aggregata when traits varied naturally, compared to a fitness of 36% for white relative to red flowers when other traits were held constant.
Water-filled training tubes increase core muscle activation and somatosensory control of balance during squat

ABSTRACT This study examined trunk muscle activation, balance and proprioception while squatting with a water-filled training tube (WT) and a traditional barbell (BB), with either closed (CE) or open eyes (OE). Eighteen male elite Gaelic footballers performed an isometric squat under the following conditions: BB-OE, BB-CE, WT-OE and WT-CE. The activity of rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO) and multifidus (MF) was measured using electromyography, along with sway of the centre of pressure (CoP) using a force platform. Only the EO and the MF muscles exhibited an increased activity with WT (p < 0.01). In the medio-lateral direction both the velocity and range of the CoP increased significantly with WT (p < 0.01). Interestingly, the range of the CoP for the WT-CE condition was significantly lower than WT-OE (p < 0.05, d = 0.44), whilst the velocity of the CoP was marginally reduced (d = 0.29). WT elicited a greater level core muscle activation and created a greater challenge to postural stability when compared to a BB. It appears that WT does not benefit from vision but emphasises the somatosensory control of balance. The use of WT may be beneficial in those sports requiring development of somatosensory/proprioceptive contribution to balance control.
Return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction - a review of patients with minimum 5-year follow-up.

INTRODUCTION It is difficult to counsel the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficient patient considering surgical reconstruction on the likelihood of eventual return to sports as information on this is lacking, especially in the Asian context. We wanted to determine how many of our patients who had ACL surgery returned to their previous levels of sports, 5 years after their surgery. For those that had not returned to their previous levels of sports, we wanted to identify their reasons for not doing so. MATERIALS AND METHODS Based on our inclusion criteria of a minimum 5-year follow-up after primary ACL reconstruction, 146 patients were identified for assessment. Sixty-four patients were successfully recalled. The mean age of our patients was 24.8 years (range, 18 to 40). The patients completed the Lysholm Knee, Tegner activity and the Subjective International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) questionnaires. Clinical examination of the operated knee was performed according to the Objective IKDC evaluation form and with a KT-1000 arthrometer. RESULTS The mean Lysholm score was 85.2 and the mean subjective IKDC score was 79.5. 81.2% of our patients had normal or nearly normal knees (IKDC A or B) with the remaining 18.8% at IKDC grade C. The mean side-side difference for anterior translation using the KT-1000 arthrometer was 1.2 mm. The median pre-injury Tegner activity level was 7 and the median 5-year post-surgery Tegner activity level was 6. Nineteen patients did not return to their pre-injury sports levels because of social reasons and were excluded. From the remaining 45 patients, 28 patients (62.2%) returned to their previous level of sports and 17 patients (28.8%) did not return to their previous level of sports. Of whom, 9 (20%) said that they did not return due to fear of re-injury and the remaining 8 (17.8%) said they had not returned because of knee instability and pain. At 5 years, the subgroup of patients who had returned to sport had the best scores: Lysholm (88.5), subjective IKDC (84.6) and IKDC Grade A&B (89.3%). When we compared this with the subgroups that did not return to sport because of fear of re-injury and because of an unstable knee, we found that the difference in knee outcome scores between these 3 groups were statistically significant. CONCLUSION Sixty-two per cent of our patients returned to their previous level of sport at 5 years after ACL reconstruction. Fear of reinjury is an important psychological factor for these patients not returning to sports. Our results would allow the attending surgeon to counsel the ACL deficient patient who is considering surgical reconstruction the likelihood of eventual return to sports.
An Examination of the Relative Deterrent Effects of Legislated Sanctions on Attitudes About Financial Statement Fraud: A Policy Capturing Approach

To advance knowledge about fraudulent financial reporting and the value of recent legislation, this study examines the relative deterrence effects of three types of legislated sanctions for fraudulently reporting financial data. Specifically, the study tests the relative effects of threats of incarceration, fines and professional censure on attitudes about committing financial statement fraud using a policy capturing methodology which is useful for developing an understanding of multi-criteria decisions. The results show that the threat of incarceration is less salient than threats of fines and professional censure in the formulation of attitudes about committing financial statement fraud. Reasons for that are tested and the findings suggest that individuals believe that the enforcement of jail sentences is less certain and less likely to be enforced to the maximum as compared to fines and professional censure, making incarceration less effectual in the formulation of attitudes. The results should be of interest to policy makers and regulators aiming to curb fraudulent financial reporting.