Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS' WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION

We apply the contingent valuation method to estimate how much a specific group of society, which is relatively prone to falling victim to crime, is willing to pay to reduce the likelihood of being the victim of violent crime. Based on responses from 1122 students, we found that younger and female students revealed that they are more inclined to pay so as to avoid violent crime. Students' field of study, cautious behavior and a strong opinion about policies and payment vehicles with potential to reduce the risk of crime are key determinants of the willingness to pay.
Overexpression of junctophilin-2 does not enhance baseline function but attenuates heart failure development after cardiac stress

Significance Normal cardiac function requires coordinated contraction of working myocytes, which is initiated by a specific communication between Ca2+ channels on the transverse (T)-tubule membrane and ryanodine receptors on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane. Junctophilin-2 (JP2) is a structural protein that induces docking of SR to T-tubules to form dyads and that indirectly stabilizes the T-tubule network in ventricular cardiomyocytes. JP2 is frequently down-regulated in heart failure, in parallel with a disruption of the T-tubule network and loss of normal excitation-contraction coupling. Here we show that overexpression of JP2 stabilizes the T-tubule network and attenuates heart failure after cardiac stress. These data suggest that future treatment of heart disease may include strategies to stabilize the architecture of T-tubules and cardiac dyads. Heart failure is accompanied by a loss of the orderly disposition of transverse (T)-tubules and a decrease of their associations with the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (jSR). Junctophilin-2 (JP2) is a structural protein responsible for jSR/T-tubule docking. Animal models of cardiac stresses demonstrate that down-regulation of JP2 contributes to T-tubule disorganization, loss of excitation-contraction coupling, and heart failure development. Our objective was to determine whether JP2 overexpression attenuates stress-induced T-tubule disorganization and protects against heart failure progression. We therefore generated transgenic mice with cardiac-specific JP2 overexpression (JP2-OE). Baseline cardiac function and Ca2+ handling properties were similar between JP2-OE and control mice. However, JP2-OE mice displayed a significant increase in the junctional coupling area between T-tubules and the SR and an elevated expression of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, although other excitation-contraction coupling protein levels were not significantly changed. Despite similar cardiac function at baseline, overexpression of JP2 provided significantly protective benefits after pressure overload. This was accompanied by a decreased percentage of surviving mice that developed heart failure, as well as preservation of T-tubule network integrity in both the left and right ventricles. Taken together, these data suggest that strategies to maintain JP2 levels can prevent the progression from hypertrophy to heart failure.
Accounting for stochastic interest rates, stochastic volatility and a general correlation structure in the valuation of forward starting options

A quantitative analysis on the pricing of forward starting options under stochastic volatility and stochastic interest rates is performed. The main finding is that forward starting options not only depend on future smiles, but also directly on the evolution of the interest rates as well as the dependency structures among the underlying asset, the interest rates, and the stochastic volatility: compared to vanilla options, dynamic structures such as forward starting options are much more sensitive to model specifications such as volatility, interest rate, and correlation movements. We conclude that it is of crucial importance to take all these factors explicitly into account for a proper valuation and risk management of these securities. The performed analysis is facilitated by deriving closed‐form formulas for the valuation of forward starting options, hereby taking the stochastic volatility, stochastic interest rates as well the dependency structure between all these processes explicitly into account. The valuation framework is derived using a probabilistic approach, enabling a fast and efficient evaluation of the option price by Fourier inverting the forward starting characteristic functions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 31:103–125, 2011
Characterization of CLP36/Elfin/PDLIM1 in the nervous system

CLP36, one of the α‐Actinin Associated LIM Protein (ALP)/Enigma family proteins, has a wide tissue distribution, but little is known about its expression and role in the nervous system. We show here that CLP36 is expressed in sensory ganglia but not in the CNS of adult rats. In primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, CLP36 is distributed in the soma and neurites with enrichment in the growth cones. CLP36 forms a complex with α‐actinin and is localized to actin cytoskeleton. To examine the role of CLP36 in neuronal cells, we transfected PC12 cells with a series of CLP36 deletion mutants and found that over‐expression of CLP36 PDZ domain affects neurite outgrowth. Reduction of CLP36 function in PC12 cells by RNA interference (RNAi) induced lamellipodial protrusions around cell periphery and activated growth‐cone movements, resulting in an increase in the length and number of neurites. Similarly, inhibition of CLP36 in primary DRG neurons increased the rate of neurite‐bearing cells. We also found that CLP36 is up‐regulated in DRG neurons and facial motoneurons after nerve injury. These findings suggest that CLP36 serves as a scaffold to form a multiprotein complex that regulates actin cytoskeleton dynamics and plays a role in controlling neurite outgrowth.
Chapter 9 Understanding Casual-Leisure Information Behaviour

Originally grounded in library and information science, the majority of information behaviour and information-seeking theories focus on task-based scenarios where users try to resolve information needs. While other theories exist, such as how people unexpectedly encounter information, for example, they are typically related back to tasks, motivated by work or personal goals. This chapter, however, focuses on casual-leisure scenarios that are typically motivated by hedonistic needs rather than information needs, where people engage in searching behaviours for pleasure rather than to find information. This chapter describes two studies on (1) television information behaviour and (2) the casual information behaviours described by users of Twitter. The first study focuses on a specific casual-leisure domain that is familiar to many, while the second indicates that our findings generalise to many other casual-leisure scenarios. The results of these two studies are then used to define an initial model of casual-leisure information behaviour, which highlights the key differences between casual-leisure scenarios and typical information behaviour theory. The chapter concludes by discussing how this new model of casual-leisure information behaviour challenges the way we design information systems, measure their value and consequently evaluate their support for users.
Neither Bandwagoning nor Balancing: Explaining Europe's Security Policy

Realists continue to bend their analytical concepts and vocabulary in an attempt to subsume recent developments in European security policy under their traditional nomenclature. Yet neither balancing (preceded by some diminutive adjunct) nor bandwagoning captures what is happening in Europe. The balancing proposition fails to explain the overwhelming incidence of European Union member states supporting rather than constraining American foreign policy. Yet that does not automatically entail bandwagoning, a concept which implies that they gave in to American threats or sought opportunistic gains through an alliance of convenience. Instead, European security policy is driven partly by a shared liberal consensus, and partly by diverging national preferences and priorities rooted in idiosyncratic political cultures. This article examines these diverging approaches by looking at how British, French, and German governments acted in the context of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Examining the drivers behind key operations undertaken in this framework, it focuses on CSDP's intended impact on the transatlantic relationship. EU foreign policy has generally furthered rather than countered American foreign policy preferences. But it is conceptually misleading to subsume this behaviour under bandwagoning. In contemporary EU-Europe (or Europe), the relevant arena for the struggle for power is the domestic stage. Beyond Europe, this perspective also challenges realists to reconsider the importance of domestic calculations in foreign policy.
SDSS unveils a population of intrinsically faint cataclysmic variables at the minimum orbital period

We discuss the properties of 137 cataclysmic variables (CVs) which are included in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data base, and for which accurate orbital periods have been measured. 92 of these systems are new discoveries from SDSS and were followed-up in more detail over the past few years. 45 systems were previously identified as CVs because of the detection of optical outbursts and/or X-ray emission, and subsequently re-identified from the SDSS spectroscopy. The period distribution of the SDSS CVs differs dramatically from that of all the previously known CVs, in particular it contains a significant accumulation of systems in the orbital period range 80-86 min. We identify this feature as the elusive 'period minimum spike' predicted by CV population models, which resolves a long-standing discrepancy between compact binary evolution theory and observations. We show that this spike is almost entirely due to the large number of CVs with very low accretion activity identified by SDSS. The optical spectra of these systems are dominated by emission from the white dwarf photosphere, and display little or no spectroscopic signature from the donor stars, suggesting very low mass companion stars. We determine the average absolute magnitude of these low-luminosity CVs at the period minimum to be > = 11.6 +/- 0.7. Comparison of the SDSS CV sample to the CVs found in the Hamburg Quasar Survey and the Palomar Green Survey suggests that the depth of SDSS is the key ingredient resulting in the discovery of a large number of intrinsically faint short-period systems.
Human Capital: Economic Growth Nexus in the Former Soviet Bloc

This study analyses the role of education in economic development in the republics of the former Socialist Bloc and more specifically the impact of human capital on per capita economic growth in transition economies in the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. The factors that are associated with the human capital in terms of education levels are analyzed in order to measure this impact. Our approach is to estimate the significance of educational levels for initiating substantial economic growth. We estimate a system of linear and log-linear equations accounting for different time lags in the possible impact of human capital on economic growth.
The writhe of permutations and random framed knots

We introduce and study the writhe of a permutation, a circular variant of the well‐known inversion number. This simple permutation statistics has several interpretations, which lead to some interesting properties. For a permutation sampled uniformly at random, we study the asymptotics of the writhe, and obtain a non‐Gaussian limit distribution. This work is motivated by the study of random knots. A model for random framed knots is described, which refines the Petaluma model, studied with Hass, Linial, and Nowik (Discrete Comput Geom, 2016). The distribution of the framing in this model is equivalent to the writhe of random permutations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 51, 121–142, 2017
Assessment of Ecological Risks at Former Landfill Site Using TRIAD Procedure and Multicriteria Analysis

Old industrial landfills are important sources of environmental contamination in Europe, including Finland. In this study, we demonstrated the combination of TRIAD procedure, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), and statistical Monte Carlo analysis for assessing the risks to terrestrial biota in a former landfill site contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) and metals. First, we generated hazard quotients by dividing the concentrations of metals and PHCs in soil by the corresponding risk‐based ecological benchmarks. Then we conducted ecotoxicity tests using five plant species, earthworms, and potworms, and determined the abundance and diversity of soil invertebrates from additional samples. We aggregated the results in accordance to the methods used in the TRIAD procedure, conducted rating of the assessment methods based on their performance in terms of specific criteria, and weighted the criteria using two alternative weighting techniques to produce performance scores for each method. We faced problems in using the TRIAD procedure, for example, the results from the animal counts had to be excluded from the calculation of integrated risk estimates (IREs) because our reference soil sample showed the lowest biodiversity and abundance of soil animals. In addition, hormesis hampered the use of the results from the ecotoxicity tests. The final probabilistic IREs imply significant risks at all sampling locations. Although linking MCDA with TRIAD provided a useful means to study and consider the performance of the alternative methods in predicting ecological risks, some uncertainties involved still remained outside the quantitative analysis.
Development of an Efficient In Vivo System (Pjunc-TpaseIS 1223 ) for Random Transposon Mutagenesis of Lactobacillus casei

ABSTRACT The random transposon mutagenesis system Pjunc-TpaseIS 1223 is composed of plasmids pVI129, expressing IS1223 transposase, and pVI110, a suicide transposon plasmid carrying the Pjunc sequence, the substrate of the IS1223 transposase. This system is particularly efficient in Lactobacillus casei, as more than 10,000 stable, random mutants were routinely obtained via electroporation.
Generalizability modeling of the foundations of customer delight

Purpose – This research seeks to present a methodology for investigating the generalizability of a theory‐testing model. The methodology is used to examine the generalizability of a model of the antecedents and consequences of customer delight.Design/methodology/approach – Theory testing of models in the marketing often fails to define an intended universe of generalization. This paper shows how multivariate generalizability theory can be used to estimate construct covariance components for specific sources of variance. These components can then be used to assess the generalizability of a structural equation model of a marketing phenomenon.Findings – The parameters of a model of customer delight obtained from data that sample customers of a service or data that confound sources of variance do not generalize to data that capture variation across services or variation across raters. The relative impact of customer delight and satisfaction on behavioral intention varies with the source of variation being stu.
International Innovation Comparisons: Insight or Illusion?

Recent developments in statistical methodology have facilitated international innovation comparisons. These, however, inevitably reflect both the industrial structure of the underlying economies, and the innovativeness of firms within each element of the industrial structure. The authors consider the extent to which structural differences between economies can influence international innovation comparisons. The impact of structural differences is considered both in conceptual and in empirical terms, with the aid of data from the first and second Community Innovation Surveys (CIS 1 and CIS 2). Conceptual analysis suggests a very restricted range of scenarios under which structural adjustment will be effective. Empirical results are more reassuring, however, suggesting that, although structural effects are in some cases quite large, they do not significantly distort international innovation relativities. The comparisons do, however, highlight significant inconsistencies between different innovation indicators and suggest policy priorities.
Learning Bayesian Networks with Bounded Tree-width via Guided Search

Bounding the tree-width of a Bayesian network can reduce the chance of overfitting, and allows exact inference to be performed efficiently. Several existing algorithms tackle the problem of learning bounded tree-width Bayesian networks by learning from k-trees as super-structures, but they do not scale to large domains and/or large tree-width. We propose a guided search algorithm to find k-trees with maximum Informative scores, which is a measure of quality for the k-tree in yielding good Bayesian networks. The algorithm achieves close to optimal performance compared to exact solutions in small domains, and can discover better networks than existing approximate methods can in large domains. It also provides an optimal elimination order of variables that guarantees small complexity for later runs of exact inference. Comparisons with well-known approaches in terms of learning and inference accuracy illustrate its capabilities.
Teaching and Research in Finance: Perceptions, Conflicts, and the Future

s) and trying to limit each person to participating once at each annual meeting. We are encouraging broader research exposure for doctoral students by sponsoring a finance doctoral seminar in connection with our annual meeting. We have even become a clearinghouse for several awards and scholarships in financial research. We are trying to improve communications with financial practitioners by aggressively encouraging their participation in our meeting and our Journal and by promoting professor-in-residence and internship programs. We are attempting to partially bridge the gap between students and their finance pro9 This content downloaded from 207.46. 13.113 on Thu, 06 Oct 2016 04:06:01 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor. org/terms FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT/WINTER 1983 fessors and finance practitioners by supporting finance clubs and finance honor societies at any interested school. We have even become involved with the university community by trying to assist with plans for what should be required in basic finance courses. I would like to close my remarks by suggesting some additional programs which the FMA might use to reduce conflicts with our constituencies and to improve future teaching and research. These programs include: I. formation of a financial course syllabus resource
THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

This paper builds an econometric model that attempts to explain the effect of global trade on the environment from data provided by the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) at Purdue University. We estimated stable parameters for econometric models to forecast the impact of doubling carbon dioxide (2 × CO2) levels in the atmosphere. Robustness is checked against the Specific Factor Model in trade theory. The overall and zonal predictions for the lower and higher latitudes and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are compared with the norms. The estimates of the model are also used as inputs into several computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to explore regional welfare impacts by climate change scenarios. The model's prediction comes within range of the norms and therefore, should be an important addition to the stock of pedagogic tools explaining the relationship between trade and the environment.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT EVENT PARTICIPATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF KANSAS AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Past studies have shown that agricultural education teachers perceive a need for professional development in Career Development Events (CDEs) preparation, but they did not identify the individual CDEs where training was needed. This study examined the CDEs that Kansas schools were participating in at the district and state levels and the CDEs where teachers perceived a need for professional development. A questionnaire was administered via the Internet, and 114 teachers responded. Of the respondents, 83.33% were interested in a weeklong professional development workshop or graduate course in CDE preparation. CDEs that were identified for professional development, such as agricultural sales, agribusiness management, food science and technology, and agricultural communications were not ranked high in regard to current participation. The livestock evaluation CDE had the highest participation at the district and state levels but ranked 17th in regard to teachers’ interest in professional development. It was concluded that teachers participate in CDEs they feel comfortable with and are less likely to participate in CDEs that they feel less familiar. The study also found that most teachers used Internet resources to help prepare students for some CDEs.
Purification and characterization of the NADP-malic enzyme from Bradyrhizobium japonicum A1017.

An NADP-malic enzyme [EC 1.1. 1.40] was purified to homogeneity from Bradyrhizobium japonicum A1017, and the molecular and physiological characteristics were surveyed. The molecular mass of one subunit of the purified enzyme was evaluated to be 77,600 Da by SDS-PAGE, and the native enzyme was a tetramer in pH 7.0 and dimer in pH 8.0 conditions, showing complex oligomeric characteristics corresponding to pH value.
Operator‐bound GalR dimers close DNA loops by direct interaction: tetramerization and inducer binding

The assembly of the Gal repressosome, a higher order nucleoprotein complex that represses transcription of the gal operon in Escherichia coli, involves the formation of a DNA loop encompassing the promoter segment. GalR dimers bound to two spatially separated operators, OE and OI, specifically interact with the histone‐like protein HU and close the loop in supercoiled DNA. We isolated and characterized a GalR mutant containing an amino acid substitution (R282L) that can repress transcription in the absence of HU and supercoiled DNA both in vivo and in vitro. Repression involves the same DNA looping; deletion of either OE or OI makes the mutant GalR ineffective in repression. This and other results suggest that the R282L substitution increases the normal affinity between two DNA‐bound GalR dimers, allowing looping. We conclude that GalR dimers interact directly and do not use HU as an adaptor in loop closure; HU and DNA supercoiling act in concert to stabilize the GalR tetramer. The stronger GalR–GalR interaction also made the gal transcription non‐inducible, suggesting that the inducer binding acts by modulating tetramerization.