Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leaking legitimacies: the Finnish forest sector's entanglement in the land conflicts of Atlantic coastal Brazil

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to focus on the legitimacy problems faced by the Finnish forest industry in the Brazilian context, specifically from the perspective of the region's indigenous communities: the Tupinikim, the Guarani and the Pataxo. Design/methodology/approach – The method used is qualitative research with a case study approach. The empirical data are based on the fieldwork in the states of Espirito Santo and Bahia. The aim was to scrutinize the corporate tactics in gaining societal legitimacy, both in Brazil and in Finland; these were categorized into thematic groups.Findings – The legitimacy of the Finnish companies becomes questionable due to the unethical tactics of their Brazilian business partner, Aracruz Celulose SA. When the company takes its “marginal” stakeholders' demands seriously and commits itself to them in diverse ways (economically, ecologically etc.), corporate social responsibility becomes a reality. The search for legitimacy also requires the company to change its corporate knowledge production systems, and also requires a willingness on the part of the company to encounter different types of knowledge that are locally attached. Originality/value – The study offers new information about the relationship between multinational corporations and local communities in Brazil – especially from the perspective of indigenous communities. The paper also contributes to legitimation research. Finally, the authors offer some concluding remarks considering the new cultural environments of Finnish companies operating in the global South.
Assessing Potential Output Growth in the Euro Area: A Growth Accounting Perspective

For monetary policy purposes it is useful to apply a concept of potential output growth that looks through the fluctuations inherent in most model based estimates. Growth accounting can be a useful tool in this respect, given its focus on average developments in real GDP growth and supply side factors over medium to longer-term horizons. This paper describes the assumptions and measurement issues underlying the growth accounting framework and applies it to euro area data for the period 1980 to 2003. It shows that growth in measured total factor productivity has been the single most important contributor to real GDP growth over this period. However, the contribution to growth from this factor declined between the 1980s and the 1990s, while that from labour increased. Looking forward, the projected demographic developments imply a reduction in average real GDP growth in the coming decades unless compensation is achieved from other supply-side factors.
On using an improved Benders method for cell suppression

The cell suppression problem (CSP) is one of the most widely applied methods for tabular data protection. Given a set of primary cells to be protected, CSP aims at finding a set of secondary cells to be additionally removed to guarantee that estimates of values of primary cells fall out of a predefined protection interval. From a computational point of view, CSP is very challenging even for tables of moderate size and number of primary cells. Currently, the only effective optimal approach for CSP is Benders decomposition (also known as cutting planes). However, the convergence to the optimal solution is often too slow due to well known instability issues of Benders decomposition. This work discusses a recently developed improved Benders method, which focus on finding new solutions in the neighborhood of ”good” points. Some results are reported in the solution of realistic and real-world CSP instances, showing the effectiveness of this approach
Compact and Low-Profile Omnidirectional Circularly Polarized Antenna With Four Coupling Arcs for UAV Applications

A compact and low-profile omnidirectional circularly polarized (CP) antenna with four coupling arcs is presented. In this structure, four outer arcs are utilized to generate horizontal polarization, and an inner disk-loaded feeding pin can produce vertical polarization. Thus, omnidirectional CP radiation is achieved by combining the radiation from the arcs and the feeding pin. Four shorting pins are employed at the end of the outer arcs, which play a great role on the miniaturization of the antenna. Furthermore, the antenna's dimensions can be reduced more by loading four inner coupling arcs inside the outer arcs. An L-band prototype of the antenna is calculated, fabricated, and measured. Its final dimensions are <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.16{\lambda _0} \times 0.16{\lambda _0} \times 0.03{\lambda _0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\lambda _0}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> is the free-space wavelength at operating frequency). The results show the impedance bandwidth (VSWR ≤2) of 13 MHz (1429–1442 MHz). In the operating frequency band, the axial ratios are less than 2.4 dB, and the peak gain reaches 1.01 dBic. This type of antenna can meet the requirements of the weight, dimensions, and frequency bands for special unmanned aerial vehicle communications in China.
Timing estimation for OFDM systems by using a correlation sequence of preamble

In this paper, we propose a novel timing estimation method for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The most common approaches in estimating timing use correlation by using a given preamble. Thus, the estimation performance is directly dependent on the specific preamble type. The proposed algorithm estimates the timing by using a simple circular shift operation of the given preamble at the receiver. For this reason, the proposed method can be used for any of the OFDM systems regardless of their preamble structures. The simulation results investigated in this paper reveal that the proposed method remarkably increases the estimation performance by more than 5 dB in terms of the mean squared error compared to conventional methods. We also consider the computational complexity of the methods and introduce a simple structure to reduce the computational burden of the proposed method.
Improving quality of service with respect to delay in fixed WIMAX network

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a wireless network that has been designed to serve all types of traffic over network.In this paper, we propose a new distributed model to improve Quality of Service(QoS) with respect to delay in fixed WiMAX network to deliver the best services for WiMAX users.Also in the paper, the WiMAX delay at base station is analyzed and compared with the centralized model.The new distributed Master-Slave model designed includes three Base Stations (BSs), ninety Subscribers Stations (SSs) and one Master BSs. The proposed new model has been evaluated using the simulation tool OPNET modeler 16.0. The results obtained show a drastic decrease in network delay.
A new method for current measurement of overhead lines

With the rise of the power transmission capacity and the voltage classes, traditional current transformers begin to reveal more and more problems. In view of this, a novel approach is presented in this paper to measure line currents by using the magnetic field under overhead lines. The characteristics of the magnetic field around overhead lines are analyzed in detail, a method for measuring horizontal magnetic field is proposed, and the formulas for calculating three-phase line currents are deduced according to the horizontal magnetic field at three different places under overhead lines. Finally the magnetic fields under transmission lines are simulated both in steady and lighting states with Maxwell software and the line currents are calculated by adopting the proposed method. The feasibility of the proposed method is verified through comparison between the calculated value and the simulation value.
Dendritic Cell Immunization Route Determines CD8+ T Cell Trafficking to Inflamed Skin: Role for Tissue Microenvironment and Dendritic Cells in Establishment of T Cell-Homing Subsets1

The effector/memory T cell pool branches in homing subsets selectively trafficking to organs such as gut or skin. Little is known about the critical factors in the generation of skin-homing CD8+ T cells, although they are crucial effectors in skin-restricted immune responses such as contact hypersensitivity and melanoma defense. In this study, we show that intracutaneous, but not i.v. injection of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells induced skin-homing CD8+ T cells with up-regulated E-selectin ligand expression and effector function in contact hypersensitivity. The skin-homing potential and E-selectin ligand expression remained stable in memory phase without further Ag contact. In contrast, i.p. injection induced T cells expressing the gut-homing integrin α4β7. Although differential expression of these adhesion molecules was strictly associated with the immunization route, the postulated skin-homing marker CCR4 was transiently up-regulated in all conditions. Interestingly, dendritic cells from different tissues effectively induced the corresponding homing markers on T cells in vitro. Our results suggest a crucial role for the tissue microenvironment and dendritic cells in the instruction of T cells for tissue-selective homing and demonstrate that Langerhans cells are specialized to target T cells to inflamed skin.
Interstitial diffusion and the relationship between compartment modelling and multi-scale spatial-temporal modelling of 18F-FLT tumour uptake dynamics

Tumour cell proliferation can be imaged via positron emission tomography of the radiotracer 3ʹ-deoxy-3ʹ-18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT). Conceptually, the number of proliferating cells might be expected to correlate more closely with the kinetics of 18F-FLT uptake than with uptake at a fixed time. Radiotracer uptake kinetics are standardly visualized using parametric maps of compartment model fits to time-activity-curves (TACs) of individual voxels. However the relationship between the underlying spatiotemporal accumulation of FLT and the kinetics described by compartment models has not yet been explored. In this work tumour tracer uptake is simulated using a mechanistic spatial-temporal model based on a convection-diffusion-reaction equation solved via the finite difference method. The model describes a chain of processes: the flow of FLT between the spatially heterogeneous tumour vasculature and interstitium; diffusion and convection of FLT within the interstitium; transport of FLT into cells; and intracellular phosphorylation. Using values of model parameters estimated from the biological literature, simulated FLT TACs are generated with shapes and magnitudes similar to those seen clinically. Results show that the kinetics of the spatial-temporal model can be recovered accurately by fitting a 3-tissue compartment model to FLT TACs simulated for those tumours or tumour sub-volumes that can be viewed as approximately closed, for which tracer diffusion throughout the interstitium makes only a small fractional change to the quantity of FLT they contain. For a single PET voxel of width 2.5–5 mm we show that this condition is roughly equivalent to requiring that the relative difference in tracer uptake between the voxel and its neighbours is much less than one.
Cost Structure and Productivity Growth in European Railway System

The purpose of this paper is threfold: first, to empirically investigate the cost-structure of railway systems in the ten European Countries of the European Union. second to provide measures of economies (diseconomies) of scale and fully investigate the manner by which economies of scale have effected the cost structure of the system and have been affected by the growth in input prices and technology, and third to measure economic efficiency and identify its sources.
Sophoranone, extracted from a traditional Chinese medicine Shan Dou Gen, induces apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells via formation of reactive oxygen species and opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores

Screening of various natural products in a search for novel inducers of apoptosis in human leukemia cells led us to identify the strong apoptosis‐inducing activity in a fraction extracted with methanol from the roots of Sophora subprostrata Chun et T. Chen. We purified the compound that induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells and identified it as sophoranone. Sophoranone inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in various lines of cells from human solid tumors, with 50% inhibition of growth of human stomach cancer MKN7 cells at 1.2 ± 0.3 μM. The growth‐inhibitory and apoptosis‐inducing activities of sophoranone for leukemia U937 cells were very much stronger than those of other flavonoids, such as daidzein, genistein and quercetin. At the early stages of treatment of U937 cells with sophoranone, reactive oxygen species were formed, mitochondrial permeability pores were opened and cytochrome c was released from mitochondria. Cytochrome c was also released upon treatment of isolated mitochondria with sophoranone. Inhibitors of complexes III and IV, but not complexes I and II, of the mitochondrial respiratory chain prevented the release of cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria by sophoranone, as well as the induction of apoptosis in U937 cells in response to sophoranone. Our results indicate that sophoranone might be a unique apoptosis‐inducing anticancer agent that targets mitochondria. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Distinct effect of actin cytoskeleton disassembly on exo‐ and endocytic events in a membrane patch of rat melanotrophs

We used the cell‐attached mode of patch‐clamp technique to measure discrete attofarad steps in membrane capacitance (Cm), reporting area changes in the plasma membrane due to unitary exocytic and endocytic events. To investigate the role of the actin cytoskeleton in elementary exocytic and endocytic events, neuroendocrine rat melanotrophs were treated with Clostridium spiroforme toxin (CST), which specifically depolymerises F‐actin. The average amplitude of exocytic events was not significantly different in control and in CST‐treated cells. However, the amplitude of endocytic events was significantly smaller in CST‐treated cells as compared to controls. The frequency of exocytic events increased by 2‐fold in CST‐treated cells relative to controls. In control cells the average frequency of exocytic events (νexo) was lower than the frequency of endocytic events (νendo) with a ratio νexo/νendo < 1. In the toxin treated cells, the predominant process was exocytosis with a ratio (νexo/νendo > 1). To study the coupling between the two processes, the slopes of regression lines relating νexo and νendo in a given patch of membrane were studied. The slopes of regression lines were similar, whereas the line intercepts with the y‐axis were significantly different. The increased frequency of unitary exocytic events in CST‐treated cells is consistent with the view, that the actin cytoskeleton acts as a barrier for exocytosis. While the disassembly of the actin cytoskeleton diminishes the size of unitary endocytic events, suggesting an important role of the actin cytoskeleton in determining the size of endocytic vesicles, the coupling between exocytosis and endocytosis in a given patch of membrane was independent of the state of the actin cytoskeleton.
Robust Multidimensional Poverty Comparisons With Discrete Indicators of Well-Being

This paper provides a method to make robust multidimensional poverty comparisons when one or more of the dimensions of well-being or deprivation is discrete. Sampling distributions for the statistics used in these poverty comparisons are provided. Several examples show that the methods are both practical and interesting in the sense that they can provide richer information than do univariate poverty comparisons.
Storage Time and Temperature Effects on Histamine Production in Tuna Salad Preparations.

Scombrotoxin fish poisoning (SFP), also known as histamine (Hst) poisoning, has been associated with consumption of scombroid-type fish, including tuna and tuna fish products. Preparation of commercial tuna salad contaminated with Hstproducing bacteria (HPB), combined with time-temperature abuse, can present a food safety hazard. A potential source of HPB is raw ingredients, such as celery and onions. The objectives of this study were to determine whether raw ingredients can be a source of HPB and to ascertain the effects of storage time (up to 4 days or 4 weeks) and temperature (4, 10, 18, 25, 30°C) on growth and Hst production by high-HPB (>1,000 ppm of Hst) in tuna salad preparations. Pantoea-Erwinia, Erwinia persicinus, Erwinia spp. , and Enterobacter pyrinus isolated from celery in this study were used to inoculate tuna salad and tuna salad with celery or onion. HPB numbers were 0.7 to 4.3 log most probable number per g higher in the presence of celery or onion versus plain tuna salad (3:1 tuna:mayonnaise). E. pyrinus-inoculated plain tuna salad and tuna salad with celery and onion had >500 ppm of Hst after 2 days at 30°C and 4 days at 25°C. E. pyrinus-inoculated salad with celery and onion had >500 ppm of Hst after 4 days at 18°C and 2 weeks at 10°C. Raw celery can introduce HPB into tuna salad, which can cause SFP if the product is time-temperature abused. Tuna salad products must be refrigerated at ≤4°C to prevent growth and Hst production by the HPB used in this study, to protect consumers from potential SFP.
Systematic Measurement Error in the Estimation of Discretionary Accruals: An Evaluation of Alternative Modelling Procedures

This paper evaluates the extent of predictable measurement error induced by five alternative approaches to the estimation of discretionary accruals. The source and magnitude of the error is assessed by reference to the strength of the association between the discretionary accrual estimate and proxies for the non-discretionary components of total accruals. Results indicate that discretionary accruals generated by the Healy model are associated with the highest level of predictable measurement error. While the remaining four models generate significantly lower error levels, the magnitude of error remains highly significant. Findings highlight the limitations of existing models and emphasise the need for further developments in relation to the measurement of earnings management activity. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999.
A Fallacy of Composition

The representative agent framework has endowed macroeconomists with powerful microeconomic tools. Unfortunately, it has also blurred the distinction between statements that are valid at the individual level from those that apply to the aggregate. In this paper I argue that probability theory puts strong restrictions on the joint behavior of a large number of units that are less than fully synchronized, and that many fallacies arise from disregarding these restrictions. For example, the observation that the aggregate price level is more rigid to downward changes than to upward changes, has led many authors to suggest asymmetries at the firm level as responsible for the alleged macroeconomic fact. However, the basic insight developed in this paper shows that asymmetric pricing policies at the firm level do not necessarily imply asymmetries in upward and downward adjustments of the aggregate price level; and asymmetries in the aggregate price level need not come from asymmetries at the firm level. Similarly, asymmetric factor adjustment costs at the firm level need not imply asymmetric responses of the aggregate capital stock and the level of employment to positive and negative shocks.
The Protein Kinase IKKε Is a Potential Target for the Treatment of Inflammatory Hyperalgesia

Inhibitor-κB kinase ε (IKKε) was only recently identified as an enzyme with high homology to the classical I-κB kinase subunits, IKKα and IKKβ. Despite this similarity, it is mainly discussed as a repressor of viral infections by modulating type I IFNs. However, in vitro studies also showed that IKKε plays a role in the regulation of NF-κB activity, but the distinct mechanisms of IKKε-mediated NF-κB activation are not clear. Given the paramount role of NF-κB in inflammation, we investigated the regulation and function of IKKε in models of inflammatory hyperalgesia in mice. We found that IKKε was abundantly expressed in nociceptive neurons in the spinal cord and in dorsal root ganglia. IKKε mRNA and protein levels rapidly increased in spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia during hind paw inflammation evoked by injection of zymosan or formalin. IKKε knockout mice showed normal nociceptive responses to acute heat or mechanical stimulation. However, in inflammatory pain models, IKKε-deficient mice exhibited a significantly reduced nociceptive behavior in comparison with wild type mice, indicating that IKKε contributed to the development of inflammatory hyperalgesia. Antinociceptive effects were associated with reduced activation of NF-κB and attenuated NF-κB–dependent induction of cyclooxygenase-2, inducible NO synthase, and metalloproteinase-9. In contrast, IRF-3, which is an important IKKε target in viral infections, was not regulated after inflammatory nociceptive stimulation. Therefore, we concluded that IKKε modulates inflammatory nociceptive sensitivity by activation of NF-κB–dependent gene transcription and may be useful as a therapeutic target in the treatment of inflammatory pain.
Collective action and the common enemy effect

How is collective defence by players affected when they face a threat from an intelligent attacker rather than a natural threat? This paper analyses this question using a game-theoretic model. Facing an intelligent attacker has an effect if players move first and visibly set their defence strategies, thereby exposing any players who do not defend, and if the attacker is, moreover, not able to commit to a random attack. Depending on the parameters of the game, the presence of an intelligent attacker either increases the probability that players jointly defend (where such joint defence either does or does not constitute a utilitarian optimum), or decreases the probability that players jointly defend (even though joint defence is a utilitarian optimum).
Productivity and strategic management accounting

Productivity is defined and presented in both its performance measurement role and its strategic context for manufacturing and service sectors. The development of productivity, especially total productivity, and its connection with management accounting is highlighted. The inter-relationship of productivity analysis to competitive advantage and technology is also discussed. Strategic management accounting, incorporating productivity, is shown to focus on price recovery and profitability with alternative methods revealed. The approach for external estimations for competitive analysis, utilising benchmarking, is set out. Capital input within productivity measurement is studied, specifically examining inflation, technological change and capacity maintenance. Allied to total productivity, a methodology is put forward for capital input for strategic analysis.
Changing Incentives of the Chinese Bureaucracy

It has been increasingly recognized that the Chinese goverm-nent's newly acquired enthusiasm for economic development is a major factor explaining the relative success of China's transition from socialism. This paper argues that the changed behavior of the Chinese government is an outcome of a series of reforms of the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy was transformed from inside through a massive mandatory retirement program and a drive for administrative/fiscal decentralization. It was also changed from outside since many bureaucrats can quit government positions and join businesses. China's unique approach to reform bureaucracy without explicit political liberalization is predetermined by its initial conditions of transition.