Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Promoting Regional Innovation Systems in a Global Context

Ever since the innovation systems (IS) concept was coined in the late 1980s, it has been accepted as a mechanism of economic and technological development in policy circles. This recognition follows a change in our understanding of the characteristics of the innovation process as a non‐linear process and having a systemic character. This changed understanding is also reflected in the movement in policy focus from science and technology (S&T) policy towards innovation policy. In recent years, the IS approach has been downscaled from the national level (NIS) to the regional level (RIS), a system's level that has gained the interest of policy makers. There are many rationales for this regionalization of innovation policy. However, as this paper points out, there are several challenges to implement an IS policy on the regional level. Based on a case study of a Swedish regional policy programme, this paper highlights (some of) the challenges related to defining the regional system's domain, implementing functional regions and securing sufficient regional knowledge infrastructure. This paper argues that when the IS approach is put into policy practice and downscaled to the regional level, it stands the risk of losing its strength as a tool for coping with the structural problems connected to innovation and globalization. Based on the identified challenges, the paper is concluded with a number of more general policy implications for IS‐based policies with regional intentions.
Trading the Television for a Textbook?: High School Exit Exams and Student Behavior

Abstract Approximately half of the states in the United States have some form of high school exit exam. One purpose of the exit exams is to create a clear bar which students must pass in order to graduate. Effective exit exams may encourage marginal students to spend additional time on schooling in order to pass the exam. This study exploits state-level variations in timing of implementation to understand how students have responded to the state exit exams. This study uses the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The ATUS captures, in detail, how individuals spend their day. We find that exit exams are associated with an increase in the amount of time that students spend on educational activities by almost 20 minutes per day in the months in which exams are typically given. The increase comes mainly from an increase in time spent in school and not time spent outside of school on education-related activities. The additional time for education appears to be a trade-off with time spent watching television, which shows a significant drop in exam months for students facing exams.
Towards Abstractive Multi-Document Summarization Using Submodular Function-Based Framework, Sentence Compression and Merging

We propose a submodular function-based summarization system which integrates three important measures namely importance, coverage, and non-redundancy to detect the important sentences for the summary. We design monotone and submodular functions which allow us to apply an efficient and scalable greedy algorithm to obtain informative and well-covered summaries. In addition, we integrate two abstraction-based methods namely sentence compression and merging for generating an abstractive sentence set. We design our summarization models for both generic and query-focused summarization. Experimental results on DUC-2004 and DUC-2007 datasets show that our generic and query-focused summarizers have outperformed the state-of-the-art summarization systems in terms of ROUGE-1 and ROUGE-2 recall and F-measure.
Does Compulsory Voting Help Equalize Incomes?

This paper explores the link between compulsory voting and income distribution using a cross-section of countries around the world. Our empirical cross-country analysis for 91 countries during the period 1960-2000 shows that when compulsory voting can be strongly enforced the distribution of income improves as measured by the Gini coefficient and the bottom income quintiles of the population. Our findings are robust to changes and additions to our benchmark specification. Because poorer countries are the ones with relatively more unequal distribution of income it might make sense to promote such voting schemes in developing regions, such as Latin America. This, under the assumption that bureaucratic costs related with design and implementation are not excessive. Copyright 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Captopril suppression: limitations for confirmation of primary aldosteronism

Introduction: The aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) is the first line screening test for primary aldosteronism (PA). However, in hypertensive patients with an increased ARR, PA needs to be confirmed by other means. Methods: A 25 mg oral captopril test was performed in 16 healthy subjects to obtain reference values for aldosterone and ARR at 120 minutes after the test. Subsequently these data were applied to 46 hypertensive patients screened for PA with an increased ARR. Results: At 120 minutes after the captopril test ARR decreased in healthy subjects within a narrow range, but remained high in patients with PA and in patients with primary hypertension, especially for those with low renin characteristics. At 120 minutes after captopril, the range of ARR in primary hypertensive patients overlapped in 88% of the cases with the range of the ARR in the PA patients. Sensitivity and specificity of basal ARR and ARR after the captopril test to diagnose PA, calculated as receiver operator characteristics, showed an area under the curve of 0.595 for basal ARR and 0.664 for ARR at 120 minutes after the test. Conclusion: The ARR at 120 minutes after the captopril test is only marginally better than basal ARR in diagnosing PA in hypertensive patients screened with an increased ARR. Owing to an overall limited capacity to clearly discriminate PA from primary hypertension, the test could not therefore be recommended for the confirmatory diagnosis of PA.
Comovement Among Stocks with Similar Book-to-Market Ratios

This paper uses data on constituents of the S&P/Barra Value and Growth indices to present empirical evidence that investor sentiment generates comovement among stocks with similar book-to-market (BM) ratios. The simple methodology by which these indices are constructed help circumvent the problem that index classifications may be associated with information about fundamental value. All stocks in the S&P 500 are divided into two groups based on a single variable: the BM ratio. The cut-o value is determined such that market capitalizations of the two indices are equal. This simple methodology allows for 1) the creation of a decisive control sample, 2) a comparison of securities in each index whose BM ratios are very near the cut-o point, and 3) an examination of stocks that switched indices to equalize market capitalizations, not because of a change in fundamentals. In terms of relative magnitude, the measured variation in index returns associated with sentiment for value and growth is a little less than half of that associated with the HML factor.
Conversion from cyclosporine A to tacrolimus in pediatric kidney transplant recipients with chronic rejection: Changes in the immune responses

Background. Tacrolimus (Tac) has immunosuppressant properties similar to those of cyclosporine A (CsA), but it is more potent. At present, however, its immunosuppressive activity in renal transplant recipients with ongoing chronic rejection has not been clarified. Methods. We studied changes in kidney function, mixed lymphocyte culture, cell-mediated lympholysis, cytotoxic antibodies, lymphocyte population, and cytokine response before and after the conversion from CsA to Tac in 14 pediatric renal transplant recipients with chronic rejection. CsA (5.9±0.2 mg/kg/d) was replaced by Tac (0.1±0.004 mg/kg/d). Results. Serum creatinine decreased (2.3±0.2–1.9±0.2 mg/dL, P <0.005), creatinine clearance increased (36.8±2.5–46.1±4.4 mL/min/1.73m2, P <0.005), and urinary protein excretion decreased (0.4±0.01–0.2±0.04 g/24 hr, P <0.03) after 6 months, and these values were maintained after 2 years with Tac treatment. During Tac therapy, anti-donor and anti-control mixed lymphocyte culture decreased 38% and 31% (P <0.05), respectively. Cell-mediated lympholysis did not change. CD3+ decreased from 87%±2% to 80%±2% (P <0.005), and CD8+ decreased from 34%±3% to 27%±2% (P <0.005). The switch to Tac decreased the interferon-&ggr; production in vitro (P <0.05) and increased tumor necrosis factor-&agr; levels (P <0.05). The release of interleukin-10 was strikingly augmented with CsA or Tac therapy (P <0.01), but transforming growth factor-&bgr; secretion was similar. Conclusions. Our data indicate that conversion from CsA to Tac therapy leads to an improvement in renal function without altering key elements of the immunosuppression in children with ongoing chronic rejection.
Collaborative Clinical Quality Improvement for Pressure Ulcers in Nursing Homes

The National Nursing Home Improvement Collaborative aimed to reduce pressure ulcer (PU) incidence and prevalence. Guided by subject matter and process experts, 29 quality improvement organizations and six multistate long‐term care corporations recruited 52 nursing homes in 39 states to implement recommended practices using quality improvement methods. Facilities monitored monthly PU incidence and prevalence, healing, and adoption of key care processes.
Impact of aprepitant on emesis control, dose intensity, and recurrence-free survival in a population-based cohort of head and neck cancer patients receiving high-dose cisplatin chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND Standard care for locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) patients consists of high-dose cisplatin with radiation to prolong recurrence-free survival (RFS). However, poorly controlled emesis can compromise optimal dose intensity (DI) and affect disease control. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of aprepitant on emesis control, DI, and RFS. METHODS HNC patients treated at the British Columbia Cancer Agency were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method and adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate RFS in aprepitant users. To control for selection bias, a propensity score analysis was conducted. RESULTS A total of 192 HNC patients were included: 141 received aprepitant prophylaxis. The aprepitant-treated and untreated groups were comparable in mean age (56.3 vs 58.1 years), male gender (82.3% vs 86.3%), tumor location, and number of metastatic sites. However, more patients in the aprepitant group than in the untreated group had surgically resectable disease (31.2% vs 15.7%, respectively) and better performance status (ECOG 0/1, 87.9% vs 76.4%). Less emesis was reported in the aprepitant group (21.3% vs 28.0%). Patients in the treated group were also more likely to complete 3 cycles of high-dose cisplatin (OR, 2.3; P = .03). The propensity score adjusted Cox regression analysis suggested a reduced risk of disease recurrence in patients who received aprepitant (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.17- 1.28). LIMITATIONS Potential confounders such as other diseases or treatments that may have influenced the presence of nausea/emesis symptoms. CONCLUSION Aprepitant contributed to improved emesis control, enhanced DI, and better adherence to cisplatin chemotherapy.
Relative Effects of Labour Taxes and Unemployment Benefits on Hours Worked Per Worker and Employment

Over the past 3 decades, labour supply in Europe has declined by approximately 30% relative to the USA. The decline comes from hours per worker and employment. The present paper uses a matching model to study the effects of labour taxes and unemployment benefits. Labour taxes decrease hours and employment, with overstated adverse effects on hours if extensive margins are not considered. Unemployment benefits decrease employment and increase hours, with understated adverse effects on employment if intensive margins are not considered. In the baseline parameterization, labour taxes and unemployment benefits together explain approximately 75% of the declining labour supply in Europe relative to the USA.
Understanding preservice teachers' predispositions for teaching engineering education in Australian schools

Engineering education is underrepresented in Australia at the primary, middle school and high school levels. Understanding preservice teachers' preparedness to be involved in engineering will be important for developing an engineering curriculum. This study administered a literature-based survey to 36 preservice teachers, which gathered data about their perceptions of engineering and their predispositions for teaching engineering. Findings indicated that the four constructs associated with the survey had acceptable Cronbach alpha scores (i.e., personal professional attributes .88, student motivation .91, pedagogical knowledge .91, and fused curricula .89). However, there was no "disagree" or "strongly disagree" response greater than 22% for any of the 25 survey items. Generally, these preservice teachers indicated predispositions for teaching engineering in the middle school. Extensive scaffolding and support with education programs will assist preservice teachers to develop confidence in this field. Governments and education departments need to recognise the importance of engineering education, and universities must take a stronger role in developing engineering education curricula. Curriculum and cultural reform in engineering education is very much on the agenda internationally. An immediate driver for this is the global professional engineering skill shortage. Engineering education in the school curriculum is becoming increasingly important to the various fields of engineering and represents a new domain of research that brings together researchers from engineering, engineering education, mathematics education, and science education. Preparing preservice teachers to facilitate engineering education programs will contribute directly to the global economy, environment, security and health. Such development will require an understanding of preservice teachers' understandings and dispositions for teaching in this field. It will also entail knowledge about how to facilitate teaching practices for engineering education. Generically, teachers need to have personal professional attributes, pedagogical knowledge, ways to motivate student learning, and an understanding of the complexities of curricula. Each of these constructs will be discussed as they pertain to the construction of a survey instrument to measure preservice teachers' predispositions for teaching engineering.
Market versus societal orientation in the nonprofit context

There has been considerable interest of late among nonprofit practitioners in market orientation and the extent to which its adoption might be linked to enhanced organisational performance. Preliminary studies have typically employed instruments such as MARKOR to measure market orientation in this setting and found tentative support for the existence of such a link. In this paper it will be argued that these approaches are fundamentally flawed. The market orientation construct represents the operationalisation of the marketing concept in the for-profit sector. Since the concept is defined differently by nonprofit academics and practitioners there is a need to develop a new measure of its operationalisation specifically in this context. A review of the literature suggests that this might best be termed societal orientation. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications
From Microlevel Decisions to Landscape Changes: An Assessment of Agricultural Conservation Policies

The growth in conservation programs has created a need for modeling frameworks capable of measuring microlevel behavioral responses and macrolevel landscape changes. This paper presents an empirical model that predicts farmers' production practices and the resulting levels of agricultural runoffs at more than 42,000 agricultural sites in the upper-Mississippi river basin under alternative conservation policies. Results suggest that payments for conservation tillage and crop rotations increase the use of these conservation practices. However, the acreage response is inelastic and the programs are not likely to be cost effective on their own for addressing hypoxia problem in the Gulf of Mexico.
Solar Thermophotovoltaic Converter with Fresnel Lens and GaSb Cells

Developing of a solar thermophotovoltaic system is being reported. Theoretical calculations for system parameters (emitter aperture absorptance, emitter efficiency, PV cell band gap etc.) optimization and overall efficiency estimation are presented. The calculations are mainly oriented to make all the parts of the system matched to each other: the choice of tungsten emitter dimensions, PV cell material etc. 20% STPV module efficiency is reachable for GaSb based receiver with a possible increase to 29% for a tandem PV cell and advanced technology of STPV module. A cost-effective two-stage concentrator module based on a primary Fresnel lens and secondary quartz concave-convex lens have been fabricated. Concentration ratio of ~4000x, necessary for obtaining high efficiency of the concentrator-emitter system, is ensured. Two types of TPV receivers are tested under outdoor conditions (850 W/m2 average direct sun intensity) and with the solar simulator set up. Emitter temperatures in the range of 1400-2000K are registered and GaSb PV cell short circuit current density up to 5 A/cm2 is observed. BeO ceramics is used for mounting the PV cells allowing high thermal conductivity and series connection of the cells. High PV efficiency (19% under tungsten emitter irradiation) is obtained in GaSb TPV cells
Molecular and Histological Characterization of Primary (Betaproteobacteria) and Secondary (Gammaproteobacteria) Endosymbionts of Three Mealybug Species

ABSTRACT Microscopic localization of endosymbiotic bacteria in three species of mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus, the long-tailed mealybug; Pseudococcus calceolariae, the citrophilus mealybug; and Pseudococcus viburni, the obscure mealybug) showed these organisms were confined to bacteriocyte cells within a bacteriome centrally located within the hemocoel. Two species of bacteria were present, with the secondary endosymbiont, in all cases, living within the primary endosymbiont. DNA from the dissected bacteriomes of all three species of mealybug was extracted for analysis. Sequence data from selected 16S rRNA genes confirmed identification of the primary endosymbiont as “Candidatus Tremblaya princeps,” a betaproteobacterium, and the secondary endosymbionts as gammaproteobacteria closely related to Sodalis glossinidius. A single 16S rRNA sequence of the primary endosymbiont was found in all individuals of each mealybug species. In contrast, the presence of multiple divergent strains of secondary endosymbionts in each individual mealybug suggests different evolutionary and transmission histories of the two endosymbionts. Mealybugs are known vectors of the plant pathogen Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3. To examine the possible role of either endosymbiont in virus transmission, an extension of the model for interaction of proteins with bacterial chaperonins, i.e., GroEL protein homologs, based on mobile-loop amino acid sequences of their GroES homologs, was developed and used for analyses of viral coat protein interactions. The data from this model are consistent with a role for the primary endosymbiont in mealybug transmission of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3.
Total Factor Productivity Change of Traditional Manufacturing Industry of Beijing

Traditional manufacturing industry is closely related to industrial development and people's lives. In this paper, input and output panel data of traditional manufacturing industry of Beijing in the period of 2000-2014 are selected as the research object. DEA-Malmquist index method is used to study the change of total factor productivity and decomposition efficiency. The results show that the growth of total factor productivity of traditional manufacturing industry of Beijing mainly relied on technological progress, and that technological efficiency declined during the sample period. Pure technological efficiency was less than 1 throughout the sample period, while scale efficiency gradually increased. The overall input-output level deviated from the optimal production status. Among 18 subdivision industries, only three subdivision industries achieved improvement in total factor productivity.
Tissue-Specific Differences in Cytosine Methylation and Their Association with Differential Gene Expression in Sorghum1[W]

It has been well established that DNA cytosine methylation plays essential regulatory roles in imprinting gene expression in endosperm, and hence normal embryonic development, in the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Nonetheless, the developmental role of this epigenetic marker in cereal crops remains largely unexplored. Here, we report for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) differences in relative cytosine methylation levels and patterns at 5′-CCGG sites in seven tissues (endosperm, embryo, leaf, root, young inflorescence, anther, and ovary), and characterize a set of tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (TDMRs). We found that the most enriched TDMRs in sorghum are specific for the endosperm and are generated concomitantly but imbalanced by decrease versus increase in cytosine methylation at multiple 5′-CCGG sites across the genome. This leads to more extensive demethylation in the endosperm than in other tissues, where TDMRs are mainly tissue nonspecific rather than specific to a particular tissue. Accordingly, relative to endosperm, the other six tissues showed grossly similar levels though distinct patterns of cytosine methylation, presumably as a result of a similar extent of concomitant decrease versus increase in cytosine methylation that occurred at variable genomic loci. All four tested TDMRs were validated by bisulfite genomic sequencing. Diverse sequences were found to underlie the TDMRs, including those encoding various known-function or predicted proteins, transposable elements, and those bearing homology to putative imprinted genes in maize (Zea mays). We further found that the expression pattern of at least some genic TDMRs was correlated with its tissue-specific methylation state, implicating a developmental role of DNA methylation in regulating tissue-specific or -preferential gene expression in sorghum.
Rab3A and Rab27A cooperatively regulate the docking step of dense-core vesicle exocytosis in PC12 cells

Recent studies have suggested that two small GTPases, Rab3A and Rab27A, play a key role in the late steps of dense-core vesicle exocytosis in endocrine cells; however, neither the precise mechanisms by which these two GTPases regulate dense-core vesicle exocytosis nor the functional relationship between them is clear. In this study, we expressed a number of different Rab proteins, from Rab1 to Rab41 in PC12 cells and systematically screened them for those that are specifically localized on dense-core vesicles. We found that four Rabs (Rab3A, Rab27A, Rab33A, Rab37) are predominantly targeted to dense-core vesicles in PC12 cells, and that three of them (Rab3A, Rab27A, Rab33A) are endogenously expressed on dense-core vesicles. We further investigated the effect of silencing each Rab with specific small interfering RNA on vesicle dynamics by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in a single PC12 cell. Silencing either Rab3A or Rab27A in PC12 cells significantly decreased the number of dense-core vesicles docked to the plasma membrane without altering the kinetics of individual exocytotic events, whereas silencing of Rab33A had no effect at all. Simultaneous silencing of Rab3A and Rab27A caused a significantly greater decrease in number of vesicles docked to the plasma membrane. Our findings indicate that Rab3A and Rab27A cooperatively regulate docking step(s) of dense-core vesicles to the plasma membrane.