Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inbreeding in a natural population of the gregarious parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata

Inbreeding occurs in numerous animal and plant species. In haplodiploid hymenopterans with the widespread single locus complementary sex determination, the frequency of diploid males, which are produced at the expense of females, is increased under inbreeding. Diploid males in species of bees, ants and wasps are typically either unviable or effectively sterile and thus impose a severe genetic load on populations. However, a recent study indicated that diploid males can be reproductive in the gregarious parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata, effectively reducing the diploid male load. To understand the role of inbreeding as a potential selective pressure towards the evolution of diploid male fertility, we genotyped specimens collected in the field at four locations using microsatellite markers to estimate the ratio of sibling matings under natural conditions. Results show that more than half of all matings involved siblings. We argue that the frequent occurrence of inbreeding has driven the evolution of diploid male fertility.
Single-Switch Single-Magnetic PWM Converter Integrating Voltage Equalizer for Partially Shaded Photovoltaic Modules in Standalone Applications

To prevent partial-shading issues in photovoltaic (PV) systems, various kinds of voltage equalizers that virtually unify characteristics of shaded and unshaded modules have been proposed. Although PV string utilization can be dramatically improved, PV systems tend to be complex and costly because, in addition to the main converter for string control, voltage equalizers are separately necessary. This paper proposes the single-switch single-magnetic pulse width modulation (PWM) converter integrating the voltage equalizer using the series-resonant voltage multiplier (SRVM) for standalone PV systems. By utilizing a square wave voltage generated across a filter inductor in a PWM buck converter for driving the SRVM, the main PWM converter and voltage equalizer can be integrated into a single unit with reducing the total switch and magnetic component counts, achieving not only system-level but also circuit-level simplifications. The experimental test using the prototype for three PV modules connected in series was performed emulating a partial-shading condition. The integrated converter effectively precluded the partial-shading issues and significantly improved the power available at a load, demonstrating its efficacy.
Market fragmentation in Europe: Assessment and prospects for market quality

With the growth of computer trading and the implementation of MiFID, competition between trading venues and order flow fragmentation have considerably increased in Europe since 2007. Most of the rise in fragmentation took place from mid-2008 to 2009. The total market share of new entrants such as Chi-X, BATS Europe, and Turquoise exceeded 30% of on-exchange volumes at the end of 2011, and their contribution to price discovery is now substantial. Regulated dark pools, also known as crossing networks, execute less than 5% of the order flow and are not expected to grow much more. Regulated internalization has not emerged. In contrast, OTC trading is the second source of liquidity after incumbent and new exchanges with more than 35% of trading volumes. While MiFID served as a catalyst for the rise in fragmentation by allowing free competition, the actual drivers of fragmentation are investor clientele effects and technology. Clientele effects combined with a wider use of computer-based trading tools should sustain market fragmentation in the near future, yet liquidity aggregators should play a major role in consolidating the overall marketplace. The fragmentation of the visible order flow does not deteriorate price quality and does not harm liquidity. Crossing-network trading is not proved detrimental to liquidity either. On the contrary, competition contributes to reducing spreads and increasing market depth. Apart from those positive effects, significant trade-through rates are observed in European stock markets, and to date, fragmentation has been more beneficial to the liquidity of large stocks than to that of small stocks. These two observations are in contrast with U.S. stock markets where trade-throughs are prohibited and where market fragmentation benefits were found to be greater for small stocks than for large ones. Particular attention should be paid to the size of OTC trading as this type of internalization may have some adverse effects on liquidity. Last, as no regulatory body has been in charge of guaranteeing trade reporting consistency since MiFID1 and because price discovery is fragmented between several venues, there is a need for an official consolidated trade and quote tape in Europe.
A Comparative Study of Home Computer Use in Three Countries: U.S., Sweden, and India

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HOME COMPUTER ADOPTION AND USE IN THREE COUNTRIES: U.S., SWEDEN, AND INDIA Chuan-Fong Shih Babcock Graduate School of Management Wake Forest University P.O. Box 7659 Winston-Salem, NC 27109 Phone: 336-758-4572 Fax: 336-758-4514 eric.shih@mba.wfu. edu Alladi Venkatesh CRITO Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations University of California 3200 Berkeley Place University of California Irvine CA 92697 Phone: 1-949-824-1134 avenkate@uci.edu January 2003 CRITO Working Paper Shih, Chuan Fong and Alladi Venkatesh. “A Comparative Study of Home Computer Adoption and Use in Three Countries: U.S., Sweden, and India. ” CRITO Working Paper.
Iterative Three-Dimensional Reconstruction from Twin-Cone Beam Projections

The twin-cone beam geometry has been used to reconstruct a three-dimensional object from projections. The reconstruction has been performed by means of the additive algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) extended to three dimensions. Several simulation experiments have been undertaken to explore the effect of pseudo-projections, analytic projections, iteration-dependent damping and interpolation schemes on the performance of the reconstruction. The results indicate that the ART-reconstruction from twin-cone beam projections can be achieved without blurring artefacts. The measured reconstruction error is of the same order of magnitude as the error of a ART-multislice reconstruction from coaxial projections.
Great Expectations: Microeconomic Reform and Australia

1 Introduction2 The international background of microeconomic reform3 The background to microeconomic reform in Australia4 Welfare economics5 Understanding government policy: the public interest approach6 Understanding government policy: the private interest approach7 Financial deregulation8 Airline deregulation9 Telecommunications10 Tariff reform11 Privatisation12 Private infrastructure13 Competitive tendering and contracting14 Government business enterprises and the Hilmer reforms15 The benefits and costs of microeconomic reform16 Some final observationsBibliography
“Wigglesworthia morsitans” Folate (Vitamin B9) Biosynthesis Contributes to Tsetse Host Fitness

ABSTRACT Closely related ancient endosymbionts may retain minor genomic distinctions through evolutionary time, yet the biological relevance of these small pockets of unique loci remains unknown. The tsetse fly (Diptera: Glossinidae), the sole vector of lethal African trypanosomes (Trypanosoma spp.), maintains an ancient and obligate mutualism with species belonging to the gammaproteobacterium Wigglesworthia. Extensive concordant evolution with associated Wigglesworthia species has occurred through tsetse species radiation. Accordingly, the retention of unique symbiont loci between Wigglesworthia genomes may prove instrumental toward host species-specific biological traits. Genome distinctions between “Wigglesworthia morsitans” (harbored within Glossina morsitans bacteriomes) and the basal species Wigglesworthia glossinidia (harbored within Glossina brevipalpis bacteriomes) include the retention of chorismate and downstream folate (vitamin B9) biosynthesis capabilities, contributing to distinct symbiont metabolomes. Here, we demonstrate that these W. morsitans pathways remain functionally intact, with folate likely being systemically disseminated through a synchronously expressed tsetse folate transporter within bacteriomes. The folate produced by W. morsitans is demonstrated to be pivotal for G. morsitans sexual maturation and reproduction. Modest differences between ancient symbiont genomes may still play key roles in the evolution of their host species, particularly if loci are involved in shaping host physiology and ecology. Enhanced knowledge of the Wigglesworthia-tsetse mutualism may also provide novel and specific avenues for vector control.
On Designing Resource Sharing Peer-to-Peer Systems

Conventional computer security research usually focuses on the protection of a computer platform. The usual goal is to design systems such that agents (users or programs) will only be able to perform certain actions that are deemed “legitimate” by the system administrators. For example, fair usage on a file server can be enforced by the server owner by employing, say, quota systems. However, such a simplistic approach is not applicable to peer-to-peer (p2p) systems. First, nodes in p2p systems are distributed in nature, making it hard to enforce any policy. Second, there is usually no centralized authority to own and oversee everything. Third, nodes in open p2p systems can have arbitrary, unpredictable behaviors. These problems are in fact quite similar to the field of mechanism design , or sometimes known as inverse game theory, in the economics literature. In this model, agents are assumed to act rationally. In other words, it is entirely possible that agents would act selfishly to benefit themselves at others’ expense. The goal of the system designer is thus to design astrategyproofmechanism, where agents, acting selfishly, would still maximize the overall utility. As such, economic incentives have to be designed directly into the system so that it would be in the best interest of the agents to follow the rules. Under such mechanisms, the system would be predictable and stable, as all (selfish) agents would follow the rules, and no agent could increase their utility by unidirectionally changing their strategy. Other than to be strategyproof, we also list some important assumptions for designing a mechanism for an open resource sharing p2p system:
Detection of significant cm to sub-mm band radio and γ-ray correlated variability in Fermi bright blazars

The exact location of the γ-ray emitting region in blazars is still controversial. In order to attack this problem we present first results of a cross-correlation analysis between radio (11 cm to 0.8 mm wavelength, F-GAMMA programme) and γ-ray (0.1–300 GeV) ∼3.5 yr light curves of 54 Fermi-bright blazars. We perform a source stacking analysis and estimate significances and chance correlations using mixed source correlations. Our results reveal: (i) the first highly significant multiband radio and γ-ray correlations (radio lagging γ rays) when averaging over the whole sample, (ii) average time delays (source frame: 76 ± 23 to 7 ± 9 d), systematically decreasing from cm to mm/sub-mm bands with a frequency dependence τ_(r, γ)(ν) ∝ ν^(−1), in good agreement with jet opacity dominated by synchrotron self-absorption, (iii) a bulk γ-ray production region typically located within/upstream of the 3 mm core region (τ_(3mm, γ) = 12 ± 8 d), (iv) mean distances between the region of γ-ray peak emission and the radio ‘τ = 1 photosphere’ decreasing from 9.8 ± 3.0 pc (11 cm) to 0.9 ± 1.1 pc (2 mm) and 1.4 ± 0.8 pc (0.8 mm), (v) 3 mm/γ-ray correlations in nine individual sources at a significance level where one is expected by chance (probability: 4 × 10^(−6)), (vi) opacity and ‘time lag core shift’ estimates for quasar 3C 454.3 providing a lower limit for the distance of the bulk γ-ray production region from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) of ∼0.8–1.6 pc, i.e. at the outer edge of the broad-line region (BLR) or beyond. A 3 mm τ = 1 surface at ∼2–3 pc from the jet base (i.e. well outside the ‘canonical BLR’) finally suggests that BLR material extends to several parsec distances from the SMBH.
A respirometric technique to evaluate velopharyngeal function in speakers with cleft palate, with and without prostheses.

There is a paucity of respirometric quotient (RQ) data on individuals with velopharyngeal inadequacy. Paesani (1964) reported data using a technique that involved separate productions of the same task to obtain the RQ. The RQ values obtained were greater than unity, which is theoretically impossible. In the present study, respirometric quotients, the ratio of oral air volume expended to total volume expended, were obtained using separate but simultaneous productions of oral and nasal airflow. RQ values were calculated for 10 speakers with cleft palate, with and without their prosthetic appliances, and 10 normal speakers. As a group, those with cleft palate and without their appliances exhibited RQ values that were significantly lower than values obtained from the normal speakers and from speakers with the appliances in place. These findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in RQ values when comparing sentence repetition and counting tasks. These values were lower than those obtained for the nonnasal syllable repetition tasks, with the /mv/ syllable repetition task generally being associated with the lowest RQ value of any of the speech tasks. The correlation between RQ values and perceptual judgments was -. 60, indicating that there was modest agreement between the two measures. As RQ values decreased, perceptual judgments of nasality increased.
Branding and Brand Equity Measurement in the Beer Industry of Thailand

The objective of this research is to investigate a new concept model of brand equity measurement in the economy beer industry of Thailand by using five factors of brand equity which are brand awareness, brand liking, brand purchase intention, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty along with the consumer behavior. The respondents are 379 males and females who have at least occasionally had a beer during the past few years. The findings show that males are more likely to drink beer regularly and in larger quantities. The average respondent seems to drink beer in order to relax and socialize at parties. Respondents recognize Leo beer more than the other two brands in this study. Descriptive statistics and statistical analysis are presented for individuals, managers, as well as for advertising and marketing professionals. Suggestions and links for personal brand building are also offered.
Mutations in the (cid:1) Subunit of RNA Polymerase Alter Intrinsic Cephalosporin Resistance in Enterococci

As major causes of hospital-acquired infections, antibiotic-resistant enterococci are a serious public health concern. Enterococci are intrinsically resistant to many cephalosporin antibiotics, a trait that enables proliferation in patients undergoing cephalosporin therapy. Although a few genetic determinants of cephalosporin resistance in enterococci have been described, overall, many questions remain about the underlying genetic and biochemical basis for cephalosporin resistance. Here we describe an unexpected effect of speciﬁc mutations in the (cid:1) subunit of RNA polymerase (RNAP) on intrinsic cephalosporin resistance in enterococci. We found that RNAP mutants, selected initially on the basis of their ability to provide resistance to rifampin, resulted in allele-speciﬁc alterations of the intrinsic resistance of enterococci toward expanded- and broad-spectrum cephalosporins. These mutations did not affect resistance toward a diverse collection of other antibiotics that target a range of alternative cellular processes. We propose that the RNAP mutations identiﬁed here lead to alterations in transcription of as-yet-unknown genes that are critical for cellular adaption to cephalosporin stress.
Using decision tree in business collaborator

Purpose Business collaboration is important for small and medium sized enterprises. The traditional method of choosing business collaborator is largely based on individual's experience and subjective criteria. However, the failure rate of business collaboration is still high for less experienced small firms. The purpose of this research is to find a different solution for managers in choosing business collaborators. Methodology Decision Tree is an advanced technology, which is used in different business and industry areas. It is adopted in this study to help the managers choosing business partners. This study using the data collected from 339 firms in Australia and China to examine the key determinants for successful collaboration. Findings The performance of business collaboration is influenced by different factors in different countries. Decision Tree gives good implications for small business decision making in collaborating strategy. Value This study adopted a new method in collaboration studies. It also distinguished the differences of key determinants for business collaboration in Australia and China.
Involvement of a c‐fos‐Dependent Mechanism in Caffeine‐Induced Expression of the Preprotachykinin A and Neurotensin/Neuromedin N Genes in Rat Striatum

Striatal c‐fos induction was blocked by local administration of phosphorothioated c‐fos antisense oligonucleotides (AS‐ODN) to examine the possible role of caffeine‐induced c‐fos expression in transcriptional regulation of striatal preproenkephalin, prodynorphin, preprotachykinin A and neurotensin/neuromedin N. Caffeine (100 mg/kg i.p.) induced both c‐fos mRNA and Fos‐protein, and this induction was significantly attenuated by intrastriatal injection of 4 (but not 1) nmol c‐fos AS‐ODN. This suggests that, in addition to translational arrest, other mechanisms may be involved in the mediation of antisense action. The action of the AS‐ODN was sequence specific. The antisense blockade of c‐fos reduced the effect of caffeine on the expression of mRNAs for preprotachykinin A and neurotensin/neuromedin N in the ventrolateral caudate–putamen. Levels of preproenkephalin and prodynorphin transcripts were unaffected. Thus caffeine induction of striatal preprotachykinin A mRNA and neurotensin/neuromedin N mRNA, but not of preproenkephalin mRNA or prodynorphin mRNA, may at least in part be mediated by a pathway involving Fos protein. The findings illustrate the utility of blockade of gene expression with antisense oligonucleotides for in vivo studies of drug actions.
Decoupling Control of Linear and Rotary Permanent Magnet Actuator Using Two-Directional  $d\hbox{-}q$ Transformation

This paper presents a study on decoupling control of a linear and rotary permanent magnet actuator (LRPMA) with linear, rotary and helical movements. Since both linear and rotary motions of the actuator are dependent on both current and voltage, a novel two-directional d-q transformation is proposed to decouple the inter-relationship between the current and voltage in each coil. The expressions of input power, magnetic field energy, rotary torque, linear force and copper loss are all derived. A MATLAB/Simulink model for helical movement is then setup with hysteresis current control. A practical LRPMA prototype is manufactured and its control system is implemented with a dual digital signal processor. Simulations and experimental measures on the LRPMA prototype are reported to showcase the effectiveness of the control strategy.
A comparison of sib‐pair linkage tests for disease susceptibility loci

An analytical study is conducted of the properties of statistical tests to detect linkage between a disease locus and a very polymorphic marker locus when data on sib pairs are available. In most instances the most powerful test is the test based on the mean number of marker alleles shared identical by descent by the two members of a sib pair, and the most efficient sampling strategy is almost always to sample only pairs with both sibs affected. We show it is valid to use the information from all possible sib pairs as though they came from separate families when data on sibships of size three or larger are available, though more power may be obtained if different weights are given to the different sibship sizes.
Performance at work: Identifying the smart workforce

A compelling reason to understand the skill requirements of contemporary work practice is to determine how best to develop these skills. To paraphrase Glaser (1990), unless we understand clearly what is required for performance it is difficult to organise instruction to secure that performance. Moreover, it seems at this time there is a growing gap between the requirements of emerging and contemporary work practice and the ability of educational institutions and educational provisions to meet these requirements. Therefore, in order to identify the measures to be adopted in educational provisions for both preparing and enhancing further the ability to perform in the workplace, it is necessary to understand more fully those requirements. Taking up this theme, this chapter proposes bases for understanding what constitutes work practice. This is achieved through identifying dimensions of workplace activity and their demands for performance. It is proposed that smartness is defined in different ways in particular workplaces. Hence, contextual and situational factors are central to accounts of performance at work. A framework comprising dimensions of work practice is used to identify common aspects of work and their variables to determine how they are manifested in particular workplaces. These dimensions of work practice go beyond identifying 'technical skills' and work organisation to include the ways individuals engage in work required to be variously flexible, adaptable or, conversely, highly consistent given the particular requirement of the work practice. The chapter concludes with views about how these skills can be best developed.
Organizational Learning in Asia

In this chapter, we review prior studies on organizational learning in Asia, including the distinguished work of Ikujiro Nonaka, whose theory of knowledge creation has been crafted to represent essentially Japanese characteristics. Therein lies a problem, in that emic learning practices across other Asian countries are not even considered in Nonaka’s model. While many studies have been undertaken in Asia outside Japan, these have tended to focus on the importation of learning systems to such countries, without identifying and harnessing indigenous cultural and institutional resources. We shall begin this chapter with an overview of prior research into organizational learning in Asia ex-Japan. In the second part, we shall switch focus to Japanese owned organizations operating on Japanese soil. Thirdly,, we shall consider cultural and institutional features that apply more generally across Asia, and their implications for a pan-Asian theory of organizational learning. TAKING STOCK OF PAST RESEARCH Given the multitude of Asian countries and the diversity of Asian cultures and institutional contexts, it is not possible to distinguish substantive themes that cover each of these locations. Prior research into organizational learning in Asia (excluding Japanese organizations on home soil) has explored four broad issues, which we shall review below. The fi rst two of these are theory-oriented while the latter two focus more on practice (Easterby-Smith and Lyles, 2003). The issues are: knowledge management involving joint ventures in Asia; knowledge management involving wholly-owned subsidiaries in Asia; transfer of organizational learning practices to Asia; and measuring organizational learning in Asia. ◆